Cooking up a jazz stew

The Abraham Burton & Eric McPherson Quartet is an American melting-pot jazz brew, and their debut in Prague should be a highlight of the spring jazz season.

Saxophonist Burton and drummer McPherson go way back. Growing up together in New York, they were often running by small jazz clubs, which at that time still regularly had names like Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach and Charles Mingus on the marquees.

While Burton is secretive about his year of birth, his recollection of these times in a conversation with The Prague Post puts him on the streets from the early 1970s through the '80s. "As kids, Eric and I were all into hip-hop and rap, poppin' and break dancing," he says. "Eric was a killer beatbox; he did things I'd never seen before. And he had a bad Moon Walk, too! I'm a Michael Jackson fan, but he didn't have anything on Eric when it came to the Moon Walk."

Along with street inspiration, Burton has academic creds. He studied at the LaGuardia High School of Music & Performing Arts, then had an apprenticeship under the legendary saxophonist and composer Jackie Mclean at the University of Hartford's Hartt School, where he earned a BA with honors in music and performance. One of the most important lessons he learned from McLean, Burton says, was to study jazz history, and learn the work of forefathers such as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Sydney Bechet and Louis Armstrong.

"As jazz musicians, we must have a strong understanding of the music as well as knowledge of the history of its pioneers," he explains. "Otherwise, it's like trying to be an athlete without knowing the rules and strategies of your sport, or an English teacher who doesn't know any literature or have any grammar skills."

To stay sharp, Burton regularly plays with the memorial Charles Mingus Big Band at the Jazz Standard in New York. "I've played with the band for about 12 or 13 years, maybe longer," he says.

Burton also draws on a different, unique culture. His parents are from Belize, a tiny English-speaking country (and former British colony) bordering Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean. "I was the first in my family born in America, and at that time the situation was that most of our family was still back home," he says. "There were only a few friends and cousins who had also ventured out to the States, so all of those families stuck together tightly.

"We lived in America, but we were Central American and proud Belizean, in subtle and at times not-so-subtle ways," he continues. "I remember the music. There was always music in our house, or next door or down the block, lots of 'soca' and 'punta rock.' I still go home to Belize as often as I can. It has become common ground for a meeting of diverse cultures that have now formed a unique, flavorful and extremely attractive super-culture."

Burton could just as easily be talking about the fiery pot of jazz that he has brewed up with McPherson and the other quartet members, pianist David Bryant and bassist Derzon Douglas. Their sound is ultimately a meeting of American cultures with divergent histories, forces best expressed in Burton's scorching yet lyrical saxophone, complemented by McPherson's grace and power on drums.

Their music is forward-looking. "Our quartet focuses on the compositions of the musicians in the band," Burton says. "We play a few standards, but mainly the music of the musicians."

Burton describes McPherson as a craftsman and artist whose boundless visions exceed the restrictions of limitation. His own playing is no less compelling.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com