The Jazz Culture
12th ANNUAL WOMEN'S JAZZ FESTIVAL JAM at Local 802
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12th WOMEN'S JAZZ FESTIVAL JAM at Local 802 Kim Clarke, Monette Sudler, Mala Waldron, Judy Bluestone by L. Hamanaka
Caught an event of the 12th Annual Women's Jazz Festival at Local 802 on Monday March 15, 2014, produced by Kim Clarke, bassist, and featuring Monette Sudler, guitar, Mala Waldron, pianist, and Judy Bluestone, flute and tenor saxophone. The quintet did "Blue Bossa" (Kenny Dorham) at about 120=quarter note, a laid back tempo lyrically delivered guitar solo. The piano solo was solid, there was a pretty bass line, with a feel for phrasing ending on a tab, ritard and small cadenza by the flautist. "Green Dolphin Street" (Bronislaw Kaper) was next at about 140=quarter note with a sparkling quality at this tempo, a good mainstream swing, with solos commenting on the melody. Ms. Sudler is a gifted guitarist, relaxed and swinging, and uses space well, sometimes using the same rhythmic motif over and over. The Flautist Ms. Bluestone used lots of scalar triplets in her ascending lines, and played close the melody accenting the upbeat. The pianist Ms. Waldron, was kind of effervescent, with swinging takeoffs on the rhythmic accents of the song. The bassist Ms. Clarke used inversions of the melody in her solo in the upper register, with pulsing quarter notes and accents on the upbeat, to create pleasing lyric lines. It seems Ms. Clarke is on the verge of In These Pages developing a unique style. 12th Annual Women's Jazz Festival At that point it seemed the Jam at Local 802 1‐3 ; 7‐10 flautist was not sufficiently Barry Harris Trio at the amplified. Village Vanguard 4‐ 8
March listings 5‐6
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BARRY HARRIS TRIO @ THE VILLAGE VANGUARD by L. Hamanaka
Barry Harris & Lorraine Gordon at the Village Vanguard; below, Dr. Harris before playing Pix: Uchino
Caught the Barry Harris Trio at the Village Vanguard, though Leroy Williams was not there that night. Barry Harris and Leroy Williams have been working together over 30 years, and they have the same rhythm, Leroy’s sound complementing Barry’s, in a klook, monk-like style. Subbing was Chuck McPherson, a talented New Jersey guy who sounds
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influenced by Roy Haynes, using lyric shimmering cymbals at a higher pitch than Billy Drummond. The crowd was mostly tourists with musicians in a small cluster in the back. It was packed with a line down the block. The first song was “Be My Love,” (Nicholas Brodsky) started rubato and went into swing on the second chorus (at about 138= quarter note) with Dr. Harris plying the piano with a silken sound, his lines dominated by seconds, reflecting the melody—but interlaced with triplets; then in the third chorus developing another melodic idea and using wider intervals. In his solo Ray Drummond capitalized on bass effects, like twanging a note and an adventurous sense of melody. Mr. McPherson played subtle rhythmic counterpoint. “Shaw Nuff” was next, at about 300=quarter note, with bright, crisp intense feel, a treat for bebop fans, a sort of weaving of a beehive effect with emphasis on surprising accents. On “Green Dolphin Street” (138=quarter note, Bronislaw Kaper), Barry Harris circling on and commenting on the
You saw it here!
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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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melodic ideas, inserting runs and 16th note runs, with a triplet feel making perfect statements, making the most of smaller intervals. Ray Drummond used wide intervals with a fuller sweet sound and deeper tone in his lower register and commenting on the melody. With a beautiful cascade of chords, Mr. Harris introduced “If You Could See Me Now,” the Tadd Dameron standard, and then tongue in cheek perhaps, modulated to every key (except A?). The trio played “I Want To Be Happy,” at about 200=quarter note, sparkling like fine champagne. Barry Harris thought of new motifs, then answered them in Call and Response fashion in a vivid stirring bebop style. Mr. McPherson traded 8’s in a strong, swinging fashion, did not overshadow the soloists during their improvs, and was consistent at providing the same tempo. “I Should Care” was played with crystalline beauty, with Mr. Drummond providing a poetic counterpoint. Mr. Harris is a well known master of phrasing and elongating the beat within the meter, with gorgeous story telling until the last note, which ended in a ritard. “Stranger in Paradise” started as a bossa, about 140=quarter note, that Dr. Harris changed to swing on the second chorus, making melodic extensions and keeping the intrigue and mysterious quality of the song going, a romantic’s love of romance, with the dusky and full tone of Drummond on bass, so close to the pianist that no force on earth could separate them, and the drummer providing a spicy and intimate accompaniment. In the “Blues in C” Dr. Harris played an exquisite solo, full of feeling, and picked up one of Ray Drummond’s motifs, a simple, rhythmically insistent blues lick that resembled a work song idea, and both of them wrung the most out of it. The Jazz Culture, V.III:10
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Barry Harri's Flight Partners: Drummer Leroy Williams & Bassist Ray Drummond; subbing below for Mr. Williams, Chuck McPherson
with Sheila Jordan, at class in NYC
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Cont from p. 3
"There Is No Greater Love" (Isham Jones, Marty Symes) was next at about 138=quarter note. Ms. Bluestone switched to tenor, playing in the style of swing bands of the 30's-40's, with her accents right on the downbeat. She had a tone that had a lot of air in it and the center of the tone was porous, not a light tone emanating from a well defined center. The guitarist Ms. Sudler did a scalar relaxed solo sometimes strumming repetitive chords and anticipating the downbeat. The Pianist did a comping solo on accents, played some chords up and down the keyboard, in insistent well known rhythmic figures. The drums and bass traded 4's, and then the group took the song out. Ms. Bluestone, the audience, and Ms. Waldron
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Monette Sudler, Kim Clarke above, and part of the crowd at 802 below
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