The Dayton area jazz scene – March 2018 edition by Jim Woodford

More on the jazz scene in the general Dayton area seems to be in order. I recently heard from Jim Smith, jazz guitar player/teacher/master who has had probably the longest steady paying gig in recent memory at the Tipp City restaurant called the Coldwater Café. This gig is with bass player Vinnie Marshall whom I refer to as Vinnie on the skinny since he has the hard body, thin bass that sits on a tripod. They are starting their third year. Congratulations! 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 (hmmmm, is Tipp City actually in Dayton?) Hats off to Jim and Vinnie!

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. I was reminded this week that Jason Swann plays in a jazz combo at the Paragon on some weekends and he has a combo downtown at Hannah’s (across from the Schuster) every Thursday night. The Paragon schedule is as follows:

3-18-18 [6:00-9:00]

3-24-18 [6:30-9:30]

4-6/13/20/27-18 [7:00-10:00]

I am primarily motivated to compose this current edition about the jazz scene in the Dayton area because recently I traveled to Cincinnati (OK, is Cincinnati the Dayton area or is Dayton the Cincinnati area? They are close enough together that travel is convenient in both directions) to the Greenwich jazz club where the B.J. Jansen Common Ground combo was performing, B.J. Jansen on bari-sax, Steve Turre on trombone, Eddie Brookshire on bass, Art Gore on drums, Duane Eubanks on trumpet & Marcus Persiani on piano. B.J. is from the area and was coming home to promote his Downbeat 2017 album of the year entitled Common Ground. It was quite a night of music (and food, B.J. has a classmate that owns a catering business and both times I have been there to hear him the food has been excellent).

B.J. Jansen and Eddie Brookshire on left -- Steve Turre and Art Gore on right

The combo assembled for the hometown performance was different than the combo that made the recording. Most of you know that is not all that unusual. Performers come into town and often use local musicians; in this case, you couldn’t have done much better than Eddie Brookshire (Dayton) and Art Gore (Cincinnati). B.J. usually hits the stage fashionably late and then plays a couple of hours straight through with no breaks. This night was no different. We heard cuts from the album, Stacey’s Place, Street Walk [as B.J. was quick to point out, street walk, not walker] and Angela’s Aggravation [which turned out that Angela was his sister and B.J. was the aggravation] and his tribute to Wilburt Longmire – long time cincy jazz guitar player who passed away in January 2017 – Bucket Full of Soul. Solos by NYC piano player Marcus Persiani were excellent, as were solos by Eddie Brookshire and Art Gore. The combo interacted and communicated quite well together. At one point there was some excellent trio work between B.J., Eddie and Art. B.J. kept the combo mixing it up! In fact, solos were good all the way round. While Delfeayo Marsalis is the trombone player on the album, Steve Turre filled in for him this night. And the final song of the night was the Mile Davis tune, All Blues, played on conch shells, yeah you heard me right, conch shells; five of them if I counted correctly. The shells were all different sizes and he hit every note as he switched around on those conch shells. It was quite an unexpected end to a great jazz music evening.

The combo assembled for the hometown performance was different than the combo that made the recording. Most of you know that is not all that unusual. Performers come into town and often use local musicians; in this case, you couldn’t have done much better than Eddie Brookshire (Dayton) and Art Gore (Cincinnati). B.J. usually hits the stage fashionably late and then plays a couple of hours straight through with no breaks. This night was no different. We heard cuts from the album, Stacey’s Place, Street Walk [as B.J. was quick to point out, street walk, not walker] and Angela’s Aggravation [which turned out that Angela was his sister and B.J. was the aggravation] and his tribute to Wilburt Longmire – long time cincy jazz guitar player who passed away in January 2017 – Bucket Full of Soul. Solos by NYC piano player Marcus Persiani were excellent, as were solos by Eddie Brookshire and Art Gore. The combo interacted and communicated quite well together. At one point there was some excellent trio work between B.J., Eddie and Art. B.J. kept the combo mixing it up! In fact, solos were good all the way round. While Delfeayo Marsalis is the trombone player on the album, Steve Turre filled in for him this night. And the final song of the night was the Mile Davis tune, All Blues, played on conch shells, yeah you heard me right, conch shells; five of them if I counted correctly. The shells were all different sizes and he hit every note as he switched around on those conch shells. It was quite an unexpected end to a great jazz music evening. 

One more addition, a word from Ron Gable (Jazz Advocate Emeritus), who tells me how pleased he is to have found a new music venue. The Milton Club at 640 Cosler Drive off Burkhardt in Dayton, a private club with a beautiful ballroom dance floor and outstanding kitchen, offers the following open to the public events:

     Every Monday the Kettering Banjo Society holds practice sessions from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

     On the first Thursday of each month the Speakeasy Jazz Band plays traditional New Orleans (Dixieland) from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

     On the third Thursday of each month the Generations Big Band plays the best of Count Basie, Stan Kenton, as well as hits of Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Diane Schuur and Michael Buble with some pop and rock covers for good measure from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

     On the fifth Thursday of each month the OLDKOOL Rock and Roll Band plays your favorites from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

Note: There is a $5 cover charge for the Thursday Band Events for the public.
(Free admission for Milton Club Members)