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brothers headline the DJF’s Saturday evening bill on the J.P.
Morgan Chase Main Stage. Enteje and OhioFUNK
website founder Jack Marchbanks was on hand to take in all
in. Alas, it was not to be. A powerful thunderstorm blew through
the Detroit Jazz Festival (DJF) around 6:30pm on Saturday
evening, September 3rd, with stinging airborne gravel and
horizontal rain propelled by 60 mile per hour winds. All performances
scheduled for that evening were canceled, as lightning, rain
and high winds were still in the forecast.
Carlos,
Wilfredo, Lou and Rick Wilson in the 2011 DJF Jazz Talk Tent
The
storm literally chased the Wilson brothers (who are the core
of Mandrill) out of the Jazz Talk Tent, at which they were
sharing their musical wisdom and cultural observations with
fans before the scheduled concert. Nonetheless, Enteje
has to express its profound gratitude to Bobby Jackson, creator/producer
of The Jazz Mind website and well-regarded music critic
and historian, for convincing the DJF organizers to bring
Mandrill to the Motor City. Jackson is a native New Yorker
who befriended the Wilson brothers while they were all still
in competing high schools in the Big Apple.
Mandrill’s
Lou Wilson (l) with Marchbanks
Jackson afforded Marchbanks a very rare opportunity to meet
the musicians who had such a huge influence on him during
his college years. Mandrill didn’t disappoint. Rick “Doc”
Wilson, “Sweet” Lou Wilson, Wilfredo “Wolf” Wilson and Carlos
“Los” Wilson are truly a band of brothers in terms of their
genuine familial bond, cultural knowledge and respect for
the music emanating from the African Diaspora. Here’s hoping
that Jackson can get some producer re-schedule that concert
in the near future. Judging from the DJF crowd’s anticipation-then-heartbreak,
Mandrill would sell out wherever they played in the Great
Lakes Region and Northeast.
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