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Tribute
to Marjean
By Don Henke
(Photography by Ron Gable) |
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On
Tuesday, September 26, there was a benefit at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in
Cincinnati to help defray expenses for the funeral of the late owner,
Marjean Wisby. Many Cincinnati musicians came and played to honor the memory
of “the patron saint of Cincinnati jazz.” |
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The Blue
Wisp Big Band opened the proceedings with “Wailin’ at the Woodshed”, written
for the Woody Herman band. Pianist Steve Schmidt and alto saxophonist Mike
Andres soloed on this one. It was followed by Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird
Suite”, which featured solos by tenor saxophonist Herb Aronoff and
trombonist Marc Fields. Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream” has been in the
band’s book for over 25 years. Soloists on this one were Schmidt, tenor
saxophonist Joe Gaudio and trumpeter Al Nori. It’s interesting to note that
many of the musicians, including the last three named, have been in the band
since the beginning. “Beautiful Love” was a feature for trumpeter John
Zappa. Al Nori then soloed on flugelhorn on Bobby Shew’s “Can’t Stop the
Crying”. |
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The
band doesn’t usually have a singer, but for this special occasion they
invited Mary Ellen Tanner up to warble a few. She pleaded a mild case
of laryngitis but you could only tell when she talked. It certainly
didn’t hamper her full-throated singing. She did “Broadway,” with solos
by Schmidt and Aronoff; “September Song”, with a solo by baritone
saxophonist Larry Dickson; and “Day In, Day Out”. Aronoff supplied the
solo on the latter tune. The band then played Leonard Feather’s “I
Remember Bird”, with a beautiful solo by Andres, and Phil DeGreg’s
“Urgency”, which featured Nori on flugelhorn. |
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After
a slight break to tear down the band’s equipment, DeGreg moved into the
piano chair with his regular weekend cohorts – bassist Bob Bodley
and drummer Art Gore. Trumpeter Hank Mountner and alto saxophonist Hal
Melia joined the trio for Duke Ellington’s “ It Don’t Mean a Thing (if
it Ain’t Got That Swing” and the Latin-tinged “I’ll Remember April”. The
horn players then sat down as the great Judy James came up to sing
“Alone Together”, “Midnight Sun”, “The Man I Love” and “Willow Weep For
Me.” |
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Steve
Schmidt then reclaimed his seat at the piano with bassist Jim Anderson,
guitarist Wilbert Longmire and Art Gore still behind the drums. They played
“Parking Lot Blues”, “Misty” and Kenny Barron’s “Voyage”. |
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Another shift found Lee Stolar at the piano
with bassist Lou Lausche and drummer Dan Dorff. Katie Laur joined them to
sing “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Them There Eyes”. The trio then played Dave
Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way.” They called Longmire back up to play
“Star Eyes” and then tenor saxophonist Brent Gallaher to play Kurt Weill’s
“Speak Low”.
It was great to see upwards of thirty musicians coming together for a
great cause. According to Phil DeGreg it went a long way toward clearing
Marjean’s bills and paying the rent. The club is going to stay open for the
foreseeable future, but it would help if many of the folks who were there
that night keep coming back, along with others. A jazz club can’t survive
without customers. |
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(Go to the Blue Wisp website here!) |
