MUSIC - JULY 30, 2003

Freedom is the key for Evidence’s jazz sound

By LAWRENCE COSENTINO

Knowing there wouldn’t be enough time and space to do an in-depth background check on every artist in JazzFest’s tasty 2003 lineup, this Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1 and 2, in Lansing’s Old Town, I resorted to an old police tactic and pulled over one of these talented and dedicated jazz creators at random on his way to Lansing.

Photo courtesy of Evidence

Trumpeter Michael Doyle leads Evidence at this weekend’s JazzFest in Old Town.

Report to HQ: Subject is one Michael Doyle, about as straight-ahead as a jazzman can be. Speaks with a pronounced Bronx accent. Fronts a combo called “Evidence,” the name of an old Thelonious Monk tune. Has his main horn, the tenor sax, belted carefully into the passenger’s seat. Plays in the hard-bop mold of Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, and Wayne Shorter. The group’s Latin-flavored second CD, “Soulville,” even won an award from Grand Rapids’ WYCE radio station for best local jazz disc of 2002. In short (and Shorter), everything seems in order.

But what’s this? A cylindrical object protrudes from under the driver’s seat. Soprano sax! Anyone in the jazz writing business knows how every neck-hair goes straight up at moments like this.

I should have known that Doyle, who works in law enforcement and is doing a stint in the Army Reserves, would have the dangerous stick properly registered. “It’s not a Kenny G soprano,” he announces loud and clear. “Some of the greatest players in jazz history, like Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane, used the soprano. I enjoy playing it.”

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Doyle grew up in that great, big, 24-hour-a-day pickle barrel of radio and live jazz called New York, under the care of a classic jazz-addict dad. John Coltrane’s flip-into-the-clouds solo on Miles Davis’ “Milestones” provided the “ah-ha” moment that married Doyle to the saxophone for good. (I could have picked him up for bigamy; he currently lives in Marshall, Mich., with a second, human wife). His passion for the classic fire of groups like Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’ first great quintet drove him to create what he calls “a hard bop haven for some of the state’s best players.” The personnel has changed over the years, but Doyle’s goal of bringing New York-caliber jazz to Michigan remains the same.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to play the Lansing JazzFest,” says Doyle, who will bring bandmates James Daniels from Detroit (trumpet) and Steve Palaga from Bay City (piano) along this Saturday. Local jazz luminaries David Rosin (bass) and Randy Gelispie (drums) will fill out the rhythm section.

Doyle’s day job and military duties may be highly structured, but don’t expect Evidence to march in lockstep. “Even though I’m sort of a representative, we don’t have a leader,” he says. “Freedom is key in jazz. You can have a plan, but you have to be spontaneous when you go up there. ‘Kind of Blue’ [Miles Davis’ classic 1960 album] wasn’t really planned. Miles just brought some sketches and they took it from there. That’s how it should be. You play a tune one way one day and later you see it completely differently.”

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