Vol 5: #8: Battle of the Jazz Fests & more

In this issue:

*Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz - provisional programme for 2009

*Battle of the Festival Giants in NYC

* Journeymen - two icons of Afro-American music & culture speak up


*April is Jazz Appreciation Month, plus......How We Can Save Jazz



Jamaica Ocho Rios jazz festival founder Sonny Bradshaw

Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival 2009 June 13-20
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

Sat June 13 Jazz & Coffee In The Blue Mountains – Forres Pk. - 6.30 pm

Sun June 14 Opening Jazz Day - Pegasus In The Garden – Kingston - 6.30 pm

Mon June 15 FGFS Build Jamaica with Music – Public Free Concert – Ochie/Kgn Jazz Summer School – Mon.-Fri.

Tues June 16 FGFS Build Jamaica with Music – Public Free Concert – Ochie/Kgn Christopher's Jazz Café (Kgn) & Jazz At Sunset (Negril)

Wed June 17 FGFS Build Jamaica with Music – Public Free Concert – Ochie/Kgn Mocking Bird Hill - ( Port Antonio)

Thurs June 18 International Jazz Night – Red Bones Blues Café - Kingston - 9pm FGFS Build Jamaica with Music – Public Free Concert - Ochie/Kgn Jazz Lunch Breezes - (Runaway Bay)

Fri June 19 FGFS Build Jamaica with Music – Public Free Concert – Ochie/Kgn South Coast Jazz – (Treasure Beach)

Sat June 20 'Come Dancing' After Matinee Dance - Kingston - 8 pm Jazz Dinner - Glenns Jazz Club - Tower Isle –Ochie – 8 pm

Sun June 21 Closing Father’s Day Jazz – 'Evans Scent' ( St. Ann-Ochie-) 1-6 pm

The Jazz Bus – Kingston - Ochie/Priory, St. Ann

FEATURES

June is Jazz Month - Monday 1st June Red Bones Blues Café
Theme - Straight Ahead Jazz And Beyond
Jazz Summer School - Jazz Week - Monday-FRIDAY Community & School Band Competition
Come Dancing - Glass Bucket, Silver Slipper, Bournemouth, Sugar -Hill, TADP
Myrna Hague Singers' Contest
Charity - Breast Cancer
FGFS Merchandise – Jazz Cups, T-shirts, Jazz Bags, etc.
Jazz At Sunset - Negril Escape
Ska & Reggae Revival – Fab5 Inc. & Junior Soul


Will New York have a major jazz festival this summer?

It depends on whom you ask. Festival Network, which has presented the JVC Jazz Festival for the past two years, says it will. But concert promoters, booking agents and others in the jazz world say that because of the economy and a rift between Festival Network and the impresario George Wein, it is possible that New York will lack a big festival for the first time in 37 years.

In 2007 Mr. Wein, 83, sold his company, Festival Productions — which produced the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, the jazz and folk festivals in Newport, R.I., and many others — to Festival Network, which continued to employ him as a producer-emeritus.

But Mr. Wein said that he had not been paid since November, and Rhode Island authorities said that they canceled Festival Network’s contract to present events at Fort Adams State Park, the festival’s longtime home, because of late payments.

Muddying the water for jazz fans, Mr. Wein and Chris Shields, the chairman of Festival Network, said they were presenting events in Newport and New York.

On Tuesday Mr. Wein said he would be putting on jazz and folk festivals in Newport under his own name, with no connection to Festival Network. He is seeking sponsors for the events, but said he would back them himself if none came through.

“We believe that Newport has to be saved, one way or the other,” Mr. Wein said.

But in an e-mail message Mr. Shields said, “We view George Wein’s effort to ensure the legacy of music festivals in Newport as complementary with FN’s own effort to produce the Newport Jazz and Newport Folk festivals, the trademarks of which we control.”

George Wein’s Folk Festival 50 is to take place July 31 to Aug. 2, and George Wein’s Jazz Festival 55 will run Aug. 7 to 9.

In addition, the fate of the JVC festival in New York, which usually happens in June, is unclear. Festival Network owns the rights to it, and Mr. Shields said he intended to put on a New York jazz festival in 2009. Mr. Wein, in turn, said he had booked a handful of dates at Carnegie Hall in June, including two nights with Diana Krall, but that without a major sponsor he could not afford to host a full-scale festival.

A Carnegie Hall spokeswoman confirmed that a number of dates were being held in June under Mr. Wein’s name, but none for Festival Network. A spokesman for JVC, which has sponsored many of Mr. Wein’s and Festival Network’s events around the world, declined to comment on whether the company would be sponsoring any of the festivals this year.

Regardless, it may be too late. Scott Southard, who represents dozens of jazz and world-music acts, said he and other booking agents were “operating with the assumption that it’s not going to happen.” Festival dates are usually secured by January, he said, and since a New York event looked unlikely, many big tours will be bypassing New York.

“Artists who are capable of selling Carnegie Hall-level shows have suddenly had one of the cornerstone events pulled out of the booking season,” Mr. Southard said.

Mr. Wein said that he felt more obliged to preserve the Newport festivals than the one in New York, where jazz fans have plenty of events to choose from. The Vision Festival, for one, will present avant-garde music, dance and poetry for a 14th year in June.

“I’m not necessary in New York,” Mr. Wein said. “New York’s a jazz festival all year long

-Ruby Washington/The New York Times


Journeymen
Amiri Baraka & Henry Grimes

Amiri Baraka and Henry Grimes are very different men with several intriguing similarities. Founder of the Black Arts Movement, prolific poet, playwright, and essayist Baraka exudes a political intensity grounded in both history and current events. Henry Grimes is one of the world's greatest living jazz bassists, exuding a quieter disposition that hints at a complex and individualistic spirituality. Both men remain passionate about their work, channeling powerful waves of artistic energy that belie their years (Grimes is 73, Baraka is 74).

While Baraka moves in a slightly stooped shuffle, his voice retains its vitality, sounding like that of a far younger man. Grimes, meanwhile, speaks softly and with a halting cadence, although the raw physicality of his performances would seemingly tire a man half his age. Performing individually and together, the two recently took the stage in Brooklyn, as part of IPR's Littoral Reading Series.

-from earplug



APPRECIATE JAZZ

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), an annual event created by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History “to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and its importance as an American cultural heritage."

In addition, JAM is “intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz -- to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and support institutional jazz programs."

To promote the event, once again the Smithsonian has commissioned a poster of a jazz legend; this year's poster (pictured) features a classic Al Hirschfeld caricature of clarinet player and bandleader Benny Goodman, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Goodman's birth. The museum has printed 250,000 posters for free distribution to music and jazz educators, librarians, music merchants and manufacturers, radio stations, arts presenters, and U.S. embassies worldwide. To request a copy, send an email to jazz@si.edu. You can also download the poster (pictured) in PDF format.


-allaboutjazz.com



How We can Save jazz
Of course, we're agreeing here that it (1) needs saving, and (2) is worth saving

The following list has been 'doctored' from the Smithsonian Institution, who run the annual Jazz Appreciation Month observances, but there's no reason why some of the initiatives couldn't work in the Jamaican context

Collectors
• Collect extra or unwanted jazz recordings or books and donate them
to a local high school, college, nursing home, or community center.
• Join the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors
(http://www.geocities.com/iajrc).

Look out for word on a Jamaican jazz records Drive, as well as A Jazz Day(or some portion thereof) on Jamaican radio soon

Fans
• Listen to a jazz CD, or MP3 that is new to you. Try to stretch your ears. If you
need some guidance, consult The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, by
Richard Cook and Brian Morton, or Tom Piazza’s Guide to Classic
Recorded Jazz, or blogs, such as this one and Jamaica Music Offbeat (www.jam-offbeat.blogspot.com)
• Read a good book on jazz.
• Find a new jazz Web site. (same as above, but also www.allaboutjazz.com)

• Listen to a radio station that plays genuine jazz.
This one, is a little difficult in the Jamaican context - J'can radio has 'left jazz for dead' but there are loads of good broadcasts on the Web

• Go to “This Date in Jazz History” (at www.SmithsonianJazz.org), pick
an anniversary, and find some music by that musician to explore.

Join your local jazz society - in our case Friends of Jazz - go to www.ochoriosjazz.com for more info

If none exists in your community, organize one.

• Read a jazz magazine, such as Down Beat, Jazz Times, or Jazziz. Others
include: Cadence, Jazz Education Journal, Jazz Improv, The Mississippi
Rag: The Voice of Traditional Jazz and Ragtime, and from Canada, Coda,
Planet Jazz, and The Jazz Report.

• Host a jazz listening session in your home or a jazz-themed party in
honor of a favorite musician, or to celebrate jazz in general.

• Read a jazz-related poem—such as those in The Jazz Poetry Anthology,
edited by Sascha Feinstein and Yusef Komunyakaa or their The Second
Set: The Jazz Poetry Anthology, Volume 2.

• View and think about jazz-related artwork. How does the artwork express
jazz culture or the artist’s interpretation of jazz language? For an example
of jazz-related artwork, look in Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on Jazz.

Jazz Societies
• Ask your local library to feature jazz CDs, books, and videos during April.
• Ask the local museum or historical society if it would do a special
exhibition or program during April.
• Create a community-wide celebration by collaborating with your local
museum, public library, college, public radio/TV station, arts and
humanities councils, or performing arts center.
• Organize a tour of locally significant jazz sites.

• Organize a record/CD swapfest.

• Organize a jazz dance or jazz ball–perhaps encouraging the musicians
and dancers to wear vintage clothing. Make it a festive event.

• Organize a “Disc Drive” to collect unwanted jazz CDs to donate to local
schools, colleges, and nursing homes.

Parents
• Take your son or daughter to hear “live” jazz, such as the jazz band of
your local high school or college.

• Play jazz music while driving in the car or sitting at the dinner table with
your family and talk to your children about the music.

• Play different tracks from jazz CDs for your children and their friends
and ask for their reactions. Try different pieces and when you find some
that they like, consider exposing your child to more music by that artist.
• Suggest your child log on to a child-friendly jazz site.

• Display a jazz poster in your home, and talk about it with your children.
• Read to your young child. If you are the parent of a child aged 4-8, read
(or get your child to read) The Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub and Karen
Hanke, The Sound That Jazz Makes by Carole Boston Weatherford and
Eric Velasquez, Once Upon a Time in Chicago: The Story of Benny
Goodman by Jonah Winter and Jeanette Winter, If I Only Had a Horn:
Young Louis Armstrong by Roxane Orgill and Leonard Jenkins, or Chris
Raschka’s Mysterious Thelonious or Charlie Parker Played Be Bop.
• Contact your local jazz society to see if it offers a jazz education program;

Working Musicians
• Donate a concert to your local primary, secondary or tertiary institution. After
the concert, be available to talk with students about jazz and encourage
their interest.

• Explore the work of a musician who is new to you.

• Go to “This Date in Jazz History” (at www.smithsonianjazz.org) and find
an anniversary around which you could perform a piece, dedicate a
tune, etc.

• Ask the Music Performance Trust Funds to pay for special concerts
during JAM.

• Get together with fellow musicians and organize a citywide “Jazz Day”
or “Jazz Night” and have a citywide JAM session.

• Feature music of the jazz legends whose birthdays fall in April: Duke
Ellington, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Dodds,
Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers, Mongo
Santamaria, Tito Puente, Freddie Hubbard, Randy Weston, or Herbie
Hancock.

Churches
• Hold a Jazz Vespers service.
• Commission a concert of a religious work in the jazz idiom, such as
Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, or one composed by Mary Lou
Williams or Dave Brubeck.

VOL 5: #7: Mickey Hanson, The Lost Riddim, The Peacemaker's Chauffeur & more

In this Issue:

* 'Re-animating' J'can live music with Mickey Hanson;

* Canadian reggae-jazz man Jason Wilson & more form Jazz on the Green;

* CD reviews: A 'double take with Italian maestro Roberto Magris

* Ernie Ranglin & Co. seek the 'Lost Riddim' in NYC

* Jazz Routes: Upcoming events


TRUMPETER MICKEY HANSON: THE RE-ANIMATOR

For 2009, Hanson is going all out to reanimate and revitalize live improvised music, through initiativesIn what was the final week of events for 2008 in the Live Music nation series, trumpeter Mickey Hanson will lead his band in the popular Tuesday Night jazz showcase at Christopher's Jazz Cafe inside the Quad in New Kingston. No stranger to live gigs or to the Griot Music-produced LMN series, Hanson's lyrical voicings on the horn, and his wide knowledge of contemporary music and easygoing rapport have endeared him to audiences far and wide. Hanson has been one of the principal persons involved in the resurgence of live music in small venues through the successful series “Live Thursdays at the Deck.”

The Live music nation series, which began with the lone Tuesday night engagement over two years ago, has grown to encompass three nights: A Thursday Singer's Night at Christopher's is also popular, while the recently added Wednesday Night Rocks has seen growing interest form aficionados of the the 'rock/alternative' scenes.

Among the other artistes that have been featured are pianists Kathy Brown, Kamla Hamilton and Dennis Rushton, saxophonist Nicholas Laraque, vocalists Janine Cunningham, Bijean Gayle, Katrina Harley, Hezron and Mario Evon. The 2008 series will close out with performances from Althea 'di Chic' Hewitt on Thursday night and, before that, a special Wednesday concert headlined by Tessanne Chin at Backyaad on Constant Spring Road. Opening for Chin will be rockers Gas Money and Crimson Heart Replica.

Mickey Hanson’s accomplished music career spans the past four decades. A self-taught musician, he learned to play the trumpet at the age of 16, and soon attracted the attention of the popular bands that were playing the live music circuit during the sixties. Hanson took to the stage with the Presidents (1963-67) and the Cascades (1967-70) before spending several years (1973-1977) under the tutelage of the great American composer, arranger and trombone player Melba Liston at the Jamaica School of Music. His talent earned him a place by her side as a colleague on her tour of schools, colleges and university music departments in Pennsylvania and New York in 1975.
On his return to Jamaica, Hanson took a five-year stint at Kingston’s New Kingston hotel which he credits as the genesis of his solo career. Between 1979 and 1984, he and the Caribs band kept the city’s nigh crowd jumping at the Johnkanoo Lounge, then Kingston’s premier night club. As his success with the public grew, his fans called for recordings from the much-loved trumpet player and Hanson’s recording career began. His first venture into the studio in 1985 produced a popular single release, Kyu Sakamoto’s Sukiyaki. This was followed by releases of Stevie Wonder’s Harmor Love, Prez Prado’s Mambo classic Patricia and fellow Jamaican Glen Brownie’s Love Song. All enjoyed respectable success on the charts and served to establish Hanson as a name on the Jamaican music scene.
He has performed and recorded with Jamaica’s own legend Bob Marley, at a time when the 'Gong' was just beginning to surface as a force in the music world.
The occasion was the only Jamaican appearance by Michael Jackson, who at the time was still performing as a member of the Jackson Five. Hanson also became a regular in the recording sessions of other established artists; Bob Marley, (Survival album); Myrna Hague, (Send in the Clowns); Louise Bennett, (Miss Lou); Skatalites, (Last of the Great Guns); Fabulous Five (On the album Yu Safe!, which won a Jammy in 1986, the top award in Jamaica’s music industry). He was featured on the re-banding CD of the legendary Skatalites, although he was not an original member. Other bands included the Caribs, the Sonny Bradshaw Seven, the Big Band, the Mutual Life Players, Cedric Brooks’ Divine Light of Saba and the Ritz All Star Group.
His concert work includes appearances with the Shortwood 30 voice choir. Hanson’s career took another leap forward with the completion of his first album “For The Love of It”, which features his own distinctive interpretation of Jamaican Standards. “For the Love of It” enjoyed success both locally and overseas, and won two Jammy awards for best produced and arranged album. The album also encouraged a wide cross section of instrumentalists locally to produce albums as a result of its success.
His talent and standard of excellence were recognised as he was a specially invited guest on the Prime Ministers’ Independence Gala at Jamaica House. In 2004, his peers recognised his achievement by awarding him with the Jamaica Federation of Musicians Union Special Award in 2004 for “Outstanding contribution to the development of the Jamaican Music Industry.”


CD Review
Kansas City Outbound
Restless Spirits

Artist: Roberto Magris (piano); OTHERS AS LISTED


KEEPING GREAT COMPANY
Italian pianist/composer/all-round student of music Roberto Magris has built a career around consistently identifying and bonding with great talent, whether known, or just discovered. His Check-In CD under the banner of his Europlane band presented a great saxophonist in the person of Tony Lakatos, and magris continued the streak on the follow-up CD, Il Bello Di Jazz, that time with acknowledged maestro Herb Geller.

Now, Magris has made available two excellent recordings that again match him with peerless players. On Kansas City Outbound he hooks up with late, great bassist Art Davis, as well as "Junebug" Jackson, vetern sideman (drummer) to organ legend Jimmy Smith and local drum hero Zack Albetta.

The Restless Spirits CD is a different kind of match. Magris joins the Verona, Italy-based Big Band Ritmo Sinfonica Citta, a 43-piece outfit that is quickly establishing itself as one of Europe's finest. The music on this disc is more exuberant (especially with guest soloist Massimo Greco on trumpet and flugelhorn), and - to these ears - immediately likeable, but he Kansas City CD definitely rewards repeated listens, especially withthe group's take on the Billy Strayhorn ballad "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing" and the title track, with Davis' super-rich bass expositions giving justthe right oomph.

You can't go wrong with either CD, but why not double your pleasure and get them both. Go to www.myspace.com/robertomagrisjazz


Yard Party Uptown, - Ranglin et al in NYC

The party vibe was strong at this one-off concert put together by Jamaican historian Herbie Miller for Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall. It was an oldschool massive, and it was as if everybody pretty much knew everybody else, friends of the seven musicians shouting out to their countrymen and getting a shout back from the stage. A strong case could be made for the contention that for the past several decades, no other country has had more talented musicians per square mile than little Jamaica, and this casual yet dazzling display of three generations of island jazz talent only bolstered that argument. Serving as bandleader was iconic, ageless guitarist Ernest Ranglin, who in his six-decade career has played with just about every legendary Jamaican musician in calypso, jazz, ska and reggae. Former Sun Ra sideman Cedric “Im” Brooks and Douglas Ewart on sax joined in representing the older generation, with pianist Orville Hammond and longtime Gil Scott-Heron percussionist Larry McDonald filling in the middle and a young-gun rhythm section of Wayne Batchelor on bass and frequent Jimmy Cliff and Monty Alexander sideman Desmond Jones on drums. Running through a set heavily stacked with old mento standards, the group were loose and conversational but buckled down when they had to, with often exhilarating results.

Jazz from Jamaica tends to be especially melodically oriented, and tonight it was Hammond holding it down with the rhythm section pushing along on the basic, soul- or blues-based changes. Often Brooks would ham it up, opening the set with an amusing if ill-advised turn on vocals, serving as a foil to Ranglin’s counterintuitive sophistication. Now 76, Ranglin has never played better: given a chance to take center stage, he chose his spots and then wailed through some strikingly intense, even piercing solos, generally eschewing the fluttery Les Paul-inflected chordal style that’s been his trademark for so long. Hammond had fewer chances to cut loose, but made the best of them, bringing a masterfully eerie noir lounge touch to the few minor-key songs in the set. Brooks and Ewart were remarkably similar, each showing off a soulful, slowly crescendoing, thoughtful style that gave their cohorts ample opportunity to contribute or, in the case of Ranglin, echo and bend a phrase into a completely unexpected shape.

At their most boisterous, Jones would get out from behind his kit and pummel a big bass drum, McDonald coming over from his congas, joined by both Ewart and Brooks, creating a free-for-all that would eventually drown out the rest of the band. There were also a couple of perhaps expected, perhaps surprise special guests, namely a couple of older gentlemen who took the stage in front of the band and got the crowd roaring with their impressively agile dance moves while the security guards looked on bemusedly from the edge of the stage. Before the encore, Miller explained to the crowd that they had been ripping up the yard since way back in the day. And then the less frenetic of the two grabbed the mic and indulged in a long exhortation to the Rastas in the crowd, ending with a fervent suggestion to read Isaiah, Chapter 43 (a passage which doesn’t make much sense other than to say that God will mess with you if you don’t behave). And nobody stopped him or shut off the mic: no problem, mon. For about an hour and a half, it was like being in Montego Bay - or Ogetnom, as one of the night’s most beautifully haunting numbers was playfully titled.

-Lucid Culture


Jazz Routes: Upcoming events near & far

Apr 3-4: Capetown Int'l jazz fest; Robert Glasper, Maceo Parker, Mos Def, magic malik, Zaki Ibrahim, Capetown, S Africa; www.capetownjazzfest.com

May 2-10: St Lucia jazz; Amy Winehouse, Kassav, Angelique Kidjo, Michael McDonald
various venues, St Lucia; www.stluciajazz.com

May 23 – 25,: Various Locations throughout Atlanta, Georgia venues including: Woodruff Park, Centennial Olympic Park, Underground Atlanta, Churchill Grounds, Piedmont and more; AtlantaFestivals.com.

June 14-21: Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival - various venues; "Straight Ahead Jazz & Beyond" www.ochoriosjazz.com


Soul, Ska and More on the Green
Fab 5, Canadian jazz-reggae man score

We're not exactly sure why keyboardist vocalist jason Wilson chose to call his latest CD The Peacemaker's Chauffeur, but on witnessing his combo's great performance at Sunday's Jazz on the Green, we can say he and his crew were definitely in the driver's seat.

They were one of the highlights of the show's fifth renewal - this time in a new venue, the lawns of Jamaica House, the others including Fab Five - who closed with a rip-roaring ska revival - drummer Desi Jones & the Greenhouse Effect, and Charmaine Limonious, who partnered brilliantly with another keyboard ace, Chris McDonald. whilst the staging could have been reconfigured to be more intimate, there was nothing wrong with the musical offerings (nor with the amenities provided by Wray & Nephew, Kraft et al).
Wilson injected some energy into the proceedings with, well-crafted and heartily played gems from his oeuvre, including Your Love Shines A Light For Me and Icarus' Lament (Don't Look Down). Also gracing the proceedings were guitar maestro Ernest Ranglin (see Lost Riddim review this issue) who shows no signs of age in his technique and dexterity, and always with a soulful ear, and also James Brown veteran Pee Wee Ellis (based in London) who generally delivered a classic 'big' Texas Tenor sound, but who seemed just slightly out of sorts.

All in all a good package, one on which the Rotary organisers can look with some degree of pride.

Wow, Wilson!

He had already been featured on Riffin' but Canadian keyboardsit-vocalist jason Wilson and his crackerjack band were another highlight of Jazz on the Green. I'll have some commentary on the band and the bridges it has been building between jazz, reggae and pop, or go to www.jasonwilsonmusic.com to hear for yourself. Cool stuff

Jazz on the Green & Magris reviews - comin up

Had a good time at jamaica House Sunday nite last, at jazz on the Green

will publish that review, as well as my impressions of the excellent new CDs from Roberto Magris THIS WEEK!!!
watch for it

Happy birthday, Mr OC

Raise a toast of your favourite tipple today in tribute to 'free jazz' innovator Ornette Coleman, who turns 79 today.

'Slumdog's' Sweet Soundtrack, Sound The Trumpets, and more...

RIFFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 9/3/09, AT 8.35PM, AT NEWSTALK 93FM

LIVE STREAM WWW.NEWSTALK93FM.COM

MONDAY” IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING”. The Swing masters prove the wisdom that that timely remark, with a tribute to Lionel Hampton. An appreciation of SNOOKS EAGLIN, The New Orleans Legend.

TUESDAY: !TRUMPET SOUNDS!: The first of two trumpets, Argentinian, Diego Urcola, and Christian Scott Of New Orleans.

WEDNESDAY: San Francisco singer, Denise Perrier, has the big sound of Houston person’s tenor sax, blowing her along like a mighty wind. Also the mellifulous voice of Everette Greene.

THURSDAY: In his 3rd New York appearance in 2007, French pianist, Martial Solal, gave a solo performance at the Village Vanguard, that was hailed by the New York Times, “as the jazz event of the year”.

FRIDAY: RIFFIN’S FRIDAY NIGHT ‘RAMPIN SHOP’: Slumdog Millionaire’s sound track, got an Oscar for its music, in addition to the Oscar for Best Picture. K’NAAN, the Somalian rapper who is making waves.

More Raves for Ranglin & Co.

this one from music blogger Josh Rosenfielder, o nthe 'Lost Riddims' show at Harlem Stage. Check out his blog, earbender.

http://earbender.com/2009/02/ernest-ranglin-takes-manhattan/?8d1b9308

Enjoy. Shouldn't we have something like this here at home?

Yard Party Uptown, - Ranglin et al in NYC

Couldn't make it to the show (sigh), butthis, from NYC blog Lucid Culture, more than suffices.

Mon: Ernest Ranglin and Others in Concert in NYC 2/26/09
February 28, 2009 · No Comments

The party vibe was strong at this one-off concert put together by Jamaican historian Herbie Miller for Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall. It was an oldschool massive, and it was as if everybody pretty much knew everybody else, friends of the seven musicians shouting out to their countrymen and getting a shout back from the stage. A strong case could be made for the contention that for the past several decades, no other country has had more talented musicians per square mile than little Jamaica, and this casual yet dazzling display of three generations of island jazz talent only bolstered that argument. Serving as bandleader was iconic, ageless guitarist Ernest Ranglin, who in his six-decade career has played with just about every legendary Jamaican musician in calypso, jazz, ska and reggae. Former Sun Ra sideman Cedric “Im” Brooks and Douglas Ewart on sax joined in representing the older generation, with pianist Orville Hammond and longtime Gil Scott-Heron percussionist Larry McDonald filling in the middle and a young-gun rhythm section of Wayne Batchelor on bass and frequent Jimmy Cliff and Monty Alexander sideman Desmond Jones on drums. Running through a set heavily stacked with old mento standards, the group were loose and conversational but buckled down when they had to, with often exhilarating results.



Jazz from Jamaica tends to be especially melodically oriented, and tonight it was Hammond holding it down with the rhythm section pushing along on the basic, soul- or blues-based changes. Often Brooks would ham it up, opening the set with an amusing if ill-advised turn on vocals, serving as a foil to Ranglin’s counterintuitive sophistication. Now 76, Ranglin has never played better: given a chance to take center stage, he chose his spots and then wailed through some strikingly intense, even piercing solos, generally eschewing the fluttery Les Paul-inflected chordal style that’s been his trademark for so long. Hammond had fewer chances to cut loose, but made the best of them, bringing a masterfully eerie noir lounge touch to the few minor-key songs in the set. Brooks and Ewart were remarkably similar, each showing off a soulful, slowly crescendoing, thoughtful style that gave their cohorts ample opportunity to contribute or, in the case of Ranglin, echo and bend a phrase into a completely unexpected shape.



At their most boisterous, Jones would get out from behind his kit and pummel a big bass drum, McDonald coming over from his congas, joined by both Ewart and Brooks, creating a free-for-all that would eventually drown out the rest of the band. There were also a couple of perhaps expected, perhaps surprise special guests, namely a couple of older gentlemen who took the stage in front of the band and got the crowd roaring with their impressively agile dance moves while the security guards looked on bemusedly from the edge of the stage. Before the encore, Miller explained to the crowd that they had been ripping up the yard since way back in the day. And then the less frenetic of the two grabbed the mic and indulged in a long exhortation to the Rastas in the crowd, ending with a fervent suggestion to read Isaiah, Chapter 43 (a passage which doesn’t make much sense other than to say that God will mess with you if you don’t behave). And nobody stopped him or shut off the mic: no problem, mon. For about an hour and a half, it was like being in Montego Bay - or Ogetnom, as one of the night’s most beautifully haunting numbers was playfully titled.

Monty Does nat kIng Cole

Links
From allaboutjazz.com - the latest release from Jamaican piano legend Monty Alexander, Calypso Blues: the Music of Nat King Cole

Afro-Cuban Rhythms, Reggae from Israel & more

RIFFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 2/3/09, 8.35PM, AT NEWSTALKS 93 FM


LIVE STREAM WWW.NEWSTALK93FM.COM


TUESDAY: The first of two nights of ‘MUSIC MEDITATION”, with Wes Montgomery, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan.

WEDNESDAY: MUSIC MEDITATION TWO: The sensual bolero, a Cuban music of intimacy and dreams, gets full play from bassist, Charlie Haden, and guests. Bolero, gives way to the smouldering, African flamenco singer, Buika.

THURSDAY: Singer, Ann Hampton Callaway’s “At Last”, is possibly her best recording to date. She’s cool expansive, and swings with a superb backing band.

FRIDAY: !RIFFIN’S FRIDAY NIGHT RAMPIN SHOP!, with a cameo by Somalian rapper K’Naaan. Also Sizzla, Jah Cure, Queen Ifrica, Bob Marley and Lee Perry. The shop closes with “Within My Walls”, another amazing album by the Israeli pop phenomenon, Idan Raichel.