MUSICMAN MAGAZINE ©
Jesse Jones, Jr.
Melton Mustafa, Jr.
Emerging from the shadow of his father and uncle in the Jazz Tradition! Spring 2020
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Volume 1
MUSICMAN MAGAZINE © Publisher Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. Founder/Executive Director Dr. Joan Cartwright – divajc47@yahoo.com Creative Director Dr. Joan Cartwright Executive Administrator Mimi Johnson – mimijohnson.wijsf@gmail.com Social Media Mimi Johnson; Marika Guyton; Libra Sene Copy Editor Dr. Joan Cartwright Creative Team Jeanette Stephens-El, Nicolas Payton, Melton Mustafa, Jr., Ric Powell Contributing Writers Dr. Joan Cartwright, Mimi Johnson, Yvette Norwood-Tiger, Erin Peng, Gail Jhonson, Lydia Harris, Ragan Whiteside, Biggi Vinkeloe CONNECT General Inquiries info@wijsf.org Advertising wijsf@yahoo.com Sponsorships wijsf@yahoo.com Musicwoman Podcast www.blogtalkradio.com/musicwoman Social Media www.wijsf.org www.musicwoman.wordpress.com www.facebook.com/groups/musicman www.issuu.com/joancartwright/docs/mwmag_august2013 www.twitter.com/wijsf | www.twitter.com/musicman Submissions www.wijsf.com/musicwoman/submissions.htm and wijsf@yahoo.com DISTRIBUTION For sale at Publix Super Markets, Barnes and Nobles Bookstores, and at wijsf.org Complimentary issues can be found year-round at select high-traffic locations and high-profile events through South Florida. Check our website and fb pages for up-to-date lists of events. Cover photo: ________________________________ Read Spring 2020 online: https://issuu.com/joancartwright/docs/musicman_magazine ©2020 Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying or any other method, without expressed permission of the publishers. The articles, advertising, and reviews appearing within this publication reflect the attitudes and opinions of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publishers and editors. All rights to advertisements including artwork, writing, designs, and copyrights are property of respective owners, and no assumption of ownership is made by this publication, publishers, or editors.
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Letter from the Editor By Dr. Joan Cartwright The first issue of Musicman Magazine presents musicians who have delighted South Florida audiences for decades. The Mustafas created an annual event to highlight their original music and the big band that performs those compositions so well. Also featured is Giovanni Mazzarino who produced my first CD Feelin’ Good and toured with me for four years in Italy and Switzerland. These men have supported and mentored me during my musical career. They bring light to the joys of being a musician in their exciting stories. Norman Brown and Boney James have made their mark in the world of Smooth Jazz, despite the barriers thrown up for jazz artists in the USA. Musicmen are on the move and these men are at the avant garde. As our membership grows, more students are joining our non-profit organization Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. to collaborate with seasoned women and men in music. These students are honing their performance skills along with business acumen to be prepared to compete in the huge music market. We embrace their energy and welcome them into the fold of women and men in music. I welcome you, our readers, to the premiere issue of Musicman Magazine. We believe that this is an indelible document that will move more musicians into the limelight they deserve. Love and music,
Dr. Joan Cartwright Editor/Publisher
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Table of Contents Letter from the Editor ................................................................................................................................... 3 Melton Mustafa ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Jesse Jones Jr. ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Melton Mustafa Jr. ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Nicolas Payton ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Frederick Dewayne Hubbard...................................................................................................................... 12 Dr. Lonnie Smith ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Lou Donaldson ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Joe Lee Wilson ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Dr. Nelson E. Harrison ............................................................................................................................... 18 Giovanni Mazzarino ................................................................................................................................... 19 Eugene Grey ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Famoudou Don Moye ................................................................................................................................. 21 Boney James ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Norman Brown ........................................................................................................................................... 25
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Melton Mustafa
Melton Mustafa was a trumpet player extraordinaire, arranger, composer, producer, and educator. Melton performed with some of the top names in Jazz, including the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Woody Herman Orchestra, Bobby Watson, Jaco Pastorius, George Cables, John Hicks, Charlie Mingus Dynasty, and Gunter Shuller. Mustafa played in many of the international Jazz Festivals, including Playboy Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Ravina Jazz Festival, SS Norway Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Lugano Jazz Festival (Italy), Pori Jazz Festival, and Charlie Mingus Epitaph Orchestra in Russia. As a traveling artist, Mustafa conducted his duties as an educator. Mustafa was the Director of Jazz Studies at Florida Memorial University where he taught Music Theory, Jazz Composition, and other jazz-related courses. He produced the Annual Melton Mustafa Jazz Festival with guest artists in 1996-2009, Jon Faddis, Abraham Laboriel, Benny Golson, Dr. Nathan Davis, Dr. Grover Washington Jr., Dr. James Moody, Idris Muhammad, George Cables, Wallace Roney, Patrice Rushen, Geri Allen, Jimmy Owens, Billy Cobham, Herbie Mann, Dr. Billy Taylor, Clarke Terry, Curtis Fuller, Nestor Torres, Winard Harper, Najee, and Randy Brecker. www.meltonmustafa.com
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Jesse Jones Jr. with Paul Chewchuck on bass and James Cotman on drums at The Historical Hampton House in Miami (2019)
Jesse Jones Jr. has been a professional musician since the mid-1960's. He did not have his first opportunity to lead his own record date until he was already 52. When he was in the sixth grade, Jones was given a C-melody saxophone by his mother and he quickly learned the instrument, being completely self-taught. While in eighth grade he also learned how to play bassoon and had switched to alto. After graduating from Mississippi Valley State College, he spent part of his four years in the Navy playing with a large show band. Jones lived in Boston for a couple years in the early 1970's and then returned to Miami where he has since been a major part of the city's jazz scene ever since. With his younger brother trumpeter Melton Mustafa, Jones started the Melt-Jess Jazz Quintet. After Mustafa joined Count Basie, Jones (who also plays with his brother's big band) formed his own quartet. Jesse Jones, who considers his biggest influences to be Cannonball Adderley, Hank Crawford and Paul Desmond, recorded Soul Serenade for Contemporary in 1996. www.jessejonesjrmusic.com
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Brian Murphy performs regularly with Jesse Jones Jr.
Jesse Jones Jr. and I have been friends since the 1980s. Here we are at the Historical Hampton House in Miami
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Melton Mustafa Jr. is a two time Grammy Nominated Educator who was recently featured at The Jazz In The Gardens Festival in Miami. Mustafa is the son of International Jazz trumpeter and composer Melton S. Mustafa. Melton was born in Atlanta, GA. and raised in Miami, Fl. where he started playing music in high school under the direction of Mr. Frank Neal at Miami Carol City HS. Mustafa received a Bachelor of Science in Music Ed from Florida A&M University where he served as Section leader of the saxophone section and head of the Dance Routine committee for the Legendary Marching “100”. While at FAMU, Mustafa performed with the FAMU “Strikers” at the Apollo theatre and traveled the world with the Marching “100”. Mustafa received a Master’s Degree in Education from FIU and where he is working on his Doctoral Degree in Leadership. Mustafa currently works as Professional Music Educator at Parkway School of the Arts and is an Adjunct Professor at Florida Memorial University. As a director, Mustafa has conducted the “Star Spangled Banner” for the Jr Olympics, directed a show for the Super Bowl entitled “Global Rhythms Local Beat”, served as the Musical Director for the Show “From the Porch” featuring Danny Glover, directed the band and choreographed the featured Marching in Master "P" and Little Romeo’s music video, “Two Way”(which was featured on the BET TV Show Access Granted- the making of the video). Mustafa wrote and received a grant to start a community band at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. More than Words - Mr. Sax “Butterfly” CD , “St. Louis Blues” CD , “Sea B Marrah”CD , Betty Pageant CD, Ike and Val Woods Live at Tobacco Road CD , Pieces of a Pisces CD, Jesus was a Capricorn CD, Guest Artist for the show “By Kids for Kids (channel 10), The Language of Music -Tom Dowd (Film), “The Buddy Holly Story” Actor’s Play House”(off Broadway), Apollo Theater (Striker dance troupe). Google CDs: Scenes from Miami Vol. 1 and The Traveling Man
www.mustafaonsax.com
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On silence .. " Sometimes when I’m soloing, I don’t play shit. I just move blocks of silence around. The notes are an afterthought. Silence is what makes music sexy.Silence is cool" ~ Nicolas Payton
Nicolas Payton is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and trumpet master. He is one of the most important artists working and recording today. A virtuoso before he was out of high school, his talent and skills have earned him the praise and accolades that ensured his place in musical history. Spanning a multitude of musical genres, Payton has composed, arranged, performed, and recorded with his own groups in many settings. His astounding breadth of ability encompasses solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, 21piece big band, and full orchestra, exemplified in his powerful work from 2012, ‘The Black American Symphony.’ Payton is the president of his own successful independent label, Paytone Records. His latest project is, ‘Afro-Caribbean Mixtape,’ where he seamlessly merges contemporary music, African rhythms, and the voices of historical figures with a performance and execution that is unmatched. Payton notes, “It is often said that New Orleans is the northernmost region of the Caribbean. Africa is the source of all rhythms. The ‘Afro-Caribbean Mixtape’ is a study of how those rhythms were dispersed by way of the Middle Passage throughout Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, then funneled through the mouthpiece of New Orleans to North America(,) and the rest of the world.” Payton was born into a musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana. He showed talent for music at a very early age. He received his first trumpet at age four, and by age nine, he was sitting in with local bands
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including the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. By the age of 12, he was a member of the All-Star Brass Band that performed and toured extensively. As he developed and studied, Nicholas learned how to successfully play several instruments. In addition to being an accomplished trumpeter, Nicholas plays piano, bass, drums, tuba, trombone, clarinet, and saxophone. During his high school years, Payton attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts under the tutelage of Clyde Kerr, Jr.. After his graduation from NOCCA, he studied with a host of musical luminaries at the University of New Orleans that included Harold Battiste and Ellis Marsalis. Scarcely out of his teens, Nicholas made his major label recording debut as a band leader for Verve Records. He has since recorded a multitude of albums, performed world-wide with his own ensembles, and remains a highly regarded and sought-after special guest. Nicholas won a Grammy Award for his collaboration with Doc Cheatham. Payton has toured the world with Ray Brown and Elvin Jones, and lists significant collaborations that include: Trey Anastasio, Ray Charles, Daniel Lanois, Dr. John, Stanley Jordan, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, Zigaboo Modeliste, Marcus Roberts, Jill Scott, Clark Terry, Allen Toussaint, Chucho Valdes, Dr. Michael White, Nancy Wilson, and many more. He recently produced a brilliant ‘Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald,’ for gifted singer Jane Monheit. He is credited on over 140 recordings as a composer, arranger, special guest, or sideman. www.nicholaspayton.wordpress.com
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A 'SWEET RETURN' FOR FREDDIE HUBBARD FANS - I believe when Hubbard made this session he had finally given up on rock and roll. Hence the title, "Sweet Return." It's about time someone finally dug out these tapes and made them available again. A really great session. Submitted by a reviewer in Stephenville, TX
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was born on April 7, 1938, in Indianapolis, Indiana was first introduced to Jazz by his older brother, Eamon Jr., a piano player who loved Bud Powell. Freddie played the mellophone and trumpet in his high school band and continued his studies at the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music with Max Woodbury. While studying, Hubbard performed with a local group Jazz Contemporaries with Larry Ridley, James Spaulding, Walt Miller, and Paul Parker. Also, during this time, Freddie performed with Wes Montgomery and his brothers who also lived in Indianapolis. The first recording Hubbard played on was ‘The Montgomery Brothers and Five Others’ while he was still a teen. Freddie moved to New York when he was twenty in 1958 and began playing with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Philly Joe Jones, J.J. Johnson and Quincy Jones. Hubbard made his first record as a leader in 1960 called ‘Open Sesame’ with Tina Brooks, McCoy Tyner, Sam Jones and Clifford Jarvis. He followed that by recording on Ornette Coleman’s album ‘Free Jazz’ in the same year. In 1961 he recorded on two of John Coltrane’s albums; ‘Ole’ and ‘Africa/Brass’. Freddie also made one of his most popular albums called ‘Ready for Freddie’ with Wayne Shorter. Hubbard joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers as well in 1961 and remained with the band through 1966 appearing on some of their most well known albums including ‘Ugetsu’, ‘Caravan’, and ‘Free for All’. Freddie was well established already even at his young age and appeared on several legendary records in the 1960s including Oliver Nelson’s ‘The Blues and the Abstract Truth’, Eric Dolphy’s ‘Out to Lunch’, Herbie Hancock’s ‘Maiden Voyage’, Wayne Shorter’s ‘Speak No Evil’ and John Coltrane’s ‘Ascension’. Hubbard recorded eight albums as a leader and twenty-eight as a sideman during this period. Freddie was successful in the 1970s and recorded a series of albums for CTI Records including Red Clay, First Light, Straight Life, and Sky Dive. His album First Light won a Grammy in 1972. In the late 1970s, Hubbard formed a band with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams called VSOP and they released several albums together. Freddie was also featured on Billy Joel’s 1979 Grammy winning album 52nd Street. In the 1980s, Hubbard led his groups and touring worldwide, performing with musicians including Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw, Benny Golsen,
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Elvin Jones, Benny Green, George Duke and many more. In the 1990s Freddie began to have issues with his lip that prevented him from playing at the level he and the audience had grown accustomed to but Freddie continued to perform as he could. In 2006 Hubbard was given the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment of the Arts. Freddie passed away at the end of 2008.
Joan Cartwright, Freddie Hubbard, Jerry from Allotria in Munich, Jeff Chambers, Guest, Ronnie Matthews (Munich, Germany, 1993)
Freddie Hubbard goes down in history as one of the most important Jazz trumpet players helping to move the music into hard bop and post bop/free. Freddie contributed to several of the most important albums in Jazz history in 1960s and truly was a master of his instrument and the music. Hubbard remains a favorite and idol of trumpet players coming up today and will for a long time. “Dizzy used to tell me that I am playing too hard. He used to say to not give everything. Miles used to tell me that too.” “Eric (Dolphy) was different. He would get up and practice with the birds in the morning on his flute. I thought that was different because it would be early in the morning and most of the cats were getting home from any jobs that they had at three or four in the morning. Eric was up bright and early.” “I had heard Ornette a couple of times, but I didn't really know where he was coming from until we started the record and it was beautiful, Fred. It opened up my mind.” - Freddie Hubbard (April 7, 1938 December 29, 2008).
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Dr. Lonnie Smith and Joan Cartwright worked together on many gigs, in South Florida, from 1988 to 1998. She sang with him at O'Hara's on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Ernie's in Delray Beach, on festivals and special events. They worked in concert at Broward Community College. They had a boat gig every Sunday for almost a year. In, 1998, He accompanied Joan for her grant to present the History of Women in Jazz to Broward County school children. In London, on Wednesday, March 15, 2006, he reminded me of that and said, 'those kids are grown, now!' Whew! Time flies. That was 14 years ago.
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Lou Donaldson [Photo: Richard Conde]
Lou Donaldson and Dr. Lonnie Smith have been making music together since 1967. On March 15, 2006, Joan Cartwright joined them onstage at London's Jazz CafĂŠ, sitting in on one blues song that rocked the catwalk leading to the booths and tables upstairs over a packed floor of fans already heated by the orgasmic groove set by Lonnie's B3 organ and Lou's soulful saxophone and crazy blues lyrics to "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman". Randy Johnston burned the house down with "Stella By Starlight". But Joan had to turn around, once onstage and tell Fukushi Tainaka that he was da sh*t on dem drums as he was making her move her hips, a prerequisite for any drummer that is going to work with Joan. She'd begun singing in Philadelphia, with drummers Butch Ballard, Bobby Durham and Philly Joe Jones, and later worked with Oliver Jackson and Alvin Queen, so there was no way she was going to arrive onstage with Lou Donaldson and miss the adventure of swinging with Fukushi. a very adventuresome player. “London was good," Joan told her email friend, upon her return from a week touring England with her daughter's hiphop/soul group, Caustic Dames. That night, Lou and Lonnie were joined by guitarist Randy Johnston and drummer Fukushi Tainaka, and the room was off the chain. www.loudonaldson.com
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"Lou was the first notable saxophonist I sang with in 1980 at a bar in the Bronx, The Galleon. I sang with him a few times in Florida and once at the Village Vanguard. When Lou called me up to do a tune, I was on the balcony where the tables were. I had to walk down a staircase from a catwalk. I was so tickled to be on stage with them, I almost flew down the stairs. "We did a Bb blues, starting slowly with my song, "No More Tears". I love singing with Lonnie and the drummer, Fukushi, was kicking the blues. Randy didn't play, I don't think, but Lou took a solo and then I came back and finished out the blues with "Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On - Oh, Baby!" Now, most people who know me well will tell you I always do the same song, when I sit in, if we're doing the blues. Well, there's a reason for that. With the blues, I can engage the audience. So, I start out with a blues I've written or with something like "Route 66" or "Stormy Monday Blues", then I finish it with "Meet Me. . .Oh, Baby!" By the time I walk off the stage, everyone in the whole room is saying "Oh, Baby!" I just love it. No matter where I go, it happens, especially if the musicians are really blues players and Lou Donaldson and Dr. Lonnie Smith are at the top of that list. As far as the local scene, we did a show at a place called Venue Shebu with some young musicians who listened to our CDs and played "A Night In Tunisia", which I sing with my lyrics; and my song, "Loneliblue". Then, they played "Burnin' Hot" and "Urban Commando" with Caustic Dames. I scat with them on the latter. The place was burning hot! Great reception from the crowd and I feel like I made some more friends for life. DJ Lonyo M.C.'d the evening, featuring us, and the owner, Pete, ran the soundboard. There's a nice stage and the seating and bar area are very comfortable. It was open mic, after we performed. We sold a bunch of CDs and made some good contacts for future dates in London and elsewhere. Being there is 90% of the business! Joan's latest CD, IN PURSUIT OF A MELODY, contains three tracks with Dr. Lonnie Smith. www.drlonniesmith.com
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Joe Lee Wilson was born on December 22, 1935, near Bristow, Oklahoma. His parents were farmers. "We kids would get up in the morning, kill a rabbit, and bring it to my mother. Then we'd bring the cows in, milk them, and by then breakfast would be ready. We'd have rabbit, rice and biscuits," he said. "Music is a healing force," said Wilson, as he stood waiting to perform at the second floor theatre of the Greenwich Music School on Sunday night, September 30, for a tribute to Greenwich Village firemen who died at the World Trade Center attack. Jazz pianist Fiona Bicket and the singer Zoe organized the event. Joe Lee, as he is known, affectionately, came to New York to promote his new CD Feelin' Good, (Candidrecords.com) just before September 11th. That night he sang "Goin' Home," "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," "Jazz Ain't Nothin' But Soul," and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," with his beautiful baritone voice sculpting sounds like a horn player, beating riffs out like a drum. Wilson transitioned on July 17, 2011, in Brighton, United Kingdom.
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Dr. Nelson E. Harrison is a clinical psychologist, educator, composer, archivist, lyricist, arranger, playwright, speaker, photographer; veteran trombonist of the Count Basie Orchestra featuring Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Helen Humes, Joe Turner, Eddie Vinson, Dennis Rowland (‘78-80 incl. Japan tour); played with Dionne Warwick, The Supremes and The Temptations (’64), James Brown (’67-68); Lena Horne & Tony Bennett (‘74), Billy Eckstine and Earl "Fatha" Hines (1975), Kenny Clarke (‘79), Liberace (’77), Nancy Wilson and Melba Moore (’78), Sammy Davis, Jr. and Aretha Franklin (’79), Perry Como and Johnny Mathis (‘80), Bobby Vinton (’81), Ginger Rogers and Glenn Campbell (’82), Jay McShann (‘87), Slide Hampton (‘86), Nelson Riddle (’84) Marvin Hamlisch (’97) and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans (’98) to name only a few; inventor of the "Trombetto," a compact brass instrument with four valves that plays a chromatic range of six octaves with a trombone mouthpiece; played at festivals in New Orleans, London, Edinburg, Sacramento, New York City, Seattle; clinics and lectures in Santa Cruz and San Jose, CA, Quebec City and Montreal, Canada, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York and Toronto; scores written to movies by Georg Sanford Brown and John Russo and plays by Richard Wright, August Wilson and Rob Penny; nationally recognized expert on Pittsburgh jazz history. jazzburgher.ning.com/profile/NelsonHarrison Musicman Magazine Spring 2020 - 18
Giovanni Mazzarino was born May 26, 1965, in Messina, Sicily. At five, he began playing piano, without instruction. He demonstrated a remarkable musical talent. From 1973 to 1975, he played classical music but abandoned that for Swing. In 1986, he pursued courses in orchestration in Perugia. He performed at the Festival Umbria Jazz with excellent reviews. In 1990, his collaboration with important musicians began. Italian musicians included Enzo Randisi. Between 1990 and 1991 Mazzarino worked with dell'Orchestra Sicialian Jazz, making two tours for the agency promoting Jazz Music of the Maximum Theatre of Palermo. From 1992, Giovanni worked as a leader and sideman with many Italian and foreign musicians touring with Franco Cerri, Joan Cartwright, Low Gianni, Enzo Randisi, Enrico Rava, Flavio Boltro, Gege' Telesforo, Joy Garrison, Hal Crook, Mike Goodrick, Bob Mover, Maximum City, Maurizio Giammarco, Mark Murphy, Eddie Henderson, Lester Bowie, Eliot Zigmund, Dusko Goykovich, Silvia Droste, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Valery Ponomarev, Bucky Pizzarelli, Tony Scott, Randy Brecker, Steve Grossman, Tom Kirkpatrick, Erwin Vann, and Tom Harrell. He recorded his first CD, with trumpeter Flavio Boltro, one of the best European soloists. Silence Please, (Splasch Record 1990) received great reviews. In 1993, Jazz Italian All Stars performed at the International Festival of the Republic of San Marino, recording live with Lino Patruno and Romano Mussolini. In 1994, he recorded Thinking Miles (Ram Records 1994) with the Ettore Fioravanti. Mazzarino was the pianist and musical director for vocalist Joan Cartwright (USA) on five tours in Europe, and her CD Feelin' Good (Modern Times 1995). Since 1997, he worked with the Conservatory of Caltanissetta Armonia and Pianoforte Jazz. In October 1997, he presented a new CD - Giovanni Mazzarino Trio Remember Miles (Anaglyphos Records). In May 1998, he tour with Randy Brecker for a CD Live At Brass Jazz Club. Randy Brecker & Giovanni Mazzarino Trio performed for Brass Group Records. In November 1998, his East Quartet toured Italy with Eddie Henderson, Mike McGuirk, and Eliot Zigmund. In March 1999, he released the CD, Giovanni Mazzarino Quartet Plays Ballads (Philology). In March 2000, he made an Italian Tour with Tom Harrell. Currently, Mazzarino performs all over Europe. Also, he conducts workshops and produces festivals in Sicily. www.giovannimazzarino.it
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Eugene Grey has an eclectic style that combines Jazz, Reggae and Classical music. This style has led to him touring worldwide as lead guitarist with such artists as Grammy Award winners Burning Spear and Toots and The Maytals, Ras Tesfa, Culture, Fab 5, Irving Burgie and Kid Creole and The Coconuts. Other artists Eugene has performed with include Big Youth, The Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, America's Singing Poet Steve DePass, West Africa's Abdou M'Boup and Vieux Diop, Tony Cafresi and His Latin Orchestra, The Wailers, Burning Spear and The Skatalites. While with The Skatalites Mr. Grey performed with Charlie Palmieri and Arthur Blythe at New York's club 'Village Gate'. In 1992 Eugene performed with his group, POWER REGGAE as the opening act and backing band for Jamaica's Gregory Issacs in Switzerland. According to Rootz Reggae & Kulcha magazine (2004), "Eugene Grey is yet another of the many genius guitarists of world class status that Jamaica has produced" playing professionally from the age of 14. Born in Green Island Jamaica in 1951, he went to Ruseas High School in 1963 where he started playing the harmonica in the School Band. After winning 1st place in the Pop and Mento competition in 1964, he taught himself to play the trombone, drums, piano and lastly the guitar, which he made. He has recorded on all of the albums by Kid Creole and The Coconuts including arranging the song "Haiti" on their 1994 project. Also, the album "Voice of the Rastaman" by Shanachie artist Ras Tesfa and on the 1995 album "Via Jo" by Triloka artist Vieux Diop from Senegal, West Africa. Mr. Grey composed and arranged an original piece "Song For Jah" which was featured on the album "Another One Gone" by Shanachie Records artist Safi Abdullah. He also arranged the 1993 Christmas album for one of Jamaica's premier male singers, Vic Taylor. vAnother aspect of his career was performing as a member of the orchestra in several Off-Broadway plays and musicals such as "In A Pigs Valise" in 1989; "Pecong" in 1991 at Newark Symphony Hall and the Off Broadway Classical musical "Sally and Tom" at Castillo Theatre in 1995/96. He also was Musical Director for the Off-Broadway musical "Rasta" in 1995. Eugene was commissioned to arrange 42 of the original songs of his longtime employer, Irving Burgie to market as a Broadway Musical review. These songs were made famous by Harry Belafonte 50 years ago. His arrangements garnered extensive praise from Cherry Lane Records. His official debut release "Timeless" was nominated for a 2003 Reggaesoca Music Award. This instrumental album enjoyed rave reviews as well as extensive airplay in the US, Canada and Jamaica. 2004 saw his performance at the Suntrust Jazz Brunch at Riverwalk in Fort Lauderdale which coincided with the release of his new project, "Shades of Grey" which was nominated for 2005 Reggaesoca Music Award. Later that same year Eugene was in England as Musical Director for Irving Burgie's musical "Day-O". In 2007, Eugene released his fifth recording called "Authentic".
www.eugenegrey.com
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Famoudou Don Moye is one of the most sought-after percussionists of our time. He is recognized throughout the world for his artistic standards and his brilliant musical abilities. With more than three decades of critical acclaim for his musical achievements and exceptional technique, Moye also is equally respected as a inspiring teacher, ensemble player, and exponent of African music. As founding member and leader of the Sun Percussion Summit, a group dedicated to the development and traditions of African percussion music, Moye has recorded and performed internationally. Born in New York, Moye comes for a family of musicians. During high school, he began playing the drums as well as the congas and bongos. In 1968, Moye left the United States and went to Europe with the Detroit Free Jazz Band. Playing all over Europe, he eventually settled in Rome and worked at RAI (Italian Radio and Television). During a visit to Tangiers in 1969, Moye met one of his major influences, Randy Weston, and worked extensively with Moroccan musicians. Moving to Paris later, Moye met and studied with yet another major influence, Art Taylor. By 1972, Moye had moved to Chicago and was permanent drummer with The Art Ensemble of Chicago (AEC), since December 1969. His concerts have won praise for "clarity, stylistic breadth, rhythmic complexity and musical erudition. By evoking the sound of Ancient Africa, nascent New Orleans jazz, vintage be-bop, post-60's avant-garde and other musical languages, Moye's Sun Percussion Summit shed light on the entire history of jazz, as well as music that pre-dated it...To hear so many crisply articulated ideas fired off and developed at once, to hear a single performer breaking out of the ensemble for an expansive solo was to witness anew the West African origins of the jazz tradition." www.akamu.net/moye.htm
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Art Ensemble of Chicago [Photo: Anthony Barboza]
Moye has collaborated with musical giants including greats such as Don Pullen, Von Freeman, Randy Weston, Steve Lacy, Marcello Melis, Oliver Lake, Billy Cobham, Roy Haynes, Sun Ra, Fontella Bass, Jay haggard, Dave Burrell, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, Hamiet Bluiett, Cecil McBee, Gene Ammons, David Murray, Pharaoh Sanders, Juma Santos, Mor Thiam, Johnny Board, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Henry Threadgill. In his ongoing position as co-founder and artistic director of the Art Ensemble of Chicago Education Foundation, Moye remains committed to the development of young musicians. "Through the discipline of music, I hope to develop myself to the highest level as a human being, to bring to the public a greater awareness of the value and role of Great Black Music as a universal art form and a vehicle of peace, and to create a legacy for future generations of musicians." His workshops at conservatories and colleges have attracted students from the University of Michigan, Malcolm X College, Yale University, the Australian Jazz Federation, Wolliaston Dance Studio (Paris), Antioch College, Northeastern University, The Norwegian Jazz Federation, Notre Dame University, Governors State University, Howard University, Vanderbilt University, the Jamaican School of Music, Williams College, the New Mexico Jazz Federation, the Pomigliano Jazz Federation, and the Association Jazz Punta Giara. This fall 2005 Moye travels to Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France for a series of concerts and workshops.
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Boney James
I first encountered Boney James at the airport in Reggio Calabria where we were featured on the Ecco Jazz Festival circa 1995 On November 9, 2019, at the Miami Smooth Jazz Festival, we met once more.
Boney James was born on September 1, 1961, in Lowell, Massachusetts. His personal relationship with music has never been anything but solid. Picking up the sax at age 10 in his native New Rochelle, New York, “I immediately loved it, and it pretty quickly became my favorite thing to do.” By the time he entered his teens, James was gigging with bands, and he turned pro at 19. He apprenticed as a sideman for artists like Morris Day, The Isley Brothers, Teena Marie and many others, touring and doing sessions for seven years before cutting his first solo album in 1992. The independently released Trust led immediately to a major label deal and a string of increasingly successful recordings and nonstop touring. Now, a four-time GRAMMY nominee with four RIAA Gold records and career sales topping three million units, James continues to defy musical genres; A two time NAACP Award nominee, a Soul Train Award winner and named one of the Top 3 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Decade. James, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 34 years Director/Actress Lily Mariye, says he’s looking forward to heading out on the road and seeing how the Solid material evolves from night to night. “I love playing live, maybe more than I ever did. A lot of guys get tired of the traveling but it’s still a joy for me every time I go out there and play.” It’s still a joy to his multitude of fans too. “I try to ‘be there’ for the people who are interested in my music,” says James, “to be Solid in that relationship and to not let anybody down. I often get great compliments from the people that come to my shows, that I ‘never disappoint’ them, and that’s very gratifying to me. That’s what I was trying to express with this title, that sense of character… to stand for something principled.” www.boneyjames.com
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Kim Jay and Jazmin Ghent both play saxophone. They are members of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. and met at the Miami Smooth Jazz Festival in November 2019.
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Norman Brown performed with Gail Jhonson (keyboard) at the Miami Smooth Jazz Festival in November 2019
Norman Brown
is a Grammy-winning Contemporary Jazz/R&B superstar. He has sold
close to two million albums in his extraordinary career and virtually lives at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz sales and radio charts. Having shared the stage with virtually every Contemporary Jazz superstar from Boney James to Dave Koz to Gerald Albright Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Norman Brown first picked up a guitar at the age of 8. First inspired by Jimi Hendrix, it was his father's preference for the sound of Wes Montgomery that set Brown on his stylistic journey. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his musical career, attending the Musician's Institute, where he also taught for a short time. While playing with his own group in local clubs, and drawing comparisons to George Benson, Brown was discovered and signed to the fledgling MoJazz label, a division of Motown. He delivered his debut album, Just Between Us, and followed with the gold-certified After The Storm and Better Days Ahead. With the critical acclaim and sales behind him, the talented musician made the leap to Warner Bros. and released Celebration, which first teamed him with producer Paul Brown. The follow-up, Just Chillin', earned Brown much-deserved Grammy recognition in the best pop instrumental category. That project was followed by his release West Coast Cooin', where Brown tested out his skills as a vocalist, a move that was embraced by the urban AC radio market and found him topping the charts.
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In 2002, Brown debuted his smooth jazz supergroup with saxophonist Kirk Whalum and trumpeter Rick Braun, BWB, with the album Groovin'. He then returned to his solo work with 2004's West Coast Coolin', followed two years later by Stay with Me on the Peak label. Brown's audience has been expanding over the years. His compilation The Very Best Of Norman Brown was one of the best-selling smooth jazz albums of 2005 and 2006. Armed with the knowledge of who he is as an artist, Brown says he spent just four months in the studio making Stay With Me - his shortest recording time on a project ever. Brown then signed with longtime jazz label Concord and released 2010's Sending My Love. Two years later, he paired with saxophonist Gerald Albright for the Concord release 24/7. In 2013, he rejoined BWB for Human Nature. In 2016, Brown continued to split his time, releasing his third album with BWB. Let It Go, Norman’s inspired debut album for Shanachie Records, has something for everyone, whether an R&B fan or a jazz aficionado. From “Holding You,” his sensuous collaboration with R&B great Chanté Moore and Norman’s re-imagining of the Five Stairsteps classic “Ooh Child” to the smoothly grooving “Remember Who You Are” and the serenely inspired “Let It Go,” Norman also featurs his daughers' group Sisters of Unbreakable Love on the insightful "Conversations" and uplifting "Living Your Destiny". Let It Go is Norman Brown at his best. Norman’s musical director Gail Jhonson is a supportive member of www.wijsf.org www.normanbrown.com
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