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.

More moments to savor from The Jazz Cruise's 2018 edition

From late morning to early the next morning, the music was varied - and a constant - on the 2018 edition of The Jazz Cruise, aboard the M/S Celebrity Summit on its February 3-10 sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.

It's Mardi Gras time

Here are more musical moments, captured visually. The cruise, for the first time, made a 27-hoour stop in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. This year, the Crescent City is celebrating its 300th birthday.

Christof Luty

James Morrison and Eric Marienthal

David Alvarez III

Bobby Floyd, Wycliffe Gordon

Emmet Cohen, Veronica Swift

Troy Roberts, Joey DeFrancesco

Emmet Cohen

Lewis Nash

The Clayton Brothers, Jeff and John

Ameen Saleem

The Jeff Hamilton Trio with Tamir Hendelman & Christof Luty

Graham Dechter, Ernie Adams, Gary Smulyan

Trio Da Paz

Emmet Cohen, Veronica Swift, Ann Hampton Callaway

Renee Rosnes

Musical Director Shelly Berg

Benny Green

John Pizzarelli, Ken Peplowski

Shelly Berg, David Finck

Konrad Paszkudzki, Nicki Parrott

Rickey Woodard, Martin Wind, Graham Dechter up close

Joe LaBarbera, Jeff Hamilton & Ernie Adams honoring Lewis Nash

The Rendezvous Lounge often was standing room only, including Benny Green's performances

The Cookers

Veronica Swift's jazz DNA serves her well

The Charlotte County Jazz Society got to catch a rising star on Monday, February 12, and she made a mighty impression.

Fresh off a week-long series of performances aboard The Jazz Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, singer Veronica Swift quickly showed she's the real deal in a concert with tenor saxophonist Jeff Rupert's very fine quartet. The band included pianist Richard Drexler, bassist Ben Kramer and Marty Morell, who was late pianist Bill Evans' longest-serving drummer. (Rupert, Drexler and Morell are on the University of Central Florida jazz faculty.)

Swift

Swift, the 23-year-old daughter of late bebop pianist Hod O'Brien and singer Stephanie Nakasian, has a swinging presence. It is backed  by her abilities to explore a wide range of tunes, write and deliver vocalese (lyrics written to classic jazz solos), scat tastefully and emulate instrumental sounds that often make her one more horn player in the band.

Rupert

She is making a rapid rise on the national jazz scene on the heels of her second-place performance in the 2015 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and her December 2016 graduation from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. She's now based in New York City, gigs regularly in Manhattan and tours with trumpeter Chris Botti.

On this evening, Swift and the quartet explored a half-dozen tunes from their 2017 CD, Let's Sail Away, plus a few other gems with their high-energy, bop-infused swing.

The Jazz Cruise featured many musical treats - and a tricentenary visit

The 2018 edition of The Jazz Cruise was a seven-day floating music marathon. Most days, the music ping-ponged through as many as six large and more intimate venues, and stretched from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. It is not for the musically faint of heart.

This was my 10th jazz-related cruise, but my first aboard The Jazz Cruise, which has been an annual event since 2001. My previous jazz-related voyage was aboard the QE2, which included a Newport Jazz Festival stopover during its 1996 sailing.

Kurt Elling, John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Tom Kennedy

There were many treats this time out aboard the M/S Celebrity Summit for its roughly 2,000 passengers and about 100 performing musicians. Michael Lazaroff's St. Louis-based Entertainment Cruise Productions directs all shipboard music for these cruises, which means it was 100% jazz - with none of the ship-provided entertainment and shows associated with most cruises.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a look at new CDs by Eric Alexander, George Cotsirilos, Roberto Magris, David K. Mathews, Hristo Vitchev, and the trio Hart, Scone & Albin…..

California-based jazz singer builds his fan base one gig at a time

Kenny Washington

Jazz singer Kenny Washington has it all, musically. The diminutive vocalist, based for more than two decades in Oakland, California, has range, fluidity and a natural sense of swing. He grew up singing gospel music as a child in New Orleans - and that music's passion fuels his soulful artistry.

His creativity - singing, scatting and even whistling - was on full display on Saturday, January 27 when he was the featured guest with the Dan Miller-Lew DelGatto quintet at the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers.The band includes Miller on trumpet, Del Gatto on tenor sax, Joe Delaney on piano, Don Mopsick on bass and Tony Vigilante on drums.

An all-star evening of exuberant swing

Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon headlined an evening of exuberant swing Wednesday night, January 24 at the Venice FL Performing Arts Center and their all-star band delivered the goods.

Gordon, Allen

The horn players were joined by the terrific rhythm section of Eddie Metz Jr. (drums), Nicki Parrott (bass and vocals) and Rosanno Sportiello (piano), plus special guest Stephanie Nakasian on vocals.

Gordon, Parrott, Allen

Gordon shifted with ease between trombone, gritty vocals and slide trumpet throughout the night in this, his first appearance at a concert by the South County Jazz Club, which co-produced the event with the Venice Institute for Performing Arts. 

Allen is a premiere ambassador of mainstream swing tenor sax. His finest moment was sharing a beautiful original ballad," Old Joe," which he later said was inspired by reading a short story. Allen has evolved into a fine composer as well as interpreter of jazz standards and Brazilian jazz.

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 March.

The global language of jazz

The 38th annual Sarasota Jazz Festival is fast approaching. This year's concerts are scheduled Thursday, March 8 through Saturday March 10 - with a matinee jam-style session scheduled on Saturday before the evening's finale.This year's event has an ambitious and interesting theme. It's called  A World of Jazz. The festival will present a wide array of domestic and global jazz talent, with many first-time performers on the bill. This is a good thing.

Celebrating Latin jazz with some clever twists

Pianist Joe Delaney spent most of his twenties living and working in the the U.S. Virgin Islands. During those eight years on St. Thomas back in the 1980s, he was also able to gig throughout the Caribbean and in South America, particularly Brazil. He soaked up the varied rhythms and flavors of Latin jazz.

Joe Delaney

While best known for playing straight-ahead swing and the twists and turns of bebop, we can credit those formative years in the Caribbean for the Massachusetts native's mastery of Latin jazz. That side of his musical palette was on vibrant display on Monday, January 8, in Port Charlotte, Florida, when Delaney performed with his Latin Caribbean All-Stars for the Charlotte County Jazz Society.

2017: The Year in Jazz

Allaboutjazz.com has published my look back at the past year in the jazz world at-large.In brief summation, 2017 was a year of great achievements, challenges to gender inequality, scandal and losses.

In wading through the many occurrences,  there was much to consider, enjoy and recall. Dig in as you wish - and take it a section or two at a time, if needed. 

This edition tops out at more than 8,000 words. Whew.

Have yourself a Merry - and jazzy - Christmas

Best wishes to you, your families and friends for a very Merry Christmas 2017, joyous New Year - and hopeful 2018 - from the Jazz Notes staff.  
A toast to you all as we share some vintage musical cheer from among our holiday favorites. Raise your glass, whatever your favorite libation!
The holiday season would not be complete without the delightful animated video of The Drifters’ doo-wopping their way through “White Christmas” with feeling. This animated cartoon by Joshua Held is excellent - and quite special.

CDs of Note – Short Takes

Taking a look at new CDs by Rahsaan Barber, Ernesto Cervini, Gary Meek, Marcus Monteiro, the Lewis Porter/Phil Scarff Group, Jeff Rupert with Veronica Swift, and San Francisco String Trio….

This edition empties the Jazz Notes review bin for 2017. These autumn arrivals caught my ear. 

T'is the season...

Guitarist Nate Najar loves the Christmas season. He brought his annual Jazz Holiday concert program to Sarasota FL on Friday, December 15, one night after the same sextet performed at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg.

Nate Najar

Najar was joined by John Lamb on bass, Mark Feinman on drums, James Suggs on trumpet, Jeff Rupert on tenor sax and special guest Chuck Redd on vibes.

Chuck Redd

Most of the concert featured instrumental holiday fare - done with a jazz twist, of course . They included "Mistletoe & Holly," "Winter Wonderland" and "Angels We Have Heard on High," among others.

Highlights included ex-Ellington bassist Lamb's feature on Duke's "Love You Madly," in which he played duo segments with each other band member, and Redd's vibes feature on the 1953 Eartha Kitt hit "Santa Baby."

A bebopper through and through

Greg Abate

Greg Abate got hooked on the 1950s hard-bop style that evolved from bebop, and he has made himself a career of bringing that intense sound to audiences across the U.S. and around the globe. Much like two other alto sax players with whom he has recorded, Richie Cole and the late Phil Woods, Abate developed into one of the genre's significant modern ambassadors.

He brought that sound to the Charlotte County Jazz Society's concert series in Port Charlotte FL on Monday, December 11, for a high-powered quartet performance. His Florida rhythm section included Richard Drexler on piano, Steve Gilmore on bass and Barry Smith on drums.

This was Rhode Island native Abate's fifth visit to Port Charlotte in nine concert seasons - and it was memorable for the way the band clicked throughout the night. Each player got significant solo space and made the most of it.

Looking back at 2017's best jazz recordings

‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists always have a lot of variation depending on the individual 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 Times, Jazz Journalists’ Association and NPR Music 2016 compilations (the latter is the annual Francis Davis-produced poll that previously was published by The Village Voice and Rhapsody.com).

As I begin preparing my review of significant events and trends in jazz in 2017 for posting on allaboutjazz.com, I thought I'd share my "best of 2017" lists. *Always keep in mind the above caveats.

The 10 best new jazz releases of 2017

1.   Jimmy Scott, I Go Back Home (Eden River)

2.   Hudson, Hudson (Motéma)

3.   Matt Wilson, Matt Wilson’s Honey and Salt (Palmetto)

4.   Jeff Rupert and Richard Drexler, Imagination (Rupe Media)

5.   Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Infinitude (Whirlwind)

6.   Benedikt Jahnel Trio, The Invariant (ECM)

7.   Yoko Miwa Trio, Pathways (Ocean Blue Tear Music)

8.   Joachim Kühn New Trio, Beauty & Truth (ACT)

9.   Gary Meek, Originals (self-produced)

10. University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I, The Romeo and Juliet Project (Artist Alliance)

   

2017’s best vocal recording:

Jimmy Scott, I Go Back Home (Eden River)

The best historical/reissues of 2017 (includes any recordings made over 10 years ago, whether newly released or reissued):
 

1.  Wes Montgomery / Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1966) (Resonance)

2.  Thelonious Monk, Les Liaisons Dangerouses 1960 (Sam/Saga)

3.  The Three Sounds featuring Gene Harris, Groovin’ Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-1968 (Resonance)

4.  Nat King Cole Trio, Swiss Radio Days Vol 43 – Zurich 1950 (TCB)

5.  Art Pepper, Art Pepper Presents West Coast Sessions! Vol. 3: Lee Konitz (Omnivore)

2017’s best Latin/Brazilian jazz recordings:

1.  Eliane Elias, Dance of Time (Concord Jazz)

2.  Ignacio Berroa, Straight Ahead from Havana (Codes Drum)

3.  Antonio Adolfo, Hybrido – From Rio to Wayne Shorter (AAM)

4.  Steve Khan, Backlog (Tone Center)

5.  Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Septet, Diablo en Brooklyn (Saponegro)

The 10 best new compositions from CDs released in 2017, listed alphabetically:   

• Ambrose Akinmusire, “Withered” from A Rift in Decorum (Blue Note)
• Lili Añel, “Another Place, Another Time” from Another Place, Another Time (Wall-I)
• Roxy Coss, “Free to Be” from Chasing the Unicorn (Posi-Tone)
• Jack DeJohnette, “Song for World Forgiveness“ from Hudson (Motéma)
• Akua Dixon, “Let’s Dance” from Akua’s Dance (Akua’s Music)
• Miles Donahue, “The Bug” from The Bug (Whaling City Sound)
• Art Hirahara, “Kin-Ka: Gold Coin” from Central Line (Posi-Tone)
• John Hollenbeck, “The Kiss” from University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I, The Romeo and Juliet Project (Artist Alliance)
• Benedikt Jahnel, “The Circuit” from The Invariant (ECM)
• Mike Longo, “Only Time Will Tell” from Mike Longo Trio, Only Time Will Tell (Consolidated Artists Productions)