Jazz & Blues Florida April 2023 Issue

GINETTA’S

Playing only the funkiest versions of jazz classics and singing her danceable originals, International Jazz Ambassador Ginetta commands any stage with her signature pocket trumpet, sultry vocals and special brand of high-octane entertainment. As this multidimensional entertainer with a limitless supply of energy says, “With my horn as my passport, there’s nowhere I can’t go!” Describing herself as an “Italian Gypsy, born there,” Ginetta came to the U.S. as a baby. She began playing trumpet in the third grade and “I knew right then that I loved music and the stage.”

In the early years Ginetta played with many Latin, compas, calypso, merengue and salsa bands, taking her on tours through Puerto Rico, Haiti, South America, Martinique and Guadeloupe. She also spent a Carnival season in Trinidad with her female horn section Amazon Brass. Blues was another defining factor in her musical evolution. She was an honorary “Holmes Sister” with the Holmes Brothers band, playing and touring with them for years, and she was always added to the horn section of blues legend Albert Collins whenever he came to New York City. A two-year stint at New York City’s The National was followed by three years on the road with the show band Waterfront covering the casino and hotel circuit. Ginetta was the sole horn player and featured soloist for the American debut tour of The Boo Radleys, covering 45 states in seven weeks. An alumna of the famed music school North Texas State University, Ginetta is the recipient of fourASCAP Plus awards for songwriting.

2007’s debut CD La Dolce Vita includes the haunting ballad “Can Our Tears Put Out the Fire? which received an Honorable Mention in the Billboard World Song Contest. Ginetta received the ASCAP Plus Award for songwriting and the Future Legend of Black Music Award. The title track of her second CD, 2011’s Land On My Feet was chosen for Supercuts’ “Rock The Cut” campaign.

Vendetta’s first jazz CD Standards made the Top 20 on the National JazzWeek charts and was on the 2013 Grammy ballot in nine categories. Its 2015 follow-up Little Big Horn was also on the Grammy ballot – this time in 10 categories. In 2017 and 2018, they were the house band on the yacht “Manhattan,” playing jazz in the summer and Christmas carols in the winter as they sailed up and down the Hudson river and to the Statue of Liberty daily with magnificent views of the city.

Their fifth, 2019’s highly-praised Pocketful Of Cool was on the Grammy ballot in seven categories, and the group added yet another country to their passports the same year playing the Cayman Islands’ Masque Ball and Carnival – along with their annual tour through Mexico, which includes Mexico City, San Miguel Allende, Ajijic, Guadalajara and more.

“With my horn as my passport, there’s nowhere I can’t go!”

FROM A PHOTO BY BROOKE TRAC EPHOTOGRAPHY

VENDETTA

Always a festival favorite, Ginetta’s Vendetta has played at festivals around the world including The Java Jazz Festival (Indonesia), Prishtina Jazz Festival (Kosovo), Ocho Rios Jazz Festival (Jamaica), Vladivostok International Jazz Festival (Russia), America Days Festival (Moldova), St. John Blues Festival (U.S. Virgin Islands), Gainesville Jazz Festival, Hudson Black Arts Festival (New York), San José Jazz Summerfest, and many more. The band – including drummer Nicholas Scheuble, bassist Belden Bullock, and guitarist Ilya Lushtak – also holds weekly residencies at numerous NYC institutions, keeping them busy between travels.

Vendetta’s most recent Jazz Ambassador tour, through the central Asian county of Uzbekistan in 2022, included headlining opening night at The International Jazz Day celebration at The Sixth Annual International Jazz Festival of Uzbekistan, workshops at conservatories, visiting youth centers, and doing radio and TV spots. Their next radio appearance will be a live interview on WDNA on April 5. Who knows where they may go next? More at ginettasvendetta.com.

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Dennis Johnson

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World-class slide guitar player Dennis Johnson and his band are a high-energy, groove-driven tour de force. The band elevates blues, roots and rock grooves to a stellar level that brings audiences to their feet. Johnson’s new album Revelation features legendary drummer Anton Fig (Joe Bonamassa, Late Night with David Letterman), bassist Jonathan Stoyanoff (Joe Craven), and keyboardist Bob Fridzema (Walter Trout, Joanna Shaw Taylor). to No. 1 on the Roots Music Report Blues Rock Chart and stayed in the Top 3 for a month, while its single “Talk To You” hit No. 1 on the RMR Blues Chart. “To evolve as an artist, you take chances and learn new things,” Johnson says of Revelation. “I am thrilled with the results.” Engineer Chris Bell, known for his work with Kenny Wayne Shepard, Samantha Fish and The Eagles, mixed nine songs for the album. Bell says, “I had a blast mixing this record. The pocket and groove are extraordinary!” Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Johnson taught himself guitar, then slide guitar. He discovered the music of Robert John son, Norton Buffalo and Roy Rogers. In 2010, Johnson’s debut Slide Show was released to critical acclaim, rising to the Top 50 blues CDs worldwide and No. 21 on the California Roots Radio Charts. With Revelation, the news is spreading. The band heads to dates in Alaska this summer before hitting the Montana’s Big Sky Music Festival in August. More at dennisjohnsonslide.com

Jeff Hamilton

At age eight, Jeff Hamilton was playing drums along with Oscar Peterson records. In 1974, he got his first big break playing with the New Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Hamilton has enjoyed an extensive career performing with such luminaries of jazz as Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra, Lionel Hampton and Monty Alexander. He also led the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and toured with his own trio worldwide. In addition to his many recordings with Ray Brown, Jeff has performed on nearly 200 recordings with artists such as Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Milt Jackson, Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Streisand, Mel Tormé, John Pizzarelli, Benny Carter, Lalo Schifrin, George Shearing, Dr. John, Clark Terry, Gene Harris, Toshiko Akioshi, Scott Hamilton, Keely Smith, Herb Ellis and Mark Murphy. A frequent guest of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, Hamilton appeared in Natalie Cole’s PBS special Unforgettable and an Oscar Peterson documentary, Life in The Key of Oscar. With a discography approaching 50 entries, Hamilton most recently appears on two 2022 releases: Doug MacDonald’s I’ll See You In My Dreams and Craig Davis’ Tone Paintings. The Jeff Hamilton Trio includes jazz pianist Tamir Hendelman and accomplished bassist Jon Hamar. Both are renowned jazz artists with extensive performing backgrounds. This Gold Coast Jazz Society performance is entitled “Rim Shots.” More at hamiltonjazz.com.

FROM A PHOTO BY JOHN CLAYTON

Chris Cain

Raised on stories of his father’s Beale Street upbringing, Chris Cain attended his first B.B. King concert at the age of three (with supervision!). Five years later Cain taught himself to play guitar, and was playing professionally before he turned 18. He studied music at San Jose City College, and was soon teaching jazz improv on campus. Over more than three decades of touring, Cain has earned his reputation as a musician’s musician. He formed his first band in 1986, and their debut album, Late Night City Blues changed everything. Almost immediately, booking agents came calling and Cain began touring Europe. The album received four W.C. Handy Award nominations (now the Blues Music Awards). He even opened for his heroes Albert King and Albert Collins, who both invited Cain to jam on stage. The more Cain toured and recorded, the greater his reputation grew. Over the years, he would also master piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone. The combination of his blues upbringing and his jazz studies melded to form the searing and distinctive guitar style

Etienne Charles

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W/FROST STUDIO

JAZZ BAND

GUSMAN HALL

CORAL GABLES

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FAENA THEATER

MIAMI BEACH

A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow and 2022 Creative Capital Awardee, Trinidad-born composer and storyteller Etienne Charles’ mission to showcase and engage with marginalized communities is evident with projects such as Carnival: The Sound of a People Vol. 1, San Jose Suite, Creole Soul and Folklore. His lush trumpet sound, varied compositional textures and percussive grooves enable him to soothe and excite listeners while referencing touchy subjects in his music. In June 2012, Charles was written into the U.S. Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad & Tobago and the world. His Creole Soul album was named No. 3 Jazz Album of the 2013 by Jazzweek. In 2016 Charles was the recipient of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing award, and was a featured panelist and performer at the White House for a Caribbean Heritage Month Briefing. He made his debut as producer and songwriter on the 2017 album Petite Afrique by Somi, which won Outstanding Jazz Album at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards. As a bandleader at jazz festivals around the world, Charles has performed with and/or arranged for a long list of greats. He has received multiple commissions as a composer and arranger, and has done residencies as an educator and conductor at Juilliard, Stanford and the U.S. Military Academy, among others. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami, Patricia L. Frost School of Music. More at etienne charles.com

FROM A PHOTO BY LAURA FERREIRA

Joel Frahm

For more than 30 years, Joel Frahm lived in New York City, working in jazz clubs, collaborating with other musicians, and honing his craft. He now lives in Nashville, where he continues to play the music he loves. He has worked alongside Betty Carter, Kenny Barron, Freddy Cole, Dianne Schuur, Kurt Elling, Bill Charlap, Cyrille Aimee, and many other top artists. Frahm grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and moved to West Hartford, Connecticut as a high school freshman, where he became part of the acclaimed Hall High School jazz band. There he developed a passion for jazz, exploring the music of Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver and Wayne Shorter. Frahm has played as a leader or sideman on more than 100 recordings and has appeared at jazz festivals in the U.S., Europe, Israel, Canada and South America. In addition to his work as a per former, Frahm has taught jazz classes in clinics at universities in both Carolinas, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Tex as, Toronto, Manitoba and others. He also has worked at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation program; the Sant Andreu Youth Jazz Orchestra in Barcelona, Spain; the Dave Brubeck Institute in Stockton, California; the Center for Jazz Studies at the Israel Conservatory in Tel Aviv; the Czech Jazz Workshop in Prague; and the Siena Jazz Workshop in Italy. Frahm’s tenth release as a leader, The Bright Side is also the debut CD from the Joel Frahm Trio, a set of ten originals featuring Frahm on tenor and soprano saxophones, Ernesto Cervini on drums and Dan Loomis on bass. More at joelfrahm.com.

Lucky Losers

Winners of five Independent Blues Awards in 2021, including Artist of the Year for Cathy Lemons and Song of the Year for the title track to their 2020 release Godless Land, the Lucky Losers have completed numerous national tours in their short tenure, performing in almost every state. Their current release, Standing Pat features eleven original servings of their signature sound – a throwback to the hybrid of soul, blues, rock, gospel, and country that emerged in the late 1960s. Fiery Dallas-born Lemons has a velvet voice with a gritty edge and the rebel conviction of a woman risen from the ashes. New Jersey native Phil Berkowitz is known as one of the West Coast’s most distinctive harp players. In 2014, the two combined their talents to become The Lucky Losers. Based In San Francisco and accompanied by a dynamic three-piece ensemble, they deliver a truly signature sound. Their debut album A Winning Hand made Roots Music Report’s Top Blues Albums of 2015. Their second, In Any Town, was nominated for several awards. Critics around the world gave Blind Spot, comprised solely of originals, five-star reviews, with Downbeat and RMR including it in their notable year-end lists. Lemons was a finalist in the 2018 International Songwriting competition for its track “The River.” More at theluckylosers.com

TALLAHASSEE

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THE HUB ON CANAL NEW SMYRNA BEACH

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E.R. BRADLEY’S WEST PALM BEACH

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LITTLE ROOM KEY WEST

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CRAZY UNCLE MIKE’S BOCA RATON

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ENGELWOOD’S ON DEARBORN

ENGLEWOOD

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ISLAND TIME BRADENTON

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BUCKINGHAM BAR FT MYERS

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NORTHWOOD WAREHOUSE

WEST PALM BEACH

Larry McCray

Rust belt blues shouter and guitar slinger Larry McCray was born in 1960 in Magnolia, Arkansas, about 12 miles from the Louisiana line. He spent his early years on a farm as the second youngest of nine siblings. After trying his hand at saxophone in school, his sister introduced Larry to the guitar and the transformative blues music of the three Kings (B.B., Freddie and Albert). McCray’s debut album Ambition—aptly named as it fused elements of blues, rock, and soul to create a contemporary blues sound—was recorded in a friend’s Detroit basement studio and released in 1990 to critical acclaim. Throughout the 1990s, McCray continued to help define blues rock by collaborating with artists such as Albert Collins, and releasing the much more slickly produced Delta Hurricane in 1993, Meet Me at the Lake in 1996 and Born to Play the Blues in 1998. Over the past three decades of nonstop touring and recording, Larry has played and shared the stage with such blues greats as B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Keb Mo, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa, as well as rock legends the Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon

Derrick Harris

Arranger, composer, trombonist and bandleader

Derrick Harris is a trombonist with the Dr. Phillips Jazz Orchestra, and leads the modern musical quintet The Eighth Note. He also performs often with the Society Funk Band, Sam River Tribute Ensemble, Ism, Gerry Williams Band and the Orlando Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Greg Parnell. Born in Miami, Florida, Harris began playing the trombone at age 11, and soon found as his primary inspiration the great trombonist and composer J.J. Johnson. Harris has formally studied music at Valencia College and at Florida Agricultural Mechanical University. Currently based in Orlando, Harris is often called upon to tour and has performed all over America. His versatility has led to performances with such noted comedians as Don Rickles and George Lopez, salsa artists Frankie Negron and Tito Nuevez Jr., the musical Drumline Live, jazz fusion group Blutet, and many others. He also leads live music ensembles based on the format of the legendary group The Modern Quintet, which named The Eighth Note. Harris enjoys sharing his passion and knowledge of music, and is honored to have worked at Oak Ridge High School, Ocoee High School and Lockhart Middle as a Clinician and Staff. Harris has recorded six albums as a side-man, and holds one unreleased as a co-leader.

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