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Charlie Christian Jazz Pioneer

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ALSO featuring: Louis Nash Donald Harrison Dan Pinson Branford Marsalis Dennis Rowland Paul Anderson Michael Brecker Calvin Johnson

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One of the Greatest Ever, Kenny Burrell

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George Freeman

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George Benson Pays Tribute to Nat King Cole

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Papa John DeFrancesco The force behind Joey

Nat King Cole 22

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Nayo Jones

Nayo Jones simply unforgettable “George Benson”

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Giavanna Foster Teen Jazz guitarist on the rise

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602 Mag sits down with Dowell Davis

George Benson

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Kennt Burrell 28

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Charlie Christian, Pioneer of the Jazz Guitar Continued... Page 6

Charlie Christian Pioneer of the Jazz Guitar

By Staff

By Wikipeda/Staff Writer Charles Henry “Charlie” Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist.

Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra from August 1939 to June 1941. His single-string technique, combined with amplification, helped bring the guitar out of the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instrument. John Hammond [1] and George T. Simon [2] called Christian the best improvisational talent of the swing era. In the liner notes to the 1972 Columbia album Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian, Gene Lees writes that, “Many critics and musicians consider that Christian was one of the founding fathers of bebop, or if not that, at least a precursor to it.”[3] Christian’s influence reached beyond jazz and swing. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Christian was raised in Oklahoma City and was one of many musicians who jammed along the city’s “Deep Deuce” section on N.E. Second Street. In 2006 Oklahoma City renamed a street in its Bricktown entertainment district Charlie Christian Avenue Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, but his family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he was a small child. His parents were musicians and he had two brothers, Edward, born in 1906, and Clarence, born in 1911. All three sons were taught music by their father, Clarence Henry Christian.

Clarence Henry was struck blind by fever, and in order to support the family he and the boys would work as buskers, on what the Christians called “busts.” He would have them lead him into the better neighborhoods where they would perform for cash or goods. When Charles was old enough to go along, he first entertained by dancing.[4] Later he learned guitar, inheriting his father’s instruments upon his death when Charles was 12.[5]

6 stylus magazine

He attended Douglass School in Oklahoma City, and was further encouraged in music by instructor Zelia Breaux. Charles wanted to play tenor saxophone in the school band, but she insisted he try trumpet instead.[5] Because he believed playing the trumpet would disfigure his lip, he quit to pursue his interest in baseball, at which he excelled.[6] In a 1978 interview with Charlie Christian biographer Craig McKinney, Clarence Christian said that in the 1920s and ‘30s Edward Christian led a band in Oklahoma City as a pianist and had a shaky relationship with trumpeter James Simpson. Around 1931, he took guitarist “Bigfoot” Ralph Hamilton and began secretly schooling the younger Charles on jazz. They taught him to solo on three songs, “Rose Room”, “Tea for Two”, and “Sweet Georgia Brown”. When the time was right they took him out to one of the many after-hours jam sessions along “Deep Deuce”, Northeast Second Street in Oklahoma City.

“Let Charles play one,” they told Edward. “Ah, nobody wants to hear them old blues,” Edward replied. After some encouragement, he allowed Charles to play. “What do you want to play?” he asked. All three songs were big in the early 1930s and Edward was surprised that Charles knew them. After two encores, Charles had played all three and “Deep Deuce” was in an uproar. He coolly dismissed himself from the jam session, and his mother had heard about it before he got home.

[7] Charles fathered a daughter, Billie Jean Christian, born December 23, 1932, by Margretta Lorraine Downey of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They never married. Billie Jean (Christian) Johnson died 19 July 2004.[8] Charles soon was performing locally and on the road throughout the Midwest, as far away as North Dakota and Minnesota. By 1936 he was playing electric guitar and had become a regional attraction.

He jammed with many of the big name performers traveling through Oklahoma City including Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. It was Mary Lou Williams, pianist for “Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy”, who told record producer John Hammond about Charlie Christian.[9]

Gibson ES-250 archtop Charlie’s One Of A Kind Guitar

“I was honored to have had the opportunity to share the stage with one of the

greatest organists of all times�

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A tribute to the Jazz Guitar

“Welcome to 602azMagazine. As Publisher & CEO, I would like to pay tribute to the history of the Jazz guitar and those musicians that have dedicated their lives to mastering this fine instrument.

I’m blessed to have the support and respect of one the greatest Jazz guitarists of all times. Mr. George Benson.” .

Publisher Wm Doc Jones & George Benson

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 Phx AZ, 602azMag.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.”

George Benson & Country Day Jazz HS Band “Keep up the good work, Doc Jones and 602 Magazine “ .”

George & Nayo on Channel 12 TV “She’s the real deal” G.Benson

The Sermon Article with photo

Jimmy Smith

A leader in making the organ respcted in the world of Jazz

By MARK SABBATINI, Jimmy Smith ignited a jazz revolution on an instrument associated at the time with ballparks, despite never playing one until the age of 28.

His legendary multi-part technique on the Hammond B-3 organ, playing bass with the foot pedals and Charlie Parker-like single-line passages with his right hand, shook up the traditional trio as co-players could explore new roles. Yet, while the consensus is Smith’s playing is a jazz landmark, his recordings fall short of such acclaim.

Not a single album is listed among the 200 most important recordings in the book Essential Jazz Library by New York Times critic Ben Ratcliff. The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD notes “it was disappointing...to hear how quickly Smith’s albums become formulaic.” Rolling Stone calls much of his late career work “substandard.”

The joy in building a Smith collection is one can almost always count on his worthwhile albums being fun, fast, and spiritual blues romps with lots of his patented tonal color.

The drawback is... pretty much the same thing.

There’s a sameness to much of his work, and many of his “outside the box” efforts into genres such as fusion and soundtracks are less than stellar. Adding to this discouragement is a number of his best early albums are out of print.

Still, it’s hard to dispute the more than 100 albums in Smith’s discography feature not only a rich collection of commercially popular music, but works of exceptional artistry.

Other players such as Count Basie experimented with the organ as far back as the 1930s, but Smith pioneered the fusion of R&B, gospel and jazz in addition to his unique playing style.

12 stylus magazine

He was an enormous success almost immediately and, following a commercial and critical lull during the 1970s and ‘80s, rebounded with several quality late-career recordings and saw his work influence artists from organist Joey DeFrancesco to hip-hop and jam bands incorporating digital samples of Smith’s playing into their performances.

He died February 8, 2005, in his sleep at the age of 76 at his Scottsdale, Arizona, home.

“Jimmy was one of the greatest and most innovative musicians of our time,” wrote DeFrancesco in a message at his Web site dated Feb. 9, 2005, six days before the release of Legacy, his second album recorded with Smith. “I loved the man and I love the music.

He was my idol, my mentor and my friend.”

Smith was born in 1928 in Norristown, Pa., near Philadelphia, to a musically inclined family that saw him playing piano and bass as a youth. This combination proved an essential element of his one-manband approach on the organ. He joined the Navy at age 15 to escape his hometown and after World War II studied at several Philadelphia music schools. He subsequently played piano for local R&B groups during the 1940s and 50s.

He explains his development on the organ in an oftquoted interview: “I got my organ from a loan shark and had it shipped to the warehouse,” he said. “I stayed in that warehouse, I would say, six months to a year. I would do just like the guys do—take my lunch, then I’d go and set down at this beast. Nobody showed my anything, man, so I had to fiddle around with my stops.”

His New York debut came in 1956 with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the organist was an almost immediate hit.

His association with Verve Records beginning in 1962 saw both an expansion and limitation of his work. Among the most successful were a pair of albums recorded with guitarist Wes Montgomery and 1962’s Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, with “Walk On The Wild Side” from the latter album making pop charts as a single.

However, new formats such as big bands often featured something other than the lengthy blowing sessions best suited to his strength of building up passages over time. Many also sought crossover audiences—toying, for instance, with show tunes and hard rock—and are frequently considered weak points of his discography.

by a wide range of players such as John Medeski and the Beastie Boys (noteworthy for their use of “Root Down”). The elder organist, who Miles Davis once proclaimed the “eighth wonder of the world,” also reemerged as a popular performer, including weekly jam sessions with DeFrancesco during the years preceding his death.

Smith struggles continued during the 1970s as synthesizers caused the B-3 to fall out of audience favor.

He toured regularly until 1975, when he opened a Los Angeles jazz club with his wife, Lola. Recordings and appearances became infrequent and undistinguished until the early 1980s and, while many subsequent recordings are quality dates, the frequency of new albums continued to be sparse. Later-career highlights include two albums from a 1990 live reunion with Burrell and Turrentine ( Fourmost and Fourmost Return), and the live 1999 Incredible! collaboration with DeFrancesco.

“He had a spirit and a sound that comes across, and there was nothing like it,” DeFrancesco said in a newspaper interview. “He was full of fire and soul, just the complete musician.”

A revival of interest in the B-3 sound also resulted in Smith’s music influencing and being performed

He helped bring the Hammond B-3 I helped bring the organ from novelty status to the forefront of the jazz community.

Hammond B-3 organ

from novelty status to the forefront of the jazz community.

stylus magazine 13

Mike Howard Friend and Great Guitarist Thanks for the memories

I

would like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Mike Howard, guitarist extraordinaire. I first met Mike when he was performing with the band, A Touch of Blues. The name of the band does not do justice to a guitarist like Mike. He is always at home with a guitar in his hands, no matter if he is playing Jazz, blues, standards or classical music.

A W

F A

or me, both as a musician and a club owner, Mike’s appearances at String Chemistry Café were always something I looked forward to. A true guitarist who understands that he has a God given talent and shares it with the world. ll of the members of String Chemistry and I salute Mike Howard, Guitarist extraordinaire.

nyway, I owned a dinner night club and I hired the A Touch of Blues to perform on stage. I really did not know what to expect from this band because the drive behind the band was a Hammond B3 Organist, with Mike as the lead and rhythm guitar, a sax and a drummer. hen the music started, the organ was right there, out front and in your face.

The drummer was cool, and the sax player was right on with that typical bluesy sax sound. The overall sound was good; but then, I heard Mike start to play and I could have sworn the heavens had opened up.

I

have been a guitarist for over 40 years. I have managed restaurants and night clubs for almost as long.

I have hired a lot of bands in that time and I have played in a lot of bands, but I have never heard a guitarist like Mike nor have I ever been able to achieve the sound and soul I heard Mike display that night and every night the band was booked to play my club. is sound was warm and bright, not overpowering, as is the case with most lead players. He was just a notch in volume behind the Organ all the time. His sound was never lost and was always present and extremely kind to the ears. He knew exactly where to be. His rhythms could make you smile one minute and could bring tears to your eyes the next.

H

“YouWill willBe Missed “You be missed Brother Mike” Brother Mike”

Stan Sorenson, Voted AZ best Jazz guitarist

I T

nspired by an Herb Ellis recording his parents owned, Stan began guitar lessons at the age of eight . After seven years of private lessons, Stan began his professional career performing on the guitar in an accordion-based pop/polka band and an all-original jazz/rock band. wo years later Stan enrolled in the Phoenix College School of Music to explore and further his music skills. At Phoenix College, Stan studied classical and jazz guitar along with composition, theory, acoustics, photography, and other related art and music fields. Stan pursued a degree in Jazz Performance at Arizona State University. He received private lessons from several internationally renowned jazz guitarists including Joe Pass, Gene Bertoncini and Joe D’orio.

S

tan has performed locally and internationally, working with such greats as Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Smith, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, Jeffrey Osborne, The Fifth Dimension and many others. Stan’s various jazz ensembles have performed at numer-

ous festivals and have opened for Ella Fitzgerald, Burt Bacharach, David Benoit, Ray Charles and others in his long and varied career. Stan has played in the Phoenix Symphony and orchestras for many professional touring-company Broadway style musicals including Zorba the Greek (starring Anthony Quinn), Annie, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Aida and Hairspray. Most recently, Stan has had the pleasure to perform with Delphine Cortez, Margo Reed, Dennis Rowland and jazz greats, George Benson and Joey DeFrancesco besides performing at his own gigs.

CHI TOWN: GEORGE FREEMAN Jazz guitarist George Freeman is the

but album, Birth Sign, was recorded

in 1999. His only other major-label

least prominent of his famous family

in 1969 with help from organists Son-

effort, At Long Last George, was relea-

from Chicago, primarily because he

ny Burke and Robert Pierce. George

sed by Savant Records in 2001. Over

stayed home and was a breadwinner

Freeman is the brother of tenor saxo-

the years, George Freeman has stayed

for his wife and children. Nonetheless,

phonist Von Freeman and drummer

in Chicago, and has worked with an

Freeman has been an important mem-

Eldridge “Bruz” Freeman, and the un-

impressive array of great jazz artists,

ber of the Chi-Town soul-jazz move-

cle of Chico Freeman.

including Ben Webster, Illinois Jac-

ment that helped foment that style. In his early professional years starting in the late ‘40s, Freeman recorded with the territory bands of Joe Morris from 1946 through 1949 and with Tom Archia in 1947 and 1948, and was asked to support touring musicians coming through town, including Lester Young and Charlie Parker, recording with Parker for the Savoy label (although uncredited until after the fact). In the mid-’50s, he started a long association with organist Richard “Groove” Holmes, and though relatively undocumented, did appear as a sideman and song contributor on the World Pacific and Prestige labels with Holmes.

While working with Gene Ammons and Shirley Scott, Freeman decided against any more road work. His de-

He has worked with members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, and Lester Lashley) and extensively with his brother Von Freeman (who has also played piano on his dates), and he occasionally puts down the guitar to play saxophone himself. In the ‘70s, as soul-jazz was merging into disco, he produced three

quet, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Criss, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy McGriff, Les McCann, Eldee Young, Harold Mabern, Kenny Barron, Bob Cranshaw, Buddy Williams, Kurt Elling, Rene Marie, John Young, Red Holloway, and the Deep Blue Organ Trio, and lesser-known Chicagoans Lou Gregory, Lloyd Wilson, Ron Cooper, Maurice Brown, and Michael Raynor.

by Michael G. Nastos

albums for Sonny Lester’s Groove Merchant/LRC company -- New Improved Funk, Man and Woman, and All in the Game. Recording companies ignored Freeman for nearly 20 years before Joanie Pallatto and Bradley Parker-Sparrow signed him to their Southport/Orchard label, issuing

R.I.P my Bro Von this chord is for you

Rebellion in 1995 and George Burns 6 0 2 MAGA Z I N E 1 6

THE COLE FAMILY- NAT, MARIA, EDDIE, Carole Cole

Natalie Cole

Calvin Johnson

IKE, FREDDY, CAROLE, NATALIE ...

Eddie Cole

Freddy Cole

M Campbell Dominic Amato Kerry

Article with photo

Thanks Gold’s GymFamily for your support

THANK’S GOLD GYM FAMILY

20 stylus magazine

IWhenever I’m not on tour I spend my time in Phoenix AZ. I have been coming here to Gold’s Gym for a few months now, and I must say that I am pleased with my experience so far.

The preconceived idea is that Gold’s is full of meat heads.

False. There is definitely a different crowd here than LA, but it is very diverse and fun to watch people while stretching or doing cardio. I have NEVER run into any people with attitudes or I never felt like I didn’t belong there. Also, the members do a great job of cleaning the machines

after use (spray bottles and paper towels are nearby).

You really appreciate this if you have ever wanted to use some equipment but it looks as if the ocean tide crashed salt water all over it. Gross.

Don’t worry, it is clean here! Like most gyms, get there on the slow hours to get choice machines and equipment. It gets busy, but not that bad. Mondays are the busiest weekday. When busy, the people I encounter don’t mind sharing equipment between sets and always ask if you are done (common gym etiquette).

My Name Is Nayo Jones and I only Work out at Gold’s Gym

THE KING OF COOL

Article with photo

The King and his Royal Family

“ Maria, Eddie, Freddie,

Ike, Natalie, Carole Cole”

By: Shirley Jones There are many, many families that have left their mark on American Music. One household musical family name know to millions around the world is the Cole Family.

the Playboy Club before moving to Arizona in 1986 with his wife, Margie. Ike and Margie Cole remained married until Ike’s death, lasting 52 years.

Lead most famously by the name Nat King Cole, the Cole family heritage also boosts other well known musicians; Isaac “Ike” Cole, Natalie Cole, Lionel Cole, Freddy Cole and Eddie Cole.

In 1990 he and Freddy Cole, who was a singer and pianist, toured together in tribute to Nat Cole, and in 1991 Ike played keyboards on Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable, which won a Grammy Award. He died of cancer in 2001 in Sun Lakes, Arizona. His jazz library was donated to the Hamilton High School Music Department.

Isaac “Ike” Cole (July 13, 1927 – April 22, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cole was the younger brother of Nat “King” Cole and the older brother of Freddy Cole, and played drums as a youth. He played bass drum in a U.S. Army band during the Korean War, and moved back to Chicago after his discharge, where he formed his own jazz trio. He appeared on television in the 1950s and held a residency in Las Vegas, later touring internationally. He made regular appearances at Chicago clubs such as the Pump Room and 22 stylus magazine

Lionel Frederick Cole (born October 15, 1931) is an American jazz singer and pianist, whose recording career has spanned over fifty years. He is leader of the Freddy Cole Quartet, which regularly tours the United States, Europe, the Far East and South America. He is the brother of musicians Nat King Cole and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole and uncle of Natalie Cole.

Jazz bassist Eddie Cole had the misfortune to be the older sibling of a much more famous musician, jazz and pop legend Nat “King” Cole.

1910- 1970

Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Adams Coles at Montgomery, Alabama.

He received music lessons from his mother and his family moved to Chicago when he was only five, where his father Edward James Coles was a minister at the True Light Baptist Church and later Pastor of the First Baptist Church.

Cole grew up in Chicago with siblings Eddie, Ike and Nat King Cole. He began playing piano at the age of six. At 12 he was playing the church organ and at 14 he formed a 14 piece band called the Royal Dukes. Nat was a top flight sandlot baseball player at Wendell Phillips high school in Chicago, and continued his musical education at the Roosevelt Institute in Chicago. His three brothers, Ike, Eddie Cole and Frankie also played the piano and sang professionally. Nat was also an above-average football player in high school.

About the age of 20 he moved to New York in 1951, where he studied at the Juilliard School of Music, before completing a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Following the moderate success of Whispering Grass in 1953 Cole spent several months on the road with Johnny Coles and Benny Golson as the Earl Bostic band. He went on to work with Grover Washington, Jr. and to record jingles for various companies, including Turner Classic Movies.

During the 1960s, Cole recorded several albums for European and English based labels. He was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Cole Nobody Knows. In June of that year, Cole was added to the Steinway Artist roster.

Cole was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In July

2009, he released a recording featuring his own quartet (guitarist Randy Napoleon, drummer Curtis Boyd, and bassist Elias Bailey), along with alto saxophonist Jerry Weldon and pianist John DiMartino, playing live at Dizzy’s jazz club in Lincoln Center. His 2010 album, Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B, was nominated for the Grammy in the category Best Vocal Jazz Album. The album features tenor Houston Person, pianist John DiMartino, guitarist/arranger Randy Napoleon, drummer Curtis Boyd, and bassist Elias Bailey.

Cole’s influences included John Lewis, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Billy Eckstine. When speaking of Eckstine, Cole recalled, “He was a fantastic entertainer. I learned so much from just watching and being around him.” Currently, Guitarist and well known singer, George Benson born just over 24 years after Nat King Cole is bringing attention to Nat’s music with his release of the Tribute to Nat King Cole album.

King was an avid baseball fan and had a permanent box seat at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. He met his wife Maria Cole (a big-band singer) at the Zanzibar nightclub in Los Angeles through Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson show. Her parents protested her decision to marry Cole, claiming he was dark skinned - “too black”. However, they were married in 1948 and had two daughters, Natalie Cole and Caroline. On April 10, 1956, at Birmingham, Alabama, he was attacked by six white men from a white supremacist group called the White Cizizens Council during a concert and sustained minor injuries to his back. Cole appeared in several movies, his last one being Cat Ballou (1965), starring Lee Marvin. Cole received 28 gold record awards for such hits as “Sweet Lorraine,” “Ramblin’ Rose” in 1962, “Too Young” in 1951, “Mona Lisa” in 1949 and Mel Tormé’s “Christmas Song”. His first recordings of the Christmas Song included the lyrics, “Reindeers really know how to fly” instead of “reindeer really know how to fly”, a mistake later corrected by Capitol Records. He was also a composer and his song “Straighten Up and Fly Right” was sold for $50.00. A heavy smoker, he died of lung cancer, far too young. We love his classic style of jazz music.

He never saw anything like the popularity of his younger brother, though they worked together during the late ‘30s and Eddie Cole got to cut his first credited records as a bandleader in association with Nat “King” Cole’s late-’30s group the Rogues of Rhythm.

The first child of Reverend Edward J. Cole and the former Perlina Adams, Eddie Cole was born in 1910 in Montgomery, AL. In 1923, four years after the birth of his younger brother Nat, the family moved to Chicago.

stylus magazine 23

d

5101 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85250 (480) 945-4392

5101 nO.5

The Days Hotel Scottsdale offers comfortable, affordable hotel accommodations for ... business travelers within walking distance of downtown Scottsdale, Arizona.

stylus magazine 25

Photo Doc Jones

Photo By Doc Jones

Photo by: Lamar Rashar

Man, what a solo you took on my new CD

MAn what a great solo you took on my new CD

Article with Collage #3

602AZ Magazine Proudly Presents

Jazz Master

Kenny Burrell After 40 years as a jazz professional, appearing on several hundred albums as leader and sideman, Kenny Burrell is among the handful of guitar greats who have forever changed the role of their instrument.

Staunch musical integrity and discriminate taste coupled with matchless technique have made the guitarist nonpareil among his peers. “My goal is to play with good tone, good phrasing and to swing,” says Burrell, “I strive for honesty in playing what I feel.”

“Master instrumentalist and composer,” “virtuoso,” “historic figure of American guitar.” “Ellington’s favorite guitar player” - this is a typical sampling of the critical praise routinely bestowed on Burrell, who pioneered the guitar-led trio with bass and drums in the late Fifties.

Although he has since worked in countless other formats, from big band to three guitars plus rhythm to solo, he has remained constant in his quest to get the most out of a natural, low-volume, acoustic sound. “My audience has developed so that they come to listen and are quiet,” he explains. “Thus I can work in a limited volume range and explore all the subtleties that can happen, which is my favorite part of the music.”

Aside from his performing and recording schedule, Kenny has been a teacher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for many years. Included in his teaching schedule is a special course that he developed on the music and life of Duke Ellington called “Ellingtonia”.

Started in 1978, it was the first regualr college course on Ellington taught in the United States. In addition he is also the founder and director of the Jazz Studies Program at UCLA where he is a professor of music and ethnomusicology. He is also a lecturer and director of workshops on guitar and Jazz studies, founder and President Emeritus, of the Jzz Heritage Foundation, and all around crusader for the recognition of jazz as a classical art form.

Kenny Burrell is also a prolific composer whose work is more and more in demand. Kenny is composer of the 1998 Grammy Award winning song “Dear Ella”, performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater. His compositions have been recorded by many other great artists such as Ray Brown, Jimmy Smith, Grover Washington Jr., John Coltrane, June Christy, Frank Wes and Stevie Ray Vaughn. More recently, he recieved a commission grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. to write an original, extended composition for the Boys Choir of Harlem which premiered at New York’s Lincoln Center, and in 1997 was recorded for Concord Records.

Kenny is a man who has garnered the respect of the entire jazz world.

28 stylus magazine

“He’s one of jazz’s most gracious gentlemen,” says pianist Mike Wofford, “an educator and spokesperson for the entire tradition of American Jazz, Kenny is truly a goodwill ambassador for our music, and more importantly, a representative of the best in our society.”

Born in Detroit, Kenny Burrell was raised in a musical family. His mother, who sang in the Second Baptist Church choir, also played the piano around the house. His father was fond of the banjo and the ukulele. “He was just the kind of guy who could pick up string instruments and do something with ‘em.” Kenny recalls, - “It kinda rubbed off on us.”

Kenny, who credits Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, as well as such bluesmen as T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, played on his first major recording session in Detroit in 1951 with a Dizzy Gillespie combo that included John Coltrane, Milt Jackson, and Percy Heath. Even though the young guitarist was keeping heavy company, including that of such other up-and-coming Detroiters as Tommy Flanagan, Yusef Lateef, Pepper Adams, and Elvin Jones, he remained in Detroit to study at Wayne State University, from which he earned a B.A. in music composition and theory in 1955. He also studied classical guitar with Joseph Fava during that period and continues to employ finger-style and other techniques.

“

Burrell was born in Detroit,

Michigan, to a musical family and began playing guitar at the age of 12. Guitarists who influenced him include Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Wes Montgomery.

While a student at Wayne State University, he made his recording debut as a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s sextet in 1951, following which he recorded the “Ground Round” single at Fortune Records in Detroit. He toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956.[1]

Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kalil Wilson.

[5] Burrell teaches a course entitled “Ellingtonia”, examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington.

A consummate sideman, Burrell has recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians. He has also led his own groups since 1951 and recorded many well-received albums.[1] In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly Duke Ellington’s. Although the two never collaborated directly, Ellington called Burrell his “favorite guitarist,” and Burrell has recorded a number of tributes to and interpretations of Ellington’s works.[4] A highly popular performer, Burrell has won several jazz polls in Japan and the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. He has recorded about 106 albums, including Midnight Blue (1963), Blue Lights, Guitar Forms, Sunup To Sundown (1990), Soft Winds (1993), Then Along Came Kenny (1993), and Lotus Blossom (1995).

(Credit: William Claxton)

2003 Heritage Super Kenny Burrell

As of 1996, Burrell has served as

Article with Banner

Pat Metheny

Award Winning American Jazz Guitarist and Composer

Photo: Jason Kempin The Pat Metheny Group is a band founded in 1977. The first Pat Metheny Group release, 1978’s Pat Metheny Group, featured the writing duo of Metheny and Mays, a collaboration which has spanned over 25 years and 15 albums. The recording featured the electric bass playing of Pastorius’s protégé, Mark Egan. The second group album, American Garage (1980), was a breakout hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and crossing over onto the pop charts as well, largely on the strength of the up-tempo opening track “(Cross the) Heartland”, which became a signature tune for the group. This early incarnation of the group included Dan Gottlieb on drums.

The group built upon its success through constant touring across the USA and Europe. The early group featured a unique sound, particularly due to Metheny’s Gibson ES-175 guitar coupled to two Eventide Clockworks’ Harmonizer digital delay units and Mays’ Oberheim and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synthesizers and Steinway piano. Even in this early state the band played in a wide range of styles from folk to rock to experimental. Metheny later started working with the Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer and the Synclavier guitar system made by New England Digital. Mays expanded his setup with the Synclavier keyboard and later with various other synthesizers.

Left to right: Steve Rodby and Pat Metheny.

From 1982 to 1985 the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp (1982); a live set, Travels (1983); and First Circle (1984); as well as The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), a soundtrack album for the movie of the same name in which they collaborated with David Bowie. A single from the soundtrack, “This Is Not America”, reached number 14 in the British Top 40 in early 1985 as well as number 32 in the USA. Offramp marked the first appearance of bassist Steve Rodby (replacing Egan) and Brazilian “guest artist” Nana Vasconcelos, whose work on percussion and wordless vocals marked the first addition of Latin music shadings to the Group’s sound, a trend which continued and intensified on First Circle with the addition of Argentinian multi-instrumentalist Aznar, which also marked the group debut of drummer Paul Wertico (replacing Gottlieb) – both Rodby and Wertico were members of the Fred Simon Group at the time, and had played in Simon-Bard as well, in Chicago, before joining Metheny.

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This period became a peak of commercial popularity of the band, especially for the live recording Travels. First Circle would also be Metheny’s last project with ECM Records; he had been a key artist for ECM, but left following conceptual disagreements with label founder Manfred Eicher. The next Pat Metheny Group releases would be based around a further intensification of the Brazilian rhythms first heard in the early 1980s. Additional Latin musicians appeared as guests, notably Brazilian percussion player Armando Marçal. Still Life (Talking) (1987) was the Group’s first release on new label Geffen Records, and featured several popular tracks, followed by Letter from Home (1989), which also featured Aznar and Marçal. During this period The Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago featured an assortment of compositions by Metheny and Mays for their production of Lyle Kessler’s play Orphans, where it has remained special optional music for all productions of the play around the world since.

Metheny was born and raised in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, a suburb southeast of Kansas City.

At age 15, he won a Down Beat scholarship to a one-week jazz camp and was taken under the wing of guitarist Attila Zoller.

Zoller also invited the young Metheny to New York City to see the likes of Jim Hall and Ron Carter. Following his graduation from Lee’s Summit High School, Metheny briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1972, where he was quickly offered a teaching position. He then moved to Boston to take a teaching assistantship at the Berklee College of Music with jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton.[3] He first made his name as a teenage prodigy under the wing of Burton.[4] In 1974 he made his recording debut on two sessions for pianist Paul Bley and Carol Goss’ Improvising Artists label, along with fretless electric bassist Jaco Pastorius.

Metheny entered the wider jazz scene in 1975 when he joined Burton’s band, where he played alongside resident jazz guitarist Mick Goodrick. Goodrick was a 1967 alumnus of Berklee, who had held a teaching post there in the early 1970s. The two guitarists were interviewed jointly by Guitar Player Magazine in 1975, bringing them to the attention of fellow guitar aficionados around the world. Metheny’s musical momentum carried him rapidly to the point that he had soon written enough material to record his debut album, Bright Size Life, with Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses.

Metheny’s next recording, 1977’s Watercolors, was the first to feature pianist Lyle Mays, Metheny’s most frequent collaborator. The other musicians on this session were Eberhard Weber on upright bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums. Metheny’s next album formalized his partnership with Mays and began the Pat Metheny Group, featuring several songs they cowrote; the album was released as the eponymous Pat Metheny Group on West German musician/producer Manfred Eicher’s ECM record label. Metheny also has released solo, trio, quartet and duet recordings with

musicians such as Hall, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes, Toninho Horta, Burton, Chick Corea, Pedro Aznar, Pastorius, Charlie Haden, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Bill Stewart, Ornette Coleman, Brad Mehldau, Joni Mitchell, Milton Nascimento, Santana, Dominic Miller, Michael Brecker, Trilok Gurtuand many others.

Metheny has also joined projects such as Song X with Coleman; Parallel Realities and Jazz Baltica with Ulf Wakenius and other Nordic jazz players like E.S.T., Nils Landgren and has played with singers from all over the world, such as Silje Nergaard on Tell Me Where You’re Going (1990), Bruce Hornsby on Harbor Lights (1993) and Hot House (1995), Noa on Noa (1994), Abbey Lincoln on A Turtle’s Dream (1994) and Anna Maria Jopek on Upojenie (2002).

Metheny has been touring for more than 30 years, playing between 120 and 240 concerts a year. He has three children with his wife, Latifa.[5]

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Concord Records

Greg Allen/Courtesy of the artist

Photography by Greg Allen

George Benson is a ten-time Grammy-Award winning guitarist and vocalist. Arriving on the scene in 1954, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native has been recording for nearly six decades.

In this time, he has had the opportunity to work with such legendary figures as Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Chaka Khan. Not to be outdone, his solo efforts have solidified his place as one of the most well-known artists in music today. His most recent album, Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, was released June 4th on Concord Records.

It’s perfectly clear where Jazz began. New Orleans. Even the historians agree on that one. Jazz is to American music what the Mississippi is to America.

Article with Collage #2

George Benson Pays Tribute to his Idols with his New CD, “A Tribute to Nat King Cole”

By Shirley Jones George Benson is a ten-time Grammy-Award winning guitarist and vocalist. He arriving on the scene in 1954 and hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been recording for nearly six decades. In his time sixty or so years, Mr. Benson has had the opportunity to work with such legendary masters of Jazz and R&B, as Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and more. Not to be outdone, his solo efforts have solidified his place as one of the most well-known artists in music around the world today. His most recent album, Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole was released June 4th

by Concord Records.

Modern pop culture perpetuates the idea that success happens overnight – that achievement is birthed in a vacuum. This is categorically false; success is a process as with many things of any lasting value in life. It requires an impetus that can overwhelm the abstraction of dreams and turn them into reality.

artists go through, which compelled him through the years, to move forward despite every reason not to, thereby creating the closest we will ever see or hear to true magic. Inspiration instills in its owner the power to do seemingly anything imaginable, Even greats need inspiration, for George Benson, that inspiration comes from those who have come and gone before him; one of those leading lights was been Nat King Cole. Cole’s voice, his words, the subtle cool of his stage fascia is an important ingredient as to why we have George Benson.

It’s been said before, inspiration births greatness and there is simply no denying that in the work George’s critically-acclaimed genius.

George Benson has been and continues to be an inspiration to hundreds, perhaps thousands of young guitarists around the world. George himself at one time experienced that same “start up or beginning” many young

He told us about that experience and how it led to his very first recording experience. .

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We sat down with George Benson to talk about his latest album and its inspiration, the great Nat King Cole. At age 8, George won a contest singing a song by Nat King Cole.

“In those days, Nat was at the top of my list of people whose songs that I liked to sing. I won a lot of contests [at an early age]. One of them, I entered at the age of 8; the winner got to go in the studio and record. That was gigantic [laughs]! And they finally did. It wasn’t very elaborate. It was a small studio. They put me in this booth with my ukulele and told me, ‘Alright…sing, Little Georgie’. That’s what they used to call me. So I started singing, “Mona Lisa.” My mother I think gave me that tape many, many years later. I’m so happy that she saved it. Everybody that hears it is convinced that I am a true Nat King Cole fan. It’s a great way to open up my new album called Inspiration, because obviously I’ve been inspired by him most of my life.”

George Benson has been known to me as a guitar player with a unique style of vocals, but at one point in time, the label guitarist surprised even him. I asked what brought that element of surprise to mind when he heard himself described as a guitarist. I asked him to explain the story behind that? His explanation, “At 19-years old, Jack McDuff took me on the road. Jack McDuff was a great organist, one of the top organists in the world at the time. It was an honor to join his band, but I was not a guitar player. I was known as a singer in Pittsburgh who happened to play guitar. I had good ears so I was reasonable as long as it were things that were fairly simple.

I had no jazz experience. But when I went on the road with Jack, he turned me into a guitar player [laughs].

He used to get mad at me every night and say terrible things to me after the show and even during the show.

He made me practice. And for the first time in my life, I was practicing every day. One day, they wrote an article about the show. They made a mistake and called me a guitarist instead of a guitar player. No one had ever referred to me as a guitarist before, so that was great news.

It woke me up and it stayed with me for days. It made me more intent on becoming true to that title.” We wanted to know was there difficulty for George to sing Nat King Cole, when Cole was a baritone and George is a tenor.

Although he can read and write music, George said, “It’s very difficult. But I found that when I changed the keys – which would have made it more comfortable – I had lost the vibe. So Nat’s keys, which were difficult for me to perform way down there, were a key to how the songs came off and whether they stayed in the Nat Cole genre.

I didn’t want to be George Benson singing Nat King Cole songs. I did that before with “Nature Boy” and had a tremendous hit. But I wanted to bring about Nat Cole’s personality – his suaveness, his phrasing. It seemed to work better down there. So I started singing down there until I got comfortable with it and it worked beautifully, because it was somewhere between who I am and the Nat Cole I wanted to be.”

Nat King Cole’s success came by surrounding himself

with the greatest musicians of the day he or the recording company could find. I’ve seen you perform locally and in New Orleans, it seems you have done the same.

Can you tell us a little about the makeup of the musicians that you used on this particular album “The amazing thing is I had just done a concert in Miami, Florida and we used what they call the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra – a bunch of young geniuses. They were so good on my live show that my producer said, ‘George, while we’re down here in Florida, why don’t we take them in the studio and do the charts for the new album’? What a great idea that was. We did all 14 songs in one day. That’s how good they were. We were amazed at how well the arrangement came off and how precise they were in playing them. My conductor, Randy Waldman, who was also the musical director for the great Barbara Streisand; he knew exactly how to make the music work. He talked to them in a way that they understood very much what it is that we were trying to accomplish and they knocked it out like it was nothing [laughs].”

With the caliber of musicians and the way of Jazz currently, I asked what George thinks about the new, young musicians that are coming up today, what advice would you give them?

He responded; “I think the most important thing – because we only have a short amount of time on this planet, is to do things that they think are important. Put your heart and soul into what you do. Don’t play anything that you don’t like, because it’ll become a hit and you have to play it for the rest of your life [laughs]. And many people have been stuck with that kind of thing. It’s the one thing that I dreaded that would happen to me in my life. So I always insisted on having songs that had credibility and had beauty and something that I could perform for a long time. I’ve been fortunate enough to have that. So I pass that info on to young people. Play music because you like to play it and all of the other things will fall into place.”

I’ve been loving this guy for over 40yrs Photo

By Doc DocJones Jones Photo By stylus magazine 35

Papa John DeFrancesco Pops Is The Driving Force Behind Joey By: Terry Perkins The father of renowned jazz organist, Joey DeFrancesco, “Papa John” had his career revived when his son’s success helped bring about the renaissance of the Hammond organ. The elder DeFrancesco began playing trumpet when he was six and did not start playing organ until his wife bought him one for his twenty-third birthday. After a few months of nearly nonstop practicing, he was ready to perform in clubs. In 1967, Papa John moved to Philadelphia and became part of the jazz scene there. However, in 1979, when Joey turned eight and started playing professionally, John temporarily gave up his career in order to supervise his son.

In the 1990s, Papa John returned to a more active playing career. He recorded two strong sets for Muse (“Doodlin’” and “Comin’ Home,” both of which feature Joey on trumpet) and gained a national reputation of his own for playing the organ in an infectious hard bop style not that different from his son. He signed first to Highnote and then its sister imprint Savant, where he issued a string of recordings including Hip Cake Walk in 2001, Jumpin’ in 2003, Walking Uptown in 2004, and Desert Heat in 2006. After a five-year recording hiatus, Papa John returned with A Philadelphia Story in a classic B-3 trio setting, with John Jr. on guitar, drummer Glenn Ferracone, and guest appearances from Joey and tenor saxophonist Joe Fortunato.

In terms of talent on the Hammond B3, the apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree in the DeFrancesco family. Joey DeFrancesco burst onto the jazz scene in a big way back in 1988 when, after his graduation from high school, he toured with Miles Davis. Joey’s prodigious talent on B3 got a tremendous jump start from his dad, Papa John DeFrancesco, a stalwart organ player on the Philadelphia

jazz scene for many years. Thanks to his son’s blossoming career, Papa John has had increasing opportunities to record and perform in recent years.

With Joey producing and joining in on keyboards on several cuts, Papa John DeFrancesco cuts loose on a varied set of tunes that underscore his bluebased approach to the B3. Check out his down-anddirty B3 approach on the “House of the Rising Son” and the funky version of Eddie Harris’ “Cold Duck Time” for prime examples of that style. But there’s some nice variety as well, from the mellow ballad “I’ll Close My Eyes” to the loose jam between dad and son on “Pokuscabadabra.”

Nothing groundbreaking here, but Desert Heat has definite appeal for B3 fans.

Like Father, Like Son.

Article with photo No. 2 Making Power

Moves

Nayo Jones: Christmas Song...

Simply Unforgettable When it comes to women on the microphone in jazz, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald come to mind as some of America’s most prolific Jazz Singers of all time. Their musical sense of expression trailblazed the art of music to new awakenings of creativity and sound while remaining true to its foundation of pure jazz.

Fast forward to 2013 in the city of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.

There is a new female singer who has what it takes to take the baton and deliver Jazz and Contemporary R&B to a new level of excellence in style and form. The songstress…Ms. Nayo Jones.

There is much to say about Nayo and her musical rise to recognition as one of America’s most powerful jazz singers of the new age. Watching Nayo’s natural charisma working a crowd at a live jazz concert, she is confident and rightfully so. Her style is romantic and sultry. She’s by far an innovator as a Contemporary jazz vocalist.

These are a few of the descriptions that come to mind when describing national recording artist, Ms. Nayo Jones. As a live performer, Nayo is versatile in every aspect of the word performing a wide spectrum of styles from a classical rendition of Ave Maria to funky smooth jazz originals with the finesse comparable to a new age Natalie Cole.

Nayo’s musical career and success as an artist go hand in hand as she continues to move up the ladder of increased demand as a professional concert performer. Her high energy and elegant style in fashion are appealing in her solid performances that leave attendees wanting more.

Her most recent concert in the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, packed a sold out crowd to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Nayo shared about this experience, 38 stylus magazine

“It’s so great to have a chance to stop and share an artistic evening of music to help relieve suffering in the world”.

Nayo’s busy performance schedule this year has included several milestones one of which is appearing to promote UNESCO’s International Jazz Day in the city of Phoenix, Arizona and the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans. Nayo appeared with the legendary George Benson in an official national press tour which included Fox News, NBC News, CBS News in New Orleans and Phoenix making it clear that Ms. Nayo Jones is becoming a household name in the world of jazz.

Nayo’s busy performance schedule this year has included several milestones one of which is appearing to promote UNESCO’s International Jazz Day in the city of Phoenix, Arizona and the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans. Nayo appeared with the legendary George Benson in an official national press tour which included Fox News, NBC News, CBS News in New Orleans and Phoenix making it clear that Ms. Nayo Jones is becoming a household name in the world of jazz.

By: Belinda Ware meet. New faces. And they share how much they enjoy the single. It’s about family, life and love and coming together to spend time together over the holidays. We need more of that”, says Nayo Jones.

The Christmas Song is funky on the side of Jazz and R&B combined in a contemporary song creation that can become a staple for the Holiday season. Her VEVO video tells the story of a mother and her sons celebrating with family at a special dinner complete with saying prayer before the meal begins, a table decorated with turkey and trimmings and featured guest stars including celebrity actor, Obba Batatunde and other notable stars. Like Nat King Cole put it, Nayo Jones’ Christmas Song is simply unforgettable.

Nayo Jones’ Christmas song is available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital outlets.

Visit: nayoholidays.com

““This Nayo is Unforgettable.””

Natalie Cole

As we move into the holiday season, Nayo’s Christmas Song is back in action again as she travels to cities across America on a mission to bring Holiday Cheer to music lovers throughout the jazz music circuit.

The single debuted in the top 40 of R&B charts coming in at #40 on its initial radio run the previous year of 2012. Now with her music video debut on VEVO along with seasonal radio buzz, it looks like Nayo is on her way to have another hit season with her tried and true music release, the Christmas Song.

When asked about the success of the record, Nayo shared, “I am just as surprised each day that comes about the wonderful people who I

Photo By: Doc Jones

Nayo is being blessed by George Benson on International Jazz Day in Phx AZ. “This young lady has a great future in the music business.�G.Benson

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Giavanna Foster: Teen Jazz Guitarist on the Rise By: Belinda Ware

Female Jazz Guitarists are a rarity in the world of jazz especially in today’s market. With Emily Remler in the ‘70s, Joyce Cooling in the 80’s, and Mimi Fox at the top of the millennium, the three stand out as the most notable Ladies of Strings in their respective eras. It was only a matter of time before a new female guitarist would come up through the ranks of Jazz to gain recognition in the global jazz community in today’s market..

602 Magazine has found a refreshing new artist who is making waves as a new jazz guitarist on the rise. Giavanna Foster walked into our interview with a vintage Sebring guitar in a fender case and a humble, graceful demeanor. Giavanna lives and breathes Straight Ahead and Contemporary Jazz.

In a recent interview with the teen jazz artist, Giavanna shared this about her discovery of jazz. “I remember when I was 6 years old and I heard Wes Montgomery on the radio for the first time. The song was The Thumb. I fell in love with jazz on that day. “ Giavanna, a Spelling Bee champion throughout her education in elementary through high school years, has found comfort in her educational journey through exploring jazz and embracing it. “Jazz inspires me so much. It helps me to relax when I am studying for tests in school or when I go out for a morning walk at sunrise. It’s like doing math… an ongoing discovery process” She joyfully recalled the first time playing jazz on her instrument of choice, the guitar”I picked up an acoustic guitar that belonged to my mom and I took on the challenge. I began to find the chords and the notes through listening to Wes Montgomery’s’ The Thumb several times on YouTube. Finding the chords is a humbling experience. It happens when you least expect it to.”

In her journey of finding jazz, she has evolved to become one of L.A.’s most notable teen jazz guitarists on the rise with performances at the Gardena Jazz Festival, Catalina Jazz Club, the Nokia, an on air performance on the popular Fox News Morning Show, Good Day L.A. with Steve Edwards across from X Factor’s Melanie Amaro.

and found herself standing next to a legend who she describes as “the greatest jazz guitarist on the planet”, Mr. George Benson. It was in that moment that Benson took to the microphone to share about his discovery of jazz as a teenager and how he himself was mentored by John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery. Benson introduced Giavanna on the microphone by sharing with the festival crowd, “An African American girl and a jazz guitarist. That’s what I’m talking about. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the future of jazz and this is what we have to support”. A surreal experience for the teen guitarist to recall.

“I couldn’t believe it. What I mean is, it took a minute to sink in that George Benson was on stage with me and introduced me to perform.

I was so grateful and so thankful for that moment to meet him. He is a Master when it comes to Jazz. His gifts in interpreting jazz in his creative arrangements in both solos and rhythm guitar are amazing to listen to.

When he plays a song, it never sounds the same way twice. It’s so in the moment. He’s a genius”.

When asked about what she was thinking about during her performance, Giavanna shared, “I played that day to honor the Music of Wes Montgomery. I played that day to honor the wonderful opportunity to be on stage with Mr. Benson as he is my true inspiration when it comes to jazz guitar. I played that day to share the love for the institution of jazz which is universal in its ability to inspire hope.”

In addition to her live performances, Giavanna is taking on the new role of stepping on board as the Ambassador for the Arts Nonprofit, Next Student Academy for the Arts, a nonprofit that specializes in supporting gifted youth in music and the arts.

“If I can make a difference in the lives of other teens and kids out there, through playing jazz to fundraise and to mentor other teens in music, that to me is what jazz is all about. It means something so much more when you can inspire someone to look inside of themselves and discover what’s inside”.

Giavanna shared that the highlight of her experiences in jazz to date came about a few months ago when she was invited to fly in to perform live at the International Jazz Day Jazz Festival under the wing of UNESCO in Phoenix, Arizona. It was there at this global concert setting that she stood in the wings at Cityscape amongst jazz giants like Papa John De Francesco, George Benson, and National Recording Artist, Nayo Jones.

Giavanna took to the stage to perform a song she fell in love with as a child, Wes Montgomery’s “Bumpin on Sunset”, this time on a vintage Sebring that she calls, “Bobby” honoring one of her mentors, Bobby Martin. She played lead solos and octaves with her thumb in her own unique approach that she discovered was originally coined by the great Wes Montgomery.

On that stage she spoke about honoring the music of Wes Montgomery

By: Sarah Foster

On that stage she spoke about honoring the music of Wes Montgomery and found herself standing next to a legend who she describes as “the greatest jazz guitarist on the planet�, Mr. George Benson. It was in that moment that Benson took to the microphone to share about his discovery of jazz as

ONE DAY I WILL PLAY A GB GUITAR Photoby: Robert Raphael

Article with photo No. 2

Photo By Bruce Talbot

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“When I have a problem with my skin I only use SkinRescue it’s all natual” Ms Nayo Jones

Stress & the skin Our skin is often the first place to show the effects of a demanding busy life like I have.

Stress can lead to dry, rough, uneven, dull-looking skin and chapped lips.

There are a number of reasons that stress can affect your skin: Stress triggers the ‘Fight or Flight’ response in the body which causes blood to be directed away from the skin reducing the oxygen supply necessary for healthy skin Stress is one of the main causes of increased free radicals in the body and these have been shown to cause premature ageing.

Raised hormone levels due to stress can induce blemishes in some people Stress can cause muscles to tense contributing to the formation of facial lines and wrinkles Reduced or restricted circulation impairs the transport of oxygen and nutrients to the skin If the immune system is lowered by stress it can leave the skin more susceptible to infection

Skin Problems Overview Good treatments are available for a variety of skin conditions, including rash, itchy skin, skin fungus or infection, skin bumps or skin tags. A dermatologist can advise you on the best way to clean, treat, and protect oily or dry skin.

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Article with photo No. 2

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Dowell Davis One of the Most Sought After Drummers on the West Coast By: Shirley A Jones Upon my arrival to Arizona a few decades ago, being a performing musician from Chicago myself, I kept hearing about this great drummer in and around the State. It was my natural instinct to search him out because I to hear first hand what all the clamor was about; I wanted to hear him perform.

After some time, I was in an audience where Dowell Davis was performing in a band.

Wow, I immediately recognized his outstanding musicianship and put his name on list of great musicians in my minds eye.

It would be a few years later, yet still seared in my memory, I had the opportunity to perform with him as he graced my daughter’s debut stage as a vocalist in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Subsequently, I heard him perform live on several occasions and eventually, I performed with him in a band situation in a most enjoyable situation.

If you are a music lover and enjoy great drumming, you most certainly want to be in the audience when Dowell Davis, “D” to his fellow players, is performing in your town. D has graced national and international stages with his drumming since 1983. He’s known to be able to execute a variety of of musical styles at the top level. Those styles include any rhythm from Zydeco to Jazz, Funk to Blues, and Rock to R & B. D’s performances highlight his innate understanding of playing jazz and dance music with his own style of grooving

To quote a few the well loved and respected talents in the Music Industry:

Keith Morris:FOH Engineer for UFO,Joe Satriani and Pantera: “I’ve heard no one tune drums the way Dowell does...”

“Dowell’s drumming is consistent and precise, but also vibrant and lively. His accuracy and tasteful playing is matched only by his professionalism and dedication to his craft. Certainly my album was the better for his playing and, if I had my way, I’d have Dowell play on EVERYTHING I did.” --Recording Artist Ian Stone, of A Rebours

“Whenever I have the pleasure of recording Dowell, I always learn something new. He will consistently surprise me with new sounds and new techniques. Dowell’s drum sound is always excellent and appropriate for the style being performed. Every session is a good session with Dowell.” --Beth Caldwell, Audio Engineer and Co-owner, Final Joy Records

Joey DeFrancesco, Nick Manson, Jack McDuff, Stevie Wonder, Marion Meadows, Joanie Sledge (of Sister Sledge), Wessell Andersen, Wynton Marsalis, Jermaine Stewart, David Torkanowski, Carl Lewis, Skip Scarbourough, Lonnie Youngblood, Khani Cole, George Young, Artie Shroek, Patti Austin, David Garfield, Michael O’Neill, and Randy Waldman. Dowell has also worked with some heavy bassists: Reginald Veal, Jimmy Woody, George Porter, Mel Brown, John Clayton, Stanley Banks, Bobby Vega, Ed Frieland, and Chuck Rainey. Live performances of Dowell can be seen on YouTube.

“Dowell’s drumming is as diverse in sound as it is in style. He’s built up quite an arsenal of drum kits that offers any session a variety of tone and pitch. Dowell’s playing is rooted in Jazz and old school R&B, but comfortable in adult contemporary and rock. An easy going personality makes him a great addition to any session or show.” -- Jack Howell, Producer/ Engineer, WilloDisc George Benson:Ninetime Grammy Winner & Legendary Jazz Guitarist said: “...Anyone who has heard Dowell knows of his versatility. He has the ability to set fire to a groove...”

“Dowell Davis is a pleasure to play with. He uses his imagination and creativity to add to whatever musical situation he’s participa- ting in. He has a good knowledge of all music and styles and brings a positive attitude with him.”

--David Garfield, Musical Director for George Benson

Dowell is a clinician at the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Tempe and Gilbert, AZ, and also lays drum tracks for the Line 6 Amp Company. He has toured with George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Buckwheat Zydeco, Mark Whitfield, Terrance Simien, and Wayne Toups. He has performed with Francine Reed, Poppa John DeFrancesco, stylus magazine 45

Article with photo No. 2

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Phillips Law Group is one of Arizona’s largest consumer law firms and our experienced attorneys can help you if you are injured in an Arizona car accident or been a victim of malpractice.

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Mancini Institute Orchestra

Article with photo No. 2

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The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Frost School of Music is a highly selective graduate ensemble that is inspiring a whole new spectrum of artistic creation and exploration. The artistic director is Terence Blanchard. stylus magazine 49

Article with photo No. 2

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Supporting the Community

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PHOENIX South Mountain Kroc Center A place to Create Dreams in South Phoenix By: Christin Davis Re- Issue If you find yourself flying over Phoenix, look down. The world’s largest Salvation Army shield—46- by 54-feet— bursts off the roof of the South Mountain Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, a new $79 million, 147,000-square-foot facility spanning 15 acres in South Phoenix.

Once considered “the south side,” The Salvation Army has been present in South Mountain since 1967. Ted McClure remembers it well. At 15, he left an Oklahoma town of 753 people and arrived in South Mountain in 1969, where the high school alone had 2,300 students.

“It was a culture shock, and The Salvation Army was a place of refuge for me,” McClure said. When he was cut from the high school basketball team, the coach told him to practice. He did—at the Broadway Youth and Family Center (later renamed the South Mountain Youth Center) that opened in 1968, where he played on the church’s league team. The following year, McClure made the school basketball team and started.

“You can’t see the result of prevention; it can’t be measured, but Joan Kroc got it,” said Commissioner Joe Noland, who began the Army’s work in South Mountain with his wife, Commissioner Doris Noland. “Vision— those who see through the invisible and do the impossible. Do you see it today?”

Now an independent business owner in the area, McClure spent the last eight years as the chairman of the Kroc Center Advisory Council, working to replace the former youth center with a Kroc Center—one of seven in the Western Territory.

In 1998, Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, donated $80 million to build the first Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego, Calif. She wanted all people to have recreational, educational and cultural arts opportunities. The center opened in June 2002, and just over a year later, in October 2003, Kroc left a $1.5 billion bequest to The Salvation Army to build similar community centers around the country. South Mountain received $64 mil-

lion from the Kroc grant and endowment and raised an additional $15 million locally.

“The Salvation Army touched my heart with the love of God; I know Christ is working through this place, and that’s why I give back,” McClure said. “The Army has done for me the eye of a needle what they have done and are about to do for this community.”

Just five minutes from downtown Phoenix, across the dried out Rio Salado, South Mountain experienced development in the early 2000s as citrus groves and flower fields were turned into housing developments and commercial properties. Yet, it remains an area of need with a median household income of $50,000, 27 percent of children in the county considered food insecure (lacking access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times), and an incarceration rate that’s five times the national average. A high police presence monitors four prominent gangs that vie for control of the drug trade, and the center itself is surrounded by graffiti-riddled auto body shops.

Majors Guy and Denise Hawk, Kroc Center administrators, arrived here in 2004, just as Kroc Center applications were due across the nation. While operating the corps and youth center, known for its volleyball, basketball and boxing, the Hawks later received word that Phoenix would receive a Kroc grant and the pair began the process to opening the new facility.kjug “ With the old place coming down, there was a lot of anxiety in the community over what would come,” Denise Hawk said. “We’ve made it clear that we’re not going to change; we’re just adding more.”

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As the 21st of 27 Kroc Centers in the nation, the South Mountain Kroc Center features three multipurpose sports fields, a 35-foot rock wall, a 350-seat Broadwaystyle theater, game and party rooms, a child watch center, a commercial kitchen that can produce 1,000 meals per setting, a multipurpose room, three NBAregulation basketball courts, a 0.8-mile walking track, two boxing rings, a 5,000-square-foot fitness studio and group exercise room, family service and administrative offices, classrooms, a library, a computer lab, a wellness center, and the largest indoor aquatics center in Arizona.

The new center was physically built around the original facility, which only last November was razed to be turned into parking. Overseen by project manager Dan Hinkson, construction began in August 2010 by Haydon Building Corp., with coordination by Sigma Contracting, architecture by BRS, and design by Dick & Fritsche Design Group.

“This is a point of pride for the entire city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona; it’s the best facility of its kind in the state,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who also thanked the Army for providing so many jobs during construction and another 150 now that the center is open.

Stanton recognized that in South Mountain, recreational opportunities are paramount. In focus groups with local residents, the Army discovered a desire for even more gymnasium space. It subsequently scrapped plans for a competition pool to build an extra NBAregulation gym for a total of three side-by-side courts.

“We have history,” Guy Hawk said. “The last basketball game in the old center, where the Phoenix Suns first practiced, was like homecoming with alumni from the last 40 years coming to play.” The history was preserved as Kroc Center donors received a plaque made from the old court floor.

Alongside sports, education is critical in the new center’s programming. “I believe education is the logical way forward for anyone,” said Jim Armstrong of the Armstrong Family Foundation, which gave generously to the Kroc Center. “Here—if you get your schoolwork done, you can play in the backyard. Well, just look at the backyard.”

Armstrong learned of The Salvation Army when his daughter tutored at the former youth center with Arizona State University, a partnership that continues today. The Armstrong Family Foundation built and endowed the Armstrong Family Learning Center, and endowed a scholarship fund based on need for those in a 2.5-mile radius of the Kroc Center.

Beyond sports and education, family is the cornerstone of the Phoenix South Mountain Kroc Center.

The Hawks said they are deliberate about bringing families together to ensure the center is helping to strengthen families. In a program at the school across the street, Rose Linda Elementary, the Army distributes coffee and information about the Kroc Center during school drop-off. The school—led by principal Irene Lopez, who also serves on the Kroc Center’s Advisory Council—hosted a book drive for the center’s library that resulted in over 1,000 new books.

At its core, this center operates on The Salvation Army’s credence of “Heart to God, Hand to Man.” “We’re striving to make sure the mission is not lost,” Guy Hawk said. “When you walk in the door, you’ll know the essence of who we are.” The mission statement of The Salvation Army runs along the wall above the check-in point, and a screen displays Salvation Army news from around the world. Members of the corps and community wrote prayers and Scripture on the foundational walls of the performing arts theater.

In the mission services room, visitors can learn about the Army and its various aspects of ministry and service.

Please Mom buy the IBANEZ guitar

he’s back and better Article with photo No. getting 2

The Phoenix Chapter of the Links, Incorporated: A Community Advocate The Phoenix Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, one of 60 chapters across the globe, is linked with over 11,000 women nationally and internationally. It is an organization comprised of women of African heritage who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the identities, culture and economic survival of all people of African origin through cultural, educational and civic programs.

The national organization was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1946, and the local chapter was established just six years later in 1952. The chartering ceremony was conducted on March 22, 1952 with the following Charter members: Winstona Aldridge, Lorraine Crump, Grace Daniels, Juanita Dickey, Mary Greenfield, Madeline Hardy, Anna Julian, LaVerne Jackson, Louise Phillips, Geraldine Solomon, Emily Williams and Olivia Wormley. In 2012, the Phoenix chapter celebrated 60 years of friendship, leadership and service in the Phoenix community.

The mission of The Links, Incorporated is to enrich the quality of life of others, while also preserving the rich legacy of the organization.

The organization provides transformational and sustaining programming through its five facets: National Trends and Services, Services to Youth, The Arts, International Trends, and Health and Human Services. Each year, members of the Phoenix Chapter provide over 1800 hours of service in support of a wide array of local, national and international Links service projects and program initiatives.

Current programming initiatives for the Phoenix Chapter is vibrant comprising two components with each entailing numerous projects: Project One - STEM-ULATION: Left Brain & Right Brain involves the following projects: Girl Chat, Young Leaders Debutante Program and Cotillion, ACT/SAT Test Prep Program, STEM (science, 56 stylus magazine

technology, engineering and mathematics),and HBCU Scholarships, The Living History Program, International Pen Pal Program , and Madeline Hardy Inner City Youth Art Exhibit and Awards Program.

Project Two – Building Healthy Communities Locally and Globally entail the following projects: The Coalition of Blacks against Breast Cancer, Phoenix Links Go Red for Women, and Chomp and Stomp, focusing on childhood obesity prevention. Many of these projects are in conjunction with other community organizations.

In addition to the aforementioned activities, the Phoenix chapter has been the supported the performing arts. For more than four decades, the annual Links Holiday Luncheon has provided a festive venue for showcasing talented local performing artists, including musicians, vocalists, actors and poets. In its early years, the event was a ladies luncheon that featured musical and theatrical performances by youth artists.

In 2001, the event was opened to a wider audience and featured Phoenix’s own legendary jazz and rhythm and blues artists Francine and Margo Reed. Performances from the Black Theater Troupe’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin’, among others, followed.

In 2003, the Phoenix Chapter presented its inaugural Jazz Brunch, a springtime affair featuring the incomparable Dennis Rowland. Mr. Rowland was also a featured artist at the 2005 Jazz Brunch, serving as the opening act to Motown legends, The Chi-Lites.

The Phoenix Chapter was thrilled to showcase Nayo and Doc Jones as the featured artist at the 2010 Cotillion, where Ms. Jones serenaded the debutantes as they were presented to society at itsthis biennial eventgala. The duo is the featured performer for this year’s “Afternoon of Jazz”. Other performers have included Domminick Amato, Lady “J”, Change on “3”, and Johnathan Blanchard (gospel artist from Atlanta).

In addition, as a service organization, the chapter provides support to students in need, to other organizations involved in community development and enrichment, and to celebrate the outstanding contributions of individuals, groups, and organizations who have proven their commitment to worthy causes by their personal involvement and/or financial contributions.

Along with hosting an annual golf tournament , the Phoenix Chapter raises funds to support its programs and projects through donations from corporations and foundations; grants; ticket sales to our signature fundraising events; advertising sales; and underwriting.

Additional information can be found at: www.phoenixlinksinc.org

President: Linda G. Walton

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Universal Recording Artist Ms. Nayo Jones

Article with photo No. 2

For centuries, buying gold has been recognized as one of the best ways to preserve one’s wealth and purchasing power.

Gold is a unique investment, one that has served me very well for many years. My dad bought my first pieace of gold when I was 13 yrs and I must say I still love the piece.

Gold bullion is real, honest money... and, many say, the best form of money the world has ever known. It is a store of value and a safe haven in times of crisis. Gold is rare, durable and does not wear out in the manner of lesser metals (or paper!) when passed from hand to hand. A small amount, easily carried, can purchase a significant amount of goods and services. It is universally accepted, and can be easily bought and sold around the world.

My Name is Nayo Jones.

“I recommend you invest today in the Gold market I did”.

Why I Invest in Physical Gold?

For centuries, investors and collectors have owned physical gold for a variety of reasons.

Gold is:

Considered a “safe haven” asset - a potential hedge against inflation and an eroding dollar Recognized as a monetary and financial asset worldwide Part of a portfolio diversification strategy recommended by many experts Able to be passed on to children and grandchildren 58 stylus magazine

A tangible reminder of past achievements and civilizations Setting records - some experts believe gold may see new highs in the future Get Physical Gold Do you want the peace of mind that comes from owning gold you can physically hold in your hand? Gold has survived inflation , deflation, financial crises and natural calamities over the centuries.

Recording Artist Ms. Nayo Jones Loves her Shure Microphone

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Concord Record recording artist, Article with photo No. 2

Monica Mancini Vocalist Monica Mancini has found balance in her life, and she’s not afraid to say so. “I love my life. I have absolutely nothing to complain about and someone should slap my face if I ever start bitching about anything,” she says with a candor that manages to sound humble./JC

Mancini credits her music, her family, and her husband of fifteen years, drummer Gregg Field, for her contentment. She also understands that her situation is rare. “I take things more in stride than a lot of my friends do. I think they appreciate that and see that maybe there’s not as much need to get bent out of shape about things,” she says. “Although, I am a very blessed” person. I have a great, supportive and loving sensitive husband where a lot of my women friends are just looking for one, period.”/JC

Monica Mancini was born in 1952 and is one of three children born to Henry and wife, singer Virginia “Ginny” O’Connor; her siblings are her identical twin sister Felice and her brother Christopher Mancini who is a musician and is a music publisher and promoter in Los Angeles. Felice is Executive Director of The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Monica Mancini began her singing career as a member of the Henry Mancini chorus, which later led to a successful career in the studios at Los Angeles. She has appeared on many film scores, and has recorded with artists including Plácido Domingo, Horace Silver, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. Mancini’s current Double-Grammy nominated release ‘Ultimate Mancini’ includes guest artists Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rankin and Plas Johnson, amongst others, whose contributions are in memory of her late father.

Monica’s albums include ‘Ultimate Mancini’, ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘Monica Mancini’ and ‘Dreams of Johnny Mercer’. Her voice was heard on the soundtrack of the 2002 film Ghost Ship when she sang ‘Senza Fine’.

“I have never been slaughtered by anybody,” Mancini says of reviews for her three albums of lush pop standards, “because people can’t draw the same comparisons with other father-daughter, father-son singers like the Sinatras or Nat and Natalie Cole, because you can compare them and say, ‘That person’s not as good a singer.’ But in my case you can’t because dad never was a singer and I never said I could write-and I can’t.” /JC

Composer John Williams wrote: “Monica Mancini brings her talent, musicality and most of all, love to the music, and proves that the passage of musical genes didn’t stop with the Bachs, Strausses or Ellingtons!”

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That’s just a little about the brilliant talent and career of Monica Mancini; 602Mag’s Founder and Publisher Doc Jones recently met this awesome songstress at a fundraiser for the locally well known, notable singer/entertainer Dennis Rowland. While interviewing Ms. Mancini, about the fundraiser event held in Phoenix, Arizona at the, 800 plus seats, Herberger Theater Center Doc asked:

602Mag:

How did you hear about Dennis Rolland’s illness?

ODDLY ENOUGH, WE HEARD ABOUT IT ON FACEBOOK. WE CALLED SYD RIGHT AWAY TO SEE IF WE COULD HELP IN ANY WAY. IT LOOKED PRETTY BLEAK AT THAT TIME SO WE JUST STOOD BY PRAYING FOR THE BEST.

602Mag:

What made you lend your celebrity to this particular artist’s plight and why did you agree to take time away from your touring to come help make this fundraiser the success that it was?

T

HERE WAS NEVER EVEN A QUESTION THAT GREGG & I WOULD DO WHATEVER WE COULD TO BE A PART OF DENNIS’ RECOVERY.

602Mag: At what age did you begin singing professionally?

MY FIRST PAYING JOB WAS WITH THE HENRY MANCINI CHORUS IN LAKE TAHOE, BACK IN THE 60’S. MY FATHER WAS TOURING WITH JOHNNY MATHIS FOR THE SUMMER WHEN HE DECIDED TO GIVE ME AND MY SISTER A SHOT AT THE BIGTIME! I WAS STILL IN SCHOOL SO IT WASN’T UNTIL LATER THAT I BEGAN TO TAKE SINGING JOBS ON THE ROAD, SINGING BACK UP FOR VARIOUS ARTISTS.

Photo By:Loren Anderson

602Mag: What was it like growing up with an iconic award winning father? Did you ever join his band? if so how was it? (Jokingly, Doc adds, LOL, My daughter is a vocalist and has told me when we perform together, I scare all the guys away from her; which for the record is not true, she is just so independent its hard for her to find Mr Right).

F

IRST OF ALL, DAD REALLY DIDN’T BECOME REALLY SUCCESSFUL UNTIL WE WERE IN OUR EARLY TEENS, SO WE HAD A PRETTY NORMAL UPBRINGING…WE GREW UP IN A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD, LOTS OF KIDS OUR AGE. MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT WE GREW UP WITH THE ELITE OF BEVERLY HILLS, BUT I NEVER EVEN SAW THAT SLICE OF LIFE UNTIL WELL INTO HIGH SCHOOL…ALTHOUGH MY PARENTS ALWAYS HUNG WITH SOME PRETTY INTERESTING MUSICIANS. YEARS AGO I SAID TO MY DAD, “WHY DON’T WE DO SOME CONCERTS TOGETHER” AND HE SAID, “KID…I WORK ALONE!” WE USED TO COLLABORATE ON VOCAL DEMOS FOR SONGS THAT WOULD GO IN HIS FILMS AND LATER I DID ALL THE DEMOS FOR THE SONGS JULIE ANDREWS WOULD SING IN THE BROADWAY SHOW “VICTOR VICTORIA.”

602Mag: It was good to see how well Dennis is doing, but tell us how was it to see Dennis doing so well and to hear him singing again?

F

RANKLY, I WAS STUNNED TO SEE HIS PROGRESS AND HOW GREAT HE SOUNDED ON THE SHOW! I AM A TRUE BELIEVER THAT MUSIC WILL HEAL THE WORLD!

602Mag:

When did you sign with Concord Records and have you and Dennis ever recorded together?

I

AM JUST FINISHING MY 5TH CD FOR CONCORD…SEEMS I’VE BEEN THERE FOREVER! DENNIS AND I RECORDED A SONG TOGETHER FROM MY “DREAMS OF JOHNNY MERCER” CD FROM 2000. I THINK WE’RE OVERDUE!

By: ”Shirley Jones -- Contributions by Janine Coveney”

602Mag:

Do you have other brothers or sisters who are in the music business?

I

HAVE A TWIN SISTER FELICE, WHO IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MR HOLLAND’S OPUS FOUNDATION, WHICH IS ALL ABOUT MUSIC EDUCATION. MY BROTHER CHRIS IS INVOLVED WITH MUSIC PUBLISHING AND ALSO IS A MUSICIAN. MY MOM IS VERY ACTIVE WITH KEEPING MUSIC IN SCHOOLS. Photo By:Loren Anderson stylus magazine 61

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Chicago Jazz Guitarist

Rick Colionne: The Future is Now During the early part of the 20th Century, Smooth Jazz radio evolved and has grown in popularity at the hands of such artists as Kenny G, Joe Sample, Chris Botti, Dave Koz Mindi Abair and others One such Smooth Jazz Artist is Nick Colionne He began playing the guitar professionally at the age of 15. For, too many years he worked as a sideman. Nick Performed with a group he thought he was going to be with for some time, but it didn’t work out. The end of that collaboration was a great thing for him (and his many fans) as it gave him the gentle nudge he needed to move to center stage. Colionne’s first song out, “It’s My Turn”, was his story. “I was tired of looking at people’s backs. When you’re a side man, you’re always looking at someone’s back,” says Colionne. “I feel like I had some music in me and a story I wanted to tell musically.”

You think you’ve found your niche then shortly after that wonderful start, stations around the country began to quietly changed call letters and formats opting for alternative rock, Spanish pop and even talk radio. Many people relied on the easy listening style of Smooth Jazz music to keep them destressed during the work day. We’ve all sat in waiting rooms for our child’s pediatrician, our dentists or personal physicians, upwards from fifteen minutes to an hour or more listening to these calming musical distractions. If not in a waiting room, then while on the perfect date with that interesting companion or lover at a romantic dinner. Suddenly, without much warning, a huge national fan base found themselves frantically searching the radio dial for something similar, familiar to them like Smooth Jazz; alternatively, or something to take its place without much success, unless opting for internet radio. Thanks to some relentless fans of Smooth Jazz, there is some murmur that it could make a return to free radio soon

“Smooth Jazz has taken quite a downturn the last few years, and I feel bad because a lot of the younger artists coming out now are trying to be smooth jazz artists and there’s no medium for them other than the internet mostly,” says Colionne. “It’s harder for them to get work because promoters are saying nobody knows who you are. Your records are your calling card. If you have records out there, people want to see you. Promoters are looking at how many butts can you put in a seat. Who is going to come to see you? I feel it started folding just as I was getting started. It’s a possibility it may all come back. I’m hoping for it.”

Colionne credits a couple of individuals in the Chicago area who saw him play with other groups for helping him make the transition from side man to front man. “I came in and played on the off nights, which I was kind of mad about, thinking I can do well on Friday and Saturday. But it was the right thing to do because I needed to hone my skills as a front person. I had never been a front person before, so the off nights were good. That’s less people that would see me mess up.” He says Moultrie gave him a lot of good advice.

By Shirley A Jones

In the meantime, there are hundreds of Smooth Jazz artists who, though their music isn’t played on mainstream radio, continue to make good music and perform before fans at some of the many venues that cater to Smooth Jazz artists who perform regularly. One such unfailing artist who falls into the Smooth Jazz category, is guitarist and vocalist Nick Colionne.

Early on, from his side-man status as a guitarist, Colionne listened to attended concerts of and mimicked artists such as Wes Montgomery, George Benson; as well as to all the music that growing up in Chicago had to offer including Jazz, Blues, Funk and R&B. Colionne stated in an interview, that “Should Smooth Jazz fail to return as a full time format he’d have to move to a different genre. With his straight ahead Jazz and heavy R&B backgrounds he would probably fall into the R&B genre. I feel everything I play is R&B influenced because I just like playing funky.” His dream collaboration would be with Mary J. Blige.

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John Leslie “Wes” Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968)[1] was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Royce Campbell, Grant Green, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Howe, Russell Malone, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Randy Napoleon, and Emily Remler.

Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to NPR Jazz Profiles “The Life and Music Of Wes Montgomery,” the nickname “Wes” was a child’s abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie.[2] He came from a musical family; his brothers, Monk (double bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone and piano), were jazz performers. The brothers released a number of albums together as the Montgomery Brothers. Although he was not skilled at reading music, he could learn complex melodies and riffs by ear. Montgomery started learning the six string guitar at the relatively late age of 20 by listening to and learning the recordings of his idol, guitarist Charlie Christian; however, he had played a four string tenor guitar since age twelve. He was known for his ability

to play Christian’s solos note for note and was hired

by Lionel Hampton for this ability.[1] Many fellow jazz guitarists consider Montgomery the greatest influence among modern jazz guitarists. Pat Metheny has praised him greatly, saying “I learned to play listening to Wes Montgomery’s Smokin’ at the Half Note.” In addition, Metheny stated to The New York Times in 2005 that the solo on “If You Could See Me Now,” from this album is his favorite of all time.

Joe Pass said, “To me, there have been only three real innovators on the guitar—Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt,” as cited in James Sallis’s The Guitar Players and in his Hot Licks instructional video. Kenny Burrell states, “It was an honor that he called me as his second guitarist for a session.” In addition, George Benson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, David Becker, Joe Diorio, Steve Lukather, Larry Coryell, and Pat Martino have pointed to him numerous times as a great influence. Lee Ritenour, who recorded the 1993 album Wes Bound named after him, cites him as his most notable influence; he also named his son Wesley.

Article with photo No. 2

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American Express To Invest $100M In Digital Commerce Comment Now Follow Comments American Express is launching a $100 million investment program to invest in digital commerce companies as online and mobile payments undergo a transformation.

The multi-year initiative–technically not a venture fund but simliar in practice–will focus on early stage minority investments in digital commerce broadly defined, including deals, loyalty and rewards, mobile payments, online and offline payments, point of sale, security, fraud detection and big data analysis. Amex has already been investing in digital commerce, with companies such as Rearden Commerce and Payfone.

American Express Looks To Future Of Payments (Video) Tomio Geron Tomio Geron Forbes Staff EBay’s Platform Play For Shopping Online and Offline: X.Commerce Tomio Geron Tomio Geron Forbes Staff What MasterCard Learned From Testing Google’s ‘Google Wallet’ App Elizabeth Woyke Elizabeth Woyke Forbes Staff The new strategic investment program will help Amex stay close to emerging technology in these different areas. For start-ups, they’ll get access to Amex’s payment network, merchants and consumers, global reach, data analytics and experience in payments. ”We’ve come to the realization that there’s a lot of companies busy innovating and coming up with new things there,” says Harshul Sanghi, managing

partner of Amex’s enterprise growth group and head of the investment initiative. “For us to succeed we need to partner with these companies. American Express has over its history continously reinvented itself.

This is no different.”

Sanghi, formerly with Motorola’s venture capital arm, is heading American Express’ new Silicon Valley office as the company seeks to aggressively move into new technologies.

American Express has been active in developing its own technology products for digital commerce such as its Serve digital wallet, for which it announced integrations with Verizon Wireless and Sprint. It’s also developed a deals platform that it has launched in partnership with companies including Facebook, Foursquare and LevelUp.

Easy to Get, Set Up, and Use There is no credit check or minimum balance requirement to set up an Account — just a simple registration form.

Online payments has been a busy space, with eBay recently launching its X.commerce platform (story), and rivals such as Visa and Google (story) building their own payments platforms or digital wallets.

Upstarts like Square (story) and Braintree are also active in parts of the payments space.

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Article with photo No. 2

Mesa Arts & Culture Center

Inspiring creativity in the world of jazz 1 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85201 Phone:(480) 644-6500

The Arts and Culture Department of the City of Mesa, Arizona serves as the cultural liaison and ambassador for the City; the chief advocate for the importance of arts and culture to community life, education and economic development; and the oversight body for the three City-owned arts and culture venues/programs: the Arizona Museum for Youth, the Arizona Museum of Natural History, and the Mesa Arts Center.

The Department seeks to engage with businesses, educational institutions, community members, volunteers, City staff, and other cultural and government entities to further the vision, mission and goals of the Department’s Strategic Plan and support the Strategic Initiatives of the Mesa City Council. The Department supports the idea that arts and culture—rooted in the value that creativity and discovery are the engine of human progress and well-being—are essential to healthy and civilized societies, and to fulfilled and productive human activity.

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One of the premier performing-arts halls in the Western United States, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is recognized for its diverse, high-quality presentations of classical and world music, dance, jazz and theater, educational programs and festivals, which serve more than 200,000 people annually. The Center is among the most important projects of architect Bennie Gonzales, who designed the 1975 adobe-inspired building as part of the Scottsdale Civic Center complex. A major renovation in 2009 by architect John Douglas modernized the Center’s main entrance and interiors. The cool and spacious Dayton Fowler Grafman Atrium welcomes visitors and showcases Kana Tanaka’s radiant glass sculpture, Spirit of Camelback, commissioned by the Scottsdale Public Art Program.

Known for its intimacy and comfort, the Center’s state-of-the-art, 853-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater envelopes with its warm, wood interiors and excellent acoustics, while its gently sloped seating and superior viewing connect audience and artist. Additional venues include the Center’s 137-seat Stage 2 theater and neighboring 1,800-capacity Scottsdale Civic Center Amphitheater.

The Center is located on a lush, 21-acre urban park, a short walk from Scottsdale’s Old Town and gallery districts. Nearby attractions include Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE and Louise Nevelson’s Windows to the West sculptures as well as the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) with James Turrell’s

Knight Rise skyspace. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, SMoCA and Scottsdale Public Art are managed by the nonprofit Scottsdale Cultural Council.

They support Jazz, So 602 mag supports them

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Article with photo No. 2

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Benefit Concert for Dennis Rowland at the Herberger

Loren Anderson

Creative Images by Michael

Loren Anderson

An Alstar Line up Put On a Great Show

Lore n nAnde rson Loren Anderson Lore Ande rson

Loren Anderson

Photo By: Creative Images by Michael

Creative Images by Michael Loren Anderson

Photo by Sandrine Lee

Creative Images by Michael

he’s back and getting better

Article with photo No. 2

Creative Images by Michael

Dennis Rowland Benefit Concert a Success: Jazz Community Benefits Too By: Camilla Westenberg, Ed.D. A benefit concert at the Herberger Theatre was held on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 to support renowned Phoenix vocalist Dennis Rowland, who is recovering from a near fatal stroke and a cerebral hemorrhage that he suffered in December 2012. The benefit was sponsored by Remington’s Restaurant and Lounge at The Scottsdale Plaza Resort. Dennis Rowland has received numerous accolades as a performer in the jazz and blues scene in the Valley of the Sun, including being a Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist and a Herberger Hall of Fall Recipient. As supporters filled the entrance of the Herberger, there was a sense of anticipation, as guests greeted each other chatting about the past and current jazz scene in Arizona. The mood in the theater was enhanced by a dramatic painting on canvas of Dennis Rowland created by a local artist Daniel Livingston.

Upon his arrival, Rowland made brief acknowledgements and was greeted by a standing ovation as he joined the audience for the performance. The program began with praise for Rowland from David Ira Goldstein, Arizona Theatre Company Artistic Director and Michael Barnard Phoenix Theatre Producing Artistic Director.

The music during the event included performances by numerous classic jazz and blues entertainers. The evening started with a performance by Francine Reed, who early in her career was an opening act for musical greats like Miles Davis, Etta James, and Smokey Robinson and the Crusaders. Her swaying rendition of “Hand Full” had the audience elicited a spirited response from 74 stylus magazine

the crowd. Later, she was joined by her sister, Margo Reed, who performed an incredible a cappella version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, garnering a standing ovation from the crowd.

Another great performer during the evening was Khani Cole.

In addition, a Motown tribute was performed by Mel Bridges and Cordell Conway of the Miracles, with Tommy Holloway and Michael Reed. The instrumentalists included Greg Warner (concert co-producer/music director/drums), Jesse McGuire (trumpet), Marion Meadows (saxophone), Michael Reed (bass), Chris Gough (keyboard), Donnie Dean (guitar), Mike King (bass), and Dave Baradic (piano).

The second set consisted of a medley of songs by two-time Grammy Award nominee vocalist Monica Mancini, the daughter of legendary composer/arranger Henry Mancini. She sang songs such as “The Shadow of Your Smile”, “Smile”, “The Days of Wine and Roses”, and “Moon River”. Mancini was joined by Grammy award winning jazz greats Shelly Berg (piano), Gregg Field, (concert co-producer/music director/drums and winner of three Grammy Awards) and noted bassist Chuck Berghofer, among others. Mancini shared that Rowland had been the best man at her wedding when she and Gregg Field were married.

The evening concluded with all of the performers joining on the stage, with the crowd erupting into a second standing ovation as Rowland approached the stage. Rowland filled the room with his magnificent, smooth voice.

Dennis Rowland was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and he grew up hearing great jazz vocalists who performed there.

Once he developed his vocals skills, which were patterned off these jazz greats, he worked in the Detroit music community.

Eventually, he moved to Phoenix in 1987, where he has continued his career as a jazz vocalist at venues and in theatre.

Some of his “accomplishments” include:

Photo By: Loren Anderson

Rowland was the voice of the world-renowned Count Basie Orchestra between 1977 and 1983 and is featured on the Basie Band’s Grammy award-winning record “On the Road”.

His musical tours in recent years have taken him to Germany, Russia, England, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. Stateside, he has performed at major jazz festivals, with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and at Valley jazz clubs, restaurants, and performing arts venues.

Rowland is also well-known to local theatergoers, appearing in Arizona Theatre Company productions of “Blue” (with Leslie Uggams), “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Blues in the Night”, as well as Phoenix Theatre productions of “Chicago” and “Once on This Island,” among others.

For more information or to make a donation to his fund, visit www.dennisrowland.com..

Photo By: Loren Anderson

Creative Images by Michael

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