The Jazz Culture
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm; below, Kit McClure & Big Band
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The International Sweethearts of Rhythm
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an all female Big Band that was popular in the 1940’s. The original members met at Piney Hill Country Life School in 1938, in Mississippi . They were African Americans. Dr. Laurence Jones was inspired by the Ina Ray Hutton Melodears to create an all female band. Later the band became integrated, with Chinese American, Indian, Puerto Rican, and several Caucasians. However, because the laws were racist at the time, the white women had to pretend to come from mixed families. This kept the band members on the bus during their cross country tours, because no one would put up an integrated band. The circuit included the Apollo, The Howard theatre, Club Plantation or the Million Dollar Club in LA, Riviera in St. Louis, Dreamland in Omaha and others. “The original members got $1 a day for food and $1 week allowance.”-Lily Mae Wong Johnny Mae Rice Anna Mae Winburn, bandleader, guitar, vocals Clora Bryant, singer; Evelyn McGhee, vocalist Pauline Braddy, drums, Irene Grishan, ts; Selma Lee Williams, ts; Vi Burnside, ts Helen Saine, a and bs; Ione Grishan, as Willie Mae Wong, bs; Rox Cron, as Lucille Dixon Robinson, bass; Carline Ray, bass Ernestine Davis, Tpt; Toby Butler‐Tpt; Edna Wms, Tpt Eddie Durham, Jesse Stone, Arrangers In These Pages Helen Jones, Tb International Sweethearts
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of Rhythm & Kit McClure Big Band 1‐2 David Pearl, Jarrett Walser 3 Roma Jazz 4 March listings 5‐6 David Pearl cont.l 7‐11 Swing to Bop 16
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DAVID PEARL, JARRETT WALSER & Friends by L. Hamanaka
Caught David Pearl, pianist, composer, arranger and writer at the Thalia (a branch of Symphony Space on Broadway and 95th Street) on Monday night with Jarrett Walser, drums, and several other musicians and singers. Mr. Pearl and Dambrose Boyd (a veteran performer in many shows) organized ‘Singers Space’ and are in their 3rd year where they are both consummate thinkers on their feet. They both possess the diplomacy, charm, manners and stage presence to direct a performance. Before he even started, Mr. Pearl was approached by the family of Georgia Kahn, a wideeyed singer-songwriter-guitarist who was a minor, and he figured out a beautiful setting to augment her song (see photo). Georgia, at her first jam at Singers Space, sang in a clear personal tone with good rhythm and interesting lyrics expressing a Holden Caulfield type of sensibility. Cont. on p. 9 The Jazz Culture, V.III:8 3
BARRY HARRIS JAZZ WORKSHOP FIVE DAYS MASTERCLASS FOR ALL MUSICIANS AND SINGERS From Monday 17 to Friday 21 March 2014 Felt music club & school – via degli Ausoni 84 – Rome, Italy Barry Harris is one of the world’s most respected jazz piano players and teachers, considered by many to be the foremost interpreter of the music of Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron and Thelonious Monk. For more than half a century, Harris has played with the giants of jazz including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley and Coleman Hawkins, travelling the world over as an ambassador of jazz (www.barryharris.com) Schedule:
Piano and Guitars 11:00 – 13:00 Singers 14:30 – 16:30 Horns & General workshop 16:30 – 18:30 On Friday 21 classes last one hour and an half
Fees: 160 €qQCostCc‐Cc15015015011 for the week/40€ for daily seminar Accomodation:
b & b or private apts, from 15 € per night
BARRY HARRIS TRIO FELT CLUB – CONCERT FRIDAY 21 MARCH 9:30 PM Luca Pisani,b;Oreste Soldano, d Admission: 15 € MONDAY TO THURSDAY JAM SESSION EVERY NIGHT Info: ass. cult. roma jazz workshop anna pantuso +39‐339 3383139 annapantuso@hotmail.com luciano fabris +39‐328 6748724 lucianofabris@hotmail.com
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The Jazz Culture Newsletter Wishes the Jazz World Community a Happy, Healthy Prosperous 2014! 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 72 countries. Brian McMillen is a contributing Photographer. Connie MacNamee and Arnold J. Smith are contributing writers." Countries: US, UK, Albania, Argentina,
Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Burma, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand,
March Listings Clarence Banks‐ Swing 46 most Thursdays with Felix and the Cats, 346 W. 46 St. Ray Blue, Jules, brunch, 3/15 Ray Blue Trio, 3/10, Garage 3/23 Bean Runner café, Night Town Jazz Club, 3/20Cleveland Kim Clark‐ Women in Jazz Festival starts March 1 at First Reformed Church, Jamaica; 802 Jam, March 17 Richard Clements‐ Pianist, 11th Street Bar most Mondays, 8 Kenney Gates, pianist. Philadelphia, Tues., Sun. some Sats.‐ High Note Cafe on Tasker & 13th, 5‐9 p.m. Bertha Hope ‐ Minton's on 206 W. 118 Street, every weekend George Gee Orchestra at Swing 46, every Tues, most Fridays 9:30 Barry Harris, March 4, with Trio Emmanuel Baptist Church March 5‐9 Village Vanguard with Leroy Williams and Ray
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Drummond 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 Mike Longo: Tuesdays in March‐ Gillespie Auditorium in the NYC Baha'i Center at 53 East 11th Street 8:00 and 9:30 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. Bill Saxton; Every Friday and Saturday Bill’s Place 133 Street Rick Stone‐ Café Lore March 15 7:30‐11:00 w/Marco Panascia Sunday brunch at Desmond's Steakhouse;12‐ 4PM. 513 7th Avenue (at 38th Street). http://www.desmondssteakhouse.com Murray Wall, bassist, 11th Street Bar most Mondays, 8 p.m. Leroy Williams, drums: Minton's Sun & Tues 2‐6 W. 118 St. ENGLAND: John Watson Trio at the Palm Court, Langham Hotel, London, 1c Portland, Regent St. 207‐636‐1000 Fri‐Sat Save the Dates: George Gee‐May 23, Frankie Manning's 100th, Edison Ballroom, NYC John Kamitsuka Annual Recital Weill Recital Hall April 30, 8 p.m. Tickets available at Carnegie Hall Box office $15 for students and seniors
Happy Birthday March Babies
Ilya Lushtak, Guitarist Composer Alex Stein, Tenor Saxophonist, Educator Frank Senior, Singer Brian McMillen, Jazz Photographer DeAlva Davis, Singer Jim Eigo, Jazz Lover
Brian M.
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Pearl Cont.
Mr. Pearl introduced the audience to “Memories ofTomorrow” by Keith Jarrett in a crystalline style that echoed his background of high mountains, open spaces. Arranged in a treatment resembling Art Tatum’s, where the piano becomes an orchestra, and projecting the ethos ofAmericana. Mr. Pearl’s closeness to nature shows just as musicians raised in the cities have a more urban sound with less space in it, more like a subway than a sunrise. “Memories of Tomorrow” is a ballad that moves swiftly like a clear mountain stream with intricate and rich voicings, full of motion because of the provocative counterpoint, trading the melody from one voice to another (like Bach), and an emotional honesty and directness that surged throughout; the pianist also threw in some blue notes. David Pearl showed himself conversant with diverse styles-post Coltrane, boogie woogie, stride, and is presently working on an arrangement of “Un Poco Loco,” by Bud Powell. Johnny D, a clarinetist who also plays saxophone, sang “All of Me” at about 145=quarter note, in an early jazz style. Mr. Pearl and Mr. Walser punctuated his solo in a stomping style with background rhythms and a walking bassline. Mr. Pearl played a honky tonk style solo with lines that were like bursts of a machine gun volley, while Jared Walser kept a steady beat going. Mr. Pearl’s harmonic style resembles Art Tatum’s. Mr. Pearl and Gary Schriener, harmonica player, gave sensitive support to singer Jo Marchese, who did “When I Fall in Love,” as a walking ballad. David Pearl, Gary Schriner and Jarrett Walser then played “Dindi.” The verse was rubato intro by Mr. Pearl, an ethereal cloud of runs and clusters that framed the simple melody. The drummer gave lots of color. They then took off at about 145=quarter note in The Jazz Culture, V.III:8
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a vivid bossa nova. Mr. Pearl played a syncopated scalar solo using chromatic ideas melodically, with a marcato touch and intricate lines, precisely played, he created a groove and stayed there, lifting up the house and playing very tight with the drummer, Mr. Walser. Mr. Walser’s solo was played with sticks using toms and snare primarily with a touch of the bass drum, and sounded like he was using mallets. The trio exchanged some phrases and played with great vitality and heat, evoking happiness throughout the space. Notes on the Artist: David Pearl was born in Denver, Colorado.
He took up piano at the age of 6 with the encouragement of his parents. His mother is a professional painter and his father also painted. When Mr. Pearl was 12 he started taking lessons with a local jazz pianist named Mort Mann. Then he went to the University of Denver Lamont School of Music where his piano teacher was David Genova; there he composed, arranged and played both classical and jazz. His compositions include a work for symphony orchestra tone poem, and ensemble pieces for the jazz big band and college combos, that were all performed and some of which were recorded. Earlier in his career he did a concert at Merkin Hall and at churches in the area. Gifted in transcription as well, Mr. Pearl found work creating books on music for educational publishers like Wiley, as well as popular and jazz publishers like Hal Leonard. These range from: a book of transcriptions of Billy Strayhorn tunes, as well as a “Piano Exercises for Dummies” workbook, 15 Blues for Piano and even classical transcriptions of Beethoven; and a number of others. “I’ve always been good at transcribing,” Mr. Pearl explained. When asked what he thinks of jazz, he explained “it’s a deep well that keeps going as far as you are willing to go.” He mentioned Art Tatum, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans as some of the pianists whose solos he has transcribed. Thus, when he came to New York in 1984, he did not have to take lessons from any piano teacher. His piano teachers were the masters cited above, and he merely transcribed their solos as musicians did in the old days. The Jazz Culture, V.III:9 8
Since then he has been playing at different venues. His songs are in the ballpark of Billy Strayhorn and Alec Wilder. He is not a lightweight by nature, and his own intention is to now break out, form his own group, do solo concerts, and get a website. We look forward to a more public David Pearl playing his own tunes in different settings.
Georgia Kahn, David Pearl, Jo Marchese, David Pearl, and Jarrett Walser; Johnny D, with Mr. Pearl and Mr. Walser
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Dambrose Boyd confers with Mr. Pearl before the show, Georgia Kahn with David Pearl, Gary Schreiner, Mr. Pearl, Jarrett Walser,
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The Kit McClure Big Band Pub. Note: The Kit McClure Big Band has gone around the world and afforded over 300 women musicians the opportunity to work. Ms. McClure is a feisty and talented musician who lives in New York City with her husband. Personnel:
Kit McClure, Camille Thurman, Kristy Norter, ts Lakecia Benjamin, Tia Fuller, Erica Von Kleist, Lisa Parrot, as/bari; Clare Daly, bari Laurie Frink,Tanya Darby, Barbara Laronga, Liesel Whitaker, Angeleisha Rodgers, Tpt Jennnifer Krupa, Britta Langsjoen, trombone Cathy Harley, Jill McCarron, Shamie Royston, Piano Sue Hadjoupolos, Karen Jones, Percussion L. Olivia Ski, Barbara Merjan, Bernice Brooks, Luciana Padmore, drums Kim Clarke, Nikki Parrot, Bass Carline Ray, Charenee Wade, Louise Bethune, vocalists JC: Did you start the Kit McClure Big Band in 1982 at the Ritz? Kit McClure (KM): I began the Band in April of 1982 in
rehearsals.
JC: Was the gig at the Ritz in 1982 your first gig? KM: Yes.
JC: Do you think of your band as a dance band? KM: I don’t remember thinking of it as a dance band,
more as a “jazz big band”.
probably
JC: What made you play tenor saxophone? KM: I heard Sonny Rollins.
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JC: Did you hear someone else playing it? KM: When I began listening to Sonny Rollins,
I was already working as a trombone player. I tried transcribing Sonny and playing his music on the trombone, but finally decided to switch to tenor sax. JC: Why did you do a jazz big band? KM: Someone in the music biz thought they could book work for
an all women big band. I had wanted to do a quartet!
JC: Was it modeled on the International Sweethearts of Rhythm? KM: I did not know about the ISR until much later. At the time I
started the band, Mel Lewis became a mentor to me. JC: Who influenced your playing? KM: Sonny Rollins (I love his sound);
I like his spirit and the kind of the funkiness and ferocity that he goes after his musical statements, Ornette Coleman, (I love his concept) Junior Walker (I love R&B). JC: When did you start playing, and where did you study? KM: Public school band instruction in Little Falls, NJ. I started on
clarinet; when I got to high school there was a shortage of trombone players. I talked to the Band Director Mr. James Barresi, and said, “Please can I have one of those trombones and I’ll practice after school?” And he said yes. I majored in music at Yale University. I spent most of my time at Yale in that all women’s band. I went to Manhattan School of Music for a masters degree and studied with Joe Allard and Dave Tofani. I switched to tenor saxophone at age 21, from trombone. I began classical piano at age 7. I went to Barry Harris’s workshop in New York, sometime in the 80’s and 90’s. JC: Did Cab Calloway hear you or hear about you?
KM: A booking agent named Geoff Byrne hooked us and Cab
Calloway up with a tour of upstate NY. It was a great inspiration The Jazz Culture, V.III:9 12
seeing Cab work up close, and I’ll never forget it. JC: Did Cab Calloway help you get signed to Island Records? KM:
We were on salary with Island Records to try out a big band standard repertoire with the rock star Robert Palmer, who was with Island Records. This project went on for about four months in 1984, then Island declined to pursue the project at that time. In 1986 Robert called me to say that now that he has a number 1 hit (Addicted to Love) he would like to take me and the Band on tour. The way the finances worked out, I toured with Robert for 5 months as featured soloist (tenor sax, alto sax, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute) and the big band was added on for 10 dates in the NYC metro area. JC: Your band played Radio City and Garden State? KM: The dates with Robert Palmer included these venues.
were featured in the middle of his show.
We
JC: Did you start Redhot Records because you wanted to retain
control of your product? KM: I started Redhot Records because I had to record the band in order to market it, and no one else was offering to do this for me. JC: Who were your mentors? KM: Cobi Narita, who has provided so many women musicians
with performance opportunities, Mel Lewis the great co-leader of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band, David Alan Gross my late saxophone teacher and mentor, RIP. Mel Lewis would come to band rehearsals. He would advise me on everything from music to renting a bus for the band tour. JC: What are the special headaches and rewards of a big band
leader? KM: More than 300 women musicians have played in my band over the decades, and I am proud to have afforded so many with performance, learning, and earning opportunities. 13 The Jazz Culture, V.III:9
JC: Does everybody need a break? KM: The way it goes in jazz, if you get hired, and actually get to do the thing, you get better. If you don’t, you still could get better, but it’s much more iffy. If you get to work in your chosen field, you get a much better chance to get better. When I first formed the band, there were so few women jazz players, I even had to recruit some classical players for the horn positions. ..With some people having gone out to hear them, and falling in love with their playing, such as Bertha Hope--would be one example… Other musicians would pass phone numbers to me. We would go out and find out where these women were who could handle the big band book. JC: Do you think there’s something in the jazz life style that makes it difficult for women? KM: Classical music put in a blind audition for major organizations. Judges don’t get to see them. In Jazz, people know how everybody is. In one sense, I’m mainly a musician and in the other, I’m a musician who feels since high school days the woman’s voice doesn’t get to get heard. I took that as my mission-call it maybe Affirmative Action for women jazz musicians. JC: What about the International Sweethearts of Rhythm? KM: We’ve taken it down as a band project: the last two albums
are: “The Sweethearts Project” and the second is called “Just the Thing,” which is the name of one of the Sweethearts’ tunes. We’ve rearranged with a different musical slant. JC: Does it cut into your own time practicing,
or do the gigs you
get make up for it? KM: Yes and yes. JC: For example you played at? KM: At the Kennedy Center, at JVC Jazz Festival and all around the world. I think the band has done eight tours of Japan and 5 tours of Europe. I really enjoyed playing at the Langston Hughes 14
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House in New York on 126th Street; there’s a beautiful piano there, the parlor floor of a brownstone, good sound and a very good vibe during the gig it was extra special. That was one of my favorites. JC: Were you a feminist when you started the band or did you see
it as a marketing opportunity, a niche? KM: When I was in high school I began to think of myself as a feminist and had plans to begin an all woman band. When I went to college I joined with a group of women musicians and we had a band for years performing in the Connecticut area where I went to school. I moved to NYC in 1974 and freelanced with the rock star Barry White (also at Radio City Music Hall), Sam and Dave (tours of Europe, Japan, Saturday Night Live, etc.) and many latin bands. I also taught music programs in 5 NYC high schools and at CCNY until 1979, when I decided that teaching did not allow me the practice time I wanted. Since then I have been only performing for a living. In 1979 I was given the opportunity to tour Italy with Stephanie Chapman’s all women quartet. It was this exciting experience that inspired me to start an all women band again. JC: Do you compose, teach, arrange? KM: I do not compose enough. Yet. JC: Who is the main arranger you use? KM: Myself. JC: What are the main challenges of a jazz player today?
KM: Number one are the financial challenges. How to get work
that can sustain you, give you the room to grow, give you time to practice, so that you can stay with your career long enough attain some of your musical goals. JC:
What should women who want to be jazz musicians plan to cover their bases? KM: Take lessons, practice, study. Respect your audience, stay in communication with them. Years ago I used to keep index card The Jazz Culture, V.III:9 15
files of people who had hired my band, of fans who wanted to know about upcoming shows. I would send mailings out a few times a year. These days we have computers to help us do all that, but it is not easy to have the same personal communication feel. In other words, we do not want to spam people! JC: What are your future plans? KM: I plan to compose more, and...I’m looking forward to
collaborations where I’m not the leader; my most recent was with Kim Clarke; she was the leader, we did a 10 piece all women’s band tribute to fusion-funk masters George Duke, Jef Lee Johnson, Donald Blackman, and Sugarfoot who recently passed. KM: I overextended myself doing band business. What I did right
from the beginning, is, when I started the band people didn’t have computers. I maintained an index the band of people who hired the band, anybody who thought should hire the band, all the fans who expressed an interest in coming to future performances. A database on index cards. I kind of knew—it grew to thousands. I would do outreach, mail flyers. I would say it’s the whole publicity thing, including members of the press, what we’ve done. It was hours and hours and hours. The computers made it worse—the database expands by thousands. It did (pay off) I’ve gotten to do, make my living since 1979 make my living, playing, if you don’t count all the time I put into the business making it possible for me to play. I don’t know how else you would do it, except become professor somewhere.
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CARLINE RAY International Sweethearts of Rhythm Bassist
Carline Ray, a native New Yorker, was a gem among women artists, a nononsense bassist with a swinging driving beat. I learned so much about music from playing with her over a 30 year span.” Bertha Hope, (pianist-composer and a member of Jazzberry Jam, a combo that Ms. Ray worked with)
Carline Ray
Ms. Ray, long a role model for female musicians and vocalists, had a career for seven decades. She worked with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm in the 30’s. Her husband died in 11963 when her daughter was 7 and Ms. Ray became a single parent. Ms. Ray went to Juilliard. Her father, Elisha Ray, was a horn player who graduated Juilliard the day she was born. She got her Masters from Manhattan School of Music. The list of people she worked with is innumerable: It includes Leonard Bernstein and spans the classical, pop, jazz, and innumerable studio recordings. Possessor of a gorgeous alto voice, Ms. Ray sang back up to singers like Patti Page, Bobby Darren and others. “Her musicianship was always excellent. God bless her for all the joy she’s given us.” Keisha St. Joan, a singer who worked with Ms. Ray. She received a scholarship to study acoustic stand up bass with Major Holley. She worked with Sy Oliver, Skitch Henderson, Mercer Ellington and performed Mary Lou Williams’ “Mary Lou’s Mass” in 1971 with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Ms. Ray had recently completed a duo cd that got rave reviews, “Vocal Sides,” with her daughter, singer Catherine Russell. She was mentor to Nikki Parrot and Mimi Jones, part of Jazzberry Jam, a well known female jazz group that toured, and did educational seminars. The Jazz Culture, V.III:9 17
Swing to Bop by Ira Gitler Oxford University Press, 331 pp. 1985
by L. Hamanaka
A masterpiece of jazz history, “Swing to Bop” by Ira Gitler is an oral history of ‘cats in the band’ during the swing and bop eras. To drop a few names, the interviewees include Joe Albany, Art Blakey, Red Callendar, Benny Carter, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Milt Hinton, Hank Jones, Jay McShann, and about 200 other musicians who experienced and helped create the swing and bop eras. Mr. Gitler has devoted his life to jazz, and has deep historical and personal knowledge of the subject, having worked as a producer, radio jazz host, critic, author, educator and co-writer with Leonard Feather of the “Encyclopedia of Jazz.” Starting with a chapter titled “The Road,” which details the treatment of musicians during segregated time, who many times were implementing integration, both in the bands and by performing in the deep South, Mr. Gitler goes on to explore the “Roots and Seeds” of bebop, noting the comments of Lester Young, Roy Eldridge and Howard McGhee, whom he interviews, and a host of other lesser known but active players. He then depicts life at “Minton’s and Monroe’s,” goes on to “Fifty-Second Street,” hops out to “California,” and reveals the inner workings of “Big-Band Bop,” before describing “The Bop Era” in fascinating detail. “Swing to Bop” is an invaluable and illuminating account of life as it happened and jazz history as it evolved in musician’s lingo and with incisive comments by Mr. Gitler. The millions of students of jazz, jazz fans and musicians around the world will find this book (which can be easily put down and picked up between short interviews) a delight, and strengthen the love and appreciation of the roots of jazz, written by a master. 18
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