Looking forward to looking back

For any followers in Southwest Florida who haven't heard, I wanted to let you know that the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers is hosting a Jazz in the Key of Light retrospective of my 30-plus years of music photography in its Grand Atrium gallery for most of November. 

The show opens with an evening reception on Friday, November 2, from 6 to 10 p.m., as part of the city's ArtsWalk. The exhibit runs through Monday, November 19.

Jazz mastery on parade

Classic jazz from New Orleans is essential to performances by singer Lisa Kelly and trumpeter JB Scott but the couple showed once again what a wide net they cast when digging into material from the jazz canon, Great American Songbook and vintage popular standards.

Lisa Kelly, JB Scott

Dave Steinmeyer

In the Charlotte County Jazz Society's 2081-19 season opener on Monday, October 8, their sextet mixed in a lot of fresh material with six of their concert staples, five of them rooted in New Orleans. This was the band's third visit to Port Charlotte in five years.

Kelly and Scott's band for this concert included pianist Jeff Phillips, bassist Jay Mueller, drummer Clyde Connor and trombonist Dave Steinmeyer. This was  the first time they'd been able to bring fellow Jacksonville resident Steinmeyer to Port Charlotte. His credentials are mighty. He spent 28 years with the U.S. Air Force big band, The Airmen of Note, and led that outfit for more than a decade.

A jazz project with important messages [updated]

Miami-based trumpeter and educator John Daversa's newest recording project is important on many levels that stretch far beyond jazz - or music.

American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom (BFM Jazz) was recorded by the John Daversa Big Band supplemented by 53 so-called "Dreamers" - undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children and have grown up with American culture and values.

Daversa and his production team worked with nonprofit immigrant organizations to find Dreamers who could share their stories through music. The young singers, rappers and instrumentalists who signed on for the project live in 17 states - and had roots in 17 different countries around the globe. Those homelands are Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Venezuela.

Daversa, who chairs the Studio Music and Jazz Department at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, drafted professional musicians from Miami, Los Angeles and New York for his big band.

The Dreamers performed solos, instrumental accompaniments, spoken word poetry, percussion grooves, lead vocals, choruses and some raps. Each of the nine tunes on the CD is preceded by a Dreamer's narration of his or her individual story.

The featured music includes "Living in America," "Don't Fence Me In," Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos), two patriotic classics - John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" and Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel Ward's "America the Beautiful," "America" from West Side Story, and two Daversa originals - the hopeful and optimistic "All is One" and "Red White and Remixed."

The project's treatment of "America" from West Side Story - is unusual and stunning. It's an all-percussion version, on which big band member Murph Aucamp brought together more than a dozen Dreamers who add multiple layers of exotic rhythm.

Many of the stories will make you pause and think about the challenges these talented young people have endured and continue face.Six years ago, the so-called Dreamers received temporary statues through the Deferred Action for Childhood Early Arrivals policy. It was rescinded last year, creating a limbo of sorts for 800,000 DACA recipients, 90 percent of whom are in school or have jobs.

Juan Carlos Alarcon Moscoso, who performs here on pipe organ, piano and percussion, talked about his challenges as a student musician and a Dreamer. "I don't think unity comes from everybody being the same, but respecting people's differences. I think that's the real unity of America."

Another Dreamer musician, trombonist Denzel Mendoza from Oregon, who came to the U.S. at age 5 with his family from Singapore, says the project "opened my eyes on how far I could take my musical career."

This project is a balm of sorts amid the challenges and rage going on across the US about immigration in general - both legal and illegal. That tragic situation is not what America is deep down inside.

The project endorsements include warm and positive words from both US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA,  and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC. It's a shame that Congress and the White House have been unable to solve the Dreamers' legal quandary - and take a more welcoming stance for other people who come here seeking to better their lives and contribute to its multi-cultured fabric. 

In December, John Daversa’s American Dreamers recording received three Grammy Award nominations – for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Best Jazz Solo ("Don't Fence Me In") and Best Arrangement ("Stars and Stripes Forever").

Things are heating up again, music-wise....

Jazz never goes away in southwestern Florida. There is jazz to be found in all seasons, if you seek it out. The major concerts and festivals generally take a summer hiatus - but things heat up again come fall.  They really intensify once the snowbirds start returning to the region. 

Bobby van Deusen

For me, those summer doldrums ended on Wednesday, September 12, when Pensacola-based pianist Bobby van Deusen came to town to share his formidable musical talents at a Charlotte County Jazz Society membership recruitment and preseason fundraising event at JD's Bistro in Port Charlotte. 

The afternoon included a bit of ragtime, jazz and Great American Songbook standards, some singalongs and a healthy dose of movie theme music. Van Deusen added some ragtime and reggae flavors to "Under the Sea" from the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid." He concluded the afternoon with his 10-minutes-plus medley of the music from "Phantom of the Opera."

Kudos to JD's General Manager David Bell and his staff for making their fine venue available for this worthy cause. The matinee event drew a crowd of nearly 100.

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

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

SEPTEMBER

• Wednesday, September 12 – Pensacola-based pianist Bobby van Deusen, a boogie-woogie, ragtime and stride piano marvel with equally strong classical chops, performs at a preseason fundraiser for the Charlotte County Jazz Society.  JD's Bistro, Port Charlotte. 2 p.m.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a look at new CDs by Lynne Arriale, Yelena Eckemoff, Dongfeng Liu, Debra Mann and Bobby Sanabria….

Postcard from Newport

Here are more images from the Sunday, August 5 performances of the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival now presents about 20 bands per day over three days - on four stages at Fort Adams State Park. It draws up to a maximum crowd of about 10,000 per day.

Harold Lopez-Nussa

Russell Hall

Pianist Eric Lewis

Herlin RIley

Alexey Marti

Nicole Mitchell

Shirazette Tinnin of Mitchell's Dusty WIngs band

NJF artistic director Christian McBride

Renee Rosnes of Artemis

Artemis

Pull up a chair - or a boat

Melissa Aldana of Artemis

GoGo Penguin's Chris Illingworth

Jazzmeia Horn and pianist Victor Gould

Noriko Ueda of Artemis

Tivon Pennicott

Gregory Porter

Alex White of James Carter's organ trio

James Carter and Gerard Gibbs

Naile Sosa of Maqueque

Lucinda Williams, Stuart Mathis, Charles Lloyd

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

A lyrical legacy endures

Johnny Mercer's imprint is all over The Great American Songbook. He's best known for writing the lyrics to more than a thousand songs - for Broadway, for Tin Pan Alley, for film, and for pop singers.

Johnny Mercer's imprint also is all over Savannah, GA., the verdant and historic city where he was born. Any place live music is performed, Mercer's material seeps out at listeners.

Sunny and sultry weather blend with hot music for Newport Jazz Festival's 2018 finale

The scheduling gods complicated my 38th annual visit to the Newport Jazz Festival and/or Newport Folk Festival. It meant I was only able to attend on Sunday, August 5, covering the jazz event for JazzTimes. 

They came by land and sea

But the schedule turned out to be fortuitous. Saturday's monsoon-like intense rain and resulting mudfest (yes, the music went on), gave way to a humid day with brilliant sunshine and a wide range of hot music.

Favorite acts, caught during and after photo-pit dashes between the three outdoor stages and the club-like indoor Storyville venue, included several all-woman bands, some contemporary advances on the bebop tradition, and two fine singers: festival veteran Gregory Porter and newcomer Jazzmeia Horn.

Of particular note: 

Music for troubled times

There is a grand tradition of jazz being a social commentary music when needed. Consider the Louis Armstrong-Dave and Iola Brubeck-Carmen McRae and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross collaboration on the "The Real Ambassadors project in 1961. Or "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite" with the drummer's then-wife Abbey Lincoln.

Dave Brubeck

Susan Brink

Over the years, there have been quite a few more. Fellow Jazz Journalists Association member and broadcaster Susan Brink put together a keen playlist for her Jazz Sanctuary program that aired last night, Monday, July 16, on WOOC 105.3 FM in Troy NY, where she is jazz music director.

Susan came up with some gems, before noting that she "wasn't sure what goes well with treason" - in the aftermath of the Helsinki "summit." I particularly liked the inclusion of the Dred Scott Trio's "This Ain't No Russian Novel, Baby" and Betty Carter's "Please Do Something." 

Here's a link to her July 16 program.

Check it out, and think hard about the list. Doubtless, it may trigger some other choices of your own given the state of affairs today.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a look at new CDs by Mica Bethea, Alexis Cole & One For All, Fernando García, Jeff Hamilton, Ken Peplowski and Akira Tana…

2018's Newport Jazz Festival juggle nears

The 2018 edition of the Newport Jazz Festival's three-day music marathon has quite the lineup in store at Fort Adams State Park August 3-5  With all sizes of ensembles and a range of mostly jazz styles, the event offers more than 60 musical groups on its four stages.

Charles Lloyd

Tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd turned 80 in March - and that significant birthday celebration will continue at Newport, where he will be featured with a different group each day. On Friday, he appears with his Sangam trio with tabla player Zakir Hussain and drummer Eric Harland. Saturday features Lloyd's New Quartet with pianist Jason Moran, bassist Ruben Rogers and Harland. Lloyd wraps up the birthday fete on Sunday with his Americana-styled band with singer Lucinda Williams, guitarists Marvin Sewall and Stuart Mathis, Moran, Rogers and Harland.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a look at new CDs by Benjamin Boone & Philip Levine, Roxy Coss, E.J. Decker, Thomas Fonnesbæk & Justin Kauflin, the Benito Gonzalez-Gerry Gibbs-Essiet Okon Essiet trio, and Dave Tull…

Solo piano artistry - and then some

Pianist Bobby van Deusen is a master of the keyboard, blessed with an astonishing musical range in terms of genres, sound dynamics and sheer artistry. And those elements were all on display on Friday, April 20 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice.

The Philadelphia native, now based in the Florida Panhandle, is best known for his work in the ragtime, stride and Dixieland genres. But his reach goes much deeper and wider.

Celebrating the gypsy jazz legacy

Keven Aland

Violinist Keven Aland's Hot Club of SRQ brought its fascinating update of the gypsy jazz tradition to the Venice Art Center on Thursday, April 12, in a concert co-produced by the South County Jazz Club.

Jim Snyder

The program built on the Hot Club of France tradition, drawing much material from gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and his disciples. Reinhardt co-led the Hot Club of France Quintet with French violinist Stephane Grappelli, starting in 1934.

For this performance, the Hot Club of SRQ was also a quintet, with Aland, guitarists Nikola Baltic and Jon McLaughlin, bassist Glenn Stephenson and clarinetist Jim Snyder. On every tune, Baltic and McLaughlin shifted with ease between melodic solos and rhythm guitar duties.

Superb music and whimsy combine for a memorable CCJS season finale

Herb Bruce

Trombonist Herb Bruce's repeat visit to the Charlotte County Jazz Society's concert series with his Herbicide Jazz Band was a night of uncontrolled exuberance. Sometimes it was in the music. More often, it was the self-deprecating humor of Bruce and his merry music makers on Monday, April 9's Dixieland Jazz Night.

Herbicide presented excellent music - not always in the traditional Dixieland style. There were some crowd-pleasing vintage set pieces, some new things - including a new face in the area, something borrowed and something blue(s). And it all worked seamlessly.

Honoring and updating a classic saxophone sound and spirit

Harry Allen

Bandleader Woody Herman's Second Herd in the late 1940s featured a stunning saxophone section known as the Four Brothers. It featured tenormen Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward, plus baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff. The sound was swinging and vibrant as the four players dug into crisp unison lines and took turns passing solos to one another much like relay runners hand off the baton.

Seventy years after the Four Brothers made their mark on big band jazz, Harry Allen is having great fun keeping the format and its spirit alive. In October 2016, he recorded a Four-Brothers-style project, The Candymen (Arbors) with his All Star New York Saxophone Band. Allen made the recording with tenorists Eric Alexander and Grant Stewart and baritone player Gary Smulyan. 

Richard Drexler

Allen brought that sound and energy to Hillsborough Community College's Ybor City campus on Sunday, April 7 for a Tampa Jazz Club concert billed as The Four Others. It teamed Allen with fellow tenorists Lew Del Gatto and Jeff Rupert, as well as baritone saxophonist Saul Dautch. Pianist Richard Drexler, bassist Don Mopsick and drummer Eddie Metz Jr. were the afternoon's ace rhythm section.

The future of jazz is in good hands

Brett Williams, Brandon Goldberg

Miami-area pianist Brandon Goldberg has soaked up jazz like a sponge takes on water. And he’s been doing so for more than half of his 12 years. He’s a normal kid, polite, poised and eager to learn at every opportunity. Those traits serve him well. That he found his way to jazz – and loves it – is something quite remarkable given the wide variety of musical genres bombarding his peer group.

A sultry celebration of Jobim, mostly

Nate Najar

The Bossa Nova All Stars put their stamp on the sultry sound of Brazil's most popular musical export on Saturday, March 31 in Venice FL, where they focused almost entirely on the extensive songbook of composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Jobim was one of the pioneers of bossa nova, a late 1950s fusion of the Brazilian samba and jazz. His contributions to the art form were mighty and are best known. The focus wasn't really surprising, considering that the singer featured in this program, Brazilian native Maucha Adnet, worked with Jobim for the final decade of his career. The band assembled by guitarist Nate Najar also included tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, vibes player Chuck Redd, bassist Tommy Cecil, and drummer Matt Home.

Warren Wolf brings great vibes to Naples

Warren Wolf

Vibes player Warren Wolf was the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra's special guest on Wednesday, March 28 in the sextet's 2017-18 concert series at Artis-Naples' Daniels Pavilion. His performance was an artful showcase of his instrument's wide range of shimmering possibilities - given the right hands and musical approach. The mallets were indeed in the right hands this fine night.

Wolf is blessed with a fertile musical mind and a mesmerizing technique. Indeed, he imbued each solo with something fresh and personal. The material included one original - "Soul Sister," which was so funky it sounded like something from Horace Silver, a wide range of classic bebop tunes, a bit of bossa nova and couple of classics from the Great American Songbook.

Steve Allee's compositions - and playing - in the spotlight

Steve Allee

Pianist Steve Allee is a musical quadruple threat - as a player, arranger, composer and educator. All four of those roles were on display on Monday, March 26 when he was the featured artist at the University of South Florida in Tampa. 

The Indianapolis native, now an assistant professor of music at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, held a master class for jazz students at USF, then performed Monday night with the excellent USF Jazz Ensemble I, a big band directed by Chuck Owen, and a Faculty Jazz Ensemble.

A magical afternoon of jazz

Alexis Cole

Singer Alexis Cole wound up a three-stop Florida mini-tour on Sunday, March 25, treating the Firehouse Cultural Center audience in Ruskin to a rather unusual source of material for a jazz band. Quite simply, it was all about what she called "The Magic of Disney Love Songs."


She mined the Disney songbooks extensively to find these heart-felt ballads from Disney-produced films, including Aladdin, The Aristocats, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Great Mouse Detective, Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, Pete's Dragon, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Pocahantas, Robin Hood, Snow White, and even The Parent Trap.

A great day in Venice

Morrie Trumble

Nearly seven years ago, former broadcaster Morrie Trumble was asked to start a jazz club in Venice for music fans who loved mainstream swing and a bit of bebop. It started small with scattered concerts and regular jam sessions. Before long, the South County Jazz Club, set up to serve the southern end of Sarasota County, was serving up helpings of jazz with season-long series of concerts generally running from October through April.

Trumble, who has been president and major domo of the organization all these years, is stepping back a bit to serve strictly as artistic director. Others on the Board of Directors and volunteers, are picking up the day-to-day administrative details.

On Thursday, March 22, people jammed into the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice for a matinee jam session to honor - and thank - Trumble for his herculean efforts over the years, including some headaches he never wanted.

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.

Honoring Buddy, Rosie and many more

David Pruyn

Buddy Rich and Rosemary Clooney were top of mind when trumpeter-singer David Pruyn brought his Jazz Legacy Big Band back to Port Charlotte on Monday, March 12. Both received multi-song tributes in this artful program. The evening also highlighted the music of other big-band leaders, composers and arrangers - some well known, some deserving of far more recognition. 
 
Pruyn drafted an A-team of Florida jazz musicians for this Charlotte County Jazz Society concert, with drummer Eddie Metz Jr. powering the band. Area newcomer Roy Gerson, a nationally known jazz pianist who moved to Naples seven months ago, and bassist Charlie Silva completed the rhythm section. The leader's wife, the talented singer Michele James-Pruyn, spiced up the evening with a half-dozen tunes, five of them from the Clooney hit parade. 

A tasty and filling jazz smorgasbord

The Sarasota Jazz Festival took on a jazz party flavor at its 38th annual event, March 8-10, which, under this year's "A World of Jazz" theme, featured 15 musicians from seven countries. 

Its four major concerts blended festival first-timers and familiar faces in a format that  changed combinations of on-stage musicians frequently in creative ways. In his first year as the festival's new music director, reedman Ken Peplowski kept things vibrant and at times surprising - and joined in as a player several times per show. He also used his self-deprecating sense of humor to great effect.

Jazz with an unrivaled intimacy

Michael Ross

There is nothing quite like the intimacy and congeniality at a jazz house party. That was clear on Thursday, March 1, when bassist Michael Ross and his wife, Amanda, welcomed about 40 friends and jazz lovers into their Sarasota FL home for an evening of music.

Fred Johnson

The band for the one-hour-plus set of music included Ross, singer-percussionist Fred Johnson and reed player Danny Jordan, who performed on tenor sax and several flutes.

This was like having jazz in your living room - except for the fact that it was held outside on Ross's lush garden patio as the full moon rose in the distance.

St. Petersburg-based Johnson's deft fingers added colors and accents with his cajon, a box-shaped wooden percussion instrument on which he
sat, but his vocal creativity carried the night. 

An artful blending of two musical genres

Jazz and classical music rarely intersect. But they make interesting bedfellows when brought together by two musicians who are well at ease in both fields.

Dick Hyman and Ken Peplowski

Such was the case on Saturday, February 24 when pianist Dick Hyman and reed player Ken Peplowski joined forces with a  47-member orchestra conducted by Yakov Bergman. The "Symphony of Broadway" program at the Venice (FL) Performing Arts Center featured a wide variety of band formats..

Hyman, who turns 91 on March 8, has been a prolific pianist, organist, composer, arranger, bandleader, composer of film scores and orchestral works in his long and distinguished career. He was honored last April as a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master.

Peplowski, best known as a proponent of swinging mainstream jazz, also delves into the classical world on occasion, and has been a frequent collaborator with Hyman for many years in many contexts.