Democracy in a Sonic Way Comes Through Jazz

While titanic tenor saxophonists such as John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Joe Lovano have continued to command the conversation on the power and flavor of improvisation, there is a plethora of impressive tenors weaned on the elders.

Of that crew, the compelling J.D. Allen stands in the upper echelons as the most dynamic, creative and elegant tenor saxophonist who has gained traction through inspired hard work.

At the age of 50 he has already recorded 16 albums with the 17th, “This,” on the way this fall (he aspires to document one new outing per year).

Allen brings his trio to the Parrish Art Museum on September 1 as one of the marquee performances of the 3rd Annual Hamptons Jazz Festival. A native of Detroit who logged time in New York, then Cincinnati and now Jersey City, he says this marks his first step into the Hamptons. His trio of bass player Will Slater and drummer Nic Cacioppo is augmented by trombonist Jerrick Matthews — a first for Allen.

“Can you believe it,” he says. “We’ll all work together, studying each other and moving forward to document it. Whenever we play, it’s never planned.”

Allen does say that they’ll probably play music from his 2016 album “Americana — Musings on Jazz and Blues,” plus from 2020’s “Toys/Die Dreaming.” He promises to add new music to mix it all up.

Allen is personally engaged in his music with his goal to express himself with the tenor to sound like a human voice. He also sears and tumbles through a pathway that opens universal new worlds for him. As such, he’s also a true struggler for social and racial progress in his music.

On his superb rootsy “Americana Vol. 2” album on Salvant Records, he muses on old-time Black history, summing up his 2022 collection by reflecting on his hope for empathy and respect. He commented in the liner notes: “We can certainly get to a better place. To do that, we’re going to have to pool our creativity, our resources, and call on the best of our traditions as methods for our transformation.”

Key to Allen’s success is his willingness to go against the grain, to communicate, to tell stories. He picked up the horn when he was 9 and played local Detroit clubs in his youth before getting a lucky break to head to New York to join jazz great vocalist Betty Carter.

“A friend wanted to send an audition tape to her to get into her Jazz Ahead school,” Allen says. “She got applications from all over the country, but my friend was chosen at which point Ms. Carter said she wanted to have that saxophonist come too. I ended up joining her band. I was frightened. I wasn’t ready for a high-caliber gig. I only knew two scales. I played by ear. It was trial under fire.”

Allen says that Carter was a tough teacher, but she schooled him in valuable lessons. “She taught me how to run a band,” he says. “Relay what the goals are and how to work together. That’s when I learned that democracy in a sonic way comes through jazz.”

After his first Americana session in 2016, Allen returned to the well in 2022 for “American, Vol. 2.” “It’s about renewal,” he says. “It’s indicative of the dream in being in this country which is a great democracy that allows for the opportunity to lead a band, to know your roles and the freedom in the music.”

The songs come from the muses Allen reflected on in the Black history of the U.S., ranging from the experiences of Southern Black sharecroppers to the Great Migration of Black families from the South to the North and Midwest in the early 1900s. He also instrumentally weighs in on “The Battle of Blair Mountain” where in 1921 there was the biggest armed labor uprising since the Civil War over oppressive conditions of coal miners. There are jazz renditions of a folk tune and a standard with a social undertone of forming action-based human and civil rights coalitions.

But don’t count on many or any of these songs to be performed at the Parrish because they are missing a key ingredient. Renowned jazz/blues/country guitarist Charlie Hunter played on the album and according to Allen was an integral artist for the project.

“I can’t imagine ‘Americana 2’ without Charlie who has a unique gift,” Allen says. “When Charlie plays the blues, I’m right there with him. We struck up a friendship, talked about the blues, worked some things out, and he was the perfect fit.”

In the future, expect more music from the group that Allen now calls Americana. But that’s not his only future-looking project. His latest, “This,” is an electronics album recorded in South London which samples ace Alex Bonney and dynamic drummer Gwilyn Jones. The drums bash, the electronics float and tumult with eerie drones, and Allen takes center stage with exciting solos that transcend the music below — almost like a solo show with subtle and bombastic support.

“It’s all about expressing yourself,” Allen says. “But there is a vulnerability when you create and play what you feel. As a jazz musician, you have a bird’s-eye view of the past and the future. I step outside with tough skin and tender skin.”

Even with 17 albums in his discography, Allen says you have to be guarded.

“But it’s a good thing to be in touch with your vulnerability,” he says. “There’s strength in it. It opens possibilities. I love an adventure. I can do the noble deeds to experience with color and feel. That’s what makes me know that I’m beyond just being a musician. I am an artist.”

The J.D. Allen Trio performs at Parrish Art Museum on Friday, September 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. as part of the 2023 Hamptons Jazz Festival. Visit parrishart.org for details. The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill.

Shelter Island-based Dan Ouellette has been a contributor to DownBeat magazine (the jazz Bible) since 1988. He has written two biographies on Ron Carter and Bruce Lundvall and will publish his new work “The Landfill Chronicles — Conversations on Jazz and Eclectic Music Elevated to a State of Art” on Cymbal Press in early 2024.