Clip of Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett on "Tony Bennett's American Classic." Awesome performance!! Best Duet ever. Very moving.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder - For Once in my life live
Paul Desmond, 33 Years Later
Desmond has been in my thoughts today, back to the weeks before his death of lung cancer in 1977 at the age of 52. We talked frequently during that time. Here are two excerpts from Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, then a song that Paul cherished. He and Dave Brubeck played it together nearly from the beginning of their partnership.
Jenna had planned a trip to London for late May. Desmond encouraged her to take it. (Steve) Forster was looking after him, helping him get through the days. There was little that doctors could do.
"I was just falling to bits," Jenna said. "I needed to go away. The day before I left, I went to say goodbye and, frail as he was, he insisted that Steve take him downstairs to the camera shop to buy me one of those Polaroid instant things that had just come out. I got to London and, of course, rang him immediately, and he sounded reasonably good. We had a nice chat. I said I would talk to him the next day. And he said, 'No, no, don't call tomorrow. Ring me Tuesday.' I've got friends coming tomorrow, and I want you to relax and enjoy yourself.'"
"When I left on Friday," Forster said, "I kind of knew that would be the last time I would see him. I felt it, but I wasn't sure and, in a way, I didn't want to admit it. But...he was tired. He knew."
On May 30, Memorial Day, Desmond's cleaning woman was unable to wake him.
Jack Richardson recalled that Marian McPartland said what many of Desmond's friends were thinking, "It's just like Paul to slip quietly away when everyone's out of town, not to bother anybody."
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2010/05/paul_desmond_33_years_later.htmlRifftides Revisited: Jessica Williams
Occasionally, the Rifftides staff trolls the archives with an eye for older posts that hold up. Here is one from three years ago this Memorial Day weekend.
Time out of the writing crunch to hear successive Jessica Williams concerts was time well spent. Williams has taken a liking to The Seasons and returned there with her new trio for two evenings. On Saturday,Williams, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop played a Duke Ellington program. The repertoire, except for the infrequently heard calypso "Angelique," was made up of sixteen of Ellington's most familiar pieces. She opened with "C-Jam Blues," closed with "Take the 'A' Train" and included "I Got it Bad," "Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me," "Satin Doll" and...well, you get the idea. A routine Ellington lineup, perhaps, but Williams' piano playing and her interaction with Miller and Bishop were far from routine.
Williams' concept for the evening was to program it as if the trio were playing for a dance. Indeed, she encouraged people to dance in the area between the front row of seats and the stage. Three couples did, rather tentatively, during "Mood Indigo," but one of them told me later that the listening was so good, dancing was a distraction. That's an interesting switch on the old complaint "Why don't you play something we can dance to?"
Sunday, Memorial Day eve, Williams premiered a new composition, "Freedom Suite," not related to the 1958 Sonny Rollins piece with the same name. She dedicated the six-movement work to veterans who died in all US wars from the American Revolution to Iraq and Afghanistan. Prefaced with a flag ceremony by women volunteers from a Veterans of Foreign Wars unit, the suite began with an other-worldly piano introduction to Miller's bowing of "Taps," its resonance supported by Williams' impressionistic chords and the shimmering swell of Bishop's cymbals. The movement called "Night Patrol" surged with modal intensity through piano and bass solos into a Bishop drum solo over an insistent pedal point.
Introducing the "Final Wish" section, Williams said, "I finished writing this one at 3:30 or 4:00 o'clock this morning. I wanted it to be perfect--and so far, it is." She showed Bishop the bass part she had written for Miller, explaining the varied rhythms she wanted through a series of eight-bar sections. Bishop nodded and smiled, and with only that discussion for a rehearsal, the trio played the piece for the first time. It remained perfect.
Leaning into the piano, Williams stroked the strings like a harpist, setting up insistent three-four time that supported the dirge of the final movement, "Lament." By way of her virtuosity through an unaccompanied solo that at times suggested an affinity for early McCoy Tyner, she managed to express optimism as well as sadness before Miller and Bishop rejoined her for a final statement of the theme.
This is an initial impression of a work I want to absorb further. We may all have that opportunity. The concert was recorded and could appear on a CD. If that happens, I'll let you know.
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2010/05/rifftides_revisited_jessica_wi.html
Jessica Williams, jazz pianist, plays Body and Soul. More at www.jessicawilliams.com
Latin Jazz This Week (5/31/10 - 6/6/10)
One of the nicest things about the Obama presidency has been the loosening of the restriction upon artistic exchange between Cuba and the United States. Over the past year, we’ve seen a number of important Cuban dance bands visit the States for high profile tours, which leaves us with one thought - bring on the Cuban jazz! Our wish has been granted recently as guitarist Pablo Menendez and his band Mezcla has been hitting the States for a series of concerts.
Over at Latino Web Cafe, Hector Aviles has spent some time talking with Menendez about music, performing in the States, and more. He provides a short historical written piece and then you can check out the streaming audio for the actual interview. Great stuff, definitely worth checking out - you can find it HERE.
He also throws in some videos of terrific live performances from both groups, which really illustrate his points. To top this off, there’s a great interview with tango jazz pianist Pablo Ziegler - an important musicians that spent many years playing with Astor Piazzolla. You’ve got to read this - check it out HERE.
Trumpet player Gabriel Alegria and his Afro-Peruvian Jazz Sextet will be releasing Pucusana independently and they are currently fronting a fund raising drive to support the promotion and distribution of the album. The group will be utilizing a unique fundraising site, Kickstarter, as the home base for their efforts. You can head over and donate as little as $10 to their cause - or as much as you’d like.
Each level of contribution comes with an attached reward, ranging from unreleased recordings to a personal concert from the sextet. At this point, there’s just about 40 days left so don’t delay! It’s a great way to support the growth of Afro-Peruvian Jazz, so head over to Alegria’s Kickstarter site and donate now!
LATIN JAZZ BIRTHDAYS
6/2: Drummer & Percussionist Bobby Sanabria, 1957
6/2: Percussionist Tito Puente, Jr., 1971
6/4: Saxophonist & Clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, 1948
6/5: Trumpet Player & Conguero Jerry Gonzalez, 1949
http://www.chipboaz.com/blog/2010/05/31/latin-jazz-this-week-53110-6610/
TCJS Young Artists Series Presents Piano Showcase June 3
The second of the new TCJS Young Artists Series will take place June 3 at 7 p.m. at the Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul. Two of the finalists in the 2010 Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition, sponsored by the Schubert Club and Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, will each play a short set with his own trio (bass and drums).
Kai Olstad, 17, attends Northfield High School and is a student of Laura Caviani.
Quentin Tschofen, 16, attends Spring Lake Park’s Lighthouse Program and is a student of Bryan Nichols.
The first Young Artists’ gig (the MacPhail Advanced Jazz Ensemble) held on May 6 was well attended. Future performances in this series will be held the first Thursday of August, October, and December. Interested musicians (middle school through college) and directors of small ensembles can contact Andrea Canter at < cantermps@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >.
The Artists’ Quarter is located at 408 St. Peter Street, St. Paul, (651) 292-1359.
http://www.tcjs.org/content/view/118/2/
A Celebration of the Piano in Its Many Personalities
By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER
Eclecticism has now overshadowed any particular compositional dogma, though to some degree crossover has long been established. Composers have mixed and matched for centuries, recycling themes and styles from earlier periods and incorporating folk tunes and popular idioms into their scores.
During the innovative Keys to the Future — a festival of solo contemporary piano music organized by the pianist and composer Joseph Rubenstein — 10 pianists highlighted a range of styles in works by 19 composers. On Thursday night, the last of three concerts in this celebration of eclecticism at Le Poisson Rouge featured mostly conservative works that recalled traditions and incorporated popular styles.
Jazz was an integral component of the exuberant “Five Études in Different Intervals” (1992) by Nikolai Kapustin, who once played piano in a big-band jazz orchestra. Stephen Gosling performed the technically intricate and virtuosic work with aplomb.
Also jazz-infused was Richard Danielpour’s vivacious “Mardi Gras” (1992), part of his “Enchanted Garden,” a set of preludes for piano. Blair McMillen offered a dynamic performance of the work, in which the rapid sequences of jagged rhythmic patterns are punctuated by a momentary lull in the festivities. Mr. Rubenstein performed one of his own scores, the evocative, chromatically meandering “Romance No. 2 (aurora)” (2007). He opened the program with Bruce Stark’s gentle, introspective “Yours” (2002), which had a slight New Age sheen to it.
A meditative mood also permeated Vuk Kulenovic’s “Virginal,” (1982), sensitively rendered by Karen Hakobyan. Insistent themes resurfaced throughout the tranquil, arresting work, with delicate, ephemeral motifs repeated with increasing intensity, until a fiery outburst shattered the serenity. A quietly persistent theme restored the calm.
Judd Greenstein’s “First Ballade” (2008), played by Mr. McMillen, began similarly on a serene note before slowly building in intensity. Paying homage to a famous composer or theme is a long-standing tradition, continued by Barbara White in her “Mirage (homage to Ravel)” (2002), whose gauzy textures evoked the mirage of its title.
There was also a Ravelian tint to Philippe Hersant’s pictorial “Six Éphémères” (2003), given a colorful performance by Mr. McMillen. In “Autumn Wind,” the first movement, trills and rapid, rising figurations in the right hand evoked the wind. “An Ant,” the fourth section, depicted that tiny creature with scurrying sounds and solemn gestures, while the ominous whirlwind of “Hurricane” concluded the suite with dramatic intensity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/arts/music/01future.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Forget what you should be doing....
by Minim Pro @ 2010-05-31
I should learn more tunes
I should be playing everything in all 12 keys when I practice.
I should take every gig I can get my hands on - even if they suck.
I should spend more time transcribing.
I should have my own website.
I should be social networking savvy.
I should be practising right now instead of reading this blog!
"Shoulds" are nasty, pernicious little gremlins that live in the dark recesses of our brains and conspire to make us feel guilty and inadequate.
The weird thing about them is despite their horrible and debilitating effects, they are entirely creatures of our own creation. As part of our musical journey, we randomly pick up bits and bobs of advice, other peoples' opinions and a slew of received wisdom. Our insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, particularly when we're just starting out, make it hard for us to be able to ignore things that we're told we should be doing. However, when we mature as musicians and are proficient and knowledgeable enough to determine our own musical and professional course, some of us still find it difficult to shake off the influence of the "shoulds".
Sometimes this situation is not helped by the fact that the 'experts' and educationalists have a vested interest in keeping us feeling ignorant, anxious and insecure. After all, if we're all confident we know what we're doing and how to progress, why would we need them anymore? Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful teachers and educators out there, but sometimes I do think that there is way too much mystique surrounding learning jazz and far too much weight given to the advice of 'gurus'.
If you ask any two jazz musicians about the way they learned to play, you'd get two different answers. Learning to play jazz is a very individual experience and everybody's progress and path of musical discovery is different. I always tell my jazz students that this is a journey they take on their own. My job is to try and sketch them a rough map of the terrain and maybe show them some shortcuts or keep them from getting stuck in a swamp on the way.
I came across this video on YouTube the other day where Hal Galper is talking about rhythm in jazz. After a minute or so he informs the class that the rhythmic feel of jazz is based on the New Orleans second line drum beat. "How many of you are familiar with this beat?" he asks. Obviously only a couple of people raise their hands off camera because his response is a reasonably contemptuous sounding "Not Enough!" followed by some sage nodding and the exhortation that the students should be studying this.
If you were in that class and hadn't heard of this drum beat, how would this make you feel? Probably like an ignorant, useless piece of crap. In fact, if you haven't heard of that drum beat then as you read this, you may be starting to feel a bit anxious yourself and are possibly about to abandon this article to google second line drum beats - how could you have missed something you clearly should know?
If that's you and you're still reading, it may or may not make you feel a little better if I freely admit I couldn't tell you what a second line drum beat sounds like. Nevertheless, I do know how to swing a jazz line and have somehow miraculously managed to get my head around jazz syncopation without ever having studied New Orleans drum patterns. I guess I was just lucky.
Even if what Mr Galper says is true, I learned to swing a line by playing along with Oscar Peterson records. Oscar learned to swing by listening to people like Art Tatum and Nat Cole, who learned from people like Fats Waller and so on. I don't need to study second line drumbeats because, if that is where jazz swing does come from, I've learned from players who learned from players who learned from players who invented them. The idea that there's one way to do or learn something is ridiculous and to maintain that the only way to learn jazz is to immerse yourself in the earliest origins of the music is equally asinine.
Think of it this way, have you ever heard a classical music teacher telling pupils that they couldn't study Bach until they'd gone back and immersed themselves fully in plainsong, gregorian chant and medieval choral music to understand the origins of counterpoint? There is so much information on jazz education today and every 'expert' has an opinion on what everyone should be doing that the modern jazz student can find themselves pulled in so many directions at once that the cumulative effect of the 'advice' is ultimately harmful rather than helpful.
The same is true of promoting and selling your music. Everyone has an opinion on what you should be doing and if you're not careful, you'll find yourself pulled in so many different ways that you won't be able to go forward. You are the master of your own destiny and it's up to you to take responsibility for your own musical and professional development. If you come across advice that interests or resonates with you then by all means explore it and see if it works for you.
On the other hand, if it doesn't then you should ignore it. Either way it's crucial you don't let yourself feel guilty or inadequate and that there's always something else that you should be doing - because that will bring your progress to a dead stop. Decide what you're going to do and do it. If that doesn't work, do something else, but don't let the gremlins in your brain stymie you by immobilising you with "shoulds".
http://playjazz.blog.co.uk/2010/05/31/forget-what-you-should-be-doing-8709645/
The 2010 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival
The 2010 Edition of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, which is quickly approaching on June 11th to 19th.
Complete on > http://www.jazzrochester.com/2010/05/xrijf-2010-intro.html
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Denise King and Venissa Santi Conclude Billie Holiday Tribute at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia
By Victor L. Schermer
Kimmel Center's Jazz Up Close Series, 2009-2010 Season
Back in Your Own Back Yard: Billie Holiday Tribute
Denise King and Venissa Santi
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 1, 2010
This, the final concert in an eclectic series organized by Curator Danilo Perez and linked by the goal of honoring the memory of the great Billie Holiday, featured two fine divas, each bringing her own style and musical agenda to bear on Holiday's signature songs and each succeeding in capturing not so much Lady Day's unique sound as the way she was able to convey emotions and moods.
Denise King (pictured on left) is a seasoned jazz vocalist and a familiar figure in the Philadelphia area. Her performance took on added significance for the locals, since it was the last opportunity to hear her before she leaves the city for an indefinite time while performing in Europe. Venissa Santi, who opened for her, is a younger singer of considerable talent who has taken up residence in Philadelphia, recently releasing her first CD, Bienvenida (Sunnyside, 2008), a compilation of jazz derivatives from the perspective of her family's home country, Cuba.
The contrast between the two was striking. Santi is forging a new Cuban jazz format, with an emphasis on rumba and other native rhythms. King brings with her the lively swinging tradition of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, with a finesse and enthusiasm second to none.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Venissa Santi: vocals with John Stenger: piano, Jason Fraticelli: bass, Francois Zayas: drums and arranger, Chris Aschman: trumpet, Josh Robiuson: percussion.
Santi came on with a straight-ahead version of a Billie Holiday favorite, the popular standard "What's New," accompanied only by pianist Robert Stenger, a working member of the group Ellipsis. In this ballad Santi immediately demonstrated her artful voice and mastery of Holiday's idiom while capturing the shifting moods of a lover encountering her "ex" and trying vainly to re-start the relationship.
Judging from both her performance on the recording and this concert, Santi makes sophisticated use of vocal inflections to capture the introspection of a song, an ability she shares with her friend and mentor, Joanna Pascale, another of Philadelphia's great jazz vocalists. Following this meditative lyric, she brought on the entire band for her original, "Talkin' to You," representing the Cuban/jazz synthesis that is her unique contribution to the legacy, a lively concatenation of Cuban rhythms and dissonances—and a welcome contrast to both Brazilian bossa nova and popular "salsa" music while incorporating features of both.
By integrating the Cuban idiom with jazz, Santi has at a young age already earned herself a place in jazz history, developing an approach which requires great skill to execute, not to mention the ability to impart the strong, spicy elements that electrically charge up any song. Her music calls for very gifted sidemen, and while the instrumental crew, with the exception of drummer/arranger Francois Zayas, was not the same as the superlative support on her CD, they repeatedly proved their mettle, especially pianist Stenger and bassist Fraticelli.
Stenger has a very controlled approach, while Fraticelli pulls out all the stops, creating a tension of opposites that served the Cuban tautness very well. Moreover, the arrangements by Zayas captured the essence of Santi's vocal approach, energetic but held back rhythmically in a way that conveys the tension of life, the pressures which the Cuban people know all too well and which also characterize the underpinnings of American jazz.
For the duration of her set, Santi stayed with Zayas' Cuban-based arrangements of Billie Holiday classics, coming on with "You're My Thrill" featuring Aschman on trumpet, a brilliant version of "Travelin' Light," and finally "That Old Devil Called Love," with a masterful piano solo by Stenger. "Involved Again," a song which, according to Santi, Holiday intended to record but never did, was touching. "I Cover the Waterfront" was evocative of the sensuality of pre-revolution Havana Harbor. "My Man" conveyed the false hope and resignation of Holiday's version; and the concluding number, "You Better Go Now," was done sweetly and gently, with a sensitive cornet solo by Aschman.
During the intermission chat that has become an integral part of "Jazz Up Close," DJ Maureen Malloy of WRTI asked some pointed questions of Santi and King, with King confessing that she's had better breaks in Europe than her home city of Philadelphia, and Santi acknowledging some of her difficulties becoming better known period, although she is getting a good deal of radio exposure these days. The life of a jazz artist is often fraught with obstacles, and it was refreshing to hear the honesty of both these divas, instead of the usual carefully crafted clichés.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Denise King: vocals with Adam Faulk: piano, Lee Smith: bass, Lucky Thompson: drums
As if to give a nod to Santi's Latin roots, Denise King's fabulous rhythm section with Adam Faulkner on piano, Lee Smith on bass, and Lucky Thompson (not to be confused with the late bebop saxophonist of the same name) on drums, began with an instrumental version of a Jobim standard. Then King dominated the evening with songs immediately recognizable as Billie Holiday perennials: "Lady Sings the Blues," "God Bless the Child," "All of Me," "Body and Soul," "Fine and Mellow," "Strange Fruit," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," and "Good Morning Heartache." King and her sidemen are masters of the jazz idiom—from swing through bebop and hard bop—styles coinciding with Holiday's tenure.
Although King swings more lightly and lithely than Holiday, who despite her excellent sense of timing was more renowned for her behind-the-beat phrasing, the group maintained the blues and gospel base of Holiday's singing, almost creating a likeness of the Basie band or one of Ella Fitzgerald's backup groups, with Faulkner giving a frequent nod to Tommy Flanagan, one of several outstanding Fitzgerald accompanists.
Driven by drummer Lucky Thompson, who many decades ago participated in the transition from swing percussion to bebop and hard bop, Faulkner and Smith improvised brilliantly. King rivals Ella Fitzgerald in her ability to interact with her musicians and get them moving, and one particular musical exchange of several choruses between herself and bassist Smith echoed "Ella and her fellas" in challenging the cutting edge of jive cleverness.
King then became further engaged in the fun factor part of the evening, dancing around like those old-time blues singers with the Armstrong and Basie bands, and concluding with a rocking version of Joe Williams' trademark "Every Day I Have the Blues," with audience involvement such as this reviewer can't recall since times when the Louis Armstrong band had the crowd literally dancing in the aisles. Although the conservative Philadelphia audience didn't go quite that far, they became as enthusiastic as they could get, given that during the time of Satchmo, blue laws still put a lid on such extemporaneous eruptions in this town.
Like everything else in the universe, jazz obeys the laws of physics, transforming matter into energy. This concert generated two forms of jazz energy: Latin/Cuban and Basie-style swing at its rocking best. To conclude on a brief historical note, as a young singer on the cusp of stardom, Billie Holiday did a stint with the band of Count Basie, for whom she auditioned—in, of all places, Philadelphia.
Visit Denise King and Venissa Santi on the web.
Photo credit > Lester David Hinton
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36413&pg=2
Travelling the “Rhythm Road”: Jazz Ambassadorship in the Twenty-First Century
By Victor L. Schermer
When asked to define jazz, Count Basie, said, "Tap your feet!" Rhythm brings people together, and is part of what makes jazz America's musical bridge to the world. "Jazz ambassadorship," a concept which came on the scene over half a century ago, continues into the New Milennium. One current basis for its longevity is that every year since 2005, under the combined auspices of the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center, ten selected musical groups circumnavigate the globe to provide music and informal diplomacy, bringing our good will and good vibes to the local people. The program is called "The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad." This is its inside story.
The Rhythm Road: Devin Phillips in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec 2007
Chapter Index
1. Roots of The Rhythm Road2. Travelling with the Rhythm Road Musicians
3. Dangers Along the Road
4. Encounters between American and Local Music and Musicians
5. Running the Show
6. Bringing it All Home
Roots of The Rhythm Road
The roots of this innovative program go back to the very origins of jazz. From its inception, jazz has depended on links between America and the people of other nations. Its sources are international, having originated in New Orleans, a multi-ethnic harbor city of boat crews, workers, immigrants, travelers, and entertainers. Then, in the Jazz Age and the Modern Jazz era, the music traversed the Atlantic and became popular in Europe, with our musicians frequently performing and mentoring there.Moreover, African American musicians were made to feel more at home on the Continent than in their then segregated country, and often took up residency. Jazz became a major avenue for Europeans to learn about American culture, providing a more intimate glimpse of our people than the media and complementing the presence of American tourists, expatriates, and soldiers. Soon, the reach of jazz extended to Japan and other parts of Asia, and later to Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Paradoxically, today jazz is more popular in many of these countries than in the U.S.
Around the world, jazz came to represent the American ideals of individuality, romance, and freedom, whether in nations that were enemies or allies. Bandleader and composer Chris Walden, who came up in Germany, recalled when his uncle told him "how he and his friends got together during the Nazi period and traded jazz records, all secretly, of course. They rented a small boat, and took a gramophone out on the lake, and listened to jazz records! It was the only safe place for them to do it!" Jazz has a message that tyrants don't like, but since then, it's been safer for people everywhere to listen to jazz, and there's something about it that brings people together and touches many hearts and passions.
The project, which was later assisted by promoter George Wein, sponsored international tours that included such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dave Brubeck. As a result, jazz became a government-sanctioned means of international diplomacy, Armstrong became known as "Ambassador Satch," (Photo right: Louis Armstrong in United Arab Republic) and ever since then, jazz has reached many more places on the globe with its music, musicians, and message.
Recently, in 2005, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs reconfigured the musical ambassador idea in cooperation with Jazz at Lincoln Center (J.A.L.C.), where Wynton Marsalis serves as Artistic Director. The new venture, which Marsalis has helped to shape on a macro level, is called The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad.
To date, the program has brought 118 musicians from 31 ensembles featuring jazz, urban and American roots music to 97 countries, promoting cultural exchange through music, education, and personal interactions. The program differs from the original Jazz Ambassadors in that, rather than bringing star power and popularity to the task, it gives local people, politicians, and diplomats an opportunity to experience music-in-the-making by working musicians whose credentials may or may not include fame, but who share their own musical strivings "in the flesh," including original compositions, jamming with local musicians, and giving an in-depth intimate sampling of what the music is about today.
The music initially included jazz and urban music (hip hop, r&b). In 2008, Marsalis was at the table when the genres were expanded to include American roots music (blues, bluegrass, gospel, Cayjun, country, and zydeco.) The details are spelled out in their website.
Travelling with The Rhythm Road Musicans
The bare-boned facts about The Rhythm Road, however, leave out the color and the "feeling of what happens." All About Jazz wanted to know the inside story, what actually occurs on these tours, what the real life experience is like, and what it really accomplishes. To get a bead on this, AAJ contacted the program's touring director, Susan John, who is involved in all aspects of planning and implementing The Rhythm Road itineraries.
She often travels with the musicians and offered a snapshot of one tour, which took the group in and out of the population centers, giving the flavor of the experience: "In Zimbabwe we were in a school setting. A forty-five minute drive through a somewhat barren area with a few concrete buildings, and then you couldn't even tell it was a classroom building. In the course of ten minutes, it went from an empty building to sixty or seventy kids packed in waiting for us to do something, anything! Contrast that with our evening performance a day or two before in a crowded festival setting with many patrons convening for a week-long festival of artists from all over the world, and they looked forward to this jazz quartet.
So it ranges from small to large, informal to formal. And one of the purposes of the program is cultural exchange, and you see just as much dialogue after the concert, when a musician is packing up the drums, and he's flanked by six people, drummers and others, and you're just seeing the connections that can happen on all levels." The combination of music and informal conversation is the basis of the diplomatic "magic" of The Rhythm Road.
In the cities, there are major concert performances, as well as gatherings at the embassies of the host countries. Trumpeter Charlie Porter, whose quartet (photo right) consisting of himself and Adam Birnbaum on piano, Scott Ritchie on bass, and John Weekon on drums is going to Bengladesh, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and India this year, and who has toured with The Rhythm Road in the past, notes that the venue varies: "Sometimes it might be a grand music hall, one of the best concert halls. Like in Mumbai, India, we played at a huge theater seating several thousand people.
However, in Unugu, we played at an outdoor place that seated perhaps a hundred people, basically a tent. And we've also played at embassies, for diplomats and political figures. Other times we're playing at a school for elementary children, or a school for young adults. One time we did a master class for a military band of Sierra Leone musicians. You never really know what's going to be set up for you. It could be a concert hall or a tent or a classroom for twenty people."
In addition to the music, the face-to-face interactions between musicians and audiences leave lasting impressions that can have a direct impact on relations between different countries or segments of society. Drummer Tim Horner, whose group, the Mark Sherman/Tim Horner Quartet (pictured below left), with Jim Ridl on piano, and Tom DiCarlo on bass, is touring the Pacific Rim this year, recalls his previous journeys with vocalist Roseanna Vitro.
On a stop in Cypress, the group made a direct impact on the protracted conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The island itself is divided into Greek and Turkish territories. "We played on both sides. We did a private concert at one of the Greek Ambassador's homes. An elderly guy with a beard came over and talked to us. Afterwards, the Ambassador said to us, 'That man was one of the biggest Turkish Cypriot diplomats. He loves jazz. This was the first time he came to the Greek side in over 50 years!' He talked to the Greek Cypriot diplomats for the first time, and said, 'I'll be back.' So we helped make a real diplomatic breakthrough!"
What comes to mind is that when I was in Mexico with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (this trip was independent of The Rhythm Road program), and the flood of emails and phone calls that came in saying 'That was the greatest concert of my life.' The director of the modern art museum, who had sworn that he couldn't stand jazz, said 'I completely changed my mind.' The recurrent theme is transformation. What that says for how Rhythm Road influences perceptions of America, I can't completely say, but I do know that the good will engendered is immeasurable, and whether that translates to 'I didn't like America before, but now I do' I can't say, but I do think the person-to-person and musical good vibes that we leave them with has a positive effect."
Dangers Along the Road
Sometimes, the musicians visit countries where war and other calamities pose an ever-present threat, even to the musicians themselves. Horner recalls that, on a prior non-Rhythm Road journey in Kyrgyzstan, the group was held up at gunpoint by the police. "The language barrier complicated things, and it was scary. We were afraid we would be arrested or even shot." In adjacent Tjikistan, "with all the political unrest, it was so intimidating, who knows if anyone will go back there again any time soon." Then, "when we drove around Bosnia it was beautiful, but the Embassy told us there were land mines all around." But even in such tense situations, mutual discussion and correction of misconceptions can occur.
Says, Horner, "When we were in Belgrade, we witnessed many of the buildings that had been blown up by the U.S. Air Force when Clinton was in office, trying to stop Milosevic from invading Bosnia. We had some interesting political discussions. Some of the people didn't know why the U.S. 'invaded' their country. You realize how important the media and the press is for the knowledge of the public. A lot of people weren't aware of the whole story. They just thought we invaded them for no reason."
But encounters with danger are the exception rather than the rule. Many places, though poor or undeveloped, are safe for travel, and part of the responsibility of the host emabassies is to facilitate the musicians' comfort and safety. Horner's memories of touring Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Chile with Roseanna Vitro were not of danger but of the music, the awesome mountain scenery, and the warmth of the local people.
Encounters between American and Local Music and Musicians
Perhaps what is unique about The Rhythm Road form of diplomacy are the experiences and exchanges that occur between the American and local music and musicians. To begin with, the tour bands encounter musical instruments and styles they're not familiar with. Porter notes: "In some countries, they may not even have pianos—that instrument doesn't exist in some places! Some countries don't have drum sets. In Africa, as you can imagine, they all had drums.
But a typical jazz drum set is nowhere to be found. But one of the exciting things in Africa is that we'd always have some amazing drummers come out. And our drummer, Quincy Davis, was able to learn so much from them." So, if you hear a jazz musician use an unusual instrument, it's possible he found it on a Rhythm Road or similar expedition! Saxophonist Dave Liebman serendipitously found a woodwind instrument with a hauntingly beautiful sound on a vacation trip to North Africa that he uses on some of his compositions.
Sometimes though, the differences in instrumentation can be daunting. Horner tells us that "New York drummers are into the open sound of the drums, but when you travel, as in Germany, the bass drum actually has a hole in the front for the microphone and is stuffed with laundry and pillows, because that's their idea of what a bass drum sounds like—they don't understand the open tone. But it's a good challenge to go up and not play your instrument and make something happen." The point is that the need to adapt often results in learning and creativity. After all, jazz itself is about improvising!
Even more challenging can be the differences in the music itself. At some of the concerts, local musicians are welcome to come up and jam. Says Horner, "Sometimes we play with guys from the local area. They play very differently from us. Like one guy played the clarinet, and even the structure of the bar was different than ours.
He couldn't play in 4/4! We made it through the blues somehow. Swingin' in four is not part of his culture. And these people play fast, and the people get up and dance, and we had a hard time following their rhythms!" (Think of Dave Brubeck's famous "Take Five," in 5/4 time, and you realize how much 4/4 is instilled in Western ears, making that tune a breakthrough!) The musicians' ears are stretched by these multicultural jam sessions, which play an increasingly important role in the development of jazz in the "global village."
Musical as well as cultural and diplomatic exchange is thus facilitated by the Rhythm Road. As Porter points out, "Jazz is a 'sponge.' You soak up things from all cultures. For example, in West Africa they have this thing called the kakuzi rhythm. Or another country might have a scale you've never heard before. And you can incorporate all that stuff into your music.
And jazz has always been that way. You mix that with Western influences, and you get something new. That's why jazz is great diplomacy: it breaks those boundaries. It's a great vehicle for people to improvise, and to participate you don't even necessarily have to speak the same language. And the language of jazz itself is always growing through these new influences."
Running the Show
Behind the scenes of these experiences are the logistics and administration of The Rhythm Road, the engines that make it all happen. For one thing, for such a program to succeed, the musicians need to be selected not only in terms of their musical approach and ability but also their personal stamina for travel and their ability to communicate and interact with folks of diverse languages and cultures. The Rhythm Road musicians must also be good diplomats. Susan John described the selection process as follows: "Each year we have a panel of judges which does not include Rhythm Road or State Department staff.
For this panel, we like to choose among musician educators who can assess the candidates in terms of both their music and their capabilities as educators. For example, at the end of October, 2009, we convened a panel of Damian Smeed, who is a gospel musician with experience in other genres; Don Braden; and Don Zappee, a New Orleans musician and arranger; as well as myself, a State Department representative, and The Rhythm Road staff." So the choice of groups is based on the combination of musical, educational, and communicative resources the musicians bring with them. This emphasis on the musician as "whole person" may be one reason the program has been so successful and has led to many requests for repeat visits.
The Lincoln Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis in particular are crucial to the progam's inner working. Says John, "Part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) mandate is to bring jazz internationally to the world. Lincoln Center has twelve individual constituents such as the Metropolitan Opera, the NYC Ballet, the Juilliard School, and so on, and JALC is one of those independent entities that fall under the Lincoln Center umbrella.
Susan John thinks that Wynton Marsalis deserves major credit for the success of Rhythm Road. "He's involved in everything we decide to do. Regarding Rhythm Road, he was involved in the original liason with it, and also in every aspect since then. When we looked to program expansion, he was at the table when we talked about additional genres such as zydeco and gospel as to how to best showcase American music.
He was also a judge on the selection committee two years ago. He was involved philosophically, but now our concerns are more structural, so he's less involved with that. And he doesn't go on the tours themselves." Nonetheless, musician Horner believes that Marsalis has had a very positive influence on the project. "He follows everything that's going on. He had a lot to do with our teaching and master classes. Wynton said to us, 'As you're out there travelling in other countries, and people strike up political conversations, don't apologize for America, talk about the music.' Wynton was right. This is not about the politics but about the music and the people who are out there livin' the life."
As accomplished as Marsalis has proved himself in so many arenas, he is a controversial figure to many jazz artists, who feel that his musical conservatism (at times he seems to have ignored advances in jazz beyond New Orleans and Duke Ellington) combined with his fame and influence have held jazz back. Horner thinks he may have changed in that respect. He remembers a recording date they did where Marsalis opened up to him. "We were working on a recording put together by Ted Nash called Rhyme or Reason, with a double quartet: a jazz quartet and a string quartet.
Wynton is an amazing musician. He did an incredible job on that recording. Then, on a break, he took me aside and said some things to me that were moving and surprising, like, 'Man, you're really great, you really swing hard. But you're afraid of me—I can feel it.' I said, 'I'm not afraid of you, I just know you only from the press.' And he replied, 'Yeah, a lot of that stuff they said was true. But I'm not that person any more. I've grown up.' And he said, 'I really appreciate your music; you really make it happen.' And we just moved on from there." As reflected in The Rhythm Road musical programming, Marsalis' "confession" of change seems to have been quite sincere.
Although there isn't much in Rhythm Road that could be called avant-garde, the jazz groups selected are contemporary and at the cutting edge of the mainstream. Moreover, the same is true with all the Jazz at Lincoln Center programming under the aegis of Marsalis, such as at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola and the Rose Hall. So maybe the jazz world needs to update its impression of Marsalis. In any case, he is one reason why Rhythm Road has worked so well.
Bringing it All Home
Finally, the "back at the ranch" question comes up. What, if any, manifestations of The Rhythm Road occur stateside? For one thing, Rhythm Road musicians perform free concerts in the United States. Jazz at Lincoln Center hosts the ensembles at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola and at Frederick P. Rose Hall, its New York City home. In Washington, D.C., the concerts are presented by National Geographic Live! at the Grosvenor Auditorium.
In addition, there is considerable debriefing and discussion on home turf. Meetings are held where all the administrators and musicians get together to share experiences and talk about what worked and didn't work. Says John, "We're always focusing on how to make what we do better. How best to make an impact in those countries is our emphasis. We work on developing our educational sessions. We get four mentors who have been on the Rhythm Road tours in the past, and when the musicians are better equipped in this way, they can make more of an impact during their travels. The breadth of locations and music is already built into the program, so the focus is how to insure quality at every turn."
In conversation with AAJ, Tim Horner offered a suggestion which could add something valuable to The Rhythm Road mission. "I've asked them to consider doing a week-and-a-half tour of all the musicians to places in America. We'll show America what we're doing and what their tax dollars are doing." A "show and tell" demo of the program to the "tax-payers" could help perpetuate and expand The Rhythm Road abroad and encourage similar ventures.
But above and beyond that, America has its own "underdeveloped" and poverty stricken rural areas and urban ghettos that desperately need the warmth and inspiration that these musicians can bring them. Moreover, jazz itself is crying for a renaissance in the U.S. So why not have a domestic version of The Rhythm Road? For this component, the State Department, which handles foreign affairs, could transfer part of the reigns to some other government agency and local communities. It would be a way to bring the varied rewards and insights of The Rhythm Road home to our own people. In addition, as part of such a domestic version of "The Rhythm Road," musicians from other countries could be brought here to play for us Americans. As the saying goes, "What goes around, comes around."
Photo Credits
Page 1: Jazz at Lincoln Center
Page 1: Louis Armstrong Archive
Pages 2: Jazz at Lincoln Center
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36493&pg=3
Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock
Saxophone Groove
by Neal on May 30, 2010Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man. He plays it on solo piano and then talks about how he came up with the melody. Watermelon Man is a 16 bar form that is a blues modified a little bit.
F7 / - / - / -
Bb7 / - F7 / -
C7 / Bb7 / C7 / Bb7
C7 / Bb7 / F7 / -
http://www.saxstation.com/watermelon-man-by-herbie-hancock.htm
Jazz Night @ Robinwood Concert House - 2 Norwegian duos
Saxophone player Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and bass player Roger Arntzen have joined forces and created the duo Ballrogg. The duo started out exploring the music of Eric Dolphy in a small format, stripped down to only bass and reeds in 2006. Songs from greats such as Paul Bley, Ornette Coleman and Jimmy Giuffre was soon also brought into the concept, aside with compositions by the group itself. The results was some free jazz-classics combined with spacy and energetic originals placed into an acoustic chamber setting.
compositions.
Klaus Ellerhusen Holm – alto saxophone/ clarinet/ feedback
Roger Arntzen – double bass
Ballrogg, released their second album Insomnia in January 2010 on Bolage. Since their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album the duo has moved into significantly deeper water, drawing influences from
European contemporary music as well as American avantgarde. On Insomnia, their influences are mixed with a cinematic sensitivity, creating soundscapes that are deeply disturbing and stunningly beautiful.
Ballrogg has since the debut been touring in Scandinavia, Europe and North-America.
Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (sax, clar) leads his own group Klaus Holm Kollektif, who was awarded "Yong Nordic Jazzcomets 2003". He plays free-improvised music with the Norwegian trio Murmur and has
worked with international artists such as Raymond Strid, Axel Dörner, Jim Denley, Mattias Ståhl, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Ingar Zach, Sture Ericson and Frode Gjerstad, and has done tours on festivals and
jazzclubs in several countries in both Europe, America and Asia. The last years he has also composed music for various chamber music settings and also music for film.
Roger Arntzen (double bass) is known from the piano trio In The Country, who was awarded "Young Jazz Musicians Of The Year 2004" in Norway. The trio has released three albums on the Norwegian cult-label Rune Grammofon to much acclaim. He is a regular together with Shining-leader Jørgen Munkeby with the noise-rock-jazz-quartet Chrome Hill and has teamed up with Chrome Hill-drummer Torstein Lofthus as two thirds of Håvard Stubø Trio. He has also worked with downtown NYC icon Marc Ribot and pedal-steel guitarist Bob Hoffnar, and other international artists such as Neil Metcalfe, Terry Day, John Russell, Sidsel Endresen, Susanna Wallumrød and Stian Carstensen.
Petter Vågan – lapsteel/acoustic guitar/electronics
Tor Haugerud – percussion/ signalgenerator/field-recordings
Vertex spontaneously compose electro-acoustic music that is both immediate and enticing to listen to. From lowercase drones through acoustic melodic passages to assaulting industrial walls of sound, vertex creates a plausible yet otherwordly soundscape with its own set of natural laws. A universe that focuses in on form and interaction.
Vertex has been active since 2006. The duo has already done many festival- and club-conserts, and has also done a tour with the extremely talented Christian Wallumrød as a musical guest. As musical references one could list Huntsville, Jim O´Rourke, Fred Frith, Spunk, Keith Rowe, Fennesz, Deathprod, Perlonex and Lasse Marhaug.
Petter Vågan (b. 1982) is a hard-working up and coming impro-musician who´s becoming a household name in Norway these days, he´s released several albums and toured all over Norway, Sweden, Russia, USA, Canada,Germany and the Netherlands. He´s playing on guitars, lapsteels and prepared guitars, and utilizes an array of effects in a delicate manner, to mangle and distort reality in his own way. He has a performing masters degree from the world-renowned jazz course the Conservatory of Music in Trondheim. He´s has played with musicians like Christian Wallumrød, Ståle Storløkken, Mathias Eick, Håvard Wiik, Håkon Kornstad, Thomas Strønen, Jonas Kullhammar, Mats Eilertsen, Lene Grenager and Kjetil Møster etc
Tor Haugerud (b. 1962) has been an active musician, composer and performanceartist for the last 24 years. He´s developed a unique playingstyle with his unorthodox drum set and use of electronics and unconventional instruments like fans, drills, singing bowls, bows, stones. Has in recent years operated in the more free musical landscapes, with musicians like Kim Myhr, Christian Wallumrød, Stian Westerhus, Martin Taxt, Jon Balke, Sidsel Endresen, Ingar Zach, Eirik Hegdal, Michael Duch, Kjetil Møster etc, and with the groups Alpaca Ensemble, Én Én Én, Murmur, and TIE (Trondheim Improvisasjons Ensemble).
Tuesday June 1st 9pm
2564 Robinwood
http://toledobellows.wordpress.com/
http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/59284/Jazz_Night__Robinwood_Concert_House_-_2_Norwegian_duos
Kim Myhr - guitar/artistic director
Sidsel Endresen - voice
Kari Rønnekleiv - violin
Christian Wallumrød - piano/harpsichord
Clare Cooper - guzheng
Michael Duch - bass
Jim Denley - saxophone
Espen Reinertsen - saxophone
Eivind Lønning - trumpet
Klaus Holm - clarinet
Martin Taxt - tuba
Tor Haugerud - percussion
Ingar Zach - percussion
Variety marks series schedules in Newark
Performances by the B-52s, Sinbad, Leo Kottke and Boney James are among the highlights of the 2010-11 season at the Midland Theatre in Newark. The theater will offer five series of shows, topped by the Lively Arts series, which features new-wave band the B-52s, comic Sinbad, '80s pop band Air Supply and folk singer Arlo Guthrie.
The other series are the Midland Memories series, with artists such as the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and the Drifters; the Family Series, which includes music-and-comedy act Riders in the Sky and magician Stephen Knight; the Dance Series, with performances by the Central Ohio Youth Ballet and Russian National Ballet Theatre; and the Stage Door Cabaret series, with singers such as Chris Smithers and Karla Bonoff in a nightclub setting.
Four summer performances will take place, featuring country-music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter and rocker Michael Stanley & the Resonators. Single performances will include shows by guitarist Kottke, jazz saxophonist James and country singer-guitarist Marty Stuart.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2010/05/16/variety-marks-series-schedules-in-newark.html
Swedish Azz - Jazz På Svenska (Not Two, 2010)
The album has the look and feel of a jazz album of the fifties : a vinyl production, the size of a 78 rpm disk (but played at 33 rpm), including the great stylish artwork and back cover reminiscent of the period. The music is a celebration of the Swedish jazz masters of the 50s, who were quite influenced by the cool West Coast jazz. The album contains three compositions, one by pianist Lars Werner and two by baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin.
Their music is played first reverently, with full melody and rhythm, but then the band shifts the whole thing into a modern package, including live electronics. The band is Mats Gustafsson on alto, baritone saxes and live electronics, Kjell Nordeson on vibraphone, dieb13 on turntables, Per-Ake Holmlander on tuba and cimbasso, and Erik Carlsson on drums and selected percussion.
The first piece, "Drottningholm Ballad" starts like a slow ballroom dance, with repetitive melody, all sweet and nice, then it turns into a kind of nightmarish noise context. The second piece, "Danny's Dream" has the opposite structure : out of noise and unrelated sounds, the melody arises, followed by the rhythm, then the whole thing fizzles away at the end.
"Silhouette", the last piece, again starts with weird sounds, piercing sometimes, out of which the beautiful and sweet melody emerges, played by Gustafsson and Nordeson, wonderfully capturing the sound of the times, albeit hesitant and with a question mark, including the gimmicky repetition as if the needle got stuck somewhere in the middle of the piece, before the electronics take over completely, dark and gloomy, yet it ends again with sax and vibes playing the theme, all soft and sweet.
I am not an electronics fan, but it works in this context : the open and free interpretation of the music, together with the noise element creates a great contrast and tension with the original material, which is by definition part of the fifties' vision of the unencumbered, optimistic and worriless lifestyle of affluence and personal enjoyment. The more critical, more pessimistic and world-conscious attitude of today's musicians works as great counterweight to the original attitude. Yet the great thing is that they do not destroy the original, quite to the contrary, they lift it to a higher, contemporary level.
http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2010/05/swedish-azz-jazz-pa-svenska-not-two.html
'How Sweet It Was': The Cultural Impact Of Gospel
by NPR Staff
For some, it's an expression of faith; to others, it's an important element of culture. But whatever its meaning, gospel music helped create the foundation for rock 'n' roll, as well as rhythm and blues. Singers like Sam Cooke, Al Green and Aretha Franklin all began by singing gospel music, and Anthony Halbent has captured some of gospel's greatest moments in a new DVD and CD collection titled How Sweet It Was: The Sights and Sounds of Gospel's Golden Age.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images
Cooke wasn't the only singer to spread gospel to a secular audience. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, considered to be the original female rocker, influenced the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. "She was sidewinding long before Pete Townshend was conceived," Halbent says. "People often thought that Chuck Berry was combining, conflating, country and blues, but in fact we know that Rosetta had come up with the sound almost 20 years earlier." The influential figures don't stop there. The DVD features a song from Marion Williams about the healing power of God.
"Marion Williams was the greatest influence in people like Little Richard, James Brown and Otis Redding," Halbent says. "These were some of the most impressive showmen or performers in America. [Williams'] 'Something Within' may have been the first gospel song. You hear an awful lot of American culture and American history in this one performance."
The collection is filled with American cultural history, featuring 26 songs on the CD and 27 performances on the DVD.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127215402&ft=1&f=10002
JAMIE CULLUM and GRACE KELLY KICK-OFF
JAMIE CULLUM and GRACE KELLY KICK-OFF
CAREFUSION NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL* FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 8:00 PM, INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME at NEWPORT CASINO
Sneak Preview: Jamie Cullum to Perform on The Bachelorette on ABC - Monday, May 31, 8:00pm
NEWPORT, RI, May 27, 2010 - British singing and piano sensation Jamie Cullum brings his eclectic mix of jazz, pop and rock-influenced music to the opening night celebration of the Jamie Cullum CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival* on Friday, August 6, at 8:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino. The evening opens with the saxophonist/singer Grace Kelly.
The festival continues August 7 and 8 at Fort Adams State Park; Cullum is set to perform on the Fort Stage on Saturday. Tickets and more information are available at http://www.newportjazzfest.net/.
Get a sneak preview of Jamie Cullum in performance when he appears on The Bachelorette on Monday, May 31, at 8:00pm on ABC. For more information, visit http://abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelorette.
Jamie Cullum, who has played guitar and piano since age eight, developed an avid interest in jazz from his older brother. He was inspired by piano icons Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck and spent some of his formative years living in Paris, where he honed his abilities performing in jazz clubs. Cullum will perform selections from The Pursuit, his first album in four years, as well as some of his favorite jazz standards and his own originals.
His latest music embraces the full range of his diverse talents and far-flung musical passions. While it covers more stylistic ground than anything he's done previously, the album offers the same musical fluency, emotional commitment and lyrical wit that helped to make Cullum's prior releases Twentysomething and Catching Tales international crossover hits selling more than four million combined copies worldwide. He recorded his first album, Heard It All Before, at age 19, followed by Pointless Nostalgic.
After spending two years touring in support of Catching Tales, Cullum retreated from the spotlight and spent much of the next two years working on a variety of musical and non-musical endeavors. He and his older brother and frequent collaborator, Ben, joined forces for a dance music project, "BC vs. JC," that found the brothers creating melodic dance music in clubs across England.
Jamie also contributed to albums for Pharrell Williams, the Count Basie Orchestra, Japan's Soil & Pimp Sessions, Norway's Beady Belle and France's Camille, as well as spent time as a Goodwill Ambassador to Ethiopia for UNICEF. Cullum's highest profile side projects saluted his courtship with Hollywood, beginning with the animated Disney feature Meet The Robinsons, in which Jamie was the singing voice of Frankie The Frog.
He followed with his vocal on the Golden Globe-nominated "Best Original Song" from the John Cusack film Grace Is Gone, and culminated in his co-writing and performing with Clint Eastwood for the Golden Globe-nominated "Best Original Song" from 2008's Gran Torino. Now, he's back on the road celebrating The Pursuit at concert across Europe and the United States.
Eighteen-year-old Grace Kelly's career is definitely on the fast track. Wynton Marsalis (who Grace Kelly performs on the Fort Adams Stage on Sunday) was so impressed with her three-night stand as guest of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in November 2008 that he invited her to join the ensemble at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Harry Connick, Jr. heard her in a master class and invited her to sit in with his band and she has been a featured guest on NPR's Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland.
In addition, Grace has received numerous honors including The Boston Music Awards' "Outstanding Jazz Act," WCVB-TV's "Five Bostonians to Watch," Downbeat Critics Poll's youngest ever "Alto Saxophone Rising Stars," the Boston Phoenix's "Best Jazz Act in Boston" in the 2009 Best Music Poll (for the second consecutive year) and three ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award. To this astonishing list of credits, Kelly adds Mood Changes, the fifth release on her PAZZ label.
The album mixes six standards with four Kelly originals. She is particularly excited about the strides that Mood Changes reveals in her band leading skills. "There's nothing like playing my own music with my own band," she acknowledges. She also enjoyed critically acclaimed success on her previous album, Gracefulee, which has dominated the DownBeat Student Awards over the past four years. A student at Boston's Berklee College of Music, Grace enjoys "... playing all the time and just living music all day." Her College is also represented at the festival by the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Septet on Saturday afternoon.
George Wein made history 56 years ago when he started the festival era with the Newport Jazz Festival. Along with his company, New Festival Productions, LLC, Wein continues to present the best in established and rising stars, this year including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea Freedom Band with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes, Ahmad Jamal, Wynton Marsalis, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Chris Botti, Jason Moran's Bandwagon, Jon Faddis Quartet, Gretchen Parlato, Fly, Julian Lage Group, JD Allen Trio, David Binney Third Occasion Quartet, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and many more.
TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION
All tickets are available in Newport at the festival office at Empire Tea & Coffee, 22 Broadway (Tuesdays and Fridays Noon - 4:00 pm and Thursdays 2:00 - 7:00 pm); general admission tickets for Fort Adams State Park concerts also are available at the Newport Visitor Information Center, 23 America's Cup Avenue. Festival tickets are available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at (800) 745-3000; service charges apply. For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055. For complete festival information, log on to http://www.newportjazzfest.net/
The 2010 CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival features
FRIDAY, AUGUST 6 ~ 8:00 pm
International Tennis Hall of Fame, 194 Bellevue Avenue
Jamie Cullum / Grace Kelly
SATURDAY, AUGUST 7 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue
Chick Corea Freedom Band with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes / Jamie Cullum / Maria Schneider Orchestra / Ahmad Jamal / Jazz Mafia's Brass, Bows & Beats / Anat Cohen / Newport All-Stars with Howard Alden, Randy Brecker, Randy Sandke & George Wein and special guest Bob Brookmeyer / Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing / Darcy James Argue's Secret Society with special guest Bob Brookmeyer / Fly: Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier & Mark Turner / JD Allen Trio / Julian Lage Group / Trio Da Paz with Harry Allen / Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Quartet / Berklee Global Jazz Institute Septet
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue
Herbie Hancock / Chris Botti / Wynton Marsalis / Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra / Amina Figarova / Conrad Herwig's Latin Side of Herbie / Jon Faddis / Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound / David Binney Third Occasion Quartet / Marshall Allen-Matthew Shipp-Joe Morris / Jason Moran's Bandwagon with Jenny Scheinman / Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy / Ben Allison Band with Jenny Scheinman, Shane Endsley, Steve Cardenas & Rudy Royston / Gretchen Parlato / Matt Wilson Quartet / Dave Douglas & Brass Fantasy.
Carolyn McClair mcclairpr@aol.com
Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene about five years ago as someone to watch
"Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene about five years ago as someone to watch. Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons named Grisman or Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy. It looked and sounded comfortable in her twelve-year-old hands. She started writing songs on the guitar, took up the banjo, and won a bunch of awards. While her instrumental talents are formidable, let's make one thing clear: Sarah is a singer. She's just flat got it. Her voice is velvety smooth, agile, and powerful. With subtle use of colors and effects, she inhabits her songs the way a fine actress does her role. Overall, her music feels good, avoids over reaching. Nothing's contrived.
About to graduate from high school, Sarah is that rare, self-possessed teenager. Her schoolteacher parents have raised her well, providing the skills, support, and freedom to become the confident artist that she is. Beautiful, talented, and just a little mysterious in a wholesome, Texas hill country kinda way, Sarah is at home in this world. She knows what she's about and is ready to get out there and make her mark.
Playing a short cameo set with her a few years ago at Telluride, I heard that voice ring out over the crowd. It was thrilling. Lots of folks backstage already knew her; now the audience got to find out. With the release of this debut recording, and appearances on festival stages this summer, Sarah will reach many more fans of what's real and true in music. "Song Up In Her Head" features a mix of her new-old-timey ballads, and some rocking covers. Her collaborators include her teenaged peers and well-known veterans of the acoustic scene. It's an impressive coming out party, a survey of where she's been so far, and a good indicator of where she's headed. It's just going to get better from here, and I can't wait to see how the Sarah Jarosz story unfolds." -Tim O'Brien
Influences
Tim O'Brien, Mike Marshall, Chris Thile, Punch Brothers, Darrell Scott, The Beatles, Stuart Duncan, Stevie Wonder, Abigail Washburn, Ben Sollee, Hamilton de Holanda, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Nickel Creek, Sara Watkins, Sean Watkins, Hot Rize, Casey Driessen, Wilco, Jeff Tweedy, Uncle Earl, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Greencards, Aoife O'Donovan, Crooked Still, The Decemberists, Colin Meloy, John Cowan, Vince Gill, Terri Hendrix, Lloyd Maines, Mollie O'Brien, U2, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Beck, Psychograss, Blue Highway, Noam Pikelny, Reeltime Travelers, Martha Scanlan, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, Tony Trischka, David Grisman Quintet, The Red Stick Ramblers, Tony Rice, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bob Dylan, John Mayer, Elvis Perkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Stuff Smith, Cat Stevens.....
Program
4 Jun 2010 19:00
Iowa Arts Festival Iowa City, Iowa , US
10 Jun 2010 17:00
Bonnaroo Manchester, Tennessee, US
17 Jun 2010 12:00
Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride, Colorado, US
18 Jun 2010 23:00
Telluride Nightgrass at The Sheridan Opera House (Opening for Mumford & Sons) Telluride, Colorado , US
16 Jul 2010 20:00
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Oak Hill, New York , US
17 Jul 2010 20:00
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Oak Hill, New York , US
30 Jul 2010 18:30
Newport Folk Festival Newport, Rhode Isla, US
31 Jul 2010 20:00
Newport Folk Festival Newport, Rhode Isla, US
http://www.myspace.com/sarahjaroszmusic
George Wein's NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL
George Wein's NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL* RENEWS FRIDAY EVENING KICKOFF TRADITION AT INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME AT NEWPORT CASINO
NEWPORT, RI, May 27, 2010 - Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers will kick off the 51st edition of George Wein's Newport Folk Festival* at the International Tennis Hall of Steve Martin Fame at Newport Casino on Friday, July 30, 2010, at 8:00 pm. Tim O'Brien and Sarah Jarosz will round out the evening of talented bluegrass artists.
The festival continues July 31 and August 1 at FortAdamsState Park. Tickets and more information are available at http://www.newportfolkfest.net/.
Martin's use of a banjo in his off-the-wall stand up routine may be a memory for some. But when the 2010 Grammy winner for "Bluegrass Album of the Year" takes the stage with the Steep Canyon Rangers, it's no laughing matter. The North Carolina-based group lends a credible collaboration to Martin's bluegrass banjo.
With on-stage anecdotes that have compared a song's "sadness and melancholy" to the look on his agent's face when Martin "told him I wanted to be a banjo player," concert-goers won't easily forget that Martin is a funny man. The collaboration performances have been known to mix in some of Martin's signature dry wit, but at the core is a tight band playing real bluegrass. With an upright bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, second banjo and deep Appalachian harmonies, it's enough to leave a comedy or bluegrass fan happy.
Martin's multi-talented, storied, and well-known career includes achievements as an actor, comedian, author, playwright, and producer, and has seen the entertainer contribute to some of the most popular movies of recent film history. His own Grammy Award winning banjo album, The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo, and appearances with The Steep Canyon Rangers, have cemented Martin as one of the most dynamic and successful performers of our time.
O'Brien first won renown as a member of one of bluegrass's premiere bands, Hot Rize, though he's been doing solo performances for a long time. Pressed for antecedents, he offers up figures like James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. "The folksinger with a guitar is a sort of an unassailable icon," he says with a laugh. "Dylan, Woody Guthrie - what can you say."
Jarosz, 19, began singing at two, playing piano at six, and took up the mandolin at 10. When her parents took her to a weekly bluegrass jam outside of Austin, TX, "I was just hooked," says Jarosz. With a fine, supple singing voice, she's a skilled writer, unusually assured and observant. And of course she can play: mandolin, clawhammer banjo, guitar, and piano.
George Wein's New Festival Productions continues to build on the festival's historic past by featuring emerging young artists alongside some of folk music's most venerable names. This year's festival features Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road, John Prine, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, The Swell Season, Andrew Bird, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Doc Watson & David Holt, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Calexico, Blitzen Trapper, Richie Havens, Sam Bush, The Low Anthem, Tim O'Brien, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Tao Seeger Band, A.A. Bondy, The Punch Brothers with Chris Thile, Dawes, Nneka, Horse Feathers, Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three, Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore, Sarah Jarosz, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, O'Death and Liz Longley.
TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION
Festival tickets are available on-line at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or by telephone at (800) 745-3000; service charges apply. For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055. For complete festival information, log on to http://www.newportfolkfest.net/
George Wein's 2010 Newport Folk Festival daily schedule features:
FRIDAY, JULY 30 ~ 8:00 pm
International Tennis Hall of Fame, 194 Bellevue Avenue
Steve Martin & The SteepCanyon Rangers / Tim O'Brien / Sarah Jarosz
SATURDAY, JULY 31 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
FortAdamsState Park, Harrison Avenue
John Prine / Andrew Bird / Brandi Carlile / The Low Anthem / Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket / Doc Watson & David Holt / Calexico / Dawes / Nneka / O'Death / Liz Longley / Blitzen Trapper / A.A. Bondy / Sam Bush / Horsefeathers
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm
FortAdamsState Park, Harrison Avenue
Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road / The Swell Season / The Avett Brothers / Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings / Richie Havens / Justin Townes Earle / Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / The Preservation Hall Jazz Band / Punch Brothers with Chris Thile / The Felice Brothers / Tao Seeger Band / Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons / Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore / Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three
From > Carolyn McClair <mcclairpr@aol.com
Friday, May 28, 2010
Silent Louis
Shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond as a modern re-imagining of early silent film, Louis is an homage to Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, beautiful women and the birth of American music. The grand Storyville bordellos, alleys and cemeteries of 1907 New Orleans provide a backdrop of lust, blood and magic for 6-year-old Louis (Anthony Coleman, pictured above) as he navigates the colorful intricacies of life in the city. Young Louis’ dreams of playing the trumpet are interrupted by a chance meeting with a beautiful and vulnerable girl named Grace and her baby, Jasmine. Haley, in a performance reminiscent of the great comic stars of the silent screen, plays the evil Judge Perry who is determined not to let Jasmine’s true heritage derail his candidacy for governor.
“The idea of accompanying a silent film telling a mythical tale of a young Louis Armstrong was appealing to me,” says Marsalis. “Of course, calling it a silent film is a misnomer. There will be plenty of music, and jazz is like a conversation between the players so there’ll be no shortage of dialogue. I look forward to playing with Cecile. The contrast between Gottschalk’s music and jazz can be a revelation to those unfamiliar with Gottschalk’s music and jazz.”
“The combination of Cecile playing Gottschalk and Wynton and his ensemble playing jazz reflects the wide-ranging nature of the American musical landscape,” notes Pritzker. “Louis came about when I was writing a screenplay about Buddy Bolden, the first jazz trumpeter of New Orleans, and I took my mom to see Chaplin’s City Lights with the Chicago Symphony performing the score. It was without a doubt the best movie experience I ever had. The challenge of trying to tell a story visually, without dialogue, was compelling. I thought that if I was going to shoot one film, I might as well try to shoot two, the second being a silent film that picked up where Bolden ended.”
Tour dates for Louis:
Wednesday, August 25: Symphony Center, Chicago, Illinois
Thursday, August 26: Max M. Fisher Music Center, Detroit, Michigan
Saturday, August 28: Strathmore Center, Bethesda, Maryland
Monday, August 30: Apollo Theatre, New York, New York
Tuesday, August 31: Keswick Theatre, Glenside (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania
For additional information, please go to http://www.louisthemovie.com/
http://www.jazziz.com/news/2010/05/28/silent-louis/
San Antonio Summer Art & Jazz Festival
Date: 4 Jun 2010
Location: 1300 North Main Avenue, San Antonio, Texas
Should you happen to be in San Antonio, Texas, on the first full weekend in June, you’ll want to do more than remember the Alamo or take a fine stroll along the city’s renowned River Walk. Which is to say, you’ll do well to spend some time at the 8th annual San Antonio Summer Art & Jazz Festival, which this year will run from Friday, June 4 until Sunday, June 6 in Crockett Park.
As the festival’s name implies, the event features an arts-and-crafts festival to complement a whole lot of delicious Texas vittles and 10 free jazz concerts. This year’s line-up includes several local and regional acts (such as San Antonio’s own Zarabande, George Morin, the Regency Jazz Band and the Billy Ray Shepard and The Main Event Band) as well as out-of-state talent like Detroit-based soul-jazz flutist Althea René and the festival’s headliner, Seattle-born smooth-jazz pianist Dan Siegel (pictured above).
Expect temperatures in Texas’ second largest city to tip into the in the warm 90s during the day before dipping into the cool 70s at night. Expect to eat well and to meet lots of happy people. And above all, expect good music and a great time.
For more information, including a complete list of events, go to: www.sanantoniosummerartjazzfestival.com.
http://www.jazziz.com/jazz-events/?event_id=10
Janet Planet - Of Thee I Sing
– Isobel Neuberger; “A lovely dedication to our country.”
– Karrin Allyson; “Planet’s voice is stunning, singing each note as if nothing else mattered.”– Ike Sturm; “Janet brings new life to treasures that long to be heard.” – Gene Bertoncini http://www.janetplanet.com/
http://www.jazziz.com/independent_culture/2010/05/28/janet-planet-2/
Janet Planet sings Gene Bertoncini's arrangement of Like Someone in Love. Composed in 1944 by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke. Janet is accompanied by John Harmon-piano; John Gibson-bass; Tom Washatka-saxophone; Tom Theabo-guitar; and Danny Lueck-drums. Other singers who have recorded it include Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, and Blossom Dearie. Janet Planet performs live at the Thrasher Opera House, Green Lake, WI in November, 2009.
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