The Independent Ear

Part one of Twin Cities-based writer Pamela Espeland’s conversation with the kinetic New Orleans-based clarinetist Evan Christopher (scroll down for pt. 1 or find it filed under That’s What They Heard for January ‘10) left off with the artist commenting on his jazz education in his native California and his earlier leanings towards perhaps — tongue-in-cheek — qualifying for a spot in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

So now you are known as a New Orleans-style, Creole-style clarinetist.  That’s how everyone talks about you and how you present yourself.  Does that ever feel like a trap?

No, because in 2006 I intentionally branded myself that way.  I started to do that even before the storm, but I was more aggressive about it starting in 2006.

I want to make sure people are aware that what I’m doing is related and relevant to New Orleans.  I’m trying to be an advocate for that language.  I had to find a way to explain it better so that my identity was more explicable.

Most people’s understanding of New Orleans traditional jazz is so narrow that I wanted to find a new way to make sure that I got different gigs, or that other musicians didn’t make presumptions about what I did.  So part of it was a strategy to make me not look like I was in some kind of box.

I also had to find a way to get around the fact that for traditional music, you find a demographic that’s not as much fun to hang out with.  So part of the Jazz Traditions Project was simply trying to find an aesthetic that would lead us out of only playing for old people.

It wasn’t some kind of artistic decision.  It was more of a survival technique, like switching from saxophone back to clarinet was a survival technique.  One day in university I realized that there’s way too many freaking saxophone players out there.  I started getting calls to do clarinet things, and it was my first instrument, so once I started taking it more seriously I thought, well, I’ve just eliminated so much competition that I may just stick with this.

Talk about your own composing.  What are you trying to do with your compositions?

Finding new ways to frame the music has to go beyond jazz clubs and concerts.  I started writing a little bit for chamber orchestra for a project in California, and that got me excited. 

There’s a group called the Seahawk Modern Jazz Orchestra out of Idyllwild [California], put together by one of my teachers, Marshall Hawkins, the bass player.  [Hawkins leads the jazz department at Idyllwild Arts Academy, which Christopher attended.]  Every summer they have a music festival with a chamber orchestra concert that blends jazz and classical in different ways, or uses the orchestra to frame certain aspects of improvised music.  So every time I’m able, I try to write something for them.

I’m gradually getting more into the idea that there’s vocabulary in New Orleans music that can be used in those forums, and I feel I’m onto something new.  It’s been done in the past by composers like William Grant Still, people like that.  But nobody today is doing too much with it.

I’m trying to find ways to have elements of that vocabulary present.  Even if it seems kind of hidden.  For example, I’ve been cataloging the way that the modern brass bands use harmony, meaning the way three trombone players improvise something in the modern [New Orleans] brass band.  I’m trying to catalog the way they harmonize with each other.

What do you mean by "catalog"?

I’m literally transcribing the way they harmonize with each other, trying to figure out new systems, trying to figure out how to build that into an orchestration so it becomes a gesture of New Orleans music.  In the same way that Mozart used certain rhythms to make gestures that represent aristocracy, or gestures that represent folk.

These gestures become symbols that tell the listener, "Oh, now we’re dealing with the South," or "Now we’re dealing with the European tradition, or the blues tradition."  We’re dealing with certain traditions just by sticking those little gestures in the music somewhere.  They can be ornaments, chords, the way something is voiced, they can be harmonic.

Cover for Christopher’s Django a la Creole

You spent almost three years with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in your late 20s; talk about that experience.

That was when I switched to the Albert System [of clarinet fingering], so it was great…  It was an interesting time.  I had been in New Orleans for a couple of years and was actually dissatisfied.  I felt like I had run out of things to do, I hadn’t taken responsibility for having my own projects.  The phone would ring, I would do things, I got to do a variety of things, but I got bored pretty quickly…  I couldn’t do the Cullum band more than two and a half years.  I got very accustomed to what was going to happen next.  When there’s not new information, I have to move on.

I found an old web page from when you were in the Cullum band, and even then you had ideas about the music.  Here’s what you said: "My goal is to maintain the integrity of early jazz styles, its structure, but move forward so that it’s speaking to an audience of today instead of being something bottled and preserved."

I think I’ve been saying that from the very beginning.  It’s not like one day I wanted to do repertory and one day I didn’t.  As soon as I became interested in this music, I knew I didn’t want to play in bands that were trying to re-create something.

Talk about drummer Shannon Powell.  You’ve mentioned his name so often that I get the sense that he’s important to you and to the music.

He’s one of the best drummers in New Orleans and a perfect example of someone who has a deep passion for the tradition but doesn’t feel an obligation to be in a box in the way that he uses it.  He’ll use it when it’s appropriate, but if he’s just making music creatively, you’ll hear the history of New Orleans drumming in his playing.  You’ll hear everybody from Baby Dodds to Ed Blackwell.  It’s all in there.  He strongly represents his own neighborhood, his own community of the Treme, in his drumming style.

New Orleans is a fascinating place for that reason.  Neighborhoods have their own musical accents, like a linguistic accent…  The difference between Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell is a distinction that’s very much rooted in the neighborhoods.  The distinction of the 6th ward versus the 9th ward.

How did you figure that out?

You notice the difference and then you ask them about it.  And when you’re trying to play with it, you have to ask those questions as well.  What am I supposed to be doing with this?  This is the way we do things in the Treme [Powell] versus the way we do things in the [lower] 9th ward [Riley].

[Editor’s note: One of the surpassing moments of the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — the same festival on which Evan Christopher’s solos highlighted NOJO’s robust performance — came when Shannon Powell, Herlin Riley, and Jason Marsalis gave a brilliant tribute to Max Roach.  The town has a peerless drum tradition.  For a medium-sized city, few towns boast more than one or two truly world-class drummers; New Orleans has four: Herlin Riley, Shannon Powell, Jason Marsalis, and Johnny Vidacovich and would have at least five if Adonis Rose hadn’t split after the storm.]

Scholarship and research are important to you.

I didn’t have what Shannon had when he grew up.  He sat behind Cie Fraser.  He knew these musicians.  When I got to New Orleans there were no living clarinet players playing in the New Orleans style.  The last one would have been Willie Humphrey, who died months before I got there.  After that, there wasn’t anybody performing in New Orleans that I was terribly interested in.

So you went in to the archives at Tulane University.  You’ve said that was like "taking lessons from ghosts."

Sometimes in those oral histories they’re actually performing on their instruments, they’re describing the way they did things, the jobs they had, how they got to them or why they did them.  Those are the things I would have loved to have asked musicians I knew personally, but there weren’t any.

Are you feeling that you’re occupying some of that role?

I had to look at it that way because I was too old to feel sorry for myself.  Like, I’m the abandoned kid…  It’s not that way.  The circle’s turning.

So now you’re it.

There’s a trumpet player friend of mine, we’re in kind of a similar situation.  We’re both 40 and we’re trying to figure out why there aren’t a bunch of young cats in their twenties wanting to do what we’re doing, or trying to get a handle on it.  Why aren’t they asking us for the recordings that we got from musicians and friends who are now maybe 10 or 20 years older than us?

One of the obvious answers is because there’s not a demand for it.  But there must be something else, too.  I’m not thinking there was ever a huge demand for it, just that it suited my personal aesthetic.  The development of a personal aesthetic is not something that our culture is promoting or encouraging or nurturing.

Cover of Evan’s Clarinet Road release

You’re a seeker.  Do you think the path you’re on will hold your interest?

Figuring out how to play the clarinet in a New Orleans way and have it get gradually farther and farther away from instantly having the associations of being traditional… and yet, at the same time, have it be understood as being from that — that’s a really fun challenge.  There’s irony, and there’s a degree of subversion.  I find myself trying to thumb my nose at what’s a more dominating aesthetic in the jazz community.

Which is…?

I wouldn’t know how to describe it exactly, but it’s a little bit more of the stare at your shoes mentality, the I-don’t-care-if-you-have-a-good-time-listening-to-your-music mentality.  New Orleans insists that on some level you have a good time.

Hear a complete concert by the Evan Christopher/Tom McDermott Danza Quartet broadcast live from Donna’s Bar and Grill in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve 2009 at: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyID=98917743

Pamela Espeland writes about jazz each week for MinnPost.com www.minnpost.com/artsarena; blogs about jazz at Bebopified www.bebopified.blogspot.com/ and keeps a Twin Cities live jazz calendar at www.jazzcalendarmsp.blogspot.com.  She has written for mnartists.org at www.mnartists.org, www.jazzpolice.com, www.jazz.com. 

 

 

Our contributor to this latest installment of the series Ain’t But a Few of Us — black music writers telling their story — is Twin Cities-based writer Robin James.  I first met Robin at an IAJE conference and later worked with her as part of the short-lived Jazz Journalists Association mentoring program for young African-American writers in honor of the late Harlemite writer Clarence Atkins.  That program enabled a small coterie of talented young black writers, including Rahsaan Clark Morris and Bridget Arnwine who earlier contributed to this series, to attend a national critics conference.

Robin James has written a jazz column for several years at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the Twin Cities African American newspaper.  She has continued to contribute to various prints, including a rare interview with Ornette Coleman that she wrote for DownBeat magazine.

What motivated you to write about this music?

At first it was curiosity, which stemmed from attending two jazz concerts in Minneapolis.  The first jazz concert I attended was with Joshua Redman and his band in 1996, the other was the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in 2000.  Both men, both concerts changed my thinking about jazz and what this peculiar American art form means to this country.  But even before these experiences I had a history with jazz.  My grandmother had told me stories about how her husband, a Pullman porter, had developed friendships with jazzmen like Hot Lips Page, Buck Clayton, and Dizzy Gillespie.  It took some time before I would learn about who they were.

At the concerts I noticed that there were hardly any women or people of color in the audience. It concerned me.  So I wrote about those concert experiences after I was given the tremendous opportunity by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, an historic Black newspaper and the oldest minority owned company in Minnesota, to write a jazz column, which I began in September 2000.

Then I heard a selection from Joshua’s Spirit of the Moment: Live at the Village Vanguard album on the radio and it pulled me in.  I remember diggin’ the music and then becoming curious about it.  It was an inspirational moment for me.  Then I found out he was on his way to town, so I asked for an interview and, luckily, got one (on his birthday). I was a new reporter and my interview went over its alloted time.  But he was very kind to me over the phone and in-person.  At the time, I knew nothing except that I was falling in love with the music.  And I loved the way it made me feel.

The second jazz concert I attended was the LCJO with Wynton Marsalis.  I was dating someone that had spoken very highly of Wynton and the band.  During my first trip to visit him in New York, I bought him Wynton’s book, Sweet Sing Blues on the Road as a Christmas gift.  Beyond that, I knew nothing about Wynton or his orchestra.  But I was deeply curious.

When the band came to town I attended and reviewed the concert.  After the concert, at the venue I met Wynton.  Someone introduced us and took our picture. 

Immediately, he was very warm and his spirit was very welcoming.  After seeing LCJO and Wynton in action, I began to question why more people like myself didn’t feel drawn to the music.  Although I feel very strongly that jazz chose me, I still have a curiosity that drives me.  It makes me want to share my experiences with readers.  I hope that someone out there will get curious and inspired to learn more, and explore the music more fully for themselves, in much the same way that I did.

About a year later, I was at the Book Expo America in Chicago where I had traveled to work with book authors.  I was a publicist at the time.  Wynton’s book Jazz in the Bittersweet Bluees of Life was being released, so it was being promoted there.  He played a concert to help with promotions.  Briefly we were re-acquainted at the book publisher’s after party.

A month later I was back in Chicago for the Ravinia Festival, where the LCJO and Wynton were performing.  It was there that he read aloud my first column where I stated my concern about why more women and people of color were not feeling drawn to jazz.  After he read my piece, he offered me encouraging words that inspired me to keep writing about jazz.  Wynton also recognized and acknowledged how difficult it is to write.

For someone so accomplished like that to take an interest in me and make time to read my work, at such an early stage, well it made me want to keep going.  Keep writing and learning about jazz.  I am forever grateful.  That meeting changed my life.

After this initial meeting with Wynton, I got in touch with Bob Protzman, who at the time was one of the only full-time jazz writers at a major daily, the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  He helped make it possible for me to write jazz previews and reviews for the newspaper.  Plus, Protzman was hosting a show on our jazz station KBEM, Jazz 88FM.  I listened to him and learned a lot.  After that, at my first Jazz Journalists Association event in New York City in 2003, I reached out to veteran jazz writers Ashley Kahn and Gary Giddins.  Both were very supportive and also helped me along the way.  Due to a referral by Gary, I received my first and only assignment from the Village Voice.  I wrote a CD review.  My experience working with Village Voice editor Chuck Eddy left a lasting impression on me as well.  He taught me how to say something with 250 words or less.  Ashley encouraged me by teaching me how to craft pitch letters.  I also reached out to Stanley Crouch.  He too offered me encouraging words of wisdom andd instruction.

When you began this quest were you aware of the dearth of African Americans writing about this music?

No, I had no idea.

Why do you suppose that’s still such a glaring disparity — where you have a significant number of black musicians making this music but so few black media commentators?

I suppose it comes down to power, access, and interest.  Having knowledge of and access to art is powerful.  But first you’ve got to have interest, interest in art.  Interest in the artist, interest in an audience.  All it takes is one voice to spark something great, which can then inspire individuals and a nation.  That’s power.  But it goes even deeper than that.  And as far as I know, the people who’ve been in this business the longest, who have benefited the most, have yet to fully explain their process.  Until that happens, and that news is documented or talked about openly, by African Americans and all of those who know the difference, we’re not going to get very far.  Very little light has been shed on the subject for whatever reasons.  Too much time is devoted to and focused upon everything but the real important issues, which relate directly to economics.  People in positions of power feel more comfortable with the same people writing the same things and in the same way.  I would welcome a healthy discussion by veteran jazz writers, authors, and editors from jazz publications, and African American-oriented publications in the near future.  What it boils down to is that we’re talking about the human condition and humanizing that condition.  The music, it’s sources, and implications.

Do you think that disparity or dearth of African American writers contributes to how the music is covered?

Absolutely.  From a cultural enrichment standpoint, there’s a lot that has the potential to get missed and/or misunderstood, which can lead to miscommunication.  When you’re documenting what’s happening now, you’ve got to be careful about how the information is transmitted.  When you’re considering future generations with respect to African American history, I know I strive to get the perspective right, because it may be my one and only shot at doing so.  By shaping the now, you’re shaping the future and how it gets viewed later.  It’s like African American folklore.  When the truth doesn’t get told, you have alternative stories going, that then can get viewed as being myths.  The truth doesn’t always get the forum it deserves.  Some things get lost in translation.  Yes, that’s unfortunate.  And yes, that’s 100% preventable.

Since you’ve been writing about this music, have you ever found yourself questioning why some musicians may be elevated over others and is it your sense that has anything to do with the lack of cultural diversity among writers covering the music?

At first I used to wonder and question, but now I don’t.  I get it.  Editors are key here.  How they think matters.  Or, we’ve been conditioned to believe that.  Sure, they get pitched by writers, which in turn helps shape their decision making process.  But it still comes down to how they think, which directly relates to what gets covered and who covers what.  Again, that leads to economics, and relationships.  I don’t know how much a writer’s actual talent, and abilities, or interest adds to the equation.  I suppose all of that ought to be considered.  In my case, I’m very fortunate in that I write a jazz column and so, my editors let me have free reign.  My position is extremely unique, I realize this and feel very grateful to have the freedom to pretty much write about whatever I want to.  Of course, I’m asked to be mindful of our audience when I do make my choices.

You are one of the few who have written about the music for an African American-oriented publication.  What’s your sense of the indifference of so many African American publications towards this music, despite the fact that so many African American artists continue to create the music?

Again, it comes down to economics.  I imagine, other publications have to consider their overall space, content, and advertising budgets.  With MSR, the publisher made a conscious choice to devote space to jazz, in good and not so good economic times.  We still have a long way to go in this arena.  I definitely don’t see a lot of coverage being devoted to jazz [elsewhere], which is very disappointing and troubling to me.

How would you react to the contention that the way and tone of how this music is covered has something to do with who is writing about it?

The way and tone of how serious music is covered has everything to do with who is covering it.  It’s like comparing Ben Ratliff’s coverage of Wynton Marsalis to Nate Chinen’s coverage of Wynton.  Here we’re talking about individual experience.  Individual taste, so an individual’s background, experience and education comes into play.  It’s all very intimate in nature.  And you can sense the enthusiasm level a writer has for the piece he or she has written.  It’s inescapable.

In your experience writing about serious music, what have been some of your most rewarding encounters?

Besides my encounters with Wynton, interviewing Ornette Coleman for a cover story for DownBeat has been a major career high point.  Meeting Kenny Burrell and Charlie Haden  at the Jazz Bakery.  Having Gary Giddins refer me for a CD review for the Village Voice. Receiving the Clarence Atkins fellowship award and attending the National Critics Conference, and from that experience meeting David Ritz, from whom I still seek advice.  Co-hosting and creating the jazz radio show Sweet on Jazz with KBEM’s music director Kevin O’Connor.  With his invaluable guidance and support I was fortunate enough to interview artists such as Jackie McLean, Lou Rawls, Sonny Rollins, Patrice Rushen, Nnenna Freelon, among others.  Writing for the Village Voice and EQ magazine.  Becoming a contributing writer for DownBeat.  Having had the opportunity to write about jazz for a weekly, a daily, a national jazz magazine, and to broadcast a jazz show, I feel extremely fortunate.  All these experiences fuel my passion to keep moving in positive directions with the music.  Building long-term relationships with musicians of all calibre and earning their respect and trust is of the utmost importance to me.

 

What obstacles have you run up against — besides difficult editors and indifferent publications — in your efforts at covering this music?

MSR is a weekly newspaper so I encounter a number of obstacles.  My mail gets lost.  Sometimes I don’t always get clips out to the labels who don’t have clipping services.  I don’t always receive invites to music-related functions.  My name doesn’t always appear on regular reviewers mailing lists so I don’t get CDs to review from all record companies releasing jazz or jazz-related music in a timely fashion.  I understand the timing that’s involved when it comes to reviewing a CD, but I’ve learned to just keep doing the best I can to get the news out.  I’ve come to accept that doing some extra leg work is necessary if I want to keep up and stay on top of the news.  It’s tough, but well worth the effort.  A column might get bumped, or a front page story could get eliminated or delayed.  It all depends on developing news.

If you were pressed to list several musicians who may be somewhat bubbling under the surface or just about to break through as far as wider spread public consiousness, who might they be and why?

Dana Hall and Winard Harper are two terriffic drummers out there who don’t record a lot or get a ton of gigs, but they are rich on talent.  They deserve more exposure as they have demonstrated commitment and a deep understanding of the music and how it relates to the times we live in now.  Jeremy Pelt is another extraordinary talent that you just don’t see or hear enough about.  He’s very history-minded, yet future-minded and presents a balanced view of both while he’s telling his story.

What were some of the most intriguing new records you heard in 2009?  

Christian McBride’s Kind of Brown featuring his acoustic jazz quintet Inside Straight stands out.  It’s a deluxe package.  It grooves, swings, it’s bluesy.  Speaking of Jeremy, his debut recording Men of Honor for HighNote came out in January, its beautiful.  I had the honor of writing the liner notes.  All of my writing experiences have brought me to this important assignment.  I have a lot of respect for David Ritz who has won several Grammys for his work on liner notes.  

The Ancient Future radio program is produced & hosted by Willard Jenkins for WPFW 89.3 FM (www.wpfw.org), Pacifica Radio for the Washington, DC metro area.

HAITIAN RELIEF
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Haiti B
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Miami Jazz Scene

Harper Brothers
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Grupo Vocal Desandann
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Pa gen Dio
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Markus Schwartz
Afro-Haitian Jazz Suite
Tanbou Na Lakou Brooklyn
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Grupo Vocal Desandann
Lumane Cosima
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Ernest Dawkins New Horizons Ensemble
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Mean Ameen
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Coltrane’s Ashe (Leonard Brown)
Mr. Syms
14th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert
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Coltrane’s Ashe (Leonard Brown)
Transition
14rh Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert
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SOUNDVIEWS (weekly new/recent release spotlight)
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Watch Your Step
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Mimi Jones
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Mimi Jones
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Once you get past the outsized ego of its leader, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, the burgeoning New Orleans Jazz Orchestra is potentially an exceptional representation of both the modern and traditional jazz fruits of the city.  The orchestra, or NOJO as it is known, boasts such gifted players as saxophonists Ed Peterson and Derek Douget, trombonist Ron Westray, and the sturdy rhythm section of pianist Victor Atkins, bassist David Pulphus, and drummer Adonis Rose, versatile modernists steeped in the New Orleans traditions to be sure.  Admit it, you may not have heard of these guys given the fact that unfortunately jazz musicians who choose to live outside the media centers often suffer in undue obscurity.

 

    During the roughly 14 months in ‘07/’08 that I spent living in New Orleans the "local" artists and music were a constant delight and discovery.  For what is essentially a medium sized city with a peerless major metropolis culture, the number of world class musicians who live and work there per capita is staggering.  During my time there catching sets at Snug Harbor, Tipitina’s, Ray’s Boom Boom Room and assorted other joints both Uptown and below Canal Street, and being privileged to host programs over mighty WWOZ, one of the most impressive musicians I heard is perhaps the revelation of NOJO, the clarinetist-saxophonist Evan Christopher.  This brilliant musician manages a keen ear for both trad and modern jazz — versed in Django and Ornette — and plays both with brisk authority.  If you haven’t heard him, all I can say is DON’T SLEEP!

 

    Good friend and intrepid Twin Cities writer Pamela Espeland caught up with Evan Christopher recently for a conversation; here’s part one of that encounter.  Oh, and one more shout out to the Crescent City: WHO ‘DAT?!

 

Talking with Evan Christopher (part one)

by Pamela Espeland

 

Think "clarinet" and "New Orleans" and a certain sound may come to mind: sweet, quavery, old-timey Dixieland.  I once thought of the clarinet as an instrument that had seen its day in jazz, making rare appearances for color and nostalgia.  And then I heard Evan Christopher play (www.clarinetroad.net). 

 

             Evan Christopher contemplates his tricky axe

(photo by Jim McGuire)

 

    During my first encounter with the Creole-style clarinetist, an impromptu set at the Dakota Jazz Club (www.dakotacooks.com) in Minneapolis in 2008, he stole the show from Irvin Mayfield, who usually keeps a pretty firm grasp on such things.  I heard Christopher again at Chickie Wah Wah in New Orleans in March ‘09, where he has a regular gig on Monday nights, and back at the Dakota in October, where he played for more than two hours to a packed house with no break.  Each time I came away knowing I had heard something old and something new.

 

    Born in Long Beach, CA Christopher began playing clarinet at age 11.  He moved to New Orleans in 1994 and left twice, the first time in ‘96 to join the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in San Antonio, where he remained for two and a half years, and again in ‘05 after Hurricane Katrina, when his Broadmoor neighborhood flooded and he became one of the city’s more than 4,000 displaced musicians.

 

    At the invitation of the French government, Christopher relocated to Paris, where he deepened his commitment to the music of New Orleans, solidified his claim to the title "Ambassador of the Clarinet," and formed two groups: The Jazz Traditions Project and Django a la Creole.  He returned to New Orleans in December ‘07.

 

    Christopher is charismatic on stage, playing with passion and joy, connecting with the audience, occasionally singing, sometimes dancing as he plays.  Rooted in history and scholarship, his music is modern and fresh, sincere and full of emotion, respectful of the elders but not at all dusty or quaint.  Contemporary trad?  Or simply the living, breathing, right-now sound of New Orleans?

 

    We spoke in late ‘09, when Christopher was in Minneapolis with pianist Henry Butler, and also to meet with the Minnesota Orchestra, which has commissioned him to write a new piece for orchestra that will have its world premiere on July 23, 2010.

 

The name of your website is "Clarinet Road" and you have two recordings called "Clarinet Road."  What is the Clarinet Road?

 

When I first met Tony Scott, the great bebop clarinet player, he was living in Italy.  I was on tour and he autographed a poster-size picture he used to carry copies of around, of himself backstage at Carnegie Hall in 1953 or 1954 with Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker.  He signed it "Good luck on Clarinet Road, lots of curves."  I lost that poster in the storm but I kept the Clarinet Road thing. 

[Editor’s note: in yet another of their localisms New Orleanians rarely refer to their August 2005 calamity as "Hurricane Katrina" or "Katrina", but simply as "the storm."]

 

How did your music change when you moved to Paris after Katrina?

 

When I went to Paris, I was very aggresively trying to move forward, trying not to cry over spilled milk.  Initially, I thought there was no way I was ever going to go back to New Orleans, I was so pissed off about it.  I envisioned getting a project started in Paris, and I envisioned staying there.  To shape that project, I had to come up with a slightly new aesthetic, because I had to find a way to represent New Orleans music outside of New Orleans, with musicians who weren’t living there or from there.

 

You were working with French musicians?

 

On the Live at the Meridien recording, the drummer is French.  The other two musicians live in France but they’re actually Australian.  The bass player, Sebastien Girardot, has played traditional jazz with real New Orleans-style revival bands since he was 19.  [Guitarist] David Blenkhorn came up with Australian musicians in the Australian traditional jazz scene.  He plays the shit out of blues.  He approaches jazz in almost a more American way than a lot of American musicians do.

 

What does that mean?

 

He likes to swing and play blues.

 

Do you find there’s a difference between working with American musicians and those who aren’t American?

 

I can’t make a generalization like that.  But I will say that I enjoy the spirit of these guys.  It seems more American to me than a lot of the cats I work with here.

 

Talk about your Jazz Traditions Project, the group with whom you recorded Live at the Meridien.

 

It’s a tongue-in-cheek thing.  A lot of avant-garde/contemporary groups use the word "project" and it’s sort of annoying.  The Jazz Traditions Project is a way of saying "We’re not going to apologize for having a foot in the door or New Orleans music."

 

I met Sebastien when he was about 19 years old, at a festival in Norway.  He was playing with an Australian band, good revival-style New Orleans jazz.  The drummer, Guillaume [Nouaux], I met a couple years later in Paris.  David Blenkhorn I met in Ascona, Switzerland.  He was there at a festival with a great Australian jazz musician named Tom Baker, who embodies what I think is more the American spirit/aesthetic of jazz better than a lot of American musicians.

 

You taught for a time.

 

I was adjunct faculty at the University of New Orleans and I’m done with that.  I had the distinction for three semesters of having the only performing ensemble at the University level dealing with New Orleans music.

 

That is so bizarre!

 

Everybody says that, and I want people to have that reaction.  But maybe it’s not so bizarre.  If you think about what has become the norm for modern jazz pedagogy, New Orleans strategies and schema for music-making or learning music don’t really fit in.  I found ways to make them fit in, but they don’t generally.  It’s not people’s experience who teach on that level.  It’s not something, except in New Orleans, that students can engage in directly when they walk out their door.  The fact that they choose not to is the part that I want to seem strange.

 

When you are bringing the music forward, making the music contemporary, how are you doing that?  What’s going through your mind as you’re preparing and performing?

 

During my preparation with the band, I have some rules in my head, to intentionally avoid repertory. The idea behind Django a la Creole was if we do these Django tunes, we have to find a new way to do them.  We have to find elements in them that say that they want to be something else.  We have to find rhythmic elements, harmonic things, that make them actually want to not be the same thing that they’ve been for years and years, that everybody else is doing.

[See and hear Django a la Creole perform "Fantasie" and "Riverboat Shuffle" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JsazOf3bWs&feature=related]

    With the Jazz Traditions Project, it’s the same thing.  You have to take vehicles that lend themselves to using the vocabulary that’s rooted in tradition.  A song like John Coltrane’s "After the Rain" is a beautiful waltz.  You imagine, well, what if Elvin Jones is playing in a brass band, what if [clarinetist] George Lewis is playing the melody?  And it’s not to make anachronisms.  It’s like a postmodern strategy, where you’re blurring the lines between genre, where you’re blurring the lines between tradition.  At the same time, it still has to be musical, to have what I would call narrative.

[See and hear the Jazz Traditions Project perform Coltrane’s "After the Rain": www.youtube.com?v=SCSeiAWZzSM]

 

You also play an Ornette Coleman tune, "Lonely Woman."

 

Ornette is one of the pioneers of modern jazz.  To be anchored firmly in the earliest New Orleans traditions and yet find a way to make an homage to one of the pioneers of the avant-garde was more symbolic to me than anything.

 

Is it difficult?

 

It’s hard finding things.  I’ve been looking for other Ornette tunes, and I’ve hung out with him.  He’s a lovely cat.  He appreciates things that sound good.  His whole thing has always been about being free of all those trappings — what’s traditional, what’s modern, freedom from tonality, even more abstractly, freedom from what he calls our "classness," or even gender.  He’d rather be free of all of that.

 

What were you doing before you started playing in the New Orleans style?

 

When I was in college, I was playing a lot of saxophone.  When I first started university, I was playing a lot more saxophone.  I thought I was being groomed to be a New York musician, someone who was going to wait in line to audition to be one of Art Blakey’s last alto players.

 

Doesn’t everybody have that Art Blakey dream?

 

I don’t know if it was specifically Art Blakey.  I was kind of making a joke.  Those kinds of stories resonate with one’s imagination when you’re out there in California.  A couple of my mentors were modern musicians.  I think that’s what I envisioned myself being.  I still know a lot of that music, even though I never get to play it.

 

………………….STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO………………….

 

 

I remember posing the question in a BET Jazz interview to the late conguero and bandleader Ray Barretto about exactly what is meant by Latin Jazz and getting an earful, including what is NOT Latin Jazz.  More recently I received a bit of a manifesto from the potent timbalero and bandleader Bobby Matos on the subject, which had been published in the LA Jazz Scene periodical.  The SoCal-based leader of Bobby Matos & his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble agreed to respond to a few questions on the subject.

 

Bobby Matos

 

What motivated you to write a sketch of Latin Jazz History?

 

I was concerned at the lack of radio play that Latin Jazz artists receive on so-called mainstream Jazz programs and I was talking with some of my associates about this.  They replied that this was because most "jazz" radio and media people do not know the history of this music.  And the only way to change the conception of Latin Jazz as being a foreign music was to educate them.  As I am not teaching in a mainstream institution, I felt that writing and publishing this article was one way I could contribute.

 

The ancestor NEA Jazz Master Ray Barretto often spoke very authoritatively of the difference between what he referred to as "Jazz Latin" and what he felt was the truest "Latin Jazz".  Do you see an obvious line of demarcation as to what is essentially jazz employing "Latin" or Afri-Caribbean characteristics, instruments and devices, and died-in-the-wool, "authentic" Latin Jazz?

 

I guess that line is constantly shifting and moving.  Sometimes an artist may want to explore different blends of sounds that may be very different from each other.  I see the whole idea of what is Latin Jazz as something that is constantly growing and developing.  Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band had a lot to do with showing that there could be new ways to play Latin jazz.  Ray Barretto, Papo Vazquez, Dafnis Prieto, Yosvanny Terry, John Santos, Paoli Mejias, and many others have taken this idea and developed their own expressions of Latin jazz.  I don’t think that there is a formula to determine what Latin jazz is, and that’s a good thing.

 

As someone based on the west coast, do you hear differences in how Latin Jazz or Afro-Caribbean jazz is approached east of the Mississippi versus west of the Mississippi (ala the suggested east coast vs. west coast approaches to jazz)?

 

I don’t think that there is as much of a difference as there was in the fifties between west coast and east coast jazz.  Today, many former east coasters have moved west and vice versa.  There used to be a definite NY sound in Latin Jazz (like Mongo, Sabu’s Jazz Espagnole, Tito Puente) and west coast (California) Latin Jazz (Cal Tjader, Bobby Montez, Eddie Cano), but I think those differences are not so obvious any more. 

 

    Most artists are influenced by good music that comes from everywhere.  Many Latin Jazz artists criss cross the country regularly and pick up a lot of influences.  My 7-piece group is based in Los Angeles but 5 of us are originally from New York.  Are we a west coast group with a NY vibe, or an east coast group that lives on the west coast?  Poncho Sanchez’s group is definitely based on the west coast but has strong NY influences through the legacy of Mongo Santamaria and strong California influences through Cal Tjader’s legacy.  I think it would be hard to determine where a group is from by listening to their music.  Puerto Rican groups like Batacumbele and Zaperoko have assimilated a lot of the Cuban sound, and musicians are constantly migrating.

 

If you were to name ten exemplary recordings of Latin Jazz what would they be?

 

It’s always hard to stick to just 10 but I’ll give it a shot:

 

1. Sabu Martinez Jazz Espagnole

2. Tito Puente Tambo

3. Mongo Santamaria Explodes At The Village Gate

4. Cal Tjader Lost Ritmos Calientes

5. Machito Kenya

6. Jerry Gonzalez Ya Yo Me Cure

7. Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri El Sonido Nuevo

9. Mark Weinstein Cuban Roots

10. Mario Bauza Tanga

 

And there are many more I want to add but I’ll just mention some artists like Irakere, Mon Rivera, Papo Vasquez, Herbie Mann, Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, and so many more.

 

…And don’t sleep on Bobby Matos & his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, whose latest release is Gratitude on the LifeForce label.  Keep up with Bobby at www.bobbymatosmusic.com.  

Once again in the process of presenting the Ancient Future radio program (see playlists below), a vexing disparity reared its ugly head.  With so many artists going the DIY route and producing their own recordings, not to mention the myriad and sundry small labels cropping up, why are folks so stingy with the pertinent information? 

 

    Much of what’s left of jazz radio is broadcast on public or community radio stations; case in point on the latter tip being WPFW, the home of Ancient Future.  Increasingly I see my show host colleagues eschewing the idea of toting a load of plastic or digi-pack encased CDs to the studio; in fact there’s a growing trend of producing radio shows via laptop and MP3 files.  (Another pertinent point to consider: particularly at community radio stations, the programmers put their shows together at home, bring their own recordings, and largely do NOT rely on station record libraries; that’s the case at WPFW, it was that way when I programmed at WWOZ in New Orleans, as well as KFAI in the Twin Cities.)   Of the majority that still bring hard copy to the station to produce their shows, a number of folks use either those convenient CD albums or CD carrying cases with hanging files.  In such cases one can simply slip the CD and (hopefully) the booklet into a sleeve and presto — all the information is there… or so we think.

 

    So why are so many artists and small labels so poor about more widely disseminating the pertinent information on their releases?  Example, the Australian pianist Barney McAll’s latest release is titled Flashbacks.  It’s a digi-pack (cardboard casing) release, so no booklet.  Why so stingy with the information Barney?  Why nothing but the album title directly on the disc?  What’s so hard about including not only the album title, but also a track listing and even a personnel listing?  Why when I’m compiling my playlist do I need a magnifying glass to read the label name?  Which raises another point, what’s so difficult about coming up with even a cursory label title for your releases, even if it is your first (which in McAll’s case it is not)?  For goodness sakes just call the label your first or last name, or name it after your favorite pet or the street where you live!  Isn’t part of the point of having your own imprint to build catalogue?  How do you build catalogue if you have no label name?

 

Notice how dark this is… artsy, but you can barely read the graphics

 

    Which brings me to the hip young Malaysian bassist Linda Oh’s debut release which has garnered significant critical ink, including inclusion on certain ‘09 Best Of lists.  Linda, why’d you choose to overload the senses with an endless reel of philosophical gibberish on your disc rather than providing pertinent info like CD title, track listing, and a simple personnel listing (don’t your trio mates Obed Calvaire on drums and Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet deserve that)?  And where’s your label name Linda?

 

 

On the other hand, here’s a highly recommended new release from saxophonist Erica Lindsay and pianist Sumi Tonooka who’ve teamed up for Initiation on the ARC label.  Their digi-packed disc lists album title, label name, their names, and a complete track listing directly on the disc quite legibly  I don’t know Erica, but Sumi has always known what time it is!

One quibble: the artist names should be in larger font

 

C’mon people, we’re just trying to give you some airplay!  Why’s it so difficult to give us clear, legible, pertinent, factual information.  As Joe Friday used to say "just the facts, ma’am."   

The Ancient Future radio program is produced & hosted by Willard Jenkins for WPFW 89.3 FM, Pacifica Radio for the Washington, DC metro area.

 

Meditations on Dr. King

 

Max Roach

Praise for a Martyr

Percussion Bitter Sweet

Impulse!

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Desired Eulogy

Motown

 

Sunny Sumter

Freedom

Freedom Sampler

J Jordan

 

Cecil Payne

Martin Luther King Jr.

Zodiac

Strata-East

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Drum Major

Motown

 

Afro Blue

It’s a Matter of Pride

It’s a Matter of Pride

Howard University

 

Sweet Honey In the Rock

Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King

Live at Carnegie Hall

Flying Fish

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I’ve Been to the Mountaintop

Motown

 

Zim Ngqawana

Long Waltz to Freedom

Vadzimu

Sheer

 

Ranee Lee

Hymn to Freedom

Maple Groove

Justin Time

 

Herbie Hancock

I Have a Dream

The Prisoner

Blue Note

 

Max Roach

I Have a Dream/It’s Time

Chatahoochie Red

Columbia

 

Geri Allen

I Have a Dream

Timeless Portraits and Dreams

Telarc

 

Donny Hathaway

Someday We’ll all Be Free

Movin’ On Up Vol. 2

Right Stuff

 

Soundviews (weekly new release spotlight)

Ben Allison

Green Al

Think Free

Palmetto

 

Ben Allison

Sleeping Giant

Think Free

Palmetto

 

Ben Allison

Broke

Think Free

Palmetto

 

Ben Allison

Fred

Think Free

Palmetto

 

What’s New (the new release hour)

Dana Hall

I Have a Dream

Into the Light

Origin

 

Kristina

Ilu Aye

Offshore Echoes

Patois

 

Barney McAll

New Eyes

Flashback

 

Linda Oh

Numero Uno

Entry

 

Hank Jones & Oliver Jones

Groove Merchant

Pleased to Meet You

Justin Time

 

Gerald Wilson

Miss Gretchen

Detroit

Mack Avenue

 

Dafnis Prieto

Si O Si

Live at Jazz Standard

Dafnison

 

contact:

Willard Jenkins

Open Sky

5268-G Nicholson Lane

#281

Kensington, MD 20895

 

willard@openskyjazz.com

Full disclosure: Willard Jenkins is a coordinator of the NEA Jazz Masters Live program which funds NEAJM presentations at sites around the country.  Email if you’d like further information…

 

Last Tuesday evening was yet another sublime NEA Jazz Masters awards concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s sumptuous Rose Theatre.  The evening commenced with each of the living Masters in the house being introduced at their seats to warm applause as the audience saluted these great artists who’ve meant so much to the development of jazz music.  Members of the 2010 class were introduced separately starting with revealing excerpts from video interviews conducted by writer and former NEA official A.B. Spellman.  Several of the 2010 class also performed during the evening.

 

Muhal Richard Abrams

(photo by Alan Nahigian)

    The first presentation featured 2010 inductee pianist-composer and founder of the AACM Muhal Richard Abrams, conducting the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra through one of his typically knotty and challenging compositions.  This in itself was a revelation, given that some misguidedly view the orchestra as a representative of staunch jazz conservativism.  They played Muhal’s music with grace and skill; a later conversation with JALCO alto saxophonist Ted Nash revealed eager enthusiasm for such an opportunity because it afforded the band a chance to really stretch.

 

Yusef Lateef

    Later in the evening another stunning performance was turned in by the duo of 2010 NEAJM Yusef Lateef and his percussionist Adam Rudolph.  If there as a deeper, more satisfying sound on flute than Lateef’s rich tone then I haven’t heard it.  He worked his way through several manner of flutes, including a couple of haunting end blown instruments - which Lateef also employed for their inherent percussiveness - tenor sax, and traditional western flute while Rudolph tastefully accompanied on frame drum, small flutes, piano, and dijeridoo. 

 

Annie Ross

    These were but two in an evening of immense celebration and abundant love for this great art form that was summed up so beautifully by vocalist Annie Ross.  After her acceptance speech Ms. Ross sang a piece whose lyrics were a litany of jazz greats that aptly recognized the ancestors. 

 

    NEA Jazz Masters are selected annually — and along with the recognition each receives a check for $25K — through nominees from the general public subsequently selected by a panel of Masters.  For further information on the NEA Jazz Masters who’ve been selected since the 1982 inception of the program (must be living), and how you may nominate some deserving Master who has not yet been selected, visit www.arts.endow.gov and click on the Lifetime Honors icon.  All it takes is a simple one-page letter.

This latest installement in our ongoing series of black music writers telling their story comes from Bill Francis.  Brooklyn-based Bill Francis is a music and jazz journalist whose byline has appeared on countless stories and profiles ranging from bebop to hip hop, in the pages of Billboard, Spin, Essence, The Source, among many other publications.

 

        Bill Francis

 

    The son of a saxophone-playing Tuskegee Airman, Bill formerly covered Kansas City’s legendary jazz scene as a feature reporter and jazz columnist for The Kansas City Star.  He has also hosted an FM jazz radio program which was heard around the world on the ‘Net.  Bill writes regularly about the artists and the thriving jazz scene in Brooklyn.

 

What motivated you to write about this music?

 

My father was a jazz musician, as well as one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen.  From an early age, jazz has been part of my world.  In college, playing in a jazz fusion group, and hearing and meeting some of the greatest jazzmen of the day (e.g. Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard), I realized that jazz was much more than a music genre, it was a culture and important part of African American history.

 

When you first started writing about music were you aware of the dearth of African Americans writing about this music?

 

When I began writing about music professionally, as a reporter and music columnist at The Kansas City Star, there seemed to be few African Americans getting mass exposure for writing about any serious subjects.  At the time Baraka’s Blues People was my only inspiration for thinking I could make a difference as an African American jazz journalist.

 

Why do you suppose that’s still such a glaring disparity — where you have a significant number of Black musicians making serious music but so few Black media commentators on the music?

 

There is no mystery for the disparity.  It is a direct result of African Americans and other minorities being greatly underrepresented in the ranks of publishers, editors, and producers at newspapers, magazines and in television.  Whether it’s jazz, culture, or everyday life, African American stories are seldom told in the media, and even less often written or produced by African Americans.

 

Do you think that disparity or dearth of African American jazz writers contributes to how the music is covered?

 

The lack of African American writers, who understand the culture that jazz sprang from and who feel jazz rhythms in their souls, certainly has influenced how the music has been represented.  Look no further than the preeminence of ’smooth jazz’ on concert lineups and what is left of jazz radio. 

[Editor’s note: Smooth jazz radio stations are dropping like flies; that "preeminence" is over, at least as far as radio is concerned; though in fairness to Bill he submitted this contribution before so many smooth jazz radio stations across the country began summarily changing formats.] 

With so few African American jazz writers being read, it’s not surprising that ’smooth jazz’ — less challenging, more appealing to white writers, media executives, and audiences — has become the definition of jazz for much of America.

 

Since you’ve been writing about this music, have you ever found yourself questioning why some musicians may be elevated over others, and is it your sense that has anything to do with the lack of cultural diversity among writers covering the music?

 

Which musicians and artists succeed commercially and which do not is a popular subject of conversation for those of us who write or cover music, particularly among African Americans.  Of course, the answer is pretty obvious when viewed in the larger context of the lack of cultural diversity among those who decide which stories about art, culture and music are written and which artists get hyped and marketed in America.  Even more than a lack of African American writers with jazz in their souls, it is the lack of Black editors to champion greater diversity in the stories assigned that relegates blues and jazz to second class status commercially in America.

 

[Editor’s note/ Rhetorical question department: When was the last African American in an editorial position at the most prominent jazz prints, DownBeat or JazzTimes magazines (throw Cadence and Coda in that mix as well, and for the sake of modernity, the web-based publications All About Jazz and Jazz.com as well)?  Just as we thought…]

 

What is your sense of the indifference of so many African American-oriented publications towards this music, despite the fact that so many African American artists have been historically prominent in the music?

 

Black publications reflect their readership.  Unfortunately, for reasons often debated, African Americans haven’t supported jazz as popular music since its earliest days.  Go to any jazz club or jazz concert in America and you will be saddened by the lack of African Americans in attendance.  Of course, Black publications could take the lead in educating and promoting jazz, as not only America’s only true original art form and important part of our heritage, but as an unrivaled improvisational music experience.  But the marketing realities in America require deep pockets and a deep committment on the part of minority publishers whose bottom line is usually more tenuous than their white music publication counterparts.

 

How would you react to the contention that the way and tone of how this music is covered has something to do with who is writing about it?

 

Ask most African American jazz musicians and they will express gratitude for the white writers at leading jazz magazines who love the music and write about the Black jazzmen who aren’t on the jazz charts and whose names aren’t Herbie or Wynton.  I have no doubt, however, that if there were more African Americans writing about the music and being read, the tone of jazz journalism would be far different and more accessible to read.  Think of what major league baseball was before Jackie Robinson or the NBA before Connie Hawkins and Dr. J.  That’s what jazz journalism for the most part is like today, without the major influence of Black writers.

 

In your experience writing about this music, what have been some of your most rewarding encounters?

 

As a resident of Brooklyn, I’ve frequently written about the vibrant jazz scene there, including several articles about the wonderful Parlor jazz phenomenon of top-flight live jazz being hosted in people’s homes.  Being privileged to hear, get to know and spread the word about incredible artists such as Mem Nahadr, Carla Cook, Cal Payne, or Onaje Allan Gumbs, whose music and talents warrant much greater recognition than they have, has been among my most rewarding encounters as a writer.

 

What obstacles have you encountered — besides difficult editors and indifferent publications — in your efforts at covering serious music?

 

Convincing publications that stories about jazz and jazz musicians can be compelling for their readers is a constant frustration to overcome.  Like jazz musicians, jazz journalists who are committed to writing about the music and must constantly work to stay positive in the face of the reality of their standing in the music marketplace and journalistic hierarchy.

 

What were a couple of the most intriguing records you heard in ‘09?

 

EclecticisM by Mem Nahadr (LiveWired Music)…  To fully experience and appreciate her extraordinary talent you must see this striking African American, dread-locked albino live.  However on her latest appropriately titled CD, this jazz and performance artist diva with the incredible vocal range proves that there is nothing she can’t do vocally, from jazz ballads to funky pop.

 

Watts from Jeff "Tain" Watts (Dark Key Music)… Tain is a monster drummer and his playing here as a leader is ferocious but controlled.  With frequent collaborators Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and bassist Christian McBride in top form, the CD mixes some tongue-in-cheek humor and social commentary with a hard swinging mix of bop, funk, and blues.  Proving that jazz can still be relevant, as well as music of the highest order.

 

 

Songs that made the phones ring — an idea inspired by the late record man Joel Dorn — is our quarterly Ancient Future radio listing of selections that made the telephones ring at WPFW.  At WPFW we have an open policy towards soliciting listener feedback; during our various programs listeners are free to call and inquire about the music or issues of the day.  What better way to gauge listener interests?  This unscientific barometer is a true measuring stick of listener tastes and what excites our listeners.  (Listed in no particular order.)

 

September - October - November - December 2009

(listed in Artist - Song - Album Title - Label sequence)

 

Robert Glasper

Yes I’m Country

Double Booked

Blue Note

 

Melissa Walker

The Other Woman

In The Middle of It All

Sunnyside

 

Dana Leong

Inner Visions

Anthems of Life

 

Dennis Rollins Badbone & Co.

Sweet Tone Bone

Big Night Out

 

Robert Glasper

No Worries

Double Booked

Blue Note

 

Stefon Harris & Blackout

Gone

Urbanus

Concord

 

Kurt Elling

It’s Easy to Remember

Dedicated to You

Concord

 

John Pattitucci Trio

Mali

Remember

Concord

 

Anne Drummond

Aqueous Coisas Todas

Like Water

Oblique

 

Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Strings

Renegades

Renegades

Delmark

 

Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Strings

Wade

Renegades

Delmark

 

Wadud

Hard Core (poem)

 

Mike Ellis

Freedom Jazz Dance

Bahia Band

Alpha Pocket Records

 

Gal Costa

A Felicidade

Antonio Carlos Jobim and Friends

Verve

 

Babatunde Lea’s Umbo Weti

Sun Song

Tribute to Leon Thomas

Motema

 

Cynthia Scott

The Singer

Dream for one Bright World

Itocs

 

Gerald Clayton

Two Heads One Pillow

Two Shade

Artists Share

 

Monterey Quartet

50

Live at The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival

MJF

 

Teodross Avery

Unbelievable

Bridging The Gap

Hip Hop Jazz

 

David Murray & the Gwo-Ka Masters

Southern Skies

The Devil Tried to Kill Me

Justin Time

 

James King

This Time

Allen’s Odyssey

Vibrant Tree

 

Bobby Hutcherson

Houston Street

Mosaic Select

Mosaic

 

David Murray & the Gwo-Ka Masters

The Devil Tried to Kill Me

The Devil Tried to Kill Me

Justin Time

 

Claudia Acuna

Cuando Vuelva Tu Lado

En Este Momento

Marsalis Music

 

Miles Davis

Spanish Key

Bitches Brew (singles)

Columbia

 

Miles Davis

Sidecar

Complete Columbia Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet

Legacy

 

Weather Report

Cannonball

Forecast: Tomorrow

Legacy

 

Weather Report

Palladium

Forecast: Tomorrow

Legacy

 

Mayra Caridad Valdes

Reza

Africubano La Dios del Mar

Jazzheads

 

Sekou Sundiata

Blink Your Eyes (poem)

The Blue Oneness of Dreams

Mercury

 

Eddie Harris

Get on Down

Anthropology

Rhino/Atlantic

 

Clyde Kerr Jr.

Psalm For a King

This is Now!

JFA

 

Bobby Hutcherson

Spiritual

Wise One

Kind of Blue

 

Bobby Hutcherson

Nancy With the Laughing Face

Wise One

Kind of Blue

 

Miguel Zenon

Que Sera de Puerto Rico

Esta Plena

Marsalis Music

 

Fela Kuti

Water No Get Enemy

Best of the Black President

Kalakuta/Knitting Factory

 

Fela Kuti

Shuffering and Smiling

Best of the Black President

Kalakuta/Knitting Factory

 

Duke Ellington

Overture (fr Nutcracker)

Three Suites

Columbia

 

Grover Washington Jr.

I Wonder as I Wander

Breath of Heaven

Columbia

 

Boys Choir of Harlem (w/James Williams)

I Wonder as I Wander

Christmas Carols and Sacred Songs

Blue Note

 

Mo’ Rockin’ Project

All Praise

Sahaba

Remarkable Concept

 

The Afro-Semitic Experience

Descarga Ocho Kandelikas

Plea For Peace

Reckless

 

contact:

Willard Jenkins

5268-G Nicholson Lane

#281

Kensington, MD 20895

 

willard@openskyjazz.com