NJJazzList Calendar

12/28 Wed Frank Basile's ,Little Big Band at Trumpets in Montclair, NJ 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm Style: Bebop/Hard Bop, Cover: $10 or less, 9 piece band with 3 reeds, 5 , and rhythm section brass peforming the music of Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gilespie, and other bop giants. Learn more

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12/28 Wed Laura Hull at Salt Creek Grille, Princeton 7:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Vocal, Cover: None, Learn more, Hear samples

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12/28 Wed Wendy Zoffer, flautist/vocalist & Friends at Tre Piani Restaurant 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm Style: Mixed,Cover: over $10, Tre Piani Restaurant is hosting a "Home for the Holidays" Open House Party. Cash bar/Buffet/$20 per person with live music by Wendy Zoffer & Friends. Tre Piani, Rockingham Row, Forrestal Village, Princeton, NJ 08540 Call for reservations 609-452-1515. Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu Askold Buk Trio at The Wine Loft Pier Village 8:30 pm to 12:30 am Style: Straight-ahead, Cover:None, Great wine, small plate food and sexy atmosphere make this an excellent venue for Jazz. Also, all night Happy Hour featuring $5 Belvedere cocktails and 1/2 price glasses of wine (4PM-7PM). Learn more

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12/29 Thu B.D. Lenz at Porters pub 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Contemporary/Post Bop, Cover: None, w/Joe Falcey (drums), & James Rosocha (bass) Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu Barbara Rose, Pianist & Vocalist at Molly Pitcher Inn, Red Bank 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Mixed,Cover: None, Barbara’s style as a vocalist ranges from Judy Garland to Janis Joplin. Her piano style is reminiscent of Thelonius Monk. Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu LAUREN HOOKER TRIO at THE CRAB HOUSE 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Style: Vocal, Cover: None, JAZZ CONTINUES IN EDGEWATER EVERY THURSDAY IN DECEMBER Lauren Hooker with Paul Meyers, guitar and Rick Crane on bass Musicians are welcome to sit in! Just 2 miles south of GWB in Edgewater Commons strip mall on River Road (next to Target) Go to the waters edge on the pier NO COVER Happy Hour Menu Mon-Fri • 12-7pm Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu Manouche Bag! at Madame Claude Cafe 8:00 pm to 11:30 pm Style: Gypsy/Jazz Manouche, Cover:None, Gypsy Jazz, French Chanteuse, Melodica Madness!!! w/ Mattias Gustaffson (gtr, vox), Jim Kaznoski (gtr), Bryan Beninghove (sax, melodica), & Joe Bussey EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT!!! make a reservation 201.876-8800 Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu Open Jam hosted by the NEW WORLD ORDER at LaTavola Cucina Ristorante 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm Style: Straight-ahead, Cover: None, All musicians and vocalists are welcome. Come with few songs to "call" and be ready for a good time in a supportive and welcoming atmosphere in the renowned LaTavola Cucina Ristorante Learn more , Hear samples

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12/29 Thu The Jerome Jennings Quartet at Makeda Ethiopian, 338 George St., New Brunswick 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm Style: Straight-ahead, Cover: None, The New Brunswick Jazz Project Presents the Jerome Jennings Quartet Learn more

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12/29 Thu Vance Villastrigo, Keys and Vocals at Firefly American Bistro in Manasquan 6:00 pm to 9:00 pmStyle: Mixed, Cover: None, Vances piano style is a mix of Erroll Garner to Oscar Peterson and his vocal style is mix of Ray Charles to Sinatra. Learn more

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12/30 Fri B.D. Lenz at Valenca 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Contemporary/Post Bop, Cover: None, Guitarist B.D. Lenz - duo gig! Learn more , Hear samples

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12/30 Fri Laura Hull Jazz Trio at Casa Dante Restaurant, Jersey City 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm Style: Vocal, Cover:None, Join Laura & Friends at this lovely venue in Jersey City. Learn more , Hear samples

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12/30 Fri Swingadelic at Empire State Building Lobby 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Style: Swing/Big Band, Cover:None, Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat B.D. Lenz at Trinity Lounge 9:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Mixed, Cover: None, w/Justin Wade (vocals), Abe Fogle (drums), & James Rosocha (bass) Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Barbara Rose, Pianist & Vocalist at Hotel Tides - 408 7th Ave. , Asbury Park 6:00 pm to 1:00 amStyle: Mixed, Cover: None, Enjoy a 5 star dinner with Barbara Rose on New Year's Eve. Call for Ryan for reservations. There will be two seatings. Happy New Year! Be safe and spend the night at Hotel Tides! (732)- 897-7744 Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Bossa Brasil® at Morristown's First Night at First Baptist Church 9:30 pm to 11:30 pm Style:Brazilian/Latin, Cover: Tickets Available, Bossa Brasil® at Morristown's First Night. 9:45-11:30pm. Tkts: $20. First Baptist Church: 51 Washington St., Morristown, NJ. 973-285-5115. www.firstnightmorris.com. Bossa Brasil® will be playing tunes from the new album, with arrangements of compositions by Tom Jobim, Baden Powell, Hermeto Pascoal, Pat Metheny, Roberto Menescal, and Milton Nascimento among others. Mauricio de Souza (drums), Dmitry Baevsky (alto sax), Jerry Weir (vibes), Gary Mazzaroppi (bass). Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Jane Stuart with Betty Liste Trio at Stony Hill Inn 231 Polifly Rd Hackensack NJ 9:00 pm to 1:00 amStyle: Mixed, Cover: None, Dinner and dancing or have a drink at the bar. Lovely restaurant, terrific band. , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Jeff Golub, Alex Bugnon, Cindy Bradley + more ! at Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, NJ 7:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Cool Jazz, Cover: Tickets Available, This event will help raise money for Jeff Golubs medical bills and the Little Rock Foundation Learn more

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12/31 Sat Jeff Golub, Alex Bugnon, Cindy Bradley + more ! at Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, NJ 7:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Smooth Jazz, Cover: Tickets Available, Ring in 2012 with ijazzglobal.com. OPEN BAR, cocktail reception, dinner for 2, All-Star show, champagne toast at midnight AND an overnight stay at the Hilton all for $500 per couple. Call 877.887.2835 and join us for a once in a lifetime event on New Year's Eve ! Learn more

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12/31 Sat Jullian Pressley Quartet at Candlelight Lounge 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm Style: Bebop/Hard Bop, Cover:None, Exciting saxophonist, Free Buffet Learn more

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12/31 Sat LAUREN HOOKER TRIO at THE CRAB HOUSE 9:00 pm to 12:30 am Style: Vocal, Cover: Unkown, JOIN US FOR NEW YEARS EVE with LAUREN HOOKER vocals - JOHN HART guitar and JORIS TEEPE on bass Marvelous seafood and panoramic views of Manhattan Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Love for the Holidays ft. Darlene Love & Ben King at Count Basie Theatre 8:00 pm to 10:00 pmStyle: Soul/Groove, Cover: over $10, Ticket Prices: $29, $39, $59, $69, $89 (on sale 6/24) For more information please call our box office at (732) 842-9000 Learn more

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12/31 Sat Marlene VerPlanck with Diva Jazz Trio at the kitano hotel 9:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Vocal, Cover:Tickets Available, The gorgeous Kitano Hotel is located at 38th & park ave in NYC, reservations a MUST! details on www.marleneverplanck.com Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Marlene VerPlanck at The Kitano Hotel Reservations a MUST 9:00 pm to 1:00 am Style: Vocal,Cover: Tickets Available, Marlene VerPlanck brings in the New Year with Diva Jazz trio in the Garden Room alternating with Joe Locke in the bar upstairs. Patrons allowed in both venues. Great deal! Learn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat ROBERT PAGE JAZZ QUARTETT at MOONSTRUCK 732-988-0123 for reservation 8:30 pm to 1:00 am Style: Cool Jazz, Cover: None, ROBERT AND HIS GROUP WILL BE RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR IN THE LOUNGE MOONSTRUCK IS PRESENTLY TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR OUR PREFIXED DINNER, NO COVER IN THE LOUNGE , $25.00 TABLE MINIMUM

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12/31 Sat The Bernard Purdie Rhythm & Soul Revue at Equus Tavern 6:00 pm to 12:00 am Style: Mixed,Cover: Tickets Available, Rob Paparozzi, Bernard Purdie with John Korba, Ed Alstrom & Mark Berger..dance in the New Year!! Call 908-766-3737 for Resv. 6:00pm seating $100 per person, 9:30pm seating $125 per personLearn more , Hear samples

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12/31 Sat Wendy Zoffer Jazz Trio at Blue Morel Restaurant 9:00 pm to 12:30 am Style: Straight-ahead, Cover:over $10, Wendy Zoffer, flute/vocals joined by Brad Mandigo, keyboards, and Bob Funesti, bass playing a mix of jazz standards, blues, sambas, and swing at the Blue Morel Restaurant in the Westin Governor Morris Hotel - 6 course menu $129 pp - no cover at the bar. 973-451-2619 Learn more , Hear samples

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01/01 Sun Laura Hull Jazz at Bibi'z Lounge & Restaurant, Westwood, NJ 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm Style: Vocal,Cover: None, Bibi'z Lounge & Restaurant is a great spot for New Year's Day Brunch. Join us! You'll love the Mediterranean-inspired cuisine and wines by the glass along with the atmosphere at Bibi'z! Learn more , Hear samples

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01/02 Mon Jim Jasion and The Somerset Jazz Horn Squad at Starbucks 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Style: Straight-ahead, Cover: None, Mid-Size Ensemble playing a mix of mostly Straight-Ahead Jazz with some Bossa, Latin, Swing and an occasional Traditional or Ragtime number Learn more

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01/02 Mon Jim Jasion at Starbucks 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Style: Straight-ahead, Cover: None, Straight-Ahead Jazz, Bossa and Latin Jazz, with an occasional Ragtime solo Starbucks - 693 W. Edgar Rd ( US Hwy 1 ) at Aviation Plaza Linden, NJ 07036 – 908-862-8545 Learn more

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01/02 Mon Swingadelic at Maxwell's 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Swing/Big Band, Cover: None, Learn more ,Hear samples

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01/04 Wed Holli Ross at Kitano Jazz Lounge 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Vocal, Cover: None, Holli will be performing with Ted Rosenthal, Dean Johnson & Tim Horner where you'll hear selections form her new CD, You'll See Learn more , Hear samples

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01/07 Sat Gina Fox Quartet at The Mill at Spring Lake Heights 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Vocal, Cover: None, Join us weekly for the "Saturday Night Jazz Sessions" Learn more , Hear samples

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01/07 Sat Jane Stuart with Betty Liste Trio at Stony Hill Inn 231 Polifly Rd Hackensack NJ 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: None, Dinner and dancing or have a drink at the bar. Lovely restaurant, terrific band. ,Hear samples

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01/07 Sat Joe Ford Quartet at Candlelight Lounge 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm Style: Bebop/Hard Bop, Cover: None, Saxophone Legend, Free Buffet Learn more

New book says the piano is most important instrument of all

Stuart Isacoff’s entertaining new book, “A Natural History of the Piano” (Knopf, $30), begins with the Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. To the author, Peterson represents an ideal entrée into the wonders of “the most important instrument ever created.”

“It’s a coming together of traditions into one great artist,” Isacoff explained by phone from New York. “The fact that Peterson was classically trained gave me the opportunity to set up the story.”

Isacoff, a pianist who teaches music at SUNY Purchase, weaves together seemingly disparate voices and piano-related subjects. He also uses informative sidebar contributions from well-known pianists, including Alfred Brendel, Yundi Li, Gabriela Montero and Billy Taylor.

Despite its full title of “A Natural History of the Piano: The Instrument, the Music, the Musicians -– From Mozart to Modern Jazz and Everything in Between,” the book is intentionally not encyclopedic. Its vignette-like structure conveys an improvisatory quality reflecting Isacoff’s own approach to the piano.

It was evident during a recital at Le Poisson Rouge last year, when Isacoff teased Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow" out of a Scriabin Prelude; while playing a Scarlatti Sonata, he suddenly segued into Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays."

“People may raise their eyebrows when I put Beethoven and Jerry Lee Lewis in the same chapter,” Isacoff said, “or when I play the opening of the ‘Waldstein’ Sonata and segue into ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ But I try to create marriages between the classical and jazz worlds. They’re not gimmicks; they just occur to me.”

During the three years of researching and writing “A Natural History,” Isacoff said he had fun discovering common threads running through different genres and centuries.

“In all kinds of ways, you see history repeating itself,” Isacoff said. “Liszt would throw his gloves on the floor, and women would tear them to shreds. Jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton did something similar. He would display his fancy silk coat, and wipe the piano bench with a large silk handkerchief before he sat down to play.”

And in the French Baroque composer, François Couperin, Isacoff found devices related to the advanced harmonies used by the so-called impressionists, Debussy and Ravel. “It was a French trait long before a class of composers we associate with being very French.”

For Isacoff, the journey from Liszt to John Cage is also not such a long one. Both were technical innovators who changed how the piano could be played. The author, who called Cage “fantastically creative,” holds his “prepared piano” works, which use bolts, cardboard and other objects artfully inserted inside the instrument to create the sound of a percussion orchestra, in high regard.

No doubt Cage would share Isacoff’s point of view in “A Natural History.” “When we put things in little boxes, we are really missing a large part of the story,” Isacoff said. “Music is music, and I don’t really understand some of the artificial walls people put up.” -http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/12/new-books-says-the-piano-is-the-most-important-instrument-of-all.html

What does the music you like say about your personality?

Eric Barker

In a series of studies, Rentfrow, Gosling and their colleagues show that musical tastes powerfully predict people's personalities... By analysing the preferences of almost two thousand people, they found four major dimensions along which musical tastes vary:

1) Reflective and Complex tastes for music, such as the blues, jazz, classical and folk music, tend to indicate that a person is Emotionally Stable, Open to new experiences, and has above average intelligence and verbal ability.

2) Intense and Rebellious tastes, including a like for rock, alternative or heavy metal, tend to be shared by people who are Open, athletic, and of above average intelligence and verbal ability.

3) People with Upbeat and Conventional taste tend to like country, sound tracks, religious music and pop, and are usually Agreeable, Extroverted, Conscientious, politically conservative, wealthy, athletic, with low Openness, dominance and verbal ability. I always knew there was something suspect about pop-lovers.

4) Last, folks who like rap or hip-hop, soul, funk, electronica are said to have Energetic and Rhythmic tastes, and they are highly Extroverted, Agreeable, and athletic, tend to speak their minds, and are often politically liberal.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bakadesuyo/~3/gmhI7IROFhw/what-does-the-music-you-like-say-about-your-p#ixzz1hhJcIVeD

Ethiopian Jazz: Thrilling Music That You Should Hear

During the second half of the 20th century, cosmopolitan Ethiopians were delighted to see jazz giant Duke Ellington receive their country's Medal of Honor from Emperor Haile Selassie. At the same time, by contrast, a Berklee College of Music-trained Ethiopian jazz legend, Mulatu Astatke, who fused jazz and funk with his country's folk and Coptic Church melodies, was unknown in the United States.

In the 1960s, as the tastes of American jazz fans shifted from bebop to avant-garde, Ethiopian musicians were establishing a tradition whose compositions are just reaching American ears. Why did it take so long for this riveting, emotionally charged music to arrive?

Ethiopian musicians like Astatke, singer Alemayehu Eshete, and guitarist and arranger Girma Beyene have devoted their lives to blending Ethiopia's traditional five tones per octave, or pentatonic scale, with Western chords. Listening to the music they have produced shows the variety of influences on their approach to jazz.

Astatke traveled to London, Boston and New York in the 1960s, where he heard African-American and Latin jazz to which he added pentatonic scales. This spawned “Ethio Jazz."

Eshete and Beyene created a subgenre called swinging Addis by combining the songs they learned from the Ethiopian Police Band and the Haile Selassie I Theatre Orchestra with the rhythms they heard on the records of Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole and James Brown, brought to Ethiopia by Peace Corps volunteers. As Ethiopian musicologist Simeneh Betreyohannes says, “Most Ethiopian jazz artists did not go abroad; music was their way of traveling."

The result is music that is primeval and present-day. French musical curator Francis Falceto was so entranced by the music's rawness and funky, haunting virtuosity that he has spent 30 years collecting it. The result is a monumental 23-volume series, much of it available on YouTube, called Éthiopiques. - http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=91417

View the original article...

A Jazz Pianist's Cinematic 'Fantasy'

Luke Kaven/Courtesy of the artistby NPR STAFF

Harold O'Neal is a jazz pianist with an unusual resume. Born in Tanzania and raised in Kansas City, Miss., O'Neal is also a hip-hop dancer, martial artist and actor. He's just released a new album with an unusual back story of its own: Marvelous Fantasy is a largely improvised collection of solo piano pieces, an homage to the music of silent films.

"Each one of these pieces is a soundtrack in itself," says O'Neal, whose style has been pegged by critics as straddling the line between jazz and classical. "When I was a kid and first started playing, I didn't know nothing about different styles of music, like most kids. ... I wanted to make a record that someone did not have to be a jazz aficionado or a classical enthusiast to be able to appreciate."

Guy Raz speaks with Harold O'Neal about making Marvelous Fantasy, and O'Neal performs live at NPR. - http://www.npr.org/2011/12/25/144200944/a-jazz-pianists-cinematic-fantasy?ft=1&f=2

Lamento sertanejo

Jazz Musician of the Day: Woody Shaw

All About Jazz is celebrating Woody Shaw's birthday today!

Woody Shaw, Jr. was born in Laurinburg, N.C. on December 24th, 1944 to Rosalie Pegues Shaw and Woody Shaw, Sr. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and began playing trumpet at the age of 11. Shaw attended Arts High School in Newark where he studied trumpet and music theory with Jerome Ziering.

Newark has a rich Jazz history and many notable Jazz artists are originally from there, including Sarah Vaughan, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gladden...Woody Shaw, Jr. was born in Laurinburg, N.C. on December 24th, 1944 to Rosalie Pegues Shaw and Woody Shaw, Sr.

He grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and began playing trumpet at the age of 11. Shaw attended Arts High School in Newark where he studied trumpet and music theory with Jerome Ziering. Newark has a rich Jazz history and many notable Jazz artists are originally from there, including Sarah Vaughan, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gladden... more

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http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=91383