JAZZ CULTURE The New York Jazz Project
In These Pages‐Review 1‐2 Wade Barnes Memorial 3‐6 England Event‐J. Watson 7‐8 How To Make a CD that May Outlive You J. Magnarelli 9‐10 "The Unforgettable Hamptons" An Emmy Winning Film about the Hampton Family Jazz Heritage 10‐15 Let's Link 16 info@newyorkjazzproject.com info@thejazzculture.com
Art Baron, Trombone, Greg Staton, Sax, Bill Wurtzel, Guitar, Chip Jackson, Bass, & Jackie Williams, Drums at Whole Foods on 97th Street, on Friday June 22, 2012 Photo: Richard Williams
REVIEW
Art Baron Quintet
June 22, 2012 Caught the Art Baron Quintet at Whole Foods, on June 22, 5-7 p.m., part of the Summer Series at that locale. Art Baron, Trombone, Fred Staton, Tenor Sax, Bill Wurtzel, Guitar, Chip Jackson, bass, Jackie Williams, drums. The group focused on standards like “Summertime” and the blues. The concert series is funded by the Jazz Foundation, that has aided countless musicians who were sick or suffered the plight of musicians who had no pensions. The musician leaders who have recuperated are eligible for slots in their concert series under a special Foundation grant. On entering, we heard Jackie Williams performing a fiery solo, playing with great spirit and finesse, better than he played 30 years ago with Doc Cheatham at Sweet Basil. Mr. Baron has a big blarey sound that filled the space, which is quite large, and Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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acoustically amorphous. The group had a good crowd that filled the sit down space. “In a Mellow Tone” Mr. Staton soloed pleasantly in the swing style with a pretty tone in the darker part of his register over Mr. Williams crisp impeccable drumming, overcoming the sound deficits of the corner in which the group was crammed. Mr. Wurtzel played some notes above the chord and descended into some bluesy comments. The bass strummed a few chords in the lower register on the rhythmic ideas of the song, choosing a few syncopated licks and repeating them. The group then followed Mr. Baron trading 8s, then 4s, with Messrs. Jackson and Williams holding a rock steady beat. Mr. Baron theatrically used his trombone to conduct the ending. “St. Thomas” –Jackie Williams gave a real island feel to this Sonny Rollins calypso. Unfortunately Mr. Staton could not be heard due to poor sound on the mike. Mr. Baron soloed on the upbeat, with good punctuation capturing the spirit of the song. Mr. Wurtzel played a lot of 6 against 4 rhythmic groups on unison notes, and restated the theme. Mr. Williams played the melody on the drums and then used some rhythmic inversions before the band broke out into the theme again. “In a Sentimental Mood” Mr. Baron using a plunger mute, played the melody in the Ellington style, conveying the sentimentality, sensuous and ethereal qualities of the song. Mr. Staton used his lovely tone to restate the melody. Mr. Wurtzel restated the melody also and broke off to comment on it, climbing up the scale and descending in a bluesy line. The group then double timed till halfway through the song and at the second half restated the beautiful melody, ending in a short cadenza by Mr. Baron. Whole Foods has jazz concerts (that the public loves) at several venue in the NY area, and could buy a moveable shell to place behind the band to improve the acoustics. Whole Foods could buy one shell and move it around in one of their trucks. Pitch, tone quality, and dynamics are affected by the acoustics of the space. 2
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WADE BARNES MEMORIAL AT ST. PETER'S CHURCH
On Monday, June 18, a memorial took place at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC for Wade Barnes, drummer, composer, arranger and educator. Mr. Barnes had four groups: The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (BRE), Word on the Street; Unit Structures ; and the Bottom Line Ensemble (that played at Wade Barnes in Performance the Fat Cat and the Moldy Fig). Eugene Ghee was the MC, producer, and also played. Naima Barnes, Mr. Barnes' daughter, welcomed everyone. The first combo was Word on the Street Bill Saxton (the only original member of the group) on tenor saxophone, Bertha Hope, piano, Saadi Zain, bass, and Dwayn "Cook" Broadnax on drums. "Wade liked Monk," Mr. Saxton said, before playing "Evidence" a percussive medium swing. Mr. Saxton played "Evidence" as an elegy with spirit, like a furious driver in the Bill Saxton neighborhood streets. Ms. Patricia Deans from the Brownsville Heritage House, lauded Mr. Barnes’ passion for music and work with children. Todd Weeks of Local 802 recounted several Barnes' anecdotes. Joe Petrucelli, Ms. Patricia Deans, Brownsville (Associate Director of the Jazz Heritage House Foundation) spoke, calling Mr. Barnes a "presiding spirit at the jam session on Mondays, a person Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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of 'Pragmatic Optimism.'" Then Andrea Duplesis, Chairman of the Board of Mr. Barnes' nonprofit, read tributes, testament to Mr. Barne’s initiative, business talent, and devotion to his goals, and the mission statement of his 501©3. Bertha Hope A film was shown of New Orleans children at a seminar, dancing while musicians Tulivu Cumberbatch, Bertha Hope, Gene Ghee, Julian Pressley, Bill Ware, Yoshiki Miura, Saadi Zain, Mark Taylor and Wade Barnes played. The seminar showed how "perpetuating the last chapter of African history, … after Unit Structures, see Musicians listed they left Africa took their below aesthetic all over the world." Part of this African diaspora came through dance, e.g. the Charleston. Unit Structures was next, playing “Johnny Come Lately” and “Peace.” Bertha Hope was on piano, Saadi Zain on bass, Jaime Affoumado on drums, Bill Ware on vibraphone, Tulivu Cumberbatch on vocals, Julian Pressley on alto saxophone, Marshall Seally (on french horn), and Gene Ghee on tenor saxophone. "Johnny Come Lately" by Billy Strayhorn, is a Tuliva Cumberbatch, Vocalist pungent and harmonically thrilling medium up swing. Marshall Seally had a sweet tone on French horn. Mr. Ghee’s solo depicted someone driven by pursuit of an elusive ideal. Ms. 4
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Cumberbatch sang "Peace" by Horace Silver beautifully, with fine intonation, spirituality and tone quality, with a lovely solo by Mr. Ghee, and a pensive solo by bassist Saadi Zain. Pianist Terence Conley received a standing ovation as he made his re-debut on a blues. Mr. Conley played with Saadi Zain on bass and Dave Gibson on drums. Gabriel Romance , a close friend, said a few words about Wade and sang a Mr. & Mrs. Terence beautiful version of "We'll Be Together Conley Again". The Bottom Line Ensemble was next with Bertha Hope on piano, Bill Ware on vibraphone, Saadi Zain on bass, Jaime Affoumado on drums, Richard Rivers on congas, Ralph
The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble, see list ofMusicians below
Hamperian on tuba, Dick Griffin on trombone, Kiane Zawadi on euphonium, Julian Pressley on baritone saxophone and Gene Ghee on tenor saxophone. (Kiane Zawadi was on the original recording of Crisis on Freddie Hubbard's "Ready for Freddie" album.) They performed "Lost" by Wayne Shorter, and "Crisis" by Freddie Hubbard, a song emanating danger. The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble played Tom Olin’s arrangement of ""Mr. Knight" written for Brooklyn pianist Joe Knight by John Coltrane. The song featured Tom Olin on soprano saxophone and Marshall Seally on French horn. This song sounded like a forward moving army, ending in a vamp Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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and whispering horns and percussion. The musicians were: Bertha Hope on piano, Bill Ware on vibraphone, Saadi Zain on bass, Dave Gibson and Mike Campeni on drums, Richard Rivers on congas, Tom Olin on soprano saxophone, Don Payne on clarinet, Yousuke Sato on alto saxophone, Will Orzo and Marshall Seally on French horns, Ralph Hamperian on tuba, Jack Jeffers on bass trombone, Dick Griffin on trombone, Kiane Zawadi on euphonium, Ryo Sasaki on trumpet, Gene Ghee on tenor Eugene Ghee, MC, Producer, saxophone and Tulivu Tenor Saxophonist Cumberbatch on vocals, singing "Mockingbird," arranged by Wade Barnes. The original bass player of the Brooklyn 4 + One and the BRE was Leonard Gaskin, who played on the original recording of “Mockingbird.” Julian Pressley played a haunting solo on Mockingbird,” and Dick Griffin soloed well. Ms. Hope played a beautiful lyric solo. Then they played a Barnes original, "Little Big Sis,” and an imaginative Barnes arrangement of "Blowing in the Wind," the horn lines waving like wind, adding an ethereal aura to the song. Ms. Cumberbatch sang in a lyric plaintive fashion. At the end of the ceremony, Wade Barnes’ daughter Naima thanked all who participated in the tribute. Lionelle Hamanaka, Publisher/see lionellehamanaka. com
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ENGLAND EVENT
GIG REVIEW by John Watson
Band: Dave Lewis' 1 Up. Venue: Pizza Express Jazz Club
Soho, London, UK. Sunday, 17th June 2012 Dave Lewis is an experienced and versatile sax player on the London scene. One John Watson, Pianist, Arranger, night he can be found performing Musical Director, Singer with a big band playing Dizzie Photo: Max Garr Gillespie transcriptions, and the next with a rock or blues band. However, last weekend I caught him performing with his own band Dave Lewis’ 1 Up at Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho (just a street away from Ronnie Scott’s). Before we go any further; some of my American friends laugh when I mention “pizza” and “jazz” in the same sentence. However, Pizza Express has been putting on live jazz since the 1960’s and continues to host gigs in several venues in London and across the UK. The Soho venue is in the basement of the main restaurant and holds about 100 people. Back to Dave Lewis’ 1 Up: the band opened their set with a Crusaders’ piece entitled "Stomp and Buck" (rather suitable as Dave cites the Crusaders as one of the main inspirations for the band). The band was then joined by vocalist Polly Gibbons in the first of several originals by Dave Lewis and Fi Carrioll entitled "Turn It Around." Polly’s husky voice perfectly suited the line-up whether on funky numbers or more sensitive ballads. Sean Hargreaves was an unobtrusive but very supportive accompanist on both grand piano and electric (Wurlitzer). Sean studied briefly with the late, great Oscar Peterson. Mike Outram (electric guitar) played some amazing solos and bassist Neville Malcolm got the Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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chance to shine in "East Coast Strut" ( another funky Lewis original). American drummer Rod Youngs certainly kept the energy going and was perfectly complimented by percussionist Pete Eckford. I was seated near Pete and couldn’t help noticing how he never over-played and yet got it just right for every number (like a first take in the studio). As for the leader of the band; Dave moved effortlessly from funk to ballad to blues. Talking of which, his solo in "Dr. Feelgood" really brought the house down. I asked Dave what were his personal influences and he listed Joe Henderson, Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine and Junior Walker as saxophonists he admired. If you would like more information on Dave Lewis' 1 Up go to: http://www.davelewis1up.com/ and for more information on live music at Pizza Express go to: http://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/ Line-Up: Dave Lewis (tenor sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals); Sean Hargreaves (piano/el. pno.); Mike Outram (electric guitar); Neville Malcolm (el. bass); Rod Youngs (drums);Pete Eckford (percussion) Set List: "Stomp and Buck" (Crusaders); "Turn It Round" (by Dave Lewis & Fi Carroll - title track from previous album); "The Further You Fall" (by Dave Lewis & Fi Carroll); "Take A LIttle Time" (by Dave Lewis & Fi Carroll - original)" Dr. Feelgood" (Aretha Franklin); "Hurt Inside" (original);"Deep Underground" ( by Dave Lewis and Fi Carroll); "The Thrill Has Gone" (B.B. King) "It's A Real Motha For You" (Johnny 'Guitar' Watson); "East Coast Strut" (original - great bass solo from Neville Macolm); "Love Gives"; "Ain't It True"; "Rock Steady" – Aretha Franklin .
QUOTATION:
"Practice a Million Hours." -Junior Cook, Saxophonist "You can't take offwithout a launching pad." -Lonnie Hillyer, Trumpeter
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BARRY HARRIS JAZZ WORKSHOP I ROMA Sept. 17-21, 2012 Info:A APA TUSO
@HOTMAIL.COM Tel.: +39 3393383139
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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 ‘Skee” (Dennis Joe Magnarelli 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, 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 Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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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
JAZZ HERITAGE
“The Unforgettable
Hampton Family”
Director of Emmy Award Winning Film Talks About Hampton Family
Dawn Hampton & Julie Cohen, holding an Emmy Award 1 0
Part I: Note: The African American territory bands from the 1920’s-60’s disseminated jazz throughout the Midwest. There were Caucasian territory bands but not primarily in that section of the country. There were a few integrated bands like The Sweethearts of Rhythm. In the 1920’s, territory bands travelled by station wagon with another vehicle
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behind. There were 900 dance bands in 1924, providing jobs for 7,200 musicians. The Hampton Family Band has produced 80 years of musicians, spanning blues, swing, bebop. The father, Deacon Hampton, was a self taught musician. The mother Fans live it up at Dawn Hampton's birthday party, dancing to the Laura played piano. “The strains of George Gee's Swing Unforgettable Hampton Orchestra Family” breaks away from many commercial films in the past, in which scripts portrayed African Americans only in subservient roles and not depicting their contributions to history. Director Julie Cohen, an experienced prize-winning documentarian, shared the story of the making of “The Unforgettable Hampton Family:” Julie Cohen, Director [JC]: “I did not know her [Dawn] well when I started the project. I had earlier done a documentary about Frankie Manning and in the course of doing that I saw great footage of the two of them dancing together, and then I saw Dawn as one of a number of people who danced at Frankie’s memorial service. And [Dawn] made a grand entrance as only she knows how to do and seemed like such a remarkable person… “[Then] I went to a workshop she made on bhangra [dance] and Dawn was so entertaining on that I knew she would make a wonderful interview. I had not known until that point about her wonderful siblings and the family band they had together as children, and in fact, [that] a number of them had gone on to great musical careers separately. On You Tube, I was able to find footage of her sisters in Indianapolis, Aletra and Virtue, (who had passed away by the time I started the project) on piano and bass duets. They were extraordinary performers and it was quite unexpected to see women in their 90’s play the bass with such verve and style…I was not aware that her brother was Slide Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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Hampton the prominent trombonist. That and her own family story seemed like a strong basis for a film. I was also producing for a New York audience, and Dawn had spent had own her history performing in Greenwich Village, and that opened the door to an interesting world that I hadn’t known about -the Gay music scene in 60s and 70s, of which she was a major part. Dawn Hampton dances at Swing So we spent some time trying to 46 recently find a fan of hers from that era, that we could interview alongside her. There were three big sit down interviews, one with her and (her brother) Maceo, (one with) George Gee, and one with a fan of hers from Greenwich Village scene, Freeman Gunter. Dawn is the sort of person who has a skill for interacting with others, so she was good to interview. “I guess it was sort of Dawn in some ways (who) suggested the theme in a couple of interviews; in terms of crediting, really, all of the success, both in terms of public recognition, but also in terms of personal satisfaction, tying [that] back to her extraordinary father, (Clark Deacon Hampton) and his attitudes towards his own life and family. Despite coming from extremely difficult circumstances, having almost no money and being African American at a time when that would raise huge barriers to education, professionally, [in] almost every area of life, even without any formal education, [Deacon Hampton] had an agenda that he put forth himself for his wife and kids. ‘I have a plan of how my kids are gonna make it in this world, through becoming performing artists.’ [Deacon Hampton] he did not take the time to let the kids grow up, he just—‘One way we would lift the family out of poverty would be through performing, that is one way whites are able to accept blacks, that would be a way that I can provide for my family and they can provide for themselves.’ 1 2
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“The father [Deacon Hampton] had extraordinary talent, but the kids did not necessarily have it. Slide said he was not innately talented, [it was that] he worked hard [at things] that seemed to come easier to his other siblings’ pure musical talent. “Dawn has extreme musical talent; now she does her whistling and teaching dance, but she was a great singer, saxophone player, [doubled on] other instruments, the kids had more than one, [so they could spell each other]. Her real talent is as a Dawn Hampton performer, which is evident from the fact that although certain parts have dropped out of her performing, due to thyroid problems in the 60’s, as she grew older, singing was not an option, but it was easy for Dawn to shift to teaching and dancing. Her stage presence was her skill, captivating the audience onstage. And that goes back to her father who was teaching her and Maceo (closest in age) how to do vaudeville performing. “[He taught them that] In front of an audience you have to give them a full entertainment experience, and she has a great talent for public speaking. [for example,] Since the film came out she and I have done some Q&A’s. She is really good at that, she really understands how to talk about things that would be of interest to an audience. She stands up and gestures with her hands until people really do give her a standing ovation; [or] the way she dresses.” “Dawn has a complete understanding of performance magnetism and entertainment. [It is] Not just an act. I have done a number of documentaries about performing artists, and it isn’t uncommon [for a person] to be a great performer onstage, but when the show is over or the camera turns off, the person is not one who loves interacting with people. Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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“But Dawn has the same personality onstage that she has under the camera. She is very interested in other people, which isn’t true of many people who have star qualities. Every time I see her, she asks about my husband and about Alex Lowther who was the editor and field producer on this project. I was impressed with her on all kinds of levels. She has a huge following, and a lot of that is that people love her. She is very loveable and she has an attitude towards life where she is not going to let things get her down. Seven to eight months ago(?)she was having a problem with sciatica. She said from the start, ”I’m going to get better.” And she feels a lot better now. JazzCulture: Did you travel a lot to make this film? “Julie Cohen: Yes I travelled but not too much…Herreng, the dance camp in Sweden she goes to in the summer. ..Alex spent a week in Herreng shooting that. I also went to Chicago to film a number of members of the next generation, nieces and nephews, grand nephews, who carried on the legacy and become music performers so I was eager to meet a group of them and most live in Indianapolis or Chicago. Other than that it was [made]mostly [in] New York. “The footage of Dawn’s older sisters, who had already passed away when I started the project -- fortunately WFYI (in Indianapolis) had covered them pretty extensively. A few years earlier on the occasion of their doing an album, WFYI had filmed them doing the album and had a sit-down interview. WFYI licensed it to us for a reasonable cost. They gave me the field tapes to watch and pick out and the sisters [Aletra and Virtue] were terrific in their own right and shared Dawn’s attitude of enthusiasm. And like Dawn they put a fair amount of cheekiness and even dirty jokes [into their act], something you don’t always expect from a 90 year old woman. They [the sisters] always put on matching outfits. Dawn’s clothes are one of a kind things. .. but her sisters … I think one of them can sew. They have hats with Treble clefs symbols, they had a great sense of style. The nicest part of watching the film with Dawn is seeing how strongly she reacts to seeing the footage of her sisters talking and performing. 1 4
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“There were several pictures of the full family playing at an early age, and one taken when they were teenagers and young adults and two or three people that played along that were not in the family. That was when Dawn was a saxophonist. It’s obviously a real help when a family has saved newspaper clippings and a number of people in the Hampton family were great at that. Dawn had scrapbooks and clippings and so did Maceo and a couple of her nephews. Piles of stuff that was extremely valuable, nice that they had pictures of their dad. "Maceo played trumpet, and was one of the most talented [musicians]. Although as an adult he became a minister, he told me the story of during the period when they were playing side show entertainment at circuses, that because of his dad’s commitment to educating not only the family, but whatever other children he met on the road, teaching math, history and English. [He was] teaching young black children to read, [reading] from Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. Maceo told the story of a group of locals coming and try to lynch him [Deacon Hampton]. They were able to thwart that attack because circus friends, mostly white, decided they wouldn’t stand for this, and stood guard at night to prevent people coming to attack Deacon Hampton. The attackers were unsuccessful. "The family members have such strong stories and were such great interview subjects, particularly Dawn, [with] a lot of clear memories and stories to tell. This family is really extraordinary. Without being famous (with the exception of Slide), people are unfamiliar with their story. There was so much good material and recordings, [so] I was very optimistic that it would come together as a story that was very entertaining, but has a lot more to it as well. “Plans for The Unforgettable Hampton Family? [ I would] like it to be seen as much as possible. In February, 2011 it aired in New York and in February 2012, it aired nationally, on PBS stations[ throughout the] country. [In] most of the country it aired, through one of PBS’ national distribution services, and so many stations got to see it. It has shown at some film festivals as well. I Jazz Culture at YJP, VI:10
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know Buddy Steves, (Myron Steves, Jr.) the Houston businessman and dance aficionado who funded the film, has shown it to the dance fans who gather for a Lindy Festival every year… [in] national lindy events and [he has also] has spread the word to the swing community, which is something I also had not been so aware of until I did the film about the Hamptons and the earlier one about Frankie. "I often do documentaries about people in their 80’s and 90’s because they have a lot to tell. I actually make a lot of documentaries about a lot of different kinds of people, and sometimes I don’t maintain the relationship after the fact, [but] with Dawn I really, really love her on a personal level, not just as the subject on camera, [but as] the type of person you’d like to spend time with. Dawn is interesting on all kinds of levels, and given her life, I am always impressed by how much she is interested in others. [She is] really a fun, thoughtful person. [With] Dawn, I always have fun at a big event or visiting her at home in the village. “ See DawnHampton on Facebook.com Let's Link/Musician Correspondents
We remember Dr. Frank Foster: Listen to his Nippon Lament Photo: Brian McMillen
See LafayetteHarris.com
Clarence Banks, Count Basie Trombonist, Private Lessons, Clinics, call 917-428-6746 1 6
See Barry Harris.com KuniMikami.com@CD Baby‐"Hamp's Boogie"
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