Jazz & Blues Florida May 2024

BRIAN LYNCH

MAY 8

BROWARD CENTER

FT LAUDERDALE

Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch brings an unparalleled depth and breadth of experience to his teaching as well as his music. An honored graduate of two of the jazz world’s most distinguished academies – Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet – he received wide acclaim during his long tenures with Latin jazz legend Eddie Palmieri and jazz master Phil Woods. Lynch has been a valued collaborator with jazz artists such as Benny Golson, Toshi ko Akiyoshi, and Charles McPherson, Latin music icons Hector LaVoe and Lila Downs, and pop luminaries such as Prince. As a bandleader and record ing artist Lynch has released more than 20 critically-acclaimed CDs featuring his distinctive com posing and arranging, and he continues to tour the world with various ensembles, a reflection of the wide sweep of his music.

Voted Trumpeter Of The Year and recipient of the Record Of The Year Award by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2017, talents have also been recognized by top placements in the and Readers Polls as well as feature sto ries and highly rated reviews for his work in the New York Times, Jazz Times and Downbeat Grammy nominations, and his 2006 CD Simpático win for Best Latin Jazz Album. Lynch’s second Grammy was for 2019’s mag isterial The Omni-American Book Club, his first big band album and a project inspired both by Brian’s love of reading and his lifelong passion for social justice. He is also the recipient of grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and Meet The Composer. Lynch’s independent record label, Hollistic MusicWorks, has released a series of impressive recordings under his name since its inception in 2010, including 2016’s Grammy-nominated Madera Latino, 2014’s Questioned Answer with Emmet Cohen, and the Unsung Heroes series of recordings (2011-13), the latter of which were awarded a

LYNCH

with Palmieri, 13 albums as part of the Phil Woods Quintet, and three albums with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, all of which feature his contributions as arranger, composer, and featured soloist. Other notable recordings include albums with Prince, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Issac Delgado, Donald Harrison, George Russell, Tito Puente, and many other artists representing diverse genres of jazz, Latin, and popular music. Lynch has also arranged and produced for numerous artists, including Lila Downs, Conrad Herwig, Mondo Grosso, and Yerba Buena.

He is the Studio Instructor of Jazz Trumpet at the Frost School of Music Department Of Studio Music And Jazz, and the Director of the Brian Lynch Artist Ensemble. In addition, Professor Lynch directs other ensembles in the Studio Music And Jazz program, including the Art Blakey and Horace Silver ensembles. Professor Lynch has conducted clinics, workshops, and residencies the world over, and has been Artist In Residence for the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music’s Jazz Institute since 2010 and Artistic Director of Ensemble Tonica (Guadalajara, Mexico). Before joining the faculty at the Frost School, Lynch was on the faculty of New York University from 2003 to 2011. He has also taught at the Prinz Claus Conservatorium (Netherlands) as Visiting Professor (2002-07), Long Island University, and The New School.

His 2021 Hollistic MusicWorks release Songbook Vol. 1: Bus Stop Serenade, was the first in a series of “Songbooks” intended to reclaim the many original compositions that Lynch has recorded for other labels, with Vol. 1 focusing on music originally composed between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, configured for a classic quintet formation. This Florida date, the Gold Coast Jazz Society’s season finale, will feature a quintet comprised of Marcus Strickland – tenor sax, bass clarinet, Martin Bejerano – piano, Chuck Bergeron – bass, and Jacob Smith – drums. hollisticmusicworks.com

Niecie

A rocking blues powerhouse who relentlessly pushes herself to improve her craft, Niecie has enjoyed many special moments and accolades, including being voted Fan Favorite by the L.A. Music Critics Award and named one of the Top 25 Women In Music by Blues-E News Magazine. Originally a rocker, Niecie had stepped outside on set break when she was approached by bluesman extraordinaire Magic Slim, who had heard her set and said to her, “Girl, you need to sing the blues.” He invited her to join him on stage and that was that. Born and raised in the Motor City, Niecie’s uncompromising vocal chops were honed during stints in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Boston. Growing success inspired her to focus on her songwriting, necessitating a trip to Nashville. There she went straight into the studio and recorded/ co-produced her debut, Peace Of My Mind, which landed on Top 10 playlists worldwide. Niecie’s sophomore release, Beyond The Surface, and its follow up Wanted Woman, confirmed her as a front runner in the genre, with critical acclaim and high chart positions. Her latest, 2022’s Queen of the Hill, was named Female Album Of The Year by the International Singer-Songwriters Association. This year she is nominated for Entertainer Of The Year, Vocalist Of the Year, Rising Star, Single Of the Year with “Cross The Line,” and Songwriter Of The Year. Her Florida appearance this month is part of the Women in Blues Showcase hosted by the North Central Florida Blues Society. More at niecie.net.

Yvette Norwood-Tiger

Jazz vocalist, recording and international touring artist, songwriter, and founder/director of the Palm Beach International Jazz Festival, Yvette Norwood-Tiger is a Detroit, Michigan native who hails from a family of musicians. With a vocal styling and texture often compared to that of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Norwood-Tiger performs vocally clean and pure interpretations while emphasizing intonation and storytelling. In addition to jazz standards, her repertoire includes the Great American Songbook, standards, bebop, and Latin jazz. She also performs jazz songs in other languages, and is a recipient of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County 2022 Artist Innovation Fellowship Program Awards, Norwood-Tiger’s 2019 debut CD Love Is stayed on JazzWeek’s charts for more than 16 weeks. Her latest, 2023’s Autumn Sun, is a grand tribute to the forefathers of bebop, including Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Norwood-Tiger resides in south Florida where she performs regularly at venues including Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. Along with her Florida performances, Norwood-Tiger also performs in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan… and in Europe, South Africa, South America, the UK, and the Caribbean. She has been invited several times to sit in The Cotton Club All Stars at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem, NY, and has performed with the late David Fathead Newman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Tito Puente, Jr., and members of Spyro Gyra. She’ll be joined for this Sunshine Jazz Organization performance by Grammy-winning violinist Federico Britos. More at yvettenorwoodtiger.com

MAY 19

HEARTWOOD

SOUNDSTAGE

GAINESVILLE

Gayle Harrod

There are bands that weave a musical story so vivid that you wind up in the middle of it. Band leader, vocalist and songwriter Gayle Harrod achieves that on The Gayle Harrod Band’s debut release, Temptation. The CD showcases Harrod’s melting pot of musical influences: from Chicago to New Orleans; from Memphis to the Mississippi Delta and Muscle Shoals; with influences of Motown, R&B, and soul. Temptation, which hit No. 2 on the Roots Music Report’s Contemporary Blues Album chart last year and rode the UK and Australian blues charts, represented the DC Blues Society in the 2024 International Blues Challenge in the Best Self-Produced CD category, and was selected as a Finalist by The Blues Foundation. Harrod’s voice is a rocketpowered signature blend of grit, gravel, and pure defiance. Yet she also has the ability to summon warm, smoky, velvety tones and has the finesse to draw the listener in with a heartbreaking confessional intimacy. Harrod launched her public singing career in 2011 at the age of 45 with the soul/blues band Triple Shot. After stints with classic rock/blues band Blues Deluxe and blues/R&B band Shakedown Harrod formed the The Gayle Harrod Band in 2017 to focus more on original music. Based in the Baltimore-Washington Metro region, the band has been branching out into Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and beyond. Harrod’s Florida appearance this month is part of the acclaimed Women in Blues Showcase hosted by the North Central Florida Blues Society. More at thegayle harrod band.com

MAY 18

w/ JEFF AND PRESTON RUPERT

NEW SMYRNA

BEACH JAZZ

FESTIVAL

NEW SMYRNA

BEACH

James Hall

Starting his career as a pianist in California’s Bay area, specifically downtown Pleasanton, James Hall has performed nearly thirty concerts there as part of the Pleasanton Jazz Society concert series. He has performed with numerous West Coast musicians including Matt Finders, Andrew Speight, Anton Schwartz, Roger Glenn, Michael Marcus, and Erik Jekabson. Hall’s preference for a grand piano over a keyboard reflects his belief that older models have a sound and touch response more appropriate for jazz. Hall took up the vibraphone in 2018 as a secondary instrument, and enjoys playing it as a leader, while finding his piano skills better suited to a solo or trio format. Upon relocating to Florida in the following year, Hall performed in various groups on both instruments. In Central Florida he has performed with a wide range of jazz musicians including Antonio Escapa, Jeff Rupert, Scott Dickinson, Saul Dautch, Joel Frahm, Jeremy Fratti, Richard Drexler, the Orlando Jazz Orchestra, Tom Dietz, and Bobby Koelble in the straight-ahead jazz and Latin spheres. Also a composer, Hall has dozens of compositions to his name that draw inspiration from his hometown of New Smyrna Beach, concepts from film noir, and environmental causes. He especially appreciates the importance of entertaining audiences without sacrificing musical quality,

MAY 24-25

FLORIDA FOLK

FESTIVAL

WHITE SPRINGS

MAY 28

BLUE TAVERN

TALLAHASSEE

MAY 29

BLUE JAY

LISTENING ROOM

JACKSONVILLE

Walter Parks

Storyteller, composer, guitarist and vocalist Walter Parks has built an international career as the lead guitarist for Woodstock legend Richie Havens, half of the folk duo the Nudes, and leader of the southern swamp-blues group Swamp Cabbage and spiritual/Appalachian revival group The Unlawful Assembly. Inspired by the swampy gospel blues of southeast Georgia’s low country, Parks’ music is full of boot-stomping, guitar-strumming tunes that explore matters of the soul and spirit. After 30 years in the music industry, he released his self-titled debut album in 2011. After researching the Library of Congress’ historic music collection, Parks transcribed and modernized the hollers and reels of the “cracker” folk who lived in the Okefe nokee Swamp before it became a national wildlife refuge. The live solo acoustic CD Cathedral was released in 2016. Parks is the driving force behind Swamp Cabbage, the group he formed in 2001 as a means of exploring his southern mu sical influences. To date, they’ve released four CDs: Honk, Squeal, Drum Roll Please (live) and 2016’s Jive. Parks newest group, The Unlawful Assembly reimagines and tributes historic spirituals and hymns which universally inspire, em power and unite. Here Parks is joined by drummer/producer Steven Williams, Ada Dyer on vocals (touring worldwide with Bruce Spring steen) and/or Andrae Murchison on trombone. Their 2023 debut CD Shoulder It provides a soundtrack to American Black history – oldschool spirituals, gospel, blues, and prison work chants intertwine with swamp hollers, shaped-note hymns and Appalachian reels of white homesteader origin. More at walterparks.com

Daymé Arocena

Havana-born Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena won a 2015 Juno Award for the Best Jazz Album as a member of the jazz band Maqueque with Canadian musician Jane Bunnett for the group’s self-titled CD. Arocena is on National Public Radio’s (NPR) list of 50 favorite albums of 2015, with the album Nueva Era. Describing Arocena’s voice, NPR host Felix Contreras called her “a cross between Celia Cruz and Aretha Franklin.” In the last ten years Arocena has become one of the most important contemporary voices of AfroLatin music, performing to fans of world music and Latin jazz in more than 25 countries. In 2021, Arocena became the youngest Latin-American musician to complete Berklee College of Music’s “Signature Artist” program, joining such Latin legends as Chucho Valdes, Paquito de Rivera and Gloria Estefan. Aroce na began performing semi-professionally when she was eight years old; at the age of 14, she became the lead singer of the band Los Primos. She is considered a musical prodigy, and is a trained composer, arranger, choir director, and band leader, in addition to being a singer. Now Arocena has reinvented her sound with her fifth release, 2024’s Alkemi, a revolutionary –and transformative – fusion of neo soul singing, Afro-Caribbean beats and slick new-millennium pop. The album incorporates diverse influences from jazz to urbano stylings, chal lenging conventional notions of Latin pop. More at daymearocenamusic.com