The Jazz Culture Feature
MIKE STERN at the 55 BAR, Below, the Jazz Foundation Jam at Local 802
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MIKE STERN TRIO by L. Hamanaka Caught the Mike Stern Trio at the 55 Bar Monday thinking he was a jazz guitarist but he does very little jazz now. He had Kim Thompson, Drums and Teymur Phell, Bass. At about 138=quarter note, the introduction Mr. Stern played had a perambulation down scalewise that started in thirds, leading to his chording. It was "I Love You," by Cole Porter, Mr. Stern playing the melody high in the soprano register like a lyric breeze. Stern was swinging while his rhythm section played freely; the bassist was using his extreme lower register, a nice contrast in registers. They both started playing 16th note lines to a driving 16 note subdivision, accenting first "1" then the2nd and 3rd beats, the drummer going to swing on her high hat. In a jubilant mood, the trio was tight, while Mr. Stern found some seven note licks cascading down virtuosically from some high note, delivered with high energy. With strong accents, finding five note motifs that had a millenial generation mood, going to some blue note licks and occupying his own space, that would 2
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satisfy any rocker or hard bopper. The bassist quoted the melody and added funky neighboring tones. The bassist had a melodic gift and good phrasing and articulation although he was playing electric bass, doing mostly scalar lines and accenting upbeats and five note licks with emphasis on the last note. The drummer has a vertical approach, basically funk/rock, as strong as any man, took a well structured solo with good technique, playing with fury at fortissimo that drowned the room. The song ended after restating the theme with a 3625 vamp, prolonged suspension and the root of the scale. Mr. Stern is a gifted composer with a unique sound, e.g. the song "Bird Blue," a ballad with signature wordless harmonization of his voice and guitar upper line. After that they played rock and funk songs, perhaps in synch with Mr. Stern's latest cd, "All Over the Place," and at any rate this person is not qualified to report on other than jazz.
In these pages
Mike Stern at the 55 Bar1 -3 Horace Silver Memorial
Jazz Foundation Jam June Listings 5�6 John Watson Ad Kuni Mikami Ad Interview with Sue Terry 9�11 Photo of Connie MacNamee 12
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A big crowd was at the Jazz Foundation Jam Session at Local 802, Monday, June 30. The Jam Session was led by drummer Greg Bandy, with Kim Clarke on bass, and Mike Semoila on tenor saxophone. The quartet played "Star Eyes" and "Just In Time" before letting people sit in. HORACE SILVER MEMORIAL SERVICE Monday, July 7, 2014 at 7 p.m. St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church 290 Henry Street - Manhattan, New York 10002 Phone: 212.673.5300 Attire: Casual wear Please do not send flowers to the church. If you would like to make a donation please send it to: The Horace Silver Foundation 20 Emerson Point New Rochelle, NY 10801 www.horacesilver.com
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The Jazz Culture Newsletter Jazz Tours in NYC are available; also music teachers in various countries for students & jazz lovers. email: info@thejazzculture.com. Ads are available in The Jazz Culture Newsletter. The Jazz Culture Newsletter has been read in 78 countries. Brian McMillen is a contributing Photographer. Connie MacNamee and Arnold J. Smith are contributing writers." Countries: US, UK, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Burma, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam
July Listings Robert Anderson‐ Saturdays, Univ of the Streets 10:30 Clarence Banks‐ Swing 46 w/ Felix and the Cats, 346 W. 46 St. Ray Blue: Germany tour Bertha Hope: pianist/quintet every Thurs, Fri & Sat at Mintons Restaurant,116th&St Nicholas Av. Reservations strongly recommended. 212‐ 243‐2222 Richard Clements: Pianist, 11th Street Bar most Mondays, 8 George Gee Orchestra at Swing 46, every Tues, most Fridays 9:30 Lafayette Harris: July 3‐ Solo piano at Antique Garage, 41 Mercer St./ Grand Ave.7‐10pm no cover, great food! July 10‐ Play with Antoine Drye in The Great Hall at The Metropolitan Opera NYC‐Private party July 14‐ Solo piano at Antique Garage, 41 Mercer St..Grand Ave. 7‐10 July 19‐ Sankofa Aban, 107 Macon St. Brooklyn NY $30 cove show/dinner Loston Harris: Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle; Tues ‐ Thur 9:30pm ‐ 12:30am, Fri‐Sat 9:30pm‐1:00am Bemelmans Bar Residency 12th year at The Carlyle, 35 East 76th St., New York, NY 10021 (76th St. & Madison Ave.) 212‐744‐1600
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Mike Longo: Tuesdays Gillespie Auditorium in the NYC Baha'i Center at 53 East 11th Street 8:00 and 9:30 Joe Magnarelli: July 6, Sun. leads Small’s late session John Mosca & Michael Weiss, Vanguard Orchestra every Monday at the Village Vanguard 8 p.m. David Pearl‐ Mondays at the Thalia, 95 St. bet. B'way & West End 8 p.m.; David Pearl Trio, Sophie's 318 West 53rd Street, Valery Pomoronov‐ Zinc Bar on the first Wednesday in July, 9:30 p.m. Bill Saxton: Every Friday and Saturday Bill’s Place 133 Street Murray Wall, bassist, 11th Street Bar most Mondays, 8 p.m. Leroy Williams, drums: Minton's Sun & Tues 2‐6 W. 118 St.
THE JOHN WATSON TRIO In partnership with LaurentPerrier, the Palm Court presents The Summer Social Tea inspired by the Chelsea Flower Show, Ascot and Wimbledon with a chance to win some wonderful prizes. To make a booking call: 020 7965 0195 or for more information visit: www.palmcourt.co.uk/#/summer-social-tea. Website: www.johnpianoman.co.uk; Facebook: facebook.com/JohnPianomanWatson ; YouTube: www.youtube.com/johnpianoman ; Twitter: http://twitter.com /johnpianoman ; Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnpianoman. Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpianoman
Jazz Culture Artists Performing This Week
Murray Wall, Pasquale Grasso at Jules, George Gee at Swing 46 6
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KUNI MIKAMI, Pianist is also an acclaimed, talented Videographer Special Introductory Sale: Five Minute Edited (with music) Video Resume for Performers $300 Contact Kuni @: 123mime@gmail.com
Artist must provide: • Good quality HD video on computer file • Good recorded audio sound • A photo of yourself • Text you want to see on the video
Kim Clarke leads a Tribute to George Duke and others at the Kitchen on Wed., July 3, Luciano Fabris in Rome, David Pearl at Thalia & Sophie's, Charles McPherson at the Jazz Standard July 10,Joe Magnarelli leads a late session at Small's on Sun., July 6, Leroy Williams at Minton's, The Jazz Culture, V.III:27
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INTERVIEW WITH "SWEET" SUE TERRY
1. Jazz Culture ("JC"): Where were you born and what was your early music education? How did you get interested in jazz? Sue Terry ("ST"): I was born in Springfield Massachusetts– the same as Phil Woods! My family moved to Connecticut when I was very young. I began playing clarinet when I was 9, saxophone at 12. 2. JC: Who were your teachers? Do you have musicians in your family? ST: I started on accordion when I was five, but I never liked it. I wanted to play woodwinds. I began studying privately while in high school. My first clarinet teacher was William Roos. He was a taskmaster, always insisting on the correct articulation for the classical etudes and pieces I was working on. I thought it was a real pain at the time, but of course later on that attention to detail became invaluable. I studied jazz saxophone with Robert Kolb, who had a gorgeous alto sound and was a very accomplished player. I studied piano and theory with Gay 8
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Mehegan, then later with her ex, the renowned pianist and educator John Mehegan. After high school I learned from many people over the years: Barry Harris, Jackie McLean, Paul Jeffrey and so many more, including my mentors Clifford Jordan and Junior Cook. As far as my family, I got my first clarinet from my cousin Larry, who played for years. I had other cousins who played music. My father was an avid music fan and had an eclectic record collection that I delved into frequently. He was also the caller for the American Square Dance Group in New York City, and knew many of the musicians on the folk circuit like Pete Seeger, Margot Mayo, Stew Jamison, Lee Hays. My mother loved music and fooled around with various instruments, including guitar and banjo. 3. JC: You seem to have several income streams. Do you find they complement each other? Do you publish e-books? ST: My most popular instruction book is called Practice Like the Pros, and it comes with 2 CDs. All my books are available at Amazon. I now have my own book imprint as well as my own record label, Qi Note. Everyone reaches a point in their life where they want to spend more time doing exactly what they like doing. I like playing, recording, composing, writing books, teaching, making films and videos, and practicing and competing in tournaments in the martial art ofTaiji Quan. So that's what I do. 4. JC: What players inspired you the most? ST: When I was 12 I discovered jazz from listening to WRVR FM out of New York. I distinctly remember hearing certain musicians for the very first time–Clifford Brown and Ben Webster, for instance– and being blown away. I started reading books about jazz. They said Charlie Parker and Lester young were important, so I'd go to Klein's and Caldor's record departments and buy Bird The Jazz Culture, V.III:27
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and Prez albums with my allowance money, and money I got from my paper route. Incidentally, back in the day when big stores had record departments, they had clerks working there who were very knowledgeable. Often they were musicians themselves, so you could get advice from them about which albums to get. As far as saxophonists, besides the others I've mentioned I would say that Dexter Gordon and Coltrane were my major influences. 5. JC: You seem to be traveling a lot. What countries do you go to and do you have a manager or do you do your own booking? ST: Over the years I've played all over North America, Europe and Japan. These days I book jobs myself, or I'll get calls from promoters and then I'll see if I can work it into my schedule. Sometimes I work with a colleague's band, then I don't have to do the booking. Next summer I'll be performing in Alaska for the third time, with pianist Peggy Stern. (We have a duo that we sometimes augment with other players when we tour.) I also travel in South America frequently, where I am the Artist in Residence at the Jazz Society of Ecuador. Last summer I did a national tour there for the State Department, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Quito. 6. JC: How did you develop your own style? What are your ambitions in music that you have only partially fulfilled. ST: I focused on my sound. I did in-depth studies of the musicians and compositions I liked. I study singers a lot. My ambitions? There are some musicians I'd like to work with someday, among them Victor Wooten, Fernando Otero, and Hermeto Pascoal. I'd like to do more jazz soloist + strings concerts, as I've done in the past with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Hartford Symphony and the Florida Pops. I'd like to tour China, and combine the concerts with visits to some of the sites associated with martial arts, like the Shaolin 10
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Temple. 7. JC: What do you think of jazz as a world music and what about its future? ST: Jazz definitely belongs to the world now. As long as players, singers and composers Sue Terry continue to create in this Saxophonist/Clarinetist genre––and they will, because it is the only type of music that incorporates every musical skill that exists––jazz will continue to evolve and expand. This is evident in my community in the Pocono Mountains, for example, where for over thirty years students have been mentored by some of the great artists living here. Many young musicians who are making a name for themselves came out of this community, including Bobby Avey, Matt Vashlishan, Jay Rattman, Nellie McKay, Evan Gregor, Najwa Parkins, Dan Wilkins, Adam Niewood, and the list goes on. Students come from all over to participate in our COTA Camp Jazz that takes place every July. 8. JC: Would you recommend your favorite cd that you have done and say why. ST: Recently I released a Greatest Hits CD that's pretty interesting because it features selections from all six of my leader recordings. It includes solo saxophone, improvised duets on clarinet, my original music, my vocals, both live and studio stuff, and a bonus track from an NPR radio broadcast I did with Billy Taylor's trio. I have a new live CD coming out on the Deer Head Records label later this year. It features Vic Juris, Tony Marino, Ron Thomas and Bill Goodwin. I love how it came out because we really combined composition with spontaneous composition, and it was all done in front of a live audience. The Jazz Culture, V.III:27
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9. JC: Do you think being a woman you have had less offers or opportunities and did that inspire you to be more proactive and cultivate your own following and business life. ST: I think if you can play, you will be accepted by your peers. I never focused on gender differences. I just try to play the best I can and associate myself with colleagues whom I respect. It's easy to make excuses about why you didn't get this or that opportunity. I find a better approach is to take responsibility for yourself and not blame your problems on other people, or society. 10. JC: Do you have any advice for younger players. ST: Yes. I put a lot of it in my new documentary short film, "The Source." Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Qj1ZwYoaM www.sueterry.net Jazz Culture Subscribers Playing This Week
Richard Clements, Lafayette Harris, Kenny Gates and Bertha Hope, pianists 12
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Connie MacNamee at Zeb's
On June 18, Connie MacNamee sang with Saul Zebulon Rubin, Murray Wall, Jimmy Wormworth at Zeb's, a loft in Chelsea that features singers on Wednesday nights before a jam. 14
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