NJJazzList.com Calendar

12/27 Sat Al McCormick- piano at Arta Restaurant,1131 Greenwood Lake Tpk, Ringwood 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: None, Saturday only this week- American songbook, jazz, Brazilian jazz plus.... the cuisine and atmosphere make it worth the trip Learn more  , (862/973) 

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12/27 Sat B.D. Lenz All St*rs! at Bea McNally's 9:00 pm to 1:30 am Style: Vocal, Cover: None, All Star band featuring Justin Wade & Lelica on vocals!  Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (862/973) 

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12/27 Sat Barbara Rose, Pianist & Vocalist at Molly Pitcher Inn, Red Bank 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: None, Enjoy a night of passionate music with piano prodigy Barbara Rose. Barbara’s style as a vocalist ranges from Liza Minnelli to Janis Joplin. Her piano style is reminiscent of Thelonius Monk. Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (732/848) 

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12/27 Sat Patrice Jegou + Frank DiBussolo at Paris Bistro - Germantown Ave. Chestnut Hill, PA 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm Style: Vocal, Cover: None, Wonderful vocalist and great guitarist team up to perform at 'Paris Bistro' in Chestnut Hill, PA on Saturday, Dec. 27th. Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (Unknown) 

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12/27 Sat Swingadelic at Swing 46 8:30 pm to 1:00 am Style: Swing/Big Band, Cover: None,  Learn more  , Hear samples , (Unknown) 

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12/27 Sat Victor North at Candlelight Lounge 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm Style: Contemporary/Post Bop, Cover: over $10, We have a free buffet and a $10.00 minimum Learn more  , (609/ ) 

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12/27 Sat marlene verplanck at jazz@kitano Park Ave @ 36th st NYC 8:00 pm to 11:00 am Style: Vocal, Cover: over $10, CE Release…here's what Johnny Mandel said: "Marlene VerPlanck is truly an incredible singer. And not only that, she has just given us an incredible album, "I Give up, I'm In Love". When it comes to her choice of songs and the way she sings them, there's nobody better than Marlene!" Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (212/ ) 

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12/28 Sun All-Star Jazz 'n Blues Brunch at The Falcon 11:00 am to 2:00 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: donation, Rock the joint at 11am? Yeah we can do that! No cover or minimum. ROB PAPAROZZI Harp/Vocals (Blues Brothers, BS&T, B.B.King, Dr.John) JOHN TROPEA Guitar (Deodato, Laura Nyro, Alice Cooper) PETE LEVIN Organ (Gil Evans, Paul Simon) LEE FINKELSTEIN Drums (Tower of Power, Blues Brothers) Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (845/ ) 

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12/28 Sun B.D. Lenz at Sette Luna 11:00 am to 2:30 pm Style: Guitar, Cover: None, solo jazz guitar Learn more ,  Hear samples , (215/ ) 

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12/28 Sun Harry Allen Quintet at Rutherfurd Hall 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: Tickets Available, Harry Allen Quintet Featuring the outstanding 13 yr old trumpet prodigy Geoff Gallante, an amazing talent for his age & Harry Allen award winning worldwide jazz saxophonist with an outstanding rhythm section. $22.50 Advance - $27.50 Door  Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (908/ ) 

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12/28 Sun Jazz In The Spirit at St. Paul's LC Teaneck at St. Paul's LC 61 Church St. Teaneck, NJ 07666 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm Style: Mixed, Cover: donation, "In the Spirit" is a Jazz Vespers service held at St. Paul's on the fourth Sunday of each month at 4:30 P.M. It's a great opportunity for people in our community to hear some great jazz and words of scripture. Pianist/vocalist Loren Daniels appears each month with a dazzling array of renowned local singers and instrumentalists in a varied program. Each program may spotlight a jazz legend, a season, or a spiritual theme. Our Pastor Gary LeCroy gives us a reflection on a passage from the Common Testament. All ages and denominations are invited to this great afternoon of jazz. Learn more  , (201/551) 

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12/29 Mon Glenn Franke's BigBand at SuzyQue's BBQ & Bar in W Orange NJ 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Style:Swing/Big Band, Cover: None, 16 pro musicians formerly with the bands of Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman, etc, plus some of NYC top Broadway musicians, performing great BigBand Jazz arrangements on their night off! Learn more  ,  Hear samples , (862/973) 

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12/29 Mon Jim Jasion and his Jazz Squad at Starbucks 693 Edgar Rd E Rtes 1& 9 N Linden, NJ 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Style: Straight-ahead, Cover: None, Mostly straight-ahead with some Bossa, Swing and a little trad. Jim Jasion-pno/voc ~ Daijiro Okada-gtr ~ Dave Dilzell-Tenor Sax/Clar ~ Aaron Moment-bass ~ Ben Rose-DrmsLearn more  , (908/ ) 

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12/29 Mon Swingadelic at Swing 46 8:30 pm to 1:00 am Style: Swing/Big Band, Cover: None,  Learn more  , Hear samples , (Unknown)

Documentary: Louis Prima

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Louis Prima goes back further than you think. Born in New Orleans, his first surge of popularity came in the 1930s, when he was a trumpeter-bandleader with a swinging singing voice. He wrote Sing, Sing Sing, which sounds just like him once you know it came from his pen. In the 1940s, Prima leveraged his heritage to create a string of Italian-themed hits, becoming Metronome's "Showman of the Year" in 1946. Then in 1953, he divorced his third wife and married singer Keely Smith, who had been his singing partner since 1948.

As the big band era became economically unsustainable in the early '50s, Prima and Smith began working their stage act with a small group, eventually featuring Sam Butera on tenor sax. Prima and Smith started performing in Las Vegas in 1954 and from there became a huge hit just as the 12-inch album was taking off and Americans discovered Nevada vacations.

After Prima and Smith divorced in 1961, Prima married his next singer, Gia Maione, continued to perform in Vegas and landed a role in Disney's Jungle Book in 1967. But in 1973, Prima suffered a heart attack. Then in 1975 he had surgery to remove a brain tumor and slipped into a coma. He died in 1978 at age 67.

It's hard to know what to make of Prima today. So much of his 1950s act seems an extension of personae already established by several major black artists, most notably Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan. What Prima added was the conversational timing, joy, sound and flavor of first-generation Italian-American family life.

Prima's essence wasn't that he gave audiences what they wanted. Rather, in his heyday, he gave them what they already knew, served up in a more high-strung, hip and comic routine. Keely Smith was the straight-faced foil—in on the gag but playfully perturbed about being sidelined or marginalized.

I guess what remains special about Prima was his loose, infectious, high-octane optimism and his ability to slur-scat lyric lines, creating charicatures of songs audiences knew well. Interestingly, when I watch Prima's '50s videos on YouTube, my eyes tend to settle on Smith's face, waiting for her glares and glances as Prima hops around like a cocktail shaker, turning American Songbook standards into a Tarantella. Smith may have lacked Prima's zest and musical command, but those saucer eyes and expressions are still priceless.

Here's The Wildest, a documentary on Prima. See what you think...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist deeply rooted in the classic tradition of jazz.  His swinging, melodic guitar playing beautifully complements his rich, easy-going vocals. Featuring tunes from the Great American Songbook, his music is sophisticated, exciting, and fun. Perry is available in ensembles ranging from duo to quartet.

Now based in Woodstock, NY, Perry has been playing in jazz clubs, and at private and corporate events throughout New York City for the past 25 years. He has performed at such prominent venues as the Metropolitan Room, the Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel, The JVC Jazz Festival, and the Maverick Concert Hall.

read more: http://www.perrybeekman.com/about/

CD REVIEW: Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden / Paul Motian - Hamburg ‘72

Pianist Keith Jarrett found fame early in life, initially with Charles Lloyd in the mid-60s. When this concert was taped at the NDR Funkhaus in Hamburg on 14th June 1972, his trio with bass player Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian had existed for six years, recorded three albums for Atlantic Records, and was already at a creative peak. Jarrett was still only 27 years old.

After a hint of “When You Wish upon a Star” during a lyrical, unaccompanied opening, the piano coalesces with splashing cymbals and Rainbow (which is credited to Jarrett’s then-wife, Margot) becomes a lightly swinging and relatively mainstream affair. Haden is only briefly heard, and – until Jarrett’s luminous eruptions at the end of the piece – we only get a taste of the riches in store.

The next four selections are by Jarrett. Everything That Lives Laments is notable partly because – in addition to piano - Jarrett plays (frequently over-blown) flute, and Motian shakes bells and chimes. Haden is highlighted before retreating into a group improvisation that is clearly more than a random free-for-all; these men know each other well and really communicate. The tune ends tenderly, with Jarrett back on piano and Motian at the drums. 

Piece for Ornette bursts with energy and evokes Coleman’s urgent, piano-less style. Jarrett uses soprano saxophone with a raw, vocalised timbre. Chattering, shrieking and stuttering with wayward abandon, his dialogue with a highly-charged Motian builds in intensity and becomes a thrilling, passionate exchange. Eventually, Haden steps between them, as if he’s engaging calmness and reason to break up a screaming row. After this, it’s hard to imagine that Jarrett – in little over a decade – would be leading a very different trio with a repertoire concentrating on old jazz standards.

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/zY-Z3JVmkk-ommq2Cl7fGg

Henry Halstead led a band ....

Henry Halstead led a band at the St. Francis Hotel (335 Powell Street) in San Francisco from 1922 to 1925. His band also appeared nightly on KGO radio broadcasts that spread the name of his orchestra up and down the West Coast. Halstead's band went on to play extended residencies at hotels and clubs in Los Angeles, Seattle and Santa Monica up until early 1944 when he disbanded the orchestra because he was losing so many of his musicians to the war effort. The Halstead Orchestra was one of the first jazz or dance bands to make a sound movie short in 1927.

The Warner Brothers' Vitaphone film was called 'Carnival Nights In Paris'. After he left the bandleader business Halstead bought an airfield, a restaurant and dance hall in Big Bear, California. He lived there for a few years and then moved to San Francisco where he booked talent at the St. Francis Hotel for a couple of years. After that he moved to Los Angeles, California and booked talent for a couple of more years there. Halstead then he moved to Phoenix, Arizona where once again he booked talent for a few years and then got into real estate.
read more: http://www.redhotjazz.com/hhalstead.html

Ain't That Too Bad?-Henry Halstead Orchestra. Recorded 1927. The 2 band pictures are the Henry Halstead Orchestra. The picture taken outside is the band at Roscoe Arbuckle's Plantation Club. The trumpet player in the picture is Ted Schilling who played in the Halstead Orchestra. The pictures of the model is me.
read more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLVSa5kzXig

Ronnie Scott's, January 2015 - HighLights

NPR Music - JAZZ

The 2014 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll We had 140 jazz journalists weigh in on their favorite releases of the year. Here are their top overall picks, with top finishers in Latin jazz, vocal, debut and historical categories. Read this story

JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA: WEDNESDAY NIGHT WEBCASTS A Jazz Piano Christmas 2014 The 25th anniversary of the holiday special brings together keyboard players of all stripes. Harold Mabern, Kris Davis, Lynne Arriale and Cyrus Chestnut play seasonal favorites for solo piano. Read this story

A BLOG SUPREME An Upset Either Way: Steve Lehman And Wadada Leo Smith Triumph Could anyone have predicted the first and second place finishers in this year's NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll? The poll master certainly didn't — and he voted for both of them. Read this story

MARIAN MCPARTLAND'S PIANO JAZZ George Shearing's Holiday Set On Piano Jazz In a 2001 session, Shearing and host Marian McPartland reminisce about seasons gone by and play holiday songs, including "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "Away In A Manger." Read this story

JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA: THE RADIO PROGRAM Ellis Marsalis At 80 As an influential educator and pianist, Marsalis is a father figure to more than his famous sons. Jazz Night In America visits him as he performs on a big birthday. Read this story

Amanhã é Carnaval -Jussanam and her Icelandic Band

Video recorded and edited by Jaqueline Luquez and Jussanam with a non profesional camera in Cannes-France.

Jussanam - Voice
Asgeir Asgeirsson - Guita
Birgir Bragason - Double-Bass
Mathias Hemstock - Drums
Cheick Bangoura - Percussion

Amanhã é Carnaval - Music by Ingvi Thor Kormarksson / Lyrics by Jussanam
Images from Cannes and from the Carnaval in Nice - France

Whispering - Dick Hyman 1992

Recorded at The Hotel Macklowe (Millennium Broadway Hotel New York)