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Editor Comments: |
Many
of us, from time to time, feel the need to discuss various aspects of
jazz, music and the world at large. After developing the habit of
reading much of the mail I receive relative to jazz I've decided our
website needs a place to post such items so we can all share in their
wisdom and/or the mirth.
Beware, the webmaster (that would be me) of this site enjoys many types of music; jazz
just happens to be the primary but some other things I like may show up
out of the blue. Also the items posted here may or may not be
something that I personally agree with but, for what ever reason, I felt
it was newsworthy. -- Ron Gable |
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Headlines: |
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Jim Woodford reports on Delfeayo Marsalis
at the Blue Wisp
(More Here)
Jazz report on Phoenix Arizona
by Teresa Hunt
(More Here)
Paul Desmond's Gig
Description.
(More Here)
It's Commonly Jazz is looking for additional sponsorship!
(More Here)
Report on Pat Harbison at
Wright State
on
February 28, 2009!
(More Here)
Doc Broadnax Is
Back - Report on the Redmoor on 01/08/2009!
(More Here)
Report on Poco Loco at the Jazzy Java Cafe - by Jim Woodford
on 1/16/2009!
(More Here)
"Jazz is apparently so popular at UD" - by Jim Woodford on
12/10/2008!
(More Here)
Greg Turner reports on the 2008 Chicago
Jazz Festival!
(More Here)
Rob Lowe moved to San Diego and is helping
kids develop their talents!
(More Here)
Greg Turner reports on the 2007 Chicago
Jazz Festival!
(More Here)
Jim Woodford reports on Brookshire at
Gilly's on Sept. 26, 2007
(More Here)
Jim Woodford reports on the jazz scene in
Tipp City on Sept. 22, 2007
(More Here)
Jim Woodford reports on the Funk Brothers
at the Fraze on Aug. 30, 2007
(More Here)
The Mario
Abney Quintet Was Recently Honored!
(More Here)
Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame
announce their 2007 inductees!
(More Here)
Report on Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame
Gala at the Crowne Plaza Hotel!
(More Here)
Report on Hall of Fame
Inductee Clay "The Cooker" Collins Celebration Party!
(More Here) |
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| Note To Our Readers: |
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Some things you can do to really help out, first be an
audience, second TELL YOUR FRIENDS and third write
something about what you see and send it to me. The more
that's written, the more that's read and more folks get involved.
- Ron Gable |
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"write
something about what you see and send it to me" |
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E-mail from Brian Powell:
mouthpieceguybrian@yahoo.com |
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How Many of You Are There in the Quartet?
by Paul Desmond
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Dawn. A station wagon pulls up to the
office of an obscure motel in New Jersey. Three men enter -
pasty-faced, grim-eyed, silent (for those are their names). Perfect
opening shot, before credits, for a really lousy bank-robbery movie?
Wrong. The Dave Brubeck Quartet, some years ago, starting our day's
work.
Today we have a contract (an offer we
should have refused) for two concerts at the Orange County State Fair
in Middletown. 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Brubeck likes to get to the job
early.
So we pull up behind this hay truck
around noon, finally locating the guy who had signed the contract.
Stout, red-necked, gruff and harried (from the old New Jersey law firm
of the same name), and clearly more comfortable judging cattle than
booking jazz groups, he peers into the station wagon, which contains
four musicians, bass, drums, and assorted baggage, and for the first and
only time in our seventeen years of wandering
around the world, we get this question: "Where's the piano?"
So, leaving Brubeck
to cope with the situation, we head into town for sandwiches and
browsing. Since the sandwiches take more time than the browsing, I pick
up a copy of the Middletown
Record and things
become a bit more clear. "Teenager's Day at the Orange County State
Fair", says the headline across the
two center pages (heavy move,
in that the paper only has four pages). Those poor folk, especially the
cattle-judge type (who has probably lumbered into heading the
entertainment committee), thought we were this red-hot teenage
attraction, which, Lord knows we've never been. Our basic audience
begins with creaking elderly types of twenty-three and above.
Nevertheless, here we are, splashed all over this ad,
along with the other attractions of the day- judo exhibition,
fire-fighting demonstration, Wild West show, and Animaloraa (which may
have been merely misspelled). And right at the top, first two columns
on the left, is the this picture of Brubeck's teeth and much of his
face, along with the following text, which I'm paraphrasing only
slightly. "Hear the music teenagers everywhere thrill to", it began.
"Hear the music that rocked NewportRhode
Island (an unfortunate
reference in that only a few weeks earlier the Newport Jazz Festival had
undergone its first riot). "Hear Dave Brubeck sing and play his famous
hits, including 'Jazz Goes to College', 'Jazz in Europe',
and 'Tangerine'.
So, now realizing - in Brubeck's piquant ranch phrase -
which way the hole slopes, we head back to the fairgrounds where the
scene is roughly as follows: there is a smallish, almost
transistorized, oval race track. (I'm not exactly sure how long a
furlong is, but it seems not too many of them are actually present.) On
one side of the oval is the grandstand, built to accommodate 2,000 or
so, occupied at the moment by eight or nine elderly folk who clearly
paid their money to sit in the shade and fan themselves, as opposed to
any burning desire to hear the music their teenage grandchildren
everywhere thrill to.
Directly across the
track from them is our bandstand - a wooden platform, about ten feet
high and immense. Evidently no piano has been located in Orange County,
since the only props on stage are a vintage electric organ and one mike.
Behind us is a fair-sized tent containing about two hundred people, in
which a horse show for young teenagers is currently in progress -
scheduled, we soon discover, to continue throughout our concert. This
is hazardous mainly because their sound system is vastly superior to
ours.
So we begin our desperation opener, "St. Louis Blues."
Brubeck, who has never spent more than ten minutes of his life at an
electric organ, much less the one he is now at, is producing sounds like
an early Atwater-Kent Synthesizer. (Later he makes a few major
breakthroughs, like locating the volume control pedal and figuring out
how to wiggle his right hand, achieving a tremolo effect similar to
Jimmy Smith with a terminal hangover, but doesn't help much.) Eugene
Wright, our noble bass player, and me take turns schlepping the mike
back and forth between us and playing grouchy, doomed choruses, but the
only sound we can hear comes from our friendly neighborhood horse show.
"LOPE," it roars. "CANTER...TROT...AND THE WINNER IN THE
TWELVE-YEAR OLD CLASS IS...JACQUELINE HIGGS!"
As always in difficult situations such
as these, we turn to our main man, primo virtuoso of the group, the
Maria Callas of the drums, Joe Morello, who has rescued us from disaster
from Grand Forks to Rajkot, India.
"You got it," we said, "stretch out," which ordinarily
is like issuing an air travel card to a hijacker. And, to his external
credit, Morello outdoes himself. All cymbals sizzling, all feet working.
(Morello has several. Not many people know this.) Now he's into triplets
around the tom-toms, which has shifted foundations from the Odeon
Hammersmith to Free Trade Hall and turned Buddy Rich greener than usual
with envy.
The horse show is suddenly silent. Fanning in the
stands has subsided slightly.
Suddenly a figure emerges from the horse tent, hurtles
to the side of the stage, and yells at Brubeck, "For Chrissakes, could
you tell the drummer not to play so loud? He's terrifying the horses."
Never a group to accept defeat gracelessly, we play a
sort of Muzak for a suitable period and split.
When we return at eight, all is different. A piano has
been found, the stands are packed with our geriatric following of
twenty-five and above, and we play a fairly respectable concert.
Even so, we're upstaged by the grand finale of the fair
- the fire-fighting demonstration. A group of local residents has been
bandaged and made up to appear as if they've just leapt from the
Hindenburg and their last rites are imminent. But instead of remaining
discreetly behind the scenes until their big moment, they mingle
casually with friends and neighbors in the audience during the evening,
sipping beer, munching popcorn, casting an eerie, Fellini-like quality
over the gathering, and considerably diminishing the impact of their
ultimate appearance.
After their pageant come the main events of the fair,
which have clearly been planned for months: a flaming auto wreck,
followed by a flaming plane wreck, each to be dealt with instantly and
efficiently by the Middletown Fire Dept. At one end of the oval is a
precariously balanced car; a the other end, a truly impressive skeletal
mock-up of a single-engine plane, tail up. Midway, at ground zero, is
the Middletown Fire Truck, bristling with ladders and hoses and
overflowing volunteers.
A hush falls over the stands. At a signal given by the
fire chief, the car is ignited. The truck reaches it in two or three
seconds, by which time the fire is roughly equivalent to that created by
dropping a cigarette on the backseat for two or three seconds. It is
extinguished by many men with several hoses.
A murmur falls over the stands. The fire chief,
painfully aware that his moment of the year is at hand, signals for the
plane to be ignited, also instructing the truck to take it easy, so that
the fire should be blazing briskly when it arrives. The truck starts, at
about the pace of a cab looking for a fare. The plane goes WHOOSH!, like
a flashbulb, and by the time the leisurely truck arrives, has shrunk to
a lovely camp-fire, just large enough for roasting marshmallows.
Later, four pasty-faced, grim-eyed men pile into a
station wagon and drive away. It may not be bank robbery, but it's a
living.
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E-mail from E-mail from Laura
Gentry: lgentry266@aol.com |
Ron,
Hope you're doing well. Like all things in these
current times, It's Commonly Jazz is looking for additional sponsorship.
Attached is a letter we're sending out to individuals and businesses to
solicit additional support. Would greatly appreciate if you could send
this out, or put on your newsletter. - Laura Gentry |
I am requesting the
consideration of businesses and individuals to become supporters or
sponsors of the 24th year of Cincinnati’s oldest and most celebrated free
summer jazz concert series - It's Commonly Jazz. Your support as well as
sharing this information with possible supporters is appreciated.
We are kicking off the 24th year in the newly renovated
setting at Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park. Our theme this year is It's
Commonly Jazz is "Staying Green". We plan to continue to use
environmentally sensitive promotional collateral. This year our music
artists have been selected with an environmentally sensitive approach. We
are using local musicians and a national musician whose instrument is a
Steel Drum. We will use Stay Green approaches to travel by encouraging
folks to Park and Ride the Metro to the concerts and wearing vintage
t-shirts from the past 24 years. The intermission will have an Ahh -
moment that will address living with an attitude of Abundance Health and
Harmony.
We have
two levels of Support / Sponsorship:
Level 1
Staying Green Sponsorship is $1500.00*
As a 2009 Staying Green sponsor for the four It’s
Commonly Jazz concerts that takes place every Thursday in August of 2009
from 6-8pm at Seasongood Pavilion on Eden Park Drive in Cincinnati,
Carolyn Wallace, promoter for It’s Commonly Jazz, agrees to include your
company logo on the following items and advertisement:
All printed advertisement
in Enquirer, City Beat, and Cincinnati Herald valued at $16,000.00
Website
www.itscommonlyjazz.com (which can be linked to your website if desired)
5 on site Banners
5,000 Go Green!
Promotional Cards to be placed in Fifth Third Bank Branches, stores and
restaurants throughout the city
300 Bandannas
75 t-shirts
3,000 hand held fans
Event location/presence …
Opportunities to greet the crowd from the stage each week, an on site
banner at stage, and a promotional table to distribute literature /
product about the company. Attendance to a private kick off party for
sponsors and their guest to proclaim the month of August as It's Commonly
Jazz Month.
Level 2
Being Green Supporter is $100.00* plus a give away prize
As a Being Green supporter, your company or your
personal name with a phone number, email or website address would be
listed on our "Being Green" hand out which will be distribute at each
concert. During the intermission we will play a game that will ask the
crowd to answer questions about ways to be sustainable in their work place
and in their personal lives. Before they answer the question they will
have to name 4 Being Green supporters from the list. A prize will be given
for correct as well as innovative answers.
These two levels give you a choice in how you could
keep this event going. I thank you for your time and consideration to help
maintain this free, family friendly community event at a time where so
many things are being dropped. Please contact me with any questions and
hopefully your favorable response.
*Payment for sponsorship would be made payable to The
Perfect Brew/ Promoter for It's Commonly Jazz by June 6, 2009 at 1135
Clearbrook Drive Cincinnati, OH 45229. Please direct any questions to
Carolyn Wallace at 513-242-6617 or 513-604-4230. |
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E-mail from Jim Woodford:
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com
(Dateline 02/28/2009) |
Hey Ron,
How about another report from the field? Saturday
night, 2-28-09, I made the time to get out to Wright State University to
hear trumpet player Pat Harbison. I heard him one time before out at
Central State on a night that Jim Smith played many of his originals. He
was memorable that night so figured it was worth hearing him again. It
was. There were other jazz aficionados in the audience as well, Todd Couch
of DJO - his son plays trombone in the WSU ensemble (and played several
solos with the ensemble) - Patrick Slaughter, a.k.a. Little Pops - brother
of Clarence Slaughter [one day they will speak of Patrick without
mentioning that he is the brother of Clarence] and Warren Saxon, a Jazz
Central Jazz Jam regular participant.
The big surprise of the night for me was that Harbison
started off playing with a trio backing him up and the even bigger and
incredibly pleasant surprise was that the trio consisted of jazz guitar
player Cameron Voorhees, drummer Jim Rupp from Columbus and Vinnie on the
skinny [Vinnie Marshal on the "stick" bass]. These guys were worth the
price of admission. They started off with It Could Happen to You.
Then Harbison told a story about the first song ever written by Lima, Ohio
native Saxophone Joe Henderson, Recorda Me- the band made this
sound as if they had played it many times before. Harbison then told the
story of Bloomington, Indiana native Hoagy Carmichael and then proceeded
to play The Nearness of You - Cameron Voorhees played a beautiful,
emotionally moving solo that had the crowd spellbound. Then the group
really swung on the next one, Bags Groove, Harbison had the crowd
tapping their feet, snapping their fingers from almost the very first note
and Vinnie on the Skinny responded with a fitting solo. They ended their
portion of the show by inviting up WSU Director Ryan Tarjanyi and the two
played a duet on Have You Met Miss Jones (a song that I have heard
WAY too many times but thankfully except for the intro and going back to
the head at the end, the song was unrecognizable - and I say this in a
good way). The song was played very up-tempo and the trumpet duet kept
things interesting throughout.
The WSU Jazz Ensemble kicked off the second half of the
night with a Gordon Goodwin tune entitled Count Bubba. They
followed this up with a tune I had never heard performed big band style
before, Anthropology. A tenor saxophone player from the Air Force
Band stepped in at the last minute to help out the band, Grant Koeller
(who played the part of Charlie Parker while Harbison played the part of
Dizzy Gillespie). The song was very well done. In my own personal opinion,
the song on which guest artist Pat Harbison got to display his Arturo
Sandoval type range and musicianship on the trumpet was the next tune,
What's New. Harbison was magnificent throughout this piece. He then
told the story of a good friend of his, Steve Allee, who wrote a big band
tune entitled Bus to Belmopan (the capitol of Belize) attempting to
capture the whole bizarre adventure. All I can say is what a challenging
and expressive big band piece. Harbison started off on flugelhorn,
switched to trumpet and then cornet to achieve the effects needed. He
played cornet entirely on the next big band piece, Naima, one of my
favorite tunes by John Coltrane and done very well by pianist Cedar
Walton. The night ended with the Charles Mingus tune, Haitian Fight
Song, also very well done. It was in this song that a saxophone
player, who had been highly energetic all night long, got his big solo on
soprano saxophone, Alex Mohr. Well deserved and well done. A couple of
other comments are in order. I sat in the absolute perfect position to
never see the drummer all night long in the ensemble, no matter which way
I leaned and this was a big band drummer who was not timid or tentative on
the drums, as young big band drummers sometimes are - come to find out it
was a female drummer, Theresa Snider. Way to go! I never did
find out who was playing the congas all night long but the conga work
really added to the performances throughout. A very enjoyable experience.
Hats off to the WSU jazz program!
p.s. one final word on Grant Koeller, he was called one day before the
concert to help out, they "painted an overall picture" of the music for
him and then he came in and read the heck out of the music during practice
Friday and then put forth a stellar performance Saturday night, really
stepping up on his solos - an amazing performance. |
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E-mail from Jim
Woodford:
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com (Dateline: 01/16/2009) |
Made my
maiden visit to Jazzy Java Cafe in the Oregon District last night, thanks
to some friends of ours who invited us out and got to hear a couple of
jazz mavens I haven't heard in quite some time. The group is called
Poco Loco [you may have seen the 1-11-09 Dayton Daily News write up] but I
had no idea that G. Scott Jones (trombonist extraordinaire) and Brian Hogg
(who disappeared to Africa at one point) were playing with the group.
Either are worth going to see on their own, together it was pretty
electric and then Latin jazz beats as well, very exciting. While we
were only able to stay for the first set, they played Equinox (a John
Coltrane composition), Billy Mumbo, a rousing Latin rhythm tune, Bernie's
Tune (a well known version performed by Jerry Mulligan & Chet Baker) plus
one of my favorite jazz tunes and they also played a crowd pleasing
version of Watermelon Man [Herbie Hancock]. They also included
an exciting Tito Puente tune, the name of which I did not catch but which
drove the crowd crazy. All-in-all it was a very energizing set.
Brian Hogg knows his way around a tenor sax [played some soprano sax as
well] and can really belt out the tunes and G. Scott Jones was matching
him note for note. All band members kept the crowd deep into the music
with various solos and quotes from lots of other standard jazz tunes
throughout but Liz Wu [the focus of the DDN article] was a crowd favorite
on the vibes. An evening to remember. I will also add that Pamela
Williams was a gracious host even though the club reached capacity and
potential patrons had to be turned away at the door. Quite an
evening. Poco Loco can be checked out at:
http://www.pocolocomusica.com/
and you can find Brian Hogg at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=121958451. |
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Editor's Note: (Dateline: 01/08/2009) |
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Fellow Jazz
Advocate board member Jim Woodford and I went to the Redmoor in Cincinnati
to see Doc Broadnax’s presentation of The Eddie Brookshire Quintet w/Kenny
Drew Jr. Turns out Khalid Moss filled in for Mr. Drew, much to my
companion’s displeasure. However, it was a great performance and I can’t
say enough about the Redmoor. What a beautiful place with great
service, outstanding food and all at reasonable prices. – Ron Gable |
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E-mail from Jim
Woodford:
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com (Dateline: 12/10/2008) |
Wednesday
night my wife and I had the pleasure of a rare treat at the University of
Dayton, three jazz ensembles. No wait, not just three jazz ensembles, but
three very entertaining jazz ensembles. Jazz is apparently so popular at
UD right now that they had to enlist the services of a third conductor,
Tony Pepitone, who was really swinging with the opening ensemble (a.k.a.
Jazz Band II). They started off with a Jobim tune entitled One Note Samba
and ended with a Sammy Nestico arrangement of a Frank Foster tune entitled
Shiny Stockings. To paraphrase Tony, the band was "swinging like Basie"
when they launched into their big finish on Shiny Stockings. Rebecca Leis
played a notable solo on L'il Darlin' and Thomas Kenneally put down a
great drum solo on Almost Like Being in Love. And that was just the
beginning of the evening.
Next up was the University Jazz Band I under the
tutelage of the best all round jazz drummer in the Dayton area, Jim Leslie
- you can hear him with one of the area's premier jazz bands, The Dayton
Jazz Orchestra, and with the Dave Greer Classic Jazz Stompers, among other
combos. But tonight Jim was lifting and inspiring a group of up and coming
jazz musicians to what surely had to be one of their best performances
this year. They kicked off with one of my favorite tunes, Do Nothin' 'Til
you Hear from Me - this one a Sammy Nestico arrangement of a Duke
Ellington song. An ear catching touch, wonderfully executed, was the
stop-pause right before the last stanza. Drummer Joe Conway was featured
on brushes next, on a Neal Hefti tune entitled Cute. This group performed
a Sammy Nestico arranged tune as well, Just in Time with memorable sax
soli(s) that received excellent support from the entire band. W.C. Handy's
St.
Louie Blues was the most exciting number of this set and the featured
trumpet section got the blood pumpin' throughout the packed room.
Trombonist Josh Cain was an integral part of that effort. The band ended
with a song from the actual Count Basie book, Corner Pocket and what a
performance with which to end the set. While the whole band was swingin'
there was a notable rising to the occasion by trumpet player Natalia
Owsiany and even though it was only 8 bars, the solo really stood out.
Last, and I assure you certainly not least, was the
Dayton Jazz Ensemble directed by Reg Richwine, a long time Dayton Jazz
Orchestra trumpet favorite who was filling in for Director Willie Morris
on sabbatical. A little fresh air never hurts. They kicked their set off
with one of the bravest efforts of the evening, Channel One Suite made
famous by the Buddy Rich band. Yes I said Buddy Rich - drummer Jacob
Holloway stepped into some mighty big shoes on that one. And tenor
saxaphonist Rebecca Holloway rose to the occasion with another one of her
unique solos. They even did Maynard & Waynard, a Gordon Goodwin tune of
The Big Phat Band fame, originally played by Wayne Bergeron & Maynard
Ferguson - the part of Waynard was played by Chris Cornelius and the part
of Maynard was played by Andrew Aldstadt - whew! My wife commented that the
trombonist sitting right in front of the two soloists surely had to be
deaf by the end of the performance. And a song that I had waited to hear
since it was reluctantly dropped from the September South Park Jazz
Festival due to unavoidable time constraints, Cruisin' for a Bluesin' -
well worth the wait I might add [Gordon Goodwin and The Big Phat Band do
this one as well] - the saxophones made this arrangement
particularly toe tappin' in nature. The Evan King alto sax solo was kept
the crowd going. But the big finish of the night was actually a Christmas
song, check that, sort of a Christmas song - another Gordon Goodwin tune
entitled Yo
Tannenbaum! This performance saw the trumpet section playing in unison,
the trombone section playing in unison, the saxophones playing in unison -
two sections together, back and forth from one section to the other, all
sections playing together - wow! - and the really big finish, which
followed the pause and the directive "one more time" would have made
Stan Kenton proud. Don't know if they will be doing anything like that
again this school year or not but you will be doing yourself a favor to
catch them if you they do. |
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| E-mail from Jim
Woodford:
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com (Dateline: 9/22/2007) |
You
are always asking for live jazz performance audience input from those of
us out there attending those live performances so here ya go:
Conrad Jessee and I took our wives up to Chin's in Tipp
City last night to hear Mike Teckenbrock (on flugelhorn for those who do
not know Mike) and Jeff Huffnagle (on keyboards for those who might not
know Jeff) and it was well worth the trip. The music started at 7:00
but was over all too soon at 10:00. Mike and Jeff play together so
well it is as if they have practiced every song hundreds of times,
absorbing every little meaning of what is happening inside the tune and
knowing where the song is going. When the real explanation is
that Jeff and Mike listen to each other so very well, it is like they
sense what the other is doing. The result is magical. They do a song
entitled Boo's Blues that seems to be unique to their duo as well as a
version of Sam Rivers' song, Beatrice, that is so beautiful it is hard to
describe with words. Included in one set was a softly swinging song
entitled Centerpiece and a enticing
version of Everything Happens to Me. They also played My Funny
Valentine by request, a song way overdone and not often that well, but
they played it with so many interesting nuances as they weaved their spell
throughout the song that it really sounded quite fresh. They even
played a Beatle's song, Michelle, and at one point during the song, Conrad
commented, "I'll bet you never heard that on an album." I had to agree.
Jeff and Mike interact almost effortlessly, offering musical conversation
that can truly be a balm at the end of a long hectic day. Oh yeah,
we had a nice dinner too. And let me add this about Chin's. I
have not ever been to Chin's when owner Art Chin did not come out and
interact with guests, making sure they are enjoying their dining
experience. Teckenbrock, Huffnagle and Chin's, a tough combination
to beat. - Jim Woodford |
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| E-mail from Jim
Woodford:
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com (Dateline: 8/30/2007) |
You are always asking for people who visit/read your
jazzadvocate web site to write and tell you what is going on out in the
community, well here is something a little different. I was recently torn
between going to hear DJO down at RiverScape, Tim Berens over at Pacchia's
or the kick off for the United Way Campaign in Dayton at the Fraze
Pavilion. The Fraze featured The Funk Brothers. For jazz purists that
might not be familiar of whom I speak, they were the band that played
behind Motown artists for decades, playing on more number one hits than
the Beatles, Elvis and The Beach Boys combined. You might ask what does
that have to do with jazz? I'm glad you ask. The opening act was The
Serious Young Musicians, led by Tumust Alison - they brought the crowd of
over 2,000 people to their feet on more than one occasion. Anyone who has
heard The Serious Young Musicians know they have an abundance of talent
and they play jazz! Man do they play jazz. The crowd appreciated the solos
by all three sax players plus Mario Abney on trumpet but as a regular at
Jazz Central, pretty much every Sunday night, I am proud to say that the
crowd seemed to especially appreciate the solos by Sunday Night Jazz
Central Jazz Jam regular, Clarence Slaughter. The crowd loved him. Thank
you Butch Stone for making Jazz Central available so players like Clarence
[ I would add that I have seen all the other current members of The
Serious Young Musicians down at Jazz Central as well.] have somewhere to
regularly practice and master their craft. As one of the singers with the
Funk Brothers later pointed out, these Serious Young Musicians were not out
participating in the rap scene so popular today.
But that is not all - The Funk Brothers were backed up
by a brass ensemble which consisted of a saxophone, a trumpet and a
trombone, admirably I might add, all night long. (however they were
literally "in the back" - you might say standing in the shadows of love
for any Motown fans reading this) But at one point the song called for a
sax solo, so popular in the rock/R&B scene in the 60s - Earl Bostic like
for jazz purists, when suddenly I realized, "Hey, I know that guy!" It was
Dayton's own Bill Burns. A guy who can wail on a sax in his own right. If
you haven't had the pleasure of hearing Bill play barisax on the Bobby
Timmons version of Moanin' then you owe to yourself to make that happen. Then I quickly realized that the trumpet player was Dayton's own Al Parr
(horn player "parr excellence") and trombone player (also of DJO fame),
Steve Schoppert. What a great night of music. The Motown sound of the 60s
& 70s filled the air but the Dayton jazz scene was well represented. Heck,
one of the female singers touring with The Funk Brothers was even from
Urbana. And as you always say Ron, support live jazz. - Jim
Woodford |
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E-mail from |
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| E-mail from Jim
Woodford :
jwoodford@gcisolutions.com (Dateline: 9/26/207) |
Ron,
Caught part of the Jerry Gillotti show on WING's Jazz Brunch on Sunday
9-16-07 and heard a tune that really caught my ear which turned out to be
The Eddie Brookshire Quintet. I was intrigued. Eddie doing bebop
away from his usual big band efforts. Called GEM City records to see
about getting a copy but they were out. Later that week I learned
that the group would be appearing at Gilly's. Caught Jerry's show
again on 9-23-07 and heard a couple more songs. My ears had not
played tricks on me so the group appearing at Gilly's later that week was
perfect timing. Additionally, I am a fan of the piano playing of the
late Kenny Drew and his son, Kenny Drew, Jr. was part of the Quintet so
was looking forward to hearing him live. |

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The Quintet opened the set with some hard driving jazz and Conrad Jessee
leaned over to me and said, "You weren't kidding when you said they play
BeBop!" That was just the beginning of a great night of music.
Flugelhorn player Gary Onady made that instrument sound like a trumpet and
Jack Novotny coaxed some incredibly rich sounds out of his saxophone.
Mark Lomax played drums way beyond his 25 years and hands that might make
one think that Kenny Drew, Jr. was a pro football defensive lineman
stretched across the piano keys and made the piano come alive. Every
one of his solos fit the music perfectly. Excellent musicians
playing exciting music and all urged on to greater heights by leader Eddie
Brookshire. My favorite of the evening was one of Eddie's own
compositions from the CD, Minor Blues, with a hard driving bass line that
kept the song jumping. And I am happy to say that the CD version is
just as good. It was also thoroughly enjoying to hear the
simultaneous instrumentally coordinated horns on As I Say to You,
one of the three compositions provided by Eddie Brookshire "great friend",
Bobby LaVell. The group kept things even more interesting by playing
songs that were
not featured on their new CD, Bass Notes; The Heart Beat of Jazz.
One in particular that was quite memorable was a Kenny Drew, Jr. tribute
to the late Joe Zawinul entitled Midnight Mood. They ended the night
on a tune that maybe took me a little further out than I might have wanted
to go entitled Trane Thang but what a great musical adventure all
night long. But one final note, though I saw no specific
acknowledgment for the CD cover art, I learned that it was the vision of a
six year old child that blossomed over the years into local jazz
aficionado Jack Moody and who finally lent his vision to The Eddie
Brookshire Quintet. (To their purchase CD, contact Eddie Brookshire
at (937) 278-1116 or send an e-mail to
ebrook9376@woh.rr.com) - Jim
Woodford |
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E-mail from
Rob Lowe:
roblo1@aol.com |
Hi Ron
Hope you have been well. I have a favor to ask
could you please look at the attached
information sheet as well as
our website
www.castingnewlives.com. I am living in San Diego now but we
take kids from all over the U.S. If you have any questions please
let me know. If you could share this with your readers and friends I
would appreciate it. |
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