At Ronnie Scott's ....

Ronnie Scott's is proud to announce the return of the world renowned Cuban group IRAKERE to the very club they became synonymous with in the 1980's. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the inception of the band; their seminal shows at Ronnie Scott's are the stuff of legend. We are truly delighted to be welcoming this legendary band back which features founding member virtuoso pianist and bandleader CHUCHO VALDES with his 10-piece band.

View video of the band live at Ronnie’s in the 1980’s!

Jazz Woman to the Rescue

Jazz Woman to the Rescue is a foundation in the works.
It's historic as it visits Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and living Jazz Heroes on the band stand.

There are 2 elements to the Jazz Woman foundation. "The Play it Forward" program of encouraging people to take old instruments and give them to disenfranchised children.

The second prgram is "Put it Back!" The push for citizens to contact local schools in their community to ask if they have an arts education program for their students. If not, we as taxpayers insist they Put it Back! into the curriculum.

Jazz Woman to the Rescue helps with donated instruments and assigns a roster of artists to provide low cost musical education in after school programs and/or designated study slots.

We are currently reaching out in search of grants and donor funding to enable us to bring these two programs to more schools and children.

read more: http://www.antoinettemontague.com

Queens Jazz Orchestra TRIBUTE TO TONY BENNETT & ELLA FITZGERALD

Flushing Town Hall

Fri Apr 17, 2015 | 8:00PM

The Queens Jazz Orchestra, conducted by NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath, plays a tribute concert to Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald. These great jazz legends have all lived in the borough of Queens, and are all a part of the illustrious history of Queens Jazz.

Jimmy Heath, Director
Douglas Purviance, Orchestra Manager
Antonio Hart, Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute
Mark Gross, Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute
Bobby LaVell, Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Charles Davis, Tenor Saxophone
Frank Basile, Baritone Saxophone
James Burton, Trombone
Steve Davis, Trombone
Ron Wilkins, Trombone
Jeff Nelson, Bass Trombone
Frank Greene, Trumpet, flugelhorn
Michael Philip Mossman, Trumpet, flugelhorn
Greg Gisbert, Trumpet, flugelhorn
Deigo Urcola, Trumpet, flugelhorn
Jeb Patton, Piano
David Wong, Bass
EvanSherman, Drums

read more: http://www.flushingtownhall.org/event/0afb7a89d3378b4008b325dc2ff486d2?utm_source=APRIL+Jazz+Appreciation+Month&utm_campaign=April+JAM+month&utm_medium=email

Arrangements by Bill Holman

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

As a kid, I spent way too much time in New York record stores like Sam Goody, King Karol, Footlight, Dayton and Record Mart running my fingers through their bins. In the days before computers, I was always on the prowl for covers of jazz albums I had missed with solid guys listed in the personnel on the back. I discovered dozens of artists and LPs this way. It was always about the hunt and the promise of coming across something amazing. [Photo above of Bill Holman in the 1950s]

Not much has changed, I'm afraid. What I love doing now, when I have the time, is going through the discographies of artists I dig the most, looking for albums everyone has overlooked. Then I tell you about them. See how devoted I am to my readers?

Yesterday I zoomed in on Bill Holman. I've been on a Bill jag lately after catching up with him by email a few weeks ago. Bill's arrangements always have an off-to-the-races feel but with modernity and heart. Most have several nifty twists. Bill never cares to arrange songs straight, preferring instead to turn them a little inside out to hold your attention without ever losing the swing. So I ran through three years of Bill's sessions at Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, which meant covering 1956, '57 and '58. I figured I knew all of Bill's arranging dates during this period, but I was wrong.

Three little-known albums jumped out and all are out of this world:

Tommy Alexander—Alexander the Great (Liberty).This album recorded in September 1956 features mostly studio guys brought together for a one-shot in Hollywood: Ed Bordenhaven, Bob Clark, Clyde Reasinger, Bobby Styles (tp) Frank Strong, Lewis McGreery, Jim Hill (tb) Dave Wells (b-tp,tb) Dick Paladino (as) Lanny Morgan (as,bar) John Bambridge, Bill Trujillo (ts) Lennie Mitchell (bar) Arnold Ross (p) Tommy Tedesco (g) Harry Babasin (b) Sal La Perche (d) Bill Holman (arr). There's a killer I Hadn't Anyone Til You, Midnight Sun, Old Devil Moon and The Song Is You here. Who was Tommy Alexander? Bill says, "A young guy with his own idea for a band, which principally had to do with using two baritone saxophones." Go here.

So what happened to Alexander after this recording? Who knows. I can't find much on him. He may be the same Tommy Alexander who recorded on trumpet with Charles Mingus in Hollywood in 1949, when the bassist was billed as Baron Mingus and His Rhythm (Say It Isn't So with Helen Carr on vocal and Boppin' in Boston). Billboard says MGM signed Alexander in 1955, and his orchestra recorded two singles—Don't Be That Way backed by Was That the Human Thing to Do and Trees backed by Mine.

After the album with Bill's arrangements came out in September 1956, Alexander turns up in 1958 with an album (in mono and stereo) for Everest called Tommy Alexander and His Golden Trombones, with swinging arrangements and vocals by Bob Manning (go here). I'm not sure who's on it or who arranged, since the album doesn't turn up in the Jazz Discography. And that's it. Tommy Alexander just disappears.

Charlie Barnet—Lonely Street (Verve). Bill arranged two songs on this album, Blue Rose and Lemon Twist. Both are first-rate, especially the latter. Another Hollywood band from November 1956: Maynard Ferguson, Ralph Mullins, Carleton McBeath, Oliver Mitchell (tp) Leroy Anderson, Dave Wells, Bob Burgess, Richard Nash (tb) Charlie Barnet (sax,ldr) Willie Smith, Dick Paladino (as) Bill Holman (ts,arr) William Trujillo (ts) Bob Dawes (bar) Norman Pockrandt (p) Barney Kessel (g) Red Wootten (b) Alvin Stoller (d). The session's other arrangers were Billy May and Buddy Childers. Go here.

Charlie Barnet—More Charlie Barnet (Everest).Recorded in September 1958 in New York, this Barnet album was completely arranged by Bill. Further proof that Barnet's bands in the 12-inch LP era were solid swingers. Just dig the cats on this session! John Bello, Doc Severinsen, Dick Sherman, Charlie Shavers (tp) Billy Byers, Frank Rehak, Chauncey Welsh (tb) Charlie Barnet (sax,ldr) Phil Woods (as) Dick Meldonian (as,bar) Dick Hafer, Kurt Bloom (ts) Danny Bank (bar) Nat Pierce (p) Barry Galbraith (g) Milt Hinton (b) Don Lamond (d) Bill Holman (arr).Go here or here.

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Jazz April 2015

Here are some answers to the questions we're asked most about JazzApril.  It's time to celebrate-- and participate.

What IS JazzApril?

It's a shorthand way to say "April is Jazz Month" and to tie together the Smithsonian's annual celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month in April and International Jazz Day on April 30. The Jazz Journalists Association began its JazzApril project in 2012 to celebrate and promote both JAM and IJD. As part of that project, the JJA works with members of LOCAL jazz communities to:

• raise the profile of jazz in the media, especially local media
• reach out to people who aren't already part of the jazz audience and share the music and its history
• strengthen local, national and international jazz NETWORKS
• give some props to the people who keep jazz alive locally via the JJA's Jazz Hero awards.

read more: http://www.jazzapril.com

Marion Montgomery, Cleo Laine .....

Published on Jun 11, 2013
Big Band spectacular from late 1969.

CD REVIEW: The Tubby Hayes Big Band – Rumpus

The Tubby Hayes Big Band – Rumpus
(Savage Solweig. SS-003CD. CD review by Andrew Cartmel)

This CD features the fourth iteration of the big band led by Edward Brian ‘Tubby’ Hayes, Britain’s great and tragically short lived saxophone genius. It was recorded in 1969 live in North London and represents the third release by the Savage Solweig label from Tubby Hayes’s personal tape archive, curated by Simon Spillett, a latter day British sax star and an expert on Hayes. 

Interestingly this big band operates without a piano, the rhythm section instead being anchored by guitarist Louis Stewart with Spike Wells on drums and Ron Mathewson on bass. The other members of the sax section are Peter King alto, Brian Smith tenor and Harry Klein baritone. The trumpet section is equally stellar, consisting of Kenny Wheeler, Greg Bowen, Ian Hamer and Les Condon. The trombone is played by Keith Christie. Most of the arrangements are by Tubby. 

This remarkable outfit cut its teeth at the Bulls Head in Barnes on April 21st 1969. Ian Hamer, among others, consider it Tubby’s best big band. But sadly it was never properly recorded at the time. The sole contemporary album which appeared (The Orchestra on Fontana) showcased it playing pop tunes of the day. What was needed was a recording of the band performing their own music and this release provides that, from a session played at the Torrington Arms in North Finchley on May 8th 1969, only the band’s second London gig. 

A fierce count-off by the leader sees the big band launch into the smooth contours of Song for a Sad Lady, a Tubby Hayes original with a hip, urban West Coast sound full of sunshine. It has a seesaw melody, alternating urgency with reflection and raw, blissful sax solos — starting with a tenor excursion from Tubby — which probe the structure of the piece. The tune concludes with spiky horn clusters from Wheeler and company, receiving a rapturous welcome by the audience. 

Dear Johnny B is another Hayes composition dedicated to drummer Johnny Butts who had died in a car crash in 1966. It begins as a romantic piece with streaming banners of sound, before folding into a tense, dense drum solo from Spike Wells, a recent discovery of Tubby’s who had previously only worked in small units. The tune develops as a tight spiral of modernist playing from the reeds and swift-moving section work with almost a Frank Zappa feel, culminating in relentless ensemble swing. 

March Brown, composed and arranged by Ian Hamer, opens with chugging runs from Spike Wells and is a funky and soulful piece featuring a Memphis sound approach with sharp horn stabs and rich, skirling sax. Rumpus by Tubby is a high energy bop piece in the classic Gillespie mode, throwing salt peanuts to the audience before opening into a complex cloud of a mid section which is reminiscent of the energetic traffic jam of Mingus’s A Foggy Day in London Town. The tune concludes with a return to the Salt Peanuts quotation. 

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/dv-ir49VeEO6BvWP16FhXA

What to Listen to and Watch for When Enjoying Jazz

By Li Zhou
smithsonian.com 
March 31, 2015
In a Count Basie performance of the “Basie Boogie,” the musician's fingers fly across the piano keys as if they are doing the dance themselves. Saxophone, clarinet and string soloists add their own voices to the sway of the movement. The drummer's rhythmic downbeats dance in time.

The United States has now snapped its fingers to the syncopated heartbeat of jazz for more than a century. As a music genre, it is a uniquely American invention that began in Louisiana and diffused to different parts of the country, and later, the world. “Since jazz first emerged, it has radically changed, from a localized music for accompanying dances in New Orleans to an international art form with many styles and dialects,” says John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Since its origins, ongoing reinvention has been a defining feature of jazz.

"The music has undergone a number of paradigm shifts, as its conceptions of rhythm, harmony, melody, tone color, soloing, improvisation and length have changed over the decades," says Hasse.

As the reach and form of jazz continues to evolve, so too does the relationship it has with its audience. “Initially, before recordings captured its sound, jazz audience members listened only in real time, and typically, up close and personal," he says,  “There was often little physical divide between the performers and the listeners; they were in close proximity.”

Today, jazz can be heard across myriad platforms including recordings, radio and online. Its influence is also pervasive in modern-day melodies of pop, rock, hip-hop, rap and bluegrass music. Given its accessibility, jazz is an art form that “can be gratifying without deep knowledge of its underlying structure,” states Discover Jazz, a book that Hasse co-edited along with Tad Lathrop. However, for those interested in developing a keener ear for various elements of the genre, here are some guidelines.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/what-to-listen-to-and-watch-for-when-enjoying-jazz-180954723/#xXqabwKrM0IThc35.99

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