LIVE: The Wize Guyz @ Jazz on Jay, Schenectady, 06/23/2022

Jazz on Jay is a nice way for folks in downtown Schenectady to spend their lunch hour. Even if it is indoors at the rain site, Robb Alley. This week’s band Wize Guyz provided the music. 

Herbie Hancock said, “Jazz has borrowed from other genres and also lent itself to other genres”. Leader Ben Odom’s roots are in gospel music; he is a member of the Soul Stirrers and has worked with the Blind Boys Of Alabama and Taj Mahal, and enjoys the music of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Take 6, and Donny Hathaway. The influences of all these genres and others were heard in this set of music that was curated as a pleasant way to unwind and forget the troubles of the world for an hour and a half.

Opening with the 1950s Benny Golson classic “Killer Joe”, the band proceeded to establish an easy-going funky groove that was the basis of most of their set.

Azzaam Hameed sang “Summertime” and, considering it was chronologically appropriate, the chill in the air outside made one wonder. They reached way back to the 1930s for “Dream A Little Dream of Me”, which has been covered by many different artists in many different styles. This Baby Boomer’s ears were first acquainted with this song from The Mamas and The Papas in 1968, and identified it with the late Mama Cass. Other pop songs of the long-gone Tin Pan Alley era included “Fly Me To The Moon” and “Mack the Knife”.

Joe Henderson’s “Blue Bossa”, a highly rhythmic hard bop/bossa, is actually quite danceable. Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar” from the CTI catalog, and the closely-associated-with-Jaco-Pastorius’s “The Chicken” assured us that this was indeed jazz being played.

More sixties/seventies pop was represented by Bobby Hebb’s song “Sunny”, the Carpenters’ “Close to You”, and the song that created the bossa nova craze in the early 60s, “Girl from Ipanema”

Rhythm and blues were represented by “Jump, Jive and Wail“, associated with Brian Setzer, and “Iko Iko”, associated with the Neville Brothers. Both have earlier origins.

The sole original played was by the young Mattias Taylor (Azzaam Hameed’s student), “Doodie’s Blues”.

The music was all tied in, as it all was easy on the ear and our sometimes overstimulated mind, and reminded us of the simple joys of life.

Next Thursday’s Jazz on Jay will feature the Smooth Jazz of Music by McIntosh.

The Wize Guyz

• Ben Odom – bass, vocals
• Azzaam Hameed – keyboards, vocals
• Crick Diefendorf – guitar, vocals
• Kyle Moreen – saxophone
• Jack Kelley – drums, vocals
• Mattias Taylor – guest keyboardist

Set List

• Killer Joe
• Doodies Blues (Hameed and Mattias Taylor)
• Summertime
• Dream A Little Dream
• Blue Bossa
• Close To You
• Mack the Knife
• Sugar
• Girl From Ipanema
• Sunny
• Iko, Iko
• Jump, Jive and Wail
• Fly Me To The Moon
• The Chicken

Photo Gallery by Rudy Lu