Getting back in the Monday night jazz groove

Rhode Island has had a superb big band jazz tradition that began within a year of the Monday night "rehearsal band" that Thad Jones and Mel Lewis.started at New York's Village Vanguard.

Drummer Duke Belaire inaugurated the RI tradition in 1967 at the Cobblestone Tavern in East Providence before settling in 1969 at nearby Bovi's Town Tavern. In quite a feat of musical longevity, Bovi's was the home of Monday night jazz for 48 years. 

John Allmark

Belaire had the gig until 1999 (with a band rotation that at various times featured trombonist Hal Crook and saxophonists Greg Abate, Dick Johnson and Art Pelosi), when he eased into retirement. 

Trumpeter John Allmark's Jazz Orchestra took over the Monday night slot - and kept the candle burning for 16 years. Then came late November, when Bovi's closed with no clear indication if or when it might reopen. After nearly a half century of dynamic performances, that was quite a blow for area jazz fans.

The John Allmark Jazz Orchestra

The good news is that Allmark's superb orchestra will resume the tradition on Monday, January 25, at The Met, a music club in nearby Pawtucket better known for pop, rock and blues acts. But now, Monday nights at The Met will belong to jazz.

Allmark's big band has featured top-flight players from across southern New
England and occasional special guests, who have included Los Angeles-based trumpeter Winston Byrd and pop/R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne. Jeffrey's oldest brother, Clay Osborne, sang regularly with the big band until his death10 years ago. Others who guested with Allmark's big band since its founding include saxophonists Nick Brignola and Lanny Morgan, and trumpeter Bobby Shew.

Here's a taste of what the John Allmark Jazz Orchestra sounds like, on a 2009 version of Don Menza's tune "Groovin' Hard," a Buddy Rich band staple.

You'll find a score of similar JAJO video tracks on YouTube, including wonderful takes on Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" and Dizzy Gillespie's infreqently heard "Tanga." 

This band, often featuring brass-rich material by Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Oliver Nelson and Horace Silver, among others, can hold its own against any competition on any given night. Here's a link to a profile/review I wrote for JazzTimes a few years ago.

Channeling two jazz tenor titans

Del Gatto, Rupert

Tenor saxophonists Lew Del Gatto and Jeff Rupert channeled the spirit and hard-driving swing of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims in their Friday matinee concert at the Venice (FL) Art Center.

The South County Jazz Club event teamed the two tenors with pianist Richard Drexler, bassist Don Mopsick and drummer Tony Vigilante. 

All of the music they performed came from the repertoire of Cohn and Sims, whose musical partnership was something to behold on the New York jazz scene in the 1950s and '60s. Half of the afternoon's material was featured on To Al and Zoot, With Love, a 2008 recording that was the genesis of a tribute project by Del Gatto and fellow tenor player Bob Keller.

Richard Drexler

Del Gatto, who spent a quarter century as a member of NBC's Saturday Night Live Band, now lives in Naples FL. With Keller still based up north, he drafted Rupert for this event. Rupert is Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Drexler, a multi-instrumentalist best known for his bass playing, also teaches in UCF's jazz program.

Drexler, Del Gatto, Rupert, Mopsick, Vigilante

The music was swinging from the opening notes of their extended version of "Lover Come Back to Me" to the closer, late pianist John Bunch's frisky "John's Bunch." Other treats included the band's take on "Recado Bossa Nova," Gary McFarland's "Blue Hodge" and Lester Young's classic composition "Tickle Toe." The set also included Cohn's originals "P-Town" and "Mama Flosie," and Billy Byers' "Doodle Oodle. "

Del Gatto and Rupert were in synch with each other - and their rhythm mates - all afternoon. The two tenors' unison playing was very strong, with slight variations enhancing their blend. All of the players' solos were inspired and quite inventive.

Drexler, Del Gatto, Rupert

Looking Ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

The 2015-16 jazz concert season continues through May. Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through March. I’ll post updated lists as the season progresses. 

• Monday, February 8 – Guitarist Steve Uscher and his Tropical Jazz Band. Charlotte County Jazz Society‘s Concert Series. Cultural Center of Charlotte County. 7 p.m.
• Sunday, February 10 – Clarinetist Ken Peplowski plays the music of Benny Goodman with The Naples Jazz Orchestra, Titans Auditorium, 2925 Titan Way, Naples, 7 p.m.
  
• Sunday, February 14 – Trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg in concert. South County Jazz Club series, Glenridge Performing Arts Center, Sarasota, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, February 17 – Singer Carmen Lundy joins the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra for the sextet’s  monthly All That Jazz concert. Daniels Pavilion, 6 and 8:30 p.m.

  

  Bria Skonberg

• Saturday, February 20 – 11^th annual Punta Gorda Wine & Jazz Festival features guitarist Nick Colionne, singer Bobby Caldwell and alto saxophonist Mindi Abair (back for her eighth consecutive year). Laishley Park, Punta Gorda, 1-6 p.m. The festival’s mainstream jazz brunch on Sunday, February 21 at the Isles Yacht Club, sponsored by Presley Beane Financial Services, features trombonist Herb Bruce, singer-drummer Patricia Dean, trumpeter John DePaola, pianist Jeff Phillips, saxophonist David MacKenzie and bassist-guitarist Dave Trefethen. 

• March 6-12 – Jazz Club of Sarasota‘s 36^th annual Sarasota Jazz Festival.This year's major concerts feature the Naples Jazz Orchestra with trumpeter Byron Stripling, guitarist Diego Figueiredo and clarinetist Ken Peplowski, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and a Dick Hyman-led all-star band that includes guitarists Howard Alden and Russell Malone. Evening concerts are at the Riverview High School Performing Arts Center in Sarasota. 
• Wednesday, March 9 – Flutist Hubert Laws joins the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra for the sextet’s  monthly All That Jazz concert. Daniels Pavilion, 6 and 8:30 p.m. Trumpeter Chris Botti guests with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra across the courtyard at Hayes Hall, 8 p.m.
• Sunday, March 13 – Singer Tony Bennett in concert. Hayes Hall, Artis Naples, 8 p.m.
•  Monday, March 14 – The Harry Allen quintet with singer Rebecca Kilgore. Charlotte County Jazz Society‘s Concert Series. Cultural Center of Charlotte County, Port Charlotte. 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 19 – Pianist Cyrus Chestnut makes his first South County Jazz Club appearance. Glenridge Performing Arts Center, Sarasota, 7.p.m.

Several local restaurants (including J.D.’s in Port Charlotte, The Orange House in Punta Gorda, and The Roadhouse in Ft. Myers, offer jazz steadily. A variety of matinee concerts sponsored all season by the Jazz Club of Sarasota and the South County Jazz Club also keep things swinging for jazz lovers.

International jazz in more ways than one

The excellent and versatile Orlando-based drummer Eddie Metz Jr. brought his International Jazz Trio to Port Charlotte on Monday, January 11 for a concert with more foreign tinges than just the trio's membership.

The band consists of Metz, Australian-born bassist and singer Nicki Parrott, and Italian-born pianist Rossano Sportiello. Metz tends to get top billing on Florida tours because he lives here, but it really is a trio of equals. All three players contribute mightily to the group's dynamic sound and tune selection.

This was the band's third visit in five seasons to the Charlotte County Jazz Society's concert series. These musicians always seem to unearth more little-heard gems and swing the heck out of them with their playful camaraderie and astonishing technique.

In addition to some standard fare from the jazz canon and the Great American Songbook, the evening also touched on some decidedly foreign material in terms of composers or inspirations. That added Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Poland to the intriguing concert mix.

Rossano Sportiello

They opened with London-born pianist George Shearing's composition "She" before showcasing Sportiello on two Ellington-related tunes: "The Sunset and the Mockingbird" (from Duke's "The Queen's Suite") and Mercer Ellington's little-heard "John Hardy's Wife."

Other Sportiello gems included his take on Erroll Garner's "Misty" and a classical fantasie in which Italian-born composer Domenico Scarlatti's "Sonata in A major" segued seamlessly into Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland." The classically trained pianist also shared Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and his customary Chopin medley, the latter as the concert closer.

Nicki Parrott

Parrott's charming vocals and creative bass playing are always a crowd pleaser. Her vocal features included the Dinah Washington hit "What a Difference a Day Made," "It's a Good Day," English composer Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" (sung in tribute to the late Natalie Cole), "La Vie en Rose" and her concert staple, the Peggy Lee hit "Fever." Her vocals also shined on the band's version of the Ray Charles R&B hit "Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So" (with Peggy Lee's "love him so" lyric variation).

The evening's highlight, in terms of crowd response from the crowd of 350+, was a Sportiello solo piano segment that opened with a delicate exploration of "I Wish You Love." It sequed into several tunes from the Austria-based "The Sound of Music" soundtrack. After "Edelweiss," Metz and Parrott joined in for most of the exuberant final section, "Climb Every Mountain."

Eddie Metz Jr.

Metz's drum wizardry was showcased on "Shoe Shine Boy," a Sammy Cahn-Saul Chaplin tune from the Count Basie songbook. In 1982, Metz spent six months as the drummer in the Basie band while he was still in college at William Paterson College. There's nothing like starting your career with the best. Decades later, Metz is still working with the best - and is one of Florida's most in-demand jazz drummers.

Rossano Sportiello, Nicki Parrott, Eddie Metz Jr.

The Swiss connection

Drummer-singer Patricia Dean brought her trio to the South County Jazz Club's matinee concert series at the Venice FL Art Center Thursday, and quite willingly handed the center of attention to her pianist.

William Evans

William Evans is based in St. Petersburg for a few months a year but spends the bulk of his time teaching jazz piano and performing in Switzerland, where he's a longtime faculty member at the Swiss Jazz School in Basel. When he's back in Southwest Florida, it's a matter of catch him when you can.

Patricia Dean

Dean, Evans and bassist Joe Porter combined their talents to make Evans' first jazz club appearance a memorable one. Evans' impressionistic approach to the variety of tunes the trio played revealed interesting new facets without ever losing the essence of the source material.

Joe Porter

Highlights included their take on the dreamy bossa nova "Dindi" and Chick Corea's waltz "Windows," Porter's bass feature on "I Fall in Love Too Easily," and the Evans sprightly original "1-3-5 Junction." His solo piano version of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" opened with a teasing introduction that likely had listeners thinking it was going to be something else from the jazz canon. Dean's vocals shined on "East of the Sun," "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and "This Can't Be Love."

Dean and Evans began working together back in the 1980s at the defunct Summerhouse Restaurant on Siesta Key shortly after Evans moved to Florida from Detroit. While he doesn't play in Florida as much as he used to, Dean said she relishes every opportunity to work with him.

"He's such a brilliant player," she said. "Every time he comes to town, I go to school." 

Evans, Porter, Dean

2015: Looking back at the Year in Jazz

Allaboutjazz.com has published my comprehensive look back at 2015's goings on in the jazz world. In short, it was a curious blend of ups and downs, with glimmers of optimism offset by its losses. 

Venues opened to great fanfare, but others closed for a variety of reasons. UNESCO’s International Jazz Day became firmly entrenched as the exclamation point on Jazz Appreciation Month activities in April. Daily arts journalism took a hit with music writers leaving significant newspapers. A prominent trumpeter found himself under FBI investigation for program funding in New Orleans. The jazz world said goodbye to lot of players and industry figures throughout the year, including five of its NEA Jazz Masters.

You can dig a bit deeper into this compilation from the link above.