Monday, September 30, 2019

2019 CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL



2019 CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL REVIEW
Text and photos by Greg Turner

There is always a lot to choose from musically in Chicago and its never more evident during the now 10 day long Chicago Jazz Festival. Performances are held in various city locales during the first 6 days, but Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park is where the Festival headliners perform during the last 4 days, and there is always a large variety of music performed comes under the “jazz” word. I missed Thursday’s performances, but arrived at the park late Friday afternoon.

Joel Ross - Photo by Greg Turner

After 2 well received sets of all original music from Blue Note labelmates, Vibraphonist and Chicago native Joel Ross and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, Friday’s performances concluded with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. A quintet in its heyday, the ensemble has expanded to 15 people, including the last 2 surviving members, a string quartet, a couple of percussionists, a conductor, and electronics. As a result the music sometimes sounded symphonic, sometimes African, sometimes electronic noise, certainly not what one would expect.


Ambrose Akinmusire - Photo by Greg Turner

Saturday’s highlights included Chicago pianist Ryan Cohen, as he presented his Originations group, which included several of his frequent jazz collaborators and another string quartet, They played a diverse program of Cohen compositions that reflected his Arabic and Jewish heritage. Having missed their show in Cincinnati last October, I was looking forward to seeing and hearing bassist Christian McBride’s New Jawn and they did not disappoint. It’s always a joy hearing a band perform at the highest level, playing their original compositions with emotion, precision and NO MUSIC STANDS. Nasheet Waits drove them hard with his dynamic drumming while trumpeter Josh Evans and saxophonist Marcus Strickland responded with strength.



Christian McBride - Photo by Greg Turner


Nasheet Waits - Photo by Greg Turner

Camilia Meza - Photo by Donna Turner


Antonio Sanchez - Photo by Donna Turner


Melissa Aldana - Photo by Donna Turner

Sunday’s mainstage performances seemed to have a Latin American theme after the free improvising first group. Chilean vocalist/guitarist Camila Meza sang some in Spanish and Portuguese, and her Nectar Orchestra, a jazz group augmented by yet another string quartet, accompanied her with sounds she heard while growing up in Chile. Latino America Unida, an all-star group featuring another Chilean, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, Puerto Rican alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon and Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez, debuted with their original compositions of modern acoustic jazz. Having read much about her, I was looking forward to seeing and hearing Aldana live, and she is the real deal. 

Eddie Palmieri - Photo by Donna Turner

The festival closed with a set from Puerto Rican music legend, New York born and raised, Eddie Palmieri’s sextet that was more jazz oriented than expected because of extended trumpet and saxophone solos. But the grooves were still danceable, and the audience danced.


And that’s another year of the Chicago Jazz Festival. Thanks to my wife Donna for letting me use some of her photos because I lost all my Sunday photos because of a bad SD card, but hopefully I’ll be able to attend the Pritzker Pavillon performances next year and I will get it right.

Greg Turner  9/28/19



Sunday, May 12, 2019

Eddie Brookshire Day in Dayton
National Jazz Appreciation
& much more

As this latest jazzadvocate events blog was being prepared, news was received that long time jazz fan, former WDPS FM Big Band radio show host and Jazz Central patron, Conrad Jessee, passed. Also my brother-in-law and jazz partner in crime, it has not been the same since he took ill some years ago but now he has put all of that behind him. He would want all of you to get out there and listen to more live jazz! In fact, the night he passed, the Jazz Central Jazz Jam was off the hook. Some might say it was the first live jazz he had heard in almost a year, way too long...................

Update
Remembering Conrad Jessee:
A gathering will be held on June 15th at 2:00 p.m.  at the Waterstone Condominium Clubhouse on Waterstone Blvd in Washington Township off  Washington Church Road. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, "Oh the stories we will tell!" 
   

Jazz at Mid Pointe Library in West Chester
When March rolls around, jazz fans can count on at least 2 things, Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz the first weekend and Sunday jazz at Mid Pointe library in West Chester. Sadly, I usually miss the first one or two performances before something reminds me! You can check out my take on the all day Saturday jazz by clicking this hot link:                 19th Annual Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz

My wife and I attended the Greg Abate performance on Mid Pointe library on March 10th. As usual, Lee McKinney was on drums – in fact, this performance was the final one of a different gig every night for Abate & McKinney leading up to this finale. Steve Schmidt played keyboards and Tim Watkins on bass. The musicians traded fours on one of my favorite tunes, Whisper Not. A couple songs later Abate played a song written for his mother-in-law, Mrs. T. who had recently passed. It was an up tempo tune and Abate played the flute. The group also played the tune, Yard Bird Suite, a song also found on Abate’s album with Phil Woods. McKinney wowed the crowd with a rousing drum solo! My wife commented that the piano solo on the Billy Strayhorn composition, Chelsea Bridge was played beautifully. The second set produced an excellent bass solo on the Charlie Parker tune, Star Eyes and I particularly enjoyed the piano/flute & bass playing note-for-note in sync on Lullaby of Birdland. They included yet another Ohio musician/composer when they played Joe Henderson’s Recorda-Me.

Sunday, March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day – found the Woodford family at the Mid Pointe Library in West Chester once again for a performance of the Mambo Combo. The group consists of Mike Sharfe on bass, John Zappa on trumpet/flugelhorn, Tim McCord on sax and flute, Baba Charles on Latin percussion, Ira Schwietzer on Latin percussion and Brian Bachelor Glader on keyboards. They opened with a lively song written for vibes player Cal Cjader entitled Cal’s Pals. Next up was the rearranged Sonny Rollins jazz standard, Airgin – compliments of trumpet player Carl Saunders. He called the tune Nigeria (Airgin backwards, which was Nigeria backwards in the first place). The band called upon Carl Saunders once again for Latin Sojourn – the intro by McCord and Zappa was ethereal. They ended the first set with a cha cha arrangement and the I Love Lucy Theme song which contained various quotes from other jazz tunes. The second set was just as much fun but I will single out the Tito Puente version of Teach Me Tonight as a vehicle that really let the two Latin percussionists razzle dazzle the crowd. You can hear this band on a regular basis the first Saturday of the month in Cincinnati at the Hilton on 5th Street and Thursdays at the Greenwich in Walnut Hills.

The Blue Wisp Big Band
The Blue Wisp Big Band has a new home, Café Vivace, in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati. Owned by jazz saxophonist Brent Gallaher and his wife Vanessa, the big band plays there every Wednesday night. After much time of not getting down to the Café Vivace in Cincy, I finally got in my car and drove down on April 10th, 2019.  For the record, I got there in about 40 minutes so the club is within reasonable drive time for those of you considering a trip. The Blue Wisp Big Band was just as good as I remembered – it has been many, many months since I heard them play. A shout out to Jon Von Ohlen fans, the drummer extraordinaire passed away this past Fall. The news even resulted in The Barron getting memorialized in a “jazzonthetube” video:


Jim Leslie has stepped into some mighty big shoes but I can tell you that he does rise to the occasion. Jim is also the mover and shaker for the University of Dayton Jazztet which gets together once a month for a jazz lab on the UD campus.
This night happened to be a night when “Salsa on the Square” was filming a commercial for big band Latin music. The band played Mira Mira by Cincy native Matt Harris. Patrons could not sit still in their seats. The trombone section was calling tunes on the fly so why not pick a trombone composition? Yep, The Great Escape, written by John Fedchock when he was with The Woody Herman band was an excellent choice. Fedchock is an OSU grad as well. Trumpet player Hank Mountner has assumed Emcee duties for the band he introduced a song written by Charles Mingus for Duke Ellington, Sound of Love. However; this tune had been arranged by Pat Kelly originally for his Psychoacoustic Orchestra after which he expanded it for The Blue Wisp Big Band. The brush work by Jim Leslie in the rhythm section interaction in the middle of the song, Mike Sharfe on bass and Stevve Schmidt on piano, was memorable. Every Wednesday night! It is worth the trip.

Central Jazz Big Band
On 4-16-19, I made another visit to hear the Central Jazz Big Band on the third Tuesday of the month and it didn’t take long before Ken Taylor, on trumpet, and King Koeller, on tenor sax, began trading 8s. You tend to hear musicians trade 4s mostly in live music but upon rare occasion they double it – this occurred on a Kenny Barron tune entitle Voyage, arranged by John La Barbera. It was a crowd pleaser. Band leader Taylor explained that Dizzy Gillespie had helped Arturo Sandoval escape Cuba for the US and the band played the Sandoval tune, Closely Dancing. This was particularly enjoyable as there were 2 clarinets, 2 flutes and a bass clarinet. What a lineup! Great music! You can view this in the accompanying photo. Tapping into something a little more modern day, Ken Taylor spoke of Chuck Findley out on the West Coast and followed that up by wowing those in attendance with his flugelhorn on The Day We Met. But Ken Taylor also spoke of local musicians such as Snooky Young and a Cincy native, Frank Foster – both of which played for Count Basie. The band then played, Who, Me? from the Basie recording entitled Chairman of the Board. The last song I will mention – and there were lots more – is a jazz classic – arranged by Bill Holman for Stan Kenton – the band played a crowd favorite, Cottontail. You can hear the Central Jazz Big Band the third Tuesday of every month at 1200 Forrer Blvd.



About this time I was once again made aware of the old saw “it’s not what you know but who you know when fellow WDPS jazz show host, Cliff Darrett, made me aware of April being jazz appreciation month across the Nation [otherwise divided as we are these days] and that the city of Dayton had designated April 17th as Eddie Brookshire Day! Cliff did a special on his show – Thursdays from 11:00-1:00, Kelli Campbell made note on her show, Fridays at 2:00 and eventually I did a show myself featuring Eddie’s music, my show on Wednesdays at Noon. The station [89.5 FM] did a special promo on 4-17-19 and the Dayton Daily News ran an article on 4-14-19. Hats off to Eddie Brookshire and his influence upon jazz in the Dayton area and beyond. Congratulations Eddie!



April 14th found me down at Jazz Central for the weekly jazz jam. The jam has evolved to the point where the first hour tends to be the instrumental jam session and then often times the second set includes any vocalists in the audience. The third set anything goes. The jam included the usual cast of characters, Kenny Baccus on organ, King Koeller on sax, Ron Applebury on electric bass, Rodderick Wilson on trumpet, Craig Saunders on drums & Jeff Slinker on guitar. This night also included the incredible trombone playing of U.S. Band of Flight trombonist Bryan Gannon and   Stephan Wood on trumpet. Some tunes that caught my ear were Pent Up House and Ladybird. It was a good night for the jam.



As fate would have it, after such a long hiatus on my part [of hearing the Blue Wisp Big Band] – see article above -  a mere 8 days later the band came to Lakota West High School in West Chester as part of the Cincinnati jazz ambassador program. The night kicked off the song I Concentrate on You arranged by the great Cincinnati arranger Carroll DeCamp. This crowd pleaser was followed by “the closest thing we do to pop” which was a Hank Mautner arrangement of the Farrell Williams megahit, Happy! Band member Larry Dickson arranged the next tune, Jimmy Heath’s CTA (recorded by Lee Morgan). This interpretation included a very nice bass solo by Mike Sharfe. Garrin Webb and Brent Gallaher traded tenor sax solos to spice things up as well. In honor of recently departed Bobby Shew, the band played a song that Shew had written in honor of the great trumpet player Blue Mitchell entitled Blue. The song was arranged by Gordon Brinker and played beautifully by Kim Pensyl. Easy to Love, arranged by “friend of the band” Gary Carney was another crowd pleaser. Jazz tunes are often interestingly titled and the Chick Corea Tones for Joan’s Bones was next up. Arranged by Al Keider, it gave Steve Schmidt a chance to hold forth. The band closed out the evening with an Erik Richards arrangement of You Don’t Know What Love Is. The folks in the crowd were glad they came and the band let them know they appreciated their attendance. It was a good night all the way round.
Now allow me to go back and say a few words about Garrin Webb. I first encountered Garrin as a musician for the UD Jazz Ensemble on the Sax Fest Weekend when Branford Marsalis and his group were the guest artists some years ago. I ran into Garrin again when he had his own combo performing at UD. After that I sort of lost musical track of Garrin so it was quite a pleasure to finally hear him again with The Blue Wisp Big Band, even got a chance to catch up a bit when the show was over. You can’t go wrong with The Blue Wisp Big Band.


I talked my wife into accompanying me to Washington Platform on 4-19-19 for dinner and music from guest artist Hal Melia. Hal was playing with an all star lineup, John Taylor on drums, Phil DeGreg on keyboards and Mike Sharfe on bass. Luckily for my wife, Hal was playing flute when we got there – a very enjoyable start to the evening. Hal then presented a beautiful rendition of Body & Soul on tenor sax as Mike Sharfe slipped in some tenderly caressed bass notes. These band mates played very well together, listening to each other and responding superbly. Hal followed this up with another tenor sax interpretation of I’ll Remember You. The first set ended with Milestones which segued into Speak Low. It was a night of excellent music by all but a great opportunity to hear Hal Melia who plays sparingly in public (unless you catch him with his Central State jazz students).

                                                                 



local regular jazz happenings
The Jazz Central Jazz Jam - Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. (until around 11:30) and 
Ismail Muhammad is bringing in occasional jazz combos on other nights 
 
Jim Smith, jazz guitar player/teacher/master and Vinnie Marshal on bass are at
the Tipp City restaurant called the Coldwater Café. Saturday nights from 7:00-9:30 
 
The Blue Wisp Big Band at Café Vivacel every Wednesday night
 
Every Thursday night at the Minton Club there is music and on 3rd Thursdays 
you can hear the Generations Big Band. 

Other venues for which you need to be aware:
 
Dave Greer and the Classic Jazz Stompers at Jimmy’s Ladder 11 on the 
first Tuesday of the month 
 
The Central Jazz Big Band every third Tuesday at 1200 Forrer Blvd in Kettering/Dayton starting at 7:30

Jazz at Spinoza’s out by the mall at Fairfield Commons – last Monday 
of the month hear Taylor – Cashwell - Berg
 
Washington Platform in Cincy, jazz combos on Friday and Saturday nights. 
 
Wednesdays at Noon you can hear Eric Grieffenhagen & Greg Dearth 
at the Wine Emporium.
 

1st Sunday mornings have begun again at the Yellow Cab in downtown Dayton 
where you can here Jason Swann

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

March(ing) into Spring 2019 by Jim Woodford:


March(ing) into Spring 2019
a.k.a. The Terrell Stafford Quintet blew into town!
                                               19th Annual Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz
March 2019 is upon us and the Dayton area already has experienced a simulation of March coming in like a lion because The Terrell Stafford Quintet done blew into town! Thanks to The ArtsLive Performance Series at the University of Dayton for that, but more information a little later.
I am actually going to start off the first Jazz Advocate Blog of 2019 with something that happened in 2018, and I do mean happened, in fact, it was a happening! But it wasn’t jazz – if you listen to my weekly jazz show on 89.5 WDPS FM, you know I call my show “Bebop and More” – this next bit fits into the “more” department. If you are reading this blog, hopefully you are familiar with Tim Berens, long time Dayton area jazz musician extraordinaire – in fact, he writes, arranges and works with the Cincinnati Pops on a regular basis – well this is a story about Tim working with The Dayton Philharmonic, along with his wife, Louise (formerly known as jazz vocalist Louise Kramer) and The Jefferson Starship – wait, you might say – as former Big Band radio show host Conrad Jessee used to say under similar circumstances, “What is a Jefferson Starship?” The group has had many rock & roll hits and started off as The Jefferson Airplane AND have been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [for those of you who got through the 60s and really do remember, Cathy Richardson had been anointed the new lead singer of the band by the iconic original singer, Grace Slick]. OK, there is no need for you to be impressed for you to appreciate this story. My wife and I attended, primarily because we knew that Tim and Louise had arranged the music for the Philharmonic to play with Jefferson Starship, boy are we glad we did. Wow! Patricia Cardinali of the Philharmonic posted her excitement for the world to see:

Jefferson Starship premiered their orchestra show Friday night with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. It was an epic performance which was greeted with a level of bombastic audience enthusiasm that I have never seen before in my 35 years of playing pops concerts. The sell-out crowd gave 4 full standing ovations. They remained on their feet for the final 3 songs, clapping and dancing to the music, and they screamed for more at the end. Any orchestra managers or conductors who want to fill their hall with fans and then send those fans home without their socks, consider this show.

I had sent some of my own excited comments to Tim Berens and here is his reply (in part):
The show went better than I could have hoped it would go. Louise and I both knew something magical was going to take place the night of the show, but we didn't know it would be quite so well-received ….. I have never seen such a raucous audience response from a pops concert in my 35 years of playing pops. The band members were quite excited as were their management team, 3 of whom came to the concert.

Some of you know that I spent my musical formative years listening to Rock & Roll before I dabbled in Bluegrass for a couple of years and finally discovered jazz [thank you Ken Burns and Conrad Jessee]. Let’s just say that my wife and I sang along with the rest of those in attendance pretty much all night long! I must say it was a surrealistic experience.




And now back to jazz…..bad weather and the Super Bowl [which was not so super] closed down Jazz Central out on East Third Street for 5 out of 6 weeks in January. Hard to believe. But I did just catch the February 16th jazz jam and things seem to be back in swing. The usual cast of characters and the usual enjoyable jazz jam – heck, I even skipped the Dayton Jazz Orchestra on their 3rd Sunday of the month gig over at The Phone Booth Lounge – 6 weeks away from Jazz Central ended up providing a very powerful pull for me which was hard to ignore. I feel rejuvenated!



I will also mention that I managed to catch the Central Jazz Big Band again on the 3rd Tuesday of the month [February] under the direction of Ken Taylor. Saxophones were featured on the tune Bill Bailey (won’t you please come home) and the band did a Sammy Nestico arrangement of On the Sunny Side of the Street. Grant Koeller on clarinet and Phil Urskin on trombone, performed a duet on Ain’t She Sweet. The band closed with another Sammy Nestico arrangement, Ya Gotta Try!




Thanks to Jazz Central jazz jammer and WDPS host for the radio show The Latin Side of Jazz [89.5 FM Thursdays from 11:00-1:00], Cliff Darrett, I learned of an upcoming appearance of the Terrell Stafford quintet at UD. My daughter was available to attend so we highly enjoyed Terrell Stafford on trumpet, Bruce Barth on piano, Nathan Pence on bass, Tim Warfield on tenor sax and Billy Williams on drums. The music was introduced as featuring tunes by Lee Morgan. Stafford dedicated the tune Candy to Eileen Carr who coordinated the evening’s activities and this was on a muted trumpet and piano, a crowd pleasing duet. The ending of the song Speedball included a bass solo followed by a bass and drum duet. They closed the second set with a Lee Morgan tune entitled Petty Larceny from the 1964 Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recording entitled The Freedom Rider.



Saturday February 23rd found the Woodford household at Cobblestone Café in Waynesville…..Waynesville? Jazz in Waynesville? Apparently so, owner Jeremy Green plans to have occasional jazz at his jumpin’ location. We got there early but it was packed by the time we departed. We went because Jason Swann and his trio were playing. If you tell the hostess you are there to hear the band then they will guide you to the most suitable seating – obviously if you get there a little before the band starts at 6:00 you can choose more wisely. There is limited, yet intimate seating, very near the band.


Last but not least, I managed to again catch some of the UD Faculty Jazztet at the ArtStreet Café on campus. This time it was Jim Leslie on drums, Jim Smith on guitar, Phil Burkhead on piano, Jimmy Leach on trumpet/flugelhorn, Chris Berg on bass and Dave McDonald on tenor sax. The students join the faculty on the second set which provides a live jazz learning opportunity. I can assure you that a good time was had by all.


local regular jazz happenings
The Jazz Central Jazz Jam - Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. (until around 11:30) and Ismail Muhammad is bringing in occasional jazz combos on other nights

Jim Smith, jazz guitar player/teacher/master and Vinnie Marshal on bass are at the Tipp City restaurant called the Coldwater Café. Saturday nights from 7:00-9:30

The Blue Wisp Big Band has switched from the Urban Artifact in cincy to Café Vivace, still every Wednesday night

Every Thursday night at the Minton Club there is music and on 3rd Thursdays you can hear the Generations Big Band.

Other venues for which you need to be aware:

Dave Greer and the Classic Jazz Stompers at Jimmy’s Ladder 11 on the first Tuesday of the month

The Central Jazz Big Band will hold forth every third Tuesday at 1200 Forrer Blvd in Kettering/Dayton starting at 7:30
Jazz at Spinoza’s out by the mall at Fairfield Commons – check out the web site for times

Washington Platform in cincy, jazz combos on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Dayton Jazz Orchestra at The Phone Booth Lounge (formerly Dog’s Breath Tavern) in Kettering every third Sunday of the Month beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays at Noon you can hear Eric Grieffenhagen & Greg Dearth at the Wine Emporium.






Saturday, January 12, 2019

Holiday Jazz Blog (November/December) - Closing out 2018 by Jim Woodford

November brought another Bob Ross after work jazz performance at the Dayton Art Institute, this time by The Central State Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Hal Melia. The ensemble consisted of a vocalist, a clarinet player (rare these days), an alto sax, a tenor sax, two trombones, a guitar, drummer and piano player with guest bass player Vinnie Marshall. Hal Melia provided some alto sax and flute as well. This was a chance for a combo that had been practicing for a while to finally get out in front of a crowd and see what they could do. If their parents were in the audience they all could be proud. The vocalist was featured and there was a trombone and piano player that seemed to stand out. The clarinet player was a treat as well. All played very well together.










Up next in the “live jazz in the Dayton area” category was The Sinclair Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Bill Burns. Bill always has an accomplished guest artist and this time around it was a vocalist who sang with the renowned Cleveland Jazz Orchestra for 17 years, Barbara Knight. An Alan Baylock arrangement of Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train was noticeably unique and even caught the ear of an arriving Centerville jazz band director. Director Burns pointed out that the band was committed to featuring Ohio musicians. Vocalist Knight brought her own arrangements, many by trombonists, and these arrangements challenged the band to step up. Knight told the audience later that her arrangements are challenging, and she was not sure what to expect from the Sinclair Jazz Band but she was impressed with how well they met the challenge. As much as one might have enjoyed the first set, the second set seemed to be even more exciting. The last two songs were particularly challenging to the sax section but they stepped right into the breach and blew everybody away! Kudos in particular to Adam Uhlenhake for his solos on Juan Tizol’s Caravan.











































What a jazz jam there was at the 11-25-18 Sunday night Jazz Central jazz jam. Kenny Baccus on B3, Jeff Slinker on guitar, Craig Saunders on drums, King Koeller on sax, Jason Swann on tentor sax, Byron Locket on soprano and tenor saxes, Bryan Gannon on trombone, Rodderick Wilson on trumpet, a young gun from West Chester plus Keith Moore on trumpet – in town for the Holidays from California. There was lots of talent, lots of harmonizing and lots of good music – it is nights like these that make you glad you there when it happened! Out of this jazz instrumental firmament on this jazz jam night some of the brightest stars were Jason Swann (ts), King Koeller (ts), Bryan Gannon (tb) and Keith Moore (t) with Rodderick Wilson providing those meteoric high note punctuations. Whew!





















On a Day that doesn’t get all that much attention these days, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, I caught Mike Sharfe (b), Rusty Burge (vibes) and special guests Steve Allee on electric piano and Steve Houghton on drums. The combo warmed up with I Hear a Rhapsody and the crowd was most appreciative. Next tune was a Steve Allee composition about his brother entitled, Brother to Brother. Summer Night, from the Sharfe/Burge CD Transitions left the crowd clambering for more. Rusty Burge complied with one of his originals entitled After 5:00 (when musicians start work). Another Burge composition was called out by Steve Allee, Waltz for Tomorrow and the band really lit things up. The first set ended with another Allee tune, What About Me? Always good music at the Washington Platform – thank you Mike Sharfe!



Following many missed opportunities to see the UD Faculty Jazztet, I managed to finally catch a gathering of said musicians. Unfortunately, I missed the first hour – reportedly all faculty – but caught the second hour where the students got to show their stuff. The UD Faculty included Jim Leslie (d), Dr. Willie Morris (ts), Chris Berg (b), Jim Smith (g) and Phil Burkhead (p). What a great jazz lab!!! As expected, the UD jazz faculty was outstanding but the students took full advantage of the opportunity – a piano player and a bass player displayed particular musical maturity.




I hustled from the UD faculty gathering to meet my wife and daughter at the Phone Booth Lounge to catch the DJO Christmas Show. Heard some Stan Kenton Christmas tunes as expected – trumpet player John Harner used to play with Kenton – and various other seasonal tunes. The place was packed and the band did not disappoint! My daughter had been looking forward to this for quite some time and was particularly pleased. Of particular note on this evening of Christmas songs was Jeff Black on piano and Dan Nicora on tenor sax. And alto saxophonist Jeff Spurlock played the most beautiful solo of the evening on Silent Night. Just what the doctor [daughter ?] ordered.




Some say bad news travels fast but good news can travel fast too. Some good news I received recently was that there was a new Jazz Big Band in town and they would be playing in a church – that’s right, I said a church – over in Kettering a week from Tuesday – so from hearing about it to actually hearing the band was pretty fast. Ken Taylor (I know him primarily from playing in the Sinclair Jazz Band under the direction of Bill Burns – though his resume is lengthy, Doctor Ken Taylor I am told) directs the band. What I heard was largely a Christmas show and the price of entry was a canned good for their ongoing food drive. They played a rousing version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing arranged into Yo Hark! Those Angels Swing! And swing they did. The band also reached back into the traditional jazz archives to present Royale Garden Blues with one of the best saxophone players in the whole area, maybe in the entire state of Ohio, but he played clarinet! That musician was none other than Grant “King” Koeller. [you can also hear Grant most Sunday nights at the Jazz Central Jazz jams] For those not familiar with Royale Garden Blues, both Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong recorded the song in the 1920s and Branford Marsalis put that tune on an album by the same name in 1986. The band even tackled the Stan Kenton arrangement for I’ve Never Been in Love Before and featured the trombone section. Then they blew the walls out with a “Horn in Face” version of Sweet Georgia Brown from the Basie Band book. The unexpected event of the evening was the surprise special guest Linda Landis, now of Columbus Jazz Orchestra fame. She did a thought provoking interpretation of “It Ain’t Easy Being Green” from Sesame Street. Some members of the audience were particularly vocal about their connection with this song. The Central Jazz Big Band will hold forth every third Tuesday at 1200 Forrer Blvd in Kettering/Dayton starting at 7:30.






Local regular jazz happenings
The Jazz Central Jazz Jam - Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. (until around 11:30) and Ismail Muhammad is bringing in occasional jazz combos on other nights [most recently Mike Fageros, jazz guitarist from Houston Texas].


Jim Smith, jazz guitar player/teacher/master and Vinnie Marshal on bass are at the Tipp City restaurant called the Coldwater Café. Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-9:30Other venues for which you need to be aware:

Dave Greer and the Classic Jazz Stompers at Jimmy’s Ladder 11 on the first Tuesday of the month

Jazz at Spinoza’s out by the mall at Fairfield Commons – check out the web site for times

Washington Platform in cincy, jazz combos on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Blue Wisp Big Band has switched from the Urban Artifact in cincy to Café Vivace, still every Wednesday night

The Dayton Jazz Orchestra at The Phone Booth Lounge (formerly Dog’s Breath Tavern) in Kettering every third Sunday of the Month beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Every Thursday night at the Minton Club there is music and on 3rd Thursdays you can hear the Generations Big Band.

Wednesdays at Noon you can hear Eric Grieffenhagen & Greg Dearth at the Wine Emporium.