by Brenna R. Kelly
The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra will present “Music from the Peanut Gallery” with the orchestra’s Flood Wall Jazz Quintet as they play the music of Claud Bolling, Dave Bruebeck and Vince Guaraldi at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6, in Devou Park.
The Peanuts Gang from King’s Island will bring dancing to the hillside.
On Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. – “Blue Moon of Kentucky” will find the KSO’s Boogie Band performing country favorites from Johnny Cash to Sugarland.
Admission is free, though a $5 donation is suggested.
http://local.cincinnati.com/community/Story.aspx?c=100025&url=http://cincinnati.com/blogs/kentoncountyconnects/2011/07/28/ky-symphony-concerts-in-devou/
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Ky. Symphony concerts in Devou
Out in Berkeley: Lavay Smith is crazy about Patsy Cline
By Andrew Gilbert
Jazz and country music are often cast as antithetical cultural forces, signifying a blue state/red state divide. The former is black, urban, and sophisticated, while the later is white, rural (or suburban), and populist.
The truth is that jazz and country music have been kissing cousins since the styles took shape early in the 20th century, and in fact formed a blissful union with the rise of western swing in the late 1930s.
For case study of how savvy artists can seamlessly meld two quintessentially American musical forms, look no further than “Crazy In Love With Patsy Cline,” a side project that Lavay Smith pursues when she’s not delivering her Red Hot Skillet Lickers repertoire of jump blues and swing anthems (songs she performs regularly at Ashkenaz).
The San Francisco diva originally paid tribute to Cline back in 2006 as part of a collaboration with New Orleans vocalist Ingrid Lucia, and Miss Carmen Getit, resident chanteuse with Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums. But for the past year or so she’s made the project her own, and she brings her inimitable sass to the Nashville sound Friday at Freight & Salvage.
For Smith, creating a program featuring songs indelibly associated with Cline makes perfect emotional sense. “When I had my heart broken, I listened to nothing but Billie Holiday and Patsy Cline,” Smith says. “A while ago I thought, I wish I could hear them singing each other songs, because they’re so similar, at least in the intensity of feeling.”
While addiction and hard living felled Holiday, Cline died in a plane crash in 1963 at the age of 30. She was at the height of her fame, a mainstay on the Grand Ole Opry and one of the only female country artists to play Carnegie Hall. Both Cline and Holiday attained iconic status through their gift for turning songs about abject romantic surrender into anthems of survival.
Why what you know about playing jazz is useless
by Minim Pro
Approximation is the curse of the
average musician. We've all heard players suffering from this curse - their
lines are almost executed well, they almost resolve
in the right place or on the right beat, they almost swing -
in fact, they're almost good players.
Learning jazz theory is by far the
easiest part of studying this music and many musicians are better theorists
than players. The hard part is putting the theory into practice because in
jazz, what you know is worthless - it's what you do that
counts.
The difference between a great player
and the average jazz student or journeyman is not that the great player knows
more, it's that he can do more. And actually, when you really get down to it,
it's not even the case that great players do that many things that others are
inacapable of doing; what marks them as special is that they can do thingsconsistently that
the average player can only do intermittently.
Assuming that you're not one of the
greats and whatever your level of playing, I'm sure that you experience moments
on a reasonably regular basis when things go really well, when you really
execute something perfectly. It may only a be a chord change, a simple blues
lick or a well-interpreted phrase of a head and the rest of the piece may be a
train-wreck, but whatever that thing is, you really nail it.
The difference between you and the
greats is largely that those guys nail stuff in that way all the time.
You might really swing for four bars in a chorus, they swing constantly: You
might be able to tear up a ii-V-I in several of the keys, they sound great
in everykey: You may be able to burn on medium swing tunes, they
can burn at any tempo.
Just imagine for a moment that you never
learn any more about jazz theory and that the musical resources you use in your
playing and soloing now are the ones that you are going to be stuck with
forever. Now imagine that you nailed everything you ever tried
to do with those resources - what do you think your playing would sound like?
I'm willing to bet it would be a damn sight better than it is now!
You see, most of us can do certain
things really well, but not all the time, or in every situation. In our rush to
get better faster we learn more and more theory - more scales, more
subsitutions, more alterations, more voicings and so on and we're trying to
take on that much material that we never really master any of it.
When struggling players are frustrated
with their playing and feel like they're really not getting anywhere, what do
they usually do? They buy another tuition book or DVD, think about taking
lessons or go on youTube and start looking for tutorial videos. In other words,
they start trying to learn more things, instead of learning to use the things
that they know consistently well.
For example, if a player has been trying
to play major scales over ii-V-Is and it's not sounding good, he might switch
to working on chord tone soloing. If that doesn't work he dabbles with
pentatonics. If that's not any better he decides to start playing modes for each
seperate chord. When that seems too difficult he decides just to play major
scales...and is now back where he started. Despite all that work, his playing
doesn't sound any better than it did in the first place because he never really
got to grips with any of those approaches.
If this has been your approach to
practising, then it's not surprising that your playing is patchy and
inconsistent and you're probably feeling frustrated and doubting that you'll
ever get to where you want to be.
Remember, what you know in jazz is
useless, it's what you can do that counts. If you can learn to do something,
anything, consistently well then you're on your way. The answer is almost
certainly is not that you need to know more things, it's that you need to
practise the things that you know until you they are things that you can do.
Then, you need to practise them some more until they become things that you can
do all the time.
In the next post, I'll be discussing
just how to go about this and offering some practice tips I hope you'll find
useful. Until next time..
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Jazz Musician of the Day: Edward Simon
All About Jazz is celebrating Edward Simon's birthday today!
The process by which Simon became an internationally regarded jazz musician began in the small coastal town of Cardón, Venezuela, where he grew up surrounded by the sounds of Latin and Caribbean music. Born in 1969, Simon credits his father, Hadsy, for developing his passion for music and supporting him and his two brothers, Marlon and Michael, to become professional musicians.
He attended the Philadelphia Performing Arts School...The process by which Simon became an internationally regarded jazz musician began in the small coastal town of Cardón, Venezuela, where he grew up surrounded by the sounds of Latin and Caribbean music. Born in 1969, Simon credits his father, Hadsy, for developing his passion for music and supporting him and his two brothers, Marlon and Michael, to become professional musicians. He attended the Philadelphia Performing Arts School...more
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=84822NJJazzList.com Weekly Calendar
07/29 Fri Enrique Haneine Trio at Moonstruck Asbury Park, NJ details...
07/29 Fri Ken Salvo Jazz Syndicate Trio at Uproot Restaurant 9 Mt. Bethel Rd. Warren Twsp, NJ details...
07/29 Fri Lou Volpe Jazz Guitar Duo at The Liberty House details...
07/29 Fri Mingus Dynasty Quartet at Summer JazzFest at Two River Theater in Red Bank details...
07/29 Fri Rob Paparozzi w/ The Tommy Igoe Big Band at Birdland (NYC) details...
07/29 Fri Rob Paparozzi w/ The Tommy Igoe Big Band at Birdland (NYC) details...
07/29 Fri The Emily Asher Quartet at Sophie's Bistro 700 Hamilton St., Somerset, NJ details...
07/30 Sat Barbara Rose at Oyster Point Hotel – Red Bank details...
07/30 Sat Guitarist "Arturo" w/Meghan Glynn &Tom Marciano at Uproot Restaurant 9 Mt. Bethel Rd. Warren Twsp, NJ details...
07/30 Sat John Henry Goldman and the StraightJazz Trio at Blue Rooster Cafe, 17 N. Main St., Cranbury, NJ details...
07/30 Sat Kevin Hildebrandt Trio at Chico's House of Jazz Asbury Park, NJ details...
07/30 Sat Mingus Dynasty Quartet at Summer JazzFest at Two River Theater in Red Bank details...
07/30 Sat Reflections Jazz/Swing Orchestra at Tuxedo Park, NY details...
07/30 Sat Rob Paparozzi Quartet at Shanghai Jazz Club (Madison, NJ) details...
07/30 Sat Sandy Sasso and Tro at Chico's House of Jazz details...
07/30 Sat The Dan Levinson Dixieland Bash at The Lackland Center at Centenary College details...
07/31 Sun John Gatti Trio at Uncorked Wine Shop & Lounge Totowa details...
07/31 Sun Lou Volpe Jazz Guitar at The Waterside details...
07/31 Sun Nobuki Takamen Trio at Garage Restaurant details...
07/31 Sun Radam Schwartz with KUumba Frank Lacy at Skippers,Newark, NJdetails...
Read more on http://us.mg5.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=290khahtujcrb
Interview: Helen Shapiro
Reprinted fro http://jazzwax.com
Helen Shapiro and Amy Winehouse had a few things in common. In my 
interview with Helen in today'sWall Street Journal (go here), we touched on what life was like for her at age 14 in 1961, when she had two No. 1 hits and a No. 3 hit on the British pop charts. In 1962, more hits followed along with two teen movies, a world tour and an appearance onThe Ed Sullivan Show that October. Then came a pop package tour of the U.K. in February and March 1963 called The Helen Shapiro Show, when the Beatles opened for her.
interview with Helen in today'sWall Street Journal (go here), we touched on what life was like for her at age 14 in 1961, when she had two No. 1 hits and a No. 3 hit on the British pop charts. In 1962, more hits followed along with two teen movies, a world tour and an appearance onThe Ed Sullivan Show that October. Then came a pop package tour of the U.K. in February and March 1963 called The Helen Shapiro Show, when the Beatles opened for her.All during this time, Helen was the target of the British tabloids. They hounded her and tried every trick in the book to get into 
her home and invade her private life in search of dirt. Even after her family invited a reporter in for a home-cooked lunch, the writer wrote a scathing piece about her in his paper. At this point she was only 15, and she soon had to leave school. Her celebrity was too disturbing and disruptive for the rest of the grade.
her home and invade her private life in search of dirt. Even after her family invited a reporter in for a home-cooked lunch, the writer wrote a scathing piece about her in his paper. At this point she was only 15, and she soon had to leave school. Her celebrity was too disturbing and disruptive for the rest of the grade.On her 1963 tour, she learned that the Beatles had written Misery for her, but Columbia, her label, turned it down. When the Beatles'Please Please Me 
reached No. 1 on some of the British charts, the Fab Four was on par with Helen in popularity. At hotel stops, Helen's fans and the Beatles' fans were screaming for them, as they flung signed publicity stills out the windows and into clutching hands. Through the remainder of 1963, Helen continued to record hits. In October, she was on Ready Steady Go! with three of the Beatles hamming around during one of her hits.
reached No. 1 on some of the British charts, the Fab Four was on par with Helen in popularity. At hotel stops, Helen's fans and the Beatles' fans were screaming for them, as they flung signed publicity stills out the windows and into clutching hands. Through the remainder of 1963, Helen continued to record hits. In October, she was on Ready Steady Go! with three of the Beatles hamming around during one of her hits.Then Capitol in the U.S. released I Want to Hold Your Hand in December, in advance of the Beatles' February arrival in New 
York. By then, any hope Helen had of being part of the new British Invasion were dashed. English rock in the U.S., for the most part, meant boy bands, and Helen, like many other British female pop singers at the time, didn't make the leap.
York. By then, any hope Helen had of being part of the new British Invasion were dashed. English rock in the U.S., for the most part, meant boy bands, and Helen, like many other British female pop singers at the time, didn't make the leap.Though Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield became huge in the States, as did Shirley Bassey 
to some extent thanks to the Goldfinger theme, most English pop singers weren't part of the Invasion. Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu had hits here, but they never really became household names. Others on the long list include Alma Cogan, Anita Harris, Billie Davis, Carol Deene, Jackie Trent, Julie Grant, Julie Rogers, Kathy Kirby, Susan Maughan and Twinkle. And those were just the ones who were highly popular in Britain. The less-popular list is even longer.
to some extent thanks to the Goldfinger theme, most English pop singers weren't part of the Invasion. Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu had hits here, but they never really became household names. Others on the long list include Alma Cogan, Anita Harris, Billie Davis, Carol Deene, Jackie Trent, Julie Grant, Julie Rogers, Kathy Kirby, Susan Maughan and Twinkle. And those were just the ones who were highly popular in Britain. The less-popular list is even longer.Part of Helen's problem was that once the Beatles hit, she was considered yesterday's news. To the record-buyer, she was the 
pre-Beatles teen with the bee-hive hairstyle and songs about not wanting to be treated like a child. By 1964, girls in the U.S. had grown up to a point where young adult males were hot. As Helen confessed to me in London, "I had a huge crush on John during that tour, even though he was married at the time. All of the Beatles were older and much more confident than boys of our age."
pre-Beatles teen with the bee-hive hairstyle and songs about not wanting to be treated like a child. By 1964, girls in the U.S. had grown up to a point where young adult males were hot. As Helen confessed to me in London, "I had a huge crush on John during that tour, even though he was married at the time. All of the Beatles were older and much more confident than boys of our age."Like Winehouse, Helen was Jewish and had refused to change 
her last name, though she was under pressure to do so. Also like Winehouse, Helen had a prematurely deep voice and a deep and enduring love for jazz. In her later years, Helen sang extensively with English trumpet star Humphrey Lyttelton.
her last name, though she was under pressure to do so. Also like Winehouse, Helen had a prematurely deep voice and a deep and enduring love for jazz. In her later years, Helen sang extensively with English trumpet star Humphrey Lyttelton.The difference, of course, is that Helen didn't have the same
kind of runaway fame that Winehouse did in the U.S. Also, the British media was a bit gentler and kinder toward Helen—it was a different era. And Helen was more grounded, surrounded by family that actually provided her with a safe haven. As she told me in London, "I lived at home for a long time while I was recording hits. This helped me with my confidence and I avoided things that would have been bad for me. If I had made it in America, I might not be here today."
kind of runaway fame that Winehouse did in the U.S. Also, the British media was a bit gentler and kinder toward Helen—it was a different era. And Helen was more grounded, surrounded by family that actually provided her with a safe haven. As she told me in London, "I lived at home for a long time while I was recording hits. This helped me with my confidence and I avoided things that would have been bad for me. If I had made it in America, I might not be here today."When Winehouse died on Sunday, I emailed Helen for her thoughts:
"I was very shocked and extremely sad to hear about Amy's
death. I never met her, but she grew up close to the area in London that I did. I actually know a relative of hers. Occasionally, press people have drawn similarities between us, citing background, looks, and voice. I suppose because of that, I somehow felt a connection with her. Her passing is a great tragedy. She was a great talent."
death. I never met her, but she grew up close to the area in London that I did. I actually know a relative of hers. Occasionally, press people have drawn similarities between us, citing background, looks, and voice. I suppose because of that, I somehow felt a connection with her. Her passing is a great tragedy. She was a great talent."JazzWax tracks: Hands down, the finest collection of Helen's recordings is The Ultimate Helen Shapiro (EMI), a three-CD, 90-track remastered set. It's available here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Helen with the Beatles in October 1963, just months before the Invasion. Harboring a secret crush on John, Helen's expression says it all as she walks away from him and on to Ringo..
Used with permission by Marc Myers.
"Vonski" Tribute Kicks Off Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz Series
Ted Leo's show at Millennium Park last night placed a cherry atop a strong Downtown Sound series and the annual Music Without Borders series ended last Thursday. That doesn't mean music at Millennium Park is done for the summer.
The Grant Park Music Festival is still going strong. Next Monday kicks off the third annual Dusk Variationschamber music series. But it's Thursday's launch of the Made In Chicago: World Class Jazz that has us stoked for grabbing some lawn with a couple of cans of oat soda to enjoy some of the strongest jazz music the city has to offer.
The six-week series serves as a roadmap for the city's jazz history, looks into the explorations of other musicians with the music of other continents and cultures, showcases some of Chicago's young jazz lions and dovetails seamlessly into the Sept. 1 opening of the Chicago Jazz Festival. Thursday's kickoff is a tribute to Von Freeman, the saxophone colossus who, along with Fred Anderson, helped groom three generations of local jazz musicians.
"Truth Be Told: Celebrating the Legacy of Von Freeman" will feature Freeman's New Apartment Lounge backing band of drummer Michael Raynor and guitarist/arranger Michael Allemana.
Among the other musicians scheduled to appear are saxophonists Steve Coleman and Eric Alexander, trombonist Julian Preister and bassist Matt Ferguson, all of them citing "Vonski" as an influence. There should also be some special guests on stage to pay tribute to Freeman.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Kenya: Addicts Need Empathy
This
past weekend, lovers of modern jazz lost a great talent - Amy Winehouse who, by
the age of 27, was better known for her drug-addled behaviour than for her
music.
The
hold that addiction to alcohol and hard drugs had on her career is
well-documented. In the end, only early death awaited her.
This
begs the question: how should we help addicts? Conventional modes of treatment
include liberal amounts of finger-pointing and gossiping about the
"worthless addict" before he or she is shipped off to a
rehabilitation centre.
There,
they often undergo a programme that usually doesn't help because the addiction
has taken control so absolutely they wish only for death.
Worst
of all, most of us roadside therapists have absolutely no idea how addiction
works and how best to handle it.
More
than 10,000 Kenyans are addicted to hard drugs, including a clutch of so-called
local celebrities, and the number is growing.
These
addicts are our friends, relatives, co-workers and business partners.
So
perhaps it is time we understood that theirs is a disease, just like HIV and
cancer which require a great deal of empathy.
There
are a lot of Amy Winehouses in our midst.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201107260155.html
Adele pays tribute to Winehouse
Award-winning singer/songwriter, Adele, has credited Amy Winehouse with "paving the way" for her own success and declares the 27-year-old Rehab singer revitalised the UK music scene with her own blend of jazz and pop.
Adele writes on her blog: "Not many people have it in them to do something they love, simply because they love it. With no fuss and no compromise. but she knew what she was capable of and didn't even need to try."
She continues: "If she wanted to do something she would and if she didn't she'd say f*** off. It came easy to her and that's why we all loved her so much. We believed every word she wrote, and it would sink in deep when she sang them."
"Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blase about the whole thing. I don't think she ever realised just how brilliant she was and how important she is, but that just makes her even more charming."
Adele goes on to say that she feels "proud" and "grateful" to Amy and that she is "incredibly sad" about her passing: "Although I'm incredibly sad about Amy passing I'm also reminded of how immensely proud of her I am as well. and grateful to be inspired by her. Amy flies in paradise."
Review: Ronnie Laws, Tom Browne bring innovative instrumental music to Twin Cities
Saxophonist Ronnie Laws, who performed at the Dakota on Monday night, had instrumental hits years before someone coined the term "smooth jazz." He released his biggest hit, "Always There," on his debut album back in 1975.
Unlike much of the tepid, instrumental pop that would later become known as smooth jazz, Laws' music has always had more of a bluesy-funky edge, probably related to his origins in Houston, which has produced a number of great blues, R&B and jazz artists.
In recent years, Laws has benefited from "rediscovery" of his past music by young hip-hop and funk fans, hence the tour he's sharing with another instrumental funk hitmaker of the past, trumpeter Tom Browne. Browne had his moment in the spotlight back in the early 1980s with the tune "Funkin' for Jamaica," a tribute to the section of Queens where he grew up. He's also been discovered by modern crate-diggers.
A decade ago, Mariah Carey recorded a song called "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)," built around a sample from Browne's tune.
Laws and Browne have newly released CDs, so their opening show Monday consisted of both old hits and new material.
Before the two frontmen took the stage, their tight backup band established the 1970s jazz-funk theme with a rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon."
Rockwired.com's Latest Edition of Jazzed and Blue Featured Tony Award-Winning Broadway Veteran Lea Salonga and Music from Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terence Blanchard and Tracy Nelson
The latest edition of Jazzed and Blue: Profiles in Blues and Jazz is now available for download at ROCKWIRED.COM and features music and an exclusive interview with Tony Award-winning and Olivier Award-winning Broadway veteran Lea Salonga. In this opening segment, Salonga discusses her latest release The Journey So Far, and her place on Broadway's pantheon.
The second half of this edition of Jazzed and Blue will feature music from such jazz and blues artists as Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diane Schuur, Teddy Presberg, Marilyn Mcleod, Kellylee Evans, Barbara Martin, Tracy Nelson and Randell K. “Since last weeks, show, listeners have really taken a liking to the free form segment of the show and quite honestly so have I." says Jazzed and Blue host Brian Lush. “It's a real treat to end a long week with a show like this and to kick back and listen to some great music."
“The Journey So Far," the new live CD from veteran Broadway and Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga, is set for release by LML Music/Allegro Distribution August 9th, 2011. Salonga, the Pilipina singer and actress who is best known for originating the lead role of KIM in the musical Miss Saigon(and for which she won the TONY, OLIVIER, Drama Desk Outer Critics, and Theatre World Awards), will accompany the release of the CD with a worldwide tour throughout 2011 and 2012.
“The Journey So Far," the new live CD from veteran Broadway and Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga, is set for release by LML Music/Allegro Distribution August 9th, 2011. Salonga, the Pilipina singer and actress who is best known for originating the lead role of KIM in the musical Miss Saigon(and for which she won the TONY, OLIVIER, Drama Desk Outer Critics, and Theatre World Awards), will accompany the release of the CD with a worldwide tour throughout 2011 and 2012.
Read more on: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=84699
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