Swinging jazz, no holds barred

The Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quartet's weekly gig at the Barrel Room in downtown Fort Myers FL always has a surprise or two, and the Thursday, May 26 edition was no exception.

Jim White

Drummer Jim White, a close friend and occasional band-mate of trumpeter Miller's since 1987 when they were freshmen at the University of North Texas (then known as North Texas State), was a special guest, joining bassist Don Mopsick in the piano-less rhythm section.

White, Mopsick, Del Gatto, Miller

White is a powerful, hard-swinging drummer whose creativity and inventiveness was on display all night long. The one-time road warrior also worked in Nashville for many years before moving to the Rockies. For the past 17 years, he has been on the jazz faculty at the University of Northern Colorado.

Casting her musical net far and wide

Singer Halie Loren covered the jazz and popular music waterfront - on the waterfront - in a Sunday, May 15, matinee concert at Selby Gardens' Historic Spanish Pojnt campus in Osprey FL. 

Halie Loren

She took the afternoon in some surprising directions, putting all sorts of music in a jazz context, delivered with a clear voice and deep understanding of the lyrics. She has always looked beyond the stylistic boundaries of jazz and standards for interesting material, and found ways to put her own stamp on it.

There were some jazz and Tin Pan Alley classics. There was a sprinkling of Latin and Brazilian tunes, and three originals. There were five tunes from the likes of Leonard Cohen, Bobbie Gentry, Etta James, Carole King, Bob Marley. A dozen of these gems were drawn from Loren's eight recordings since 2008.

The Sitka, Alaska native, now living in Oregon, was backed by a very fine Florida trio featuring pianist Zach Bartholomew from Miami, bassist Brandon Robertson from the Fort Myers area and drummer Rick Costa from nearby Venice.

Rooted in tradition, with personal, modern twists

Hammond B-3 player Tony Monaco's music is rooted in a mighty tradition, but isn't stuck there. He can take the B-3 to church, and even into pioneer Jimmy Smith's "chicken shack sound" when he wants, but he is also stretching his sound into something fresh and tasty. Credit that to his own modern twists - with a healthy dose of musical emotion on the side.

Tony Monaco

That was the case on Friday, May 13, as Monaco opened a two-night Florida mini-tour at the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center in Sarasota. On this night, he was joined by guitarist LaRue Nicholson and drummer Rick Costa.

None had played together before this concert, a fact that underscored the magic of jazz. There was a freshness of ideas fired back and forth, turning the evening into the true essence of jazz - a swinging musical conversation among the players, which then touches the listeners.

More on music from Quincy Davis

The May issue of Hot House includes my profile of drummer Quincy Davis, who performs with his quintet May 20-21 at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village (see p. 17).

As sometimes happens with extended interviews, this one produced far more material than the magazine's wordage limit could accommodate. 

So here are two additional topics of interest from Davis, who, in addition to his performing career, is on the University of North Texas jazz studies faculty.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

Chiara Izzi

Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through early June. 

Keep in mind the reality of COVID-19 protocols, expect possible cancellations, and mask up to keep yourself and others safe.

Back on the road, with love

When Japanese pianist Makoto Ozone last visited New York City, a not-so-funny thing happened. He was in the Big Apple in January 2020, planning to visit friends in advance of his next scheduled trip, an April 2020 appearance with his trio at Dizzy's Club.

“I was supposed to be there only for a few days, but I got COVID as soon as I got there. So I had to lock myself up for about 12 days. I had to cancel a gig in Germany because I couldn’t fly out,” Ozone emailed me. He couldn't return that April because his Dizzy's Club gig, and virtually all others in the jazz world, vanished thanks to the pandemic.

Shortly after his 2020 touring plans bit the dust, he started live-streaming solo piano concerts from his Tokyo home. He played every night for 53 consecutive nights. That initiative, “Welcome to Our Living Room,” drew more than thousands of viewers nightly. They included many musician friends and collaborators.

Levity accompanies vintage jazz mastery

Trombonist Herb Bruce and his Herbicide Jazz Band closed the Charlotte County Jazz Society's 2021-22 concert season on Monday, April 11 in Punta Gorda FL with a wide-ranging trip into the world of classic jazz. It featured a stage full of all-star players, accompanied between songs by the leader's self-deprecating humor.

Herb Bruce

This was Herbicide's third visit to the CCJS concert stage. There was a bit of repetition of favorites from the 2015 and 2018 sets, but the evening was mixed with fresh material, principally from 1920s and '30s Dixieland and New Orleans repertoires. All of it was delivered well by the sextet.

No matter whether he is playing classic jazz, swing jazz or bebop, Bruce is a master of the trombone – in technique, expressiveness and the musical passion that burst from his horn. 

The sheer joy of swinging jazz

 You can hear it in the music, and you can see it in the faces.

Jazz at its best touches the audience, and is celebrated deeply in the musical communion among its makers. No matter the age gap, or the almost immeasurable decades of experience by most participants.

Brandon Goldberg

Such was the case on Sunday, April 10 when the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quintet performed at Naples United Church of Christ. The quintet featured 16-year-old Miami-area pianist Brandon Goldberg - and for this 90-minute performance, he clearly was the center of attention in a band that was made up of jazz heavyweights.

They included trumpeter Miller, a veteran of the Harry Connick Jr. and Maynard Ferguson bands, and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; 30-year NBC Saturday Night Live Band alumnus Del Gatto; first-call Miami bassist Chuck Bergeron; and Philadelphia drummer Tony Vigilante, who spent 20 years touring with Ben Vereen. 

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 May. Keep in mind the reality of COVID-19 protocols, expect possible cancellations, and mask up to keep yourself and others safe.

March

• Thursday, March 24 – Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge celebrate their new CD, Within Us, and the band's 25-year history. USF Concert Hall, Tampa. 7:30 p.m.

Sarasota Jazz Festival hits 40 - under the stars

It took an extra two years to get there, thanks to the pandemic. The Jazz Club of Sarasota's long-running jazz festival held its 40^th evening concert series March 16-19 with a wide range of talent – and a new venue.

The bulk of the festival was moved from indoor venues in and near downtown Sarasota to Nathan Benderson Park, right next to the facility's world-class rowing facility – where collegiate sprint rowing teams sometimes could be seen slicing through the water in training sessions.

With a full moon in view as the evenings progressed, the 2022 festival carried a most-appropriate theme: “Swinging under the stars.” (Wednesday night's opener featuring Houston Person & Friends, and John Pizzarelli & Catherine Russell, was moved indoors to Riverview Performing Arts Center because of a rainy weather forecast).

Russell Malone

The scheduling gods enabled me to attend the final two evenings – and the music was splendid.

Keeping alive that big-band swing and spirit

The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, led by trumpeter and singer David Pruyn, drew the Charlotte County Jazz Society's largest audience of the 2021-22 season for its hard-swinging concert on Monday, March 14. For the audience, and the players, it was a journey back in musical time to the big band era of the 1930s, '40s and early '50s. Back to when the big-band sound dominated America's popular music– and alto saxophonist Dorsey was known as “The Jukebox King.”

Eddie Metz Jr., Pruyn, Greg Diaz

Pruyn, who lives in nearby Nokomis, succeeded the late Bill Tole as leader of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 2017. He pulled from the ranks of South and Central Florida's finest jazz musicians for this 16-piece band. His wife, singer Michele James-Pruyn, was the featured vocalist on six tunes.

Over two hours, they shared some 20 standards from Jimmy Dorsey big-band repertoire, and a few other gems in Pruyn's hip pocket. Opening with Jimmy Dorsey's theme song, “Contrasts,” they worked their way through hit after hit, including “Stealin' Apples,” “When You're Smiling” and “June Night.” The latter was the first of many features for reed player David MacKenzie, who put his fresh stamp on classic Jimmy Dorsey alto sax solos.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

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

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.