By Jerome Langston
When I reached jazz saxophonist Jaleel Shaw for our phone chat a few days ago, the Philadelphia native was navigating the running of errands around the city in New Jersey — and was especially zeroed in on the need to drop off a suit at a local dry cleaner, for an upcoming wedding. The acclaimed alto saxophonist, who also plays the baritone and tenor sax, teaches at the Manhattan School of Music, so he’s regularly in NYC… teaching and gigging. We’re chatting because Shaw is coming to Norfolk later this month to play the Attucks Jazz Club series, which launches its latest season with his concert, housed within the historic Attucks Theatre. Jaleel will be accompanied by the John Toomey Trio, featuring Toomey on piano, Frank Russo on drums, and Jimmy Masters on bass. Artists featured in the latter dates of the new season includes vibraphonist Joel Ross, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, and the remarkable René Marie, who is one of our jazz vocal legends from the Commonwealth.
Jaleel Shaw attended the prestigious Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, which counts as alumni; notable artists including Questlove and Boyz II Men. It’s a storied institution, but Jaleel tells me that he was already established in the local jazz scene when he got to the school. He was seriously playing the sax at eleven years old as part of an elite youth jazz ensemble in Philly. “As time went on, I immersed myself in the Philly jazz scene, more and more, and that scene included really great artists like Shirley Scott…Grover Washington Jr., and Byard Lancaster,” he says. He eventually graduated from the Berklee College of Music and later earned a Master of Music in Performance, from the aforementioned Manhattan School of Music. Now a heralded jazz composer, Jaleel loved his time at Berklee.
“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had,” Jaleel says. “There were so many great young musicians there at the same time.” That included jazz vibraphonist Warren Wolf, whose music I still dig. And early on Jaleel studied with and was inspired by, legendary saxophonist and composer Bobby Watson, who is still performing and making music at a high level. He also mentions being inspired by the late great Roy Hargrove, whom he played with a few times, as well as cats like saxophonist Mark Turner and drummer Brian Blade. “They were all heroes of mine… especially Wayne Shorter,” he later says.
Shaw’s debut album, 2005’s Perspective received high acclaim, and he has since released critically acclaimed albums on his own label, Changu Records; including 2013’s The Soundtrack of Things to Come, and Echoes, which came out in 2021. The bandleader has also received positive ink from prestigious pubs like The New York Times and DownBeat. Earlier this year he released Painter of the Invisible, a sonically gorgeous album that features a remarkable ensemble of talent — including pianist Lawrence Fields, drummer Joe Dyson, and guitarist Lage Lund. He says that the album reflects his “thoughts and processes of a young Black man in these times,” and artistically responds to efforts led by some, to diminish the very lineage that men like Shaw and I, have built our artistic and cultural lives upon.
Music from his acclaimed new album will be played at his upcoming Attucks jazz club show, including one of the standouts from the record, entitled “Contemplation.” There will also likely feature standards that jazz loving fans should know. Towards the end of our conversation, Jaleel and I discuss intermittent fasting, the many challenges of a streaming focused music industry, and his upcoming projects. He really loves teaching… and marvels at how exceptional his jazz program students are. “I want them to be honest,” he says, referring to their art. “First and foremost, you got to be honest.”
WANT TO GO?
Jaleel Shaw, saxophone
Featuring the John Toomey Trio
Presented by Virginia Arts Festival
September 20
Attucks Theatre Jazz Club