As promised (a day late, hopefully not a dollar short), here is my overall review of Air J jazz fest 08
Review
Jazz and Blues 08
MUSIC FOR ALL EARS
Another Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues festival has swept through the western capital of Mobay. But this one can hardly be classified as 'just another Jazz & Blues'.
Firstly, the numbers: final audience figures were not yet available at time of writing, but it's fair to say that this festival was the largest ever in terms of attendance. Moreover, all three nights, and not just the climactic Saturday attracted huge numbers.
The line-up was undoubtedly a huge factor in driving these numbers. One of the strongest presentations in recent festival history, the 2008 lineup held the promise of music for almost every ear – and delivered. The was the curiosity factor surrounding big names long absent from Jamaican shores, like Diana Ross (more on her anon) and Anita Baker, who had not been to the island since her early 'You Bring Me Joy' hitmaking days. Curiosity also, about how a previously unheralded 13-year-old girl with the name Yanofsky would fare with the notoriously demanding Jamaican audience.
But by the time Sunday morning (January 27) dawned, all such questions had been answered, and while each patron had his or her own take on who 'took' each of the nights, there's little doubt that a great many musical appetites had been satisfied.
Thursday: Anita was sweeter
“Just a bunch of ol' love songs” is how Michigan native Anita Baker characterized her repertoire to the crowd who thronged the Aqueduct venue on Thursday's opening night. She could hardly have undersold it more. For the vast majority of the audience came to hear exactly that, and demonstrated in no uncertain terms their familiarity with those 'old love songs' singing, without prompt, the entire first verse of Sweet Love. The lusty chorus moved Baker almost to tears onstage and sent her performance pretty much into overdrive. She danced, cooed and conversed her way into the hearts of the audience, who refused to allow her to leave. A return engagement in Kingston would certainly not be out of place.
Baker was indeed a tough act to follow for the night's closer, James 'JT' Taylor. But the man who formerly led Kool & the Gang through a string of r&b/pop hits remained undaunted. Aided by his band and a trio of buxom back-up singers, Taylor delivered all of the K&G favourites, including 'Misled' 'Celebrate' 'Reggae Dancin' and the hit ballad 'Cherish'. The latter featured the back-ups in wedding gowns for a 'mock nuptials'. It was the kind of show that could have stood on its own in just about nay other venue, and JT.
Jamaican talent certainly made its presence felt on the Jazz & Blues stage. AJ Brown delivered welcome serendaes from his new CD, Sounds of Love as well as longtime favourites (All Fall Down, Love People) and a more talkative Jessica Yap opened up on violin, doing justice to Bob Marley and disco one-hit queen Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive). Duane Stephenson gave a soulful, heartfelt stint that surely endeared him to many, while Marjorie Whylie led Jamaican jazz stalwarts Myrna Hague and others through an excursion of standards and contemporary tuens.
The night got a dose of caliente from New York City-based Latino funksters Yerba Buena, who made their Mobay debut this year, having been part of the 2007 lineup that was featured in Kingston. Their sure-fire brand of polyrhythms and 'Spanglish' sing-alongs got the audience fired up early. Fusion veterans Spyro Gyra marked 25 years last year, and showed they were none the worse for the wear, delivering a quality set of alternating tempos.
Friday: African Connection
One of the of the Jazz and Blues fest is the opportunity it offers for discovering new or previously unheralded acts of real substance. A Grammy nomination is undoubtedly a significant calling card, but Ryan Shaw had little else to recommend him to a Jamaican audience (an indictment of our local radio stations?) and the onus was on him to prove that he belonged on the big Jazz & Blues stage. His endearing “funk n' soul” hybrid (with just a wee bit of Southern country twang) ensured that the next time an MC says 'This Is Ryan Shaw” audiences will be primed and ready.
Roots reggae again took the spotlight on the second night in the forms of Etana and Chalice, the former overcoming some admitted nerves brought on by the occasion, the latter displaying a renewed commitment to the form, sounding more revved up than ever. The audience felt it and afforded them an encore which they graciously satisfied.
Revved up could also be used to describe horn legend Hugh Masakela. Almost equally famous for his gruff vocals (on the likes of Bring Back Nelson Mandela) as for his piercing yet fluid trumpet sound, Masakela and his South African All-Stars came onto the Rose Hall stage, grabbed hold of the audience and refused to let go until the final number. He thanked the Jamaican people collectively for their solidarity with Black S Africans during the worst years of the anti-apartheid struggle and introduced two vocalists, one male, one female who each displayed significant tremendous prowess. The lady in particular thrilled the audience by effortlessly taking her voice through several pitch levels while remaining in tune with the rest of the band.
The great artists develop a reputation for 'leaving it all on the stage'. From the moment she entered with the title track form her latest disc, The Real Thing, Jill Scott personified the kind of earthy yet thoughtful sensuality that has earned her accolades and fans around the world. 'Jilly from Philly' wove several spoken interludes into her musical narrative, sharing with the audience tidbits from her current personal and career situation. But it was the songs that the people came to hear, and they alternatively oozed and tumbled free from her voluptuous frame. Again, a return engagement would certainly be welcome.
Lou Gramm, who as former front man of the group Foreigner scored such hits as Urgent and I Want To Know What Love Is, unfortunately became the festival's only tragedy, as a reported acute bout of laryngitis sidelined him from his scheduled performance. We wish Lou a speedy and full recovery and anticipate a make-good from himself and his band.
Saturday: An 'Ocean' of Love
One artiste who may never have the opportunity of a make-good is Saturday night headliner Diana Ross. By insisting that the onsite monitors be turned off during her performance, in order to prohibit the broadcast of her image, and further reducing the visible stage area by piling speakers at the very front of the stage on either side Mizz Ross ended up angering many of the folks who came anticipating a performance worthy of her diva classification. This did not materialize, and the mood of the audience cascaded.
Fortunately, Ross was followed by Billy Ocean, who aptly demonstrated the proverbial line from one of his biggest hits 'When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going'. Proving he was more than tough enough for the Jazz & Blues faithful, the Trinidad & Tobago native opened with (One Of Them Nights before proceeding to kill them softly with fondly remembered ballads like 'Suddenly' 'Colour of Love' and his cover of Paul McCartney's 'Long & Winding Road'. Of course, he couldn't leave Jamaica without dropping “Caribbean Queen”
Earlier, a couple of rising stars, one Jamaican, the other foreign, stamped their respective class on the event. Christopher Martin continued to come into his own on his main stage debut, while 13-not-yet-14 year old Canadian Nikki Yanofsky, with Mom and Dad cheering from the audience, wore her Ella Fitzgerald influence very well, scatting and cooing like a seasoned pro. (which, having been singing publicly since age 4, she arguably is).
At 79, no one can argue that Koko Taylor isn't a seasoned pro, but the 'Queen of the Blues' refreshingly made herself the handmaid of the audience, showing that she still had a few moves left as she wiggled to blues classics like 'Ernestine' 'Let The Good Times Roll' 'Jump For Joy' and 'Wang Dang Doodle.'
Mary Mary came to spread the gospel message but made sure to leaven with a healthy dose of funk and r&b, aided by their winning stage presence and genuine interactions with the audience. No one was left unmoved, regardless of their religious persuasion.
The showcase stage, while not approaching the consistently high-level performances of previous years, still offered solid interludes to the main stage action, with the likes of pianist Kamla, vocalists Katrina and Stephanie and rap reggae chanters Wraps n' Kush among the standouts.
It may be deemed inappropriate by some of an event like this to attempt to be all things to all persons. But its clear that the organizers have sought within the ambit of a certain formula, to provide a showcase that succeeds on several levels musically, and to give both the casual 'lymer' and the serious music lover a fair shake.
Needed: a return of the pre-event shows, such as obtained in 2007, and a wider geographical spread of concerts to give fans in other locales the opportunity (perhaps a Jazz Roadshow in the weeks leading up to the main event, featuring the upcoming acts).
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Jazz & Blues wrap
Look out for the complte warp up of the Air Jamaica jazz and Blues festival, starting Monday
inlcuding interviews with artists and organizers and impressions of the runnings and who has the best booth.
inlcuding interviews with artists and organizers and impressions of the runnings and who has the best booth.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
To Havana & Back, via Texas
It was one of those nights - pianist luke Dixon and CO (Co. being "Jubba White on drums and Alves Reid on bass)pinch hit for an incapacitated Harold Butler, the scheduled act and - lo and behold - by the second set, no one was missing Harold.
Add the presence of Cuban percussion maestro Gilberto for a couple of magical numbers during the second set, and the presence of a busload of Texas college undergrads in the third (supposedly here on some sociology exercise - yaah, riiight) and Christopher's live showcase on Tuesday night sped toward the juke joint it was desired, if not meant to be, with spontaneous dancing and good vibes all around.
By the time the band played their last encore, a half-improvised Latin variation, even the normally ultra-cliquish folks at the back of the C-shaped power bar were getting into it, and those folks preparing to sample jazz in Mobay got a perfect mood-setter.
Of ocurse we all wish the best for the Butler, but given the great performance of his replacements, we have to say: Harold who?
Add the presence of Cuban percussion maestro Gilberto for a couple of magical numbers during the second set, and the presence of a busload of Texas college undergrads in the third (supposedly here on some sociology exercise - yaah, riiight) and Christopher's live showcase on Tuesday night sped toward the juke joint it was desired, if not meant to be, with spontaneous dancing and good vibes all around.
By the time the band played their last encore, a half-improvised Latin variation, even the normally ultra-cliquish folks at the back of the C-shaped power bar were getting into it, and those folks preparing to sample jazz in Mobay got a perfect mood-setter.
Of ocurse we all wish the best for the Butler, but given the great performance of his replacements, we have to say: Harold who?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Air J Fest honours Dermot
Congrats are in order for Dermot Hussey who will accept the special achievement award atthe Air Jamaica jazz & Blues Festival
CARIBPR, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan 18, 2008: Dermott Hussey, veteran radio broadcaster and co-author of ‘Bob Marley: Reggae King of the World,’ is set to be honored for his lifetime dedication to music by organizers of the 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival.
Hussey will be presented with an award by Walter Elmore, executive producer of the January 24-26, 2008 festival. The award will be presented on January 26, 2008, the final night of the festival in recognition of Hussey’s contribution to the creation of the festival.
`Dermott was the person that was planning a jazz festival in the island back in 1995 – 1996,` reminisced Elmore. `I happened to be in on one of the planning meetings and from that meeting and the fact that he was working on a Jazz festival is how the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival was started by Allen Chastanet of Air Jamaica airlines.`
Hussey is also producer of the Bob Marley interview released on Marley\\\'s album Talkin\\\' Blues. And was the person who read the eulogy for veteran reggae singer and former Wailer, Peter Tosh, at his funeral in 1987.
He also produces and presents “Riffin” 5 times a week, Monday to Friday at 8.35 p.m. on on Newstalk 93FM, is the program director at XM 101 and is a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica. The veteran radio journalist has already won a Musgrave Medal, a prestigious Jamaican award for services to media and music.
The 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues line-up is sizzling hot and in just a week, legendary singer, Diana Ross; eight-time Grammy Award winner, Anita Baker, revered ‘Caribbean Queen’ singer, Billy Ocean and Grammy winner Jill Scott will be among those thrilling fans at the Cinnamon Hill venue at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall, Montego Bay.
Chicago-born Grammy- award-winning blues singer, Koko Taylor, has also been added to the Saturday night line-up while others set to perform are newcomer Ryan Shaw, Spyro Gyra, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Yerba Buena, pianist Marjorie Whylie, JT Taylor, Kool & the Gang\\\'s former " Legendary Voice," Jessica Yap; AJ Brown, Dwight Stephenson and 13-year-old powerhouse Nikki.
Links
CARIBPR, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan 18, 2008: Dermott Hussey, veteran radio broadcaster and co-author of ‘Bob Marley: Reggae King of the World,’ is set to be honored for his lifetime dedication to music by organizers of the 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival.
Hussey will be presented with an award by Walter Elmore, executive producer of the January 24-26, 2008 festival. The award will be presented on January 26, 2008, the final night of the festival in recognition of Hussey’s contribution to the creation of the festival.
`Dermott was the person that was planning a jazz festival in the island back in 1995 – 1996,` reminisced Elmore. `I happened to be in on one of the planning meetings and from that meeting and the fact that he was working on a Jazz festival is how the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival was started by Allen Chastanet of Air Jamaica airlines.`
Hussey is also producer of the Bob Marley interview released on Marley\\\'s album Talkin\\\' Blues. And was the person who read the eulogy for veteran reggae singer and former Wailer, Peter Tosh, at his funeral in 1987.
He also produces and presents “Riffin” 5 times a week, Monday to Friday at 8.35 p.m. on on Newstalk 93FM, is the program director at XM 101 and is a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica. The veteran radio journalist has already won a Musgrave Medal, a prestigious Jamaican award for services to media and music.
The 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues line-up is sizzling hot and in just a week, legendary singer, Diana Ross; eight-time Grammy Award winner, Anita Baker, revered ‘Caribbean Queen’ singer, Billy Ocean and Grammy winner Jill Scott will be among those thrilling fans at the Cinnamon Hill venue at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall, Montego Bay.
Chicago-born Grammy- award-winning blues singer, Koko Taylor, has also been added to the Saturday night line-up while others set to perform are newcomer Ryan Shaw, Spyro Gyra, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Yerba Buena, pianist Marjorie Whylie, JT Taylor, Kool & the Gang\\\'s former " Legendary Voice," Jessica Yap; AJ Brown, Dwight Stephenson and 13-year-old powerhouse Nikki.
Links
'Mr Jazz' enriches Richmond
By JOHN WIRT
Music critic
Published: Jan 18, 2008
It may be a cold, gray Sunday morning in Richmond, Va., but there’s warm music and a welcoming voice on the radio. New Orleans native Michael J. Gourrier, a volunteer disc jockey at WRIR-FM, the city’s three-year-old community radio station, is spinning real jazz.
“WRIR, radio for the rest of us,” he announces from the station’s homey studio on Broad Street. “It’s time for another edition of Bebop and Beyond with Mr. Jazz. I’m your host, Mike Gourrier, inviting you to stay tuned for America’s contemporary classical music, the idiom we know as jazz.”
A bear of a man with myriad interests, Gourrier doesn’t look his 67 years. Nor does he show the tremendous loss he experienced in August, 2005.
Gourrier and his wife of 28 years, Eloise, are among the hundreds of thousands of New Orleanians driven from their homes by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flood that covered 80 percent of their city.
Prior to Katrina, Gourrier was a DJ at New Orleans community station WWOZ-FM for 24 years. He’s greatly missed there, said WWOZ program director Dwayne Breashears.
“Michael knows more about jazz than most people will ever know,” Breashears said. “That’s why they call him Mr. Jazz.”
A life-long jazz fan, Gourrier has attended every New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since the event’s 1970 start. Even after Katrina, he continues to be a presenter at the festival’s AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent.
Katrina-related floodwaters ruined most of the 12,000 CDs, 8,000 LPs, 500 books, photos and memorabilia Gourrier kept in a specially built room in his 9th Ward home.
“After being soaked in 6 1/2 feet of water, the mold and mildew got the rest of the stuff,” he said.
Because a few photos of Gourrier with such musical heroes as Horace Silver and Cab Calloway were placed on a high shelf, they escaped the water. And about 150 CDs, cherry picked from his collection earlier in 2005, survived.
Moving to Richmond in early 2006 following four months in Texas, Gourrier made lemonade from a big, sour lemon. He loves Virginia’s historic, beautifully preserved capital city and he’s nearing his second anniversary at WRIR.
Giz Bowe, jazz director at WRIR, is thrilled to have Gourrier as the other half of the station’s two-man jazz department.
“Jazz is his life and his love,” Bowe said. “The fact that he is volunteering his time and his talent to WRIR is just amazing. We’re lucky to have him.”
In typical New Orleans fashion, Gourrier grew up saturated in his hometown’s music-centered culture. He also sang in his church choir and his mother took him to Xavier University’s grand opera productions.
“A lot of musicians, who I considered famous, lived in the neighborhood,” Gourrier said. “And I would listen to music on the radio, everything from Guy Lombardo to Duke Ellington.”
As he grew older, Gourrier’s interest shifted from big bands to smaller groups led by Ramsey Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal. He experienced his jazz epiphany upon hearing a track from Horace Silver’s 1956 LP, Six Pieces of Silver.
“The day that I heard ‘Senor Blues,’ that’s when I became a bebopper. To me, 1940 to 1965 was the golden era of jazz music. So many dynamic compositions and artists came out during that period. People still practice the basic tenets of the bebop idiom and I consider bebop the foundation of contemporary jazz.”
Gourrier’s inspiration for being a jazz DJ hasn’t changed since his move to Richmond.
“My primary motivation is to expose people to an indigenous American art form that they otherwise would not have the opportunity to be exposed to,” he said in the WRIR kitchen last month. “And music is a very important part of life. I say music is medicinal. Take a big dose every day.”
Music critic
Published: Jan 18, 2008
It may be a cold, gray Sunday morning in Richmond, Va., but there’s warm music and a welcoming voice on the radio. New Orleans native Michael J. Gourrier, a volunteer disc jockey at WRIR-FM, the city’s three-year-old community radio station, is spinning real jazz.
“WRIR, radio for the rest of us,” he announces from the station’s homey studio on Broad Street. “It’s time for another edition of Bebop and Beyond with Mr. Jazz. I’m your host, Mike Gourrier, inviting you to stay tuned for America’s contemporary classical music, the idiom we know as jazz.”
A bear of a man with myriad interests, Gourrier doesn’t look his 67 years. Nor does he show the tremendous loss he experienced in August, 2005.
Gourrier and his wife of 28 years, Eloise, are among the hundreds of thousands of New Orleanians driven from their homes by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flood that covered 80 percent of their city.
Prior to Katrina, Gourrier was a DJ at New Orleans community station WWOZ-FM for 24 years. He’s greatly missed there, said WWOZ program director Dwayne Breashears.
“Michael knows more about jazz than most people will ever know,” Breashears said. “That’s why they call him Mr. Jazz.”
A life-long jazz fan, Gourrier has attended every New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since the event’s 1970 start. Even after Katrina, he continues to be a presenter at the festival’s AT&T/WWOZ Jazz Tent.
Katrina-related floodwaters ruined most of the 12,000 CDs, 8,000 LPs, 500 books, photos and memorabilia Gourrier kept in a specially built room in his 9th Ward home.
“After being soaked in 6 1/2 feet of water, the mold and mildew got the rest of the stuff,” he said.
Because a few photos of Gourrier with such musical heroes as Horace Silver and Cab Calloway were placed on a high shelf, they escaped the water. And about 150 CDs, cherry picked from his collection earlier in 2005, survived.
Moving to Richmond in early 2006 following four months in Texas, Gourrier made lemonade from a big, sour lemon. He loves Virginia’s historic, beautifully preserved capital city and he’s nearing his second anniversary at WRIR.
Giz Bowe, jazz director at WRIR, is thrilled to have Gourrier as the other half of the station’s two-man jazz department.
“Jazz is his life and his love,” Bowe said. “The fact that he is volunteering his time and his talent to WRIR is just amazing. We’re lucky to have him.”
In typical New Orleans fashion, Gourrier grew up saturated in his hometown’s music-centered culture. He also sang in his church choir and his mother took him to Xavier University’s grand opera productions.
“A lot of musicians, who I considered famous, lived in the neighborhood,” Gourrier said. “And I would listen to music on the radio, everything from Guy Lombardo to Duke Ellington.”
As he grew older, Gourrier’s interest shifted from big bands to smaller groups led by Ramsey Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal. He experienced his jazz epiphany upon hearing a track from Horace Silver’s 1956 LP, Six Pieces of Silver.
“The day that I heard ‘Senor Blues,’ that’s when I became a bebopper. To me, 1940 to 1965 was the golden era of jazz music. So many dynamic compositions and artists came out during that period. People still practice the basic tenets of the bebop idiom and I consider bebop the foundation of contemporary jazz.”
Gourrier’s inspiration for being a jazz DJ hasn’t changed since his move to Richmond.
“My primary motivation is to expose people to an indigenous American art form that they otherwise would not have the opportunity to be exposed to,” he said in the WRIR kitchen last month. “And music is a very important part of life. I say music is medicinal. Take a big dose every day.”
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The BIG 4
Advt
How to Buss Session
The BIG 4 Questions of Artiste promotion
WHY?
WHO?
WHAT?
HOW?
For the answers, email liveplug22@gmail.com or call (876) 426-3106 to register
for our exciting, career-making session series.
How to Buss Session
The BIG 4 Questions of Artiste promotion
WHY?
WHO?
WHAT?
HOW?
For the answers, email liveplug22@gmail.com or call (876) 426-3106 to register
for our exciting, career-making session series.
Jazz & Blues on film
U.S. EMBASSY, RED BONES HOST FILM SERIES – ‘THE BLUES MEETS JAZZ’
The U.S. Embassy and Red Bones Blues Café for the fourth year will collaborate to bring selected films from the series, “JAZZ,” by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns, as a precursor to its annual African American History Month observances. In addition, there will other documentaries featured such as the Blues Masters, The Howlin’ Wolf Story among others.
The films, which are free to the public, will be shown from January 24 to February 28, at the Red Bones Blues Café` in Kingston, starting at 7:30 p.m.
On January 24, Ken Burns’ “Gumbo” explores how jazz begins in 19th century New Orleans, where the sound of marching bands, Italian opera, Caribbean rhythms, and minstrel shows fills the streets with a richly diverse musical culture. Here, African-American musicians create a new music out of these ingredients by mixing in ragtime syncopations and the soulful feeling of the blues. Soon after the start of the new century, people are calling it jazz.
“Blues Masters – The Essential History of the Blues” on January 31, captures performances of the early masters on film and those that were are profoundly insightful and entertaining such as Son House, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, B.B. King , Billie Holiday, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Big Joe Turner, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters with Count Basie and many others.
Another film from the Ken Burns series, “Our Language” will be featured on February 7 while ‘The Howlin Wolf Story,’ will be shown on Wednesday, February 13. This eminently watchable documentary is about Chester A. Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf with some history of the Blues in general.
“A Masterpiece at Midnight” and "Antone's Home of the Blues: A Legend Every Night" will be featured on February 21 and 28 respectively
The U.S. Embassy and Red Bones Blues Café for the fourth year will collaborate to bring selected films from the series, “JAZZ,” by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns, as a precursor to its annual African American History Month observances. In addition, there will other documentaries featured such as the Blues Masters, The Howlin’ Wolf Story among others.
The films, which are free to the public, will be shown from January 24 to February 28, at the Red Bones Blues Café` in Kingston, starting at 7:30 p.m.
On January 24, Ken Burns’ “Gumbo” explores how jazz begins in 19th century New Orleans, where the sound of marching bands, Italian opera, Caribbean rhythms, and minstrel shows fills the streets with a richly diverse musical culture. Here, African-American musicians create a new music out of these ingredients by mixing in ragtime syncopations and the soulful feeling of the blues. Soon after the start of the new century, people are calling it jazz.
“Blues Masters – The Essential History of the Blues” on January 31, captures performances of the early masters on film and those that were are profoundly insightful and entertaining such as Son House, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, B.B. King , Billie Holiday, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Big Joe Turner, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters with Count Basie and many others.
Another film from the Ken Burns series, “Our Language” will be featured on February 7 while ‘The Howlin Wolf Story,’ will be shown on Wednesday, February 13. This eminently watchable documentary is about Chester A. Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf with some history of the Blues in general.
“A Masterpiece at Midnight” and "Antone's Home of the Blues: A Legend Every Night" will be featured on February 21 and 28 respectively
Live music review - Christopher's
Christopher's Tuesday Night Review
'Easy Bouncin' with Kamla
There was, back in the foggy past of Jamaican radio, a programme by the name of Easy Bounce, the format of which perfectly backed up both sides of the name. It was not the detestable 'easy listening' lullabies that many people seem to fall prey to, but neither was the 'bounce' so racy as to turn off those in search of musical refreshment.
That search was easily satisfied on Tuesday night as the deceptively unassuming pianist took the crowd through three sets that had enough of the 'usual' crowd-pleasers, but was unusual in the treatment of same. From I Shot The Sheriff and So Jah Say and Satta Massa Gana to the Herbie Hancock standbys, Watermelon Man and Cantaloupe Island to Mercy Mercy Mercy, Hamilton didn't so much lead her three cohorts (Shurwayne Thompson on bass, Akil 'Red bull' Karram on drums and music night Founder Seretse Small on the now familiar 'naked' guitar, with the body cut out on each side), as she held council with them, checking off changes and encouraging solos.
The final set, with its versions of David Rudder's The Hammer among others got a few feet a dancing. By nights' end, Kamla had proven that she was a worthy addition to the growing stable of Christopher's 'regulars (this was at least her third visit), not to mention to the small stage at the Air Jmaaica Jazz and blues festival - coming in two weeks.
Next Tuesday: The 'Butler' returns to Do it
'Easy Bouncin' with Kamla
There was, back in the foggy past of Jamaican radio, a programme by the name of Easy Bounce, the format of which perfectly backed up both sides of the name. It was not the detestable 'easy listening' lullabies that many people seem to fall prey to, but neither was the 'bounce' so racy as to turn off those in search of musical refreshment.
That search was easily satisfied on Tuesday night as the deceptively unassuming pianist took the crowd through three sets that had enough of the 'usual' crowd-pleasers, but was unusual in the treatment of same. From I Shot The Sheriff and So Jah Say and Satta Massa Gana to the Herbie Hancock standbys, Watermelon Man and Cantaloupe Island to Mercy Mercy Mercy, Hamilton didn't so much lead her three cohorts (Shurwayne Thompson on bass, Akil 'Red bull' Karram on drums and music night Founder Seretse Small on the now familiar 'naked' guitar, with the body cut out on each side), as she held council with them, checking off changes and encouraging solos.
The final set, with its versions of David Rudder's The Hammer among others got a few feet a dancing. By nights' end, Kamla had proven that she was a worthy addition to the growing stable of Christopher's 'regulars (this was at least her third visit), not to mention to the small stage at the Air Jmaaica Jazz and blues festival - coming in two weeks.
Next Tuesday: The 'Butler' returns to Do it
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
More of Yanofsky
Assaid, we await to be ipressed, but Air JAzz & Blues artist teenager Nikki Yanofsky continues to get glowing pres in her native Canada
Canadian Star to Perform Debut Concert and at Carnegie Hall
As Oliver Jones said upon hearing Nikki Yanofsky sing, “jazz is alive and well in Canada.” The thirteen-year-old music prodigy stars in her debut solo concert in Toronto at the Isabel Bader Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Yanofsky will be backed for the performance by the 10-piece Imani Gospel Choir and an eleven-piece jazz ensemble.
The Toronto debut will take place just before Yanofsky heads off to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall on Friday, Feb. 8, with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch.
The youth is capturing audiences and media hearts around the globe for her virtuoso talent, the teenager sings the songs of the Great American Songbooks with stunning maturity and seeming effortlessness. She has performed with some of the finest in the industry, notable appearing on the tribute album We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song (2007), which launched a whirlwind of activity, seeing her perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival and selling out a four-night run.
Over the past year Nikki has made numerous television and radio appearances, including a CBC documentary. She has been profiled in a number of magazines and newspapers, sung the national anthem at Montreal’s Bell Centre and performed with legendary jazz pianist Oliver Jones.
For more information visit www.nikkionline.ca
Canadian Star to Perform Debut Concert and at Carnegie Hall
As Oliver Jones said upon hearing Nikki Yanofsky sing, “jazz is alive and well in Canada.” The thirteen-year-old music prodigy stars in her debut solo concert in Toronto at the Isabel Bader Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Yanofsky will be backed for the performance by the 10-piece Imani Gospel Choir and an eleven-piece jazz ensemble.
The Toronto debut will take place just before Yanofsky heads off to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall on Friday, Feb. 8, with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch.
The youth is capturing audiences and media hearts around the globe for her virtuoso talent, the teenager sings the songs of the Great American Songbooks with stunning maturity and seeming effortlessness. She has performed with some of the finest in the industry, notable appearing on the tribute album We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song (2007), which launched a whirlwind of activity, seeing her perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival and selling out a four-night run.
Over the past year Nikki has made numerous television and radio appearances, including a CBC documentary. She has been profiled in a number of magazines and newspapers, sung the national anthem at Montreal’s Bell Centre and performed with legendary jazz pianist Oliver Jones.
For more information visit www.nikkionline.ca
Monday, January 14, 2008
Heads Up Take 6
Their previous album, Feels Good, was a nice return to their roots and now the acapella singers have caught the ear of Heads Up Records boss Dave Love. Heads up, BTW, is als othe home of another acapela vocal group, South African kingpins, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
January 14, 2008, Cleveland , OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with the a cappella jazz group Take 6. Heirs to the rich tradition of the doo-wop and gospel groups of 1950s, and leaders in the second wave of jazz and pop vocal groups that emerged in the 1990s, Take 6 will make their Heads Up debut with a yet-to-be-titled album of jazz standards and originals scheduled for release in August 2008.
“Take 6 is arguably the greatest a cappella jazz group of all time,” says Dave Love , President of Heads Up International. “For the past twenty years, they’ve proven their vocal mastery in a variety of genres and they’ve worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and R&B. Musically and spiritually, they’ve enriched the lives of every person they’ve come in contact with. We are excited and very proud to count them among the Heads Up ranks.”
“We’re very excited as a group to be part of Heads Up,” says Take 6 co-founder Claude McKnight. “We’re very ready to move into this next phase of our career. We were with a major label for a long time, then we were on our own for a while with our own company. Now, Heads Up is helping us with all aspects of our career. We’ll be exploring not just our spiritual side, which we’ve always done, but also more of our jazz side as well.”
“When we hooked up with Dave Love , his appreciation and enthusiasm for what we do was evident from the very beginning,” says Take 6 member Dave Thomas. “We knew right away that it was going to be a great partnership. Heads Up has such an enthusiastic team that’s ready to promote the thing we do best. This is the story of two of the best coming together.”
Formed in Alabama in the early ‘80s, Take 6 launched their career by singing traditional spirituals and newly composed gospel material. They released their self-titled debut album on Warner Brothers’ Reprise label in 1988, and spent the next two decades crafting a series of records that defied easy categorization but instead embraced a broad cross-section of styles – soul, gospel, R&B, pop, jazz and more. Although they have enlisted the help of session musicians along the way, the greatest strength of their recordings has been – and continues to be – their richly layered and masterful vocal harmonies.
The group has set the bar high for their Heads Up debut, which will include guest appearances by R&B legend Aaron Neville and others. “While we sing lyrics that always exemplify our spiritual and moral convictions, what we really are at the core is a jazz vocal group,” says Thomas. “So we’ve decided to do an album of jazz standards, and make it the vocal jazz album for all time.”
Claude McKnight stands behind the ambitious claim. “We go into every project saying it will be the best,” he says. “At least the best we’ve ever done, and depending on the concept or the genre, it may in fact be the best that’s ever been done by anyone. When we take on a project or step into a new phase of our career, we’re not afraid to say, ‘Hey, let’s move some mountains.’”
January 14, 2008, Cleveland , OH – Heads Up International, one of the world’s premier crossover jazz labels, today announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with the a cappella jazz group Take 6. Heirs to the rich tradition of the doo-wop and gospel groups of 1950s, and leaders in the second wave of jazz and pop vocal groups that emerged in the 1990s, Take 6 will make their Heads Up debut with a yet-to-be-titled album of jazz standards and originals scheduled for release in August 2008.
“Take 6 is arguably the greatest a cappella jazz group of all time,” says Dave Love , President of Heads Up International. “For the past twenty years, they’ve proven their vocal mastery in a variety of genres and they’ve worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and R&B. Musically and spiritually, they’ve enriched the lives of every person they’ve come in contact with. We are excited and very proud to count them among the Heads Up ranks.”
“We’re very excited as a group to be part of Heads Up,” says Take 6 co-founder Claude McKnight. “We’re very ready to move into this next phase of our career. We were with a major label for a long time, then we were on our own for a while with our own company. Now, Heads Up is helping us with all aspects of our career. We’ll be exploring not just our spiritual side, which we’ve always done, but also more of our jazz side as well.”
“When we hooked up with Dave Love , his appreciation and enthusiasm for what we do was evident from the very beginning,” says Take 6 member Dave Thomas. “We knew right away that it was going to be a great partnership. Heads Up has such an enthusiastic team that’s ready to promote the thing we do best. This is the story of two of the best coming together.”
Formed in Alabama in the early ‘80s, Take 6 launched their career by singing traditional spirituals and newly composed gospel material. They released their self-titled debut album on Warner Brothers’ Reprise label in 1988, and spent the next two decades crafting a series of records that defied easy categorization but instead embraced a broad cross-section of styles – soul, gospel, R&B, pop, jazz and more. Although they have enlisted the help of session musicians along the way, the greatest strength of their recordings has been – and continues to be – their richly layered and masterful vocal harmonies.
The group has set the bar high for their Heads Up debut, which will include guest appearances by R&B legend Aaron Neville and others. “While we sing lyrics that always exemplify our spiritual and moral convictions, what we really are at the core is a jazz vocal group,” says Thomas. “So we’ve decided to do an album of jazz standards, and make it the vocal jazz album for all time.”
Claude McKnight stands behind the ambitious claim. “We go into every project saying it will be the best,” he says. “At least the best we’ve ever done, and depending on the concept or the genre, it may in fact be the best that’s ever been done by anyone. When we take on a project or step into a new phase of our career, we’re not afraid to say, ‘Hey, let’s move some mountains.’”
Riffin' once more
Both the programme - and our updates - suffered a bit of disconnect for different reasons, but have no fear, Riffin' fans, Dermot's back with the music:
RIFFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 14/1/08, AT NEWSTALK93FM, AT 8.35PM
STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM
MONDAY: Caribbean pianist, Michel Camilo,from the Dominican Republic moves effortlessly between classical music ,jazz.and latin music
TUESDAY: Bassist John Brown leads a quintet through some of the songs associated with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
WEDNESDAY: Richard Bona, from the Cameroon demonstrates how and why he is one of the best of Africa’s contemporary artists, in his album “Reverence”. Anne Nesby from “Sound Of Blackness”, sings powerhouse “soul”
THURSDAY: A reprise of an album that is on several of the best album lists of 2007, Ron Carter’s, “Dear Miles”.
FRIDAY: The great funk band from the 70’s , Mandrill, started by the Wilson brothers from Panama and Brooklyn, in a steaming “live” performance at the Montreux Festival in 20002.
RIFFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 14/1/08, AT NEWSTALK93FM, AT 8.35PM
STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM
MONDAY: Caribbean pianist, Michel Camilo,from the Dominican Republic moves effortlessly between classical music ,jazz.and latin music
TUESDAY: Bassist John Brown leads a quintet through some of the songs associated with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
WEDNESDAY: Richard Bona, from the Cameroon demonstrates how and why he is one of the best of Africa’s contemporary artists, in his album “Reverence”. Anne Nesby from “Sound Of Blackness”, sings powerhouse “soul”
THURSDAY: A reprise of an album that is on several of the best album lists of 2007, Ron Carter’s, “Dear Miles”.
FRIDAY: The great funk band from the 70’s , Mandrill, started by the Wilson brothers from Panama and Brooklyn, in a steaming “live” performance at the Montreux Festival in 20002.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
News from The Musicman
Back when the papers still cared more about music than about hype, the Musicman column by the ageless Sonny Bradshaw was the ONLY reason I picked up The Star (okay, okay, I may have 'glanced' at the Page Three girl, 'occasionally')
But Sonny is still going strong and his stream of consciousness reflections on what's happening musically remain as inescapable as ever. See for your self.
JAZZ NEWS by Musicman December 2007- January 2008
2008 Steve Pope new editor The Voice/Gleaner …. Is that still in…….Colour Telly Britain.s first black TV Station……..Two photographic Publications now out - 101 Men Change Makers by photographer Peter Ferguson and The 17 year Jazz Journal of The 17th Annual International JAMAICA OchoRios Jazz Festival…………….top Tenor Saxist Ruben Alexander died in Montego bay………..Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival is January 24 to Saturday 26 in Montego Bay with stellar pop stars Diana Ross, Anita Baker, Kool main vocalist, Jill Scott, and a local contingent lead by Marjorie Whylie with Myrna Hague singer …………….congrats to singer-entertainer Ritchie Stephens lifting the Gleaner Award.,…..good show for music……… sad passing of baritone jazz saxist Cecil Payne…………and then we lost master drummer Max Roach too…… jazz music radio is being smothered as the word ‘jazz’ is not good on the air at home and abroad……….news & Talk (x-Mona radio) is doing jazzman Monte Blake with ‘Merritone Brunch, on Sundays noon to 4 pm supporting Dermot Hussey ‘Riffin’ during the week Monday to Friday 8.35pm while Bunny Goodison –The Mighty Burner- on Sunday’s and new comer Lou Gooden is on the new Bess 105 on Sundays with Smooth Jazz 10-midnight………..but Errol Smith Hot 102 is still on in the mornings with ‘Treasures’ with Ella, Monk, and the like……. and singer Alton Ellis is recovering from hospital …. Good ….singer Tyrone Taylor of ‘Cottage in Negril’ also left us…………..bebop saxist Frank Morgan who visited Jamaica Red Bones Jazz Café & Ja. OchoRios Jazz fest many times died in The US …..and the New Year shocker was the departure of the world’s swingingest pianist Canadian Oscar Peterson……. What a loss…….. but good news was the further recognition of Jamaican Saxophonist 85 Year old Andy Hamilton of Birmingham in this years Queens Honours with an MBE………congrats you …….with the J.F.M . Jamaica Federation Of Musicians gone underground this 2008, we call on The Broadcasting Commission Hopeton Dunn & Cordell Greene to insist that the ‘blank label’ records of singers and musicians being played on our 21 radio stations be identified for credit either before or after playing so that we the musicians could get a little copyright returns (now called intellectual property) ……………a word to’ the new ‘, please do not ape first world radio, they can be quite backward too,,,,,,,,,,The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) conference will be in Toronto this January 9-12 and will highlight a strong UK Jazz input involving established musicians Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone plus Dune Showcase with Gary Crosby Nu Troop plus talented saxist-composer Denys Baptise, trumpet star Guy Barker Nikki Iles, Ian Shaw and Courtney Pine will be there…………….prize winning newcomers Empirical Quintet will also make the heavily sponsored trip……………get set for The Summer Jazz event The 18th Annual International JAMAICA OchoRios Jazz festival June 7 to 15…June Is Jazz Month.
But Sonny is still going strong and his stream of consciousness reflections on what's happening musically remain as inescapable as ever. See for your self.
JAZZ NEWS by Musicman December 2007- January 2008
2008 Steve Pope new editor The Voice/Gleaner …. Is that still in…….Colour Telly Britain.s first black TV Station……..Two photographic Publications now out - 101 Men Change Makers by photographer Peter Ferguson and The 17 year Jazz Journal of The 17th Annual International JAMAICA OchoRios Jazz Festival…………….top Tenor Saxist Ruben Alexander died in Montego bay………..Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival is January 24 to Saturday 26 in Montego Bay with stellar pop stars Diana Ross, Anita Baker, Kool main vocalist, Jill Scott, and a local contingent lead by Marjorie Whylie with Myrna Hague singer …………….congrats to singer-entertainer Ritchie Stephens lifting the Gleaner Award.,…..good show for music……… sad passing of baritone jazz saxist Cecil Payne…………and then we lost master drummer Max Roach too…… jazz music radio is being smothered as the word ‘jazz’ is not good on the air at home and abroad……….news & Talk (x-Mona radio) is doing jazzman Monte Blake with ‘Merritone Brunch, on Sundays noon to 4 pm supporting Dermot Hussey ‘Riffin’ during the week Monday to Friday 8.35pm while Bunny Goodison –The Mighty Burner- on Sunday’s and new comer Lou Gooden is on the new Bess 105 on Sundays with Smooth Jazz 10-midnight………..but Errol Smith Hot 102 is still on in the mornings with ‘Treasures’ with Ella, Monk, and the like……. and singer Alton Ellis is recovering from hospital …. Good ….singer Tyrone Taylor of ‘Cottage in Negril’ also left us…………..bebop saxist Frank Morgan who visited Jamaica Red Bones Jazz Café & Ja. OchoRios Jazz fest many times died in The US …..and the New Year shocker was the departure of the world’s swingingest pianist Canadian Oscar Peterson……. What a loss…….. but good news was the further recognition of Jamaican Saxophonist 85 Year old Andy Hamilton of Birmingham in this years Queens Honours with an MBE………congrats you …….with the J.F.M . Jamaica Federation Of Musicians gone underground this 2008, we call on The Broadcasting Commission Hopeton Dunn & Cordell Greene to insist that the ‘blank label’ records of singers and musicians being played on our 21 radio stations be identified for credit either before or after playing so that we the musicians could get a little copyright returns (now called intellectual property) ……………a word to’ the new ‘, please do not ape first world radio, they can be quite backward too,,,,,,,,,,The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) conference will be in Toronto this January 9-12 and will highlight a strong UK Jazz input involving established musicians Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone plus Dune Showcase with Gary Crosby Nu Troop plus talented saxist-composer Denys Baptise, trumpet star Guy Barker Nikki Iles, Ian Shaw and Courtney Pine will be there…………….prize winning newcomers Empirical Quintet will also make the heavily sponsored trip……………get set for The Summer Jazz event The 18th Annual International JAMAICA OchoRios Jazz festival June 7 to 15…June Is Jazz Month.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
I Wish I'd Written This
Drummer Kendrick Scott, who I had the pleasure of catching in Barbados in 2007, captures my sentiments on the musci biz withthe formation of his media venture, World Culture Music. Read on:
World Culture Music:
World Culture Music is an artist collective record label and multi-faceted music company that was created by Kendrick Scott to form an alliance of like-minded musicians who are making a significant impact on both today's jazz scene and on music in general.
WCM's mission is to blur the labels in music, cross the cultural divides, bypass the corporate structure and provide the next generation of talent an outlet to fulfill their creative visions.
As an alternative approach to the traditional record label, World Culture Music's objective is to bring the artist closer to the listener with no filters in creativity and honesty. WCM provides young creative musicians an opportunity to maintain all artistic control over their music and enables the musician to decide how it will be presented to the world. Unified under WCM, its artists can connect with their audience on a broad scale.
WCM presents artists of the highest caliber who are some of today's most in-demand musicians. Drummer Kendrick Scott, vocalist/composer Julie Hardy, trombonist Nick Vayenas, and guitarist Mike Moreno have established themselves as some of the leading musical figures of their generation. They have played on over 35 recordings combined and performed with some of_ today's top jazz acts including Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Nicholas Payton, Greg Osby, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Dianne Reeves Jeff "Tain" Watts, Michael Buble, Kenny Garrett, and Ravi Coltrane.
Monty off Rebel Salute; final respects to Oscar beckon
Many music aficionados are mourning the death, over a week a go of piano master Oscar Peterson.
Monty Alexander, who's been establsihing his own piano legend, was closer to the giant than most and thus has acceded to the fmaily's request to perform at a memorial, thus taking him off the previously confirmed Rebel Salute show. Following is the reelase from Monty:
RE: REBEL SALUTE 2008
Dear Friends,
I have been looking forward to playing at Rebel Salute 2008 since this past May when Tony personally invited me to participate to the event.
In these last few days however, I have been experiencing a profound sense of personal loss with the passing of the great pianist Oscar Peterson, who died at 82 on December 24 in Toronto, Canada . For the last five decades Dr. Oscar Peterson was the giant and master of piano artistry in the world of Jazz, and he was my good friend. He had been one of my strongest supporters since I first met him in the 1960's. Oscar Peterson set the greatest example for excellence in Jazz not only for every pianist but also for all instruments-he played with power, force and passion. No other true Jazz artist had such an illustrious career.
I feel compelled to respond to his family's request that I perform at a special memorial concert in his honor. The concert is on January l2 in Toronto, Canada ; the very same day as Rebel Salute. This brought me considerable conflict and internal struggle because I had made a promise to my brother, Tony Rebel. I have spoken to Tony of my dilemma and I am grateful that he understood my situation; that I must be in Toronto on January 12. I do hope that those who care for my musical efforts will also understand my difficult decision.
Tornto is also the site if this year's annual conference of the Int'l Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) nad we can be sure several tributes to Peterson will be rendered there.
Please acquaint yourself with the legacy of the Majestic Giant of music: Dr. Oscar Emmanuel Petersono II I : www.oscarpeterson.com
Monty Alexander, who's been establsihing his own piano legend, was closer to the giant than most and thus has acceded to the fmaily's request to perform at a memorial, thus taking him off the previously confirmed Rebel Salute show. Following is the reelase from Monty:
RE: REBEL SALUTE 2008
Dear Friends,
I have been looking forward to playing at Rebel Salute 2008 since this past May when Tony personally invited me to participate to the event.
In these last few days however, I have been experiencing a profound sense of personal loss with the passing of the great pianist Oscar Peterson, who died at 82 on December 24 in Toronto, Canada . For the last five decades Dr. Oscar Peterson was the giant and master of piano artistry in the world of Jazz, and he was my good friend. He had been one of my strongest supporters since I first met him in the 1960's. Oscar Peterson set the greatest example for excellence in Jazz not only for every pianist but also for all instruments-he played with power, force and passion. No other true Jazz artist had such an illustrious career.
I feel compelled to respond to his family's request that I perform at a special memorial concert in his honor. The concert is on January l2 in Toronto, Canada ; the very same day as Rebel Salute. This brought me considerable conflict and internal struggle because I had made a promise to my brother, Tony Rebel. I have spoken to Tony of my dilemma and I am grateful that he understood my situation; that I must be in Toronto on January 12. I do hope that those who care for my musical efforts will also understand my difficult decision.
Tornto is also the site if this year's annual conference of the Int'l Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) nad we can be sure several tributes to Peterson will be rendered there.
Please acquaint yourself with the legacy of the Majestic Giant of music: Dr. Oscar Emmanuel Petersono II I : www.oscarpeterson.com
Friday, January 04, 2008
The 'Village Wizards' on Jazz
adding to the chorus of lists, here's the Village Voice magazine's take on the year's best in jazz
The 2007 Jazz Poll
This year's finisher's
by Francis Davis
January 2nd, 2008 2:52 PM
The Year of the Woman
With all the ballots counted, our decidedly un-macho Jazz Poll finally finds its headline
by Francis Davis
Jazz Record of the Year
1. Maria Schneider, Sky Blue (ArtistShare) 188.5 points (26 ballots)
2. Charles Mingus, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note) 133 (19)
3. Michael Brecker, Pilgrimage (Heads Up) 104 (15)
4. Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note) 95 (13)
5. Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, Kids (Blue Note) 92 (14)
6. Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters (Verve) 75 (13)
7. Dee Dee Bridgewater, Red Earth (DDB/EmArcy) 71 (9)
8. Joshua Redman, Back East (Nonesuch) 62 (12)
9. Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, My Foolish Heart (ECM) 61 (8)
10. Abbey Lincoln, Abbey Sings Abbey (Verve) 55 (8)
11. McCoy Tyner, Quartet (HalfNote/McCoy Tyner Music) 54 (9)
12. Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic) 43 (6)
13. Trio M (Myra Melford/Mark Dresser/Matt Wilson), Big Picture (Cryptogramophone) 42 (7)
14. Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM/Watt) 41 (7)
15. Paul Motian, Time and Time Again (ECM) 35 (7)
16. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake, From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey) 34.5 (6)
17. Joe Zawinul, Brown Street(Heads Up) 34 (5)
18. Anat Cohen, Noir (Anzic) 32.5 (5)
19. Miles Davis, Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF/Concord) 31 (5)
20. William Parker, Corn Meal Dance (AUM Fidelity) 31 (4)
21. Steve Lacy & Roswell Rudd, Early and Late (Cuneiform) 30 (7)
22. Bill Holman, Hommage (Jazzed Media) 30 (4)
23. The Bad Plus, Prog (Do the Math/Heads Up) 29.5 (5)
24. Jewels and Binoculars, Ships With Tattooed Sails: The Music of Bob Dylan (Upshot) 29 (4)
25. David Murray, Sacred Ground (Justin Time) 28.5 (7)
26. David Torn, Prezens (ECM) 26 (4)
27. Charles Tolliver, With Love (Blue Note/Mosaic) 25 (5)
28. Muhal Richard Abrams, Vision Towards Essence (Pi) 25 (4)
Bill Charlap, Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note) 25 (4)
30. Matthew Shipp, Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear) 24.5 (5)
David S. Ware, Renunciation(AUM Fidelity) 24.5 (5)
32. Anthony Braxton, 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (Firehouse 12) 24.5 (3)
Tyshawn Sorey, That/Not (Firehouse 12) 24.5 (3)
34. Chris Potter, Follow the Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard (Sunnyside) 22 (4)
35. The Claudia Quintet, For (Cuneiform) 21.5 (4)
36. Bennie Wallace, Disorder at the Border (Justin Time) 20.5 (3)
37. Harry Allen & Joe Cohn, Music From "Guys and Dolls" (Arbors) 20 (4)
38. Roscoe Mitchell, Composition/ Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (ECM) 20 (3)
39. Chris Potter, Song for Anyone (Sunnyside) 19.5 (4)
40. Peter Brötzmann/Mats Gustafsson/Ken Vandermark, Sonore: Only the Devil Has No Dreams(Jazzwerkstatt) 19 (2)
Evan Christopher, Delta Bound (Arbors) 19 (2)
42. Bill McHenry, Roses (Sunnyside) 18 (4)
Tierney Sutton, On the Other Side (Telarc) 18 (4)
44. Exploding Star Orchestra, We Are All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey) 18 (3)
45. Powerhouse Sound, Oslo/Chicago: Breaks (Atavistic) 18 (2)
46. Andy Bey,Ain't Necessarily So (12th St.) 17.5 (3)
47. Robert Glasper, In My Element (Blue Note) 17 (3)
48. Nels Cline Singers, Draw Breath (Cryptogramophone) 17 (2)
Mark Murphy, Love Is What Stays (Verve) 17 (2)
50. John Abercrombie, The Third Quartet (ECM) 16 (4)
The 2007 Jazz Poll
This year's finisher's
by Francis Davis
January 2nd, 2008 2:52 PM
The Year of the Woman
With all the ballots counted, our decidedly un-macho Jazz Poll finally finds its headline
by Francis Davis
Jazz Record of the Year
1. Maria Schneider, Sky Blue (ArtistShare) 188.5 points (26 ballots)
2. Charles Mingus, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note) 133 (19)
3. Michael Brecker, Pilgrimage (Heads Up) 104 (15)
4. Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note) 95 (13)
5. Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, Kids (Blue Note) 92 (14)
6. Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters (Verve) 75 (13)
7. Dee Dee Bridgewater, Red Earth (DDB/EmArcy) 71 (9)
8. Joshua Redman, Back East (Nonesuch) 62 (12)
9. Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, My Foolish Heart (ECM) 61 (8)
10. Abbey Lincoln, Abbey Sings Abbey (Verve) 55 (8)
11. McCoy Tyner, Quartet (HalfNote/McCoy Tyner Music) 54 (9)
12. Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic) 43 (6)
13. Trio M (Myra Melford/Mark Dresser/Matt Wilson), Big Picture (Cryptogramophone) 42 (7)
14. Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM/Watt) 41 (7)
15. Paul Motian, Time and Time Again (ECM) 35 (7)
16. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake, From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey) 34.5 (6)
17. Joe Zawinul, Brown Street(Heads Up) 34 (5)
18. Anat Cohen, Noir (Anzic) 32.5 (5)
19. Miles Davis, Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF/Concord) 31 (5)
20. William Parker, Corn Meal Dance (AUM Fidelity) 31 (4)
21. Steve Lacy & Roswell Rudd, Early and Late (Cuneiform) 30 (7)
22. Bill Holman, Hommage (Jazzed Media) 30 (4)
23. The Bad Plus, Prog (Do the Math/Heads Up) 29.5 (5)
24. Jewels and Binoculars, Ships With Tattooed Sails: The Music of Bob Dylan (Upshot) 29 (4)
25. David Murray, Sacred Ground (Justin Time) 28.5 (7)
26. David Torn, Prezens (ECM) 26 (4)
27. Charles Tolliver, With Love (Blue Note/Mosaic) 25 (5)
28. Muhal Richard Abrams, Vision Towards Essence (Pi) 25 (4)
Bill Charlap, Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note) 25 (4)
30. Matthew Shipp, Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear) 24.5 (5)
David S. Ware, Renunciation(AUM Fidelity) 24.5 (5)
32. Anthony Braxton, 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (Firehouse 12) 24.5 (3)
Tyshawn Sorey, That/Not (Firehouse 12) 24.5 (3)
34. Chris Potter, Follow the Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard (Sunnyside) 22 (4)
35. The Claudia Quintet, For (Cuneiform) 21.5 (4)
36. Bennie Wallace, Disorder at the Border (Justin Time) 20.5 (3)
37. Harry Allen & Joe Cohn, Music From "Guys and Dolls" (Arbors) 20 (4)
38. Roscoe Mitchell, Composition/ Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (ECM) 20 (3)
39. Chris Potter, Song for Anyone (Sunnyside) 19.5 (4)
40. Peter Brötzmann/Mats Gustafsson/Ken Vandermark, Sonore: Only the Devil Has No Dreams(Jazzwerkstatt) 19 (2)
Evan Christopher, Delta Bound (Arbors) 19 (2)
42. Bill McHenry, Roses (Sunnyside) 18 (4)
Tierney Sutton, On the Other Side (Telarc) 18 (4)
44. Exploding Star Orchestra, We Are All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey) 18 (3)
45. Powerhouse Sound, Oslo/Chicago: Breaks (Atavistic) 18 (2)
46. Andy Bey,Ain't Necessarily So (12th St.) 17.5 (3)
47. Robert Glasper, In My Element (Blue Note) 17 (3)
48. Nels Cline Singers, Draw Breath (Cryptogramophone) 17 (2)
Mark Murphy, Love Is What Stays (Verve) 17 (2)
50. John Abercrombie, The Third Quartet (ECM) 16 (4)
Back on the Corner
The following review, from online feature-zine, earplug (part of the Flavorpill network).
i'm privileged to have a 2-disc special (Japanese market) issue of the One The Corner sessions, but this six-disc full set is part of Columbia/Legacy's ongoiong orgy of Miles product in the wake of the 80th anniversary of his birth in 2006.
The music? Coming on the heels of his Bitches Brew sessions its some of the darkest, yet most rhythmically complex stuff to come out of Davis' ever-fertile muse.
Album Review
January 3, 2008 Miles Davis
The Complete On the Corner Sessions
Columbia Legacy
September 25, 2008
"Overlooked" is perhaps the wrong way to describe this six-CD collection of unfurled funk fury. For those with a more casual interest in Miles Davis, "unexpected" may be the more apt adjective (followed by a long string of superlatives). Almost every recent review goes certifiably apeshit — a stark contrast to the critical reception the same tracks received when they were first released in the '70s. After plugging in for Bitches Brew, Davis and his ensemble were at the peak of their powers, and here they deliver a series of rhythmic manifestos, leaving a choppy wake that musicians have been wading in ever since. Culled from recordings of one of Davis' most legendary and controversial bands, the box set comes with the added, poignant bonus of stellar liner notes from recently passed writer Tom Terrell. Angular, dark, and angry, the unfettered grooves are informed by everything from Sly Stone to Indian music and Karlheinz Stockhausen, all later looped and pieced together (by hand!) by producer Teo Macero. Simply put, it's a milestone in the use of electronics.
-PCS
i'm privileged to have a 2-disc special (Japanese market) issue of the One The Corner sessions, but this six-disc full set is part of Columbia/Legacy's ongoiong orgy of Miles product in the wake of the 80th anniversary of his birth in 2006.
The music? Coming on the heels of his Bitches Brew sessions its some of the darkest, yet most rhythmically complex stuff to come out of Davis' ever-fertile muse.
Album Review
January 3, 2008 Miles Davis
The Complete On the Corner Sessions
Columbia Legacy
September 25, 2008
"Overlooked" is perhaps the wrong way to describe this six-CD collection of unfurled funk fury. For those with a more casual interest in Miles Davis, "unexpected" may be the more apt adjective (followed by a long string of superlatives). Almost every recent review goes certifiably apeshit — a stark contrast to the critical reception the same tracks received when they were first released in the '70s. After plugging in for Bitches Brew, Davis and his ensemble were at the peak of their powers, and here they deliver a series of rhythmic manifestos, leaving a choppy wake that musicians have been wading in ever since. Culled from recordings of one of Davis' most legendary and controversial bands, the box set comes with the added, poignant bonus of stellar liner notes from recently passed writer Tom Terrell. Angular, dark, and angry, the unfettered grooves are informed by everything from Sly Stone to Indian music and Karlheinz Stockhausen, all later looped and pieced together (by hand!) by producer Teo Macero. Simply put, it's a milestone in the use of electronics.
-PCS
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Then again......
If i cna have half of Roy Haynes' passion, skill and drive at 82.
I'd be ahlf wya to heaven. At the other end ofthe age spectrum, a young
saxohponist goes through his paces.
Can't stress it enough - jazz is for all - all ages, all races, all classes
I'd be ahlf wya to heaven. At the other end ofthe age spectrum, a young
saxohponist goes through his paces.
Can't stress it enough - jazz is for all - all ages, all races, all classes
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Branford Qtet
Braggtown -released in 2006, probably enjoys the heaviest rotation of any CD I own. If oyu're going to cop Coltrane, then this is the way to do it. Bookended by 2 powerhouse tunes, the leader's jack Baker, and bassist Eric Revis' Black Elk Speaks
OPope album cover
Odean Pope and his Saxophone Choir in a live date from the Blue Note. Hardly any more needs to be said. Just listen.
Haynes CD
A 2006 release, whose title stems for mthe familiar first word of an official proclamation ('Whereas....") in thsi case, the Mayor of Minneapolis/St Paul declaring an official Roy Haynes Day.
The drummer, still kickin' at 82, leads his Fountain of Youth band through some standards (Mr PC, Bemsha Swing) contemporary works by the likes of Chick Corea and Joe Henderson anda totally engaging solo improv, Haynes' Hippity-Hop.
The drummer, still kickin' at 82, leads his Fountain of Youth band through some standards (Mr PC, Bemsha Swing) contemporary works by the likes of Chick Corea and Joe Henderson anda totally engaging solo improv, Haynes' Hippity-Hop.
SchwarzBart CD
Technically not a best-of 2007, as it was initially released in France in 2006, but made available to the wider market in '07.
No matter the dates, a worthy addition tothe list. Joyous yet cerebral, with distinctly Caribbean touches. Another artist I'd like to hear more from in '08
No matter the dates, a worthy addition tothe list. Joyous yet cerebral, with distinctly Caribbean touches. Another artist I'd like to hear more from in '08
joshua redman CD
Not quite the Redman I was expecting to find after his previous release (Momentum) but stilla great exposition of mdoern jazz, witha great combo between younger and elder (the saxman's father Dewey, who passed after making this recording) on the track India
Sonicbloom
Not one that attracted repeated listens from me in 07, but for this, my thirf Hiromi CD, one can't accuse the japanese wunderkind of being boring.
Roney album cover
Rather than get buried under a lot of electronics, Roney, ably assisted by wife Geri Allen on piano and borther Antoine on reeds among others, uses the modern textures to good effect on this relentlessly brash CD. Allen is brilliant, and young bassist Rashaan Carter reveals a composiitonal flair (Inflorescent) that marks him as one to watch out for in '08
TB album cover
As good as advertised (and acclaimed in several fora) this is Blanchard's further maturation into an importnat artist. Powerful, fluid and diverse.
Best of 2007
I love lists. Earlier today I sat and watched a aseries of list shows on the NFLNetwork that included the Top 10 Team Nicknames of All Time.
The following are my choices for 2007*
*I'm including three I bought in 2007, but which were actually released in '06
The following are my choices for 2007*
*I'm including three I bought in 2007, but which were actually released in '06
Monday, December 31, 2007
Are You Still Saying Jazz is 'Old People's Music'?
The following URL is for the website of 15-y.o. pianist Matt Savage, who by this time, has already released six records (the latest, entitled Hot Ticket), won three ASCAP Young Composers awards and has 'jammed' with the likes of Clark Terry, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner.
Not bad for a kid who was born with a brand of autism that left him intolerable of loud sounds, much less music
http://www.savagerecords.com/
Not bad for a kid who was born with a brand of autism that left him intolerable of loud sounds, much less music
http://www.savagerecords.com/
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
As we come to the end of another year, for me its a time of thanksgiving and anticipation.
Thanks to all who visited and supported this effort, in 2007 and through the years.
I anticipate the full emergence of jazz/improvised music in 2008 and remain a committed activist ( I know that word has negative connotations in the J'can context, but I'm using it anyway) in achieving this.
Those who know me should know that I am not 'anti-anyotherstyle' for putting
jazz First, but as the Duke said, there are only two kinds of music, and I'd
like to hear (and see) much more of the good kind in '08.
Wishing you and yours a year of renewal, discovery and fulfillment.
BTW, I'm behind in my 07 choices. Will make good in my next post.
Thanks to all who visited and supported this effort, in 2007 and through the years.
I anticipate the full emergence of jazz/improvised music in 2008 and remain a committed activist ( I know that word has negative connotations in the J'can context, but I'm using it anyway) in achieving this.
Those who know me should know that I am not 'anti-anyotherstyle' for putting
jazz First, but as the Duke said, there are only two kinds of music, and I'd
like to hear (and see) much more of the good kind in '08.
Wishing you and yours a year of renewal, discovery and fulfillment.
BTW, I'm behind in my 07 choices. Will make good in my next post.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
So long, Oscar P
Some said he was too much, that his Tatum-derived style was florid. For others, he redefined jazz piano.
Either way, Oscar Peterson was a 'big man' in jazz in several respects. Thank God we still have the music
TORONTO - Oscar Peterson, whose flying fingers, hard-driving swing and melodic improvisations made him one of the world's most famous and influential jazz pianists in a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 82.
ADVERTISEMENT
Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson's wife and daughter were with him during his final moments. The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga's mayor, Hazel McCallion.
"He's been going downhill in the last few months," McCallion said, calling Peterson a "very close friend."
During his illustrious career, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for the trio he led with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis in the 1950s.
Peterson's impressive collection of awards include all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as seven Grammys and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1997.
"I've always thought of him as Canada's national treasure. All of Canada mourns for him and his family," said Jones. "He had 60 full years of being considered the top jazz pianist in the world
Either way, Oscar Peterson was a 'big man' in jazz in several respects. Thank God we still have the music
TORONTO - Oscar Peterson, whose flying fingers, hard-driving swing and melodic improvisations made him one of the world's most famous and influential jazz pianists in a career that spanned seven decades, has died. He was 82.
ADVERTISEMENT
Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson's wife and daughter were with him during his final moments. The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga's mayor, Hazel McCallion.
"He's been going downhill in the last few months," McCallion said, calling Peterson a "very close friend."
During his illustrious career, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for the trio he led with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis in the 1950s.
Peterson's impressive collection of awards include all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as seven Grammys and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1997.
"I've always thought of him as Canada's national treasure. All of Canada mourns for him and his family," said Jones. "He had 60 full years of being considered the top jazz pianist in the world
Monday, December 24, 2007
Towards a J'can jazz (journalists) tree
This is the model that i'm anxious for us to get to here (mind-numbing day job commitments notwithstanding) The emphases are mine.
A Jazz Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Alexis Cuadrado
It had been too many conversations; after gigs, on the subway, in airplanes, at the park. Always about similar subjects: Our struggles as bandleaders; how we set up a tour and it drained all of our energies; how we would have loved to have advance warning about that lousy club owner in France; how it would be so cool to figure out a way to open more doors for our own creative projects; how we really were going to get together soon and exchange our precious lists of European contacts. The conversations went on for a few years, always in groups of two or three and generally with a couple glasses of wine too many.
In December of 2005, trombonist Alan Ferber and I took action. We made a list of people that we thought would be interested in forming a cooperative of bandleaders. We included artists that shared the same profile: active bandleaders seriously committed to their own music with a minimally established career in the indie jazz world. And regardless of how one might categorize the music they produced, these bandleaders had the drive and determination to get their music out into the world. Our initial goal would be to exchange professional contacts and to create an umbrella organization under which we could support one another with ideas and information. But out goals rapidly expanded after we held a meeting with about 10 bandleaders in January 2006. In February 2006 the Brooklyn Jazz Underground (BJU) was finally born with the following members: Shane ENdsley, Anne Mette Iversen, Sunny Jain, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Banny Lackner, Ted Poor, Dan Pratt, Jerome Sabbagh, Alan and myself. We wrote this mission statement: "The Brooklyn Jazz Underground is an association of independentbandleaders with a shared commitment to improvised music. Through cooperative effort, members of the BJU strive to create greater awareness of their work." This sounded pretty simple, but we needed to organize ourselves in order to ensure that we had a shot at realizing our ever-increasing list of goals.
Following the model of the European Union on a much smaller scale, we have developed a rotation system in which each memner takes turn serving a month-long term as General Manager (and kicks everyone's ass for that period). Our bi-weekly meetings are held at that member's house (since we're all in Brooklyn it's just a few subway stops away) and every meeting has to be attended by a minimum of six members so that there is a real democratic decision power. Sometimes members have attended meetings through speakerphone and I'm sure we'll soon be i-chatting from the road! Additionally, every member manages a specific project and we collaborate on one another's areas. Thus, we now have www.brooklynjazz.org, where you can read the most updated info of the BJU and its members, listen to our music, read and participate in our blog, download our monthly series of podcasts (each featuring one of the BJU mombers; you can also get them for free on iTunes.) We've self-published a promotional sampler CD featuring original compositions from each of our 10 members and we've launched a publicity campaign. We also have www.myspace.com/brooklynjazzunderground, where you can befriend us.
Of course, we've had our highs and lows through all this. We all felt miserable getting up for a 6 am photo shoot on the Brooklyn Bridge. But that morning after everyone arrives ON TIME, shared coffee and bagels and put on their best faces, we all felt that we could really acheive something together.
It's a cliche to say that New York is a cold, hard city. And as it is with all cliches, there's more than a kernel of truth in it. But we always come away from the BJU meetings with a warm feeling of community and possibility. We like the heart and humor everyone brings to the meetings. We value the personal and professional relationships the group is fostering and BJU reflects the diverse and international character of jazz. Half of us were born outside the US (Germany, France, Spain, Canada and Denmark) and have choosen to build lives in New York for the creative opportuneties the city affords us. Many of us lead bands from rather unconventional chairs (among us, a trombonist, two bassists, two drummers and a violist). There are two female bandleaders among us, which at the very least sets up something of a counter-example to the gendered nature of jazz culture.
As a collective, we have worked on group actions that will hopefully help us to accomplish some of our individual goals. And this seems to be a reflection of what actually happens when a band plays, improvises and creates soemthing unique. Ultimately we think that the concept of the cooperative eaches its highest, best expression in the making of music. We can't imagine a better example of collective action functioning so purely to empower the individual's voice, whife at the same time creating something greater than the sum of its parts. We hope that as an organization the Brooklyn Jazz Underground can mirror what music does so well and serve as another example of what it can teach us all, if we know how to listen.
A Jazz Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Alexis Cuadrado
It had been too many conversations; after gigs, on the subway, in airplanes, at the park. Always about similar subjects: Our struggles as bandleaders; how we set up a tour and it drained all of our energies; how we would have loved to have advance warning about that lousy club owner in France; how it would be so cool to figure out a way to open more doors for our own creative projects; how we really were going to get together soon and exchange our precious lists of European contacts. The conversations went on for a few years, always in groups of two or three and generally with a couple glasses of wine too many.
In December of 2005, trombonist Alan Ferber and I took action. We made a list of people that we thought would be interested in forming a cooperative of bandleaders. We included artists that shared the same profile: active bandleaders seriously committed to their own music with a minimally established career in the indie jazz world. And regardless of how one might categorize the music they produced, these bandleaders had the drive and determination to get their music out into the world. Our initial goal would be to exchange professional contacts and to create an umbrella organization under which we could support one another with ideas and information. But out goals rapidly expanded after we held a meeting with about 10 bandleaders in January 2006. In February 2006 the Brooklyn Jazz Underground (BJU) was finally born with the following members: Shane ENdsley, Anne Mette Iversen, Sunny Jain, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Banny Lackner, Ted Poor, Dan Pratt, Jerome Sabbagh, Alan and myself. We wrote this mission statement: "The Brooklyn Jazz Underground is an association of independentbandleaders with a shared commitment to improvised music. Through cooperative effort, members of the BJU strive to create greater awareness of their work." This sounded pretty simple, but we needed to organize ourselves in order to ensure that we had a shot at realizing our ever-increasing list of goals.
Following the model of the European Union on a much smaller scale, we have developed a rotation system in which each memner takes turn serving a month-long term as General Manager (and kicks everyone's ass for that period). Our bi-weekly meetings are held at that member's house (since we're all in Brooklyn it's just a few subway stops away) and every meeting has to be attended by a minimum of six members so that there is a real democratic decision power. Sometimes members have attended meetings through speakerphone and I'm sure we'll soon be i-chatting from the road! Additionally, every member manages a specific project and we collaborate on one another's areas. Thus, we now have www.brooklynjazz.org, where you can read the most updated info of the BJU and its members, listen to our music, read and participate in our blog, download our monthly series of podcasts (each featuring one of the BJU mombers; you can also get them for free on iTunes.) We've self-published a promotional sampler CD featuring original compositions from each of our 10 members and we've launched a publicity campaign. We also have www.myspace.com/brooklynjazzunderground, where you can befriend us.
Of course, we've had our highs and lows through all this. We all felt miserable getting up for a 6 am photo shoot on the Brooklyn Bridge. But that morning after everyone arrives ON TIME, shared coffee and bagels and put on their best faces, we all felt that we could really acheive something together.
It's a cliche to say that New York is a cold, hard city. And as it is with all cliches, there's more than a kernel of truth in it. But we always come away from the BJU meetings with a warm feeling of community and possibility. We like the heart and humor everyone brings to the meetings. We value the personal and professional relationships the group is fostering and BJU reflects the diverse and international character of jazz. Half of us were born outside the US (Germany, France, Spain, Canada and Denmark) and have choosen to build lives in New York for the creative opportuneties the city affords us. Many of us lead bands from rather unconventional chairs (among us, a trombonist, two bassists, two drummers and a violist). There are two female bandleaders among us, which at the very least sets up something of a counter-example to the gendered nature of jazz culture.
As a collective, we have worked on group actions that will hopefully help us to accomplish some of our individual goals. And this seems to be a reflection of what actually happens when a band plays, improvises and creates soemthing unique. Ultimately we think that the concept of the cooperative eaches its highest, best expression in the making of music. We can't imagine a better example of collective action functioning so purely to empower the individual's voice, whife at the same time creating something greater than the sum of its parts. We hope that as an organization the Brooklyn Jazz Underground can mirror what music does so well and serve as another example of what it can teach us all, if we know how to listen.
The Sounds of Brooklyn
THE 2nd ANNUAL BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND FESTIVAL
@ SMALLS - JANUARY 17, 18 & 19
Smalls is located at 183 West 10th Street, at 7th Avenue South
Thursday, January 17
8:00 PM: ANNE METTE IVERSEN QUARTET
Anne Mette Iversen (bass), John Ellis (saxophones), Danny Grissett (bass), Otis Brown III (drums)
10:00 PM: ALAN FERBER NONET
Alan Ferber (trombone), Scott Wendholt (trumpet), Will Vinson (alto sax), Chris Cheek (tenor sax), Douglas Yates (bass clarinet), Nate Radley (guitar), Bryn Roberts (piano), Matt Clohesy (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
12:00 AM: BENNY LACKNER QUARTET
Benny Lackner (piano), Will Bernard (guitar), Andrew Emer (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
Friday, January 18
8:00 PM: DAN PRATT ORGAN QUARTET
Dan Pratt (tenor sax), Alan Ferber (trombone), Jared Gold (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
10:00 PM: JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET
Jerome Sabbagh (tenor sax), Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass), Ted Poor (drums)
12:00 AM: SUNNY JAIN COLLECTIVE
Sunny Jain (drums), Steve Welsh (tenor sax), Marc Cary (piano), Gary Wang (bass)
Saturday, January 19
8:00 PM: ALEXIS CUADRADO PUZZLES QUARTET
Alexis Cuadrado (bass), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Brad Shepik (guitar), Mark Ferber (drums)
10:00 PM: TED POOR & BAD TOUCH
Ted Poor (drums), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Nate Radley (guitar), Gary Versace (piano/organ)
12:00 AM: TANYA KALMANOVITCH'S GIRLFIGHT
Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola/violin), Jacob Wick (trumpet), Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass),
Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Fred Kennedy (drums)
Check out http://www.brooklynjazz.org for bios, mp3s, podcasts, blogs, photos and much more
@ SMALLS - JANUARY 17, 18 & 19
Smalls is located at 183 West 10th Street, at 7th Avenue South
Thursday, January 17
8:00 PM: ANNE METTE IVERSEN QUARTET
Anne Mette Iversen (bass), John Ellis (saxophones), Danny Grissett (bass), Otis Brown III (drums)
10:00 PM: ALAN FERBER NONET
Alan Ferber (trombone), Scott Wendholt (trumpet), Will Vinson (alto sax), Chris Cheek (tenor sax), Douglas Yates (bass clarinet), Nate Radley (guitar), Bryn Roberts (piano), Matt Clohesy (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
12:00 AM: BENNY LACKNER QUARTET
Benny Lackner (piano), Will Bernard (guitar), Andrew Emer (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
Friday, January 18
8:00 PM: DAN PRATT ORGAN QUARTET
Dan Pratt (tenor sax), Alan Ferber (trombone), Jared Gold (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)
10:00 PM: JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET
Jerome Sabbagh (tenor sax), Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass), Ted Poor (drums)
12:00 AM: SUNNY JAIN COLLECTIVE
Sunny Jain (drums), Steve Welsh (tenor sax), Marc Cary (piano), Gary Wang (bass)
Saturday, January 19
8:00 PM: ALEXIS CUADRADO PUZZLES QUARTET
Alexis Cuadrado (bass), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Brad Shepik (guitar), Mark Ferber (drums)
10:00 PM: TED POOR & BAD TOUCH
Ted Poor (drums), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Nate Radley (guitar), Gary Versace (piano/organ)
12:00 AM: TANYA KALMANOVITCH'S GIRLFIGHT
Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola/violin), Jacob Wick (trumpet), Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass),
Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Fred Kennedy (drums)
Check out http://www.brooklynjazz.org for bios, mp3s, podcasts, blogs, photos and much more
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Resurrection of Record Mart
Stories like this one warm my heart as a persistent record store supporter
December 19, 2007
ABOUT NEW YORK
Beneath the Roar of Times Square, an Old, Familiar Rhythm Returns
By JIM DWYER
All of a sudden, on his way to Brooklyn one recent evening, Victor Miranda
decided to change trains at 42nd Street, instead of 14th.
As he walked from the No. 1 train toward the R train, along one of the
busiest passages on earth, he glanced at a store. A brand-new place. Then he
stopped short. No, it wasn¹t new at all.
Latin music spilled from loudspeakers; sales posters, shouting in bold type
and exclamation points, lined a row of windows; from the store¹s doorway, a
wedge of light fell into the passageway.
Above it all was a sign: ³Record Mart.²
For a moment, it seemed to Victor Miranda that he had switched decades, not
trains.
Record Mart, a stubborn, civilized nook of Latin and jazz music that endured
and thrived in the wilderness of the Times Square subway station,
disappeared eight years ago. The store had opened in 1961. In 1999, the
station was due for renovation, and Record Mart stood in the way. An absence
of eight years in New York can erase any traces of a place.
But here it was again, December 2007.
³You¹re kidding me,² Mr. Miranda said, a smile spreading across his face. ³I
first was in here beginning in the late 1970s. I left a lot of paychecks in
here.²
He stepped inside to explore.
Jesse Moskowitz, who opened the store 46 years ago and reopened a few weeks
ago about 75 feet away from the original spot, said people like Mr. Miranda
were walking in all day. ³We always intended to come back,² he said. ³We
even signed a lease before we closed.²
Well, yes, but. In the meantime, artists began to deliver music over the
ganglia of broadband. Not even sprawling franchises like Tower Records
survived when the customers could buy any song in the world by clicking a
few keys.
As a hedge, Mr. Moskowitz ‹ in partnership with his son, Lou, and Morris
Missry ‹ stocked the shop heavily with electronics gear, even as he
persuaded the store¹s renowned buyer, Harry Sepulveda, to return three days
a week.
But it is the Latin music ‹ CDs, LPs, even cassettes ‹ that has been flying
out the door. ³We¹ve had to reorder three times from some of the labels,²
Mr. Moskowitz said.
Commuters streamed past. In the shop, people who, a few minutes earlier, had
been part of that rush now stood in a near-trance, flipping over the albums,
the songs links in a chain that was able to haul memories out of deepest
storage.
The old LP records are displayed alongside the new G.P.S. gadgetry, salsa
music cut into vinyl grooves and satellite waves captured from the skies. In
the music bin, many of the customers could hear their youth once more.
Through his early 20s, Mr. Miranda, working as a messenger and a building
porter, had stopped into the old shop. ³I would come for LPs, cassettes, the
eight-track tapes,² he said. ³I had a wide range of taste ‹ the classic
sounds, Frank Sinatra, Tito Puente. One record I remember was ŒJoe Cuba
Presents the Velvet Voice of Jimmy Sabater.¹ He¹s a crooner.²
Now 51, Mr. Miranda had picked up a CD of new age songs. ³It¹s tranquillity
music,² he said.
Not every customer was quite that sentimental. Angel Rodriguez, 52, of Union
City, N.J., first shopped at the Mart in 1989, when he was working as a
hotel chef. ³They had a lot of cassettes you couldn¹t find anywhere else,²
Mr. Rodriguez said. ³Nobody buys cassettes anymore.²
Now, he runs an online music business of his own, and somehow was able to
get onto the Internet with a mobile phone ‹ even undergound and inside
Record Mart ‹ to check demand for some titles.
³People will pay good money for CDs of old stuff,² Mr. Rodriguez said. ³In
Europe, some people will pay $30 for a CD. The euro is very strong now.²
He bought 18 CDs and one cassette from a clearance pile, at $1.99 each. He
clicked on his little gadget. ³Someone will pay $18 for this one,² he said,
holding up an album in a genre quite a distance from salsa: ³Ancient Music
for the Irish Harp,² performed by Derek Bell, the harpist for the
Chieftains.
Mr. Moskowitz, 74, shrugged. ³We¹re a work in progress,² he said. ³Right
now, we¹re almost all Spanish music. Next we¹re going to bring in jazz.²
Another old customer called out a greeting. ³You know,² Mr. Moskowitz said,
³I feel this is what it must be like to be resurrected after you¹ve died.²
E-mail: dwyer@nytimes.com
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
December 19, 2007
ABOUT NEW YORK
Beneath the Roar of Times Square, an Old, Familiar Rhythm Returns
By JIM DWYER
All of a sudden, on his way to Brooklyn one recent evening, Victor Miranda
decided to change trains at 42nd Street, instead of 14th.
As he walked from the No. 1 train toward the R train, along one of the
busiest passages on earth, he glanced at a store. A brand-new place. Then he
stopped short. No, it wasn¹t new at all.
Latin music spilled from loudspeakers; sales posters, shouting in bold type
and exclamation points, lined a row of windows; from the store¹s doorway, a
wedge of light fell into the passageway.
Above it all was a sign: ³Record Mart.²
For a moment, it seemed to Victor Miranda that he had switched decades, not
trains.
Record Mart, a stubborn, civilized nook of Latin and jazz music that endured
and thrived in the wilderness of the Times Square subway station,
disappeared eight years ago. The store had opened in 1961. In 1999, the
station was due for renovation, and Record Mart stood in the way. An absence
of eight years in New York can erase any traces of a place.
But here it was again, December 2007.
³You¹re kidding me,² Mr. Miranda said, a smile spreading across his face. ³I
first was in here beginning in the late 1970s. I left a lot of paychecks in
here.²
He stepped inside to explore.
Jesse Moskowitz, who opened the store 46 years ago and reopened a few weeks
ago about 75 feet away from the original spot, said people like Mr. Miranda
were walking in all day. ³We always intended to come back,² he said. ³We
even signed a lease before we closed.²
Well, yes, but. In the meantime, artists began to deliver music over the
ganglia of broadband. Not even sprawling franchises like Tower Records
survived when the customers could buy any song in the world by clicking a
few keys.
As a hedge, Mr. Moskowitz ‹ in partnership with his son, Lou, and Morris
Missry ‹ stocked the shop heavily with electronics gear, even as he
persuaded the store¹s renowned buyer, Harry Sepulveda, to return three days
a week.
But it is the Latin music ‹ CDs, LPs, even cassettes ‹ that has been flying
out the door. ³We¹ve had to reorder three times from some of the labels,²
Mr. Moskowitz said.
Commuters streamed past. In the shop, people who, a few minutes earlier, had
been part of that rush now stood in a near-trance, flipping over the albums,
the songs links in a chain that was able to haul memories out of deepest
storage.
The old LP records are displayed alongside the new G.P.S. gadgetry, salsa
music cut into vinyl grooves and satellite waves captured from the skies. In
the music bin, many of the customers could hear their youth once more.
Through his early 20s, Mr. Miranda, working as a messenger and a building
porter, had stopped into the old shop. ³I would come for LPs, cassettes, the
eight-track tapes,² he said. ³I had a wide range of taste ‹ the classic
sounds, Frank Sinatra, Tito Puente. One record I remember was ŒJoe Cuba
Presents the Velvet Voice of Jimmy Sabater.¹ He¹s a crooner.²
Now 51, Mr. Miranda had picked up a CD of new age songs. ³It¹s tranquillity
music,² he said.
Not every customer was quite that sentimental. Angel Rodriguez, 52, of Union
City, N.J., first shopped at the Mart in 1989, when he was working as a
hotel chef. ³They had a lot of cassettes you couldn¹t find anywhere else,²
Mr. Rodriguez said. ³Nobody buys cassettes anymore.²
Now, he runs an online music business of his own, and somehow was able to
get onto the Internet with a mobile phone ‹ even undergound and inside
Record Mart ‹ to check demand for some titles.
³People will pay good money for CDs of old stuff,² Mr. Rodriguez said. ³In
Europe, some people will pay $30 for a CD. The euro is very strong now.²
He bought 18 CDs and one cassette from a clearance pile, at $1.99 each. He
clicked on his little gadget. ³Someone will pay $18 for this one,² he said,
holding up an album in a genre quite a distance from salsa: ³Ancient Music
for the Irish Harp,² performed by Derek Bell, the harpist for the
Chieftains.
Mr. Moskowitz, 74, shrugged. ³We¹re a work in progress,² he said. ³Right
now, we¹re almost all Spanish music. Next we¹re going to bring in jazz.²
Another old customer called out a greeting. ³You know,² Mr. Moskowitz said,
³I feel this is what it must be like to be resurrected after you¹ve died.²
E-mail: dwyer@nytimes.com
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
'Driving' undercover
My home compuetr hard drive got wiped out over the weekend (the mantra of back-up, back-up, back-up really hits home here), so I'm down to strealing time from the office system.
The following is of course a highly subjective list, none of the entries I have yet heard, but it's worthwhile even for that reason only.
My list should be out next week - tech problems not withstanding.
The Best Jazz Albums of 2007
Mingus, Hancock, Lovano, Friedlander …
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, at 2:51 PM ET
It's been a good year for jazz. No single new recording stands out, as Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar did in 2006, but many albums more than satisfy.
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note). The clear winner is this live two-disc concert from long-lost tapes of Mingus' most boisterous band in its merriest mood. Regarded as a run-through of the (now-legendary) Town Hall concert a few weeks hence, and the European tour that followed, the session has its wayward moments, but it's jammed with zest and virtuosity. It starts with a head-spinning Jaki Byard piano solo on "ATFW You" (the initials standing for Art Tatum/Fats Waller), segues to Mingus plucking a soulful bass solo on "Sophisticated Lady," then moves into a string of original tunes—Mingus classics ("Faubus Fables," "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk," "So Long, Eric"), some of them played for the first time in public here. Horn solos by Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, and Johnny Coles sizzle throughout. Drummer Danny Richmond plays near his peak, too. The discs aren't as revelatory as Monk and Coltrane's unearthed Carnegie Hall tapes of 1957, which topped this list (and many others) in 2005, but they'll do.
Maria Schneider Orchestra, Sky Blue (ArtistShare). It's remarkable that composer-conductor Maria Schneider's 17-to-20-piece jazz orchestra is still going after 15 years, with most of the original members intact. It's amazing that they keep getting better. Schneider's compositions, once embedded in the Gil Evans school of lush stacked harmonies, have stretched into rich, melodic lines and exotic (usually Latin-tinged) rhythms. The band members, always skilled, have developed into exuberant soloists. Sky Blue is her most ambitious work: a testament to love, loss, memory, friendship, and the joys of birding (she has her quirks). She writes gorgeous ballads and snappy upbeat numbers, without dipping into sentimentalism or pop banality. The band is whip tight. The sound quality, by engineer Joe Ferla, is stunning and lifelike: dynamic, warm, and vivid. (Available only from Schneider's or ArtistShare's Web site.)
Erik Friedlander, Block Ice & Propane (SkipStone Records). Best known as the cellist in John Zorn's various Masada string ensembles, Erik Friedlander is the son of the great photographer Lee Friedlander. When Erik was a kid, the family would spend the summers in a pickup truck with a built-in cabin on top, driving across the country to sites where Lee would take pictures. This CD—subtitled "Taking Trips to America: Compositions and Improvisations for Solo Cello"—is a musical remembrance of the feeling of those voyages: haunting, lulling, adventurous, and disorientingly magical. Friedlander combines a modern classicist's sense of harmony—Copland's open chords, but also Crumb's gnarly grit—with rhythmic nods toward early folk and blues. Is it jazz? I'll leave that to the philosophers. It's great music by a great jazz musician; that should be enough.
Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic). Anat Cohen—still in her 20s, Israeli born-and-bred, Berklee-trained, Manhattan-honed—is a fresh breeze on the jazz scene, a clarinetist who plays with high spirits, a silky tone, and a hard-polished edge. Her music reflects her multiple influences: folk, klezmer, Brazilian choro, a whiff of Dixie, as well as modern jazz. Poetica, put out on her own label (a real commercial venture, not a home-brewed knockoff), features spirited originals, a Jacques Brel tune, and a cover of Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament" (with string quartet) that's as stirring as any out there.
Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM). Pianist-composer Carla Bley's small-group sessions have an eccentric charm, but there's something deeper going on here. The tunes, all written by Bley, are near-minimalist progressions—a scale inversion, a few chords, a bass line, a melody. Yet she arranges these strands in some magical equipoise, like a Calder mobile. The album features her quartet, called the Lost Chords, joined by Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu (hence the oddball title), whose plangent tone is reminiscent of Miles Davis' early balladeering. The disc is at once taut and rambling, bittersweet and lyrical.
Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee (ECM). Carla Bley's ex-husband and, much more than that, a jazz pianist's pianist for the past half-century, Paul Bley plays with a stark romanticism—rhapsodic flourishes and heavy use of the sustain pedal, but tempered by staggered rhythms and slightly dissonant harmonies. These 10 numbers, improvised etudes, were recorded in a nicely resonant studio in Mondsee, Austria. At first, they're catchy; on repeated listening, each one opens new doors and takes you in more deeply.
Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters (Verve). I've often wondered why more jazz musicians don't riff on Joni Mitchell songs. They're rhythmically complex and harmonically open—plenty of room for improvisation. Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter played backup on her jazz-cadenced albums of the late '70s (Mingus, Hejira). Now they lead a tribute album, featuring some of her best tunes, joined on six of the 10 tracks by various singers—including Norah Jones, Tina Turner (both surprisingly apt), and Joni herself, who saunters through "Tea Leaf Prophecy" with the cool aplomb of a "real" jazz crooner. Hancock coaxes aptly moody tone clusters from the piano; Shorter wails simpatico; and Dave Holland fills in the spaces on bass. A rare album that truly fuses pop and jazz without pandering to either.
Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Time and Time Again (ECM). This is an irresistibly odd trio—Motian slapping his brushes on snare and hi-hat, seemingly out of rhythm but in fact closing in on it with precision; Frisell picking Twin Peaks intervals with the slightest wah-wah; Lovano blowing the blues on tenor just a little bit out of the bar—yet it works, it delights, it sometimes rivets. The album is not quite as mesmerizing as last year's trio disc with Motian, Frisell, and bassist Ron Carter, but it's vital stuff, and there's nothing else like it.
Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, Kids: Live at Dizzy's Coca-Cola (Blue Note). Here's Lovano in a more cruising-bop mode, playing duets with Hank Jones, who was 88 years old when these sessions were set down and who still navigates the piano with dexterity, grace, and hard rhythm. They play mainly standards; they always delight and sometimes startle.
Kendra Shank, A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook (Challenge). Abbey Lincoln's songs are tough nuts for any singer; they move through uneven intervals, abruptly change keys, and sport lyrics that border on the banal unless they're sung with real conviction. Kendra Shank sings 11 of her songs with nearly as much soulful wisdom as the composer does—and in better tune and rhythm. Her rhythm section, especially pianist Frank Kimbraugh (a longtime accompanist who also plays in Maria Schneider's orchestra), provides just enough support. It's an enchanting collection.
The following is of course a highly subjective list, none of the entries I have yet heard, but it's worthwhile even for that reason only.
My list should be out next week - tech problems not withstanding.
The Best Jazz Albums of 2007
Mingus, Hancock, Lovano, Friedlander …
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, at 2:51 PM ET
It's been a good year for jazz. No single new recording stands out, as Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar did in 2006, but many albums more than satisfy.
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note). The clear winner is this live two-disc concert from long-lost tapes of Mingus' most boisterous band in its merriest mood. Regarded as a run-through of the (now-legendary) Town Hall concert a few weeks hence, and the European tour that followed, the session has its wayward moments, but it's jammed with zest and virtuosity. It starts with a head-spinning Jaki Byard piano solo on "ATFW You" (the initials standing for Art Tatum/Fats Waller), segues to Mingus plucking a soulful bass solo on "Sophisticated Lady," then moves into a string of original tunes—Mingus classics ("Faubus Fables," "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk," "So Long, Eric"), some of them played for the first time in public here. Horn solos by Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, and Johnny Coles sizzle throughout. Drummer Danny Richmond plays near his peak, too. The discs aren't as revelatory as Monk and Coltrane's unearthed Carnegie Hall tapes of 1957, which topped this list (and many others) in 2005, but they'll do.
Maria Schneider Orchestra, Sky Blue (ArtistShare). It's remarkable that composer-conductor Maria Schneider's 17-to-20-piece jazz orchestra is still going after 15 years, with most of the original members intact. It's amazing that they keep getting better. Schneider's compositions, once embedded in the Gil Evans school of lush stacked harmonies, have stretched into rich, melodic lines and exotic (usually Latin-tinged) rhythms. The band members, always skilled, have developed into exuberant soloists. Sky Blue is her most ambitious work: a testament to love, loss, memory, friendship, and the joys of birding (she has her quirks). She writes gorgeous ballads and snappy upbeat numbers, without dipping into sentimentalism or pop banality. The band is whip tight. The sound quality, by engineer Joe Ferla, is stunning and lifelike: dynamic, warm, and vivid. (Available only from Schneider's or ArtistShare's Web site.)
Erik Friedlander, Block Ice & Propane (SkipStone Records). Best known as the cellist in John Zorn's various Masada string ensembles, Erik Friedlander is the son of the great photographer Lee Friedlander. When Erik was a kid, the family would spend the summers in a pickup truck with a built-in cabin on top, driving across the country to sites where Lee would take pictures. This CD—subtitled "Taking Trips to America: Compositions and Improvisations for Solo Cello"—is a musical remembrance of the feeling of those voyages: haunting, lulling, adventurous, and disorientingly magical. Friedlander combines a modern classicist's sense of harmony—Copland's open chords, but also Crumb's gnarly grit—with rhythmic nods toward early folk and blues. Is it jazz? I'll leave that to the philosophers. It's great music by a great jazz musician; that should be enough.
Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic). Anat Cohen—still in her 20s, Israeli born-and-bred, Berklee-trained, Manhattan-honed—is a fresh breeze on the jazz scene, a clarinetist who plays with high spirits, a silky tone, and a hard-polished edge. Her music reflects her multiple influences: folk, klezmer, Brazilian choro, a whiff of Dixie, as well as modern jazz. Poetica, put out on her own label (a real commercial venture, not a home-brewed knockoff), features spirited originals, a Jacques Brel tune, and a cover of Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament" (with string quartet) that's as stirring as any out there.
Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM). Pianist-composer Carla Bley's small-group sessions have an eccentric charm, but there's something deeper going on here. The tunes, all written by Bley, are near-minimalist progressions—a scale inversion, a few chords, a bass line, a melody. Yet she arranges these strands in some magical equipoise, like a Calder mobile. The album features her quartet, called the Lost Chords, joined by Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu (hence the oddball title), whose plangent tone is reminiscent of Miles Davis' early balladeering. The disc is at once taut and rambling, bittersweet and lyrical.
Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee (ECM). Carla Bley's ex-husband and, much more than that, a jazz pianist's pianist for the past half-century, Paul Bley plays with a stark romanticism—rhapsodic flourishes and heavy use of the sustain pedal, but tempered by staggered rhythms and slightly dissonant harmonies. These 10 numbers, improvised etudes, were recorded in a nicely resonant studio in Mondsee, Austria. At first, they're catchy; on repeated listening, each one opens new doors and takes you in more deeply.
Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters (Verve). I've often wondered why more jazz musicians don't riff on Joni Mitchell songs. They're rhythmically complex and harmonically open—plenty of room for improvisation. Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter played backup on her jazz-cadenced albums of the late '70s (Mingus, Hejira). Now they lead a tribute album, featuring some of her best tunes, joined on six of the 10 tracks by various singers—including Norah Jones, Tina Turner (both surprisingly apt), and Joni herself, who saunters through "Tea Leaf Prophecy" with the cool aplomb of a "real" jazz crooner. Hancock coaxes aptly moody tone clusters from the piano; Shorter wails simpatico; and Dave Holland fills in the spaces on bass. A rare album that truly fuses pop and jazz without pandering to either.
Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Time and Time Again (ECM). This is an irresistibly odd trio—Motian slapping his brushes on snare and hi-hat, seemingly out of rhythm but in fact closing in on it with precision; Frisell picking Twin Peaks intervals with the slightest wah-wah; Lovano blowing the blues on tenor just a little bit out of the bar—yet it works, it delights, it sometimes rivets. The album is not quite as mesmerizing as last year's trio disc with Motian, Frisell, and bassist Ron Carter, but it's vital stuff, and there's nothing else like it.
Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, Kids: Live at Dizzy's Coca-Cola (Blue Note). Here's Lovano in a more cruising-bop mode, playing duets with Hank Jones, who was 88 years old when these sessions were set down and who still navigates the piano with dexterity, grace, and hard rhythm. They play mainly standards; they always delight and sometimes startle.
Kendra Shank, A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook (Challenge). Abbey Lincoln's songs are tough nuts for any singer; they move through uneven intervals, abruptly change keys, and sport lyrics that border on the banal unless they're sung with real conviction. Kendra Shank sings 11 of her songs with nearly as much soulful wisdom as the composer does—and in better tune and rhythm. Her rhythm section, especially pianist Frank Kimbraugh (a longtime accompanist who also plays in Maria Schneider's orchestra), provides just enough support. It's an enchanting collection.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Another great jazz saxman silenced
Just logged in and this is the first thing in my inbox. Another tough blow, and another reason why the music must be aired frequently and consistently
R.I.P Frank Morgan 1933-2007
We've just been notified that Frank Morgan passed away peacefully from
kidney failure this morning, near his family and friends in his hometown
of Minneapolis. He had just completed a successful European tour, even
though he was worried about his health. A memorial gathering is planned
in his longtime home town of Taos, New Mexico, on what would have been
his 74th, birthday, December 23.
R.I.P Frank Morgan 1933-2007
We've just been notified that Frank Morgan passed away peacefully from
kidney failure this morning, near his family and friends in his hometown
of Minneapolis. He had just completed a successful European tour, even
though he was worried about his health. A memorial gathering is planned
in his longtime home town of Taos, New Mexico, on what would have been
his 74th, birthday, December 23.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Jazz Juvenile - update on Nikki Yanofsky
Well, we checked, and here's what we've got on Miss Yanofsky:
Born in Montreal in 1994 - yes that makes her 13 going on 14
She's signed to A440 Entertainment
sings with not inconsiderable power but we're figuring that nuance
and shading will come over time
An interesting novelty choice on the part of the organisers - we're not expecting a rash of Jamaican junior jazz singers asa result of her appearance (but some interest would be welcome.)
should win some hearts in Mobay
Born in Montreal in 1994 - yes that makes her 13 going on 14
She's signed to A440 Entertainment
sings with not inconsiderable power but we're figuring that nuance
and shading will come over time
An interesting novelty choice on the part of the organisers - we're not expecting a rash of Jamaican junior jazz singers asa result of her appearance (but some interest would be welcome.)
should win some hearts in Mobay
Monday, December 10, 2007
Yerba Buena, Spyro Gyra & more for 'Art of Music'08
Post #300 ofcusses o nthe Air J Jazz lineup.
Still shying away from straightahead, but with csome interesting angles
Thurs: Cuban-American group Yerba Buena who rocked on their debut (in Kingston) last year and who, fro mthe looks of the website photo, have added drummer Terreon Gully (Stefon Harris' Blackout, Russell Gunn's Ethnomusicology, other bands)to their ranks. walk ride, drive, or any combination of the three to see this group, they are classic Latin-funk combo
modern chanteuse Anita Baker, who had been on verge of slipping into obscurity since signing with Blue Note Recorda a few years ago. gave a stirrin performance at Barbados Jazz 07 in January - should be the mainstream draw of the year here.
Smooth jazz vets, SPyro Gyra, whose Morning Dance ironically heralded the late great Neville Willoughby's classic Evening People Show on RJR. Thirty-odd years and over 10mil units -they must be doing something right.
The inimitable lead voice of Kool & the Gang (Cherish, Misled) JT Taylor, comes to J'ca as a solo act.
plus: Marjorie Whylie (recently returned from London jazzfest), Aj Brown, violin prodigy Jessica Yap and more.
Friday
Another famous lead singer as a solo - Lou Gramm, whose gritty tenor made tracks like Urgent, Waiting For A Girl Like You and I Wanna Know What Love Is, modern radio classics
South African jazz ambassador Hugh Masakela,
R&B empress and recently single Jill Scott,
upcoming reggae empress Etana,
crooner Ryan Shaw
and Saturday:
Mizz Ross - as in Diana, first lady of Motown's heyday with the Supremes, to playing Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues to Sweet Love Hangover, Muscles and all the rest
Hugh Masakela pulls a double,
Mr 'Caribbean Queen' Billy Ocean
Gospel makes a return via 'sista act' Mary Mary
Blues & Americana maestro Taj Mahal (he does a mean version of Rain From The Sky -Delroy Wilson style) makes a long overdue return,
and Nikke Yanofsky, of whom we admittedly know nothing at present (rest assured, we'll check.
Visit jazz first on Wednesday for pics from the 'launch jazz brunch' at the UWI Mona Vistors' Lodge
Still shying away from straightahead, but with csome interesting angles
Thurs: Cuban-American group Yerba Buena who rocked on their debut (in Kingston) last year and who, fro mthe looks of the website photo, have added drummer Terreon Gully (Stefon Harris' Blackout, Russell Gunn's Ethnomusicology, other bands)to their ranks. walk ride, drive, or any combination of the three to see this group, they are classic Latin-funk combo
modern chanteuse Anita Baker, who had been on verge of slipping into obscurity since signing with Blue Note Recorda a few years ago. gave a stirrin performance at Barbados Jazz 07 in January - should be the mainstream draw of the year here.
Smooth jazz vets, SPyro Gyra, whose Morning Dance ironically heralded the late great Neville Willoughby's classic Evening People Show on RJR. Thirty-odd years and over 10mil units -they must be doing something right.
The inimitable lead voice of Kool & the Gang (Cherish, Misled) JT Taylor, comes to J'ca as a solo act.
plus: Marjorie Whylie (recently returned from London jazzfest), Aj Brown, violin prodigy Jessica Yap and more.
Friday
Another famous lead singer as a solo - Lou Gramm, whose gritty tenor made tracks like Urgent, Waiting For A Girl Like You and I Wanna Know What Love Is, modern radio classics
South African jazz ambassador Hugh Masakela,
R&B empress and recently single Jill Scott,
upcoming reggae empress Etana,
crooner Ryan Shaw
and Saturday:
Mizz Ross - as in Diana, first lady of Motown's heyday with the Supremes, to playing Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues to Sweet Love Hangover, Muscles and all the rest
Hugh Masakela pulls a double,
Mr 'Caribbean Queen' Billy Ocean
Gospel makes a return via 'sista act' Mary Mary
Blues & Americana maestro Taj Mahal (he does a mean version of Rain From The Sky -Delroy Wilson style) makes a long overdue return,
and Nikke Yanofsky, of whom we admittedly know nothing at present (rest assured, we'll check.
Visit jazz first on Wednesday for pics from the 'launch jazz brunch' at the UWI Mona Vistors' Lodge
Friday, December 07, 2007
Univ gets massive jazz gift
December 4, 2007
It's billed as the largest privately held jazz record collection in America,
and it's heading out of Chicago.
More than 100,000 jazz recordings tracing the history of the art form --
from swing to the avant-garde -- will be donated to Oberlin Conservatory of
Music, in Oberlin, Ohio, by Chicagoans James and Susan Neumann.
James Neumann, who graduated from Oberlin College in 1958 as a liberal arts
major, began acquiring inexpensive jazz albums as a teenager, long before
the LPs became collectors' items. He eventually amassed a collection of the
complete recordings of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie,
Charlie Parker and more, he says.
Why didn't the Neumanns donate the treasures to a Chicago institution?
"I tried to," says James Neumann, "but I was rejected. ... A lot of
organizations didn't have room for it."
Because Oberlin Conservatory plans to open the $22 million Phyllis Litoff
Building for jazz studies in 2009, the school could accommodate the
Neumanns' trove (which also includes posters, autographs and other jazz
memorabilia).
James Neumann places the value of the collection "in the neighborhood of
$500,000"; its complete recorded contents will be transferred to digital
files
It's billed as the largest privately held jazz record collection in America,
and it's heading out of Chicago.
More than 100,000 jazz recordings tracing the history of the art form --
from swing to the avant-garde -- will be donated to Oberlin Conservatory of
Music, in Oberlin, Ohio, by Chicagoans James and Susan Neumann.
James Neumann, who graduated from Oberlin College in 1958 as a liberal arts
major, began acquiring inexpensive jazz albums as a teenager, long before
the LPs became collectors' items. He eventually amassed a collection of the
complete recordings of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie,
Charlie Parker and more, he says.
Why didn't the Neumanns donate the treasures to a Chicago institution?
"I tried to," says James Neumann, "but I was rejected. ... A lot of
organizations didn't have room for it."
Because Oberlin Conservatory plans to open the $22 million Phyllis Litoff
Building for jazz studies in 2009, the school could accommodate the
Neumanns' trove (which also includes posters, autographs and other jazz
memorabilia).
James Neumann places the value of the collection "in the neighborhood of
$500,000"; its complete recorded contents will be transferred to digital
files
Monk Institute winners
The Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Presents:
Jazz In Progress/Monk In Motion - The Next Face Of Jazz
Presenting, In Concert, The Top Three Finalists
In The 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition:
Jean Caze (2nd place) - November 26
Ambrose Akinmusire (winner) - One week from today - December 10 @ 7:00 PM
Michael Rodriguez (3rd place) - December 17
(Fall/Winter, 2007) The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute, proudly presents Jazz In Progress/Monk In Motion: The Next Face Of Jazz, featuring in concert the top three finalists, Ambrose Akinmusire (pronounced ah-KIN-moo-SEE-ray) (Oakland, CA), Jean Caze (Haiti) and Michael Rodriguez (Queens, NY), of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, now celebrating its 21st anniversary. This year the competition will feature jazz trumpeters, with the semi-finalists performing before a legendary panel of judges including Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Terence Blanchard, Hugh Masekela, Clark Terry and Roy Hargrove at Schoenberg Hall on the University of California, Los Angeles Campus from 1:00-5:00 PM PST on October 27, 2007.
Each of the three concerts of the Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion Series will feature one finalist leading their ensemble, demonstrating the perpetually diverse nature of jazz, and showcasing three of the plethora of exciting, young trumpeters making jazz their life's work. Tickets are $25 General Admission, $15 Students & Seniors. To order tickets and for additional information click on www.tribecapac.org or call the box office at 212 220 1460. The Tribeca Performing Arts Center is located at 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007.
Press inquiries should be directed to Jason Paul Harman Byrne at Red Cat Publicity, tel 347 578 7601, email Redcatpublicity@aol.com.
Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion Concert Schedule:
Monday, November 26 at 7:00 PM - Jean Caze
Monday, December 10 at 7:00 PM - Ambrose Akinmusire
Monday, December 17 at 7:00 PM - Michael Rodriguez
Monday, December 10 at 7:00 PM - Ambrose Akinmusire with Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone), Chris Dingman (vibes), Aaron Parks (piano), Joe Sanders (bass), Justin Brown (drums)
Ambrose's conceptual extension into a new musical language is never to the exclusion of beauty. As one who listens intently, he values the fertility of a pause, of communication, of tension. He draws inspiration from such musicians as Bjork and Chopin. Ambrose's music restructures accepted notions of jazz in a way that reflects his ability to recognize nuances, multiplicities, and patterns.
Akinmusire, raised in Oakland, CA, first started playing piano at the age of three, becoming familiar with music began long before putting his mouth to a trumpet. He is relentlessly opposed to stagnation, seeking movement in both his music and his life. Before he was eighteen, Ambrose had already performed with such famed musicians as Joe Henderson, Joshua Redman, Steve Coleman, and Billy Higgins. After graduating Berkeley High School, he moved to New York to begin a full scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vincent Pinzerella from the New York Philharmonic, Dick Oatts, Lew Soloff, and Laurie Frink. Throughout his studies, Ambrose continued to tether audiences to his concepts and his sound, performing publicly with Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Josh Roseman, Vijay Iyer, Charlie Persip, the Mingus Big Band, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective, to name only a few.
Currently in a Masters program at USC, and a recent graduate of the Monk Institute, Ambrose's instructors have included Terence Blanchard, Billy Childs and Gary Grant. In the past year, he has worked with such artists as Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Hal Crook, Bob Hurst, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ron Carter, and Wallace Roney, and performed in Vietnam with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.
As for a conclusion, there is none. Ambrose's musical trajectory continues to grow in more than one direction, drawing from the most unconventional sources and unraveling the most comfortable conceptions of limitation, persistently aspiring to evolution and beauty.
Monday, December 17 at 7:00 PM - Michael Rodriguez with Robert Rodriguez (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Clarence Penn (drums)
Trumpeter/composer, Michael Rodriguez was born on July 14, 1979 in Queens, New York. Like his brother Robert, Michael was inspired to pursue music as a career by his father, who is the drummer, Roberto Rodriguez. Rodriguez studied at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, and continued his studies at the University of Miami, transfering to the New School in New York after two years. He has performed and toured with Eric Reed, Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, Pop Icon Jessica Simpson, Chico O'Farill Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and is a member of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. The trumpeter has also performed and traveled with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley, Harry Conick Jr., Bob Mintzer, Eddie Palmieri Septet and The Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra. In December of 2003 Michael recorded on Charlie Haden's Grammy award winning recording album featuring Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Joe Lovano entitled ¨Land of the Sun,¨ and Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra's latest album entitled "Not in Our Name." Rodriguez is currently a member of Gonzalo Rubalcaba's new quintet and has toured and recorded on his new album on the Blue Note label, due out this fall.
Michael and his brother, pianist Robert Rodriguez, have recorded two albums together "Introducing the Rodriguez Brothers" and their most recent album on the Savant label, "Conversations." He also performs workshops and clinics around the country and is involved with Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department.
The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition is the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. Each year the institute attracts the brightest young jazz talent in the world to compete for a series of scholarships. The semi-final round (on October 27) is FREE and open to the public. On Sunday night, the top three finalists will have one more opportunity to perform before the judges and compete for the chance to become the winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and a $20,000 scholarship. The second place winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and the third place winner will receive a scholarship for $5,000. An all-star tribute to Herbie Hancock will immediately follow.
Since 1987, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz has presented the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. Each year, more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes are awarded to talented young musicians and composers. The scholarships help pay tuition for college-level jazz education studies and provide funds for private, specialized instruction. The competition focuses on a different instrument every year and features an outstanding all-star judging panel. Branford Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, and Diana Krall have all served as judges at past competitions.
The Institute has presented competitions for piano, bass, drums, hand drums, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, vocals and trombone. In September 2006, the competition once again showcased piano, in celebration of the Institute's 20th Anniversary, with the semifinals taking place at the Smithsonian Institution's Baird Auditorium and the finals at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Presents:
Jazz In Progress/Monk In Motion - The Next Face Of Jazz
Presenting, In Concert, The Top Three Finalists
In The 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition:
Jean Caze (2nd place) - November 26
Ambrose Akinmusire (winner) - One week from today - December 10 @ 7:00 PM
Michael Rodriguez (3rd place) - December 17
(Fall/Winter, 2007) The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute, proudly presents Jazz In Progress/Monk In Motion: The Next Face Of Jazz, featuring in concert the top three finalists, Ambrose Akinmusire (pronounced ah-KIN-moo-SEE-ray) (Oakland, CA), Jean Caze (Haiti) and Michael Rodriguez (Queens, NY), of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, now celebrating its 21st anniversary. This year the competition will feature jazz trumpeters, with the semi-finalists performing before a legendary panel of judges including Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Terence Blanchard, Hugh Masekela, Clark Terry and Roy Hargrove at Schoenberg Hall on the University of California, Los Angeles Campus from 1:00-5:00 PM PST on October 27, 2007.
Each of the three concerts of the Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion Series will feature one finalist leading their ensemble, demonstrating the perpetually diverse nature of jazz, and showcasing three of the plethora of exciting, young trumpeters making jazz their life's work. Tickets are $25 General Admission, $15 Students & Seniors. To order tickets and for additional information click on www.tribecapac.org or call the box office at 212 220 1460. The Tribeca Performing Arts Center is located at 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007.
Press inquiries should be directed to Jason Paul Harman Byrne at Red Cat Publicity, tel 347 578 7601, email Redcatpublicity@aol.com.
Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion Concert Schedule:
Monday, November 26 at 7:00 PM - Jean Caze
Monday, December 10 at 7:00 PM - Ambrose Akinmusire
Monday, December 17 at 7:00 PM - Michael Rodriguez
Monday, December 10 at 7:00 PM - Ambrose Akinmusire with Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone), Chris Dingman (vibes), Aaron Parks (piano), Joe Sanders (bass), Justin Brown (drums)
Ambrose's conceptual extension into a new musical language is never to the exclusion of beauty. As one who listens intently, he values the fertility of a pause, of communication, of tension. He draws inspiration from such musicians as Bjork and Chopin. Ambrose's music restructures accepted notions of jazz in a way that reflects his ability to recognize nuances, multiplicities, and patterns.
Akinmusire, raised in Oakland, CA, first started playing piano at the age of three, becoming familiar with music began long before putting his mouth to a trumpet. He is relentlessly opposed to stagnation, seeking movement in both his music and his life. Before he was eighteen, Ambrose had already performed with such famed musicians as Joe Henderson, Joshua Redman, Steve Coleman, and Billy Higgins. After graduating Berkeley High School, he moved to New York to begin a full scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vincent Pinzerella from the New York Philharmonic, Dick Oatts, Lew Soloff, and Laurie Frink. Throughout his studies, Ambrose continued to tether audiences to his concepts and his sound, performing publicly with Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Josh Roseman, Vijay Iyer, Charlie Persip, the Mingus Big Band, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective, to name only a few.
Currently in a Masters program at USC, and a recent graduate of the Monk Institute, Ambrose's instructors have included Terence Blanchard, Billy Childs and Gary Grant. In the past year, he has worked with such artists as Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Hal Crook, Bob Hurst, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ron Carter, and Wallace Roney, and performed in Vietnam with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.
As for a conclusion, there is none. Ambrose's musical trajectory continues to grow in more than one direction, drawing from the most unconventional sources and unraveling the most comfortable conceptions of limitation, persistently aspiring to evolution and beauty.
Monday, December 17 at 7:00 PM - Michael Rodriguez with Robert Rodriguez (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Clarence Penn (drums)
Trumpeter/composer, Michael Rodriguez was born on July 14, 1979 in Queens, New York. Like his brother Robert, Michael was inspired to pursue music as a career by his father, who is the drummer, Roberto Rodriguez. Rodriguez studied at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, and continued his studies at the University of Miami, transfering to the New School in New York after two years. He has performed and toured with Eric Reed, Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, Pop Icon Jessica Simpson, Chico O'Farill Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and is a member of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. The trumpeter has also performed and traveled with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley, Harry Conick Jr., Bob Mintzer, Eddie Palmieri Septet and The Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra. In December of 2003 Michael recorded on Charlie Haden's Grammy award winning recording album featuring Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Joe Lovano entitled ¨Land of the Sun,¨ and Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra's latest album entitled "Not in Our Name." Rodriguez is currently a member of Gonzalo Rubalcaba's new quintet and has toured and recorded on his new album on the Blue Note label, due out this fall.
Michael and his brother, pianist Robert Rodriguez, have recorded two albums together "Introducing the Rodriguez Brothers" and their most recent album on the Savant label, "Conversations." He also performs workshops and clinics around the country and is involved with Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department.
The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition is the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. Each year the institute attracts the brightest young jazz talent in the world to compete for a series of scholarships. The semi-final round (on October 27) is FREE and open to the public. On Sunday night, the top three finalists will have one more opportunity to perform before the judges and compete for the chance to become the winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and a $20,000 scholarship. The second place winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and the third place winner will receive a scholarship for $5,000. An all-star tribute to Herbie Hancock will immediately follow.
Since 1987, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz has presented the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. Each year, more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes are awarded to talented young musicians and composers. The scholarships help pay tuition for college-level jazz education studies and provide funds for private, specialized instruction. The competition focuses on a different instrument every year and features an outstanding all-star judging panel. Branford Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, and Diana Krall have all served as judges at past competitions.
The Institute has presented competitions for piano, bass, drums, hand drums, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, vocals and trombone. In September 2006, the competition once again showcased piano, in celebration of the Institute's 20th Anniversary, with the semifinals taking place at the Smithsonian Institution's Baird Auditorium and the finals at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.
R.I.P. Darren Khan
Got news this morning which stopped me in my tracks.
Darren Khan, whom I had recruited (on the recommendation of Analisa Chapman and above the stern reservations of Exec Editor Vernon Davidson) as a freelance
features writer/reviewer at the Observer, was founded burned to death in Surbiton Road apartment on Thursday
Darren had issues as well as do, but during his tenure at the Observer I saw the beginnings of a maturation process that was showing first in his writing and less so but still noticeable in his overall demeanour.
I'm very saddened by his death, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to his mother, other family and friends.
"It may be easy to choose to live without Christ, but to die without Him is hell"
Darren Khan, whom I had recruited (on the recommendation of Analisa Chapman and above the stern reservations of Exec Editor Vernon Davidson) as a freelance
features writer/reviewer at the Observer, was founded burned to death in Surbiton Road apartment on Thursday
Darren had issues as well as do, but during his tenure at the Observer I saw the beginnings of a maturation process that was showing first in his writing and less so but still noticeable in his overall demeanour.
I'm very saddened by his death, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to his mother, other family and friends.
"It may be easy to choose to live without Christ, but to die without Him is hell"
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Rifle Road & more
RIFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 10/12, NEWSTALK 93FM@8.35PM
STREAMING LIVE AT NEWSTALK.COM.JM
MON: BIG VOICES: Three male singers, who fit the profile. Andy Bey, Bill Henderson, and a more recent discovery, Everette Greeene. All three are blessed with impressive voices, which they use artfully and stylishly.
TUES: Virtuoso bassist, Rohan Reid, came from a troubled Rifle Road, off Mountain View Avenue in the 70’s, but it never retarded his drive for excellence, and a brilliant debut album. Rohan Reid is a special guest for two nights on “Riffin”
WED: Sisaundra Lewis, a one time vocal coach and back up singer for Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, delivers a dazzling set of songs, with music and production by Rohan Reid.
THURS:MORE VOICES: Singers, who use the instrument in the art of interpretation, that makes them unique. Ray Charles, Shirley Horn, Michael Buble, Freddy Cole, Diana Krall, Luciana Souza, Cassandra Wilson, Linda Rondstat, Kurt Elling and Jackie Allen.
FRID: Regarded as one of the world’s greatest singers, Youssou N’ Dour takes us to northern Senegal for a new sound that’s a lot like reggae. Richard Bona, from the Cameroon, Lokua Kanza, from the Congo, and Gerald Toto, a Caribbean from Paris, meet in an African musical summit,.
STREAMING LIVE AT NEWSTALK.COM.JM
MON: BIG VOICES: Three male singers, who fit the profile. Andy Bey, Bill Henderson, and a more recent discovery, Everette Greeene. All three are blessed with impressive voices, which they use artfully and stylishly.
TUES: Virtuoso bassist, Rohan Reid, came from a troubled Rifle Road, off Mountain View Avenue in the 70’s, but it never retarded his drive for excellence, and a brilliant debut album. Rohan Reid is a special guest for two nights on “Riffin”
WED: Sisaundra Lewis, a one time vocal coach and back up singer for Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, delivers a dazzling set of songs, with music and production by Rohan Reid.
THURS:MORE VOICES: Singers, who use the instrument in the art of interpretation, that makes them unique. Ray Charles, Shirley Horn, Michael Buble, Freddy Cole, Diana Krall, Luciana Souza, Cassandra Wilson, Linda Rondstat, Kurt Elling and Jackie Allen.
FRID: Regarded as one of the world’s greatest singers, Youssou N’ Dour takes us to northern Senegal for a new sound that’s a lot like reggae. Richard Bona, from the Cameroon, Lokua Kanza, from the Congo, and Gerald Toto, a Caribbean from Paris, meet in an African musical summit,.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Las' lick (for 2K7) on the Verandah
"when music hits, you feel no pain" an audience member intoned, invoking Bob Marley, and Sunday last proved a delightful 'las lick' for Friends of Jazz of 2007, being the last of the first Sunday gatehrings at the bistro which fronts Kingsley Cooper's Pulse complex on Trafalgar.
The sizaeble audience on hand (several generations) were treated to a diverse array of players - the keyboardist chair alone changed at least 3times, with trumpeter/founder Sonny Bradshaw popping in and out of the line as was his wont.
The Friends members were als ogifted with Cds and offered copies of the 17-year Ocho Rios Jazz souvenir publication.
It was especially refreashing to see - and hear - drummer Carl Mcleod, who has long been absent from a performance stage.
The atmosphere, the good turnout, the spirited performances - all augur well for the music heading into 2008.
The sizaeble audience on hand (several generations) were treated to a diverse array of players - the keyboardist chair alone changed at least 3times, with trumpeter/founder Sonny Bradshaw popping in and out of the line as was his wont.
The Friends members were als ogifted with Cds and offered copies of the 17-year Ocho Rios Jazz souvenir publication.
It was especially refreashing to see - and hear - drummer Carl Mcleod, who has long been absent from a performance stage.
The atmosphere, the good turnout, the spirited performances - all augur well for the music heading into 2008.
Back 2 the Round
The School of Music at The Edna Manley College present " JAZZ IN THE ROUND 2K7 " , a end of semester concert on Sunday December 9th, 2007 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Round at the School of Music. The featured performers will be the second year Certificate and Diploma JAZZ IMPROVISATION STUDENTS of guitarist and lecturer Maurice Gordon.
This is a concert to showcase and examine the talent and efforts of all students involved in the study of jazz and improvisation at The School of Music/ Edna Manley College. This concert will feature several groups performing in Piano Trios or Quartets with the addition of singers and other instruments. Students will be evaluated by lecturer Maurice Gordon and a panel. They will be graded on their ability to swing, spontaneously create music, and to perform with some authenticity in the idioms studied.
Jazz Improvisation as taught by jazz guitarist and lecturer Maurice Gordon at School of Music, involves the study of improvising over a variety of jazz styles and related music which is performed in the context of jazz. The students study the technique of improvisation and learn a common repertoire to help prepare them for the working world. Gordon uses various musical styles as a vehicle for improvisation, these include, mento, reggae, blues, Jamaican Popular music and various jazz styles.
The public is being invited to come out and enjoy some good " food for the ear" for a small contribution which will be used towards the purchasing of equipment and books for the Jazz department.
The public is being encouraged to dress casual and bring something to sit on the beautiful, comfortable and well manicured lawn of the Round of School of Music.
The Edna Manley College is the centre of excellence in the arts and provides a physical and academic environment that epitomizes the spirit of the arts.
This is a concert to showcase and examine the talent and efforts of all students involved in the study of jazz and improvisation at The School of Music/ Edna Manley College. This concert will feature several groups performing in Piano Trios or Quartets with the addition of singers and other instruments. Students will be evaluated by lecturer Maurice Gordon and a panel. They will be graded on their ability to swing, spontaneously create music, and to perform with some authenticity in the idioms studied.
Jazz Improvisation as taught by jazz guitarist and lecturer Maurice Gordon at School of Music, involves the study of improvising over a variety of jazz styles and related music which is performed in the context of jazz. The students study the technique of improvisation and learn a common repertoire to help prepare them for the working world. Gordon uses various musical styles as a vehicle for improvisation, these include, mento, reggae, blues, Jamaican Popular music and various jazz styles.
The public is being invited to come out and enjoy some good " food for the ear" for a small contribution which will be used towards the purchasing of equipment and books for the Jazz department.
The public is being encouraged to dress casual and bring something to sit on the beautiful, comfortable and well manicured lawn of the Round of School of Music.
The Edna Manley College is the centre of excellence in the arts and provides a physical and academic environment that epitomizes the spirit of the arts.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Coltrane church
the sax strapped around his neck tells it all. an intersting story from The NY Times (see below)
Live from the 'Church of Trane'
The following, from the New York Times (via allaboutjazz.com), proved irresistible.
Sunday Religion, Inspired by Saturday Nights
-SAN FRANCISCO
Beside the altar of the storefront church on Fillmore Street stand an electric piano, two basses, a drum kit and three microphones. The hymnal, such as it is, consists of a music book, open to a piece titled “Blues For Bechet.” And on the side wall hangs an icon of the congregation’s patron saint, a golden corona circling his head, as he holds a tenor saxophone with flames in its bell.
This being a house of jazz as well as of God, the Sunday morning service starts on Sunday afternoon, early rising for any musician who played three sets on Saturday night. As the worshipers trickle in, whether regulars from the neighborhood or pilgrims from abroad, a call comes from behind the rear wall: “Let the procession be formed.”
Then the ministers and deacons and acolytes stride into view, led by a rangy man with a tenor sax dangling from a strap around his clerical collar. He is Archbishop Franzo Wayne King, founder and pastor of this faith community, the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church.
For the next three hours, the service proceeds with an aesthetic that is half jam session and half revival meeting. A traditional Christian liturgy — including the Lord’s Prayer and readings from a Gospel and an Epistle — takes places amid a series of intense, almost incantatory performances of Coltrane compositions.
“The kind of music you listen to is the person you become,” Mr. King says in his sermon. “When you listen to John Coltrane, you become a disciple of the anointed of God.”
In the third row, Mikkel Holst understands. He has traveled from Copenhagen to San Francisco in no small part for this church.
“It must be one of the best jazz experiences of my life,” Mr. Holst says after the service. “The funniest thing about it is, I’m not religious. But when I put on John Coltrane, a chill goes down my spine. I was thinking, if I lived here, I could see myself belonging.”
So the Coltrane church is not a gimmick or a forced alloy of nightclub music and ethereal faith. Its message of deliverance through divine sound is actually quite consistent with Coltrane’s own experience and message.
During a fervently creative life of just 41 years, Coltrane produced a body of performances and compositions that have remained deeply influential among jazz musicians and listeners, as well as devotees of improvisational rock. By now, 40 years after his death, he rests firmly in the canon of American music.
In both implicit and explicit ways, Coltrane also functioned as a religious figure. Addicted to heroin in the 1950s, he quit cold turkey, and later explained that he had heard the voice of God during his anguishing withdrawal. In 1964, he recorded “A Love Supreme,” an album of original praise music in a free-jazz mode. Studying Eastern religions as well as Christianity, he went on to release more avant-garde devotional music on “Ascension,” “Om” and “Meditations.”
In 1966, an interviewer in Japan asked Coltrane what he hoped to be in five years, and Coltrane replied, “A saint.”
Franzo Wayne King, then, was simply the person who took Coltrane at his word. Growing up in Los Angeles, the son of a Pentecostal minister, he knew firsthand the importance of music in African-American Christianity. His own tastes, however, ran more to James Brown than jazz.
That started changing the day in the early 1960s when Mr. King’s older brother, Charles, played him the Coltrane recording of “My Favorite Things.” Mr. King began to explore and appreciate Coltrane’s earlier work with Miles Davis. Even so, when a friend showed him the album “A Love Supreme,” Mr. King read the very religious liner notes and decided the music could not be for him.
“I didn’t want to get on a God trip,” he recalled. “If I wanted that, I’d go to church. Because in my upbringing there was an erect divide between jazz and blues and the church. You had to choose one.”
Or so he believed until 1966, when he took his girlfriend, Marina, on her birthday to hear Coltrane at a San Francisco club, the Jazz Workshop. A buddy who was the doorman seated them up front, and there Coltrane’s trademark “sheets of sound” washed over them, almost literally.
“It was my sound baptism,” Mr. King recalled.
In the wake of Coltrane’s death and newly married to Marina, Mr. King created a small congregation called Yardbird Temple in reference to the nickname of another jazz great, Charlie Parker. At that point, the followers worshiped Coltrane as an earthly incarnation of God, while considering Parker a kind of John the Baptist equivalent.
Such a theology, of course, put Mr. King and his flock outside the boundaries of Christianity. He moved back inside them in the early 1980s, when he met George Duncan Hinkson, an archbishop in the African Orthodox Church. The denomination, founded in the late 19th century in South Africa, took root in America largely through Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa movement. Its adherents worship a black Christ.
Ordained by Archbishop Hinkson, Mr. King made the necessary concession to become a member congregation. “We demoted Coltrane from being God,” he put it. “But the agreement was that he could come into sainthood and be the patron of our church.”
As such, the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane Church has operated for a quarter-century. Mr. King’s wife and several of their children participate in the services as “ministers of sound” and have played at several European jazz festivals. The visitors over the years have included Coltrane’s widow, Alice Coltrane, and the jazz-influenced rock guitarist Carlos Santana.
The church combines its unique hagiography and soundtrack with staples of black Christianity, from personal “witnessing” to various forms of social action. In its previous location, the congregation ran a vegetarian soup kitchen; its current place, which lacks a full kitchen, distributes clothing and nonperishable foods.
Mr. King’s daughter, Wanika King-Stephens, is the host of a weekly radio show of Coltrane music, “Uplift,” on a local station, KPOO-FM.
Francis Davis, an author who attended the church while researching a coming Coltrane biography, “Sheets of Sound,” said, “I kind of went there expecting, I don’t know, snake handlers or something crazy.”
Mr. Davis continued: “But it wasn’t like that at all. These are good people They’re doing what churches do. Which is feed the hungry, minister to people’s emotional and spiritual needs. And if you’re looking for free-jazz solos on a Sunday morning, this is the place.”
Sunday Religion, Inspired by Saturday Nights
-SAN FRANCISCO
Beside the altar of the storefront church on Fillmore Street stand an electric piano, two basses, a drum kit and three microphones. The hymnal, such as it is, consists of a music book, open to a piece titled “Blues For Bechet.” And on the side wall hangs an icon of the congregation’s patron saint, a golden corona circling his head, as he holds a tenor saxophone with flames in its bell.
This being a house of jazz as well as of God, the Sunday morning service starts on Sunday afternoon, early rising for any musician who played three sets on Saturday night. As the worshipers trickle in, whether regulars from the neighborhood or pilgrims from abroad, a call comes from behind the rear wall: “Let the procession be formed.”
Then the ministers and deacons and acolytes stride into view, led by a rangy man with a tenor sax dangling from a strap around his clerical collar. He is Archbishop Franzo Wayne King, founder and pastor of this faith community, the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church.
For the next three hours, the service proceeds with an aesthetic that is half jam session and half revival meeting. A traditional Christian liturgy — including the Lord’s Prayer and readings from a Gospel and an Epistle — takes places amid a series of intense, almost incantatory performances of Coltrane compositions.
“The kind of music you listen to is the person you become,” Mr. King says in his sermon. “When you listen to John Coltrane, you become a disciple of the anointed of God.”
In the third row, Mikkel Holst understands. He has traveled from Copenhagen to San Francisco in no small part for this church.
“It must be one of the best jazz experiences of my life,” Mr. Holst says after the service. “The funniest thing about it is, I’m not religious. But when I put on John Coltrane, a chill goes down my spine. I was thinking, if I lived here, I could see myself belonging.”
So the Coltrane church is not a gimmick or a forced alloy of nightclub music and ethereal faith. Its message of deliverance through divine sound is actually quite consistent with Coltrane’s own experience and message.
During a fervently creative life of just 41 years, Coltrane produced a body of performances and compositions that have remained deeply influential among jazz musicians and listeners, as well as devotees of improvisational rock. By now, 40 years after his death, he rests firmly in the canon of American music.
In both implicit and explicit ways, Coltrane also functioned as a religious figure. Addicted to heroin in the 1950s, he quit cold turkey, and later explained that he had heard the voice of God during his anguishing withdrawal. In 1964, he recorded “A Love Supreme,” an album of original praise music in a free-jazz mode. Studying Eastern religions as well as Christianity, he went on to release more avant-garde devotional music on “Ascension,” “Om” and “Meditations.”
In 1966, an interviewer in Japan asked Coltrane what he hoped to be in five years, and Coltrane replied, “A saint.”
Franzo Wayne King, then, was simply the person who took Coltrane at his word. Growing up in Los Angeles, the son of a Pentecostal minister, he knew firsthand the importance of music in African-American Christianity. His own tastes, however, ran more to James Brown than jazz.
That started changing the day in the early 1960s when Mr. King’s older brother, Charles, played him the Coltrane recording of “My Favorite Things.” Mr. King began to explore and appreciate Coltrane’s earlier work with Miles Davis. Even so, when a friend showed him the album “A Love Supreme,” Mr. King read the very religious liner notes and decided the music could not be for him.
“I didn’t want to get on a God trip,” he recalled. “If I wanted that, I’d go to church. Because in my upbringing there was an erect divide between jazz and blues and the church. You had to choose one.”
Or so he believed until 1966, when he took his girlfriend, Marina, on her birthday to hear Coltrane at a San Francisco club, the Jazz Workshop. A buddy who was the doorman seated them up front, and there Coltrane’s trademark “sheets of sound” washed over them, almost literally.
“It was my sound baptism,” Mr. King recalled.
In the wake of Coltrane’s death and newly married to Marina, Mr. King created a small congregation called Yardbird Temple in reference to the nickname of another jazz great, Charlie Parker. At that point, the followers worshiped Coltrane as an earthly incarnation of God, while considering Parker a kind of John the Baptist equivalent.
Such a theology, of course, put Mr. King and his flock outside the boundaries of Christianity. He moved back inside them in the early 1980s, when he met George Duncan Hinkson, an archbishop in the African Orthodox Church. The denomination, founded in the late 19th century in South Africa, took root in America largely through Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa movement. Its adherents worship a black Christ.
Ordained by Archbishop Hinkson, Mr. King made the necessary concession to become a member congregation. “We demoted Coltrane from being God,” he put it. “But the agreement was that he could come into sainthood and be the patron of our church.”
As such, the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane Church has operated for a quarter-century. Mr. King’s wife and several of their children participate in the services as “ministers of sound” and have played at several European jazz festivals. The visitors over the years have included Coltrane’s widow, Alice Coltrane, and the jazz-influenced rock guitarist Carlos Santana.
The church combines its unique hagiography and soundtrack with staples of black Christianity, from personal “witnessing” to various forms of social action. In its previous location, the congregation ran a vegetarian soup kitchen; its current place, which lacks a full kitchen, distributes clothing and nonperishable foods.
Mr. King’s daughter, Wanika King-Stephens, is the host of a weekly radio show of Coltrane music, “Uplift,” on a local station, KPOO-FM.
Francis Davis, an author who attended the church while researching a coming Coltrane biography, “Sheets of Sound,” said, “I kind of went there expecting, I don’t know, snake handlers or something crazy.”
Mr. Davis continued: “But it wasn’t like that at all. These are good people They’re doing what churches do. Which is feed the hungry, minister to people’s emotional and spiritual needs. And if you’re looking for free-jazz solos on a Sunday morning, this is the place.”
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Joe's Time
I had the pleasure of seeing, hearing and meeting drummer Joe Farnsworth at the Ocho Rios Jazz festival in 2005, where he performed in a customary role as drummer for a combo led by his friend and old schoolmate, saxophonist Eric Alexander. In addition to his talent nad skill on the kit, he impressed with his quick-fire, self-deprecating and even sardonic wit. Following areexcerpts from an interview about his new album as a leader, Its Prime Time, featuring Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Harold Mabern, Ron Carter and, of course, Alexander
Which drummer influenced your playing? Who are your favorite drummers?
The biggest influence on my playing came from two teachers I studied with. One was Alan Dawson from Boston. He taught me around ’84/’85. These were formal lessons. We followed a strict regimen working on 1-2 rudiments per week. The second teacher was Art Taylor, whom I studied under in New York from ’91 to ’92. They taught me how to create the different sounds. They showed me certain drumming styles and shared with me a lot of stories. As far as favorite drummers are concerned, they include Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Kenny Clarke, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins, and Art Blakey. Billy Higgins had the biggest influence on me because I saw him perform many times.
Tell us about your experiences recording “It’s Prime Time”:
We were playing at Smalls when producer Yasohachi “88” Ito came to see me perform. I thought he was looking at doing an album by One for All, but he wanted to do a record with me as the leader. It was a great chance for me to give back, so I called Curtis Fuller, who is a great friend & mentor. I used to listen to Curtis, Jackie McLean and Billy Higgins play together all the time. Curtis playing “Old Folks” was definitely a highlight. I found out that Benny Golson was playing at Sweet Basil/Rhythm, so I asked him to play on my album. It turns out that he was going to be in New York for two days and he was available on the day of the session. Playing with Ron Carter and Benny Golson was very nerve racking for me, especially on “Five Spot After Dark,” which Benny wrote. Ron Carter helped me out a lot. I was really intimidated playing with Ron, but he was extremely supportive during the session.
Was there anything unique about the specific performances of each song selected for the album? Is there a favorite track of yours on the album?Definitely “Old Folks” featuring Curtis.
“Five Spot After Dark” was special as well. Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller have played for years and years together. They played strong but much quieter. Harold Mabern is amazing. He is constantly whistling tunes in his head. That’s how he came up with “Sweet Poppa.” There were no rehearsals. Some of us never played together before. The whole album was recorded in 5 hours. It was really exciting to see us - Eric, Jim and I - playing with Ron Carter on a tune Ron wrote (“The Third Plane”). We were trying to be like Ron and we were in the same room with him playing together! It was great seeing the older guys integrating with younger guys, e.g. Curtis with Eric. The cross-generational mix we had was quite an experience.
What are the key things you try to do or express in your drumming?
The main thing for me is keeping time with the ride cymbal. A great example of this is Kenny Clarke playing on Miles Davis’ Walkin’. George Coleman and Harold Mabern call this “EMIT.” “EMIT” is time spelled backwards. I actually try not to have too much drums when I play. There are a lot of people who play drums but not many people can really swing. You can really tell who the drummer is by listening to the ride cymbal. When I’m walking into The Village Vanguard, I can listen to the cymbal beat and know who’s playing.
What do you do to unwind or relax besides music?
I jog every day. It clears the mind and is a great way to see the area on the road. It is something I can do alone to keep in shape. To play drums, it is important to stay in shape and to have a clear mind because you need to think very quickly.
Finally, do you have any advice to jazz musicians who are starting their careers?
Whatever instrument you are playing, you should study the history of the instrument from the very beginning. Many drummers think jazz drumming started with Elvin Jones and Jeff Watts. You have to find out where theses people learned from and go upstream from there. You can’t put student before the teacher. You have to start at the origin. Listen to Roy Haynes with Lester Young and Bud Powell. Listen to Art Taylor comp with his left hand like Bud Powell. You also have to listen to different tunes and arrangements by Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Monk.
Which drummer influenced your playing? Who are your favorite drummers?
The biggest influence on my playing came from two teachers I studied with. One was Alan Dawson from Boston. He taught me around ’84/’85. These were formal lessons. We followed a strict regimen working on 1-2 rudiments per week. The second teacher was Art Taylor, whom I studied under in New York from ’91 to ’92. They taught me how to create the different sounds. They showed me certain drumming styles and shared with me a lot of stories. As far as favorite drummers are concerned, they include Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Kenny Clarke, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins, and Art Blakey. Billy Higgins had the biggest influence on me because I saw him perform many times.
Tell us about your experiences recording “It’s Prime Time”:
We were playing at Smalls when producer Yasohachi “88” Ito came to see me perform. I thought he was looking at doing an album by One for All, but he wanted to do a record with me as the leader. It was a great chance for me to give back, so I called Curtis Fuller, who is a great friend & mentor. I used to listen to Curtis, Jackie McLean and Billy Higgins play together all the time. Curtis playing “Old Folks” was definitely a highlight. I found out that Benny Golson was playing at Sweet Basil/Rhythm, so I asked him to play on my album. It turns out that he was going to be in New York for two days and he was available on the day of the session. Playing with Ron Carter and Benny Golson was very nerve racking for me, especially on “Five Spot After Dark,” which Benny wrote. Ron Carter helped me out a lot. I was really intimidated playing with Ron, but he was extremely supportive during the session.
Was there anything unique about the specific performances of each song selected for the album? Is there a favorite track of yours on the album?Definitely “Old Folks” featuring Curtis.
“Five Spot After Dark” was special as well. Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller have played for years and years together. They played strong but much quieter. Harold Mabern is amazing. He is constantly whistling tunes in his head. That’s how he came up with “Sweet Poppa.” There were no rehearsals. Some of us never played together before. The whole album was recorded in 5 hours. It was really exciting to see us - Eric, Jim and I - playing with Ron Carter on a tune Ron wrote (“The Third Plane”). We were trying to be like Ron and we were in the same room with him playing together! It was great seeing the older guys integrating with younger guys, e.g. Curtis with Eric. The cross-generational mix we had was quite an experience.
What are the key things you try to do or express in your drumming?
The main thing for me is keeping time with the ride cymbal. A great example of this is Kenny Clarke playing on Miles Davis’ Walkin’. George Coleman and Harold Mabern call this “EMIT.” “EMIT” is time spelled backwards. I actually try not to have too much drums when I play. There are a lot of people who play drums but not many people can really swing. You can really tell who the drummer is by listening to the ride cymbal. When I’m walking into The Village Vanguard, I can listen to the cymbal beat and know who’s playing.
What do you do to unwind or relax besides music?
I jog every day. It clears the mind and is a great way to see the area on the road. It is something I can do alone to keep in shape. To play drums, it is important to stay in shape and to have a clear mind because you need to think very quickly.
Finally, do you have any advice to jazz musicians who are starting their careers?
Whatever instrument you are playing, you should study the history of the instrument from the very beginning. Many drummers think jazz drumming started with Elvin Jones and Jeff Watts. You have to find out where theses people learned from and go upstream from there. You can’t put student before the teacher. You have to start at the origin. Listen to Roy Haynes with Lester Young and Bud Powell. Listen to Art Taylor comp with his left hand like Bud Powell. You also have to listen to different tunes and arrangements by Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Monk.
Robyn's Rockin' again - and Kathy's back too
Having wowed the Chrsitopher's audience just over 2 weeks ago with her
well-conceived and fluid mix of blues, pop and jazz, Negril-based, Canada-born
singer-songwriter Robyn Banks returns to the Tuesday night showcase at Christopher's Jazz Cafe on Dec 11
But, before that......
Dr Kathy Brown, no stranger to Christopher's, marks her first appearance since the release of her debut full-length CD, Mission this Tuesday Decemebr 4. In addition to being featured on Dermot hussey's Riffin' programme on News Talk 93. Brown has been getting several media notices here and overseas on the strength of the album (check the archives of this blog for our feature on Kathy)
Showtime for both dates : 7:30 pm
well-conceived and fluid mix of blues, pop and jazz, Negril-based, Canada-born
singer-songwriter Robyn Banks returns to the Tuesday night showcase at Christopher's Jazz Cafe on Dec 11
But, before that......
Dr Kathy Brown, no stranger to Christopher's, marks her first appearance since the release of her debut full-length CD, Mission this Tuesday Decemebr 4. In addition to being featured on Dermot hussey's Riffin' programme on News Talk 93. Brown has been getting several media notices here and overseas on the strength of the album (check the archives of this blog for our feature on Kathy)
Showtime for both dates : 7:30 pm
'Forever' Again
Ever-forthright bassist Stanley Clarke tells Downbeat magazine that a reunion of the fusion supergroup Return To Forever (which joined Clarke with piano keyboard legend Chick Corea, guitarist Al di Meola and drummer Lenny White) is all buta done deal. Clarke shared some trenchant insights about the business of music and the value of paying dues.
Clarke's latest CD is The Toys of Men
Stanley Clarke wants to end the suspense about a possible Return to Forever reunion.
"In a couple of interviews, I said that it probably would never happen," the bassist said in October. "But we're close to reuniting next year."
Just how close?
"We're going to reunite," Clarke clarified. "We're talking pretty heavy. Each day it gets closer. As of this day, it looks like we're going to do it next June, July and August."
Return to Forever fans, you can stand up and cheer. One of the great fusion groups of all time will hit the tour circuit next summer, breaking out the sound of the '70s for what will be the most anticipated jazz tour of 2008.
"Chick and I are getting together tomorrow to talk further," Clarke said, indicating that he, Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Lenny White will focus on the group's classic repertoire. "We decided we wanted to do the old music first."
The reunion will reconvene a true band in an era that does not nurture the collective identity of a group as much as it does the status of the individual.
"Why don't we have groups like Return to Forever, Weather Report and the Modern Jazz Quartet today?" Clarke asked rhetorically. "I blame it on the lawyers, agents and managers. The business is set up for what I call the 'my guy' phenomenon. You have a lawyer who says, 'I manage Joe Blow.' For Joe Blow to play with Gene Smith, that will mean less money for his artist. If you made a list of all the jazz guys and you're sharp with music, you'd say, 'I can make this group with these guys, and these guys could be in that group.' You'd have a much better musical environment, synergy would be in full effect and the music would be better. I remember when we got record deals because of the groups in which we played.
"But you see guys come up now, and they're instant bandleaders," he continued. "Some of these guys shouldn't even be making CDs. They're not ready to be leaders of men. Just taking out a band and paying a guy $1,000 a week to play drums is not the tradition of our music. The tradition of black jazz, of instrumental music, is that you come out and pay your dues, and you learn from the guy whose name is on the billboard. When you come out of that, hopefully you have your own band."
Clarke is trying to do his part to extend that tradition with his new band, which he convened to record The Toys Of Men (Heads Up/Roxboro Entertainment). Clarke's current band of choice is either the trio with drums and keys, or the quartet with guitar. However, for The Toys Of Men, he expanded his usual configuration by adding, among others, Mads Tolling on violin, Esperanza Spalding on vocals and keyboardist Phil Davis to the core unit of Ruslan Sirota on piano and keyboards, Ronald Bruner Jr. on drums and guitarist Jef Lee Johnson. Clarke developed the music for the album with the band in mind, conjuring up a group sound.
Clarke's latest CD is The Toys of Men
Stanley Clarke wants to end the suspense about a possible Return to Forever reunion.
"In a couple of interviews, I said that it probably would never happen," the bassist said in October. "But we're close to reuniting next year."
Just how close?
"We're going to reunite," Clarke clarified. "We're talking pretty heavy. Each day it gets closer. As of this day, it looks like we're going to do it next June, July and August."
Return to Forever fans, you can stand up and cheer. One of the great fusion groups of all time will hit the tour circuit next summer, breaking out the sound of the '70s for what will be the most anticipated jazz tour of 2008.
"Chick and I are getting together tomorrow to talk further," Clarke said, indicating that he, Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Lenny White will focus on the group's classic repertoire. "We decided we wanted to do the old music first."
The reunion will reconvene a true band in an era that does not nurture the collective identity of a group as much as it does the status of the individual.
"Why don't we have groups like Return to Forever, Weather Report and the Modern Jazz Quartet today?" Clarke asked rhetorically. "I blame it on the lawyers, agents and managers. The business is set up for what I call the 'my guy' phenomenon. You have a lawyer who says, 'I manage Joe Blow.' For Joe Blow to play with Gene Smith, that will mean less money for his artist. If you made a list of all the jazz guys and you're sharp with music, you'd say, 'I can make this group with these guys, and these guys could be in that group.' You'd have a much better musical environment, synergy would be in full effect and the music would be better. I remember when we got record deals because of the groups in which we played.
"But you see guys come up now, and they're instant bandleaders," he continued. "Some of these guys shouldn't even be making CDs. They're not ready to be leaders of men. Just taking out a band and paying a guy $1,000 a week to play drums is not the tradition of our music. The tradition of black jazz, of instrumental music, is that you come out and pay your dues, and you learn from the guy whose name is on the billboard. When you come out of that, hopefully you have your own band."
Clarke is trying to do his part to extend that tradition with his new band, which he convened to record The Toys Of Men (Heads Up/Roxboro Entertainment). Clarke's current band of choice is either the trio with drums and keys, or the quartet with guitar. However, for The Toys Of Men, he expanded his usual configuration by adding, among others, Mads Tolling on violin, Esperanza Spalding on vocals and keyboardist Phil Davis to the core unit of Ruslan Sirota on piano and keyboards, Ronald Bruner Jr. on drums and guitarist Jef Lee Johnson. Clarke developed the music for the album with the band in mind, conjuring up a group sound.
Russell Gunn for blog
Atlanta-based Trumpeter Russell Gunn is among the exciting acs featured on Riffin' (www.newstalk.com.jm) this week. Hear tracks form his latest project, 'Plays Miles Davis' on monday night, starting at 8:35pm
RIFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 3/12/07 @NEWSTALK93FM@8.35PM
LIVE STREAMWWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM
MON: Catchy melodies and strong grooves, from organist Radam Schwartz, with sparkling players. Trumpeter, Russell Gunn, plays Miles Davis.
TUES: Jamerican virtuoso, Phillip Martin, and Jamaican virtuoso, Rohan Reid, play on each others recording. Guadelopian saxophonist, Jacques-Schwartz –Bart’s music, involves the Gwoka rhythm from Guadelope. Swiss drummer, Daniel Spahni, and several European musicians, preserve the best of Jamaican music and innovation, with Spahni’s Dub Dancers.
WED; Legendary drummer, and bandleader, Chico Hamilton, seems inexhaustible at the age of 83, and his music has an even sunnier outlook.
THURS: Sly And The Family Stone: Family Affair, a documentary about their music, and the turbulent history of a pop icon, Sly Stone
FRID: “Wild Soul”, an album by female pianist , Sunnie Paxson, features the co-producing, arranging and playing skills of Jamaican bassist Rohan Reid, who is featured next week Tuesday and Wednesday night.
MON: Catchy melodies and strong grooves, from organist Radam Schwartz, with sparkling players. Trumpeter, Russell Gunn, plays Miles Davis.
TUES: Jamerican virtuoso, Phillip Martin, and Jamaican virtuoso, Rohan Reid, play on each others recording. Guadelopian saxophonist, Jacques-Schwartz –Bart’s music, involves the Gwoka rhythm from Guadelope. Swiss drummer, Daniel Spahni, and several European musicians, preserve the best of Jamaican music and innovation, with Spahni’s Dub Dancers.
WED; Legendary drummer, and bandleader, Chico Hamilton, seems inexhaustible at the age of 83, and his music has an even sunnier outlook.
THURS: Sly And The Family Stone: Family Affair, a documentary about their music, and the turbulent history of a pop icon, Sly Stone
FRID: “Wild Soul”, an album by female pianist , Sunnie Paxson, features the co-producing, arranging and playing skills of Jamaican bassist Rohan Reid, who is featured next week Tuesday and Wednesday night.
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