602 MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
ARIZONA
ARIZONA ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE
W W W. 6 0 2 M A G . C O M
Chick Corea
602 Mag is proud to celebrate 2013 International Jazz Day, April 30th At Down Town CityScape
ALSO featuring: Lewis Nash Kerry Campbell Dan Pinson Bradford Marsalis Dennis Rowland Betsey Bayless Von Freeman Wynton Marsalis Dominic Amato Marion Meadow
602 Mag support’s music education with music on their mind, There’s no time for crime
JOIN OUR latest MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT LIVE CREATIVE MUSIC IN ARIZONA
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CONGRATULATION ARIZONA FOR 602AZ MAGAZINE & BUDGET CELEBRATING
Dave Brubeck
We support Int’l Jazz Day
Count Basie
Martin L KING
SUPPORTING JAZZ in 2013 INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY APRIL 30TH ...
Thelonious Monk
NAT KING COLE
Duke Ellington
Errol Garner
cONTENTS 5
New Ariziona mag
“This magazine is dedicated to supporting live entertainment in Ariziona” - Doc Jones -
Dennis Rowland
602 az
magazine
Dennis Rowland suffers stroke you are missed
14
602mag talk with Dominic Amato
Dominic Amato
14
5
22
602mag introduce to it’s readers Dan Pinson
30 Kerry Campbell
SUPPORTING INT’L JAZZ DAY AND 602 MAG
talks with 602 mag
32
Chick Corea one of the greatest keyboard players of all time
Dan Pinson
22
Lewis Nash
Kerry Campbell
36
Lewis Nash AZ Top Dummer
30
40
Marion Meadows Smooth Jazz at it’s best
36
42
Ellis Marsalis
602mag talks with David Sanborn
44 602 Mag sit s down with Ellis Marsalis
David Sanborn
Chick Corea
32
42
all content and photograph material are copyrighted to their respected owners. to contact our editorial team please email us at publish@504mag.com
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602AZ Mag
Wishes Dennis Rowland a Speedy Recovery, Your Voice is Truly Missed
Dennis Rowland Suffers Stroke
Mayor Stanton, and
Supporting International
his staff Adroa & Mel
George Benson
Jazz Day in Phoenix 2013
Singer Dennis Rowland Suffers a Stroke By: Randy Cordova Re: issue Dennis Rowland, one of the most popular and respected vocalists on the Valley jazz scene, is hospitalized at Barrow Neurological Institute after suffering a severe stroke Wednesday, Dec. 19. The Rowland family is asking for prayers, according to Joel Goldenthal, friend and executive director of Jazz in AZ. “He’s a very talented, generous-hearted man,” said Goldenthal, who has known Rowland for nearly 30 years. “The next 24 hours are going to be crucial.” Rowland, who recorded for Concord Records, was optimistic about his future in that interview. Rowland grew up in Detroit and loved both jazz and Motown. In mid-1970s, the baritone made his name as the voice of the Count Basie Orchestra, a gig that lasted until Basie’s death in 1984. Rowland then moved to the Valley, and the dapper singer immediately became a fixture on the local scene, developing a loyal following. “He has a strong presence in the community since he moved here,” Goldenthal says. “Not just as a singer, but as an actor and activist and educator.” He has performed in revues around the Valley. In 2006, he appeared in the film “Real Gone Cat,” which was screened at the Sedona Film Festival. In 2007, Rowland was inducted into the Herberger Theater Center Hall of Fame, joining Alice Cooper, Pat McMahon and Hugh Downs. “I look at it as recognition of the work I’ve done and the work 8 stylus magazine
I’m going to do, and it is by no means a stopping point,” he told The Republic in 2009. “I see it as an equivalent to an athlete having a jersey retired.” Rowland, who recorded for Concord Records, was optimistic about his future in that interview .“I used to look at it materialistically, at the possibility of Oscars, Emmys and things of that nature,” he said. “But now I just want to be able to continue to do quality work and please people. I don’t intend to stop, and I think my profile is getting larger. There are still things left to do and other opportunities to explore.”
We all Know and Love Dennis Dennis Rowland is a jazz vocalist born and raised in Detroit, MI. Having grown up in a household of jazz enthusiasts, Rowland developed an appreciation for Jazz music at an early age. At the age of five or six Rowland heard the vocals of Joe Williams of the Count Basie Orchestra, which has influenced his approach to singing ever since. Rowland’s voice is rich and deep, and throughout the early 1970s, Rowland worked Detroit’s local jazz and acting scene. In 1977 Rowland was hired by Count Basie as a vocalist on his tours, filling the same role his idols Joe Williams and Jimmy Rushing had occupied for so many years. For Rowland, it was a dream come true and he would tour with Basie for the following seven years. During his time with Basie, Rowland had the chance to share the stage with such icons as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett.[2] Rowland was seen recently as Jimmy Baker in the film Real Gone Cat by film director Robert Sucato. He currently resides and performs regularly in Phoenix, Arizona.
Publisher / CEO William “Doc” Jones Senior Writer / Chief Editor/ Shirley A. Jones Senior Writer / Asst. Chief Editor Cynthia Gill Mitchell Senior Design Layout Wm. Doc. Jones Associate Editor / Ass. Layout design Patrick Gilder Chief Photo Editor Doc Jones Wayne Gaskins,/ Vice President and Senior Editor... John McClary / East Coast Creative Director.... Nathan Anthony Bleu, / Music & Fashion Editor... Al Gray Jr Chief Sound Engineer
©504 Multi MEDIA LLC. All Rights Reserved
602 MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
ARIZONA
ARIZIONA ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE
W W W. 6 0 2 M A G . C O M
Chick Corea
602 Mag is proud to celebrate Black History Month , and The Birth of a New Jazz movement
Stanley Turrentine
ALSO featuring: Louis Nash Donald Harrison Dan Pinson Branford Marsalis Dennis Rowland Paul Anderson Michael Brecker Calvin Johnson
602 Mag support’s
JOIN THE NEW MOVEMENT TO
Welcome to 602az Magazine. As Publisher & CEO, I would like to congratulate,UNESCO and Goodwill a\Ambassador Herbie Hancock for organizing International Jazz Day, an Annual Event on 30th April, A Day Proclaimed During the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011.
Jan Brewer & Bestsey Bayless “Keep up the good work Doc Jones & 602 Magazine Once you meet him, you’ll remember him. Dr. William Jones (lovingly referred to as Doc) is Founder/CEO and Chief Editor of the pulse of NOLA’s, 602az Mag.com. Doc Jones brings a high level energy, excitement and hands on involvement to anything he believes in. Doc’s motto, love of people, and talents continues to be, “if you believe in it, you should be a contributing factor in it.” Doc is excited about the restoration of and is spearheading an all out effort to bring an influx of new ready-to-run contributors to the area armed with current information in 504Mag.com. He recently stated, “It’s not the remaining rubble, though the devastation of Katrina remains vividly in my mind, but the beauty of the people, the succulence of the food and the throngs of happy tourist I once performed for on Bourbon Street.”
Publisher Doc Jones & Herbie Hancock
ART’S EDUCATION IS A MUST you will be a success in Arizona ”
With Music On Their Mind
There’s No Time For Crime Doc Jones
Nextstudent Academy of the art’s.com
Photo By Doc Jones
Live Music is On and Pop’n in Arizona
Dominic Amato
6 s
02Mag invites you to join us on a journey through the life of a musical phenomenon in the world of Jazz and so much more! Dominic was born into a family of musicians. His father is a axophonist, his mother a multi instrumentalist, and his brother a vocal artist. Given his musical upbringing, it may come as little surprise that Dominic began experimenting with musical instruments from a very young age. In fact, no sooner had he celebrated his second birthday did he begin dabbling with the drums. But drawn to the wonderful sound of his father’s saxophone, it would not be long before Dominic would trade in his
drumset for a sax of his own.
W
hile honi n g h i s woodwind skills, Dominic took up the piano and, shortly there after, the EWI (electronic wind instrument).Although Dominic’s musi-
cal affinity emerged at a very early age, it was not until the summer of 2001 that he had ever attended any private music lessons. But what he
learned from his instructor in that summer would more than make up for lost time. Perhaps Dominic feels this way because his instructor was none other than the world renowned saxophonist and educator Eric Marienthal. “Among the many insights Eric has impressed upon me is the crucial role that discipline and humility plays in cultivating musical talent. It’s not enough to just pick up an instrument and try to figure out a new lick or jam along with a favorite tune; it takes focusing on fundamental exercises and personal weaknesses.” -Amato
6 0 2 A z MAGAZI N E 1 4
Thank’s to the new young lions, like Domonic
Photo By: Gerald Herbert
Now, as an adult, Dominic is still the devout music student he was as a child, dedicating countless hours to finetuning his musical ability and technique. Some of Dominic’s heavy influences include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, David Sanborn, Weather Report, the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Yellowjackets, Michael Brecker, Bob Mintzer, and James Brown. Over the past few years, Dominic has had the opportunity to perform for numerous clients and national corporations. Among them: Matell Toys, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals, Sister Sledge, Jason Kidd Foundation, 2009 NBA AllStar Block Party, Arizona Diamondbacks, Amare Stoudamire, Motorola, the Fiesta Bowl Party Celebration, BET JAZZ TV Show “Studio Jams”, Post Magazine, Jerry Colangelo, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Juice Pus +, Childhelp USA, Barrett Jackson, Cigna Health Care, XM Satellite Radio. Along with recording, performing with his band, and appearing as a sideman with many different artists, Dominic is also currently touring around the world as the Musical Director for the Award winning artist Sister Sledge. Dominic Amato’s Fresh from the Groove is his newest release on nuGroove Records. Amato is a relative newcomer to the smooth jazz scene and is best known for his work on alto saxophone and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). Amato is joined by Grammy award winning producer Michael Broening and a cast of rhythms section players including guitarist Freddy Fox. Broening and Amato share most of the writing credits here with Broening also programming and playing keyboards. I first became aware of Dominic Amato’s
alto saxophone and EWI playing while channel surfing one evening. Amato appeared as a guest musician on BETJ’s Studio Jams. The show pairs musicians from diverse backgrounds in a studio setting. The group of musicians then decides what to play, working out the arrangements in front of the cameras in their native studio setting. I am a fan of the show and was also favorably impressed with Amato’s abilities. Phoenix resident Dominic Amato was born into a family of musicians. His father was a saxophonist before him and his mother a multi-instrumentalist. Amato has also studied with world-renowned saxophonist Eric Marienthal. Fresh from the Groove opens with the
the smooth jazz format – if there is such a thing. The exotic Jamaica is neither common smooth jazz, traditional Reggae nor predictable for that matter. Amato shows his tender side on soprano saxophone on the likable ballad Still Here With You. Although Dominic Amato is often featured on alto saxophone, he again chooses soprano as his solo voice as on Jazzy’s Flow and My Luvsounds Juslikethis . I very much appreciate Amato’s voice on soprano saxophone. Out of the Gate, Letsjuschill and My Luvsounds Juslikethis round out Fresh from the Groove with the remaining groove oriented tracks. Broening takes an enjoyable ride on acoustic piano on Out of the Gate followed by Amato’s alto on the out chorus. My Luvsounds Juslikethis is another big winner here – possibly my favorite cut on the cd. Fresh from the Groove by Dominic Amato and producer/keyboardist Michael Broening at times is pure smooth jazz. At other times it is fresh and unpredictable – but ALWAYS grooves!
lively Exciting Times and Amato on alto sax. The second track, Nico’s Smile features Amato on soprano sax. The title track, third on the Cd could easily have been the opening track with its catchy hook right up front. By contrast, the aptly named Greezy is slow, sleazy and provides a great bed for the Amato’s bluesy alto saxophone. The clever modulation and rhythm section kicks about three minutes into the tune offer an interesting crescendo and diminuendo into the solos. The talkbox EWI solo is unexpected but works well. All in all, Greezy is one of my favorite tracks here. The decidedly ethnic-sounding Jamaica prompted me to more closely check out the harmonic background to the soprano solo. The Eb minor to B13 changes underneath the mostly Eb harmonic minor based soprano solo is a clear departure from 5 0 4 MAGAZI N E 1 6
Greatest Saxophone Players
Stanley Turrentine
Dominic Amato
Calvin Johnson
Von Freedman
Doc Cambell Jones Kerry
of the past and furter ...
John Coltrain
Dan Pinson
M
Dominic Amato Kerry Campbell
TWO OF ARIZONA’S TOP SAXOPHONE PLAYERS
DOMINIC AMATO AND DAN PINSON Photo by Sandrine Lee
“Noche de Navidad” His latest CD
602 MAG IS HONORED TO PRESENT DAN PINSON By: Shirley A Jones Whether it’s his solo Sax +Tracks performance, or with a duo, trio, quartet, or larger band, Dan is known to provide quality entertainment for your club, restaurant, resort/hotel, casino, or other special private or public event. Dan’s expertise is known Valley wide as a Woodwind Artist who plays Saxophones, Flutes, and Clarinet. He is a performer, bandleader, and music Contractor with a long history of providing great entertainment and quality music contracting services. Dan was born in Phoenix, Arizona where he started his music career playing clarinet at the tender age of seven. Since then, he has performed in many venues of all sizes in the U.S., Mexico and Europe, performed on Public Radio International, and appeared in a commercial for Coldstone Creamery. He has appeared with or opened for a wide variety of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Spyrogyra, Kenny Loggins, Jay Leno, BB King, The Temptations, The Temptations, Joan Ri22 stylus magazine
vers, Don Rickles. Jeffrey Osborne, Gato Barbieri, Keiko and Kazu Matsui, Richie Cole, Gerry Mulligan, Pete Jolly, Mills Brothers, Harry James Band, Ted Curson, Judy Roberts, Bill Reichenbach, Joe Morello, Little Anthony, The Drifters, Freda Payne, Latin music star Selena and Grammy winners Grupo Niche. His festival performances include the Port Townsend Jazz Festival (WA), Zion Canyon Jazz Festival, Sunset Jazz Festival, Peacock Jazz Festival, and the Chandler Center for the Arts. Like all great musicians a high level of performance and continued education, as it were, is a necessity. He was classically trained on clarinet at Arizona State University and has performed with the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra, Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra and the Glendale Community Orchestra. During his 30-year plus period of study, he has studied with jazz and classical music educators including George Cables, Gary Foster, Eric Kloss, Joe Corral, Chuck Mahronic, Vince Maggio, Jack Ratterree and W. Henry Duckham
Dan has been a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University West, and has served as a Teaching Artist with the Arizona Commission on the Arts since 1992. He has provided workshops to over 25,000 students in elementary and secondary schools, universities, musician’s unions, and community centers throughout Arizona and Mexico. If you haven’t heard the smooth sounds of his instruments, take heed to what local and national writers have had to say about Dan: “...Dan rocks with the best...Hilary Gray, Jazz Times; and “...Dan deserves greater attention…”Downbeat Magazine”. Further accolades have been written about his recorded music as well: “...this is an excellent Latin-flavored instrumental album (“South of the Border”) emerges as a definitive showcase for Pinson’s multiple reed skills...”I Remember Clifford” is an exquisite reading, Pinson displaying his lyrical strengths...a dynamic production.” Patricia Myers, Jazz Notes & Jazz Times “…an evening of virtuosity…a beautiful tone, unlimited technique, and great jazz ideas…” said Richard Zoller, Sierra Vista AZ Herald. His latest project is a Holiday CD titled “Noche de Navidad.” Billed as “Music from the Americas”, the record blurs the lines between Jazz, Latin, and Classical music. It features musicians from the US, Mexico and Brazil with performances in English, Spanish and Portuguese. You can get more information about the project and hear some of the music at http://www.usaprojects.org/project/noche_de_ navidad. As is often found, great artists fall into the “to whom much is given, much is required” category. Don’t miss the next opportunity to see and hear one of our own, I promise you an enjoyable time For more information or booking: danpinson@danpinson.com www.danpinson.com
stylus magazine 23
ANK’S
GOLD’S GYM GOLD GYM
Gold’s Gym Family Supporting
F
FAMILY FAMILY
Int’l Jazz Day in Arizona 2013 stylus magazine 25
Photot By: Lamar Rashar
B
Photo By: White House
Article with Collage #3
The One and Only BRANFORD MARSALIS Theresa Andersson’s talent is so unbelievable, one might wonder, “is she from an alien planet? Theresa was born in Sweden, but grew up on an Island named Gotland located in the Baltic Sea. She says she can’t remember when music was not a part of her life. “It hasn’t been always, but it feels like I’ve always sang and played music.” As a little girl I liked riding horses and playing Cowboys and Indians, stuff like that. I loved singing with my mother and friends as I grew into my teens. By the time I was sixteen, I was awarded a Special Permit to enter this music school that you had to be eighteen to actually enroll in. I was so off the chain they couldn’t hold me back, she laughs heartily. I’m just kidding, but I guess they saw something in me that encouraged them to let me in.
After spending 2 years studying at that music school, I decided to join the real world of music. I went out on tour with the world youth choir. The tour ended early in the year and instead of going back home my stubborn Gotland nature took me on an adventure to New Orleans. That’s how I humbly ended up in this melting pot of AWESOME musicians. Once I was in New Orleans and heard the brass bands echoing through Jackson Square in the French Quarter, I knew that I was going to make New Orleans my home. I loved it then and I love it now. Of course, as with any vocation, job, whatever you want to call being a musician is, it comes with the good and the bad. I’ve performed all around the world and nothing can separate me from it. I work through the bad and enjoy the good most of the time. Traveling though so many different airports for me, is a real challenge it can be real stressful. I’m a one man band, so I carry a lot of equipment. You can imagine what that’s like. The Good is I get to experience all these difference foreign cultures meet some great people and enjoy some of the best foods ever; everywhere I go it’s different. My favorite thing to do in a new place is to go jogging, that’s my way of exploring a new city. My favorite city of all times, I’ll give you a hint, is New York! She laughs heartily again I’m just kidding , New York is cool but, stating firmly there’s nothing like playing in New Orleans. The City is very inspiring for me. The air here is thick and the city oozes with funk and I mean that in the loveliest way. Everywhere you go you can find some of the best musicians anywhere in the world 28 stylus magazine
performing; many of them love me like a sister. New York is fun too it’s a city that offers everything and forgives nothing. I love playing New York . I could go on and on but I’ll stop there. In fact, I have to say every where I’ve played has been a great experience. I was inspired by Blair Thomas a one-man-puppet-show, in which the puppeteer played multiple characters and the drums. I began by looping just my violin, voice, and guitar. I wanted to create a richer live sound, so I began thinking about adding another loop pedal and more instruments. Now I can travel the world alone and put on a hella show.. My main instrument is my voice; I say that because singing is what I did first. As a young girl I sang with my mother all the time. Second runner up would be my violin, and after that the list goes on. I’ve been blessed to play with so many great musicians and everyone of them has contributed to who I am and what I do today. When I came to New Orleans back in 1990. I played Violin with fellow singer-songwriter and Swede, Anders Osborne I did that for about nine years, then I performed and recorded with several well known New Orleans Musicians, including Allen Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, The Meters and Betty Harris. In 2007, I accepted an invitation to participate in Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, where I performed “When The Saints Go Marching In” with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. I also have performed on Late Night hosted by Conan O’Brien and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, also at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans 504mag would like to thank THERESA ANDERSSON for giving us this opportunity to introduce her to our readers.
Vol 2 Issue 8
2013
Detroit’s Own
Article with Banner
504Magazine introduces
kerry campbell By: Count Huslabo
Who is Kerry Campbell, and what has he done in the music business? Well the answer issimply quite a bit. Kerry Campbell is a principal saxophonist, and arranger, who’s talents have been used in many different fields of music, starting with Soul, Jazz, and including rap.
In the early years Kerry worked for many of the Motown acts as a saxophonist, and an arranger.The acts included The Temptations and more. Later Kerry Recorded with Bobby Womack playingthe soprano sax on the hit “Caught In The Middle”. Shortly after that recording Kerry joined onwith The Dramatics for 12 years. With The Dramatics he acted as the musical director, arranger and soloiston many of their hits including “What You See Is What You Get”. Kerry, hired and conducted the orchestra for The Dramatics both on the road and in the Studio.
When the run with the Dramatics was over, he tried pursuing a solo carrier as a jazz artist, landing himself a recording contract with “Fantasy Records”, in Berkley California. The solo project titled “Phoenix Rising”, was a nominal hit produced by the legendary Richar Boch, who was the person that discovered and produced Wes Montgomery, Lambert HIndricks and Ross, as well as John Coltrane. It was high praise indeed for Kerry Campbell to be produced by Mr. Richard Boch. While pursuing his jazz carrier Kerry had a regular engagement at the famed “Nucleus Nuance”, in Los Angeles. On any night of the week players like Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Stanley Clark, Joe Sample, Al Jearau would come and sit in to jam with Kerry and have the opportunity to play some Be_Bop. Kerry had an all star band at the Nucleus Nuance and the line up included the world renowned “Johnny Hammond Smith”, on keyboards.
When the scene changed Kerry not one to stand still, joined forces with the huge rock band “WAR”, Kerry was made a member of the band his duties included performing the saxophone, singing and arranging. The tours with WAR were world wide and the band touched bases with Areosmith, The Black Crows, Tower of Power, and more. The time with WAR was a defining moment for Kerry, as he had been accepted in the huge world or Rock as a real player and performer. Hobnobing with the who’s who of the rock and roll world was one of the highlights of his carrier.
When Kerry was in the states he would record with famed rapper and producer “Dr. Dre”, and later “Snoop Dog”. Kerry Campbell played the flute on Snoop Dogs first CD the song was titled “The Shiznit”. That CD grossed over 26 million dollars in sales. There were other rappers including “Collio”, and one recording with “Tupac”. 30 stylus magazine
It is evident that Kerry Campbell is a premier and accomplished musician, and arranger. With over 14 gold recordsto his credit that he has either performed or arranged , and world wide tours. Kerry has managed to beproficient in Soul, Jazz, and Rap as a musician, soloist, and an arranger. Proof that there are no boundariesif you believe you can do it and prepare for the opportunities.
L Kerry Campbell, now resides in Phoenix Arizona, where he still performs periodically, and teaches future performers. Ask Kerry to say in his own words where he is headed, and he’ll say “I’m still in search for the missing note”, or “looking for that Divine melody”. As long as I have breath and the desire to explore all avenues of music I will be around
Kerry mentored and helped many in the music business. Some of the artist he mentored wereGreg Phillinganes, the world renowned keyboardist that played for Stevie Wonder and wason retainer for “Michael Jackson”, as his exclusive keyboardist. Some of the other artistswere “Regina Carter”, world class violinist and Grammy award winner, Vassal Benford, keyboardistand now record produce for Arista Records. Kerry Campbell’s high school friends included Earl KlughDennis Rowland, Nate Watts, Ray Parker Jr.. It was an exciting time to grow up in the city of Detroit.There was just so much talent and music was a way of life then. My final words are this, “it has beenone heck of a musical journey for me, and I’m not done yet. There is still much to see, much to hearmuch to play, and much to learn”. One can never stop learning.
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It’s perfectly clear Jazz began in New Orleans. Historians agree on that one. Jazz is to American music what the Mississippi is to America. Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea (born June 12, 1941)[2] is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis’ band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever.[2] Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, he has been described as one of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post-John Coltrane era.[3] Corea continued to pursue other collaborations and to explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Photo By: Lynne Goldsmith
O
Article with Collage #2
Photo By: White House
CHICK COREA has been a Icon in the World for Jazz for Decades Armando Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of southern Italian descent.[6][7] His father, a jazz trumpet player who had led a Dixieland band in the Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young. At eight Corea also took up drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist for the Knights of St. Rose, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea. Given a black tuxedo by his father, he started doing gigs when in high school. He enjoyed listening to Herb Pomeroy’s band at the time, and had a trio which would play Horace Silver’s music at a local jazz club. He eventually decided to move to New York where he stu34 stylus magazine
died musical education for one month at Columbia University and six months at The Juilliard School. He quit after finding both disappointing, but liked the atmosphere of New York where the musical scene became the starting point for his professional career Corea’s first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell’s quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition “Chick’s Tune”, a clever retooling of “You Stepped Out of a Dream” that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea’s personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.) His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan’s Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Roy Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitouš on bass.[2] He made another sideman appearance with Stan Getz on 1967’s Sweet Rain (Verve Records).[2] From 1968 to 1971 Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His
avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis, his recordings with Circle, and his playing on Joe Farrell’s Song of the Wind album on CTI Records.
In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis’ band and appeared on landmark albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis’ rhythm section of Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette combined elements of free jazz improvisation and rock music.[citation needed] Corea experimented using electric instruments with the Davis band, mainly the Fender Rhodes electric piano. In live performance he frequently processed the output of his electric piano with a device called a ring modulator, producing sounds reminiscent of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970, with a great touring band of
Steven Grossman, tenor sax, Keith Jarrett, additional electric piano and organ, Jack DeJohnette, drums, Dave Holland, bass, Airto Moreira, percussion, and Miles on trumpet.[2] Holland and Corea left to form their own group, Circle, active in 1970 and 1971. This free jazz group featured multi-reed player Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. This band was documented on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972 Corea struck out on his own. The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life – in 1968, 1969 or so – was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.[8] BY: Shirley Jones
stylus magazine 35
Article with photo
Lewis Nash Arizona top drummer!
Drummer Lewis Nash led a quintet of New York-based musicians in two concerts to mark the grand opening of The Nash, a new jazz educational and performance center in Phoenix, Arizona, operated by Jazz in Arizona Inc. and named for the city’s native son, who has become internationally renowned. Nash’s all-star combo featured Cedar Walton on piano, Houston Person on tenor sax, Russell Malone on guitar and Christian McBride on bass. Each of the 75-minute concerts filled the 120-seat venue. The early performance launched with a swinging blues that saluted Nash’s first introduction by his parents to the sounds of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins and B.B. King. Nash chose a set list that featured each musician in turn. Walton, known for his work in both hard-bop and ballad genres, exhibited his diverse style on “Body and Soul,” performed by the trio without the usual presence of a horn. Walton imbued the chart with flowing progressions, injecting multiple quotes that caused smiles and nods from hip listeners who recognized snips of “Golden Earrings,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Mona Lisa” and “My Darling My Darling.” The quintet’s exploration of Walton’s “The Holy Land” was delivered in a hard-swinging style that was sparked by intense solos from Malone and McBride. Person’s soulful tenor and Malone’s fierce guitar riffs conveyed Percy Mayfield’s melancholic spirit of “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” as Nash propelled via precise use of the ride cymbal, snare and bass drum. Throughout, Nash commanded his drum set with poise and assurance, inventively contrasting bright snare and cymbal work with the injection of toms. His innovative and elegant brush moves delighted for its inventive flair of time and sound. At one point, he put aside his hand-hard tools to 36 stylus magazine
play with fingers and palms for a stylish interlude. He also offered a witty vocal scat segment that elicited a wave of chuckles. The Nash family was strongly present for the first concert, including his parents, Willie Mae and Walter Nash; his siblings; and his 99 yearold maternal grandmother, Nancy Young. The double-header evening was preceded the previous night by a performance in the central Phoenix residence of Herb and Lorene Ely, major benefactors of Jazz in Arizona. The statewide nonprofit jazz-support organization, established in 1977, has leased two storefront suites in the Roosevelt Arts District of central Phoenix. Nash attended local elementary and high schools, and attended Arizona State University until he was hired in 1981 at the age of 22 by singer Betty Carter in New York. After four years of international tours with her, Nash performed with most of the jazz world’s luminaries, from pianist Oscar Peterson and saxophonist Sonny Rollins to trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Stan Getz, as well as 10 years with pianist Tommy Flanagan’s trio.
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504 Mag Present Jazz Day
JAZZDAY AZ HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Networking on the Roof
FESTIVAL COMING
IN JULY
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A TRIBUTE TO ONE OF ARIZONA’S BEST KNOWN SAXOPHONE PLAYERS
MARION MEADOWS By Brian Soergel Smooth-jazz saxophonist Marion Meadows knows all about jazz-theme cruises: he’s taken two aboard the S.S. Norway out of Miami. “You have this captive audience, and they have you captive as well,” he says. “What jazz fans look forward to these days is being up close and personal with the artist. We’re making ourselves approachable, and they really enjoy it. One day we’re doing a concert together and the next day we’re all hanging out on an island together.” Meadows is into pleasing his fans, who have followed him since his 1991 debut, For Lovers Only. The Phoenix resident goes for sultry sounds, mostly via his soprano, over easy grooves and hummable melodies. His latest CD, Next to You (Heads Up), takes him in a slightly new direction as he and producers Yasha Barjona and Ray Obiedo help mix in Latin sounds. Along for the ride are Pete Escovedo and son Peter Michael Escovedo on percussion and drums, guitarist Julio Fernandez of Spyro Gyra and Barjona and Obiedo, who add gui40 stylus magazine
tar and keyboards. “I wanted to move a little of the Latin music into my music, but still keep it familiar to my smooth-jazz fans.” Meadows, raised in Connecticut, didn’t always take the smooth route. In the late 1980s, he was a member of the New York avant-garde Aboriginal Music Society. But his big break came one day in Grand Central Station where, while waiting with a friend for his train, he pulled out his sax and began blowing. “My friend told me to take out my horn and play because it was empty in the rotunda. It was like Paul Horn in the Taj Mahal.” His sounds caught the attention of TV composer Jay Chattaway, who was also producing Bob James. Meadows was signed to James’ TappanZee label, which, unfortunately, folded soon after. But Meadows had some music to share and signed deals with Discovery and later with RCA. For his next CD, Meadows envisions incorporating some Eastern elements. “It’s refreshing to see now, all of world music, not just the Latin, but the African musical influences come to the front and be part of the music. If there’s one thing we have to do, we have to keep the music moving and fresh for the
listener. There are so many great musicians who are unheard of, but now you’re starting to see these international players come onto the scene.”
Who is Marion Meadows? Marion Meadows is an American tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date. Meadows was born in West Virginia and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. He began playing the clarinet and studying classical music at the age of eight. In high school, Meadows began to play the soprano saxophone and played tenor through most of his college years. His passion for music led him to appreciate the work of many jazz musicians such as Stevie Wonder and Duke Ellington. After studying jazz with Anthony Truglia, Meadows attended Berklee College of Music, where he majored in arranging and composition. He later went to the SUNY Purchase School for the Arts, where he studied under Ron Herder.
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504 Mag. is proud to introduce to some and re- introduce to others... David Sanborn Grammy award winning saxophone player
Who is David Sanborn? Distinct; in a word that, describes the music David Sanborn has produced from his instrument for decades. In fact, there are few sounds from an alto saxophone as distinctive as that of David Sanborn. In his three-and-a-half decade career, Sanborn has released 24 albums, won six Grammy awards and has had eight gold albums and one platinum album. He continues to be one of the most highly active musicians of his genre, with 2010 tour dates at more than150. Once heard Sanborn’s music will leave an indelible impact on your musical appetite. You won’t mistake Sanborn’s lyrical, soothing, yet meaty performance for anyone else’s. Sanborn was born July 30, 1945 in Tampa, Florida, but grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. Talk about over-comers; as a young boy he was diagnosed with Polio, in fact, we might contribute this giant’s success to one of his treating physician during that time. At the suggestion of one of his doctors, Sanborn took up the saxophone, not necessarily by choice, but to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing. David’s solo recordings by and large blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. Although his first solo album Taking Off was released in 1975, he had been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school. He later attended the University of
Iowa. Sanborn also worked extensively as a session musician on David Bowie’s Young Americans, also produced in 1975. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, at the time a member of Ray Charles’s band left a lasting influence on Sanborn. Sanborn also performed with blues musicians, the likes of Albert King, Little Milton at the tender age of 14 and continued on once he joined Paul Butterfield’s band in 1967, after attending the University of Iowa. David’s performances and recordings have been described in the past by noted critic, Scott Yannow as “the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years.” Sanborn is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz. However, Sanborn has expressed a disinclination for both the genre itself and his association with it. You be the judge of your listening and buying power. Sanborn is one of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, at age 65, David Sanborn looks considerably younger. He continues to take on a touring schedule that keeps him on the road 200 days a year. He is looking for a lighter itinerary that will allow more time in New York to spend with his family, especially granddaughter Genevieve. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel for me,” Sanborn said. “That light is the light of my home.” Sanborn has won numerous awards including Grammy Awards for Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986) and the instrumen-
tal album Close Up (1988). In television, Sanborn is well known for his sax solo in the theme song for the NBC hit drama L.A. Law. He has also done some film scoring for films such as Lethal Weapon and Scrooged. In 1991 Sanborn recorded Another Hand, which the All Music Guide to Jazz described as a “return by Sanborn to his real, true love: unadorned (or only partly adorned) jazz” that “balanced the scales” against his smooth jazz material.[6] The album, produced by Hal Willner, featured musicians from outside the smooth jazz scene, such as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot. His more recent albums include Closer. In 1994 Sanborn appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey of English rock band The Who in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. In 1994 a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released.
dssds
DAVIVD SANBORN
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NIK WEST
Gold’s Gym Phx (Downtown), AZ 44 stylus magazine
FENDER MAKE HISTORY
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EILLIS MARSALIS One of the most famous music educators in New Orleans for over 50 yrs Having the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music named for me is more than an honor. It is also an opportunity to realize many of the dreams I have long held for the music and musicians of New Orleans. This magnificent facility, with its performance, instructional and practice spaces and its studio component, and through the participation of knowledgeable and dedicated musician/mentors from throughout the city, will allow us to create a number of important programs and ensembles that become more necessary with each passing day. Chief among them are a youth orchestra and a youth chorus, each of which will focus on American music and American composers often overlooked by traditional ensembles. Both the orchestra and chorus will provide those who participate with instruction in performance and compositional techniques that have sadly become luxuries in most public and private educational programs. At the same time, the Center will provide a meeting place for musicians of all ages and levels of proficiency to perform, record, rehearse and share their knowledge, as well as a focal point for the vibrant neighborhood that is being created in the surrounding New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village. I envision the Mardi Gras Indians, theater and dance becoming part of the Center’s mission, as we demonstrate the richness of this resource. The opportunities are boundless. The preservation of New Orleans is not simply a matter of physical reclamation. It is also an effort to sustain and strengthen a culture, the incredible artistic heritage, with music at its center, that is the city’s gift to the United States and the world.
With this in mind, New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village, the newly constructed community in the Upper Ninth Ward that provides new homes for displaced residents, including displaced musicians and their families, will have as its focal point the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The Center is named for the New Orleans native known to the world as a leading modern jazz pianist, a pioneer in music education at both the high school and college levels, and the patriarch of one of America’s most celebrated musical clans. It is Ellis Marsalis’ vision that the Center serve as a multipurpose facility with a primary emphasis on the broad spectrum of New Orleans culture, with a special emphasis on the city’s rich musical tradition of jazz and blues. The center’s services will be provided to both the residents of Musicians’ Village and the broader New Orleans community, with programs intended to serve all ages and racial/ethnic groups. At the heart of the Center will be a 150 seat performance space equipped with movable chairs as well as state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems. In addition, the Center will contain recording studio facilities and teaching space for individual and group instruction as well as offices for technical and administrative staff. The Center will also own five elder-friendly duplexes, to be rented exclusively to musicians. One of these units will be dedicated to visiting musicians/scholars in residence.
primary focus on music With credits that include work for Coca Cola, Apple, and MTV, bassist, singer and songwriter Nik West is anything more than just another pretty face. Challenging and changing the industry around her day by day, West is a novelty musician with a deep love for music and the chops to back it up. West’s musical journey began in her hometown, Phoenix, AZ. It was there that her father T. West—an accomplished guitarist— taught her how to play the rhythm guitar when she was just 13-years-old. Growing up in a household filled with music and creativity. West’s family includes her sisters (keys, drums, violin, and guitar) who were her first band and singing act, and an older brother, a few of which she still records with today. Though she began her musical journey playing the guitar, the left-handed phenom truly realized her calling when she discovered the bass while in high school, while listening to Michael Jackson’s “You Wanna Be Starting Something”. After discovering the instrument there was no stopping her. bidden Fruit” are sure to remind listeners that real music still exists.
With maintenance of both community and culture as its goal, the Center plans to integrate performance and education in an array of artistic disciplines, with a stylus magazine 47
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Jill Scott has little time for foolishness BY Allison Samuels
Neo-soul singer Jill Scott has little time for “foolishness.” In Scott’s opinion, foolishness constitutes many things, but lately she defines it as what happened last month after she was invited by first lady Michelle Obama to the White House’s annual Poetry Jam. Scott and socially conscious rapper Common were among a number of artists asked to do readings for the event, but within days of the announcement of their involvement—a firestorm of criticism was unleashed. Fox News, Sarah Palin, and others on the right questioned Common’s invitation and condemned his allegedly controversial and racist lyrics. Scott was caught in the crossfire after comments she’d made regarding her own conflicting feelings on interracial relationships surfaced. The singer-actress admits the debate continues to offend and baffle her. “I try not to pay attention to foolishness and that was just a mess with Common and myself. It was so silly, I didn’t know what to think at first,’’ says Scott with a dry laugh. “At some point I thought, ‘Is this what the Republicans have to do to hurt the Obamas? Is this really all they have— us, Common and me?’ Now that’s very sad.’’ Though Scott says she ultimately enjoyed her evening at the White House—where she read poetry directly from her Mac computer at the podium—she didn’t have long to bask in the afterglow of the night. Instead, her mind and focus shifted quickly to the June 21 release of her fourth studio album, The Light of the Sun. Smooth, with a touch of edge in every lyric, Light of the Sun re-introduces au-
diences to Scott’s provocatively intense vocals, layered seamlessly around her signature notes of jazz, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues that ooze seamlessly from every track.
Since she emerged on the musical scene in 2000, Scott—and her “in-your-face voice”—has always been the true adult in a room full of immature wannabes. Now, with Light of the Sun, there’s really no denying that recent life experiences have moved the girl from Philly even closer to the head of the class. “Heartache, heartbreak, and a lot other things that happened to most women have happened to me in the last few years, and that is always going to come through in my writing,’’ says Scott. “But honestly, I can’t say I wrote this album. I just stood in front of a microphone, had a few drinks, blacked out, and this was the result.’’
Given Scott’s last few years of relationships gone wrong, it’s not surprising that the mournful falsetto of legendary singer Billie Holiday now has new meaning for the singer.
“I always liked Billie’s work, but never got why people loved her so, so much,” Scott says. “Then I went through some things in the last few years and I was like, ‘OK Billie, I hear you. I understand you and your pain now, girl. I’m on board.’ ’’ With one divorce behind the 39-year-old,
along with the abrupt end of a short relationship that produced her 3-year-old son, Scott’s lyrical prose understandably shows a yearning for a better understanding of love, and the end of her own emotional pain. In the track, “Hear My Call,’’ Scott coos, “Love has burned me raw/I need a healing.’’
Thankfully for her fans, Scott decided she didn’t want to heal from her wounds alone. She wanted others along for her life journey that boldly questions love, selflove, and sexuality without reservation or restraint. Many of the new album’s most vivid and raw lyrics sincerely address the need for women to understand the difference between love and lust in a relationship—an age-old issue Scott isn’t afraid to say she’s struggled with in the past. The recently slimmed-down singer even has a term for it—“dicktimized.”
“Oh I have been dicktimized a few times,’’ says Scott, without the slightest hint of humor. “I didn’t know what it was until a friend mentioned how she was and explained what it was. You know, where you’re overcome by the sex being real good—so good you think it’s love? I was like—‘yep, that’s what I’ve been and I’ve been confused because of it.’ And I paid the price.’’
Scott admits she takes some comfort in knowing she’s not alone in her quest to think more clearly about what real love really is outside of the bedroom.
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Supporting the Art’s
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5 0 4 MAGAZI N E 4 8
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Vol 2 / Issue 10 / 2013
The Keeper Of Music Education The Southern University at New Orleans Foundation is proud to honor Edward “Kidd” Jordan for BASH III. The virtuoso unselfishly shared his gift of and passion for music for 51 years, 36 of which he spent at Southern University at New Orleans. Indie Jazz aptly describes Mr. Jordan as a “genteel man” who is “probably the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation, a fact that is even more remarkable when you consider that he is also one of the busiest musicians in the world.”
Born in Crowley, Louisiana on May 5, 1935, Mr. Jordan earned his degree in music from SUNO’s sister campus Southern University and A&M College in 1955. He later earned his master’s degree in music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois where he studied under Drs. J. Roger Miller, Roger Schueler and Jean Northrup. Mr. Jordan’s postgraduate summer studies lead him to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he studied under Fred Hemke who doubled as a reed maker.
Jordan began his journey to share his knowledge of music. Mr. Jordan began his formal teaching career in 1955 at Bethune High School in Norco, Louisiana. At one time he spent time in New Orleans’ historic Faubourg Tremé as an instructor at the William Houston School of Music. It was in 1972, however, that he arrived at another historic place, Pontchartain Park the home of Southern University at New Orleans; and he taught there until 2006.
Mr. Jordan’s legacy is solidified by his insistence that his students’ music contain one critical element---originality. And he practices what he preaches. Mr. Jordan once said, “Nowadays everybody just wants to play the same stuff that everybody else is playing. Same solos, same licks, and I can see that, because everybody wants to be accepted, but I don’t care about that. The minute someone wants to pat me on the back about something is the minute I’m ready to leave. You’ve got to know yourself and what you’re capable of doing and how you want to do it.”
Mr. Jordan’s musical odyssey began in his home town of Crowley. It was there that he learned to play saxophone from Joseph Oger, a French-Canadian teacher. His growth as a musician later continued at Ross High School in Crowley where he encountered Southern University alums Emmett Jacobs and William Byrd. When Mr. Jordan landed in Baton Rouge from 1952 to 1955 he advanced his music studies under Southern’s band director T. Leroy Davis and woodwind teachers John Banks and Huel Perkins. At Southern he also connected with another soon-to-be musical legend, his band mate and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother Alvin Batiste.
His instruments are tenor, baritone, soprano, alto, sopranino and c-melody saxophones as well as contrabass and the bass clarinets. He has performed and recorded with such legends as Cannonball Adderley, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell, Ellis Marsalis, Ray Charles, Cecil Taylor, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, just to name a few. A big part of Mr. Jordan’s résumé is the Improvisational Arts Ensemble a group he founded with drummer Alvin Fielder, trumpeter Clyde Kerr, Jr. and bassist London Branch. The inclusion of the late Alvin Thomas transformed the group into the Improvisational Arts Quintet.
After his years at Southern, Mr.
Mr. Jordan shared his passion
for music with scores of students who attended SUNO or participated in on-campus programs. Music fans could see the fruits of his skills with his organization of the World Saxophone Quartet, which included Hamiet Bluiett, David Murray, Julius Hemphill, and Oliver Lake. Another big influence was seen in his former SUNO student Charles Joseph, one of the founding members of the revolutionary Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Mr. Jordan’s work also included founding such programs as the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp and the Heritage School of Music.
So significant has his work been that his work was documented by CBS institution 60 Minutes and he was honored with Offbeat magazine’s first Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education. In 1985 the French Ministry of Culture recognized Mr. Jordan as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the French government’s highest artistic award for his work as an educator and performer. In 2008 Mr. Jordan was also named a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the Vision Festival XIII in New York City.
Although Mr. Jordan’s dedication to music education can safely be described as unmatched, his dedication to his family has been immeasurable. Through the years he has been able to boast being the husband of Edvidge Chatters Jordan and the father of Edward, Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel and Marlon. Four of the Jordan children, Kent, Stephanie, Rachel and Marlon, are professional musicians. Mr. Jordan even found a horse racing and training partner in his nephew Maynard Chatters, Jr.
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IT’S INTERNATIONAL
JAZZ DAY BE HAPPY !
Article with photo No. 2 VON FREEMAN 1923-2012
504Magazine persent Chicago’s Legend Tenor saxophone player Von Freeman. He’s best known for hosting his famos jam sesson in the same By: Howard Reich place for over 50 yrs 10/3/1923- 8/11/2012 Revered around the world but never a major star, worshipped by critics and connoisseurs but perpetually strapped for cash, the towering Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman practically went out of his way to avoid commercial success. When trumpeter Miles Davis phoned Freeman, in the 1950s, looking for a replacement for John Coltrane, Freeman never returned the call. When various bandleaders -- from Davis to Billy Eckstine to King Kolax -- tried to take him on the road, where his talents could be heard coast to coast, Freeman regularly turned them down. His refusal to leave Chicago during most of his career, except for the briefest out-of-town engagements, cost him incalculable fame and fortune but also enabled him to create some of the most distinctive, innovative work ever played or recorded on a tenor saxophone. And his devotion to the city where he was born, 88 years ago, made him a Chicago jazz icon honored with major tributes in Symphony Center, Millennium and Grant parks, as well as standing-room-only crowds for 60 stylus magazine
his weekly gig at a remote bar on East 75th Street, the New Apartment Lounge. This year, he became one of the few Chicago-based musicians to receive a Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, regarded as the nation’s highest jazz honor. Freeman died Saturday at Kindred Chicago Lakeshore care center of heart failure, said his son, Mark Freeman.
Von Freeman always considered his relative obscurity -- which lasted nearly until the final years of his career, when the world started to recognize his genius -- a blessing. It enabled him to forge an extremely unusual but instantly recognizable sound, to pursue off-center musical ideas that were not likely to be welcomed in the commercial marketplace. “They said I played out of tune, played a lot of wrong notes, a lot of weird ideas,” Freeman told the Tribune in 1992. “But it didn’t matter, because I didn’t have to worry about the money -I wasn’t making (hardly) any. I didn’t have to worry about fame -- I didn’t have any. I was free.” Freeman used that freedom from commercial pressures to pursue a music that was as unorthodox as it was intellectually demanding, as idiosyncratic as it was deeply autobiographical. In this sense, he represented the quintessential jazz musician, forging a musical voice that was unique to him, an art that was influential but ultimately inimitable. “You hear one note, you know that’s his sound,” Fred Anderson, another iconic Chicago tenor saxophonist, once said of his colleague. “It’s a personal sound. You can tell he listened to all the guys -- he listened to Lester Young and Charlie Parker; he took a lot from a whole lot of people and created Von Freeman.” That sound seduced some listeners and puzzled others, but no one could mistake it for anything but that of the great Vonski, as he was affectionately called by friends and admirers. Sharply acidic in the top register of the instrument but full and throaty down below, whinnying and squealing in some passages, whispering tenderly in others, Freeman’s tenor work utterly defied categorization. Every sweet-sour note, every intricately etched phrase, it seemed, was crafted to sound as unexpected and as intensely expressive as possible. If Freeman’s widely idolized contemporaries -- tenor gods such as the mighty Sonny Rollins, the charismatic James Moody and the stylistically restless Coltrane -- epitomized the classic image of the modern saxophonist, Freeman stood as the perennial outsider, working on the fringes of the jazz mainstream. He consistently staked out an exotic but alluring artistic territory, merging elements of down-home blues, R&B honking, brazenly avant-garde techniques and an utter mastery of the predominant jazz language of the 20th century, bebop. He came to this startling breadth of musical resources through remarkable good fortune, for his father was a Chicago cop detailed at the Grand Terrace Ballroom, a fabled jazz club near 35th and Calumet. An amateur jazz trombonist, Freeman’s father admired the masters and invited them over to the house, where young Earle Lavon Freeman -- who was born Oct. 3, 1923, according to his birth certificate -- routinely brushed up against them. (Discrepancies on Freeman’s age were widespread until the Tribune located official records in 2011.) “I got all this music by osmosis,” said Freeman in the Tribune interview. “Louis Armstrong used to come by from the time I was about 3 years old, and he’d always say to me, ‘Hi Pops,’.” recalled Freeman, pointing to the era when Satchmo was enjoying his first blush of success as a Chicago bandleader and emerging recording artist. “Earl Hines came over, and Fats Waller played this (Starck) piano of mine.” stylus magazine 61
Maricopa Integrated Health System Article with photo No. 2
Betsey BaylesS pRESIDENT & ceo I have known of and worked with Betsey as she has worn other hats in her service as a leader in our community. She is not only a lovely human being; she genuinely has a concern for the people she works for. As President and Chief Executive Officer, Betsey Bayless leads the state’s only public hospital system, working with its independently elected fivemember Board of Directors who represent the Maricopa County Special Health Care District. Ms. Bayless has spent 40 years in public service — as a Maricopa County Supervisor, state agency director, Secretary of State and most recently as MIHS President and CEO. Betsey was awarded the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association’s 2011 HOPE (Honoring Our Professionals for Excellence) Healthcare Leader Award. In 2010 Ms. Bayless was named one of Arizona’s Most Admired CEOs. She is widely recognized as one of the state’s most dynamic leaders. Since her arrival at Maricopa Integrated Health System in 2005, Ms. Bayless has led a financial turnaround of the organization, made substantial facility and equipment capital improvements, implemented a system-wide electronic medical records system, increased the number of physicians trained, and achieved clinical quality accreditation. Today, Maricopa Integrated Health System is a comprehensive public health system focused on community need and the provision of primary care, specialized services, clinical research and medical education. Ms. Bayless’ leadership position at Maricopa Integrated Health System follows a distinguished career in public service. From 1997 to 2002, Ms. Bayless served as Arizona’s 17th Secretary of State. In that capacity, Ms. Bayless focused on increasing voter registration and participation, implementing electronic government and making government more efficient and customer friendly. For eight years, Ms. Bayless was a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, where she served two terms as Board Chairman. Her ex62 stylus magazine
tensive State government career includes serving as the director of the Arizona Department of Administration, acting director of the Arizona Department of Revenue, and assistant director of the Arizona Board of Regents. As President and Chief Executive Officer, Betsey Bayless leads the state’s only public hospital system, working with its independently elected five-member Board of Directors who represent the Maricopa County Special Health Care District. Ms. Bayless was awarded the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association’s 2011 HOPE (Honoring Our Professionals for Excellence) Healthcare Leader Award and in 2010 Ms. Bayless was named one of Arizona’s Most Admired CEOs. She is widely recognized as one of the state’s most dynamic leaders. Since her arrival at Maricopa Integrated Health System in 2005, Ms. Bayless has led a financial turnaround of the organization, made substantial facility and equipment capital improvements, implemented a system-wide electronic medical records system, increased the number of physicians trained, and achieved clinical quality accreditation. Today, Maricopa Integrated Health System is a comprehensive public health system focused on community need and the provision of primary care, specialized services, clinical research and medical education Ms. Bayless’ leadership position at Maricopa Integrated Health System follows a distinguished career in public service. From 1997 to 2002, Ms. Bayless served as Arizona’s 17th Secretary of State. In that capacity, Ms. Bayless focused on increasing voter registration and participation, implementing electronic government and making government more efficient and customer friendly. For eight years, Ms. Bayless was a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, where she served two terms as Board Chairman. Her extensive State government career includes serving as the director of the Arizona Department of Administration, acting director of the Arizona Department of Revenue, and assistant director of the Arizona Board of Regents. Additionally, Ms. Bayless worked in the secu-
rities industry as an investment banker and stockbroker. A third-generation Arizonan, Ms. Bayless earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish from the University of Arizona, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University, and an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Humane Letters from the University of Arizona.Through her continued involvement in community service, Ms. Bayless received the 2005 Valley Leadership Woman of the Year Award. She is a member of the Greater Phoenix Leadership and numerous Boards of Directors including the Arizona Community Foundation Board, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association Board, the Campaign Finance Institute Board, the Child help Arizona Board, the Catholic Community Foundation Board, the Fresh Start Board, the Morrison Institute Board, the University of Arizona’s College of Business and Public Administration National Board, and the Arizona State University West Advisory Board. The Secretary of State of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the Secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The Secretary also serves as acting governor whenever the governor is incapacitated or out of state. The Secretary is the keeper of the Seal of Arizona, and administers oaths of office. After seven years as President and CEO of Maricopa Integrated Health System, Betsey Bayless is retiring, turned in her resignation. Plans called Betsey to leave her post in 2013, giving the MIHS board a chance to begin a national search to find her replacements Bayless said she’s not sure what she plans to do when she leaves MIHS. But she does know she plans to travel around the world, particularly to South America and India. Plus, she wants to spend more time with her 96-year-old mother, who also lives in Phoenix.She is on several Phoenix boards, including Fresh Start and Child Help, and plans to dedicate more time to those nonprofits.“I want to be able to continue there and perhaps be a better board member by having more time,” she said
She’s also interested in politics, though she has no plans to run for any particular office. “I haven’t gotten that far,” she said. “I just don’t know.” The MIHS job has been all-consuming, she said. “I just need to back away and think about what it is I want to do. You can’t do that while you’re under the gun,” she said. Having known this outstanding, upstanding member of our community, it is obvious Ms. Bayless had not come to her decision lightly. Good news! MS Bayless has agreed to stay on as CEO of Maricopa health care system in her current position at MIHS. We herald community leaders like MS Bayless & look forward to many more years of her contributions in whatever capacity she chooses. “The last seven years have been greatly rewarding,” she said. “It has been an honor to serve the Maricopa Special Health Care District Board of Directors. I thank them for the opportunity. It has been a privilege to serve the community as President and CEO of this great organization. “There is no question the MIHS job has been the most rewarding,” she said. “They’ve all been wonderful. I loved being in politics. I loved Maricopa County Supervisor. Secretary of State was a great honor and a lot of fun, and I think this job is the real highlight of my career. I’ve just loved it.”
stylus magazine 63
Article with photo No. 2
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stylus magazine 65
Article with photo No. 2
66 stylus magazine
The Philly Sound Connection…
New Era of Jazz by Wayne Gaskins John Coltrane…Sarah Vaughn…McCoy Tyner…Grover Washington…Pieces of a Dream…Jill Scott… These Jazz Sons & Daughters of Philadelphia have certainly made their mark in the world of Jazz music. Some, of times past, others quite recently, and even now. Our launch of the 602 edition of this jazz publication heralds and celebrates not only the Unesco International Jazz Day of April 30th, but also the upcoming Cape Town Jazz Festival of April 4th & 5th, in South Africa. The original American art form has circled the globe, dug its roots deep, and thrilled millions to its style, rhythms and artists. We are pleased to play a part in the resurgence of appreciation and promotion of the music in various parts of the United States as well as Asia, Australia and Africa. Events scheduled to feature artists such as Jeff Bradshaw, Stephanie Renee, Norman Brown, UGO, from the Philly area and Nayo Jones, Dominic Amato, Khani Cole, Mike Flores, Dennis Rowland from Arizona is just the tip of the iceberg this season. Our very own Jill Scott, of North Philadelphia (and like more than a few of us, Temple University) headlines at the 14th Annual Cape Town Jazz Festival, following onto that very prestigious stage George Benson, Earth Wind
& Fire, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. We are excited to see new talent take its place alongside the great ones and the growing appreciation for music that transcends time, geography, race or political persuasion. You now are reading what we may describe as this new love affair of the Philly Sound of Jazz, with its historic roots and the global romance of this artform that gives New Orleans such much prominence. Inside these pages you will find your favorite artists and discover unknowns, new tunes, and lost classics, great personal stories and timely messages. We invite you pull up your favorite chair, sofa, couch, sip a nice beverage, slip in your new cd or tune into your favorite jazz station. Settle in, relax and enjoy our lyrical and literary journey. We are glad to have you. Philly style is you. Connect with us so that we may entertain you. From 504 to 602. Musically. Connected.
Keep the rhythm…
stylus magazine 67
Article with photo No. 2
Jill SCOTT HEADLINES CAPE TOWN JAZZ FESTIVAL
68 stylus magazine
Publisher of 602/504 magazine awarded 14th Cape Town Jazz Festival press credential 2013
by Wayne Gaskins
Cape Town, South Africa. April 6th, 2013. This is where it will begin. Southern Sun Hotel, where the press credentials and conferences are scheduled for the “GRANDEST GATHERING of AFRICA”, the Cape Town Jazz Festival, is very close by, a beautiful structure with Greek columns surrounding its lobby like pool, highly polished marble floors and opulent décor. Rashid Lombard has always looked tired, but happy that he and Billy Domingo have such a great crew, staff and lineup for this year’s festival. Not everyone got to see this event, and 504 & 602 magazine and our parent company 504MultiMedia was pleased to be selected to cover this magnificent festival. After three years of attending these “African Music Expos, our magazine now has the privilege of telling our readers in New Orleans, Arizona, and my biased favorite PHILLY what they missed This is the world stage that for three years we have endeavored to have Doc & Nayo Jones perform. This is the stage that has seen the likes of George Benson, Wayne Shorter, Earth, Wind & Fire, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Lira, just to mention a few, work their musical magic and enchant tens of thousands of music lovers of this great nation. Our magazine will focus on the special connection of PHILLY, from Leon Sullivan first making the case for ending Apartheid with the Sullivan Principles, to Bilal being a frequent performed to our Philly favorite being one of the sought after headliners for two years running, Jill Scott. Her “born day” weekend could not have been enjoyed at a better place, the performance at a more awesome venue, our coverage at a better time. We were ready, Jill was ready, and South Africa was ready. With all the strife, conflict and political silliness, this Philadelphia born and raised woman has as she says” come for a healing” She states “I am a woman, I make mistakes” and “GOD has blessed me with talent, that’s all” in a very humble way. Her life has seen its share of grief and misery, which is why her performance will grip so many, tug at their hearts and make our magazine jump through hoops to tell the story. The Light of the Sun. The Soul of lyricists. The gifted child grown into womanhood, motherhood. This is Jill Scott. You have known her from movies such as The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Why I
Got Married 2, her video projects, her early collabs with the Roots, Jazzy Jeff and other PHILLY talents. Some remember the days at Okay Playa, the 5 Spot, the Black Lily in Philly. This lady of song, educated at the best schools in Philly, GIRLS HIGH, and TEMPLE UNIVERSITY showed promise early on that she delivered in buckets full. Down to earth, hardworking, forever dreaming and always helping, Jill Scott has transcended the stereotypical egotistical singer/actor/ to redefine now just a womans worth in entertainment, but her role in life. She gives and she gives back. Jill Scott is more than a remarkable talent. She is completely human. A REAL woman. Complete. As a wife she loved deeply, as a mother she nurtures completely. Her son Jett is the light of her life, and we relish in being involved in her extended family of friends, admirers, fans, and of course PHILLY FOLK. Recently she graced the stage of the largest stage of the 14h CAPE TOWN JAZZ FESTIVAL, one of THE largest in the world, and showed South Africa why she was worth the wait. For an hour and a half, she “owned that stage” as one fan noted, “commanded the full emotional attention” another said. More than a few was “moved to tears hearing her songs touch me personally” as she sang from not just the heart, but from the very depths of her soul. Not just the women were caught up, but the MEN were spellbound by her graceful movements, soaring vocals and of course, head bobbing, feet patting, toe tapping jams. If you have never seen her show, do not wait to put it on your bucket list, you will want to enjoy it more than once. As one living in South Africa for the last 3 years, I know first hand the anticipation and exultation this nation felt when she touched down in Johannesburg the first week in April. Now she has come to Arizona. A place considered by many a secondary market, but nonetheless 1st rate in appreciation for true talent. Many here are transplants from all across America, therefore know Jill Scott and what she brings to the stage. We are privileged, thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to have her ...This is Jill Scott...this Light of the Sun...here in Phoenix Arizona....the Valley of the Sun. From Philly to Phoenix...we welcome you.
stylus magazine 69
sUPPORTING jAZZ iN THE vALLEY Article with photo No. 2
Welcome to New Orleans 5632 no 7 st. Phx AZ 602-6804040 504mag.com 70 stylus magazine