Jazz Icon Ellis Marsalis’ ELM Records

David Torkanowsky pays tribute to the ELM Music Company

BY GERALDINE WYCKOFF

It’s actually a rarity to see David Torkanosky leading an ensemble at Jazz Fest. That’s not to say it’s rare to see him, one of New Orleans’ finest, most talented and spontaneous musicians, at the piano on a festival stage.

It’s been since 1997 that Tork played under his own name. This time around, organizers specifically asked him if he wanted to do anything.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Torkanowsky had always felt it would be “unseemly to solicit Jazz Fest for a gig.” After the call and making inquiries to determine if there were any conflict of interests, he said yes.

It was Tork’s decision to pay tribute to a band led by pianist and composer Ellis Marsalis Jr., the ELM Music Company, which performed regularly in the 1970s at the modern jazz mecca, Lu & Charlie’s. It was a group that awed the teen-aged Torkanowsky, as these masters primarily performed original material from the mighty pens of Marsalis and drummer James Black. The band also did what Torkanowsky describes as “interesting arrangements” of, perhaps unlikely, tunes such as Seals & Crofts’ “Hummingbird.”

“That was very, very cool,” says Tork, promising that it will be included in the repertoire at Jazz Fest along with material that the ELM Music Company wrote and played during the ’70s. The ensemble, led by pianist and composer Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (ELM) included the cream of this city’s contemporary players including Black, bassist Richard Payne, trumpeter John Brunious and saxophonist Ralph Johnson. Decades later, Marsalis’ initials were revived on ELM Records that was established by Ellis, his wife Delores and son Jason Marsalis.

“It was New Orleans contemporary music at its highest level,” declares Torkanowsky, who would set up the Fender Rhodes his grandmother bought him for Ellis that allowed the underaged Tork to get into the North Rampart Street club.

“I certainly didn’t have a full appreciation of that fact at the time but now I realize it was like going to hear Miles [trumpeter Miles Davis] on 52nd Street. That group, ELM, did material that ultimately proves to be timeless.”

Torkanowsky has enjoyed a long association with Ellis, dating back to when he was about 10 years old and his mother, flamenco dancer and instructor Teresa Torkanowsky, would take him to Bourbon Street’s Crazy Shirley’s to hear the Storyville Jazz Band. Marsalis was among the outstanding members of the band that featured brothers drummer Bob French and bassist and vocalist George French; trombonist Waldren “Frog” Joseph; and reedman Otis Bazoon. Tork once said that he was amazed that this group of musicians played in the traditional New Orleans style during the ensemble work, yet took off swinging modern during solos. Later Tork himself gained a reputation as a musician who often ignored perceived musical boundaries.

“My mother had a flamenco club around the corner. I want to say it was called Chateau Flamenco. It was a couple of doors down from Preservation Hall so between Pres Hall and Crazy Shirley’s. She was a huge fan of New Orleans African American musicians,” Tork continues. “My father [symphony conductor Werner Torkanowsky] had something called Creative Artists of New Orleans. It was basically a small cabal of himself, Ellis, Allen Toussaint, Roger Dickerson, John Scott and maybe one other person. They would just have dinner once every other month and sit down and talk about music and the challenges of being a composer in New Orleans. They’d talk about things that were common to their creative association. So, my parents already knew Ellis so there was a hook-up for me.”

For the Jazz Fest set, Torkanowsky decided to shine the light on the artists who in recent years made up the Ellis Marsalis Quintet that performed on Friday nights at Snug Harbor. They include Ellis’ son, Jason Marsalis on drums, saxophonist Derek Douget, trumpeter Ashlin Parker and bassist Jason Stewart. It was a gig that the pianist held down for over 30 years.

“These guys were the last people who were musically intimate with Ellis so, of course, that had to happen,” Tork explains adding that he’s played with Jason numerous times and describes him as a high-level musician both as a drummer and on vibes.

Among the numerous albums Torkanowsky has produced throughout his long career were two featuring pianist Marsalis. A Night at Snug Harbor, which was initially released only in Japan on Something Else Records, was re-released in 1989 on Evidence Music. The band featured Ellis, drummer David Lee, bassist Bill Huntington and trumpeter Nicholas Payton with Rick Margitza, Tony Dagradi and Donald Harrison on reeds. “Somehow, Art Blakey showed up,” Tork remembers with a laugh, “and he kind of ignored all the signs on the tables—“Please We’re Recording,”—and he just walked up there and said, “I’m going to kick some Duck’s ass.” The legendary drummer and bandleader, who then made his way to the drum set, was referring to Donald Harrison, a former member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers whose nickname was “Duck.”

Torkanowsky, who also produced the great duet album, Homecoming that paired Ellis Marsalis with saxophone giant Eddie Harris, played his roll straight-up despite knowing and admiring Marsalis for decades.

“It’s very similar to being on the bandstand with an icon,” Tork explains of producing an album from the likes of Marsalis and Harris. “Like I am a huge [trumpeter/pianist] Nicholas Payton fan. When I’m on the bandstand with him, I can’t be a fan. Because the highest evolution of the art form is when, in the case of a quartet, four sentient beings are having a mature conversation with give and take and space for each other to express their opinions. If you’re in adoration of one of the people, then the balance is off. It’s like George Duke told me one time: ‘Just as soon as you can, stop being a fan.’”

On producing the Marsalis/Harris release, Torkanowsky simply says, “When you have two great artists like that, basically the work is getting them in the same place at the same time in the right studio with the right engineer and the right microphones. The content is driven by them. I remember that Eddie asked Ellis not to walk bass lines—in a jazz duo a pianist has a tendency to walk in order to keep time. It effected the character of the record in a good way.”

Torkanowsky has performed all over the Fair Grounds, certainly with Astral Project, all-star bands, twice with the group Fleur Debris that included bassist George Porter, Jr. and Nicholas Payton on trumpet and others. He was also on call for last minute emergencies as a “special forces” keyboard consultant. “I’m not a piano technician,” Tork quickly points out. “I know some good ones but I’m not one.”

“In the early days, me and James Singleton and Johnny Vidacovich—we damn near did every gig,” the pianist remembers. “I was pleased not to do that because I think somebody who pays increasingly more expensive ticket fees they want to hear as much diversity as possible.”

“Ellis Marsalis is the icon when it comes to composition—he is the creator,” declares Torkanowsky of his decision to pay tribute to him and the late great musicians in the ELM Music Company. “He is the aesthetic to which many of us aspire. My approach when I’m playing his music is to honor his intent.” O

Thursday May 4 at 3:20 p.m.