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www.jazzINSIDEMAGAZINE.com
October 2012
Scott Robinson
Bronze Nemesis CD Release
Jazz Standard, Oct. 24
Interviews
antonio
Christian McBride
& John Schreiber
Scott Robinson
Kurt Elling
Sherrie Maricle
Ciacca
DIVA Big Band 20th Anniversary
Chris Greene
Wadada Leo Smith (Pt. 2)
Plenty of CD Review
Big Band • October 8-9, Dizzy’s Club
Italian Jazz Days
Comprehensive Directory of NY
Club Concert & Event Listings
The Jazz Music Dashboard — Smart Listening Experiences
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Democracy of Jazz Festival
October 15-21, NJPAC
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3/6/12
4:34 PM
12TH ANNUAL SAILING OF THE JAZZ CRUISE
WHERE THE LEGENDS HAVE PLAYED & THE TRADITION CONTINUES!
HOST
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THE JAZZ CRUISE 2012 SOLD OUT SEVEN MONTHS
BEFORE SAILING SO BOOK NOW!
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NJMH Visitors Center, 104 E. 126th St. #4D
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Jazz Inside Magazine
ISSN: 2150-3419 (print) • ISSN 2150-3427 (online)
October 2012 – Volume 4, Number 3
Cover Design by Shelly Rhodes
Cover photo of Antonio Ciacca by Eric Nemeyer
Publisher: Eric Nemeyer
Editor: Gary Heimbauer
Advertising Sales & Marketing: Eric Nemeyer
Circulation: Susan Brodsky
Photo Editor: Joe Patitucci
Layout and Design: Gail Gentry
Contributing Artists: Shelly Rhodes
Contributing Photographers: Eric Nemeyer, Joe Patitucci, Ken
Weiss
Contributing Writers: John Alexander, Chuck Anderson, Curtis
Davenport; Bill Donaldson; Eric Harabadian; Gary Heimbauer; Alex
Henderson; Rick Helzer; Mark Keresman; Jan Klincewicz; Nora
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CONTENTS
CLUBS, CONCERTS, EVENTS
15 Calendar of Events, Concerts,
Festivals and Club Performances
27 Clubs & Venue Listings
60 Noteworthy Performances
4
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FEATURES
Antonio Ciacca
39
44
Wadada Leo Smith (Part 2) - by
Ken Weiss
Chris Greene
46
Around Town
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PERFORMANCES
Performance Spotlight
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Feature
Antonio Ciacca
Interview by Eric Nemeyer
Jazz Inside: Let’s talk about your big band, the
repertoire and the personnel.
Antonio Ciacca: Since I started to work for Jazz
At Lincoln Center in 2007, my knowledge of
orchestral jazz developed, programming shows,
and I fell more in love with orchestral jazz. So I
started to write for big band. Now after five
years, my writing is at a point where it is ready
to be presented to an audience in the United
States. I’ve already done concerts in Europe, so
this is my debut in the United States with my
orchestral music. My influences are Duke Ellington, my super mentor Benny Golson, music
by Thad Jones, by Neil Hefti writing for Count
Basie, and Gil Evans. The members of the band
include my bassist Paul Gill, my long time friend
Carl Allen on drums, who was also my former
boss at Juilliard. I’ve been moving to detach
myself from being on the music business side. I
want to focus on being a musician. The band is
made up of my favorite musicians including
Andy Farber, who is my great friend, has been
instrumental in helping me write the arrangements. He’s also my lead alto player. Jerry
Weldon, is on tenor. The sax section also includes Kurt Bacher, Alex Hoffman, and Frank
Basile on baritone sax. All of the players have
extensive big band experience. The trombone
section includes my students from Juilliard including James Burton, John Allred, Joe and
McDonough. Trumpets are Brian Pareschi,
Brandon Lee, Andy Gravish and Mike Carubia.
Andy Gravish worked with me when I lived in
Italy. Our lead trumpet player is Brian Pareschi.
JI: What kind of exploration have you undertaken into the scores of the influences you mentioned?
AC: Thanks to the great catalog of music at Jazz
At Lincoln Center, I was able to study, and hear
rehearsed and performed, a lot of big band music—from Billy Strayhorn to Duke Ellington, of
course. But also, music by Muhal Richard
Abrams and Paquito D’Rivera, and arrangements
by Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra band members—such as Ted Nash and Wynton [Marsalis]
himself. He is a great big band arranger and
composer. I not only had a chance to observe
rehearsals but also witness Wynton composing
too. I did a lot of touring with Benny Golson
over the last 15 years—and we discussed a lot of
his music. When I worked with him in California, I had access to a lot of his big band music
and his arrangements—including arrangements
he did for Peggy Lee and other people. Having
access to his music was heaven — pure heaven!
JI: What are some of the philosophies or perspectives you’ve developed about composing
and arranging as a result of your access to all of
this big band music?
Hear Antonio Ciacca and His Big Band
Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York
October 8-9, 2012
Visit: www.twinsmusic.it
AC: I like to analyze the different perspectives
from different big band composers. Thad Jones
was a trumpet player and he often used flugelhorn in the trumpet section, and French horns.
He was a brass player and that’s what he heard.
His sound was very warm. Duke Ellington was a
piano player and so you hear a lot of piano.
Frank Foster and Benny Carter were saxophone
players—so you hear a lot of beautiful saxophone lines. Another of my heroes is Gerald
Wilson, who is still with us. I always go to hear
him when he comes to New York—and last
September he was at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola for
a week. He’s fantastic too. I follow Duke Ellington’s concept of thinking of the voices of individual players—the characteristics of those who
are going to play the charts. For example, Andy
Farber, on lead alto—his heart beats towards
Frank Wess, Frank Foster, the Basie Big Band,
and certain sounds of the 1950s. By comparison,
tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon is into more
contemporary sounds. With different players
having different strengths, you can craft each
(Continued on page 6)
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“Twenty years ago, the only way for me to get next to the great masters was for
me to book them in Italy. I wasn’t good enough to be next to them as a player.
I wanted to be with them so badly that I found a way to do that by producing
tours. That was far more fun and productive than playing nonsense gigs…”
(Continued from page 4)
arrangement around what those players can play
best.
JI: What are some of the challenges that you
have experienced in rehearsing the big band?
AC: The first challenge for me was to write the
music in the most accurate way, that is also easy
to read. I begin writing with pencil and music
score paper at the piano. Then I put it into Sibelius [music notation software for the computer] and I go back and forth between the piano
and the computer. The next challenge is to get all
the guys to come to rehearsal. They’re all firstcall big band players — so they’re all busy …
with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Harry Connick Big Band. So, it’s hard to get them all together. Most of the time they send a sub. For me
the challenge is to write melodic material which
is easy to remember. I don’t like to write
“science projects.” It’s jazz—and it’s supposed
to be played with soul, with feeling, with groove.
If there are too many formulas written on the
page, it gets into a space that I don’t think is
jazz. At the same time, I don’t want to have them
just playing riffs all the time. There is a balance
that’s necessary between improvisation and the
written parts — and written parts have to sound
like they are almost improvised … natural and
flowing. Today it is difficult because there aren’t
steady jobs for big bands. I wish we had a six
year contract with the Cotton Club — where
you’d play every night. There are a lot of great
singers today. What is the difference between
Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn and Billie
Holiday and other singers today? They had great
music directors. Billie Holiday had Ben Webster
behind her with Teddy Wilson on piano, and
Roy Eldridge behind her. Today’s singers don’t
have anyone specific behind them. Frank Sinatra
knew what the Basie band was like. He wanted
the best so he hired Quincy Jones to write the
arrangements and conduct. Then you get classics.
JI: What have you put together for the Italian
Jazz Days Festival.
AC: I’m the Artistic Director of the Festival and
this is its fourth year. We have participation
from the Italian Cultural Institute. We have monopolized six clubs around the city for nine days.
We have great Italian jazz masters like Pete Ma-
linverni, John DiMartino, Mike LeDonne, Randy
Napolean, playing with visiting Italian jazz musicians. They’re going to gain experience playing with the real jazz masters. Jazz is a language.
When I tour Italy and Europe, all these musicians ask me how they can take it to the next
level, how they can improve. I tell them all the
same thing. “There is only one place that you
can go to take it to the next level—where the
people speak the mother language.” If you want
to learn Chinese, there is no better place than
China. If you want to learn jazz, there is no better place than the United States, and New York
City.
JI: You’ve just completed a new recording.
AC: Yes, I finished an album with this great
vocalist, Justin Echols, who is going to be singing with my big band. I met him after he had
sent a letter to Jazz t Lincoln Center a few years
ago. He has quite a story. He was a police officer
and he was deployed to Iraq. Two weeks before
he was supposed to leave, he was in a terrible
accident where his car flipped. He was immobilized for two years. Initially he went into depression. But he found the strength to sit at the key-
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Antonio Ciacca
ter — could you talk briefly about your background on the business side and your motivation
to change?
(continued from page 6)
AC: Twenty years ago, the only way for me to
get next to the great masters was for me to book
them in Italy. I wasn’t good enough to be next to
them as a player. I wanted to be with them so
badly that I found a way to do that by producing
tours. That was far more fun and productive than
playing nonsense gigs with players who knew
less than me—and who were playing inaccurate
music, Real Book music. So I began to book
musicians for festivals—and they liked my
work, and the artists liked my work. In ten years,
I went from booking an unknown saxophone
player from Detroit to booking Stevie Wonder,
Kenny Barron, and Wynton Marsalis and the
Orchestra. I developed relationships with a lot of
festivals and clients and a lot of musicians. Wynton was aware of this. In 2007, when the position
for Director of Programming became available, I
put in an application, they liked my proposal,
and I was hired to work there and I worked there
for four years. After four years, I felt that my
transition from one culture to another culture,
from one continent to another continent — I felt
that my mission was accomplished. I got my
paperwork. I got my house. I got my car, my
driver’s license. And, I got my new job—playing
the piano rather than playing the keyboard on my
computer. So I’ve returned to my original job
and I’m the happiest man on earth—writing big
band arrangements during the day, playing music at night, and playing soccer on the weekends.
board and play and he started to sing. His letter
came to my desk back then, and I wrote back to
him and encouraged him to pursue his dream. He
has been coming along and becoming a fantastic
vocalist. He is performing every night at a club.
He came to study with me, and he wrote lyrics to
some of my songs and we began playing them
all over Europe. We recorded the album in February and it is ready to be released. It includes all
standards and two of my originals that I arranged
for big band. The album is a sextet recording.
JI: Talk about your activity at Bar On Fifth.
AC: We started there in 2011 and there is jazz
every night. The management likes it and the
people like it. Henry Grimes came and sat in the
other night. Benny Golson has come in when we
played his music. Helen Merrill has come in to
listen to the band playing standards. It’s a classic
trio playing the Great American Songbook. We
do different themes each week. This week we
are playing the music of John Coltrane and Bud
Powell. We’ll play the music of Monk in October. They love that they don’t have to pay a
cover charge to hear first class jazz. And musicians love it. They come to sit in. Richie Vitale
sat in a few days ago. Even Bill Clinton came—
he was there for a book-release party, and he
enjoyed the music. I enjoy every minute of it at
“...work with people who know rhythms better than
you, harmony better than you, improvisation better
than you—and you’re always going to be good. All
the people in my big band are better than me—
better writers, better arrangers, more experience,
and they’re older than me too. I always want to be
with guys that know more than me.”
Bar On Fifth. We’re in the process of buying a
new piano. Where can you go to hear jazz every
single night with no cover charge?
JI: As Musical Director for the venue, could you
talk about how you put together the schedule of
performers for Bar On Fifth?
AC: I want to feature up and coming jazz musicians. We had Donald Vega, Helen Sung, Orrin
Evans, Manuel Valera, Simona Primazzi. I like
to bring in masters once in a while like Curtis
Lundy, David Schnitter. I like to mix it up—
some Latin jazz, some straight ahead jazz, some
contemporary.
JI: With your decision to re-focus your activities
to making music and moving away from the
business side — something that involved your
programming activities for Jazz At Lincoln Cen8
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I couldn't have come here with a family of seven
people without having had that job at Jazz At
Lincoln Center. Right after playing music and
writing music, my favorite thing is to conceive
ideas and produce shows. So I produced concerts
at Jazz At Lincoln Center about Kind of Blue,
Giant Steps, Benny Golson and others. For those
productions, I had to research music—finding
music at colleges, at the Schaumberg Center. I
was a musicologist. That was my job and I loved
it.
JI: Talk about how you work with your wife
Giusy on all of your activities.
AC: She is the mastermind behind everything I
do. I have ideas. But then she is the one who
manages those and makes them come true. I
have an idea for a summer camp and then she
Magenta
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Older jazz musicians are living
in poverty while jazz club
owners are getting rich.
NYC’s top jazz clubs refuse to contribute to
pensions that would allow jazz artists to retire
with dignity. Hardworking jazz musicians
deserve better! Help us help them.
To sign the petition and learn more, visit:
JusticeforJazzArtists.org
Antonio Ciacca
always done that since we met. We also have
five kids who take a little bit of our time.
JI: What inspired you in Italy to pursue this path
as a jazz musician?
produced the summer camp in Europe. I have an
idea for doing a big band show and then she
books the shows and contracts the musicians.
She’s the one who makes everything happen. I
have ideas and I can write the music, but then I
need someone to book and advance the shows
and do all the paperwork and taxes. She has
AC: I discovered music when I was 21. I was at
a Wynton Marsalis concert at the Bologna Jazz
Festival in 1989. He was not scheduled to play.
Art Blakey was scheduled, but he was sick, and
he cancelled. They called Wynton at the last
minute. Everybody was expecting Blakey—
2,000 to 3,000 people. The host came out and
announced that Mr. Blakey was sick and had to
cancel and that they had this new band. Back
then, Wynton was not as well known as he is
today. Musicians knew his music — Black
Codes From The Underground and other records. But the audience didn't know him. When
he came out, he blew the roof off of the venue.
Marcus Roberts was on piano. They played
acoustic in this huge venue. They used one microphone for four horns. They had no music.
They played everything by memory—
”Crepuscule With Nellie,” “Caravan,” “Black
and Tan Fantasy.” It was unbelievable. It was
clean, elegant. Perfect. Everything that I was
looking for in music was in that concert sophistication, soul, improvisation, arrangements, presentation — just perfection.
JI: What was your level of musicianship when
you heard this life-changing performance for
you?
AC: I had a few years of piano in high school,
and good enough to play Fur Elise by Beethoven
and some sonatas.
JI: What steps did you take at that point to begin
developing your jazz skills, as an improviser,
given that you might have had access to recordings, but didn't have access to the music and
instruction that is so easily available in New
York?
AC: Well, the god of jazz must have been
watching me from above. He must have said,
“This kid really wants to learn this music. So let
me do something.” So what he did was to pick
the greatest tenor saxophone player of his generation, from Brooklyn, and he made him move
next door to my apartment in Bologna [Italy].
My neighbor became Steve Grossman. He is an
unbelievable saxophone player with ridiculous
knowledge. So I went to a club and heard Steve
Grossman. I thought he was an American like
Wynton — traveling and just stopping by to play
a gig. So I asked him where I can study this music. He said, “You can study with me.” I told
him, “I don't have the money to come to New
York.” He said, “I don’t live in New York. I live
in Bologna.” I couldn't believe it. It took me
three bus stops to get to his house. I spent the
entire day talking to a man where I didn't under
stand one word — because my knowledge of
English was zero. He was talking to me and
playing for hours. And everything he played on
the saxophone, he could play on the piano. It
was my first shock. He had all of the instruments
in his house too — piano, bass, drums—and he
could play them all. Of course, after ten years
playing with Elvin Jones, you’re going to know
something about playing drums. Steve taught me
to love Thelonious Monk, Johnny Griffin. I was
with him all day, every day. By my third lesson I
was on the stage playing with him. I don’t know
what I played. He told me, “Don’t worry, just
play.” I was getting lost every five bars. He said,
“Don’t worry, just play.” It was great. He had
regular students that after a one hour lesson, he
would get paid and send them home — and I got
to stay there all day. That was a shock for me.
10
10-12
page 8
Magenta
Yellow
Black
Cyan
(Antonio Ciacca — Continued from page 10)
He said, “They will never become jazz musicians. You will become a jazz musician.” Steve
was seeing something in me that I wasn’t.
JI: Apparently, you began to develop an interest
in moving to the United States. How did that
progress?
AC: I was getting my education with an American musician. The big problem was that I was
playing gigs with Italian players and I couldn't
relate to them — because they weren’t playing
what I was looking for, which was also what
Steve was looking for — like playing with better
players, keeping your ears open, listening,
swinging, playing with a rhythm section. So I
never felt comfortable playing with anyone other
than Americans. I knew I couldn't be there. I
needed to go somewhere else. One of my friends
from Detroit invited me and I went to Detroit in
1993 to do some playing. When I played with
him, I realized “this is it.” I knew I couldn’t do
this if I stayed in Italy. I wanted to leave Italy
because the players there didn’t know the lyrics,
the music. I couldn't deal with that. So the only
way I could survive was to book tours and musicians from America so I could play with them. I
kept inviting Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, James
Moody and all the guys. No one ever said no. No
one ever said, “I’m not going to play with you.”
On the side I would do gigs with other players in
Italy—and I felt I was wasting my time. When
you’re the best player in the band, that’s the
worst place to be. You’re not going to learn any-
12
10-12
page 10
thing. Steve Lacy told me to work with people
who know rhythms better than you, harmony
better than you, improvisation better than you—
and you’re always going to be good. All the
people in my big band are better than me—better
writers, better arrangers, more experience, and
they’re older than me too. I always want to be
with guys that know more than me. One time I
was playing with Art Farmer with a bad rhythm
section. I was playing so hard and at intermis-
sion Art said to me, “Look, you’re not going to
make them swing. Believe me. Try this. Next
set, be relaxed, lay back, and pretend that they
are swinging, and watch what happens.” So the
next set, that’s exactly what I did. You know
what? They started to swing—because they felt
they could. They felt loose and relaxed. That was
an unbelievable lesson.
Magenta
Yellow
Black
Cyan
Grammy Nominated
Percussionist
Wilson
“Chembo”
Corniel
October 4th
CD RELEASE PARTY
“AFRO BLUE MONK”
(Free Buffet and Invited Guests)
sets: 9:30pm & 11pm
The Nuyorican Poet’s Café
236 East 3rd St. bet. Ave B & C
Reverend Pedro Pietri Way, NYC
www.nuyorican.org
October 7th
New Brunswick Jazz Festival
w/ Bob Baldwin
New Brunswick, NJ
www.newbrunswickjazzproject.com
October 19th
Smithsonian Museum
w/ Joe Bataan
Washington, DC
New CD
Afro Blue Monk
Special Guest:
Jimmy Owens, trumpet
(2012 NEA Jazz Master
Award recipient)
October 28th
CD RELEASE CONCERT
“AFRO BLUE MONK”
La Ventana Del Mar
Condado, San Juan
Puerto Rico
Ileana Santamaria,
vocals / lyrics
Elio Villafranca, piano
Vince Cherico, drums
Ivan Renta, sax
Carlo De Rosa, bass
Distributed by
Allegro Media Group
“I was captured from the opening bars of the first
track and was relentlessly but delightedly held
until the very end. There is integrity and exploration to be found here… and so much beauty.”
“Chembo’s Quintet takes every opportunity for
powerful solos and they do not disappoint.”
www.ChemboCorniel.com
-Travis Rogers, JAZZ TIMES
PERFORMANCE SPOTLIGHT PERFORMANCE SPOTLIGHT
Jazz Inside-2012-10_047_...
page 1
October 2012 Jazz Inside Monthly www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
47
Magenta
Yellow
Black
Cyan
Junior Mance Trio
Calendar of Events
Hide Tanaka, bass  Michi Fuji, jazz violinist
How to Get Your Gigs and Events Listed in Jazz Inside Magazine
Submit your listings via e-mail to [email protected]. Include date, times, location,
phone, tickets/reservations. Deadline: 15th of the month preceding publication (Oct. 15 for Nov.).
We cannot guarantee the publication of all calendar submissions.
ADVERTISING: Reserve your ads to promote your events and get the marketing
advantage of controlling your own message — size, content, image, identity, photos and more. Contact the advertising department:
215-887-8880 [email protected]
NEW YORK CITY
 Mon 10/1: Juilliard Jazz Ensembles at Paul Recital Hall,
The Juilliard School. 8:00pm. “Music of Cedar Walton.”
Free. 60 Lincoln Center Plaza. 212-799-5000. http://
events.juilliard.edu
 Mon 10/1: Memorial for Hal McCusick at St. Peter’s
Church. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022.
(Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Wed 10/1: The Bar Next Door. Kevin Clark, Jeff Reed &
Shareff Taher at 6:30pm. Linda Ciofalo, Ron Affif &
Essiet Okon Essiet at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover.
129
MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Mon 10/1: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Factorum Orchestra @
7:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Mon 10/1: Music of Cedar Walton at Paul Hall, Juilliard
School of Music. 8:00pm. Free. Juilliard Jazz Ensembles
led by Xavier Davis & Frank Kimbrough. 60 Lincoln
Center Plaza. 212-769-7409. http://events.juilliard.edu
 Mon 10/1: Sharón Clark at The Metropolitan Room.
9:30pm. 34 W. 22nd St. 212-206-0440.
 Mon 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29: Jam Session with Iris
Ornig at Kitano. 8:00pm & 11:30pm. $35 for buffet with
Bloody Mary, Mimosa or Aperol Spritz. 66 Park Ave @
38th St. 212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Tues 10/2: The Bar Next Door. Iron City at 6:30pm.
Davy Mooney Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129
MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Tues 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30: Vincent Gardner
with Swing University at Irene Diamond Education
Center, Lincoln Center. 6:30pm. “Bebop.” Broadway @
60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Tues 10/2: Drom. Ece Göksu at 6:30pm. Kenneth
“Gizmo” Rogers at 9:30pm. $10; $15 at door. 85 Ave. A.
212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Tues-Sat 10/2-10/6: Jim Hall Quartet at Birdland.
8:30pm & 11:00pm. 315 W. 44th St.
 Tues 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/22, 10/29: Annie Ross at The
Metropolitan Room. 9:30pm. 34 W. 22nd St. 212-2060440. www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Tues 10/2: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Jack Giannini Group
@ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
October 2012  Jazz Inside Magazine  www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
15
212-371-7657.
 Tues-Sat 10/2-10/6, 10/9-10/13: Tony DeSare at 54 Below. 8:30pm. 254 W. 54th St.,
Cellar. 646-476-3551. www.54below.com
 Tues 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30: Phil Schaap with Swing University at Irene Diamond Education Center, Lincoln Center. 6:30pm. “The Evolution & Development of Big
Band Jazz.” Broadway @ 60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Wed 10/3: Ferenc Nemeth Band at Joe’s Pub. 10:00pm. $20. 425 Lafayette St. 212539-8778. www.joespub.com
 Wed 10/3: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Danny Jonokuchi Sextet @ 9:00pm. David Engelhard Group @ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
www.somethinjazz.com.
 Wed 10/3: Caffe Vivaldi. Roger Davidson at 7:15pm. Etsuko Tajima at 8:30pm. 32
Jones St. 212-691-7538. www.caffevivaldi.com
 Wed 10/3: Sharón Clark at The Metropolitan Room. 9:30pm. 34 W. 22nd St. 212-2060440. www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Wed 10/3: Martha Lorin Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St.
212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Wed 10/3: The Bar Next Door. Mat Jodrell Trio at 6:30pm. Jonathan Kreisberg Trio at
8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Wed 10/3: Barbara Rosene & Conal Fowkes at St. Peter’s Church. 1:00pm. Midtown
Jazz at Midday. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.)
www.saintpeters.org.
 Wed 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31: Louis Armstrong Centennial Band at Birdland.
5:30pm. 315 W. 44th St.
 Wed 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31: German Gonzalez Trio at Tomi Jazz. 8:00pm. No
cover; $5 min. 239 E. 53rd St., lower level. 646-497-1254. www.tomijazz.com.
 Wed 10/3, 10/10, 10/24, 10/31: Vincent Gardner with Swing University at Irene Diamond Education Center, Lincoln Center. 6:30pm. “Jazz 101.” Broadway @ 60th St.
www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Wed 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31: Phil Schaap with Swing University at Irene
Diamond Education Center, Lincoln Center. 6:30pm. “Jazz 201.” Broadway @ 60th St.
 Thurs 10/4: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Ben Allison @ 11:00am. Ken Greves & Wells Hanley Trio @ 7:00pm. Sean Wayland @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd
Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Thurs 10/4: Amy Cervini with Anat Cohen, Nadje Noordhuis, Bruce Barth, Jesse
Lewis, Matt Aronoff & Matt Wilson at 55 Bar. 7:00pm. “Amy Sings Blossom Dearie.” No
cover; 2-drink min. 55 Christopher St. 212-929-9883. www.55bar.com.
 Thurs 10/4: Joe Sanders Infinity at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St.
 Thurs 10/4: The Bar Next Door. Ben Flocks Trio at 6:30pm. Howard Alden & Anat
Cohen at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Thurs 10/4: Steve Wexler & the Top Shelf at Drom. 8:00pm. $10; $15 at door. 85 Ave.
A. 212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Fri 10/5, 10/19: Stix Bones at The Metropolitan Room. 11:30pm. 34 W. 22nd St. 212206-0440. www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Fri 10/5: The Bar Next Door. Paul Bollenback Trio at 7:30pm, 9:30pm & 11:30pm. $12
cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Fri-Sun 10/5-10/7: Nobuki Takamen at Eats Martini Club. 10:30pm Fri, 9:30pm Sat,
7:30pm Sun. No cover. 1055 Lexington Ave. @ E. 75th St. 212-396-3287.
www.eatsonlex.com
 Fri 10/5: Manuel Valera & The New Cuban Express at the Rubin Museum of Art.
7:00pm. $18 in advance; $20 at door. “Harlem in the Himalayas”: 150 W. 17th St. 212620-5000. www.rmanyc.org
 Fri 10/5: Somethin’ Jazz Club. David Acker Quartet @ 7:15am. Rubens Salles Quintet @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Fri-Sat 10/5-10/6: Brad Mehldau at The Allen Room, Lincoln Center. 7:30pm. Broadway @ 60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Fri 10/5: Philip Dizack featuring Miguel Atwood-Ferguson + Strings at Drom. 8:00pm.
$10; $15 at door. 85 Ave. A. 212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Fri-Sat 10/5-10/6: George Cables Trio at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @
38th St. 212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Sat 10/6: Somethin’ Jazz Club. NYJA @ 2:00pm. Don Almas @ 7:00pm. Victor Jones
Trio @ 9:00pm & 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Sat 10/6: Gahi Lehavi at Caffe Vivaldi. 9:30pm. 32 Jones St. 212-691-7538.
www.caffevivaldi.com
 Sat 10/6: The Bar Next Door. Dave Allen Trio at 7:30pm, 9:30pm & 11:30pm. $12 cover.
129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Sun 10/7: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Foster Meets Brooks Band @ 7:00pm. Deanne Matley Trio @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
16
 Sun 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28: Arturo O’Farrill Orchestra
at Birdland. 9:00pm & 11:00pm. 315 W. 44th St.
 Sun 10/7: Noel Brennan at Caffe Vivaldi. 9:30pm. 32
 Sun 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28: Tony Middleton Trio at
Kitano. 11:00am & 1:00pm. $35 for buffet with Bloody
Mary, Mimosa or Aperol Spritz. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St.
 Sun 10/7: The Bar Next Door. Peter Mazza Trio at
8:00pm & 10:00pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Sun 10/7, 10/21, 10/28: Barbara Carroll at 54 Below.
1:00pm. 254 W. 54th St., Cellar. 646-476-3551.
www.54below.com
 Sun 10/7: “Hot Lips” Joey Morant at B.B. King Blues
Club & Grill. Noon, 237 W. 42nd St. 212-997-4144.
www.bbkingblues.com
 Sun 10/7: Swingadelic at Swing 46. 8:30pm. 349 W. 46th
St. www.swing46.com
 Sun 10/7: Fabian Almazan with Strings Group & Camila
Meza at St. Peter’s Church. 5:00pm. Also featuring
BerlinVokal, conducted by Michael Betzner-Brandt.
Jazz Vespers. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-2422022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Sun 10/7, 10/14: Cyrille Aimee at Birdland. 6:00pm. 315
W. 44th St.
 Sun 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28: Junior Mance Trio at Café
Loup. 6:30pm. No cover. 105 W. 13th St. @ 6th Ave. 212255-4746. www.juniormance.com
 Mon 10/8: Jazz Open Mic Nights! at 92nd St Y. 9:30pm.
Free. Lexington Ave. & 92nd St. 212.415 5500. www.92Y.org.
 Mon 10/8: The Bar Next Door. Syberen van Munster
Trio at 6:30pm. The Magic Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
$12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Mon 10/8: Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis,
Aaron Neville and others at Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall.
8:00pm. 57th St. & 7th Ave. 212-247-7800.
www.carnegiehall.org.
 Mon 10/8: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Ken Greves & Wells
Hanley Trio @ 7:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd
& 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Mon 10/8: Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium. 8:00pm.
57th St. & Seventh Ave. 212-903-9750.
www.carnegiehall.org
 Tues 10/9, 10/16: Gadi Lehavi at Kitano. 8:00pm. 66
Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Tues-Sat 10/9-10/13: James Carter Organ Trio at Birdland. 8:30pm & 11:00pm. 315 W. 44th St.
 Tues 10/9: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Erica Seguine/
Shannon Baker Jazz Orchestra @ 7:00pm. 212 E. 52nd
St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Tues 10/9: The Bar Next Door. Alex LoRe Trio at
6:30pm. Hendrik Meurkens Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
 Thurs 10/9: Jazz for Obama 2012 at Symphony Space.
7:30pm. With Ron Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jim
Hall, Roy Haynes, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Kenny
Garrett, Christian McBride, Jimmy Heath, Jeff “Tain”
Watts, Claudia Acuna, Ravi Coltrane & Gretchen Parlato. Proceeds benefit the Obama for America Presidential
Campaign. $100; $250 VIP tickets; $50 student & senior
tickets. 2537 Broadway @ 95th St. 212-864-5400.
www.symphonyspace.org. www.jazzforobama2012.com
 Wed 10/10: Mauricio de Souza Quartet at The Lambs
Club. 7:30pm. 132 W. 44th St. 212-997-5262.
www.thelambsclub.com
 Wed 10/10: Bryan Wells, John Webber & Joe Farnsworth at St. Peter’s Church. 1:00pm. Midtown Jazz at
Midday. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022.
(Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Wed 10/10: Equilibrium at Caffe Vivaldi. 8:30pm. 32
 Wed 10/10: Daryl Sherman Trio at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Wed 10/10: The Bar Next Door. Benny Benack III Trio
at 6:30pm. Jonathan Kreisberg Trio at 8:30pm &
10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Wed 10/10: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Gabriele Martina @
7:00pm. Mac Gollehon @ 9:00pm. Russ Nolan @
11:00pm.212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
 Wed 10/10: Save The Village: A Benefit Concert with
John Zorn, Thurston Moore, Jesse Harris, TriBeCaStan, Flutterbox & John Kelly at (le) poisson rouge.
6:30pm. $20; $25 at door. 158 Bleecker St. 212-505-FISH.
www.lepoissonrouge.com.
 Thurs 10/11: Mika Harry at Caffe Vivaldi. 9:30pm. 32
 Thurs 10/11: Scot Albertson Trio at Tomi Jazz. 9:00pm.
$10 cover; $10 min. 239 E. 53rd St., lower level. 646-4971254. www.tomijazz.com.
 Thurs 10/11: Marcus Goldhaber at Laurie Beechman
Theater at the West Bank Café. 7:00pm. $15 cover; $15
min. 407 W. 42nd St. 212-695-6909.
www.westbankcafe.com/beechman_theatre.html.
 Thurs 10/11: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Liam Sillery Trio @
7:00pm. Ralph Lalama Quintet @ 9:00pm. Adrian Cunningham & Matt Bakear Trio @ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd
17
 Thurs 10/11: Emmet Cohen Trio at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Thurs 10/11: The Bar Next Door. Ivan Rosenberg Trio
at 6:30pm. Jacam Manricks Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
 Fri 10/12: Pat Metheny Unity Band at Town Hall.
8:00pm. $95; $75; $55. 123 W. 43rd St. (Bet. 6th Ave. &
Broadway) 212-840-2824. http://the-townhallnyc.org
 Fri 10/12: The Bar Next Door. World on a String Trio at
7:30pm, 9:30pm & 11:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal
St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Fri 10/12: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Matt Newton & Matt
Baker Trio @ 7:00pm. Racha Fora @ 9:00pm. DEFTrio
@ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
 Fri-Sat 10/12-10/13: Kurt Elling at The Allen Room,
Lincoln Center. 7:30pm. Broadway @ 60th St.
 Fri-Sun 10/12-10/14: Hendrik Meurkens at Eats Martini
Club. 10:30pm Fri, 9:30pm Sat, 7:30pm Sun. No cover.
1055 Lexington Ave. @ E. 75th St. 212-396-3287.
www.eatsonlex.com
 Fri-Sat 10/12-10/13: Marcus Roberts at Rose Theater,
Lincoln Center. 8:00pm. “Romance, Swing & the Blues.”
Broadway @ 60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Sat 10/13: Swingadelic at Swing 46. 8:30pm. 349 W.
46th St. www.swing46.com
 Fri-Sat 10/12-10/13: Rufus Reid Trio at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Sat 10/13: Somethin’ Jazz Club. NYJA @ 2:00pm.
Ryutaro Makino @ 5:00pm. Gary Fogel Lagtet @
7:00pm. Steve Kaiser Quartet @ 9:00pm. James Robbins Quintet @ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet.
2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Sat 10/13: The Bar Next Door. Jon Irabagon, Peter
Brendler & Vinnie Sperazza at 7:30pm, 9:30pm &
11:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Sun 10/14: Chico Hamilton at Drom. 6:30pm. $12; $15 at
door. 85 Ave. A. 212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Sun 10/14: Jim Campilongo with Tony Mason, Erik
Deutsch & Jeff Hill at 55 Bar. 6:00pm. 55 Christopher St.
212-929-9883. www.55bar.com.
 Sun 10/14: Secret Architecture at Caffe Vivaldi. 8:00pm.
32 Jones St. 212-691-7538. www.caffevivaldi.com
 Sun 10/14: Somethin’ Jazz ClubSarah Slonim @
5:00pm. Ernie Edwards Trio @ 7:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St.,
3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Sun 10/14: John Moulder Group at St. Peter’s Church.
5:00pm. Jazz Vespers. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St.
212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Mon 10/15: ABIAH at (le) poisson rouge. 8:00pm. $15.
158
Bleecker
St.
212-505-FISH.
www.lepoissonrouge.com.
 Mon 10/15: The Bar Next Door. Lucas Pino Trio at
6:30pm. Amy Cervini Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12
cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Mon 10/15, 10/22, 10/29: Edwina Handy DeCosta with
Swing University at Irene Diamond Education Center,
Lincoln Center. 6:30pm. “W.C. Handy.” Broadway @
60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Mon 10/15: Julie Eigenbert & Yaron Gershovsky at
Drom. 7:30pm. $12.50; $15 at door. 85 Ave. A. 212-2771157. http://dromnyc.com.
18
 Mon 10/15: Rachael MacFarlane with Tedd Firth & the
Big Band at Highline Ballroom. 8:00pm. $25-$59.50. W.
16th St. 212-414-5994. www.highlineballroom.com.
 Mon-Sat 10/15-10/20: Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano
at The Metropolitan Room. 34 W. 22nd St. 212-2060440. www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Tues 10/16: The Bar Next Door. Aleksi Glick Trio at
6:30pm. Alexis Cuadrado Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
 Tues 10/16: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Kultura @ 7:00pm.
Dorian Wallace Band @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl.
(Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Tues 10/16: George Coleman & Harold Mabern with
Juilliard Jazz Orchestra at Peter Jay Sharp Theater,
The Juilliard School. 8:00pm. Free. 60 Lincoln Center
Plaza. 212-799-5000. http://events.juilliard.edu
 Tues 10/16: The Heavens Atheist Gospel Trombone at
Joe’s Pub. 9:30pm. $15. 425 Lafayette St. 212-539-8778.
www.joespub.com
 Tues 10/16: Robert Glasper at S.O.B.’s. 8:00pm &
10:15pm. $22. 200 Varick St. 212-243-4940. http://
sobs.com
 Tues 10/16: Memphis Jazz with George Coleman &
Harold Mabern & the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra led by
James Burton III at Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Juilliard
School of Music. 8:00pm. Free. 60 Lincoln Center Plaza.
212-769-7409. http://events.juilliard.edu
 Tues 10/16: Meshell Ndegeocello at Highline Ballroom.
8:00pm. $30; $35 at door. W. 16th St. 212-414-5994.
www.highlineballroom.com.
 Wed 10/17: PROJECT Trio at Joe’s Pub. 7:30pm. $14.
425 Lafayette St. 212-539-8778. www.joespub.com
 Wed 10/17: Richard Rodney Bennett & Maud Hixson at
St. Peter’s Church. 1:00pm. Midtown Jazz at Midday.
619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd
& 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Wed 10/17: Judy Wexler Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Wed 10/17: Somethin’ Jazz Club. The Verge @ 7:00pm.
Mitch Marcus Quartete @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd
Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Wed 10/17: The Bar Next Door. Caleb Curtis Trio at
6:30pm. Jonathan Kreisberg Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
 Thurs 10/18: Yuko Ito Trio at Tomi Jazz. 9:00pm. $10
cover; $10 min. 239 E. 53rd St., lower level. 646-4971254. www.tomijazz.com.
 Thurs 10/18: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Ladies Day @
7:00pm. Claude Diallo @ 9:00pm. Mind Open @
 Thurs 10/18: Bob Sheppard Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Thurs 10/18: The Bar Next Door. Mark Cocheo Trio at
6:30pm. John Raymond Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12
cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Fri 10/19: Libby York at The Metropolitan Room.
9:30pm. 34 W. 22nd St. 212-206-0440.
www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Fri-Sun 10/19-10/21: Kate Davis at Eats Martini Club.
10:30pm Fri, 9:30pm Sat, 7:30pm Sun. No cover. 1055
Lexington Ave. @ E. 75th St. 212-396-3287.
www.eatsonlex.com
 Thurs 10/19: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Jennifer Griffith @
7:00pm. Albert Marques Trio @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd
St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Fri 10/19: Bernie Williams/Gil Parris Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park
Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Fri 10/19: The Bar Next Door. Tom Dempsey Trio at 7:30pm, 9:30pm & 11:30pm. $12
cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Sat 10/20: Pamela Luss & Houston Person at The Metropolitan Room. 7:00pm. 34 W.
22nd St. 212-206-0440. www.metropolitanroom.com.
 Sat 10/20: Bill Mays Trio at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Sat 10/20: The Bar Next Door. Patrick Cornelius Trio at 7:30pm, 9:30pm & 11:30pm.
$12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Sat 10/20: Somethin’ Jazz Club. NYJA @ 2:00pm. Leland Baker Quartet @ 7:00pm.
Lili Sommerfeld @ 9:00pm. The Grautet @ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd
& 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Sun 10/21: Swingadelic at Swing 46. 8:30pm. 349 W. 46th St. www.swing46.com
 Sun 10/21: Birdland Jazz Party at Birdland. 6:00pm. 315 W. 44th St.
 Sun 10/21: Jaleel Shaw Quartet at St. Peter’s Church. 5:00pm. Jazz Vespers. 619
Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Sun 10/21: The Bar Next Door. Nat Janoff Trio at 8:00pm & 10:00pm. $12 cover. 129
 Sun 10/21: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Christian Artmann @ 7:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd
Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Mon 10/22: Nik Bärtsch’s RONIN at (le) poisson rouge. 6:30pm. $20; $25 day of show.
158 Bleecker St. 212-505-FISH. www.lepoissonrouge.com.
 Mon 10/22: Memorial for Virgil Jones at St. Peter’s Church. 1619 Lexington Ave. @
54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
 Mon 10/22: The Bar Next Door. Kevin Clark, Jeff Reed & Shareff Taher at 6:30pm.
Linda Ciofalo, Ron Affif & Essiet Okon Essiet at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129
 Mon 10/22: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Joanna Wallfisch @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl.
(Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Tues 10/23: The Bar Next Door. Greg Skaff Trio at 8:30pm. 129 MacDougal St. 212529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Tues 10/23: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Human Equivalent @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd
Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Tues 10/23, 10/30: Billy Test at Kitano. 8:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Tues 10/23: The Bar Next Door. Tom Finn Trio at 6:30pm. Greg Skaff Trioat 8:30pm &
10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945. www.lalanternacaffe.com.
 Tues 10/23: The Love Experiment & Nick Hakim at Drom. 9:30pm. $10; $15 at door. 85
Ave. A. 212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Wed 10/24: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Linda Presgrave Duo @ 7:00pm. icQk @ 9:00pm.
212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Wed 10/24: Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall. 7:30pm. 57th St. &
Seventh Ave. 212-903-9750. www.carnegiehall.org
 Wed 10/24: Yukako Mito Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St.
 Wed 10/24: The Bar Next Door. Josh Marks Trio at 6:30pm. Jonathan Kreisberg Trio
at 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Wed 10/24: Arturo O’Farrill Trio at St. Peter’s Church. 1:00pm. Midtown Jazz at Midday. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.)
 Thurs-Fri 10/25-10/16: Joe Locke Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm & 10:00pm. 66 Park Ave
@ 38th St. 212-885-7119. www.kitano.com
 Thurs 10/25: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Marla Sampson Quartet @ 7:00pm. Cristina Morrison @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Thurs 10/25: Fred Gilde Ensemble at Caffe Vivaldi. 9:30pm. 32 Jones St. 212-6917538. www.caffevivaldi.com
 Thurs 10/25: The Bar Next Door. Geoff Vidal Trio at 6:30pm. Pete Zimmer Trio at
8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover. 129 MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Fri 10/26: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Jeff Gardner Trio @ 7:00pm. Mihoko Trio @ 9:00pm.
Jack Furlong Quintet @ 11:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Fri-Sat 10/26-10/27: McCoy Tyner at The Allen Room, Lincoln Center. 7:30pm &
9:30pm. Broadway @ 60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/swingu.html
 Fri 10/26: Musaner at Drom. 9:00pm. $12; $15 at door. 85 Ave. A. 212-277-1157. http://
dromnyc.com.
 Fri-Sun 10/26-10/28: Jack Donahue at Eats Martini Club. 10:30pm Fri, 9:30pm Sat,
7:30pm Sun. No cover. 1055 Lexington Ave. @ E. 75th St. 212-396-3287.
19
www.eatsonlex.com
 Fri 10/26: The Bar Next Door. Rick Stone Trio at
 Fri-Sat 10/26-10/27: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
with Joshua Redman at Rose Theater, Lincoln Center.
8:00pm. Broadway @ 60th St. www.jalc.org/jazzED/
swingu.html
 Fri 10/26: Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz
Orchestra directed by Bobby Sanabria with Eugene
Marlow at Manhattan School of Music. 7:30pm. $5.
Performing Marlow’s “Taylored for Billy.” Borden Hall.
122nd St. @ Broadway & 122nd St. 917-493-4428. http://
msmnyc.edu.
 Sat 10/27: Hiromi Shimuzu Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
 Sat 10/27: The Bar Next Door. Ben Monder Trio at
 Sat 10/27: Scot Albertson Trio at Tomi Jazz. 8:00pm.
$10 cover; $10 min. 239 E. 53rd St., lower level. 646-4971254. www.tomijazz.com.
 Sat 10/27: Somethin’ Jazz Club. NYJA @ 2:00pm. Zach
Resnick Quintet @ 5:00pm. Brenda Earle Quartet @
7:00pm. Omoo @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet.
2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657. www.somethinjazz.com.
 Sun 10/28: Rachel Potter at Birdland. 6:00pm. 315 W.
44th St.
 Sun 10/28: Secret Architecture at Caffe Vivaldi. 8:00pm.
32 Jones St. 212-691-7538. www.caffevivaldi.com
 Sun 10/28: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Lee Feldman @
 Sun 10/28: Timo Vollbrecht Quartet at St. Peter’s
Church. 5:00pm. Jazz Vespers. 619 Lexington Ave. @
54th St. 212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.)
 Mon 10/29: The Bar Next Door. PJ Rasmussen Trio at
6:30pm. Melissa Stylianou Trio at 8:30pm & 10:30pm.
 Mon 10/29: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Peter Honan Five @
212-371-7657.
 Tues 10/30: The Bar Next Door. Michael Fatum Trio at
6:30pm. Tom Guarna Trio 8:30pm & 10:30pm. $12 cover.
129
MacDougal St. 212-529-5945.
 Tues 10/30: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Catherine Dupuis &
Russ Kassoff @ 7:00pm. NY Jazz Force @ 9:00pm. 212
E. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave.) 212-371-7657.
 Tues 10/30: Elina Duni at Drom. 6:30pm. $10; $15 at
door. 85 Ave. A. 212-277-1157. http://dromnyc.com.
 Wed 10/31: Somethin’ Jazz Club. Nosferatu with improvised score by Dorian Wallace @ 9:00pm. 212 E. 52nd
 Wed 10/31: Nicky Schrire Quartet at Kitano. 8:00pm &
10:00pm. 66 Park Ave @ 38th St. 212-885-7119.
www.kitano.com
 Wed 10/31: Jazz Open Mic Nights! at 92nd St Y.
9:30pm. Free. Lexington Ave. & 92nd St. 212.415-5500.
www.92Y.org.
 Wed 10/31: Outer Borough Brass Band at B.B. King
Blues Club & Grill. 5:00pm. No cover. 237 W. 42nd St.
212-997-4144. www.bbkingblues.com
 Wed 10/31: Hilary Kole at St. Peter’s Church. 1:00pm.
Midtown Jazz at Midday. 619 Lexington Ave. @ 54th St.
212-242-2022. (Bet. 53rd & 54th St.) www.saintpeters.org.
BROOKLYN
 Mon 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29: Adam Rudolph –
GO Organic Orchestra at Roulette. 8:00pm. $15; $10
members, students & seniors. 509 Atlantic Ave. at 3rd
Ave. 917-267-0363. www.roulette.org
20
 Tues 10/2: Korzo. Danny Fox Trio at 9:00pm. Pannonia
at 10:30pm. 667 5th Ave. (Bet. 19th & 20th St.) 718-2859425.
www.myspace.com/konceptions.
www.korzorestaurant.com.
 Thurs 10/4: Willem Breuker Kollektief at Shapeshifter
Lab. 8:00pm & 9:30pm. $15. 18 Whitwell Pl., Park Slope.
646-820-9452. www.shapeshifterlab.com.
 Fri 10/5: The Firehouse Space. Greg Snyder Trio at
8:00pm. John Yao Quintet at 9:00pm. 587th Ave
www.thefirehousespace.org
 Fri 10/5: Arturo O’Farrill Sextet at BAM Café. 9:30pm.
30 Lafayette Ave. 718-636-4100. http://bam.org
 Sat 10/6: Douglass St. Music Collective. CaCaw at
8:00pm. Empty Cage Quartet at 9:00pm. Killer Kate at
10:00pm. $10 suggested donation. 295 Douglass St. (Bet.
3rd & 4th Ave.) 917-355-5731. http://295douglass.org
 Sat 10/6: Jay Rodriguez at BAM Café. 9:30pm. 30 Lafayette Ave. 718-636-4100. http://bam.org
 Sun 10/7: Mike Baggetta with Jason Rigby, Eivind
Opsvik & George Schuller at Sycamore. 8:30pm &
10:00pm. $10 suggested. 1118 Cortelyou Rd. 347-2405850. http://sycamorebrooklyn.com
 Sun 10/7: Ayman Fanous & Tomas Ulrich at The Firehouse
Space.
8:00pm. 587th Ave
 Tues 10/9: Korzo. Patrick Cornelius Quartet at 9:00pm.
Matt Mitchell Trio at 10:30pm. 667 5th Ave. (Bet. 19th &
20th St.) 718-285-9425. www.myspace.com/konceptions.
 Tues 10/9: Sean Wayland at Shapeshifter Lab.. 18
Whitwell Pl., Park Slope. 646-820-9452
 Fri 10/12: Oliver Lake at Roulette. 8:00pm. Improvised
Duos: Oliver Lake 70th Birthday Celebration! Atlantic Ave.
& 3rd Ave. 917-267-0363. www.roulette.org
 Sat 10/13: Ballou/Robinson/Ilgenfritz/Schuller at The
Firehouse Space. 8:00pm. 58 7th Ave
 Sat 10/13: Oliver Lake Big Band at Roulette. 8:00pm.
Oliver Lake 70th Birthday Celebration! Atlantic Ave. & 3rd
Ave. 917-267-0363. www.roulette.org
 Sat 10/14: Anders Nilsson at The Firehouse Space.
8:00pm. 58 7th Ave www.thefirehousespace.org
 Tues 10/16: Barisop at Korzo. 9:00pm. 667 5th Ave. (Bet.
19th & 20th St.) 718-285-9425. www.myspace.com/
konceptions. www.korzorestaurant.com.
 Wed 10/17: Seung-Hee Quintet at Shapeshifter Lab.
8:00pm. $10. 18 Whitwell Pl., Park Slope. 646-820-9452.
 Fri 10/19: James Ilgenfritz at Brooklyn Conservatory of
Music. 8:00pm. $15; $10 seniors & students. 58 7th Ave.
718-622-3300. www.bqcm.org
 Sat 10/20: Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble &
Bobby Sanabria at Brooklyn Public Library. 2:00pm.
Free. 280 Cadman Plaza West (at Tillary St.) 718-6237000.
 Mon 10/22: Vijay Iyer Trio at Brooklyn Conservatory of
Music. 58 7th Ave. @ Lincoln Place. 718-622-3300.
www.bqcm.org
 Tues 10/23: Tyshawn Sorey Group at Korzo. 667 5th
Ave. (Bet. 19th & 20th St.) 718-285-9425.
 Thurs 10/25: Guy Klucevsek at Roulette. 8:00pm. Atlantic Ave. & 3rd Ave. 917-267-0363. www.roulette.org
 Fri 10/26: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog and Marco Cappelli’s Italian Surf Academy at Littlefield. 7:30pm. $15.
622 Degraw St. (Bet. 3rd & 4th Ave.) 718-855-3388.
www.littlefieldnyc.com
 Fri 10/26: Luce Trio at Sycamore. 1118 Cortelyou Rd.
347-240-5850. http://sycamorebrooklyn.com
 Fri 10/26: Brian Carpenter’s Ghost Train Orchestra at
BAM Café. 9:30pm. 30 Lafayette Ave. 718-636-4100.
http://bam.org
 Sat 10/27: Douglas Detrick Quartet & Dana Lyn’s Yeti
Camp at The Firehouse Space. 8:00pm. 587th Ave
 Sat 10/27: Jesse Fischer & Soul Cycle at BAM Café.
10:00pm. 30 Lafayette Ave. 718-636-4100. http://bam.org
Wednesday, October 10 @ 8 pm
Thursday, October 11 @ 8 pm
Medeski,
Martin &
Wood
Pat Metheny
Unity Band
with Chris Potter,
Antonio Sanchez &
Ben Williams
For over two decades,
the trio’s amalgam of
jazz, funk, “avant-noise”
and a million other
musical currents and
impulses has been nearly
impossible to classify,
and that’s just how they
like it. Ticket Price: $45
Friday, October 26 @ 8 pm
Pat has won countless
polls as “Best Jazz Guitarist” and awards including
three gold records. Pat has
put together a killer band
for this new project.
Ticket Price: $85
Friday, November 16 @ 8 pm
Ann
Hampton
Callaway
Spyro Gyra
with special guest
Matt Savage
Spyro Gyra have
performed over 5,000
shows, released 21 albums
selling over ten million
albums. They show little
Multiplatinum selling
singer-songwriter,
composer, lyricist,
pianist and actress,
Callaway celebrates one of
America’s most enduring
artists, Barbra Streisand.
Ticket Price: Orchestra $45 /
Mezzanine $40
sign of wanting to slow
down either, gaining
Grammy® nominations
for each of their last four
albums. Ticket Price: $55
80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT
203.438.5795 • www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org
Calendar of Events
Blue Note
131 W Third St.
(east of 6th Ave)
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
OCT
October 2012 - All Shows at 8:00 PM
Oct 2: Gary Morgan and Pan Americana
Oct. 9: Daoud David Williams & Spirit of Life Ensemble
Oct. 16: Eddie Allen Quintet
Oct 23: Annual Dizzy Gillespie Birthday Concert w/
Mike Longo's 17 Piece, NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble w/Ira Hawkins, Special guests Jimmy Owens, Annie
Ross. One show at 8:00PM followed by FREE film showing of Gillespie in concert with all star line up of musicians.
Oct 30: Warren Smith & Composer's Workshop Orch.
Cornelia St. Café
29 Cornelia St.
(bet. W 4th & Bleecker)
212-989-9319
corneliastreetcafe.com
Deer Head Inn
5 Main Street
Delaware Water Gap, PA
18327
www.deerheadinn.com
1 - Mon
Chuseok-Youngjoo Song
Roger Lent 3; Jam Session David Amram 4
2 - Tue
John Scofield 3
Jazz Trio; Jam Session
3 - Wed
John Scofield 3
Les Kurtz 3; Joonsam Lee
Jam Session
Celebration of Laurie Frink
4 - Thu
John Scofield 3
Rudi Mwongozi 3; Daisuke
Abe Jam Session
Ricardo Gallo 5
Bill Goodwin Jazz Jam
5 - Fri
John Scofield 3
Dona Carter 4; Jesse
Simpson Jam Session
Michael Bates 4
Teri Roiger 4
6 - Sat
John Scofield 3; Sparkplug
Sachmo Mannan 4; Jesse
Simpson Jam Session
Bobby Avey 4
Nancy & Spencer Reed
7 - Sun
NYU Jazz Brunch; John
Scofield 3
Keith Ingham; Jazz Jam
Session
Novosel-Boukas
Gypsy Jazz
8 - Mon
Ray Gelato
Roger Lent 3; Jam Session
9 - Tue
GRP 30th
Hiromi Suda 6; Voxify
10 - Wed
GRP 30th
Jam Session
Steve Northeast
11 - Thu
GRP 30th
Fukushi Tainaka 3; Daisuke Dan Weiss & Ari Hoenig
Abe Jam Session
12 - Fri
GRP 30th; Andy Milne
Will Trerril 3; Jesse Simpson Jam Session
Jeff Davis 3
Spatial Edition
13 - Sat
GRP 30th; Gordon Chambers
Will Trerril 3; Jesse Simpson Jam Session
Rez Abbasi 3
Eric Mintel 4
14 - Sun
Assaf Kehati 3; GRP 30th
Session
MNY Flamenco Jazz Project
PA Jazz Collective
15 - Mon
Gadi Lehavi
16 - Tue
Dizzy Gillespie Alumni AllStars
Amir Elsaffar 5
17 - Wed
Jam Session
Benjamin Scheuer
18 - Thu
Justin Lees 3; Daisuke Abe Chris Lightcap 5
Jam Session
19 - Fri
Joonsam Lee 3; Jesse
Simpson Jam Session
Merger
Bob Dorough 3
20 - Sat
Ken Simon 4; Jesse Simpson Jam Session
Kris Davis 3
Bucky Pizzarelli, Walt
Bibinger & Ed Laub
21 - Sun
Cecile McLorin Salvant;
Session
Snehasish Mozumder
Harry Allen 3
22 - Mon
Imani Uzuri
Roger Lent 3; Jam Session Adam Nussbaum 3
23 - Tue
Jimmy Heath
Tamarindo
24 - Wed
Jimmy Heath
Jam Session
Cellar & Point; Florent
Ghys
25 - Thu
Jimmy Heath
Michika Fukumori 3; Daisuke Abe Jam Session
David Phillips & Freedance Bill Goodwin Jazz Jam
26 - Fri
Jimmy Heath
Masami Ishikawa 3; Jesse
Simpson Jam Session
Pete Robbins 5
27 - Sat
Jimmy Heath; Melissa
Nadel
Don Slatoff 4; Jesse Simpson Jam Session
Deborah Latz 3; Hoenig Pilc Five Play
Project
28 - Sun
Juilliard Jazz Brunch;
Jimmy Heath
Session
Mossa Bildner 4
29 - Mon
Bann
30 - Tue
Buika
31 - Wed
22
Cleopatra’s Needle
2485 Broadway
(betw. 92nd & 93rd St.)
212-769-6969
Jam Session
Vinny Bianchi La Cuchina 6
Celay & Wright
COTA All Stars
Youngjoo Song 3
 Sun 10/28: Emilio Solla Trio at Brooklyn Conservatory
of Music. 8:00pm. $10. 58 7th Ave. 718-622-3300.
www.bqcm.org
 Mon 10/29: Philip Hamilton/Sabrina Lastman/Sarah
Bernstein at Roulette. 8:00pm. Vital Vox Festival. Atlantic Ave. & 3rd Ave. 917-267-0363. www.roulette.org
QUEENS
 Wed 10/10: Monthly Jazz Jam at Flushing Town Hall.
7:00pm. $10. Members students & performers free. 1373 5 No r t h e r n B l v d . 7 1 8 - 4 6 3 - 7 7 0 0 , x 2 2 2 .
www.flushingtownhall.org.
 Sat 10/13: Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra at York College
Performing Arts Center. 7:00pm. $20; $10 students &
seniors. 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. 718-262-2040.
www.yorkpac.com
LONG ISLAND
 Thurs 10/18: Paul Bollenback & Benjamin Verdery at
Dix Hills Performing Arts Center. 7:30pm. $10. “Inside
the Guitarists Studio.” Five Towns College, 305 N. Service
Rd., Dix Hills. 631-656-2110. www.ftc.edu
 Sun 10/28: Jeb Patton with musical director Scott Ballin
at Dix Hills Performing Arts Center. 2:00pm. $20.
“Tribute to the Jazz Piano.” Five Towns College, 305 N.
Service Rd., Dix Hills. 631-656-2110. www.ftc.edu
WESTCHESTER
 Fri 10/5: Nyack High School Jazz Ensemble at The
Nyack Library. 7:30pm. 59 S. Broadway, Nyack, NY. 845608-3593. www.carnegieroom.org
 Fri 10/12: Ted Rosenthal Trio at The Nyack Library.
7:30pm. 59 S. Broadway, Nyack, NY. 845-608-3593.
www.carnegieroom.org
 Sun 10/14: Jimmy Owens at First Presbyterian Church.
199 N. Columbus Ave., Mount Vernon. www.pjsjazz.org
 Fri 10/19: Mark Morganelli at Dobbs Ferry Public Library. 7:00pm. Free. 55 Main St., Dobbs Ferry. 914-6936614. www.dobbsferrylibrary.org
 Fri 10/19: Jim Koeppel at The Nyack Library. 7:30pm.
59 S. Broadway, Nyack, NY. 845-608-3593.
 Fri 10/19: David Bromberg Big Band at Tarrytown
Music Hall. 8:00pm. 13 Main St., Tarrytown, NY. 877-8400457. www.tarrytownmusichall.org
 Sun 10/28: Keb’ Mo’ at Tarrytown Music Hall. 7:00pm.
13 Main St., Tarrytown, NY. 877-840-0457.
www.tarrytownmusichall.org
NEW JERSEY
 Tues 10/2: Mike Mohamed Group at Tumulty’s Pub.
8:00pm. 361 George St., New Brunswick. www.nbjp.org
 Thurs 10/4: Winard Harper at Makeda. 7:30pm. No
cover; $5 min. 338 George St., New Brunswick.
 Fri 10/5: Ron Aprea & Angela De Niro at Trumpets.
8:00. $15 cover; $10 min. 6 Depot Sq., Montclair. 973744-2600. www.trumpetsjazz.com.
 Sat 10/6: Giants of Jazz at South Orange Performing
Arts Center. 8:00pm. Honoring 2012 Jazz Master George
Coleman. $50, $60; $45, $55 for SOPAC members; $40,
$50 seniors & students. One SOPAC Way, South Orange.
973-313-2787. www.sopacnow.org
 Sat 10/6: Ty Stephens at Trumpets. 8:00. 6 Depot Sq.,
Montclair. 973-744-2600. www.trumpetsjazz.com.
 Sat 10/6: Bossa Brasil at Clinton Elementary School.
12:30pm. Free. Part of WBGO’s Children’s Jazz Concert
Series. 27 Berkshire Rd., Maplewood.
 Sat 10/6: Courtney Bryan Band at Bethany Baptist
Church. 6:00pm. Jazz Vespers. 275 W. Market St., Newark. 973-623-8161. http://bethany-newark.org
 Mon 10/8: Medeski Martin & Wood at Bergen Performing Arts Center. 8:00pm. $59, $49, $29. 30 N. Van Brunt
St., Englewood. 201-227-1030. www.bergenpac.org
 Tues 10/9: Bossa Brasil at One Union Square Plaza,
Elizabeth. Noon. Free. 908-436-0099.
www.elizabethnj.org
 Tues 10/9: Jamale Davis Group at Rutgers University,
Dana Library, Dana Room. 2:00pm. Free. 185 University
Ave., Newark. 973-353-5595. http://
newarkwww.rutgers.edu
 Tues 10/9: Mike Bond at Tumulty’s Pub. 8:00pm. 361
George St., New Brunswick. www.nbjp.org
 Thurs 10/11: Conrad Herwig Quintet at Makeda.
7:30pm. No cover; $5 min. 338 George St., New Brunswick. www.nbjp.org
 Thurs 10/11: Geovanni Arencibia Band at Trumpets.
8:00. 6 Depot Sq., Montclair. 973-744-2600.
 Fri 10/12: Hernan Romero at Trumpets. 8:00. 6 Depot
Sq., Montclair. 973-744-2600. www.trumpetsjazz.com.
 Fri 10/12: Red Baraat at Pollak Theatre, Monmouth
University. 8:00pm. 400 Cedar Ave., West Long Branch.
732-571-3400. www.monmouth.edu
 Fri 10/12: Ed Cherry Trio at Sophie’s Bistro. 8:00pm. No
cover. 700 Hamilton St., Somerset. www.nbjp.org
 Sat 10/13: Enrico Granafei Quartet at Trumpets. 8:00. 6
Depot Sq., Montclair. 973-744-2600.
 Mon 10/15: James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival
at Bethany Baptist Church. 7:00pm. Free. With Rufus
Reid Quintet. 275 W. Market St., Newark. 973-623-8161.
http://bethany-newark.org
 Tues 10/16: NJPAC James Moody All-Stars at Newark
Museum. 7:00pm. Free. 49 Washington St., Newark. 973596-6550. www.newarkmuseum.org
 Tues 10/16: Alex Perry Group at Tumulty’s Pub.
 Wed 10/17: Hitting the High Notes: Jazz House Kids
Turns 10 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s
Victoria Theater. 7:00pm. $79; $175. With Christian
McBride Big Band, Angelique Kidjo, Melissa Walker,
George Duke, Maceo Parker & Fred Wesley. Part of The
James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival. One Center
St., Newark. 973-642-8989. http://njpac.org
 Tues 10/18: Andrea Brachfeld at Trumpets. 7:30pm &
8:00pm. 6 Depot Sq., Montclair. 973-744-2600.
 Thurs 10/18: Jerome Jennings Group at Makeda.
(continued on page 24)
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Get The Results You Deserve
23
 Fri 10/19: Fred Hersch at Raritan Valley Community
College Theatre. 8:00pm. $16 & $26. 118 Lamington
Rd., Branchburg. 908-526-1200. www.raritanval.edu
 Fri 10/19: For Love of Moody: A Jazz Celebration at
New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Prudential Hall.
8:00pm. $29-$79. With George Benson, Manhattan
Transfer, David Sanborn, Kenny Barron, Jon Faddis,
Jimmy Heath, John Lee, Paquito D’Rivera, Christian
McBride, Paul Lieberman, Todd Coolman, Adam
Nussbaum & Renee Rosnes. One Center St., Newark.
973-642-8989. http://njpac.org
 Fri 10/19: Keb Mo at McCarter Theater. 8:00pm. 91
U n ive rs ity Pl., Prince to n . 60 9-258 -278 7.
www.mccarter.org
 Sat 10/20: Judi Silvano at Trumpets. 8:00. 6 Depot
 Sat 10/20: A Night in New Orleans: A Magic Tree
House Adventure at New Jersey Performing Arts
Center’s Victoria Theater. 1:00pm & 4:00pm. $29. A
new jazz musical based on Mary Pope Osborne’s book,
A Good Night for Ghosts. Part of The James Moody
Democracy of Jazz Festival. One Center St., Newark.
973-642-8989. http://njpac.org
 Sat 10/20: Vijay Iyer at McCarter Theater. 8:00pm. 91
U n ive rs ity Pl., Prince to n . 60 9-258 -278 7.
www.mccarter.org
 Sat 10/20: Miles Davis & Gil Evans: Still Ahead at
New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Prudential Hall.
8:00pm. $29-$79. Part of The James Moody Democracy
of Jazz Festival. With Terence Blanchard, Peter Erskine, Howard Johnson, Sean Jones, Jimmy Cobb
and a jazz orchestra under the direction of Vince Mendoza. One Center St., Newark. 973-642-8989. http://
njpac.org
 Sun 10/21: Geri Allen Trio at New Jersey Performing
Arts Center’s NICO Kitchen + Bar. $45, $15 under 12;
includes brunch and concert. Brunch at 11:00am concerts at noon and 1:30pm. Hosted by Dorthaan Kirk.
Part of The James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival.
One Center St., Newark. 973-642-8989. http://njpac.org
 Sun 10/21: Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal
Competition at New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s
Prudential Hall. 3:00pm. Part of NJPAC’s Jazz Roots
Series. One Center St., Newark. 973-642-8989. http://
njpac.org
 Tues 10/23: Matt Echols Group at Tumulty’s Pub.
 Wed 10/24: Lainie Cooke Group at Hyatt. 7:30pm. No
cover. 2 Albany St., New Brunswick. No cover.
 Wed 10/24: Diane Moser Band at Trumpets. 6 Depot
 Wed 10/24: Bob Belden at Rutgers University, Dana
Library, Dana Room. 7:00pm. Free. “Transparent
Heart: A Multi-Media Portrait of Manhattan.” 185 University Ave., Newark. 973-353-5595. http://
newarkwww.rutgers.edu
 Thurs 10/25: Nat Adderley Jr. Group at Makeda.
 Fri 10/26: Mark Sherman Quartet at Trumpets. 8:00. 6
Depot Sq., Montclair. 973-744-2600.
www.trumpetsjazz.com.
 Sat 10/27: Gina Fox Band at Trumpets. 8:00. 6 Depot
 Mon 10/29: Béla Fleck at McCarter Theater. 7:30pm.
91 University Pl., Princeton. 609-258-2787.
www.mccarter.org
 Tues 10/30: George Maher Group at Tumulty’s Pub.
 Wed 10/31: Bossa Brasil at Tony’s Café. 7:00pm.
$29.95 includes concert and music menu. 21 N. Union
Ave., Cranford. 908-301-1285. www.tonyscranford.com
…AND BEYOND
 Thurs 10/4: Akie B & the Falcons at The Falcon.
7:00pm. No cover, donations encouraged. Support living
24
Calendar of Events
OCT
Dizzy’s Club
Coca Cola
Dizzy’s Club
After Hours
Feinstein’s
at Loews Regency
B’dwy &t 60th, 5th Fl.
212-258-9595
jazzatlincolncenter.com
B’dwy & 60th, 5th Fl
212-258-9595
jazzatlincolncenter.com
540 Park Ave.
212-339-8942
1 - Mon
Dominick Farinacci 5
2 - Tue
Brianna Thomas
3 - Wed
feinsteinsattheregency.com
Garage
99 Seventh Ave. S
(at Grove St.)
212-645-0600
www.garagerest.com
Linda Purl
Howard Williams Band; Ben
Cliness 3
William Delisfort 4
Betty Buckley
Mike Dease Band; Adrian
Cunningham 4
Helen Sung 5
William Delisfort 4
Betty Buckley
Marc Devine 3; Anderson
Brothers
4 - Thu
Ulysses Owens 5
William Delisfort 4
Betty Buckley; Broadway
Ballyhoo
Rick Stone 3; Alan Chaubert 3
5 - Fri
Joe Temperley 6
William Delisfort 4
Betty Buckley
Brandon Lee 5; Jason
Prover 5
6 - Sat
Joe Temperley 6
William Delisfort 4
Betty Buckley
Larry Newcomb 3; Justin
Wood; Virginia Mayhew 4
7 - Sun
Joe Temperley 6
Eddie Bruce; Magical Nights Ben Healy 3; David Coss 4;
Masami Ishikawa 3
8 - Mon
Italian Jazz Days All Star
Big Band Conducded by
Antonio Ciacca
Harry Allen
Howard Williams Band;
Bryan Carter 3
9 - Tue
Italian Jazz Days All Star
Big Band Conducded by
Antonio Ciacca
Luca Santaniello 4
Betty Buckley
Eyal Vilner Band; Mayu
Saeki 3
10 - Wed
Elio Villafranca
Luca Santaniello 4
Betty Buckley
Dylan Meek 3; Alex Brown
3
11 - Thu
Elio Villafranca
Luca Santaniello 4
Ballyhoo
Champian Fulton 3; Andrew
Hadro 4
12 - Fri
Elio Villafranca
Luca Santaniello 4
Betty Buckley
Kyoko Oyobe 3; Hot House
13 - Sat
Elio Villafranca
Luca Santaniello 4
Betty Buckley
Daniela Schaechter 3;
Akiko Tsuruga 3
14 - Sun
Elio Villafranca
Bette Sussman & Elaine
Caswell; Magical Nights
Lou Caputo 4; David Coss
4; Mauricio De Souza 3
15 - Mon
Jacques Schwarz-Bart 4
Anna Bergman
Kenny Shanker 4
16 - Tue
Curtis Brothers: Completion Emmet Cohen 3
of Proof—w/Donald Harrison, Bryan Lynch
Betty Buckley
Lou Caputo Band; Michika
Fukumori 3
17 - Wed
Curtis Brothers: Completion Emmet Cohen 3
of Proof—w/Donald Harrison, Bryan Lynch
Betty Buckley
Bryan Carter 4; Andrew
Atkinson
18 - Thu
Charles McPherson/Tom
Harrell 5
Emmet Cohen 3
Ballyhoo
Josh Lawrence 4; Randy
Johnston 3
19 - Fri
Harrell 5
Emmet Cohen 3
Betty Buckley
Carl Bartlett Jr. 4; Kevin
Dorn Band
20 - Sat
Harrell 5
Emmet Cohen 3
Betty Buckley
Fukushi Tainaka 3; Mark
Marino 3; Virginia Mayhew
21 - Sun
Harrell 5
Anna Bergman; Magical
Nights
Evan Schwam 4; David
Coss 4; Greg Lewis 3
22 - Mon
Cecile McLorin Salvant
Anna Bergman
Howard Williams Band; JT
Project
23 - Tue
Azar Lawrence 5
Pattishall, Horne, Ross,
Stephenson & Pascal
Betty Buckley
Cecilia Coleman Band;
Justin Lees 3
24 - Wed
Azar Lawrence 5
Stephenson & Pascal
Betty Buckley
Nick Moran 3; Paul Francis
3
25 - Thu
Azar Lawrence 5
Stephenson & Pascal
Ballyhoo
George Weldon 3; New
Tricks
26 - Fri
Azar Lawrence 5
Stephenson & Pascal
Betty Buckley
Dave Kain; Dre Barnes
27 - Sat
Azar Lawrence 5
Stephenson & Pascal
Betty Buckley
Marsha Heydt 4; Champian
Fulton 3; Daylight Blues
28 - Sun
Azar Lawrence 5
Anna Bergman
Iris Ornig 4; David Css 4;
Tsutomu Naki 3
29 - Mon
Bobby Broom 3
Anna Bergman
Mauricio De Souza 3
30 - Tue
Wycliffe Gordon
Stephenson & Pascal
Tamara Tunie
Kyle Athayde Band; Stan
Killian 4
31 - Wed
Wycliffe Gordon
Stephenson & Pascal
Tamara Tunie
The Iridium
OCT
1 - Mon
2 - Tue
3 - Wed
Jazz Gallery
Jazz Standard
Shrine
290 Hudson St.
(below Spring St.)
212-242-1063
www.jazzgallery.org
116 E 27th St
212-576-2232
www.jazzstandard.net
2271 Adam Clayton
Powell Blvd.
212-690-7807
Chris Minh Doky & The
Nomads
Chris Minh Doky & The
Nomads
The Jazz Conceptions with
Annie Sellick
www.shrinenyc.com
Mingus Big Band
4 - Thu
Matt Schofield
Carolina Calvache 4
5 - Fri
John Waite
Marcus Gilmore
6 - Sat
John Waite
7 - Sun
Bill Payne
8 - Mon
Joe Walsh
9 - Tue
Nicolas King
10 - Wed
McClenty Hunter 4
11 - Thu
Neil Cowley 3
12 - Fri
The Players Club; John
Seeger 3
Michael Formanek 4
Matt Heath 3; Daniel Weiss;
Jane Lee Hooker; Juju
Michael Formanek 4
Verena McB Ensemble;
Khaled; Enrico Capuano;
Danny Severance
Jack Walrath 5
Marc Sloan; Brad Russell;
Indian-Indie Rock; Brennan
Dylan; Explosion Negra
Charles Tolliver
Scott Kulick; Mr. Vinka
Oyewele; Avenue X; Royal
Rhaoz; DJ Mowgan
Charles Tolliver
Vacouba Diabate; Lola
Johnson; The Dubber;
Kepaar; Hot & Wild
Claudio Roditi with West P Jazz Jam Session; Shrine
oint Jazz Knights Big Band Big Band; Reggae
Mingus Big Band
Joe Breidenstine 5; H20
Aaron Diehl 4 & Warren
Wolf
Robin Verheyen 4
Alex Wyatt; Duke Bantu X;
Lynette Williams; Trey Myers
Brook Batteau
Stranahan/Zaleski/Rosato
Edmar Castaneda 3
Ed Palermo Band
Matt Brewer
Edmar Castaneda 3
13 - Sat
Ed Palermo Band
Ben van Gelder 5
SF Jazz Collective
14 - Sun
Cindy Blackman Santana
SF Jazz Collective
15 - Mon
Kenny Olson
Mingus Big Band
Jacques & Marie; Zaccai
Curtis; Giant Flying Turtles;
Gold Magnolias
Nick Di Maria; North Mississippi Hill Country; Kenny
Brown
Grace Underground;
Yacouba Diabate; Sould'Out
Jazz Jam Session; Vadim
Neselowskyi; Reggae
The Gathering
16 - Tue
Ellen Kaye
Rebecca Martin & Larry
Grenadier
Jorge Rossy 5
Tia Fuller
Tom Blatt; Soul 4Real
Fabian Almazan 3
David Manzano; Maria Davis
Felix Cabrera Band
Bryan & the Aardvarks
Jacky Terrasson 3
19 - Fri
John Escreet
Jacky Terrasson 3
20 - Sat
Gretchen Parlato
Jacky Terrasson 3
Untouchables; Derek Keith;
Natty Dreadz
Martin Loyato; Emanuele
Tozzi
Harmonious Wail; Perle
Lama; Isaac Kataly; Hot &
Wild
Jazz Jam Session; Natty
Dreadz
17 - Wed
18 - Thu
21 - Sun
James Maddock
Jacky Terrasson 3
Mingus Big Band
Uncharted Territory
23 - Tue
Barry Levitt & Dana Lorge
Freddie Bryant
24 - Wed
David Benoit
Scott Robinson
25 - Thu
David Benoit
Matt Albeck; Harmony
Keeney; Bhemian Sunrise
jKb Freedom; This Is Not the
Radio
Gianni Gagliardi; Yvonne
Moneria; PitchBlak Brass
26 - Fri
Donna Jean Godchaux Band Oliver Lake 3
22 - Mon
27 - Sat
28 - Sun
Steve Marshall Band
Sara Caswell 4
George Coleman 5
George Coleman 5
Rodrigo Bonelli; Florencia
Gonzalez; House of Waters
George Coleman 5
Score; Circular Time;
Makane Kouyate; Hot & Wild
Jazz Jam Session; Natty
Dreadz
Rendezvous Showcase
George Coleman 5
Mingus Big Band
29 - Mon
30 - Tue
Terese Genecco Band
Francisco Mela 4
31 - Wed
Gregg Rolie & Alan Haynes
Francisco Mela 4
Jazz Lovers
Heaven
Tomoyasu Ikita; Kathryn F.
Hoxie
Scan the QR Code below
with your mobile device
Your Own Personal
Lifetime Access!
Jazz Listening,
Enjoyment, Discovery
Limited Availability
http://bit.ly/JvSML0
25
artists. 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY.
www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Fri 10/5: Tyler Blanton Group at Firehouse 12. 8:30pm &
10:00pm. $18 & $12. 45 Crown St., New Haven, CT. 203785-0468. http://firehouse12.com
 Fri 10/5: Wolff & Clark Expedition at The Falcon.
 Sat 10/6: Jonah Smith Band at The Falcon. 7:00pm. No
cover, donations encouraged. Support living artists. 1348
Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Sun 10/7: The Falcon. Myles Mancuso, Lee Falco &
Jeremy Baum at noon. Fleurine at 7:00pm. Sat 10/6:
Jonah Smith Band at The Falcon. 7:00pm. No cover,
donations encouraged. Support living artists. 1348 Rt. 9W,
Marlboro, NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Thurs 10/11: Lionel Loueke Trio at Garde Arts Center.
7:30pm. 325 State St., New London, CT. 860-444-7373.
http://gardearts.org
 Thurs 10/11: Chris O’Leary Band at The Falcon. 7:00pm.
No cover, donations encouraged. Support living artists.
1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Fri 10/12: Dan Tepfer Trio at Firehouse 12. 8:30pm &
 Sat 10/13: E.J. Strickland Quintet at The Falcon.
 Thurs 10/18: The Funk Junkies at The Falcon. 7:00pm.
 Fri 10/19: Mat Maneri Quartet at Firehouse 12. 8:30pm &
 Fri 10/19: Marlene VerPlanck & Bucky Pizzarelli at The
Falcon. 7:00pm. No cover, donations encouraged. Support living artists. 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY.
 Sat 10/20: Chris Bergson Band at The Falcon. 7:00pm.
 Sun 10/21: The Falcon. Delto Moon for brunch. Tisziji
Munoz Quartet at 7:00pm. No cover, donations encouraged. Support living artists. 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY.
 Wed 10/24: Thiefs at The Falcon. 7:00pm. No cover,
donations encouraged. Support living artists. 1348 Rt. 9W,
Marlboro, NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Thurs 10/25: JIM Campilongo Electric Trio at The Falcon. 7:00pm. No cover, donations encouraged. Support
living artists. 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY.
 Fri 10/26: Fred Hersch Trio at Firehouse 12. 8:30pm &
 Sun 10/28: The Falcon. Erik Lawrence Trio for brunch.
Swing Dance Night at 7:00pm. 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro,
NY. www.liveatthefalcon.com.
 Mon 10/29: Jeff Ballard’s Fairgrounds at The Falcon.

“Do the right thing.
It will gratify some people
and astonish the rest.”
Calendar of Events
OCT
26
The Stone
Village Vanguard
Ave. C & Second St.
thestonenyc.com
178 Seventh Ave. S
(below W 11th St.)
212-255-4037
villagevanguard.net
1 - Mon
Paul Meyers; Ari Hoenig 3; Spencer On Ka'a Davis Band
Murphy
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
2 - Tue
Spike Wilner; Rick Germanson 4;
"Round Midnight"
Ravi Coltrane 4
3 - Wed
Michela Lerman; Matthew Rybicki 3; Shahzad Ismaily; Causing a Tiger
Noah P reminger
Ravi Coltrane 4
4 - Thu
Ai Murakami; Ehud Asherie 3;
Lafayette Harris 5; Bruce Harris
Ravi Coltrane 4
5 - Fri
Sam Raderman & Luc Decker; Ray Al-Madar
Gallon 3; Lawrence Leathers
Ravi Coltrane 4
6 - Sat
Tardo Hammer 3; Peter Zak 4;
Brooklyn Circle
Kayo Dot; 6000 Years of Darkness
Ravi Coltrane 4
7 - Sun
Marion Cowings; Jim Stranahan;
Bucky Pizzarelli & Ed Laub
Leyna Marika Papach; Empty Cage Ravi Coltrane 4
4
8 - Mon
Peter Bernstein; Ari Hoenig 4;
Spencer Murphy
On Ka'a Davis Band
9 - Tue
Spike Wilner; Luis Perdomo 4;
"Round Midnight"
Samuel Adams & Adrian Knight;
ABRAXAS
Bill Charlap 3
10 - Wed
Michela Lerman; John Ellis 5; Pete
Rende 3
UR; Ches Smith 3
Bill Charlap 3
11 - Thu
Ai Murakami; Carolyn Leonhart;
Vince Ector 4; Carlos Abadie
Ishraqiyun; Secret Chiefs 3
Bill Charlap 3
12 - Fri
Sam Raderman & Luc Decker;
Russ Nolan 4; Mark Soskin 4
Trey Spruance; Gyan Riley 3
Bill Charlap 3
13 - Sat
Hayes Greenfield & Roger
Rosenberg; Mark Soskin 4
Sound Actions; Timba Harris presents neXus I
Bill Charlap 3
14 - Sun
Marion Cowings; Ted Gottsegen &
Lollo Meier; Spike Wilner
Harvester; Mario Diaz de Leon
Bill Charlap 3
15 - Mon
Saul Rubin; Ari Hoenig 3; Spencer
Murphy
On Ka'a Davis Band
16 - Tue
Spike Wilner; Rodney Green;
"Round Midnight"
Virgil Moorefield; BloodMist
Bill Charlap 3
17 - Wed
Michela Lerman; Rodney Green;
Nate Radley 4
Juan Quiones, Kevin Harris &
Newman Baker; Plank Theory
Bill Charlap 3
18 - Thu
Ai Murakami; Ehud Asherie & JonErik Kellso; John McNeil & Jeremy
Udden; Bruce Harris
Jemeel Moondoc; Avram Fefer 3
Bill Charlap 3
19 - Fri
Ralph LaLama 3; L. Leathers
Nick Gianni; Brandon Ross
Bill Charlap 3
20 - Sat
Tad Shull 4; George Burton 5;
Brooklyn Circle
Bern Nix; Marshall Allen
Bill Charlap 3
21 - Sun
Marion Cowings; Ivan Farmakovsky Evans Thompson; Sylvain Leroux
4; Lezlie Harrison; Johnny O'Neal
Bill Charlap 3
22 - Mon
Vadim Neselovskyi; Ari Hoenig 4;
Spencer Murphy
On Ka'a Davis Band
23 - Tue
Spike Wilner; Seamus Blake 5;
"Round Midnight"
Naomi Watanabe; Tor Snyder &
Jeremy Carlstedt
Bill McHenry 4
24 - Wed
Michela Lerman; Seamus Blake 5;
Eden Ladin
Brandon Terzic & Xalam 3; On Ka'a Bill McHenry 4
Davis
25 - Thu
Ai Murakami; Michael Hashim;
Akiko Tsuruga 3; Carlos Abadie
Nonoko Yoshida; Cartoon Satellite
Bill McHenry 4
26 - Fri
Garry Dial 3; Jimmy Greene 4
Sadhana; Bruce Edwards
Bill McHenry 4
27 - Sat
Yaala Ballin; Jimmy Greene 4;
Philip Harper
David Pleasant, Miles Griffith & Nick Bill McHenry 4
Russo; Djuke Music Playears
28 - Sun
Marion Cowings; Johnny O'Neal;
Spike Wilner
Jessica Lurie & Matt Cole; Sabir
Mateen
Bill McHenry 4
29 - Mon
Sean Wayland 3; Ari Hoenig 4;
Spencer Murphy
On Ka'a Davis Band
30 - Tue
Spike Wilner; Peter Bernstein 4;
"Round Midnight"
Welf Door; Earth P eople
Jeff Ballard
John Zorn Annual Halloween Improv Night
Jeff Ballard
31 - Wed
- Mark Twain
Smalls
183 W. 10th
212-252-5091
smallsjazzclub.com
Janeat Feder; Matt Mitchell
Timba Harris; SuperBalls
Clubs & Venues
55 Bar, 55 Christopher St. (betw 6th & 7th Ave.), 212-929-9883,
www.55bar.com
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128
212.415.5500, www.92ndsty.org
Aaron Davis Hall, City College of NY, Convent Ave., 212-6506900, www.aarondavishall.org
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway & 65th St., 212-8755050, www.lincolncenter.org/default.asp
Allen Room, Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center, Broadway and
60th, 5th floor, 212-258-9800, www.lincolncenter.org/default.asp
American Museum of Natural History, 81st St. &
Central Park W., 212-769-5100, www.amnh.org
Arthur’s Tavern, 57 Grove St., 212-675-6879 or 917-301-8759,
www.arthurstavernnyc.com
Arts Maplewood, P.O. Box 383, Maplewood, NJ 07040; 973-3782133, www.artsmaplewood.org
Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center, Columbus Ave. & 65th St.,
212-875-5030, www.lincolncenter.org
Backroom at Freddie’s, 485 Dean St. (at 6th Ave.), Brooklyn, NY,
718-622-7035, www.freddysbackroom.com
BAM Café, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 718-636-4100,
www.bam.org
Bar 4, 7 Ave and 15th, Brooklyn NY 11215, 718-832-9800,
www.Bar4.net
Bar on Fifth — Jazz at the Bar on Fifth, Music every night 8:00
PM - 11:00 PM, No cover charge, one drink minimum
The Bar on Fifth at the Setai Fifth Avenue Hotel, 400 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY, 212-695-4005
www.capellahotels.com/newyork/
Barbes, 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.), Park Slope, Brooklyn,
718-965-9177, www.barbesbrooklyn.com
Barge Music, Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, 718-624-2083,
www.bargemusic.org
B.B. King’s Blues Bar, 237 W. 42nd St., 212-997-4144,
www.bbkingblues.com
Beacon Theatre, 74th St. & Broadway, 212-496-7070
Bickford Theatre, on Columbia Turnpike @ Normandy Heights
Road, east of downtown Morristown. 973-744-2600
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St., 212-581-3080
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St., 212-475-8592,
www.bluenotejazz.com/newyork
Bluestone Bar & Grill, 117 Columbia St., Brooklyn, NY, 718-4037450, www.bluestonebarngrill.com
Bourbon Street Bar and Grille, 346 W. 46th St, NY, 10036,
212-245-2030, [email protected],
[email protected]
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (at Bleecker), 212-614-0505,
www.bowerypoetry.com
Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, 2nd Fl, Brooklyn,
NY, 718-230-2100, www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org
Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center, 605 Main
St., Middletown, CT. 860-347-4957, www.buttonwood.org.
Café Carlyle, 35 E. 76th St., 212-570-7189, www.thecarlyle.com
Café Loup, 105 W. 13th St. (West Village) , between Sixth and
Seventh Aves., 212-255-4746
Cafe Mozart, 308 Mamaroneck Ave., Mamaroneck, NY
Café St. Bart’s, 109 E. 50th St. (at Park Ave.), 212-888-2664,
www.cafestbarts.com
Caffe Vivaldi, 32 Jones St, NYC; www.caffevivaldi.com
Carnegie Club, 156 W. 56th St., 212-957-9676,
www.hospitalityholdings.com
Carnegie Hall, 7th Av & 57th, 212-247-7800,
www.carnegiehall.org
Casa Dante, 737 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ,
www.casadante.com
Cecil’s Jazz Club & Restaurant, 364 Valley Rd, West Orange, NJ,
Phone: 973-736-4800, www.cecilsjazzclub.com
Charley O’s, 713 Eighth Ave., 212-626-7300
Chico’s House Of Jazz, In Shoppes at the Arcade, 631 Lake Ave.,
Asbury Park, 732-774-5299
City Winery, 155 Varick St. Bet. Vandam & Spring St., 212-6080555. www.citywinery.com
Cleopatra’s Needle, 2485 Broadway (betw 92nd & 93rd),
212-769-6969, www.cleopatrasneedleny.com
Cobi’s Place, 158 W. 48th (bet 5th & 6th Av.), 516-922-2010
Copeland’s, 547 W. 145th St. (at Bdwy), 212-234-2356
Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St., 212-989-9319, www.
corneliastreetcafe.com
Creole Café, 2167 Third Ave (at 118th), 212-876-8838.
Crossroads at Garwood, 78 North Ave., Garwood, NJ 07027,
908-232-5666
Crossroads – 78 North Avenue, Garwood, NJ
Cutting Room, 19 W. 24th St, Tel: 212-691-1900,
www.thecuttingroomnyc.com
Destino, 891 First Ave. & 50th St., 212-751-0700
Detour, 349 E. 13th St. (betw 1st & 2nd Ave.), 212-533-6212,
www.jazzatdetour.com
Division Street Grill, 26 North Division Street, Peekskill, NY,
914-739-6380, www.divisionstreetgrill.com
Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Broadway at 60th St., 5th Floor, 212-2589595, www.jalc.com
DROM, 85 Avenue A, New York, 212-777-1157,
www.dromnyc.com/
The Ear Inn, 326 Spring St., NY, 212-226-9060, www.earinn.com
eighty-eights, 1467 Main Street, Rahway, NJ, 732-499-7100
El Museo Del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave (at 104th St.), Tel: 212-8317272, Fax: 212-831-7927, www.elmuseo.org
The Encore, 266 W. 47th St., 212-221-3960,
www.theencorenyc.com
The Falcon, 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY., 845) 236-7970,
www.liveatthefalcon.com
Fat Cat, 75 Christopher St. (at &th Ave.), 212-675-7369,
www.fatcatjazz.com
FB Lounge, 172 E. 106th St., New York, 212-348-3929,
www.fondaboricua.com
Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency, 540 Park Avenue (at 61st Street),
NY, 212-339-4095, feinsteinsattheregency.com
Five Spot, 459 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 718-852-0202,
www.fivespotsoulfood.com
Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY,
718-463-7700 x222, www.flushingtownhall.org
For My Sweet, 1103 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY 718-857-1427
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton St. (at Lafayette), Brooklyn,
NY, 718-625-9339, www.frankscocktaillounge.com
Freddy’s Backroom, 485 Dean St., Brooklyn, NY 11217, 718-6227035
Galapagos, 70 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, NY, 718-782-5188,
www.galapagosartspace.com
Garage Restaurant and Café, 99 Seventh Ave. (betw 4th and
Bleecker), 212-645-0600, www.garagerest.com
Garden Café, 4961 Broadway, by 207th St., New York, 10034,
212-544-9480
Ginny’s Supper Club, 310 Malcolm X Boulevard Manhattan, NY
10027, 212-792-9001, http://redroosterharlem.com/ginnys/
Glen Rock Inn, 222 Rock Road, Glen Rock, NJ, (201) 445-2362,
www.glenrockinn.com
Greenwich Village Bistro, 13 Carmine St., 212-206-9777,
www.greenwichvillagebistro.com
Harlem Tea Room, 1793A Madison Ave., 212-348-3471,
www.harlemtearoom.com
Havana Central West End, 2911 Broadway/114th St), NYC,
212-662-8830, www.havanacentral.com
Hibiscus Restaurant, 270 S. Street, Morristown, NJ, 973-359-0200,
www.hibiscusrestaurantnj.com
Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St (between 9th & 10th Ave.
www.highlineballroom.com, 212-414-4314.
Hopewell Valley Bistro, 15 East Broad St, Hopewell, NJ 08525,
609-466-9889, www.hopewellvalleybistro.com
Hyatt New Brunswick, 2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ
IBeam Music Studio, 168 7th St., Brooklyn, ibeambrooklyn.com
Il Porto Restorante, 37 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
11205, 718-624-0954 or 718-624-2965, Friday & Saturday 7:30PM 10:30PM
Iridium, 1650 Broadway (below 51st St.), 212-582-2121,
www.iridiumjazzclub.com
Jazz 966, 966 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY, 718-638-6910
Jazz at Lincoln Center, 33 W. 60th St., 212-258-9800,
www.jalc.org
Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St., 5th Floor
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Reservations: 212-258-9595
Rose Theater, Tickets: 212-721-6500
The Allen Room, Tickets: 212-721-6500
Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson St., Tel: 212-242-1063, Fax: 212-2420491, www.jazzgallery.org
The Jazz Spot, 375 Kosciuszko St. (enter at 179 Marcus Garvey
Blvd.), Brooklyn, NY, 718-453-7825, www.thejazz.8m.com
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., 212-576-2232,
www.jazzstandard.net
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St & Astor Pl.,
212-539-8778, www.joespub.com
John Birks Gillespie Auditorium (see Baha’i Center)
Jules Bistro, 65 St. Marks Place, Tel: 212-477-5560, Fax: 212-4200998, www.julesbistro.com
Kasser Theater, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair State College, Montclair, 973-655-4000, www.montclair.edu/arts/performancefacilities/
alexanderkasser.html
Key Club, 58 Park Place, Newark, NJ, (973) 799-0306,
www.keyclubnj.com
Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Ave., 212-885-7000 or 800-548-2666,
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill, 33 University Pl., 212-228-8490,
www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com
The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., Tel: 212-219-3132,
www.knittingfactory.com
La Famiglia Sorrento, 631 Central Ave, Westfield, NJ, 07090, 908232-2642, www.lafamigliasorrento.com
La Lanterna (Bar Next Door at La Lanterna), 129 MacDougal
Street, New York, 212-529-5945, www.lalanternarcaffe.com
Le Grand Dakar Cafe, 285 Grand Ave, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn,
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/le-grand-dakar/
Le Madeleine, 403 W. 43rd St. (betw 9th & 10th Ave.), New York,
New York, 212-246-2993, www.lemadeleine.com
Lenox Lounge, 288 Lenox Ave. (above 124th St.), 212-427-0253,
www.lenoxlounge.com
Les Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk St. (at Rivington
St.), 212-260-4080
Linn Restaurant & Gallery, 29-13 Broadway, Queens, Astoria,
New York, www.linnrestaurant.com
Live @ The Falcon, 1348 Route 9W, Marlboro, NY 12542,
www.liveatthefalcon.com
Living Room, 154 Ludlow St. (betw Rivington & Stanton),
212-533-7235, www.livingroomny.com
The Local 269, 269 E. Houston St. (corner of Suffolk St.), NYC
Makor, 35 W. 67th St. (at Columbus Ave.), 212-601-1000,
www.makor.org
Lounge Zen, 254 DeGraw Ave, Teaneck, NJ, (201) 692-8585,
www.lounge-zen.com
Makeda, George St., New Brunswick. NJ, www.nbjp.org
Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ, 201-653-1703,
www.maxwellsnj.com
McCarter Theater, 91 University Pl., Princeton, 609-258-2787,
www.mccarter.org
Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Center, 129 W. 67th St. (betw
Broadway & Amsterdam), 212-501-3330, www.ekcc.org/
merkin.htm
Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street New York City, NY
10012, 212-206-0440, www.metropolitanroom.com
MetroTech Commons, Flatbush & Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn, NY,
718-488-8200 or 718-636-4100 (BAM)
Mirelle’s, 170 Post Ave., Westbury, NY, 516-338-4933
Mixed Notes Café, 333 Elmont Rd., Elmont, NY (Queens area),
516-328-2233, www.mixednotescafe.com
Mo-Bay Uptown, 17 W. 125th St., 212-876-9300,
www.mobayrestaurant.com
Moldy Fig Jazz Club, 178 Stanton St., 646-559-2553
www.MoldyFigJazzClub.com
Montauk Club, 25 Eighth Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 718-638-0800,
www.montaukclub.com
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. (between 103rd
& 104th St.), 212-534-1672, www.mcny.org
Musicians’ Local 802, 332 W. 48th St., 718-468-7376 or
860-231-0663
Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street, Newark, New Jersey
07102-3176, 973-596-6550, www.newarkmuseum.org
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark, NJ,
07102, 973-642-8989, www.njpac.org
New School Performance Space, 55 W. 13th St., 5th Floor (betw
5th & 6th Ave.), 212-229-5896, www.newschool.edu.
New School University-Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., 1st
Floor, Room 106, 212-229-5488, www.newschool.edu
New York City Baha’i Center, 53 E. 11th St. (betw Broadway &
University), 212-222-5159, www.bahainyc.org
Night of the Cookers, 767 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY, Tel: 718-7971197, Fax: 718-797-0975
North Square Lounge, 103 Waverly Pl. (at MacDougal St.),
212-254-1200, www.northsquarejazz.com
Nublu, 62 Ave. C (betw 4th & 5th St.), 212-979-9925,
www.nublu.net
Nuyorican Poet’s Café, 236 E. 3rd St. (betw Ave. B & C), 212-5058183, www.nuyorican.org
Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St. (betw 5th and
6th Ave.), 212-840-6800, www.thealgonquin.net
Oceana Restaurant, 120 West 49th Street, New York, NY 10020
212-759-5941, www.oceanarestaurant.com
Opia, 130 East 57th St, New York, NY 10022, 212-688-3939
www.opiarestaurant.com
Orchid, 765 Sixth Ave. (betw 25th & 26th St.), 212-206-9928
Parlor Entertainment, 555 Edgecomb Ave., 3rd Floor (betw 159 &
160 St.), 212-781-6595, www.parlorentertainment.com
Parlor Jazz, 119 Vanderbilt Ave. (betw Myrtle & Park), Brooklyn,
NY, 718-855-1981, www.parlorjazz.com
Perk’s, 535 Manhattan Ave, New York NY 10027,
212-666-8500
Performance Space 122, 150 First Av., 212-477-5829,
www.ps122.org
Pigalle, 790 8th Ave. 212-489-2233. www.pigallenyc.com
Priory Restaurant & Jazz Club: 223 W Market St., Newark, NJ
07103, 973-639-7885
Private Place, 29 S. Center Street, South Orange, NJ, 973-675-6620
www.privateplacelounge.com
Proper Café, 217-01 Linden Blvd., Queens, NY 11411, 718-3412233, jazz Wednesdays
Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th St. & Prospect Park W., Brooklyn,
NY, 718-768-0855
Prospect Wine Bar & Bistro, 16 Prospect St. Westfield, NJ,
908-232-7320, www.16prospect.com, www.cjayrecords.com
Puppets Jazz Bar, Puppet Jazz Bar, 481 5th Avenue, NY 11215,
718- 499-2622, www.PuppetsJazz.com
Red Eye Grill, 890 Seventh Ave. (at 56th St.), 212-541-9000,
www.redeyegrill.com
Richie Cecere’s Restaurant and Supperclub, 2 Erie Street
Montclair, NJ 07042, 973.746.7811, www.richiececre.com
Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main St., Ridgefield, CT; ridgefieldplayhouse.org, 203-438-5795
Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St, New York, NY 10002
212-477-4155
Rose Center (American Museum of Natural History), 81st St.
(Central Park W. & Columbus), 212-769-5100, www.amnh.org/rose
Rose Hall, 33 W. 60th St., 212-258-9800, www.jalc.org
Rosendale Café, 434 Main St., PO Box 436, Rosendale, NY 12472,
845-658-9048, www.rosendalecafe.com
Rubin Museum of Art - “Harlem in the Himalayas”, 150 W. 17th
St. 212-620-5000. www.rmanyc.org
Rustik, 471 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 347-406-9700, www.
rustikrestaurant.com
St. Mark’s Church, 131 10th St. (at 2nd Ave.), 212-674-6377
27
Clubs & Venues
St. Nick’s Pub, 773 St. Nicholas Av (at 149th), 212-283-9728
St. Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington (at 54th), 212-935-2200,
www.saintpeters.org
Salon at Rue 57, 60 West 57th Street, 212-307-5656,
www.rue57.com
Sasa’s Lounge, 924 Columbus Ave, Between 105th & 106th St.
NY, NY 10025, 212-865-5159,
www.sasasloungenyc.yolasite.com
Savoy Grill, 60 Park Place, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-286-1700
Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X Blvd., 212-491-2200,
www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
Shanghai Jazz, 24 Main St., Madison, NJ, 973-822-2899,
www.shanghaijazz.com
ShapeShifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215
www.shapeshifterlab.com
Showman’s, 375 W. 125th St., 212-864-8941
Sidewalk Café, 94 Ave. A, 212-473-7373
Silver Spoon, 124 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516, 845-265-2525,
www.silverspooncoldpspring.com
Sista’s Place, 456 Nostrand Ave. (at Jefferson Ave.), Brooklyn, NY,
718-398-1766, www.sistasplace.org
Skippers Plane Street Pub, 304 University Ave. Newark NJ, 973733-9300, skippersplanestreetpub
Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St. (at 7th Ave.), 212-929-7565,
www.smallsjazzclub.com
Smith’s Bar, 701 8th Ave, New York, 212-246-3268
Sofia’s Restaurant - Club Cache’ [downstairs], Edison Hotel,
221 W. 46th St. (between Broadway & 8th Ave), 212-719-5799
Somethin’ Jazz Club, 212 E. 52nd St., NY 10022, 212-371-7657
Sophie’s Bistro, 700 Hamilton St., Somerset. www.nbjp.org
South Gate Restaurant & Bar, 154 Central Park South, 212-4845120, www.154southgate.com
South Orange Performing Arts Center, One SOPAC
Way, South Orange, NJ 07079, sopacnow.org, 973-313-2787
South Street Seaport, 207 Front St., 212-748-8600,
www.southstseaport.org.
Spoken Words Café, 266 4th Av, Brooklyn, 718-596-3923
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 165 W. 65th St., 10th Floor,
212-721-6500, www.lincolncenter.org
The Stone, Ave. C & 2nd St., www.thestonenyc.com
Sugar Bar, 254 W. 72nd St., 212-579-0222, www.sugarbarnyc.com
Swing 46, 349 W. 46th St.(betw 8th & 9th Ave.),
212-262-9554, www.swing46.com
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Tel: 212-864-1414, Fax: 212932-3228, www.symphonyspace.org
Tea Lounge, 837 Union St. (betw 6th & 7th Ave), Park Slope,
Broooklyn, 718-789-2762, www.tealoungeNY.com
Terra Blues, 149 Bleecker St. (betw Thompson & LaGuardia),
212-777-7776, www.terrablues.com
Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd, 212-714-2442, www.theatrerow.org
Tito Puente’s Restaurant and Cabaret, 64 City Island Avenue,
City Island, Bronx, 718-885-3200, titopuentesrestaurant.com
Tomi Jazz, 239 E. 53rd St., lower level. 646-497-1254,
www.tomijazz.com
Tonic, 107 Norfolk St. (betw Delancey & Rivington), Tel: 212-3587501, Fax: 212-358-1237, tonicnyc.com
Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., 212-997-1003
Trash Bar, 256 Grand St. 718-599-1000. www.thetrashbar.com
Triad Theater, 158 W. 72nd St. (betw Broadway & Columbus
Ave.), 212-362-2590, www.triadnyc.com
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, 10007,
[email protected], www.tribecapac.org
Trumpets, 6 Depot Square, Montclair, NJ, 973-744-2600, www.
trumpetsjazz.com
Tumulty’s Pub, 361 George St., New Brunswick
Turning Point Cafe, 468 Piermont Ave. Piermont, N.Y. 10968
(845) 359-1089, http://www.turningpointcafe.com/
Village Vanguard, 178 7th Avenue South, 212-255-4037,
www.villagevanguard.net
Vision Festival, 212-696-6681, [email protected],
www.visionfestival.org
Watchung Arts Center, 18 Stirling Rd, Watchung, NJ 07069,
908-753-0190, www.watchungarts.org
Watercolor Café, 2094 Boston Post Road, Larchmont, NY 10538,
914-834-2213, www.watercolorcafe.net
Weill Receital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 57th & 7th Ave,
212-247-7800
Williamsburg Music Center, 367 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11211, (718) 384-1654 www.wmcjazz.org
Wolf & Lamb, 10 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017
Zankel Hall, 881 7th Ave, New York, 212-247-7800
Zebulon, 258 Wythe St., Brooklyn, NY, 11211, 718-218-6934,
www.zebuloncafeconcert.com
Zinc Bar, 82 West 3rd St., 212-477-8337, www.zincbar.com
RECORD STORES
Barnes & Noble, 1960 Broadway, at 67th St, 212-595-6859
Colony Music Center, 1619 Broadway. 212-265-2050,
www.colonymusic.com
Downtown Music Gallery, 13 Monroe St, New York, NY 10002,
(212) 473-0043, www.downtownmusicgallery.com
J&R Music World, 13 Monroe Street, 212-238-9000, www,jr.com
Jazz Record Center, 236 W. 26th St., Room 804,
212-675-4480, www.jazzrecordcenter.com
Norman’s Sound & Vision, 67 Cooper Sq., 212-473-6599
Princeton Record Exchange, 20 South Tulane Street, Princeton,
NJ 08542, 609-921-0881, www.prex.com
Rainbow Music 2002 Ltd., 130 1st Ave (between 7th & St. Marks
Pl.), 212-505-1774
Scotti’s Records, 351 Springfield Ave, Summit, NJ, 07901,
908-277-3893, www.scotticd.com
MUSIC STORES
Manny’s Music, 156 W. 48th St. (betw. 6th and 7th Ave),
212-819-0576, Fax: 212-391-9250, www.mannysmusic.com
Drummers World, Inc., 151 W. 46th St., NY, NY 10036, 212-8403057, 212-391-1185, www.drummersworld.com
Roberto’s Woodwind & Brass, 149 West 46th St. NY, NY 10036,
646-366-0240, Repair Shop: 212-391-1315; 212-840-7224,
www.robertoswoodwind.com
Rod Baltimore Intl Woodwind & Brass, 168 W. 48 St. New York,
NY 10036, 212-302-5893
Sam Ash, 160 West 48th St, 212-719-2299, www.samash.com
Sadowsky Guitars Ltd, 2107 41st Avenue 4th Floor, Long Island
City, NY 11101, 718-433-1990. www.sadowsky.com
Steve Maxwell Vintage Drums, 723 7th Ave, 3rd Floor, New York,
NY 10019, 212-730-8138, www.maxwelldrums.com
SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, CONSERVATORIES
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128
212.415.5500; www.92ndsty.org
Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, 42-76 Main St.,
Flushing, NY, Tel: 718-461-8910, Fax: 718-886-2450
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 58 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, NY,
718-622-3300, www.brooklynconservatory.com
City College of NY-Jazz Program, 212-650-5411,
Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, 10027
Drummers Collective, 541 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011,
212-741-0091, www.thecoll.com
Five Towns College, 305 N. Service Rd., 516-424-7000, ext.163,
Dix Hills, NY
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St., Tel: 212-2424770, Fax: 212-366-9621, www.greenwichhouse.org
Juilliard School of Music, 60 Lincoln Ctr, 212-799-5000
LaGuardia Community College/CUNI, 31-10 Thomson Ave.,
Long Island City, 718-482-5151
Lincoln Center — Jazz At Lincoln Center, 140 W. 65th St.,
10023, 212-258-9816, 212-258-9900
Long Island University — Brooklyn Campus, Dept. of Music,
University Plaza, Brooklyn, 718-488-1051, 718-488-1372
Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Ave., 10027,
212-749-2805, 2802, 212-749-3025
New Jersey City University, 2039 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, NJ
07305, 888-441-6528
New School, 55 W. 13th St., 212-229-5896, 212-229-8936
New York University-Jazz/Contemporary Music Studies, 35
West 4th St. Room#777, 212-998-5446, 212-995-4043
New
York
Jazz
Academy,
(718) 426-0633,
www.NYJazzAcademy.com
Princeton University-Dept. of Music, Woolworth Center Musical
Studies, Princeton, NJ, 609-258-4241, 609-258-6793
Queens College — Copland School of Music, City University of
NY, Flushing, 718-997-3800
Rutgers Univ. at New Brunswick, Jazz Studies, Douglass Campus,
PO Box 270, New Brunswick, NJ, 908-932-9302
Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies, 185 University
Avenue, Newark NJ 07102, 973-353-5595
newarkwww.rutgers.edu/IJS/index1.html
SUNY Purchase, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, NY
914-251-6300, 914-251-6314
Turtle Bay Music School, 244 E. 52nd St., New York, NY 10022,
212-753-8811, www.tbms.org
William Paterson University Jazz Studies Program, 300 Pompton
Rd, Wayne, NJ, 973-720-2320
RADIO
WBGO 88.3 FM, 54 Park Pl, Newark, NJ 07102, Tel: 973-6248880, Fax: 973-824-8888, www.wbgo.org
WCWP, LIU/C.W. Post Campus
WFDU, http://alpha.fdu.edu/wfdu/wfdufm/index2.html
WKCR 89.9, Columbia University, 2920 Broadway
Mailcode 2612, New York, NY 10027, Listener Line: (212) 8549920, www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr, [email protected]
One Great Song, Hosted by Jay Harris, www.wmnr.org (at 6 on
Saturdays, and at www.tribecaradio.net at 11AM Sundays and again
on Monday and Thursday nights at 11PM.)
Lenore Raphael’s JazzSpot, www.purejazzradio.com.
PERFORMING GROUPS
Westchester Jazz Orchestra, Emily Tabin, Exec. Director,
PO Box 506, Chappaqua, NY 10514, 914-861-9100,
www.westjazzorch.org
ADDITIONAL JAZZ RESOURCES
Big Apple Jazz, www.bigapplejazz.com, 718-606-8442,
[email protected]
Louis Armstrong House, 34-56 107th St, Corona, NY 11368,
718-997-3670, www.satchmo.net
Institute of Jazz Studies, John Cotton Dana Library, RutgersUniv, 185 University Av, Newark, NJ, 07102, 973-353-5595
Jazzmobile, Inc., 154 W. 126th St., 10027, 212-866-4900,
www.jazzmobile.org
Jazz Museum in Harlem, 104 E. 126th St., 212-348-8300,
www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org
Jazz Foundation of America, 322 W. 48th St. 10036,
212-245-3999, www.jazzfoundation.org
New Jersey Jazz Society, 1-800-303-NJJS, www.njjs.org
New York Blues & Jazz Society, www.NYBluesandJazz.org
Rubin Museum, 150 W. 17th St, New York, NY,
212-620-5000 ex 344, www.rmanyc.org.

28
Moody Festival
the festival is not only that we are going to have
the main concerts at the Main Hall at NJ Performing Arts Center, but there are also going to
be smaller events going on around the city.
When I spoke at the press conference, one of the
things that I tried to acknowledge is the fact that,
because Newark is so close to New York City, it
sort of gets eclipsed by the Big Apple. But Newark has always had its own fingerprint when it
comes to its contributions to the world of jazz.
Again, because New York is so close, it's hard to
separate out the musicians who have come from
Newark - Woody Shaw, Wayne Shorter, James
Moody, Sarah Vaughn, Hank Mobley, Larry
Young.
JI: Savoy Records was started in Newark as
well.
CB: That's right, that's right. You know, it was
only a 10 minute train ride away from Manhattan. I think because of that, it kind of gets
lumped in to that whole New York Metro. It has
its own thing that's different from New York
City. I'm glad that this festival is going to kind of
bring that back.
JI: What kinds of challenges, if any, did you
experience in the development of ideas for the
festival and putting it all together?
CB: Well, when you've got a guy like John
Schreiber, with the experience that he's had,
especially after learning from the king, George
Wein, and whose “partner in crime” is Darlene
Chan - as his sort of spiritual adviser - there
didn't seem to be many problems at all. The only
problems were finding musicians to make room
on their calendar.
JI: The program features a re-creation of Miles
Davis’ and Gil Evans’ large orchestra collaborations.
CB: Right. That program, specifically the Miles
and Gil program, was the concert that I had produced with the LA Philharmonic. I'm glad that
John liked that. I don't know if he actually saw it
when it happened in LA. But when he heard
about it, he said, “Let's do that again for the
Moody Festival.”
JI: Who is in the big band that you’ve put together for that?
CB: Some of the same musicians we used when
we did it in LA. Peter Erskine is going to play
drums. Howard Johnson is on tuba. Sean Jones
on trumpet … Wayne Bergeron on trumpet is
coming out from Los Angeles. Freddie Hendrix,
who's a New Jersey homie is going to also be in
the trumpet section.
JI: Do you want to talk a little bit about your
association with the National Jazz Museum in
Harlem?
CB: With Jonathan Batiste doing such a great
job as Associate Artistic Director, he's actually
had much more of a day to day role at the Museum than I have in quite some time. My role
with the Museum almost is similar to what I'm
doing with NJPAC - where I'm more of an adviser and overseer, so to speak. But I was just
there for most of the month of August - doing a
series on Jazz in the Movies. I look forward to
the big gala event coming up on November the
8th and Lauren, myself, and Jonathon are going
to play a little bit and I'm going to have my trio.
Talking about a shameless plug, I also want to
mention my wife Melissa Walker's organization
Jazz House Kids. We have a big ten year anniversary coming up at NJPAC - which is going to
be the first night of the Moody Festival. It's going to happen on October the 17. My big band is
going to play and the special guests are going to
be George Duke, Angélique Kidjo, Maceo
Parker, and my friends from Law and Order,
Jessie L. Martin, to host the evening. Jazz House
Kids has really caught fire all around North Jersey. We've got students coming in from Bergen,
Essex, and Lafayette County, to come and study
with these wonderful musicians that we have
teaching there - like Freddie Hendrix, Mike Lee,
Dave Stryker, Steve Johns. It’s really incredible
to see the thing that Melissa has created for these
young teens and pre-teens. You look at the success of the organization and it matches the work
that she puts into it.
Sports Center and just “veg” out. I'm trying to
pull Melissa away to breathe. I know it's going
to be hard since she's getting ready for the big
gala event. But I'm hoping we can hop on a
plane and go somewhere for maybe two weeks.
John Schreiber
CEO, NJ Performing Arts Center
JI: Could you discuss how the idea developed
that has emerged as the inaugural James Moody
Democracy of Jazz Festival in Newark in October?
JS: Okay. It started with a dinner that I had with
Linda Moody, Moody's widow, last summer—
not this past summer but the summer before, the
summer of 2011. I had known Moody and Linda
through my prior life when I was in the jazz
business. I was crazy about both of them and I
got to Newark in this new job running the Art
Center and it turned out that Linda was coming
to town because there was a free concert going
on in Newark in honor of Moody. So we got
together and I'm an old jazz festival guy. I
thought that Newark needed a first class jazz
festival. Moody is such an inspirational guy that
I thought it would be really, really perfect to
celebrate jazz through the character and image of
“I thought that Newark needed a first
class jazz festival. Moody is such an
inspirational guy that I thought it would
be really, really perfect to celebrate jazz
through the character and image of
Moody, who, in my mind, is the
quintessential jazz musician — somebody
who not only loves the music, and is a
great creator, but loves mankind.”
JI: Of course she's an exceptional artist herself.
CB: Right, I'm always teasing her because she
stays so busy with Jazz House Kids, I'm always
reminding her, “Don't forget why you got out
here in the first place.”
JI: What do you guys do to decompress from
your full schedule.
CB: Well, I've been good at keeping myself
pretty balanced. I'm good at saying, “Okay, the
day is over. I'm shutting everything down.”
Boom. I'll go sit in front of the TV and watch
Moody, who, in my mind, is the quintessential
jazz musician — somebody who not only loves
the music, and is a great creator, but loves mankind. Jazz musicians are a very generous group
of folk and Moody was, in my mind, a really
great exemplar of that. And then I thought more
broadly that. I thought about jazz and democracy
and I thought about jazz as being this really very
democratic form of music that demands respect.
It demands collaboration. It demands that people
truly listen to each other and so great jazz is
really, in my mind, kind of like a civics lesson.
29
Inside The Upcoming James Moody Democracy
Of Jazz Festival in Newark, October 15-21
Perspectives From Artistic Director Christian McBride & Producer John Schreiber
Copyright © Eric Nemeyer
Christian McBride
Artistic Director
JI: Talk about upcoming James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival in Newark, October 15-21.
The festival producer, John Schreiber sang your
praises when I spoke with him.
CB: About a year ago John asked if I would be
interested in coming on board as some sort adviser for the upcoming Moody festival, and I
was more than happy to jump at the opportunity.
We go way back as he mentioned to you. For
four seasons I had an association with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic as Creative Chair for their
jazz programming. I was recommended for that
job through Darlene Chan who was John's associate at Festival Productions. It's kind of like a
big family thing going on between John and
Darlene … he came back to Montclair and the
stars just kind of lined up for us to be working
together at this inaugural Moody Festival. Most
of the ideas that are coming to fruition with the
festival were already kind of mutated before I
came on board. John presented to me what he
had been thinking about and what he was putting
in motion. He said, “What do you think? Do we
need to tweak it? What do you suggest we do
here? What do you suggest we do there?” I'm
honored he called me to be an Artistic Adviser
because I personally think he's more than capable of doing it on his own - but I'm glad to be
there to help.
JI: He was talking about how the festival is
reflective of Moody's ebullient personality –
someone who was welcoming and had a way of
bringing people in, and making everybody feel
good.
CB: This is correct. I think many of us really
appreciate that, and are somehow trying to portray that in the programming of the festival.
There was a certain period in jazz when the music got much more introspective. It got much
more esoteric, and the entertainment factor got
lost. The group feeling element also got lost a
little bit. I’m not saying that the artist's quest is a
bad thing. But I think we all lament the absence
of the sort of people that Moody and Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie were - because not only
were they great artists, but they were also great
showmen. I think a lot of that has gone missing
from jazz for a very long time. Absolutely everybody wants to be Miles Davis, you know? Everybody doesn't want to say anything. They want
to be mysterious. They kind of want to leave the
audience wondering what just happened. You
know? But it's funny because when I talked to
30
James Moody at the Newport Jazz Festival
musicians who worked with Miles Davis, they
more than once said that Miles Davis took the
audience for granted. You know, Miles was just
a great dramatic actor. That’s not saying that he
wasn't honest. But what you saw with Miles
Davis was completely honest. It was completely
him - and he, in his own right, was a big time
showman …. especially when you look at Miles
towards the last 10 years of his life. That was a
show - the silver pants and the red horn, the
props on stage, and the whole nine. Miles was
not beyond the entertainment factor itself. I think
that to pick Moody - especially being from New-
ark - made perfect sense.
JI: This inaugural James Moody Democracy of
Jazz Festival looks like it will be a positive thing
for the city of Newark as well.
CB: Right, right. Well it's good that there's going to be a lot of things going on in Newark
outside of what's happening in New Jersey Performing Arts Center. While part of the deal with
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31
Interview
Hear Scott Robinson
Bronze Nemesis
CD Release Performance
October 24, Jazz Standard
116 E. 27th Street , New York
www.sciensonic.net
Scott Robinson
Interview By Eric Nemeyer
JI: Could you discuss the Doc Savage novels
which are the source of inspirations for your new
recording, Bronze Nemesis?
SR: All the pieces are based on the titles of Doc
Savage pulp adventure novels from the 30s and
40s. These stories were reprinted by Bantam
Paperbacks in the 1960s with color art - very
striking and amazing color art by the great James
Bama. That’s how I got introduced to the Doc
Savage character and as a kid I became fascinated with it. There are about 181 of these little
adventure novels in total that were written and
published monthly back in the 30s and 40s.
Years later I got thinking about the titles of some
of these things and thought that there’s a lot of
music in these titles - The Man Who Shook the
Earth, The Secret Eye, Mad Eyes. I thought you
could write a whole suite of pieces using these
titles and they’re very evocative titles … suggestive of music. I’ve always got 100,000 ideas for
projects that don’t get done. This one got done
because I was asked by Ben Allison of Jazz
Composers Collective to put on a concert for
their series. I said, “Maybe this is the time to do
the Doc Savage project.” So I sat down and I
picked out the titles I wanted to use and wrote
these pieces. It ended up being very complex
music - partly because of the dramatic implications of these titles. They call for a lot of different types of sounds. I ended up writing for many
different saxophones, including the bass sax and
a giant contra-bass sax that’s out in my lab and
which is almost seven feet tall. I used a lot of
gongs and exotic, huge drums and things from
around the world … a wind machine … all kinds
of stuff. There are only five players but it’s kind
of orchestral in a way, with all the sounds that
are used. The music is very, very challenging
and difficult. It took me some years to get the
nerve up to actually take the project in the studio. In the meantime, we lost our bassist, Dennis
Irwin who was a dear, dear, dear friend, and a
towering giant of music. The good news is that
he is represented on the album by one brief piece
that is excerpted from the last performance that
we did for the Jazz Composer Collective.
that the titles I was going with warranted that. I
let it get into a complexity that the music seemed
to feel that it wanted.
JI: How long are the stories?
SR: They’re pretty short. They’re slim paperback volumes. I have one here in front of me,
Mad Eyes. Published in 1969, it’s 120 pages about a third of an inch thick. I was a fan of Doc
Savage as a kid. The stories were aimed at a
young audience and they’re a little bit silly.
Well, actually they’re very silly. What attracted
me to them was not only the amazing cover art which is another story there we could get into but also the character Doc Savage is kind of a
superhero. Doc Savage didn’t have any actual
unnatural or super powers. He couldn’t fly or
anything. Doc Savage was trained from birth by
a team of scientists to maximize the potential of
all of its capabilities: mentally, emotionally, and
physically. He undertook a rigorous exercise
regimen a couple hours every day - exercising
SR: Good question. It’s challenging because I let
myself go with the writing process - a lot more
than I have done with some of the other projects
I’ve been involved with. The titles are so evocative. The implications are so large that I didn’t
hold back. After all, it was done for the Jazz
Composer Collective. The emphasis there is on
composition. That doesn’t mean it has to be
complex and involved. I just took the composition aspect of it pretty seriously and I thought
32
JI: Why is the music challenging?
not only every muscle in his body but his sense
of smell. He carried around a little kit with little
vials of different scents that he would identify.
He spent part of the practice time juggling large
mathematical figures in his mind. This was going on from the cradle, overseen by a team of
scientists. It’s an interesting concept and you
know who was a big fan of Doc Savage? John
Coltrane.
That’s a concept that Superman stole after Doc
Savage. Fortress of Solitude was his hidden
laboratory in the Arctic where he could work
undisturbed and come up with all these inventions and devices that would save the world from
deranged madmen.
JI: That’s amazing. Where did you find that out?
SR: I’m going to perform this material October
24 at the Jazz Standard. Pat O’Leary stepped in
SR: It kind of stands to reason in a way. I found
out because the trumpet player on the project,
Randy Sandke told me about this. I knew from
personal experience that Ruby Braff was a Doc
Savage fan because we talked about it. Randy
read some biography of Coltrane that mentioned
that he and a couple of his friends would get
together and read these Doc Savage novels - the
original pulps, when they were kids. I just found
that fascinating because Coltrane was a guy that
practiced all the time and was always working
on his stuff and trying to get better all the time.
JI: Sounds like he picked up some of those good
habits from Doc Savage.
SR: Kind of sounds like that, doesn’t it?
JI: It says that the series was created by Lester
Dent, aka Kenneth Robison. Robison is similar
to your name, Robinson. Coincidence?
SR: Yeah, I guess it is. I never thought about
that. But Kenneth Robison was the made up
name. The publishers of these novels wanted to
keep the series going. These things were cranked
out once a month so they didn’t want to be dependent on one particular writer. That did happen from time to time. Lester Dent would go off
on a trip or something and they’d have somebody else crank out one or two of the novels. But
he wrote the bulk of them, and was really responsible for fleshing out the character. In the
very first book or two, Doc Savage is a little bit
angry and vengeful. But they quickly ironed that
out and fine tuned the character to be somebody
who is very respectful of life, doesn’t carry a
gun, doesn’t believe in using armaments. He
believes in using his wits, his cleverness and
various gadgets and devices that he’s always
inventing to get himself out of trouble. He never
takes a life and he’s very profoundly gentle person at the same time that he’s going up against
all these terrible madmen.
JI: What kinds of gadgets did he use?
SR: Well, Doc Savage served as a model for a
lot of characters that came later. James Bond
was one. James Bond was famous for having
little gadgets and devices. Doc Savage would
have fake shoe soles. You could pull the heel off
and it would have a chemical in it that would eat
through a hunk of rope. Doc could pull a button
off his shirt and jam it into a lock and set fire to
it and blow the lock mechanism up. He could get
out of almost any situation and he was a scientist
and an inventor and a tinkerer. One of the pieces
on the album is called Fortress of Solitude.
JI: What performances have you planned in
association with the album release?
like, “Wow, you sound really great. I didn’t even
know you played tenor.” This became kind of
disturbing to me and troublesome. I began to feel
that I was losing my identity and my personal
voice. I never wanted to back off from the baritone because I love the instrument. But I was
kind of forced to back off of it because of the
reality that if I didn’t, my voice on the tenor
would just become lost. So I started taking fewer
jobs on baritone and focusing more on tenor and
telling certain people to call me for tenor and
call somebody else for baritone.
“The problem is that there’s something about
the baritone that once you start playing it and
you get good at it and you get a reputation for
being good at it—nobody wants to know that
you do anything else - and the tenor has
always been my primary voice.”
for Dennis Irwin and did the rest of the album
with us. All the guys are going to be there - Pat
O’Leary, Dennis Mackrel. Eandy Sandke, Ted
Rosenthal. I’m bringing out the heavy metal the giant saxophone, the big drums, the electronic harpsichord, and the wind machine. It’s
going to be visually stunning and I think musically arresting as well.
JI: Are you going to need some industrialstrength aero-space equipment to transport the
bass sax over there?
SR: Well I have an old VW bus and when I take
the seats out, you can get a lot of equipment in
there. So I can load it up and I can get everything
into town. It’s going to be a big night.
JI: Who and what were your initial inspiration to
focus on baritone sax?
SR: Well that’s an interesting question. I actually don’t focus on the baritone sax although a
lot of people think I do. I never played much
baritone until I came to New York. I started
getting some calls from people that needed a
baritone sax player. So I started playing it more
and then I started getting more calls to play it,
and I played it with a lot of big bands. Most of
that has come to an end. I’m still playing it with
Maria Schneider’s band, and I was playing it
with Bob Brookmeyer. I actually really do love
the instrument and I think I managed to develop
a personal sound and approach to it which helps
to get me a lot of attention. The problem is that
there’s something about the baritone that once
you start playing it and you get good at it and
you get a reputation for being good at it—
nobody wants to know that you do anything else
- and the tenor has always been my primary
voice. I found myself faced with a situation
where people weren’t calling me to play tenor
anymore. Then it became even worse. After a
few years of this, if people did see me somewhere playing tenor, I started hearing comments
JI: How has that worked out?
SR: It’s worked out well because now I’m playing tenor all the time. I didn’t really want to do it
that way because it’s my nature to add rather
than subtract. That’s why my life gets so complicated. I’m always adding things in - and it’s hard
for me to say no and take something out. I haven’t taken the baritone out, but I’ve cut way, way
back on it. If you look back over my recorded
work, I’m on more than 200 CDs at this point.
There’s a lot of baritone sax in there. But if you
look at just the ones I’ve done under my own
name, going all the way back to the beginning in
1984 - there’s very little baritone sax in there. I
enjoy the instrument but it’s never been my primary focus. I’m more of a B-flat guy. I play
tenor and B-flat. I skip over the baritone and
play the bass sax a lot on my own projects. Even
though for several years now I’ve been really
focused on the tenor, some people aren’t aware
of it. I played at the Newport Jazz Festival with
two different bands - Maria Schneider and Ryan
Truesdale’s Gil Evans’ Project. Maria wrote a
brand new piece, a big tenor sax feature - and I
stood up in front of the band for the entire piece
and played tenor. Later, I saw a review of the
Newport Festival and it said that Scott Robinson
sounded stellar on the baritone sax.
JI: When I used to go to hear Thad Jones’ band,
Pepper Adams played the woodwind doubles
that were written for bass clarinet on baritone
sax – transposing on the spot.
SR: There’s a logic to that transposition that
makes it doable, at least in a certain register.
When I started playing in Mel Lewis’ band, I
became Gary Smulyan’s number one sub back in
the days. I played many, many times in that band
and went to Japan with them. I always brought
the bass clarinet and the guys were like, “Wow,
nobody ever does that.” But for me it was kind
33
“Anthony Braxton gets thrown into the slop bucket termed ‘free jazz’ - which
is kind of ludicrous. He’s certainly capable of playing in a free, improvised
manner ... but the bulk of his work is compositional … he’s maybe the greatest
living example - someone who has really created his own world in this music.”
of fun, and fun to hear those parts played as they
were intended, on a bass clarinet. I like doubling.
I like playing all the different sounds. I have
great respect for specialization. Some people
really specialize and hone a particular skill and
really get it to a very, very high level and part of
me wishes I were more that way. But I have to
be true to my nature. It seems to be my nature to
have a thousand interests and to get all excited
about a million different things and add them all
into what I do - so it quickly spirals out of control and I end up with these big complicated
projects in various stages, full of instruments that
I have to haul around. But it’s all part of the fun.
JI: What is your “laboratory” like?
SR: Well, you know, I’m attracted to science.
I’m not any kind of scientist and I never went to
school for any of that but I’m attracted to the
aesthetics of science and I use that in my music.
I use it a lot. I like taking scientific materials and
looking at them from an aesthetic viewpoint, and
using them in composition and in performance.
If you came into my lab, you’d see a lot of amazing instruments, all kinds of unbelievable sound
sources and strange devices. You’d also see
some actual laboratory equipment, some chemical, glassware and stuff like this. Strange beakers
and vials kind of hanging around the room and
that’s just part of the vibe out there. I have a
round disc that lights up. It looks like lightning
sort of, and it responds to sound - and they used
these in Star Trek when the board is recharging.
They use these weird plates that describe these
strange electrical arcs. I just like to turn it on and
it really puts a vibe in the room - puts a kind of
science meets music-of-the-future feeling in the
room.
JI: Let’s talk about some of the artists with
whom you’ve played who have made an impact
on your artistry and/or your perspectives about
music. You’ve played with such a wide variety
of artists, including those whose roots are in
another era, the Swing Era - like Buck Clayton
and Lionel Hampton.
SR: My earliest heroes in this music were Lester
Young, Ben Webster, Louis Armstrong, Albert
Ayler, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. These are people
that I listened to when I was a boy. I don’t get
caught up in the debates over whether the music
of the 20s is more or less valid than the music of
the 30s or whether be bop was somehow the end
of jazz. We call Bebop modern jazz. Well, it’s
from the 1940s, you know? It’s a long time ago
now. It’s splitting hairs really to me to argue
about Bebop versus Swing or others. But there
are a lot of people out there that are ready to go
to the mat over these kinds of distinctions. I love
the music. To me, it’s a big river. The music is
34
all connected. Every part of it feeds on every
other part of it and it moves together with a purposefulness all of its own. What appears to us to
be part of the river is more a reference to the
landscape around it because the water is moving.
The river itself has already moved on. I love the
music, if it’s good creative music. If it’s part of
that great continuum, then I love it with all my
heart and to be able to play with the masters of
this music from different eras is one of the great
treasures of my life. It’s one of the great opportunities of what I do. In baseball, kids grow up
idolizing Mickey Mantle for example. If they’re
fortunate enough to get to a point where they can
actually become a major league player, Mickey
Mantle is long gone. But I get to play with
“Mickey Mantle.” I grew up listening to Frank
Wess – and I reached a point where I can go play
at the Vanguard with Frank Wess. That is such
an incredible thing. I’m so grateful for that. I got
to play with Buck Clayton in his band, and record with him. I got to play with Illinois Jacquet.
JI: What kinds of ideas did you pick up in terms
of leadership from some of these artists?
SR: I’ve worked for some pretty tough people.
I’ve worked for some people that are not very
nice and I’ve worked for some people who are
really great leaders. Maria Schneider is very
demanding in a certain way. She really knows
what she wants to get out of the music. It’s never
sufficient to just play the written notes and snore
your way through parts. You’ve got to really
bring it to life. She’s always asking for dynamics
and emotion - and you’ve got to put a lot of feeling into it. You’ve got to understand the intent of
the music, and really give it what it needs to
come to life. She’s very specific about these
things. But at the same time, she loves spontaneity. She loves the creative people that she’s
brought into the band and she loves to wind
them up and let them go - and when they go, she
just revels in it. She’s very grateful to her musicians for what they do. She does what a lot of
band leaders never do – she sends cards or calls
up the next day and leaves a message saying,
“Oh, Scott, that was just so incredible what you
played last night. I can’t believe it. I’m still flying.” Not everybody does that. She really is
communicative and she’s just a great, great gal.
She’s got everyone’s respect - and I’ve worked
for plenty of people that are not that way. They
know who they are.
JI: Could you elaborate a bit about how she
communicates some of the things that she wants
during a rehearsal?
SR: She’ll gesture with her hands, and she’ll
say, “That part needs to rise up. Think of yourself as flying. Think of yourself as flying
through the clouds and you’re soaring over everything and you’re a little bit afraid.” She’ll give
you ideas like that - emotional things, almost
programmatic considerations that inform how
the music is supposed to sound … how it’s supposed to be realized. Much of her music tells
stories - and the players need to understand the
type of story that’s being told so that they can
…. we’re actors in a way, aren’t we? We’re
playing a role. We’re playing a role in some
larger drama. So as actors, we need to find the
voice and the mannerisms that bring the drama
to life. Her music is very dramatic. There’s a lot
of story in it - so it places those types of demands on a performer where somebody else’s
music might not.
JI: By comparison, how does that compare to
someone like Anthony Braxton for example?
SR: Working with Anthony Braxton … there’s
another great example of somebody that I idolized from boyhood and eventually found myself
performing with. He is a real treasure. He’s
something very, very special - very powerful
work ethic, incredibly productive person, also
very demanding in a certain way. Of course, his
music is very different from Maria Schneider’s.
Much of the music I played with Braxton was
highly notated and very, very complex. I did one
quintet performance with him where we played
standards, actually, interpreted in a very freewheeling manner.
JI: I remember an album of his from the 1970s
on ECM where he played Charlie Parker’s harmonically developed “Donna Lee.”
SR: Yeah, right, right. He did a couple of albums like that. One of them was with Hank
Jones. I asked Hank about that. I said, “What did
you think of that?” He said, “That cat has a very
individual sound and approach to music, and I
respected that and I really enjoyed the sessions.”
JI: Over the years I have read attacks on Anthony Braxton by some well known players.
SR: Yeah, Anthony Braxton gets thrown into the
slop bucket termed “free jazz” - which is kind of
ludicrous. He’s certainly capable of playing in a
free, improvised manner. He does a lot of that
but the bulk of his work is compositional. His
are highly original compositions. He’s much
more interested in that then in just a lot of free,
open blowing. When you play in his ensemble,
you have a certain amount of freedom to make
personal statements. But you must hue to the
intent of the music and the arc that’s being described compositionally. That’s what’s important. Braxton is an amazingly hard working per-
Interview
down, time and time again, until I came to the
place of the list we’re working on.
JI: It seemed to me it was a good cross-section
of the very familiar tunes like “On Broadway”
to maybe songs people wouldn’t expect like
“American Tune” or something like that.
Kurt Elling
Interview By Eric Harabadian
Kurt Elling is a jazz vocalist for modern times.
He has always been an artist with a vision. The
native Chicagoan—now living in New York
City—has had the uncanny skill and knack for
consistently banishing musical borders and
creating something fresh and inventive. Elling’s
blend of undeniable reverence and deconstructionist beauty he brings to classic material has
graced a recording catalog yielding several
Grammy nominations and a 2009 win for Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of
Coltrane and Hartman.
With his latest Concord Jazz release 1619
Broadway—The Brill Building Project, Elling
continues his quest to challenge and engage the
audience, with a new chapter in his diverse and
entertaining oeuvre. This is the vocalist’s love
letter to the legendary Manhattan location
where songwriters like Lieber and Stoller, Paul
Simon, Carole King and many others created
some of the most enduring pop songs of all
time.
KE: Yeah, and some of the compositions on
the record don’t really come from, what some
authorities would call the classic “Brill sound.”
It was that period from 1955 to 1970 when
there was this inordinate amount of great pop
music coming out of the Brill with a very signature sound. However, I really wanted to capture
a longer and broader history of the Brill, not
Kurt Elling’s new CD on Concord Records:
1619 Broadway—The Brill Building Project
www.concordmusicgroup.com
www.KurtElling.com
only pointing to its classic era but also pointing
to the time when Tin Pan Alley went out and
the Songbook was in development. And you
had a lot of Songbook writers who were essentially apprentice workers in the Brill. So that’s
where you get a Jimmy Van Heusen, with his
great lyric for “Come Fly With Me,” which is
not really a Brill song, included here. If you’re
casting a broad and not didactic net toward the
Jazz Inside: Kurt, can you talk about the
events that lead up to conceiving your latest
project?
Kurt Elling: Sure! As you know, I’m living in
New York these days and I’ve got a map of the
city in my head. And as a part of that I go for
these long walks and also my manager’s office
is just down the block from the Brill Building.
And it was time for us to make another record
or consider talking about it. And it seemed like
a very natural element for me to step into. It’s
not a bunch of material that jazz people have
spent inordinate amounts of time on and it’s a
very, very New York location that’s universalized itself to the world through the music that’s
come out of there. And it has a really long history that appeals to many parts of my imagination. It gave me some good grist for consideration and for homework taking.
KE: I got together with a friend of mine named
Phil Galdston, who’s much more of an authority than I could ever hope to be about the Brill.
He’s a native New Yorker, and kind of an armchair historian, and he helped me put together a
very, very broad list of compositions to listen to
that came out of the Brill. And we narrowed it
down to a bunch of them. We picked some
from intuition and did a little more research and
picked some with a little more history. I allowed things to percolate in my consciousness
so that I would have some sort of arrangement
idea going into the situation. I narrowed it
Hear Kurt Elling at Jazz At Lincoln Center,
October 12-13, 7:30 PM, 9:30 PM performing
Music from the Brill Building including songs
by Paul Simon, Irving Mills and others.
JI: Can you describe the process of choosing
the material from such a vast catalog of songs?
35
arrangement. And Laurence came up with the
way the melody was going to restructure itself.
Between the two of us we kinda play it where
whoever has the best idea wins. And it really
works out!
Kurt Elling
Brill, then that’s somebody you can point to
that came out of there as an apprentice and song
plugger that went on to greater glory as a songwriter. In time the number of Paul Simon songs
that were, strictly speaking, part of that Brill
sound were very few. Nevertheless, Paul Simon
still has an office there today. So I really did
not want to be too didactic about this and let my
intuition guide me on things.
JI: You’ve taken similar approaches to doing
material that’s not part of the jazz idiom by
artists like King Crimson, Joe Jackson, The
Guess Who and others. Your interpretations are
excellent but it’s not what one would immediately expect from a jazz artist.
KE: Yeah, I feel that’s part of the jazz musician’s ability to incorporate other kinds of music into what they do. It’s part of the vocation
of a jazz artist.
JI: It really feels like the pervasive thought
with this record was not to do a rehash but infuse a lot of these classics with a new kind of
energy. Was there an overall method to your
arranging approach? Did you and Laurence
[Hobgood—longtime pianist and collaborator]
sit down and have a plan as to how you wanted
to attack these songs, so to speak?
KE: Well, yes and no. We have the way that
we work that I think has been pretty successful.
I’ll try to gather as many of the compositions as
I can and have as many ideas as I can and I’ll
talk to Laurence about what the overall concept
for a song is. And he’ll bring two or three
things to the table that he’s outlined and we’ll
work on those things together. For instance,
with “On Broadway,” I had the idea to do the
tune and I knew that we needed a riff of some
kind to go under that. And just letting it percolate in my mind for a while I was able to come
up with the bass idea that’s in there. I brought it
to Laurence and we refined it from there. With
“Come Fly With Me” Laurence said here’s the
idea that I have and I loved it. With “Pleasant
Valley Sunday” I knew I wanted to incorporate
all the quotations and little idiomatic bits from
television shows of the time as a part of the
“The supreme
quality for leadership
is unquestionably integrity.
Without it, no real success
is possible, no matter whether
it is on a section gang, a football
field, in an army, or in an office.”
- Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President, USA
36
JI: You have a great way of taking a lyric and
kind of adding something to it or twisting a
phrase in an interesting way. Where did that
come from and who influenced you in that
way?
KE: I just think that’s the job [laughs]. Every
jazz singer who’s out there who does their own
thing to songs-- that’s what we’re here to do,
you know?
JI: What can you tell me about the personnel
on this latest record?
KE: A lot of the guys that are on the latest record are in my regular band—Laurence, Clark
Sommers (bass) and John McLean (guitar). I
was very happy that we could get Kendrick
Scott (drums) on this recording and he’ll be
touring with us throughout the fall. And Joel
their whole lives in their 60s, 70s and 80s. It
really does span the gamut and I’m really happy
about that. And they tend to be people that want
to have an adventure and a little bit bored with
music that doesn’t take enough chances. They
tend to comment on that and are excited that
we’re moving things around. And that curiosity
tends to define them more than the racial, age
or educational input that I could tell you about.
JI: Kurt, what’s your take on the current state
of the music industry, with respect to the deconstruction, if you will, of all the traditional
avenues in the way music is distributed now?
KE: Well, in the first place you can’t really
control it [laughs]. You’ve gotta have the ingenuity and the flexibility to move it around and
to roll with the punches. In my own case some
things have really changed in that there isn’t the
same amount of radio to get airtime on. There
aren’t the same number of places in a given
town I can roll into when I’m gonna do a concert, do interviews and try to push the show. To
me the single biggest thing is that there aren’t
enough jazz outlets on radio. But at the same
“some of the compositions on the record don’t really
come from, what some authorities would call the
classic ‘Brill sound.’ It was that period from 1955 to
1970 when there was this inordinate amount of great
pop music coming out of the Brill with a very
signature sound. However, I really wanted to
capture a longer and broader history of the Brill...”
Frahm (tenor sax) has worked with us a few
times. He’s a really great friend and his sound
really complements us. And the same is true of
Ernie Watts (tenor sax) who was on our John
Coltrane/Johnny Hartman thing. I was really
happy to work with him again.
JI: It’s a great ensemble on here. Now, is there
a typical working day for you or does it vary
from day to day?
KE: I think the most typical working day for
me is getting on a plane and going someplace.
When I’m not on the road it’s all about trying to
catch up with friends, trying to catch up with
business and making plans for future projects,
trying to get some writing done and catch up
with my family.
JI: Who is your primary audience and how has
the response been to the diversity of your catalog? You seem to change your approach from
album to album, to a certain extent, and your
audience has been right there with you.
KE: We get all different kinds of ages of people. We get people who are in university and
conservatories right now. When we’re in
Europe a lot of young people show up. And
then we get people who have been jazz fans
time you hope that people are gonna be discovering the music online. And in a way that’s
true. There is a greater access. But there aren’t
enough people educating younger listeners,
specifically. They’re coming across the music
rather haphazardly, and not in any kinda way
that they can get a sense of the great forward
motion and development of the music. So that’s
kind of a shame. I would say that it has certainly opened up and leveled the playing field
for musicians that are trying to get noticed. And
that’s a good thing! But it’s also a hard thing
for them because there isn’t any kind of more
recognized or more stable ladder to climb. You
can’t say—“man, if I could only get a record
deal or as soon as I get a record deal.” There are
a lot of things that could have been conceived
to have been a drag in the previous incarnation
of the music business that, now that they’re
gone and it’s open season, makes things more
confusing, especially for younger people just
trying to get a break. In my mind, the same
things apply as they did when I was starting
out. Try to play out as much as you can and
take every kind of gig and play with as many
people as you can. And play as well as you can
and do everything you can to get noticed.
That’s the only thing you can depend on. And
that’s still what I do.
Interview
Sherrie Maricle
By Eric Harabadian
Drummer, bandleader, clinician, educator—Sherrie Maricle is a multi-tasking dynamo
that has been a leading light on the NYC jazz
scene for over two decades. Not only does she
helm the world famous fifteen piece Diva Jazz
Orchestra but also leads the groups FivePlay
and the Diva Jazz Trio.
The all-female Diva Jazz Orchestra will be
celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2013 and
there will be a number of special events planned
to commemorate it. The cordial and engaging
drummer sat down with Jazz Inside recently to
reflect on all things Diva and her career.
Jazz Inside: What are you doing to mark the
event of Diva Jazz Orchestra’s 20 year anniversary?
Sherrie Maricle: Actually the first time that we
got together as a group was in 1992. That’s when
we had our first round of auditions. But it wasn’t
until March 30, 1993 that we had our first gig. I
like to say it was the perfect nine months waiting
to give birth to our baby [laughs]. So, our first
gig was at New York University. I’m right now
deciding where we’re gonna do our big anniversary celebration. I’m not sure if it will be at
Dizzy’s club, someplace where we’ve recorded
quite a bit, or a place called the Manchester
Craftman’s Guild in Pittsburgh where we’ve also
done quite a few recordings and projects. I
wanna go someplace that feels like home to us.
JI: Great! And what is the orchestra doing currently?
SM: We’re going to go back to Europe. Just this
past weekend we finished our eighth recording
with Diva. We recorded at Dizzy’s with Marlena
Shaw. We recorded six sets of music and the
band was just extraordinary. Marlena was swinging her brains out and she came equipped with
these great John Clayton and Frank Foster
charts. Those were the Foster charts she had with
the Basie band. It was just fun, joyful music. I
was just listening to the playbacks yesterday and
was really inspired by them.
JI: Are you affiliated with a label or are you
putting this out yourself?
SM: This is gonna be on the Machester Craftsmans Guild label. Some of our past recordings
have come out on Arbors Records. They’re a
great “trad” jazz label that we’ve worked with.
But getting back to what you were asking about
before, we’re going to be booking a lot of interesting gigs. We’re going to have a residency at
Brown University and then we go back to Eastern Carolina University. We’ll keep our fingers
crossed that we’ll be back at the Hollywood
Bowl next year, where we played a few times.
We’ll also be doing more festivals next year too.
JI: Can you tell me about your relationship with
Stanley Kay and the beginnings of the orchestra?
How was he instrumental in the group getting
started?
SM: Even though it’s been two years since he
passed away, Stanley is, and has been, my mentor since the day I met him in 1990. And he was
conducting for Maurice Hines, who I still play
drums with and is Gregory Hines’ brother. He’s
a great tap dancer and choreographer. Stanley
was with Hines, Hines and Dad for a number of
years and also the assistant for Buddy Rich, and
was Buddy Rich’s manager. He was also the
drummer for Josephine Baker, Patti Page,
Frankie Lane. I knew him just from studying
drum history, and Buddy Rich is the reason I
play the drums. I fell in love with big bands and
drumming early on. So therefore it was crazy to
me that I was in a conversation with Stanley
Kay, who drummed for Buddy when he was
dancing or singing. He managed Buddy on and
off for about forty years. He said to me, “You
really sound good, you swing!” It made me
really excited that he liked the way I played.
Two years after that May date at the Schubert
Theater in Connecticut he called me with the
idea of forming the Diva group. His exact words
to me were “do you know any women that play
as well as you?” That made me very humbled
and excited at the same time. Prior to that time I
had no interest in all-women projects. I think
like a lot of women or minorities in any field that
are dominated by other people, jazz is traditionally male dominated. I just wanted to fit in and
be one of the guys — like most of my peers who
were seriously taking a stab at doing jazz for a
profession. But because it was Stanley Kay and
Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Big Band
is celebrating their 20th Anniversary.
For information on
performances and recordings, visit
www.DivaJazz.com
not someone asking women to dress in stupid
costumes, wear globs of makeup and wear low
cut shirts or anything, he had to be serious because he only cares about music. And he was. So
I got very enthusiastic about it. I was so enthusiastic that I shared this opportunity with some of
my great female jazz musician friends. Forty
women came to the first audition. We picked
fifteen and we’ve forged on since then. And
Stanley, besides having a great creative vision in
the style of music that I’m very passionate
about—straight ahead and swinging — wanted a
band with modern harmonies.
JI: That’s interesting that you say that about
modern harmonies because that’s something I
noticed. It’s the depth and blend of the horns and
the way you do it. It’s a sound that one is familiar with and fresh sounding as well.
SM: Fresh was one of the words that Stanley
used too. And one of the things he talked about
from the beginning was that we should commission all of our music, which we have. We’ve
probably got over $250,000 worth of music in
our library. It’s amazing — and from great writers like Tommy Newsom and many of the musicians in the band. There’s a great writer who
heads the jazz department at University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor named Ellen Rowe.
She’s done some work for us as well. You can’t
have a unique voice and sound if you don’t have
great writers arranging for you. But that’s one of
the reasons you remember all those great bands
like Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton and Count Basie.
They were all so unique because of the players
they had working with them and the arrangements that were written for them. That’s part of
the core of what makes a band unique and gives
you your own sound.
JI: Did Stanley write music for the band?
SM: He wrote quite a few original pieces for us.
If you watched any of our YouTube videos you
might’ve heard the song “Did You Do That” or
37
“…one of the reasons you remember all those great bands like
Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton and Count Basie. They were all so
unique because of the players they had working with them and
the arrangements that were written for them. That’s part of the
core of what makes a band unique and gives you your own sound.”
Sherrie Maricle
another one called “How Ya Doin’?” There’s
probably about six or seven originals he composed for Diva that we still play. Maybe you
know someone like this? You think of the best
things you could put into a package of the old
school way of doing business where your handshake is your bond, your word is gold, you do
what you say you’re gonna do and your intention
is always to do right by everybody—that’s what
Stanley was all about. Another great thing about
him was that he was the entertainment director
for the New York Yankees. Through his relationship with George Steinbrenner the Diva
brass section played the Star Spangled Banner at
Yankee Stadium quite a few times. I’m a Yankee
fan so that was really, really fun.
JI: Can you address the daily or weekly tasks
involved with organizing and managing a band
of this magnitude?
SM: You know what, that is the coolest question
anyone has ever asked me and you’re the only
one that has done that in twenty years! I have
pages and pages of things I’ve put together on
this and I like to explain this to people sometimes in workshops. It’s everyday and it’s me
and one of our trumpet players Jami Dauber who
acts as the logistical manager. And then one of
our sax players Leigh Pilzer handles our website.
If I had four people working for me I could still
be doing this every day, eight hours a day. From
organizing the music to finding or writing new
music for the orchestra and also the other two
bands we have as well, it’s a full time job.
There’s just the daily process of booking gigs,
doing follow up. I’m a big advocate of gratitude
so if someone does something nice for us we
have these cool thank you cards with the band
picture I send out to people. Then there’s the
corporate side with taxes, banking, it seems endless! And all of that is coupled with the fact that
when you hit the band stand you have to be able
to play (laughs). So it’s a hard thing to juggle the
creative part with the business part and keep
your spirits high and positive.
JI: How many of the original members are still
with the orchestra from when you started?
SM: I’m the only original member. But many
have been with us since ’95. Jami Dauber, Deborah Weisz, many have been here ten or fifteen
38
years, easily. At the fifteen year mark we looked
back at all the women that had been in the band
and it was amazing. But there have been men in
the band too. Early on Stanley and I agreed that
if we couldn’t find a good lead woman trumpet
player we were gonna hire a bad one. So we
would never subjugate the music to gender.
JI: In the early days of the band did you get a lot
of comments aimed at the predominantly female
aspect of the band or has it ever really mattered
to anyone?
SM: To serious musicians I don’t think it does
matter. In general it’s a cliché, but people listen
with their eyes first. And yes we still have crazy
experiences of people being skeptical, perhaps
disrespectful, until they hear the band play. And
then it’s always fine after that. One of my favorite reviews we ever got was from the late ‘90s
sometime. The headline was “The last thing I
wanted to do on a Saturday night was go and
hear a bunch of girls play a watered down version of ‘In the Mood.’” That was the headline
and then underneath it said “Boy was I wrong!.”
It was in the Midwest someplace. The writer’s
total preconceived notion of women playing jazz
was his vision of maybe what the 1940s bands
were like. And those bands were awesome, like
the Sweethearts of Rhythm. There were a lot of
female bands during World War II. Those
women could play their brains out! But they
were forced to play in these insane costumes like
prom dresses and stuff. So you’re so distracted
from the ridiculousness of that that it’s hard to
pay attention to what the music is. And in many
ways it’s still that way. But the guy that wrote
that article was enlightened. And then he went
on to praise the band like crazy.
footage right up to including Diva and Esperanza
Spalding winning a Grammy. And it’s all about
women instrumentalists. Usually they’ll focus on
the singers but this doesn’t include singers at all.
But when you hear women in this film that are in
their 80s talking about the swing era, it’s exactly
the same conversations that women in jazz are
having today.
JI: I’m sure there have been many. But can you
talk about some of the career highlights of the
group?
SM: I never get nervous performing, ever. But
when Billy Taylor invited Diva to play on the
25th anniversary of the Kennedy Center prime
time television celebration, we did a Duke Ellington medley with Billy and Dee Dee Bridgewater. And that was unbelievable! Billy Taylor
could have had anyone for this major television
event and he chose the Diva Jazz Orchestra.
Also the time the band was featured on CBS
Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood—that
was pretty cool! Diva played Carnegie Hall, the
Hollywood Bowl, which were so amazing! I
have such a reverence for some of these great
historic places that have produced some of the
best music in history. And some people might
not consider this a highlight but back in ’98 we
did our first long tour which was ten weeks of
one nighters. Although one nighters are difficult
and the hotels are suspicious, for a band you
can’t do any better than that. When you’re trying
to create a band sound it really adds a lot of
depth and experience to your group. There aren’t
a whole lot of big bands that I know of that are
doing that much anymore.
JI: I wanted to ask you about some of your other
projects too?
JI: At least he did it with some humor.
SM: It was funny! You probably read in my bio
that I was happy and surprised to get this award
from the Kennedy Center. It was Lifetime
Achievement and I thought I was too young for
that. So now I have to do something cool. But I
remember all I could think of was the Women in
Jazz part where everybody focuses on that. But
how I felt was we’re just women in jazz but we
just care about the jazz part. I and a lot of my
musician friends who are women don’t go
around saying “we’re women.” We just think
about jazz. But there still is social conditioning
and gender roles are still so strong for a lot of
people. Jazz has just been so male dominated
and macho. There’s a documentary out called
The Girls in the Band, with incredible historical
SM: Stanley wanted to have a small group from
Diva because in the big band era when he was
playing with Buddy Rich in 1947 all the big
bands had offshoot groups like Tommy Dorsey
and the Clambake Seven and Woody Herman
and the Woodchoppers. In case a venue didn’t
have space for a big band or couldn’t afford a
big band they all had smaller groups. So Stanley
wanted to do that with Diva. So, we did and that
band’s probably been around about fifteen years.
And I was always influenced by the Ray Brown
Trio and the Oscar Peterson Trio and we decided
to form our own trio as well with members of the
Diva rhythm section. All three groups play frequently enough where we’re keeping busy and
inspired.

Interview
and charts?
Wadada Leo Smith
Part Two
Interview & Photo By Ken Weiss
This is a continuation of the interview with Wadada Leo Smith that appeared in the September
2012 issue of Jazz Inside Magazine.
JI: Your Ankhrasmation charts are beautiful
works of art. I know you’ve had them displayed
in art galleries. Please talk about the fine art
aspect of your work.
WLS: When I do exhibits, I still make it clear
that it’s a score and not a painting and that it
represents something that has a potential for
becoming alive. It can be appreciated in an artistic way but if someone were to purchase a score,
one of the requirements is that they would also
have to have the music recorded so that it could
be connected with the score. Usually, this is
what knocks them out, it stops them from buying
it.
JI: How does a buyer of your scores get the
music?
WLS: They would have to hire me to perform
that score so that they can play the music for
people at their home or office because that is the
only way you can make the connection that it is
not a painting, it’s a score.
JI: So have you sold some?
WLS: No, many people have wanted to buy the
scores but it becomes too involved for them to
buy them. This keeps them from buying it as a
collector who will sell it later.
JI: Have you had formal art training?
WLS: I drew from the age of six or seven and I
was a pretty fantastic drawler for many years. I
also painted for many years but I don’t draw or
paint now. I don’t have time to do that, I just
make the Ankhrasmation scores.
JI: How long does it take for a musician to become comfortable with your musical concepts
WLS: That’s a good question. I teach this at Cal
Arts in a class ensemble that’s called the Creative Music Electronic Ensemble and what we
have is wind instruments or acoustic instruments
matched with computers and different kinds of
laptop situations and they’re taught from day one
various parts about the score but they use only
one element of that first class to make music. In
the second class, we add a couple more elements
until at the end of the semester, they should have
a running knowledge about what the information
is and they should have a little bit of information
about how you employ it but they will not have
mastered it because it takes an awful long time
to learn how to transform your research into
musical properties. When people come to play in
my ensemble, they get a little bit at a time over
the years and eventually they get it. They are
constantly moving towards getting more information and knowledge as time goes on.
JI: How does one present music based on intricate concepts and keep it musical, not intellectual?
WLS: The human being is both intellectual,
dumb, happy, unhappy, the whole bit, and music
is exactly that. Complex music, you’re not really
supposed to hear the complexity of it, you’re
supposed to hear around it. For example, when
we look at a building, we don’t see the intricate
lining of wires and screws and bolts that makes
39
Wadada Leo Smith
the building. We see the beautiful building. It’s
the same with music. It’s like stepping into the
river. Yes, you’re stepping into the river at the
same spot but it’s not the same spot because the
river is actually flowing. You wouldn’t say that
you are traveling with the river even though the
river is actually flowing. I think the idea that
something is complex - I think that button on my
trumpet case over there that pops the case up is
complex. Nothing in music says we have to
know how it’s put together but what music does
for us is so important and if we can allow it to
cause us to reflect, to move us from our daily
powerful, hard day, then it’s already achieved
something profound.
JI: How do you measure the success of your
rhythm unit and Ankhrasmation concepts? Is it
important to you that others use this in their own
work so that your concepts live on?
WLS: It’s important that others utilize it in this
sense – that they have played it with me, other
that will always be useful. I like to think that the
notion of Ankhrasmation supersedes the idea of
generations. There’s going to be a young kid in
Texas or Mississippi or Connecticut that finds an
Ankhrasmation score somewhere, and I would
be willing to bet my life that they would want to
know what that is, and they would do the research to find out and that will lead to another
generation of it.
JI: In the past, your trumpet playing has drawn
comparisons to Miles Davis but you’ve aggressively shaken that label off calling it a “junk
comparison.” Why don’t you like the Miles comparison?
WLS: Would you like to be compared to Herbert Hoover as a politician? You wouldn’t want
that. Would you like to be compared to Ronald
Reagan as a politician? No, you wouldn’t want
that. The point is that you want to be who you
are, that’s all I’m saying. I gave you a bad example of a failed politician and a good example of a
successful politician and I wouldn’t want to be
either one of them. When the Miles Davis comparison comes along, almost always the person
has not clearly heard the two different artists
because when I put a Miles Davis piece on in my
“Nothing in music says we have to know how it’s put
together but what music does for us is so important
and if we can allow it to cause us to reflect, to move
us from our daily powerful, hard day, then it’s
already achieved something profound.”
than that, it’s not. The students that I train in it,
most of them will forget it the moment they
leave school because they are taking it as part of
a requirement. Maybe one or two will keep parts
of it but most won’t because this Ankhrasmation
is not easy so not everybody’s going to master it.
It’s only important if they are in my group.
JI: What are your hopes for Ankhrasmation
forty years from now?
WLS: Right now, only scholars read hieroglyphics and Latin but those languages still provide
information to us today. My Ankhrasmation, if
you look at it carefully and you understand it in
terms of symbolic relationships, it also works in
the same way that hieroglyphics work. They
both convey a message in a non-verbal way and
“Be careful of the
environment you choose
for it will shape you. Be careful
the friends you choose for you
will become like them.”
- W. Clement Stone
40
house, and I come right back and put one of my
pieces on, there’s a difference as clear as day and
darkness. There’s clearly a difference. Even
though there are some elements that are quite
similar, like the ability to play lyrically, the ability to create music in a dramatic way, the usage
of range, the usage of silence, all those things are
common between the two of us, but they’re very,
very differently organized and used, so the comparison is junk.
JI: It’s interesting that despite the unwanted
Miles comparisons you’ve made the highly successful Yo Miles! recordings with Henry Kaiser.
WLS: Yes, I have and if you listen to that music,
it is not Miles’ base, it’s a creative base. We did
what we call creative improvisation on those
pieces. We made them in our time. We made
them sound like our music at this time using his
themes. That project is unlike every other project
that people have done on Miles’ music. All the
others did it to capture the essence of Miles. We
didn’t do it that way, we did it to capture the
essence of his compositions, not his personality.
JI: You often dedicate compositions to other
artists but except for a tribute to Coltrane that
incorporates “A Love Supreme,” your tributes
don’t sound like the artists you’re celebrating.
What’s musically behind your dedications?
WLS: My dedications are done out of deep respect and are done to show something about that
person that I learned something from. My dedications are to celebrate the artistic dimension of
people and show my respect for that person.
JI: One of the songs on your recent Heart’s
Reflections recording (Cuneiform Records) is a
tribute to Leroy Jenkins called “Leroy Jenkins’s
Air Steps.” What’s your meaning of air steps?
WLS: My friend, Robert Farris Thompson, the
famous writer on African literature who taught at
Yale for many years, once showed me some film
from Africa with a circle of old women doing a
dance on a flat dirt ground. As they danced, the
dust around their feet made them appear to be
dancing above ground. You don’t see the feet,
only the dust and their ankles above it in a circle.
That idea impressed me and I used that idea to
represent Leroy Jenkins as a dancer. I didn’t
mean air steps of him in heaven, I meant air
steps in the sense that he was dancing above
ground, the same way these women were. It was
really a title to express something about him, the
way he was, the way he composed music, and
used the violin.
JI: I’d like to ask you about a musician who died
exactly two years ago tomorrow, Bill Dixon. He
was a fellow trumpeter and sound explorer who
never got his due acclaim. What are your
thoughts on Bill Dixon and his work?
WLS: Bill’s early record Intents and Purposes
(RCA, 1967) was very, very dear to me for a
long, long time, it still is. It showed me something about an artist who was looking for some
way of expanding his palette into a different
direction. Over the years, he put out a number of
records but he also took a very long break where
he didn’t do anything, and when he did come
back and record, there was a lot of material, and
most of that I was unfamiliar with. I played in a
couple of his pieces which he conducted, but I
have to say that I am unfamiliar with most of his
music. I think that his artistic journey was tragic
in the sense that – let me say it this way, and I’m
not talking artistically right now, I’m talking
about the fact that when he became an educator,
I think that something happened that caused him
not to publicly make art. I don’t know what it
was. You don’t stop making art, so I think something happened there. I’ve had artists tell me that
it’s difficult to make art if you’re teaching and I
say that’s absolute bullshit. It’s not difficult because you don’t go to work at 6 AM and you
don’t come back at 4 AM. The teaching job is
like a factory job, it’s timed. Vitality wise, that’s
a whole different issue. I might say that he was a
great composer and a fantastic performer on the
trumpet.
JI: Dreams seem to play an important source of
inspiration for you. In the past, you’ve pointed to
a series of dreams over the last fifteen years
related to Miles Davis and you. Do you view
your dreams as a connector to the Spirit World?
WLS: Yes, they are connected to the Spirit
Wadada Leo Smith
of them. He asked me what I would call it and I
told him Editions of Contemporary Music. He
took that and shortened it to ECM.
JI: In the ‘90s you turned to Islam and made a
pilgrimage to Mecca in 2002. How transforming
was the change to Islam for you, and what effect
has that experience had on your music?
World, all dreams are. Some are real and some
are not real. Some are dreams that have to deal
with your psychological activity but some are
dreams that have to do with your heart, those are
the more real dreams. Yeah, I’ve had this series
of dreams over the years and usually they have
something to do with playing music.
JI: Do you think it’s Miles’ way of connecting
with you?
WLS: I don’t look at it like that. In the tradition
of Sufism, the only way in which you advance in
the spiritual path is through dreams. You don’t
advance by what your teacher tells you, only
through dreams because the real information
comes through dreams. So, in that context, you
would say that they are real dreams and that
Miles Davis is (there). The last dream I had dealt
with Miles Davis, Jack DeJohnette and I.
WLS: The experience (of Islam) on the music is
that it gave it another level of refinedness. My
musical journey has always been spiritual but the
Islamic part of it heightened that experience. It
gave me a much more balanced center to work
from because the difference between Islam and
other kinds of journeys is that it seeks to have
you involved all through the day and that keeps
you rooted. Going to Mecca was a very different
kind of experience because you meet people
from all over the world and the people have
different ideas of the notion of socializing and
togethering, so it’s a big blending that you really
have to bend to. Some people moved through the
crowd with more force than they should, so you
have to be aware of that in order to avoid being
knocked down. It’s a really unusual spot because
the real definition for “Hodge” is rehearsal for
judgment day and the people there are not in
their natural state. It’s very hard, it’s very spiritual, it’s very trying, but afterwards, it’s very
satisfying.
WLS: Most of that is a perception which is not
true. He didn’t become the black drummer and I
didn’t become the guy who’s infused with European music structure. No. You see, whenever
someone tries to take certain qualities of an art
or artist and put them into various categories
with the intent to show something, they miss the
mark. That’s a very good compliment, but I
know that most of it just isn’t true.
JI: Do you think you’ve changed in anyway as a
result of your “Hodge “and has it affected your
music?
WLS: Yes, that’s true. Marion Brown invited
me on a tour with him in Austria and Germany
and our cello player was Thomas Stowsand, who
graduated from a conservatory with Manfred
Eicher and both worked in a record store. They
had convinced the owner of the store to let them
create a label and since they had been selling
records by post they called the label JAPO,
which stood for Jazz by Post. Manfred had a new
release that he had recorded of Robin Kenyatta
and he was contemplating putting it out under a
new label that he would make for himself. He
had thought of several names but didn’t like any
JI: Why do you play with the trumpet’s bell
facing the floor?
“When I think about music and sound, you have to
definitely try to locate what it is that you are about and
I’ve always felt confident that that particular issue would
not be hard because I’m not really interested in making
something that people [can categorize]. I try to make
something that is purely what I’ve been thinking about.”
JI: One musician who you’ve had a long relationship with is German drummer Gunter
“Baby” Sommer. He’s quoted in the book Northern sun, Southern Moon ( Mike Heffley - Yale
University Press) talking about how few European musicians have the qualities of the African
American musicians when it comes to drive,
groove or swing. He says after recording with
you in 1980 that, “I was very surprised that Leo
Smith – a very dark black man, with dreadlocks
– played like a European, contemporary-music
educated musician. No blues at all, no timing at
all – and I felt like the black drummer, the black
jazz musician, compared to him. There are only
a few American musicians with a sense for European forms – symphony forms, classical forms.
Leo Smith is one of them.”
JI: Is it true that you were the one to come up
with the name for ECM Records? (An acronym
for Edition of Contemporary Music)
idea is that it’s improvisational studies and not
music lessons. The program is designed in a way
that’s unusual. We do things like a research
team, everybody’s got to do the research and
participate. Every session, from day one, is a
complete class, it’s not that we’re preparing for
the next class. What makes it complete is if they
learn one of the symbols or get an idea about one
of the Ankhrasmation symbols then that’s
enough to convey and begin to look at it musically.
WLS: Yes, you are different and it has affected
my music because all my life experiences are
connected with what I do, what I play, and how I
act. It’s got to be connected.
JI: Teaching has played an important role in
your career. You’ve taught at Cal Arts since ’93
and even designed your own program in African
American Improvisational Music there. What’s
special about your program and do you use any
unique teaching strategies?
WLS: Yes, for example, on the individual studies, the one-on-one studies, I don’t have a formula for everybody. I usually interview the person and I look at what they’ve done before and I
try to find out what they would like to achieve.
From there, over the first few weeks, I’ll figure
out what I should introduce them to. That usually happens in my Improvisation Studies which
includes a wide range of students – musicians,
dancers, theater people, art people and anthropologists. It’s all across the board because the
WLS: It’s really not natural to play the trumpet
holding it straight out because it damages your
cervicals more and also your breathing support is
not there. If you move over a little bit, you can
feel your diaphragm, which is important for your
blowing, and you can feel the structure of your
body. It’s awkward if you stand up and hold the
horn out and your cervicals are asked to present
all the energy. Also, it hurts your back to stand
up and play like that.
JI: The last few questions I have are from other
musicians. Nate Wooley asked - “Leo’s sound is
so specific and embraces the perception of the
trumpet being brassy and bright. I have heard
rumors from those living in New Haven at the
same time as him that he was working on a specific way of playing then. I think I hear some of
that in the solo recordings from the Kabell Years
box set. I am wondering if he could talk about
that period – what the music was coming out of
compositionally and timbrally on the trumpet
and if he felt like it was the time in which he
developed his very personal sound?”
WLS: When I think about music and sound, you
have to definitely try to locate what it is that you
are about and I’ve always felt confident that that
particular issue would not be hard because I’m
not really interested in making something that
people (can categorize). I try to make something
that is purely what I’ve been thinking about. As
far as timbre, I believe the trumpet is a psychological instrument and the way in which you deal
with it, you allow it to steer you into how you
make the sounds, as opposed to steering it into
making the sounds. For example, during the
early years, most of the trumpeters tried to shy
away from multiphonics, that extra noise. Well,
if you allow that noise or that sound to come out
and blossom, you find out that it’s very useful
for you and it’s part of what the trumpet shows
you. So the timbre that I look for is something
41
Wadada Leo Smith
that I can find myself in, first of all, and how I
can relate to the trumpet and allow it to sound
the way that it wants to sound.
Steven Bernstein said - “Ask him about Creative
Construction Company. How did Richard Davis
end up there?”
WLS: We just asked him to play with us and he
said yes. He really liked playing in that group
and tried to take the group to places he’d played
in the past but people rejected it because they
wanted him to play like he used to play. The fire
behind the Creative ensemble was Leroy Jenkins, it was his idea.
JI: Ornette Coleman is listed as recording supervisor for the Creative Construction Company.
What exactly did he do for the group?
WLS: Essentially, he was a really big fan of
Leroy’s and he, from time to time, would call
people and ask them to hire us. He would show
up at every one of our concerts. Yeah, he was
our chief.
JI: Ok, so he wasn’t turning knobs or anything
like that.
WLS: No, no, no. Spiritually and artistically, his
presence enhanced us.
Butch Morris asked - “With so many important
theories, concepts, thoughts and ideas being
evolved today (such as your own and many others), can you /would you make a suggestion as to
how all of this information could be centralized
for a community fit for the challenge of discovery?”
WLS: Yeah, I’ve always felt that the people
who had realized some kind of special language
should get together and discuss it, explain it,
demonstrate it, play it, and then see what they
can do to make a composite of this knowledge.
In order to do that, it needs to be done on a big
scale and given a collective context and then
opened up to the world.
Rob Mazurek asked - “Kaleidoscopes is a word
Kurt Elling
JI: The Brill Building, Motown, The Philly
Sound, Stax — do you think there could be
another creative and consistent hit machine like
these constructs, if you will, today?
KE: I guess it’s possible. Anything’s possible!
It’s possible that it’s already happening without
the geographic proximity that you’re referring
to. But that it’s taking place more because cats
can Skype with each other through ISPN lines
42
that comes to mind when I think of your music.
Is SOUND the main principle of the way you
organize your music? Does PROCESS stand on
equal ground? What is the relation between
SOUND and PROCESS in your organization of
music?
WLS: I don’t think about how it’s done. What I
think about is how to achieve this idea that pops
up inside of me, and whatever way that’s possible to do it, that’s my aim. But in terms of thinking in a logical sense about how I’m doing it, I
don’t really think about that. Inspiration to me is
the most important thing along with the flow and
continuity of the idea.
Gunter “Baby” Sommer asked, “Say hi to Wadada and ask him what a difference it is for him
to play with an American drummer like Jack
(DeJohnette) versus a European drummer like
me? Ask him if there is more than the individual
difference?”
WLS: Every drummer I’ve played with brings
something different to the table. I don’t think it’s
possible to evaluate one as opposed to the other.
When I play with Gunter, there’s a different
notion about how we integrate what we do with
each other, and when I play with Jack, it’s a
completely different way in which we organize
and integrate what we do. What happens is,
when I’m playing with Jack or Louis Moholo or
Gunter “Baby” Sommer or Pheeroan akLaff, I
cannot think of another drummer. At that moment, the person I’m playing with is the (most)
perfect combination that could possibly be at
that time.
Sommer also said, “And tell him, when we
started playing together in the late ‘70s, that in a
special way, he taught me more about European
contemporary music than I knew because I expected a black bluesman is coming. Wow! What
a surprise he was to me.”
WLS: I’m glad that he got something out of that.
Basically, I wasn’t trying to teach anything except to make music. I never considered that I
would be playing blues. Art is one of those
things that, I think, when I really get down to it,
the artist, the art, the instrument, the venue, the
audience, all of that phenomena, really is one
dimensional. I just think about making art. When
I met him, I didn’t have any expectations about
and do things in real time without the benefit of
geographic proximity. I don’t know what those
collectives are because I’m not that hip
[laughs]. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not
happening. I would also say that there are
young people coming out of music schools and
conservatories and they all know each other.
They all contribute to one another’s sound and
they all play on each other’s records and all
kinds of things like that. In certain ways that’s
already happening. I don’t know if it is in terms
of the pop world. But that seems promising to
me.
JI: Are you gonna be doing anything different
how he would sound.
Jack Walrath said - “He is a true iconoclast. How
has he managed to remain so pure when so many
of our contemporaries have gone into more commercial directions or seem to have given up altogether? I know my question is a no-brainer for
musicians, but the public needs to know why we
do what we do. I have even heard producers,
promoters and agents ask musicians – ‘You guys
make so little money, why do you do it?’ It’s a
bitch when people in the “music business” ask
that question!”
WLS: How can I say this? There’s nothing that
the artist should be doing except for trying to
make art. Even if you’re making a pie, it’s the
same thing. You wouldn’t bake the pie half way
and try to sell it. I prefer to bake the pie completely and let it cool and serve it with a scope of
ice cream. So, why do we do what we do? We
do it because we have no other way of being, of
identifying that we have been part of this planet
journey. We have no way of realizing our own
self center within the context of multiple centers.
Let’s end on a metaphysical note. I’m using a
question that Kahil El’Zabar gave me in the past.
“Everything in the universe vibrates, everything
vibrates at a different pulse. How do you interpret the telepathic rhythms and how do you feel
connected to them?”
WLS: You feel connected with them if, in fact,
you allow your own pulse to have presence. If
you seek to find all those other pulses and eliminate your own pulse or presence, you don’t exist.
So, amongst diversity it’s very important to keep
your own self center so that you don’t flip from
place to place. That’s also a key to life. You
come in contact with all kinds of things that
bombard you but you let them bounce off of you.
The best way to keep from getting wet in the rain
is not to think that you’re going to get wet, but to
feel that the rain is just going to touch you and
bounce off and you don’t get as wet. The wetness is a condition that’s established by you.
How wet is wet for you?

or unique to promote 1619 Broadway—The
Brill Building Project from your previous releases?
KE: Well in the first place we’re gonna be
touring as much as we possibly can. That’s the
way that we usually do it. And I know that
there are a lot of things that we don’t have a
lockdown on yet. I know we’ve been talking
about doing a performance on the street outside
of the Brill in celebration of the building’s anniversary or a song’s anniversary. I’m gonna be
doing some interviews for the public with some
of the great living Brill songwriters. So that’ll
be fun!

Moody Festival
(Interview with John Schreiber
continued from page 29)
It's a very entertaining civics lesson. So I said to
Linda, why don't we call it the James Moody
Democracy of Jazz Festival. She said okay. So
we were off to the races. And then, I live in
Montclair, New Jersey and one of my neighbors
is Christian McBride. I had first met Christian
when he was 14 years old in Philadelphia because many years ago, I produced a festival in
Philadelphia called the Melon Jazz Festival
when I worked for George Wein. He's 40 now,
so this was 26 years ago, 25, 26 years ago. He
was a kid. He was a teenager and Dizzy, we
were honoring Dizzy on this one festival and
Christian was playing in a high school band and
we brought Dizzy to hear the band and Dizzy
hear Christian and he said to me who's that kid?
That kid's a monster. And it was Christian and
Dizzy and Christian met and as time went on,
they played together, they became acquainted
with each other, they became friends and I kind
of followed Christian through the years and was
always proud of him and Christian's spirit,
Christian's humanity and Christian's talent is
very Moody-like in my mind. Christian is another person whose music really invites you in
and his spirit is great and welcoming and so
anyway, so I asked him if he would be the artistic adviser to the festival and he said yes. That
was another building block of the festival, right?
And then we took it from there.
JI: How did you initially become involved in the
jazz world?
Scott Robinsion
son, incredibly prolific. He’s written all this
music … and all these operas. A term like free
jazz becomes very silly when you’re speaking of
someone like Braxton. You asked what I appreciated about Braxton. The strongest comment I
could make is that he’s a great example - maybe
the greatest living example - of someone who
has really created his own world in this music.
As much as he loves standards, and he loves
Lester Young, and he loves the whole spectrum
of the music … but within the genre, he’s beyond it really. He’s managed to create a world
all of his own. I keep an Anthony Braxton file, a
Sun Ra file, a Mel Lewis file.
JI: Did he provide you with any particular direction or suggestions that you found particularly
noteworthy?
SR: Well, I know you like motivational kinds of
comments. I met him again after I moved to New
York. This might have been 1985. My first album came out in 1984. It was an LP. I saw BraxTo Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880
JS: The first person I ever presented was Marian
McPartland during college at Haverford. I became friends with Marian and she introduced me
to George Wein. When I finished my senior year
in college, she got me an interview with George
Wein. I went to George Wein right out of college
and then I stayed with him for 18 years. So he
was my mentor and I defined my whole life
around jazz.
JI: The lineup for the Festival looks amazing.
JS: It's a nice line up. It is a very nice line up.
It's not the 1972 Newport Jazz Festival in New
York. This jazz festival is a really good inaugural festival and I think it's properly sized and I
think there are a lot of special things on it. So
I'm very proud of it.
JI: What were some of the challenges you faced
in developing this event?
JS: Booking is always a challenge and our timing is such that a lot of musicians are in Europe
in October. So we may change the dating of the
festival next year to November but generally
speaking, I'm very happy with the major events
on the festival - and all of Moody's friends that
we asked who were even remotely available
made sure that it worked for their schedules. The
big Friday night show - with the Manhattan
Transfer, George Benson and Dave Sanborn,
Jimmy Heath - that's a really great show and the
Saturday night [Miles Davis – Gil Evans] show
is unique. It has not been done on the east coast.
Our producer for those big shows is my old
friend from [George Wein’s] Festival days, Darlene Chan, who produces the Playboy Jazz Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Those are
great albums [the Miles Davis & Gil Evans large
orchestra collaborations] - so both of those
ton at Sweet Basil and I brought him a copy of
the LP. He was incredibly enthusiastic about it.
He looked at it and all the different instruments,
and wow. He was really grateful for it and incredibly friendly. He started saying, “You know,
we’re in a difficult cycle right now. There are a
lot of problems in the world. But the important
thing is that people like you and I keep on playing music like our lives depend on it.”
He said that very emphatically and with great
passion. That stuck in my mind. He’s very enthusiastic about other people’s work. Years later
he started talking to me about that record and I
realized wow, he really did go and listen to it
and pay attention – so that years later he can
come back and talk to me about it. It was amazing. He loves music. I don’t know how he finds
the time to listen to all the stuff he loves listening to, and write all the stuff that he writes. Another guy that I used to speak with a lot was Sun
Ra. I used to see Sun Ra all the time - any
chance I got. He was very friendly to me and we
would sit and talk for hours sometimes. He was
very giving of his time, very encouraging. He
gave me his book, signed it for me and everything and wouldn’t take any money for it. He
was a really nice guy to me. He was another
amazing person who created his own world.
shows are unique and I think are a great calling
card for the festival. The Sarah Vaughn Vocal
Competition is another highlight - which got
literally hundreds of entries from all over the
place. The finals are on the Sunday, the 21 – and
the judges for the finals are Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jon Hendricks, Larry Rosen, Michael
Bourne, and Melissa Walker, who is Christian
McBride’s wife, and who also operates a great
jazz music education program called Jazz Has
Kids. We're going to announce the program at
Arts High School where Sarah went to high
school. Another thing that is really special is the
new musical - Magic Tree House: A Night In
New Orleans - that we'll be premiering with
music by Alan Toussaint based on Mary Pope
Osborne's A Good Night for Ghosts. The
Magic Treehouse books have sold millions of
books. They're a series of chapter books for kids.
One of those chapter books is set in New Orleans in 1915 and the hero and heroine of the
series - two nine year olds named Jack and Annie – are time travelers. They go to New Orleans
in 1915. They meet Louis Armstrong, who is 15,
and they convince him to play the trumpet because if he does he'll change the world. This
musical is a wonderful way to introduce kids to
jazz and to Louis. And again, you go to Louis
and maybe Moody was inspired by Louis, right?
Because Louis's spirit is, again, the quintessential quintessence of what jazz is. So that's the
short story. I'm very proud that we're doing this
festival in Newark. I'm proud that Moody's name
is associated with it. I'm proud that Christian is
the Artistic Adviser and there's a jazz heritage
here in Newark that goes back to the 20's, 30's,
40's. There were literally dozens of jazz clubs in
this city at that time. So we want to reignite that
heritage.

JI: Is there anything you want to talk about that
we haven’t covered?
SR: I started this thing. It’s called Scienceonic
Laboratories. This particular project that we’ve
been discussing Bronze Nemesis is issued on
Doc Tone, which is really a separate imprint that
I created just for this project, as a subsidiary of
Scienceonic Laboratories. The main line,
Sciencesonic stuff is all very adventurous music
and much of it’s recorded here in the lab. But
some things are recorded live at places like The
Stone and other venues. All of the Scienceonic
releases use artwork by Richard Powers, great
science fiction illustrator of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
He’s one of my big heroes. He’s as big a hero to
me and as big an influence on my music as any
musician I could name, in fact. His work has
been very powerful to me and I have an exclusive agreement with his estate. His son is actually a friend of mine and I’m using his artwork
on all the CD covers for the Scienceonic releases.

43
Interview
Chris Greene
Interview By Joe Patitucci
(Photo, courtesy Chris Greene)
JI: Could you discuss your new recording release, A Group Effort, and the development from
your concept to finished project?
CG: It’s one of those things where all the stars
seemed to align at the right time. Six months
before recording the album, legendary recording
and mixing engineer Joe Tortorici reached out to
me with a phone call. He told me how much he
appreciated my playing and the band concept.
He expressed a strong interest in working with
my quartet - be it recording in the studio, engineering a live show, or doing a final studio
mixdown for us. Keep in mind - Joe is a guy
who has worked with major jazz and pop artists Ella Fitzgerald, Whitney Houston - and feature
film soundtracks [A League of Their Own] over
the course of his long career. So his endorsement
was extremely flattering. Also, I had a new
drummer in the band - Steve Corley - who has
roots in acoustic jazz, gospel, and R&B. In just 3
months, he took my playing and the band’s collective sound to a whole different level. So I was
anxious to record the new chemistry. We had
initially planned to record the album in the studio in December, 2011. But I got a call from the
Mayne Stage, who wanted to put a concert together with my band as the headliner. The
Mayne Stage is a historic and beautiful movie
theatre from the 1910s located in the Rogers
Park neighborhood of Chicago that has been
retrofitted with top notch sound and recording
capabilities. It’s now a renowned stop for national touring acts. As much as I love recording
in the studio, I was even more psyched to record
a live record. There are so many special moments that happen at a live gig that can’t always
be captured in recording studio. The Mayne
management and I agreed on a date of Thursday,
October 27, 2011. I asked Joe - who had already
recorded and engineered several shows at the
venue - to engineer and record our concert. I
asked my friend and keyboardist William Kurk,
who introduces the band on the CD, to be our
opener for the night. The Chris Greene Quartet
recorded nine selections in front of a lively
crowd of 100 of our fans. Six of nine tracks
ended up on the final CD. The remaining three
are available only on our website. RE: The album’s title … Well, it’s not all about just me.
It’s not just me on stage with a “backing band”.
We’re four musicians on stage with a shared
musical history, palpable chemistry and a unified
band concept. Joe Tortorici did an impeccable
job capturing our live show and mixing the final
product. And with the help of the Kickstarter
campaign, I’ve been able to give the record the
promotion it deserves. Also, I wrote two songs,
our pianist Damian wrote two songs, and our
bassist Marc wrote one. And we all had a hand
44
in arranging them. That’s why I called the album
“A Group Effort.”
JI: What are the advantages and or disadvantages that you believe you have - in terms
of opportunity for performances, career growth,
the pool of musicians - by being in Chicago, as
opposed to New York, for example?
CG: The only disadvantage that I see is that
Chicago isn’t seen as a major market for jazz or
any other genre of music. The majority of internationally-touring jazz artists reside in and
around New York City. Kurt Elling, Bobby
Broom, and Patricia Barber are a notable exceptions - but not the norm, unfortunately. We don’t
have the high profile of LA or Nashville or the
fast pace of New York. But there’s oodles of
talent here. Talent-wise, the musicians here
could give many New Yorkers a run for their
money. However, Chicago musicians tend to
only think locally. We play our gigs, and wonder
why our friends and fans only come out see once
every few months. So it’s up to us Chicagoans to
make as much as much noise around the country
(and the world) as we can. The way to do that, it
seems, is to build your audience outside of your
primary market. So we need to play outside of
Chicago as much as humanly possible. CGQ has
performed as far north as Madison, WI, as far
east as Detroit, MI, as far west as Burlington, IA
and as far south as Champaign, IL. We plan to
do even more touring in 2013.
JI: In your earlier development, how did your
experiences in the academic environment
of Indiana University Jazz Studies program,
challenge and or support your artistic pursuits?
CG: When you’re at music school, especially a
great one like IU, you really don’t have a lot of
time to “blossom” as an artist, so to speak.
You’re writing papers, studying theory, practicing your jazz and classical techniques, preparing
for concerts and juries - and quite frankly, adjusting to the shock of being on your own for the
first time in your life.
JI: What are your opinions about the benefits or
shortcomings of the academic route versus performance and apprenticeship in the real
world that had been the pathway to a performance career in the past?
CG: Music schools are great in that they prepare
to be a great musician, but they don’t necessarily
prepare you how to make a living at it. Musical
proficiency is stressed, but versatility isn’t. Being able to play “Giant Steps” in all 12 keys is
one thing. Playing behind a vocalist or a rapper
or over a funk groove is another. The nuts and
bolts of self-promotion and building your network isn’t stressed enough at school. We’re not
encouraged to educate ourselves about the business.
Chris Greene
JI: How have your experiences with some of the
popular artists with whom you’ve worked - The
Temptations, Sheena Easton et. al - influenced
your music and expanded your understanding of
the business side of music?
CG: For one thing, it’s interesting to see all the
work that goes into a large scale pop music production. The lights, the great sound, the choreography, the intricate musical arrangements of
familiar hit songs...it’s all a fascinating process.
I’ve always thought that there isn’t a jazz musician on the planet that couldn’t benefit from
seeing a large scale pop show or a big Broadway
musical. Besides the intrinsic entertainment
value, you gain an insight into how to entertain
people. I’m not saying that jazz musicians need
to adopt a big splashy stage show with AutoTuned vocals and 25 background dancers. But
jazz musicians need to give concertgoers something to look at and feel as opposed to just a
bunch of extended solos and crazy time signatures.
JI: Talk about the concept behind the Chris
Greene Quartet and the distinguishing aspects of
this ensemble?
CG: I started CGQ in October of 2005. Once I
started getting serious about playing tenor, I
wanted to really start playing some acoustic jazz
on tenor. But I couldn’t ignore the soul and funk
I heard as a child and the hip-hop that I listened
to as a teenager. So all those influences gradually found their way into our repertoire and our
band concept. I’d already been working with my
pianist, Damian Espinosa for about six years in
another band. I’d played with Marc Piane, my
bassist, on and off for about 10 years. And I’d
known Steve Corley (drummer) for some time
before he joined the band last year. My intention
for using funk - not to be to lofty about it - is the
same as that of Bartok or Beethoven, when they
used folk melodies as an element in their compositions. So when there’s funk in the music, it’s
because I hear it there, and not because I’m just
trying to please the audience. So I had to find
people who were well versed in acoustic jazz as
well as other styles of music.
JI: Understanding that we are all in process and
discovering our voices and paths as we go along,
what were the inspiring understandings and visions that prompted you to shift your focus from
alto to tenor sax?
CG: I toured with a Dave Matthews tribute band
for 6 years in the early 2000s. I’d been an alto
player for 20 years, but I had to pick up tenor
and soprano to play with this band. Many of my
contemporaries had suggested to me that many
of my musical ideas might lay better on tenor; I
tended to play in the lower register of the alto
anyway. I always resisted, mainly because I’d
put so much work into cultivating decent fluidity
and a nice tone on the alto. (Plus, I knew I’d
have to start honestly dealing with the history of
the instrument - from Hawkins, Young, and
Byas onward.) But once I started playing tenor,
it immediately felt more natural than the alto and I knew that all my friends were right. So I
became a tenor player almost overnight.
JI: Are there some words of wisdom or advice
you’ve picked up from one or more of the influential jazz artists with whom you have worked that you might share?
who either don’t know and or care about the
music?
CG: For one thing, we need to stop referring to
it as “America’s one true art form” and stop
trying to keep the music hidden like its some
members-only club. Jazz at its best is the perfect
synthesis of the cerebral and the visceral. Jazz
music has an intrinsic history of quality and
prestige that can’t be denied. So why alienate
people with these lofty and elitist proclamations.
It’s not helping, in my opinion. Jazz has a long
“I’ve always thought that there isn’t a jazz musician
on the planet that couldn’t benefit from seeing a large
scale pop show or a big Broadway musical ... jazz musicians need to give concertgoers something to look at
and feel as opposed to just a bunch of extended solos
and crazy time signatures.”
CG: I’ve been fortunate enough to work with
and be mentored by several Chicago musicians
in all genres who encouraged me and exposed
me to many different musical ideas. The late
great Von Freeman (1923-2012) gave me some
crucial words of encouragement when I’d sit in
at his weekly jam sessions. He pulled me aside
one night and told me, “I hear what you’re tryin’
to do, youngblood. Keep at it.” And I’ve been
fortunate enough to have several conversations via Skype and in person - with Steve Coleman,
the great alto saxophonist, thinker and conceptualizer. He constantly stresses the importance of
knowing the history of this music, and knowing
how to put your unique imprint on it. And Branford Marsalis has been a prime influence on me by word and deed - of how to build a unique
tenor saxophone style by transcribing and incorporating the solos of the masters from the swing
era all the way to present day.
JI: Regrettably, the realities of the jazz world from record sales to numbers of venues, attendees, dollars spent - have made it a shrinking
niche market over the past several years - what
ideas do you have that might contribute to attract more fans to this music?
CG: I’m going to be blunt: jazz musicians are
some of the worst on the planet when it comes to
self-promotion and self-management. I’ve long
had this theory that we independent jazzers are
about 10 to 15 years behind our indie rock, folk
and hip-hop counterparts. Yes, continue to shed
your instrument and write and develop your
musical concepts. But don’t stop there. There are
literally dozens of inexpensive things that the
indie rockers have been doing for years that we
don’t do because it’s “beneath” us: cultivating
and maintaining your email list … keeping your
website up to date with concert information, etc.
and complicated relationship with the Tin Pan
Alley, the Broadway show tune, the AfricanAmerican church, 20th-century classical music,
ragtime music, and the New Orleans brass band.
Many musicians today highlight the cerebral
aspects [odd meters, unusual chord changes] and
give the visceral aspects [blues, groove, swing]
the short end of the stick. So you’re left with
music that will only appeal to musicians. Head,
solos, head out. Wash, rinse, repeat. I never
wanted that. I will remain artistically true to
myself, but I will perform in front of whoever
wants to listen. One thing that jazz musicians
need to remember is that 85% of the people who
attend their shows and purchase their CDs know
next to nothing about music. That’s something I
always keep in mind when I present my music to
the public. When we’re playing a song, it’s serious business onstage. Between songs, I’ll joke
around with the crowd or I’ll relay a funny story
about what inspired a certain song. It’s all about
keeping the audience engaged and open. If they
like you on stage, they’ll be more accepting
toward your crazy musical ideas. I stand by what
I said earlier about jazz musicians needing to see
a big pop or rock show or a Broadway musical.
JI: If there is one for you, what is the connection
between music and spirituality?
CG: It’s hard to talk about that without sounding
preachy or pretentious. But I’ll say that the best
and most interesting music is that which can’t be
easily categorized. It always seems to have a
searching quality to it. And it seems to me that
“Nothing
bring you
when you’re
able can
to express
yourpeace
vision by moving effortlessly
between
musical
but yourself. Nothingstyles and genres and still
room
grow but
as a performer
canhave
bring
youtopeace
and composer - clearly, you’re playing and writprinciples.”
ing from the
the triumph
heart andof spirit.
Ultimately that’s
people like Ellington, Coltrane, Beethoven, and
Hendrix were striving towards. That’s what I’m
aspiring to get to.
JI: How or why could the relevance of jazz
be expressed to motivate the 98% of the public
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

45
Around Town
Dix Hills Performing Arts Center
Presents: Seventh Annual Fall
Festival of Guitar, Oct. 18-21
The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center presents “The Seventh Annual Fall Festival of Guitar,” from Thursday, Oct. 18, through Saturday,
Oct. 21, featuring a series of guitar performances
and workshops designed to educate, celebrate
and entertain the public, music fans, guitar players and other aficionados. This year’s Festival
will feature virtuoso jazz, rock and classical
guitarists alongside Five Towns College’s dedicated and talented faculty. All programs are free
to students with ID and their parents.
The program begins Thursday, October 18
at 7:30 p.m. with “Inside the Guitarist’s Studio”
featuring Jazz guitarist Paul Bollenback & classical guitarist Benjamin Verdery. Tickets are
$10. Ever wonder if there is a significant difference between jazz and classical guitar? Hosted
by Five Towns College professors Tony Romano
and Gerry Saulter, this engaging discussion with
two virtuosos of the guitar will explore the process of playing and composing.
The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center is
located at Five Towns College, 305 North Service Road, Dix Hills, New York, 11746-5857.
For more information and ticket sales, please
contact The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center
box office at (631) 656-2148 or visit online at
www.DHPAC.org
Tribute to Jazz Piano with Jeb
Patton at Dix Hills PAC, Oct. 28th
The Dix Hills Performing Arts Center presents a “Tribute to Jazz Piano” with Jazz great
Jeb Patton, Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets are
$20, and are free to students and their parents.
There is a free pre-concert Jazz jam at noon with
Prof. Patton.
Jeb is the long-time pianist with the Heath
Brothers, and has played with Etta Jones,
Charles McPherson, Lewis Nash, the New York
Philomusica, the Faddis/Hampton/Heath Sextet,
Winard Harper's group, and Antonio Hart's
Quintet, among many others.
The Jazz Piano Tribute is a Five Towns
College tradition featuring exceptional students,
faculty, and guest artists. Included are selections
from the Great American Songbook, jazz standards and original compositions. Each year the
best of FTC jazz piano students perform, followed by a master jazz pianist in an extraordinary event for jazz and piano lovers.
Jazz Foundation of America
Annual Loft Fundraiser
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The Jazz Foundation of America hosts its
annual Loft Fundraising event. The event features performance by legends and emerging
46
artists from around the world. The event is designed to raise funds to help the organization
continue its work to support jazz musicians who
face health and financial issues.
The upcoming 2012 event will feature performances by Madeleine Peyroux, James Carter
Organ Trio, Rebirth Brass Band, Lou Donaldson
Quartet, Randy Weston & His African Rhythms
Quartet, Junior Mance and others.
To purchase tickets or make a donation
over the phone: Contact Jazz Foundation at 212245-3999 Ext 10
Jazz Legend Randy Weston To
Perform at Universal Temple of
the Arts’ Staten Island Jazz Fest
25th Annual Event, Oct. 20
Universal Temple of the Arts will present
Staten Island Jazz Festival 25 on Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 2PM until 7PM in the Music
Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. This annual
celebration of everything Jazz will feature performances showcasing the depth and breadth of
Jazz music, dance, song, art and spoken word.
Jazz legend Randy Weston African Rhythms
Trio will headline this silver anniversary event.
The event will kickoff with free Jazzthemed arts and cultural workshops in music,
dance, vocal, poetry and Romare Bearden collage art. These workshops are geared for the
entire family. The pre-festival activities will
culminate with a panel discussion titled “The
History and Future of Jazz.” This year’s panel
discussion will highlight the 200th Anniversary
celebration of Tremé, New Orleans, known to
many as the birthplace of Jazz music.
UTA has consistently delivered an extraordinary show with legendary artists. In addition to
the Randy Weston African Rhythms Trio, this
year’s festival includes notables, Bob Cunningham, Kiane Zawadi, Leopoldo Fleming AfroCaribbean Jazz Ensemble, Vishnu Wood & Safari East, Danny Mixon Quartet, Betty Shirley
and Taru Alexander. Local favorites include
Jeannine Otis, Vinnie Ruggieri, David Jones,
WaFoo, Rudi Mwongozi, Queen Tipsy, Karlus
Trapp, Charles Thomas and more!
For more information on Staten Island
JAZZ Festival 25, visit UTA’s website at http://
www.utasi.org/Events.html. Performance tickets
are $25 for adults and $10 for children in advance; at the door, tickets are $30 and $15 respectively. Seniors and student tickets cost $20.
Group sales are available. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Universal
Temple of the Arts at 718-273-5610 or via email
at [email protected].
the Festival will feature forty musicians for a
real jazz feast. The opening night (Monday,
October 1) will be held at Bar on Fifth, a venue
inside the Italian five-star hotel Setai, just along
fashionable Fifth Avenue. Produced by
TwinsMusic, Italian Jazz Days will celebrate
world-class music and musicians for more than
an entire week. The artists will perform in the
acclaimed Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (Columbus
Circle), in the historic pizzeria Arturo’s (West
Village, in the modern restaurants Brio Flatiron
(920 Broadway), Le Pescadeux (Soho) and
Robert (Columbus Circle).
The closing nights (October 8-9) are much
anticipated. The Italian pianist Antonio Ciacca
will debut at Dizzy’s Coca-Cola with a Big Band
of 15 musicians. Ciacca has been preparing for
this magnificent performance since 2009, writing
and recording for the big band. Taking inspiration from his mentor Benny Golson, and having
programmed shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center for
four years, Ciacca has developed a strong love
and vitality for the big band. He promises fireworks.
Italian Jazz Days will host world renewed
musicians, such as guitarists Lucio Ferrara and
Luca Nostro, saxophonist Attilio Troiano,
crooner Walter Ricci, bass player Giuseppe
Venezia, drummer Elio Coppola, trumpeter Nicola Tariello. On the stage, there will also be
American musicians with Italian blood in their
veins. Guitarist Randy Napoleon, renewed for
having recorded a Grammy-nominated album
with the international star Michael Bublé, will
lead the opening night. Joseph Lepore (bass),
Pete Malinverni (piano), John Di Martino
(piano), Gene Bertoncini (guitar), Gabrielle
Stravelli (singer) will offer intimate night concerts. Also on stage: pianist Simona Premazzi
and drummer Luca Santaniello; who moved
from Italy to New York specifically to pursue their dreams in the land of jazz and who are
today very well known in the clubs in the West
Village.
Italian Jazz Days will be also herald the
kick off of jazz at Brio Flatiron, managed by
Damien Scoditti—which will be a new jazz
venue in the jazz center of the world, New York
City.
Fourth Annual Italian Jazz Days
Nine Days of Performances
October 1-9, 2012, New York City
The Fourth Annual Italian Jazz Days occurs
from October 1-9 in New York City. This year

“Self-reliance is the
only road to true freedom,
and being one’s own person
is its ultimate reward”
- Patricia Sampson
FourForTheApple
@92YTribeca
200 Hudson Street (just south of Canal Street) • 212.601.1000 • www.92ytribecca.org
Kunle Mwanga, Producer
November DONAL FOX, solo piano
3
Inventions In Blue
“Donal is one of a small handful of musicians who embody the promise of jazz’s future.”
Gary Giddins, jazz journalist
FONDA/STEVENS GROUP November
Joe Fonda, bass
Michael Jefry Stevens, piano
Herb Robertson, trumpet
Harvey Sorgen, drums
10
“Over the past twenty years and the course of twelve CD’s, the Fonda/Stevens Group has
evolved into one of Jazz/improvised music’s most accomplished ensembles. Straddling the line
between post-bop and free, they have come up with consistently satisfying albums.” Cadence Magazine
November MICHELE ROSEWOMAN’S
17
‘Time in Textures’ TRIO
Michele Rosewoman, piano
Liberty Ellman, guitar
Tyshawn Sorey, drums
“An indomitable modern jazz pianist, (Rosewoman’s) singular sound ideas expand readily to her dark
fiery ensembles...big, tight and flexible, rangy, spontaneous, serious and mysterious...”
Howard Mandel, jazz journalist
PUBLIQuartet
Jessie Montgomery, violin
Curtis Stewart, violin
Nick Revel, viola
Amanda Gookin, cello
November
24
“PUBLIQuartet is a string quartet that performs classical, contemporary, and improvised musical works with skillful craftsmanship, while cutting
through traditional boundaries. With dedication and a command that owns a broad stylistic palette, their warm, yet bold concert performances
continue to open new doors, with imminent possibilities that point to where their music will continue to flourish.” Kunle Mwanga, producer
Donal Fox, Fonda/Stevens Group, Michele Rosewoman’s ‘Time in Textures’ Trio - Advanced Ticket Price $20.00; At Door $25.00
PUBLIQuartet - Advanced Ticket Price $15.00; At Door $20.00 - All Performances Begin At 8:00PM
CD Reviews
By Alex Henderson
Roy Ayers
IN THE DARK: EXPANDED EDITION—
www. funkytowngrooves.com. In the Dark;
Sexy, Sexy, Sexy; I Can’t Help It; Compadre;
Goree Island; Poo Poo La La; Blast the Box;
Love Is in the Feel; In the Dark (7” Version);
Poo Poo La La (Edit); Love Is in the Feel (7”
Version)
PERSONNEL: Roy Ayers, lead vocals, vibes,
marimba, producer; Grover Washington, Jr.,
tenor saxophone; Tom Browne, trumpet; Stanley
Clarke, producer, drum machine; Paul Jackson,
Jr., electric guitar; Gregory Moore, electric guitar; Jeffrey Johnson, electric guitar; James Bedford, electric keyboards; William Allen, electric
keyboards; Robert Brookins, synthesizers; Gerald Brown, drums; David Metcen, electric bass,
drum machine; Paulinho Da Costa, percussion;
Carol Friedman, photography; George Butler,
executive producer; Tony Calvert, reissue producer; Randy Mahon, assistant reissue producer
48
Jazz Inside-2012-10_048_...
page 2
Like Patrice Rushen, George Duke and
George Benson, Roy Ayers initially made a
name for himself as a straight-ahead jazz instrumentalist but ended up enjoying his greatest
commercial success singing R&B. Ayers is an
excellent vibist; had he not made the switch to
soul and funk in the 1970s, it is quite possible
that the jazz community would be praising him
the way that vibists Bobby Hutcherson and Gary
Burton are praised in the jazz community. But
Ayers recorded so much classic vocal-oriented
soul and funk during his commercial heyday (the
late 1970s and early 1980s) that much of the
music world associates him with R&B rather
than jazz. Nonetheless, his R&B-oriented albums have had some jazz influence, and that
includes 1984’s In the Dark (which was originally released on LP by Columbia Records and
has been reissued on CD by Funky Town
Grooves with some bonus tracks).
Ayers produced most of In the Dark with
bassist Stanley Clarke, who is well-known in
jazz for his contributions to Chick Corea’s 1970s
fusion powerhouse Return to Forever. In the
Dark, however, doesn’t sound anything at all
like Return to Forever, and Clarke doesn’t play
any bass on this album. Mostly, Clarke produces,
arranges and programs some drum machines. In
the Dark has more to offer from an R&B standpoint than it does from a jazz standpoint, although there are some likable jazz-funk instrumentals: “Compadre,” “Goree Island,” “Blast the
Box” and “Love Is in the Feel.” Saxophonist
Grover Washington, Jr., in fact, is featured on
both “Goree Island” and the more relaxed
“Compadre.” Nonetheless, In the Dark on the
whole is more R&B than jazz, and Ayers lets the
funk flow on “Sexy, Sexy, Sexy,” “Poo Poo La
La” and the title song (all of which employ
Ayers on lead vocals). Those songs have some
jazziness, but they are funk jams first and foremost.
Similarly, “I Can’t Help It” is a laid-back,
romantic quiet storm offering with a soul orientation and jazz overtones. In the late 1970s and
1980s, Ayers could be counted on to deliver both
sweaty funk jams and romantic slow jams, and
“I Can’t Help It” is an example of the latter.
Funky Town Grooves’ reissues usually contain
some bonus tracks (much to the delight of collectors). And on this reissue, the bonus tracks are
edited versions of “Poo Poo La La,” “Love Is in
the Feel” and “In the Dark.”
Jazz snobs have been vehemently critical of
Ayers’ funk and soul recordings just as they are
vehemently critical of Duke, Rushen and Benson’s soul and funk recordings. But to attack his
R&B-oriented vocal albums because they aren’t
straight-ahead instrumental jazz is sort of like
hating an apple because it doesn’t taste like an
orange; those are albums that need to be evaluated by soul and funk standards, not hard bop
standards. And as far as Ayers’ R&B-oriented
output goes, In the Dark isn’t in the class with
1978’s You Send Me, 1976’s Vibrations or
1976’s Everybody Loves the Sunshine (all of
which have been sampled quite a bit by hip-hop
and dance-pop artists). Those are among his
more essential R&B-oriented efforts. Nonetheless, In the Dark is decent, and this reissue demonstrates that even when funk and soul were
Ayers’ top priorities, he was still being affected
somewhat by his jazz background.
Carl Bartlett, Jr.
HOPEFUL — LoFish Productions, Hopeful;
Fidgety Season; Julie B.; Quantum Leaps And
Bounds); Release; Seven Up; It Could Happen
to You; I Love Lucy.
PERSONNEL: Carl Bartlett, Jr., alto sax; Sharp
Radway, piano; Eric Lemon, bass; Emanuel
Harrold, drums; Charles Bartlett, trumpet (track
7); Ron Jackson, guitar (track 4).
By Eric Harabadian
This album marks the debut for the young
leader and it is an exceptional first effort. Bartlett, Jr. plays with all the sophistication and finesse of an esteemed veteran and he also composed the majority of material here as well. The
overall atmosphere of the record is one of jubilation and positivity and the ensemble the leader
has assembled are some of the finest on the
scene today.
The title track “Hopeful” comes out of the
gate in a strong and ebullient manner. It’s the
leader in his most proud and most vulnerable
state where he puts his sound out there sans accompaniment. Carl’s playing is rubato and
modally open. He straddles between major and
minor ideas, all the while keeping it fresh and
engaging. His solo lines begin like they’re sort
of a warm-up exercise, but soon blossom into a
series of truly arresting and brilliant themes and
vignettes. The tune “Fidgety Season” was inspired by Carl’s experiences as a school teacher.
In the liner notes he talks about his students
anticipating the summer season and end of the
school year. Hence, they get a tad “fidgety” in
class and the ensemble captures that lighthearted mood perfectly. It’s basically a 5/4
waltz, with a feathery and upbeat groove. This
track really swings in a carefree and buoyant
manner. The leader plays with a ton of emotion
and energy as pianist Radway is consistent in his
subsequent driving harmonies and rhythmic
comping. Also of note, Harrold steps out toward
the latter part of the piece with a nice drum
breakout spot. “Julie B.” follows and is a nice
ballad dedicated to Bartlett, Jr.’s mother. It’s an
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appropriately slow and reflective tune featuring a
lovely and well-executed solo by bassist Lemon.
This is a lyrical and sensitive piece that shows
the full range of Carl’s compositional as well as
performing talents. “Quantum Leaps (And
Bounds) “begins deceptively slow for a few
short bars. It soon explodes into daring and fastpaced unison frenzy between guitarist Jackson
and the leader’s sharp and stellar sax work. This
is modern bop, with a sax tone and approach that
robust and expressive. Also there is some nice
trading of fours between Jackson and Carl as the
song evolves. “Release” is a relaxed bossa nova
that sets up a nice musical conversation between
the piano and sax. In particular, Harrold’s drumming pushes the beat while adding tasteful accents along the way. “Seven Up” refers to the
odd time signature of 7/4. It’s a blues and is
interesting in that it comes off as progressive, yet
very natural at the same time. Kudos to the
rhythm section for taking a challenging structure
and making it appear so effortless. It’s a smooth
vehicle that inspires eventful and transcendent
solos all around. “It Could Happen to You” is a
classic standard by Van Heusen/Burke featuring
Carl’s uncle Charles on trumpet. The ensemble
approaches the arrangement a little abstractly
before diving in full bore with a lighter and more
familiar take. Charles’ leads really shine and the
intermingling with his nephew’s alto acumen is
remarkable. The disc concludes with a tune, no
doubt, inspired by the young leader’s hours of
impressionable television viewing, “I Love
Lucy.” The Eliot Daniel/Harold Adamson piece
retains its very recognizable melodic essence but
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CD Reviews
the leader and company have some fun with
retooling it from its original Ricky Ricardoesque calypso feel and transforming it as a romantic ballad that morphs into uptempo bebop
and a blues. It’s all done with panache and style
and is one of the album’s highlights as well.
Carl Bartlett, Jr. is an artist that is equally
skilled as a player as well as composer and has a
bright and promising career as one of the leading
lights on the contemporary jazz scene.
Jerry Bergonzi
SHIFTING GEARS—Savant Records SCD
2123, Flying Red; High Tops; They Knew; Wibble Wobble; Doin’ the Hen; Zoning; Dr. Zoltan;
Between Worlds.
PERSONNEL: Jerry Bergonzi, tenor saxophone; Phil Grenadier, trumpet; Bruce Barth,
piano; Dave Santoro, bass; Andrea Michelutti,
drums.
By Eric Harabadian
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Jerry Bergonzi is a player’s player that has
recorded on over 100 dates and brings something
fresh and exciting to the table every time. His
latest here is no exception. It’s a smorgasbord of
modern bop cut from the cloth of early ‘60s-era
Blue Note sides where Miles Davis’ famous
quintet and its many offshoots ruled the roost.
Bergonzi and company have a familiar sound
that is easy on the ears, yet challenging at the
same time.
Bergonzi penned all compositions here beginning with the haunting and moody “Flying Red.”
Right from the outset there are wonderful and
dense harmonies that emerge from Bergonzi and
trumpeter Grenadier. In particular, the dark tone
color of the saxophone speaks volumes in terms
of setting the stage and demeanor of this record.
“High Tops” is based on the standard “Speak
Low.” The leader explores the full range of his
horn here as Michelutti’s drums provide punchy
accents and great rhythmic weight and drive.
“They Knew” has a graceful and lithe feel. This
track is like an ethereal waltz that blends complex thematic elements with a ponderous energy.
The ensemble is at its most inquisitive and empathic here—listening and reacting to each other.
Barth’s in and out piano improvisations seem to
keep everyone on their toes. “Wibble Wobble” is
a whimsical title that seems to match the manic
and intrepid signature head that defines the tune.
The wide intervallic leaps here seem to recall
Eddie Harris’ “Compared to What.” Bergonzi
wavers between smooth and melodic to flirting
with minor dissonance. “Doin’ the Hen” is a
straight-ahead bebop piece that swings with cool
assuredness. The rhythm section is steady and
spot on as Grenadier’s Lee Morgan/Freddie
Hubbard amalgam meshes perfectly with Bergonzi’s Joe Henderson-like bursts and smoother
elongated wails. “Zoning” is dedicated to friend
and fellow saxophonist George Garzone. It’s a
fairly pedestrian mid-tempo burner that finds
everyone in top form and giving their all. Of
note is the structure that does bear a slight Mediterranean quality mixed with some blues elements. “Dr. Zoltan” is another dedication to one
of Bergonzi’s former students who was an eye
doctor in London. It’s a nice, simple tune that
lays the groundwork for smooth and fairly standard improvisation. The album concludes with
“Between Worlds,” which is loosely based on
“How High the Moon,” with extensions and reharmonizations worked in. This one swings effortlessly where very open playing from the
consonant to that bordering on avant garde intersect.
Dan Block
DUALITY—Miles High Records 25062. Web:
mileshighrecords.com. Long Ago and Far Away;
I’m Bringing a Red Red Rose; Chorino for Den-
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Miles High Records
Presents:
Joe
Alterman
Mark
Joe Alterman
www.joealtermanmusic.com
Joe Alterman and Give Me The Simple
Life is old school becoming new cool.
The future of jazz is in good hands
with Joe Alterman! –Brent Black,
Critical Jazz
Mark Sherman
www.markshermanmusic.com
“Mark’s music is relentlessly energetic,
hard charging, and brimming with
incredible improvisations from his
refined skills, and deep commitment
to the art form itself.”
Sherman
Tim
Horner
Holli
Ross
Tim Horner
www.timhornermusic.com
This music comes from one of the
most soulful people I know. Generous,
supportive, funny, curious and full of
love - that’s Tim Horner. –Joe Locke
Holli Ross
www.holliross.com
“You’ll See is a serious jazz vocal
album from a singer who knows how
to present a song with a measure of
elegance…a top-tier jazz vocalist.”
–Edward Blanco, All About Jazz
Paul
Meyers
Scott
Reeves
Dan
Block
Paul Meyers
www.paulmeyers.info
“one of the most eloquent jazz
guitarists since Kenny Burrell”
–James Gavin, NY Times
Scott Reeves
www.creativejazz.com
Scott Reeves writes fresher, more meticulous,
more challenging tunes than many well-known
jazz composers. He also plays two sonically
seductive instruments, the alto flugelhorn and
the alto valve trombone. –Thomas Conrad,
Jazz Times
Jeff
Holmes
www.MilesHighRecords.com
nis; If You Could See Me Now; Out of Touch;
Pitter Panther Pater; Lyrics Waltz; In the Dark;
My Own Morning; The Jazz Samba; I’ll Build a
Stairway to Paradise
PERSONNEL: Dan Block, tenor saxophone,
baritone saxophone, clarinet, producer, liner
notes; Scott Robinson, tenor saxophone, baritone
saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Ted Rosenthal, acoustic piano; Rosanno Sportiello, acoustic piano; Lee Hudson, bass; Paul Meyers, guitar; Saul Rubin, guitar, engineer, mixing; Matt
Munisteri, steel guitar; Mark Sherman, vibes;
Tim Horner, drums; Joe Davi, engineer; Christopher Drukker, design
By Alex Henderson
Jazz artists who record duet albums usually
stick to two instruments, whether it’s tenor sax
and bass, trombone and piano or trumpet and
drums. But on his duet-oriented album, Duality,
reedman Dan Block keeps the surprise factor
high by making sure that the combinations of
instruments vary from one track to the next.
Block plays five different instruments on this
intriguing post-bop/hard bop disc (tenor sax,
baritone sax, alto sax, clarinet and bass clarinet),
and someone who listened to Duality without
looking at the credits would have no idea
whether he was going to perform a duet with an
acoustic pianist (Ted Rosenthal or Rosanno
Sportiello), an acoustic bassist (Lee Hudson), a
guitarist (Paul Meyers or Saul Rubin), a vibist
(Mark Sherman) or a fellow reedman (Scott
Robinson). Duality is mostly instrumental, although Block joins forces with singer Catherine
Russell on the CD’s lone vocal offering: Tadd
Dameron’s “If You Could See Me
Now” (Russell performs Carl Sigman’s lyrics).
Duality would have been intriguing even if
Block had performed overdone Tin Pan Alley
warhorses exclusively. One cannot help but be
intrigued listening to an album where a tenor/
bass duet (Block and Hudson on Walter
Donaldson’s “I’m Bringing a Red Red Rose”) is
followed by a clarinet/guitar duet (Block and
Meyers on Block’s Brazilian-influenced
“Chorino for Dennis”), or an alto/vibes duet
(Block and Sherman on Bix Beiderbecke’s “In
the Dark”) comes before a baritone/piano duet
(Block and Rosenthal on Jule Styne’s “My Own
Morning”). But Duality is far from an album of
warhorses. “I’m Bringing a Red Red Rose,” “In
the Dark” and “My Own Morning” are hardly
songs that have been beaten to death; “My Own
Morning” is one of Styne’s lesser known compositions, and Block correctly describes “I’m
Bringing a Red Red Rose” as a “Tin Pan Alley
obscurity” in the liner notes that he wrote for
Duality.
Nor does the word warhorse describe Duke
Ellington’s “Pitter Panther Patter” (which finds
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Block and Robinson teaming up for a tworeedman duet) or George Gershwin’s “I’ll Build
a Stairway to Paradise” (which departs from the
album’s duet-oriented focus by uniting Block’s
tenor with both Hudson and drummer Tim
Horner). “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” is a
standard, but it hasn’t been recorded nearly as
many times as “Summertime,” “Our Love Is
Here to Stay” or “I Got Rhythm.” So on Duality,
Block not only pleasantly surprises us with all
the different combinations of instruments—he
also surprises us with his choice of material.
Duality gets away from its post-bop/hard bop
orientation on Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Lyric
Waltz,” a clarinet/piano duet with Sportiello.
“Lyric Waltz” (which the St. Petersburg-born
Shostakovich wrote as part of his eightmovement “Suite for Variety Orchestra”) is performed not as post-bop or hard bop, but as
1930s-like swing—and on that track, Sportiello’s
pianism fondly recalls the days of Art Tatum,
Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller.
Block is not an innovator, but on Duality, he
reminds us that he is most certainly a risk-taker
and has no problem being unpredictable.
Cuban music on “Danzon del Invierno”, African
rhythms on Wayne Shorter “Deluge” and Puerto
Rico Bomba rhythms on “Don Quijote”.
No doubt Chembo Corniel dense textures and
rhythms are the foundation to this musical offering. But every musician on this album brings
something special to the mix, the emotional coloring and melodic improvisations on tenor saxophone by Ivan Renta on “Emiliano”, “Claudia”
and “Don Quijote”, the crisp melodic breaks and
elegance of pianist Elio Villafranca on “Hey, It’s
me you’re talking to”, “Claudia” and “Danzon
del Invierno”, and the rhythmic intuition all
throughout the album of bassist Carlo Derosa
and drummer Vince Cherico.
Afro Blue Monk also includes some very special guests, the wonderful voice of Ileana Santamaria, Mongo Santamaria daugther, on her
spanish version of “Afro Blue”. Jimmy Owens
tight and impeccable trumpet solos on the New
Orleans flavored version of “Blue Monk”, and
the intense Bata playing of Ogduardo Roman
Diaz and Diego Lopez on Wayne Shorter
“Deluge”. With Afro Blue Monk, Chembo
Corniel keeps positioning himself as one of the
best percussionist in latin jazz.
Chembo Corniel
AFRO BLUE MONK – Emiliano; Afro Blue;
Hey, It’s Me You’re Talking to; Danzon del Invierno; Blue Monk; Claudia; Don Quijote; Deluge.
PERSONNEL: Wilson “Chembo” Corniel, Jr
Afro Blue Monk album. (congas, bata, percussion); Ileana Santamaria (vocals); Frank
Fontaine (flute, clarinet); Ivan Renta (soprano
saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jimmy Owens
(trumpet); Elio Villafranca (piano); Carlo
DeRosa (acoustic bass); Vince Cherico (drums,
guiro); Diego Lopez, Ogduardo Diaz (bata)
By Wilbert Sostre
The title of percussionist Wilson Chembo
Corniel new release, Afro Blue Monk is an obvious reference to the jazz standards, “Afro Blue”
and “Blue Monk” and also a tribute to the jazz
legends Mongo Santamaria and Thelonious
Monk. But this follow up to Chembo 2009
Grammy nominated album Things I wanted to
do, is so much more than just a tribute to these
jazz giants.
Afro Blue Monk contains the outstanding
original compositions, “Emiliano” and “Don
Quijote” by pianist Elio Villafranca. Excellent
latin jazz arrangement of Wayne Shorter
“Deluge” and an exquisite interpretation of Chucho Valdes “Claudia”.
The inventive arrangements by Elio Villafranca, Vince Cherico and Chembo Corniel explore aspects of latin jazz on “Emiliano”, straight
ahead jazz on Mongo Santamaria “Afro Blue”,
Graham Dechter
TAKIN’ IT THERE— Capri Records 74118,
P.O. Box 892. Bailey, CO 80421-0892. Web:
CapriRecords.com. Road Song; Be Deedle Dee
Do; Chega de Saudade (No More Blues); Together and Apart; Takin’ It There; Father;
Grease for Graham; Hocus Pocus; Come Rain
or Come Shine; Amanda/Every Time We Say
Goodbye
PERSONNEL: Graham Dechter, guitar, producer; Tamir Hendelman, acoustic piano; John
Clayton, acoustic bass; Jeff Hamilton, drums;
Josh Nelson, liner notes; Thomas Burns, producer; Will Snyder, producer; Steve Genewick,
engineer; Ron McMaster, mastering; Travis
Ference, assistant engineer; Ethan Carlson, assistant engineer; Chandler Harrod, assistant engineer; Spencer Guerra, assistant engineer; Chaz
Nenneker, photography, design; Michael
Klayman, photography
By Alex Henderson
Jazz, ideally, should accommodate risk-takers
as well as traditionalists; in other words, there is
room for Medeski, Martin & Wood, Dave Douglas and the Bad Plus as well as artists who do
more conventional things. And Takin’ It There,
which is Los Angeles-based guitarist Graham
Dechter’s second album as a leader, underscores
the fact that he is very much a traditionalist.
That is, he is a traditionalist in the hard bop
sense. Graham is only 26, but stylistically,
Takin’ It There is a throwback to the hard bop
Magenta
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New CD
Moondance
Kathryn Farmer, vocals
John DiMartino, piano and synthesizer
Aaron James, bass
David F. Gibson, drums
Brian Lynch, trumpet
Frank Lacy, trombone
Amanda Sedgwick, alto sax and flute
Steven Kroon, percussion
Melvin Sparks-Hassan, guitar
TRACKS: Moondance; Bridges/Travessia;
Never Will I Marry; When October Goes;
Day by Day; Someone to Watch Over Me;
Never Make Your Move Too Soon; I Can’t
Make You Love Me; The Nearness of You;
You Must Believe in Spring
Now booking for January 2013
[email protected]
KathrynFarmerMusic.com
guitar playing of the 1950s and 1960s.
Wes Montgomery and early George Benson
are major influences on Dechter’s guitar playing,
and he shows an awareness of Barney Kessel
and Jimmy Raney as well. So no one is going to
accuse Dechter of bringing something radically
new to jazz guitar. But if a musician is going to
be derivative, the important thing is to be enjoyably derivative—and Dechter is enjoyably
derivative on material that includes George
Coleman’s “Father,” Barney Kessel’s “Be
Deedle Dee Do,” Wes Montgomery’s “Road
Song” and Lee Morgan’s “Hocus Pocus.” Anyone who is familiar with all of those tunes deserves a pat on the back for having more than a
casual interest in jazz, and Dechter deserves a
pat on the back for doing his homework and not
limiting himself to overdone standards. There
are a few songs on Takin’ It There that fall into
the beaten-to-death warhorse category, including
Harold Arlen’s “Come Rain or Come Shine” and
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade (No
More Blues).” But Dechter doesn’t inundate
listeners with warhorses, and his willingness to
unearth quality songs that haven’t been beaten to
death is a plus.
Dechter swings hard on “Hocus Pocus,”
which finds him playing at an insanely fast
tempo and leaves no doubt that he has thoroughly mastered his instrument; playing bop
changes at that tempo is not easy. But while
“Hocus Pocus” is a major chopsfest, Dechter
shows listeners how lyrical and melodic he can
be on “Come Rain or Come Shine” (which he
takes a comfortable medium tempo), the pensive
“Together and Apart” (a Dechter original that
sounds a bit like Jobim’s “Dindi”) and Dechter’s
ballad “Amanda” (which is part of a medley that
also includes Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say
Goodbye”).
Another one of Dechter’s strong points is his
ability to play the blues with feeling, which is
what he does on “Be Deedle Dee Do” and John
Clayton’s “Grease for Graham.” Clayton, in fact,
is present on this album; Dechter’s accompaniment consists of Tamir Hendelman on acoustic
piano, Clayton on upright bass and Jeff Hamilton
on drums (this is the same quartet Dechter led on
his previous album, Right on Time). Clayton and
Hamilton, of course, are among the three musicians who founded the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz
Orchestra (the third is saxophonist Jeff Clayton,
who is John Clayton’s brother). Dechter joined
that big band seven years ago when he was only
19, which explains why his chops are as strong
as they are; Hamilton and the Clayton brothers
have high standards.
Takin’ It There doesn’t pretend to reinvent the
wheel, but for those who enjoy straight-ahead
jazz guitar of the Montgomery/Kessel/early Benson variety, it is a consistently likable outing.
Dave Douglas
Aoife O’Donovan
BE STILL– www.greenleafmusic.com. Be Still
My Soul; High On a Mountain; God Be With
You; Barbara Allen; This Is My Father’s World;
Going Somewhere With You; Middle March;
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Living Streams; Whither Must I Wander.
PERSONNEL: Dave Douglas, trumpet; Aoife
O’Donovan, voice, guitar; Jon Irabagon, tenor
saxophone; Matt Mitchell, piano; Linda Oh,
bass; Rudy Royston, drums.
By Mark Keresman
Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Dave
Douglas is a true eclectic. Douglas has played
with leaders (seemingly) disparate as Horace
Silver and John Zorn and has helmed tribute
albums to Wayne Shorter, Joni Mitchell, and
Mary Lou Williams. Douglas composed music
for the silent films of comedian Fatty Arbuckle
and worked with the Trisha Brown Dance Company. His latest opus Be Still shines Douglas’
light on the nexus of Americana and jazz.
Folk—or traditional—tunes have always been
part of jazz, classical music, rock, almost any
genre, but this time out, Douglas approaches folk
more directly, respectfully and affectionately
using trad tunes (and classical music inspired/
influenced by same) as points of departure.
Aoife O’Donovan, member of the progressive
bluegrass outfit Crooked Still, is not a “jazz
singer” nor does she try to be (in the usual Dianne Reeves/Anita O’Day sense). O’Donovan
sings in a fragile alto, being true to the original
melodies without being stiff or mannered, but
she gets into the sense of flexibility and swing of
jazz on “High On A Mountain.” It’s as if Douglas, O’Donovan, and company are showing the
listener how the folk melody was/is and then
what they can do with it—two different kinds of
interpretation juxtaposed. As she intones “This
Is My Father’s World,” Douglas’ Quintet lovingly caresses the tune, opens it up, with
O’Donovan engaging in some sweet wordless
sing-along. “Middle March” is a Douglas original, but it has the same forlorn quality as some
folk melodies and more than a little gospel flavor
(the horns almost as hearty as a choir)—it echoes
Mingus a bit but the gospel is more akin to country gospel than the holy-rolling strains of Mingus’ rave-ups. But Douglas takes his “March”
apart and rebuilds it (without any heavy-handed
humor or irony)—pianist Matt Mitchell is vividly lyrical here, while Douglas’ horn is magnificently bittersweet.
On some tracks, there is a co-mingling of the
two schools of interpretation. “God Be With
You” is jazz-ified gospel with O’Donovan’s
cooing the words with a lilt closer to Chris Connor or June Christy than Hazel Dickens or Alison Krauss. With its modal quality, “Barbara
Allen” is a cousin to “Greensleeves”—the horns
express the longing of the tune filtered through
bop with some of the feel of Aaron Copeland
and Charles Ives (two great American classical
composers that drew upon Americana).
Mitchell’s yearning solo smacks subtly of vin-
tage Ray Charles, Douglas taking the tune from
the hills of Virginia to 52ND Street in a precious
few notes.
“But is there any jazz content?” For those
wondering if there’s any straight-up bop-ery,
indeed there is—the plangent ballad “Going
Somewhere With You.” Jon Irabagon’s solo
goes, leisurely, from Sonny Rollins steely to
David Murray witty to Johnny Griffin bluesy—
exhilarating while avoiding fireworks. “Living
Streams” is another ballad…sort of. It’s got a
twisted, dark ballad-like theme with a mournful
cast, but just beneath the surface it’s as volcanoabout-to-blow volatile as Art Blakey & the Messengers circa Free For All. (What Hitchcock
could’ve done with this piece!)
Douglas captures a very American essence
with Be Still. No, it’s not rally-‘round-the-flag
“patriotic,” but draws upon the restlessness,
melancholy, impatience, outright sadness, austere beauty, and resolute hopefulness that’s inextricably part of the American character and
American music, regardless of “genre.” Occasionally, parts of the album have somewhat tentative feel…but then, so does Life Itself sometimes.
Fourplay
ESPRIT DE FOUR—Heads Up International.
100 North Crescent Dr., Suite 275, Beverly
Hills, CA
90210. Web: concordmusicgroup.com. December Dream; Firefly; Venus;
Sonnymoon; Put Our Hearts Together
(Instrumental Version); All I Wanna Do; Logic
of Love; Esprit de Four; Sugoi; Put Our Hearts
Together (Vocal Track)
PERSONNEL: Bob James, electric keyboards,
producer; Chuck Loeb, electric guitar, synthesizers, producer; Nathan East, electric bass, vocals,
producer; Harvey Mason, drums, percussion,
vibes, synthesizers, producer; Mark Wexler,
executive producer; Ken Freeman, engineer;
Nathaniel Alford, assistant engineer; Sonny Abelardo, photography; Lizzy Loeb, vocals; Steve
Vavagiakis, mastering
By Alex Henderson
Considering that Bob James has spent most of
his career playing a highly commercial blend of
jazz, pop and R&B, it’s hard to believe that he
favored straight-ahead hard bop and avant-garde
free jazz back in the 1960s. But it’s true; James
didn’t go commercial until the 1970s (his 1965
recording, Explosions, has a strong Cecil Taylor
influence, believe it or not). Once he went commercial, however, James never looked back—
and he has maintained a commercial outlook as
part of the all-star group Fourplay, which has
been around since 1991. The word “commercial”
definitely describes Fourplay’s most recent al-
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bum, Esprit de Four (“esprit” is French for
“spirit”), but for all its slickness, this 54-minute
CD is a cut above most of 2012’s smooth jazz
releases. The soloists have some room to stretch
out, and while the writing is accessible and
groove-oriented, it isn’t totally mindless. In fact,
some of the material has a Pat Metheny-ish appeal, which guitarist Chuck Loeb can take some
of the credit for.
It’s no secret that Loeb, the most recent addition to Fourplay, has been heavily influenced by
Metheny as both a guitarist and a composer. And
that Metheny influence is evident on “Logic of
Love” and “December Dream,” both of which
are Loeb compositions. Bassist Nathan East
(who, like James and drummer Harvey Mason, is
an original member of Fourplay) contributes
some wordless, Brazilian-influenced background
vocals that recall the background vocals on
Metheny’s Letter from Home and Still Life Talking albums, and that adds to the tunes’ Methenyish element. But it would be a mistake to think
that everything on this album is so overtly mindful of Metheny.
James’ “Sugoi,” for example, has an Asian
influence, and the vocal offering “All I Wanna
Do” (which East wrote with Tom Keane) is a
romantic quiet storm tune along the lines of
Freddie Jackson, Glenn Jones and the late Luther
Vandross. On “All I Wanna Do,” East is actually
singing lyrics, whereas “Logic of Love” and
“December Dream” are essentially instrumentals
despite their use of wordless vocals in the background.
The funky “Sonnymoon,” another Loeb contribution, was presumably written for tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. “Sonnymoon,” unlike
Rollins’ “Sonnymoon for Two,” isn’t hard bop,
although it wouldn’t have been out of place on
one of the more R&B-influenced albums that he
recorded in the 1970s (when he was experimenting with electric instruments and funk beats).
Some parts of Esprit de Four might be mellow enough for smooth jazz radio stations, and
yet, much of this disc defies the cardinal rule of
smooth jazz radio: thou shall not improvise.
Many smooth jazz albums are devoid of improvisation and take few, if any, chances because the artists don’t want to risk being rejected
by radio programmers, but Esprit de Four actually has some integrity. Smooth jazz has taken a
lot of tongue lashings from the straight-ahead
jazz world (a lot of them well deserved), yet
Esprit de Four avoids being totally vacuous
from start to finish.
All things considered, Esprit de Four is a
decent effort from this 21-year-old all-star quartet.
Tia Fuller
ANGELIC WARRIOR—Mack Avenue 1068.
18530 Mack Avenue, #299, Grosse Pointe
Farms, MI 48236. Boyston Rumble; Ralphie’s
Groove; Angelic Warrior; Lil Les; Body and
Soul; Descend to Barbados; Ode to Be
(interlude); So in Love; Tailor Made; Core f Me;
Simplicity; Cherokee; Ode to Be (Outro)
PERSONNEL: Tia Fuller, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute; Shamie Royston, acoustic piano, electric keyboards; Mimi Jones, acoustic bass; John Patitucci, electric bass, acoustic
bass; Rudy Royston, drums; Shirazette Tinnin,
percussion; Terri Lyne Carrington, drums, Dianne Reeves; vocals; Brian McKenna, producer,
Al Pryor, producer; Grechen C. Valade, executive producer; Todd Whitelock, engineer;
Damon Whittemore, engineer; Mark Wilder,
mastering; Raj Naik, art director, Keith Major,
photography
By Alex Henderson
In the R&B world, saxophonist/flutist Tia
Fuller is best known for playing in singer Beyoncé Knowles’ touring band (a gig she has had
since 2007). Fuller has performed all over the
world with that R&B superstar. But on her own,
Fuller has made instrumental jazz her top priority—and instrumental jazz is what she usually
provides on Angelic Warrior, which is her third
album for Mack Avenue Jazz and her fourth
album overall. Some of the jazz snobs who have-
Available from
Steve Maxwell
Vintage & Custom Drums
Midtown Manhattan
723 Seventh Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019
Ph: 212-730-8138
Iroquois Center
1163 E. Ogden Avenue, #709
Naperville, IL 60563
Ph: 630-778-8060
Hours: 11–6 Fri; 10–5 Sat
www.maxwelldrums.com
Jazz Inside-2012-10_055_...
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n’t heard any of Fuller’s previous releases as a
leader but have heard about her five-year association with Knowles might assume that Angelic
Warrior is an album of commercial “safe sax”
along the lines of Kenny G, Richard Elliott or
Dave Koz, but that isn’t the scenario at all. Angelic Warrior is, for the most part, a straightahead acoustic post-bop effort—and her influences on this release include Jackie McLean,
John Coltrane and Kenny Garrett, not smooth
jazz players like Elliott and Koz.
Fuller’s accompaniment on Angelic Warrior
includes her core band as well as some special
guests. The core band employs Shamie Royston
(who is Fuller’s sister) on acoustic piano and
electric keyboards, Mimi Jones on acoustic bass
and Rudy Royston (Shamie Royston’s husband
and Fuller’s brother-in-law) on drums, while the
guests include John Patitucci on acoustic and
electric bass and Terri Lyne Carrington on
drums. There are a few occasional detours into
electric jazz-funk on Angelic Warrior, including
“Tailor Made.” But even then, Fuller is hell-bent
for improvisation and doesn’t hesitate to stretch
out. Fuller (who is heard on alto sax, soprano sax
and flute and plays mostly original material) is
as improvisatory when she moves into electric
territory as she is when she keeps things acoustic
and straight-ahead.
Angelic Warrior is an appropriate title for this
album because even though many of the selections are passionate and hard-swinging, the disc
has its lyrical moments as well. Fuller spares no
passion on the explosive opener “Royston Rumble,” the edgy “Simpli-city” or a driving performance of the Ray Noble standard
“Cherokee,” but her more lyrical side prevails on
the good-natured “Lil Les” and the reflective
“Core of Me.” Fuller is also quite lyrical on the
standard “Body and Soul,” which features singer
Dianne Reeves and is the only vocal offering on
a predominantly instrumental CD. Reeves is in
very good form on “Body and Soul,” and she is
an appropriate guest for Angelic Warrior in light
of the fact that, like Fuller, she is interested in
both jazz and R&B. Reeves is an expressive jazz
singer who is also an expressive R&B singer;
she isn’t a jazz snob any more than Fuller is a
jazz snob. And Patitucci, similarly, fits in well
on Angelic Warrior because he is as comfortable
getting funky on the electric bass as he is playing
straight-ahead post-bop on the upright bass.
Although it falls short of exceptional, Angelic
Warrior is an enjoyable and satisfying demonstration what Fuller has to offer as both a soloist
and a composer.
Konitz/Frisell/
Peacock/Baron
ENFANTS TERRIBLES – HalfNote
www.halfnote.net. What is This Thing Called
Love; Body & Soul; Stella By Starlight; I’ll Remember April; I Remember You; I Can’t Get
Started.
PERSONNEL: Lee Konitz, alto saxophone; Bill
Frisell, electric guitar; Gary Peacock, bass; Joey
Baron, drums.
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hoariest of jazz classic tunes and reinvent them
in a manner that’s imperatively edgy and chilledout, brilliant and relaxed, at the same time. If
you think you might have “enough” discs featuring these gents and/or these tunes, guess again.
By Mark Keresman
Each of these fellows is virtually jazz history
personified—aside from their careers as leaders,
each has played with icon after icon: Miles
Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, John Zorn, Paul
Motian, you name him/her, these lads have made
the scene with them. They got an idea in June of
2011 to play a week at NYC’s equally iconic
Blue Note club, and with little preparation, did
so. This fine CD is the result. As you might
guess, they performed exceedingly familiar standards and no new horizons were mapped, but
some darn good jazz resulted.
Lee Konitz’s alto has (cliché alert) rarely
sounded better—it’s still lithe and smooth, drier
than Paul Desmond’s driest martini but here has
a rich, almost tenor-like hue at times. Bill Frisell
doesn’t delve into the guitar effects and his
sometimes ethereal approach is more direct,
more in the Wes Montgomery tradition. Gary
Peacock is pliant, sensitive, and firm, the anchor
in Asgard’s rhythm section. Joey Baron can
thunder, yes he can, but here he gets in touch
with his inner Connie Kay and/or he pays subtle
homage to that subtlest of drummers, the recently passed Paul Motian—more simply, he
plays with gracefulness and swinging restraint.
But do not get the notion that these gents are
coasting—the opener “What Is This Thing
Called Love” thunders starkly like Albert Ayler
or Eric Dolphy before a little stroll through
[Lennie] Tristano territory. Their take on “Body
& Soul” is gently dramatic, almost gothic. The
intro is ominous, almost volatile solo drums,
with Frisell gently applying some spare, sparse
phrases before Konitz enters like the master he
is, giving this “Body” the blues as only he can.
Peacock takes a rippling, oh-so-nimble solo with
Baron coloring the background. “Stella By Starlight” gets a reading that’s adorably lopsided and
jauntily swinging, almost as if they were making
a benevolent satire.
Frisell gives his unaccompanied intro to “I’ll
Remember April” as pensive, folk-like feel, then
Konitz and Peacock enter, Frisell’s graceful lines
winding and intertwining ‘round them, while
Baron crackles and punctuates below. As it goes
on, Frisell combines perky (with a vaguely
Latin-like lilt) with pensive—an odd mix,
granted, but it works. Konitz makes like Stan
Getz a bit here, what Ralph Kramden’s pal Ed
Norton would call “suave.” The highest of many
high points is “I Can’t Get Started”—it’s got a
warm solo intro by Peacock, crystalline Frisell,
and luscious Konitz (again in a bluesy, but rhapsodic, mode), and later Frisell gets in touch with
his ballad side, sneaking in some blue flurries of
his own, ending with a lovely cyclic Anglo-folkflavored motif.
As fine as the Konitz/Brad Meldau/Charlie
Haden/Paul Motian set Live at Birdland (ECM)
is, this about exceeds it. These four pros take the
Mark Masters Ensemble
ELLINGTON SAXOPHONE ENCOUNTERS—Capri Records 74118, P.O. Box 892.
Bailey, CO 80421-0892. Web: CapriRecords.com. Esquire Swank; The Line Up; LB
Blues; We’re in Love Again; Ultra Blue; Used to
Be Duke; Jeep’s Blues; Get Ready; Love’s
Away; Rockin’ in Rhythm; The Peaches Are
Better Down the Road; The Happening
PERSONNEL: Mark Masters, arrangements,
producer; Gary Smulyan, baritone saxophone;
Gary Foster, alto saxophone; Don Shelton, alto
saxophone, clarinet; Pete Christlieb, tenor saxophone; Gene Cipriano, tenor saxophone; Bill
Cunliffe, acoustic piano; Tom Warrington,
acoustic bass; Joe La Barbera, drums; Doug
Ramsey, liner notes; Patricia Willard, photography; Larry Redman; photography; Tom Burns
producer
By Alex Henderson
Duke Ellington tributes can be quite predictable and unimaginative. All too often, those who
pay homage to the Duke will insist on sticking to
his most famous standards—and if they aren’t
playing “Satin Doll,” “In a Sentimental Mood”
or “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,”
they’re playing “In a Mellow Tone” or “Mood
Indigo.” Those are great songs, certainly, but
there was so much more to Ellington’s legacy
than his standards. And with Ellington Saxophone Encounters, arranger Mark Masters offers
an Ellington tribute that, thankfully, doesn’t take
the all-standards-all-the-time approach. Instead,
this intriguing CD focuses on songs that were
written or co-written by great saxophonists who
played in Ellington’s band, and Masters emphasizes the saxophone theme with a medium-sized
acoustic ensemble that consists of five saxophonists (Gary Foster, Pete Christlieb, Don Shelton, Gene Cipriano and baritone man Gary Smulyan) and a rhythm section (Bill Cunliffe on
piano, Tom Warrington on bass, Joe La Barbera
on drums). Between the five saxophones, one is
given a healthy variety of tenor, baritone and
alto—which is appropriate because the great
Ellington saxmen ranged from Ben Webster,
Jimmy Hamilton and Paul Gonsalves on tenor to
Johnny Hodges on alto to Harry Carney on baritone.
Most of songs that Masters chose for this
early 2012 recording are not standards. The infectious “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” which Ellington
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co-wrote with Carney in 1931, is a standard. So
is “Jeep’s Blues,” which the Duke co-wrote with
Hodges. But standards are definitely the exception rather than the rule on Ellington Saxophone
Encounters, and anyone who is familiar with all
12 of the selections is clearly a major expert on
Ellington and his sidemen. Some of the selections, in fact, are downright obscure. Hamilton’s
“Get Ready,” for example, is a song that was
originally recorded in 1960 for a Hodges album
that Verve Records decided not to release; the
tune didn’t even see the light of day until 1979,
when it appeared on a Hodges collection titled
The Smooth One.
Shelton switches from sax to clarinet on “Get
Ready,” which makes sense because Hamilton
excelled on both tenor and clarinet. And Masters
also acknowledges Hamilton with “Ultra
Blue” (a lesser known Hamilton piece from the
1940s). Elsewhere, Masters turns his attention to
material composed by Hodges (“The Peaches
Are Better Down the Road,” “Lawrence Brown
Blues,” “Used to Be Duke”), Webster (“Love’s
Away”) and Gonsalves (“The Happening,” “The
Lineup”). Those who are seriously into Ellington
and his sidemen might know those songs, but
chances are that listeners who have only a casual
interest in the Duke’s legacy will only be familiar with a few of them. And again, the fact that
Masters doesn’t shy away from obscurities is a
big part of the CD’s appeal.
Some listeners might wish that Ellington
Saxophone Encounters had been a big band recording instead of the work of a medium-size
group. However, many of the recordings that
Ellington’s sidemen recorded on their own favored either small groups or medium-size
groups. And Ellington Saxophone Encounters
not only acknowledges material that Ellington’s
saxophonists wrote or co-wrote as part of his
band—this early 2012 recording also acknowledges material they wrote and recorded for their
own sessions. So the use of a medium-size group
on Ellington Saxophone Encounters is certainly
appropriate. Plus, the fact that there are no trumpets or trombones—only saxophones, except for
Shelton’s clarinet playing—really drives home
the saxophone theme.
Full of surprises, this is a consistently interesting salute to the Duke and his saxmen.
Want to Talk About You; Africa
PERSONNEL: Michael Pedicin, tenor saxophone, executive producer, liner notes; Johnnie
Valentino, electric guitar; Jim Ridl, acoustic
piano; Andy Lalasis, acoustic bass; Bob Shomo,
drums; Joseph Donofrio, producer; John Mulhern, engineer; Eric Resnick, assistant engineer;
Kurt Lundvall, mastering; Paul Dempsey, photography; Kathy Ridl, design
By Alex Henderson
Tributes to John Coltrane are not hard to find
in the jazz world. The tenor titan’s impact on
jazz was so enormous that inevitably, there will
be plenty of musicians who want to pay homage
to him. Some Coltrane tributes are predictable,
knee-jerk affairs that stick to his most well
known compositions, but tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin avoids the standards-only approach on his Coltrane-minded Live @ the Loft
(which documents a March 23/24, 2012 appearance at the Loft in Somers Point, New Jersey).
This 57-minute CD isn’t radically adventurous,
but it isn’t predictable either.
Live @ the Loft doesn’t focus on Trane’s
repertoire exclusively; two of the selections acoustic pianist Joey Calderazzo’s “Midnight
Voyage” and tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf’s
“Song for My Mother” - aren’t actually from the
saxman’s repertoire and were both composed
long after his death. But both Calderazzo and
Weiskopf have been influenced by Coltrane, and
those post-bop tunes fit in because they underscore his long-lasting impact. Most of the selec-
Michael Pedicin
“Coltrane, for all the intensity and aggression
he could bring to his up-tempo performances,
had a romantic streak —and Pedicin clearly
appreciates and expresses that side of him.
LIVE @ THE LOFT—The Jazz Hut 0004.
Web: MichaelPedicin.com. Theme for Ernie;
Impressions; Midnight Voyage; Say it (Over and
Over Again); Like Sonny; Song for My Mother; I
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“A democracy
cannot exist as a
permanent form of
government. It can only exist
until the voters discover that
they can vote themselves largesse
from the public treasury. From that
moment on, the majority always votes for
the candidates promising the most benefits
from the public treasury with the
result that a democracy always
collapses over loose fiscal policy,
always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the
world’s greatest civilizations
has been 200 years.”
- Alexander Tytler, 1747-1813
tions, however, are from Coltrane’s repertoire,
and that includes three Coltrane compositions
(“Impressions,” “Africa” and “Like Sonny”) as
well as Fred Lacey’s “Theme for Ernie,” Billy
Eckstine’s “Song for My Mother” and the Frank
Loesser/Jimmy McHugh ballad “Say It (Over
and Over Again).”
Although Coltrane was only 40 when he died
in 1967, he covered a lot of stylistic ground during his short life. Coltrane’s output as a leader
can be divided into three main periods: the hard
bop Coltrane of the late 1950s, the modal postbop Coltrane of the early to mid-1960s, and the
brutally atonal free jazz Coltrane of 1965-1967.
Pedicin - who leads an acoustic-oriented sextet
that includes Johnnie Valentino on guitar, Jim
Ridl on piano, Andy Lalasis on upright bass and
Bob Shomo on drums - opts to focus on Coltrane’s hard bop and post-bop periods. The CD’s
biggest surprise is Pedicin’s interpretation of
“Impressions,” which he performs at a slow
tempo. “Impressions” has been recorded by numerous post-bop artists over the years, usually at
a fast tempo. But Pedicin slows “Impressions”
down considerably, hinting at Miles Davis’
original 1959 recording of “So What” (from
Kind of Blue) in the process. “So What,” of
course, is the modal standard that inspired
“Impressions”; without “So What,” there wouldn’t have been “Impressions”—and when Davis
increased “So What” to a fast tempo when he
performed it live in the early 1960s, that led to
Coltrane writing “Impressions.” So in a sense,
Pedicin is acknowledging “Impressions’” connection to Kind of Blue by slowing it down.
Pedicin’s performances of “Africa” and “Like
Sonny” are more conventional and enjoyable.
The same goes for his performances of “I Want
to Talk About You” and “Say It (Over and Over
Again)”; neither are groundbreaking, but they
offer a likable acknowledgement of Coltrane’s
ballad playing. Coltrane, for all the intensity and
aggression he could bring to his up-tempo per58
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formances, had a romantic streak —and Pedicin
clearly appreciates and expresses that side of
him.
Live @ the Loft doesn’t point Coltrane’s repertoire in any radically new directions, but all
things considered, this is a decent tribute to the
saxophone master.
Scott Robinson
BRONZE
NEMESIS – Doc-Tone
www.sciensonic.net. Man of Bronze; The Secret
in the Sky; He Could Stop The World; Fortress
of Solitude; Mad Eyes; The Metal Master; The
Golden Man; Land of Always-Night; The Living
Fire; The Man Who Shook the Earth; Weird
Valley; The Mental Wizard.
PERSONNEL: Scott Robinson, reeds,
Theremin, percussion; Randy Sandke, trumpet;
Ted Rosenthal, piano; Pat O’Leary, bass; Dennis
Irwin, bass (7); Dennis Mackrel, drums, percussion.
a few degrees colder, mixed with some Monk
sparseness (thank you, Ted Rosenthal)—
Robinson’s bass sax has some Mulligan’s nimble, snazzy swing.
Robinson’s overall approach evokes the science fiction aspects of the Savage cannon—he
frequently uses the Theremin, a precursor to the
synthesizer and often heard in ‘50s horror and
sci-fi films’ soundtracks. Loaded with little instruments and noisemakers acoustic and electronic, “Mad Eyes” sounds like the Art Ensemble of Chicago scoring a creature-feature movie
from the era of The Bomb. “The Metal Master”
mixes Ornette Coleman-like dirge with the semioblique crackle of Gil Evans’ writing for “little”
big bands. “Land of Always-Night” finds Robinson waxing and judiciously wailing lyrically on
flute in an enchantingly bittersweet manner recalling the underrated-these-days Jeremy Steig.
“The Mental Wizard” is more pointed, knotty
hard bop evoking Tadd Dameron and Andrew
Hill. While Rosenthal and Sandke are (usually)
associated with more mainstream pursuits, they
rise to Robinson’s challenges with aplomb and
wit.
Bronze Nemesis is out-jazz with roots firmly
planted in outer and inner space, an abstractly
hard-swinging funhouse-ride that’s cerebral but
without a hint of the ponderousness or dryness
that besets some tres avant sessions.
By Mark Keresman
Before Batman, Superman, James Bond, and
almost any other 20th Century übermensch you
could mention, there was Doc Savage. Created
by Lester Dent (a.k.a. Kenneth Robeson) and
published in pulp magazines in the 1930s and
‘40s, Doc Savage was one of the printed word’s
first (recurring) super-heroes, and he’s been
around in one form or another ever since. He
was trained mentally and physically to be the
best he could be in almost any discipline. Jazz
multi-reeds wizard, composer, and educator
Scott Robinson has fashioned a vivid tribute to
this heroic figure (fictional or not, a hero can
come in handy)—he’s also behind a homage to a
different sort of super-hero: Jazz Ambassador:
Scott Robinson Plays the Compositions of Louis
Armstrong, on the Arbors label.
Robinson has paid his dues in a number of
diverse situations, including Lionel Hampton,
Sting, John Scofield, Anthony Braxton, Randy
Sandke, and Maria Schneider. In some ways, all
these have impacted on Bronze Nemesis—it’s a
seriously wide-ranging album of creative jazz.
This is not Saturday morning cartoon soundtrack
music—if Braxton got away from the chess and
calculus books (not a negative criticism, by the
way) and dipped into some Savage and/or pre1950s science fiction, he might’ve come up with
something similar. Not that Robinson is imitative of Braxton, but they share the same penchant for assorted wind instruments and extended techniques. Plus Robinson has a touch of
Ellington in his arranging—just listen for the
coming apocalypse via “He Could Stop The
World,” writing for the strengths of his combo
the way the Duke did. “Fortress of Solitude” is
chilly, sly bop, with a bit of Brubeck cool, albeit
John Yao
IN THE NOW—Innova Recordings 823. 332
Minnesota Street, #E-145, St. Paul, Minnesota
55101. Web: Innova.mu. Divisions; Funky Sunday; For NDJ; In the Now; Not Even Close;
Pink Eye; Shorter Days; Snafu
PERSONNEL: John Yao, trombone, producer,
art work; Jon Irabagon, alto saxophone, soprano
saxophone; Randy Ingram, acoustic piano, electric keyboards, organ; Leon Boykinds, bass; Will
Clark, drums; Luis Bonilla, producer; Michael
Marciano, engineer; Ed Reed, mastering
By Alex Henderson
Group improvisation or collective improvisation has been a part of jazz for many years.
There was group improvisation in the early days
of Dixieland, going back to cornetist Buddy
Bolden in the 1890s and 1900s; there was group
improvisation with Charles Mingus and group
improvisation with 1960s free jazz. But much of
the swing, bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, post-bop,
soul-jazz and fusion that has been recorded over
the years has adhered to a “head/solos/back to
the head” format. So when jazzmen offer some
type of group improvisation, they stand out;
trombonist John Yao stands out on his memorable In the Now.
This inside/outside effort draws on influences
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“When you choose
your friends, don't be
short-changed by
choosing personality
over character.”
- W. Somerset Maugham
that range from Mingus to Ornette Coleman.
Yao’s themes draw on both post-bop and the
avant-garde, and he isn’t dogmatic about it. In
the Now offers discernible themes; it has structure and organization and isn’t an exercise in
nonstop atonality or endless chaos. But at the
same time, Yao obviously loves spontaneity and
improvisation—and he encourages his sidemen
to improvise and do their thing. Those sidemen
include Jon Irabagon on alto and soprano sax,
Randy Ingram on acoustic piano, electric keyboards and organ, Leon Boykinds on bass and
Will Clark on drums.
So where does the group improvisation element come in? Again, Yao doesn’t necessarily
adhere to the usual “head/solos/back to the head”
format. If one person is soloing and improvising,
another person might jump in and start soloing
and improvising as well; that happens on
“Divisions,” “For NDJ” and “Funky Sunday” as
well as on the title track (all of which favor cerebral, abstract themes). In the “head/solos/back to
the head” format, one horn player typically stays
quiet when another horn player is soloing; on
Jazz Inside-2012-10_055_...
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Yao’s CD, the horn players are more likely to
improvise and blow simultaneously. In the Now
can get very free at times; the bluesy “Snafu,”
for example, has some chaotic moments. But
“Snafu” isn’t total, 100% chaos from start to
finish. That track has elements of both post-bop
and free jazz.
“Shorter Days” is perhaps the album’s most
accessible offering. That title is descriptive in
two different ways. First, the piece is moody and
dusky, suggesting the shorter days of autumn
and winter. And second, the theme brings to
mind saxophonist Wayne Shorter. So on
“Shorter Days,” the listener is thinking of the
shorter days that come with the change of seasons as well as days in which Wayne Shorter is
part of one’s listening experience—days in
which one might wish for more daylight, or perhaps days in which one feels the need to pull out
a copy of Speak No Evil, JuJu or Super Nova.
“Pink Eyes” is another one of the album’s
more accessible tracks. The theme is angular, yet
“Pink Eyes” also has a healthy sense of the
blues.
In the Now, for the most part, is not easy to
absorb. Yao’s work is definitely on the intellectual side, and he isn’t offering instant gratification by any means. This album must be accepted
on its own terms and may take several listens
before the listener can adequately appreciate
what Yao has to offer. But In the Now is well
worth the effort, and Yao’s blend of the inside
and the outside ultimately yields considerable
rewards.
Jazz Lovers
Heaven
Scan the QR Code below
with your mobile device
Your Own Personal
Lifetime Access!
Jazz Listening,
Enjoyment, Discovery
Limited Availability
http://bit.ly/JvSML0
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Noteworthy Performances
GEORGE COLEMAN
www.JazzStandard.net
Jazz Standard: October 25-28
Saxophonist George Coleman grew up in Memphis along
with musical associates Harold Mabern, Booker Little, Frank
Strozier, Hank Crawford and Charles Lloyd. Coleman worked
with Ray Charles and B.B. King in the early 1950s. After
moving to Chicago, Coleman played with Max Roach in 195859. He recorded with Lee Morgan and Jimmy Smith prior to
moving to New York. He joined Miles Davis’ band in 1963-64.
He went on to record with Chet Baker and many others, and
has led and recorded with his own small groups and octet.
More recently, he toured and recorded with Ahmad Jamal—
and was the only sax plyer to do so.
Dizzy’s Club: 5/24-5/29
ANTONIO CIACCA BIG BAND
Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola: October 8-9
JALC.org/dccc
Hailing from Italy, pianist, composer, producer Antonio
Ciacca has performed and or recorded with Art Farmer,
James Moody, Lee Konitz, Johnny Griffin, Mark Murphy,
Dave Liebman, and Steve Grossman - with whom he
studied for three years in Italy. Ciacca performed with
Steve Lacy’s quartet for seven years beginning in 1997,
and later established a long time association performing
with Benny Golson. His association with Wynton Marsalis
led to his position serving as Director of Programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center beginning
in 2007.
SCOTT ROBINSON
Jazz Standard: October 24
www.JazzStandard.net
Scott Robinson, saxophonist, composer arranger, has performed with Buck Clayton, Ruby
Braff, Lionel Hampton, Maria Schneider, Mel
Lewis, Anthony Braxton and many others, in
addition to the New York City Opera. He appears on some 200 CDs during the more than 25 years that he has been
a professional, after earning a degree at Berklee College of Music and
moving to New York. Known for his work on baritone saxophone with
Schneider, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and other big bands, he maintains his primary voice is the tenor sax.
RANDY WESTON
www.utasi.org, 718-273-5610
Staten Island Jazz Festival 25
Saturday October 20, 2PM-7PM
Snug Harbor Music Hall, 1000 Richmond Terrace
Influenced heavily by Thelonious Monk, Weston is a classically-trained, pianist who has prominently incorporated
African elements into his creations, and counts Basie,
Tatum and Ellington as mentors. Well known for his compositions that have been prolifically recorded by a who’s
who of jazz artists, notably “Hi-Fly”, he has had an expansive career as pianist, composer, and bandleader. He has
performed and recorded with notables such as Kenny
Dorham, Cecil Payne, Booker Ervin and many others. His
latest album is released on Motema Music.
JIMMY HEATH
86th Birthday Celebration
Blue Note: 10/23 - 28
BlueNote.net
Earning the nickname “Little Bird” in the late 1940s50s because of the influence of Charlie Parker while
playing with Howard McGhee and Dizzy Gillespie,
Heath is a formidable composer, arranger, saxophonist. He briefly joined Miles Davis’s group in
1959, replacing John Coltrane. In the 1970s he
formed the Heath Brothers with his brothers bassist Percy and drummer Albert. Heath has
recorded numerous albums as a sideman and leader. In the 1980s, he joined the faculty of the
Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and led the creation of the Jazz Program. He
is an NEA Jazz Master.
LIBBY YORK
www.metropolitanroom.com
Travelin’ Light
The Metropolitan Room, 10/19, 9:30 PM
Recently named one of the 50 most influential Delawareans of
the past 50 years by Delaware Today Magazine for her career
as a restaurateur, vocalist Libby York is a women of many
talents, out to disprove F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous assertion
that “There are no second acts in American lives.” A cool and
inventive vocalist, York is one of the foremost interpreters of the
Great American Songbook. Accompanied by cornetist Warren
Vache, pianist John DiMartino, bassist James Cammack and
drummer Greg Sergo, York brings her new show, “Travelin’
Light” to the Metropolitan Room for an evening of stylish and cosmopolitan jazz.
JASON ROBINSON
www,thefirehousespace.org
With Dave Ballou, James Ilgenfritz and George Schuller
The Firehouse Space, 10/13, 8:00 PM
Artists, Music Businesses & Organizations:
Influence the jazz world and way
beyond with your messages, photos
and videos via Jazz NewsWire’s
E-BLASTS & PRESS RELEASES ONLINE
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Lists & Leads to Power Your Business & Your Future
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www.JazzNewsWire.com
60
Jazz Inside-2012-10_060 ...
page 2
Continuing in the tradition of the piano-less quartet, the saxophone and
trumpet front line of Jason Robinson and Dave Ballou along with the
bass/drum back line of James Ilgenfritz and George Schuller offer up a
heavy does of sonic inventiveness as they glide through unexpected
musical terrain, wrangling together wildly different grooves and soundscapes, lassoing melodies and rhythms in one fell swoop. Schuller also
appears on Robinson’s new CD Tiresian Symmetry, his 7th as a leader,
just out on the Cuneiform label. Based on the dichotomous nature of the
mythological Tiresias, the album’s richly suggestive harmonic and metrical
relationships elicit a wide array of responses, but ultimately listeners find their own sense of order and
meaning amidst the sumptuous sounds. It’s Robinson’s most expansive project yet.
WILLEM BREUKER Kollektief
shapeshifterlab.com
Willem Breuker - 45 Years Composing His World Tribute
Shapeshifter Lab, 10/4, 8:00 and 9:30 PM
“
“
In a final panorama of the work of its late leader, the internationally acclaimed Willem Breuker Kollektief celebrates the
strength and timelessness of Breuker’s music with a 7-city
tour. One of the most striking and versatile makers of
“people’s music,” Breuker was a jazz and improvised music
innovator who played a unique role in the Dutch and international music scene for over four
decades. At ShapeShifter Lab, The Kollektief - including many of the original members -pays a
final homage to its instigator, applying its musical experience to a broad overview of works by
Breuker, written in various eras and including material never performed before. The group
combines musical precision with great fun. Don’t miss this one.
Magenta
Yellow
Black
Cyan
He’s available now! Call Steve’s cell at 630-865-6849.
THE Worldwide Resource for
Drumming Professionals | Hobbyists
Studios | Collectors | Schools
Personal service, seasoned expertise, and an extensive and exciting
inventory of high-end custom drums,
vintage drums, cymbals and accessories
make Maxwell’s THE place for professional
drummers and drum lovers around the
world. Come visit our anchor store in
Manhattan, our new site near Chicago, or
just explore the many sound, photo files,
and videos on our website. You’ll discover
why Maxwell’s is the go-to resource
for a growing community of working
musicians, collectors, studios, producers,
engineers, schools, and universities.
www.maxwelldrums.com
Serving the
Community of
Professional
Drummers and
Drum Lovers
Midtown Manhattan 723 Seventh Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019 Ph: 212-730-8138 Hours: 11–7 M–F; 11–6 Sat
Iroquois Center 1163 E. Ogden Avenue, #709
Naperville, IL 60563 Ph: 630-778-8060 Hours: 11–6 Fri; 10–5 Sat
Additional hours by appointment.
•N
ew and Custom Drums—The
finest 21st century, American-made
drums including Craviotto (world’s
largest dealer), Gretsch USA, Ludwig
Legacy Series, Maxwell Drums, and
select boutique manufacturers
•V
intage Drums—From the 20s to the
70s, the finest vintage selection you’ll find
anywhere for rare finishes, collector sets,
and celebrity/players’ sets
•C
ymbals—Fantastic inventory of
vintage A and K Zildjian cymbals, along
with selection of new instruments from
Bosphorus, Istanbul Agop, Zildjian,
Sabian, Amedia, Paiste, Dream,
Ottaviano, and more
•A
ccessories—Comprehensive stock of
sticks, heads, and hardware
•M
useum—Showcase of rare and historic
drum sets and snare drums
•P
ractice Space & Teaching Studio—
Drum set practice space rented on an
hourly basis in our New York store
and expert instruction at Ron Tierno’s
long-standing teaching studio, now
located in our shop (646-831-2083/
www.nydrumlessons.com)
•K
nowledge and Community—
Expert advice and
interaction with
other practitioners/
colleagues offer
you a place to grow
your unique sound
•F
ull Service
Repair—Including expert restoration
of vintage instruments
WORLD’S FINEST JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT
october 2012
CHUSEOK
YOUNGJOO SONG
& SANGMIN LEE
JOHN SCOFIELD TRIO
FT. STEVE SWALLOW & BILL STEWART
10/2 - 7
10/1
RAY GELATO
10/8
GRP 30TH ANNIVERSARY
FT. DAVE GRUSIN, LEE RITENOUR
& DIANE SCHUUR
10/9 - 14
GADI LEHAVI
10/15
IMANI UZURI
10/22
BANN
SEAMUS BLAKE, JAY ANDERSON,
OZ NOY, ADAM NUSSBAUM
10/29
DIZZY GILLESPIETM ALUMNI ALL-STARS
FT. PAQUITO D’RIVERA & CYRUS CHESTNUT
10/16 - 21
JIMMY HEATH 86H BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATION
10/23 - 28
BUIKA
10/30, 11/1 - 2

PDF - Jazz Inside Magazine

Transcription

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