Jazz in Orchestral Programming

Symphony orchestra music directors need to program work by some of the great African American jazz composers. I can't think of one instance recently where this has happened. And it is necessary. The classical tradition, over the last 100 years, has moved slowly from exploiting jazz while mocking it as a vulgar "folk" idiom--mining its appeal and techniques while keeping it at arm's length--to a grudging admission that jazz might actually be an essential element in the evolution of the classical tradition in the 20th Century. Jazz at Lincoln Center brings the styles of jazz permanently into the Mecca of U.S. classical music, the same center where the Metropolitan Opera and Juilliard School are housed.

But JALC, as important as it is, does not undo the century-long hostility that kept jazz (with rare exceptions) out of the classical concert halls. In an important way, JALC is just the last bastion of the "other music" mentality. In the same way that Black History Month distracts attention from the absence of black history that should be taught in our schools year round, Jazz at Lincoln Center presents the entire jazz tradition as a self-contained museum exhibit, allowing its importance to be acknowledged while still isolating it from the main body of performable concert music.
There are some things about jazz that are different. But not as many as leaders in the classical world like to believe. Jazz and classical are part of the same tradition, the dance hall and the club, the chamber music salon and the concert hall. The same audiences heard all of it, often entertained by the same musicians merely dressed differently. The repertoire moves easily from one to the other. We just haven't gotten to the point of seeing that yet.

Orchestra works by jazz composers represent an obvious opportunity to enrich the symphonic canon and begin to bridge the unnatural gap between these two vital repertoires. We could begin with James P. Johnson's "Victory Stride" or Duke Ellington's "Black, Brown and Beige". Then we could investigate the possibility that many other jazz composers have written for orchestra and we just don't know about their work. I suspect that we'll find that many homes and many library archives contain important scores that deserve to be heard. Probably we'll even find great composers whose names are unknown in both the jazz and the classical worlds.

The worst that could happen is we end up with only a handful of works that we can add to the list of classical pieces that get recycled each season. That would still be progress.

--C.
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New Brunswick Jazz

New Brunswick has turned into a hot jazz town in the last couple years, partly through the work of The New Brunswick Jazz Project, and evidenced by the performers you can catch in at a variety of venues in the next two weeks.

Guitarist Misha Fatkiev and his group Tribal Etiquette perform tonight. Thursday, Feb. 17 at Makeda, 338 George Street. Fatkiev has performed at The Blue Note, Carnegie Hall, Trumpets Jazz Club and Cecil's, among others. The group includes Tivon Pennicott on tenor sax, Ryan Berg on bass and Nathan Webb on drums.

Tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 18, at Catherine Lombardi, 3 Livingston Avenue, the Alex Hernandez Trio performs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Born in Miami, Hernandez has lived in Madrid where he recorded and toured with the great flamenco singer Diego "El Cigala", Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes and toured the world with Spanish singer/songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat. Hernandez has performed with Jeremy Pelt, Donny McCaslin, Ravi Coltrane, Joel Frahm, and many more.

You can keep up with activity at Makeda and some other jazz spots in town via the New Brunswick Jazz Project mailing list and website, www.njbp.org.

At the college, the Rutgers Jazz Ensemble performs at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, in Mason Gross' Nicholas Music Center, 85 George St., Douglass Campus, New Brunswick. Charles Tolliver conducts the Gil Evans arrangement “Springsville” from “Miles Ahead,” “Suspicion” from Tolliver’s Grammy-nominated recording “With Love,” Slide Hampton's “Inner Urge,” the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band's “Suite For Pops,” and “Things To Come” from the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band.

Tickets for the Rutgers Jazz Ensemble are $10 for the general public and Rutgers alumni, employees and seniors, $5 for students with valid I.D.

--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
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Asbury Park Jazz Festival

You can find the complete schedule for this Saturday's Asbury Park Jazz Festival at the official City of Asbury Park website. Keyboardist Radam Schwartz is a featured performer, a colleague of mine at the Middlesex County Arts High School. He'll be appearing with with the band from his 2005 release on Blue Ark Records, “Conspiracy for Positivity."

The festival takes place in Sunset Park on Main Street between 5th & Sunset avenues in Asbury Park and runs from noon to 8 p.m. Should be a fun day if the weather holds up.

--C.

Dave Stryker Organ Quartet

Jazz guitarist Dave Stryker is playing at Cecil's Jazz Club, 364 Valley Road in West Orange, Friday and Saturday this week, 9 to 1:30 p.m. What I know of him is mainly from press releases and his own, very thorough website. But I'm impressed with the recordings that I listened to there. Stryker has about 20 CDs out under his own name, a number of them on the European SteepleChase label. But he's also an distinguished sideman with a lengthy discography that includes Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany.

I think the casual jazz listener will find a lot to like in Stryker's mellow intensity and tasteful solos. The more sophisticated will (hopefully) notice a compelling intellect at work, within a style that mixes mainstream and old-school fusion approaches.

Stryker was again voted a Rising Star in Downbeat's 2007 Critic's Poll. How established do you have to be to be pushed out of the running for "Rising Star"? What constitutes "rising"? Ah well, since we can find joy in simply listening to Stryker's music, maybe such silly categorizations don't really matter.

Here's a hot jam with his organ trio--Bobby Floyd, organ, Jonathan Higgins, drums--excerpted from a 2008 DVD.



The quartet appearing at Cecil's will include Stephen Riley, tenor sax,
Jared Gold, organ and Steve Williams, drums. Call Cecil's for more info at (973) 736-4800.

--C.

Gary Burton Quartet Revisited

The Count Basie Theatre boasts one of the true jazz legends on its stage tomorrow. Actually, make that two of the true jazz legends. Oh what the heck, make it four.

There isn't a mallet player alive who doesn't owe a debt to Gary Burton and his eloquent and sweet vibraphone style. The Gary Burton Quartet Revisited features Burton with quartet's original bassist Steve Swallow and guitarist Pat Metheny, who of course by now also casts his own huge shadow over all of jazz. Pat Metheny Group drummer Antonio Sanchez rounds out the ensemble.

You can see and hear a performance of the group in action on YouTube. It's not perfect, but it transports both spirit and mind in a way that few performers can.




A quick search on YouTube or Google video turns up a bunch more clips.

The concert is 8 p.m. Sunday, June 21, 2009. Tickets are available through the theater box office.

--C.

NJJS Jazz Fest

The New Jersey Jazz Society's annual Jazz Fest is happening this coming weekend at Drew University. Jazz singer Curtis Stigers is featured, along with Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, both appearing Saturday night. Other performers include the Houston Person Quartet, Trio da Paz, Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks, the Allan Vaché Benny Goodman Tribute Big Band and the Rio Clemente Trio with Laura Hull.

The festival begins Friday evening with a free "Stars of Tomorrow" concert featuring high school jazz bands from around the state. Professional performances are scheduled all day and evening Saturday in three different university venues. Tickets for Saturday are $50.00 in advance, $65.00 at the gate with discounts for New Jersey Jazz Society members. Students are $10.00 at the gate and kids 16 and under are free. For more information visit the group's website (www.njjs.org) or call 800-303-6557. Drew University is located on Route 124 in Madison. Parking is free.

--C.

Talkin' Jazz at the Count Basie

I think every month should be Jazz Appreciation Month, don't you? But as it happens, April is the only one. So, here we are nearly halfway through National Jazz Appreciation Month. Let's start appreciating, yes? Hop to it. Try the Smithsonian's JAM website for a full discussion and even a quick, downloadable "how-to" guide to get you started.

In honor of this official designation, the Jazz Arts Project is mounting its annual series of lectures on various aspects of jazz beginning this Monday, April 13, and running through May 4 at the Count Basie Theatre, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank. The Jazz Arts Project director Joe Muccioli, an expert jazz musician and conductor in his own right, will lead the discussions, featuring a new guest and topic each week.

The first installment will be "Jazz in American Culture" and features internationally known jazz percussionist and author Warren Smith. The talks begin at 7 p.m. and they're free, in the VIP Patrons Lounge of the theater. The group asks that you reserve a ticket ahead of time as seating is limited. For more information, visit the Jazz Arts Project website or call (732)746-2244.

--C.