Standard fare freshened with enthusiasm

You can't go wrong with the standards, be they items from the Great American Songbook, Braziliana or tried-and-true jazz chestnuts. You just need a talented band to deliver them with a fresh stamp -- and a healthy dose of enthusiasm.

Jeremy Davenport

Such was the case on Friday, February 11, when the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quintet performed in the Jazzy Nights concert series at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center with special guest Jeremy Davenport. Later in the evening, there was a surprise walk on.

Davenport, a St. Louis native who has called New Orleans home since the early 1990s, is a fine trumpeter and singer. He and trumpeter Dan Miller were band mates for six years in the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band. Since 2000, Davenport has been the in-house entertainer at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the French Quarter. He and his small band perform four nights a week in the hotel’s Davenport Lounge.

The band this evening in downtown Fort Myers included trumpeters Davenport and Miller, tenor saxophonist Lew Del Gatto, pianist Roy Gerson, bassist Brandon Robertson and drummer Tony Vigilante. Everyone got ample solo space and made the most of their moments to put a personal stamp on the music.

Popular trio does it again – with charm and excellence

The all-star International Trio returned to the Charlotte County Jazz Society concert stage on Monday, February 7 for their fifth appearance in 10 seasons, mixing concert staples with a few surprise treats.

Drummer Eddie Metz Jr., bassist & singer Nicki Parrott and piano marvel Rossano Sportiello were happy to be back in front of a live audience. In this case, it was a packed house of more than 220 fans at Gulf Theater at The Military Heritage Museum in Punta Gorda FL.

Rossano Sportiello

Sheer talent, chemistry, audience rapport, and sharing new facets in tried-and-true material are key to keeping their music fresh and lively. As Italy-born, New York City-based Sportiello told the crowd, that's the joy of improvisation.

Sportiello's stunning keyboard techniques were evident from the opening bars as he explored “Chicago, (That Toddlin' Town)” and the Gershwin brothers' “But Not For Me,” the latter as an uptempo burner with a honky-tonk flavor. Later in the program, Benny Goodman's “”If Dreams Come True” was another new treat. Unike past visits, he didn't include anything from his dazzling classical repertoire but it wasn't needed.

Don Heckman - gone but not forgotten

I spent a good chunk of time over the past two weeks digging into the previously unreported passing of respected West Coast jazz critic Don Heckman, who left us in November 2020 after several years of declining health.

Don Heckman

That piece, including a few updates provided by Don’s family, is at the Jazz Journalists Association website. 

 

You can find it right here…

 

Don was a JJA member and won the organization's Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism Award as part of 2010's JJA Awards. He was a nominee in 2008.

 

Deepest condolences to Don's widow, Faith; their two children, Alexander and Allegra; and three grandchildren.

Still adventurous after all these years

Trumpeter Terumasa Hino, at age 79 a jazz dynamo and elder statesman in his native Japan, divides his time between his homeland and the U.S. He worked steadily in New York starting in the mid-1970s, playing and recording in the bands of saxophonist Jackie McLean and drummer Elvin Jones, among others.

Terumasa Hino

This hard-bop player, whose musical forays have ranged from jazz-rock fusion to the avant garde, became a snowbird four years ago. He was attracted to Southwest Florida primarily to golf in the winter and spring, returning to Japan for concert tours and club dates for about half of the year.

Hino was the special guest of the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra for the quintet's Wednesday, January 12 All That Jazz concert at Artis-Naples' Daniels Pavilion. By his recollection, this was Hino's first performance in the U.S. as a bandleader or featured player in more than 10 years.

And what an interesting performance it was, revealing Hino's trumpet mastery, range, playfulness and enthusiasm as he found ways to interact musically with each of the quintet members. They included tenor saxophonist and artistic director Lew Del Gatto, trumpeter Dan Miller, pianist Jerry Stawski, bassist Kevin Mauldin and drummer Mike Harvey.

The joy and legacy of the Duke Ellington songbook

Duke Ellington's impact on jazz seems beyond measure, no matter how you count it. He wrote, co-wrote or took credit for writing more than 1,000 compositions over a 50-year span. According to one family bio, it was more than 3,000 songs.

Dan Miller

The numbers really don't matter as much as the imprint Duke left on the music. That's what the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto sextet celebrated in their Charlotte County Jazz Society concert appearance on Monday, January 10. They dug into the joy and legacy as they delved into a wide emotional range of material from Ellington and collaborator Billy Strayhorn, plus a few other gems from Duke's band book.

Lew Del Gatto

In addition to his fiery playing, trumpeter Miller, a walking archive of jazz details, shared many of the back stories behind the 16 favorite tunes the band performed. Co-leader Del Gatto, a 30-year alum of the NBC Saturday Night Live Band, was an excellent foil with his to-the-point, but always gorgeous and inventive, tenor sax solos.

Their all-star band was rounded out by longtime Big Apple pianist Roy Gerson, trombonist Herb Bruce, bassist Brandon Robertson and drummer Tony Vigilante. Bruce's wife, the fine singer Patricia Dean, better known as a drummer in some performance settings, joined for three tunes.

2022-23 - Jazz musicians felled by coronavirus, Chapter 6 (updated 1-23-2023)

Here is the latest update to our running, chronological list of jazz-related jazz-related COVID-19 deaths, updated as we receive them.  

This segment begins with deaths in 2022. Chapter 5 covers the second half of 2021 and Chapter 4 lists deaths in the first half of the 2021, a combined 57 known losses. Chapters one, two and three contain 2020's 65 known losses. 

Our profound sympathies to their families, friends and fans as we remember the musical legacies they have given us.

• Barcelona guitarist and educator Joan Vinyals died January 4, 2022. He was 63. Vinyals was a versatile genre-crossing player, combining rock, blues, jazz and Latin touches into his sound and also working with ease in each of those formats. He was a driving force at the Catalan Academy of Music. He was a former director of Barcelona's Association of Jazz Musicians and Modern Music of Catalonia.
• Bassist Paul Warburton died January 5 at age 79. Warburton started playing professionally at 17, working with house bands in and around his Denver hometown, and later backing jazz headliners visiting Colorado. In 1964, at just 23, he spent a month in pianist Bill Evans' unrecorded trio with Philly Jo Jones on drums at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. During his long career, Warburton was also a sideman in bands led by Stan Getz, Pharoah Sanders and Cal Tjader. Warburton and guitarist Dale Bruning performed as a duo in Denver for a decade, releasing an album, Our Delight on the Capri label in 1987. Warburton's 1997 solo album, Speak Low (Electric Kingdom/Synergy Distribution), featured his all-star quartet of Denver players, with trumpeter Ron Miles, pianist Eric Gunnison and drummer Nat Yarbrough.  
• Indian tabla player Badal Roy died January 18 in Wilmington, Delaware. He was 82. Roy's drumming graced recordings by prominent musicians in jazz, rock, fusion and world music. He first came to prominence in the early 1970s with English guitarist John McLaughlin and trumpeter Miles Davis. He was a member of Ornette Coleman’s electric band, Prime Time, for more than a decade.
• Philadelphia-based saxophonist Wendell Hobbs died January 19. He was 68. The composer, arranger, bandleader and educator led The Masters of Jazz Orchestra. He toured with the Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw orchestras during his 50-year career.  
• Magazine publisher and promoter Sidney Miller died January 20 in Arlington VA at age 89. After working at Capitol Records, he started Black Radio Exclusive in 1976 to promote Black music and radio stations. The magazine and its annual conferences focused on R&B, jazz, rap and other genres. While a pre-med student at Florida A&M University, he played trumpet in the university band and booked music acts, including fellow students Nat and Cannonball Adderley.
• Greek drummer, percussionist and educator Christos Yermenoglou died January 22. He was 51. He founded and taught in the Baby Artist: Program for the Musical Development of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers, which has operated in Thessaloniki since 2001, as well as other education programs. This free jazz player collaborated with symphony orchestras and jazz musicians from around the globe.  
• Cuban-born percussionist Humberto “Pupi” Menes died on February 1 in New Orleans. He was 73. Moving to New Orleans in his early teens, the conga player worked there for most of his career, playing with Rubén “Mr. Salsa” González, Santiago, Otra, Caliente, Freddy Omar, The Iguanas, Two Pan Sam and Elegant Gypsy, among others. He also played drums for the rock band Ocean.
• Guitarist Darrell Crooks died February 1 at age 64. The Los Angeles-based musician and educator, a Texas native, spent three decades as a first-call guitarist for a wide range of jazz, R&B, hip hop and gospel artists. His jazz work included performances with singers Al Jarreau, Ledisi and Gregory Porter. 
• Guitarist and producer Ramón Stagnaro died February 16 in Los Angeles at age 67. The Peruvian-born musician appeared on more than 600 recordings since the late 1980s. In addition to backing a wide range of first-tier pop and Latin music stars in the studio and on tour, he worked with jazz musicians Alex Acuña, Herb Alpert, Chris Botti, Denise Donatelli, Pete Escovedo, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Arturo Sandoval, and The Manhattan Transfer, among others. He was the brother of Boston-based bassist Oscar Stagnaro.  
• Drummer Oscar Bolão died in Rio de Janeiro on February 16 of complications from COVID. He was 68. Bolão had been a major drummer in the samba and MPB post-bossa nova styles. One of his last jobs was performing on a new Pife Muderno album in honor of Gilberto Gil.  
• Springfield, Missouri-based trumpeter Larry Getz died February 28 at age 80. He had been a member of the early 1980s progressive jazz group Entropy and worked in many jazz settings. He also was a founding member of the Granny's Bathwater blues-rock band and performed in the genre-busting band The Lowdown Fancy. 
• Bassist and bandleader Isao Suzuki died March 8 at age 89. The Tokyo-born musician studied and played early in his career with saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. He moved to New York City in 1969, playing with a number of jazz greats over the next three years including Art Blakey, Ron Carter, Paul Desmond, Thelonious Monk and Bobby Timmons. After returning to Japan, Suzuki played with Kenny Burrell and Mal Waldron, and led his own ensembles. He co-founded the Japanese Bass Players Club and opened a jazz club in Osaka. 
• Former Duke Ellington Society of New York president and record collector Morris Hodara died March 20 at age 98. Over 60 years, the physicist and union organizer amassed one of the nation's largest collections of jazz records, which he donated to The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. The Hodara collection is described as one of the world's greatest collections of Duke Ellington recordings, books, photographs, and other memorabilia. 
• Pianist, composer, arranger, writer and photographer Sy Johnson died July 26 in Manhattan from complications of COVID-19. He was 92. Johnson was best known as the principal arranger and orchestrator for bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus. He also worked on Broadway and composed a musical based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. 
• Czech singer and actress Hana Zagorová died August 26 in Prague at age 75. Her health deteriorated after contracting COVID-19 in September 2020. During her long and illustrious career, Zagorová performed almost 900 different songs, and sang in several ensembles. 
• Bassist and educator Chuck Deardorf, a first-call player and mainstay on the Seattle jazz scene for four decades, died October 9. He was 68. He was jazz program director at Cornish College of the Arts. He also taught at Centrum Port Townsend. 
• Saxophonist Lenny Rojas of St. Petersburg, Florida died January 10, 2023 of COVID-19-related complications. He was 75. After several contracts performing in and leading bands on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2 cruise ships, the Key West native worked in a variety of Tampa Bay-area jazz bands. He was the brother of saxophonist Rodney Rojas.  

Here are links to the chronology: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview (updated 2-14-22)

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through February. Keep in mind the reality of COVID-19 protocols, expect possible cancellations, and mask up to keep yourself and others safe.

A look back at 2021's jazz happenings

All About Jazz has published my annual comprehensive compilation of trends, challenges and noteworthy happenings in the global jazz world. Sad to say, the year's jazz-related list of musicians and industry figures who passed away during 2021 comprise nearly 25 percent of the material.

Here's the intro:

The jazz world continued grappling and adjusting in year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. International Jazz Day again went virtual for the most part. Singer Tony Bennett put the final stamp on his touring – and likely recording – career after his Alzheimer's disclosure. Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield was headed to federal prison. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and said farewell to seven others who were among the many industry-associated musicians and figures passing away during the year.

You can read all of it, 2021: The Year in Jazz, here.

My take on the best jazz recordings of 2021

‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists tend to have a lot of variation depending on the each reviewer's personal tastes, as well as what he or she listened to during the year.* Bottom line, all are extremely subjective.

These choices below (aside from top 10 new songs of the year) were submitted to the Jazz Journalists Association and JazzCritics Poll 2021. The latter is the 16^th annual Francis Davis and Tom Hull-produced poll that is being published this year by the Boston-based online arts journal The Arts Fuse. It previously was published by The Village Voice, Rhapsody.com and NPR Music).

Kenny Washington delights - again

Kenny Washington

Oakland CA-based singer Kenny Washington is a marvel, plain and simple. And his return performance to Artis Naples' All That Jazz series on Wednesday, December 13 showcased  the diminutive singer's skills,tone and wide range, and his artful scatting on two of the evening's 10 tunes.

Washington was special guest with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra, which on this evening was stretched from its usual sextet to a septet. The  mega-talented band this night included tenor saxophonist and artistic director Lew Del Gatto, trumpeter Dan Miller, trombonist Dante Luciani, guitarist John Hart, pianist Jerry Stawski, bassist Kevin Mauldin and drummer Mike Harvey.

The program did not include a single repeat of material from the singer's first appearance in the series in November 2015.

New band, new venue, lots of smiles

One of the great joys in hearing live jazz is a night when talented players who've never performed together get on stage and find instant chemistry that makes it sound like they've been a working group for years.

Greg Abate

That was the case on Monday, December 13, when hard-bopping saxophonist Greg Abate returned for his sixth Charlotte County Jazz Society performance since 2008. And what a magical night it was, with a new band, a new venue and an enthusiastic audience. Abate was at the top of his game.

The band included Abate, pianist John O'Leary, bassist Doug Mathews and drummer Clyde Connor. Rhode Island-based Abate and Tampa-based O'Leary had never worked with any of the other players on stage. Gainesville-based Connor and Orlando-based Mathews had worked together only a couple of times. 

Abate is one of the few modern ambassadors of hard-bop, an intense style of playing that grew out of bebop in the 1950s, following in the musical footsteps of alto saxophonists Phil Woods and Richie Cole. He performed and recorded with both of them over the years. 

The leader dedicated this concert to longtime CCJS concert programmer and board member Mike Parmelee, who died last spring. The first set included a new composition, "Blues For Mike."

Jazz in the name of love - and loving it

With co-leader Dan Miller out of town, tenor saxophonist Lew Del Gatto brought in guitarist Frank Portolese to join the fun for the weekly quartet gig at The Barrel Room in downtown Fort Myers on Thursday, December 9. 

Lew Del Gatto

Trumpeter Miller was busy with jazz faculty duties at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. So the band this night included Saturday Night Live Band alumnus Del Gatto, Portolese, bassist Brandon Robertson and drummer Tony Vigilante.

Frank Portolese

The highlight of the first set was a Del Gatto-selected string of five tunes that explored many facets of love. "Alone Together" was followed by "I Love You" played in the key of F, which Del Gatto called "the key of love." Then came "Makin' Whoopie," and two relationship-is-over choices, "Gone With the Wind" and "You Don't Know What Love Is."

Tony Vigilante

Lou could have gone on and on with the seemingly endless choices, but didn't. This wasn't a medley of brief snippets. Each tune got an extended instrumental exploration that showcased the players' strong chops, soloing skills, and cohesiveness as a band. Chicago native Portolese fit well in the band, displaying a musical sensitivity that underscored his blistering bebop lines.

Acme Jazz Garage's special kind of musical romp

There is so much to admire at an Acme Jazz Garage concert. The Tampa-based band leaps with enthusiasm into a wide-ranging bag of influences to deliver music that is distinctly its own.

Matt Swenson, Philip Booth

The band's expanded sextet version performed Sunday, December 6 for the Tampa Jazz Club as part of the Hillsborough Community College Performing Arts Series at HCC's Mainstage Theatre in Ybor City. 

Bop, bossa nova, R&B, a bit of Cuban rumba, some soul jazz and a few jazz standards - filtered with Acme's high-energy jam-band enthusiasm - made for a powerful afternoon.

Rick Runion

Acme Jazz Garage has been on the scene for 10 years. The personnel for this concert included bassist Philip Booth, guitarist Matt Swenson, pianist Jody Marsh (who succeeded founding keyboardist Bryan Lewis after the latter's move back to upstate New York this year), saxophonist Rick Runion and drummer Jean Bolduc. Percussionist-singer Marshall Gillon was a special guest. 

Jean Bolduc

All of the players have worked with each other in various combinations and bands for many years. That familiarity enhances their group chemistry. 

The band is cohesive and their arrangements and soloing are adventurous, anchored with a solid jazz feeling. If you like Steely Dan, you'll like Acme Jazz Garage.

Latin jazz at its finest, drawing at times from bebop and Broadway

Conguero Sammy Figueroa brought a quintet version of His Latin Jazz Explosion band to Sarasota on Monday, November 22. As befits its name, the band and its leader were on musical fire all night for this Jazz Club of Sarasota concert.

Sammy Figueroa

Figueroa spent many years as a leading Latin percussionist in New York City, working with a wide variety of major musicians, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, David Bowie and Chaka Khan. This Bronx native who was raised in Puerto Rico has been based in Miami for the past 20 years.

Martin Bejerano

His group for this concert included pianist Martin Bejerano (a longtime member of drummer Roy Haynes' Fountain of Youth Band), bassist Carlo De Rosa, tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts (a frequent collaborator with B-3 player Joey DeFrancesco), and trumpeter Cisco Dimas.

Cisco Dimas

Figueroa's program stretched nearly two hours, not counting a brief intermission, and included extended explorations of nine tunes that showcased the cohesiveness of the band's groove and the improvisational skills of each player.

Pianist-composer Michel Camilo's fiery “And Sammy Walked In” quickly set the tone for the evening. Bejerano's “Origin Story” was wide-ranging in its moods, particularly during his piano solos. The first set highlight was the band's take on the ballad “If Ever I Would Leave You, from the Lerner & Lowe Broadway musical Camelot. They dug into a Horace Silver arrangement, adding a strong Latin jazz tinge that Figueroa aptly described as “rice and beans.”

The joy of jazz guitar

Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo considers Southwest Florida his home away from home when he's not touring the world. He was happy to be back on Sunday, November 14, after the pandemic lockdown stymied his touring for more than a year.

Figueriedo performed a matinee solo concert in Venice FL in the Jazz With Morrie performance series, in advance of his three nights of performances next weekend at the Suncoast Jazz Festival in Clearwater. 

"It's a pleasure to be back performing live after a long, long time," Figueiredo said. He did some online performances from his home in Franca, Brazil during the pandemic but noted: "I didn't feel the emotion, the connection with the audience."

That connection was back on Sunday as he shared the joy of jazz guitar, digging into the Brazilian jazz songbook, several original compositions, a bit of movie music, and jazz standards.

This savvy arranger and his band keep things fresh

Pianist Jim Roberts is the Charlotte County Jazz Society's most frequent visitor as a bandleader. The CCJS concert in Port Charlotte FL on Monday, November 8 marked Roberts' 18^th appearance dating to June 1991, when he was the organization's first concert performer. 

Jim Roberts

Roberts moved from New York City to Orlando shortly after his first CCJS gig. Through the years, he has brought trios, quartets, quintets and more. Since 2004, the sextet has been his steady band. He calls it his Saxtet because of its brass-rich front line, which features talented veterans Dan Jordan, Rex Wertz and David MacKenzie. Drummer Eddie Metz Jr. and bassist Doug Mathews were the band's rhythm aces. 

This time out, Roberts had another twist. The band expanded to a four-horn septet, with his wife, tenor saxophonist A.J. Roberts, joining the other reed players on three tunes.

Pianist, composer arranger and educator Roberts never lets his music sound stale or dated on the concert stage. Freshness and vitality abound, even on the staples you've heard at prior appearances. 

Finding some normalcy in mainstream swing

After a pandemic pause dating to late February 2020, producer Morrie Trumble's Jazz With Morrie concert series opened a new season on Friday, November 5 in Venice FL with music excellence and positive vibes in this "new normal" phase.

Tenor saxophonist Jim Wellen performed with three other Southwest Florida jazz notables: guitarist Dave Trefethen, bassist-singer Vince Evans and drummer Johnny Moore. All brought much to the table for this welcome musical feast.

Wellen is a master of the swing tenor, who is equally comfortable exploring ballads, sambas and occasional pieces with a bit more fire. The octogenarian does so with an ease that comes from decades of immersing himself in the jazz repertoire. The first time I heard him 10 years ago, I thought to myself "this guy sounds like he could be Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen's (musical) uncle." Friday's concert at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, reinforced that notion.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview [updated]

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through December. Keep in mind the reality of COVID-19 protocols, expect possible cancellations, and please mask up to keep yourself and others safe.

La Lucha and friends shine in CCJS debut

Nineteen months after the pandemic brought the Charlotte County Jazz Society’s 2018-19 concert season to an abrupt and premature end, the nonprofit’s evening concerts resumed on Monday, October 11 with a musical treat from La Lucha.

John O'Leary

The Tampa Bay-area trio, consisting of pianist John O’Leary, bassist Alejandro Arenas and drummer Mark Feinman, brought along two guests: the Barcelona-born singer Ona Kirei and tenor saxophonist Trace Zacur. The latter was a last-minute sub for trumpeter James Suggs who was unable to make the gig.

Alejandro Arenas, Mark Feinman

La Lucha covered the musical gamut, putting it’s own creative spin on time-tested jazz standards, five original compositions and creative covers of more contemporary material from David Bowie, The Beatles and the English pop-rock band Tears for Fears. Half of the program came from La Lucha’s newest CD, Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Arbors Jazz, 2020). 

Love - and Bossa Nova - were in the air

Eighteen months since its 2019-20 concert season was cut short by the pandemic, and its 2020-21 season canceled, the Charlotte County Jazz Society had music in the air again on Wednesday, September 22. A matinee “Love and Bossa Nova Live” performance by guitarist Nate Najar and Brazilian singer Daniela Soledade was a mighty welcome warm-up for the CCJS evening concert series, which resumes in October.

Nate Najar, Daniela Soledade

The St. Petersburg-based couple performed for CCJS at the Grill at 1951 in Port Charlotte, treating the crowd to the joyous, exotic intimacy of bossa nova and samba. Soledade, a third-generation member of a Rio de Janeiro family with strong ties to the roots of bossa nova, is blessed with a captivating, wide-ranging voice whether singing in her native Portuguese or English. Most of the lyrics this day were in Portuguese, a few blended both languages, and a few more were shared in English. 

CDs of Note – Short Takes

 Taking a closer look at CDs by Acme Jazz Garage, Lili Añel, Miles Donahue and Yoko Miwa ….

George Wein: A legacy of innovation without ego

A day after announcement of his departure from this vale, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the news that George Wein is gone. The music impresario died peacefully in his sleep on Monday at age 95 – just three weeks shy of his 96^th birthday. 

My, what an imprint he left the world of music, jazz in particular, though there was so much more given his creation (with Pete Seeger) of the Newport Folk Festival, creating the more-global New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and much later, producing the Essence Music Festival in the Crescent City, which celebrated a much broader spectrum of Black music

Let me dig a bit into the essence of George Wein. Advancing the music and creating opportunities for musicians were the driving force in his life. He wasn’t in it for the money, although that came to him through his success in creating new performance formats, and adding innovations throughout his 70-year career.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through October. Keep in mind the reality of COVID-19 protocols, expect possible cancellations, and mask up to keep yourself and others safe.

A trumpeter’s legacy of paying it forward

The fine trumpeter Bobby Shew, now one of the horn’s elder statesmen, gave Dan Miller an unforgettable present on his protégé’s 30^th birthday.

As Miller recalls 22 years later, those sage words of wisdom went like this: “You don’t want to be a sideman all your life. You’re going to turn 50 years old and the phone is going to stop ringing. It is not because you can’t play well, it’s because there are two younger generations of players who are working with all the big acts. You have to become your own boss. You have to book your own gigs. You have to teach. You have to do clinics. You have to travel. You have to lead your own bands. You have to diversify how you work in music.” 

Dan Miller

Miller has done all that with an energy that seems tireless. While he keeps busy as a player, bandleader and trumpet ambassador, the jazz education side of his career seems most satisfying. More so lately in the pandemic environment and being sidelined for the past two months after surgery on a broken foot.

He grew up in Chicago, immersing himself in the Windy City’s jazz scene as a listener and student player. Then he headed to the University of North Texas in 1987, where he found even more mentors, including brass instructor Don Jacoby, before going on the road with the Woody Herman Orchestra two years later.

In 1991, Miller moved to New York City with his brother, trombonist David Miller. Whenever Dan was in town, he made sure to go to pianist Barry Harris’ Tuesday night jazz workshops to soak up more ideas on the art of improvisation. Harris, at 91, still runs his workshops. 

Another postcard from Newport

Terri Lyne Carrington

Sharing more images from my 2021 Newport Jazz Festival assignments, July 30-August 1.

Gerald Clayton

Charles Lloyd, Harish Raghavan, Marvin Sewell

Joel Ross

Sasha Berliner

The Vibes Summit

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a closer look at CDs by Gerry Gibbs’ Thrasher Dream Trios, Paxton/Spangler Septet, John Pizzarelli, Juan Carlos Quintero and Dave Stryker…

Postcard from Newport

Now that another Newport Jazz Festival is in the books, the 67th anniversary edition and 57th actual festival to be precise, I wanted to share more imagery from the July 30-August 1 weekend. Here are some favorite images. More to follow.

Bam Bam Rodriguez

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington

Robert Glasper

Random thoughts on Newport’s return to the festival scene

Last weekend’s Newport Jazz Festival, after a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 shutdowns, was mighty welcome for music fans and performers alike.

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

The July 30-August 1 event at Fort Adams State Park overlooking Newport Harbor for many musicians was either the first or first significant performance opportunity since we began emerging from the long pandemic winter.

“It’s been an interesting year-and-a-half to two years. The ability to play for you is such a pleasure,” trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah told the crowd before his Saturday set on the main stage.