Michael Eugene Archer was a key figure in the world of R&B, soul, and hip-hop … but the artist better known as D’Angelo was also an important artist when it came to the combining those styles with that of jazz. He worked with and inspired artists within the jazz idiom and helped create the sound of neo-soul, something that has remained a key part of the evolution of today’s jazz, to the point of new Grammy categories under the greater jazz umbrella. On Saturday May 30, Jazz in Toronto’s Community Celebration honoured the music and influence of D’Angelo in a special concert at TD Music Hall under the musical direction of Michael Shand, who joined me in studio to tell us a little more about it.
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Michael Shand honours the late D’Angelo with soul-stirring Toronto celebration
Michael Shand (fourth from the left) and Friends
Credit:Courtesy of Gavin Hope
What’s your connection to D’Angelo?
Michael Shand: D’Angelo is so vitally important to our trajectory for us musicians, especially in the Toronto scene. We were all so excited and thrilled when that music came about, we could all remember when we gathered together, for example, in someone’s car listening to the Brown Sugar record for the first time. It was that kind of excitement and we just want to pay homage to that.
Why do you feel like this music has resonated so much with people? Why was he so important to so many artists?
I think when you’re trained in jazz music, you can play so many different styles of music and you draw from so many different styles of music to create your style of playing. And then to hear this record that just had it all – gospel, some blues, some gritty hip hop grooves and rhythms on the drums and jazz of course. A music that not only celebrated the lead vocalist, D’Angelo, who is amazing, but also the players and the sidemen such as Pino Palladino, Questlove on drums and Roy Hargrove playing horn so it had this same essence of celebrating the musicians and players as we do in the jazz idiom.
How do you choose the artists and tunes for this show? Who’s involved?
The team is absolutely incredible! We have four singers and a seven-piece band. We have Selena Evangeline, Sasha Williamson (Sasha and I went to York together), Chris Rouse, Gavin Hope who used to be a part of the Nylons, just an incredible, experienced, knowledgeable, fantastic, soul-moving, soul-stirring singers. Then I put a horn section together with Mr. Alexis Baro, Ashot Grigorian and Howard Moore. Then there’s the rhythm section with KC Roberts on guitar, Calvin Beale on bass, David Richards from Trinidad who will be joining us for the first time on drums and myself on keys. Jay Blues will be opening for us as well.
If you like to support Toronto-grown talent, we have world-class musicians on this stage. I think we need to be less apologetic, we deserve to be standing on top echelon just like all the other cities that produce great musicians, Toronto is right there with them.
This interview was been edited and condensed for clarity.