Emily’s take on: Another look at jazz

March 10th, 2010. This is only an excerpt! To read the full article click here.

Make plans now to be at Czar Bar on March 19. Local up-and-coming jazz group Diverse is teaming up with Les Izmore of Hearts of Darkness for a tribute to Chicago rap artist Common’s breakthrough album Like Water for Chocolate — a show not to be missed.

Released in 2000, Like Water for Chocolate mixes elements of jazz, funk, hip hop and spoken word, and features guest spots by D’Angelo, Mos Def, MC Lyte and others.

Diverse’s Hermon Mehari, 22, a trumpeter in his senior year at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, took time to chat about the show, Common’s music and how Diverse is working to change our perception of jazz music.

Emily: How did you come up with the idea for the show?

Hermon: Our group members come from all different backgrounds, all different genres — gospel, jazz, hip hop — and they really complement each other. I think I met Les during a show at Record Bar. He liked our stuff and we thought, “let’s do a collaboration.”

E: What made you choose Like Water for Chocolate?

H: It’s one of my favorite hip-hop albums. I love every track. Common’s words are almost poetry. There are some really deep moments in that album, not the normal radio brand of hip hop. The musicians on the album are awesome, which helps us out.

E: Who are you trying to reach with this collaboration?

H: One of our ideas is that people who have never seen jazz will be more open to checking it out and, at the same time, people who haven’t seen hip hop can be in that scene. I think a lot of people are interested to see a real band play behind a hip hop artist. The audience can feel the difference in the energy when there’s a live band and people are feeding off each other’s talent.

E: If a person has never been to a jazz show before, why should they see Diverse?

H: After a lot of our shows people will come up and say, “I don’t really listen to jazz, but I really like you guys.” Our presentation is different than most traditional groups. We engage the audience. We’re a young group, so it’s energetic and accessible. When we played our last show at Czar Bar, people hadn’t really heard us before. At the beginning everyone was talking and doing their own thing, but by the end, their eyes were on us.

What: A tribute to Common’s Like Water for Chocolate by Les Izmore and Diverse When/where: 9 p.m. March 19 at Czar Bar, 1531 Grand Blvd. Cost: $7

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