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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 05/15/2012
11:56
Boston area and visiting musicians
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 05/10/2012
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 04/27/2012
14:02
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 04/23/2012
10:24
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 04/11/2012
13:48
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 04/07/2012
13:51
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 03/26/2012
12:21
Current and Historic Jazz Venues
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 03/19/2012
12:09
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 03/15/2012
11:29
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 03/10/2012
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 03/06/2012
10:09
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/26/2012
10:38
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/21/2012
10:18
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/19/2012
23:34
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/15/2012
12:33
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/09/2012
10:00
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/07/2012
11:57
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 02/02/2012
12:31
Jazz Journal – 2012
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April
One of the amazing things about art is that you never know where it will come from. That is true about artists. The great artists in any form or genre come from all kinds of unimaginable places. And so it is for jazz venues and support groups. In a way it is difficult to imagine a restaurant supporting jazz gigs during the past thirty years or so. One can understand a restauranteur who is a jazz fan starting up jazz gigs at a restaurant. Historically for the most part during the past few decades such ventures are heartfelt, fiscally careless, and brief. But now and then there is a restaurant owner with passion and extraordinary will power--and ability. Such is the case with Junji Aoki of Sushi Island in Wakefield. His restaurant has been successful for more than a dozen years, and he has been presenting jazz at the current location for eleven years. Most of the tables are near the piano. So a visitor can listen without strain. There certainly was no strain involved 4/7 when I was in attendance to catch two sets of piano and vocals from Bob Baughman. On a break Bob confided that he was battling a cold. He had fooled me. I could not hear the bug in his voice or in his piano work. In fact, if there was a bug 4/7 it was that he did not play enough piano. Nothing wrong with his voice. It’s just that I really get taken on a journey when Bob stretches out at the acoustic keyboard...

Marya, wife of Emile “Dr. T” Tobenfeld, passed away 4/6 after years of battling cancer. Emile opened his home and heart to family and friends. Food, drink, and thoughtful conversation were shared. I--and I’m sure--his many fans wish Emile nothing but the best as he copes with today and tomorrow. There is some light in all of this. “Dr. T” continues to schedule video/music sessions in which his images share the stage with some of the Boston area’s best improvisors...

I caught another sold-out Broadnax-Kontrimas brunch 4/15 at Bullfinchs in Sudbury. The music of Paul Broadnax and Peter Kontrimas was as terrific as ever, with brunchers pausing in their meals to clap enthusiastically at the conclusion of each American chestnut. On a break Paul and I discussed a number of topics, mostly regarding the fact that his schedule in recent months consistently has included anything from three to six gigs per week. That’s remarkable, whether one considers it from the standpoint of his popularity as a performer or from the perspective of how much energy a man can have as he works his way through his ninth decade. At one point I asked him to name the two or three Boston-based musicians who had the greatest impact on him during his early years as a musician. People who know Paul also know that Nat Cole has been a great influence on him. But, somewhat surprisingly, not one of the people Paul mentioned was a pianist primarily. At the same time, it is not surprising that Paul would name three of the most important people in the history of jazz in Boston--Ray Perry, Alan Dawson, and Baggy Grant...

As regular readers of this Journal know, from time to time I take an opportunity to point out the damage--however unintentional--that the PROs and AFM have done and continue to do to music and musicians. Once again, problems caused by the AFM have surfaced in a New York newspaper. “U.S. Visa Rules Deprive Stages of Performers,” by Larry Rohter in the 4/11 New York Times does a fine job of discussing the problems foreign musicians have as they attempt to come here to perform. Mr. Rohter even points out the deleterious effect of AFM “consulting fees” (and that’s in addition to the costs of obtaining a performance visa). The “consulting fee” and consultation are an attempt to insure that the touring visitor will not be taking any gigs away from U.S. musicians. The implication is that when they come to the U.S. Evan Parker and Peter Brötzmann are stealing gigs from William Parker and Joe McPhee. Nonsense. Although the article is critical of U.S. visa policies and makes passing comments about the harm of AFM protectionism, Mr. Rohter never establishes the link between AFM lobbying and U.S. visa policies. The most significant step in shutting the door on visiting musicians was the AFM-promoted Immigration Act of 1990, as I discussed in the March 2010 Journal. More recently (in the September 2011 Journal) I noted that Evan parker claimed his last performances in the U.S. were the ones in September at the Lily Pad. Getting into the U.S. is simply too costly and time consuming to make the effort worth it. The result is that we all lose...

On 4/16 (one day after I completed writing the above commentary) I received in the mail a copy of What Country is This? (Not Two MW885-2). It is the most recent CD release of Ken Vandermark’s Resonance Ensemble. The irony in the timing is that the recording includes Devin Hoff on bass instead of Mark Tokar (who could not get a visa to travel here, in spite of the efforts of a Polish arts institute and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago). One of the characteristics of the Not Two label is the company’s creative packaging. On the last two pages of some discographical data and a photo of Foster Avenue in Chicago there is a page with a black and white photo of Mark Tokar. When one unfolds the photo, underneath is a color photo of Devin Hoff. The black and white photo shows Mark Tokar in the same location on Foster Avenue also (via computer manipulation) to emphasize the irony. But it doesn’t end there. The Resonance Ensemble is scheduled to perform at the 2012 Chicago Jazz Festival. Will the powers connected to the festival be sufficient to affect in a positive way the powers that be? In other words, what are the odds that Mark Tokar will get a visa to the U.S. this year? In this case I’m not optimistic. To put the situation in some kind of perspective, I’ve reproduced below the last two paragraphs of Ken’s liner notes for What Country is This? I should point out that a portion of the poem by Czeslaw Miłosz Ken refers to is reproduced earlier in his liner notes and is of a very optimistic nature.

Until now it was the Clint Eastwood Quartet, the band with no name. But, as Forbes Graham announced twice (in sotto voce so low that I’m glad that I was able to pick it up at all) the band now officially is known as Quick Verse. Although the music of this foursome--Pandelis Karayorgis, Forbes Graham, Aaron Darrell, and Curt Newton--is filled with poetry--not merely verse--I can’t pretend to comprehend the moniker. No matter. What is important about this gig is that it was an evening of breakthroughs. First, the music in general. While it is true that musicians so good seldom disappoint, this band for me has been something of a question mark. Who are these guys? Is this really a band? The music of this quartet historically never was less than terrific, but I had trouble finding a sense of band identity. Perhaps I did not find such a definition 4/29 at the Outpost. But the band really came together at that gig. The playing as a band was so strong, so together, that I’m beginning to believe that its amorphousness is its identity. On some tunes it’s a group of musicians still pushing its music from 1950s stints in New York at the Five Spot. And then there is the deconstructed music of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century. But somehow--through a new cohesion--it all works. Much of the success has to do with the tenacity and (mostly) extraordinary quality of the musicianship of Pandelis (always living up to his exceptional press clippings), Curt (who during the last two or three years is a completely new drummer, a better drummer than the fine Curt Newton of the past ever was), a cocoon-free Aaron, and an unleashed Forbes. Every time I catch Forbes’ playing, I find him to be more and more frightening. He just throws all this amazing stuff at you. And it’s punch after punch. Unpredictable smash, jam, pop. It’s the best kind of frightening. I had to leave immediately after that single, superb set of music. But I would have liked to have asked Aaron a couple questions. At least one question would have had something to do with what he had for breakfast that morning. For reasons (obviously unknown to me) Aaron Darrell decided 4/29 that he was going to explode into a confident, killer bass player. And it worked. Whatever he did to prepare for the gig, he should pass the procedure on to other young musicians on the cusp. He was dealing as much as he was receiving, and the results were exciting. Maybe profound. Time will tell. Meanwhile, this band has defined its terrain, and it’s a terrain filled with wonderful sonic rivers and streams...

Sometimes when the machine is not used frequently enough the rust builds up. Even though the band opened with several Infrared Band “standards” 4/18 at Johnny D’s, the connections were tentative and the flow sluggish. There were moments in which I felt as if the band and I were under water. This is a terrific band--Eric Hofbauer, Kelly Roberge, Sean Farias, and Miki Matsuki--and has been for some time. But there was rust in the wheels. Not without significance, the last two numbers of the set were the most successful. The band loosened up just in time to shut down. Between the first numbers and the last were three pieces that also did not quite work--but to a great extent for a significantly different reason. They were brand new works by Eric, works incorporating performance strategies that are new to band members. Therefore, some tentativeness is to be expected. The important point about the new works is that the flexible architecture of the material is both consistent with developments taking place internationally today in arrangements for jazz ensembles and inherently challenging for band members and the audience. I look forward to seeing where this Infrared music is going. The program of the evening was Eric’s doing. For the second set he gave us another group with a guitarist leader but with a very different aesthetic. The Michael Musillami Trio--with Joe Fonda and George Schuller--offers in-your-face rock band energy with equally aggressive but purely jazz improvisation. Messrs. Fonda and Schuller play their butts off, but the trio is primarily a showcase for Michael Musillami. And why not? As in the case of Eric Clapton, when Michael Musillami starts playing, the listener is caught up, focussed on what line the guitarist will conjure next. As he mouths the notes that the guitar unleashes, Michael Musillami commands audience attention. The bassist and drummer know that. But why should that bother them? Is Al Foster taking a back seat when Sonny Rollins solos? Of course. But he’s so happy giving the master a push into the beyond that he plays on fire and smiles. That’s what’s going on in the Michael Musillami Trio. A fiery kind of oxidation...

BOLT has gone through several different permutations--trio or quartet and various subtractions and additions in personnel. But, whatever the musical configuration, it just does not make sense. Early on, when the first trios performed, I was intrigued, but I found the music a bit problematic. And the “problems” persist. The combination of instruments (to some extent) and the musical personalities (the extremely different musical planets they come from) just don’t work together well. Or at least that was my belief going into the 4/22 gig at the Outpost--and for the first thirty seconds of the gig. The “problems” still are there, but so is the intrigue. These folks--Jorrit Dijkstra, Eric Hofbauer, Junko Fujiwara Simons, and Curt Newton--stayed with it over time and made it work. Yes, it often sounds like four different radio stations tuned in simultaneously--but not really in a Cagean sense. This quartet is throwing at me John Carter, Witold Lutosławski, Johnny Cash, and Phil Wachsmann at the same time. And now it’s coming together The intrigue is replaced with the joy of witnessing an unlikely birth. Is it a boy or a girl? Who cares? It’s alive and it overturned my doubts. How wonderful...

Laurence Cook didn’t make the gig. So some glue and percussion magic were missing. Nevertheless, Eric Zinman’s Citizens' Orchestra (at least this version of it) coped quite well 4/16 at the Outpost. One of the attractions of the gig was the opportunity for fans to catch the work of musicians who perform here seldom or too rarely--guest Stanley Jason Zappa, guitarist Kevin Frenette (who claims he’s back from his hiatus), Christopher Kottke (who may be becoming Eric’s regular trumpet player), and Glynis Lomon (whose life is filled with enough time constraints for several musicians). But scarcity of musical appearances was only one reason to show up. The “everyday warriors”--leader Eric Zinman, trumpet phenom Forbes Graham, high-altitude alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs, and glue-meister Jacob William--gave us art that we wish we could have every day. Make no mistake; there was some chaos during the two sets of music. After all, we are talking about a one-off version of a band that also was trying to operate without a master percussionist. But most of the ensemble chatter was a highlight all evening. And even when certain sound mixes didn’t quite work, there always seemed to be some kind of profound conversation in the middle of it all--string dances between guitar and bass, cello strings and voice arguing with the heavens, and on and on. So did those of us in attendance miss Laurence Cook? Certainly. Was the journey worth the ticket anyway? Certainly...

March 2012
This was his third gig in three days. The octogenarian pianist/vocalist just keeps marching along like a youngster. And that’s particularly impressive considering the fact that recently he successfully fought off an attack of pneumonia. I’m somewhat humbled by it all. But it’s not as impressive as the music Paul Broadnax and partner Peter Kontrimas brought to us lucky brunchers 3/4 at Bullfinchs in Sudbury. I was lucky/smart enough to get there early and had a great seat down front. I suspect that after a few decades of performing the “great American songbook” a musician either decides to mail it in or play like it’s the last gig he’ll ever play. The latter is what I hope for when I catch anyone--age 20 to whatever--performing live. That’s why I show up when I can to see and hear Paul and Peter. They never lick stamps. It’s always “My Ship” in-your-face beautiful and “Dancing on the Ceiling” romantically right at your table. Long may they continue to show the way...

There never is the sense that the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio--with Jef Charland and Luther Gray--is lacking in technical facility. Each member of the trio can hit an audience with exciting machine-gun bursts of wonderful notes. Although such events happen, the focus of the group transcends technique. But to witness the breadth of the art, one must show up early and pay close attention. In the middle of a set 3/11 at the Lily Pad the trio performed a dead slow challenge--perhaps inspired by Feldman--titled “Cocoon.” In a way it was a remarkable test of the audience, at one point causing time to stand still as each of Jef Charland’s bass tones hung in the air seemingly forever. As breathtaking as that performance was, I can understand the confusion a gentleman felt as he entered the gallery shortly after the beginning of the piece. Unfortunately he did not have enough context to figure out what was going on. He walked out before the conclusion of “Cocoon” and missed eventually what he would have discovered was an extraordinary evening of music...

Several months ago I asked Dave Bryant for a clarification about the lineup on Ornette Coleman’s Skies of America album. After all, who would know discographical details about the master musician’s recordings better than Dave? Some sources claim that Ornette is the only jazz musician on the recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, and others claim that he is joined by Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and/or Ed Blackwell. When I asked Dave the question, he said that he did not know the answer but that he would check on it and get back to me. Enough time had passed that I thought perhaps Dave had forgotten my question. But Dave did not forget. I found a phone message about the question from Dave on my voice mail and got back to him on 3/14. Dave told me that he had attended Ornette’s eighty-second birthday party (apparently an early party) and ran into session producer James Jordan at the event. Mr. Jordan remembers Ornette going over the charts with symphony orchestra musicians in New York to make sure that the writing would make sense to the musicians in England. According to Mr. Jordan, Ornette and he flew to London where the alto saxophonist rehearsed the orchestra. Apparently he did not touch his horn until the actual recording session. Mr. Jordan mentioned that orchestra members were quite shocked when they heard the sounds that Ornette made on the alto sax. The short answer to my question is that Ornette Coleman is the only jazz musician on the album. Worthy of note is the fact that Dave claims Ornette seems to be healthier and more energetic than he was on his eighty-first birthday. Perhaps, like his music, Ornette Coleman gets younger every year...

Although scheduled to include seven members, Charlie Kohlhase's Explorers Club, playing to a packed house 3/15, was a five-man group. Yes, the fine transparency was in evidence, but these guys--Charlie, Jerry Sabatini, Eric Hofbauer, Jef Charland, and Curt Newton--took the music far beyond compelling clarity. This was the loosest version of the Explorers Club in memory. The band was on fire, hitting all the marks, and just plain having fun. Near the end of the second set on a version of the familiar (to Explorers Club fans) “The Alarm Clock is My Kryptonite” the band was cooking and went into a duo sequence featuring Jerry and Eric that was--even in conventional terms--beautiful, as if it were a poignant tribute to Ennio Morricone. Then in whispers Charlie conspired with Jef and Curt, the result being a break-neck freight train of a da capo crashing into the “Morricone” duo. The “Morricone” brothers held their own while the train roared through the Outpost. At the right moment all five stopped playing simultaneously. It was the most exhilarating moment of the evening, a very special evening...

New music venues are good news for both fans and musicians. On 3/3 I received word that Gallery 263 in Central Square has initiated a policy of supporting a variety of visual and performance arts, everything from poetry to various forms of music. Although there does not yet seem to be a defined ongoing schedule of events, I’ve been told that jazz will be an important part of the programming. Here’s hoping for the best...

It got off to a sputtering start, each person taking a turn, trying to find solid footing. When that first effort ended, leader Steve Lantner looked over his shoulder at Joe Morris and Luther Gray. His eyes were more than focussed, piercing. He nodded an inaudible pulse. No more was necessary. Joe and Luther took off and never looked back. Nobody in the band looked back. And the first set was just the beginning. The second set took off with everyone paving new roads until finally Steve announced that there would be one “short” final piece. Allan Chase had been tearing it up all night, and he pushed things even farther now. As I sat there I found myself wanting to dance. The music brought me back to my youth (when I really could dance). As I listened I had visions of dancers. If one could not do the Lindy to this music, I thought, then one just could not do the Lindy--period. Oh, the sounds had nothing to do with “Jumping at the Woodside,” but twenty-first century “noise” would not impair any real dancer hearing this music at the Outpost 3/27. And then it was all over. Silence. Raucous applause. And finally silence. There was a pause, and then I said to no one in particular, “How wonderful. Country Swing isn’t dead.” Then someone behind me asked, “Was that a put-down?” “Oh, no,” I said, “definitely not.” Dancing in Your Head. Indeed...

It is not an event that affects the music in the Boston area, but any news about Duke Ellington is significant wherever it happens. A statue of Duke Ellington was unveiled 3/29 in Ellington Plaza in Northwest Washington, D.C. The location of the statue, the Shaw/Uptown neighborhood, is significant because it is where Ellington spent his childhood and the first years of his career. Also the 20-foot statue is in close proximity to the famous Howard Theatre at Florida Avenue and T Street NW. After being closed for 20 years, the Howard Theatre is scheduled to reopen 4/12. In spite of the fact that the statue does not look like Duke Ellington, the intent and the seriousness of these developments are noteworthy...

Because of a variety of unfortunate circumstances I was able to witness only a half hour of music at the Lily Pad on the afternoon of 3/24. It showed promise, particularly considering how powerfully Laurence Cook was bashing away at the drum kit. Later that evening he was back at it at the Outpost with Jacob William’s Para Quintet. Again for about seventy-five percent of the first set, the legend was bashing with a degree of energy that I cannot ever remember him exhibiting. Two gigs in one day. The revered veteran was a tornado. Of course, he was not alone. In fact, that is the whole point. Everyone in the band was reaching for higher realms of expression. On the break I spoke briefly with Jim Hobbs, excitedly expressing my joy in hearing such original sounds from his horn. Neck-snapping stuff. He too was enthusiastic about the performance. But he was self-effacing, passing off all the praise to Laurence. “It’s all Laurence,” he said. “His playing is bringing that out of me.” It continued all night--Jim bringing up sounds somewhere from the soil and Forbes Graham responding with an enormous range of commentary, everything from a machine-gun barrage of notes to clarion calls to the clouds. Against the wall at the upright Steve Lantner was the astute architectural traffic cop, silently letting the traffic flow one minute and offering crystalline pyramids and cubes for band members to stand on or toss off to a velcro-handed band mate. Always the music. And you could tell it was working wonderfully, even if you had turned off your hearing aid--because there was leader Jacob William dancing with his violin-family partner, urging others into sustained (or different) directions. And much of the time smiling. How could he not? When the music stopped finally for the night I asked Laurence how he found so much extreme energy throughout two gigs on the same day. People who know Laurence know his dry wit and his joy in playing The Trickster. Therefore, often one cannot be sure if he is pulling the leg of the audience/listener or being serious. I cannot remember his being so unequivocally serious as he was in that moment when he said, “I found that I am too predictable. I’m trying to push myself beyond predictability.” This man who has consistently surprised me as much as any musician I’ve heard was standing in front of me with a facial expression of someone quite serious, perhaps grappling with a life or death decision. He had the demeanor and voice of a man on a mission. Given the extraordinary music he has created over the years--and continues to create--that mission gives one pause. And it fills one with thanks and anticipation...

February 2012
It was quite a night. Several of my favorite musicians from around the globe (of course including the two Bostonians who brought the thing together, Jorrit Dijkstra and Pandelis Karayorgis) showed up to a large, enthusiastic audience at Killian Hall 2/1 to present an interesting range of music, most of it written by Steve Lacy. I certainly do not take our local musicians for granted, but when a lot of time passes between opportunities to catch some favorite improvisors, it always is special. And so it was in the case of Han Bennink and Mary Oliver (last here with ICP in April) and Chicagoans Nate McBride and Jeb Bishop. As most folks around here know, Nate has strong Boston connections, and his presence was a bit like old home week with musicians in the audience taking the opportunity to catch up with him. It’s a good time in new music for trombonists with such wonderful musicians (just off the top of my head) as the Bauer brothers, Steve Swell, and Wolter Wierbos making great noise around the world. And right up there in my book is Jeb, and (even though I caught him with the Brötzmann Tentet in April) it seemed like forever since I’d heard his compelling sounds. Just wonderful. Good things happened. But the real news of the event was Han Bennink, who decided to carry the whole band on his back. He’s always energetic, full of whimsy, and anything but shy. However on 2/1 he decided that he was going to grab each musician by the collar and carry him/her separately or in ensemble around the performance stage and reveal improvised music as something taking place on a whole new, lifted (to steal from Mr. Lacy) dance floor. I’ve seen Blakey do it, and now I can say that I’ve seen Han Bennink do that kind of magic. Some kind of fun at MIT...

It was too long a break since the last time the band performed locally, and an enthusiastic audience greeted Charlie Kohlhase's Explorers Club 2/4 at Pickman Hall. The band--Charlie, Jerry Sabatini, Jeff Galindo, Matt Langley, Jef Charland, Eric Hofbauer, and Curt Newton--consisted of slightly different from usual personnel. But the results were just fine. It was only Curt Newton’s second gig with the band, but you’d never know they had only two “half rehearsals.” That’s what seasoned veterans can do for you, in this case at the trap set. But the fact that the rest of the band is so comfortable with each other made all the difference as well. And the solos all around--with particularly fine offerings by Jerry, Matt, and Eric--were especially outstanding on this night. The entire musical package makes you want these folks to play more frequently around here. And (lucky for us) it’s looking like they might...

I should make a couple things clear from the outset. First, I have nothing against the use of computers or virtually any other device that might be used in the creation of music. I have enjoyed a wide range of electronic contributions to music, everything from amplified microphones, electric sound recordings, and both composed and spontaneous manipulations of samples and sonic programs of all types. Some of my best friends are computers. Even the idea of an improvising computer has its attractions. Second, I believe George Lewis is one of the great living trombonists, a national treasure. And now to the evening of 2/10 at Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College. I must mention that celebrated composer Martin Brody introduced the event. After battling illness for several years, during the past couple years he has returned to the Wellesley campus and become more active there. This is good news because some of us miss the impact he had on the music department, most notably to outsiders--such as myself--in terms of “classical” music programming. The music that has been programmed at Wellesley without that guidance has been much more conservative/boring without his knowledgeable and passionate guidance. It is good to see him looking good. The performance itself began with what is presumably the latest update of George Lewis’ Voyager software, this time offering piano sounds via the Yamaha Mark III Pro grand piano (incorporating integrated digital electronics) to be played off/against Mr. Lewis’ trombone and Vijay Iyer’s piano work. George Lewis’ work with computer improvisations goes back to the early 1980s in Europe, and he has been using and modifying the Voyager software since 1987. I have not witnessed George Lewis’ use of Voyager software in performance since 1998. At that time it struck me that the program’s sonics were more reactive than conversational in terms of improvisation. Apparently Mr. Lewis has been working on that problem and has caused the computerized improvisation to be more pro-active, even aggressive. The first indication that the software would not be a passive participant is the fact that the first improvisational sounds we heard were not that of a trombone or of Vijay Iyer’s piano but rather that of the adventuresome computerized piano. The meandering, non-human music was the setup for Vijay Iyer to sit at his piano and have an improvised duo with Voyager. He did, and the results were more intellectually interesting than sonically profound. For reasons that I’m not clear about, Voyager decided that it was going to challenge the human pianist. Understandably--again assuming that Vijay Iyer is relatively new to the software--the human pianist somewhat gingerly tried to feel his way through the experience. Voyager would have none of that. It threw cascades of notes, clusters, everything that might be a checksum overload equivalent of the kitchen sink at the human pianist. For those of you who are science fiction fans, think of Colossus pursuing an interplanetary piano competition. Vijay Iyer didn’t have a chance. And that’s not a slap at the human pianist. He just wanted to play nice, as if he were sitting down to share a duet with Marian McPartland, and he found himself under attack. In other words, it seems that Mr. Lewis has solved the problem of the “reactive computerized musician” and replaced it with a monster. If nothing else, somewhere in the Voyager software there is the need for an ongoing “play nice” routine to monitor the proceedings. After that portion of the concert was completed, the Voyager piano continued to improvise. (A victory lap? A segue?) Then there was a Lewis-Voyager duet, more solo Voyager, and an Iyer-Lewis-Voyager trio into a conclusion. Some comments about the Lewis-Voyager duet may be useful. First, hearing George Lewis improvise on trombone is such an extraordinary experience that it makes assessment of what happened in that duet difficult. But I will try. The first thing that comes to mind is the question of what the purpose of the Voyager program is. If it is merely an intellectually/”compositionally” challenging project, fine. End of discussion. But maybe the meaning is something grander. More than a dozen years ago, regarding this subject George Lewis said, “When I interact with a computer, I’m looking for an experience that will let me explore my many worlds--the dream machine, the spirit catcher. Notes, timbre, melody, rhythm, and other musical constructs cannot function simply as ends in themselves. Embedded in these objects is a more complex, indirect, powerful signal that we must train ourselves to detect, and that will one day be the subject of an expanded notion of music theory.” Pretty heady stuff. That certainly does not sound like merely a challenging project. Although he may wish to modify/update that statement today, it may be a useful place to begin as one considers “something grander.” It seems that the most relevant question is whether the morphing Voyager software is intended to be human or alien. I think that’s an important question. If the software is intended to function as a human replacement, why? Are we pondering a dystopia in which humanity is so reduced in numbers that creative improvisors will have to seek out a Peter Brötzmann substitute as some form of musical challenge? The other most obvious purpose for a human Voyager is that it evolve into a computerized “play along recording”--you know, those educational records in which the student pianist turns off the pianist channel and plays along with a monster bass-drum duo. It’s all very nice in theory. But how many times can a student play with the EXACT SAME world-famous bassists and drummers before the spontaneous improvisation is gone. And so we face the problem of the human Voyager as teacher/partner. Certainly the “aggressive” Voyager can overwhelm a polite Vijay Iyer. But what about someone such as George Lewis who “knows” Voyager intimately? Yes, Voyager is programmed to adjust, to rethink, to challenge its duo or ensemble partner(s). But software has a personality, in some ways even more distinct and predictable than the people who create it. Therefore, one may ask, at what point does George Lewis get bored with his “play along partner?” Are the evolving “improvements” to Voyager merely attempts to defeat predictability? The success George Lewis had performing with Voyager (as compared with the Vijay Iyer performance) suggested the value of human-Voyager familiarity--perhaps eventually approaching boredom. The alternative--the alien Voyager--is the one that makes the most sense. Quite often on 2/10 I had the feeling that Vijay Iyer and George Lewis were performing with some kind of alien. The alienness is difficult to articulate, but much of the time the Voyager “responses” were unexpected, but not in the way that a human master improvisor might surprise a listener. Occasionally I found myself asking rhetorically, “What was that?”--but not in the way that one might ask the question upon first witnessing the music of Thelonious Monk or Cecil Taylor. At the same time my subjective reaction to Voyager’s sonic contributions was that the software did indeed listen to its human partners, but it simply didn’t care what they played. I don’t know where all of this might lead, but it does raise questions about human creativity, everything from the practical (What would the improvisatory expectations of someone outside our solar system be?) to the philosophical (What would Aristotle play?). For now, there is nothing quite like the quality of the music of a human master improvisor. George Lewis’ interaction with Voyager 2/10 is instructive in a number of ways. First, there is the question of why George Lewis’ interaction with Voyager was more convincing musically than the Iyer-Voyager interaction. There are several possibilities. One, of course, is that George Lewis is a veteran, a true master musician and therefore better equipped to tackle an alien presence. As has been alluded to, another possibility is the trombonist’s familiarity with the software. After all, he wrote it. A third factor--and it is significant if not completely responsible for George Lewis’ success--is that the developer of Voyager is a trombonist. While some sort of communication was attempted between Vijay Iyer and Voyager, it became difficult to discern at times which keyboard/actor was making which sounds. To some extent it was a problem of stepping on each other’s sonic toes. Anyone who has heard improvised piano duos--Tommy Flanagan and Barry Harris, for example--understands that the two pianists either beforehand or during the “conversation” work out territories to avoid sonic clutter and other problems. Quite obviously, no such understanding between the pianist and the software was reached. On the other hand, George Lewis faced no such problem. Because of timbre and other trombone characteristics (such as wide dynamic range), George Lewis could take on the Colossus precursor and (if appropriate) successfully ignore the software’s comments. Although the Lewis-Voyager music had advantages over the sonic interactions of the two pianos, it was not without its problems. The problem that affected me most (as a George Lewis fan) is that the strictures of electronics limited the trombonist’s improvisatory possibilities. I could not be sure about the primary sources of the problem, but it had to do with microphones. As he improvised, George Lewis dealt with two microphones--a pickup on the bell of his horn and a stand mic on the floor. So I’m not clear whether the physically static nature of his playing was due to Voyager requirements or the room’s sound system. But George Lewis may as well have been planted in cement. Anyone who has had the opportunity to witness a solo performance by George Lewis knows that the man understands how to “work a room.” By that I mean that he understands and apparently loves to exploit the acoustics of a room (if it’s a good one). Houghton Chapel potentially is such a “good one.” Oh, what sacrifices we make for “progress.” As implied here already, I found that Voyager has at least one human characteristic. In a way that is similar to an inexperienced free improvisor or an improvising free veteran having a bad gig, Voyager does not know when to shut up. And perhaps the program has another kind of human weakness. There was a bit of irony at the end of the evening when the human musicians came forward to accept the applause of the audience. As he walked between his horn on a table and the stand mic, George Lewis got tangled in the audio cables and pulled the trombone off the table. I stopped breathing for a few seconds after the crash until eventually the trombonist seemed content with the physical condition of his horn. I remember wondering at the time whether the crash was merely an accident or an accident. Have we come to the stage in software development in which a piece of music software defeated in a “horn battle” of sorts now resorts to revenge? After the trombone-Voyager duet, trio and other adventures continued. The give and take went on until I found myself hoping (and somehow I don’t think I was alone in the hope) for an off switch so that all of us in the audience could hear what happens when improvising humans communicate sonically. But no such luck. The trio set ended, and audience members were asked to remain while the musicians and some friends sat on a panel to discuss what had just happened and its implications as well as field questions from the audience. Maybe I was hasty, but I decided that I was not up for dealing with a seminar on human-software improvisatory experiences. After all, I had just witnessed one...

Sometimes mishaps are great haps. At the last minute the Melissa Kassel-Tom Zicarelli Group was without a bass player. A replacement bass player was on call, but he could not arrive until after the scheduled start time 2/2 at the Lily Pad. Problem? Not really. The drummer in the band is Gary Fieldman, and he knows how to provide a functional cushion. The opening “Honeysuckle Rose” was so comfortable that Tom Zicarelli decided not to take advantage of the chordal possibilities of the piano (i.e., filling the “void” left by the absent bass), and picked up his tenor sax to solo and converse with the trumpet of Phil Grenadier, who was having a great time with all the space left over. Piece of cake. Then master bassist Bruce Gertz showed up. He seemed excited to have the opportunity to dive right in. And dive he did. This is no easy journey for a bass player who is not a band regular. Most of the tunes are originals, and somewhat tricky at that. And yet, a top-notch bass player should be able to read his way through the charts. It goes with the territory of being a pro. And that would have been fine. But Bruce is not merely a top-notch bass player. He’s a writer, an on-stage creator who just can’t help himself if the music is genuinely challenging (as the music of this band always is). He just had to support everyone else and put his solid stamp on the material as well. A perfect example by Bruce and everyone in the band of spontaneous problem-solving on a jazz gig. At the highest level...

I was told 2/18 that former Boston-based (now living in Munich) Hans Poppel will be seventy years old 3/7. The improvising pianist and childrens book illustrator last visited here in June, during which he performed with Bostonian friends at the Outpost. If you would like to wish him well on his landmark birth anniversary, he can be reached at: hanspoppel@t-online.de...

Most fans think of Charlie Kohlhase's Explorers Club as a seven- or eight-musician ensemble, and they are used to a configuration of that size. But Charlie has been juggling personnel during the past couple months (and apparently will continue to do so for the next couple). Fortunately these changes do not result in disappointment. In fact, the quintet that showed up 2/16 at the Outpost--Charlie, Jerry Sabatini, Jeff Galindo, Jef Charland, and Mike Connors--offered a nice, tight little package. It was a “lean, mean” outfit employing the familiar arrangements (with “holes” where the missing people might have contributed) and at least one significantly modified chart (Sun Ra’s “El is a Sound of Joy”) by Jerry Sabatini. The combination of compact ensemble and adjusted arrangements resulted in some wonderful music with an in-your-face transparency. After all there is a fine tradition of this activity with such masters as Ellington and in the European tradition (for example, the compact Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion transformed into the Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra by Bartók). Another benefit was the greater amount of solo space for each of the musicians. I had heard at least one complaint after the previous gig that Jeff Galindo did not get enough solo time. Maybe one cannot get enough Galindo improvisation (and I’m one of those ones), but that wasn’t much of a problem 2/16. There was plenty of stretching by the front line, and Jef and Mike put in a good day’s work--whether chugging along in support or exploding out front. And with all that the group seemed to work particularly well in the intimacy of the Outpost. It looks like the next installment will be there also...

There does seem to be a strong connection between the arts and the sciences. For example, I would expect to have a better chance of bumping into a Beethoven fan or Coltrane fan in the hallways of MIT than on Main Street, Anywhere USA. Regardless of how you feel about that concept, you might find the William Pentland article titled “Geekville, USA: America's 20 Geekiest Cities” somewhat interesting. The article discusses U.S. National Science Foundation findings in its annual Science and Engineering Indicators report. The report includes a rating of U.S. cities based on the number of people in those cities “with a bachelor’s level of knowledge and education in science or engineering-related fields or workers in occupations that require some degree of technical knowledge or training.” Based on that definition, one might expect Cambridge (home to Harvard, MIT, and other educational institutions) to be in the top twenty cities. Wrong. But what may be more surprising is that three other eastern Massachusetts places are in the top twenty. They are Framingham (3), Lowell (6), and Boston (15). Go figure....

Michael Moran explained 2/24 at the Amazing Things Arts Center that he had trouble booking jazz gigs because generally they don’t draw well. He said that he loves jazz and is glad that he was able to continue to book jazz because of a grant the arts center recently received. I don’t know how many people are needed to create a break-even audience at ATAC, but more than fifty people showed up there 2/24 to catch two sets of Yoron Israel’s High Standards. Not surprisingly, Yoron came to play--pushing his kit (seemingly) to its limits and bringing everyone else in the band along with him. They didn’t need much encouragement because they consisted of Laszlo Gardony, John Lockwood, and capable substitute saxophonist Marco Pignatoro (known to a great extent because of his work with the Berklee Global Jazz Institute). Yoron sees this band as his “everything” group, capable of performing a wide range of material. For example, on 2/24 the band featured the music of Stevie Wonder. As fine as those selections were, the highlights for me were the Coltrane and Coltrane-inspired offerings. Maybe my reaction was due to the joy of witnessing the drummer really bashing the hardware. Or maybe those performances were simply the best playing of the night. And it was a fine night...

During the first set 2/28 at the Outpost the band was on fire, and it struck me how far Joe Morris has come as an acoustic bassist. There is no question in my mind that Joe’s primary legacy will be as a jazz guitarist, the most important innovator of his generation. Nevertheless, it is apparent that his combination of extraordinary musicianship and hard work have resulted in producing a bass player to be contended with. Throughout the evening his strength and technical facility time and again impressed any observant witness. But more impressive is what he did with all that to help everyone’s music to soar. And everyone in the band is a unique voice that surprises other band members. Everyone is in turn surprised by an environment of purely melodic voices--as in the sense of harmolodic voices. One can witness the musical relationship even off the stage. On the break I went up to Joe to tell him how wonderful he sounded. I could hardly get any words out when Joe began an enthusiastic rave about Allan Chase’s contributions to the group. “He knows every sax player thoroughly,” Joe said, “but he doesn’t sound like any of them. He sounds like Allan Chase.” And Joe should know. His knowledge of post-Ayler jazz musicians is truly encyclopedic. And the raves could continue to Steve Lantner and Luther Gray. Each member of the Steve Lantner Quartet is assertive and unique, resulting in a quartet that--as I have suggested before--is one of the top half dozen post-Ayler quartets in the world. And that thought brings up another interesting and perhaps significant concept. The first two other post-Ayler quartets active during the past fifteen years that come immediately to mind are the Georg Gräwe Quartet and the Die Like a Dog Quartet. We’re talking about three amazing ensembles, and each is as different from the other as one can imagine. Yes, instrumentation differences are a factor, but a small factor. Each quartet makes an extraordinary, unique musical statement. I don’t know what the other two quartets have been up to during the past couple years. But I do know that somehow the Steve Lantner Quartet keeps getting better. It’s a little frightening...

The hour long PBS production, American Master: Cab Calloway, turned out to be a fine celebration 2/27 of the band leader’s contributions to American music. Yes, I have quibbles, particularly regarding the implication that Cab Calloway predicted hip-hop. I see a much closer link between him and Little Richard. But mostly it was just plain fun to sit back and enjoy the footage of the man in action...

What an amazing band. These guys have played in various similar configurations before, but Beyond Biology--Jacob William, Jim Hobbs, Jeff Galindo, Steve Lantner, and Luther Gray--2/21 was something special. First, the mix is really a MIX. Each musician has a strong, distinct voice. For example, even though these men are familiar to each other, if I mention Steve and ask who’s the first musician that he brings to mind, it is unlikely that anyone would name Jeff. If I mention Jeff, I don’t imagine that Jim would come to mind. And right down the lineup. It is not that they can’t play well together. It is that their voices and visions seem so far apart. In fact, at Ryles these guys fed off each other to do things I’d never heard those individuals do before. I spent the evening being constantly surprised, and I suspect the musicians were also. No doubt a lot of that has to do with Jacob. I’ve mentioned before his ability to bring combinations of musicians together to create consistently outstanding music. Undoubtedly that fact has something to do with organizational alchemy. But a major factor is musicianship. I suspect that in past Journal references to Jacob I have been so focussed on his organizational and leadership abilities that I may have put his bass playing in the back seat. Perhaps it goes without saying, but it should be noted that one of the main reasons his groups work so well is that the bass player is so good. In Boston we are blessed with a large number of world class jazz bassists. Jacob is right there in the head of the pack. For example, there was one period 2/21 when Jacob asked a musical question on the bass. He repeated the question over and over for several minutes, looking for answers. The answers he got were among the highlights of the evening. And so it went. It is early in the year, but already I’m confident that Beyond Biology at Ryles 2/21 will stick with me as one of the best gigs of 2012...

January 2012
Early January of any year tends to be pretty slow for jazz and most other performance arts. But for me things were slower than usual. I confronted some medical challenges and some illness. Fortunately, none of that seems to be developing into any kind of life-threatening events. So I’m fine and quite happy/healthy. However, those developments mean that I was unable to attend as many jazz performances as I had hoped. As a result, this Journal for January is fairly slim. But what I did catch was well worth the effort...

It had been months since the group performed together, and the joy of re-discovery was evident in its performance 1/24 at the Outpost. Much of the joy appeared to come from the reunion of Joe Morris and Luther Gray, throwing time and patterns at each other, resulting in smiles and occasionally laughter at the results. But they also were doing service to the entire quartet. Steve Lantner and Allan Chase built structures and conversations on the bass-drums context and pushed Luther and Joe along evening harder. Of course, the solos were remarkable--as was the range of energy and terrain covered. And the audience responded in kind. If ever an audience could say, “Welcome back” through applause they did so at this gig. For example, at the conclusion of the first work of the first set the audience clapped enthusiastically, as one might expect. But after a period of suitable applause was concluded, the audience decided that amount was not enough. The applause went on, as if the witnesses were attempting to push the band into an encore. The night had just begun...

Jazz should be shared with all Americans, particularly very young children so they can become as hip as possible as early as possible. According to an official announcement earlier this month, the National Endowment for the Arts is trying to help. In these times of trillion dollar debts $135,000 does not sound like much money. But particularly considering that the NEA is putting up the money for jazz programs, that amount sounds kind of typical. But maybe it’s a great windfall. In the current fiscal world all the arts have to anticipate major government cuts. After all, who we really are as a species is not as important as survival at any cost. Whatever the amount of money implies, it is good to know that the NEA is giving a total of $135,000 to twelve different not-for-profit organizations on behalf of jazz. As Jeff Tamarkin in JazzTimes describes the grants, the money will be used “to bring outstanding jazz musicians, writers, producers, and scholars to communities across the nation...” Except for the writers, producers, and scholars, that sounds like a pretty good idea...

I had not witnessed Aaron Darrell’s playing before. As I mentioned in the Highlights listing, I suspected that because he was scheduled to perform 1/25 with Forbes Graham, Pandelis Karayorgis, and Curt Newton, “he must be good.” Not to worry. He acquitted himself nicely. It’s a good thing he did because these guys are a challenge to anyone who’s serious about playing. As I’ve mentioned before, Curt the respected veteran is playing at a peak--and somehow each time I catch him he keeps getting better. Pandelis is simply Pandelis, a giant at composing and using those compositions (or other people’s) for on-the-spot research at the highest level. And what is going on with Forbes? He’s been a major brass force on the scene for years. And yet, especially during the past couple years he has taken everything he does (regardless of form or context in general) to another level. Here he is 1/25 grappling with variations on the song form, and he calls up the advice of the giant predecessors, employing apparently Clifford-inspired lines of gorgeous, rare beauty. But it’s all Forbes. And, of course, they feed each other--and the audience--superbly...

It was a good-sized crowd. That fact probably had something to do with the 7:30 start time. People who get up early sometimes can’t handle the rock-club start times. Even more important, it was an enthusiastic crowd that seemed to have a pretty good idea of what to expect: Great music, full of surprises, and strong improvisational personalities. The Pandelis Karyorgis Trio with Jef Chartland and Luther Gray is really on a roll now. Unstoppable. The three of them play challenging music--both charts and what happens between the heads. And they make no compromises. So this is heady, potentially “difficult” stuff. In spite of those likely obstacles to connecting with an audience, the trio does connect. Enthusiastic applause and even an occasional “whoop” suggest an absence of road blocks. Three reasons for their success with audiences are most obvious. First (but by no means most important), all three musicians have developed significant technical facility. Sometimes one cannot help being mesmerized by the mechanics of the music. However, just as people have been floored by Charlie Parker’s technique, ultimately (as too many students fail to notice) the technique is no more than a means to something more important. The second of the trio’s seductions is the group’s passionate, joyous commitment to the music. Each band member believes in the compositions, regardless of whether the music is composed by one of them or some other jazz monster. More important, the focussed joy goes beyond composition. Whether Luther’s solo is accompanied or not, Pandelis and Jef are so caught up in the music that they are almost a part of the drum kit. And so it is, no matter who is out front. The audience knows that you can’t fake that, and it responds accordingly. Finally, there is the quality of the music. I know. That’s almost a contradiction in implications. If one examines almost any music form, one discovers that it is the mediocrity that draws the audiences. In addition, if the music is genuinely new, forget about it. You might as well be preaching to the empty choir. But something remarkable is going on with the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio. Apparently there are people who show up to really watch and listen. You know, there is a special moment when you look up at the sky and you see a marvelous sunset. And you just can’t turn your head away. I suspect something like that is what was going on 12/29 at the Lily Pad...sp;April 2012

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 09/16/2011
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Upcoming performance highlights
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Among the more attractive performances scheduled in the near future in the Boston area are the ones listed below. With the possible exception of some gigs that feature Magazine Cover (MC) groups (which can range in quality from very good to terrible), the gigs listed below are ones that I wish I could attend. And--if time and circumstances permit--I will be there. Obviously there are jazz gigs in the Boston area not on this list that are terrific as well.

URLs for most venues are listed at the bottom of Boston Jazz Scene home page.
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5/20 – The Dave Bryant Quartet at 8 p.m. (PA) – This lineup--Dave, Tom Hall, Jacob William, and Eric Rosenthal--is tough to beat. The room should be shaking at the Outpost...

5/22 – Andy Voelker and Friends at 10 p.m. (MP) – And what friends. Andy’s a heck of an alto player and he knows how to assemble top-drawer people, in this case Steve Fell, Keala Kaumehiewa, and local legend Harold Layne. It should be a special experience at the Tavern at the End of the World in Charlestown...

5/29 – Kilter and Duck That at 8 p.m. (PA) – Steve Norton, Curt Newton, and friends bring you noise surprises at one of Boston’s most creative arts venues, Yes.Oui.Si...

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Key codes: The abbreviation in parentheses following the name of the event or band/musician performing indicates roughly the type of music that you can expect if you go to the gig.

MC= Magazine Covers. These musicians/bands are popular with jazz fans and therefore often find their photos on the covers of jazz magazines. This type of band may or may not be any good qualitatively. However, many fans like to know "what’s hot."

MP=Mainstream/Post-Bop. This is the music that most people think of today when they think of jazz. It runs the gamut from Parkeresque bebop and Websterish ballads to the post-bop work of people such as Bergonzi and Lovano.

PA=Post-Ayler. This is Anthony Braxton’s term for all the adventure that came out of Ayler, Ornette, Cecil and others (including Mr. Braxton, of course). In some ways it is the most diverse jazz and jazz-rooted music being performed today, including everything from near zero dB whispers (e.g., undr, John Tilbury) to eardrum demolishing walls of sound (Keith Rowe, a ton of stuff from Japan) to performances built on combinations of composed and improvised material (Liberation Orchestra, Charlie Kohlhase’s ensembles) to completely improvised offerings (Peter Brötzmann, Laurence Cook).

S=Swing. It don’t mean a thing… Maybe "nothing" means "anything" if you are a fan of swing. Sadly, fine swing music seems to be approaching extinction, at least in the Boston area clubs. The reasons are obvious and elusive. The great names of Swing (such as Lunceford and Barnet) have passed on and taken almost all of their band mates with them. In addition, in spite of the fact that some of the finest music of the swing era was produced by the combos of Goodman and Basie (among others), people continue to think of swing in terms of large (and therefore economically untenable) ensembles. You can find it happening in some dance halls, but mostly at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. For years such names as Whitney, Winniker, and Hershman have held the fort in the Boston area. But you’ve got to keep your eyes peeled.

T=Two-beat/Trad. Some of the finest contemporary two-beat jazz anywhere has been nurtured and grown in Eastern Massachusetts since the 1970s. Everyone knows about the New Black Eagles, and a host of other musicians are held in equally high esteem around here. Some of the better-known are Jimmy Mazzy, Stan McDonald, Jeff Hughes, and Guy Van Duser. Unfortunately for city dwellers, two-beat jazz (and, to a lesser extent, the blues) has moved to the suburbs. But the best of it is worth the drive.

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 09/02/2011
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Jazz Journal – 2011
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December 2011

Guitarist Jeff Platz brought another gang of musical friends with him to the Lily Pad 12/4 for challenging improvised adventures. The instrumentation (although no doubt unplanned in detail) brought up some unusual and engaging pairings. For example, the saxes of Charlie Kohlhase and Andy Voelker, the percussion work of Luther Gray and John McLellan, the potentially “chordal” guitar/piano sonics of Jeff Platz and James Rohr, the double bass tandem of Jef Charland and Kit Demos, and the electronics of James and Kit. Nevertheless, even though some pairing occurred briefly at times, the highlights were individual solo work and the shifting combinations of group support and improvisations that seemed to avoid quite successfully any reference to obvious pairings. And yet, I had no sense that anyone was trying to avoid the application of paired instruments. It just tended to work that way because it sounded right to the musicians. Not surprisingly, it sounded pretty good to those of us in the audience as well...

Sometimes gut feelings turn out to be on the mark. It certainly was the case when I predicted that the 2/8 reunion at the Outpost would be “even better than the first” encounter. Although improvised duos almost inevitably turn out to be musical conversations, during most of the evening that was not the case for the percussion work of Laurence Cook and Luther Gray. The music of the first set required even greater performance ears than a high level musical conversation. What they did had little to do with back-and-forth commentary. It was for the most part a single four-limbed musical machine, with both musicians stoking the fire, checking the tracks, throwing in an occasional comment about the weather, monitoring the gauges--but always, relentlessly moving the music forward with steam billowing and the amazing scenery whizzing past. There was a second set, too. At first Feldmanesque in its “simple” clarity and then onto other terrain of surprises. If I didn’t know better, I would suggest that on their next gig it will be impossible for these guys to top their 12/8 performance. But I do know better than to suggest that...

As recently as the November edition of this Journal I mentioned the negative impact on live jazz performances of practices carried out by PROs and the musicians union. Of course, there is no question that jazz musicians lack financial support for everything from basic pay to life maintenance benefits. It would be a good thing to solve that ongoing problem. Unfortunately, strong-arming club owners is not likely to help the situation. Once again the New York Times has published a story on such practices. However, this time in “Jazz Musicians Start a Pension Push” (12/12) writer James McKinley, Jr. mentions that AFM Local 802’s efforts on behalf of pensions for jazz musicians may not be in the best interests of the musicians. That in itself is a refreshing take on PROs and the union in the Times. The union is trying to pressure the half dozen major jazz clubs in New York to set aside a specific amount of money for each band member on each gig for a pension fund for New York-based jazz musicians. One can attempt to discover whether or not jazz club owners are getting rich off the tourist trade (a primary source of income for those clubs). Certainly the major clubs are too expensive for most non-tourist jazz fans, except as a rare, special event. However, regardless of the economic status of club owners today, the idea of pushing owners for pension funds sounds like an idea that might have worked in the 1950s when clubs were not dying. So, even if the idea has some merit (if it ever did), then the time has passed for it to have a prayer. Consider what would happen if the “strike” is a success. In order to have the same level of profit (assuming there is any), the clubs would have to either increase ticket prices or reduce costs. Ticket prices already are exorbitant. Let’s see a show of hands. How many people can think of the most likely way a jazz club would reduce its costs? Very good. Yes. So long to the last of the hat-in-hand big bands. You want Blakey-esque sextets and quintets? Fuggetaboudit. You like trios? Maybe. You love solo piano? You’re in luck. You can expect celebrations of the solo jazz piano tradition and the art of the solo guitar and “innovations on the solo tuba” and so forth. So far there seems to be no thought that musicians might give a percentage of their take from each gig to the union. Then the union could put that money in an interest-bearing account for a pension fund. Something like that. But such a plan would mean extra bookkeeping work for the union rather than for the clubs. Is there any wonder that almost all jazz musicians are performing in non-union clubs? Yes, they are making little or no money in those venues. But at least they are not insulted with road-to-Hell intentions...

It was only one set of music 12/9 at the Lily Pad, but that’s all it took to make something clear about Jason Robinson’s Outnumbered: the group has worked together enough during the past couple years that they can jump into the fire together and dance as a unit. They continue to work with material created by jazz icons and band members. Of course, the signature of the band is what these musicians--Jason plus Charlie Kohlhase, Josh Rosen, Bruno Råberg, and Curt Newton--do with the material. At the same time one cannot avoid praise for the steady hand of the leader. To a great extent it is the context he creates that results in such fine solos all around. Encore...

Bob Brookmeyer died 12/15. I remember him first on that terrific Gerry Mulligan album recorded in 1954 in Paris (re-issued as an expanded double CD on BMG/Victor 68211& 68212, Gerry Mulligan in Paris, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2). At the time of the recording he was unknown to the French audience and unknown to me, but his valve trombone work killed me. And it continued to do so throughout the years. Lucky students at the New England Conservatory studied with the giant whose talents as a big band arranger were mostly underrated. But the musicians knew. He was held in high regard as a jazz musician by his peers, the ones who count. Thank you for the wonderful memories, Mr. Brookmeyer...

These musicians--Jorrit Dijkstra, Pandelis Karayorgis, Jacob William, and Eric Rosenthal--show up and make music. It’s that simple. They keep trying different charts, different combinations of ideas. But, as they demonstrated 12/4 at the Outpost, it always comes out the same--superb, challenging music. Conceptually that is such a difficult (impossible?) thing to do consistently. If you took any one of these remarkable artists and put him in an ensemble of randomly selected band mates, the results would be unpredictable. But these men--in combination--are can’t miss musicians. And they are right here in town for us lucky fans...

After a gap of too many years in my experience Paul Broadnax and Peter Kontrimas returned to Bullfinchs 12/11, and a packed house welcomed them. And it wasn’t even an evening gig. The duo got an invitation to do a Sunday brunch, and there was a scramble for tables. Not long after I was seated, the restaurant hostess was sending people to the bar for food in lieu of table seating. Only one or two couples decided to walk. This throng that showed up to listen to quality jazz is not a minor matter, particularly right now when SRO crowds are a rarity. And certainly Paul and Peter appreciated the response. Over the years they have seen their share of empty seats. Fortunately for them (and for jazz in general) there still are people with taste in music who listen...

Al Vega died 12/3 at age 90. The longevity is remarkable enough in itself. Think about it. When Al Vega was born a 14-year-old Johnny Hodges was soloing at the Black and White Club and performing at society teas with Benny Waters. And Al Vega grew up to play piano for seven decades with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Dick Johnson to Dave Zox. His biography, The Al Vega Story, written by Northeastern University’s Leonard Brown, was published this year. Al Vega became something of a Boston icon, but it is worth noting that word of his passing appeared in the pages of newspapers as geographically dispersed as San Francisco’s Chronicle and England’s Daily Mirror...

I dropped in to catch the music 12/16 at the Oak Bar of the Fairmont Copley Plaza, and when Bob Baughman showed up on time, he was ready to fly. People from all over the room bombarded him with requests, and he responded in kind (all kinds of “kind”). He took their requests and turned them into much more than a robotic piano roll, twisting the lines into different angles, shifting tempos, rethinking the obvious. And always including thoughtful solos. For example, at one point he turned a ragtime request into a type of signature drunken “Entertainer” with missed notes and fumbled runs à la Jonathan and Darlene. Another time it was a careful, poignant version of “Lush Life.” My personal favorite was a kitchen sink version of “In Walked Bud” that traveled all over the place and back, a comfortable ending to an adventurous journey-tribute to Monk. I had to leave before Bob’s evening was over, and it was good to see people lined up after 10:30 waiting to get into the bar. As I noted in the November Journal, it would be a shame to see what may well be Boston’s finest bar close. Where else in the Boston area can one find such a beautiful, accommodating social environment with engaging (and, if you listen, challenging) music? Maybe we’ll all stay lucky and the Oak Bar will return. In the mean time, here’s the first page of the Oak Bar menu to give you some idea of what a classic place that room is and how significant its musical history is:

It was a nice audience, a very enthusiastic audience at the Lily Pad 12/21. Something we need at more performances of post-Ayler music. I think the public connection with the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio--Pandelis Karayorgis, Jef Charland, and Luther Gray--to a certain extent is the result of the fact that the trio in some significant ways has evolved out of the trios of Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk, Dodo Marmarosa, and other ground-breakers of that period. Listeners can hear those roots. Yes, the group uses composed heads and even an occasional Monk tune, but it is more than that. It is the “new music” spirit of those pioneers channeled through these very much alive musicians. Almost all of the material they pursue is composed by members of the band. So the compositions are new, at least two of which still were untitled on 12/21. But it wasn’t simply a matter of the fact that the heads were new. In fact, it was the heads that most obviously called to mind the pioneers. But--most significantly--it was what happened after the heads were played that most dramatically connected the trio to its inspirations. Just as Nichols, Monk, and Marmarosa shocked and entranced their audiences with “where they took the music,” so it was for this trio. The composed/arranged music functionally opened the door to the remarkable sounds that followed. And we lucky witnesses were there to see and hear the extraordinary NOW...

Sam Rivers died 12/26 at age 88. He came to Boston after World War II to study on the GI Bill and stayed here until 1964 when he took his music to New York. Before he left he turned heads as a soloist in Herb Pomeroy’s big band and in collaborations with Tony Williams, among other highly-regarded local collaborators. Unlike most musicians of his generation and earlier, Rivers believed that strong academic/conservatory background in theory and composition was an advantage for a jazz musician. He was an advertisement for that perspective in his compelling solos and chord-based (minus the chord changes) compositions. His duo sets with Dave Holland at Lulu White’s on 3/9/80 remain among the most memorable of my experience. Sam Rivers’ career after he moved to New York is well documented elsewhere. Fine recorded documentation is available of his sessions with Holland (also sometimes in a trio with Barry Altshul) and on Tony Williams’ remarkable Spring album. Rivers also is well known for his large ensemble writing/conducting, particularly the New York-based Rivbea Orchestra and (for the past couple decades) the Florida-based incarnation of the orchestra. His low-key personality probably resulted in his receiving a smaller amount of press than lesser lights. Nevertheless, it is a sure bet that there is a bunch of excited young guns discovering/rediscovering “Beatrice” right now...
Every year I hope against hope. It’s not a big deal. In some ways it’s terrific. My wife and I sit in front of the fire and drink a toast to the New Year. It’s a great annual tradition. But always we take the frail chance that NPR’s Toast of the Nation will have some really good live jazz to offer. Things started off pretty well. I’m not a huge Julian Lage fan. (It’s just a subset of the music that I’m not into). But he and his band mates came to play. So, even though it’s not my cup of tea, it was done really well. Applause. Then things took a turn for the worse. If you think my use of the phrase “my cup of tea” was bad, it was nothing compared to clichés and boring sounds that followed. Even the part of the broadcast that tends to be a “sure thing” (i.e., replays of gigs recorded during the year) generally failed miserably. Finally, we got two songs into a set by a trio of “jazz singers,” looked at each other, killed the radio, and said goodnight to the fire. On the plus side was the best replay from 2011, a tribute to the late Billy Taylor by Toshiko Akiyoshi, Geri Allen, Christian Sands, Cyrus Chestnut, and Danilo Perez. Too bad they were not available to carry us into 2012 with a live gig...
I guess it’s a great way to close out 2011. We’re in a situation right now in which post-Ayler jazz in Boston--both qualitatively and quantitatively--is operating at its highest level ever, and yet gallery audiences for this music are miniscule. And so there is something quite positive about showing up at the Outpost 12/23 for the Taylor Ho Bynum gig and discovering that there was no way I would be able to see the performance. There were a couple folks standing outside the gallery and about eight or ten people squeezed into the foyer leading into the performance room. Although I got to the gig five minutes before it was scheduled to start, these people--including Garrison Fewell, Chicagoan Dave Rempis, and other fine musicians--were shut out as well. I did some calculating. The music would be so good that few people catching the first set would want to leave. That meant most of the people standing in the foyer or outside the building would not be able to get into the gig. Because there were at least ten people ahead of me in that mix, I knew I’d never get into the performance space. Something like this happened at Hot Clube de Portugal in Lisbon in August 2000 when The Joe Morris Quartet was performing. I caught them the previous night because I had gotten there early enough. But on 8/11/00 I found myself stuck in the “back room” where the sound was OK. But OK sound is what I get from my better-than-average stereo system at home. I go to gigs because I want something better than a Hi-Fi experience. So I spent my time in the Portuguese club having fine conversations with some European friends. Although there were plenty of fine friends to talk with at the Outpost 12/23, talk (which would have carried into the gallery space) was out of the question. I left. I have heard good things about the performance of Taylor Ho Bynum and friends from those who were able to witness it. I’m not surprised that it was a good gig. Now if Taylor would be nice enough to share some of his audience with Bostonians who perform at the Outpost on a regular basis, that would be a great way to kick off 2012...

November 2011

Dead slow ballads have a difficult time making it off the stage and into the audience in a fairly noisy bar or restaurant. And so it was when the brand new Eric Hofbauer Quartet attempted such a thing in the middle of the first set 11/2 at Johnny D’s. But give them applause for courageous programming. And, more important, look for these guys--Eric Hofbauer, Pandelis Karayorgis, Jacob William, and Luther Gray--in the future. The quartet brings together different ideas from four extraordinarily distinctive and strong musical personalities. And the results should be heard by anyone who is yearning for a challenging sonic journey. That music certainly could have been more than satisfying enough for the evening. But Eric unleashed the Infrared Band Sextet in the second set of the evening. Eric has done this before, taking his superb Infrared Band--Eric plus Kelly Roberge, Sean Farias, and Miki Matsuki--and adding Jerry Sabatini and Joel Yennoir to the mix. There is no question that the addition of brass to the lineup brings an ensemble balance to the group that is part of an instrumental tradition going back to the earliest days of jazz. And who can argue with that? However, quite independent of instrumentation and tradition are the more important factors of who (and what) the musicians are. These six people have a ball playing music together. It’s not merely that they have a great time playing music. Fortunately for us fans, musicians who love to play are plentiful around here. One of the characteristics of the sextet is that the joy of performance is articulated as an explicitly interdependent process. So it’s not just a quartet with two guests. This is a band. A heck of a band...

Paul Motian (1931-2011) grew up in Rhode Island, but developed his percussion work primarily outside New England. He died 11/22 in New York. If you are reading this and do not know anything about Paul Motian, you are a little late to the party--and probably you are connected to the wrong web site. If you were a jazz fan and lived in the Boston area during the 1980s and early 1990s, you were lucky for a variety of reasons, one of which was that Paul Motian played in Cambridge at various clubs with a good deal of frequency. He brought with him such notables as Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Mick Goodrick, George Garzone, and other remarkable musicians to create soaring, compelling--and thoroughly personal--music. He is irreplaceable...

In previous Journal entries I have mentioned the fine--but financially fragile--music at the Oak Bar (August 2011) and the negative impact of the performing rights organizations (PRO-i.e., BMI and ASCAP) and the Musicians Union on live jazz in clubs (e.g., August 2010). As Alex Beam tells us (without reference to PROs or the Union) in an 11/13 Boston Globe article, we probably are coming to the end of the line for live piano jazz at Fairmont Copley’s Oak Bar. He goes so far as to suggest that piano jazz bars in general in Boston are dead. That may not be quite true. The last I heard, for example, nonagenarian Al Vega still is holding down the piano spot at Lucky’s Lounge. But the disappearance of piano bars (and bars with other forms of small-group jazz) is a genuine phenomenon resulting from a variety of causes. And Union minimums and ASCAP/BMI fees are not helping the situation. I dropped into the Oak Bar 11/18 where Jane Potter was doing a fine solo stint, turning both chestnuts and also-rans into gems. On a break we discussed the future of the Oak Bar, and that future does not look bright. The music is fine. The place was packed most of the time while I was there (even including scattered applause after Jane’s interpretations). And the staff in the room seems genuinely excited about the live music in the bar. No doubt, for reasons not apparent on the surface, upper hotel management seems to be leaning in the direction of getting rid of the bar and expanding the Oak Room Restaurant into the bar area. That would be a shame. The bar will be shut down starting in January for renovations/modifications, and the room will not be open again until April. Whether the results turn out to be a nicer bar (although that seems hardly possible) or an expanded restaurant is not public knowledge. And perhaps no final decision has been made. If you care about the future of classic piano bars in Boston, there are a couple things you can do. First, show up after 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday (while you still can) before the end of December to catch Jane Potter or Bob Baughman at the piano. You can’t go wrong with either of them. The second thing you can do is let Fairmont Copley Plaza management know that the great, classic piano bar should be saved and supported--for the sake of the music and for the sake of the great Copley Plaza tradition. Apparently Mr. Paul Tormey is the primary decision-maker. You can let him know what your view is in writing. His address is:
- Mr. Paul Tormey
- Regional Vice President and General Manager
- The Fairmont Copley Plaza
- 138 Saint James Avenue
- Boston, MA 02116
The corporate fascination with Jazz at Lincoln Center continues. I continue to be amazed at the reaction to the place. As I mentioned in the May 2010 Journal, some folks in San Francisco want to emulate the Jazz at Lincoln Center model. And now, according to J.C. McKinley, Jr. in the 11/16 New York Times (page C1), Jazz at Lincoln Center is pushing its product to other cities. Given the standard “mission” rhetoric of the JLC folks, one might assume that the best way to spread the gospel of jazz and to reach the apparent target of black America and the man on the street would be to bring jazz to “Main Street” or the inner city. With that perspective in mind one might speculate where JLC would open its next club. Some targets seem reasonable, such as somewhere between Playhouse Square and University Circle on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland or even the Roxbury section of Boston. And the music performed by top jazz artists would be available at low cost (or even for free!). I’m just joking of course. Whatever clubs that do appear will be modeled on the Dizzy one in New York. In other words, potential audience members without deep pockets need not apply. Therefore, the first club in the planned JLC series of venues will be housed in a one billion dollar hotel in Doha, Qatar. It is these kinds of ventures that make the free performances for Bostonians offered by organizations such as the Boston Arts Festival and jazz outfits such as the Makanda Project (e.g., the anticipated 12/3 gig) shine that much more brightly. I hope the JLC leadership is kind enough to keep Boston outside its radar. We still have live music in clubs here, and it would be good if we could keep it that way...

Steve Lantner and Luther Gray sat at their instruments 11/22 at the Outpost and began to play. It was that simple. No fanfare. Nothing theatrical. Simply music--disarming in its lack of extraneous sounds or ideas. It cut to the heart of sonic art at its most beautiful. No, the music was not minimalist (at least most of the time it wasn’t), but in its own way it achieved what Morton Feldman pursued. One of the things that struck me is their ears. All the best musicians listen carefully, but what Steve and Luther were doing somehow transcended even that. I was so taken by it all that at the gig I mentioned to them that I wished some young music students were present to witness the power of really hearing. What Steve and Luther did was not merely employ remarkable listening as a resource for creating remarkable music. More significant, they managed to make the listening process an integral part of the audience’s listening experience. I know that sounds mechanical, even programmatic. But it wasn’t at all like that. It was the elevation of audience experience one notch higher...
An additional note: There was an odd bonus to the 11/22 gig. On a break I went to the men’s room. To my shock and wonder I discovered not merely soap but (for the first time in my experience) also toilet paper and paper towels. Encore. Encore....

October 2011

October was one of those months. The gremlins attacked my car twice, forcing me to leave it in the hands of mechanics for a couple two-day stretches. Then there was the early snow storm. Among the results is the fact that I missed some music that I was looking forward to witnessing. So, if the snow and gremlins had not showed up, I might have more to say here about jazz and other improvised music in the Boston area in October. Fortunately I did have a chance to catch some fine musicians in full flight.

What happens when you take the Fringe and replace fire-breathing George Garzone with three of the top horns in town--Jeff Galindo, Jim Hobbs, and Charlie Kohlhase? You get a slightly and pleasantly off-kilter version of the Fringe. Bassist John Lockwood and percussionist Bob Gullotti function almost as one person. Give them a free context to perform in together, and they will bolster, dance, and push whoever is with them as if it’s lights-out Fringe time. As a result we got something like the JeffJimCharinge Quintet 10/16 at Pickman Hall. Jeff named it the Jeff Galindo Contingent, and he decided to make that group a free jazz ensemble. And free floating it was. As much fun as all that was, I found myself thinking that the next time Jeff brings these guys together, I’d love to see what they could do with his charts. I found my brain saying, “Gee, even tonight, if he would begin the theme to ‘East Broadway Rundown,’ everyone in the band immediately would know where he was going. Even that mere snippet of a theme would have given us a taste of this band employing conventional structure. Well, that didn’t happen. But something like it did. Near the end of the extended single set, Jeff worked his way into a beautiful version (after all, Jeff is a killer trombone player) of Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” suggesting song form structural thinking. Eventually all members of the band picked up the cue and carried the tune to conclusion and into another theme. These final gestures of the evening suggest perhaps the use of charts on the next gig. I’d like to check that one out, because this is a heck of a band...

I noted the passing of Milton Babbitt in the February entry of this Journal. Fortunately other people remember him as well, as in the case of the afternoon tribute to him 10/9 at Pierce Hall at NEC. I do not plan to cover the event here, other than to say that it was a fine celebration featuring comments by colleagues and performances of a couple works by Babbitt’s favorite composers as well as mostly his own works as performed by everyone from talented youngsters to seasoned professionals. When I returned home I continued to think about him, his music, and his ideas. I thought once again about his most famous essay. It is not his best essay by any stretch. But it is his most notorious, both because it upset some composers and music fans and because the editor of a popular hi-fi magazine changed the title of the essay to something much more pugnacious than Babbitt ever would have intended, "Who Cares if You Listen?" I decided to return to the essay and weigh it once more. I bring up the subject not because I wish to analyze its contents here. Rather I mention it because it is thoughtful and has relevance to the state of creative composed music today and--most significant here--both mainstream jazz and particularly post-Ayler music. The predicament Babbitt discusses will sound familiar to anyone tackling new sounds in new directions. I believe it is important to say that I do not share Babbitt’s views about certain historical developments and several of his conclusions about the nature and future of music. In the same way it is possible that anyone who chooses to read the essay may not fall in love with every word. But I do believe the essay is worth reading for anyone who cares about jazz and other improvised music and the future of music in general. For, even if you disagree with what he says, his arguments will either change your mind or cause you to ponder and more carefully bolster your own take on things. The original title of the essay (before the editors of High Fidelity changed it) was "The Composer as Specialist." The essay has since been re-published in several anthologies, perhaps most notably The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt (Princeton University Press, 2003), and it is available online in several places, including a site operated by a composer who disagrees with the essay rather strenuously. I believe the composer’s rejoinder is confused. Of course, that does not mean Babbitt’s arguments are flawless. For anyone who is interested, a more up-to-date Babbitt take on the state of serious music can be found in his 1989 essay, “On Having Been and Still Being an American Composer." That essay also is found in The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt and online at this site. For those who would like to hear Babbitt read, “On Having Been and Still Being an American Composer," the essay is available on the Koch CD, Soli e duettini (CD 3-7335-2), and in three parts at a Youtube site. The advantage of the latter two options (aside from hearing Babbitt speak) is that he introduces the essay by making reference to the original essay, “The Composer as Specialist.” Enjoy...

In spite of more immigration problems (e.g., see comments about the Evan Parker gig in the September Journal), Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher is on tour in the U.S and they made it OK to the Lily Pad 10/10 for two sets of excellent music. Aside from some of the occasional physically engaging antics of the drummer, the group eschews much of the typical Dutch humor in favor of pushing the music ahead without “baggage” of any kind. The musicians--Michiel Braam, Wilbert DeJoode, and Michael Vatcher--have worked together going back a couple decades, and it shows. They work with compositions (spending a good deal of time delving into Michiel Braam’s Q series), but the level of communication is high enough that it almost is irrelevant to think about where the writing ends and the improvisation begins. Years ago the group originally got together to focus on the music of Monk. So it is not surprising how much the material recalls the writing of Duke Ellington, a great influence on Monk. They did include Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” in the set, after which the pianist pointed out that the work is Monk’s only waltz. That sounded correct to me as I tried to recall similar works. I’m a Monk fanatic, but I do not have his catalog of works memorized. Fortunately, the closest thing to a human Monk catalog (to disregard his creative brilliance for a minute) was in the audience; so I asked Pandelis Karayorgis if the Braam statement was true. He said that, as far as he could recall (and that’s good enough for me) it was true. Then he thought for a second and added, “‘Carolina Moon’ is similar, but it is in 6.” For the second set the trio brought local favorite (but also with Hollander roots) Jorrit Dijkstra to the stage. Jorrit had much to do with bringing the trio to Boston, and I’m sure everyone in attendance was thankful for his efforts. The shift from three to four in the second set was more than merely a matter of adding a number or a horn. The texture and thinking of the group shifted with the change. There were works from both the trio and from the alto saxophonist, and the mix affected the thinking (I believe), and the harder edge of the alto sound caused band members to shift and dance in a celebration of different angles and textures in the music. So, in some sense the two sets presented very different music. But always the reaching and the excellence were at the core of the music. On a break I talked with Wilbert and Michael about their itinerary. They said that they had to catch a 6 o’clock plane in the morning to make a noontime gig at the Chicago Cultural Center. They would be in Chicago for two gigs. Mention of the Chicago Cultural Center caused me to bring up the name of Michael Orlove, the man who has been responsible for so many wonderful performance events in Chicago. Wilbert stated that the cultural program is in trouble and that Michael has been told not to book any gigs in 2012. The news is disturbing. Readers of this Journal may remember the problems that Michael Orlove and the Department of Cultural Affairs in Chicago ran into last year. (See the December 2010 Journal for basic information.) And here we are almost a year later with more cultural upheaval in Chicago. It is pretty remarkable when you think about it. Here is a person, Michael Orlove, whose constructive impact on the arts in Chicago is so profound that (even though he carries out a responsibility that has almost no public visibility) a musician from the Netherlands and a jazz journalist from Boston are talking about him and his plight while on a break in a gallery on the East Coast...

Where in the world are you going to find a “conventional” piano trio this good? I use the term “conventional” because superficially the group looks and operates something like what you’d expect that age-old configuration to look and operate like. But that’s where the similarity ends. I was sitting there thinking that if Thelonious Monk were in the audience when the band played their off-the-wall but oh so on-the-money versions of Monk compositions, the composer would have flipped out with joy. Each person in the trio brings such an idiosyncratic and profound musical personality to live performance that such an image is not far fetched. And, in a sense, it is irrelevant what Monk might think of those interpretations of his works. The bulk of what they--Pandelis Karayorgis, Jef Charland, and Luther Gray--brought to the Lily Pad 11/19 had perhaps little to do with Monk (except in terms of quality). This is a “conventional” piano trio that is downright scary. For example, at one point near the end of the evening Jef was asked to try with the trio a new work that he’d never seen before. I don’t think there’s any such thing as a simple Pandelis Karayorgis composition. As it turned out, this little ditty was an impossibly complex foray into time changes and “awkward” lines. Jef nailed it. He killed it. And Pandelis wrote that brilliant “mess.” And Luther? Somehow--I don’t know how--he always knows where everything is. And did I mention that this is one of the most innovative drummers of his generation? Pandelis? If he lived in Japan--where they value the arts--he would be a national treasure. And the three of them tackle these works (some by “outsiders” such as Monk and most by trio members) as if it is just another day at the office. How else could you play this music? Unless, of course, you are not this exceptional...

When John Kordalewski initiated the Makanda Project there were more than four hundred Makanda Ken McIntyre compositions that never had been performed anywhere. As John told the audience at the 10/23 concert at MIT’s Killian Hall, these unplayed works existed in various forms from somewhat conventional lead sheets to scribbled music in notebooks (sometimes as many as three compositions per page). The transformation of these works into exciting arrangements by John Kordalewski is a remarkable ongoing challenge for him and the band. One gets the feeling sometimes that John’s enthusiasm about the prospect of revealing all the unperformed works in Makanda Project concerts carries his efforts a bit too far. By that I mean sometimes it seems that he’s producing and rehearsing charts faster than the band can digest them. These musicians on the 10/23 gig-- Diane Richardson, Kathy Olson, Kurtis Rivers, Lance Bryant, Sean Berry, Arni Cheatham, Jerry Sabatini, Bill Lowe, John Lockwood, and Yoron Israel--are among the best jazz musicians in the Boston area, but there are limits to what one can expect from them. The McIntyre compositions generally are tricky, and John Kordalewski’s arrangements are challenging. Rough edges are to be expected. On the other hand, when the band has sufficient rehearsal time, both the ensemble playing and the solos soar. For example, on “New World” Lance Bryant offered one of the best solos of the evening no doubt because of the sure-footedness of the support around him but also because the saxophonist went into that solo without the weight of subsequent ensemble arrangement difficulties on his shoulders. Because “New World” is a ballad, one might suppose that the slower tempo made the chart easier to work with. Possibly. But the closer, “Struttin’,” a work as challenging as any on the program, was slam-dunked by the ensemble and filled with terrific solos. Of some significance is the fact that the night before the Killian Hall concert Craig Harris led a band in Manhattan performing previously recorded McIntyre material. I did not catch that event, but apparently it was very successful. I imagine that event was inspired by Harris’ previous work with the Makanda Project. It would be great for someone with pockets to bring these two bands together for a wonderful evening of “old and new” Makanda Ken McIntyre works...

I’m guessing that many readers of this Journal are fans of the Brilliant Corners blog. It’s filled with think pieces and celebrates the music and musicians in fine fashion. Because the evolving history of jazz in the Boston area is one of the primary subjects of this Boston Jazz Scene site and perhaps some people check out the site mostly for history, I point out in particular “An Untold Boston Jazz Story” by Steve Provizer posted 10/26 at the Brilliant Corners blog. Steve writes about his fond memories as a student at the short-lived Jack's Drum Shop School of Music. Nice stuff...
URL: [brilliantcornersabostonjazzblog.blogspot.com]

It was billed as the Steve Lantner Quartet, but the trio of Steve Lantner, Joe Morris, and Luther Gray showed up instead. And maybe that’s a good thing. I sometimes think--because of “4 is better than 3” thinking or something like that--the Steve Lantner Trio is underappreciated. But, as one audience member after the first set 10/30 at the Outpost said approvingly, “Boy, Steve’s Trio and Quartet are really different.” True. Most obviously there are the factors of time (chronology) and space (layers of sonic articulation). While the music moves forward in time, the potential for sonic busy-ness increases as the number of performing musicians increases. Therefore, creative decisions involving three people are significantly different from those of four. In other words, the timbre of the saxophone is not the only (or necessarily even the most significant) difference between the Quartet and the Trio. In fact, I would suggest that in this case (although many factors account for the differences) it is the musical personalities of the band members and the nature of the personal interactions that make the Steve Lantner Quartet and the Steve Lantner Trio so different from each other. On the other hand, there are significant similarities between the two groups (including overlapping personnel). But no factor links these two distinctive bands more than the extraordinary quality of the music...

September 2011

Tatsuya Nakatani claims he arrived in the U.S. seventeen years ago not knowing a single word of English. I remember those first half dozen years or so when he lived in the Boston area and performed frequently. I remember that his English was less than perfect, but (maybe because his music was so eloquent) I do not remember him ever being completely inarticulate. But it does give one pause. I’m sure the language barrier has presented itself to many people who arrive here. It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to be unable to communicate in everyday language in an alien land. But Tatsuya did just that, and all of us are richer for it. As he describes his situation today, “I have a home in Easton, Pennsylvania, but I live on the road.” Right now he is in the middle of an East Coast tour. He told me that between his 9/10 gig at the Outpost until Christmas he has seventy-five gigs. A true road warrior. All of those gigs are solo gigs, and so it was for the first set at the Outpost. He took advantage of a vast array of gongs and other percussion instruments, exploring even more possibilities than ever as he roamed the room, filling it with sound. Even during those first years here Tatsuya was a master of percussion and a complete percussionist (a killer polka drummer, for example). Today his arsenal is even larger. One can imagine that some of the young percussionists in the SRO house were taking mental notes, stealing what they could. No matter. They could never steal the important stuff, the music. As Tatsuya explained, for the second set of the evening he decided to step away from his normal modus operandi (i.e., exclusively solo performance). He told us that there are times when he wanted to have ten or twelve arms to take advantage of the array of instruments at his disposal. And so he decided to create the Nakatani Gong Orchestra to execute such an idea. The ten additional arms of the NGO were Kevin Frenette, Forbes Graham, Matt Samolis (having performed with Bowed Metal Music the previous evening), Todd Brunel, and Joe Monteiro. Of that quintet only Matt had performed with Tatsuya during the percussionist’s first years here. Not surprisingly, it was a fruitful meeting of improvisors. All of them brought more than merely exceptional musical talent, and the results were gorgeous. Tatsuya played a little bit but mostly conducted, using hand signals to indicate instrumentation, duration, and dynamics but leaving much space for the musicians to make critical decisions of detail. It may not have been a typical Nakatani gig, but it is one that should be repeated. It was quite a joy to witness two sides of Tatsuya Nakatani. At the end of the evening he thanked the musicians by name to deserved applause. He saved Kevin’s name for last, pointing out that the gig would not have been possible without Kevin’s efforts. Once again Kevin Frenette demonstrated that he is one of those special people who is both a superb musician and a man who makes things happen. And thanks to Tatsuya and the entire NGO for making a special evening of music happen...

Supposedly sometime near the end of this month a restaurant named Storyville will open at 90 Exeter Street. For those of you with good memories and/or gray hair, you will remember that 90 Exeter is the address of the first incarnation of the famous jazz club known as Storyville. The re-use of the name is no coincidence. Mr. Brian Lesser, who’s opening the new restaurant, is using the name to honor the original club. It’s a nice gesture, but will the restaurant complete the salute by offering jazz to its patrons? Although Mr. Lesser suggests that the place might present music once per week, there is no mention of jazz. If you are hoping for jazz at the new Storyville, I suggest that you not hold your breath...

The ninth Boston Arts Festival presented a wide variety of visual and performance art at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, the performance art taking place throughout the week end on two separate stages. The highlight for jazz fans 9/11 was the wonderful set of music offered by the Makanda Project--John Kordalewski, Diane Richardson, Charlie Kohlhase, Kurtis Rivers, Lance Bryant, Sean Berry, Jerry Sabatini, Bill Lowe, Robert Stringer, John Lockwood, and Yoron Israel. The ensemble justifiably is praised for its twofold mission: the presentation of unrecorded/unperformed music composed by Makanda Ken McIntyre and the performance of that music for the citizens of Makanda Ken McIntyre’s hometown. In carrying out that dual mission 9/11 the band demonstrated the most compelling aspect of the mission, the performance of the music itself. This is no tired ghost band with “memorized” charts and solos. The charts by John Kordalewski are new and inspiring. And the soloists are among Boston’s finest improvisors. Each of them obviously loves this music and what John has done with it. So the next time the band plays in town, you can show up to re-discover Makanda Ken McIntyre or to discover music you never heard before. In any case, you will walk away filled with the joy created by the folks who play this music...

The 2011 Kennedy Center Honors were announced 9/7, and among the honorees is jazz giant Sonny Rollins. At age 81 Rollins is in the twilight of his career. As has been noted in previous Journal entries, various prestigious award agencies have discovered the tenor genius during recent years. But perhaps none of the awards carries more weight than the Kennedy Center Honors. The only question that remains is: Why are they giving him the award? Of course, no one reading this Journal needs an explanation as to why Sonny Rollins should receive such an honor. No. The question has more to do with the committee-think people offering the award. You may remember the failure of a similar group of people who decided that Duke Ellington was not worthy of a Pulitzer. So now this other prestigious group is offering Sonny Rollins a prize. As one creative musician confided to me about another type of award, “There are critics who hate my music and critics who praise my music. But neither of them has the slightest idea what I’m trying to do.” And so, in December we will tune in to the Kennedy Center Honors extravaganza on PBS and keep our fingers crossed, watching to see whether someone made a breakthrough on the committee--a breakthrough that might give viewers some kind of understanding of what a Saxophone Colossus really is...

The double bill 9/14 at the Acton Jazz Cafe did not disappoint. The early duo with Paul Broadnax and Peter Kontrimas artistically was up to its hand-in-glove self. Perhaps inspired by a recent Canadian transcontinental train trip, Paul was particularly engaging with his keyboard work, and--even after all these years--Peter’s solos seem to get better every week. Fans are indeed fortunate to be able to catch them every week. Speaking of every week, the new double bill is for the time being scheduled to be a Wednesday weekly gig. The nightcap of the event is the Jerry Bergonzi Quartet, which offers somewhat shifting personnel each week. The 9/14 lineup included pianist Steve Hunt, Rock-of-Gibraltar bassist Bruce Gertz, and the almost ubiquitous Austin McMahon on drums. Anyone who has had the good fortune of following the Boston music scene for the past few decades knows that there are few musical connections as profound as that of Jerry and Bruce. And with all that it is difficult to discern whether that connection is so powerful that whoever performs with them inevitably gets swept along into the music or simply that they are exceptional in choosing partners. Steve and Austin were with them all the way, pushing and challenging and soloing at the highest level. For at least a few weeks jazz fans will have the opportunity of catching this double bill of quite different but equally compelling music. Catch it while you can...

Mat Maneri concluded his residency at NEC with an evening in celebration of his father, Love Lines: A Tribute to Joe Maneri. I must confess that always I will have a special feeling for Joe Maneri. We shared beers. Listened to and discussed music. And I cannot begin to explain how much I miss those sessions (mostly at his home). And here I was 9/15 in Jordan Hall in the presence of students, relatives, teachers, and fans who had their own timeless memories of Joe. Some of them shared remembered moments and/or music with the rest of us. Among the musicians were Hankus Netsky and Tanya Kalmanovitch (directors of the event), James Bergin, Randy Peterson, Joe Morris, and a host of wonderful young musicians who had participated in Mat Maneri’s NEC residency during the week. The salient feature of the evening was the successful programming suggestion of the span of creativity of Joe Maneri. Yes, there were gaps--the remarkable “baroque” student piano pieces, the mere hint of Joe’s expressionist/serial works, and ultimately the improvisatory brilliance of the man himself. But what was covered was significant. One of the best insights into Joe Maneri occurred at the beginning of the second half of the evening when son Mat and wife Sonja took over the stage. Sonja’s engaging and vibrant interpretations of a phonetic and then a graphic poem by Joe lifted audience members out of their seats while Mat’s pensive smile was all pride and joy. Then Mat’s viola offered superb commentary while Sonja made clear something of the expanse of the human heart with her presentation of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” All in all it was a terrific evening of performance art and celebration. It was the final event of Mat’s residency. A very successful conclusion. The evening was a fine demonstration of the Joe Maneri legacy. A significant part of that legacy is Mat Maneri. He learned more than notes from his father, and he took what he learned to new places. Joe was sometimes extremely confident and sometimes insecure. It was during a few of his confident moments that he would pause and turn to me with a combination of pride and awe and say, “You know, Mat’s a better improvisor than I am.” Big shoulders to stand on...

Even though the meeting took place near the end of September, it was something of an end-of-summer reunion. Pandelis Karayorgis had returned from a month in Greece where he and his family were attempting to cope with the financial turmoil. Forbes Graham recently had returned from a different set of experiences in Germany and Italy. In addition, the two of them were being reunited with Jacob William and Laurence Cook for the first time in months. Therefore, it is not surprising that the music performed 9/28 at the Outpost was “reunion music” of people who share strong sonic connections. It is impossible to know what each musician brought to the gig. A summer’s worth of experiences and more. But maybe what carried the music most effectively was the very fact of each person being involved in music making with other people who are passionate, prepared, and committed to improvised music at the highest level. In effect, musicians who understand the privilege of participating in something bigger than all of us. And I was lucky enough to be there...

A lot of folks seem to like the images that are available on the Boston Jazz Scene. That is understandable. Even sonic art is to a great extent visual. It is with images in mind that I note the passing of Frank Driggs 9/20 at the age of 81. He contributed to jazz as a musician and author. But undoubtedly his most significant contribution to the music is his remarkable photo collection. Scholars and fans for decades have turned to him to find the exactly right photo of Louis or Monk or Billie for their research and publications. If you never have taken a look at the book of photos he put together with the help of Harris Lewine, Black Beauty, White Heat: A Pictorial History of Classic Jazz, 1920-1950, do yourself a favor. Buy a copy or borrow one from your neighborhood library. Put on the coffee, sit down, and rejoice in the photos...

The Farrell-Parker-Schapperoew Trio performed on three consecutive days at the Lily Pad. According to witnesses, because of poor publicity the audience of the first evening was quite small. However, the word eventually got out anyway. I had to miss the first two performances but fortunately was one of the lucky “standing” in the SRO crowd 9/17. If anyone showed up to the gig expecting the Parker-von Schlippenbach-Lytton Trio, he would have been confused--but not disappointed. The pianist and drummer of this trio (two Americans) had much more in common with Cecil Taylor and Andrew Cyrille. And they came to play. The trio--Evan Parker, Charles Farrell (who made the event possible), and Jim Schapperoew--performed exhilarating music during the first and third sets. One of the bonuses of those sets is that Evan chose to perform exclusively on tenor sax (no doubt a particular treat for fans who witness his music rarely). As if to compensate for the lack of soprano sax, he devoted the too-brief second set exclusively to the straight horn, resulting in an even greater number of disbelief-driven head shakings and sighs. At the end of the afternoon Evan Parker with a smile explained to the audience that he is too old to try to enter the U.S. illegally and, due to immigration difficulties (no doubt a reference to the compounding 1980 and 9/11 actions resulting in both the great financial cost and endless paperwork necessary to enter the country as a musician), the performances at the Lily Pad probably would be his last in the U.S. Then he made gracious comments about U.S. audiences and gestured broadly to the SRO Lily Pad crowd. Various musicians later claimed they would work to help ease the entry burden. For the sake of the music I wish them much success. The situation is terrible. After the third set I walked over to Evan Parker to talk with him. Of course, there was a line of young people (with questions) attempting to drink from the fount. One of those people was a young violinist I recognized from performances at the 9/15 Joe Maneri Tribute (Yasmine Azaiez, if I’m reading the program notes correctly). It struck me that several years more than a dozen before that young lady was born, Evan Parker was a great and revered improvisor. As the 9/17 sets of music at the Lily Pad showed clearly, his work is even more profound today. Such growing brilliance over a remarkable span of years should stand as a demonstration of passionate and consistent daily commitment to artistic excellence. Eventually I got a chance to say “thank you” again and chat briefly. Considering all the questions that had been asked, I opened with, “All the good questions have been asked. So all that is left for me is to ask the big one: What is the meaning of life?” We both laughed. Then he paused and said, “I’ve been reading two wonderful books on the subject.” He then began telling me about them. But shortly, he was interrupted with the news that he must leave immediately to catch his plane home. We said our quick goodbyes. I left the gallery and smiled as I thought to myself, “If only we had a little more time, Evan Parker would have explained to me the meaning of life.” No matter. I had just witnessed three sets of music that accomplished the task beautifully...

August 2011

I have a pretty good idea what is going on. But what is going on is not easy to explain in terms of “conventional wisdom.” Melissa Kassel, Tom Zicarelli, and friends brought music to the Lily Pad 8/4, and it was exceptional--as it often is. Band members have worked together for years and even decades. So the fact that they communicate well together is not surprising. But familiarity tends to breed as many negatives as positives. Usually more negatives. That original or classic work the band has played countless times over the years tends to get tired, sluggish. The tunes/arrangements tend to become mechanical and binding, rather than exhilarating and liberating (as the selection probably was back in the Stone Age when the band first played it). If that’s not enough, think of a marriage. Some marriages get stronger over time, but--today at least--most degenerate and die. However, none of that seems to happen to the Kassel-Zicarelli bands. It is not merely that the playing--with the durable Bruno Råberg and Phil Grenadier at its core--gets better. Each time I hear the band the solos are more open, more adventuresome. Certainly the reliability of band members means that a soloist can take risks with the knowledge that mistakes or “mistakes” cannot mean failure. For example, drummer Gary Fieldman 8/4 was occasionally unsure about the proceedings around him. But, having worked with this band before, Gary knows that his own ears and the alert people around him will create a clear path forward. For the regulars, there is the sense that anything is possible. And with all that, there is something else. I don’t know how, but somehow early in the life of the band Melissa and Tom made it clear (not necessarily through words) that the highest priority of the band is taking chances, taking the leap. Maybe that’s why Bruno and Phil remain with the band. Where else can they push their own music as far as they can dream and have the only consequences revealed as beauty?...

As is the case of many cities, Boston is home to a variety of weekly and bi-weekly free publications. Free is good. But an awful lot of what is in those publications is less than thoughtful, intellectually or spiritually stimulating, or even engaging. Primarily they seem to be concerned with “things” (mostly stuff people should be buying and what is hip for the next couple of days or weeks). Nevertheless, ever the optimist, I check out these publications on occasion in the hope that there might be even something distracting in them. On the whole the practice is a futile exercise. But I hit pay dirt recently when I picked up the 8/9-22 issue of Stuff Magazine. Instead of light-weight copy the publication was filled with nothing but page after page of photos taken by local photographers in Boston in a single day/night. Of course, there were ads. But they were not a distraction because the photos were far more engaging than the ads. Pretty amazing. The editors in that issue (just about the only copy to be found) claim that the “One Night in Boston” feature is an annual event. If so, I must have missed past incarnations. Or this is the first of a planned annual event. In any case, I wish the project well. But I must confess to pessimism. It is difficult to image typical advertisers wanting to support a magazine with substantive content...

I caught the Broadnax-Kontrimas Duo at the Acton Jazz Cafe 8/10. Anyone who reads this Journal with any consistency at all knows that I love the music Paul and Peter make every week at the club. This evening was particularly fine. The house was almost packed (pretty amazing for a Wednesday gig), and the music was through the roof. I don’t know how many times I’ve witnessed these guys perform over the decades, and I’ve always left the gigs filled with music, really happy. That’s a heck of a lot of music. But something extraordinary happened 8/10. Paul Broadnax and Peter Kontrimas played the best music I’ve ever heard from them. I can’t say it any better or clearer than that. I really feel lucky to have witnessed the event...

I was traveling around New England in the middle of a brief vacation when I had a business meeting in the Oak Bar of the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. Some folks may remember that from the 1930s to about 1974 the location was known as the Merry-Go-Round Room, a night club in which such jazz musicians as Ray Santisi and Max Kaminsky would perform on a stage that spun very slowly, as if it were a slow motion merry-go-round. Since that time, the room has been known as the Oak Bar. I associate the Oak Bar mostly with the performances during the 1980s of Dave McKenna (who also performed there when it was the Merry-Go-Round Room). Back then the room was noisy with most of the people ignoring Dave’s genius. As some readers know, Dave liked it that way. He much preferred to play “background bar piano” than center-stage jazz. Nevertheless, the reason I kept returning to witness his great music was the fact that--in spite of the hubbub--the sound system was so good that I could hear every note. And so I found myself in the Oak Bar 8/25, noticing that (in spite of renovations that make it look a bit more like the room might have looked circa 1900) the club looks very much as it did when Dave played there. (Of course, the bandstand is about 15 to 20 feet East of where it was when Dave performed.) The atmosphere is much the same also. And--miracle of miracles--there is music performed by living breathing humans in the Oak Bar. At a time when ASCAP/BMI and the musicians union have all but killed live (and even piped in) music in bars and restaurants through the financial squeeze, it is relatively rare and wonderful to witness humans perform real music in the moment at a hotel bar. But the real reason to show up at the Oak Bar is that you can witness more than live music. Both the music and the sound system 8/25 were top notch. For some reason, the folks who run the Oak Bar seem to have retained the same sound system that was in place when Dave McKenna played there. People were yammering, but you could hear every note. Even more remarkable, pianist Jane Potter and bassist Dmitry Gorodetsky showed up to play. And nobody stopped them. That’s the part that’s the killer. You probably know the countless stories of hotel guests or room managers telling the musicians to tone it down, that the music is too noisy. People talked and could hear each other to continue the conversations, and people such as myself could sit back and actually hear the music. And even though the duo played for real, took chances (and blessedly made mistakes), and made ear stretching sounds, no one complained. No one interfered. It seems as if the people running the Oak Bar really want live jazz in the room. Well, that’s what they’ve got...
9/4 Update: I returned to the Oak Bar 9/3, and this time I was not involved in any business. I had a chance to relax more and check things out. Sure enough, the first thing I discovered is that there is no “top notch” sound system. In fact there is no sound system. When the music began I got up and walked around the room to check the sound. It is true that if you sit near the piano, you can hear it better above the conversations. But even in the farthest point in the room, back near the Oak Room restaurant entrance, the piano was just fine. The room has great piano acoustics. I say piano (rather than duo) because pianist Bob Baughman was doing a solo gig. And he had his hands full. Here he is doing a bar gig and, before he plays a note, he asks if anyone has a request. “Chopin” is the request from a nearby table. Chopin? This is a fine bar with a piano and it is in the USA. Chopin? Sure enough--from memory--he played Chopin and in fact a medley of three late 19th century “hits.” Later in the set, the same person requested some Mozart. He wasn’t being mean or “difficult.” The guy just didn’t understand that in a fine bar

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 09/01/2011
10:43
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/29/2011
14:09
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/25/2011
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Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/19/2011
11:05
Musicians—The Major Contributors
» Boston Jazz Scene

Some of the most important musicians in the development of jazz in Boston and/or internationally throughout the 1920s and 1930s and beyond were performing actively during the first decade of the twentieth century in eastern Massachusetts. The pioneering continued throughout the century, and Boston remains one of the primary jazz centers of the United States. Thousands of jazz musicians at some point in their lives have called Boston home. What follows is a list of the city’s brighter lights.

The list includes some of the most important jazz musicians who developed their music in and near Boston. Some musicians grew up here. Others studied here. And some moved here and became Bostonians.

Some of these musicians had a major impact on the development of jazz in Boston. Others developed their music here and became famous after leaving the area. All of them—even those who are relatively unknown—have made our lives richer.

The Musicians:

Mae Arnette, born in New York in 1932 shortly after her parents moved there from Boston, sings and plays the piano. Her father was a drummer and her mother a dancer. In 1952 her uncle suggested that Ms. Arnette join the Sabby Lewis band, and her Boston career began. She continued to work primarily in Boston and New York throughout her career with such musicians as Eubie Blake, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Red Garland (to whom she was married for a period), Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Teddy Wilson, and many others. She has taught at the New England Conservatory and elsewhere and has appeared on television in a PBS documentary and on the show, Say Brother. As part of the celebration of The 350th Year of Black Presence in Boston, the city designated four awards to be given to black musicians who have made exceptional contributions to the city’s culture. On January 15, 1988 the awards were given to Jaki Byard, Roy Haynes, Sabby Lewis, and Mae Arnette.

Irving Ashby, a Somerville MA native, remains one of the most highly-regarded guitarists in jazz. He studied at the New England Conservatory, refusing a scholarship while performing in local bands such as that led by Tasker Crosson and teaching other musicians such as Thomas "Top Cat" Browne. Later he performed in Jazz at the Philharmonic and Gene Norman Presents concerts and in bands led by Juan Tizol, Ernie Freeman, Jackie Davis, Illinois Jacquet, Count Basie, Fats Waller, and others. He was a member of the same Lionel Hampton Band that fellow Bostonian Ray Perry performed in. Later he replaced Oscar Moore in the Nat Cole Trio and then joined the Oscar Peterson Trio for two years. He died on April 22, 1987 in California at age 66. There is a good photo of Ashby on page 10 of Mosaic Records’ promotional Brochure 86, a photo which also can be found on page 201 of Black Beauty, White Heat by Frank Driggs and Harris Lewine.

Ran Blake plays the piano with an approach so personal that it is difficult to imagine a serious imitator. Dreams and film apparently are his primary non-musical resources, particularly film noir. Although his solo performances are considered special events world-wide, some of his most successful work occurs in the context of saxophone or vocal duos, the most legendary of such pairings involving vocalist Jeanne Lee (the late cousin of pianist/vocalist Paul Broadnax). He is both a MacArthur Fellowship and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient and was the founding Chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation Department. He continues teach at NEC and perform.

Reuben “Ruby” Braff played both trumpet and cornet, first in Boston in the 1940s where he was born and then in Boston and everywhere else. He played in bands led by Buck Clayton, Edmond Hall, Mel Powell, and others. He led bands including such musicians as Dave McKenna, Buzzy Drootin, Coleman Hawkins, and Nat Pierce. Ruby Braff is best known for his performances with Pee Wee Russell, Vic Dickenson, Benny Goodman, George Wein, and Buck Clayton. He was well known for his cantankerous personality, but he is even better known for his equally strong personality on the horn. He died on February 9, 2003 just shy of his 76th birthday on Cape Cod.

Perley (sometimes spelled "Pearly") Breed played various saxophones and led bands in the Boston area during the 1910s and 1920s. Later he moved to England and became a member of the Ambrose and Firman orchestras and recorded for the Zonophone record label. Breed led what is probably the first Boston-based small group jazz disk, a Gennett release (#5608) recorded on Nov. 23, 1924 that included "Tell Me, Dreamy Eyes." Warren Hookway (trumpet and eventually sax), Frank Cornwell (violin), George Dussault (drums), and Brad Gowans were in his bands.

Paul Broadnax, born in Cambridge on January 27, 1926, is a pianist, vocalist, arranger, and cultural activist. His parents were musicians, and he grew up jamming and comparing musical notes with Roy Haynes, Ray Perry, Alan Dawson and other significant local musicians. After high school Paul served in the Air Force and eventually the Special Services during World War Two. After the war he wrote arrangements for the Sabby Lewis Band for about five years and once even replaced the leader on the piano at Sandy’s Jazz Revival when Sabby became ill. His arranging skills were appreciated by other band leaders also, and some would ask him to come up with a chart during tours through the Boston area. For example, Woody Herman called upon Paul to write an arrangement for a blues number for the band’s appearance at the RKO Theater in Boston. Such writing opportunities were common for Paul with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton as well, particularly during the late 1960s and 1970s. Paul Broadnax also performed on piano and sometimes reeds in local bands led by trumpeter Benjamin "Buster" Daniels, Tom Kennedy, saxophonist Joe Perry, and others. His own small groups are known for both musical quality and longevity. For about 15 years in the 1960s and 1970s he led a trio—featuring bassist Champlain “Champ” Jones and drummer Tony Sarni—called the Paul Champ Trio. That trio was one of the last jazz groups on weekly local television when it performed between discussion segments on a show co-hosted in the 1960s by Norm Nathan on WCVB-TV. In December 2007 he and Peter Kontrimas completed a stand of more than fifteen years of Monday nights at Bullfinches in Sudbury. He and Peter continue the tradition every week playing at the Acton Jazz Café. Paul, his friends, and siblings created the Ellastine Broadnax Scholarship Award to help music students and as a memorial to Paul’s mother. Since 1987, in addition to a variety of cash and music equipment gifts, dozens of $500 scholarship awards have been given to Roland Hayes School of Music students between the ages of 13 and 19. For information on how to help the scholarship fund, send an email to RELPB@aol.com.

Ralph Burns today is as well known as a writer of scores for Broadway musicals and films as he is for his superb work as a jazz pianist, band leader, and arranger. The Newton native, who died in 2001 at age 79, studied at the New England Conservatory while living at the home of the Bertocci’s, parents of Frances Wayne and Nick Jerret. Performances with Jerret in Boston and New York resulted in Burns’ move to New York and stints with Charlie Barnet, Bill Harris, Charlie Ventura, Red Norvo and others. He had his greatest jazz success as a pianist and composer/arranger for the Woody Herman Band. Among the charts he wrote for Herman are “Summer Sequence” (resulting in “Early Autumn”), “Bijou,” “Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe” (featuring Frances Wayne), “Apple Honey,” “Lady McGowan’s Dream,” and “Rhapsody in Wood.” Before pursuing and succeeding in a career as a writer/arranger for shows and films (All That Jazz, Urban Cowboy, Chicago, Cabaret, and dozens of others), Burns had a good deal of success leading his own big bands.

John "Jaki" Byard played a wide variety of instruments but is best known for his performances on piano, trombone, and saxes. No band member connected more successfully as a pianist with Charles Mingus than Byard; he also performed in bands led by Herb Pomeroy, Earl Bostic, Ray Perry, Maynard Ferguson, Roland Kirk, Charlie Mariano, and many others. He led a rehearsal band in Boston in the 1940s and a variety of other bands through the mid-1980s. During the late 1970s and early 1980s Byard led two separate versions of the big band, the Apollo Stompers, in Boston and New York. He resided in New York during the last decades of his life where he was shot to death in his home on February 11, 1999. Roy Haynes, Jimmy Woode, Alan Dawson, Ron Carter, Jon Hazilla and others were in his bands.

Harry Carney probably is the most important baritone saxophone player in the history of jazz. He played other reed instruments, most notably the bass clarinet. Carney studied piano and later reed instruments, admitting to being frustrated that he could not improvise at the level of most of his teenage friends, such as Johnny Hodges, Max Kaminsky, and Charlie Holmes. Carney and Holmes, both age 17, left Boston in 1927 to settle in New York where Carney played with Fess Williams and former Bostonian Joe Steele before joining Duke Ellington’s orchestra. Carney’s impact on the Ellington saxophone section and particularly the signature "Ellington sound" is so remarkable that his superb improvising skills generally have been underappreciated.

Serge Chaloff was one of the two or three most important baritone saxophone players in the history of jazz. He was the son of two highly-regarded western classical musicians. His pianist mother, Margaret Chaloff, was well-known as a teacher of such jazz musicians as George Shearing, Dick Twardzik, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Chick Corea, and Steve Kuhn. Serge Chaloff performed in the Boston area during the late 1940s through 1957 (when he died at age 33). He attained legendary status leading his own ensembles and performing with Woody Herman, Ina Ray Hutton, Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Georgie Auld, and others. Nat Pierce, Milt Gold (trombone), Gait Preddy (trumpet), Ralph Burns, Jimmy Woode, Boots Mussulli, Benjamin "Buzzy" Drootin, Dick Twardzik, Sumner "Sonny" Truitt (trombone), Joe McDonald (drums), Charlie Mariano, Al Vega, Rollins Griffith (piano), Sam Rivers (viola, not saxophone), Jack Lawlor (bass), Sonny Taclof (drums), Herb Pomeroy, George Jones (bass), and Alan Dawson are among those who worked with him in Boston.

The Chestnut Brothers, Bob (leader and arranger and trumpet) and Dave (drums and vocals), led bands in the Boston area from the late 1920s through the 1930s, sometimes broadcasting live performances over radio station WBSO. Hi Diggs (piano, composer), Russell Best (bass), James "Buster" Tolliver (piano, tenor sax, trumpet, clarinet), Chester "Chet" Burroughs (trombone) performed in their bands.

Laurence Cook, a Boston native, is a multi-instrumentalist and visual artist who is best known for his extraordinary work as a percussionist. He can bash with the best of them--as he does sometimes with his own group, Disaster Unit 2000--and he can play with Feldmanesque subtlety. Laurence Cook’s performances invariably are buoyed with his unique and deadpan sense of humor. He studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and sees little distinction between painting and playing drums, sometimes referring to his sticks and brushes as his paint brushes. He moved to New York during the early 1960s and remained there for about a decade--performing on some of the earliest ESP Disk recordings--before returning to the Boston area. He has performed with Sam Rivers, Alan Silva, the Godz, Jemeel Moondoc, Paul Bley, Joe Morris, Thurston Moore, Karl Berger, Lowell Davidson, Dave Burrell, Barre Phillips, Bill Dixon, John Voigt, Barry Altschul, Sabir Mateen, and others. One of the most remarkable music series in the Boston area was Brandeis University’s “Jazz at the Joint,” a weekly performance session produced by Marc Leibowitz. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the series, on June 25, 1987 the folks at The Joint offered a show they aptly titled Percussion Masters. The masters included Dennis (later Denis) Charles, Beaver Harris, Thurman Barker, Gerry Hemingway, and Laurence Cook. When Laurence moved to Rhode Island at the turn of the century fans were concerned that we would have less chance to witness his genius in action. Fortunately, beginning in approximately 2007 through the efforts of pianist Eric Zinman and several other Bostonians, the percussionist once again has made his presence known with frequency in the Boston area. Since that time the frequency of his appearances has increased because he is again a Massachusetts resident.

Darnley Corbin, pianist and brother of cultural icon Elma Lewis, led bands filled with young Bostonians during the 1930s and 1940s. Corbin's band was a training ground for many Boston musicians and it provided much music for young people's dances at places such as Ruggles Hall and Butler's Hall. Corbin also was children's choir director at Robert Gould Shaw House. Corbin’s band usually was the first “professional” band experience that young musicians had. Joe Craddock (sax), Al Hines (drums), Benjamin "Buster" Daniels (trumpet) were among the musicians who played in his bands.

Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea, a Chelsea native, is one of the most respected keyboardists and composers of his generation. His father, also a musician, opened Chick Corea’s ears to a wide range of music, primarily jazz and so-called classical music. He has performed with Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, Anthony Braxton, and other major musicians. As a band leader he has recorded dozens of popular albums and garnered more than a half dozen Grammy awards. His most popular compositions include “Spain,” “Captain Marvel,” “La Fiesta,” “500 Miles High,” and many others. In 1997 he gave the Commencement address at Berklee and received an honorary Doctorate degree.

Tasker Crosson played banjo, guitar, and bass and during the 1920s through the 1940s led a band that provided a training ground for many Boston musicians. Crosson’s band, the best-known version called "The Ten Statesmen," usually was the last training band a musician played in before joining one of the local top professional bands, such as those led by Sabby Lewis or Sandy Sandiford. At various times his bands included Jabbo Jenkins (trumpet), Clifton "Smickles" Smith (alto sax), Stanley "Chip" Harris (tenor sax), Sabby Lewis (during Lewis’ first years in Boston), Joe Booker, Ernie Trotman (pianist), Hopeton Johnson (piano), Buster Daniels (trumpet), Carlton "Blondey" Donaldson (trombone), Joe Craddock, Gigi Gryce, Al Perry (trumpet), Robert "Bobby" Donaldson, Joey White (piano), Eugene "Sugar" or "Killer" Caines (trumpet), Irving Ashby, Ray Perry, Harry Carney, Charles Burton "Burt" Walker (tenor sax), Sam Rivers, Johnny Hodges, and Alan Dawson.

Lowell Skinner Davidson was a pianist, composer, band leader, and theorist. A Boston native, he attended Boston Latin School and received a scholarship to Harvard for studies in biochemistry. He performed with the New York Art Quartet and in bands led by John Tchicai, Ornette Coleman, and Roswell Rudd. He led bands that included Joe Morris, John Voigt, Malcolm Goldstein, Laurence Cook, Tom Plsek, and others. He produced only one commercial recording, Lowell Davidson Trio with Gary Peacock and Milford Graves, a 1965 release on the ESP label. He died less than 50 years old on July 31, 1990. Nevertheless, his impact on a significant but small group of musicians is telling. Ornette Coleman, who attended Lowell Davidson’s funeral, speaks highly of the man. Tom Plsek says, "Lowell’s influence on my own musical development was deep and long lasting." Davidson, according to John Voigt, was "the major musical influence on my life." Voigt, Plsek, and Morris have released a CD of performances based on Davidson graphic scores titled MVP LSD (Riti CD10). Joe Morris claims to possess several tapes of Davidson performances, particularly from the 1980s, but apparently has not found the right label for the material.

Alan Dawson was one of the great drummers of his generation and a very good vibes player. He is perhaps best known for touring and recording with Lionel Hampton and Dave Brubeck but also for remarkable studio sessions during the 1960s with Booker Ervin, Tommy Flanagan, Jaki Byard, Reggie Workman, Richard Davis, and others. In Boston he performed with Tasker Crosson, Jimmy Martin, Buster Daniels, Felix “Phil” Barboza (AKA Phil Edmonds), Ray Perry, Sabby Lewis, Herb Pomeroy, Serge Chaloff, and others. As a touring musician and Boston area “house drummer” he performed with virtually every major musician active during the 1960s through the 1980s and beyond. Eventually he chose to remain in the Boston area to perform and teach, the latter occupation being particularly noteworthy because he generally was regarded as the finest jazz percussion teacher anywhere. Bostonian jazz fans were fortunate because they had many chances to see Alan perform, and few of his recordings, however fine they may be, even hint at how jaw-dropping a typical gig with Alan on drums could be. There is very little video footage of Alan Dawson in action. Fortunately the DVD, Sonny Rollins Live in ’65 & ’68 on Jazz Icons DVD 2.119011, contains a complete set of music featuring Rollins, Dawson, and NHOP. Although Dawson in this 1965 set does not operate at the level we came to expect during the last couple decades of his life, the performance is quite fine. He plays here with Rollins less than a week after the sessions that produced Setting the Pace and The Trance under the leadership of Booker Ervin.

Eddie Deas, drummer and vocalist, performed in and led bands in the Boston area from the late 1920s through 1934. Known by friends as "Thunder Mouse" because of the sound of his drums, Deas left George Tynes' Band to start his own band, the Boston Brownies Orchestra. The band recorded for Victor on October 22, 1931. His bands included "Sandy" Sandiford, Jabbo Jenkins, Chet Burroughs (trombone), George Matthews (reeds), Dave Chestnut (drums), Walter Sisco (reeds), George Jones (bass), Buster Daniels (trumpet), Kenneth Roane (trumpet, reeds), Buster Tolliver (tenor sax, arranger), Kenneth Roane (trumpet, reeds), Victor “Vic” Hadley (banjo, guitar), and Wilbur Pinkney (sometimes spelled "Pinckney" or “Pinkey”) reeds).

Charles "Charlie" Dixon played banjo and was an arranger in bands in the Boston area from the late 1910s through 1921, when he moved to New York. He performed in bands led by Sam Wooding, Ralph "Shrimp" Jones (whose band became the nucleus of the great Henderson Orchestra), and Fletcher Henderson. Also he wrote compositions and arrangements for several bands including those led by Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. He acted as straw boss for the band led by the lackadaisical Henderson. Dixon’s bands accompanied dancer Cora LaRedd and included Boston’s Kaiser Marshall on drums.

Robert Stanley “Bobby” Donaldson was an inspiration for younger Boston area drummers, such as Alan Dawson, and became internationally respected for his work with a wide range of swing era band leaders. His first performing experiences were with musicians in his family (such as trombonist Blondey and Don, who was for a time Fats Waller’s musical director) and Tasker Crosson’s band. Eventually he played with Max Kaminsky and a touring Cat Anderson before continuing studies at Schillinger House (the first incarnation of Berklee). After leaving Boston he played in bands led by Benny Goodman, Eddie Condon, Buck Clayton, Max Kaminsky, Edmond Hall, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, Teddy Wilson, Red Norvo, and many others. In addition to a fine array of recordings with those band leaders, Donaldson collaborated in a wonderful studio session trio of piano (Mel Powell), tenor sax (Paul Quinichette), and drums (all brushes) available on Powell’s It’s Been So Long (Vanguard 79605-2).

Benjamin "Buzzy" Drootin was a Russian-born Bostonian who played drums with a wide variety of traditional and swing musicians including his bothers Al and Lewis and other Bostonians, recording with everyone from Sidney Bechet to Serge Chaloff. He played in bands with Jess Stacy, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy McPartland, Wingy Manone, Eddie Condon, Ruby Braff, Bobby Hackett, and others. Once established, he worked mostly in New York and Boston with memorable stints at Mahogany Hall, Eddie Condon’s, the Scotch 'n' Sirloin, and elsewhere, often with his brother Al (born in 1916 in Boston), his pianist son Sonny, or with George Wein’s Newport All-Stars. In 1973 Drootin, after decades of actively performing on the road, settled in the Boston area again to co-lead the Drootin Brothers ensemble with Al on clarinet. After that reunion the brothers did travel to festivals but spent most of their playing time in Florida and the Boston area. He died in Englewood, N.J. on May 21, 2000 at age 80.

Dean Earl, a pianist and arranger, came to Boston in 1950 to study at Schillinger House on the GI Bill after serving in World War II. Like many military veteran students of the time, Dean Earl played in local clubs at night and studied during the day. Eventually he joined the faculty of Berklee, teaching piano and music theory for more than three decades. His bands included many respected local musicians of the time such as Slam Stewart and Roy Haynes. He performed at the Hi-Hat, Connolly’s, and other Boston area jazz clubs with touring luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, Jimmy Tyler, Billie Holiday, Sonny Stitt, and Bobby Hackett. Examples of his piano work can be found on recordings of Boston area gigs led by Sonny Stitt and Charlie Parker. He died on January 14, 2002 at age 87.

Marquis Foster was one of the key bop-oriented drummers in Boston during the 1950s. He played with many visiting artists such as Billie Holiday, Sonny Stitt, and Charlie Parker at the Hi-Hat, Storyville, and other clubs. Also he was in bands led by George Shearing (including the famous "Lullaby of Birdland" recording), Sarah Vaughan, Vic Dickenson, and others. He returned to Boston after living in Detroit for several years. He died in Boston in 1994 at age 70.

The Fringe, an ensemble rather than an individual, has been so durable and influential that it warrants mention here. Created during the early 1970s (1972 they claim), The Fringe has had a virtually unbroken (except for tours and catastrophes) weekly gig in the Boston area since the mid-1970s through today—initially at Michael's Pub, then the Willow Jazz Club, then the Lizard Lounge, then the Zeitgeist, and now the Lily Pad. The trio has had only one personnel change throughout that time. Initially the group consisted of George Garzone, Rich Appleman, and Bob Gullotti. They recorded several LPs, the eponymous first of which included "To the Bridge" (a reference to George’s former home in Bridgewater, MA), a helter-skelter, hang-onto-your-seat ride that finds itself popping up at least briefly in live performances even today, almost as a signature romp. In the mid-1980s Rich Appleman left the group. George and Bob continued to work for about six months as a duo, offering some of the most compelling music they ever produced in any instrumental format. But they were committed to return to the trio format, and happily John Lockwood became the third partner and remains so today. Although they have recorded several fine CDs, the CD some of us wait for is the re-issue of The Raging Bulls, an LP of a live performance recorded in the Azores. The music is so together that, although "The Islands" and "Hey, Open Up" are the only pieces with a composed head, some critics (who were unable to read the partially Portuguese liner notes) have assumed that at least some of the music of every track was composed. Their success in attracting young musicians/fans remains unchanged. In 1986 the audience consisted of one or two established local musicians, two or three people over age 35, and a swarm of college and grad school folks, hanging on the band’s every note. The audience demographics remain unchanged today.

Paul Gonsalves, born in Brockton but raised in Rhode Island, was a fine guitar player but became famous as a tenor saxophonist. He graduated from Pawtucket (RI) High School and performed in bands around Rhode Island until moving on to eastern Massachusetts where he played with headliners such as Phil Edmonds and eventually Sabby Lewis. Successful work with Lewis set up Gonsalves’ career with such bands as those led by Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is best known for his work with Duke Ellington. His hit solo performance with that band on “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,” one of the most famous tenor sax solos in the history of jazz, both made him something of a household name among even casual jazz fans and overshadowed the strongest side of his improvisatory work, ballads. Family members used to become annoyed because during performances the band leader almost always announced the saxophonist’s name incorrectly, the correct pronunciation being GONE-solves. However, Maestro Ellington more than redeemed himself by paying (without publicity or apparent desire for thanks) Paul Gonsalves’ hospital bills as the tenor player was dying. One gem of a Gonsalves-Ellington collaboration seems to have disappeared from most collectors’ radar, the LP Duke Ellington and His Orchestra Featuring Paul Gonsalves (Fantasy LP F-9636). Fortunately, the 1962 recording has been made available on CD.
Joseph Henry “Joe” Gordon is a legendary trumpet player who died in a fire in 1963 when he was 35 years old and at the peak of his playing ability. Born in Massachusetts, he studied at the New England Conservatory and became a highly regarded soloist during the late 1940s, playing in bands led by trombonist Hampton Reese, Sabby Lewis, Charlie Mariano, Jimmy Martin, and others. He also led his own groups around town until he left to perform with such important musicians as Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, Don Redman, and Dizzy Gillespie. He returned to Boston for a time, performing in Herb Pomeroy’s big band of the late 1950s. Joe Gordon moved to Los Angeles in 1958 where he played in bands led by Barney Kessel, Harold Land, and Shelly Manne, as well as with Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Benny Carter, and Thelonious Monk. He was a member of Shelly Manne’s sextet that performed the score to the film, The Proper Time (1959). Perhaps the best example of Gordon's work can be found in his own recording session on Lookin' Good (Fantasy/OJCCD 174). Jazz veterans in the Boston area have claimed the tune "Flash Gordon" was written in celebration of the trumpeter’s prowess. However, during the 1940s, appearing at places such as the Hi-Hat, was a popular dancer by the name of Flash Gordon. It is possible that this dancer was the inspiration for the tune, although most jazz musicians active during the 1940s and 1950s in the Boston area tend to disagree. For example, Sabby Lewis, Herb Pomeroy, and Andy McGhee have claimed that the tune probably was named for the trumpet player. The tune "Flash Gordon" has taken on international significance under a different title. No one seems to know how or when the title changed, but musicians in and out of Boston came to like the tune and found it to be an effective sonic exit at the end of jazz sets. So, although it was and still is performed quite frequently, musicians seem to have lost track of its original name. And for decades it has been referred to simply as "The Theme." Use of "The Theme" as a set closer is found commonly even on recordings, such as Art Blakey’s Paris 1958 (BMG Bluebird 61097) and Ugetsu (OJCCD 090) and the session featuring Lee Morgan and Clifford Jordan titled Live in Baltimore 1968 (Fresh Sound CD FSCD 1037). Interestingly, in a series of private small group recordings made during the last years of his life, Sabby Lewis identified the tune sometimes as "The Theme" and sometimes as "Flash Gordon." It might be good for people to start using the title "Flash Gordon" again, if for no other reason than to celebrate an extraordinary Boston-bred musician.
Arthur Bradford "Brad" Gowans played a variety of reed and brass instruments during the 1920s and intermittently through the early 1950s until his death in 1954. He also was a prolific inventor, his own version of the valide (a trombone with both valves and a slide) being one such invention. A small Gowans ensemble of New York and Boston musicians recorded in 1926 for Gennett. Art Karle, Frank Signorelli, Paul Weston (tuba), and Mel Powell were in his bands. Generally Gowans had more work as a sideman than as a leader. Among the people he played with are Perley Breed, Joe Venuti, Max Kaminsky, Red Nichols, Ray McKinley, Mal Hallett, Eddie Condon, Bud Freeman, and Bobby Hackett. Gowans was an original member (1939) of the Summa Cum Laude band.

William "Baggy" Grant, according to such sources as Jaki Byard and Herb Pomeroy, had conversations with friend Kenny Clarke about the yet-unborn new music (i.e., bebop). As a result, during the early 1940s one drummer helped change the course of the music internationally and the other—Baggy Grant—became Boston’s first true bebop drummer. He played in bands led by pianist Red Garland, Fat Man Robinson, Jimmy Tyler, and Dean Earl. His work can be found on recordings featuring Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt. Grant probably is best known locally as the drummer who propelled Jimmy Martin’s Beboppers and for his frequent performances at Wally’s on Massachusetts Avenue. He was born in Boston on November 1, 1923 and died there on October 23, 2004. There are brief glimpses of Grant (as well as Bobby Ward) in the 2000 local PBS Basic Black television production about the history of jazz in black Boston, but the producers never interview him during the film to offer his insights about the bebop years in Boston.

Robert Leo “Bobby” Hackett played cornet, guitar, and ukulele in a variety of bands in his native Rhode Island and Massachusetts and led bands in Boston and on Cape Cod during early 1936 through March 1937, late 1940 through July 1941, and 1970 through 1976. Regarding his tenure at the Theatrical Club in Boston during 1936, Hackett said, “Everybody passing through town sat in--Bunny Berrigan, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Murray McEachern, Fats Waller..." Hackett played in bands led by everyone from Arthur Petteruti and Herbie Marsh (commercial bands) to Payson Re and Benny Goodman. He is best-known to some music fans for the beautiful descending line of notes in his solo on the recording of “String of Pearls” with Glenn Miller. Among the people who played in Hackett's bands are Sam Margolis (reeds), Vic Dickenson, Pat Barbara (sax), Billy Wilds (sax), Jack Lesberg (Boston-born bass player), Russ Isaacs (drums), George Brunis, Max Kaminsky, Gene Sedric, Bob Wilber, Teddy Roy, Buzzy Drootin, Muggsy Spanier, and Zutty Singleton.

Mal Hallett played reed instruments but was known primarily as a band leader starting in Boston in 1922 and later New York into the 1940s. Changing fashion hurt Mal Hallett’s reputation. He remained committed to the concept that entertainment is an essential component of jazz performance when fans and critics began taking up the banner of "jazz as art." During performances he waved a baton when virtually all other bandleaders wielded a solo instrument. And most of his recorded legacy focuses on entertainment, rather than the jazz arrangements and improvisations at the heart of his band. To make matters worse, there are no recordings of his best band, the 1933 edition with Krupa and Teagarden. Nevertheless, "Who’s Who are You?" from February 1926 remains a convincing performance and probably is the earliest commercially available recording by a Boston-based jazz big band. Today his reputation has faded, but Hallett’s contemporaries knew him. Albert McCarthy tells us Speed Webb’s only "battle of the bands" loss came at the hands of Hallett’s outfit. Duke Ellington asserted, "All these bands used to come up from New York, and Mal Hallett would blow them right out over the Charles River." Historian George T. Simon, claims, "Musicians liked and respected him. He gave them opportunities to play good music, even before Goodman made it fashionable." For people with ears, Hallett transcended fashion. Lou McGarity (trombone), Brad Gowans, Henry "Boots" Mussulli, Jack Teagarden, Buddy Wise (tenor sax), Mickey McMickle (trumpet), Melvin "Turk" Murphy, Don Fagerquist (trumpet; another Massachusetts native who is best known as a West Coast musician), Jack Jenney, Nuncio "Toots" Mondello, and Gene Krupa played in his bands.

Roy Owen Haynes was born in the Roxbury section of Boston in 1926. In a town with an extraordinary tradition of jazz percussion, Roy Haynes remains one of the greatest drummers Boston ever produced, a giant in the world of jazz. Drummer Herb Wright, who killed James Reese Europe in Boston, eventually was released from prison where he lived across the street from the Haynes family. He became an early teacher for Roy. Eventually Roy Haynes performed with such local lights as Mabel Robinson [Simms] (his first major gig at age 16) and Sabby Lewis. But New York called, and the rest is history--Luis Russell, Lester Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and on and on. He continues to lead bands and perform with current stars such as Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. Whatever band he performs in, Roy Haynes continues to surprise and amaze.

Harry "Bish" Hicks was a black booker of bands and bandleader during the first four decades of the twentieth century who is best known for the Harmony Store (commonly referred to as the Harmony Shop or the Harmony Club). Perhaps no musician has had a more significant impact on the development of jazz in Boston than Harry Hicks. He provided a rehearsal space, led bands, booked bands, and mentored youngsters during the very birth of jazz in Boston (or shortly thereafter). He led mostly jazz bands as far back as the first decade of the century and retains a reputation as a mentor to young jazz musicians. Black musicians would gather at the Harmony Store to jam during the first decade of the twentieth century and into the 1920s. Also he booked jazz ensembles for colleges and dance halls. Tom Whaley remembered hanging out at the Harmony Store with musicians as a youngster. We don’t know exactly when that was, but Whaley did not turn 20 until 1912. According to drummer George Latimer, the first jazz jam sessions in Boston took place at the Harmony Store and that, "Every Sunday afternoon all the cats used to bring their instruments and we'd have a jam session, with the door wide open and the crowd in the street around the door getting a load of it." His bands played proto-jazz and early in the century they played what we undoubtedly would recognize as true jazz. George Latimer, Flavius Ward (trumpet), and Dick Ward (drums; Hicks' favorite drummer, according to George Latimer) were in his bands.

John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges played several reed instruments, primarily soprano and alto saxophone, as a youngster in Boston. However, the first time Bostonian Tom Whaley saw Hodges perform, Hodges was playing a C-melody sax. If ever there was such a thing as a natural-born improvisor, Johnny Hodges was it. By age 13 Hodges was "blowing that saxophone then as well as he played it all down through the years" (Charlie Holmes) and "playing more jazz then than he did with Duke" (Benny Waters). Before he learned to read music teen-ager Hodges was an influence on local and visiting jazz musicians who would stop by the exclusive Black and White Club to see the alto saxophonist featured with Walter Johnson's entertainment band. That is where Duke Ellington first saw "Rabbit" in action. Before 1925 Hodges became part of the first large group of jazz musicians to participate in the still-active "Boston-New York Pipeline," commuting to New York to learn via cutting contests and impress bandleaders in both towns. In 1996 when jazz giant Benny Carter was asked whether he had learned anything from Johnny Hodges, he said, "Not to play 'Warm Valley' and other things that he played upon request--because nobody can make them sound the way he did."

Robert E. "Bobby" Holmes played reed instruments and led one of the more popular bands in the Boston area in the 1930s. He played with Fess Williams, Joe Oliver, Chick Webb, Claude Hopkins, and Tiny Bradshaw. His bands in the Boston area included Hi Diggs (piano), Bunny Barnes (drums), "Hiram" Hawley (bass), Willie Jones (piano), Frankie Rue (banjo, guitar, bass; he was one of the jazz guitar pioneers in Boston), Sammy Randolph (trumpet), and Walter Sisco (reeds). The repertoire ranged from the most popular dance music of the 1930s to glee club vocals to novelties to light classics. The then legendary Harry Hicks wrote some of the band's arrangements.

Charles "Charlie" Hooks was in demand nationally as a trumpet player but he preferred to stay in Boston where he led bands during the 1940s. He was an influence on the playing of Gene Caines and his bands included Sam Margolis (reeds), Marquis Foster, Burt Walker (reeds), Nat Pierce, and others. At various times he played in bands led by Benny Moten, Sabby Lewis, Blanche Calloway, and others. As Nat Pierce told historian Stanley Dance, “Charlie seemed like a master musician to us. He had a fabulous range and had turned down offers from Duke, Basie and Lunceford. He didn’t want to leave town… When big-time musicians came in, it would be a matter of, ‘Who is this local guy here?’, but Charlie would play their stuff right back at them, higher, louder and faster. On a summer's day you could hear him two blocks away, screaming above the traffic.” Hooks probably is the only Boston-based musician ever to top Jabbo Jenkins in a trumpet battle.

Jabbo Jenkins played trumpet and, according to Sabby Lewis, "had a terrific range, and I recall one time when he had Roy Eldridge really sweating." (McCarthy’s Big Band Jazz, p. 156) Jenkins’ surname is taken from the fact that he spent his youth in the Jenkins Orphanage, Charleston, South Carolina, which offered superb training to many young musicians, particularly trumpeters, the best known being Jabbo Smith and Cat Anderson. He led bands in Boston intermittently during the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Band members included Hi Diggs (piano) and Slam Stewart. Jenkins played in the Will Vodery band (mid 1920s), Eddie Deas' bands (1929-32), Stanley "Fess" Williams' band (1933-34), Tasker Crosson's band (1933-34), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1935-37). To musicians of the period, Jenkins was both legendary (for his extraordinary trumpet work) and notorious (for his unpredictable and volatile temper).

Charles Wright "Charlie" Johnson was a pianist, trombonist, and band leader of great significance. Raised in Lowell, MA, he led bands starting in the early 1910s and moved from the Boston area to New York City c.1914. Later he used Boston area musicians in his Atlantic City (c.1918-1925) and New York City bands. If the great Harlem clubs of the 1920s—such as the Lenox Club and the Cotton Club—opened the door to the Harlem Renaissance, then Charlie Johnson turned the key. The first important black big band in a Harlem club, Johnson’s ensemble opened Small's Paradise in 1925 and held down the spot for about a dozen years, initially featuring such Bostonians as Bobby Johnson (guitar and banjo playing musical director) and Benny Waters (saxophone playing arranger). Ellington, Calloway, and others would follow at the Cotton Club and other celebrated Harlem venues, but Johnson paved the way. In spite of poor business skills and inept self promotion, Johnson attracted and employed such substantial musicians as Jimmy Harrison, Jabbo Smith, Benny Carter, Gus Aiken, Dickie Wells, and Roy Eldridge and left a significant recorded legacy. Recordings of his band (in 1925 on Emerson) are among the earliest known by any Boston-bred jazz band leader. According to Charters and Kunsstadt, that band’s 1928 recording of “The Boy in the Boat” is “perhaps the finest recording made by any of the Harlem bands, from Connie’s Inn to the Cotton Club, in the late twenties.” It is important to note that the recording was made during the height of fame of the Ellington band at the Cotton Club, a tenure that ran from December 1927 through February 1931. Referring to the Small’s Paradise band, Albert McCarthy states, “Apparently Duke Ellington’s earliest bands came to grief when pitted against Johnson’s on one or two occasions.” The legendary Johnson soloist Jabbo Smith told Whitney Balliett, “We had a lot of contests with visiting bands. We always won.” Johnson was the composer of several tunes, including the Fats Waller hit, "Fat and Greasy."

Charles "Skinny" or "Slim" Johnson, no relation to Bobby Johnson or Charlie Wright Johnson, was a pianist/band leader in the Boston area beginning about 1910 and intermittently through the early 1940s. In addition, he, like Clarence Cummings and Walter Johnson, booked black bands for society functions starting before 1920. Benny Waters and George Latimer (drums) were in his bands. Waters claimed that Johnson was "the greatest pianist of that era (i.e., early 1920s)" in Boston. Johnson performed in New York during the mid 1920s with Sidney Bechet, Wellman Braud, and others in the 7-11 Burlesque Company Orchestra, a theater orchestra.

Howard “Swan” Johnson, born on January 1, 1908, played the alto sax and doubled on other reed instruments, eventually becoming one of the most durable and respected saxophonists in Boston and New York through the 1980s. He was the youngest of four musically talented brothers—banjo playing bandleader Bobby, guitarist George, and society bandleader/pianist/booking agent Walter. Howard Johnson played in bands led by Preston Sandiford, James P. Johnson, Billy Cato, Teddy Hill, Fess Williams, Dizzy Gillespie (Johnson is on the very first Spotlite Club big band recordings), Elmer Snowden, Benny Carter, and others. Historian Stanley Dance quoted Charlie Holmes in 1970 assessing Swan Johnson’s work: “He can play anything. He can play that be-bop, and everything else. He even plays that West Indian music. You name it, he can play it… As a musician, he’s in a class with Benny Carter.”

Robert "Bobby" Johnson played guitar, banjo, and saxophone and led bands in the Boston area from the 1910s through the early 1920s. Benny Waters’ first regular playing job in Boston was with Bobby Johnson’s band. Bobby Johnson, who died in 1964, was the brother of "Swan" (who was eight years younger), George (guitar), and Walter (who was about twelve years older). He recorded with Bessie Smith and played in bands led by Charlie Johnson (as banjo player and musical director), Taft Jordan, Chick Webb, Red Norvo, and others.

Walter Johnson, although known primarily at the time as a booker of society bands and a society band leader, had a significant early impact on the development of jazz in Boston. During the first through the beginning of the third decades of the twentieth century, Johnson ran a booking agency on Tremont Street for society bands. About 1921 he opened Walter Johnson’s Social Club which became known as the Phalanx Club and eventually was known as the Black and White Club. That entertainment club was significant because it was run by the black Walter Johnson and was "exclusively" a club for blacks that eventually made accommodations for influential whites. The Black and White Club also was significant because as a teenager Johnny Hodges played there with a trio and sometimes in Walter Johnson’s society band where celebrities such as Ted Lewis and Phil Harris would be amazed by the playing of the young Hodges. According to Tom Whaley, it was in the sax section of Johnson's band at the club that Duke Ellington first spotted Johnny Hodges and told the youngster to come to New York. By the time Johnson sold the club the patrons were a mix of blacks and whites. His society bands were a significant support for aspiring jazz musicians because they were able to work in Johnson’s bands when jazz activity was slow. Some jazz musicians who played for Johnson were his brothers Bobby and Howard as well as Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney. During the mid-1920s Walter Johnson moved to Chicago and held down the piano spot at the Vendome Theatre; when he left that job he was replaced by a younger, soon-to-be-famous Earl Hines.

Max Kaminsky played trumpet and led bands in the Boston area and the rest of the northeast intermittently from 1920 (when he was a twelve-year-old band leader) through the 1940s. He opened a jazz club, Maxie's, briefly in 1946 on Huntington Avenue (performing with Brad Gowans as a sideman). Bobby Donaldson, Jack Marshard (drums), Jack Lesberg, Pee Wee Russell, Bob Wilber, and Brad Gowans were in his Boston area bands. Kaminsky played in Boston area bands led by Art Karle, Jack Marshard, Harry Marshard, Teddy Roy, and Leo Reisman, among others. Kaminsky performed internationally as a leader and with Benny Goodman, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Frank Teschemacher, Eddie Condon, Joe Venuti, and many others until his death in 1994. He was an original member (1938) of the Summa Cum Laude band and was part of a racially integrated band, Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies that recorded in 1933. His autobiography is titled Jazz Band: My Life in Jazz (Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1963).

Arthur "Art" or "Artie" Karle played reed instruments and led bands in the Boston area and on Cape Cod during the early 1920s through early 1930s when he moved to New York. He returned to Boston after World War Two and performed in the area through the 1950s. Among the musicians in his Boston area bands were Max Kaminsky and George Poor (trumpet). Karle played in Benny Goodman's band in the early 1930s, on Billie Holiday's first recordings in 1933, and with Boston area society bands (such as Harry Marshard's) in the 1960s.

Steven Norman "Steve Lacy" Lackritz played the soprano saxophone, helping to turn the instrument from an old-time metallic variation on the clarinet to one of the new sounds of a new music during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although he was born in New York and spent much of his professional life in Europe, he studied at Schillinger House (later named Berklee College of Music), was a guest lecturer several times at the New England Conservatory, and eventually joined the NEC faculty, concluding his teaching and performance careers in Boston. In New York City he first played soprano saxophone with the more traditional musicians such as Max Kaminsky and Jimmy McPartland. Then, from the mid-1950s onward, as a result of experiences performing with Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, and Gil Evans, Steve Lacy changed his musical direction dramatically. He was so influenced by Monk that—with trombonist Roswell Rudd—in 1961 he formed a highly-regarded quartet dedicated to performing the music of Monk exclusively. Particularly after moving to Europe in 1970 Steve Lacy performed with a “who’s who” of international giants of new music—Don Cherry, Misha Mengelberg, Carla Bley, Johnny Dyani, Louis Moholo, Jimmy Giuffre, and many others. In the fall of 2002 Steve Lacy and his wife, cellist/vocalist Irene Aebi, moved to Boston so the saxophonist could begin his teaching duties on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. During his brief tenure at NEC, he became a very popular teacher, attaining something of a guru status. More important for non-matriculators during that time, the soprano saxophonist performed with great frequency in the Boston area in a wide variety of musical contexts. He died from cancer on June 4, 2004.

John D. LaPorta played reed instruments and was a respected composer/arranger and educator. He is best remembered for his performances with the First Herd of Woody Herman, Lennie Tristano, and Charles Mingus. During the early 1950s as a founding member of the Jazz Composers Workshop in New York LaPorta established a reputation as one of the groundbreakers of the period. Evidence of that forward-looking music can be found on Theme and Variations (Fantasy CD FCD-24776-2), a recording of studio sessions from the mid and late 1950s in which a variety of advanced performance practices—such as incorporation of two different time signatures simultaneously and having the rhythm section play completely free support passages behind soloists—are part of the music spectrum. Until his complete retirement from Berklee in the late 1990s, LaPorta taught for 37 years in Boston. During the 1980s he was a featured soloist with Herb Pomeroy’s big band, and he continued to record his own music into the 1990s. He wrote several books about music including the autobiographical Playing It By Ear. Trombonist Jimmy Knepper (in the May 20, 1991 New Yorker) claimed, “Mingus talked a lot of nonsense about whites, but... he had great respect for white musicians like John LaPorta, Gil Evans, and Lennie Tristano.”

George Latimer played drums in a variety of local bands, was a relatively early jazz pioneer in Boston, and late in life served as an oral historian regarding the development of jazz in Boston and the early years of the black musicians union. Latimer played in Boston area bands led by Gene Goodrum, Harry Hicks, Charles "Skinny" Johnson, Frankie Newton, Bobby Sawyer, and others. It was jazz pioneer Harry Hicks who brought Latimer into the union and acted as a mentor to him. In a recorded message played at the first reunion of Local 535 in 1984 George Latimer remembered joining the musicians union at age 16: "I went in the union on Halloween eve 1917. I stayed active in the music until World War II. When I joined the union, Bill Smith was President and Harry Hicks was Secretary-Treasurer." For most of the twentieth century radio was to a great extent color blind. As a result Latimer performed with other black musicians, such as brothers Hi Diggs (piano) and George Diggs (violin), regularly on radio station WEEI in the Boston area during the 1920s and 1930s. A few years before he died, George Latimer laughed as he remembered telling fledgling reedman Harry Carney that he should stick to playing the piano because he’d never be able to play the saxophone.

Harold Layne--born in Cambridge on October 18, 1926 (just a few months younger than fellow Bostonian Roy Haynes)--has developed a reputation as one of the pillars of Boston percussion. Eventually he studied at Schillinger House (now Berklee), but mostly he was self-taught, including as a teenager learning how to play Gene Krupa’s Sing Sing Sing solo note for note. During the first sixty years of the twentieth century there was a productive relationship between the U.S. Post Office and jazz musicians throughout the nation. For almost three decades Layne took advantage of that relationship, working as a postal worker during the day and as a drummer at night. By mid century Layne was among the top three or four Boston-based drummers on call to support visiting musicians at the Hi-Hat, Savoy, and other clubs. In that capacity he performed with Ben Webster, Buck Clayton, Zoot Sims, "Lockjaw" Davis, Sonny Stitt, and others. Of course, he has been and remains on call for former and current Boston-based musicians, such as Bill Pierce, Andy Voelker, James Williams, Bruce Barth, Jef Charland, Sabby Lewis, Rusty Scott, Andy McGhee, and John Lockwood. The “youngsters” he performs with today continue to marvel at his mastery of the music.

William Sebastian "Sabby" Lewis played piano and led bands in the Boston area from 1936 through the 1960s and intermittently to the early 1990s. He probably is the most important band leader in the history of jazz in Boston. He and other arrangers during the late 1930s and early 1940s wrote "big band sound" charts for ensembles of seven to nine pieces, predicting voicing used in small ensembles in Boston and on the West Coast during the 1950s. His bands recorded for such labels as Crystaltone, Continental, London, Mercury, ABC-Paramount, and Phoenix. Musicians who played in his bands include Osie Johnson (drums), Alan Dawson, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Crawford (drums), Joe Booker (drums), Eugene Caines (trumpet), George "Big Nick" Nicholas, Francis Williams (trumpet), Thomas "Top Cat" Browne (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Tyler (saxes), Mae Arnette (vocals), Maceo Bryant (trumpet, trombone), Dan Turner (tenor sax), Herbie Williams (trumpet), Clarence Jackson (vocals), Oscar Dunham (trumpet), Elwyn Fraser (alto sax), Paul Gonsalves, Champlain "Champ" Jones (bass), Bill Dorsey (baritone saxophone), Sonny Stitt, Al Morgan (bass), brothers George (saxes) and Ernie Perry (not related to Ray Perry), Evelyn White (vocals), Joe Gordon, Lennie Johnson (trumpet), Cat Anderson, Harold Layne, Freddie Webster (trumpet), George Jones (bass), Charlie Hooks, Sherman Freeman (reeds), Idrees Sulieman (trumpet), and many others. Among the arrangers that Lewis used are Jerry Heffron, Paul Broadnax, Osie Johnson, Gigi Gryce, and Tadd Dameron. For a while in the 1950s Sabby was a jazz DJ on local radio. He played mostly solo and trio piano during the last decades of his life.

Joseph Gabriel Esther "Joe" Maneri, reed-instrument and piano playing improvisor/composer, was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 9, 1927 and moved permanently to the Boston area in 1970 when he joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory. He founded the Boston Microtonal Society in 1988 and was that organization’s president. He was both a microtonal composer out of the European tradition and an improvising microtonal musician who has taught and otherwise influenced countless students and performing artists such as Marty Ehrlich, James Bergin, Bob Mover, Chris Brooks, Pandelis Karayorgis, Katt Hernandez, and his own remarkable son, Mat Maneri. He is an important musician who worked out groundbreaking post-Ayler approaches to improvisation during the early and mid-1960s, the same time such innovators as Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman were developing their unique jazz voices. His duo performance with Peter Dolger in 1963 or 1964 released as Peace Concert (Atavistic) probably is the earliest extant percussion-tenor saxophone free jazz recording. Several jazz critics—most notably Harvey Pekar and Steve Lake—have praised Joe Maneri’s performances. Jazz magazine’s Philippe Maziat claims, “Joe is one of the most important musicians in the history of free jazz.” The New England Conservatory awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Music degree on May 17, 2009. Recordings of Joe Maneri may be found on the ECM, Tzadik, Leo, Atavistic, and HatArt labels. Joe Maneri died on August 24, 2009.

Charles Hugo “Charlie” Mariano, alto saxophonist, performed in bands in the Boston area in the late 1940s through the early 1950s and in the late 1950s, most notably in the Nat Pierce big band and the Herb Pomeroy big band. He is best known for his work with Stan Kenton, Herb Pomeroy, former wife Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charles Mingus, Shelly Manne, and his own groups. The Charlie Mariano Octet of 1949 was influenced by and sounded startlingly similar to the Miles Davis’ "Birth of the Cool" Nonet of the same period. Nat Pierce, Jim Clark (tenor sax), Herb Pomeroy, Frank Gallagher (guitar, bass), Roy Frazee (piano), Bernie Griggs (bass), Mert Goodspeed (trombone), Dick Twardzik, Carl Goodwin (drums), Joe Gordon, and Joe McDonald (drums) are among the musicians who have been in his bands. He died on June 16, 2009 at age 85.

Joseph “Kaiser” Marshall, a pioneering and influential early jazz drummer, was born in Georgia but grew up in Boston, studying with George Stone, an important percussion teacher in the Boston area. Marshall performed in the Boston area, most notably with Charlie Dixon, before moving to New York in the early 1920s. He performed/recorded with Shrimp Jones, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jack Teagarden, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Cab Calloway, Sidney Bechet, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, and many others. Among historical events of note is the fact that Marshall played drums on the first record session in which Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden performed together (producing the classic “Knockin’ a Jug”).

Jimmy (sometimes listed as Jimmie) Martin played piano and reeds and led bands in the Boston area from the mid 1940s through 1948. Martin played in and wrote arrangements for bands led by Bay Perry and Jimmy Tyler. He led his own bands, most notably Jimmy Martin's Beboppers, which included Jaki Byard (trombone & arranger), Sam Rivers, Martin "Gator" Rivers (bass), Doug Haynes (guitar, brother of Roy Haynes), Lennie Johnson, Hampton Reece (trombone), Roland Alexander (alto saxophone), Baggy Grant, Andy McGhee (tenor sax), Larry Winters (drums), Gigi Gryce, Clarence Johnston (drums), Bay Perry, Jimmy Tyler, Alan Dawson, Joe Gordon, and others. Before he led his own big band, Nat Pierce wrote arrangements for Martin's band. During the late 1940s, Pierce’s band was known as Boston’s best white bop big band and Martin’s was known as Boston’s best black bop big band, and sometimes the two bands competed for jobs.

Makanda “Ken” Kenneth Arthur McIntyre--multi-instrumentalist, composer, and band leader--was born in Boston in 1931. As a teenager in town he studied alto saxophone with Andy McGhee, Gigi Gryce, and Charlie Mariano. In 1953 at age 22 he went into the Army and later returned to Boston. He earned degrees from Boston Conservatory (BA 1958, MA 1959) and UMass Amherst (Ed.D 1975) and spent much of his life teaching privately and at the collegiate level. His first two recording sessions as a leader produced Stone Blues with members of his Boston-based band (May 31, 1960) and Looking Ahead with Eric Dolphy (June 28, 1960). Eventually McIntyre would compose more than 400 works, most of which never were recorded or even performed in his lifetime. In addition to Dolphy, he performed and recorded with Jaki Byard, Art Taylor, Ron Carter, Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, Joanne Brackeen, Richard Davis, Bill Dixon, Charlie Haden, and other notables. The last McIntyre gig I caught took place as part of a religious service at University Lutheran Church in Harvard Square on March 15, 1998 and featured a band including John Kordalewski, Brian McCree, and Harvey Wirht (subbing impressively for Bobby Ward). Today John Kordalewski, a McIntyre student, heads the Makanda Project, a missionary outfit in the best sense of the term. It has the noble dual purpose of performing unrecorded McIntyre music and making sure that the people of the city get exposed to the music. They carry out those missions superbly--to a great extent because the musicians in the band are of the caliber that the namesake would have sought out. Makanda Ken McIntyre died in New York on June 13, 2001.

David J. “Dave” McKenna, just about everyone’s favorite piano player, was born in Rhode Island but among fans is most closely associated with Boston and Cape Cod. His first significant professional work was in bands led by Boots Mussulli, Charlie Ventura, and Woody Herman. After military service he continued working in New York and New England with Stan Getz, Gene Krupa, Zoot Sims, Ruby Braff, Al Cohn, Bob Wilber, Dick Johnson, Bobby Hackett, and others. During the late 1960s and for the rest of the century McKenna performed mostly on the Cape and in Boston as a soloist or with Gray Sargent, Lou Colombo, Scott Hamilton, and other area musicians and Concord Record label regulars. Although audiences were able to witness the pianist at work in a variety of clubs, fans on the Cape probably remember him best at the keyboard at The Columns in West Dennis while Bostonians rave about his solo work at the Plaza Bar of the Copley Plaza Hotel during the 1980s. Ill health at the turn of the century ended his playing career. Eventually he moved to Pennsylvania to be with family members. He died on October 18, 2008.

Harold Wilfred “Hal” McKusick played a variety of reed instruments but is best known for his alto saxophone work. He is one of those Bostonians (Medford-born and Newton-raised) who is as well known as a West Coast musician as a Bostonian. Like many such musicians he abandoned to a great extent his jazz career for work in studios and broadcast radio and television. Nevertheless, among certain Boston area musicians who played with him or grew up in his shadow, McKusick remains a jazz musician of significant local influence. He and Ralph Burns went to school together in Newton. His impressive experience outside New England includes work with Les Brown, Woody Herman, Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Rich, Claude Thornhill, Terry Gibbs, and Elliott Lawrence, among others. His absence on the jazz scene during the last quarter of the twentieth century is reflected in the three versions of The Encyclopedia of Jazz during that time. In the original version of the document (i.e., 1950s), the write-up on McKusick claims that “he has grown steadily in stature as a soloist and leader.” The 1960s edition provides reduced space for information about him. There is no entry for Hal McKusick in the 1970s edition. Nevertheless, his reputation in the Boston area remains. As of this writing the CD, Triple Exposure (OJCCD 1811-2) which includes McKusick solos on tenor and alto saxes and clarinet, remains available in record stores.

Nuncio “Toots” Mondello, talented on a variety of reed instruments, was a native who developed his music in the Boston area, spending much of the late 1920s and early 1930s in Mal Hallett’s band. After leaving Boston Mondello did a lot of studio work and performed in bands led by Buddy Rogers, Ray Noble, and Phil Harris. He is best known for stints with Benny Goodman in the 1930s and again in the early 1940s and for his work with the Metronome All-Stars in the early 1940s. His extensive studio work includes performances with Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton, and many others.

Robert Laurence “Rakalam” or “Rahboat Ntumba” or “Bob” Moses, a unique and celebrated percussionist, was born in New York City in 1948 and has lived and taught in the Boston area since the 1980s. He has performed with Larry Coryell, Gary Burton, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pat Metheny, Dave Liebman, George Gruntz, and many others. He is the author of Drum Wisdom (Clifton Publishers). He has led bands including such musicians as Bill Frisell, Dave Bryant, Howard Johnson, George Garzone, Lyle Mays, Jerry Bergonzi, and others.

James “Jimmy” Mosher, a Massachusetts native, grew up in Chelsea to become a highly respected Boston-based tenor and (later) alto saxophonist and teacher. Although he did lead small groups, Mosher is best known for his performances with Woody Herman, Herb Pomeroy, Buddy Rich, and the Greg Hopkins-Wayne Naus Big Band. In 1982 he led a quartet featuring Tom Ranier (piano), Joel DiBartolo (bass), and Peter Donald (drums) on A Chick from Chelsea (Discovery Record DS 860). A couple years after Jimmy Mosher died, Herb Pomeroy was talking about people in his band and said, “[Jimmy Mosher] was gigantic. I've devoted my life to this music. I would sometimes find it difficult to follow the profundity of what that man was saying in his music.”

Robert “Bob” Mover, alto/soprano saxophonist and teacher, is a Massachusetts native (1952) who has lived in the Boston area off and on over the past several decades. He has performed with Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Duke Jordan, Charles Mingus, Jaki Byard, and others. He has had teaching posts at Berklee and Concordia (Montreal). His bands have included Tom Harrell, Bobby Ward, Kenny Barron, Joe Cohn (guitar), Rufus Reid, Jaco Pastorius, Claudio Roditi, Jimmy Garrison, Mick Goodrick, Ben Riley,

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/18/2011
10:11
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/14/2011
14:30
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/10/2011
10:53
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/06/2011
13:44
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 08/02/2011
11:23
A Review of Ken Burns' Jazz Series
» Boston Jazz Scene

In March of 2001 I sent a review of the PBS Jazz series to Chris Allen for his web site. Chris at the time was a wonderful trombonist and band leader who started a Boston jazz web site. I contributed a few things to that site before it folded. Eventually (to the disappointment of myself and others) Chris walked away from jazz to pursue his passion for software development. Although he has picked up his trombone on occasion since that time, I’m guessing he’s happy with that decision. It’s the rest of us who suffer.

In any event, I thought there were serious problems with the PBS series--assuming it was not meant to be fiction or a pseudo-documentary along the lines of Spinal Tap. (I suspect that, although fictional, Spinal Tap was closer to the TRUTH of what it is to be a Rock musician than Jazz was to its subject.) Since Chris’ web site disappeared I have noticed several references to my essay (e.g., check out the PBS Jazz series on Wikipedia). However, there was no place available on the internet that people could check out to see the essay for themselves. For all those folks--and anyone else who’s interested--here it is.

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/24/2011
11:02
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/19/2011
12:57
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/12/2011
10:18
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/08/2011
15:58
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/04/2011
14:45
Boston area and visiting musicians
» Boston Jazz Scene

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 07/01/2011
12:50
Things Happening in the Boston Area
» Boston Jazz Scene

Here are some things to do in the Boston area that are perfect for this time of year.

For fans of visual art of the 1960s – The upheaval at Brandeis University involving the Rose Art Museum in 2009 has quieted to a great extent because of a major constructive response both within and outside the Brandeis community. The mess occurred on Jehuda Reinharz’ watch, and he’s gone. Apparently new president Fred Lawrence has taken the broad-based concern seriously. The selloff was halted, and President Lawrence writes in the fall 2011 issue of Brandeis’ State of the Arts, “The arts were integral to the founding vision of Brandeis, and I pledge to strengthen and renew that vision.” That’s a sign that things are moving in the right direction on this fiftieth anniversary of the Rose Art Museum. Another good step is the current exhibit at the Rose titled Art at the Origin: The Early 1960s. Put together under the direction of new Director of Museum Operations Roy Dawes, the exhibit looks to the first years of the museum as both subject of aesthetic substance and inspiration for the future. At the same time, the exhibit is daunting for anyone taking up the challenge of bringing the museum into the future. Consider the fact that all the Rose holdings on display were created during 1961 to 1965. Then consider the fact that almost all of the works on display were acquired during the first years of the museum’s existence. These are not fly-by-night pieces. We’re talking about Oldenburg, Kelly, Rauschenberg, de Kooning, Indiana, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Motherwell, and more. Add to that a 1995 Nam June Paik tribute to Charlotte Moorman elsewhere in the museum, and you have a wonderful celebration of early 1960s creativity that would satisfy any art freak. A few of the works are among the artists’ best, and all of them would be taken gladly by virtually any museum in the world. The exhibit will be available for viewing until May 2012.

Beacon Hill – We associate it with power politics and Brahmins, but it has nobler origins. The African Meeting House suggests the important black roots there. In the middle of the twentieth century Beacon Hill had no luster. So poets--such as Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Robert Lowell, and Stanley Kunitz, lived there because of low rents and to avoid the stigma of academia. Then it became respectable, initially hip (as suggested in the 1968 film featuring Steve McQueen and Fay Dunaway, The Thomas Crowne Affair). And today you can look backward wistfully or simply wish you were a millionaire...

Spring through fall – Historic Lexington and Concord – You can experience the history of Lexington and Concord any time of the year, but it is much more enjoyable when the weather is beautiful. It may seem unnecessary to mention highlights of colonial history as a worthy pursuit, but even locals (maybe especially locals) take all this “old” stuff for granted. The problem is not unique to New England. I remember never having taken in the view from the top of the Empire State Building until I moved from the New York area. Nevertheless, when you stop to think about it, all this history is pretty amazing. In Concord and Lexington a visitor can walk where history happened and ponder, “So this is where they waited for the whites of the British eyes,” or the firing of the “shot heard ‘round the world,” or the spot where Thoreau set up his shack on Walden Pond, and on and on. You can find out more by clicking here.

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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 06/22/2011
12:25
Boston area and visiting musicians
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 06/20/2011
14:23
Boston area and visiting musicians
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 06/17/2011
10:41
Boston area and visiting musicians
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 06/11/2011
12:54
Boston area and visiting musicians
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Massachusetts blogs (US-MA), 06/06/2011
11:30
Boston area and visiting musicians
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