Bridges and Owens Bring “Hope” to Herbst

Ulysses Owens Jr. with a reduced drum kit (photograph by Rayon Richards, courtesy of SFP)

Last night in Herbst Theatre, mezzo J’Nai Bridges made her San Francisco Performances (SFP) debut with a program entitled Notes on Hope. This was a project she developed in partnership with percussionist Ulysses Owens Jr., who is currently SFP Jazz Artist-in-Residence; and last night marked his first main-stage SFP performance. He led a “backup” combo for Bridges, which amounted to a rather unique quintet whose members were David Rosenthal on guitar, Reuben Rogers on bass, Ted Rosenthal on piano, Carol Robbins on harp, and Jalen Baker on vibraphone.

The program, which was performed without intermission, was divided into three parts reflecting the overall title: “Divine Hope,” “The Crux of Hope,” and “Hope Fulfilled.” Each section was organized around (but not confined to) a different genre. The first section was framed by traditional religious songs, “The Lord’s Prayer” and “There is a Balm in Gilead,” flanking Duke Ellington’s “Heaven,” one of the movements in his Second Sacred Concert.

The second began with an instrumental account of Geri Allen’s “Skin,” followed by combo arrangements of art songs by Erik Satie (“Je te veux”), Ted Rosenthal (“Always Believe,” from his Dear Eric opera), and Valdemar Henrique (“Boi Bumba”). The final section offered two compositions by Florence Price, the song “Hold Fast to Dreams,” composed for Marian Anderson, and an instrumental combo arrangement of “Adoration.” The program then wrapped up with “It’s Good to Have You Near Again,” which André Previn composed for Leontyne Price. For the one encore selection, the combo backed up Bridges for a jazzy account of “L'amour est un oiseau rebelle,” the habanera from the first act of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, sung by the title character.

Presumably, Owen was responsible for all of the combo arrangements. He could not have done a better job, and it was impressive how the group could find its “comfort zone” in Satie and Price as easily as it could in the only Ellington selection. Bridges, on the other hand, seemed to be still finding her way through a terrain that distanced itself from the recital hall and the opera stage.

As a result, the seriousness she brought to Satie overlooked the composer’s wry sense of humor; and her delivery of “Boi Bumba” came across as too operatic. In fairness, however, she may have still been adjusting to working in a jazz combo setting. Her Carmen encore was clearly more in her comfort zone, even in an arrangement of unconventional instrumentation!

Hopefully, Bridges will find her comfort zone sooner, rather than later, because the very idea of her singing with a jazz combo had the potential of a treasure trove of stylistic possibilities.