Hangin' with Houston and other jazz highlights

Here are some notes compiled while listening to Jimmy Heath's "Basic Birks":

As I sat in the Francis Marion Starbucks writing this June 7, John Williams, the great baritone saxophonist in the Count Basie Orchestra, noticed me and stopped by to say goodbye.

Nothing could have been finer to end an intense weekend of jazz in South Carolina.

John, a friend and mentor, was checking out of the hotel, heading home to Orangeburg after participating in the Charleston Jazz Initiative Legends Orchestra, the centerpiece of the research project's Piccolo Spoleto celebration.

Houston Person, a friend of his and mine, was also here to play in the band.

Some of you may remember that I wrote about Houston last year, making a public mea culpa for grossly exaggerating to some people rumors that he had assumed room temperature. I mistakenly told my research partner, Dr. Karen Chandler, that I had heard Houston had passed.

Everybody got a kick out of teasing me about my embarrassment, so it was great to confirm my followup report that Houston, an iconic saxophonist, was indeed alive and well.

So, it was especially cool to hang out with him for a few days. It was also educational, inspiring and, most of all, funny.

This guy's a riot.

From the time we hooked up to the night before his early Monday morning departure, it was a laugh a minute. He regaled with stories that shared the fruits of the myriad of experiences he's had traveling the world and making music, all through the prism of his upbringing in Florence.

Before I could arrange to meet him, we bumped into each other in the hotel and it was all uphill from there.

He hollered, teased, cajoled, and commanded all whom he encountered while here. He had a joke, an anecdote, a lesson or an admoni-tion for everyone.

By his second day, all the bellmen, servers and clerks were in the palm of his hand. It was amazing - and down right hilarious - to watch.

At rehearsal for a small band gig he did June 4 with Tommy Gill, Kevin Hamilton and Quentin Baxter he was a tough, tough taskmaster, knowing he would be deferred to as the grey eminence he is. What was noticeable, too, is that he took this route after realizing these guys can play and could handle his exhortations. He's a fun-loving guy but he's a serious artist.

There were also many endearing moments with him. As his large frame barreled down the aisle at the Sottile Theatre for a rehearsal, he immediately launched into a mock tirade against his old schoolmate, saxophonist Lonnie Hamilton, bordering on disrupting the session. It was all so funny though, no one minded the sudden interruption.

Startlingly, the day before he recognized another mate from South Carolina State College, Raymond Rhett, who he had not seen in 50-odd years. Right off the bat, he's no doddering old fool. As many of the old school giants of jazz are, he's witty, insightful and makes everyone around him better.

It was great to see him - alive, well and funny.

North America, South America

Two Spoleto Festival USA performances I saw left an indelible mark on my memory.

Singers Lizz Wright, who grew up in rural Georgia, and Fabiana Cozza, a native of Sao Paolo, Brazil, bared their souls in song, Lizz at the Gaillard and Fabiana at The Cistern. They were also part of the ongoing debate as to what is jazz. Some fans were disappointed in both to the extent that they weren't purveyors of classical jazz tunes and styles.

No one I talked to, though, denied their talent.

They both were so good, however, it just doesn't matter what you call it. I'm the first to defend against jazz ripoffs but that's not what was going on with these women. Both come from melting-pot cultures, rendering an art as close to folk music as anything else. Their music improvises, soothes and redeems.

Neither Lizz nor Fabiana, who both sang barefoot, perform in the style of Duke Ellington but being the spiritual, blues-based artist he was he would have loved every minute of their shows.

They were beyond category.

Jazz Vespers

Acoustic guitarist Nikolai Svishev will perform the Jazz Vespers program at Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St., at 6 p.m. on June 13. Svishev performs many styles, among them Spanish, samba, gypsy swing and Brazilian jazz.

The ecumenical service is free.