Digging into the boisterous side of the tenor sax

Bokulic, Duffy

Saxophonist Paul Duffy has been influenced mightily by the "Texas tenor" style of saxophone - the brawny, honking, at-times boisterous R&B-tinged sound made famous by Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate, David "Fathead" Newman and King Curtis. That's quite a stretch for a versatile musician who grew up - and developed his passion for jazz - in Dublin, Ireland.

That sound was on fine display on Friday, December 7, in the South County Jazz Club's matinee concert series in Venice FL. Duffy's quartet featured the leader on tenor and alto saxes, trumpet and vocals, Matt Bokulic on piano, Patrick Bettison on bass and Johnny Moore on drums. With range and soulfulness, Duffy's singing was also a strength throughout the program.

The afternoon's material hopscotched through the Great American Songbook and the jazz canon to The Beatles and Hoagy Carmichael.

Moore

Given the holiday season at hand, Duffy's instrumental opener on Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" included fleeting references to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and later in his solo, to "Jingle Bells." 

Bokulic quickly got into the spirit in another way. On "They Can't Take That Away From Me," the pianist seamlessly dropped in a line from "How are Things in Glocca Mora?" from the 1947 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow.

Favorite moments:

• The band's take on Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia" brought to the fore the depth and passion in Duffy's tenor sax style.

  

  Duffy on "Cantaloupe Island"

• Duffy switched back and forth between the tenor and his trumpet,on Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island,"  often starting a musical phrase with one and ending with the other.

  

  Bettison

• Bettison was featured beautifully on jazz harmonica on "The Days of Wine and Roses."
• Duffy dig out his alto sax for a novel treatment of Hancock's "Watermelon Man," which was a mega-hit for Mongo Santamaria. Duffy riffed the melody on alto and tenor sax simultaneously but shifted back to tenor for his solos. It was well done, as in this case, done sparingly. You wouldn't want to hear a full afternoon if it.

  

  "Watermelon Man"

• The quartet's version of Wayne Shorter's jazz chestnut "Footprints" was a tour de force, reflecting just how locked in the four players were on this gig.

The afternoon at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice closed with the band's swinging take on "Danny Boy." Not a surprise given Duffy's roots. What many may find surprising is that he only learned traditional Irish music after he moved here in the early 1980s and opened a Sarasota bar called the Irish Rover.

Matt Bokulic, Patrick Bettison, Paul Duffy, Johnny Moore

Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

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

Keyboard artistry on parade

You'd have to look far and wide to find anyone matching Bobby van Deusen's talents at the piano. He's a master of a wide range of jazz styles, possesses fine classical chops and astonishing technique.

Bobby van Deusen

All of that - and then some - was on display Friday, November 23 at the South County Jazz Club's matinee season concert opener in Venice FL. 

Pensacola-based van Deusen, a former member of the Barbary Coast Dixieland Band  who also paid his dues backing trumpeter Al Hirt in New Orleans, can dig into the styles of many piano greats. But even when he mines those distinctive sounds, he quickly adds a special something that makes the tune his own for the moment.

A two-phase classic jazz journey

Trombonist Bill Allred and his Classic Jazz Band brought their Charlotte County Jazz Society audience on a musical journey, on Monday, November 12, that explored music rooted in New Orleans, moved up the Mississippi River, and then over the highways to dig into the big band phenomenon that took the country by storm starting in the 1930s.



Bill Allred

Terry Myers

In its fourth visit to the CCJS concert series, Allred's band included reed player Terry Myers, trumpeters Charlie Bertini and Randy Sandke and trombonist Corey Paul, pianist Randy Morris, bassist Jay Mueller and drummer Eddie Metz Jr. It was the Port Charlotte debut for Paul and Sandke. Long a fixture on the New York mainstream jazz scene, Sandke recently moved to Venice.

Honoring Art Blakey's multi-faceted jazz legacy

Dan Miller, Lew Del Gatto

Drummer Art Blakey had a profound impact on jazz that has stretched from the 1940s, through bebop's 1950s and '60s heyday, right up to the present. The music associated with his Jazz Messengers band and his legacy as a bandleader were celebrated by the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quintet on Sunday, November 11, in Naples FL.

And what a grand legacy it is. Blakey, who passed away in 1990, was without a doubt the finest molder of other future bandleaders who passed through his band. And there were scores of them. Benny Golson, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Johnny Griffin, Chuck Mangione, James Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, and on and on and on.

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.