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Last Updated: 12/5/2009

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08 Nov 08 Saturday 3:50 PM

Category: Music
Enter the Jazz Icons "Series 3" 8-DVD Giveaway
source: www.AllAboutJazz.com




Bill Evans All About Jazz readers are invited to enter the Jazz Icons Series 3 8-DVD set giveaway starting today. We'll select one lucky winner at the conclusion of the contest on December 6th.

Click here to enter the contest

All contestants will join the Bill Evans @ AAJ fan network and the winner will be chosen from that list.

Good luck!
Your Friends at Jazz Icons


The third Jazz Icons series consists of seven titles and a bonus disc:

  • Cannonball Adderley
  • Bill Evans
  • Lionel Hampton
  • Roland Kirk
  • Oscar Peterson
  • Sonny Rollins
  • Nina Simone
  • Series 3 Boxed Gift Set (All 7 for the price of 6-plus an exclusive bonus disc!)

Each DVD features a 24-page booklet with an essay written by an authoritative jazz historian as well as rare and unseen photos. Jazz Icons DVDs are produced with the full support and cooperation of the artists or their estates, who, in most cases, are contributing rare personal photographs, memorabilia, and forewords. .. -->-

Reelin' In The Years Productions, producers of the GRAMMY nominated American Folk Blues Festival Series series, bring the same care and dedication to the Jazz Icons series as they have shown in their other critically acclaimed releases, including Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding, The Temptations: Get Ready- Definitive Performances 1965-1972, Muddy Waters: Classic Concerts and Marvin Gaye: The Real Thing In Performance 1964-1981. --->

"Jazz Icons is doing for jazz what Criterion Collection has done for classic and important films." --JazzTimes

Brought to you by Reelin' in the Years Productions and Naxos.

 
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08 Nov 08 Saturday 3:15 PM

Category: Music



If you didn't get a chance to buy 2008 Jazz Fest memorabilia,
NOW's THE TIME!   The Detroit Jazz Fest online store is offering super discounts in time for the holidays.

Go to http://jazzfestwear.com/ for special deals on shirts, mugs, caps and other merchandise commemorating another great chapter in the storied history of the Detroit Jazz Fest.

And stay tuned for announcements about the upcoming 30th Annual Detroit International Jazz Festival.

 
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08 Nov 08 Saturday 3:00 PM

Category: Music
Fred Hersch Trio Performs
 Tribute to Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"
 at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, December 6
source: www.AllAboutJazz.com



Fred Hersch "There isn't a false note—technically or emotionally…a tribute to Hersch's unerring ability to play music that is as intelligent as it is touching, as virtuosic as it is swinging." —Los Angeles Times


Prolific jazz pianist-composer Fred Hersch and his Trio celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' album Kind of Blue and the pianists, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, who made this best-selling jazz album legendary on Saturday, December 6, 2008 at 7:30pm in Perelman Theater.

"A poet of a pianist" (New Yorker), Hersch's lush musical soundscapes have blended jazz elements with the refinement of classical music, earning him a place among the foremost jazz artists in the world. His trio, in various incarnations, has performed at major clubs and festivals worldwide for more than two decades. Bassist Joe Martin and drummer Nasheet Waits will join Hersch on stage to recreate works from this seminal album.

An intermission Artist Chat led by Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming and Education Mervon Mehta, along with the evening's performers will explore the music heard in concert as well as their own Kind of Blue thoughts, memories and riffs.

This is the second performance in the Jazz Up Close: Kind of Blue Turns 50 Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2008-09 season. The next concert in the series will be Randy Brecker honoring Miles Davis on Saturday, February 7, 2009.

Tickets for Fred Hersch Trio are $32 and $38 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.

A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.

Ohio native Fred Hersch is widely acclaimed on the international jazz scene for his ability to reinvent the jazz standard repertoire while creating his own body of provocative, original works. Recognition of his many accomplishments include a prestigious Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 2003 for composition, a Rockefeller Fellowship for a composition residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy, as well as three Grammy® nominations. Hersch's compositional efforts and performance collaborations with artists such as pianists Jeffrey Kahane and Christopher O'Riley, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and sopranos Rene Fleming and Dawn Upshaw span a wide variety of musical settings. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across the U.S. and Europe including the Pittsburgh, Utah, Vermont and Santa Rosa Symphonies; the Toronto Sinfonietta, the BBC Radio Orchestra, Hungary's Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra and the Sinfonietta Caracas of Venezuela.

Hersch has recorded more than two dozen albums as a solo artist or bandleader, and appears on over 100 recording projects as a duo collaborator, sideman or featured soloist. Recent releases include This We Know with alto saxophonist Michael Moore in June 2008; Night & the Music (2007) with his trio; as well as Concert Music 2001-2006 (2007), his first recorded compilation of classical compositions, featuring pianists Blair McMillen and Natasha Paremski, the Gramercy Trio and cellist Dorothy Lawson. In 2005, Hersch debuted Leaves of Grass, a large-scale setting of Walt Whitman's poetry, performed by vocalists Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry with an instrumental octet.

Joe Martin is one of the most sought-after bassists on the current New York City jazz scene. Known for his warm sound, harmonic flexibility and lyrical solos, he has performed with a diverse range of musicians. Most recently, he was an integral member of Kurt Rosenwinkel's band, documented on a forthcoming live recording from the Village Vanguard. He has also performed with Andy Bey, David Berkman, Vinicius Cantuaria, Bill Charlap, Art Farmer, Aaron Goldberg, Jon Gordon, Ari Hoenig, Joel Frahm, Ethan Iverson, Guillermo Klein, Ivan Lins, Lionel Loueke and Mingus Big Band, among many others. His debut album, Passage (2002), features tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Kevin Hays and percussionist Jorge Rossy.

American drummer, percussionist and educator Nasheet Waits began his musical studies with his father, Frederick Waits, as well as percussionists Michael Carvin and Max Roach, who later hired him as a member of the percussion ensemble M'Boom. In 1992, Waits joined alto saxophonist Antonio Hart's first quintet as the percussion chair. He has contributed to various bands led by jazz pianist and composer Andrew Hill, as well as jazz pianist Jason Moran's Bandwagon. Waits has performed and recorded with Geri Allen, Hamiett Bluiett, Jaki Byard, Ron Carter, Steve Coleman, Joe Lovano, Jackie McLean, Joshua Redman, Wallace Roney, Jacky Terrason and Mark Turner, among others.

KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI

Saturday, December 6, 2008 | 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Jazz Up Close Series

Fred Hersch Trio

Fred Hersch, piano
Joe Martin, bass
Nasheet Waits, drums



 
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08 Nov 08 Saturday 2:20 PM

Category: Music
"Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz
 Greats" from 50s, 60s & 70s [Book]
source: www.AllAboutJazz.com





An unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at jazz legends

By Pannonica de Koenigswarter, Nica de Koenigswarter (Photographer), Gary Giddins (Foreword by), Nadine de Koenigswarter

In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, Pannonica de Koenigswarter, known as Nica, was a constant and benevolent presence on the thriving New York jazz scene. Known as the Jazz Baroness (she was born into the wealthy Rothschild family and later married a French aristocrat) she befriended such giants as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Barry Harris, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, and many more. She inspired over twenty jazz compositions, bailed musicians out of jail, and even acted as a booking agent.

She also collected wishes. Over the course of a decade, Koenigswarter asked three hundred musicians what their three wishes in life were, jotting them all down in a notebook. At the same time she took hundreds of candid photographs, saving them all. In Three Wishes, Koenigswarter's forays into the psyches and lives of these legendary jazz artists are made available in America for the first time.

With a foreword by celebrated jazz critic Gary Giddins, and a introduction from Nica's granddaughter, Nadine de Koenigswarter, providing rare insights into the mysterious baroness's life, this funny, eclectic, and moving compilation is a uniquely intimate look into the immortals of the classic era of jazz, and a must-have for any fan or aficionado.

Format: Paperback, 317pp
Publisher: Harry N Abrams
Pub. Date: October 2008

About the Author

Pannonica de Koenigswarter, daughter of Charles and Rozsika Rothschild, was married to the Baron Jules de Koenigswarter, a renowned freedom fighter in the French resistance, before she moved to New York City, where she emerged as a major patron of the Jazz scene. Nadine de Koenigswarter, Nica's granddaughter, is a multimedia visual artist living in Paris and West Africa. Gary Giddins is an award-winning jazz critic and author. He writes columns about music for Jazz Times and about film for the New York Sun.

 
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07 Nov 08 Friday 4:40 PM

Category: Music
If I Had a Saxophone: Sonny Fortune, Al Foster,
 James Moody & Hank Jones, Lee Konitz, & Bob Mover
Written by C. Michael Bailey
source: www.AllAboutJazz.com
7 November 2008


instrument each year are legion. Here are five of the finer ones.

Sonny Fortune
You and the Night and the Music
18th & Vine Records
2008

Can the ancient warhorse "Sweet Georgia Brown" still be relevant as a jazz instrumental vehicle? Alto saxophonist Sonny Fortune answers this question with commanding authority on You and the Night and the Music, a quartet outing he shares with pianist George Cables, bassist Chip Jackson, and drummer Steve Johns. Just as Anita O'Day did with the 1925 Pinkard/Casey tune in 1958 at Newport, Fortune takes the tune and detonates it at a nuclear tempo showing why  trumpeter Miles Davis was happy to have him in his band in the early 1970s.

This recital has Fortune in a standard quartet anchored by the exquisite Cables. Fortune populates the album with noted standards given his own personal and unique treatment. Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" is performed on flute to great effect. But it is Fortune's dry, reedy alto that steals the show. "You The Night And The Music" and "Charade" are given full throated treatment by the company. Like John Coltrane before him, it is hard to say that Fortune's tone is "pretty." It is immediately identifiable, and by the uniqueness, essential. Fortune may be more effective on up tempo tunes, but cannot be counted out on slower ballads.

Fortune spins Dizzy Gillespie's "Bebop" in such a way that the frenetic melody/harmony is brought into crystalline focus. Bebop (as a genre) slowed down slightly may no longer be bebop, but it is nevertheless educational. You and the Night and the Music is a nice jazz history according to Sonny Fortune. The saxophonist's chops remain impressive, and his choice in sidemen impeccable. This is a solid outing by a solid veteran.

Visit Sonny Fortune on the Web.

Al Foster Quartet
Love, Peace, and Jazz
Jazz Eyes Records
2008

Hold on. Al Foster is a drummer, not a saxophone player. So why is he here? Well, because of his reedsman Eli DeGibri and the choice of Wayne Shorter's "ESP" for this set. Foster was a Miles Davis alum during that trend setter's early electric period. Here, however, Foster is in acoustic climes, though they sound more like middle period Coltrane than Davis'  great quintets.

Recorded at New York City's Village Vanguard April 17-18, 2007, Love, Peace, and Jazz plays like a modern jazz recital post Davis' Kind of Blue  (Columbia, 1959) with the exception of the inestimable Blue Mitchell's "Fungii Mama," that trumpeter's answer to Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas." Eli DeGibri plays with a thin powerful tone that never overwhelms the band. His Treatment of Shorter's "ESP" is insightful as is his approach to Bill Evans' "Blue in Green" (incorrectly credited to Davis on the CD sleeve).

Foster allows his band to play unencumbered by his leadership. He is a generous band leader with more than enough chops to overpower his band mates. But he avoids this excess, ensuring that pianist Kevin Hays has his share of solo space, as well as bassist Douglas Weiss. The drummer thumps on "Fungii Mama," the rocking conclusion to this fine concert disc.

Visit Al Foster on the Web.

The James Moody and Hank Jones Quartet
Our Delight
IPO Records
2008

Are there any other two jazz musicians whose presence on a recording gives it  more urbanity and class than pianist Hank Jones and reed player James Moody? Hell, either one of them alone could rescue the most ill-conceived or misguided recording date. These are two elder statesmen (Jones born in 1918 and Moody born in 1925), among the last of the giants to be credited with making modern jazz modern jazz.

That said, this fortuitous meeting honors two other modern jazz giants, the late pianist/composer  Tadd Dameron and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Anointed the "romanticist" of bebop by no less an authority than tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, Dameron was responsible for such jazz standards as "Our Delight," "Lady Bird," "Good Bait," and "Soul Trane," all of which are represented on Our Delight, Moody and Jones'  first recording together. Dameron's music is elastic. It is pliable in such a way inviting different interpretations.

Jones and Moody dispatch the latter's former employer with loose, warm readings of "Birk's Works," "Con Alma," and "Woody 'N You." However, the centerpiece of the collection is "Body and Soul." Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins' 1939 signature piece, the direct jazz descendant for Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues," Jones and Moody show why and how this piece of music is so important to jazz, just as they themselves are.

Visit James Moody and Hank Jones on the Web.

Lee Konitz and Minsarah
Deep Lee
Enja Records
2008

Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz (born 1927) is only one of two living musicians out of the original twelve who took part in Miles Davis' 1949-50 "Birth of the Cool" nonet sessions (bassist Nelson Boyd, born 1928, is the other). Had Konitz done nothing else, his place in jazz history would have been secured by this association. But this is not all Konitz has done over the past 60 years. He has had notable associations with pianist Lennie Tristano (along with tenor saxophone player Warne Marsh). Konitz developed a unique alto style remarkably uninfluenced by his contemporary Charlie Parker. Along with Art Pepper, (whom he influenced), Konitz established the "dry ice" alto tone so prevalent on West Coast jazz recordings in the 1950s and 1960s.

Fifty years later, Konitz still has this tone, perhaps even more stripped down. It is unemotionally organic and intelligently informed. On Deep Lee, Konitz joins notable Berklee College trio, Minsarah (Hebrew for "prism") for a scoot through mostly originals by the band with a single standard sprinkled in. An apt band title as, with Konitz, the group effectively breaks jazz compositions into their component parts, making them (with time) four dimensional and capable of being entered and exited and inspected aurally from the inside out.

The disc opens with a three-part jazz suite composed by pianist Florian Weber. The first part, titled "Invention" is an ascending bit of new age, made boisterous by the drumming of Ziv Ravitz. "Chorale" is a slightly dissonant song made nervous by bassist Jeff Dennison's arco playing, resolving into the final part, "Canon," which calms the anxiety of "Chorale" without eliminating it completely. Konitz's tone is spare with breathy vibrato well captured sonically. Konitz's only contribution, "Deep Lee," displays the saxophonist's mastery of his alto craft. A nominal ballad, the piece is reminiscent of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words crossed with Harold Arlen.

Much of the music on Deep Lee is stripped-down post-modern, a deconstruction of composition into its elemental parts. This is not the mere post-bop of Miles Davis' second great quintet and beyond. This is something further developed than that. The only standard, "Stella By Starlight," illustrates this with a loosened harmonic tether that might make the listener think of pianist Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard, 1961. Deep Lee emerges as perhaps the finest small-ensemble jazz release this year.

Visit Lee Konitz on the Web.

Bob Mover
It Amazes Me
Zoho Records
2008

Bob Mover is Chet Baker with a saxophone, without the dope, the trumpet and the apathy. Mover and Baker have the same timbreless vocal style, devoid of all vibrato. It is an oddly androgynous style that is equally oddly appealing. Just as Baker's trumpet style was a reflection of his vocal style, so Mover and his saxophone style. "Crooner" is how Mover would have been described back in the day. The connection with Baker is no surprise.  Mover played saxophone with the trumpeter during the mid 1970s to '80s.  I will stop short of saying that Mover has a "pretty" voice. It is distinctive and interesting and with that going for a singer, the voice need not be pretty. His sax tone is light and informed, cool in that looking-through-cigarette-smoke sort of way.

Mover's repertoire is as interesting as his voice and saxophone. It Amazes Me is an eclectic mix of vocal pieces: mainstream jazz ("How Little We Know," "Stairway to the Stars"), Latin-based ("Ti Mi Delirio"), and the less than standard "standard" ("Deep in a Dream," "It  Amazes Me"). This disc revolves around a core of selections. The lengthy "The Underdog" displays the best in both Mover's voice and saxophone. It is a slow ballad that sounds constantly in danger of losing the momentum to reach the coda. Just as the slow blues is one of the hardest styles to play, so is the slow ballad. Content-wise, "The Underdog" is a dark song like "One More for the Road." Given the slow tempo, the piece is rendered languid, the matter-of-fact admission that the singer is not what he or she expected remains unrealized.

Speaking of darkness, "Deep in a Dream," long associated with Baker, is impressively performed by Mover, who like Baker instills the piece with a soul fatigue, an opium dream soundscape that virally infects the listener with a warm narcotic glow. Mover's lone composition, "Erkin," allows the saxophonist/singer to show off is talent for the former in a proto-bop setting. The piece is introduced with a bass obligato that gives way to a duet between Mover and tenor saxophonist Igor Butman. The two trade solo space in a swinging and satisfying chess match. Finally, the Rodgers and Hammerstein ballad "People Will Say We're In Love," taken at a fast clip, really details Mover's tenor saxophone playing, which draws equally from Stan Getz and Dexter Gordon. Lovers of mainstream jazz, meet Bob Mover.

Visit Bob Mover on the Web.


Tracks and Personnel

You and the Night and the Music

Tracks: Sweet Georgia Brown; You and the Night and the Music; Charade; 'Round Midnight; Besame Mucho; Love Song; The End of a Love Affair; For Duke and Cannon; BeBop.

Personnel: Sonny Fortune: alto saxophone, flute; George Cables: piano; Chip Jackson: double bass; Steve Johns: drums.

Love, Peace, and Jazz

Tracks: The Chief; ESP; Blue Green; Peter's Mood; Brandyn; Fungii Mama.

Personnel: Al Foster: drums; Kevin Hays: piano; Eli DeGibri: saxophone; Douglas Weiss: bass.

Our Delight

Tracks: Our Delight; Birk's Works; Con Alma; Lady Bird; Eternal Triangle; Body and Soul; Good Bait; Darben The Red Foxx; Soul Trane; Woody'n You; Old Folks; Moody's Groove.

Personnel: James Moody: tenor saxophone, flute; Hank Jones: piano; Todd Coolman: bass; Adam Nussbaum: drums.

Deep Lee

Tracks: Three-Part Suite No. 1 Invention; Three-Part Suite No. 2 Chorale; Three-Part Suite No. 3 Canon; DeepLee, Stella By Starlight; Cactus; As the Smoke Clears; W 86th; See the World for the First Time; Color; Spiders.

Personnel: Lee Konitz: alto saxophone; Florian Weber: piano; Jeff Denson: bass; Ziv Ravitz: drums.

It Amazes Me

Tracks: How Little We Know; I Believe In You; The Underdog; (Tu Mi) Delirio; Erkin; Stairway To The Stars; Sometime Ago; Deep In A Dream; People Will Say We're In Love; It Amazes Me.

Personnel: Bob Mover: alto & tenor sax; Kenny Barron: piano; Dennis Irwin: bass; Steve Williams: drums; Reg Schwager: guitar (tracks 4, 6, 7, 9, 10); Igor Butman: tenor sax (5).

 
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07 Nov 08 Friday 4:00 PM

Category: Music
Live Joe Zawinul Album to Be Released
in February 2009
Written by Jeff Tamarkin
source: www.JazzTimes.com
6 November 2008


75, a two-disc live album by the late Joe Zawinul, recorded in concert in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 7, 2007, is set for release on the Heads Up label on February 24. 75 also includes a track recorded in Hungary in August 2007, where Zawinul is joined by saxophonist and Weather Report co-founder Wayne Shorter. Zawinul, best known for his work with that group and his own Zawinul Syndicate, died on September 11, 2007, at age 75 after a battle with cancer.

World music fans will appreciate the performances of Moroccan vocalist Aziz Sahmaoui, Mauritius-born bassist Linley Marthe, drummer and kalimba player Paco Sery from the Ivory Coast, Belgian vocalist Sabine Kabongo (from Zap Mama), and guitarist-singer Alegre Correa and percussionist Jorge Bezzera, both from Brazil.

"In a Silent Way," from Zawinul's 2007 Heads Up release, Brown Street, won a Grammy Award in February 2008 for Best Instrumental Arrangement (the track was arranged by Vince Mendoza).

Photo by Matjaz Vrecko


 
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07 Nov 08 Friday 3:40 PM

Category: Music
Using jazz to change kids' lives
 ~ Wynton Marsalis on CNN
source: www.CNN.com





Marsalis


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis knows how important education is for youth, but what feeds their minds and souls, he says, often lies beyond traditional classroom walls.

"The most essential thing for the development of kids and their understanding of the world are those things they do that's not school related -- just any extracurricular activity," says the Pulitzer Prize winner. "When you have activities you learn at a young age, you can do whatever you put your mind to!"

Marsalis, 47, co-founded Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. As part of its goal to inspire and cultivate jazz audiences, Jazz at Lincoln Center sponsors youth events, including an annual nationwide high school jazz band competition and festival, a Band Director's Academy, and a popular concert series for kids.

"Jazz helps younger kids, especially, to connect with their innermost feelings and learn that [there's] nothing wrong with being real," says Marsalis.

To Marsalis, jazz performer and instructor Davey Yarborough does just that. Yarborough provides Washington youth the opportunity and guidance to nurture their musical talents -- not only as an educator at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, but also at his nonprofit jazz arts institute.

Marsalis met Yarborough in the 1980s during one of his performance trips to the nation's capitol and was struck by Yarborough's dedication to the students.

"I will see him at events, concerts.... He always has kids with him," says Marsalis. "He teaches all of his kids with the same intensity and feeling, and gives them that same feeling of specialness. It's something that can't be contrived." Video Watch Marsalis describe how Yarborough inspires young people »


Yarborough

Yarborough, 55, says his motivation and inspiration stems, in part, from tragedy.

After the 1988 murder of one of his Duke Ellington students, Anthony Nash, in a drug trafficking incident, Yarborough decided to create a program geared toward music enrichment and mentorship during off-school hours.

"To have an element of the street take a student that was so bright and so promising was a trigger for me," recalls Yarborough. "I knew all the students [as] family and I want to know what's going on as much as I can with the students I am working with."

Yarborough established a free summer-school music program at Duke Ellington to provide his students with a "safe space" where they could develop their skills "on their time."

But when some school music programs in his district were cut, Yarborough noticed that many other students who had a desire to learn an instrument no longer had an opportunity to play or nurture their talent.

"The realization that I could only cater to the students at Ellington spurred the idea of 'OK, we need to take this into the community,' " says Yarborough.

After obtaining donated space in his local D.C. church, Yarborough and his wife -- jazz vocalist Esther Williams -- created the nonprofit Washington Jazz Arts Institute.

Designed to serve those students who were "left out" by the school system or "left behind" by competitive Duke Ellington auditions, says Yarborough, the institute provides young local musicians with free jazz instruction, lectures, professional workshops and paid performance opportunities. They also have a mentoring system of professional artists.

"I wanted to really be able to see the students develop," says Yarborough. "Once a young person decides they want to be a musician, such as I did in the third grade, they have a support system that takes them all the way through their career."

Since its inception in 1998, more than 1,000 students have taken free music enrichment classes at the Washington Jazz Arts Institute.

"He loves those students," says Marsalis.

"There's no question that his kids have a much greater appreciation of jazz, but larger than [that], they have an appreciation of other people and of humanity, and what we can all do if we invest in each other. They learn [that] from being in his presence."
 
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07 Nov 08 Friday 2:20 PM

Category: Music
Jazz in New York City:
 7th November ~ 13th November 2008
Written by Nate Chinen
source: The New York Times
7 November 2008




Photo by Photoscream


JAZZ

Full reviews of recent jazz concerts: nytimes.com/music.

KARRIN ALLYSON (Wednesday and Thursday) Ms. Allyson seeks an aching sense of romance on her most recent album, "Imagina: Songs of Brasil" (Concord). It's neither the best showcase for her gifts as a singer nor the best Brazilian jazz effort around, but it radiates sincerity. (Through Nov. 16.) At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $40, with a $10 minimum. (Nate Chinen)

MICHAËL ATTIAS QUARTET (Thursday) A saxophonist and composer with a taste for inquisitive frictions, Michaël Attias presents some recently conceived music for a group featuring Russ Lossing on piano, John Hebert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums. At 10 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

DARCY JAMES ARGUE'S SECRET SOCIETY (Sunday) Led by the serious-minded composer Darcy James Argue, this well-stocked ensemble juxtaposes postwar big-band conventions with ideas borrowed from indie-rock, classical Minimalism and other idiomatic regions. At 7:30 p.m., Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, near Bleecker Street, East Village, (212) 614-0505, bowerypoetry.com; cover, $15. (Chinen)

BRUCE BARTH SEPTET (Thursday) As a pianist and composer, Bruce Barth prefers subtlety and fluency to any kind of flash. He celebrates his 50th birthday next week with this engagement; it begins as a showcase for a septet featuring Terell Stafford on trumpet, Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone and Adam Kolker on tenor saxophone, among others. (Through Nov. 15.) At 8, 10 and 11:30 p.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $30. (Chinen)

MARCO BENEVENTO GROUP (Saturday) "Invisible Baby" (Hyena), the sharp recent studio album by the keyboardist Marco Benevento, fleshes out a mandate of groove without feeling gimmicky or shrill. His group, a trio in this iteration, includes Reed Mathis on bass and Jon Fishman, of the jam band Phish, on drums. At 8 p.m., Drom, 85 Avenue A, near Fifth Street, East Village, (212) 777-1157, dromnyc.com; $17. (Chinen)

JOANNE BRACKEEN AND CECIL MCBEE (Friday and Saturday) Ms. Brackeen, a lyrical and well-traveled pianist, engages in modernistic duologue with Mr. McBee, a stalwart bassist. At 9:45 p.m., Knickerbocker Bar and Grill, 33 University Place, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 228-8490, knickerbockerbarandgrill.com; cover, $3 with dinner; two-drink minimum at the bar. (Chinen)

★ DON BYRON'S 50TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION (Thursday) This clarinetist, conceptualist and composer takes stock of his recorded output next week, opening with "Don Byron Plays the Music of Mickey Katz," based on his consequential Nonesuch release from 1993. Resurrecting a jazz-klezmer concept that no longer registers as quirkily exotic, he corrals a group that includes J. D. Parran on reeds, Uri Caine on piano and Todd Reynolds on violin. (Through Nov. 16.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25. (Chinen)

MICHEL CAMILO (Thursday) A percussive, often cathartic pianist, Mr. Camilo favors the Latin side of Latin jazz, though his skills extend to classical music. Inaugurating a Joyce Wein Series at Zankel Hall, he performs both styles in a solo setting and with his dynamic trio, which includes Charles Flores on bass and Dafnis Prieto on drums. At 8:30 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $34 and $44. (Chinen)

THE FOUR BAGS (Sunday) The instrumental palette of the Four Bags — Brian Drye on trombone, Jacob Garchik on accordion, Sean Moran on guitar and Mike McGinnis on reeds — suggests a contemporary species of chamber jazz. At 7 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

GEORGE GARZONE (Saturday) "The Music of George Garzone & the Triadic Chromatic Approach" is a new DVD full of performances as well as practical advice, though it's clear (even from the title) that the lay public isn't its target audience. This show, though pegged to the video's release, is another story: Mr. Garzone, a saxophonist of imposing knowledge and facility, will connect with his free-improvising trio, the Fringe, and two guests, the saxophonist Frank Tiber and the guitarist Christopher Crocco. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $8, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

GOLDEN BOY: THE MUSIC OF ART BLAKEY (Friday through Sunday) This tribute to one of the great jazz drummers features at least a couple of alumni of his long-running and locomotive band, the Jazz Messengers. (The trombonist Curtis Fuller and the saxophonist Craig Handy played in separate editions, more than 20 years apart.) But that isn't the sole attraction of a midsize group with Louis Hayes in the percussive chair. At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, (212) 582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com; cover, $35, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

★ MARY HALVORSON TRIO (Wednesday) Mary Halvorson, a young guitarist of increasing prominence in new-music circles, has a superb new debut, "Dragon's Head" (Firehouse 12), featuring this slippery trio, with the bassist John Hebert and the drummer Ches Smith. The band hasn't played together since the recording, making this both a release party and a reunion. At 8:30 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

FRED HERSCH TRIO + 2 (Tuesday) The pianist Fred Hersch brings his sharp and multifaceted compositional acumen to this ensemble, a version of the group that appears on his rewarding 2004 album, "Trio + 2" (Palmetto). His front line consists of Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone; the trio, meanwhile, includes John Hebert on bass and Richie Barshay on drums. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $25. (Chinen)

★ HANK JONES QUARTET (Wednesday and Thursday) The pianist Hank Jones, still sparkling at 90, represents a period of jazz erudition that still holds many secrets. He's likely to let one or two slip during this run, which includes a respectful conversational partner, the guitarist Russell Malone, along with the bassist Ray Drummond and the drummer Victor Lewis. (Through Nov. 16.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen)

JONATHAN KREISBERG GROUP (Friday and Saturday) Jonathan Kreisberg, a guitarist, has a crisp new album, "The South of Everywhere" (Mel Bay), that confirms his command of the post-bop language. Here he calls on the alto saxophonist Ben Van Gelder, the pianist Henry Hey, the bassist Matt Penman and the drummer Mark Ferber. At 10:30 p.m. and midnight, Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 252-5091, smallsjazzclub.com; cover, $20. (Chinen)

JAY LEONHART-WYCLIFFE GORDON QUARTET (Friday) The bassist Jay Leonhart and the trombonist Wycliffe Gordon recently made a swing-oriented album, "This Rhythm on My Mind" (Bluesback), featuring lighthearted vocals and droll lyrics from both artists. For this reunion gig they jointly lead a band with Ted Rosenthal on piano and Alvin Atkinson on drums. At 6:30 p.m., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, at 77th Street, (212) 873-3400, nyhistory.org; free. (Chinen)

DAVID LIEBMAN GROUP (Friday) An incantatory saxophonist and flutist working in the post-Coltrane idiom, David Liebman plays here with his longstanding quartet, consisting of Vic Juris on guitar, Tony Marino on bass and Marko Marcinko on drums. At 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 929-9883, 55bar.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)

JOE LOVANO QUINTET (Tuesday through Thursday) Joe Lovano has become one of the stalwart jazz saxophonists, partly by triangulating John Coltrane's harmonic inquiry, Ornette Coleman's off-kilter lyricism and Ben Webster's pathos. This quintet, which he also calls Us 5, includes James Weidman on piano, Esperanza Spalding on bass, Francisco Mela on percussion and Otis Brown III on drums. (Through Nov. 16.) At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

NURSERY SONG SWING (Friday and Saturday) Youth and whimsy are the subtexts of this concert featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and several precocious teenage musicians: the saxophonists Grace Kelly and Carl Majeau, and the violinist Jonathan Russell. Among the pieces on the program are children's songs and nursery rhymes, custom-arranged for the ensemble. At 8 p.m., Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 721-6500, jalc.org; $82.50 to $127.50. (Chinen)

ARTURO O'FARRILL AND CLAUDIA ACUÑA (Tuesday) "In These Shoes" (Zoho) is the new, collaborative effort from Mr. O'Farrill, a dynamic Latin-jazz pianist, and Ms. Acuña, a dramatic jazz vocalist. It's a lively album, though it could feel less cloying; the live setting will probably serve them better. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595 jalc.org; cover, $30, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen)

JOHN PIZZARELLI AND THE SWING SEVEN (Tuesday through Thursday) Mr. Pizzarelli maintains the same breezy persona as a guitarist and as a singer, and he has an expert crew here, including the trumpeter Tony Kadleck, the trombonist John Mosca and the pianist Ray Kennedy. (Through Nov. 15.) At 8:30 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $40 and $50, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

★ DJANGO REINHARDT FESTIVAL (Friday through Sunday) This salute to the immortal Gypsy guitarist features, among others, the Hot Club of Detroit, a group that puckishly upholds the Reinhardt spirit; the Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda (Friday); the tenor and soprano saxophonist Joel Frahm (Saturday); and the washboard specialist David Langlois (Sunday). At 8:30 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; cover, $35 and $45, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

BOZ SCAGGS (Monday and Tuesday) "Speak Low" (Decca) is a stab at the Great American Songbook by this well-tested rock and soul man, and it works better than most efforts: Mr. Scaggs has a nice feel for languor and wry regret, and he trusts his modest range as a singer. Here he revisits the album's premise and re-enlists its arranger, Gil Goldstein, on piano; among the others on hand are the multireedist Paul McCandless and the bassist Steve Rodby. At 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592, bluenote.net; cover, $55 at tables, $40 at the bar, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)

JESSE STACKEN TRIO (Saturday) On "That That" (Fresh Sound New Talent), a recent album, the pianist Jesse Stacken presents a program of original pieces showcasing his slippery rapport with the bassist Eivind Opsvik and the drummer Jeff Davis, who rejoin him here. At 8 p.m., Douglass Street Music Collective, 295 Douglass Street, near Third Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn, (212) 631-5882, jessestacken.com; cover, $5. (Chinen)

STATESMEN OF JAZZ MEET NEXT GENERATION ALL STARS (Thursday) This awkwardly named installment of the Highlights in Jazz series does enact a generational exchange, as seasoned veterans like the guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and the pianist John Bunch interact with up-and-comers like the trumpeter Theo Croker and the pianist Aaron Diehl. At 8 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $35; $32.50 for students. (Chinen)

RORY STUART QUARTET (Friday) Rory Stuart is a guitarist with a lithe style and a quartet that features the perceptive and reclusive Mark Shim on tenor saxophone. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village, (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $12; $9 for students; with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen)

JACKY TERRASSON TRIO (Friday and Saturday) About a decade ago the pianist Jacky Terrasson led one of jazz's fresher-sounding acoustic piano trios, distinguished not only by his fluid pianism but also by an irresistible sense of play. He leads a different but highly promising new group here, with Ben Williams on bass and Jamire Williams (they are not related) on drums. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $30. (Chinen)

YOSVANY TERRY QUINTET (Friday, Saturday and Wednesday) Yosvany Terry, a saxophonist and percussionist, chases post-bop ideals without abandoning the pull of his native Cuba. His band has Yunior Terry, his brother, on bass; Ambrose Akinmusire or Mike Rodriguez on trumpet; Osmany Paredes on piano; and Ernesto Simpson on drums. (The Thursday set is a double bill with Eldar, a dazzlingly proficient young pianist.) Friday and Saturday at 8, 10 and 11:30 p.m., Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street, (212) 864-6662, smokejazz.com; cover, $30. Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; cover, $20. (Chinen)

★ HENRY THREADGILL'S ZOOID (Tuesday and Wednesday) The august composer and multireedist Henry Threadgill has always nursed a fascination with timbre. These days he indulges it best in this ensemble, which finds his flute and alto saxophone in a tangle with Liberty Ellman's acoustic guitar, José Dávila's tuba and trombone, Tsutomu Takeishi's bass and Elliot Humberto Kavee's drums. At 9 and 10:30, Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $20; $10 for members. (Chinen)

TURTLE ISLAND STRING QUARTET (Sunday) This ensemble, which won a 2005 Grammy for best classical crossover album, draws here from a jazz-related recent CD, "A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane" (Telarc). At 3 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $30 and $35; $20 for members. (Chinen)

MYRON WALDEN (Saturday and Monday) Mr. Walden, an alto saxophonist with a soulfully searching voice, has recently started working with a group he calls Southern-Fried, with Hammond B-3 organ and drums. Saturday at 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; $10 for members. Monday at 10:30 p.m. and midnight, Smalls, 183 West 10th Street, West Village, (212) 252-5091, smallsjazzclub.com; cover, $20. (Chinen)

JEFF (TAIN) WATTS AND VIGIL (Thursday) The polymorphically propulsive drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts features his own compositions in this group, which includes Yosvany Terry on saxophones and chekere, David Kikoski on piano and Charnett Moffett on bass. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; cover, $15; $10 for members. (Chinen)
 
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06 Nov 08 Thursday 3:45 PM
"Cal Tjader Live at the Monterey Jazz
 Festival 1958-1980 " Reviewed on AAJ
Written by David Rickert
source:
5 November 2008



 Cal Tjader began his career as a stalwart member of the West Coast jazz scene, swinging his vibes through breezy versions of standards with the likes of Vince Guaraldi and Stan Getz. Along the way he delved into Latin music and after that it colored almost everything he did. His progression as an artist is explored on this compilation of performances from the Monterey Jazz Festivals, spanning the time period from 1958 to 1980.

The first five tracks feature the entire performance from 1958 featuring Cal Tjader's working group running through what would be nondescript standards except for the dynamic clarinet of Buddy Defranco, who joins them for the first two numbers. The remainder of the program adds Mongo Santamaria on congas for a pair of Latin numbers that show the beginnings of the influence that Tjader would take to the bank for the rest of his career. Nothing revolutionary here, just straightforward cool jazz. Even the Latin numbers don't fan the flames too much.

The rest of the CD skims the cream off of the top of Tjader's other performances. For "Manteca" Tjader's group is joined by an antsy Gillespie and Clark Terry who cut everyone. "Afro Blue," a number that Tjader made his own more than John Coltrane, gets a fine rendition with electric piano that has a dated charm. Jerome Richardson contributes moody flute. The last two numbers are standards that receive the Tjader treatment with clattering percussion behind sonorous vibes and show how Tjader was able to manipulate standards to suit his interests.

All of the selections, with the exception of "Summertime," are previously unreleased performances recorded in terrific quality. Tjader is a neglected jazz artist whose artistry on the vibes was overshadowed by Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton. While not quite as swinging as those two greats, Tjader was more than able to turn in a satisfying performance.

Cal Tjader at All About Jazz.
Visit Cal Tjader on the web.


Track listing: Introduction; Summertime; Now's The Time; Cubano Chant; Tumbao; Manteca; Afro Blue; If You Could See Me Now; Speak Low.

Personnel: Cal Tjader: vibes; Vince Guaraldi: piano; Al McKibbon: bass; Willie Bobo: drums; Mongo Santamaria: congas; Buddy DeFranco: clarinet; Michael Wolff: electric piano; John Heard: bass; Dick Berk: drums, timbales; Michael Smithe: congas; Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry: trumpet; Armando Peraza: congas; Jerome Richardson: soprano sax; Frank Strazzeri: electric piano; Harvey Newmark: bass; John Lewis: piano; Richard Davis: bass; Roy Burns: drums; Roger Glenn: flute; Mark Levine: electric piano; Rob Fisher: bass; Vince Lateano: drums; Pancho Sanchez: congas.

 
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06 Nov 08 Thursday 3:15 PM

Category: Music
Music Review: Bill Evans Trio - Sunday At
The Village Vanguard (Keepnews Collection)
Written by Pico
source: www.BlogCritics.org
5 November 2008




What can be said about Bill Evans' classic Sunday At The Village Vanguard that hadn't already been said so many times over? If you're new to jazz, here's what you need to know: it is the beginning and the end of piano-bass-drums music. It's one of the five or six most essential jazz records of all time. And it's one of the very finest live documents from any music genre.

When you listen to this record keeping in mind that the bass player Scott LaFaro---one of the most promising bassists ever to emerge---was dead ten days later at the tender age of 25, it brings about a bittersweet sentiment because one of the most spectacular moments in jazz was a fleeting one. In a bit of irony, Evans' producer and record company head Orrin Keepnews sensed that this unit was not going to hold together for much longer, which led to these monumental recordings.

When I last covered a Bill Evans record, it was to discuss the first one by of the pianist's then-new trio consisting of LaFaro and Paul Motian on drums. Portrait In Jazz was taped right at the end of 1959 after several months of the trio playing together to the point where Evans felt comfortable enough to document the rapport they've developed in that time. It would, however, take another thirteen months before Keepnews was able to get the threesome back in the studio again.

Those February, 1961 sessions, out of which the trio's LP Explorations came forth, was marked by some visible tension between LaFaro and Evans. It appears that Scott had begun to view his boss as an unreliable junkie and voiced his desire to be compensated accordingly. Although the matter ultimately died down and the boys got to work creating another superb record, Keepnews grew wary that LaFaro would leave the group before long. Thus, he soon convinced Evans to cut a live record just months later before the opportunity to capture one of their increasingly acclaimed club dates would be lost forever.

That chance came in the last Sunday in June, 1961, at the end of a two-week stint at New York's Village Vanguard club. Having played first on the road and then a couple of weeks at this club, the Bill Evan Trio machine was well-oiled and playing at peak level. Keepnews taped enough songs for two albums to insure that he had enough good material for one album, but it quickly became clear that there were really no missteps the entire day. Given the tragic circumstances of the bassist's sudden death, Evans decided to select six tracks that highlighted LaFaro's contributions, thus creating a de facto LaFaro-led album, as an official one doesn't exist (some of the leftover tracks were used to forge the more group-oriented album Waltz For Debby).

Two of those six tracks were composed by LaFaro himself, "Gloria's Step" and Jade Visions." As far as I know, these are the only two published songs credited to him, but are astounding in how advanced they are for someone who was just starting out at this.

The album opens with "Gloria's Step," with its descending chord patterns that start somewhat bright and work its way down to a somber mood. Evans interprets the melody in short but rich phrases, and Lafaro is playing lines of his own that exhibit limitless range and yet never ignores what Motian and Evans are doing. After a solo brimming with full chords, Evans gives way to LaFaro who makes his bass sing and finds himself making a home in the upper register. As the second take of this song, it's the best overall performance of the entire day.

LaFaro's other tune, "Jade Visions," was performed for the first time that night and played a second time at the end of the evening set. As the last song this trio ever played together, "Jade Visions" is a slow-paced meditative piece centered around a bass riff. Evans plays with much thoughtfulness, adding no more notes than needed, understanding that to do so would obscure that key riff. Motian, ever the master colorist, put that skill to great use for this song.

The rest of the songs chosen for the day are covers, most of which were familiar movie and show tunes. Throughout his career, Evans had a penchant for selecting easily recognizable, often overworked numbers and recasting them as harmonically robust songs that became distinctively his own. A notable exception to this Broadway pattern is the choice of Miles Davis' "Solar," but even then, it's adorned with chunks of minor scale motifs in Evans' remarkable hands. All of these tracks of course feature LaFaro contributing expressive solos from an instrument not previously known to be so impressionistic.


Photobucket

After the Vanguard date, LaFaro did perform once again, at the Newport, R.I. Jazz Festival with Stan Getz on July 3 before returning to his hometown of Geneva, NY. On the early morning of July 6, LaFaro evidently fell asleep at the wheel while driving between friends' homes between Warsaw and Geneva. The car ran off the road, hit a tree, and burst into flames, killing both LaFaro and a childhood friend of his.

Forty-seven years after this fateful live performance, Keepnews overhauled the original Sunday tapes with a 24-bit remastering treatment courtesy of Joe Tarantino. The resulting sound brought some much needed clarity to the recordings, and seems to accentuate the remarkable group interplay even more. Additional takes of "Gloria's Step", "Alice And Wonderland," "All Of You," and "Jade Visions" have been tacked on to the end of the original track sequence. These versions aren't quite as good as the ones that made the first cut, but are still of high quality and demonstrate how these players took risks and subtly different approaches each time they tackled a particular song.

Out since this past September, the Keepnews Collection version of Sunday At The Village Vanguard is the definitive edition of Bill Evans' masterpiece. The accolades heaped on this magical club date performed one Sunday in June, 1961 are even more justified now than ever before.

photo by Steve Schapiro: l-r Scott LaFaro, Bill Evans and Paul Motian


 
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06 Nov 08 Thursday 12:55 PM

Category: Music
Vocalist Wendy Lewis Joins
The Bad Plus on New Album
Written by Jeff Tamarkin
source: www.JazzTimes.com
5 November 2008


Following the release of last year's Prog, the Bad Plus—bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King—plan the February 3 release of their next album, For All I Care on the Heads Up International label. Simultaneously, Heads Up will release a limited-edition 180-gram double-LP including two bonus tracks: a cover of U2's "New Year's Day" and an original piece by Anderson entitled "You And I Is A Comfort Zone."

The album marks the first Bad Plus recording to include a guest vocalist, Wendy Lewis, a fixture in the Minneapolis alt-rock scene. The recording is inspired in part by the collaborative recording by John Coltrane and vocalist Johnny Hartman, released in 1963.

The set opens with a version of Kurt Cobain's "Lithium." Other offerings from the rock and pop canon include equally offbeat versions of songs by artists as diverse as Pink Floyd ("Comfortably Numb"), Yes ("Long Distance Runaround"), the Bee Gees ("How Deep is Your Love") and Heart ("Barracuda"). Juxtaposed with these are a number of 20th century classical pieces by an equally varied list of composers including Györgi Ligeti, Milton Babbitt and Igor Stravinsky.

 
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06 Nov 08 Thursday 12:50 PM

Category: Music
Miles Davis Photo Exhibition Coming to NYC
Written by Jeff Tamarkin
Source: www.JazzTimes.com
4 November 2008


"The Genius of Miles Davis…The Columbia Years," a photographic exhibition, opens at Manhattan's Morrison Hotel Gallery, 313 Bowery, on November 20. The exhibit will feature rare and never before seen limited-edition fine art prints of Davis taken by Sony staff photographer Don Hunstein, Herman Leonard, Jim Marshall and Lee Wiener between 1955 and 1985. Sixteen 30 x 40 prints will be on display and available for sale at the gallery. Each print has been hand selected from Sony's vast music photography archive, and represents a unique piece of musical history. For more information and to purchase photos from the Sony archives go to Icon Collectibles or call 212-677-2253.
 
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06 Nov 08 Thursday 11:40 AM

Category: Music
This Week in Jazz ~ Washington, DC
Written by Sriram Gopal
source: www.DCist.com
5 November 2008





Allen Toussaint

>> Otis Taylor's music is rooted in the traditional blues, but he infuses it with an Appalachian feel, often performing on the banjo or cello. This unique sound comes to Blues Alley tonight for 8 and 10 p.m. sets. Tickets are $25 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

>> Talented vocalist and D.C. native Andrea Wood performs on Thursday at Twins jazz. The Ellington grad has performed at notable venues throughout the city and is now studying music at Michigan State. Call 202-234-0072 for set time and cover information.

>> WAR is best known for classic rock staples like "Low Rider", which have led to the band's selling over 50 million albums over the course of its career. The band continues to tour and on Thursday begins a four night stand at Blues Alley. Tickets to the 8 and 10 p.m. sets are $45 (Thurs/Sun) or $50 (Fri/Sat) + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

>> Three Stars alums The Oscillators bring their fusion grooves to Comet Ping Pong this Friday from 10 p.m to 12 a.m. Members of the group include Three Stars alums John Lee and Matt Rippetoe. No cover

>> The Kennedy Center is the place to be on Friday, where it will play host to The Keys to New Orleans, a concert featuring three Crescent City music legends, Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler, and Jon Cleary, in a special tribute to the great American city. Tickets to the 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. sets are $30.

>> The Saltman-Knowles Quartet performs jazz that is tuneful and accessible, but does not sacrifice first rate musicianship. They will bring their tasteful sound to HR-57 this Friday and Saturday. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. $12.

>> Saxophonist Salim Washington incorporates a number of influences into his music, which can range from gritty funk to the avant garde. He will be leading a group this Friday and Saturday at Twins Jazz. Fans of the trombone should also consider going because versatile trombonist Kumbaa Frank Lacy will be part of the ensemble. Tickets to the 9 and 11 p.m. sets are $15.




Cassandra Wilson



>> For our money, Cassandra Wilson is the finest jazz vocalist of her generation. She blew us away last year at The Birchmere, and will no doubt deliver an equally impressive performance on Saturday at The Warner Theater. 8 p.m. $40-$58

>> Saxophonist Javon Jackson and pianist Les McCann team up at the Kennedy Center to perform a concert that revisits McCann's 1969 classic, Swiss Movement, which was recently re-released. Tickets to the 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. sets are sold out, but it's worth contacting the box office for cancellations.

>> Saxophonist Cam Collins, a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Band, is a relative newcomer to the District's jazz scene, but seems like someone to keep an eye on. He will lead a group on Sunday at Twins Jazz. Call 202-234-0072 for set time and cover information.

>> Vocalist Alyssa Graham has been making waves and garnering rave reviews with the release of her latest album, Echo. The rising chanteuse brings are silky voice to Blues Alley on Monday for 8 and 10 p.m. sets. Tickets are Tickets are $25 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

>> Chaise Lounge is a local band that plays a mix of originals and covers that evoke the swing and lounge music of the 50s and 60s. These veterans of the Lilith Fair and H.O.R.D.E. tours will be performing 8 and 10 p.m. on Tuesday at Blues Alley. Tickets are $18 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

Note: Sriram Gopal is going on vacation for two weeks.
This Week in Jazz will return on Nov. 26.



 
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04 Nov 08 Tuesday 11:20 AM

Category: Music
Natalie Williams and Anita Wardell Added
to Abu Dhabi Jazz Festival 2008
source: www.AllAboutJazz.com
3 November 2008






Jazz Fans Across the Nation to Witness the Appearance of Two Jazz Divas During Abu Dhabi Jazz Festival 2008!

Versatile, vocally strong, and beautiful are all the makings of the superstar Natalie Williams. Natalie has become an essential fixture on the UK soul and jazz scene. With 3 critically acclaimed albums under her belt, Natalie has drawn comparisons to Jill Scott, Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse. Graduating in 2001 from the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama, having been the first person to study both classical and jazz singing on the undergraduate course. Since then Natalie has performed as a solo artist all over the UK at all kinds of venues and international festivals like Montreux & Katmandu jazz festivals. Natalie also won best video at the 2007 Urban Music Awards for her single 'This Girl'. Natalie is currently working on her new album, due to be released in late 2008. Natalie will perform on the 21st of November 2008, at 9pm.

A singer who has been securing her talent since mid-90s; Anita Wardell has the unique mixture of charm, skills accuracy and sensuality breadth. Jazz vocal legend Mark Murphy says of Wardell: "Her bop singing, always so clear and accurate in its linearism, is even lovelier now, but what hits me is how expressive her ballad singing now is." Wardell shows how far the overworked art of mainstream jazz vocals can still go, with fresh interpretations of Blue Note-era classics such as Moanin' and The Sidewinder, Horace Silver's Lonely Woman, Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man and a lot more. The recent signing to Specific Jazz (a division of Proper Records) and winning of the prestigious BBC Jazz Award for Best of Jazz 2006 are now propelling Anita into the major artist arena. Noted, her first release for the new label (released in July 2006), is a collection of well known material from the Blue Note era to which Anita has penned many of her own lyrics. It has received much radio play and 4 and 5 star reviews from UK and European jazz publications. In 2008 she released her new album Kinda Blue and is currently touring throughout the UK and worldwide. Anita will perform on the 22nd of November 2008, at 9pm.

"Both original and proficient, their singing skills shine in their well-chosen collection of songs and remarkable presence on stage and their ability to capture the crowd for an extended time", commented Anthony Younes, founder and organizer of the festival.

Tickets are on sale at Virgin Megastores, boxofficeme.com and at Spinneys, Hallmark and Cellucome selected outlets.

For further information please call Chillout Productions on 04 3911196.

About Chillout Productions:

Chillout Productions, founders, and organizers of the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival, the Abu Dhabi Jazz festival and the Abu Dhabi Latino Fiesta.

The Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival has won the "What's On" award for "The Best Festival" for two consecutive years 2006 & 2007 and reaped the 2008 Middle East Event Awards as the "Best Public Entertainment Event in the Middle East" during a ceremony hosted by the annual Event 360 in April 2008.

Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival has grown and became an annual entertainment icon in the UAE and the whole region, drawing fans from all across the UAE, GCC and around the world. Attendance in 2006 topped 21,500, and 25,000 in 2007 and more than 28,500 music lovers for the 2008 edition. Each year, the Festival presents more than 120 artists featuring a diverse and international lineup of legendary Grammy award-winning artists and critically acclaimed jazz and contemporary groups.


 
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04 Nov 08 Tuesday 4:55 AM

Category: Music
Singer Sheila Jordan Celebrates 80th
with New Album, Live Dates
Written by Jeff Tamarkin
source: www.JazzTimes.com
3 November 2008


Veteran jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who is turning 80, is launching a new recording affiliation with the Montreal-based label Justin Time Records (now in its 25th year). Winter Sunshine, her first release for Justin Time, is Jordan's 21st album under her own name (in addition to dozens of guest appearances on albums by well-known jazz instrumentalists). The recording was cut live in Montreal on Valentine's week 2008.

Jordan will also appear in a series of 80th birthday celebration concerts at New York's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola on Nov. 18-20, with two sets a night at 7:30 and 9:30. Jordan will perform with the Steve Kuhn Trio (Steve Kuhn, piano; David Finck, bass; Billy Drummond, drums) and string quartet. The club is located at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street 5th Floor. Phone: (212) 258-9595.

 
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