JAZZ CULTURE
The New York Jazz Project In These Pages‐Review Dawn Hampton's Birthday 2‐3 England Event‐J. Watson 3‐4 How To Make a CD that May Outlive You J. Magnarelli 4‐5 Jam Review by Singers 6‐7 Jazz Heritage Chris Anderson, B. Harris 6‐7 Let's Link 8 info@newyorkjazzproject.com http://newyorkjazzproject.com
REVIEW
CHARLES McPHERSON QUINTET
Charles McPherson at The Jazz Standard
Caught Charles McPherson Quintet at the Jazz Standard, Sunday June 10. Charles McPherson, alto saxophone, Brian Lynch, trumpet, Jeb Patton, piano, Ray Drummond, bass, Billy Drummond, drums. Due to a confusing online listing, we only caught half of the last set. “Sweet & Lovely,” a medium swing, started with a bass vamp; the trumpet played the A section while the saxophone played the bridge. On the second chorus Mr. McPherson opened up the song and while retaining a relationship to the original melody took it to his own harmonic stratosphere. Mr. Lynch’s trumpet solo started in a bop vein but resorted to scale patterns while displaying a lot of ease on his instrument. Billy Drummond has a beautiful sheer sound as a drummer and Ray Drummond played heartfelt lines filling out the sound palette, both Jazz Culture by !YJP Vol I:8
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giving good support. Jeb Patton engaged in lyric scalar musings with a mostly 60’s orientation, sometimes doubling the tempo, and doing some exuberant chording. Mr. McPherson restated the theme regaining his normal tone quality, (he was dealing with a chipped mouthpiece) which is a very beautiful, full alto sound. The song ended on a toggle vamp on bass, the horns on a long tone. See jazz@charlesmcpherson.com
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DAWN HAMPTON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Friday, June 8, 2012
Dawn Hampton holding the Emmy Award with Dir. Julie Cohen; crowds dance to George Gee's Swing Orchestra
Dawn Hampton looked every bit the Star at her Birthday Party, holding an Emmy won in 2012 by the "Unforgettable Hampton Family" documentary, which recounts one of the best bands of the US, the Deacon Hampton's Pickaninys, a territory band of which she was a part. Her father, Deacon Hampton, formed a territory band composed of his 12 children, who learned to play an instrument as soon as they could hold one. Dawn Hampton became a cabaret performer in Greenwich Village who could dance and also whistle. Dawn Hampton has performed with Barry Manilow, Bette Midler and Cab Calloway. The Hampton Family band toured the midwest and south and also performed at the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre and Carnegie Hall. Most New Yorkers in and around the jazz world know Slide or Locksley Wellington Hampton, the world famous trombonist, big band leader, leader of World of Trombones and Grammy-winning p.2
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arranger, for many years. Mr. Hampton when given the opportunity always tells people that his brothers and sisters were much more talented than he was. This documentary, which exposed an important part of American history and Afro-American contribution to American culture, aired recently on Channel 13, gives cameos of Dawn, Slide, Aletra and Virtue Hampton and interludes of what is left of the whole family performing together. Directed by Julie Cohen. 27 minutes. Dawn Hampton's birthday party was held at Dance Manhattan on 19th Street. Guests ate the gourmet food with gusto, and hundreds of dancers dressed in their finest packed the floor to George Gee's Swing Orchestra, making merry through the night.
ENGLAND EVENT
by John Watson
A jazz musician's life in London is probably quite similar to New York in that it is full of contrasts. One night you are playing for peanuts in a jazz club or bar (hopefully to an appreciative and demonstrative audience) and the next night you are in the lap of luxury. The Dorchester John Watson The latter applies to my night Photo: Max Garr at The Dorchester performing with a quartet featuring Alex Garnett on sax, Steve Rose on bass, Helder Pack on drums and yours truly on a grand piano (hired in for the occasion). We were booked by a rich, jazz-loving client to perform for about 100 guests in the Gold & Silver Rooms. We performed mostly straight ahead jazz numbers such as 'Killer Joe' with some Latin numbers such as "Song For My Father" to showcase Mozambique (via Portugal) drummer Helder Pack's Jazz Culture by !YJP Vol I:8
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style. It was great to work with Alex Garnett again. We recently bumped into each other at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club (when I was performing there with Mica Paris) as Alex is a regular member of the house band; "The Ronnie Scott's All Stars". Alex became well known as a member of "Ray Gelato's Giants" (a Louis Prima style swing band) but left to pursue his own projects including his début album "Serpent" recorded in famous Brooklyn studio "Systems Two". Completing the line-up on bass was Steve Rose who has played with the likes of Benny Golson and Joe Lovano. This was not my regular line-up but playing with such a great collection of musicians always draws something new out of you.
Mica Paris at Ronnie Scott’s, March 29-31, 2012
Ronnie Scott’s is the most well known club in London. Located on Frith Street, right in the heart of Soho,it plays host to the best of British and US blues, jazz and soul artists. The original club was opened by British modern jazz sax player Ronnie Scott, and fellow tenor player Peter King in 1959 inspired by Ronnie’s trips to 52nd Street in New York. At the end of March, I had the privilege of performing at Ronnie Scott’s as musical director (piano/keyboard/vocal) for British soul artist Mica Paris. We did five sell-out shows over three nights (one show on Thursday and two shows on Friday and Saturday). Like most jazz clubs, the layout is intimate, with some tables right in front of the musicians. Tables further away are on raised sections (to the right and left) for better viewing whilst other customers sit or stand by the bar at the back of the club. The audience was extremely receptive but I did feel sorry for the support band on Friday and Saturday (which featured Carl Orr on electric guitar) who did a set from 7:15 and 8 pm, and then had to wait until after our second show before starting their second set at 12:45! If you are planning a trip to London, Ronnie Scott’s is well worth the visit! *** Ed.: John Watson is a gifted English jazz pianist who has a steady gig at The Langham, a premiere London hotel with an exquisite restaurant where for a drink or soda, you can hear the John Watson Trio every p.4
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weekend. Surpassing New York, London’s hotel industry supports jazz events and groups. John Watson also serves as musical director for various singers, and has a growing discography and popularity. A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, John Watson has performed in many different situations, from hotels to jazz clubs, from festivals to parties. These include: Four Seasons Hotel London, The Dorchester Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Pizza Express Club Soho, Hammersmith Apollo, JVC Jazz Festival Paris, Grand Hotel du Cap Ferat Music Festival and St. Regis Hotel New York. John is a “triple threat”-- singer, pianist and keyboardist, accompanist and long time music director of Leee John and legendary 80’s group Imagination. Through popular demand, he has recorded and released several albums. Most recently the JW3 Live at the Langham, (available for download) features his jazz trio and was recorded at the Palm Court,The Langham, London, where John is currently resident pianist and musical director. www.johnpianoman.co.uk Myspace.com/johnawatson; youtube.com/johnpianoman; twitter.com/johnpianoman;facebook.com/johnwatson/78494720527 How To Make a CD that May Outlive You
by Joe Magnarelli My Old Flame:
Songs: My Old Flame, I’ll Be Seeing You, Highbridge, eracism, The Duke, Blues for Joe Magnarelli at performance ‘Skee” (Dennis Irwin), When Your Lover Has Gone, Bilbao, McChesney Park. With Quintet & 16 Strings. Quintet Personnel: Joe Magnarelli, T, Jimmy Wormsworth, D, Rick Germanson, P, David Wong, B, Jazz Culture by !YJP Vol I:8
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Dick Oatts, S, Peter Bernstein, G, Vince Cherico, D, Wilson “Chemo� Corneil & Daniel Sadownick, Percussion. Arranger: Marty Sheller. Released in 2010. My Old Flame, a recording with strings, was about a two year process. Being a fan of Clifford Brown with Strings, and of course Charlie Parker with strings, I had imagined myself in that context for many years. But, actually thinking about making it happen started in 2008, I have a good friend who plays violin, Efrat Shapira, she started turning me on to the Emerson String Quartet, and Bartok string quartets, and she was encouraging me to do something with strings. My Old Flame was a project that took about two years to complete. I was studying ( and still am) out of orchestration books at the time, 2008, and was putting some 'pads' down on paper to a couple of my favorite ballads. I realized then that my own writing would not be ready for many years. That's when I called Marty Sheller, my friend, and someone I had worked for in the recording studio. A great orchestrator and composer, and very well known in the Latin jazz genre. I also thought a cd of just ballads was not what I wanted, [and] Marty agreed, so we included 2 of my originals, and, Marty did a great thing with Dave Brubeck's " the duke", making it a Cha-Cha. Overall I think there is a good variety of moods on the cd. I contacted violinist Genice Grice, the wife of my good friend Tony Reedus. She helped organize the string players, since I knew only a couple, and we did the date all in two days with one day of rehearsal. Marty's writing is so beautiful, he created beautiful settings for all the tunes. We had the easy part, just play and have fun. The months preceding the recording, I spent a lot of time practicing, and memorizing the string parts. Not only did I feel more connected at the date, but I learned so much about orchestration. It was a learning experience, producing, contracting, playing and composing. See JoeMagnarelli.com p.6
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Review of Lenox Lounge Singers' Jam
The Lenox Lounge Singers’ Jam is on Sundays at 7. Lafayette Harris, piano, Alex Hernandez, bass, Russell Carter, drums. Participants feel the vibes of the historic art noveau room decorated with black and white tiger stripes, a Lafayette Harris Trio grand piano. Open since 1939, the Lenox Lounge is a landmark of jazz history. The atmosphere is friendly, supportive and relaxed. Mr. Harris started off with a blues, soloing well, his trio giving attentive support, with trumpeter Jon Barnes sitting in. They played “As Time Goes By” with Mr. Harris giving a fine personal articulation and rendition, and ended the set with a bright “Cherokee.” The host, Mr. Harris, was exceptionally warm towards the audience, both to newcomers, regulars and helping one new singer synch with the band. Although ten were asked to participate in the survey, two said no, this survey has the answers of eight. 1. Wait time: All the singers said most of the time, they waited only 1-2 hours or less. 2. Quality of musicians: 7 said “Excellent” 1 said, “Good.” 3. Service: 3 said “Okay,” 3 said “Good,” 2 said “Excellent.” 4. Ambience: 1 said “Okay, 1 said “Good,” 3 said “Excellent,” others did not comment. To improve the jam, three said they would like to do two songs together. One singer said screening people out if they did not know the melody. Another would like to see a featured singer as part of the whole jam. Finally, one said management should allow using the minimum toward food or drink; now singers pay $5 admit, and a 2 drink minimum. Jazz Culture by !YJP Vol I:8
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The quintet played “The Journey” an original, at about 250=quarter note, a post progressive work with percussive long tunes making up most of the melody. Mr. Lynch played several choruses, opening up, playing well on his full range, with a small focused sound, and nice combination of rhythms, maintaining a high energy level. Mr. McPherson started the solo with short, clipped, rhythmic comments that grew into longer extended lines, was at home with the full range on his instrument, seeming to tell his life story, with many twists and turns, only using a pattern to descend to another register and segue to a change of motif. The soloists all were in the post progressive mode of playing, the pianist seemed to be overjoyed to be there, in a stream of consciousness type mode, using a combination of whole tone, altered 7th scales and pentatonic ideas. Then the sax and trumpet played at the same time, like the New Orleans musicians used to do, giving the effect of a travelling band, with effective coloring and accenting by the drummer on snares and the bass, ending in a cacophony of high notes. Starting with a cadenza as an intro, Mr. McPherson segued into a slow blues, which he is one of the true masters of, playing a long series of arpeggiated figures that led to short, penetrating motifs at times into a pealing rhapsody. Brian Lynch who has evolved a great deal overall, used primarily the blues scale in several formats. The pianist Jeb Patton wove the blues scale with ease into triplet filled lines, sometimes chording effectively in simple riffs on the blues scale. Mr. Ray Drummond soloed consistently well throughout the set, with a woody tone, mainly in his lower middle register, playing pretty ideas. Then, due to the acclaim of the audience for this Saxophone Master, the group played an encore, “7th Dimension” another McPherson original. The “7th Dimension” title captures the mood of the piece, a sort of jazz express in which jazz cats travel through unseen dimensions. Mr. McPherson starting with a 3 note motif, explored his way through outer spaces on a bumpy jazz train, was given the beautiful percussive effects of Billy Drummond, with the solid, soulful McPherson Review cont. from p.2
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heartbeat of Ray Drummond on bass and enthusiasm of the jazz incrowd.
JAZZ HERITAGE
Comments by Barry Harris
PART II:
I think he could play a tune 2-3 times in a row and it would be different. That’s the kind of cat he was. Chris Anderson at rehearsal Never did the same thing twice on a song. The way he did things, he gave me changes. I wanted to write an accompaniment for him. He was entirely different, [the way] he gave me changes, [an] entirely different way to use the harmony-his was more [correct] than what people play today. They think Stella starts with a 2-5. Stella starts with a diminished major 7th, that’s how it starts. He knew that. He didn’t believe in 2-5 for everything, he gave me changes that had nothing to do with 2-5. It’s really funny. I couldn’t tell you the first time I heard him. How we started with the concerts, what it was, I knew him cause he stayed at Nica’s a couple of times, he stayed here. One time he had gone to California with Billy Higgins, he played a lot and came back and wasn’t doing nothin’, had no gigs. We were friends. He called me one day and said, “I was in California and I come back here and don’t do anything.” I said, “Don’t feel like that. We gotta find things for you to do, I’ll put you on my concerts.” I wanted to make him happy... Whenever I thought of giving a concert I’d call Chris to give me the changes. I’d write the changes, they’d Jazz Culture by !YJP Vol I:8
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always be right. He was my peer. No way wrong. Show you things you didn’t know before. A blind person listens to music differently, they listen different than us. We look with our eyes. When [Chris] sat down at the piano he couldn’t look at his hands. He had to look up with his mind, of course his hearing was better. It shouldn’t be that way--we should have our hearing as well developed, as properly. [Sometimes] I would come to my house wake up and put a blindfold on and learn so I couldn’t look at the keys. His senses were more developed than ours. The greatest thing I learned from Chris. This is hard to explain. I used to take a chord and roll it upwards. But Chris rolled downwards. I learned how to roll downwards, “Oh yeah, that’s the way Chris would do it. That’s the way he played chords. We Remember Dr. Frank Foster
QUOTATION:
Dr. Frank Foster Photo: Brian McMillen
"The connection between one generation of jazz musicians and the next is stronger than a steel chain." Junior Cook
Memorial Tribute to Wade Barnes, drummer June 18th at St. Peter's on 54 St. & Lex.Ave. Three Live Bands
________________ Person at left, Lionelle Hamanaka, Publisher
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Let's Link
See BarryHarris.com Congratulations, Jazz Culture! Kuni Mikami, pianist see kunimikami.com CD Baby "Hamp's Boogie" Clarence Banks, Count Basie Trombonist, Private Lessons, Clinics, call 917-428-6746
See RickStone.com
See LafayetteHarris.com
Jim Malloy, Ray Brown, Jr., son of Ella Fitzgerald & Ray Brown Singer at Rum Juneteenth Jazz Splash Fest Dir. M. House Cannon on 6/16�17 in Mayer, AZ. See: Arcosanti.org
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Future issues of Jazz Culture will contain reviews by participants of singers' jams, an article by Dado Moroni on world jazz, an article by Clarence Banks on trombone playing, an article by Kuni Mikami on jazz in Japan, and articles by Ron Carter on jazz education and an article by Howard Rees on jazz in Canada.
Benefit for Westpark Church by !Y Jazz Project May 20, 2012 "7 Ages ofWoman" by Joan Wile
Emily McCloskey, DeeDee McCloskey, & Joan Wile starring at Westpark Church
MUSICIAN CORRESPONDENTS BARRY HARRIS JAZZ WORKSHOP I ROMA FROM 17 TO 21 SEPTEMBER 2012 I FO:A APA TUSO @HOTMAIL.COM PHO E +39 3393383139
Luciano Fabris, Pianist-composer, producer Maggie Malone, Freelance !YC singer p.12
Jazz Workshop at Felt Club in Rome
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