JAZZ CULTURE
The New York Jazz Project
In These Pages: Review 1-2 Rome Event by L. Fabris 2‐3 How‐To by R. Stone 3-4 Musician Correspondents 4-5 Frank Foster by C. Bridgewater 6-7 Jazz Scene 8
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REVIEW Marion Cowings
Marion Cowings
Friday February 1 7, 201 2 Caught Marion Cowings at Smalls. Hilites: Marion sang the melody on American Songbook standards like “Girl Next Door,” “Without a Song,” and jazz standards like “Fee Fi Fo Fum,” “Mr. PC.” On “If I were a Bell” he authored a witty vocalese to Miles Davis’ solo, and on “Just Friends” scatted faster than most singers can hear “1 .” He projects honesty, humility, humor and phrases ballads like “Street of Dreams” like a violin, and on all songs, showed the influence of master singers. Rarely do singers become complete jazz singers, mastering phrasing, interpretation, intonation, scatting, repertoire, knowledge of harmony and jazz history, voicings, and a unique style. Marion Cowings has. There are tens of thousands of beautiful voices. But Mr. Cowings is a world Jazz Culture by YJP vI-n1
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class mantle-bearer of distinction. He puts on “a really good show.” He uses his body for rhythmic emphasis, a kind of subtle hipster array of gestures that help vocally. Bob Albanese is a swinging pianist who uses 1 6th note triplets. Saul Rubin comped and soloed well. Mr. Jackson is an inventive soloist. Dave Jackson and Willard Dyson were compatible rhythmically. With a really strong rhythm section, the singer can float above or swing hard against it. Marion Cowings is a great singer and his current cd is “Hank & Frank” on Amazon.
ROME EVE T
Luciano Fabris, pianist
From March 19-23, 2012 at the Felt Club in Roma, Italy, there was an international masterclass featuring Barry Harris with 90 students from 19 different countries, including Europe, the United States, Canada, Israel, Syria, Russia, Japan, and Cyprus. The highlight of the event was on Friday, March 23, when Barry Harris played also a memorable concert with Luca Pisani on bass and Oreste Soldano on drums. This was the 11th time a unique event of this kind has been produced in Rome by the Roma Jazz Workshop Cultural Association. Over 600 students have had the possibility in the last seven years to study with this great teacher, composer, and performer of jazz music. Besides being the foremost musician in the world with knowledge of Charlie Parker and Bud Powell's music, he is recognized worldwide as an innovator, also because of the great contribution to musical theory of his sixth/diminished scales. Barry Harris has a unique way of teaching. He believes that the best place to learn how to play is a class, where people of different levels come together and can improve. Seeing Dr. Harris at work, sitting in front of a bunch of horn players ready to play scales and phrases at really fast tempos and challenging them to play faster is a remarkable experience. p.2
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For many years Barry Harris has traveled all over the world to teach young people and spread his message and his passion for jazz. In Rome, the brilliant pianist Andrea Papini collaborates with Dr. Harris as translator. Also every night, passionate jam sessions were held until late in the night, conducted by different piano players. Italian audiences had the chance to listen to some great players as Richard Clements from USA and Kuno Kurner from Germany, beside the Italians Fausto Ferraiolo and the above mentioned Andrea Papini. After the class was over, as always we received a lot of messages of joy sent for days from students and audiences alike, filled with gratitude. Things like that can happen when somebody's heart is touched.
HOW-TO by Rick Stone
As a practical matter, I'd put an emphasis on learning repertoire and would probably suggest that at least 50% of your practice time be spent on learning tunes. What tunes a person is bound to ask? The answer's really pretty simple; find a jam session or playing situation you'd like to be involved in and start by learning the repertoire being played at that session. When I first came to NYC I used to do this constantly and it can become a very effective core of a "self-study" program. Memorizing tunes is of the utmost importance. You can't be showing up at jam sessions to play and be constantly pulling out a fake book to play tunes that are well known to the other participants. It just shows that you haven't done your homework. Jazz Culture by YJP vI-n1
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The rest of the time should probably be divided between SightReading (something guitarists are often pretty weak at), EarTraining (a must for EVERY musician), Theory (really knowing ALL the basics and having a thorough and instantaneous access to how everything is SPELLED is of the utmost importance), and Technique (scales, arpeggios, patterns, licks and phrases in all keys, etc.). Well, guitar is a relatively easy instrument to get into initially, but to REALLY learn to play it well is exponentially more difficult. I can't remember who said it, but remember a quote from somebody that the guitar was "the easiest instrument to learn to play badly, but the hardest instrument to learn to play well." I think that's still pretty accurate. Part II in next issue.
MUSICIAN-CORRESPONDENTS Luciano Fabris is an Italian
pianist from Rome who plays in clubs there. He produces concerts, jam sessions and workshops. His first jazz teacher was guitarist Agostino DiGiorgio and he now studies with Barry Harris. See Barry Harris Workshop in Roma on Facebook.
John Watson is an English
pianist born near Blackpool, a singer-pianist with his own trio at the Langham in London. He went to Royal Northern College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He plays in clubs, concert halls and theatres and gets radio play in England. See Johnpianoman.co.uk p.4
Jazz Culture by YJP vI-n1
Kuni Mikam i is a Japanese
American born near Tokyo. He studied classical piano, arranged and is a musical director. In New York he studied with Barry Harris, and worked with Lionel Hampton for ten years. He had a big band, the East-West players,
has cd’s, and travels to Japan. See Kunimikami.com
Rick Stone is a well known guitarist in NY. He teaches, gigs with
his trio and his cd, Fractals, was named a top cd of 2011. See rickstone.com
Clarence Banks is a trombonist from New Jersey who has been
working with the Count Basie Orchestra for many years, played in combos, recorded and played at festivals and concert venues internationally. He wrote a book on the trombone, and does clinics and seminars. See Discogs.com/Clarence+Banks
Maggie Malone is a proofreader who is also a singer in NYC.
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JAZZ HERITAGE
Dr. Frank Foster by Cecil Bridgewater
I moved to NY in 1970 and in 71 he had a rehearsal band just rehearsing his music. So I went by the rehearsal, I sat in and he started hiring me for his small group and big band. Then he came into Mel and Thad’s band and we performed around the world and he played on one of my composition, “Love and Harmony” on a cd called The Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra: ew Life. He was a natural leader. Going back to Wilberforce, he was writing arrangements then and getting notoriety and it was a natural progression, he finally joined the Basie band in 1953 and began to write for the band. But along the way he had in his mind that he would have his own band. He did a number of his small group recordings and we performed on that album The Loud Minority. Innovations: He and Ernie Wilkins and Thad Jones and Frank Wess were the main writers within the Basie band. They developed a certain style, the idea of the sax section being adventurous. He was obviously a great soloist. He’s known for “Shiny Stockings.” In the early 70’s he was utilizing harmonies that were new, with an emphasis on saxophones as a section that did difficult things. In Y Throughway he was utilizing sounds that hadn’t been utilized in a big band before. In Loud Minority he was trying to give young Afro American players the experience, in a big band, of playing flute and clarinet…The theory had always been that black musicians can’t read, so he wanted to give them the experience. He was experimenting with harmonies and melodies and trying to not just continue what he did with the Basie band…at the time he formed the Loud Minority he had been writing for 20 years. p.6
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[His writing reflected] the tenor of the time, through the civil rights movement of 60’s, he shared a birthday with John Coltrane. I was attracted to his playing as all of us were, and the opportunity he gave me to play in his band, [it made me] gravitate towards him. AlsoThad Jones was a cousin of Cecilia Jones, so there was a natural connection. He and Cecilia had enough respect and … asked me to take over as Music Director. It was intimidating at first and it wa s also quite an honor just to be asked. He said, “I want you to also write for the band, not just continue in the vein.” To stand in front of any band is a thrill, to stand in front of a band with the music he was writing--it was a thrill to stand up there and conduct the band and rehearse and make it work. “ The few times we did play he was able to hear the band and he was appreciative of what I was trying to do as far as keeping his legacy alive.” He was one of those people who was very giving at all times. He would sit and talk with you on any subject. But he’s one of the people—[it’s] a term that applies to him, [he was] a genius. He was like in any airport or train, [he’d] pull out his music and start writing, he did not need a piano or anything. The band was in Japan and they lost the sax book. He was able to sit down and write all the parts, hear it and retain it and reproduce it. In rehearsals, if the trombone was having a problem with their part, he would play their part on the sax, same with trumpet… he had that kind of mind. He was about music, and human beings, very much concerned about all the guys in the band just to see that they doing well. He was very funny. He and I had a saying, whenever we would [talk].. “Yest of Courst.” It didn’t mean anything, but he could tell stories, jokes, he was a great story teller. The same kind of thing Bill Cosby used in Fat Albert, a guy who was mumble talking -- Frank could do that. Cosby got that from Frank and Johnny Coles. He was hilarious, at the same time extremely serious, how he wanted [music] to be played. You respected his musicianship on all levels and you respected his humanity on all levels. Part II in next issue. Jazz Culture by YJP vI-n1
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Jazz Scene in NY and Elsewhere
At the Rum House
At Fat Cat
Small's
Rumhouse
Barry Harris Workshop in New York and Rome
Jazz Culture is devoted to the world jazz community, with weekly & monthly articles. p.8 Jazz Culture by YJP vI-n1