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FEBRUARY 2023
VOLUME 90 / NUMBER 2
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Á
4 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023
FEBRUARY 2023
ON THE COVER
JM LUBRANO
20 Lakecia
Benjamin
Finding Phoenix
BY AYANA CONTRERAS
Each track on the alto

saxophonist and composer’s
latest album relates to a
unique month of experiences
in her life during a tumultuous
26
period of pandemic lockdown
and civil unrest.
FEATURES
26 Ahmad Jamal
Surpise at the Penthouse
BY J.D. CONSIDINE
Ahmad Jamal
30 Etienne Charles Cover photo of Lakecia Benjamin by Elizabeth Leitzell
The Making of San Juan Hill
BY PHILLIP LUTZ
w w w
vie vie vie
35 Best Venues in Jazz: A 5-S HH
Re H
tar H
Re H
tar H
5-S HH
Re H
tar H
5-S HH
2023 Guide H H H
58 Indie Life
58 Dave Rempis: Works
the Chicago Scene
60 Paul Marinaro: Hurdling
Roadblocks 46 Dezron Douglas 48 Brian Blade & 50 Jimi Hendrix 48 George Colligan
The Fellowship
61 Rob Silverman Drums
for a Cause at Autumn Hill
RECORDING SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS

62 Master Class
High-Production Recording on a No-Frills Budget
8 First Take Music of Sonny Rollins
BY JOHN BEASLEY WITH ED ENRIGHT
17 Ernesto Cervini
66 Transcription 10 Chords & Discords
Marc Johnson’s bass solo on “Samurai Fly” 18 Calvin Johnson/Riffs
BY JIMI DURSO 19 Final Bar
13 The Beat
68 Toolshed: Getting Your Personal 13 Eliane Elias 45 Reviews
Command Center Up to Speed
BY GARY GUZMÁN 15 Xhosa Cole 74 Blindfold Test
72 Gear Box 16 Review: Saxophone Julian Lage
Colossus: The Life and BY NATE CHINEN

First Take BY FRANK ALKYER
Lakecia Benjamin maintains a keen eye toward the future
ELIZABETH LEITZELL
and a thoughtful reverence for the elders.
Of Tributes and Blessings

DEC. 22, 2022 — LET’S LIFT THE CURTAIN walls by seeking them out and working with
for a minute on the inner workings of DownBeat. them. Pianist/composer Patrice Rushen plays
While the cover of the magazine says “February on Phoenix, and drummer/composer Terri
Issue,” it’s just a few short days before Christmas Lyne Carrington produced the record.
and we’re wrapping up the issue in a holiday bow “I’m trying to work with the elders while
and sending it off to the printer. they are here and get what they have to offer and
So, in between the holiday parties, shows their blessing on how to proceed,” Benjamin
and gatherings with friends and family, the says in the article.
staff here has been working in overdrive to sort That humility and dedication to the elders
out and deliver the best music and stories we is one of the most special elements in jazz.
could find this month. There are some really Those who embrace it find a wealth of not just
good ones from sites near and far. The writers musical knowledge, but also life lessons.
have delivered some thought-provoking prose Sometimes that knowledge is what to do;
and, as always, a few words that this old editor sometimes it’s what not to do.
had to look up in the online dictionary. John In Bill Beuttler’s terrific review of Saxophone
Murph’s use of “aboraceous” in The Bad Plus Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins on
review on page 45 serves as Exhibit A. (It means page 16, the legendary saxophonist talks about
woody, for the uninitiated.) reconnecting with Lester Young.
Let’s start with the cover story. This is the Pres had sunk into alcoholism and depres-
first cover for saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, sion to the point that several legendary musi-
whose latest recording, Phoenix, demands our cians pitched in to help him. Rollins — look-
attention. With this recording, she takes anoth- ing at his hero, then considering his own life
er step into her career — a strong, confident — vowed not to go down that road.
and, yes, powerful step. DownBeat has been “I was determined to do a lot of positive things
following Benjamin’s career for years now, and in life because of being around Lester,” Rollins
this project seemed like the right occasion to told the Detroit Metro Times. “I learned life isn’t
show some serious love to a serious artist. just about music, that you really have to know
Benjamin’s story is one of thanks, and she what to do when you are off the bandstand.”
tells it quite well beginning on page 20. The sax- Doing positive things. That’s a theme in the
ophonist and composer knows that the road to pages of this magazine. And a final positive is
success is never easy, but has been made easier the return of DownBeat’s Venue Guide. What
by generations of women instrumentalists who once was a fun list of places to go and listen now
were consistently told “no” and shuttled into serves as a standing ovation for those that made
the category of “novelty” but continued to resist it through the pandemic. We hope you patron-
the system. She pays tribute to those mentors ize these clubs and venues that are so essential
who broke down and continue to break down to the beauty, and well-being, of this music. DB

Chords Discords
Bravo, Kenny Barron
Paul de Barros’ beautiful piece on the mag-
nificent Kenny Barron made my day.
Strange to say, but Mr. Barron has al-
ways reminded me of Renoir: a superlative
artist who walks the Earth with gentleness
and humility.
The article has inspired me to spend
several days in the company of People
Time, the album Mr. Barron recorded live
with Stan Getz at Copenhagen’s Cafe Mont-
martre in March 1991 — just three months
before Stan’s death on June 6, 1991. I urge
folks to read Mr. Barron’s exquisite essay
about his friend. Knowing that Stan was
suffering, Kenny writes, “The music is real,
honest, pure and beautiful in spite of the
pain or perhaps because of it.” Artists like
Kenny Barron are yet another reason to
cherish this world and our place in it.
MICK CARLON
CENTERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS
More Kenny Barron Love that prove that vinyl should have been dead
Many thanks for the very interesting article for three decades now.
on Kenny Barron (December 2022). However, I will let the legendary Rudy Van
I would nonetheless add that after his solo Gelder speak for me. The RVG Edition remas-
CD, Kenny Barron At The Piano (Xanadu), from ters he did in the ’90s of his ’60s Blue Note
1982, one must not forget his formidable solo recordings proved the point.
album Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Volume 10 Rudy told Audio Magazine in 1995:
(Concord) from 1991. “The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I’ve
I look forward to his new solo album, The made thousands of LP masters. I used to make
Source (Artwork/PIAS)! 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneous-
ly, and I’m glad to see the LP go. As far as I’m
MARIO LIBERTO
BERN, SWITZERLAND
concerned, good riddance.
“It was a constant battle to try and make
that music sound the way it should. It was nev-
Give Us More Lewis Nash! er any good. And if people don’t like what they
As a continuing subscriber to DownBeat, I hear in digital, they should blame the engineer
thoroughly enjoy and look forward to reading who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame
your Blindfold Test section in every issue. the mixing engineer. That’s why some digital
May I recommend you consider the very recordings sound terrible, and I’m not denying
creative and sought after drummer Lewis that they do, but don’t blame the medium.”
Nash in upcoming editions? I can only gaze at last year’s Holiday Gift
He has played with and is playing with Guide’s focus on vinyl with disdain. Great music
most of the notable jazz giants past and pres- poorly served by this tired, outdated medium.
ent. He’s an awesome player. CHUCK CURRIE,
CLARINETIST/SAXOPHONIST, ARTIST/CLINICIAN FOR BACKUN,
Everyone loves his playing, but he is not SELMER, YANAGISAWA,VANDOREN, LÉGÈRE, ROUSSEAU, JODY-
JAZZ AND CHEDEVILLE MOUTHPIECES
recognized in the world of music and the Jazz VANCOUVER, BC
community as he should be.
I feel one day, he will become an NEA Jazz
Master, as many of his drummer peers have. Lose the Polls?
I live in Phoenix, where The Nash Jazz Club As a reader/subscriber since the late ’60s, I’d
happens to be. If you find yourself in the area, like to opine that perhaps the time has come
please come by. for DB to stop ranking musicians. It is one
WALTER NASH, SR.
NASH CLUB VOLUNTEER
thing to assign starred ratings to CDs, but
PHOENIX, ARIZONA in my view it is invidious to rank individuals.
My “vote” is that both annual polls and the
starred-rating system go the way of the dodo.
Vinyl, Schminyl RICHARD FREEMAN
I noted with incredulity the collection of vi- VIA EMAIL
nyl recordings in the Holiday Gift Guide in

the December issue of DownBeat. I could Have a Chord or Discord? Email us at [email protected]
detail all the science and blind listening tests or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

The
Xhosa Cole, Documenting Sonny Rollins,
Ernesto Cervini, Calvin Johnson & more!
COURTESY ELIANE ELIAS
“Many artists have taken a shot at bossa nova, but Quietude

is different. It is authentic,” Elias said of her new album.
Eliane Elias Delivers a

Bossa Nova Love Letter
E
iliane Elias scored a rarity in 2022. The turing duets with Herbie Hancock. final studio album before Corea’s death.
renowned singer and remarkable pia- In the February 2022 Grammys, Elias gar- “The wins are very special,” said a buoyant
nist won two Grammys in the same nered the Best Latin Jazz Album award for Elias enjoying a rare moment at home during
year for her radiant Mirror Mirror recording Mirror Mirror, then in the Latin Grammy a tour break for her luscious new album,
on Candid Records that featured her in scin- Awards in the November, she swung another Quietude. “I did some research about the
tillating duo adventures with close friends victory for Best Latin Jazz Album. It was a cel- Grammys and Latin Grammys and found out
Chick Corea and Chucho Valdés — her first ebration of virtuosos in close improvisation- that had never happened before. So what I did
solo piano outing since 1995, when she deliv- al conversation, all the more valuable since the was historic. It was a validation of my work.
ered Solos And Duets, a Blue Note album fea- four-song New York session proved to be the Plus, it was a gift to Chick, who I met at the
FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 13

beginning of my career in Brazil when he album. She first learned to harmonize the pop ing in a sunny seaside setting for the album’s
toured with Gary Burton. He encouraged me tune as a student when she was 10 years old. cover photo. “Brazil’s music came from there,
and helped me get my work visa to live in New Her goal for Quietude? To create an inti- and the best composers live there. And the
York. He played with me so beautifully and so mate, soothing soundscape for a disruptive music is always active with new movements
full of life at the end of his career.” time. “Right now, it’s a world of angst,” Elias like Tropicalia. Unlike São Paulo, the people
In the Mirror Mirror masterwork, the said. “It’s been the pandemic, the politics, the are very calm there, the culture is influenced
piano, of course, took center stage. For need to transport ourselves to another world. by Africa.”
Quietude, Elias pivoted into a familiar set- Personally this album makes me feel good — As a whole, Quietude represents an
ting, tapping into her bossa nova heritage with at peace and relaxed” endearing homecoming for Elias, whose career
piano taking a cameo role. Her alluring vocals She added that she had a conversation with has deep roots in her native country, especial-
tell the stories here. It’s the 31st album by the Mark Wexler, the Candid label head, after ly with her lifelong friend Jobim. As a piano
New York-based Elias, whose career has blos- she presented him with the Quietude music prodigy, she was enlisted by de Moraes to tour
somed once again. The album quickly jumped during the upheaval times. “He told me that he the world with him, which in turn introduced
her to his co-writer, Jobim. It proved to be a
fruitful association.
‘Jobim called me and “I spent quite a bit of time with him,” Elias
said. “He was very bright, had a great sense of
humor, was very observant and very playful.
said that I knew all his He always drank Scotch and smoked cigars.
But he also showed a darker side and at one
point felt so disappointed in the lack of appre-
tunes. He wanted the ciation that he thought his career was over.”
Elias reflected on the dark period that
inspired his classic song “Waters Of March,”
music to be done his sung in Portuguese but also translated into

English. It ended up being the most record-
ed song of his oeuvre, surpassing even “The
way, so he asked me to Girl From Ipanema.” “Jobim thought it was

all over, but then it exploded and more songs
came,” said Elias, who paid tribute to him with
replace him.’ her 1990 album Eliane Elias Plays Jobim (Blue
Note). “I wanted to do his music differently by
arranging them for jazz.”
She contacted him and asked for his bless-
up the charts and has drawn crowds into mar- listened to the album 25 times,” she said. “He ing. He had an apartment on Madison Avenue
quee clubs, from the Yoshi’s in Oakland to talked about the calmness of the music [and] in New York, so she brought the music to him,
Birdland in New York. finding the center.” saying, “This is going to sound different.”
“This album couldn’t be more opposite At a recent concert, Elias introduced the “When I was playing it, I could see his face
than the last,” Elias said. “I play some piano, lifeblood of Quietude and demonstrated why brighten, and he opened his eyes wide,” Elias
but it’s mostly doing some single-note melo- the guitar plays a central role in the music in said. “He loved it. He was thrilled.”
dies or playing the background. I do add in lieu of her piano brilliance. “I talk about how Four years later, Elias received a call from
a couple of short piano solos, but this is real- bossa nova originated,” she said. “It started in Jobim when saxophone titan Joe Henderson
ly a voice for acoustic guitar in the tradi- little apartments where people got together was in the stages of recording his tribute that
tion of bossa nova.” She uses three promi- and composers played the guitar and brought was released the following year as the part-
nent Brazilian guitarists on Quietude: Marcus their songs and people sang in soft voices. It jazz, part-Brazilian album Double Rainbow:
Teixeira, Lula Galvão and the legendary Oscar was quiet. Someone would play a little per- The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jobim
Castro-Neves, who played with Elias until cussion on match boxes, brushing a newspa- had gotten sick and wasn’t well enough to
his passing in 2013. She resurrects him here per and for more upbeat samba pieces maybe participate. “Jobim called me and said that
on a previously unreleased recording of the lightly hitting on a glass for rhythm. There I knew all his tunes,” Elias said. “He wanted
delightful “Tim-Tim Por Tim-Tim.” weren’t pianos. This is how the music started, the music to be done his way, so he asked me
Sung with the romance of Brazilian so Quietude is the sound of the scene. I give to replace him.”
Portuguese, the lyrical songs Elias chose short explanations of the songs and bring out Jobim died in December 1994, but he’s still
come from the heart of the bossa nova move- the romance in the music. It’s so gratifying to alive to Elias. Asked what would he have
ment. She breathes harmonic new life into two me because this is where I find myself.” thought about Quietude, she noted: “He would
Jobim songs — including his poignant “Brigas, While born in São Paulo, Elias focuses have loved the album, especially with my
Nunca Mais/No More Fighting,” co-written Quietude on the northeastern state of Bahia, choice of material. And he would have been
with Vinicius de Moraes — and two colorful where bossa nova was born. She covers anoth- happy about the purity of the music, per-
gems by Dorival Caymmi, who she said Jobim er memorable song from her youth, “Bahia formed by masters as well as the swinging
celebrated as his favorite Brazilian writer. His Com H/Bahia With H” by Denis Brean, and essence of my voice. He would have also been
top-tier melody “Marina,” recorded in a quar- duets with Galvão on Caymmi’s “Bahias pleased with the honesty and sophistication.
tet setting with Teixeira, drummer Celso Medley,” a highlight of her vocal beauty. Many artists have taken a shot at bossa nova,
Almeida and bassist/co-producer/husband “I’ve always had a love affair with Bahia,” but Quietude is different. It is authentic.”
Marc Johnson, stands as Elias’ favorite on the said Elias, who made the point visually by pos- —Dan Ouellette

IAN DAVIES
IAN DAVIES
The Quartet 5, from left, Steve Sanders, Josh Vadiveloo, Cole, Nathan England-Jones
Xhosa Cole Goes Full Griot

WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS DEBUT ALBUM, the direct lineage from which my musical identi- Cole’s brother Azizi appears on two tracks,
2021’s acclaimed K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us ty comes,” he explained. “And a lot of my school- “CDC” and “All Roads.” “As this project explores
(Stoney Lane Records), the then-24-year-old ing as a musician and as an improviser has come the theme of brotherhood, it felt appropriate
tenor saxophone sensation Xhosa Cole project- through the school of bebop music of the African- to collaborate with my brother Azizi, who is a
ed the decided cool of a new young lion on the American community of the 1930s onwards. world-class percussionist and composer,” Cole
U.K. jazz scene. From his retro-looking pin- However, a big part of my musical development said. “We share a common language which man-
stripe suit to his confidently swinging renditions has been working with a big breadth of musical ifests in our collaborations. We obviously have a
of Woody Shaw’s “Zoltan,” Ornette Coleman’s forms and structures, lineages and traditions, lot of shared influences growing up in the very
“Blues Connotation,” Thelonious Monk’s “Played and I’ve been very fortunate to connect a big culturally rich environment of Handsworth in
Twice,” Lee Morgan’s “Untitled Boogaloo” and range of really inspiring musicians who are really Birmingham. Our experiences from childhood,
Tadd Dameron’s “On A Misty Night,” K(no)w pushing and excelling their idiom of music. listening to music together and playing music
Them, K(no)w Us heralded the arrival of an art- “A lot of these connections have been me together in different ensembles, are priceless.”
ist with potent chops who was clearly part of the searching for and finding my musical identity Another key presence on Ibeji is percussionist
swinging post-bop continuum. But a closer look within Black music, the music of African descen- Lekan Babaloa, who provides compelling testi-
revealed a subtle hint of something that belied the dants from all parts of the globe,” he continued. mony on five pieces. “Lekan has been a big influ-
standard young lion: Cole was sporting royal blue “And so, on the second album I wanted to explore ence and has had a significant impact on me and
nail polish matching his blue pinstripe suit. the different threads of my musical path and my conception of rhythm and my understand-
With the release of his followup album, Ibeji the different elements that made me the musi- ing of the roots of rhythm of these diasporic
(Stoney Lane), the Birmingham-born musician cian that I am. And I wanted to frame my musi- rhythms,” Cole said. “Speaking to and interact-
is not only presenting an entirely different look cal identity within different structures, so that ing with a master percussionist like him has been
— blue lipstick, blue eye makeup and white face people could appreciate the continuum and the a very eye-opening experience and a vital part of
paint — he is also delving into an entirely differ- thread that links all of the different styles of play- my development.”
ent musical bag. “The makeup was really a nod ing that I’m lucky and humbled to be engaged in.” Cole is also quick to point out the contribu-
to Afrofuturism,” said the 26-year-old saxophon- Over the course of Ibeji’s 16 tracks, Cole con- tions of in-demand New York drummer Jason
ist, who identifies as a queer Black jazz musician. nects the dots between West Africa and clave/ Brown, who alongside the saxophonist conjures
“It was a way of also expressing a queer identity rumba/second line/blues and even such pivotal up some ferocious Elvin Jones/John Coltrane
within the Black space, researching and explor- figures in jazz as Louis Armstrong and Charlie energy on the swinging sax-drums face-offs
ing some Grace Jones examples of other forms of Parker, while also addressing the harsh realities “Native Tongue” and “Andy’s Shuffle.” “Jason was
Afrofuturism that have permeated popular cul- of slavery, Jim Crow and lynchings. my first direct exposure to an African-American
ture. This is something that might be in the cards “We cover a lot of topics within the record,” perspective on jazz music,” Cole noted.
moving forward for recordings to come.” he said. “Among the seven percussionists, we While some pieces on Ibeji may harken back
Ibeji, which features Cole engaging in duets have a very wide breadth and outlook on different to his African ancestors, others push the enve-
with seven percussionists from across the African themes and elements that unite the experience of lope on Afrofuturism. For Cole, it’s all different
diaspora, addresses some deep ethnomusicolog- people of African descent. And in terms of the parts of the same tree that represents the African
ical/sociological issues through various spo- mentors in my life, several of them are represent- diaspora. “And one big branch of that tree that
ken-word testimonies that explore themes of ed on this record, including one of my first teach- I’ve been heavily involved in is that of jazz music,
duality, rituals, ancestors, masks, codes and ers in the arts, Ian Parmel. So I have these men- bebop and the music of the great forefathers and
brotherhood. In effect, Cole comes across as more tors and teachers who are always guiding me into foremothers of that music — Louis Armstrong,
griot than young lion. alignment with these traditions and with these Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane,
“The first album was an acknowledgement of foundations that make up the Black experience.” Lester Young … the list goes on.” —Bill Milkowski

Review: Documenting Sonny
CLOCKING IN AT 700-PLUS PAGES, then were separated during Sonny’s sec-
Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of ond reclusive period, which he spent in
Sonny Rollins (Hachette) is a well-written, India and Japan, immersing himself
comprehensive biography commensurate in yoga and Eastern religions. But they
with its subject’s great stature. Aidan Levy, reunited, and Lucille transformed her-
whose previous books include a biography self into Sonny’s trusted business man-
of Lou Reed, conducted hundreds of inter- ager and co-producer of his albums.
views with Rollins and others and appears It was Lucille who insisted that Sonny
to have scoured everything ever written perform in Boston four days after 9/11,
about him — most importantly, the sub- which resulted in a great live album.
stantial archive of personal material col- Lucille’s death in 2004 left Rollins
lected by Rollins himself, acquired by the bereft, though he kept performing and
Schomburg Center for Research in Black releasing albums. In 2012, Rollins was
Culture in 2017. diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis,
A chapter appearing not quite midway possibly caused by his proximity to the
through the book provides a taste of how toxic dust at Ground Zero on 9/11. He
much detail Levy was able to pack into his played what proved his final concert in
account of Rollins’ rich life and its connec- Barcelona that November, and stopped
tion to jazz’s future and past. The year was playing entirely in 2014.
1958. The chapter had begun with Rollins The average survival time for some-
recording his protest album Freedom Suite one diagnosed with pulmonary fibro-
with Max Roach and Oscar Pettiford sis is three to five years, but this past
before moving on to an account of Rollins September Rollins turned 92. He uses a
joining dozens of fellow jazz greats in front walker to get around and rarely leaves
of a Harlem brownstone that August for the house he moved to after Lucille’s
the photo for Esquire magazine that, many death. But he doesn’t let his mortality
years later, would inspire the documentary bother him.
A Great Day in Harlem. In between, Rollins “We’re not here to live forever,” Levy
had reconnected with one of his tenor sax quotes Rollins telling the New York
heroes, Lester Young, who had sunk deep Times in a 2020 as-told-to essay.
into drink and depression. Rollins, Roach, “Humans and materialism die. But
Papa Jo Jones and Miles Davis paid to rent there’s no dying in art.”
Young a room at the Alvin Hotel, where, writes Gerry Mulligan in a pair of friendly cutting ses- For most of his book, Levy focuses straight-
Levy, “Pres waxed philosophical.” sions; records the album Sonny Rollins And The forwardly on the facts he’s accumulated rath-
“If you can think of a godly person, and you’re Contemporary Leaders (which is panned by er than calling attention to his prose. But as the
drinking some Gordon’s gin, if you could put Amiri Baraka); is discombobulated by Gunther biography nears its end, he permits himself a
those two together, then you’ve got Lester Young,” Schuller’s famous analysis “Sonny Rollins and lyrical flight in summarizing Rollins’s legacy.
Rollins told Levy, who then splices that quote the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation” in the After noting that Rollins will live on through
together with one from a 2007 interview Rollins debut issue of the Jazz Review; and more. his recordings, the Schomburg archive and the
gave to the Detroit Metro Times: “We would talk There is much engrossing material before Rollins-endowed Oberlin Conservatory of Music
about his career and the things that went against and after that chapter. Some is well-known — Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble, Levy continues:
him because of his color. I said to myself that Sonny’s stints in prison and his kicking a hero- “Then there is the legacy of what Sonny
I don’t want to end up like Pres, drinking, you in addiction — but fleshed out with less familiar Rollins means to American culture and to the
know, and have people taking advantage of me detail (it was Kenny Drew’s gun Rollins was car- global jazz tradition. Sonny was famously known
— not being able to take care of my affairs. I was rying when he was arrested and sent to Riker’s as the architect of thematic improvisation, a con-
determined to do a lot of positive things in life Island for the first time). Some is less familiar, cept he did not consciously create but that was
because of being around Lester. I learned life isn’t such as Rollins’ father being court-martialed, thrust upon him. Yet his life was quite delib-
just about music, that you really have to know demoted and imprisoned on bogus charges stem- erately a thematic improvisation. Sonny was a
what to do when you are off the bandstand. It’s ming from his having hosted an interracial party freedom fighter for everyone, but also for him-
not just about being a gifted artist. It’s also about in Annapolis in 1946. self. He was a ‘second Paul Robeson,’ a calypso-
being a person that stands up.’” The story of Sonny’s relationship with his late nian who could dance around raindrops, a sax-
In that same chapter Rollins signals his inten- wife, Lucille Rollins, is given the importance it ophone-toting cowboy chasing the new frontier,
tion to take what became his famous bridge sab- deserves. He met her in Chicago in 1957, and they a lone figure wailing on the Bridge, a Mohawked
batical the next year; proposes marriage to Shirley immediately hit it off and began corresponding. warrior honoring the past, a yogi in Japan and
Carter, whom he had recently taken on a boat But he married and separated from one woman India, the Saxophone Colossus holding the stage,
cruise and dance featuring the Duke Ellington (Dawn Finney) and proposed to another (Shirley and, finally, a jazz prophet preaching the Golden
Orchestra; performs a concert with the Modern Carter) before he and Lucille moved in together Rule. It was all a thematic improvisation defined
Jazz Quartet and joins Thelonious Monk for a in 1959, just ahead of Sonny’s first reclusive peri- by an enduring quest to find out what it truly
couple of weeks at the Five Spot; overwhelms od. Sonny and Lucille married soon afterward, meant to be free.” —Bill Beuttler

JUSTIN VAN LEEUWEN
With Cervini’s latest project, Joy, the drummer offers
a paean to his musical family in Toronto.
Ernesto Cervini Finds Joy

TIME MANAGEMENT CARRIES MULTIPLE trio (Felicity Williams, Emilie-Claire Barlow and
meanings for Ernesto Cervini. For one thing, Amy Cervini); two art songs for Alex Samaras;
the 40-year-old, Toronto-based drummer creates “concertos” for alto saxophonist Tara Davidson,
permutations of musical time on a daily basis. He pianist Adrean Farrugia and electric bassist Rich
leads or co-leads multiple bands, each with a dif- Brown; a contrapuntal alto saxophone-trom-
ferent sonic personality, that play primarily orig- bone-drums trio by McDonald, William Carn
inal compositions, documented on 16 albums, and Cervini; and a clarinet-trombone quartet for
most recently the magnificently kaleidoscopic Virginia McDonald and Jim Lewis.
Joy, the 10th release on TPR Records since March The project gestated in 2019, when Cervini,
2021, when Cervini launched the label with com- who’d been thinking about doing a project with
poser — and brother-in-law — Oded Lev-Ari. an overarching Canadian theme, was reading The
Cervini also spends consequential time Beautiful Mystery, Penny’s eighth novel, framed
tending to Orange Grove Publicity, spreading around a murder in a Quebec monastery. “She
word to the gatekeepers not only about his lat- writes beautifully about music and the monks
est productions, but for releases by a variety of and their beautiful chants and how it makes peo-
Canadian jazz artists. Then, too, Cervini teach- ple feel,” he said. “I was inspired to write a song
es drums at University of Toronto and jazz busi- that could capture the monks singing and the
ness at York University and Humber College. idea of the music that evolves. Then it was a natu-
“Many days I wish I had a few more hours to ral step to start writing a whole album’s worth of
get everything in,” Cervini said in mid-Novem- music based on her books. As ideas arose for how
ber Zoom call from his neatly organized base- I could portray these different characters, I start-
ment studio. This was one such day: Normally up ed hearing these specific musicians.”
at 6 a.m., he’d been thrown off-kilter after return- In the process of composing, he refracted
ing home late from a sideman gig at The Rex theory lessons from years of immersion in the
Hotel and Jazz Bar. “I had to do my Orange Grove piano and clarinet canons, his undergraduate
work after dropping off my son at school, and my studies in piano performance at the University
daughter is home sick — so I haven’t practiced of Toronto and his master’s work on drums at
today. It’s still manageable, though. Hopefully I’ll Manhattan School of Music. “New York was
write some music this afternoon. inspiring, the kick in the ass that I really need-
“I think in small chunks and just get done ed,” he said. “The musical vibe in Canada can be
today what needs to be done for tomorrow. You laid back; in New York everyone’s going for it. I
can get paralyzed when you have a lot of work, relished the idea that, when you’re playing, you’re
and end up doing nothing. I try to make sure I always all in. Being there helped solidify the way I
never get there.” play — and, to be honest, the way I’ve approached
Cervini adhered to that modus operandi everything since I returned to Canada.”
when conceiving and executing Joy, a Duke More than anything, Cervini asserts, Joy is a
Ellington-esque tone parallel to the oeuvre of paean to his musical family in Toronto. “Louise
the eminent Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny writes that although her books are about
Penny. It’s a compositional tour-de-force, with murder and death and darkness, they are more
strong melodies scored for diverse instrumenta- about light and goodness and decency and
tions. Cervini showcases three of his groups — human interaction and community,” he said.
the three-saxophone-and-rhythm-section unit “I’m a joyful person, I love making music with
Tetrahedron, and chordless instrument units people, and a lot of the people on this album are
Tune Town and Turboprop — plus a female vocal like family.” —Ted Panken

Riffs Free Lincoln Center Program
Lifts Listeners with Dementia
COURTESY RUSSELL GUNN
THE CHARISMATIC REEDIST CALVIN
KEVIN YATAROLA
Johnson gazed out on the 70 or so people assem-
bled in Lincoln Center’s Stanley H. Kaplan
Penthouse and prepared to deliver a dose of spir-
itual uplift.
Johnson, a fourth-generation New Orleans
Russell Gunn musician, had seen audiences like this before:
people who risked being marginalized, in this
Gunn’s Tribute to Baraka: On Feb.
case because of their dementia. And he had man-
18, The Apollo is scheduled to present
the world premiere of The Blues And Its
aged to reach them through Big Easy culture,
People, a new commissioned work by about as universal a medium as one could find.
trumpeter Russell Gunn to celebrate the The hope was that history would repeat itself.
60th anniversary of Amari Baraka’s famed “The dance floor is officially open!” he
Blues People. The piece features seven new declared as he and his quintet, Native Son,
works performed by Gunn, his band The launched into Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’,” the
Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra and a variety first offering in a set largely drawn from Johnson’s
of special guests, including Jazzmeia Horn, hometown canon.
Stefon Harris, Craig Harris, Oliver Lake, As the music unfolded, much of the audience
Weedie Braimah, Dave Crawford and poet Calvin Johnson performs at a Lincoln Center Moments
was roused to cheering, singing and all manner programs for people with dementia in December.
Jessica Care Moore. apollotheater.org
of excited gesticulation. If their gestures some-
times seemed out of sync with concertgoing rit- vocals and tenor and soprano saxophones) gave
Hagans, NDR Get ual, that was OK. Rather than be put off by the in October at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein
MICHELE BRANGWEN
Docu Treatment: mismatch, Johnson played to it. The result: dis- Auditorium.
A new documentary arming flashes of raw authenticity amid a perfor- Johnson’s sensitivity in executing the
from filmmaker Mi- mance of emotional depth. December performance at Lincoln Center owed
chele Brangwen titled
“It went wonderfully, it was amazing, it in part to experience gained when, as a mem-
A Week in Hamburg: Tim Hagans
Rehearsing and
exceeded my expectations,” an elated Johnson ber of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and under
Performing Tim Hagans’ “A Conversation” said in a phone call after the performance. the auspices of its foundation, he conducted
follows the NDR Bigband on a week- The show was part of Lincoln Center workshops for people with Alzheimer’s, Down
long journey with Grammy-nominated Moments, a program that presents world-class Syndrome and autism.
trumpeter and composer Tim Hagans. The entertainment for free to people with dementia “When [the organizers of Lincoln Center
hour-long film premiered in November on and certain other conditions. It is part of a larger Moments] approached me and told me what they
YouTube. Hagans’ five-movement suite effort by Lincoln Center to improve access to and were trying to accomplish, I knew exactly how I
was released last year on Moon Records. diversity in its programming. wanted to approach it,” he said.
In the program’s eight years, it has often His approach began with making a connec-
recruited performers from Lincoln Center’s con- tion through rhythm. Keeping the improvisa-
Vail Fest Lands stituent organizations, including the New York tions concise also helped. He also considered
Clayton: The Vail Philharmonic and the Juilliard School. It has also the vintage of most people with dementia: “I was
Jazz Festival and Vail reached outside these groups; veteran jazz trom- thinking, ‘What songs will resonate with this
Jazz Party returns July bonist Art Baron, for example, has had marked generational demographic?’ And it hit me like
11–Sept. 4 under new success engaging with the audience, accord- a Mack truck: Fats Domino. Their guards were
artistic director John John Clayton ing to Miranda Hoffner, associate director of immediately down. They were open to receiving
Clayton with support
accessibility. what we were presenting to them.”
from Drew Zaremba. Clayton, the famed
bassist and co-leader of the Clayton-Ham- Not all the artists recruited for the program After the performance, Johnson participated
ilton Jazz Orchestra, has served as the have engaged so easily. Some have needed a fair in workshops, including one co-led by teaching
director of the Vail Jazz Workshop since its amount of coaching. That was decidedly not the artist Linda Cholodenko, a livewire who, at key
inception in 1996. vailjazz.org case with Johnson. times during the performance, had circulated
“Sometimes we try to gear our artists to highs among the audience, exhorting those who were
and lows, a dynamic performance,” Hoffner said. less engaged to respond more actively to their
Le Boeuf Named
Chief Conductor: “That is often helpful for this audience — to keep environment.
Saxophonist/composer things changing and moving. But for him, that As the workshop broke and the day wound
Remy Le Bouef has was not necessary because he already created that down, Ira, a longtime fan of Lincoln Center
been named the so beautifully in a set.” Moments, related a brief encounter with his
chief conductor of the Remy Le Bouef Hoffner said that the program’s organizers dementia-diagnosed wife that seemed to cap-
Nordkraft Big Band enjoyed a preview of Johnson and his New ture the essence of the program: “Music is what
in Denmark. The 17-member ensemble, Orleans repertoire at a family concert that she relates to the most. And when she sudden-
founded in 2010 in Aalborg, was previously Native Son (trombonist Stephen Walker, pianist ly reaches over and puts her hand on my leg and
led by John Clayton.
Andrew McGowan, bassist Nori Naraoka and starts patting it a little bit, to me that’s just a won-
drummer Errold Lanier along with Johnson on derful moment.” —Phillip Lutz

Final Bar
own. She is survived by two stepchildren:
Elvin Nathan Jones of Seattle, and Rose-Marie
Jones of Stockholm, Sweden.
Mick Goodrick: 1945–2022

Mick Goodrick, acclaimed guitarist and jazz
educator, passed away Nov. 16. He was 77.
Goodrick taught
ECM RECORDS
at Berklee College
of Music and New
England Conserva-
tory, penning The
Advancing Guitarist,
a seminal text for
Mick Goodrick
young guitariststs.
Keiko and Elvin Jones on
the cover of his 1970 album Coalition Goodrick became interested in jazz while
attending a Stan Kenton Band Camp. He went
Keiko Okuya Jones: 1937–2022 to Berklee, toured with Gary Burton, then
Keiko Okuya Jones, widow of the hall- returned to Berklee to settle into a career in
of-fame drummer and bandleader Elvin education.
Jones, passed away Sept. 26 in the Man- Some of Goodrick’s stutdents included John
hattan apartment she shared with Jones Scofield, Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and
for many years. She was 85. Lage Lund. As a performer, Goodrick worked
Her death from a stroke was confirmed with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orches-
by her stepson Elvin Nathan Jones and tra, Jack DeJohnette and Steve Swallow. His
drummer Alvin Queen, a longtime friend of death was said to be a result of Parkinson’s
Elvin and Keiko. Keiko Okuya was born in Disease.
Nagasaki, Japan, on April 8, 1937, daughter
of a father in the footwear business. She David Ornette Cherry: 1958–2022
studied classical piano and was influ- David Ornette Cherry, the multi-instrumental-
enced by her father’s love of American ist son of Don Cherry, passed away after an
jazz. In 1966, he joined with a number of asthma attack on Nov. 20 in his London hotel
similarly inspired Japanese jazz fans to help following a performance. He was 64.
organize a drummer-led tour that featured Cherry grew up in Watts, California, and took
Art Blakey, Tony Williams and Elvin Jones up music at an early
CREDIT
as headliners. On this tour that Elvin and age. He was born the
Keiko met and fell in love. same year Ornette
She returned with him to New York City Coleman and Don
in early 1967. Pivoting from his years as a Cherry recorded
sideman (including five legendary years their first album,
with John Coltrane) to become a bandlead- Something Else.
er, Jones’ career blossomed. Many friends The ambient music
David Ornette Cherry
and musicians credit Keiko’s resolve, un- streaming through
flinching devotion and business acumen his childhood was generated by the early col-
to helping Jones revive his career. All the laborations of his father with Coleman and the
while she faced disrespect in a system that musicians who visited his parents’ Mariposa
dealt unkindly with women and those Avenue home in Los Angeles.
speaking English as a second language. He took up music seriously following a
In 1971, they married and remained to- wood-chopping accident one summer in
gether until Jones’ passing in 2004. Keiko Sweden that sealed David’s musical fate. He
served as his business partner and person- began performing with his father at the age
al gatekeeper, band and tour manager of 16. A writer, arranger and improviser, Cherry
and drum technician. She was credited won the 2003 ASCAP Chamber Music America
as composer or arranger of a few tunes Award for Adventurous Programming of
he recorded (“Mr. Jones,” “The Children’s Contempory Music.
Merry-Go-Round March” and “Shinjitsu,” His influences came from jazz, classical, Af-
for example). “I feel like my husband is still rican and world music, as well as from playing
living with me since May 18th,” she said in with some of the greatest jazz artists in history.
a rare public statement at the 2004 Jazz He also worked training young musicians in
Journalist Association Awards. “I still make world music, theory and piano..
him breakfast every day, and I have been
a great friend of his since I met him many Mark R. Feldman: 1940–2022
years ago in Japan. Carrying on for him is a Mark R. Feldman, M.D., 82, the founder of
mighty responsibility.” Reservoir Records, passed away on Dec. 6 in
Keiko and Jones had no children of their New York after a short illness.

BY AYANA CONTRERAS PHOTO BY ELIZABETH LEITZELL
When DownBeat caught up with Lakecia Benjamin in

November via Zoom, the saxophonist and composer
was clad in a cherry red sweatshirt, wearing angular,
postmodern chrome eyeglasses. Her shirt was embla-
zoned in black with “Anyone who can’t dance to John
Coltrane can’t dance,” a quote attributed (on the gar-
ment) to Jean-Michel Basquiat. The shirt was a birthday
gift from a friend.
Her first album was “years ago,” she con-
ELIZABETH LEITZELL
tinued. Because this album was created with

a goal of confirming Lakecia’s composing
prowess, the tracks on Phoenix consist of
largely original material (with the excep-
tion of “Peace Is A Haiku Song” by Sonia
Sanchez and a cover of Patrice Rushen’s
“Jubilation”). In the case of “Haiku,” which
is built around a recitation of Sanchez’s
poem of the same name (itself a part of
a larger collaboration between Sanchez
and the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts
Program), Benjamin made sure Sanchez
received appropriate credit for the track. “I
didn’t want to get in the way of the elders
getting their money,” she explained.
The chiefly original nature of Phoenix
sits in contrast with Pursuance, which was an
Alice and John Coltrane composition-based
project. And even though Phoenix contains
no Coltrane-penned music, Benjamin said
the recording is still indebted to her tran-
scendental experiences with the power of
their music.
In September 2021, Benjamin was return-
ing from a Tri-C Jazz Festival performance in
Cleveland when a tragic date with fate inter-
vened. “I had an accident where I fractured
my collarbone. I fractured my jaw, my scap-
ula broke. I basically almost died in this car.
And this was the time where I had just started
getting Pursuance back on the road.”
“The first show I did after that accident
was the Pittsburgh Jazz Fest [less than two
weeks later]. And I actually have videos of
that. I was playing with my jaw broken, and I
just had to kind of bite down. Luckily, when
I play, I really feel like I owe the ’Tranes a lot.
That music in itself pushed me.”
Mere weeks after the accident, she
embarked on a grueling month-long
European tour. She credits “the power of the
Coltranes’ music” for sustaining her, “and
God, of course.”
“It wasn’t until I came back that I spent
two months going through the physical
therapy. I had to regain the movement of
my right arm and really get my jaw togeth-
“I don’t do projects that don’t have a story or motivation,” says Benjamin. er. The excruciating pain that I was in forced
me to leave my body. I had to really be like, ‘I
“R
cannot be in my body and do this show and
ight now I’m into artistic expres- (Ropeadope), as well as a 2018 tribute to interact with my audience — see what they
sion, all kinds, visual and every John Coltrane at Jazz at Lincoln Center. need, what they’re doing — if I’m constantly
way,” she divulged, expressing Despite the accolades doled on focused on [the fact that] I can barely close
the inkling to “make an impact with what Pursuance, Phoenix, on Whirlwind my mouth.’
you wear, what you say, what you do, how you Recordings, is the album in her cata- “It made me focus … almost like a med-
dance, what you’re thinking.” The shirt was logue that Benjamin is most excited about. itation, to sit into that feeling of ‘What is it?’
exceptionally fitting, bearing in mind that “I’ve been spending so much time with the ‘What are you trying to communicate?’ And
two tracks on her latest album, Phoenix, are Coltranes and doing their music: not just constantly staying in that vibe.”
titled “Basquiat” and “Coltrane.” Her con- protecting their legacy, but honoring it. It Those meditations helped guide the pro-
nection to Alice and John Coltrane inspired feels good to find a way to move on, still cess of naming the new album. “I don’t do
her much heralded work on her previous honoring legacy, but then to actually make projects that don’t have a story or moti-
album, 2020’s Pursuance: The Coltranes my own kind of claim to it,” she said. vation. That’s partially why I picked [the

album title] Phoenix. I said, ‘What is it like rolling drum line reminiscent of Ahmad nection to older generations of musicians,
for me … a whole country … a whole world Jamal’s 1958 classic rendition of “Poinciana” in Benjamin’s estimation, is an important
to pick themselves up from the ashes and try — and featuring vocals by Dianne Reeves — hallmark of jazz. “When I started up, I was
to recreate something? the lyrics plead gently that “it’s time to turn young going into the club, sneaking in, try-
“Phoenix, that’s the most beautiful thing the page and start anew with your mind and ing to get on a stage with Rashied Ali, try-
ever: to spontaneously combust into flames soul.” ing to get on a stage with Clark [Terry]. All
and come back. I really thought of the strug- Benjamin explained that her goal with they can say is no. So it’s better to get a ‘no,’
gles I’ve had in my own life, even trying to “Mercy” was “to spread more awareness and then ask again later, than to not try to
get to a step where I can have an interview that we’re all humans. I feel we’re so discon- have someone of that greatness for what
she’s done.”
Benjamin’s sentiments mirror those
‘Phoenix, that’s the

expressed by iconic musician/composers
Patrice Rushen and Terri Lyne Carrington,
who each contribute to Phoenix. Carrington
produced the effort, and Rushen played
most beautiful thing

piano on “Jubilation,” a cover of her original
composition. “Jubilation” was first included
on Rushen’s 1975 sophomore effort, Before
The Dawn, which was recorded when the
ever: to spontaneously
pianist was just 20 years old.
According to Rushen, the song was com-
posed in reverence to an artist who is one
of her heroes, making the track’s inclusion a
combust into flames

true “full-circle moment.”
“I also play flute,” the Grammy-winning
multi-instrumentalist told DownBeat via
telephone, “and I thought Hubert Laws was
and come back.’

one of the best. I wanted to dedicate some-
thing in service to [Laws, who solos on the
original recording].” She added that “reach-
ing back” to older masters is something that
isn’t “as present in today’s music. When
like this, or just have something of recog- nected. We’re really focusing on the differ- I was starting out, it wasn’t unusual [for
nition. This album really signified that for ent aspects ourselves and gender and race a young artist] to hope to get to the point
me.” and religion and not focusing on the things where [they] could play alongside [their]
For the native New Yorker, scaffolded that are the same and the things that make heroes.”
onto that transformative, character-defining us one. We had this virus affecting all of us, Rushen plays piano on Benjamin’s rendi-
experience was preceded by the lockdown didn’t matter any type of association you tion, and cited that she decided she wanted
— all of it in the midst of a global pandem- had.” Calling for all of us to exhibit more to be involved with the project when, after
ic and a subsequent American civil rights “grace” she added, “We need to learn how to a few conversations with the younger art-
uprising. cThe opening track, “Amerikkan lead with love.” ist, it was evident that Benjamin had “seri-
Skin,” hits listeners with the bone-chilling And while “Coltrane” and “Basquiat” ous” intentions. A storied educator, Rushen
sounds of gunshots and sirens interplayed are homages to artists who have departed asserted the importance of building and
with a recording of Angela Davis’ 2019 to another plane, other tracks were creat- maintaining these intergenerational bridg-
speech “Revolution Today.” ed with the intention of uplifting living cre- es, and praised Benjamin’s understanding of
“I wanted the listener to get into the ators she admires — from Benjamin’s close the fact that “we are all perpetual students
mindset that I started in,” Benjamin friend Georgia Anne Muldrow to elders of this music.”
explained. “When the pandemic started, such as Davis and Reeves. Citing the inclusion of “progressive, rad-
I was fresh on Pursuance. That’s what my Like her work with the Coltranes, the ical women like Sonia Sanchez” on Phoenix,
focus was, and we were engulfed in that. But inclusion of these artists also offered an Carrington saluted Benjamin’s instinct to
the writing for this album took place during opportunity for Benjamin to connect with include these artists.
that lockdown. And the month I started the legacy of older artists she respects, “It’s an interesting balance to me how
[composing for Phoenix], that’s what I was including Wayne Shorter, who contributes you can honor the past and acknowledge it
hearing outside of my house. I was hearing a few sage words of advice on “Supernova.” and its presence in your own artistry, and in
sirens. I was seeing on the news, people get- “All of these artists have a deep place in my your own life as you’re trying to push bound-
ting shot. I was experiencing a violent virus heart,” she noted, adding that her intention aries and move things forward,” Carrington
in a violent world.” was to leave some type of legacy as well. said. “That’s the way it should be.”
The sounds, therefore, are intentionally “I’m trying to work with the elders while Carrington added that her role on the
immersive: “I wanted the album to feel like they are here and get what they have to offer project also falls under the umbrella of
kind of an audio book,” she said, “and to and their blessing on how to proceed. I want- intergenerational collaboration. And while
recreate sonically what I was feeling each ed to emphasize people who, along my jour- Benjamin had played in Carrington’s band
month and what was happening.” ney, have really spoken to me and showed as far back as 2015, more recently Carrington
For example, on “Mercy,” a track with a me what the world could be like.” This con- recognized a change in Benjamin’s perspec-

artist-as-advocate, she understands the
STEVEN SUSSMAN
need to uplift the legacies of women in jazz.

In addition to her ongoing work in the per-
formance and production space, and work
as the founder and artistic director of the
Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice,
Carrington recently embarked on the New
Standards project, a multi-pronged initia-
tive encompassing an exhibition, a fresh
compilation of 101 lead sheets by women
composers and a Grammy-nominated
album drawing from the compositions in
the aforementioned compilation.
Citing a previous conversation with
Benjamin, Carrington recognized that in
the time that had elapsed between their
interactions, the saxophonist had experi-
enced “a bit of an awakening to this gender
issue,” an awakening she’s witnessed many
times before, even within herself.
According to Carrington, historically,
successful women in jazz “patterned our-
selves after our male colleagues and male
mentors. So I think most of us shied away
from really celebrating that part of us, hir-
ing other women, all that, because we didn’t
want to be outcasts, or we didn’t want to be
siloed off to the side.”
Citing her “New Standards” multi-
media installation mounted at the Carr
Center in Detroit — which serves to high-
light and uplift the contributions of women
in jazz — Carrington acknowledged that
“people who were there, [like] Jazzmeia
Horn, said, ‘I didn’t know I needed this.’ We
“I’m trying to leave whatever kind of imprint I can on society,” says Benjamin. have to not only celebrate and lift them up
and understand their contributions histori-
tive. “When she came through this time, of women creators in general. “I wanted to cally, but we also have to point to the issues
it was almost like she had a better under- announce how I was feeling about the world and the systemic sexism that has permeated
standing of my history and the things I’ve and announce the women of the project. ... the music for so long.”
done,” Carrington said. “People that are Most of my guests are female.” It’s a message Benjamin has taken to
of a younger generation, they may kind of Though the effort was noble, the process heart. She said that another goal of Phoenix
know who I am, but … I’m not really a part was not without snags. is to inspire the next generation of jazz cre-
of their scene. When she came back, I felt After hitting scheduling roadblocks ators, particularly young women, perhaps
like she really understood more of my his- while working with Davis to record the spo- reaching forward.
tory and contributions, and it felt extreme- ken word passage for “Amerikkan Skin,” the “This is what I’m here to do until I’m
ly genuine.” saxophonist found a recording of a speech not,” she explained. “I’m trying to leave
Benjamin shared that she sees Davis had given in 2017 at the Centre de whatever kind of imprint I can on society
Carrington as “someone who has excelled Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona called and leave my little stamp so maybe some-
for a long time at her craft from a very “Revolution Today.” one younger than me sees it. Patrice and [the
young age and really is open to any genre, In that speech, Davis proclaimed, other elders] see me doing something. They
any possibility. “Revolutionary hope resides precisely among see me reaching for something and trying to
“And, in my opinion, [Carrington is] just those women who have been abandoned by break boundaries and molds. Maybe there is
now getting some of the flowers she should history and are now standing up and mak- some 13-year-old out there, some 16-year-
be getting. A lot of this project, I had the ing their demands heard.” old out there who doesn’t know which direc-
music together. I had everything I wanted to After identifying appropriate passages, tion to go.
do together, but Terri really forced me to dig Benjamin asked the academic, “Are you “They don’t know what to do. And I just
deeper and to find a way to make myself bet- OK with this being your message? Even want people to realize that it’s OK to follow
ter. And I don’t think I could have done that though ‘Amerikkan Skin’ has multiple lay- your dreams and see what happens.”
without her.” ers of meaning, one layer is the convenient And if Benjamin’s story is any indication,
For Benjamin, a crucial objective of blindness to some things happening to sometimes following that path means step-
Phoenix was to use her platform to uplift the women across the world.” ping out on faith and transcending proverbi-
legacies of not just her elders, but also those Carrington sees that. A long-standing al ashes. DB

BY J.D. CONSIDINE | PHOTO BY JEAN-MARC LUBRANO
Truth be told, the music on Emerald City Nights: Live
At The Penthouse was just as much of a surprise to
Ahmad Jamal as to anyone else.
A
lthough the pianist had performed frequently at the Seattle
jazz landmark and was fond of the club’s late owner, Charlie
Puzzo, he had no idea that recordings of his early-’60s per-
formances at the Penthouse existed — much less that there were
six hours’ worth. “I knew nothing about them except the fact
that Puzzo had one of my favorite clubs,” he said, over the
phone from his home in the Berkshires. “I worked there
for many, many years. And we did broadcasts.
“But I had no idea someone was going to unearth
59-year-old recordings,” he laughed.
Recorded between 1963 and 1966, the material on the
first two volumes (a third, covering 1966–’68, is forthcom-
ing) captures Jamal in his creative and commercial prime. “I’ve
known about these recordings of Ahmad Jamal probably for
about 10 or 11 years now,” explained producer Zev Feldman,
whose Jazz Detective imprint released the Emerald City
Nights albums. He had gotten to know Puzzo and his son,
Charlie Jr., and through them was introduced to the
Penthouse club archives.

DON BRONSTEIN
Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse was recorded at a club that helped put Ahmad Jamal on the map.
Starting with 2015’s Groovin’ Hard: Live be interested in listening to these tapes, with Leonard I wanted to do a remote recording,”
At The Penthouse by the Three Sounds fea- an eye to a possible album or albums? he said. (He said he prefers the term “remote
turing Gene Harris, the partnership between “I really didn’t know what was going to recording” because, as he points out, “All
Feldman and the Puzzo family has yield- happen,” Feldman said. But the tapes went recordings are live. Remote means removed
ed a number of albums, most notably John out, and Stayman eventually called back to say from the studio.”)
Coltrane’s A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle. that Jamal loved them. The result was At The Pershing: But Not For
But it was the stack of Ahmad Jamal tapes “I can’t tell you how happy that made me,” Me, recorded at the Pershing Lounge in
that most excited Feldman now. “I’ve kind of Feldman said. Chicago. Released on Jan. 16, 1958, it was
felt that these were the Holy Grail,” he said. “I “I was reluctant, to tell you the truth, to go a massive hit, spending 108 weeks on the
mean, we’re very lucky to have this. This hap- along with this project,” Jamal admitted. But Billboard album charts and selling more than
pens during his Argo phase, all those years Feldman, Stayman and Maurice Montoya, a million copies. It even delivered a hit sin-
recording with the Chess family, and there’s Jamal’s agent, were all in favor. “So I gave in. I gle with the grooving, tuneful “Poinciana,”
something really magical about them. These relented, and started this work,” he paused. “A a track Jamal had to insist got given to DJs.
are recordings that I personally kept listening lot of work, though. Listening, listening and “They said, you’ll never get a seven-minute,
to, over and over again. listening and deciding what to use, and what 35-second record played,” he laughed. “We got
“But I also had known, through reputa- not to use. A lot of work.” all the play we wanted, and then some. We’re
tion, that Mr. Jamal is very selective,” he Then again, it was a collection of material still getting airplay.”
added. “For some artists, revisiting the past recorded before an audience at a night club Rather than use the word jazz, Jamal pre-
isn’t something that they like to do. They like that put Ahmad Jamal on the map for many fers to refer to the music as American classi-
to be focused on moving forward.” By chance, jazz fans. In the mid-’50s, Jamal was signed cal music. A child prodigy whose profession-
Feldman wound up speaking with Andrew with Argo, an offshoot of Chicago’s Chess al career began at age 14, Jamal is well-versed
Stayman, one of Jamal’s assistants, about an Records, and for his third album wanted to in European classical music, and notes the
unrelated matter, and happened to bring up try something different than the usual stu- difference between the two approaches. With
the Penthouse tapes’ existence. Would Jamal dio session. “I went to Leonard Chess, and told European classical music, the performer is

expected to interpret the music, faithful- small — eight tracks cut between 1951 and between solo and ensemble passages.
ly following the score in the hopes of reflect- ’52 — but influential, mostly thanks to When asked about the technical challeng-
ing the composer’s intention. With American “Surrey With The Fringe On Top,” which in es that went into playing like that, he respond-
classical music, the goal is to reinterpret the Jamal’s hands was transformed from a plod- ed, “Oh, nothing is easy. I would like it to be,
music, to find something the original com- ding cowboy song in Oklahoma! to a frisky, but …” He laughed. “People talk to me about
poser never imagined. bop-inflected romp. Thanks to Jamal, the what I have done. I think in terms of what I
“We interpreted the works beyond the tune became a jazz standard, performed by haven’t done.”
concepts of the writers,” he said. “The thing Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson and Perhaps the most audacious arrangement
is, we pick and choose [material].” He men- a host of others. on the Emerald City Lights albums is “Like
tions as an example John Coltrane’s version The two volumes of Emerald City Nights Someone In Love,” from the second volume.
of “My Favorite Things,” the recording that underscore the range and variety of Jamal’s It opens with a solo piano statement of the
tune, played rubato and emphasizing the lush-
‘People talk to me about

ness of composer Jimmy Van Heusen’s harmo-
ny. But when the bass and drums finally enter,
it’s not to shore up the changes but to set up a
pedal-point vamp, over which Jamal free-as-
what I have done;

sociates snippets from Ferde Grofé’s “On The
Trail” and the title song from The Sound Of
Music — until suddenly there’s a four-chord
transition and we’re back in “Like Someone In
I think in terms of what Love.”

“I listened to some of this stuff, and I said,
‘Is that me?’” Jamal laughed. “I was surprised
I haven’t done.’
at some of the things I discovered listening [to
these tapes].”
Listeners will make discoveries, too. For
instance, “My First Love Song,” a piece that
Leslie Bricusse wrote with lyricist Anthony
first brought broad attention to the saxophon- abilities as an arranger and pianist. “Johnny Newley for the now mostly forgotten musical
ist’s solo career. “‘My Favorite Things’ is how One Note,” which opens the first volume, is The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Smell Of The
you know John Coltrane,” he said. “But why typical, opening with a gruffly propulsive Crowd. “I didn’t remember that I’d done that,”
did John Coltrane pick that? Because he found blues riff that repeatedly dissolves into an Jamal admitted. “But I had done the whole
something in there that no one else did.” effervescent, major-key melody. The heart score, [because] the record company wanted
Jamal himself has been particularly adept of the performance is a long solo over that us to cover that particular Broadway show that
at finding something that no one else did. bass line, in which Jamal shows off both his Leslie Bricusse and Tony Newley produced.
It’s unlikely that many listening to Bing chops and his imagination, but the impact And, actually, they were very talented people.”
Crosby’s stagey, string-drenched rendition of that solo is amplified by the arrangement, “My First Love Song” is a beautiful ballad,
of “Poinciana” (1943) would have heard the which uses tempo shifts, block chords and but what makes the version on the second
makings of a groove tune, yet Jamal did. But a wonderfully melodic drum solo by Chuck Emerald City Nights album so compelling is
he didn’t just match a melody to a beat, as his Lampkin to transform the tune into a small- the trio’s masterful control of dynamics, which
reinterpretation turns a song that was most- scale suite. ebb and swell like an incoming tide. There are
ly refrain into a mini-suite, driven by eighth- Then there’s “Minor Adjustments,” which quiet moments in which all three musicians
note afterbeats and Israel Crosby’s insistently opens with piano and bass playing counter- seem to be playing at a whisper, and other bits
tuneful bass. point that could have come from a Bach three- where they’re swinging hard and loud. Jamal
“My arrangement of ‘Poinciana’ is a classic part invention before veering off into a stomp- takes full advantage of his instrument’s wide
that still is imitated and emulated every day,” ing blues. “That was by [bassist] Richard Evans, dynamic range.
he said, with justifiable pride. Arranging has a very talented bassist and composer,” Jamal The liner notes mention that there was
always been one of Jamal’s strong suits. In par- said, adding that it was through Evans — who always a grand piano onstage when Jamal
ticular, he’s especially adept at two devices that was at that point teaching at Berklee — that he played the Penthouse. “I was the third art-
figure heavily in European classical music: was introduced to the pianist Hiromi, an artist ist in our particular American classical genre
constructing a narrative structure out of vari- his wife, Laura Hess-Hay, now manages. to join the Steinway roster,” he explained.
ation on a theme, and using shifting dynamics “Tangerine,” also from the first volume, “When I went over there, they only had two
to pull the most from a melody. finds Jamal using dynamic contrasts with such other artists in the genre that we are working
“I’ve been writing since I was 10 years old, finesse that his piano sounds like a virtual big in American classical music. They had Hazel
writing arrangements,” he said. That didn’t band. “That was Joe Kennedy’s arrangement, Scott, and John Lewis [of the Modern Jazz
become a professional strength until he was adapted from his arrangement of ‘Tangerine,’” Quartet]. I’ve been with them since 1960.”
20, and moved from sideman to bandlead- he said, referring to a 1959 album with orches- These days, Jamal does not get as much use
er after violinist Joe Kennedy Jr. left the Four tra called, appropriately, At the Penthouse out of being a Steinway artist.
Strings, and Jamal became the head of the (although in this case, the penthouse in ques- “I have two Steinway D’s in my studio
Three Strings. “I inherited leadership,” he said. tion was Nola’s Penthouse Studio in New upstairs,” he said. “I want to practice every
“It was something I didn’t want, but it hap- York). Jamal not only manages to convey both day, but I can’t. I’m retired now, so I have this
pened. And I’ve been writing ever since.” the piano and string parts, but adjusts his thing, that thing, that thing, this thing to do.
The Three Strings’ recorded output was attack to make it easy to hear the difference I’m very busy.” DB

BY PHILLIP LUTZ | PHOTO BY LAURA FERREIRA
Nearly half an hour into the Oct. 8 premiere of Etienne Charles’ epic suite
San Juan Hill, the members of the New York Philharmonic began taking their
seats onstage at a packed David Geffen Hall, triggering a round of applause
so effusive that it seemed to shake the foundation of the hall’s home, Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts.
N
o surprise there. The hall was reopening after a major make-
over, and the return of the philharmonic to its longtime base
of operations was bound to be a seismic event. But even before
the orchestra joined the fray, Charles’ sextet Creole Soul — augmented
by a flutist, a turntablist and multimedia partners — set off a few trem-
ors of its own, presenting five movements of the suite that left the audi-
ence slightly shaken but pleasantly stirred. Judging by the buzz in the
room, they wanted to hear more from this man with the sweet trumpet
and stinging pen.
A flamboyant stylist with radical instincts, Charles, 39, had emerged
from the jazz world proffering a provocative collaboration between the
philharmonic and his sextet. The piece would address, in historical con-
text, Lincoln Center’s supplanting of the economically poor, culturally
rich San Juan Hill neighborhood in Manhattan. And, as the piece played
out on that afternoon, it addressed what happened — offering an intoxi-
cating mix of sonic pleasures and seldom-heard social truths.

the philharmonic’s 180-year history. And, like
LAWRENCE SUMULONG
Charles, he had a history of denouncing racial
injustice with his art. So he spoke with author-
ity when he said that Charles was the right per-
son to articulate the message and “Riot: 1905”
was the right vehicle to convey it.
“It’s dissonant and it’s jarring and all those
things that you can feel when the powers-that-
be are against you,” he said. “That is the histo-
ry of so many Black and brown people in a lot
of our cities, it’s a part of that history. That did
inform my interpretation. But it’s in the music.
He wrote it.”
The bulk of the writing, which ultimately
encompassed five orchestral movements, had
yet to be completed when, at a March gathering
at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse, the phil-
harmonic announced its 2022–’23 schedule. At
the gathering, Charles stood out, the bright col-
ors and vivid patterns of his outfit matching the
audacity of his offering.
Lincoln Center was, like other tradi-
An augmented version of Charles’ sextet Creole Soul takes the stage at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.
tion-bound cultural institutions in the city,
seeking new audiences. Addressing the histo-
ry that led to its creation was considered critical
“It was a way to no longer have things swept tion on two views of San Juan Hill (“What one to that mission. And commissioning Charles
under the proverbial rug,” Charles said in an saw as trash / Another saw as treasure”), the — whose oeuvre included unsparing histori-
interview a few days after the concert. poem closed with an unequivocal statement on cal works like Greenwood, a small-group suite-
The small-group portion of the program where she and Charles, who wrote the conclud- about the destruction of the Black business dis-
laid bare some disquieting realities, opening lines, stood: “What some first saw as a devel- trict in Tulsa, Oklahoma — was seen as a means
ing with the soft strains of “Lenape,” a melan- oper / Was revealed to be a destroyer.” A modal of doing so. Speaking at the gathering, Lincoln
choly ode to the original inhabitants of the slice firestorm followed, sparked by DJ Logic’s turn- Center President and CEO Henry Timms said
of Manahatta that became the Afro-diasporan table scratches and manipulated sound samples the commission would help demonstrate that
redoubt for which the suite was named, and of real-world destruction. “we’re engaged with that history.”
closing with the blunt force of “The Destroyer,” With that sublime exercise in agitation as a “We try to tell the story of where we come
a devastating indictment of the policy of lead-in and the orchestra members ready to from as a way of navigating where we’re going
so-called slum clearance that leveled it. A sense play, it fell to their principal clarinetist, Anthony next,” he said. “This is the piece that’s telling the
of foreboding prevailed throughout. McGill, to up the ante with a dynamic reading story: This is your home.”
That sense was established up front by the of the opening to the next chapter in Charles’ How seamlessly the philharmonic could
spectral presence of poet Eljon Wardally. work, “Riot: 1905.” In cool and clear tones, he integrate its 80 pieces with the jazz sextet was
Reciting lines offstage, Wardally appeared delivered an anxious and impassioned clari- an open question. In an interview at the gath-
only as a disembodied voice, her words drift- on call to all who would listen that neither the ering, Jaap van Zweden, the philharmonic’s
ing in while filmmaker Maya Cozier’s moving issues addressed in San Juan Hill nor its com- conductor and music director, expressed little
pictures, projected onstage, showed children poser could be ignored. doubt. He noted that his personal tastes extend-
of color at play. Were they from the neighbor- The movement depicted an actual event in ed beyond the realm of classical music, remark-
hood, blissfully unaware of their impending which a small incident, fueled by a racist mob ing that his son was a DJ and that he, himself,
displacement? To Wardally, it didn’t matter. and the complicity of police, grew into a full- listened to popular music at home, as did phil-
They had a universality to them, as well as per- scale uprising in San Juan Hill. Building on harmonic players.
sonal resonance. And both qualities echoed in McGill’s opening, Charles made full use of “It fits in my whole body and in my spiritu-
her haunting lines. the textures available to him in the combined al life,” he said, adding: “The open minds of
“I saw a reflection of myself,” she said in an ensembles, layering an increasingly dense series the orchestra members are amazing. The soul
interview, noting that, like Charles, she is of of cross-rhythms and stacked harmonies across of the city comes out of these people. It feels
Afro-Caribbean ancestry. the canvas in disorienting brushstrokes. The very natural.”
In “Lenape,” her voice, sonorous yet distant, effort yielded an indelible aural image of the In the months after that gathering, Charles
intoned that the people of Lenapehoking were chaos that reportedly ensued 117 years ago. began to compose. By August, during a break
vanquished by the Dutch. With the poet’s words “They understood that it was about paint- in a publicity photo shoot at Lincoln Center,
still hanging in the air, Elena Pinderhughes’ ing a picture,” Charles said of the musicians. he was able to lay out a full score at the Kaplan
flute and John Davis’ toms summoned the That picture, McGill said, was well realized. Penthouse. The score, which seemed well with-
native culture, even as Charles’ airily modern And he was well placed to know. Like Charles, in the bounds of conventional orchestral writ-
harmonies foreshadowed a 20th-century ana- who rose from steel bands working the streets ing, fleshed out key elements that in March
log to its decimation. of Trinidad to his newfound status as an elite had been conceived of in outline. Transferring
The foreshadowing became fact in orchestral composer, McGill had risen against paper to performance was the challenge ahead.
“Destroyer.” Opening with Wardally’s rumina- the odds to become the first Black principal in To be sure, the small-group portion of the

show had required little rehearsal. The charts were basic, and for the
veteran jazzmen of the sextet — saxophonist Godwin Louis, pianist
Sullivan Fortner, guitarist Alex Wintz and bassist Ben Williams, as well
as Davis and Charles — movements like “Swing Culture” were hardly
a stretch. In nods to San Juan Hill luminaries like pianists Thelonious
Monk and Herbie Nichols and clarinetist Russell Procope, that move-
ment featured open blowing over Williams’ walking bass. Part of anoth-
er movement, “Where Two Or More Are Gathered,” was freely impro-
vised at the concert.
But the orchestral portion was not so simple. Fortner — whose
scene-stealing stride turn on “Charleston At The Jungles” elicited the
strongest audience reaction of any solo in the concert — recalled that,
after two days of rehearsal with the full contingent of musicians on both
the jazz side and the classical side, the complexities of working together
became apparent.
“There [were] a lot of compromise that had to be made,” he said.
Timekeeping was an issue, Fortner noted, recalling one rehearsal
where the concertmaster raised a point: “He asked, ‘Who should we lis-
ten to? Should we listen to the drummer or should we follow the conduc-
tor?’ I said, ‘The New York Philharmonic is a 100-year-old train. We’re
going to follow you guys.’”
Charles, who exchanged subtle cues with van Zweden during the
performance — at the same time juggling his congas, cajon, trumpet and
hat used as a mute — acknowledged some give on the drummer’s part.
But he also likened the situation to that of any large ensemble. “It was a
little bit of a yield, but you have to do that when you’re playing with a big
band as well,” he said.
“In terms of grooves,” Charles added, “I was learning how to play with
the orchestra because you have all these people onstage. To find the time,
I was listening back to front: I’m listening for accents, not for the upbeat.”
The accents of “Charleston,” he said, were especially important to
advancing the movement’s narrative, which traced how the Gullah peo-
ple brought their brand of two-beat syncopation from the low country of
Georgia to San Juan Hill. There, pianist James P. Johnson incorporated it
in his playing at the Jungles Casino, on 62nd Street. Adapted for popular
consumption, it precipitated a national dance craze.
A long orchestral stretch was meant to illustrate the Gullah migra-
tion. But the heart of the movement was Fortner’s improvisation, a fanta-
sia on the piano culture that was integral to the community’s social fab-
ric. “It was like hip-hop in the ’80s — the hip, cool style,” Charles said.
“So I tried to channel all that into this movement.”
Fortner found himself translating the syncopated vernacular for the
orchestra’s players. “They’re not used to it,” he said. “It wasn’t that they
couldn’t do it, but in talking with them about it, it was something that
was a little wonky. Jazz musicians have a different kind of sensitivity than
classical musicians have. It’s something we all had to adjust to.”
Knotty rhythmic issues required untangling throughout the suite,
and Charles, alone save for his percussion, focused on that during a day of
rehearsal with the orchestra. The challenges reached a peak with “House
Rent Party,” a rousing final movement that employed a dizzying series of
styles, starting with a waltz, ending with funk and alighting in between
on stride piano, blues, ragtime, swing, mambo, calypso and disco.
“It was intense,” McGill recalled. “There was so much focus, our
brains were on fire.”
For Charles, it was a bit of déjà vu. He personally embodied the
migration of so many people of Afro-Caribbean descent bound for New
York, having landed at the Juilliard School, part of Lincoln Center, in
2006. As it happened, he first learned of San Juan Hill and its Caribbean
connection while at Juilliard, where, in studying about Nichols, he dis-
covered that the pianist, born and raised in the neighborhood, had roots
in Trinidad. “A hundred years ago, if I was moving from Trinidad, I
would have moved to San Juan Hill,” Charles said. “It’s almost as if I’ve
come full circle.” DB

2023 INTERNATIONAL
DownBeat’s 2023 Venue Guide is a tribute to the enduring

spirit of jazz presenters everywhere. Through the most try-
ing period of our lifetime, they worried, improvised and sur-
vived. Here are 106 clubs serving improvised music and doing
it well.
Pancho Sánchez at The Jazz Kitchen in FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 35
Indianapolis/Photo by Mark Sheldon
Edited by Frank Alkyer
UNITED STATES
Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club, New Hampshire, a new entrant to the scene. musician’s training ground.” As the first
COURTESY JIMMY’S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

Black-owned jazz club in New England, the
tiny room showcases the talents of students
from Berklee College of Music and other
area music schools.
wallyscafe.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club
Portsmouth, NH
Filling a former YMCA landmark structure,
Jimmy’s is new venue featuring beautiful
architecture and great sound and good
food. An array of local and international
artists grace the club. Early 2023 bookings
include the Maurice Brown Quintet, Tierney
Sutton and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
featuring Jazzmeia Horn.
jimmysoncongress.com
NEW JERSEY
great regional artists in a classy, intimate Shanghai Jazz
EAST setting. With a 100-seat capacity, Heidi’s Madison, NJ
features world-class local and touring artists Combining a top-flight dining experience
CONNECTICUT Wednesdays through Sundays. Recent with first-rate jazz, Shanghai Jazz hosts a
performers include Tinsley Ellis, Nicole Henry, wealth of talent in the New York/New Jersey
Firehouse 12 and Mike Zito. area, including Finnish guitarist Olli Soikkeli,
New Haven, CT heidisjazzclub.com vocalist Ty Stephens and trumpeter Warren
Firehouse 12, the multi-use space offering a Vache. In business since 1995, the club was
bar, record label, concert venue and recording opened by David Nik and Martha Chang to
studio, suffered severe water damage MARYLAND pay homage to the vibrant music scene of
during Hurricane Ida, prompting a complete An Die Musik Live! Shanghai, China, in the 1920s.
remodeling project. The venue plans to reopen Baltimore, MD shanghaijazz.com
for a spring 2023 concert series. Located Located on the second floor of the former
in the historic 9th Square district, Firehouse Eubie Blake Museum in Baltimore’s historic
12’s recording studio doubles as an intimate Mt. Vernon district, the venue offers 20- NEW YORK
75-seat auditorium, where its Jazz Series runs
for 12 weeks during the spring and fall. Past
plus concerts each month ranging from a Birdland
Monday night jazz jam, monthly big band New York, NY
performers include saxophonist Anna Webber, concert and jazz concerts featuring local and
saxophonist Tim Berne, bassist Michael The original Birdland dominated 52nd
internationally renown artists. The venue also Street in the ’40s, but went silent in the
Formanek and guitarist Mary Halvorson. offers parking discounts and neighborhood
firehouse12.com mid-’60s before reemerging in the 1980s.
restaurants discounts. In March 2020, An Today the club is planted in Manhattan’s
Die Musik Live immediately reinvented its theater district, near Times Square.
The Side Door Jazz Club production to a broadcast model, keeping Birdland features some of the finest jazz
Old Lyme, CT musicians playing and audiences entertained players in the world. January’s lineup
Billed as the “only club” between Boston during the pandemic. is no exception, with a celebration of
and New York City, The Side Door rests in andiemusiklive.com saxophonist Joe Lovano’s 70th birthday,
the historic Old Lyme Inn. The club opened the Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz
in 2013 and is operated by an ambitious, Orchestra and Tuesday night hits by
jazz-loving couple in Ken and Chris Kitchings.
MASSACHUSETTS vocalist Nicole Zuraitis.
In January/February 2023, The Side Door The Lilypad birdlandjazz.com
planned to present artists like trombonist Cambridge, MA
Steve Turre and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. The Lilypad programs an array of musical
thesidedoorjazz.com styles with a heavy dose of jazz from local
Blue Note
legends like The Fringe and saxophonist Jerry New York, NY
Bergonzi, as well as a recent New York- Blue Note New York maintains its historical
FLORIDA Boston matchup of Marty Erlich and Stan excellence while delivering a range of
Strickland. culturally rich experiences. At its Greenwich
Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts lilypadinman.com
Village location, the club has hosted legends
Winter Park, FL including Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson,
This humble, community-serving center has Sarah Vaughan, Lionel Hampton and Ray
three goals: to provide affordable, family- Scullers Jazz Club Charles, along with contemporary jazz
friendly music; to provide an income for Boston, MA masters Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis,
artists; and to serve the community through Scullers has been a fixture on the Boston Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and Chris Botti.
the arts. Sundays tend to feature big bands. jazz scene since 1989, featuring top names bluenote.net
The JazzPro Series has featured the likes of on weekends like Jeremy Pelt, Eddie Palmieri
Tamir Hendelman. and Dave Stryker, and occasional weekday Dizzy’s Club
bluebambooartcenter.com sets by area musicians.
New York, NY
scullersjazz.com With an incredible view of Central Park, this
Heidi’s Jazz Club & Restaurant large, beautifully appointed space is a crown
Cocoa Beach, FL Wally’s Café Jazz Club jewel in the Jazz At Lincoln Center family,
Heidi’s nails the combination of ambiance, Boston, MA presenting jazz every night. Bookings in
music and food in a jazz club delivering Wally’s, founded in 1947, bills itself as “the January include Herlin Riley, Lauren Sevian &

Alexa Tarantino, Kenny Washington, Daahoud SMOKE
Salim and Allison Miller. New York, NY
jazz.org/dizzys Located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side
at Broadway and 106th Street (aka Duke
The Iridium Ellington Boulevard), Smoke Jazz Club
New York, NY reopened in the summer 2022 after an
The cozy, 180-seat basement room offers expansion and renovation that anchors its
a variety of music styles with a heavy dose place as a destination for classic and modern
of blues. The club’s January lineup offers a jazz. Smoke stands apart with its candlelit
glimpse at the club’s programming including dining room, stellar acoustics and classic
The Immediate Family, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, American cuisine. Founded in 1999, SMOKE
Albert Lee, Snarky Puppy’s Mark Letteiere, also boasts a Grammy-nominated label,
Popa Chubby and more. Smoke Sessions Records, and a celebrated
theiridium.com streaming concert series, Smoke Screens.
smokejazz.com
(le) Poisson Rouge
New York, NY The Stone at The New School
Located in the same subterranean warren that New York, NY
once housed The Village Gate, LPR is renowned Located in The New School, The Stone
for its genre-bending ambitions, hosting jazz, serves as a great listening room for creative
classical, new music, avant-garde and indie improvisation beyond borders. Founded in
rock. LPR also hosts readings, comedy, film, 2005 by John Zorn, The Stone has played
DJs, theater and burlesque. Marc Ribot: The host to such forward-looking artists as Henry
Jazz Bins hits the “Main Space” stage Feb. 24. Grimes, Dave Burrell, Laurie Anderson, Mary
lpr.com Halvorson, Nels Cline and Gerry Hemingway.
thestonenyc.com
Mezzrow  
New York, NY Village Vanguard
Under the umbrella of the SmallsLIVE New York, NY
Foundation, Mezzrow is a sister club to Founded in 1935, the Vanguard is the
Smalls featuring an über intimate listening most-revered room in New York and
experience with great acoustics in this tube- continues to be a bucket-list destination
shaped, underground club. It’s cozy and for music lovers from around the globe.
intimate, with lineups in January featuring January features Fred Hersch & esperanza
pianist Marc Copland, as well as the trio spalding, the David Murray Quartet, the
of guitarist Pasquale Grasso, bassist Ari Brad Mehldau Quintet and Jon Cowherd:
Roland and drummer Clifford Barbaro. Mercy Project. The Vanguard Jazz
mezzrow.com Orchestra swings on Monday nights.
villagevanguard.com
Minton’s Playhouse
New York, NY PENNSYLVANIA
Billed as “the place bebop was born,” Chris’ Jazz Café
Minton’s was founded in 1938 by the Philadelphia, PA
saxophonist Henry Minton in Harlem. The With sets six nights a week, Chris’ is the
revived Minton’s strives to live up to its longest continuously running jazz club
fabled namesake. Spacious yet intimate, in Philadelphia. National acts and strong
Minton’s is joined to the Cecil Steakhouse. local talent — as well as owner/chef Mark
Recent performers include Ted Nash, Nat DiNinno’s gourmet menu — make for a
Adderly Jr., Calvin Jonson and the JC great night out. January’s schedule includes
Hopkins Biggish Band. a Gary Smulyan record release party for
mintonsharlem.com Tadd’s All, Folks; the Chris Watts Quintet; the
Jonathan Michel Trio featuring Joel Ross and
Nublu Jeremy Dutton; and The Benny Bennack III
New York, NY Sextet featuring vocalist Anais Reno.
This East Village nightspot hosts jazz, chrisjazzcafe.com
funk, electronic and vinyl-only nights in a
three-level space with excellent sightlines. MCG Jazz
In December, the club featured the Elvin Pittsburgh, PA
Jones “Lighthouse” Project with George MCG Jazz is a division of Manchester
Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Gene Perla and Craftsmen’s Guild, a non-profit arts and
Adam Nussbaum; and its annual Nublu learning center in Pittsburgh. For 36 years,
Jazz Festival each October is a can’t-miss the MCG Jazz concert series has been a
hit. The two locations are 151 Avenue C, safe place for artists to share their art and
and Nubu Classic at 62 Avenue C. discuss relevant issues facing out times.
nublu.net Recent acts have included Yellowjackets,
Keiko Matsui, Dee Dee Bridgewater, the
Smalls Jazz at Lincoln Orchestra with Wynton
New York, NY Marsalis, SFJAZZ Collective and Stefon
Another of the great, tiny New York Harris & Blackout.
basement clubs with terrific jazz, Smalls mcgjazz.org
serves as a hub for established players and
upstarts, delivering burning performances. South Restaurant & Jazz Club
December shows featured the Wayne Philadelphia, PA
Escoffery Quartet; Joe Farnsworth with Brad Southern cuisine and jazz hit Philly’s
Mehldau and Peter Washington; and the Spring Garden neighborhood bringing
Duane Eubanks Quintet. Jazz is an all-night, the South to the Midwest. Operated by
every-night affair at Smalls.   brothers Robert and Benjamin Bynum, the
smallslive.com club takes advantage of Philadelphia’s

CREDIT
Kermit’s Treme Mother-In-law Lounge in New Orleans
wealth of jazz talent as well as booking well as other occasional acts outside of New
internationally known artists. Upcoming Orleans.
shows in early 2023 include Alan Harris, bluenilelive.com
Nicole Henry, the Terell Stafford Quintet,
Jazmin Ghent and Gerald Veasley.
Kermit’s Treme
southjazzkitchen.com
Mother-In-Law Lounge
New Orleans, LA
WASHINGTON, D.C. Founded by legendary New Orleans musician
Blues Alley Ernie K-Doe in 1994, this low-tech beauty
Washington, D.C. serves as a brass band party starter. It was
Open nightly (except major holidays), closed for several years before trumpeter
Blues Alley showcases an array of national Kermit Ruffins opened it back up with great
and international acts as well as area jazz music and great food, often cooked by
performers. A full menu features New Ruffins himself. Red beans and rice? So nice!
Orleans cuisine. Arrive early because kermitslounge.com
seating is general admission. February’s
schedule features sets by the Bill Charlap Preservation Hall
Trio, Joey Alexander and Tito Puente Jr. New Orleans, LA
bluesalley.com Here’s a slice of the past meeting the
present. Intimate, acoustic, pure and
swinging, several sets happen nightly at this
Studio K at The Kennedy Center famed French Quarter club. The emphasis is
Washington, D.C. on traditional NOLA jazz and a rotating cast
This 160-seat venue (or 250 standing) is in the Preservation Hall All Stars. Late-night
booked by Jason Moran, the Kennedy performances during Jazz Fest sell out
Center’s artistic director for jazz, and the quickly.
calendar reflects his wide-ranging tastes.
Upcoming shows include Igmar Thomas’ preservationhall.com
Revive Big Band, DOMi & JD Beck and
René Marie & Experiment in Truth. SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO
kennedy-center.org New Orleans, LA
For more than 35 years, Snug Harbor has
offered the best in live jazz and regional
SOUTH cooking at reasonable prices. Snug is
located in three rooms of a renovated 1800s
GEORGIA storefront located in the historic Faubourg
Marigny including a dining room, a bar and
The Velvet Note the intimate live music room. Snug Harbor is
Alpharetta, GA the longest-running music outlet on the now
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, The Velvet legendary Frenchmen Street music corridor.
Note is billed as an “acoustic living room.” Delfeayo Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Herlin
The venue presents jazz Thursday through Riley and Emma Cohen are just a few names
Sunday in a space designed for comfort that have graced the stage in the past year.
with excellent acoustics. A full restaurant/ snugjazz.com
bar adds to the ambience. Recent bookings
include the Gilad Hekselman Trio, vocalist
Badu Assad and a sold-out JodyJazz Tipitina’s
Christmas show. New Orleans, LA
thevelvetnote.com Tip’s is a legendary NOLA venue with roots
that go back to 1977. Now owned by the
band Galactic, it has a commitment to great
LOUISIANA music as well as music education through
Blue Nile the Tipitina Foundation. From the painting
New Orleans, LA of Professor Longhair over the stage to
One of the original clubs on the Frenchmen the great acts on it, Tip’s delivers eclectic
Street scene presents music every night on musical experiences. January features sold-
a main-level stage, as well as an upstairs out dates with the Radiators, the Rebirth
space with a balcony. Regular performers Brass Band, The Soul Rebels and fais do do
include NOLA fave Kermit Ruffins, The Soul with the Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band.
Rebels and the Where Y’at Brass Band as tipitinas.com

SOUTH CAROLINA shows have featured Hamid Drake and
Michael Zerang, Mars Williams and more.
The Jazz Corner constellation-chicano.com
Hilton Head Island, SC
Celebrating its 23 years of presenting jazz on
an island known for golf, this 99-seat venue Hungry Brain
offers music and gourmet food with two Chicago, IL
shows nightly. The Martin Lesch Band plays Born out of Mike Reed and Josh Berman’s
every Monday in January. Sunday Transmission concert series,
Hungry Brain sees its mission as serving as
thejazzcorner.com an incubator for the city’s up-and-coming
musicians.
TENNESSEE hungrybrainchicago.com
Rudy’s Jazz Room
Nashville, TN Winter’s Jazz Club
A 2017 addition to Nashville’s music Chicago, IL
scene, Rudy’s presents jazz every night in This cozy jazz room, just a short walk from
an intimate setting with a strong focus on Navy Pier, hosts a wealth of local artists
regional musicians, as well as the occasional in a great listening room dropped into a
national act. Chef and co-owner Michael hip location. The musical mix for January
Braden offers a New Orleans-based menu includes the Spider Soloff Quartet, the Chris
and a full bar. Greene Quartet, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra
rudysjazzroom.com and more.
wintersjazzclub.com
TEXAS
Scat Jazz Lounge INDIANA
Fort Worth, TX THE JAZZ KITCHEN
This basement club has music every night Indianapolis, IN
but Monday. There’s an emphasis on Since 1994, The Jazz Kitchen has brought
regional musicians, and the Black Dog Jam, the jazz world to Indy with an intimate 140-
the longest-running jam session in the city, seat room that showcases jazz and blues
happens every Sunday. nightly. The club offers a full menu and bar.
scatjazzlounge.com Early 2023 bookings include Chucito Valdés,
Kim Waters, Jim Snidero and Emmet Cohen.
There’s a jazz jam every Monday.
MIDWEST thejazzkitchen.com
MICHIGAN
ILLINOIS
BLUE LLAMA
The Jazz Showcase Ann Arbor, MI
Chicago, IL Blue LLama Jazz Club was born from a love
The Showcase was founded in 1947 by of music and food, combining live jazz every
the late Joe Segal. It’s now owned and night from nationally recognized artists and
operated by his son, Wayne, who maintains locally known musicians with world-class
the club’s high standards. The Showcase cuisine. As an established music venue
books a combination of rich Chicago talent and restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor
and nationally touring acts. Recent bookings since 2019, the club is a great destination
have included Russell Malone, Tim Warfield for jazz lovers, food enthusiasts or wine
and Marquis Hill. connoisseurs.
jazzshowcase.com bluellamaclub.com
The Green Mill Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe

Chicago, IL Gross Pointe Farms, MI
Featuring perhaps the coolest jazz club The 65-seat suburban Detroit club offers
ambiance in Chicago, or anywhere for that music and food Tuesday through Satur-
matter, the Mill is set up in an old prohibition- day. Guitarist Ron English holds down
era speakeasy offering an immediate old- the Tuesday slot, and a mix of regional
school vibe to the new-school music being musicians and national names like Freddie
played. Cole and Tia Fuller perform here.
greenmilljazz.com dirtydogjazz.com
Andy’s Jazz Club MINNESOTA

Chicago, IL
A staple of the River North neighborhood of CROONERS LOUNGE
Chicago, Andy’s digs deep into Chicago’s & SUPPER CLUB
wealth of jazz talent while offering up top- Minneapolis, MN
notch food and drinks. Crooners is a lakeside supper club located
andysjazzclub.com 10 minutes north of downtown Minneapolis.
The club offers three concert stages for
Constellation intimate dinner shows. The MainStage seats
Chicago, IL 180, the Dunsmore Jazz Room seats 90
For those seeking the outer edges of and the outdoor Belvedere Tent seats 250.
improvised music, Constellation is the Regional artists spotlight many different
place. Low-key with excellent acoustics, the genres and styles, and out-of-town jazz stars
club founded by drummer/presenter Mike like Kurt Elling, the Count Basie Orchestra
Reed offers more than 200 concerts a year and Karrin Allyson visit regularly.
focusing on forward-thinking music. Recent croonersloungemn.com

COURTESY THE BLUE LLAMA
The Blue Llama brings jazz to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
musicians and occasional national acts. The

Dakota Jazz Club venue’s Masterclass Foundation promotes
Minneapolis, MN jazz education and mentorship.
The Dakota combines great music and blujazzakron.com
food since opening in 1985. Internationally
acclaimed and regionally revered jazz artists, Bop Stop
as well as great musicians from Americana, Cleveland, OH
soul and blues fill the calendar seven days a Great acoustics, views of Lake Erie and a
week. The menu, created by award–winning swinging dose of local jazz — that’s what
chef Remy Pettus, serves up Southern style makes the Bop Stop a first-rate jazz room.
dishes with the occasional Minnesotan And everything from purchasing a ticket
twist. Recent acts include Charles Lloyd to the tasty menu of bar food and drinks
and Kindred Spirits, Victor Wooten, Cecile goes toward The Music Settlement, an
McLorin Salvant, SFJAZZ Collective and organization that provides music and arts
Michael Feinstein. experiences to people of all ages.
dakotacooks.com themusicsettlement.org/bop-stop
MISSOURI
Ferring Jazz Bistro WEST
The Harold & Dorothy Steward
Center for Jazz ARIZONA
St. Louis, MO Dazzle
The Center has a strong focus on jazz Denver, CO
education and community outreach, and
For the past 25 years, Dazzle has melded
the 200-seat Ferring Jazz Bistro hosts jazz
performances year round, featuring national community and culture with intimate music
acts every other week, as well as area and arts experiences. A chef-driven menu,
musicians. Under the auspices of Jazz St. specialty cocktails and a finely crafted
Louis, expect renewed programming energy wine menu round out the evening. The club
as saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines celebrates everyday life in an inclusive space
has been hired as president and CEO of where Denver audiences hear some of the
the organization. Upcoming performances best jazz and improvised music in the world.
feature The Bad Plus in January and Sean Recent acts performing include Christian
Jones Dizzy Spellz in February. McBride and Inside Straight, Roberta
jazzstl.org Gambarini, Eliane Elias, Samara Joy with the
Pasquale Grasso Trio and Joel Ross.
Murry’s dazzledenver.com
Columbia, MO
Great food and jazz are a winning combination
at Murry’s. Local acts are presented Monday The Nash
through Saturday. And the “We Always Phoenix, AZ
Swing” Sunday at Murray’s concert series Named after drummer Lewis Nash, a
brings in big names. Early in 2023, check out Phoenix native, this club celebrated its 10th
the Hermon Mehari Quartet, the Ryan Cohan anniversary in 2022, presenting concerts
Quartet or the Tia Fuller Group, to name a few. as well as serving as an expansive jazz
murrysrestaurant.net education facility. Thursdays feature Delphine
Cortez and Joel Robin. Weekends feature a
OHIO mix of great local and national talent.
thenash.org
BLU JAZZ+
Akron, OH
This retro, mid-century modern club gives RAVENSCROFT
New York flair in the heart of Northern Ohio. Scottsdale, AZ
This general-admission club mixes it up with Ravenscroft opened in October 2021,
a blues jam, a solo piano series, and area offering two new performance spaces for

jazz in Scottsdale. Jazzbird hosts a variety great Japanese menu and even better music, COLORADO
of regional and national artists every week in January the club hosts the likes of Lalah
on Friday nights (September through June). Hathaway, Najee, Robert Cray, Fred Hersch Dazzle Jazz
And Ravenscroft Hall is an intimate, 200-seat and esperanza spalding and more. Denver, CO
concert hall showcasing world-renowned yoshis.com Located in the nearly 150-year-old Baur
performing artists in a remarkable acoustic Building, this venue takes pride in its menu
space. Ravenscroft also hosts performances and eclectic music fare. From gamelan to
by local Valley Jazz Cooperative students. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA soul, this room places jazz in a global context
Recent performers include Kenny Barron, Billy The Baked Potato with upcoming visits from Etienne Charles
Childs, Corey Christianson, Tierney Sutton Studio City, CA and Javon Jackson among other diverse
and more. Since 1970, fusion bands and electric groups options.
theravenscroft.com have called this funky bar home. With music dazzlejazz.com
six nights a week, find top-shelf session
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
musicians playing for an appreciative crowd. OREGON
January’s programming includes the Scott
BACH DANCING Kinsey Group, the Luis Conte Band, Marvin The 1905
“Smitty” Smith New Standards, Jeff Lorber Portland, OR
& DYNAMITE SOCIETY Fusion and more. This venue gets to the point in its branding:
Half Moon Bay, CA “Food. Booze. Jazz.” The jazz portion
The Bach presents world-class jazz in an thebakedpotato.com
features both local and touring bands, with a
intimate setting. Like having a concert in one’s lot of straightahead acts playing tableside in
living room, the club includes stunning views of Catalina Bar & Grill the dining room.
the ocean. Musicians who have played at the Los Angeles, CA the1905.org
Bach include Betty Carter, Bill Evans, Dexter This sprawling performance space brings
Gordon and McCoy Tyner. It continues to together great music and food in a warm,
book musicians like Joshua Redman and John inviting environment. Legendary for hosting WASHINGTON
Scofield and up-and-coming artists such as
Samara Joy.
such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley
Chick Corea and many others, Catalina’s
bachddsoc.org early 2023 lineup includes Peter Cincotti,
Seattle, WA
For more than 30 years, this magnet for
Roberta Gambarini, Karrin Allyson, Ben
big-name touring jazz acts, especially in the
Keys Jazz Bistro Vereen and more. Live music is featured six
fusion and smooth-jazz veins, has served
San Francisco, CA nights a week.
Seattle with a capacity of 350-plus and
Simon Rowe, the noted jazz educator and catalinajazzclub.com balcony seating. Hometown hero Kenny G
pianist, has turned his attention to presenting did a December residency there culminating
jazz as a co-owner of Keys Jazz Bistro, a new
entry on the scene that opened in November.
Sam First in a New Year’s Eve show. Early 2023
Los Angeles, CA bookings include Yellowjackets, Chris Botti,
The club and its booking philosophy look Fred Hersch and esperanza spalding and
interesting, with early acts including Mary This intimate, modern cocktail bar is
within walking distance of baggage claim more.
Stallings and Clairdee with the David Udolf
at LAX and wraps its performance space jazzalley.com
Trio and an Hammond B-3 Organ Summit,
Craig Handy with the Simon Rowe Trio and with a record label and recording studio.
Kenny Washington. This one’s being named Up-and-coming artists from the nearby The Royal Room
on potential. Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz fill in the Seattle, WA
week, while big names take weekends. An Located in the Columbia City neighborhood,
keysjazzbistro.com
early 2023 booking includes The George this funky, cool venue was the brainchild of
Colligan Trio featuring Anna Meyer. musician Wayne Horvitz. The warm space
Kuumbwa Jazz Recent shows have featured Gerald hosts educational programs and evening sets
Santa Cruz, CA Clayton, the Remy Le Boeuf Quartet and by local jazz artists. Mondays feature a jazz
Kuumbwa Jazz has been celebrating more. jam hosted by trumpeter Thomas Marriott.
creativity since 1975. From grassroots samfirstbar.com theroyalroomseattle.com
beginnings, Kuumbwa has grown to present
more than 130 concerts annually, as well
as year-round music education programs.
Its listening-room environment is filled
with welcoming character and sets the
stage for artists and audiences in shared
musical experiences. 2022 artists included
Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Grace
Kelly, Immanuel Wilkins, The Hot Sardines,
Artemis, Sons of Kemet, Chris Potter, Marcia
Ball and Billy Cobham
kuumbwajazz.org
LOBERO THEATRE
Santa Barbera, CA
Celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Lobero
Theatre’s Jazz at the Lobero series places the
biggest names in jazz into one of the most
beautiful small theaters in the nation. The 2023
edition, beginning in February, features Arturo
Sandoval, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band,
a Charles Lloyd (the hometown hero) 85th
Birthday Celebration and much more.
lobero.org
YOSHI’S
Oakland, CA
The legendary East Bay music room celebrated
50 years of presenting music in 2022 — a true
tip of the cap to its founders, Kaz Kajmura,
Hugh “Hiro” Hori and Yoshie Akiba. With a

INTERNATIONAL
mainstream. Commissions, residencies
TRACY KOENCHUK
and concert recordings are part of the
programming at this venue.
cafeoto.co.uk
Jazz Cafe
London
With gourmet food and an eclectic array
of concerts, Jazz Cafe has seated views
upstairs and a downstairs dance floor. Funk
and soul bookings share the marquée with
the likes of John Cleary and Samora Joy,
both early 2023 bookings at the club.
thejazzcafelondon.com
Ronnie Scott’s
London
Hilario Duran performs at Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Since 1959, Ronnie Scott’s has been
celebrating the biggest names in jazz and
AUSTRIA The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar blues in the heart of London’s Soho district.
For early 2023, the venue has booked
Blue Tomato Toronto Incognito, Kevin Hayes, The Stacey Brothers
With some 60 shows monthly, this
Vienna musicians’ congregating point is the place to
Big Band doing Steely Dan and more.
The Blue Tomato offers a breadth of jazz — ronniescotts.co.uk
catch a host of great Canadian talent.
from traditional to avant garde in an intimate
bar. Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love therex.ca
Love as well as Joe McPhee and John
The Vortex
Edwards are among recent headliners. Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill London
This intimate nonprofit establishment
bluetomato.cc Montreal features a variety of jazz styles focusing on
From midweek jams to weekend headliners
free-improv. British saxophone titan Evan
featuring Montreal and Canadian talent, as
Jazzland well as touring musicians from the States,
Parker performs here regularly.
Vienna Upstairs offers a cool, throwback vibe. vortexjazz.co.uk
Jazzland, the quaint cellar-level club billed as
the oldest jazz club in Austria, celebrated its upstairsjazz.com
20th anniversary in 2022 presenting concerts ESTONIA
six days a week. YARDBIRD SUITE Philly Joe’s Jazz Club
jazzland.at Edmonton Tallinn
Founded in 1957 and supported by
Founded in 2014 to be a jazz incubator,
volunteers, the venue presents jazz from
Porgy & Bess the middle of September to the end of
Philly Joe’s was selected Club of the Year
Vienna in 2021 by the Estonian Music Industry
June. With 75 concerts a season and a
The non-profit organization bills itself as Awards. Weekends are packed with
Tuesday night jam session, Yardbird Suite
a jazz and music club with a multifaceted Estonian jazz talent.
also focuses on music education with its
program. A favorite with musicians, recent Littlebirds Big Band and Jazz for Kids. phillyjoes.com
shows have included James Blood Ulmer, yardbirdsuite.com
John Scofield, Dave Holland and Lizz Wright. FINLAND
porgy.at
CZECH REPUBLIC Storyville
AghaRTA Jazz Centrum Helsinki
CANADA This two-story venue has a piano bar above
Prague and a supper club below for four lively
Dièse Onze AghaRTA is a basement venue housed in a
musical nights each week.
Montreal building dating back to the 14th century. As
This cozy club is a favorite spot for one of the most popular jazz spots in Prague, storyville.fi
dedicated jazz fans, and was the recent site this venue/bar/Arta Records label shop hosts
of the latest recording by pianist Jean-Michel local jazz artists nightly and international FRANCE
Pilc. Anchored by the Kim Richardson Trio’s touring musicians.
vocal jam sessions on Sundays, the club also agharta.cz
Duc Des Lombards
offers flamenco on Mondays, as well as local Paris
and touring musicians. With weekend late-night jam sessions and
The Jazz Dock series like The New Scene for up-and-
dieseonze.com Prague coming musicians, Duc Des Lombards
Hip architecture, high-end meals, great features European talent and U.S. artists.
FRANKIE’S JAZZ CLUB drinks, a view of the Vltava River and
ducdeslombards.fr
Vancouver concerts by top-shelf artists make this a
A live jazz hub featuring local, national and bucket-list destination. Recent performances
international artists, Frankie’s serves as include The Bad Plus, Gretchen Parlato, Joe Le Caveau de la Huchette
Vancouver’s home for live jazz and blues. Lovano and Steven Bernstein’s Sexmob. Paris
Showcasing up-and-coming musicians and jazzdock.cz Since 1946, this “temple of swing” has been
anchored by renowned talent from across a jazz staple in the Latin Quarter. It’s home
the continent, Frankie’s offers a dining menu to music seven nights a week.
of fresh house made pastas, signature ENGLAND caveaudelahuchette.fr
entrées and appetizers. Libations include Cafe OTO
classic cocktails, local craft beer, and a wine London New Morning
list featuring Italian and BC VQA wines. Cafe OTO offers space for creative new Paris
frankiesitaliankitchen.ca music and musicians going beyond the Blues, klezmer, funk and disco nights mix

with straightahead and fusion styles at this small-group concerts in classic and modern SCOTLAND
musical and social hot spot. Early 2023 styles. Recent performances have Rick
bookings include a mix of French artists and Marguitza with the Marcello di Leonardo Trio. The Jazz Bar
U.S. tours by the likes of Kenny Barron, John alexanderplatzjazz.com Edinburgh
Scofield, José James and more. The Jazz Bar was founded in 2005
newmorning.com showcasing world-class, multi-genre
JAPAN live music in a cool setting. Harnessing
Sunset-Sunside Body & Soul Edinburgh’s kaleidoscopic musical talent,
Tokyo the club offers daily live gigs.
Paris
Offering music nightly, this club has hosted Since 1974, this venue — which seats about thejazzbar.co.uk
stars such as pianist Jacky Terrasson and 50 — has presented high-quality Japanese
vocalist Rebecca Martin and Larry Grenadier. jazz artists. SENEGAL
bodyandsoul.co.jp
sunset-sunside.com La Cave du Djoloff
Dakar
GERMANY Shinjuku Pit Inn Since 2017, the Djoloff Boutique Hotel’s
Tokyo subterranean venue has hosted local and
A-Trane Known for showcasing domestic artists, this international artists like Orchestra Baobab,
Berlin 56-year-old venue (30 years in its current Lisa Simone and drummer Tony Allen and
Immanuel Wilkins and Jerry Granelli are location) is a revered listening room. national treasure Orchestra Baobob.
among the touring artists to play this pit-inn.com hoteldjoloff.fr
30-year-old spot, which serves German and
international cuisine.
a-trane.de MEXICO SPAIN
Zinco Jazz Club Jamboree
BIX Jazzclub Mexico City Barcelona
Stuttgart With a great menu and intimate, modern This classic club has hosted the greats since
Mouth-watering food options and live decor, this underground club has earned a 1960 — from Duke Ellington and Ornette
music Tuesday through Saturday make this reputation for hipness. Coleman to Barcelona native son Jorge
13-year-old space pop. zincojazz.com Rossy.
bix-stuttgart.de jamboreejazz.com
THE NETHERLANDS
Ella & Louis Jazz Club Bimhuis SWEDEN
Mannheim
This club is a tastefully furnished jazz venue Amsterdam Fasching
in downtown Mannheim. Since 2018, it has This internationally acclaimed concert
hall boasts a 48-year history and more Stockholm
presented four concerts weekly, mixing Founded in 1977, Fasching is a hybrid
national, international and local artists. than 300 concerts annually by the likes
of Transylvanian pianist Lucian Ban and concert venue/restaurant/bar/nightclub.
ellalouis.de American vocalist Becca Stevens. Early 2023 Jazz, dance and folk artists are all presented,
shows include the Dave Holland Trio and including the likes of Lee Fields, Stacey Kent
JAZZCLUB UNTERFAHRT Indian violinist Arun Ramamurthy Trio. and Hannes Bench.
Munich bimhuis.com fasching.se
Jazzclub Unterfahrt presents adventureous
contemporary jazz from the international,
NORWAY SWITZERLAND
European and national jazz scenes geared
for attentive lovers of forward-thinking Victoria Nasjonal Jazz Scene Marian’s Jazz Room
music. Founded in 1978, the club has Bern
Oslo This 130-capacity, 30-year-old room is
hosted Julian Lage, Gilad Hekselman, James Housed in a stylish setting, Victoria Nasjonal
Brandon Lewis, Theo Croker and more. open from September through May. Known
Jazz Scene can accommodate 300 people. for great acoustics its 2023 jazz festival,
unterfahrt.de Norway’s vibrant jazz scene is represented running from March 21-May 23, features
here, as are touring musicians like the trio of residencies by Jane Bunnett and Maqueque,
Jazz im Prinz Karl Craig Taborn, Tomeka Reid and Ches Smith. the Bill Charlap Trio and the James Morrison
Tübingen nasjonaljazzscene.no/en
The 45-year-old, membership-driven Quartet, to name a few.
institution recently has presented Miguel mariansjazzroom.ch
Zenón & Luis Perdomo and Chris Potter. PORTUGAL
jipk.net HOT CLUBE DE PORTUGAL TURKEY
Lisbon
Jazzkeller Hot Clube has been presenting live jazz NARDIS JAZZ CLUB
Frankfurt since 1948. With the mission of both being Istanbul
a window for the Portuguese jazz scene, Founded in 2002 and housed in a historic
Jazzkeller is another subterranean beauty
and the preferred stage for touring bands, it building and seating 120 people, Nardis
with great acoustics and the feel of old-
has been recognized as one of the best jazz presents mostly local musicians, two sets
school, intimate performances.
clubs in Europe. Benny Golson, Joe Lovano, a night, Monday through Saturday. Recent
jazzkeller.com touring artists have included Willie Jones
Eddie Henderson, Miguel Zénon, Ethan
Iverson, Mark Turner, Sheila Jordan and III, Seamus Blake and the Gary Smulyan &
ISRAEL many others have played there. Ralph Moore Encounter Quintet.
nardisjazz.com
Beit Haamudim hcp.pt
Tel Aviv
Beit Haamundim hosts the best of Israeli’s RUSSIA The Badau
jazz scene seven days a week. Istanbul
facebook.com/BeitHaamudim Igor Butman Jazz Club The foundations of The Badau, Turkey’s only
Moscow/St. Petersburg gastro-jazz club, were laid in 2015 as a small
While relations with Russia make it chef’s kitchen and jazz club in Istanbul by
ITALY impossible to travel there at this time, Eren Noyan, owner, chef and a jazz singer.
Alexanderplatz famed saxophonist Igor Butman’s two The room has become home to many local
Rome clubs present Russian artists as well as musicians as well as international acts
Italy’s premier jazz club was refurbished a international touring acts. passing through the region.
few years back and continues to emphasize butmanclub.ru instagram.com/thebadau.istanbul

Masterpiece ★★★★★ Excellent ★★★★ Good ★★★ Fair ★★ Poor ★
CORY DEWALD
The latest incarnation of The Bad Plus includes saxophonist/clarinetist
Chris Speed (left), guitarist Ben Monder, drummer Dave King and bassist Reid Anderson.
The Bad Plus rejuvenate the band’s volatile chemistry, which

can explode into alt-rock mayhem or simmer
lead by spitting an equally invigorating solo
that soars above a hammering alt-rock vamp.
The Bad Plus down into gusty, compelling music, marked by The adventuresome vibe continues on the
EDITION succinct pop melodicsm. pulverizing “Not Even Close To Far Off,” the
HHH Reid’s thick, arboraceous bass line initiates knotty “Sick Fire” and the howling “Stygian
The Bad Plus hits the reset button. It’s the sec- the band’s new chapter with his medium-tem- Pools.” All of the tunes contain a melodic stick-
ond eponymously titled entry in the group’s po composition, “Motivations II.” He’s soon iness and a rhythmic undertow that induc-
20-plus-year history. And with good reason. joined by King’s sinewy drum accompaniment, es agreeable head-nodding, even if the ironic
The album introduces yet another new line- Monder’s airy chordal voices, and Speed’s pen- humor of the band’s yesteryears may be missed
up that expands from its long-established trio sive, riff-oriented tenor saxophone melody. The by some diehard fans.
format. The new configuration also features opening cut conveys a sense of exploring new The Bad Plus is more of a master play than
no piano — a risky gambit considering that sonic terrain armed with a weathered soul and a masterpiece. After emerging 23 years ago,
for the longest the piano was the Bad Plus’ renewed spirit. The band has since become a 21st century jazz
dominant voice. And the spirits certainly come more alive institution. But it’s one in which its original
Instead of recruiting someone to take the on the proceeding cut, “Sun Wall,” a jolting DNA remains intact, regardless of who enters.
piano chair once occupied by founding mem- piece composed by King that finds the new —John Murph
ber Ethan Iverson and later Orrin Evans, the members pairing up on an oblique melody that
remaining Bad Plus founders — bassist Reid is soon buoyed briefly by a harmolodic rhyth- The Bad Plus: Motivations II; Sun Wall; Not Even Close To Far Off;
You Won’t See Me Before I Come Back; Sick Fire; Stygian Pools; The
Anderson and drummer David King — opted mic vibrancy. The song also allows Monder to Bright Future;The Dandy. (42:47)
for guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist and unleash a snarling electric guitar improvisa- Personnel: Reid Anderson, bass; David King, drums; Chris Speed,
clarinetist Chris Speed. The new members not tion, brimming with joyous melodic passages tenor saxophone, clarinet; Ben Monder, guitar.
only widen the combo’s harmonic palette, they and scabrous textures. Speed follows Monder’s Ordering info: editionrecords.com

back into the studio with a formidable quartet.
Fizzing with an energetic back-and-forth, the
result is 10 tightly crafted compositions, con-
taining a depth of complexity within their brief
runtimes.
The opening title track sets the tone, pro-
gressing from a syncopated drum beat into a
deep swing, as saxophonist Emilio Modeste
plays through a keening, high-register melody.
As the listener settles into the groove, it sudden-
ly breaks apart into a double-time cacophony of
cymbal textures and stabs on the piano, before
finding stability once more to close.
This veering between a confident, full band
swing and the freedom of competing, individu-
al expression continues throughout the album,
Dezron Douglas making for an often unexpected listening expe- Charles Lloyd
Atalaya rience. On “Coyoacán,” for instance, drum- Trios–Sacred Thread
INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM mer Joe Dyson Jr.’s cascading groove switch- BLUE NOTE
HHHH es into an almost triple-time feel, pushing to HH1/2
the point of becoming subsumed with its own
The electric unpredictability of the live room pace, while highlight “More Coffee Please” sees This is the third of Charles Lloyd’s cycle of three
has governed much of bassist Dezron Douglas’ Douglas providing a punchy foundation as trio albums for Blue Note, which is marketing
recent work. Most notably, 2020’s album with Modeste gives voice to a soaring solo that tests them individually and as a deluxe three-LP box
his partner harpist Brandee Younger, Force the bounds of the rhythm section’s solidity. set for the more prosperous post-holiday shop-
Majeure, saw the duo channel the intensity of —Ammar Kalia pers. If I were discussing earlier volumes — say,
COVID-19 isolation into a suite of luscious and Trios: Chapel with Bill Frizel and its beauti-
Atalaya: Atalaya; Rosé; Coyoacán; Luna Moth; Wheeping Birch;
lyrical melodic improvisations — producing Jones Beach; More Coffee Please; J Bird; Octopus; Foligno. (46:14)
ful revisitations “Blood Count” and “Dorotea’s
intimacy from a forced proximity. Personnel: Dezron Douglas, bass; George Burton, piano and Studio” — I would be in a more generous mood.
rhodes; Joe Dyson Jr., drums; Emilio Modeste, saxophones; Melvis
On his latest album, Douglas is freed from Santa, vocals (5). Unfortunately, the last seems to be the least of
the confines of home recording and brought Ordering info: intlanthem.bandcamp.com the litter.
Perhaps because it is most dependent on
what Lloyd calls “Mother India,” a sensibility
that has more in common with the Gregorian
Ramsey Lewis chant than the down-to-earth bristle of jazz.
The Beatles Songbook Although Lloyd has long straddled both worlds,
STEELE world music cocktails often seem awkward,
H inspired more by ideological discontent over
Western materialism than musical rapport.
The piano sounds like it might’ve been in the
Here the music oozes in a meditative piety, cap-
next room from the microphone, and it seems
tive to an elusive spirituality that leaves one
like Ramsey Lewis played these 12 Lennon and
hungry for a touch of sin. It is a scant substitute
McCartney compositions through only once.
for the uplifting drive of jazz, where the gods
That amounts to a mediocre, misleading send-
are on the bandstand, not in one’s afterlife.
off to the exceptional pianist, who died last
Between the serenity of “Desolation
September.
Sound” and the drone of “The Blessing,”
Rather than dwell on how abysmal the
Lloyd’s tenor is a light, wispy but infrequent
recording technique is — gentle composi-
voice. He is absent entirely on “Guman,”
tions like “The Long And Winding Road” and
where Julian Lage adds fills to Zakir Hussain’s
“Yesterday” really suffer from the harsh sonics —
rather strangled vocal chant. “Nachekita’s
one might look for sparks of joy as Lewis works to bring some personality to “A Hard Day’s
Lament” languishes in another vocal man-
his way through these masterful compositions. Night,” injecting a barrelhouse feel to his piano
tra, and only springs to life as Lloyd and Lage
On “Blackbird,” a song Paul McCartney accompaniment.
engage on flute and guitar. Lloyd indulges in a
acknowledges was partly inspired by racial ten- If there’s a positive side to The Beatles
short, winding cadenza on “Saraswati,” using
sions in the U.S., Lewis discovers — and enrich- Songbook, it’s the combination of wit and imag-
a Turkish tarogato. But it takes us nowhere
es — a gospel strain he finds in the song’s DNA. ination Lewis brings to exploring the composi-
and ends by simply stopping. According to the
During “Let It Be,” you can hear the fun he’s tional bones of tunes he must’ve played many
notes, the name references a Hindu goddess.
having ornamenting the melody, and he has times.
She would seem to deserve more.
a joyful just-us-musicians approach to decon- —James Hale
structing “Here, There And Everywhere.” He —John McDonough
The Beatles Songbook: Here, There And Everywhere; And
discovers particular riches within McCartney’s I Love Her; Hey Jude; Blackbird; Imagine; A Hard Day’s Night; Trios–Sacred Thread: Desolation Sound; Guman; Nachekita’s
“And I Love Her,” and you can hear him laugh- Yesterday; Rocky Raccoon; Michelle; Golden Slumbers; The Long Lament; Saraswati; Kuti; Tales Of Rumi; The Blessing. (38:53)
And Winding Road; Let It Be. (36:59) Personnel: Charles Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Julian Lage, guitar;
ing to himself as tries to find his way into the Personnel: Ramsey Lewis, piano. Zakir Hussain, percussion.
song’s chordal structure. He even finds a way Ordering info: ramseylewis.com Ordering info: bluenote.com

The
John
Critics John Murph Ammar Kalia James Hale McDonough
The Bad Plus ★★★ ★★★½ ★★★★ ★★★

The Bad Plus
Dezron Douglas ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★

Atalaya
Ramsey Lewis ★★★ ★★★½ ★ ★★★½

The Beatles Songbook
Charles Lloyd ★★★ ★★★★ ★★ ★★½

Trios–Sacred Thread
Critics’ Comments
The Bad Plus, The Bad Plus
With saxophonist Chris Speed and guitarist Ben Monder expanding the ranks of The Bad Plus,
following the departure of pianist Orrin Evans, their quartet formation still produces arresting
compositions, from the psychedelic distortions of “Not Even Close To Far Off” to the free jazz
improvisations of “Sick Fire.” It’s largely hard-hitting and the album could benefit from exploring
tender moments like “Stygian Pools” further. —Ammar Kalia
Anderson and King seem to have found the ideal partners to rejuvenate the formula, while fresh
adds Monder and Speed sound re-energized, too. New colors; same canvas. —James Hale
Mellow or wild, this new quartet finds considerable balance and texture in the rhythmic rigor of
King and Anderson. I wish I could say the composing matches the collectivity. But this is progres-
sive rock where hooks masquerade as melodies. —John McDonough
Dezron Douglas, Atalaya
Solid modern jazz that builds upon the spiritual-jazz renaissance zeitgeist without relying on
threadbare cliches. —John Murph
Perhaps album sequencing is passé. It seems to be here, based on how scattershot this sounds.
Although there’s some very engaging playing, it just doesn’t appear to have much connective
tissue. —James Hale
Douglas has something for everyone in this mosaic of post-war modernism, from the swagger of
bop to a few free-jazz firecrackers. Despite the ups (“Bird’) and downs (“Jones Beach”), Modeste
threads it together with journeyman tenor and soprano command. —John McDonough
Ramsey Lewis, The Beatles Songbook
Far from essential, but nevertheless rewarding. —John Murph

The Beatles back-catalog is fruitful inspiration for the late Lewis’ first solo record. Bluesy licks and
pensive voicings are scattered throughout the timeless melodies of tracks like “Hey Jude” and
“Yesterday.” —Ammar Kalia
Jazz feel with the clarity of pop. Lewis’ interprets and concertizes a beloved catalog with a deco-
rative, contrapuntal, percussive, often bluesy formality. No melody slips from sight or becomes a
point of departure. Enjoyable comfort listening. —John McDonough
Charles Lloyd, Trios–Sacred Thread
Gorgeous heartfelt music, brimming with improvisational intricacy that could still nevertheless
use a strong dose of seething ugly beauty. —John Murph
Lloyd’s “trio of trios” series concludes with a gorgeously delicate, melody-forward offering fea-
turing Julian Lage and Zakir Hussain. While Lloyd and Lage interweave effortlessly with melodic
lines on saxophone and guitar, it is Hussain’s vocal and tabla performance that steals the show,
providing warm, enveloping melody on tracks like “Guman” and “Kuti.” —Ammar Kalia
The third of Lloyd’s trio showcases has some compelling moments, but they are only moments.
Overall, it lacks focus and a sense of direction. And, at a mere 39 minutes it barely makes a
ripple. —James Hale

tive, ascending motif that conjures the marches
King led in times not so different from our own.
What makes this album a satisfying whole
is Colligan’s touch. He is forceful but not
heavy-handed, impressive but not inflated. His
piano prances and swoops on the Monkish,
Tristanoesque “Doom Sandwich” and waxes
minimalist on “Weightless, Rising Towards
The Sun,” his keyboard stylings all sweep and
hush.
“Liam’s Lament” presents several moods,
blending dirge and jig before it ends on a high,
ringing note. “Wishing For Good Things
To Happen” segues perfectly into “Finally A
Rainbow,” the multifaceted tune that ends Laszlo Gardony
this thoughtful album. Each track has its own
Close Connection
George Colligan personality. SUNNYSIDE
King’s Dream The production is excellent, and the
sequencing, blending fresh originals with older
HHHH
PJCE
ones, feels inevitable. Béla Bartók believed that folk melodies, far
HHHHH Colligan grew up in Columbia, Maryland, a from being slipshod or “primitive,” were the
Pianist George Colligan’s fifth album as a lead- planned city with racial harmony among its highest expression of musical economy. His
er is a balm for turbulent times. No matter the goals. He dedicates King’s Dream “to those who countryman and musical descendant — Laszlo
style, the 11 tracks on King’s Dream are sooth- believe in, as drummer Al Foster would say, Gardony studied at the Bartók Conservatory
ing but never fatuous. Bracketed by the aspira- ‘Peace, Love, and Jazz.’” May this help make in Budapest — has long been inspired by
tional “Clearing The Mind” and the magisterial that dream come true. —Carlo Wolff them and they form the basis hereof the open-
“Finally A Rainbow,” these Colligan originals ing “Irrepressible” and the improvised “Cold
King’s Dream: Clearing The Mind; Change; Daddy Go Bye Bye;
help reclaim the landscape of hope. Doom Sandwich; Golden Years; Blues For Dwayne Burno; King’s Earth.” But he’s boldly blending them with
The centerpiece is the title track, a roiling, Dream; Weightless, Rising Towards The Sun; Liam’s Lament; Wish- influences that might seem diametrically
ing For Good Things to Happen; Finally, A Rainbow. (66:47)
joyous homage to Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a Personnel: George Colligan, piano. opposite, the sometimes sententious prog rock
power surge unto itself, its foundation a repeti- Ordering info: pjce.bandcamp.com of his youth.
Not many jazz musicians namecheck
Emerson, Lake & Palmer or, bless us all, Atomic
Brian Blade & The Rooster these days. One senses quickly that it’s
Fellowship Band the undoubted energy of those bands and not
the Persian carpets and towering drum risers
Live From The Archives that he finds inspiring.
STONER HILL
Close Connection could hardly be better
HHHHH named. Gardony has been recording for
For those who could not be around to see Brian Sunnyside for 30 years and has been work-
Blade & the Fellowship Band in the early 2000s, ing with John Lockwood and Yoron Israel
Live From The Archives is a gift. It perhaps may since the turn of the millennium. Bill Evans
not always be true that bands are rarely ever always wanted to keep a trio together for a
again what they were at the moments of their minimum of three years, but rarely managed
birth. But it feels true here. it. The logic presumably was that artistic rela-
This record is truly a time capsule. Recorded tionships needed to mature through steady
two years after the ensemble’s formation at work and yet a listen back to this trio’s Ever
Washington, D.C.’s famed Blues Alley, the date Before Ever After from 2003 suggests that the
is filled with compositions from Perceptual Brian Blade Fellowship (1997) and Body And chemistry was immediate rather than gradu-
released two months earlier. Shadow (2017). al. After a couple of bold solo ventures, includ-
Alongside the consistently inviting play and Nostalgia is often a trap, concealing the fact ing the frankly bonkers but delightful La
compositional brilliance of Blade and Jon the reality that there was nothing or little of Marseillaise, Gardony had reconvened the
Cowherd, Kurt Rosenwinkel is riveting. And value there. But if anyone is nostalgic about group and basically handed them a round-the-
what Melvin Butler and Myron Walden con- hearing The Fellowship Band back in those world ticket, taking in African rhythms on
tribute here is almost dreamlike. days, I imagine that they too will discover that the lovely “Savanna Sunrise” and contrasting
Formed in 1997, The Fellowship Band this album is a gift. —Joshua Myers “Everybody Needs A Home” to New Orleans
sprung from Blade and Cowherd meeting in and Harlem.
Live From The Archives: Announcement And Introduction;
the late 1980s while they were music students at The Fall Of Summer; Perceptual; Improvisation #1; Variations Of A —Brian Morton
Bloodline; Improvisation #2; Patron Saint Of Girls; Improvisation #3;
Loyola University in New Orleans. Introduction To Return Of The Prodigal Son; Return Of The Prodigal Close Connection: Irrepressible; O Solo Mio; Sweet Thoughts;
Son; Steadfast. (71:36)
The group had produced five studio albums Personnel: Brian Blade, drums; Melvin Butler, tenor and soprano
Cedar Tree Dance; All That Remains; Times Of Discord; Savanna
Sunrise; Walking In Silence; Everybody Needs A Home; Hopeful
before Live From The Archives, thankfully, saxophone; Jon Cowherd, piano; Christopher Thomas, bass; Myron Vision; Night Run; Cold Earth. (69:34)
Walden, alto saxophone and bass clarinet; Kurt Rosenwinkel, Personnel: Laszlo Gardony, piano; John Lockwood, bass; Yoron
came to light. The album fits perfectly into the guitar. Israel, drums, kalimba.
collection and even fills in some gaps between Ordering info: brianblade.com Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com

before locking into an intricate and serpentine
unison line, returning to the resolving theme,
with a gentle smile.
Consider the song a prelude to a musical
feast.
Home, released on Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf
Music label, glows from within and impress-
es on multiple levels. A powerful empathet-
ic link binds the Brazilian-born, New York-
based Gomes and Korean, Swiss-based vocalist
Jeon — a virtuoso blessed with glorious tone
and phrasing — as they explore a near-perfect
example of a duet project. Highlights among
original material incudes Gomes’ impression-
istic “Flow” and Jeon’s introspective “Expecting Nicholas Payton
Spring.” These weave naturally with such selec-
The Couch Sessions
Song Yi Jeon/ tive covers as Keith Jarrett’s ballad “Prism.” SMOKE SESSIONS
Vinicius Gomes Gomes switches from the standard
HHH1/2
Home Brazilian tool of fingerpicked classical guitar to
pick-driven fat-body electric guitar only once, Nicholas Payton emerges from the pandemic
GREENLEAF MUSIC
for a captivating version of “A Timeless Place,” blur with creative energy to spare and attributes
HHHH1/2 veteran singer Norma Winstone’s lyrical ver- we’ve come to expect; chops and taste as one
On “Eleven Houses,” the opening track of sion of Jimmy Rowle’s moving and intricate of his generation’s finer trumpeters, gestures
Home, an altogether luminous and deeply classic “The Peacocks.” Jeon’s radiant takeis one of contextual/semantical rebellion and ample
musical collaboration between vocalist Song of the song’s finest interpretations to date. respect for titans in the jazz pantheon. (A cave-
Yi Jeon and guitarist Vinicius Gomes, the var- —Josef Woodard at: Payton maintains his stern advocacy against
ied and evolving terrain of the tune hints at the j-word, as reminded by a new version of his
Home: Eleven Houses; Dancing Stars; Prism; Expecting Spring;
the beauties and challenges to come on the Albany; Milonga Gris; A Lonesome Place: A Timeless Place; Nilopol- “Jazz Is A Four-Letter Word.”)
album. On the Gomes original, a sweet melody itano. (49:27) Payton literally checks in with heroes, fly-
Personnel: Song Yi Jeon, voice; Vinicius Gomes, acoustic and
line, underscored by Gomes’ shifting harmon- electric guitar. ing in interwoven spoken-word testimonials
ic base, segues into an improvisatory free zone Ordering info: greenleafmusic.com from such artists as Geri Allen, Keith Jarrett,
Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Max
Roach. From the purely musical angle, The
Couch Sessions boasts the potent rhythm sec-
Patricia Brennan tion of Buster Williams and Lenny White on
More Touch bass and drums, with Payton eloquently com-
PYROCLASTIC
pleting the sonic canvas on keyboards and
HHH1/2 horn.
More Touch is Patricia Brennan’s second solo Although the smoky voice of Miles Davis is
album, and her first as a bandleader. It advanc- missing here, his presence and influence is
es her individual approaches to both mallet embedded in multiple ways, not limited to the
instrumental technique and composition. potent imprint of Davis’ touch and attitude on
A veteran of work with Michael Formanek, the horn.
John Hollenbeck, Vijay Iyer, and Mary Payton draws attention to Davis’ landmark
Halvorson, Brennan plays both vibraphone mid-’60s quintet, with commentaries from
and marimba. Her use of effects pedals imbues Shorter and Hancock. Musically, Payton
her playing with a slippery quality that bears serves up affectionate, personalized takes on
a striking tonal similarity to Halvorson’s gui- classic from Davis’ undervalued gem of an
tar sound. Brennan twists notes into bent windows for improvisation within her compo- album Nefertiti, Shorter’s “Pinocchio” and a
and flickering forms. As heard on during the sitions draw more from her classical training groove/Rhodes-lined redux of “Fall,” as well
onrushing opening and midsession meltdown and jazz practice; even when she uses a Cuban as Hancock’s title cut from The Sorcerer, in fer-
of “El Nuahalli (The Shadow Soul),” this can be rhythm as the foundation of “Square Bimagic,” vent, full swing.
woozily psychedelic, but it’s not a mere novelty. her music does not sound particularly folklor- Payton also tips his respectful hat to
Rather, Brennan’s use of technology extends the ic. Rather, the vibes and bass turn a son vamp important women in jazz who have passed in
sound of her vibes beyond the wave-like decay into a platform for exchanges between drums recent years, framing the sequence: Geri Allen’s
one usually associates with the instrument, and hand drums that stray far from that idiom. “Feed The Fire” opens the set, closing with with
placing both clarity and disorientation within —Bill Meyer “From A Flicker To A Flame.”
her compositional reach. —Josef Woodard
More Touch: Unquiet Respect; More Touch; Space For Hour;
The percussion-heavy configuration of El Nahualli (The Shadow Soul); The Woman Who Weeps; Square The Couch Sessions: Feed The Fire; Bust-a-Move; Blossom;
Bimagic; Convergences; Robbin; Sizigia (Syzygy); And There Was
Brennan’s quartet emulates Cuban and Light. (70:45)
Pinocchio; His Name Is Lenny; Bleek’s Blues; Along Came Betty; Fall;
Cristina; The Sorcerer; Jazz Is A Four-Letter Word; From A Flicker To
Mexican precedents, which she learned first- Personnel: Patricia Brennan, vibraphone with electronics, A Flame … (for Meghan Stabile). (1:14:11)
marimba; Kim Cass, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums; Mauricio Herrera, Personnel: Nicholas Payton, trumpet, piano, Rhodes, clavinet;
hand growing up in Veracruz, Mexico. But the percussion. Buster Williams, bass; Lenny White, drums.
episodic structures, understated melodies and Ordering info: patriciabrennanpyroclastic.bandcamp.com Ordering info: smokesessionsrecords.com

Historical / BY HOWARD MANDEL
Old, but Stylistically Current

Different though they are, the five albums
in this grab-bag of four-decades-old music
sound stylistically current today. Each aspires
to jazz-level expressivity and creativity in the
moment; mastery, exploitation and reconsid-
eration of traditions; appeal through rhythmic
propulsion and melodic imagination. Note:
Tastes may account to some extent for one’s
measure of their success.
Best news first: the Jimi Hendrix Experi-
ence’s 80-minute concert at the 17,000-seat StarkLinnemann Trio
Los Angeles Forum from April 1969 is thrill-
ing, terrifically produced and informatively
Transcending Liszt, Vol. 1
UCM
packaged. The Jimi Hendrix Experience,
Los Angeles Forum, April 26, 1969 (Sony HHHH
Legacy; HHHHH) is a splendid introduction The StarkLinnemann Trio, consisting of pianist
for anyone innocent of Hendrix as an unparal- more fun. Paul Stark, drummer-percussionist Jonas
leled performer, catnip for those of us touched Ordering info: mackavenue.com
Linnemann and bassist Maciej Domaradzki,
back then by his incandescent fire. The gui- With Peterson in the mid-’50s (after Bar-
was founded in 2012 with the goal of taking
tarist is simply inspired, whipping off lyrical, ney Kessel), guitarist Herb Ellis earned ac-
aching, far-reaching runs with a luscious am- colades for his relaxed, bluesy lyricism. The
classical pieces and transforming them into
plified tone and vocabulary as distinctive, rich spikier guitarist Remo Palmier (aka Palmieri) modern jazz explorations. They had previous-
and free as any jazz icon’s. He fearlessly ex- was a first-generation bebopper who opted ly recorded two volumes titled Transcending
plores free-improv sound improv without los- for mundane studio work until 1978, when El- Beethoven.
ing the beat. He’s deeply rooted in blues, has lis brought him to Concord Records for Wild- Franz Liszt (1811–’86), in addition to being
unfailingly with-it wit, and is uniquely gifted flower (Real Gone; HHH1/2 ), reissued here one of the most significant classical compos-
— beyond B.B. King or Robert Johnson — at as limited-edition vinyl. Contributive bassist ers of the 1800s, was a renowned virtuoso pia-
singing while playing, amazing whether unac- George Duvivier and drummer Ron Traxler nist who it was reported sometimes added sub-
companied (check out “Red House”) or lock- support the duetting plectarists throughout tle improvisations to his performances. For
ing in at highest pitch with drummer Mitch a pleasantly swinging, autumnal program.
Transcending Liszt, Vol. 1, the trio performs
Mitchell (rock’s best drummer) and electric A lovely “Stardust,” touching “Foolish Heart,”
bassist Noel Redding. Besides their hits from and the less frequently heard “Close Your
their new versions of four of Liszt’s works, with
Are You Experienced? and Axis Bold As Love, Eyes” are highlights of the program’s easy the first two numbers being rearranged by
the trio slays with previously unreleased ma- compatibility. Linnemann, while Stark was responsible for the
terial — “Tax Free” (a 16-minute jam), “Voodoo Ordering info: realgonemusic.com other two reinventions. Rather than just swing
Child (Slight Return),” Cream’s “Sunshine Of As influenced by Hendrix (d. Sept. 1970) the main melody of each piece, the trio digs
Your Love” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” and Miles Davis, among others, the ’70s are into several sections of each work, forming four
four months before his era-defining rendition better remembered for hotter jams. Riding lengthy suites that clock in between 10:48 and,
at Woodstock. Disclosure: I caught the Experi- the fusion crest, well-established Detroit-bred in two cases, nearly 24 minutes apiece.
ence eight days later in Syracuse. This album hard-bop trumpeter Donald Byrd, whose The main theme of the opening selection,
time-travels. instincts had proved prescient with A New
“Liebestraum,” was a minor hit for Tommy
Ordering info: legacyrecordings.com Perspective, his 1963 gospel-jazz hybrid, again
Less fulfilling: the Oscar Peterson Trio’s struck gold fronting a collective of Howard
Dorsey in 1937, highlighted by a heated Bunny
On A Clear Day (Mack Avenue; HHH) from University students. Byrd’s Blackbyrds had a Berigan trumpet solo. Listening to that version
Zurich in 1971 celebrates the brisk virtuosity stellar night together as a tentet at the 1972 first can be helpful in finding the melody in
of this pianist, 20 years into his career, more Montreux fest. The Mizell Brothers (Larry, this new version which has the theme played in
than his emotional investment in material synths; Fonce, trumpet/vocals); keyboardist abstract form with different chords. It evolves
or audience. Remarkable dexterity at break- Kevin Toney; saxophonists Nathan Davis and from a thoughtful ballad into a fast and furi-
neck speed is this album’s hallmark, as bassist Allan Barnes; electric guitarist Barney Perry; ous romp.
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen for the first bassist Henry Franklin; drummer Keith Killgo, “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,” which nor-
time backs the man he’d continue with for 15 and percussionist Ray Armando jam loose- mally can be enjoyed as a deliriously joy-
years (Louis Hayes, by then drumming with ly, brightly. Like Miles and Freddie Hubbard,
ful piano exercise, in this rendition utilizes
Peterson for six years, is deft, understated). Byrd used electronics instruments, hooks,
Except for “Soft Winds,” the eight tracks (av- ostinatos, vamps, soul beats, pop airs (Stevie
Domaradzki’s bowed bass in its opening part,
erage length: 8 minutes) are uptempo romps Wonder’s “You’ve Got It Bad, Girl”) and pro- has Stark’s piano sounding a bit like McCoy
regaling in the pianist’s superfast single-note to-rap chanting to frame his high-flying solos. Tyner and early Herbie Hancock.
runs, left hand independence, big chords and This recording, Live–Black Byrd (Blue Note; —Scott Yanow
fanciful embellishments. But should “Young- HHHH), never before out, is a fine discovery.
Transcending Liszt, Vol. 1: Liebestraum; Hungarian Rhapsody
er Than Springtime” sound like “Mack the Byrd also blows his themes “Christo Re- No. 2; Ave Maria; Valée d’Obermann. (74:10)
Knife”? Peterson’s skills remain dazzling, but dentor” and “Black Jack.” DB Personnel: Paul Stark, piano; Maciej Domaradzki, bass; Jonas
Linnemann, drums, percussion.
his early trios with interactive guitarists are still Ordering info: strut.bandcamp.com
Ordering info: ucm-records.com

Nat Adderley’s “Work Song” is a tantalizing
plateau of melody and harmony for any creative
musician, and Alexander invokes several forms
of labor, mimicking Oscar Brown Jr.’s lyrics, in
one long and lilting phrase he strikes the keys
like a delicate typist and then suddenly in a
barrage of heavy chords, like breaking rocks
on a chain gang. If it were not for his enthrall-
ing homages to Bob Marley on “No Woman
No Cry/Get Up Stand Up (Medley)” and to the
renowned Trinidadian man of pan Leonard
“Boogsie” Sharpe’s “Crying,” his interpretation
of Adderley’s classic could well be the hallmark
of this album.
This doesn’t mean that “Night Mist Blues”
falls short of Alexander’s impeccable standards.
Monty Alexander In fact, in its slow, deliberative approach lis- Kris Allen
The Montreux Years teners are given an opportunity to meditate on June
BMG each carefully selected note that when accom- TRUTH REVOLUTION
HHHH panied by bassist Hassan Shakur plunges into HHHH1/2
an even deeper poignancy of the blues.
Pianist/composer Monty Alexander’s exceed- Subtlety, suppleness and a sense of urgency
—Herb Boyd
ingly splendid The Montreux Years draws from immediately strike the listener as alto saxo-
four different recording dates between 1993 and The Montreux Years: The Serpent; Work Song; Hurricane Come phonist Kris Allen launches June, the diverse
2016. He opens this anthology of remarkable and Gone; Night Mist Blues; Linstead Market; Crying; No Woman and impassioned album he created in the shad-
No Cry/Get Up Stand Up (Medley); Renewal; A Nod To Bob. (84:77)
moments with “The Serpent,” as if to showcase Personnel: Monty Alexander, piano; Robert Thomas Jr., body ow of the pandemic.
percussion (1, 6, 9); Rolando Wilson, drums (1, 6, 9); Ernest Ranglin,
and introduce the various musical impulses of guitar (1, 6, 9); Robert Angus, guitar (1, 6, 9); Dwight Dawes, key- Backed by his regular band, with guest
his extensive repertoire. At once you realize the boards (1, 6, 9); Hassan Shakur, bass (2–4, 7); Jason Brown, drums trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and guest vocalists
(2, 3); Karl Wright, drums and percussion (2–4, 7); Leon Duncan,
unbroken brilliance that permeates his per- electric bass (2–4); Andy Bassford, guitar (2–4, 7); Ron Blake, Michael Mayo and Shenel Johns, Allen delivers
saxophone (2, 3); Obed Calvaire, drums (4, 7); Ira Coleman, bass (5);
formances, how easily he shifts in moods, and Ed Thigpen (5); Carlton Messam, bass (6, 9). six originals and a sharp version of “I Have A
tones from major to minor. Ordering info: montreuxjazzshop.com Dream,” Herbie Hancock’s homage to Martin
Luther King Jr.
Allen’s voicings and quicksilver saxophone
shape the tunes without being overbearing.
Jeff Parker Yes, he’s the leader, but does he interact. Check
Mondays At The Enfield out his hot exchanges with pianist Carmen
Tennis Academy Staaf on the hard-driving “Ember.”
EREMITE Allen shines particularly on “Fallow,” a
HHHH tune about hope that lies in waiting. His tone is
Here’s a record that ought to make you go all sweet, his lines comforting, and Staaf’s rumi-
Hemingway and reject abstract words, vacuous nations are understated on this gorgeous bal-
concepts of musical value and critical “impor- lad. The tempo accelerates on “Morning,”
tance,” furrowed discussion of artistic “devel- Allen’s love letter to his girlfriend. Allen
opment” in fact, except names, dates, places, threads his way through the celebration, vocal-
personnel and timings. Jeff Parker’s group turns ist Johns expresses Allen’s feelings saucily and
up, switches on and plays. Comes again anoth- vibraphonist Chris Dingman adds to the tune’s
er night and plays some more. And then again, lift.
with no impression of mere routine, but no What Johns does for “Morning,” Mayo
special-occasion whooping, either. Following does for “Trees,” a recasting of the Joyce Kilmer
there is no single abstract noun or generic label poem that bolsters that sentimental touch-
on the heels of his first ever solo record, Slight that will do for him. He’s completely sui generis.
Freedom, which came out on Eremite last year, stone with one of Allen’s tightest solos, Luques
A wise man once said that we put too much Curtis’s propulsive bass, Jonathan Barber’s
it’s even more homestyle and direct for being emphasis on “works,” artistic creations that
made in company with others who share his dramatic drums and Mayo’s colorful voice.
became cultural fetish objects and icons, and The album ends with the title track, a
quietly individual sound-world. not enough on “work” as an honorable pro-
It’s not exactly themeless improvisation but heartfelt exchange between Allen and Curtis.
cess and one of the things that makes us truly The two listen into each other, creating a con-
nor is it abstract jamming. As on the solo human. These extraordinary sides document a
record, Parker can imply a bossa nova rhythm, versation that ends on a querulous, moving
man at work, and it’s a privilege to be able to note. A solid, hopeful album. —Carlo Wolff
or something closer to reggae, and then an echo witness it. —Brian Morton
of all those Tal Farlow records on Verve that
June: Sunlight; Trees; Ember; Fallow; I Have a Dream; Morning;
had more or less the same title but not a drably Mondays At The Enfield Tennis Academy: 2019-07-08 I; June. (42:29)
repeated lick among them, and then maybe it’s 2019-07-08 II; 2019-05-19; 2021-04-28. (89:40) Personnel: Kris Allen, alto saxophone; Jonathan Barber, drums;
Personnel: Josh Johnson, alto saxophone; Jeff Parker, electric Luques Curtis, bass; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Shenel Johns,
more like Sonny Sharrock in reflective mode. guitar; Anna Butterss, bass; Jay Bellerose, drums. Michael Mayo, vocals; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Carmen Staaf, piano.
Fact is, no one sounds quite like Jeff Parker and Ordering info: eremite.com Ordering info: trrstore.bandcamp.com

Born and raised in South Africa, Mvubu
began playing music at 14, and went on to study
with Dr. Johnny Mekou, a legendary Etwatwa-
born jazz trumpeter, at the Music Academy of
Gauteng. In the years since, Mthunzi has per-
formed with an array of notable talent includ-
ing Kevin Mahogany, Omar Sosa, and most
recently, as a member of Shabaka and The
Ancestors, an enticing project from London-
based saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings.
Mvubu reveals a talent for writing composi-
tions that innovate within tradition, like “Zig
Zag,” featuring an inexhaustible eighth-note
melody drawing on American bebop and cycli-
cal African rhythms, and “Shwele,” which
mixes tenacious free improvisation with South
Mthunzi Mvubu African singing. The 1st Gospel also show- Nils Landgren
The 1st Gospel cases a dexterous band of African musicians, 3 Generations
ROPEADOPE including tenor sax players Tobias Meinhart ACT
HHHH and Mpumi Dhlasmini, Dalisu Ndlazi on bass, H1/2
Afrika Mkhize on keys and Sphelelo Mazibuko
Since the early-20th century invention of the on drums. Here’s a three-disc box set to celebrate three
jazz form “marabi,” and particularly since By its close, The 1st Gospel paints an entic- decades of the renowned German label ACT.
the end of apartheid, a distinct brand of jazz, ing portrait of jazz vibrancy. —Alexa Peters Founder Siggi Loch produces, and has selected
informed by the American avant-garde and a one of his early signings to act as host for a full
multifaceted, resilient spirit all its own, flour- stable of guest players.
The 1st Gospel: Zig Zag; Mom vs The Badman; The 1st Gospel;
ishes in South Africa. Of this, the debut record Shwele (Part 1); Voice; In The Wake Of Your Song; Sea Line; Shwele This is a fine concept, carried out to a tech-
from South African saxophonist and flute (Part 2). (72:13) nically high level, well-presented and featur-
Personnel: Mthunzi Mvubu, saxophone, flute, vocals;Tobias
player Mthunzi Mvubu, The 1st Gospel, which Meinhart, tenor saxophone; Mpumi Dhlamini, tenor saxophone, ing a highly impressive cast, but sadly there is
Hammond B3; Sphelelo Mazibuko, drums, vocals; Dalisu Ndlazi,
shines with Mvubu’s sweet-fat alto tone and double bass, vocals; Afrika Mkhiza, piano, synthesizers, vocals. a problem at its aesthetic and conceptual heart.
diverse compositions, is a perfect example. Ordering info: ropeadope.com The trombonist and singer Nils Landgren tends
to coerce this very diverse posse inside his own
sonic universe, which in this case involves a
puzzling bias towards songs sung by guest
Kirk Lightsey vocalists.
Live At Smalls Jazz Club Landgren also prefers compositions that
CELLAR LIVE move at a gentle pace. This is a long listen, and
HHH its mood is largely singular. Players who are
often known for their challenging instrumen-
When one’s jazz career nears seven decades, as
tal bite have been co-opted into a world of pop-
pianist Kirk Lightsey’s has, it’s understand-
jazz, or even cabaret-jazz, so Michael Wollny,
able that a new recording elicits excitement and
Marius Neset and Lars Danielsson appear as
anticipation. This rings especially true if the
rarely heard before.
recording preserves a live performance, as Live
A lightweight compromise is at play. There’s
At Smalls Jazz Club does. Bandleader and venue
little depth, darkness or melancholy present.
alone set expectations high, and Lightsey’s sup-
The best tracks feature smaller formations,
porting cast of guitarist Mark Whitfield, bass-
either duos or trios. Disc 3 is a haven for such
ist Santi Debriano and drummer Victor Lewis
oddities, and is also primarily instrumental.
stokes an eager outlook.
Two of the best contributions are by Joachim
It’s unfortunate then, that in the opening
Dance” propel the album to a unified place Kühn (in duo with Landgren) and the French
performance of Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own
and the occasional murmurs of audience noise team of Vincent Peirani and Émile Parisien,
Sweet Way,” the quartet get off to a rocky start.
give the album just the touch of character that joined by the trombonist.
Everyone excels in their musical roles and
makes a live album feel immersive. Lightsey’s The best vocal performances are provided
the individual character of each is prevalent
original “Heaven Dance” is a beaming redemp- by Camille Bertault and Youn Sun Nah.
throughout. However, at least in how they’re
tion for the aforementioned struggles, made Guitarist Nguyên Lê and pianist David Helbock
conveyed on this recording, Whitfield and
even more enjoyable by the energized, bold syn- stir up Bertault’s song, and YSN appears with
Lightsey sound unexpectedly out of sync. At 10
copation driving the music. Live At Smalls is a Peirani, effectively matching Robert Burns
minutes long, weaker moments are the minori-
treasure and a recording that the concert loving verse with Arvo Pärt music. —Martin Longley
ty but, the guitar and piano seem to be jostling
for space and who is leading sometimes feels public is lucky to have. —Kira Grunenberg
3 Generations: A total of 30 tracks on three CDs. (134:00)
uncertain. Thankfully, this disconnect is tem- Live At Smalls Jazz Club: In Your Own Sweet Way; Freedom
Personnel: Joachim Kuhn; Michael Wollny; lIro Rantala; Lars
Danielsson; Viktoria Tolstoy; Wolfgang Haffner; J. & R. Wasserfuhr;
porary and the group gels together the rest of Jazz Dance; Pee Wee; Heaven Dance; Lament; Lament. (56:31) David Helbock; Jan Lundgren; Marius Neset; Vincent Peirani; Emile
Personnel: Kirk Lightsey, piano; Mark Whitfield, guitar; Santi Parisien; Johanna Summer; Youn Sun Nah; Anna Greta; Jacob
the way. Lightsey’s decisive, punctuated chords Debriano, bass; Victor Lewis, drums. Manz; Ida Sand; Nesrine; and numerous others.
and Lewis’ booming tom hits in “Freedom Jazz Ordering info: cellarlive.com Ordering info: actmusic.com

and does so again on the fourth track. The
drummer also provides a secondary vocal line
and intones another poem, respectively.
Aside from these vocal numbers, the main
body of largely original tunes levitates around
a highly sensitive instrumental palette. Central
to these detailed works is the reed relationship
between Turner and the bass clarinetist Joris
Roelofs, whether soloing, exchanging phras-
es or harmonizing with an exquisite low-toned
oneness.
Street solos eloquently on “Arrolo da
Alba,” then “Cadeas Por Fin” rides with an
assured pulse. Fernández stays in the back-
ground for much of the time, and Virelles is
calmer than usual, only soloing forcefully on
Fowler/Perelman/Amba/ Iago Fernández the closing “Curarei.”
Shipp/Parker/Hirsch Luzada The players are intimately miked, creating a
Alien Skin FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT spread where magnified details can be savored.
MAHAKALA HHH The reeds nestle well together through-
HHH1/2 out, warmly textured and human in tone. A
Although probably unfamiliar to most folks, Fernández tune’s aura might be relaxed, but it’s
The inspiration for this session was William the Spanish drummer Iago Fernández sur- always rich with meaningful substance.
Parker’s closing set at the 2021 Vision Festival, rounds himself with a high-profile Stateside —Martin Longley
which was a tribute to free-jazz percussionist band that includes tenor saxophonist Mark
and polymath Milford Graves. In the audience Turner, pianist David Virelles and bassist Ben Luzada: Almas Viaxeiras; Doces; Arrolo da Alba; Flor Esvelta;
Cadeas Por Fin; Lonely Child; Springtime Paradox; Luz da Paz;
was Chad Fowler, who was so transfixed by the Street. His fourth album’s opener is atypical: Purple Light; Curarei. (62:00)
collective’s impassioned performance that he a Brazilian-style song handled by Yumi Ito, Personnel: Iago Fernández, drums, voice, organ; Mark Turner,
tenor saxophone; Joris Roelofs, bass clarinet; David Virelles, piano;
regretted leaving his horns at home. Unable apparently sung in the leader’s native Catalan, Ben Street, bass; Yumi Ito, voice (1, 4, 9); Wilfried Wilde, guitar (1,
4); Sam Barnett, alto saxophone (6); Song Yi Jeon, voice (9); Kuba
to join in the moment, the Arkansan reedist although sounding quite close to Portuguese. Dworak, bass (1).
planned a session that might recreate its vibe. Fernández penned a poem for Ito to interpret, Ordering info: freshsoundrecords.com
Later that year, he returned to New York,

bringing drummer Steve Hirsch with him.
Joining them were two players who had been on
stage that night, Parker and woodwinds player
Zoh Amba, as well as pianist Matthew Shipp,
who had also been in the crowd. Tenor saxo-
phonist Ivo Perelman, Shipp’s most enduring
duo partner in recent years, was a last-minute
recruit. Alien Skin presents the music they per-
formed in the order that it went down.
The ensemble navigated by feeling, not a
score. They start off rough, for while Amba and
Perelman instantly respond in kind to Fowler’s
gutbucket kick-off, Hirsh sounds lost until the
performance breaks into an exhilarating stee-
plechase. The second track achieves success by
not trying to be as cohesive; instead, one sub-
group transmits highly charged phrases to
another, picking up energy from the players’
contrasting styles. As they build rapport, the
pieces grow longer, more varied, and less idi-
omatically centered. Someone desiring a cohe-
sive synthesis of the ensemble’s strengths might
confine their attention the album’s final two
tracks, which span nearly 39 minutes. But a
more process-oriented listener will appreciate
hearing how the sextet finds its voice in the ear-
lier tracks. —Bill Meyer
Alien Skin: Occupation Day; In Pairs; Alien Skin; Sentient Senti-
ment; Broken Language. (64:56)
Personnel: Chad Fowler, stritch, saxello; Zoh Amba, tenor
saxophone, flute; Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Matthew Shipp,
piano; William Parker, bass; Steve Hirsh, drums.
Ordering info: mahakalamusic.com

Euro Jazz / BY PETER MARGASAK
Creative Scene Changes

The jazz sound of multi-cultural Amster-
dam has changed a lot over the last few de-
cades, but Chance And Change (Casco;
62:50 HHHH), the second album from the
multi-generational Blue Lines Trio, harks
back to the golden era of New Dutch Swing.
More than half of the tracks played by pia-
nist Michiel Scheen, bassist Raoul van der
Weide and drummer George Hadow are full
improvised, but that doesn’t mean the group
forsakes its abiding love for swing. In fact, the Ant Law/Alex Hitchcock
gap between pithy originals like the rollicking Same Moon In The
opener “Diddleville” and spontaneous excur-
sions bearing deceptively descriptive titles like
Same World
OUTSIDE IN MUSIC
“Improvisation 2155” is much smaller than one
might expect at times thanks to a seriously HHH1/2
locked-in rapport. Hadow evokes the relent- Swede Mattias Ståhl on marimba and vibra- Guitarist Ant Law and tenor saxophonist Alex
less springy propulsion of Han Bennink, while phone and Norway’s Ingebrit Håker Flaten on
Hitchcock’s pandemic album (it should be con-
Scheen’s granite-tough attack reinforces the bass, they embrace another Tristano tactic,
freely improvising tunes based on the chords
sidered a subgenre in itself) has that late pan-
trio’s fierce rhythmic drive, unleashing chords
that splinter and sparkle. The lines warmly of beloved standards like “Darn That Dream” demic kind of feel, not so elegiac as other artists’
intoned by van der Weide root the music in and “Tea For Two.” work recorded earlier in the global isolation, but
something innately human and melodically The results are terrific, maintaining a clear feistier and more anxious to play. Same Moon
irresistible. The trio does go out, too, but it all connection with the aerated cool of their his- In The Same World is a late-period pandem-
happens along an unflappable continuum. toric subjects while also privileging a wide- ic album due to be an amalgamation of sent
Ordering info: cascorecords.bandcamp.com open melodic sensibility that feels thoroughly demos with assorted players around the world
Oùat is an excellent Paris-Berlin piano contemporary. The way Johansson — sticking who riffed off of Law and Hitchcock’s demos.
trio also invested in seriously swinging be- exclusively to the clarinet family here — and It’s through these remote collaborations
bop verities, evoking the sound of brilliant Ståhl braid their simultaneous lines on a tune
where the pair can have Shai Maestro daz-
eccentrics like Elmo Hope, Herbie Nichols, and like “Slow” is especially rewarding, revealing a
shared buoyancy and empathic lyricism that
zle on the piano on “Low Glow” alongside
Thelonious Monk. The group updated that
tradition with the original tunes that filled its would sound fresh in any era. Jasper Høiby’s resounding backing on bass,
superb debut Elastic Bricks, but on the new Ordering info: agnasflatensthltexas.bandcamp.com Jeff Ballard on drums. “Chrysalis” glides into a
The Strange Adventures Of Jesper Klint From A Story Now Lost (Smalltown steady groove with Law and Hitchcock trading
(Umlaut; 64:10 HHHH) they pay homage Supersound; 30:00 HHH) by Norwegian lines near the end with real joy, working off the
to the overlooked Swedish pianist Per-Henrik keyboardist Anja Lauvdal isn’t a jazz record, energy Ben Williams is building on bass and
Wallin, who deftly straddled bebop and free- but trying to parse her multi-layered aes- giving Sun-Mi Hong plenty of space to unwind
jazz during his career. thetic is a fool’s errand. Whether playing free on the drums. “Vivid” is a gorgeous, lush trib-
This new recording interprets the full improv with drummer with Joakim Heibø, ute from Law to Linda May Han Oh with plen-
repertoire from Wallin’s knockout trio album recording exploratory improvisations with
ty of room for her to play her bass and sing with
Coyote — recorded in 1986–’87, but unre- her long-running trio Moskus, or engaging
in a first-time trio with Hamid Drake and Wil-
backing from Tim Garland’s bass clarinet and
leased until 1998. Over the fleet, high-veloc-
ity swing of bassist Joel Grip and drummer liam Parker—all projects I’ve heard or scene in stirring drums from Sun-Mi Hong.
Michael Griener, French pianist Simon Sieger 2022 — she’s a committed explorer who won’t This is the thing about the construction of
carves out his own take on the seven indelible be limited by any single approach or genre. the album: Every composition here has these
themes, funneling them through the same Ordering info: anjalauvdal.bandcamp.com “insert featured solo here” spaces that feel
quirky aesthetic of those ’50s pianists men- Philip Zoubek, a keyboardist from Co- necessary for their construction as a remote-
tioned above. Oùat reveals a genuine ardor logne, Germany, is another shape-shifter, a ly made pandemic album. This isn’t the band
for Wallin’s music, while strutting its own fierce musician of broad curiosity who’s equally at in the room burning together; it’s expert level
sound — a perfect combination. home within over-the-top electronic jamming shedding over tracking. Playing with so many
Ordering info: umlautrecords.bandcamp.com and heady post-bop. His trio with bassist Da-
impressive players like Joel Ross and Kendrick
Drummer Konrad Agnas and reedist vid Helm and drummer Dominik Mahnig has
Scott is cool, but it can also feel like connected
Per “Texas” Johansson are fixtures on the made a couple of terrific acoustic albums, but
sprawling Stockholm creative music scene, with Labyrinthus (Why Play Jazz; 44:57 K’Nex links. —Anthony Dean-Harris
performing in disparate stylistic contexts, HHHH) Zoubek adds some synthesizers to Same Moon In The Same World: Outliers; Haven’t Meta Yet;
but together they’ve steadily explored the the mix without necessarily changing the Low Glow; Third I; Chrysalis; Vivid; Salvo; Don’t Wait Too Long; After
shape of the music. Instead, electronics de- The Rain. (51:48)
ideas of Lennie Tristano and his disciples Lee Personnel: Ant Law, electric, acoustic, eight-string guitars; Alex
Konitz and Warne Marsh, including an album liver a mix of unsettling ambience and eerie Hitchcock, tenor saxophone; Joel Ross, vibraphone (6–8); Shai
counterpoint. The music is composed, but it’s Maestro, piano (3, 4); Linda May Han Oh (1, 6), Jasper Høiby (3), Ben
updating some of their best known tunes. On Williams (5, 8), bass; Eric Harland (1, 2), Jeff Ballard (3, 8), Kendrick
All Slow Dream Gone (Moserobie; 39:52 deliciously loose. DB Scott (4, 7), Sun-Mi Hong (5, 6), drums; Tim Garland, bass clarinet
(6, 8).
HHHH), where they are joined by fellow Ordering info: whyplayjazz.bandcamp.com
Ordering info: antlaw.bandcamp.com

vising, paying tribute to Sidney Bechet, play- “Part 7,” setting a desolate mood accentuated by
ing unaccompanied solos or with a big band, Liebman’s soprano before the rumbling piano,
Liebman always follows his own musical path heated percussion, and high-pitched soprano
and sounds like himself. bring the performance to its conclusion.
Liebman and percussionist Adam Rudolph While it has its intriguing moments, much
have had an occasional duo since 2016, and of New Now would be more interesting to expe-
Rudolph and drummer Tyshawn Sorey first rience live than on record, particularly during
formed a percussion duet in 2018 although some sparse sections where one is waiting for
Liebman and Sorey do not seem to have previ- inspiration to strike.
ously recorded together. At the Jazz Gallery on Trust And Honesty, a recent LP, finds
Sept. 30, 2021, for the first time the three musi- Liebman in a more conventional trio with gui-
cians formed a trio. The result is New Now, a tarist Ben Monder and bassist John Hébert.
continuous hour-long free improvisation that Other than the leader’s melancholy ballad
on their CD is divided into seven parts. “Designs,” the intimate group performs six jazz
The soprano-drums-percussion trio does standards including “Lover Man,” “Bye Bye
its best to not only react spontaneously to Blackbird” and a warm rendition of Jobim’s
Liebman/Sorey/Rudolph each other but to include some variety in “Zingaro.” In addition, Liebman (who plays
New Now moods. “Part 1” starts out sounding a bit mys- soprano throughout except for a very brief
META/YEROS tical, becoming more passionate as the music spot on flute during “Zingaro”) takes “Blue In
HHH evolves. On “Part 2,” Liebman makes musi- Green” as an unaccompanied solo.
cal comments that are answered by the other —Scott Yanow
two, the music gets a bit ferocious, and it final-
Dave Liebman ly becomes a fiery drum-percussion ensemble.
Trust And Honesty “Part 3” utilizes a lot of space with some speech- New Now: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7. (59:04)
NEWVELLE Personnel: Dave Liebman, soprano, wooden flute, piano;
like percussive sounds from Rudolph and occa- Tyshawn Sorey, drums, piano; Adam Rudolph, percussion, hand
HHH1/2 sional comments by Liebman, a contrast to the
drums, electronic processing.
Ordering info: metarecords.com
Dave Liebman has followed in the footsteps of dense ensembles of “Part 4.” Liebman briefly
Trust And Honesty: Designs; Lover Man; Come Rain Or Come
such predecessors as Chet Baker, Lee Konitz plays some free-form piano on “Part 5” while Shine; Stella By Starlight; Moon And Sand; Blue In Green; Bye Bye
and Steve Lacy in his willingness to record “Part 6” (which has a little bit of his flute) is Blackbird; Zingaro. (40:10)
Personnel: Dave Liebman, soprano saxophone; Ben Monder,
prolifically for many different labels. No mat- primarily another explosive drums-percus- guitar; John Hébert, bass.
ter what the setting, whether it is free impro- sion duo. Sorey is on piano at the beginning of Ordering info: newvelle-records.com
fried fish punctuate the air.

These arrangements are ever so familiar on
this record, reminding us that it is indeed pos-
sible to use the blues to “get the blues offa you”
as Willie King once remarked. We can sense
here that that’s the point of it all. There is also
a mix here of what coalesces around the labels
“funk” and “Southern soul.” For Vincent, who
has been at this for nearly 60 years, there is no
lack of feeling or rhythm in his playing.
The band, a relatively new formation rises
to the occasion as well. Together, they transport
us to spaces that are all too familiar, places we
hope to never forget.
While Vincent refers to himself as a basic
blues player, his deep knowledge of the guitar
and its limits is what sets him apart. “I started
playing guitar in the ’60s when rock ’n’ roll first
started happening,” said Vincent, who received
hands-on instruction from the town’s resident
bluesman.
“There was an old fella named Po’ Will that
could play all kind of blues on the guitar.”
—Joshua Myers
Ernie Vincent that has defined many a nighttime jaunt
Original Dap King through the vibrant streets of New Orleans.
But it is also a sound familiar to the Saturday
Original Dap King: Body Shop; Midnight Rendezvous; Posses-
sion; Jealousy; Mr. Good Daddy; Black; Blues Filler; Seven Sisters;
CORNELIUS CHAPEL RECORDS Guilty As Funk; Early Times. (39:00)
afternoon tailgates at Black colleges throughout
HHH1/2 the South. It is a sound familiar to the to those
Personnel: Ernie Vincent, vocals and guitar; Jimbo Malthus,
piano; Taylor Hollingsworth, guitar; Hank West, horns, horns/string
arrangements; Jamison Hollister, strings; AJ Haynes, backing
Ernie Vincent is a bona fide legend. Original “midnight rendezvous” at end-of-the road- vocals; Matt Payton, bass, backing vocals; Bronson Tew, drums.
Dap King is a showcase of a legendary sound shacks where the smell of sweat, Pepsi-Cola and Ordering info: corneliuschapelrecords.myshopify.com

river may take them. His inclusion with this
pair makes sense considering their dancy, soar-
ing music has always at times been begging for
something in the realm of house music to play
with if they weren’t reaching for it themselves.
This neat half-hour album never wears out
its welcome. These are six tunes that steadi-
ly rise to a climax, bathe in the warmth, and
politely exit your ears. You could set your
watch to what this trio is doing if it weren’t so
easy to get consistently lost in their sleight of
hand.
This isn’t uncommon for Binker & Moses’
compositional style, but Ratcliffe’s addition-
al instrumentation and production allows for
more options and without Golding having to
Village of the Sun do all the heavy lifting melodically. They’re Hedvig Mollestad
First Light quite effective as a trio. & the Trondheim
Once one gets past the confusing nature of
GEARBOX
having both a self-titled song and an album’s
Jazz Orchestra
HHH1/2 Maternity Beat
title track, making for real fun trying to relay
Binker and Moses have always felt like riding a song titles to folks, one can be easily hypno- RUNE GRAMMOFON
river through rapids, drifting through calm, tized by these rhythms. Perhaps the effective HHH
deep waters until times when things get rocky, confusion in nomenclature is part of being put Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad has
the bottom gets shallower, and the ride gets a off kilter and the right state of mind. been prolific in recent years, stretching beyond
bit hectic. —Anthony Dean-Harris work with her long-running trio to launch sev-
The pair has always known how to ride out
eral evolving ensembles, including the medi-
a feeling, and in their latest foray, they’ve includ- First Light: Cesca; First Light; Village of the Sun; The Spanish
um-sized lineups that expanded a more elabo-
ed producer Simon Ratcliffe (of Basement Jaxx) Master; Tigris; Ted. (32:50)
Personnel: Binker Golding, tenor saxophone; Moses Boyd, drums; rate timbre on albums like Ekhidna (2020) and
to fill out their sound with additional instru- Simon Ratcliffe, other instrumentation.
Tempest Revisited (2021). While her choogling
mentation and production to see where else the Ordering info: thevillageofthesun.bandcamp.com
mix of John McLaughlin and Terje Rypdal at
their most furious has retained its presence,
this new project is her most ambitious outing
and she’s found the perfect collaborators in the
Leo P Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, a long-running col-
Comin’ Up Aces lective with a wildly versatile cast that’s worked
SHANACHIE
with musicians as diverse as Chick Corea, Jason
HHH1/2 Moran and Anna Webber.
While Leo P’s Comin’ Up Aces doesn’t go the The music was commissioned by Molde
live recording route, which may have allowed Jazz Festival and premiered there in 2019,
for more of the spontaneous spirit Leo P fans with Mollestad addressing braided themes of
know and love, the concept of “less is more” motherhood, immigration and climate change
works in Leo P’s favor. through original, impressionistic lyrics that
He is able approach band collaboration in a convey a steady sense of compassion in an often
more methodical way — particularly as he and uncaring world.
several guest artists take on a variety of beloved for fun unpredictability comes through. The Mollestad unleashes a few typically explo-
cuts like Earth Wind and Fire’s “Serpentine structure of studio recording doesn’t take away sive, metallic solos, but this is an ensemble
Fire,” Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie from Leo P’s latest homage to Charles Mingus, work and the band gets plenty of space, wheth-
Hat” and Eddie Harris’ “Cold Duck Time.” either. There’s an abundance of heart and soul er the searing soprano solo Martin Myhre
Leo P’s soloing on the latter, for example, put as much into long sustained notes as pierc- Olsen unspools during “On The Horizon, Part
remains nimble and lively. Yet there’s a touch ing bursts. Comin’ Up Aces demonstrates Leo 2” or the slashing violin solo by Adrian Løseth
of restraint to the flow of the notes. Think of P’s ability to showcase his artistry, even when Waade on “Donna Ovis Peppa,” with the piece’s
this not as a loss of character but as a honing using a different method to share it. unexpected, humorous “Salt Peanuts” quote.
in on personal artistry and execution — like —Kira Grunenberg —Peter Margasak
striking just the right spot on a tree to chop
Comin’ Up Aces: Serpentine Fire; Comin’ Up Aces; Cold Duck Maternity Beat: On the Horizon, Part 1; On the Horizon, Part 2;
it down, rather than wasting energy. David Time; Tokyo Blue; Black Cat; Issa Blues; Amanda; Timeless Love; Do Re Mi Ma Ma; Donna Ovis Peppa; Little Lucid Demons/Alfons; All
Mann’s flute contrasts Leo P’s baritone sax- Broke; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. (43:08)
Personnel: Leo P, baritone saxophone, vocals; Max Calkin, Ray
Flights Cancelled; Her Own Shape; Maternity Beat; Maternity Suite.
(RUNNING TIME???)
ophone on “Black Cat,” while matching Cetta, background vocals (2); Frank Cohen, trombone (7); Sydney Personnel: Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen, guitar, vocals (9);
Driver, drums (1–5, 7–10); Richard Elliott, tenor saxophone (3); Josh Mai Elise Solberg, vocals; Ingebjørg Loee Bjørnstad, vocals;
the instrument’s energy with perfect flut- Holcomb, trombone (2, 3, 6); Antoine Katz, bass; David Mann, flute Adrian Løseth Waade, violin; Trine Knutsen, flutes; Martin Myhre
ter-tongue flourishes. (5); Nadav Niremberg, trombone (1, 3, 4, 7); Matt Owens, trumpet
(1, 3, 4, 7); Stephen Salcedo, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone (1,
Olsen, soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones; Petter Kraft,
tenor saxophone; Thomas Johanssen, trumpet; Ståle Storløkken,
When the song moves from a low and slow 3, 4, 7); Finn Singer, guitar; Stanton Moore, drums (6); Tom Wilson, Hammon organ, Fender-Rhodes, synthesizers; Ellen Brekken, bass;
piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3, background Ingvald André Vassbø, percussion; Torstein Lofthus, drums; Erlend
swinging groove to a high, light and sparky vocals (2). Skomsvoll, conductor.
Latin jazz flair, that’s when Leo P’s affinity Ordering info: shanachie.com Ordering info: runegrammofon.com

INDIE LIFE
“What I make in fees is almost matched by my was quickly approaching. The trio ended
MICHAEL JACKSON
merch sales,” says saxophonist Dave Rempis.

up playing in support of a recording that
wouldn’t drop for almost another year, when
Rempis took it upon himself to release it.
Rempis doesn’t compromise his music,
but he’s extremely pragmatic and realistic
about the financial reality of what he does.
He did plenty of research, consulting other
musicians, label owners, distributionors and
music journalists so he’d be informed about
each aspect of running an imprint. Although
he didn’t necessarily realize it at the time, he
now says, “I think Nate McBride gave me the
best piece of advice — and this came more
from his work as a contractor than as a musi-
cian. He said, effectively, what you’re selling
is yourself. You’re branding yourself. And
that’s what people are buying into.”
Since then Rempis has released 37 albums
— mostly on compact disc, with several as
vinyl-only titles — in addition to some 15 live
recordings posted to the label’s Bandcamp
page. Aerophonic generally releases four al-
bums annually, and some of those are sched-
uled to coincide with tours, where Rempis
relies on selling titles from his catalog since
DAVE REMPIS WORKS

performance fees often don’t cover the vari-
ous expenses. “I generally try to get a record
out before my spring touring, after my spring
touring, before the fall touring, and then af-
THE CHICAGO SCENE

ter the fall touring, because I actually have to
be here to fill orders,” he says.
Every release has turned a modest profit.
Although he’s paid some of his contributors
in cash, most of his collaborators accept pay-
ment in product, which they can sell at gigs
or on their online platforms. Rempis noted
Although he operates in a musical milieu that treasures sponta- that while he lost a primary source of income
neity, agility and invention as much as anything else, Chicago ree- during the pandemic, his followers made up
for the difference. “It was a remarkable peri-
dist Dave Rempis has only been able to maintain a life in music od of time,” he says. “During 2020, my sales
thanks to his impressive discipline and rigor. jumped by 200%.” While things have come
back down, he says sales still remain 50%
He possesses a rarely matched firepower 2015. He was also involved in Umbrella Music, over the pre-pandemic average.
and intensity deployed in explosive en- a collective enterprise where several week- One of the reasons Rempis was able to
sembles like Ballister, with cellist Fred Lon- ly presenters in Chicago worked together to weather the pandemic is that he’s in-tune
berg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, present concerts and festivals, including a with the people that support his music, and
or more measured ones like his collective long-running endeavor that brought import- that relationship helped him recognize the
with cellist Tomeka Reid and bassist Joshua ant European musicians to Chicago to present merit of what McBride had told him years ear-
Abrams, but he’s developed and honed his their work and collaborate with local musi- lier. “At this point I have a very dependable
specialized technique on saxophone over cians. Rempis also works as operations man- customer base who are people I know and
decades, forging a unique language through ager for the annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival. communicate with,” he says. “When every
endless practice and steady gigging. He’s long had his hands involved in logistical release comes out, I’m gonna spend hours
Rempis has long been a vital part of the and business concerns with presenting jazz sending emails to my regular customers. A lot
city’s jazz and improvised music since emerg- and improvised music, so it was no surprise of them are friends at this point. They’re peo-
ing in 1998 as a member of the Vandermark 5, that he eventually launched his own label. ple who were buying my music even before
when he replaced Mars Williams in Ken Van- Before starting Aerophonic Records in I started the label, but now I know who they
dermark’s old flagship group. It wasn’t long 2013, he’d released music on a variety of are. I see them when I go to concerts.”
before he became involved in the infrastruc- small independent labels in the U.S. and Eu- While digital and streaming music have cut
ture of the scene, launching a weekly impro- rope, but over time grew frustrated with the sales of physical releases, even in this partic-
vised music series at the defunct Humboldt lack of control such arrangements yielded. He ular niche of the music world, selling catalog
Park space 3030 back in 2002. When 3030 reached the end of his rope in 2012, perpetu- items on tour remains crucial. “What I make
had to shut down due to noise complaints, ally waiting for the delivery of a new album by in fees is almost matched by my merch sales,”
Rempis took the program to Elastic Arts, the a collective trio called Wheelhouse with bass- he says of Aerophonic product at gigs. “It’s a
vibrant multi-arts space he helped create and ist Nate McBride and vibist Jason Adasiewicz. major economic part of making tours work.”
for which he’s served as board president since A local album release concert he’d organized —Peter Margasak

INDIE LIFE
“I heard Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, and

FRANK ORRICO
really realized I had missed a lot of his earlier

recordings. I hadn’t paid as close attention to
it as I should have,” he said. “And while I was
thinking through my next recording project
— especially coming out of the pandemic —
there were certain songs of his that I knew I
wanted to record.”
Marinaro’s latest album, Not Quite Yet,
turned out to be an expansive project that
featured his backing quartet (Mike Allemana,
guitar/arranger; Tom Vaitsas, keyboards;
John Tate, bass; and George Fludas, drums)
plus a six-piece horn and woodwind section,
the KAIA String Quartet and backing vocalists
Alyssa Allgood and Sarah Marie Young.
In addition to interpretations of two Bowie
songs, “No Plan” and “5:15 The Angels Have
Gone,” Marinaro fashioned winning takes of
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Someone To Light Up
My Life” and Ivan Lins’ “The Island,” plus fresh
versions of standards “Remind Me,” “Born To
Be Blue,” “Taking A Chance On Love,” “On
A Wonderful Day Like Today” and Stephen
Vocalist Paul Marinaro seeks to make up for lost time with a slew of projects coming out.
Sondheim’s “I Remember.”
PAUL MARINARO
“For this album, I didn’t want to hit any-
thing too hard to force a narrative that this al-
bum is about a specific theme,” Marinaro said.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. But there’s an
HURDLING ROADBLOCKS underlying feeling I wanted to convey about

the uncertainty of a world coming out of the
pandemic, and how that experience has af-
fected us on several levels.”
The song sequencing of Not Quite Yet
clearly follows what Marinaro calls an “old-
Every jazz musician faces challenges in gaining exposure for their school approach.”
“That’s always been my connection to
music — especially without the support of a major record label.
how I listen to music,” he explained. “I want
And it’s even more difficult gaining a listening audience as well to know, where does that song come from?
Where does it fit in the album, why was it cho-
as critical attention for independently released recordings.
sen? And this is really a throwback, but even
how it’s laid out on a slab of vinyl. What end-
But those challenges can be heightened Working in a duo with pianist Judy Roberts, ed side A and what started side B? Is there a
for male jazz vocalists, according to Chica- Marinaro began to build a following, working connection between the two sides or a differ-
go-based singer Paul Marinaro, who has built steadily in area clubs such as the Green Mill, ent vibe? I think of that now when I program
a solid career on the Windy City scene since the Jazz Showcase and Winter’s Jazz Club. my albums. I’m not sure anyone notices any-
moving there in 2003. In 2013, he released his first album, Without more, but I do it for my own enjoyment.
“A major difficulty for male jazz singers is be- A Song, in tribute to his father’s dream of Marinaro performed the new album live
ing defined and typecast as only one version of singing jazz. He gained national airplay and at the renovated Studebaker Theater in early
what that means,” Marinaro explained during critical acclaim, and followed up with a live re- November and is now in the process of edit-
a recent interview. “And that version — espe- cording, One Night In Chicago, in 2015. ing a video of the concert. He’s also recorded
cially if you sing standards — is being constant- After singing at the 2017 Chicago Jazz Festi- a full album of Bowie songs with the Metro-
ly compared to Frank Sinatra. It’s funny, some val with legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan, politan Jazz Octet, which is set for release in
critics would rather label you as a Sinatra imi- Marinaro’s musical career was put on hold late January on Origin Records.
tator instead of just recognizing his influence. due to a serious bout with diverticulitis that “We’ll be performing the album, The Bowie
For me, there’s a lot of creative space between sent him to the emergency room. A lengthy Project, live at Studio5 Performing Arts Center
Sinatra and a singer like Kurt Elling, who’s hospital stay and several operations put in Evanston on Feb. 10,” Marinaro said. “And
found his own approach. And I believe that’s his career on hold for more than a year. His I’m already in the studio with another record-
where I fit in, and where I like to create.” friends on the Chicago jazz scene put togeth- ing project featuring some heavy-hitter ar-
Born in Buffalo, New York, Marinaro dis- er a fundraiser to offset his medical expenses, rangers that will come out at the end of 2023.
covered an early love for jazz after finding old and Jordan flew in to headline the event. I want to make up for lost time and do proj-
acetate recordings that belonged to his fa- Once he recovered and began to work ects I’ve wanted to work on for quite a while.
ther, who had an unfulfilled dream of being a again, the pandemic hit, adding another Singing is a passion for me. That can ebb and
professional singer. After studying the music roadblock to a full return. But the time off flow, but now I’ve really got the perseverance
and sitting in at clubs in Buffalo to build his gave Marinaro an opportunity to plan, and and desire to make these projects happen.”
reputation, Marinaro moved to Chicago. even explore the music of David Bowie. —Terry Perkins

COURTESY ROB SILVERMAN
Rob Silverman drumming on the video for “The Alchemist,” from his latest recording.
ROB SILVERMAN DRUMS

FOR CAUSE AT AUTUMN HILL
Drummer-entrepreneur Rob Silverman has garnered loads of
attention of late for his St. Louis-based label, Autumn Hill Records.
It comes on the strength of a series of three Drumology recordings
he made with a Who’s Who in fusion and prog-rock drumming.
While the first two volumes carried such Williams, electric bassist Larry Kornfeld, sax-
high-profile names as Billy Cobham, Dave ophonist Marienthal and trumpeter Randy
Weckl, Steve Smith, Simon Phillips, Kenny Brecker; Italian songstress Clivia Tanisi’s
Aronoff, Gregg Bissonette and Mike Mangi- 2020 album Learning How To Fly with Weckl,
ni, the recently released Drumology Volume electric bassist Tom Kennedy, saxophonist
III boasts a potent lineup of drummers Roy Bob Franceschini and keyboardist George
“Futureman” Wooten, Gavin Harrison, Greg Whitty; guitarist Scott Jones’ 2020 album
Sobel and Budapest-born fusion monster Fictional Characters with keyboardist Steve
Gergö Borlai. Hunt, bassist Romain Labaye and drummer
Weckl returns for this latest edition of Dru- Archibald Ligonnière; the Dave Weckl Band’s
mology, playing alongside his former Elektric 2021 album Live In St. Louis; and Kennedy’s
Bandmates Frank Gambale, John Patitucci 2021 outing Stories, featuring Randy Breck-
and Eric Marienthal on a searing tribute to er, saxophonists Bill Evans and Ada Rovatti,
Chick Corea. That powerful, Spanish-tinged drummer Weckl and guitarist Mike Stern. In
homage, “The Alchemist,” written by key- 2022, the label released In These Times by
boardist and longtime Weckl collaborator Jay the Michael Silverman/Eric Marienthal Band,
Oliver, also features drummer Steve Gadd, as well as the Pat Petrillo Big Rhythm Band’s
a key Corea sideman since 1976. Silverman The Power Station Sessions.
and his keyboardist-composer brother Mi- Rob and Michael’s other ongoing concern
chael both play on all seven tracks of this epic is Bach to the Future, an adventurous group
gathering of drumming brethren. featuring saxophonist Marienthal and elec-
As with the first two volumes, all proceeds tric six-string violinist Tracy Silverman that
from Drumology Volume III will benefit the reimagines familiar classical music pieces
Neil Peart Fund for brain cancer research at like “Flight Of The Bumble Bee,” “Jesu, Joy
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “Neil Peart and Of Man’s Desiring” and “Pachelbel’s Canon.”
Dave Weckl are my two biggest influences, Silverman exclusively plays the wireless Ze-
though Neil is probably much deeper in my ndrum MIDI controller in this innovative en-
DNA,” Silverman said. semble. As he explained, “The Zendrum is the
The Drumology projects are just one as- commercially available version of the Syn-
pect of what Autumn Hill Records has done thAxe Drumitar, which is the instrument that
since its inception in 2008. The catalog also Roy Wooten introduced in The Flecktones.
includes 2020’s Rhythm City, featuring the And it just gives you an unlimited array of
Silverman brothers with keyboardist Ptah sounds at your fingertips.” —Bill Milkowski

Woodshed MASTER CLASS
JOHN BEASLEY WITH ED ENRIGHT
RAJ NAIK
In the recording studio, musician and producer John Beasley

recommends doing a maximum of three takes on any given tune.
Making a High-Production
Recording on a No-Frills Budget
M
y recording career as a solo artist in November 2022, an indie project called have the urge to share our art with the world.
has been predominantly in the Holidaze with an extremely limited budget. We share a human need to see if others like
jazz genre, with 15 such albums Why do musicians go to the trouble of what we’ve created.
to my name. Budgets for my recording proj- recording, especially when budgets can be Even if we have no budget or a low budget,
ects have ranged from $30K for my debut “starving artist” situations? We play because we persist. If we are given the key to the king-
album, Cauldron (Windham Hill, 1991), with it’s our calling. We record because it’s a tangi- dom, we blitz! I’ve worked on around 250-plus
a major jazz label, to the last one I just released ble document for a legacy, but also because we records and count 20 as a producer. Here are

my tips using the KISS (keep it simple, stu- clock. Do whatever is necessary to not waste Euman would bring his creative spontaneity
pid) method when you have a no-frills budget time and money in the studio. and Edwin Livingston would give the music
to have an enjoyable recording experience and Avoid stressors, distractions and drama. his big sound and swing. Recorded by Tally
make a great-sounding album. Time is money, so don’t waste it. Sherwood at True Tone Studios, I knew Tally
Avoid “microscoping.” Do a maximum of had the experience to mix live. And because
Keeping Things Simple three takes. I recommend doing two takes and we recorded at his studio, we were up and
Pre-production is key to keeping the then listen — you’ll know how it feels when recording in no time.
recording process simple. Plan your course of you are recording and can make changes to We talked through the vision: Since we
action diligently. forms, solo lengths, etc. were familiar with the timeless Christmas
Find the studio to fit the sound you want Time is wasted when you go back and songs, we discussed the personality we want-
with the right equipment at the right price. forth to listen to every take. Remember, you ed to give to each song, whether it would be
Music charts should be written for the budget. are all good musicians — and you heard it the lush, humorous but with a lot of groove. The
They should be ready and easy to read with first time! After you’ve done two takes, go in idea was to listen, respond and to trust each
clear roadmaps. There is nothing wrong with and listen. If you still don’t have it, do another. other that we would take the song through the
writing difficult music; we all love a challenge. But after three takes we all start to lose sponta- arc of the story with some surprises. It was to
Just don’t expect to get it done in a short time. neity. I recommend leaving it and going back be a press-and-play — so keep the not-so-ob-
Better to write for your budget than to half-ass to the song later. vious blemishes because we wanted to make
your music with subpar performances. Task someone to handle the administra- a record that captures being in the moment,
Spend your money on making music rath- tive work and logistics of the rehearsals and like the iconic jazz records of the ’50 and ’60s
er than editing. Bring more tunes to the stu- recording sessions such as parking, food before multitracks.
dio than you need, but aim for about 35–45 orders, errands, answering phones and facil- It doesn’t take a fortune to create a success-
minutes of music. Longer records mean more itating guests or photo/videographers. ful record. Plan, be prudent, anticipate mov-
expenses. ing parts, surround yourself with a purpose-
Keep the following tips in mind when Partnership Recordings ful and passionate team, and you will make
casting your ensemble and leading rehearsals My trilogy of MONK’estra albums were a record that you will hold dear to your heart
for your recordings: successful recordings that were cheap to make and be proud of for many years to come.
· Hire top-talent musicians and engi- compared to other big band records. How? And, as the great Quincy Jones once
neers who are artful and know your identity, MONK’estra Plays John Beasley (Mack advised, “Leave the door of the studio open for
vision and intention for the recording. Avenue) had three different size bands: trio, God to walk in.” That’s my mantra: Be flexible,
· Rehearse elsewhere to work out kinks septet and 16-piece big band. Legendary engi- and always be open to new ideas. DB
and get the feel and the essence of the music. neer Al Schmitt handpicked me to offer a day
Book gigs (where you’re paid to rehearse), rent in the famous Capitol Recording studio along
Grammy winner and Emmy nominee John Beasley is a
a union hall ($25/3 hours) or use free school with his right-hand man, Steve Genewick, versatile pianist, composer, arranger and session player who
facilities if they’re available during non-school at no charge in exchange for the recording distills decades of technical and creative experience and
knowledge from playing on or producing music. Beasley
hours. (Remember, favors cost $0.) to be filmed and used as masterclass content began his career in his 20s backing jazz icons Miles Davis
and Freddie Hubbard. Since then, Beasley has performed
· At the studio, do a run-through, but for a popular online music production school with a wide range of artists, including Dianne Reeves, Ivan
press “record” to capture spontaneity. After called “Mix with the Masters,” which fea- Lins, John Patitucci, Chaka Khan, Christian McBride and
Carly Simon. His work as a composer-arranger extends
the run-through, listen to make sure you like tures Schmitt’s genius behind the board. The beyond jazz. He was music director for international tours
the sounds. Then start doing takes. recording ended up costing me far less than with Steely Dan, AR Rahman and Queen Latifah and co-
musical director/arranger for Chucho Valdés’ La Creación
· Create an atmosphere of relaxation it would have if I didn’t have that partner- project. Beasley is the music director for the International
and camaraderie in the studio, because this ship with the school. The MONK’estra mem- Jazz Day global gala concerts hosted by the Herbie Hancock
Jazz Institute, which earned him an Emmy nomination for
will help reduce the number of takes you need. bers all learned their parts before rehearsals 2016 “Jazz at the White House” hosted by President Barack
Tell jokes if you have to. And take breaks for and showed extreme dedication to the project, Obama. As a recording artist, Beasley has released more
than a dozen albums, three of them with his MONK’estra big
the clouds to clear up and restore creativity. making lots of sacrafices for the greater good. band. His latest album is the Charlie Parker project Bird Lives
(ACT Music) with Stuttgart’s SWR Big Band. Beasley was
· Talent is what really makes a record. commissioned by Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra
Hell, music can be recorded on an iPhone. As Self-Funded Outings to write a song (“Fête dans la Tête”) for its 2020 program.
He wrote a commission for the LA Philharmonic’s Youth
long as the music is good, that’s the key. Holidaze is a trio album of Christmas Orchestra Los Angeles called A History Of Jazz. Currently,
music, six songs recorded in a three-hour ses- he is working with several European jazz orchestras on
programs featuring the music of Chick Corea and Weather
Keeping ‘Stupid’ Things Simple sion with no rehearsal (because I’ve worked Report, as well as Beasley’s original symphonic works. Visit
Always remember to mind the ticking the drummer and bassist before). Christian him online at JohnBeasleyMusic.com.
Production on the Fly: In-Studio Learning Experiences with John Beasley

O ne of John Beasley’s early jobs as a produc-
er was for alto saxophonist and compos-
er Yosvany Terry’s 2005 album Metamorphosis
cian and a composer at that caliber, it’s about
facilitating. So, I was there to make sure the
music got down on tape and sounded good,
the early 2000s, we were trying to make records
that were 50, 52, 55 minutes long.”
Lee Ritenour’s 2015 album A Twist Of Rit
(EWE). “At that point, Yosvany had a work- and then listen with fresh ears. I remember tak- (Concord) was a totally different kind of
ing band in New York, and they played all the ing some of the tunes down from 11 or 12 min- affair, with a larger budget and a larger cast.
time,” Beasley said. “We had two days in the utes to 7, that kind of decision. After recording, “That record was older tunes of Lee’s that he’d
studio. They came in, rehearsed and just played we noticed we had a pretty long record. I talk- recorded in the past, so we had access to the
what they played on their gigs. My role was just ed with Yosvany and the executive producer of original arrangements done by Tom Scott and
to usher. When you’re working with a musi- the label about cutting a tune. At that time in others.” Beasley remembered. “Because it was

live in the studio, kind of like doing a direct- takes that felt really good. We had to decide Beasley has produced a number of record-
to-disk record, pre-production was so import- whether to go with either a good-feeling take ing with vocalist Dianne Reeves, including
ant. We prepared the charts exactly as we that may not have been perfect, or a perfect a new version of her song “Freedom Dance”
wanted them before we started. I think we cut take that didn’t feel as good — those kinds recut with a trio and overdubbed percussion
that quick — in two days maybe. It was two of decisions. For me, it’s usually what feels and guitar for a dance troupe based in Denver.
keyboard players playing at once, two guitar good. It was recorded live to Pro Tools mul- “The percussionist Munyungo Jackson has
players playing at once, the horns were live in titrack — we could fix certain things, and we a studio at his house, so he layered a bunch
the room with us; everything was live. So, my had enough of a budget where you can spend of stuff and sent it back to me, and I kind of
role was sort of rearranging, reharmonizing an hour or two after every tune tweaking and weeded through it in my home studio and fig-
some of these tunes to make them a little dif- punching. But what’s important to me for jazz ured out what worked and ended up using a lot
ferent. The challenge for Lee and me was that records or jazz-type records is that you pick a of it,” Beasley said. “Same thing with Romero
we were both playing and producing — we good take because you like the way it feels, and Lubambo playing guitar, who sent tracks and
had to play as good as we could and also listen, you just fix what glaringly needs to be fixed. we used what we wanted to use. And then a
objectively, at the same time. Because you want the intention of the take to guy in New York was mixing, using the Audio
“At that point, we started listening back for be there. It’s still jazz, it’s still that essence.” Movers online platform to send mixes back
and forth. And then Paul Boothe, Dianne’s
road manager and a great engineer himself,
was in Texas listening to the mixes. Working
with great jazz singers like her, you don’t need
to do a lot of takes, which is great.”
Pivots in the Studio

Sometimes being a good producer means
changing course in the middle of a proj-
ect in order to improve a recording — or
save it outright. The triple-Grammy-nomi-
nated 2021 album Bird Lives (ACT), co-pro-
duced by Beasley and Magnus Lindgren and
recorded in Germany with the SWR Big Band,
was just such a project. “We get to the first
day of rehearsals in this big soundstage, and
the drummer is a mile away from the lead
trumpet player, strings are all baffled off — it
seemed impossible.” Beasley said. “They want-
ed to record live in that room that way. Charlie
Parker’s music is challenging. And on the sec-
ond day, one of the string players came down
with COVID, which a couple others caught
despite all the precautions we had taken in the
studio. That shut down the production for 10
days. Meantime, I started talking to executive
producer Hans-Peter Zachary, saying, ‘This
could be a blessing — why don’t we just layer
this record?’ We had two-and-a-half weeks to
record. We recorded the rhythm tracks and
the brass together, in two separate rooms. And
the woodwinds were separate, so it ended up
being a layered record. It doesn’t sound like
that because the rhythm section tracks are so
burning. But we did what we had to do.”
The first MONK’estra CD Beasley recorded
with his award-winning big band, 2016’s John
Beasley Presents MONK’estra Vol. 1 (Mack
Avenue), was another important learning expe-
rience for the bandleader and producer. “It
showed how I had made mistakes, and I had
to pivot in the studio to make up for some of
my lackadaisical pre-production planning,” he
said. “I started with six arrangements. So I paid
for the band to go to United Recorders for a day
and told them it would take three to four hours.
The lesson learned: It always takes longer than
you think.” —Ed Enright

Woodshed SOLO
BY JIMI DURSO
COURTESY OF MARC JOHNSON

Johnson recorded three basses on the track “Samurai Fly”
Marc Johnson’s Bass

from his solo album Overpass (ECM).
Solo on ‘Samurai Fly’

M
arc Johnson’s composition “Samurai The other two basses are played arco, dou- not only starts off, but many times the lower
Hee-Haw” must be special for him. bling the melody in octaves, and improvising part plays in answer to the upper part, typical-
Besides recording and perform- over the form as presented in this transcrip- ly playing in the spaces left by the upper part.
ing it with his Bass Desires project in the ’80s, tion. It’s panned wonderfully, with the pizzica- The interaction is so conversational, it adds to
revisiting it in the ’90s for his Magic Labyrinth to bass placed in the center and the arco bass- the sense that the two basses were improvis-
album and being a staple in performances on either side. Not panning the upper basses ing together.
es when he was part of the late guitarist John hard-right and hard-left was a great choice, as Also, even though I’m referring to the
Abercrombie’s trio, Johnson has revisited the it makes it sound less like overdubs, and more upper part as the “upper” part, there are
piece on his 2018 solo album Overpass (ECM) like the three basses are playing together in the points where the parts cross. From the very
and re-titled it “Samurai Fly.” same room. beginning we have some ambiguity, with bass
For this track, Johnson recorded three I’ve notated the bass on the right in the top two’s first lick (measure 3) coming in below
basses, with one pizzicato bass playing the staff and the left-side bass on the bottom staff, bass one’s first lick but above its second lick.
groove shown at the beginning of the tran- partly because the right-side bass is generally In measures 26–27 we have a bit of overlap,
scription (adjusted to match the chord chang- in a higher register and partly because I believe but between bars 32 and 33, bass two actu-
es). I’m considering the entire thing an A6 that was the one Johnson recorded first. The ally goes above bass one. There’s some more
chord, though it could just as easily be per- interaction between the parts makes this dif- overlap in the upcoming bars (35–37, 39), so
ceived as an A chord moving to an F#m. ficult to say with certainty, but the upper part although Johnson is viewing bass two as a

lower part, he’s clearly not considering that
a hard rule. It also furthers the sense of two
bassists playing together.
I’ve opted to present the basses as they
would be notated for bass players (bass is writ-
ten an octave higher than it sounds). Though
some of those high notes may be difficult to
read, I found that if I wrote the high part 8va,
it didn’t make sense looking at both parts and
seeing the upper part lower than the bottom
part, and writing both parts an octave down
put some of the notes below the low E under
the staff (which bass players like myself are
loath to read).
I also didn’t want to do the classical
approach of putting the higher bits in tenor
clef, as not all bassist read tenor clef (as a rule
I don’t enjoy reading tenor clef, so I would feel
guilty forcing others to do it).
Some other aspects of the improvisation
that not only create the sense that the two
players are improvising together but also pro-
duce a feeling of cohesion and development
are the motivic approach Johnson takes and
the call-and-response manner in which he
plays the parts.
For instance, almost all his lines come
from the A major pentatonic scale. The
exception are when the G# replaces the A,
producing the E major pentatonic scale. This
always happens on the E6 sections, and this
use of purely pentatonic scales connects the
improvisations to the melody (which is based
on the same elements) but also creates the
Asian/country-western sound that gives the
song its title.
Also, notice how at the beginning the two
basses play in the spaces between each other,
with the bottom part typically playing punc-
tuating bits for the upper part (one of the rea-
sons I believe the upper part was recorded
first). There is little overlap, and it’s only when
one bass starts on the same beat as the end of
the other.
Both parts typically play two-note motifs
consisting of adjacent pitches from the respec-
tive scales. This is another technique that helps
make the basses sound more conversation-
al and develops the improvisation. Johnson
is exploring this simple idea. It’s a much more
compositional approach to improvisation, and
one that proves very effective in the context of
playing all the parts on his own.
The motif is played as just two eighth notes
until bar 9, when the lower part connects two
motifs, and then two measures later when we cloned Marc Johnsons) in measures 24 and must have felt so, as well, since two bars later
hear Johnson play straight up the scale from its 26 where the lower bass ends on a high E–F# the upper bass quotes the melody to bring
fifth, but slurs it in such a way to make it still and the upper parts plays the same motif right about its recapitulation. DB
sound like variations on the two-note motif. after. Also, bars 34–35 have both basses not
From here we get more rhythmic develop- answering one another but playing the motif
ment, which leads to some wonderful effects. together in harmony. This is not only in ser- Jimi Durso is a guitarist and bassist based in the New York area.
One is when the upper part starts answer- vice to the previously mentioned illusion but He recently released an album of Indian classical music played
on the string bass, titled Border Of Hiranyaloka. Find out more
ing the lower (furthering the illusion of three is also a nice culmination to the solo. Johnson at jimidurso.bandcamp.com.

Toolshed BY GARY GUZMÁN
Getting Your Command Center up to Speed

Update Your Project Studio with Affordable New Home Recording Tools
F
or those of us who have home studios, we all had to start some- from their pricier high-end S series to their really affordable T series,
where. Some have put money away from various gigs and jobs to with monitors as low as $200 each. ADAM’s new A series stands some-
build their dream studio setup. Others may have started on a more where in between, and this range replaces their long-running AX mod-
basic setup, with only a computer, recording software and a microphone. els. These updated monitors feature all-new bass drivers, newly designed
With the ever-improving technology, there comes a time when you want midrange dome drivers on the three-way models and Sonarworks room
to update and add to your existing studio setup to simplify your work- correction DSP. Prices start at $499 for the single A4V model and $799
flow and improve the sound quality of your recordings. As you grow and for the A7V model.
build your recording skills, clientele and finances, your needs will change Focal is a company known for its high quality studio monitors and
— so your studio gear needs to grow and change with you. headphones. Focal’s Alpha Evo line is ideal for home studio owners, with
As you improve your studio, the first question should be: What is the accurate detailed sound, compact size and a more affordable price. Many
weakest link in your recording setup? Which gear can use some improve- producers have been recommending Alpha Evo monitors lately for their
ment to help you produce higher quality recordings? Fortunately, record- versatility, clarity and natural reproduction of dynamics. These monitors
ing equipment has become affordable enough that you can produce entire also look as great as they sound, with a sleek, modern design that will add
albums almost anywhere, and you don’t need to book a recording studio a nice visual touch to your home studio. The 5-inch Alpha 50 Evo mon-
for thousands of dollars to do so. Hard to believe? Just ask singer Billie itors are worth checking out, and can be found for around $300 each.
Eilish, whose debut album sold millions of copies worldwide, became
the No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top 200 and earned Grammy awards for Microphone Updates
Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Oh, and the entire album Updating your microphone will have a large impact on the sound
was recorded with her brother Finneas in their bedroom studio. quality of your recordings. A $100 microphone can serve you well
while you save up for higher-end equipment. But if you started with an
Room Acoustics entry-level microphone when you initially put your home studio togeth-
When updating your studio, the first step should be upgrading your er, you will want to eventually consider an upgrade. Does your current
room and your listening environment. Your studio room is the most microphone offer an accurate representation of your source, whether it’s
important piece of gear that you have. Treating your room properly can a vocal or instrument? If the recording sounds too harsh or dull, and you
improve the sound quality of every mic that you own, as well as improv- always rely on fixing it in the mix, you should upgrade your mic. Many
ing the sound quality of your studio monitors dramatically. It is like an high-quality mics are available that won’t break the bank.
instant upgrade on both. It is important to reduce any reverberations, One studio microphone getting a lot of praise lately is the Avantone
background noises and echoes, and absorb all sound reflections as much Pro CV-12, which is a large-diaphragm tube condenser mic. Many pro-
as you can. Fortunately many of the soundproofing and acoustic treat- ducers like its clean, warm sound, and it performs especially well with
ments can be done at a low cost. vocals and acoustic instruments. At $399, you get that vintage tube mic
Many DIY YouTube videos show you various acoustic treatment tone for an affordable price. The Aston Microphones Spirit is another
options and how to build your own affordable acoustic panels. If building large-diaphragm condenser mic getting some attention and praise late-
isn’t your thing, there are a few options at great prices. The ProSoCoustic ly for its warm, open sound and shimmering harmonics. Engineers have
WaveRoom Pro Mini panels not only absorb sound waves, but diffuse found this mic to be very versatile, and an accurate, true-sounding rendi-
them as well. Their Mini 8 kit includes eight 12-inch by 12-inch panels, tion of the source. The Spirit is another great value for $349.
and has a street price of $469. Primacoustic’s London 8 Acoustic Room
Kit contains four 36-inch control columns and eight 12-inch scatter Editing Consoles
blocks. They’re made from high-density fiberglass, and this denser mate- Many producers have been raving about the Monogram Creative
rial provides almost five times more absorption that typical foam. You Console. This creative editing console is made up of fully modular MIDI
can pick up this 12-piece package for $370. controllers that can be connected magnetically in any configuration you
like. It is highly customizable, and you can assign each module to con-
Monitor Upgrades trol any parameter in any application that uses MIDI Control Change.
Regarding your studio monitors: Are you getting an accurate repre- Producers like using the Monogram console because it is versatile,
sentation of what you’re creating? Are you unhappy with your mixes if easy to use, and is a huge time-saver. It can be as detailed or as simple
you listen on another system? Are you missing some mids or low end as you want it to be, so if you just need to few MIDI controls for vol-
when listening, and then overcompensating at the mix stage? Some pro- ume level, expression, mute switching and writing in automation, this
ducers may have started on entry-level monitors, which may not have controller can work well for you. The Monogram Mini Console is the
used the best components in their construction, but the price was right most basic package, and includes their Core and Essential Keys modules
for their budget at the time. If you choose to upgrade your studio moni- that can be customized however you choose for $329. As your controlling
tors, you can always keep your original monitors and use them as a sec- needs grow and change, you can always add on more modules for your
ondary audio source and mix reference. Many options are out there late- ultimate custom console.
ly for affordable, high-quality monitors. ADAM Audio monitors have
become popular among many engineers and producers for their profes- Keyboard Control
sional level of quality and reasonable price points. Their products range New studio gear always sparks inspiration and creativity, and can

Monogram Creative Console Studio
Cherry Audio Memorymode
Aston Spirit
Cherry Audio DCO-106
iZotope Ozone 10 screen shot

Toolshed
also add a bit of fun and cool vibe to your studio. One such device is the flow. What makes iZotope distinctive is their assistive audio feature on
LUMI Keys Studio Edition by Roli, which isn’t your average keyboard many of its plug-ins, which is based on machine learning technology. It
controller. It’s a very responsive and expressive keyboard, enabling you to analyzes your audio and automatically adjusts parameters in the plug-
deepen sounds by pressing down harder into each key. You can also con- in, which quickly provides you with an excellent starting point for you
trol pitch bend for each individual note by gliding your finger left to right to tweak and customize your EQ and mix. This feature is perfect for pro-
on the key. Every key illuminates in different colors, which is not only ducers who may not have a budget to hire an engineer to mix their proj-
aesthetically pleasing for your studio, but serves a purpose as well. You ect, and for composers who may not have formal sound engineering
can set up LUMI Keys to illuminate scales, chords and arpeggios in every training or experience.
key. So, for example: If you want to record a keyboard solo in B lydian, If you are looking to upgrading your mixing and mastering software,
it will only illuminate the keys in that mode, so you can fly through the you should consider looking into some of iZotope’s products to simpli-
solo without hitting the wrong notes. You’ll be able to explore unfamil- fy your workflow and improve your mixes. One popular plug-in is RX,
iar keys and educate yourself with different modes and scales. On top of a powerful audio tool that can remove buzz, clicks, hiss and hum. Some
that, LUMI Keys’ compact size allows you to place it on a crowded studio noise factors in your studio are out of your control. RX is the perfect solu-
work desk, or take it on the road with you so you can create music any- tion to remove unwanted noise. Neutron is iZotope’s channel strip mix-
where. The LUMI Keys Studio Edition is available for $299. ing plug-in, with 7 processing modules: Unmask, Sculptor, Transient
Shaper, Exciter, Gate, Compressor and Equalizer. What sets it apart from
Sonic Expansion others is the Track Assistant feature, which analyzes your audio and cre-
For synth lovers who want to upgrade and expand their sonic palette, ates a custom preset for it.
check out Cherry Audio. The company was launched in 2018, and it Mastering can sometimes be perceived as an art that only specialist
offers high-quality, reimagined emulations of classic analog synths — engineers can take on. Fortunately, iZotope makes mastering more
with expanded, modernized features. A few of their many soft synth accessible and achievable with Ozone. It’s feature-packed with all the
offerings include the CA2600, which is reminiscent of the ARP 2600; modules you will need to make great masters, with a very intuitive inter-
the DCO-106, which recreates the classic sounds of the Roland JUNO- face. The Master Assistant listens to your audio and automatically adjusts
106; and the Mercury-4, which is an emulation of the Roland Jupiter-4. parameters in the software, to give you a helpful starting point to create
In addition, Cherry Audio also offers its own original synths, such as a professional-sounding master. Even if you currently own some of the
their new Sines synth, which features four sine-wave oscillators that can iZotope plug-ins, it’s always worth looking into upgrading to their latest
be waveshaped into unique and complex shapes. The best part is that versions, since they are constantly adding new and helpful features. iZo-
all of these instruments are priced affordably, with the average price tope offers a few creative and useful plugins on their site absolutely free
between $25 and $49 for each synth. The affordable price points are an for their users. You can’t get more budget-friendly than that.
attraction for sure, without any sonic compromises. So you can buy an
original 1982 MemoryMoog Synth for $25,000, or maybe just buy Cherry Abide Your Budget
Audio’s Memorymode soft synth for $39. While buying shiny, new gear is always exciting and appealing, you
should keep a few things in mind. One of the most important is, don’t
Software & Plug-ins go into debt buying gear. If you’re not making a lot of money with your
Music production software and plug-ins are plentiful, and the choic- productions at the moment, don’t be in a hurry to upgrade your studio
es can definitely be overwhelming. The company Output creates very equipment. Assess your current studio gear, identify the weakest links in
unique-sounding software synths and plug-ins, and the content and your setup and upgrade as your budget allows. Also, learn your existing
sounds are very inspiring and fun to experiment with. gear as much as you can before considering an upgrade. Are you famil-
Output created a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product called Arcade, iar with all of the features and capabilities of your equipment? You may
and it quickly became a favorite for music producers and creators. It is be spending money on gear unnecessarily because you think that attrac-
a hybrid sample library/virtual instrument, and your $10 monthly sub- tive new piece of gear has features you don’t have, when in fact you may
scription gives you full access to Arcade’s 50,000-sound library, which is already have those features but aren’t aware of it.
constantly being updated with new sounds and loops. Arcade is a great Many options exist for acquiring professional gear at affordable pric-
tool for adding more colors to your compositions. For example, if you es, and that gear can have a big impact on your workflow, inspiration and
don’t know how to play a saxophone or a sitar, Arcade allows you to add the quality of your productions. Make a wish list of the gear you’re inter-
those sounds to your composition, royalty-free. Also, if you are under ested in, do some research and also ask your fellow musician friends for
a tight deadline or don’t have the budget to hire a musician or vocalist, recommendations — so you can upgrade and take your studio setup to
Arcade is a great additional tool to add high quality sounds to your pro- the next level. DB
duction quickly. Output gives you a free 30 day trial to check it out — so
check it out. Gary Guzmán has been a professional music producer and composer for more than 25 years.
He has written and produced music for national and international TV shows, radio and
television commercials, toys, video games and slot machines. He has produced, played, sung
Mixing & Mastering and/or composed music for hundreds of commercials for companies including McDonald’s,
Mazda, Gatorade, Budweiser and Wrigley. His music has won prestigious advertising awards
For some music composers, mixing and mastering audio may seem such as the London International Advertising Award, Telly Award, Association of Independent
like a daunting task. iZotope develops software for audio recording that Commercial Producers Awards, Visual Excellence in Multimedia Arts Awards, Mobius Awards
and Communicator Awards. Guzmán is a staff producer/composer at Sonixphere, a music
is very user-friendly, and their products have become favorites for pro- production company (sonixphere.com). He is currently composing and producing music for
TV programs on networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS, VH1, the Discovery Channel, TLC, the History
ducers and engineers for their ease of use, and professional sounding Channel and The Food Network. Guzmán is currently producing sonic content for online
results. They help you improve your sound, and they also focus on work- gaming and various internet projects.

Avantone Pro CV-12
Primacoustic London 8 Acoustic Room Kit
Alpha
50 Evo
monit
ors
LU
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IK
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s
P
Pr roS
o o
M Co
in u
i p st
an ic W
el a
s ve
Ro
om

Toolshed GEAR BOX
1
1. All-Arounder
With the OC16, Austrian Audio has introduced
a new microphone in its Open Condenser
large-diaphragm series equipped with Open
Acoustics technology. Featuring a handmade-
in-Vienna CKR6 capsule, the OC16 is a flexible,
all-around mic that can be used on a wide
variety of instruments — from drums to guitars 2
to winds, strings, pianos and vocals.
More info: austrian.audio
2. Deep Sea Blue Wins it

Audio-Technica has launched its ATH-M50xDS
Professional Monitor Headphones in a Deep
Sea Blue finish. A limited-edition version of A-T’s
ATH-M50x, this model is the result of a global
crowd-sourcing campaign where end users
voted on their favorite color.
More info: audio-technica.com 3
3. USB Mic & Interface
Samson’s G-Track Pro is a USB microphone and
audio interface with an instrument input and
mixer for recording two independent channels
simultaneously at 24-bit/96kHz. Its dual 1-inch
large-diaphragm condenser capsule captures
the detail and nuance of vocals and instruments.
Offering three selectable pickup patters
(cardioid, omnidirectional, birdirectional), the
G-Track Pro includes a ¼-inch instrument input
for recording line-level devices.
More info: samsontech.com
4. Big Muff Pi Hardware Plugin

The EHX Big Muff Pi Hardware Plugin takes
the analog circuit of the Ram’s Head Big Muff
Pi and injects it into a DAW. Hook up the Big
Muff Pi Hardware Plugin to a computer via USB
and run recorded tracks or virtual instruments
through the circuit to add signature warmth
and distortion.
More info: ehx.com
5. Desktop Recording Hub

Avid’s MBOX Studio provides everything you
need to create, record, edit and mix music and
audio in your personal studio with exceptional
clarity. Features include low-latency tracking;
real-time EQ, delay and reverb; and 21 x 22
simultaneous I/Os — including Variable Z
mic/line inputs, which open a range of tonal
options. A massive collection of instruments,
plugins and loops are included.
More info: avid.com
6. Creative Collaboration Tools

Universal Audio has introduced the Volt 476P
and Volt 4 USB audio interfaces. Featuring four-
in/four-out audio connections with onboard
tone shaping, each model brings 48 volts of
phantom power, direct monitoring for latency-
free recording, a suite of audio software and
iPad/iPhone connectivity. The 476P (pictured)
is UA’s first Volt model to feature four analog
preamps, with 76 compressor and vintage mic
preamp modes on every input channel. The
Volt 4 is a portable, bus‑powered interface with
four-in/four-out audio connections, including
dual analog mic preamps with vintage mic 6
preamp mode.
More info: uaudio.com

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Art District Music................................ 57 Frankie’s Jazz...................................... 34 Reed Geek............................................ 19
artdistrict-music.com frankiesjazzclub.ca reedgeek.com
Bach Dancing & Gator...................................................... 2 Scott Sawyer Music.............................. 59
Dynamite Society................................ 34 gatorcases.com scottsawyer.net
bachddsoc.org George Colligan................................... 57 Shifting Paradigm............................... 59
Bauer Studios ..................................... 47 georgecolligan.com shiftingparadigmrecords.com
bauerstudios.de Hot Club de Portugal........................... 38 Skidmore.............................................64
BLU Jazz+............................................. 37 hcp.pt skidmore.edu
blujazzakron.com Jay Lawrence Music............................. 57 Smoke.................................................. 34
Blue Llama Jazz Club........................... 34 jaylawrencedrums.com smokejazz.com
bluellamaclub.com The Jazz Kitchen.................................. 39 Snug Harbor........................................ 39
Blue Note Records................................. 5 thejazzkitchen.com snugjazz.com
bluenote.com JEN – Jazz Education Network.............12 SteepleChase
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bmg.com Joan Belgrave...................................... 57 steeplechase.dk
Cannonball Music.................................. 7 joanbelgrave.com Stunt Records...................................... 59
cannonballmusic.com JodyJazz.............................................. 76 sundance.dk/website/stunt.htm
Casio..................................................... 11 jodyjazz.com Tim Armacost...................................... 61
casiomusicgear.com Lobero Theatre Foundation.................40 timarmacost.com
Crooners Supper Club.......................... 38 lobero.org Truth Revolution Records.................... 61
croonersloungemn.com Mallet Kat..............................................4 truthrevolutionrecords.com
DownBeat.................................. 25,44,65 katpercussion.com University of Music and
downbeat.com MVD Entertainment Group.................. 10 Performing Arts Graz...........................64
El Negocito Records............................. 57 mvdshop.com kug.ac.at
elnegocitorecords.com Nardis Jazz Club..................................40 Unterfahrt........................................... 34
Elmhurst Jazz Festival...........................4 nardisjazz.com unterfahrt.de
elmhurst.edu/jazzfestival Origin Records......................................17 Vandoren............................................... 3
Endectomorph Music........................... 57 originarts.com dansr.com
endectomorph.com P. Mauriat............................................ 75 Yanagisawa...........................................9
FIMAV – Festival International pmauriatmusic.com connselmer.com
de Musique Actuelle Victoriaville....... 33 Portland Jazz Festival.......................... 53 Yardbird Suite..................................... 41
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Fordham University............................. 19 The Ravenscroft................................... 59 Yoshi’s................................................. 34
fordham.edu theravenscroft.com yoshis.com

DRIES VERBEECK
Blindfold Test BY NATE CHINEN
Julian Lage
W hen Julian Lage sat down for this live Blindfold Test at the North
Sea Jazz Festival last July, the guitarist/composer was in the
throes of a summer-long tour and preparing to launch his latest, well-re-
ceived recording, View With A Room (Blue Note). As always, no hints
were given beforehand, and the test was delivered by noted author Nate
Chinen, who serves as editorial director for WRTI, a non-commercial
public radio station serving greater Philadelphia from Temple University.
This was Lage’s first Blindfold Test.
Julian Lage, right, joined Nate Chinen for a live
Charlie Christian Blindfold Test at the North Sea Jazz Festival.
“Flying Home” (The Radio Broadcasts 1939–1941, Stardust/Cleopatra, 2001) Christian,
guitar; Benny Goodman, clarinet; Lionel Hampton, vibes; Fletcher Henderson, piano;
time and leave the lower ones out, because they can have conflict. For
Artie Bernstein, bass; Nick Fatool, drums.
75 percent of that, Jim’s playing completely in the low part of the guitar
I would venture to say that’s Mr. Charlie Christian. It’s with Benny
where you’re told never to play, because it’s going to get in the way of the
Goodman, and is it Red Norvo? Ah, Lionel Hampton. I would think late
bass. It just kind of proves that those are fake rules, and if you’re musi-
’30s or early ’40s. Those are very interesting years, especially in the evo-
cal about it, there’s a lot of freedom there for you. So a lot of Jim’s thing is
lution of the guitar. It changed rapidly. From the beginning of the ’30s
extreme courage. It’s like Picasso: he just did the thing that we all want
to the end of the ’30s, it was a revolution. Going from basically banjo
to do, and he did it better than anybody. 5 stars, without a doubt.
being the closest thing in a jazz band to being a full-fledged, lyrical, nar-
rative-driven soloing kind of instrument. Charlie Christian’s the greatest
ever, in my opinion. What’s so beautiful about this example is not only
Nels Cline
“The Angel Of Angels” (Draw Breath, Cryptogramophone, 2007) Cline, electric and
do we hear his phrasing, which is iconoclastic, and I wish I could do that acoustic guitars; Devin Hoff, bass; Scott Amendola, drums and effects.
— but you also hear his accompaniment, which isn’t as well documented It’s beautiful. I don’t know that recording. You know, first I thought of
on the records with Benny Goodman. You hear how rhythmically inter- Ralph Towner, but it’s two guitar players, right?
active he is. It’s just stunning. … How many stars? All of ’em. Chinen: It’s overdubbed.
Lage: And is it the guitar player’s record, or the bass player’s record?
Lenny Breaux Chinen: Guitar player’s.
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” (Guitar Sounds From Lenny Breau, RCA Victor, 1969)
Lage: And the year?
Breaux, guitar; Ronnie Halldorson, bass; Reg Kelln, drums.
Chinen: This is 2007.
At first I thought it was Bola Sete, and it’s not. And then I’m between
Lage: It’s not Wolfgang [Muthspiel], is it? Well, who is it? I love it. [after-
Charlie Byrd and Lenny Breaux. It must be Charlie.
wards] Man, I thought of Nels! I know that album, too. Oh, it’s so good! I
Chinen: It’s Lenny Breaux. Recorded in 1968. This is from Guitar Sounds
should have known because there’s no solo that it was Nels. That’s a very
From Lenny Breau, which was his debut album. Chet Atkins was at RCA,
Nels Cline thing to do.
and he recorded this at RCA studios in Nashville.
Chinen: This occurred to me not only because you and Nels have this
Lage: That’s what threw me off. It sounds like an old country record, hon-
relationship, but also because this composition felt like it’s in your world.
estly. Lenny Breaux’s style especially toward the end of his life was so
Lage: Absolutely. I’ve been playing with Nels for many, many years now.
idiosyncratic. And you hear it in the closing chord of that, when he does
I’ve been with him when he overdubs guitars. And one of his superpow-
his famous artificial harmonics. But for the majority of that, it’s just the
ers is that he can overdub guitars in such a way that you’d never lose sight
earlier stages of such a legendary sound. That’s fantastic. The whole con-
of the primary instrument. It doesn’t become a sparring match. It’s just
cept of a jazz guitarist playing a nylon-string or gut-string guitar is kind
orchestration; he’s a really good orchestrator. And I’ve witnessed him do
of novel, even to this day. … What I loved was how seamlessly he moved
it, and he does it there beautifully.
from whatever the song is to the improvisation. 5 stars.
Jim Hall Mary Halvorson

“Nodding Yellow” (Belladonna, Nonesuch, 2022) Halvorson, guitar.
“Skylark” (Magic Meeting, ArtistShare, 2004) Hall, guitar; Scott Colley, bass; Lewis
Nash, drums. It’s definitely Mary. Is that the new record on Nonesuch? Absolutely won-
[almost immediately] It’s Jim, right? That’s so good. … Jim famously derful. Mary’s a dear friend of mine. My old neighbor. And I admire her
played quiet enough that even if he was using an amplifier, you could so much. What’s so striking is, I know her individuality as a guitar player.
still hear the acoustic sound of the guitar. And on that recording they As an interpreter, as an improviser. And the liberty she has as a composer
captured it beautifully, where you hear the fingers on the strings, you to translate that vocabulary to these other instruments and still maintain
hear the pick on the string, you hear, you know, the sensuality of it. it as an expression of chamber music is just the highest, most inspiring
And it’s blended with this very warm, very cohesive Polytone or Walter level. And, similar to Jim, her sense of humor is what I always find. You
Woods amplified sound. That alone is kind of untouchable. No one quite know, it’s not deadly serious. It’s fun and it’s adventurous and it’s risky. It
had that together. I would almost make the argument that if you heard just reminds me of all the things I love in music. … 5 stars. DB
Charlie Christian’s acoustic sound with his acoustic sound, it would be

The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify
similar. Another thing that’s interesting is that for a lot of guitar players, the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate
we have six strings, right? We tend to live on the higher ones most of the each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.


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FEBRUARY 2023

President Kevin Maher

Record Companies & Schools

Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools

Advertising Sales Manager

188 W. Industrial Dr., Ste. 310, Elmhurst, IL 60126

Jack Maher, President 1970-2003

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Send orders and address changes to: DOWNBEAT,

Each track on the alto

RECORDING SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS

6 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

Lakecia Benjamin maintains a keen eye toward the future

Of Tributes and Blessings

8 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

nyl recordings in the Holiday Gift Guide in

10 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

“Many artists have taken a shot at bossa nova, but Quietude

Eliane Elias Delivers a

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 13

music to be done his sung in Portuguese but also translated into

way, so he asked me to Girl From Ipanema.” “Jobim thought it was

14 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

Xhosa Cole Goes Full Griot

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 15

16 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

Ernesto Cervini Finds Joy

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 17

THE CHARISMATIC REEDIST CALVIN

18 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

Mick Goodrick: 1945–2022

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 19

When DownBeat caught up with Lakecia Benjamin in

tinued. Because this album was created with

22 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

‘Phoenix, that’s the

most beautiful thing

combust into flames

and come back.’

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 23

need to uplift the legacies of women in jazz.

24 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 27

28 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

‘People talk to me about

what I have done;

I think in terms of what Love.”

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 29

30 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

32 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 33

DownBeat’s 2023 Venue Guide is a tribute to the enduring

COURTESY JIMMY’S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

36 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 37

38 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2023

The Green Mill Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe

Andy’s Jazz Club MINNESOTA

FEBRUARY 2023 DOWNBEAT 39

musicians and occasional national acts. The

Far from essential, but nevertheless rewarding. —John Murph