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 3^rd Thursdays you can hear the Generations Big Band.

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

Jazz in the Fall 2018 - by Jim Woodford

Jazz in the Fall 2018

Dayton area and beyond

and

a tribute to long time Cincinnati area drummer

John Von Ohlen

known worldwide as a drummer for the Stan Kenton Big Band

This blog edition is long overdue and covers a jazz group with a Kettering High School jazz program connection, The Huntertones; the final Levitt Pavilion concert of the summer; local jazz musicians at The Front Porch Festival in Yellow Springs; The Bill Burns combo at the Dayton Art Institute and a trip to cincy to hear vocalist April Aloisio and one new jazz venue. Let the journey begin.

On 9-20-18 I managed to hear The Huntertones at the Levitt Pavilion. While I had heard the group once before at a previous Miami Valley Summer Jazz Camp performance – the trombone player & beat box guru, Chris Ott, is a Kettering grad. They all went to OSU in Columbus where the band got its start and they even have a sousaphone player, for you OSU fans they call him their “i dotter” for script Ohio. These guys have a lot of fun and have a brand new CD just released, Passport, which reflects influences from their performing around the world; “a deep drive into the endless inspiring possibilities of global collaborations.” The first cut off the new CD, “Clutch” was performed at Levitt. The Huntertones are a bunch of high energy musicians who have lots and lots of fun! The band performed what they call a Michael Jackson “mashup” with pieces of about 15 songs which really got the crowd going. The Huntertones are all over the internet so check them out.

Jazz Advocate Board Member, Sarah Woodford, attended the Yellow Springs Front Porch Festival on 10-6-18 and got to listen to Jason Swann on saxophone, Grant “King” Koeller on bass, Greg Dearth on guitar and Ayn Woods on vocals. Per usual for a Yellow Springs event, it was pretty laid back but a lot of fun was had by all (also per usual for a Yellow Springs event). It is worth note that this was the first event of its kind in YS with many bands of different genres playing at the same time on different porches. The weather was perfect, there were dog walkers, folding chair watchers, porch hoppers, car driving folk from all over, and local horse carriages too!   You can also hear jazz on a regular basis at the Wine Emporium in Yellow Springs so get over there and see what they’re putting down.

The eleventh of October found Jane, Sarah and Jim Woodford at the Dayton Art Institute for one of the Bob Ross after hours jazz concerts. This performance included Bill Burns on bari-sax, Chris Berg on bass, Jim Leslie on drums, Brian Cashwell on keyboards with some vocals from Felitia LaRock. Other duties called so we were unable to stick around for the full concert but the band really got the crowd fired up and vocals from Felitia LaRock seemed to really please those in attendance. This band also has what I would call an educational recording out entitled Jazz Advice, includes every single one of these musicians billed as The Bright Moments Quintet, and even contains a sing along section – geez, a sing along section! Also learned of a recording entitled Bill Burns, Live in Centerville – picked up a copy and have been listening and enjoying it ever since. Great musicians and always crowd pleasers, they did not disappoint! Here allow me to include a coincidental point of interest – I do not remember when was the last time I heard the Nat King Cole song, LOVE, sung live, maybe never - but Falitia and the boys performed the song at DAI (more on the coincidence later).

One of my favorite vocalists is April Aloisio from the Cincinnati area. It always seems that her performance schedule and my availability are not compatible. My twin daughters love to hear her sing also. As fate would have it, Sarah and Jim got to travel to the Cincy area on 10-13-18 to hear April Aloisio sing in Greenhills at Foster’s @ the Troubadour. 
She usually sings in small intimate venues and this was no different – not too many places I go where the performer stops her show and comes over to give me and my daughter a hug. It had been quite some time and it was quite some treat. 
To make the evening even better she sang two of my favorite songs, Centerpiece and That’s All. If you listen to my radio show you know I sometimes end my show with Phil Burkhead on keyboards and April singing the tune “That’s All” from their recording “Daydream.” It was a very enjoyable evening.

I do not usually include much about what was missed but due to a previously planned 10 day sojourn into the Carolinas for various family activities – highly enjoyable I might add – there was a lot of Dayton area jazz opportunities that were missed. In no particular order, it was highly disappointing to miss the progressive tribute to a big band drumming legend, John Von Ohlen – drummer for the Blue Wisp Big Band for the past 4 decades (at least) and former drummer for The Stan Kenton Big Band. My inside contact told me that the tribute went “just fine.”

There was also a performance by all University of Dayton jazz bands while I was on the road. I have mentioned these bands before, they are under excellent direction – Jim Leslie being one of those directors/instructors – and it is always disappointing when I cannot get down to hear what they have to say. I have since learned that one of my favorite alto sax players [and I do not use “favorite” and “alto sax” in the same sentence very often], Ron Jones, played with the UD Jazz Bands, so a double whammy for me.

One I did catch was the final Levitt Pavilion performance for 2018, The Dayton Funk All Stars. My daughter and fellow Jazz Advocate Board Member, Sarah, accompanied me to this show. It was probably the biggest crowd I saw at the pavilion all summer and the paper reported 3,000 in attendance. Whew! What a way to end the Summer. Some members of the band have been around since the inception of the band so many decades ago and at least one member had an Ohio Players connection. [here I will interject that Jazz Central had its own Ohio Players connection for many, many years in the drumming of Greg Wood who is now in a state of semi-retirement] I did recognize one trumpet player who I have seen at Jazz Central as well, saw him at the so called Dayton Jazz Festival earlier this Summer as well but I have to apologize for not knowing his name. I will have that the next time he gets mentioned in this blog.

And now back to my coincidence story mentioned earlier – the Jazz Central jazz jam on Sunday nights is always interesting and a highly affordable place to hear jazz and enjoy jazz with other jazz lovers. It was at one of these jazz jams that I heard a new vocalist sing three songs, one of which was, LOVE, of Nat King Cole fame - ALSO sung at the Dayton Art Institute a couple weeks before – never heard the song live and have now heard it live TWICE within a matter of weeks. This leads me to end by saying what I say on my weekly WDPS radio show on 89.5 FM:

Jazz can inspire

permeate throughout

validate feelings

and give your mind a workout

So from now to the next time

to you I implore

there is jazz music out there

Get out and explore!

p.s. my Wednesday radio show has been moved up an hour from 1:00 p.m. and now broadcasts at Noon on Wednesdays – and if you are stuck at home on a Saturday night you can tune in on your computer at 7:00 p.m. to wdpsfm.com

New Jazz Venue

Oh yeah, I also promised you a new jazz venue in the Dayton area. That would be Tend & Flourish at 1906 Brown Street down near UD (and Jimmy’s Ladder Eleven). Currently the live jazz is once a month – next gig on 12-1-18 but check out their website – this is a Jason Swann gig for all you Jason Swann lovers.

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.

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

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.

2018 Chicago Jazz Festival

2018 Chicago Jazz Festival -- Story and photos by Greg Turner

Kurt Eling

There were 2 major changes to this year’s Chicago Jazz Festival. The festival started one week earlier than usual because of festival sponsored concerts in neighborhoods throughout the city. Another was that the main stage Pritkzer Pavillion performances at Millennium Park started and ended one hour earlier, to encourage festival goers to visit Chicago’s many jazz clubs. With many different sounds and styles that come up under the word “jazz” these days, including large groups of musicians staring at sheet music, I looked to the elders appearing on the main stage to give me what I needed.

Jeff "Tain" Watts

Jeff "Tain" Watts

Vocalist Kurt  Elling, 50, returned to his hometown to collaborate with a group of Chicago musicians, and added 2 special guests, trumpeter Marquis Hill, also a returning Chicago native, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, 58, to close out Thursday evening. Featuring mostly music from Elling’s latest “The Questions” the group raised the bar for the rest of the fest, with Tain driving them with his joyous, powerful drumming.

Louis Hayes

Dezron Douglas

Dianne Reeves

Still spry and swinging at 80, drummer Louis Hayes and his quintet performed music from his Horace Sliver tribute, with the band members being the same as on the 2017 Blue Note CD. Laying the foundation with Hayes was the young bassist Dezron Douglas, whose smile suggested he was the happiest man in the city. Someone who probably wasn’t happy would be vocalist Dianne Reeves, 61, whose Friday finale was drowned out by torrential rains after only one song, but one could tell it was going to be memorable…

Kenny Barron

Mike Rodriguez

Also appearing on the festival main stage with the same group as on his recent Blue Note CD was pianist Kenny Barron. At 75 years of age Barron has been long been regarded as one of the best players and leaders in this music, and it was certainly evident in his quintet’s Saturday night performance. I really enjoyed the slower-than-usual arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop” and the unified sound of trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and saxophonist Dayna Stephens. In what he has said will be his last public performance, pianist Ramsey Lewis, 83, closed Saturday evening, delighting the huge crowd with renditions of his “hits” such as “The In Crowd” and Sun Goddess”.

Charles McPhersion

Sunday’s festival highlight for me was the music from alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, 79, and pianist Barry Harris, 88. Working with veteran Chicago players, bassist Larry Gray and drummer George Fludas, the quartet overcame a shaky start to fall into a nice straight ahead groove, including 2 Monk pieces. The festival closed with an appearance by alto saxophonist Maceo Parker and his band, and the less said about it the better. Guess the festival programmers wanted something the people could dance to concluding the festival…

And that’s my report of this year’s Chicago Jazz Festival . Even though I can’t get around to see as much as I used to, I always have a great time and I look forward to returning again next year.

Greg Turner 

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..

Jazz happenings – July 2018 edition by Jim Woodford

Birthday Anniversary for Jazz Central – 44 years of jazz!
Sunday July 8, 2018, come on down & join the party:

      Jazz happenings in the Dayton area (and beyond) has recently included The Dayton Jazz Festival (held at Riverfest on 6-10-18) and the Miami Valley Jazz Camp (held at Kettering high school again this year). But first let me mention the Jazz Festival after party at Jazz Central. Once again we had a plethora of jazz jammers. I am not going to do a rundown of participants, of which there were 18 at one point but I will mention that jazz guitarist Mike Fageros was there – down from Toledo after flying in from Houston Texas, Mike Teckenbrock – playing trumpet this night rather than his usual flugelhorn and a former Jazz Central regular, Larry Smith – who has switched from alto sax to tenor sax. It had been at least a year since Larry had graced the stage. I always say that you never know what you are going to get at the Jazz Central Jazz Jam on Sunday nights but it is always interesting. One final comment, Mike Fageros has what I call the surprise recording of the decade - set for release in July (2018) – Lincoln Berry on the B3 Organ in a live performance in Texas! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this recording – Lincoln was a B3 jazz music icon in the Dayton area for close to 40 years but he just never got that much laid down on recordings. I have a pre-CD release copy which I have been playing on my radio show – the excitement builds!

    This past month I traveled down to Washington Platform in Cincinnati, a place I do not get to as often as I would like. I heard the Jim Connerly Trio with John Zappa on trumpet, Bill Jackson on bass & Jason Smart on drums. Jim was playing electronic keyboard. Over the years I have particularly enjoyed Jim Connerly’s playing – first heard him at the former Pachia’s Jazz Room in the Oregon District. Unfortunately for jazz lovers, not much jazz going on in the Oregon District these days. I caught the first set and the Platform’s usual great chowder. Zappa really showed his chops on Freddie Hubbard’s Straight Life. The drummer’s rhythms helped make this song particularly interesting. Overall though, the combo clicked on all cylinders for a killer version of Joe Henderson’s Mamacita! [Joe Henderson, a.k.a. Saxophone Joe, is generally referred to as being from the Dayton area but in fact he was from Lima]

      The Miami Valley Jazz Camp provided its usual amount of public entertainment, the camp counselor’s performance at midweek on Wednesday and the camps final camp attendee’s performance on Friday. The camp counselor performance this year was introduced by two student big bands, Cordonnier and Bradley – they got the crowed going. The headliners this year were a camp counselor version of The Dayton Jazz Orchestra, camp sponsors this year. I do not intend to provide a blow by blow account of all 7 tunes but trumpeter Scott Belck kicked things off with I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, reaching some high notes that only dogs could hear. Hal Melia played Ellington’s Jeep Blues (1956 Newport Jazz Festival) and Closing out the set was special guest Rob Parton along with Scott Belck once again with a rousing rendition of Maynard & Waynard. [Maynard Ferfuson and Wayne Bergeron] Honestly, you could pay any amount of money to see a big jazz act such as Wynton Marsalis and not hear anything better than that final trumpet duet. [full disclosure, I HAVE paid to see Wynton Marsalis-TWICE]      The Friday “end of camp” concert is always fun too. I could not attend the 12:30 performances but was able to catch the big band portion that took place at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening – fighting the Fraze Pavilion parking overflow was a challenge but managed to get inside before the first big band combo completed their set. (although I missed the drum set event) Bands that played were New Lumber under the direction of Sammy K & Jim Leslie, Honey I Shrunk the big Band! directed by Bill Burns, The Second Line & Dwayne directed by Ryan Hamilton, DocScott & the Lone Big Bone directed by Dr. Scott Belck and Bradley directed by Eric Lechliter. The highlight of the camp is always the all band camp performance, including instructors, as the final song of the evening – this year it was Perdido – I did a quick count and ended up with about 60 students plus counselors. I am pretty sure that the final note raised the rafters!

      Can’t do this write up without a mention of Ron Gable’s birthday celebration at the Minton Athletic Club.  Mr. Jazz Advocate writes a travel log and has extensive internet presence so I don’t really need to recreate the wheel. Suffice it to say that “King” Koeller was the M.C. – playing electric bass instead of tenor sax. Jason Swann swung his tenor sax with Ayn on vocals, Jeff on keyboards & Todd on drums. Mike Teckenbrock showed up to help Ron celebrate his birthday and brought his golden flugelhorn. Hal Harris and his son also helped celebrate, Hal on trombone and Steve on drums. Jan Og dropped by to lay down some tasty brush licks on drums as well. And there were lots of dancers. Those folks at the Minton Athletic Club seem to love to dance. The Dean of Dayton radio, Clay “the Cooker” Collins was also in attendance accompanied by his talented wife, “Lady D” who sang a song for Ron. A good time was had by all, but especially Ron Gable.

      I was also fortunate enough to have the time to get over to Spinoza’s at the Mall at Fairfield Commons to catch Brian Cashwell on piano, Chris Berg on bass and John Taylor on drums. These guys are amazing every time I hear them. They play so well together and that is because they make the musical communication look effortless. If you weren’t there, you missed quite a treat.
Then last but not least, finally got over to The Paragon, for what might have been the last performance at that venue of the musical combo consisting of Jason Swann on saxophone, Trey Stone on piano and Ben Cooper on bass. It was a lovely evening of drinks and dinner and the combo was crowd pleasing. [however; don’t expect to sit at the bar and get anything to eat – my recommendation is eat at 6:00, then sit at the bar and enjoy the combo up close and personal – p.s. my granddaughter had a Shirley Temple just in case you were wondering]. The combo is hopeful that a change in entertainment management still allows them to continue playing every Friday night through July and August beginning at 6:30.

      Now some local jazz regular 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. - Top of the Crown [a.k.a. View 162] has music at times peppered with jazz on the weekends. - Washington Platform in cincy, jazz combos on Friday and Saturday nights. - The Blue Wisp Big Band at Urban Artifact in cincy 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.

Counting my blessing - giving my thanks to all!

Ron Gable

What is a "Jazz Jam?"

      Over the years, many have asked me, “Just what is a Jazz Jam? “ Without getting technical, the easy answer is; a venue like Jazz Central, who has been doing Sunday Night Jams for close to fifty years, hires a core group to perform and then lets anyone who shows up to sit in with the group. Sometimes they have to take turns, which is handled by the Jam leader. Many times it’s just another evening of good inexpensive entertainment but there are times, when depending upon who shows up, it’s magic and some of the best jazz anywhere.

     Having talked Grant Koeller into doing a gig on my birthday and since he has been leading the Jazz Jams at Jazz Central (2932 E. 3rd. St. in Dayton) in recent years, I asked him if we could open my event and invite other jazz musicians and vocalist form our area to sit in. That would give them a chance to see what the Milton is like as a performance venue. It is my hope that some of my Jazz musicians (and vocalist) friends might have the desire to join us.