Chaka Khan
New Year’s Eve 2015
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Seeing Chaka Khan on the Kennedy Center bill for New Year’s Eve was instant magnetism. The most recent sonic evidence of her continued potency was provided by drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s latest Mosaic incarnation, where Ms. Khan served as one of several guest singers. Recorded evidence of Chaka Khan’s current artistry has been scant over the last decade, consisting mainly of guest appearances and greatest hits compilations; upping the curiosity equation in anticipation of this evening.

On arrival at the Concert Hall, which was sold out in advance, easing into our seats amidst assorted New Year’s Eve revelers scurrying for the free party favors provided for the Kennedy Center’s annual New Year’s Eve after-party, all decked out to celebrate the close of ’15, we were greeted by Chaka herself wafting from the house system. A bit peculiar, most artists discourage if not outright prohibit their music being played in the house pre-concert. Shades of Chaka engaging “Round Midnight” and other jazz standards increased the curiosity factor for what was coming. Would it be Rufus-era Chaka, the almighty funk queen Khan, or some measure of her occasional forays with improvisers?

As her razor sharp band – two keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and three backup singers – eased in place with some prelude music, Ms. Khan floated in to a warm welcome, clad in sparkly shoulder-to-toe periwinkle blue, proud red mane engulfing her ageless face, she ripped off a tone setting dance groove. Much of her opening was spent dusting off her Rufus book, which never sounded dated, the true mark of a self-assured artist. As she essayed her set list, one had to be struck by how her songwriting has been a somewhat overlooked facet of her creativity. On this momentous evening that side of Chaka Khan’s book produced a marvelous retrospective set.

But it was the abundant gifts of her prodigious vocal instrument that carried the day, the Holy Ghost still such a constant presence in those pipes, particularly in her upper middle register. Humor arrived in songs like “Pack the Bags,” a song immortalizing her first husband. Several of her songs were autobiographical, including “Troubled Little Angel,“ which helped her deal with depression at certain junctures. Later she sang an especially touching song dedicated to autism, inspired by an autistic nephew and her subsequent work on behalf of the condition.

About 70 minutes into her set, Khan eased offstage promising to be “back in a few.” Although the band kept playing throughout this break, the audience took it as their cue to get up and stretch, hit the facilities, grab some party favors, check their devices and generally treat this as intermission. The band soldiered on, business as usual for jobbing musicians I suppose, but a bit incongruous nonetheless.

Khan’s return superbly capped off this greatest hits night, as she eased back to the spotlight clad in billowing black cape, black-on-black head to toe. “My Funny Valentine” gave way to a succession of her most memorable moments, including “Sweet Thing,” “Tell Me Something Good,” “To The Fire,” and her empowering anthem “I’m Every Woman,” which lifted the sisters out of their seats, brothers quickly following suit throughout the diverse audience. It was a superb greatest hits sort of night, without a hint of the kind of cloying nostalgia such seasoned artists often resort to, literally coasting on a sea of familiarity. Chaka Khan was far from that scene, proving to be a timeless powerhouse and a splendid New Year’s Eve vocal curator for her completely thrilled Kennedy Center audience.

— Willard Jenkins

When I arrived in DC in ’89 to accept a position at the former National Jazz Service Organization, Washington was blessed with an abundance of jazz radio, particularly by comparison to most markets. Back then there was WDCU “Jazz 90” and WPFW 89.3 FM. Few markets in the world could boast of one public and one community radio station whose majority music mandate was jazz. Those radio riches only lasted a few more years as the University of the District of Columbia, which held the license and served as home for WDCU, eventually abdicated its throne and caved in to university fiscal shorts, foolishly and myopically selling off its frequency to CSPan Radio.

Joining the year-end parade of “Best Of” listings, we recently conducted the 2015 WPFW Jazz Programmer’s Poll, which asked programmers to list their picks for the top ten new releases of 2015, as well as their personal picks for their three favorite live jazz performance experiences during the year. Clearly the results prove out the eclectic, free form nature of WPFW, jazz programming not governed by a station playlist; jazz programming governed purely by our volunteer programmers’ individual tastes. Each WPFW programmer has a weekly stint, generally in the 2-3 hour range, and all program their own shows from their personal record collections. I doubt seriously if jazz programming anywhere in the U.S. is more eclectic than is reflected in the results of our 2015 WPFW Jazz Programmer’s Poll.

WPFW 2015 Jazz Programmer’s Poll

TEN BEST
(Artist/Album title/Label)
Cecile McLorin Salvant, For One To Love, Mack Avenue
Tri-C JazzFest 2013 Photos by Jeff Forman

Heads of State (Gary Bartz/Larry Willis/Buster Williams/Al Foster), Search for Peace, Smoke Sessions

Kamasi Washington, The Epic, Brainfeeder

Jack DeJohnette, Made in Chicago, ECM

Steve Coleman, Synovial Joints, Pi

Joe Locke, Love is a Pendulum, Motema

Maria Schneider, The Thompson Fields, ArtistsShare

Vijay Iyer, Break Stuff, ECM

Danilo Perez/John Patitucci/Brian Blade, Children of the Light, Mack Avenue

Fred Hersch, Solo, Palmetto

AND THE REST OF THE BEST OF 2015…
Jose James, Yesterday I Had the Blues, Blue Note
Tomeka Reid Quartet, Thirsty Ear
Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reed, Artifacts, 482 Music
Sons of Kemet, Lest We Forget What We Came Here For, Naim
The Avant-Age Garde, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, CD Baby
Dave Douglas, Brazen Heart, Greenleaf
Makaya McCraven, In The Moment, International Anthem
Weather Report, The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981, Legacy
John Scofield, Past Present, Impulse!
Luciana Souza, Speaking in Tongues, Sunnyside
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bird Calls. ACT
Aaron Diehl, Continuum, Mack Avenue
Satoka Fuji Tobiro, Yamiyo Ni Karasu, Libra
Lionel Loueke, Gaia, Blue Note
Amina Figarova, Blue Whisper, In + Out

Chris Potter Underground Orchestra, Imaginary Cities, ECM
William Parker, For Those Who Are Still, AUM Fidelity
Jamal Moore & Organix Trio, Ancestral Communion, Ankh Djed
Henry Threadgill, In for a Penny, In for a Pound, Pi
Darius Jones, Le Bebe de Brigette, AUM Fidelity
Lizz Wright, Freedom & Surrender, Concord
Charenee Wade, The Offering-The Music of Gil Scott-Heron, Motema
Elijah Jamal Balbed, Lessons from the Streets, EJB
Christian McBride Trio, Live at the Village Vanguard, Mack Avenue
Robert Glasper Trio, Covered, Blue Note
Chris Washburne & The Syotos Band, Low Ridin’, Zoho
Abbey Lincoln, Sophisticated Abbey, HighNote
Ben Williams, Coming of Age, Concord
Harold Mabern, Afro Blue, Smoke Sessions
David S. Ware & Apogee, Birth of a Being, AUM Fidelity
Orrin Evans, The Evolution of Oneself, Smoke Sessions
George Cables, In Good Company, HighNote
Matthew Shipp, The Conduct of Jazz, Thirsty Ear
Jason Miles/Ingrid Jensen, Kind of New, Whaling City
Jeremy Pelt, Tales Musings and Other Reveries
Ron Carter, My Personal Songbook, WDR
Marshall Gilkes & the WDR Big Band, Koln, WDR
Terri Lyne Carrington, Mosaic, Concord
Stanley Jordan & Kevin Eubanks, Duets, Mack Avenue
Snarky Puppy, Sylvia, Impulse!/UMC
Charles Lloyd, Wild Man Dance, Blue Note
SF Jazz Collective, Live at SF Jazz Center, SF Jazz
Albert “Tootie” Heath/Ethan Iverson/Ben Street, Philadelphia Beat, Sunnyside
Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Inner Dialogue, Musiq
Najee, You Me and Forever, Shanachie

FAVORITE 2015 DC-Area JAZZ PERFORMANCES…

Kamasi Washington (Howard Theatre)
Ernest Dawkins Orchestra (CapitalBop Loft Jazz/DC Jazz Festival)

Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reed (CapitalBop Loft Jazz/DC Jazz Festival)
Tomeka Reid Quartet (Transparent Productions/Bohemian Caverns)
The Cookers (Historic Synagogue Sixth & I/DC Jazz Festival)
Tenor Summit (Paul Carr/Craig Handy/Marcus Strickland/Mid Atlantic Jazz Fest)
Jamal Moore and Organix Trio (CapitalBop Loft Jazz/DC Jazz Festival)
Andrew White (Blues Alley)
Jack DeJohnette (the Hamilton/DC Jazz Festival)
Cassandra Wilson (Kennedy Center)
Revive: Clifford Brown/Sarah Vaughan Reimagined (Kennedy Center)
Jason Moran Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music and Media (Kennedy Center)
Strickland Brothers (Kennedy Center)
Cecile McLorin Salvant (Historic Synagogue Sixth & I)
Sean Jones (Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival)

The DC Jazz Festival Introduces DCJazzPrix

New national competition will recognize and support top rising jazz band talent

WASHINGTON – December 17, 2015 — The DC Jazz Festival® (DC JazzFest) today announced the launch of DCJazzPrix, a national jazz band competition that aims to identify and showcase emerging and exceptional jazz band talent from across the U.S. The event is designed to help launch and promote the careers of emerging jazz artists committed to sustained and creative band development and performance opportunities.

Providing a unique professional performance and adjudication platform for jazz bands that is outside of the traditional academic or commercial competition arenas, the Call for Applications and Guidelines for DCJazzPrix – including eligibility, review criteria, terms, registration payment and digital submission requirements – will be announced on January 7, 2016 at dcjazzprix.org. A prestigious panel will adjudicate with an array of criteria based on artistic merit and artistic excellence.

“We are excited to introduce DCJazzPrix, a national competition that adds yet more cultural significance to the DC Jazz Festival, and to the national jazz community,” said Artistic Director Willard Jenkins. “We envision the competition adding a bold new element to our festival, one which responds to the challenges lesser-known bands face when seeking inclusion in the major jazz festival circuit, even when they are clearly excellent and poised for greater exposure.”

The competition will offer a well-timed catalyst to elevate emerging jazz bands to a national festival platform by providing a substantial $15,000 cash prize and year-long association with the DC Jazz Festival to include: extensive public exposure; business support and career navigation services; and a main stage 2017 DC Jazz Festival paid engagement.

“DCJazzPrix is a natural extension of DC JazzFest’s cultural mission, and is a wonderful complement to the rich jazz legacy of Washington, DC” said Executive Director Sunny Sumter.

The fastest-growing jazz festival in the U.S., the DC Jazz Festival dates are June 10-19, 2016. For more information about the DC Jazz Festival, visit www.dcjazzfest.org.

Keep up with the DCJF:

• Twitter: @dcjazzfest #DCJazzPrix

• Facebook: facebook.com/dcjazzfest
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• Instagram: @dcjazzfest

High resolution imagery here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rmw2z7rms4s38vp/AAAwtWpJ0mGmh9Wg1BZcAbP6a?dl=0

Interview of nationally-recognized jazz author highlight of journal

December 8, 2015

Interview of nationally-recognized jazz author highlight of journal
Download Image: Web

The recently released issue of “Brilliant Corners,” a unique blend of literature about jazz, features an interview by prominent jazz author Willard Jenkins. Sascha Feinstein, Ph.D., professor of English and creative writing at Lycoming College, conducted the interview last May.

The publication includes excerpts of three of Jenkins’ writings and an excerpt from an earlier interview he gave. Under Feinstein’s guidance, Jenkins shares some of the larger influences on his writing style and love for music, particularly jazz.

Willard Jenkins is a journalist, arts consultant and presenter, and co-author of “African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston.” His writings have appeared in scores of publications specializing in music. He also has written liner material for records and CDs of a number of jazz greats, including Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Jordan, Joe Lovano and Cannonball Adderley.

Readers also will find an enticing array of poetry, stories and essays about the musical genre by a variety of authors, including Al Young, a former poet laureate of California and author of four books; poet and trombonist Tony Whedon; Robert Gibb, whose work has earned a National Poetry Series award and a Pushcart Prize; and poets Linda Susan Jackson and Richard Jackson, who have earned multiple fellowships for their works.

Founded in 1996, the journal is edited by Feinstein and published biannually. A subscription costs $12 a year ($18 for international orders). Send check or money to Brilliant Corners, Lycoming College, 700 College Place, Williamsport, PA 17701. More information can be found at www.lycoming.edu/BrilliantCorners.

Published at Lycoming College, “Brilliant Corners” is funded in part by Lycoming College, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and private endowments.

Look under jazz book releases at your favorite online literary retailer – and yes, I almost said ‘at your favorite bookstore’ unleashing the old school impulse – and you’ll find hundreds of titles chronicling the lives, times, and even minute recording session details of the giants of jazz. On that latter tip there is a growing legion of useful, informative books simply detailing one recording period or even one recording session in the recorded life of Miles Davis, the definitive volume of which is my friend and colleague Ashley Khan’s chronicle of all things “Kind of Blue.” We’ll call it the White Collar section, that section of the aggregate jazz bibliography dedicated to the giants. But what of those relative blue collar jazz artists, those who have contributed much, labored mightily and largely successfully in the figurative trenches of the art form, yet never really achieved top of the polls status? Such an artist is the ever-swinging guitarist Peter Leitch, and he’s written a book appropriately titled Off The Books (A Jazz Life; Vehicule Press).

For those not familiar, Peter Leitch is one of those no pretense, superb craftsmen whose artistry is measured by his skillful way around a standard, knowing and loving the blues in the pit of his stomach, and his ability to enhance whatever setting he graces. He’s one of those artists whose warmth and humility – in both his guitar playing and his personality – may have left him slightly out of focus of the big spotlight, but he’s no less worth your attention than his more celebrated peer artists.

There is much to be learned from this book of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the jazz musician’s life, and Leitch tells it quite successfully. From humble beginnings as an English-speaking Montreal native, Leitch aptly details growing up musically in Canada. Along the way there is much to be learned of the various players who’ve developed jazz, particularly modern jazz, in our neighbor to the north, including pursuits of the music in and around Montreal, in the outreaches of Quebec province where you’ve likely never ventured, and informative helpings on the jazz life in Toronto, where the guitarist migrated in the 1970s. One of the more valuable aspects of this book is that Leith, ever the keen and perceptive observer, pulls no punches in his clear eyed assessment of his many scenes or the musicians he encounters along the way, dry wit firmly in place, including this passage on life in Toronto:

“Toronto’s population in the late seventies and early eighties appeared to consist mainly of people whose belief in the financial, social, and political systems was unshakeable, although among musicians many of the jazz and studio players seemed to be involved with various spiritual advisors, gurus, and therapy groups. There was a character called Mr. Mills, who had quite an international following. You gave him a percentage of your income, and if you gave him enough money, you were allowed to wash his feet. There was another one called Bawa, who was supposedly four hundred years old, and had never been seen to ingest food or water. There was a Catholic psychoanalytic commune called Therafields, which allowed you to pick bean sprouts on their farm if you paid them, which they then sold in health food stores. It seemed that a lot of musicians in Toronto were ripe for this kind of con.”

Throughout the book are great stories on the life of the jobbing jazz musician – the have axe will travel, itinerant life of the sideman, adept in any setting, valued by traveling soloists playing Canada from south of the border looking for a complimentary musician with big ears and a willingness to schlep that guitar case far and wide in pursuit of the jazz truth. And along the way Peter Leitch drops pungent sidebars and stories of encounters in that life, like his account of this stop on the road with the late B-3 master and Prestige recording artist Don Patterson: “One night at the Flight Deck club in Wilmington (hometown of Clifford Brown) I was sitting at the bar between sets and started conversing with an older black man, who seemed to be quite knowledgeable about the music. It turned out he had gone to school with Clifford Brown. He talked about how serious Clifford was and how much he practiced, and I started thinking about how this music was just not a cultural reality in the places I had been living. What were the chances of having this conversation in Toronto or Montreal? I had learned by now that it wasn’t enough to just try to play this music. You had to understand where it came from, intimately know the culture that produced it, and know in whose footsteps you were following.”

Inevitably Peter Leitch’s road led to New York, where he details the hard scrabble life of a jobbing jazz musician, including both harrowing street life encounters, the follies of Manhattan apartment rental, the joys and idiosyncrasies of recording the many sessions he made for the Reservoir and Criss Cross labels at Rudy Van Gelder’s historic studio, and beating back the devil of drug addiction. Leitch pulls no punches on the racial idiosyncracies of the music, recounting how in New York he found his most welcoming home, both in terms of playing and establishing lasting interpersonal relationships, largely with black musicians. This passage illustrates Leitch’s view of the inevitable racial politics in jazz:

“[John] Hicks told me he’d gotten a little heat from the black community for hiring me at Bradley’s. I have always accepted the fact that this music is the creation of black Americans, but I have never bought into the concept that white people “stole the music.” There has always been a lot of stealing going on in music or any art, by people of every conceivable race or color. In my own case, I’ve never felt that I’d stolen something. This music was given to me. And it was given with a lot of love. By a lot of black people. By the happenstance of employment I happened to be thrown into the culture that produced the music, which was such a valuable experience. If you want to really learn about something, you’d better understand the culture that produced it. That said, coming to the United States from Canada, especially Montreal where there was a lot of diversity, I failed to realize that race was still such a huge issue in America. Racism has aways walked hand in hand with its partner, ignorance. But come to think of it, by the same token so to speak, ignorance and stupidity are two of the few things in our society that know no color line. When you consider the four hundred years of slavery and repression, it should come as no surprise that racism (on both sides) exists in jazz, supposedly the most democratic of musical forms. John put it in perspective when we were in the South together. As we got out of the van at a gas station somewhere in Arkansas, John asks, “Where’s the colored toilet?”

Along the way Leitch became one of the MVPs of the fertile 80s/90s late night scene at Bradley’s, one of the great musicians stomping grounds which achieved a measure of fame as much for its late night hang atmosphere as for the potent duos, trios and cavalcade of brilliant piano players it boasted. Among those piano masters was another fellow relative underdog, the late, incredible John Hicks, with whom Leitch developed a beautiful friendship (ditto altoist Bobby Watson and bassist Ray Drummond) rooted in the Bradley’s scene, relationships recounted succinctly in this book.

“In early January of 1990 John hired me for my first week at Bradley’s, with Ray [Drummond] on bass. Bradley’s was not just a world-class jazz club, it also served as a clearing house and office for the musicians. It was the only club with a 2am set, which attracted a lot of musicians who would drop by after their earlier gigs. If anything happened in the jazz world, you heard it first there. Being at Bradley’s was breathing rarified air. New York forces you to grow and develop faster than in other places. You would be playing and look up and there’s Tommy Flanagan sitting there. Or Kenny Barron. Or George Coleman. Or Ron Carter. Your idols, people you had grown up listening to on records were sitting there checking you out. Scared the hell out of me! It was like going to school every night, and made me work that much harder on the music. I would get up the next day and practice some more. One of my fond memories is of sitting in the office at Bradley’s one morning around 5 am with John Hicks and Tommy Flanagan, listening to Tommy tell about John Coltrane laying “Giant Steps” on him.” Sorry ya’ll, but you just don’t get that kind of wisdom from the academy!

Ever the keen observer, Leitch’s perceptive eye leads him inevitably to photography, first as a hobbyist’s pursuit and eventually as a serious artistic obsession. His fascination with life below the Mason Dixon line takes him on fascinating photographic excursions into the heart of Dixie, richly detailed in this chronicle. Off The Books is a vivid, quite successful portrait – roots & fruits, warts & triumphs – of what it means to be a working jazz musician, sidebars and all – well worth your read.