Jazz happenings – August 2018 edition by Jim Woodford

Jazz in and around Dayton, Ohio

The Levitt Pavilion and More!

Gary Onady on trumpet & World Renowned cellist, Karen Patterson at Jazz Central - August 31, 2018

Yellow Cab Tavern on First Sunday of the Month – the food truck revolution continues. If you follow news and happenings around the Dayton area then you know that food trucks are in the news. My most recent experience with food trucks was on the first Sunday of July, 2018 at the Yellow Cab Tavern. My fellow Jazz Advocate Board Member (and daughter) talked me into going down to hear Jason Swan and the jazz trio that plays there at this time each month (with Trey Stone on piano and Ben Cooper on bass). My daughter brought her daughter who is my sometimes partner on my weekly radio show on WDPS 89.5 FM (at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesdays). We enjoyed the jazz and the food. I was surprised to find a food truck from one of my favorite restaurants, El Meson, and I will make special mention of the Ghost Light Coffee food truck operated by Shane Anderson, a former Jazz Advocate Board Member.
 Now back to the jazz combo – the real reason I went in the first place. The combo did an excellent version of Emily – Bill Evans would have been proud. Jason presented a heartfelt version of “Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me” and I am pretty sure I heard some Ben Webster influence in there. There was also a sax/bass duo on the Harold Arlen tune, Sunny Side of the Street, eventually rejoined by the piano player (and just to show how kid friendly it was, he brought his son with him). The trio also played a happy birthday request for someone in the audience whose name will not be mentioned. All-in-all, good time and I can recommend you get on down and check it out. 

Thursday 8-9-18 found my wife and I at the Dayton Art Institute’s Jazz and Beyond (could just as appropriately be called Jazz after Work) series to listen to some Beatle Jazz. Thankfully my wife talked me into this because I discovered that the musicians were all top shelf players; Phil DeGreg on piano, Kim Pensyl on trumpet and flugelhorn, Aaron Jacobs on bass and John Taylor on drums. You would have to go a long way to put together four better musicians. The quartet played a very pretty version of And I Love Her with what might be called a clavinet flavor from the keyboards. One tune that really got the crowd fired up was their interpretation of Eleanor Rigby which also included a very creative drum piece. Introduced as “One of the prettiest songs the Beatles wrote.” was the jazz waltz treatment of Here, There & Everywhere. Kim Pensyl’s flugelhorn fit the song perfectly. Another song that was a real crowd pleaser was their rendition of Day Tripper played in 7:4 time (with the warning, not recommended for dancers). While only having time to stay for the first set, rumor has it that a Beatles Jazz recording is in the works for the quartet. Stay tuned.

I mentioned one of my daughters earlier, part of the reason my wife and I could only stay for one set at DAI was that her sister (twin sister actually) was driving in from the Carolinas. We had just enough time to do a brief stopover for the premier event at the brand new Levitt Pavilion in downtown Dayton at Fifth & Jefferson, catch a couple tunes and then head home. Crowd reaction was very positive when Gina Chavez and her group introduced an original song about immigrants everywhere just trying to find a place to live and later as we drove past the venue on the way home they were singing “We are Family” originally made popular by The Pointer Sisters. My wife commented that it was a very beautiful evening of the Dayton community coming together. As you might expect, food trucks were there as well. 

I am going to mention the Sunday Night Jazz Jam at Jazz Central again because a tenor sax player showed up to jam that really livened things up. I regret that I did not write down the name of this musician but King Koeller and this sax player really fired up the band and the crowd. If I may borrow a rock n’ roll analogy from my youth, it was like hearing two sax players trade solos on Shake Rattle and Roll! The jazz jam at Jazz Central is never the same two Sundays in a row and while always interesting, sometimes they blow the roof off – this was one of those nights. If you care to check it out, it is every Sunday from 8:00 to 11:30ish.

Upcoming Jazz Event:
 Dr. Gary Onady (Eddie Brookshire Quintet and Eddie Brookshire Big Band) on trumpet with Master Cellist Karen Patterson and vocalist Kelli Campbell appearing at Jazz Central on August 31, 2018 from 8:00-11:30.

Here are some local regular jazz happenings:

The Jazz Central Jazz Jam is still going strong every Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. (until around 11:30) and Ismail Muhammad is bringing in occasional jazz combos on Thursday nights.
 For the longest running gig in the Dayton area, Jim Smith, jazz guitar player/teacher/master and Vinnie Marshal on bass are at the Tipp City restaurant called the Coldwater Café. Both excellent musicians and all musicians know that a paying gig is a very good thing. They do this every Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-9:30 and as an added bonus, Coldwater has been named one of the best 10 restaurants in Dayton!

 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 [7:00-10:00]
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.
 Jason Swann on saxophone, Trey Stone on piano and Ben Cooper on bass have been playing at The Paragon on Friday nights and should continue to do so through August beginning at 6:30p.m..