JAZZ TREASURES: LEGEND & HERITAGE

Honoring Les McCann, Abbey Lincoln, Carolyn McClair, Jonathan Batiste Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on Tuesday, May 11, 7 pm

Performances by Javon Jackson w/ Les McCann, Jonathan Batiste, Melba Joyce, Jann Parker & Others

New York, NY, April 29, 2010 - Celebrating 10 years of Jazz in the Valley, TRANSART & Cultural Services, Inc. will honor Les McCann, Carolyn McClair, Jonathan Batiste and celebrate the life of Abbey Lincoln, at its first annual Jazz Treasures: Legend & Heritage event to be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at 7:00 pm followed by tributes and a concert at 8:00 pm at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard at 135th Street in Harlem.

"We thought it only fitting to honor the artists and people who have given much to this art form we call jazz," says Greer Smith, President of TRANSART & Cultural Services Inc. and producer of Jazz in the Valley. "The people who create this music give much to the world. Musicians and this music tell the stories of this country and our people. Many artists never get the recognition they deserve. This is an opportunity for us to say thank you."

The evening will begin with a VIP cocktail reception at 7:00 pm, followed by tributes to some of the pioneers of Jazz at 8:00 pm. Les McCann, whose signature tune "Compared to What" became an anthem for the turbulent 60's, is one of the innovators of Jazz Soul. Carolyn McClair, who represents jazz festivals and other organizations, is the recipient of the Cultural Luminary Award given to one who is a worker in the field and continues to light the way for others in the art form. Rising star Jonathan Batiste receives the Jazz Heritage Award, for being one to watch as this art form moves into the future. In addition, the evening will feature an extraordinary tribute to Abbey Lincoln (Aminata Moseka, world-renowned vocalist, songwriter and actor.

The night will be a celebration of the music and history of jazz and will include performances by the Javon Jackson Band and Jonathan Batiste with a musical tribute to Abbey Lincoln featuring vocalists Melba Joyce, Jann Parker and many others. Jackson came into international prominence as a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and his current group incorporates jazz, funk, R&B. On this night, in a not-to-be-missed collaboration of the young along side the legend, Les McCann joins Jackson to perform his signature tunes.

JAZZ IN THE VALLEY began in 2000 when TRANSART received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to commission Ahmad Jamal to compose a piece in homage to the Hudson River Valley. The presentation of this composition, entitled "Perfect Picture," grew into an annual series showcasing music performed by world-class musicians fittingly complemented by breathtaking views of the Hudson River and the Shawangunk Mountains as a backdrop. During its 10-year history, the jazz series has featured noted artists Roy Hargrove, Randy Weston, Stefon Harris, Jimmy Heath, the late Oscar Brown Jr. and more.

All proceeds of this event will help TRANSART with their mission to further the exposure of the history and popular culture of Africa and its Diaspora to the American people. Proceeds from the concerts assist with bringing the music and the people who create it into the public schools in the area. Many young people experience their first professional live performance through the educational program of Jazz in the Valley, Behind the Beat: Intro to Jazz. Musicians conduct assembly presentations, master classes and jazz clinics. There is also a traditional drumming workshop after school program.
Carolyn McClair Public Relations

P.O. Box 55, Radio City Station, New York, NY, 10101

Jazz by Decade: 1930 - 1940

By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide
By 1930, the Great Depression had befallen the nation. 25 percent of the workforce was jobless, and up to 60 percent of African American men had no work. Cities became crowded with people searching for work after farms began to wither and rot. Black musicians were not allowed to do studio or radio work. However, jazz music was resilient. While businesses, including the record industry, were failing, dance halls were packed with people dancing the jitterbug to the music of big bands, which would come to be called swing music.

Swing bands attracted throngs with their intensity, playing fast and loud blues riffs and featuring virtuosic soloists. All of a sudden, thanks to musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster, the tenor saxophone became the instrument most strongly identified with jazz. In Kansas City, pianist Count Basie began building an all-star big band after Benny Moten, a well-known bandleader died in 1935. Basie featured Lester Young, giving rise to the saxophonist’ career as an innovator, and also bringing exposure to an aggressive and bluesy vein of jazz that filled the clubs of the Midwest.

Meanwhile, the stars of earlier jazz styles were being forgotten. Bix Beiderbecke died of pneumonia in 1931 after a fierce battle with alcoholism. That same year, Buddy Bolden died at the Louisiana State Hospital for the Insane. He had never been recorded. Sidney Bechet was forced to open a tailor shop and abandon music. Louis Armstrong sustained a increasingly lucrative career, but at the expense of a faltering reputation for having become too commercial.

In 1933, the prohibition of alcohol was repealed, and speakeasies were legitimized. The sounds of swing were spreading, as exposure to its defiant jubilance reached audiences through radio waves. Benny Goodman, who had a large radio following, purchased 36 arrangements by Fletcher Henderson in 1934, providing the American Public with a real taste of black music. Goodman hired Henderson as a staff arranger, and also featured him in small groups. By performing with black musicians, Goodman helped legitimize true jazz, and made a case for racial tolerance.

By the end of the 1930s, swing had completely taken over, although its emphasis on soloists began a separate movement as well. Virtuosic musicians began to perform in smaller ensembles, using the rhythms of swing, but highlighting their improvisation. Lester Young, who often backed Billie Holiday, as well as trumpeter Roy Eldridge and pianist Art Tatum, gave rise to the music that would later be called bebop. In 1938, a young Charlie Parker was working as a dishwasher in a nightclub where Art Tatum was performing. Tatum’s technical ferocity, as well as his command of harmony, would prove to be very influential to the aspiring saxophonist.

As the 1930s drew to a close, swing was pumping through jukeboxes and radios around the country. However, after Hitler’s Germany brutally invaded Poland in 1939, the United States was soon drawn into war, whose effect extended into the evolution of jazz.
http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/JazzByDecade193040.htm

Reunited after many years with tenor saxophonist Lester Young, Billie's visual reaction to his moving solo remains as eloquent as anything she ever sang; a touching finale to their historic musical partnership. Introduced by Robert Herridge (producer/host of CBS' "The Sound of Jazz"), this is perhaps the single most famous "live jazz" performance in TV history. Other members of the all-star band seen here: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mal Waldron..."We shall not see their likes again."

Jazz By Decade: 1920 - 1930

By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide
The decade between 1920 and 1930 marked many crucial events in jazz. It all started with the prohibition of alcohol in 1920. Rather than quell drinking, the act simply forced it into speakeasies and private residences, and inspired a wave of jazz-accompanied and booze-fueled rent parties.

The audience for jazz was broadening, thanks to an increase in recordings cut, and to the popularity of jazz-inflected pop music such as that of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Also, New Orleans began to lose its centrality in musical output, as musicians moved to Chicago and New York City. Chicago briefly enjoyed being the capitol of jazz, partly because it was home to Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong.

New York’s scene increased as well. James P. Johnson’s 1921 recording of “Carolina Shout” bridged the gap between ragtime and more advanced jazz styles. In addition, big bands began to pop up throughout the city. Duke Ellington moved to New York in 1923, and four years later became the leader of the house band at the Cotton Club. In 1922, Coleman Hawkins moved to New York, where he joined Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra. Inspired by Louis Armstrong who briefly toured with the group, Hawkins resolved to create an individualistic improvisation style.

The primacy of the soloist was budding thanks to Armstrong’s Hot Five recordings on Okeh Records. Famous songs included “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” and “Big Butter and Egg Man.” Sidney Bechet’s virtuosity was documented as well, with his 1923 recording of “Wild Cat Blues” and “Kansas City Blues.”

In 1927, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke recorded “In a Mist” with C-melody saxophone player Frankie Trumbauer. Their refined and introspective approach contrasted with the gregarious New Orleans style. Tenor saxophonist Lester Young brought the style to prominence, and offered an alternative to the gruff playing of Coleman Hawkins. It wasn’t just in tone that the two differed. Young’s specialty was embellishing and creating melodies, while Hawkins became an expert at outlining chord changes by playing arpeggios. The convergence of these two approaches were integral in the development of bebop in later years.

By featuring virtuosic soloists and performing bombastic blues arrangements, big bands, such as those led by Earl Hines, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington, began to replace New Orleans jazz in popularity. The concentration of that popularity also began to shift from Chicago to New York, signified by Louis Armstrong’s move there in 1929.
http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/JazzByDecade192030.htm

Jazz by Decade: 1910 - 1920

By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide
During the decade between 1910 and 1920, the seeds of jazz began to take root. New Orleans, the vibrant and chromatic port city in which ragtime was based, was home to a number of budding musicians and a new style. In 1913, Louis Armstrong was sent to live in a juvenile delinquency home, and there he learned to play the cornet. Just five years later, band leader Kid Ory lost his star cornet player, Joe “King” Oliver, to more lucrative pursuits in Chicago. Ory hired Armstrong, and helped give rise to a talent that would change the course of music.

Thanks to the large population of former slaves in New Orleans at the time, the blues was on the minds of many of the city’s musicians. Composers such as W.C. Handy helped make the sound famous, but not before restructuring and refining it. It was around this time that the blues adopted its regular 12-bar form, and when brass bands played the blues to reveling dancers. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” became a popular hit, and Louis Armstrong later performed one of its best-known renditions.
 
Along with a standardized blues form, this decade saw the prominence of stride piano. Its rhythmic concept began with ragtime, and soon spread around the country. Most famously, thanks to Scott Joplin and James P. Johnson, the stride style had taken a firm hold in New York City, where during the Harlem Renaissance of the following decade, it led to further developments in jazz.

The first jazz recording ever was made in 1917. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, led by cornetist Nick LaRocca, recorded “Livery Stable Blues.” The music is not thought to be the most authentic or the best executed jazz of the time, but it became a hit, and helped light the fuse that led to the jazz craze.

Freddy Keppard, a trumpet player who was regarded as one of the best musicians of his day, was given the opportunity to record in 1915. He declined the offer because he was afraid that if a recording of his playing circulated, musicians might steal his style.
http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/jazzByDecade1910.htm

Jazz By Decade: 1900-1910

By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide
Jazz was still in its pupal stage in the first decade of the 20th century. Some of the first jazz icons, trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke, were born in 1901 and 1903, respectively.

They were most likely exposed to ragtime music, a blending of blues, John Phillip Sousa-like marches, and a complex centuries-old dance called the quadrille. Pianist Jelly Roll Morton helped bring the style into the limelight by performing virtuosic and partly improvised rags in brothels in New Orleans.
Soon ragtime music by Morton, Scott Joplin, and others was disseminated across the country by sheet music publishers such as W.C. Handy, who was also a composer and bandleader. However, around this period, sheet music began to lose it’s primacy in the spread of musical culture with the development of piano rolls and the phonograph record.

Handy also helped the saxophone, which had been created as a military marching band instrument, shed its novelty status by including it in his dance band arrangements. Trumpeter Buddy Bolden began arranging blues and ragtime music for brass instruments, paving the way for early jazz. He was one of the first prominent improvisers, although there are no surviving recordings of his playing. In 1907 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he spent the rest of his life off of the stage, and in a mental institution.

In a matter of years, jazz began to capture the nation’s attention. Improvisation became a featured element of the music, and dance halls began to fill with audiences eager to hear the hot new music.
http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/JazzByDecade1900.htm

Why do I like Jazz?

Recently a friend ask me this question, “why do you like jazz so much?” A simple answer to that could be, “because there’s no better music than jazz”. But that would not be the right way to answer. I’m sure everyone think their favorite music is the best music. But when I say there’s no better music than jazz, the only ones with a good argument against it are those who listen to classical music. Besides jazz, classical and some folk music, there’s no other music that even comes close in quality.

Why do I include folk music? Because Classical composers originally were inspired by european folk music for their compositions. And the roots of jazz music are basically the folk music of the african-americans at the end of the 19th century. Folk music from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America have a quality that can’t be found in most popular music today. That quality is “truthfulness”, folk music comes from years of tradition and represent the culture of each country.

Some examples of good folk music may be heard on cuban music (guaguanco, son mambo, etc. rhythms that later gave birth to salsa music), samba, bossa nova and other rhythms from Brasil, flamenco from Spain (heavily influenced by arabic music), and the Argentine’s tango, to name just a
few. Even today jazz and classical composers get inspired by folk music from around the world and at the same time influence folk music. Getting back to the original question, why do I like jazz? To answer this question we must talk about the elements of music. There are four major elements in music, melody, harmony, tone and rhythm. Melody is basically a sequence of musical notes. We all learn some simple melodies when we were young like “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or “Happy Birthday”. But as we get older, we evolve to more complex and interesting melodies, especially if you study music or learn how to play a musical instrument.


Call me old fashioned but I prefer to listen to a an instrument played by real person than to listen to a computarized version of that instrument. In jazz music there are huge differences in texture or tone
when the same instrument is played by different musicians. Compare the sound of Coleman Hawkins, to Lester Young, or Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joshua Redman or David Sanchez. All sax players, all with a very distinctive sound. And then there’s rhythm. Rhythm is the element that distinguish one music style from the other. Most music is written in 4/4, including jazz, but some like waltz are written in 3/4.


Since jazz music is mostly improvised, melody is one of the most interesting elements for a jazz musician and listener. In the 40's a jazz style called Bebop provided the blueprint to all the jazz styles
that came after. Before Bebop, the improvisation in jazz was limited to just a few solos, similar to rock music today. With Bebop, improvisation became a essential part of jazz music. In a typical jazz group the musicians first play the main melody or theme, then one or more musicians (piano, trumpet, sax, bass, etc.) take turns improvising variations based on the main melody. At the end the band returns to the original theme or melody. Classical music is similar, with the difference that both, main theme and variations on the theme are written and the musicians must play them as close as possible to the original intentions of the composer.

That’s why there’s no other musician with more knowledge and command of their instrument than a jazz musician. A jazz musician is creating art every time he or she plays. In jazz the same piece of music sound different even if is played by the same musicians. In popular music, like r&b, rap, hip hop, country, etc. , the same melody is repeated constantly with little or no variations. There’s also the fact that most people can’t listen to music if there’s no lyrics to it. That’s why almost all famous artists in popular music are singers. In popular music the singer is the star, the one that sings the melody, and the other instruments are just a background. Music and arrangements are written in the simplest way possible, so there’s no need to be a virtuoso to play popular music.

The funny thing is that except for a few ones, popular music singers are not really that good. Technology is so amazing nowadays that almost everyone with a pretty face and a fair enough voice can make it as a singer in pop music. There are singers also in jazz music, but unlike popular music, the voice in a jazz band is just another instrument. A jazz singer is expected to improvise, do variations on the melody and have the same command over their instrument as any other jazz musician. Rarely you’ll find in popular music (or in any other music for that matter) a singer of the quality of an Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan. 

Harmony is created when two or more notes are played at the same time. This can be done by different instruments, like in a classical music orchestra or a jazz big band or by only one instrument, usually a piano or guitar (creating chords). Harmony is just as important as melody to a jazz musician. Harmonies or chords in jazz are usually done by the pianist and the real good ones, like Thelonious Monk, improvise harmonies also, doing chords variations. Those variations allows the improviser to change and play with the melodies. Harmonies makes the music more fuller and richer and the more interesting the harmonies the more options the musicians have melodically.

The use of harmonies in pop music, if any, are usually simple. Hardly you’ll find 7th , 9th , 11th chords or chords inversions in pop music. Tone is the sound quality of the different instruments used in music. Each musical instrument has a distinctive sound. With the advancements in technology in the last 30 years, you don’t even need to play an instrument to make music. More and more, the music you listen on the radio like rap, hip hop and reggaeton, is done with drum machines, computers, sampling or pre recorded instruments. Rarely you’ll find this in jazz music.

“When jazz was only ragtime, the basic rhythm was merely that of a march time, One-two-Three-four. This same rhythm was made much more interesting in jazz simply displacing the accents so that the basic rhythm became one-Two-three- Four” Aaron Copland, What to listen for in music.

These variations on beat accentuation is what makes diverse and interesting rhythms in music. If above that 4/4 rhythm you add other freer rhythms, that combination is called polyrhythms. Jazz like other music with african roots use polyrhythms (most latin music, cuban and brazilian music). Is that combination of rhythm (polyrhythms) that gives jazz it’s rhythmic vitality. In contrast, pop music,  especially in the last decades has a constant steady beat with little or none rhythmic variations.

So you may ask yourself, if jazz is so good, “why isn’t everybody listening to jazz music?”. The reason is simple, most people prefer entertainment over art. A gossip magazine is entertainment, a good novel or poetry is art. A soap opera is entertainment, a good theater play is art. Wrestling is entertainment, a painting exhibition is art. “The Fast and the Furious” is entertainment, “The Godfather” is art. Lady Gaga is entertainment, Esperanza Spalding is art.

Art stimulate your mind and your senses, makes you think and increase your sensibility. Entertainment is just a distraction and usually has the opposite effect of art. And once you learn how to appreciate art, you’ll find out you’re also being entertained.

“The hard fact is that in our time, not many people really know or care much about jazz or if a musician can really play. They don’t care because most of the nonclassical music they’ve heard is performed by amateurs or even complete non musicians, people who may possess personal charisma but can barely play. Real jazz musicians were already good enough at fourteen or fifteen to do what most top selling musical acts can do, and by saying that I’m not criticizing, I’m just describing.” Wynton Marsalis, Moving to Higher Ground

So there you have it, that’s why I like jazz.
Wilbert Sostre
http://jazznbossa.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2112018:Topic:54182&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic

Snowed In? Entertain Yourself with Jazz Internet

By Jacob Teichroew, http://www.about.com/ Guide to Jazz

If you live on the East Coast, your life has probably been put on hold thanks to one or two snowstorms. Here in New York, my day of teaching and gigging has been whited out, and now I have a chance to share some ideas for entertaining yourself on the Jazz Internet while home from work or school today and tonight, February 10th, 2010:

• Watch pianist Gerald Clayton perform live at the Village Vanguard (9:00 pm ET) with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown;
• Watch bassist Joe Martin perform music from his latest release Not By Chance, with saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Marcus Gilmore, and pianist Kevin Hays (sets at 8:00 and 10:30 pm);
• Listen to the entire series of interviews with top jazz musicians at The Checkout;
• Practice your jazz ear training;
• Listen to sets from Newport Jazz Festival performances from decades past at Wolfgang's Vault;
• Buy an hour's worth of music by the Dave Holland Quintet from 2007 for $1! (this week only);
• Browse other jazz blogs for jazz news and commentary;
• Give me a piece of your mind.

http://jazz.about.com/b/2010/02/10/snowed-in-entertain-yourself-with-jazz-internet.htm

Jazz, poetry and music....

Event -

When: 14 Nov
Event title: The Bays with The Heritage Orchestra
Where: Colston Hall - Bristol
Category: Jazz

Event description:
This juggernaught of a band – incendiary improv quartet The Bays, the absolutely stunning pro-jazz Heritage Orchestra, classical-meets-electronica pioneer John Metcalfe and conductor Julse Buckley – take the idea of live improv-meets-live composition to new heights. With The Bays creating an initial improv se, Buckley then creates a score live on stage, that is delivered to the orchestra via electronic music stands. This is then transmitted to the audience via large AV monitors so they can not only witness the audio results but also boggle their minds in studying the minutiae of the process of a large orchestra playing something they’ve never seen before on stage. A bit like jazz then just on a grand scale.

http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/index.php/component/option,com_eventlist/Itemid,99999999/did,1000643/func,details/