Steelpan jazz virtuoso Victor Provost performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) on March 5 in his home country of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. His performance, while brief, caught the attention of legendary jazz trumpeter and composer, Wynton Marsalis, who leads the orchestra.
“What an honor it was for me to play a tune with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This orchestra operates on the highest level of musical sophistication, swing, and SOUL!” said Provost in a Facebook post after the event. “The opportunity to make music with them was humbling and magical, made even more so by the warmth and graciousness extended to me by Wynton, Marcus, Ali, Carlos, Vincent, Dan, Victor, Sherman, and all the brothers. Add to that the fact that I was playing for my hometown crowd on a stage that I practically grew up on… WOW! The bucket list just got a little shorter.”
The concert was put on by the United Jazz Foundation (UJF), as part of a Caribbean/South American Tour with the JLCO during a leg of its tour. Grammy winning drummer Dion Parson, who leads the 21st Century band, which Provost is a part of, decided it would be perfect timing to bring in the JLCO and Marsalis for a concert. Parson’s band is composed entirely of players from the Virgin Islands, making the experience more authentic and meaningful for all involved.
“We ended with Dion coming up to play. He introduced steel pan wizard Victor Provost and we grooved on home to a second line beat with Victor’s ‘Down on the Bayou’, said Marsalis of the experience in his recent blog. “The festive street beat with Mr. Provost’s individualistic and soulful singing pans provided the proper spirit of place, we were swinging in the Caribbean. It was a fitting end to a great day.” The blog entry can be viewed HERE.
Considering the level of recognition the JLCO has in the jazz world, having been recently referenced in the Oscar-winning film Whiplash, Provost was honored to be part of the event, to say the least.
“I was terrified. I wasn’t familiar with the tune<span “font-size:13.0pt;font-family:times;mso-fareast-font-family:=”” “ＭＳ=”” 明朝”;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-bidi-font-family:times;=”” mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>--I didn’t even know what key it was in! Luckily it ended up being a straight-up Second line groover in Bb minor (at least I hope it was in Bb minor!!),” Provost said. “After the band played the head, there was an opening, so I started playing and kept going until Wynton cued the horn backgrounds. That’s the beautiful thing about playing this music with such high level artists—there is such a deep understanding of tradition and form that we don’t have to talk about it ahead of time. I knew it was my to chance to blow and when I heard the horn backgrounds, I knew that was my last chorus. Then Wynton pointed at me and nodded his head in approval. It was terrifying, exhilarating, and humbling all at once.”
For more on Victor Provost, check out our exclusive interview with him HERE.
Provost flexes his improvisational skills at a concert with Paquito d’Rivera.
