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JAZZ LEGEND NORMAN CONNORS N THE STUDIO W/ URBAN JAZZ GUITARIST DREW DAVIDSEN
Jazz legend Norman Connors' just produced 3 tunes on Urban Jazz Guitarist Drew Davidsen's upcoming CD.
Norman featured the following players on this upcoming project. Bobby Lyle, Tom Browne, Kim Waters, Gerald Veasley, and Danny Boy. Stay tuned more surprises on this new Drew Davidsen CD. Coming in 2013!
“Jumpinjazz Kids-a Swinging Jungle Tale” Set For Release 9/25, Featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau And Hubert Laws
“JumpinJazz Kids is a great model for what needs to be presented
to young people. The age group that it targets is a great addition to
music, and it’s wonderful for any organization or school. The manner in
which it’s presented strikes a nerve – everyone should take a look at
it and listen to it!” — Dr. Billy Taylor
Los Angeles, CA. “JumpinJazz Kids – A Swinging Jungle Tale”
celebrates the rich history of Jazz and Popular music by paying tribute
to its legendary pioneers through story, song and a variety of musical
styles. This unique blend of classic storytelling and fun, original
jazz/pop songs are performed by world-renowned jazz artist’s Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Al Jarreau and Hubert Laws and backed by an energetic jazz
quartet, full symphony orchestra and narration and voice
characterizations by James Murray. “JumpinJazz Kids – A Swinging Jungle
Tale” introduces children to the imaginative worlds of jazz, the
spoken word and the Symphony in a fun yet educational, engaging and
unique way. Produced and created by music industry veterans Steve Barta
and Mark Oblinger, “JumpinJazz Kids – A Swinging Jungle Tale” is set
for release September 25th.
Speaking of Kids and Jazz........
WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM’s Award-Winning Kids Jazz Concert Series
Returns in October with Four Free, Interactive Programs for Young People
Fall Series Includes Concerts Featuring Maurício de Souza, Maurice Chestnut, Antonio Hart and Lakecia Benjamin
NEWARK,
NJ: WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM’s award-winning, free Kids Jazz Concert Series,
which brings jazz culture and dynamic performances to young people in
the Spring and Fall, returns with performances at four New Jersey venues
on Saturdays in October. The hour-long concerts, which begin at 12:30
pm, feature drummer Maurício de Souza, October 6, at Clinton Elementary
School in Maplewood; tap artist Maurice Chestnut, October 13, at Newark
Symphony Hall; saxophonist Antonio Hart, October 20, at Newark Museum;
and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, October 27, at South Orange Performing
Arts Center (SOPAC).
Wynton Marsalis And Eric Clapton Play The Blues – Live From Jazz At Lincoln Center Arrives On September 13
LOS ANGELES – New York City’s premier jazz venue got the blues last April when Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton performed together in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center for two sold-out shows dedicated to vintage blues. The extraordinary collaboration, billed as Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play the Blues,
paired these musical virtuosos with members of the Jazz at Lincoln
Center Orchestra as they brought to life a repertoire of songs selected
by Clapton and arranged by Marsalis.
Reprise Records captures
the magic of these unprecedented shows from earlier this year on CD and
as a CD/DVD combo that both feature selections taken from the two public
concerts (April 8-9), as well a special performance for Jazz at Lincoln
Center’s annual gala (April 7). WYNTON MARSALIS & ERIC CLAPTON PLAY THE BLUES – LIVE FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER will be available September 13 at physical and digital retail outlets
TONY BENNETT STILL MAKING MUSIC AT 86
Tony Bennett, one
of music's most legendary performers, celebrated his 86th birthday (August 3rd) and continues the celebration with news of the
upcoming release of his next album. His newest CD, "Tony Bennett: Viva Duets" is hitting shelves on October 23rd.
This particular album will take an international approach, featuring
songs in English, Portuguese, and Spanish and has quite a star-studded
roster. Artists hailing from eight different countries and three
continents will help Bennett achieve the foreign flair.
Some of the artists accompanying Bennett happen to be some of the biggest in the Latin music industry and include Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Dani Martin, and many more.
LOOKING BACK AT VON FREEMAN - A CHICAGO LEGEND
Von Freeman, a tenor saxophonist who was iconic within Chicago's
music scene and to jazz conoisseurs worldwide, died Saturday at the
Kindred Chicago Lakeshore care center. He was 88 and had been in
declining health for more than a year.
Freeman
became a godfather of Chicago's jazz community not only through his
distinctive style, which refracted the core language of bebop through
its antecedents and outgrowths, but through his active leadership. For
decades, "Vonski" hosted a weekly gig and jam session at the New
Apartment Lounge on Chicago's South Side, attracting musicians and
tourists alike. Unlike many contemporaries of similar talent, he never
moved away from the town where he was born.
In 2004, he described
his "Chicago sound" on the saxophone to NPR's Tony Cox. "Well, it's
tough and it's windy, it's broad," Freeman said. "It means getting down
to business, so to me it's just a composite of Chicago, all four sides.
Of course, we have a lakefront, don't we?"
Earle
Lavon Freeman Sr. was born in 1923 and grew up in a musical home. Major
figures like Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller visited his house and
Freeman's brothers George (guitar) and Bruz (drums) also become
musicians. Freeman attended DuSable High School, where Captain Walter
Dyett's music program was regularly producing future stars like Nat
"King" Cole, Dinah Washington and Eddie Harris. He worked in just about
every conceivable situation, from a Navy band to strip clubs to blues
groups to the nascent AACM to jamming with stars passing through town.
He did it all in the Chicagoland area, even refusing opportunities to
join bands led by Miles Davis and Billy Eckstine.
Despite
his talent, wide recognition, even within the jazz community, came late
in life. Freeman was already 49 when he recorded his first album as a
bandleader, 1972's Doin' It Right Now. It took him a few more
decades and albums to develop a national profile. In January 2012, he
was honored with the NEA's Jazz Masters award in a New York ceremony he was unable to attend. His sons Chico Freeman, a well-known saxophonist himself, and Mark Freeman accepted on his behalf.
Far from being bitter, Freeman said his relative obscurity allowed him to develop a unique artistic profile. In a 2004 All Things Considered story, he told Tony Sarabia of Chicago's WBEZ that his only regret was that his mother, who lived to be 101, never saw him receive fame.
"That
makes me almost want to cry 'cause she was — she never really wanted us
[her sons] to play music, but after we behaved ourselves to a certain
extent, she was proud of us," Freeman said. "And she stuck it out with
us, and she never saw any of us really make it, you know. And now I'm — I
don't think I've made it, but, I mean, at least I'm being sought after
for this 15 minutes."
ROBERTA FLACK AND DAVID SANBORN IN CONCERT
Billed as a "historic celebration of peace, music and common ground,"
the One World Concert is set to take place on October 9 at Syracuse
University's Carrier Dome. The concert is scheduled to follow a talk by
the Dalai Lama at the University. The all-star lineup for the show
includes Roberta Flack, David Sanborn, host band Don Was and his
All-Star Band, Dave Matthews, Phillip Phillips, Cyndi Lauper, Bebe
Winans, Angelique Kidjo and David Crosby, among others. Whoopi Goldberg
will be the emcee for the evening, while Ann Curry from NBC News will
be a special guest. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to
international relief efforts and to fund a new scholarship named for
Bassel Al Shahade, a Syracuse University graduate student killed this
year in Syria while filming a documentary about the violence in his
homeland
KEEPING JAZZ ALIVE IN BROOKLYN
Every Friday night on a brownstone-lined street in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn, professional musicians, weekend amateurs and fans gather for
the Brownstone Jazz series, an intimate night of jazz music, hosted at
the Sankofa Aban bed-and-breakfast at 107 Macon Street.
CAN RAVI COLTRANE LIVE UP TO HIS FATHERS LEGEND?
“Ambition sometimes gets a little out ahead of you,” Ravi Coltrane said.
He was sitting in his living room in Brooklyn, next to his son’s tiny
drum kit, talking about his new album, “Spirit Fiction.” “You start
imagining more than you can actually pull off, and you cross that line
from possibility into impossibility.”
On the wall nearby was a framed photo of Barack Obama standing in the
White House gazing at a black-and-white photo of another musician, a
saxophonist like Ravi. “To Ravi,” it is inscribed. “From a huge fan of
your father’s.”
Not a little of the ambition of the new record is due to the
ever-present specter of Ravi’s father, John Coltrane, one of most
influential musicians of the 20th century. “Spirit Fiction,” with its
rhythmic complexity and slippery structures, doesn’t so much challenge
John’s legacy as move astride it. The album radiates a quietly
adventurous artistry and a serene self-confidence.
That serene feeling emerged from conditions that were anything but.
“Spirit Fiction” is Coltrane’s first record for Blue Note, the most
legendary label in jazz and the company that in 1957 released “Blue
Train,” the classic that made John Coltrane’s name as a bandleader. For
the “Spirit Fiction” sessions, Ravi pushed himself and his bandmates
hard. After recording tracks with his longtime quartet, Coltrane felt
the urge to return to the studio again, this time in hastily arranged
sessions with a quintet of musicians he has known since college. Thrown
together with tape running, the quintet played with refreshing
looseness, hitting on a mood that Coltrane had been seeking.
The final record contains tracks from both ensembles. Cobbling it
together was an exhausting effort that strained some relationships;
Coltrane’s quartet, formed in 2003, has gone on hiatus in its wake. It
was a lesson his father might have passed along to Ravi: artistic
searching sometimes leaves collaborators in its wake.
John Coltrane died of liver cancer at age 40 in 1967, when Ravi was not
quite 2. He was raised by his mother, Alice, herself a brilliant
composer and performer whose music — a trippy, meditative style of jazz
that brought harps, synthesizers and chanting into the mix — was heavily
influenced by her Eastern-inflected spiritual practice.
As a boy, Coltrane was sensitive, shy and a little nerdy. He aimed at
becoming a filmmaker or a photographer. But he played the clarinet in
his high-school marching band, and music — jazz, symphonic, pop (his
aunt is the Motown songwriter Marilyn McLeod) — was always around.
“I used to sit in my mom’s car, back in the days when you could play the
tape player without having to cue it,” he said. “And I’d literally just
sit there after school and play tapes and stare out the windows just
looking at the trees moving in the wind.”
He left high school after his older brother died in a car crash in 1982,
and as he put it, “I just let a bunch of time pass.” When he emerged,
he had left photography behind and returned to his musical roots. He
began hanging out with serious jazz lovers, people who for the first
time instantly recognized his surname.
“I had been anonymous in that regard,” he said. “Someone would say,
‘John Coltrane — I know that name. Wasn’t he a blues singer?’ I was just
me growing up. No one knew who John Coltrane was. He was still an
underground figure in many ways.”
He decided to study music and enrolled at the California Institute of
the Arts. “Showing up with a saxophone and having the name Coltrane,” he
said, “I immediately recognized that this was going to be distracting
for people.” But it was also an opportunity. He spent summer breaks in
New York with Rashied Ali, the drummer whose free-form style helped
define John Coltrane’s late period. During daily jam sessions in Ali’s
apartment, Ravi impressed older musicians who once played with his dad.
Right out of school he scored a gig in the band of Elvin Jones, who
played in John Coltrane’s legendary quartet of the 1960s. He proved
himself on grueling international tours, but there were still people
attracted solely by the novelty value of his lineage. Some record
companies were more interested in getting him to join supergroups made
up of the sons of jazz greats than in his own work.
“There were a lot of people who just wanted to take advantage of these
things that for me — I felt, Man, I’m not here for that reason,” he
said. “Anyone who knows me ultimately understands what I’m doing and why
I’m doing it.”
In his airy home studio, he keeps his mother’s Steinway piano and his
father’s saxophone, its keys capped in pristine mother-of-pearl. There’s
a bass clarinet that belonged to Eric Dolphy, who played with his
father. The miniature drum kit seems to have seen the most recent
action, though his son Aaron, after begging for it, promptly grew bored
by it. I asked Coltrane, who just turned 47, if he wanted Aaron and his
brother to grow up to be musicians.
“Secretly, I’d love — ” He stopped himself and started to laugh. “Well, I
can’t put that out there. Because it’s up to them — it’s up to them.
They’ll be great no matter what they do. They’ll be cool no matter where
they go in life.”
Zachary Woolfe writes frequently about music for The New York Times and The New York Observer.
NEWPORT BEACH JAZZ FEST ANNOUNCES HEADLINERS
The Newport Jazz Festival will be anchored this year by the
guitarist Pat Metheny, the drummer Jack DeJohnette and the vocalist Kurt
Elling, among dozens of other acts, George Wein, a festival founder,
announced on Tuesday.
Mr. Wein said he wanted to present not just veterans but also
younger musicians who represent currents in contemporary jazz. These
will include the saxophonist Miguel Zenon, the pianist Jason Moran, the
trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire, the composer Darcy James Argue and
the drummer Dafnis Prieto.
First held in 1954, the festival has long been an important yearly
showcase of top jazz stars. This year's festival will start on Aug. 3
in the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino in
Newport, R. I. Outdoor concerts will be held in Fort Adams State Park
on Aug. 4 and 5. Tickets go on sale on Thursday.
Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute
Phase 1: Intensive, August 7-11, 2012
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music -Los Angeles, CA
Eligibility & Guidelines
Applicant must be either a U.S. or Canadian citizen or
a non-citizen, lawfully and permanently residing or studying full-time
in the United States.
There are no age restrictions on participation.
Composers who have participated in prior ACO New Music
Readings or previous the previous JCOI are ineligible to apply for the
2012 JCOI Intensive. (Previous JCOI
participants are eligible to apply for the Phase 2 JCOI Readings.)
Incomplete, illegible, or late applications will not
be considered.
Information, eligibility guidelines and submission form are
available online at:
www.americancomposers.org/jcoi/ Submission Deadline:
April 16, 2012
Terence Blanchard Named Jazz Chair For The Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) unveiled one of the
most ambitious seasons in recent years for the Paradise Jazz Series – a
collection of one-night-only appearances hand-picked by the legendary
jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard. Five-time Grammy
Award-winning Blanchard will join the DSO as the Fred A. & Barbara
M. Erb Jazz Creative Chair beginning with the 2012-13 season of the
Paradise Jazz Series, sponsored by MGM Grand Detroit.
“We are thrilled to
welcome such a renowned jazz musician to oversee our jazz series,” said
Anne Parsons, DSO President and CEO. “Since Orchestra Hall was once
home to the famous Paradise Jazz Theatre, it is very important to us to
maintain that legacy by bringing the most talented acts of the genre to
Detroit audiences. We believe Terence is the perfect choice to help do
just that.”
In this role,
Blanchard will assist in curating the acts for the Paradise Jazz series
and contribute to community education initiatives. As Jazz Chair, he
plans to add an unprecedented facet to the position: for the first time
in Paradise Jazz Series history, Blanchard will make special guest
appearances throughout the season, serving as host and at times even
performing with the featured acts.
“I am very excited
to play an active role in shaping the future of the DSO’s jazz series,”
said Blanchard. “It was extremely important to me to choose artists who I
personally respect and whose talent is indicative of the inspiring jazz
history in Detroit.”
GERALD VEASLY ANNOUNCES
Bass BootCamp EXPO 2012
We're proud to announce the inaugural Bass BootCamp EXPO!
On Saturday, March 17th, Bass manufacturers and vendors will be
exhibiting their merchandise from noon to 6pm at the Crowne Plaza in
Reading, PA! As a valued member of the bass community, you're receiving
this exclusive invitation to attend the EXPO. As an invited guest, your admission is FREE!
The stellar Bass BootCamp faculty will be making appearances during the EXPO including a master class by bass great, Victor Bailey!
EXPO Basics
Date: March 17, 2012
Time: Noon to 6PM (Sign-in starts at 11AM)
Location: Reading Crowne Plaza, 1741 Papermill Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610
(Reading, PA is about one hour's drive from Philadelphia)
Can a massive jazz museum take root in Chicago?
Howard Reich
Arts critic
February 29, 2012
Back in the 1990s, several influential Chicagoans joined forces to try to build a National Jazz Museum here.
They quickly raised $350,000 in seed money to launch an institution that would do for jazz what Symphony Center does for classical music or the Lyric Opera of Chicago for music drama: provide a world-class venue that nurtures the art form.
Better still, the proposed National Jazz Museum would achieve what none of its Loop
counterparts attempted, giving music with African-American roots high
visibility in a downtown cultural grid mostly devoted to white,
European-derived art.
But the effort lost steam in 1999, when the City of Chicago
turned down the planners' proposal to take over a choice parcel of land
up for redevelopment at the northwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue, where the decaying Avenue Motel once stood. After that setback, the National Jazz Museum quickly faded into memory.
Now
a group of respected Chicago cultural figures has revived the idea, in
somewhat altered form and under a new name: the International Jazz Hall
of Fame. But the core goal remains the same: To create a downtown
institution for jazz, a music identified with Chicago around the world.
Considering that New York has Jazz at Lincoln Center,
a multi-faceted cultural institution in Manhattan that opened in 2004,
and that next January San Francisco will have the SFJAZZ Center, a
free-standing edifice dedicated to the music, Chicago already seems late
to the party.
Could the timing finally be right?
"We
decided Chicago would be the city – if it wanted us," says Norman
Brander, who co-founded the International Jazz Hall of Fame in Kansas
City, Mo., as a nonprofit two decades ago and recently revived the idea.
"We've talked to a number of different people in the city, and they're excited about it."
Specifically, Brander, 68, has recruited for his advisory committee such jazz heavyweights as pianist Ramsey Lewis, Columbia College Chicago
president Warrick Carter (a former jazz drummer) and Indiana University
music professor David Baker, among others. In addition, the Chicago
architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – which had created
initial designs for the original National Jazz Museum – has been
helping Brander develop the concept.
The idea, according to the
Hall of Fame's business plan, is to build "a world-class museum and
tourist attraction," at an estimated cost of $45-$50 million, says
Brander, that will hum with performances, recording sessions and
educational offerings. To begin launching the project, Brander and his
colleagues recently met with Michelle Boone, the city's Commissioner of
Cultural Affairs, to pitch the idea. As a former member of the Chicago
Jazz Partnership, a consortium of foundations and corporations that has
poured millions into Chicago jazz in recent years, Boone indeed was
intrigued.
"I love it – it's a great idea, that we would have an
institution that would solidify the role of Chicago in jazz music
internationally," says Boone. "But they've got a lot of work to do. …
"What
I encouraged them to do is to meet with the Chicago Jazz Partnership,
that that's a group of stakeholders really committed to jazz. I also
encouraged them to meet with the people who years ago were trying to
build a jazz museum in Chicago.
"What were some of the roadblocks? Who were the real crusaders? How do you re-enlist those people?"
As
Boone says, the work involved in realizing such a colossal project is
immense. Jazz at Lincoln Center was operating for years before opening
its state-of-the-art, $128 million home at Broadway and 60th Street in
2004 – and that campaign was led by Wynton Marsalis, then and now one of the most celebrated jazz musicians in the world.
SFJAZZ,
meanwhile, has been presenting the San Francisco Jazz Festival and
concerts across the Bay Area for decades and is in the midst of raising
$60 million for its state-of-the-art new home (including a $10 million
endowment).
Though the International Jazz Hall of Fame has
produced various jazz awards shows and jazz cruises, says Brander, who's
based in Boca Raton,
Fla., it has nowhere near the assets or track records of either Jazz at
Lincoln Center or SFJAZZ. Yet Brander's quest clearly has found initial
support from important quarters in Chicago, not least Skidmore, Owings
& Merrill.
"It's really exciting, but it's very early (in the
process)," says Brian Lee, a design partner at Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill who's involved with the Hall of Fame project.
"We'd love
to see something like this come to the city of Chicago … so we'd love to
help. As an architectural, engineering and urban design firm based
here, we think we can assist them."
Yet past experiences raise an
inevitable question: Considering all the support that the planned
National Jazz Museum generated more than a decade ago, why did it
implode after its first setback, the loss of its hoped-for site?
U-Nam Working on George Benson Tribute
French guitarist, U-Nam is putting the finishing touches on his latest album, Week End in L.A. (A Tribute to George Benson),
due out this spring. He's joined on the project by an all-star line-up
of artists including George Duke, Phil Perry, Paul Jackson, Jr. and
Patrice Rushen, among others. U-Nam hit number one on the charts with
his take on the Crusaders tune "Street Life" and is not bashful when he
talks about his admiration and respect for George Benson, calling him
his 'favorite artist'. For his part, Benson has high praise for U-Nam
too, saying, "It's great to have a new voice on the guitar scene; one
that is loaded with energy and excitement."
Jazz Musicians Expand Pension Protest
By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.
The musicians’ union for New York City has
begun an advertising campaign and plans to expand protests outside of
jazz clubs as part of its efforts to win pension benefits for jazz
artists, union leaders said Thursday.
The union, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, started handing out leaflets
outside the Blue Note in Greenwich Village in December, arguing the
club owners have reneged on a promise they made to the union in 2006 to
begin contributing pension benefits for jazz musicians in return for a
sales tax break passed by the legislature. No formal agreement to
finance pensions for jazz artists was ever reached between the union and
the clubs, and some club owners even dispute the union’s claim that
they made a tentative pact to do so.
On Thursday evening, the union plans to expand the leafleting
campaign to five other prominent jazz clubs – Birdland, Dizzy’s Club
Coca-Cola, the Iridium, Jazz Standard and the Village Vanguard. In
addition, the union is taking out ads in jazz publications to call
attention to the plight of elderly jazz musicians who lack pension
benefits.
The ads show an old man’s hands at a piano keyboard with the headline
“Older jazz musicians are living in poverty. NYC’s top jazz clubs
refuse to contribute to pensions that would allow jazz artists to retire
with dignity.” At the bottom is a link to an online petition.
Club owners have resisted the union’s efforts to force them to pay into a
pension fund for years. Some say they believe it should be the
responsibility of band leaders to pay pension benefits rather than
clubs; they point out writing a pension check for every musician who
plays at a major jazz club would be impractical and costly. Others
assert the 8,000-member union is fishing for new revenue to prop up its
pension fund, whose main beneficiaries are mostly retired Broadway
musicians, studio session players and classical musicians. They argue
most jazz artists, who have traditionally worked in non-union clubs,
would prefer to receive more pay and handle their own retirement plans.
But the union argues the clubs owe their profits to jazz artists and
have a moral obligation to provide benefits. Several well-known jazz
artists are supporting the union campaign, among them the bassist Ron
Carter, drummer Bernard Purdie and guitarists John and Bucky Pizzarelli.
SANTANA ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM & 2 YEAR ENGAGEMENT IN VEGAS
Carlos Santana plans to release a new solo instrumental album entitled, Shape Shifter,
on May 15. He says, "It's for people who love 'Caravanseri,' 'Europa,'
'Samba Pa Ti' -- the instrumentals. A lot of people miss
hearing the Mexican just playing his guitar. That's a language
that's better than Swahili or English or Spanish. I haven't done
one in a long time." The guitar legend also kicks off a two-year
engagement in Las Vegas at the House of Blues beginning on May 1.
Les Brown Centennial Festival
The general public is invited to the Les Brown Centennial Weekend in Tower City, PA on March 23 – 25. This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Les’ birth.
The Les Brown Dance is on Friday, March 23, 7:00 pm at Kevin’s Place in Lykens. It features 2 hours of swing dance music by the valley’s big band, After Hours (www.theafterhoursbigband.com) . Admission is $10 per person. Food and drinks are available
ST. LUCIA 2012 Season...A New Direction
SAINT LUCIA (January 31, 2012) – Saint Lucia Jazz, now into its 21st
year, will feature some of the best live performances from renowned
local, regional and international superstars, with celebrated performer
and multiple Grammy winner Lionel Richie headlining this year’s
festival.
The
2012 event, April 30 – May13, will feature over fifty artists
performing against diverse Saint Lucian locales, from the signature
Atlantic Ocean backdrop of the Pigeon Island National Landmark, to
quaint and rustic village settings like Fond D’Or in Dennery, Rudy John
Beach Park in Laborie and Seaside jazz at Duty free Pointe Seraphine in
the heart of Castries.
Commenting
on the diverse and star-studded list of performers, Tourism Director
Louis Lewis noted that much thought had gone into presenting a package
that truly reflected the record 21 year history of the event. “The
longevity of Saint Lucia Jazz is testament to constant innovation and
determination which is warranted to ensure that as a product, Saint
Lucia Jazz remains fresh and exciting, so as to sustain public appeal
and visitor attraction.”
Lewis
told the gathering, “2012 innovations include a reduced yet more robust
jazz centric lineup reflecting pure, smooth, Caribbean and Creole jazz
with touches of R&B and world musical genres, and a more cohesive
grouping of supporting community-based jazz events, which continue to
define Saint Lucia Jazz.”
Main stage performances get underway from May 9 to13 and are headlined by Lionel Richie, who has garnered five Grammys and 18 American Music Awards, among other accolades. Other musical heavy weights include accomplished South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela; five time Grammy winning artiste Ziggy Marley – the son of iconic reggae legend Bob Marley; jazz aficionado Joshua Redman; hit R&B song writer turned performer and soulful songstress Keri Hilson; pop and hip-hop phenom Melanie Fiona and gospel king Kirk Franklin among others. A slue of Saint Lucia’s leading musical masterminds like Luther Francois, Ronald ‘Boo’ Hinkson, Richard Payne, Derek Yarde Project and others complement the casts.
Stretching Out, Close to Home
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
Vaneese Thomas, center, will appear with a five-piece band on Feb. 25.
By PHILLIP LUTZ
FOR all its impact on the larger culture, jazz remains something of a
niche attraction in the popular marketplace. So when a jazz concert
series survives into a third season, as NewUrbanJazz has, it is worth noting.
Steve Berman/The New York Times
Drummer Rudy Royston will perform with Mr. Patitucci.
Susan Stava for The New York Times
Tony Jefferson, a drummer turned part-time singer, will be at NewUrbanJazz on March 3.
G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times
The bassist John Patitucci will perform with a classic trio configuration.'
Tom White for The New York Times
James Weidman on piano.
This series, which runs through March 17 at the ArtsWestchester
performance space in White Plains, is gaining traction with audiences —
most of the 125 seats in the space sell out — and the word is out among
artists of national stature who live in Westchester County that the
series is a useful forum for delving into formats they don’t often
explore.
The bassist John Patitucci,
who will close the season, is a case in point. Widely known for his
long associations with luminaries like the pianist Chick Corea and the
saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and as the leader of a trio with saxophone
and drums, Mr. Patitucci, who lives in Hastings, will return to a
classic trio configuration — piano, bass and drums — when he performs in
White Plains.
RAY PARKER JR'S "GHOSTBUSTERS" WILL BE RE-RELEASED WORLDWIDE
The 1984 hit movie Ghostbusters will be re-released
worldwide this Halloween in an all-new digitally restored format. The
film was nominated for two Oscars, 'Best Visual Effects' and 'Original
Song' for Ray Parker Jr's chart-topping "Ghostbusters" theme song. The
movie starred Bill Murray, Harol Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and
Sigourney Weaver and quickly became a cult classic. Currently on tour with the legendary Jazz Crusaders, Ray Parker Jr. must be a happy camper. He wrote Ghostbusters, and with this re- release he will soon hear..... Cha Ching, Cha Ching!
Two Tony Bennett Releases Celebrate The Singer’s 85th Birthday
Tony Bennett’s fans will have multiple options if they want to
purchase music in celebration of the legendary singer’s 85th birthday.
On Sept. 20, Columbia released Duets II, which
includes Bennett’s collaborations with a host of vocalists. The tracks
include “The Lady Is A Tramp” (with Lady Gaga), “On The Sunny Side Of
The Street” (with Willie Nelson), “Speak Low” (with Norah Jones), “Blue
Velvet” (with k.d. lang) and “How Do You Keep The Music Playing” (with
Aretha Franklin).
The album will also include “Body And Soul,” a collaboration
that was recorded with Amy Winehouse prior to her death in July. Bennett
and Winehouse recorded the song at London’s Abbey Road Studios. The
track will be released as a charity single, with proceeds going to the
Amy Winehouse Foundation.
MICHAEL BUBLE ANNOUNCES NEW "CHRISTMAS" CD 
Michael Buble announced he'll release his first new studio CD since his 2009 multi-platinum release Crazy Love. Christmas will be available in October and will coincide with the debut of his first memoir, titled Michael Bublé: Onstage, Offstage on October 13. Christmas is Buble's first full holiday CD and it includes a cover of Bing Crosby's classic 'White Christmas', featuring Shania Twain.
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THE SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ FESTIVAL HAS ANNOUNCED THE SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE
SFJAZZ today announced the release of the SFJAZZ Collective’s eight limited-edition set, SFJAZZ Collective: Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions, Live in New York 2011 – Season 8, of which a maximum of 5,000 copies will be produced. Available exclusively from SFJAZZ —
presenter of this year’s 29th San Francisco Jazz Festival, running
September 15 through December 18 — the deluxe, hand-numbered 3-CD set is
the definitive recording of this all-star jazz ensemble’s eighth year.
Recorded live April 30-May 3, 2011 at famed New York City venue, the
Jazz Standard, the release features
new arrangements of the classic works of Stevie Wonder, as well as,
all-new original compositions by Collective members.
WATCH OUT! WYNTON & ERIC HAVE THE BLUES
Reprise Records Presents Highlights From The Duo’s Unprecedented,
Sold-Out Jazz at Lincoln Center Performances; Also Features Special
Guest Appearance By Taj Mahal Available September 13 On CD And CD/DVD
LOS ANGELES – New York City’s premier jazz venue got the blues last
April when Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton performed together in Rose
Theater
VIDEO GAMES AND JAZZ?
In case you haven't heard, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (NJMH)
announces a new partnership with the World Wide Workshop to teach youth
jazz and digital literacy through Globaloria, the first-of-its-kind
youth network for learning how to make videogames. The program started this summer and will run throughout the school year, NJMH will run a
series of a new kind of creative education workshops for youth ages
13-19.
MINDI ABAIR WRITES A NEW BOOK?
Mindi Abair has been working on a 'tell-all' of sorts... it's her new book How To Play Madison Square Garden: A How-To Guide For Stage Performance.
Mindi says, "It's the culmination of a lot of years of experience being
on stage and learning what works and what doesn't. I've made every
mistake you can think of, and I thought I'd condense what I know and
have learned from these experiences in written form." The book will be
available in print and as an e-book that can be downloaded and is due
out in a few weeks. In the meantime, she's got a special performance
coming up this Wednesday, September 14th at The Canyon Club in Los
Angeles where she'll be filming the show.
HERBIE HANCOCK TO EMBARK ON FIRST-EVER SOLO TOUR THIS FALL 
Herbie Hancock will embark on a North American tour this Fall. This
tour marks the first time in the genre-defying artist’s career that he
will be touring solo, incorporating elements of both his acoustic and
electric musical heritage and culling material from throughout his
legendary career.
Kicking off this Fall’s ambitious schedule is the
much-anticipated opening night gala of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
pairing Hancock with conductor Gustavo Dudamel at Walt Disney Hall. Hancock
will then set out on his first ever solo tour, which will see the
artist explore his catalog alone on stage, accompanied only by his
arsenal of keyboards and his signature Fazioli Grand piano. Hancock
will re-arrange and reinterpret his contributions to the canon of
modern jazz, funk and electronic music for an evening of unprecedented
virtuosity. A trio of cities, Calgary, Portland and
Seattle, will see Hancock revisit George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”
in collaboration with their local symphony orchestras.
DOES TRUMPETER RICK BRAUN WATCH HGTV?
Trumpeter Rick Braun spends a lot of time touring and recording,
including his latest CD "Sings With Strings". But, he revealed in a
recent interview with the LA Daily News, he loves to spend his free time
at home in his Mediterranean-style garden. He's spent countless hours
building terraces, patios and decks which surround the pool and the lush
gardens, filled with fruit trees and native California plants. He even
worked in a 'river' with a small bridge over it at the request of his
son, Kyle. You can catch Rick on tour this fall with the Jazz Attack,
featuring Gerald Albright and Peter White.
DIZZY GILLESPIE MEMORIAL FUND SILENT E- AUCTION
100% donor supported, the Dizzy Gillespie Fund helps underwrite the costs of hospitalization, diagnostics, and a full range of surgical and medical care for jazz musicians who are uninsured or unable to pay. The Englewood Hospital and a network of more than 50 dedicated physicians, provide free care to the musicians at the medical center.
http://aboptv.com/poissonrouge/silentauction.html
JOHN COLTRANE"S HOUSE IN RUINS
There is a ranch house out in the middle of Long Island, just south of
the expressway in Dix Hills, where the saxophonist John Coltrane lived,
started a family and composed “A Love Supreme” in the spare bedroom. The
album is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving by a man who found peace and
God after alcohol and heroin. It is the work that helped make Coltrane a
jazz immortal.
While it will live on, the house is another story. It has been empty
about seven years. The bricks are crumbling. The raccoons have been
evicted, but not the termites. Lexan panels cover the windows; a fan
blows futilely to keep down the mold. That’s about as far as the
restoration goes.
In 2003, a local jazz lover, Steve Fulgoni, helped wrest the house away
from developers who coveted its three and a half woodsy acres. Thanks to
his efforts, the Town of Huntington preserved the land. A foundation
owns the house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places,
but the National Trust for Historic Preservation just put it on its most-endangered list.
Mr. Fulgoni, an engineer, is teaching himself to be a historian and
preservationist. He dreams of creating a cultural destination like Louis
Armstrong’s house in Queens. There is no great enthusiasm in Dix Hills;
some neighbors hate the idea of school buses and concerts on the lawn.
Long Island has lots of history, but does not do memory well. Walt
Whitman’s birthplace is lost in the shadow of the Walt Whitman Mall.
There are very few landmarks of its African-American history, beyond
Booker T. Washington’s summer home in Fort Salonga and some cemeteries.
It is easy to share Mr. Fulgoni’s enthusiasm when you see the faded
lime-green shag carpet in the practice room, and the living room’s fancy
wood paneling. He estimates that he needs about a million dollars to do
it. Meanwhile, if there are masons or carpenters who love jazz and
could help fix things, he says, he would love the help.
MAJOR HEALTH CHALLENGES FOR TWO SMOOTH JAZZ ARTISTS
It's been a rough summer for guitarists Jeff Golub and Marc Antoine.
Antoine, who had to cancel appearances earlier this year for heart
trouble, is recovering from heart surgery. Golub, who just released an
album, Three Kings, has significantly lost his vision. In his
current newsletter, he explained to fans: "While recording the record, I
started having a little trouble with my right eye. I tried to ignore
it, but the condition worsened. Oddly enough, I was working with
[pianist] Henry [Butler], who coincidentally is blind... I was diagnosed
with a collapse of the optic nerve in my right eye. It is just some
random thing that can happen to people...Last week my 'good eye' started
getting a little wacky and unfortunately, it appears to be following
the same path... OK, not what I wished for, but I hopped in a van last
night with Henry, Josh & Andy and played a gig in PA. Was it
scary? YES!!!! Was it fun? A BLAST!!!! I have proven to myself three
days into "my new life" that I can go out and do what I do...play
guitar. And even stranger, getting to spend all this time with Henry
Butler who can give me the inside track on how the heck one navigates
life with severely impaired vision...Just wanted to let you all know
what is going on with me. I may need a bit of time to adjust, but God
willing, I have every intention of playing guitar forever and a day."
AT HOME WITH DAVE VALENTINE
The jazz flutist Dave Valentin has toured the world as a headliner, playing with everyone from Tito Puente to McCoy Tyner,
but he always returns to the Bronx, where he was born 59 years ago.
Home is a modest one-story bachelor pad in Harding Park, a hidden
waterfront stretch of winding streets, close neighbors — and the
occasional crowing rooster — better known as Little Puerto Rico. He won a
Grammy in 2002 with Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project, and this
month he will release his latest album, “Pure Imagination,” in which he
overdubs himself playing five flutes. Not surprisingly, Sundays usually
include at least one practice session.
SIMPLY BEING "SADE" On the Cleveland stop on her current tour, she took the time to answer some fan questions for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
One asked who her three fantasy dinner companions would be. Sade's
answer? "Impossible to narrow it down to three. I would have to sneak
some in through the kitchen door. My grandma, all the times she cooked
for me, I could cook for her once more. Gandhi, so I could eat all his
fried potatoes. Shakespeare, because he would entertain the guests,
while I was burning the rice." And what if the whole singing thing
hadn't worked out? What "other" job might be fun? "Maybe I would be a
taxi driver. I would never know where I was going, from one day to the
next and I could inquire into the lives of all my passengers. I would
not be recognized, unless I was walking backwards towards them holding
up a mirror." 
BIRTHDAY WISHES TO CARLOS SANTANA
Happy 64th birthday today [July 20] to Carlos Santana. He was born in
Mexico, into a musical family. His father was a famous mariachi
violinist, and for a time, Carlos thought he might follow in his
footsteps. Once discovering the guitar, he became heavily influenced by
fellow Latino Richie Valens, as well as blues artists like B.B. King.
Santana's electrifying style first drew a major audience during his
band's appearance at Woodstock. Since then, he's gone on to win 10
Grammys and 3 Latin Grammys; Rolling Stone ranks him at number 15 on
their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Players. He'll be going out on a
special tour this fall with comedian George Lopez. 
Amy Winehouse’s Dad Releases Jazz Record
In a unique coincidence, just a month before his daughters death, Mitch Winehouse, the 60-year-old father of pop singer Amy Winehouse, released his first record, Rush Of Love… and it’s swing in the Sinatra tradition.
Is it good? Well, he won’t make you forget Ol’ Blue Eyes, Nat Cole or
Tony Bennett. But for all the raised eyebrows bound to glance his way,
the elder Winehouse has a firm grasp of the truth.
“If Amy wasn’t my daughter, I wouldn’t be given this opportunity. I’m
not stupid. I know that. But if I couldn't sing, I wouldn’t be given the
opportunity either,” he said in a statement that accompanied the
record.
Winehouse runs through a program of standards like “How Insensitive” and
“April In Paris,” with four new tunes written by family friend,
songwriter and producer Tony Hiller (writer of “Save Your Kisses For Me”
among others). Hiller also produced this record.
DAVE GRUSIN GOES APP
Composer Dave Grusin has released his recent An Evening With Dave Grusin
(Heads Up) as a CD, Blu-ray disc and iPad app. The album was recorded
with the 75-member Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Adrienne
Arsht Center in Miami in December 2009. Arturo Sandoval, Gary Burton and
Patti Austin are among the guest artists. Tracks include “Maria” and
the nearly 12-minute “Suite From The Milagro Beanfield War.”
The Grusin iPad app will include photos, interviews, additional audio clips and other multimedia material.
For more info go to: concordmusicgroup.com
JONATHAN BUTLER PERFORMS FOR THE BERNIE MAC FOUNDATIONJONATHAN
BUTLER, the electrifying South African Jazz guitarist/vocalist, will perform for The Bernie Mac Foundations Jazz & Soul Sessions
Concert Series , Thursday, September 8th 2011 at Mayne Stage on
Chicago's North Shore. Bernie Mac was a huge Jazz fan & loved every style of Jazz. The Bernie Mac Foundation is keeping Bernie's dream alive by holding Jazz fundraisers for the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis. Tickets available by phone (866)-468-3401 or Order on line - Click this link:
