One thing we’re blessed with at Tri-C JazzFest is a excellent photographic images chronicling our event. We’re very fortunate to have covering every angle of the festival our veteran photo eye Jeff Forman. So in the true spirit of letting these images tell their story, here’s our photo essay on Tri-C JazzFest 2013 April 19-27.

Jeff Forman captured this tasty silhouette of Tri-C JazzFest (TCJF) art with Robert Glasper.

The Robert Glasper Experiment brought a vibrant, youthful audience to the Ohio Theatre on Saturday, April 20 for the first in our 4-pack series of matinee concerts.

Kenny Garrett was in superb form at his Ohio Theatre matinee on April 20, playing so strong that at one point he took the horn out of his mouth and – I swear – began speaking in tongues! Without question a spiritual highlight of Tri-C JazzFest 2013.

On April 27 TCJF feted our Cleveland homeboy Joe Lovano with a hometown 60th birthday celebration. For the gala occasion Joe not only led his brilliant dual-drummer Us Five unit, he also welcomed to the stage his songbird wife Judi Silvano, and he musically embraced such Cleveland stalwarts important to his formative years as fellow tenor man Ernie Krivda, drummers Val Kent, his brother Carl Lovano, Carmen Castaldi, and Greg Bandy, trumpeter Kenny Davis, B-3 ace Eddie Baccus and several other Cleveland jazz warriors for a wonderful celebration. Joe’s dad, Cleveland’s legendary ancestor tenor man Tony “Big T” Lovano was definitely in the house in spirit!

Joe Lovano’s birthday celebration capped two TCJF Saturdays of stellar matinee concerts (Glasper and Garrett were the preceding Saturday); opening our final Saturday matinee series was the singular guitar artistry of Bill Frisell and his Beautiful Dreamers trio (Eyvind Kang, viola and Rudy Royston, drums). Lovano and Frisell have been cohorts, most notably as members of the ancestor drummer Paul Motian‘s band, dating back to Berklee; so it was no surprise when Joe strolled out playing tenor to cap off one of Frisell’s familiar themes towards the end of the latter’s set. They followed that with a joyous stroll through a bop anthem.

Trombonist Chris Anderson was this year’s music director of TCJF’s resident ensemble SoundWorks. For this year’s program they played tribute to the great Dexter Gordon on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the tenor man’s birth. Apropos one of Dexter’s accomplished acolytes, saxophonist Javon Jackson (one of TCJF’s artists-in-residence this year) was special guest in a performance preceded by a warm Dexter remembrance discussion between Javon and Dex’s widow jazz historian Maxine Gordon.

Young trumpet guns, and Tri-C Jazz Studies alums Curtis Taylor (shown performing with SoundWorks) and Dominick Farinacci (adjudicating and performing with his band, which included pianist Aaron Diehl and the extraordinary vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant during our DownBeat Invitational evenings) were all over this year’s TCJF.

Each season of Tri-C JazzFest we introduce some of the most exceptional young artists to our audiences; for our 2013 festival that artist was unquestionably the young singer Cecil McLorin Salvant, who at the time was on the cusp of her sensational debut recording Woman Child on the Mack Avenue label.

Pianist Orrin Evans (shown in performance with drummer Donald Edwards and bassist Ben Wolfe) and clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen (shown in full throat with the visiting Rimon Ensemble from Tel Aviv, Israel) were our other two artists-in-residence for TCJF jazz ed days and DownBeat Invitational concert evenings.

Guitarist Lionel Loueke was simply magical in trio performance at the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) before a packed, enthusiastic audience.

Natalie Cole always delivers! She’s a first-class professional who truly knows how to stroke an audience, presenting a varied set that included her jazz work, a reprise of her famous dad-on-screen duo with Nat, and her pop hits to send our big stage State Theatre (last of four such TCJF gigs) finale concert audience home happy. And she had superb accompaniment by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra – who played an opening set, with the great bassist John Clayton shown conducting.

For more information visit JazzFest at www.tric-cjazzfest.com

Some of the most rewarding in a series of oral history interviews I did on Brooklyn’s rich jazz history, specifically concerning the historic Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods, were with the good folks associated with the legendary East, a peerless Afrocentric venue of the 1970s. The man who largely curated the East’s exceptional schedule of weekend performances, as well as the music component of Brooklyn’s equally legendary (and still operating) International African Arts Festival, was Mensah Wali, someone I met through our mutual friend NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston. Several years ago Mensah relocated to Pittsburgh to work with Gail Austin in developing arts programs in that home to so many of jazz music’s master contributors. Together Mensah and Gail run the lively presenting organization known as Kente Arts. Last summer, while in Pittsburgh for a lovely weekend commemoration and reunion of Pittsburgh’s historic black musicians’ union (detailed in the Independent Ear archives), I spent a lovely evening with the two of them, which included catching the outstanding trumpeter Sean Jones under the stars in one of the city’s gently sloped park lands. As Kente Arts vibrant newsletter and event notices continued to roll in, clearly it was time to get caught up with Mensah.

Some months back The Independent Ear ran the interview I did with you for the Weeksville Heritage Center oral history project on your work as music curator at Brooklyn’s legendary East. So how’s a dedicated Brooklynite like yourself wind up in Pittsburgh?

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! It will make you do all kinds of things. In 1987, Lois Hernandez of the Odunde Festival called a conference of East coast festival organizers in Philadelphia, PA. Adeyemi Bandele, Dr. Segun Shabaka & I went on behalf of the International African Arts Festival. Gail Austin, Sabira Bushra & Dr. Aisha White came from Pittsburgh representing the Harambee II Black Arts Festival. Harambee was on a strong growing curve and needed bigger name artists and I had a book with many of them. So that’s how the communication started. Gail and I eventually married. We had a commuting marriage for the first five years and then I retired and moved to Pittsburgh.

What’s the genesis of Kente Arts Alliance?

While in Brooklyn Adeyemi, Basir Mchawi, Mzee Moyo (RIP) and I formed Kente Productions; when I moved to Pittsburgh and wanted to continue bringing presentations to the community I was granted permission to use Kente for my first promotion in “the Burgh”. Kente Arts Alliance was formed a year later with Gail Austin, Fred Logan, Dr. Aisha White & Lynda Black. In 2007, Kente achieved non-profit status and hasn’t looked back since.

How does Kente Arts Alliance support itself and continue to present performances?

Pittsburgh has a strong foundation community which is supportive of the arts community. Each year, Kente develops a series theme and writes a number of proposals to support the series. We have been very fortunate in catching the attention of the both corporate and non-profit foundations.

Editor’s note: Read on, one such Kente Arts thematic series, focusing on jazz ROYalty, is detailed below…

What’s been the Pittsburgh community response to Kente Arts Alliance and your activities?

Like all small non-profits vying for limited dollars, we struggled at first. After six years, Kente has attracted a loyal following that have helped us to grow. As that support grows, we are aiming to build an organization that is sustainable by increasing our revenues beyond foundational support. Apparently, our strategy is working. We are increasing our number of sold out or nearly sold out performances, thereby increasing our ticket revenues.

Talk about last season’s Royalty series.

Our Jazz Royalty Series featuring Roy Ayers & Roy Haynes was the most successful series of all. Unfortunately the last Roy in the series [trumpeter Hargrove] was unable to make it. On April 28, 2012, we presented Roy Ayers, who as you know, is a cultural icon, often referred to as “the Godfather of Neo – Soul. Ayers is among the best-known, most-loved and respected jazz/R&B artists on the music scene today. Now in his fourth decade in the music business, Ayers continues to bridge the gap between generations of music lovers. Today, the dynamic music man is an iconic figure still in great demand and whose music has been sampled by music industry heavyweights, including Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, and Ice Cube. Like many presenters and jazz promoters, Kente has struggled with attracting patrons to jazz productions in the age range below fifty five years and younger. We knew the Ayers audience would attract that population. Our hope was that we would be able to carry over those patrons to the next concert.

Our next concert in the series was NEA Jazz Master Roy Haynes. Last year, Haynes celebrated his 87th birthday and is a fireball of energy. As you know, Haynes is a jazz legend of unsurpassed accomplishments and for the last 60 years or more continues to wow audiences where ever he performs. In spite of his age and longevity in the music business, Haynes’ work is always fresh. Critics often say his music is as fresh today as it was 50 years ago when he played with Charlie Parker. But most astonishing about Haynes is that his playing and energy defy his age. We knew going in that younger audiences, if introduced to Haynes, would be won over to seek a music alternative beyond pop music. Apparently, we were right. The University of Pittsburgh sponsored 36 undergraduates to attend the concert, and members of Haynes Fountain of Youth Band presented a talk back session for them after the concert. The students were wowed by the performance and hopefully will continue to seek out this music.

Following Roy Haynes’ triumphant performance Mensah and Gail Austin (center) joined Kente board member Dr. Harry Clark, pianist Martin Bejerano, saxophonist Jaleel Shaw (left) and bassist David Wong, members of Roy’s Fountain of Youth band onstage

What’s upcoming for Kente Arts Alliance?

Our next series is “Africa Calling”. It was kicked-off with the vitality of The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble on April 20, 2013. This was our first venture with a dance presentation and we will continue on in October 26 with another expression of Africa in our music legacy. Of course your next question is WHO will that be? By force of habit/experience, I will not say until the ink is dry and were ready to promote. I promise, you will be among the first to know.

Back in 1968 in my Freshman year at Kent State, when I was basically getting my feet wet in this music we call jazz, I was encouraged by a good friend to check out a concert on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College in one of Cleveland’s far west side suburbs. The feature was the Charles Lloyd Quartet, with Keith Jarrett on piano, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and bassist Ron McClure (by that juncture Cecil McBee had split the bass chair). I had heard some buzz from the pop press on this quartet, which was quite unusual for an acoustic jazz quartet at the time. Seems this band was one of a handful of jazz bands booked into Bill Graham’s Filmore venues, East and West, and was one of the few bands that for some reason had been embraced by the psychedelic generation of my peers. Consequently they led something of a “rock star” existence, playing not only the Filmores but also touring the Soviet Union, which was pretty rare for those days. Much of that cache had to do with their breakthrough Monterey Jazz Festival recording of Lloyd’s transcendent piece “Forest Flower” for Atlantic Records. For some reason the psychedelic generation really took to that piece and consequently the Charles Lloyd Quartet became pretty big for an acoustic jazz band, let alone one with a somewhat “free” playing proclivity.

It was a fascinating concert at BW, and though Charles Lloyd was at the time being lumped in the post-Coltrane school of tenor acolytes, his tenor approach was of softer focus than the Trane school; there was an airy, pastoral quality to his tone; and though he could certainly go “out”, there was a somewhat tethered sensibility to his outer limits. And to augment his spirited tenor work Lloyd chose the more avian tones of the flute, rather than the prevailing soprano saxophone doublers rage that gripped so many tenor players in the wake of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” breakthrough. Of equal interest was the sense of connectedness between the writhing, moaning piano man Keith Jarrett – not to mention he was also the rare white guy sporting an afro at the time, and who on first appearance appeared to be black – and the impossibly loose-limbed drummer Jack DeJohnette. Obviously their connection was even deeper than it appeared that afternoon as 18 years later, in 1983, they would come together again through Jarrett’s long and successful relationship with the ECM label as one of the late 20th century and today’s singular small bands; at first referred to as the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio, then simply as Jarrett-Peacock-DeJohnette as it became clear that although Jarrett’s name is on the marquee, there’s been a cooperative sensibility within that great trio for many years.

Manfred Eicher must have loved that Charles Lloyd Quartet as well. In the 80s he recorded several of now-NEA Jazz Master Jack DeJohnette’s seminal recordings; likewise Eicher recorded Lloyd’s 90s return to record, a relationship which extends to Charles’ present recorded exploits. Four of those Jack DeJohnette sessions have just been reissued by ECM as a Jack DeJohnette Special Edition box set. Following on the heels of the DeJohnette box is Charles Lloyd Quartets, reprising five of Lloyd’s 90s recordings. Befitting ECM’s tight, simplistically-focused design tradition both sets are the same no-frills white boxes; no bells and whistles (recalling certain extravagant reissue boxes, like the over-designed lucite box number from Herbie Hancock’s vault that is so “cute” one can hardly fit the discs back in the attendant slots), each of these ECM boxes come with sufficiently informative liner and session notes.


While Lloyd’s unit of choice remains the quartet, DeJohnette has exercised a broad range of personnel configurations down through the years. These include the powerful lineup he assembled for his original Special Edition release: David Murray and Arthur Blythe on saxophones were at the time a kind of California expat sax dream team, having each made big impacts on the scene when they arrived in New York in the late 1970s. Bassist Peter Warren rounded out this exceptional piano-less cast. (At that Lloyd quartet sighting in ’68, little did I know at the time that DeJohnette was also a gifted keyboard player. In an interview last winter Billy Hart told me how surprised he was to see Jack playing drums when DeJohnette got to New York; he’d seen him around Chicago playing piano and organ! Small wonder that DeJohnette is one of our most supremely musical drummers.) to Coltrane is payed via John’s tunes “Central Park West” and “India,” however the key to this recording is DeJohnette’s “Zoot Suite.” Tin Can Alley casted Jack’s fellow Chicagoan Chico Freeman and John Purcell on reeds and flutes, plus the sturdy Warren. Jack’s extended ballad “Pastel Rhapsody”, with its lovely harmonies and DeJohnette’s overdubbed piano (or were the drums overdubbed?). But don’t sleep the raucous, bump & grind blues “I Know,” with Jack signifying vocally. Inflation Blues reprises the twin reeds of Freeman and Purcell, adding the free-leaning trumpet of St. Louis’ Baikida Carroll and Jack’s Chicago homeboy Rufus Reid on acoustic bass, plus a rare Rufus hearing on bass guitar. From this session Jack’s piece “Ebony” always struck me as something that might have been the hippest evening news intro tune had someone had big enough ears to so adapt it. Album Album closes out the box. Remember the lovely, woodsy shot of Jack’s family that graced the original Lp version? A couple of years ago when I met Jack’s youngest daughter Minya at the Panama Jazz Festival I reminded her of that cover shot, which pictured her in the position of precocious child; (she’s now married to Jack’s sound technician Ben Surman, son of saxophonist and frequent DeJohnette collaborator John Surman) she grinned and blushed at the memory of that apparent childhood embarrassment. From that session comes two of Jack’s more indelible compositions, “Ahmad The Terrible,” his homage to Ahmad Jamal, and “Zoot Suite.” Tuba and baritone saxman Howard Johnson lends additional bottom to the Purcell-Murray-Reid lineup in the ensemble. And if you can find it, get the Lp; besides the very warm front & back cover DeJohnette family photo treatment (doubtless standing in the Woodstock forest), this rare ECM gatefold package contains a priceless DeJohnette and sidemen black & white family photo montage inside (including Johnson in his Massilon High School marching band uniform and Murray as a schoolboy high jumper).

Meanwhile Lloyd’s ECM affiliation is ongoing, including brilliant documentations of his deep relationships with subsequent pianists Brad Mehldau, Geri Allen, and currently Jason Moran (including their most recent ECM duo session Hagar’s Song). The Charles Lloyd box contains his five ECM releases spanning 1990-97: Fish Out of Water, Notes from Big Sur (an obvious homage to the idyllic, fairly isolated life he and wife Dorothy Darr carved out in that “God’s country” sector of the California coastline), The Call, All My Relations, and Canto. Though many writers have remarked substantively on the key role of pianists in Lloyd’s music, from the salad days with Jarrett to his 80s reawakening by the late Michel Petrucciani, to Mehldau, Allen and his current piano mate Moran, recalling his Quartet days with DeJohnette, Charles Lloyd has long had a thirst for resourceful, challenging drummers who push his artistry to great limits. After DeJohnette came Sunship Theus, Jon Christenson, Billy Higgins (the latter two being more about texture than explosion), Ralph Peterson, and for three of the dates in this box the broad artistry of Billy Hart. Currently Lloyd is further challenged by Moran’s Houston homie, the crafty and propulsive Eric Harland.

For the past dozen years I’ve been curating a Spring series at Tribeca Performing Arts Center that celebrates historic, now-lost jazz venues around Manhattan. This Spring our focus lands on the legendary Birdland. We’ve viewing Birdland through the prism of the enormous legacy of the man after whom that jazz haunt was named, Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Our first concert was Friday, May 3 as alto man TK Blue recalled Bird’s experimentations with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and textures. Here’s more on our 2013 series…

Downtown Performing Arts for All New York

For Further Press Inquiries, Please Contact:
Allyson Morgan
Publicity Associate, BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Phone: (212) 220–1459 / Email: amorgan@tribecapac.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center Presents
Lost Jazz Shrines 2013: Bird – A World’s Eye View
(New York, NY) – BMCC Tribeca PAC’s Lost Jazz Shrines series is dedicated to restoring the memory of legendary New York City jazz venues to the consciousness of the world with a thorough remembrance and celebration. In celebration of the resonant history of Birdland, join us on May 3, May 17, and May 31, as we will examine the musical and stylistic legacy of Charlie Parker through three completely different lenses and cultural perspectives. This will be achieved through the efforts of three exceptional alto saxophonists (TK BLUE, MARTY EHRLICH & RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA) who have expanded the lessons of Bird. Each saxophonist will bring elements of his diverse backgrounds to our stage for fresh interpretations of the oeuvre of Bird. Each saxophonist will include their own combo.

Each concert will be preceded by a FREE Humanities program at 7PM with live panel discussions or film that showcase some of the celebrated figures associated with this year’s honorees, followed by the concert at 8:30PM. Tickets are $25 for each concert. Tickets can be purchased by calling Ticketing Services at (212) 220-1460 or online at www.tribecapac.org.

Schedule:

Latin Bird
TK BLUE – Musical Director
Friday, May 3
Concert at 8:30PM
$25 / students, seniors $15

Saxophonist/flutist-composer-educator TK Blue, whose family heritage is from the Caribbean (Jamaica and Trinidad), explores the Latin influenced rhythms and melodies of the great Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, the legendary Bird. In the 40s and 50s Charlie Parker had a number of fruitful interactions with such Latin music legends as Machito, Mario Bauza, and Chano Pozo. TK Blue’s concert will reflect that rich vein of Parker’s experience.

Performers:
T.K.Blue–flute, soprano and alto sax
James Weidman–piano.
Essiet Essiet–bass
Winard Harper–drums and
Steve Turre–shells and trombone

Birdland: Reminiscing in Tempo
Panel Discussion with NEA Jazz Masters Randy Weston and Dan Morgenstern
Moderated by Willard Jenkins
7PM – FREE

Charlie Parker: Timeless Innovation
RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA – Musical Director
Friday, May 17
Concert at 8:30PM
$25 / students, seniors $15

Rudresh Mahanthappa will present recontextualizations of Charlie Parker’s work as well as new material based on extractions of Bird’s vocabulary as both composer and improviser. Mahanthappa’s celebrated groundbreaking approach of synthesizing the traditions of jazz with modern musical concepts exemplifies the spirit of Bird. With some of NYC’s finest instrumentalists as a rhythm section, this evening will highlight the relevancy of Parker as a contemporary and timeless icon of modern music.

Performers:
Rudresh Mahanthappa – alto saxophone
Matt Mitchell – Piano
François Moutin – Acoustic Bass
Rudy Royston – Drums

Film screening: Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker
Celebrating Bird is a revealing look at an enigmatic yet endlessly appealing man, who soared to the heights of creative freedom but couldn’t beat a lifelong addiction to heroin. It includes a TV appearance with Dizzy Gillespie and rare footage with jazz greats including Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Clarke and Lucky Thompson, Lester Young, among others.
7PM – FREE

The Cartographies of Flight
MARTY EHRLICH – Musical Director
Friday, May 31
Concert at 8:30PM
$25 / students, seniors $15

“Charlie Parker Place. That’s my corner, just down from Bird’s house, now a historic landmark in the East Village. At times I imagine hearing him practice as I go by, infusing each rhythmic step and melodic turn with his characteristic sense of exaltation. “Bluing a new cartography of flight” is how poet Arthur Brown put it. Tonight’s concert will celebrate that Bird’s music points us forward, combining music with the images and syntax that he and his compatriots inspired in poets, then and now. “ – Marty Ehrlich

Performers:
THE MARTY EHRLICH ENSEMBLE
Marty Ehrlich – woodwinds
James Zollar – trumpet
Marc Ribot – guitar
Michael Formanek – bass
Nasheet Waits- drums
Erica Hunt – poet and reader
Charles Bernstein – poet and reader

The Impact of Charlie Parker
Panel Discussion with TK Blue and Marty Ehrlich.
Moderated by Willard Jenkins
7PM – FREE

Performers Subject to change.

BMCC Tribeca PAC is Downtown Manhattan’s premier presenter of the arts, reaching audiences from the college community, downtown residential and business communities, local schools, families, and audiences of all ages. BMCC Tribeca PAC strives to present a broad global perspective through the presentation of high-quality artistic work in music, theatre, dance, film and visual arts. BMCC Tribeca PAC is located on the Borough of Manhattan Community College campus, 199 Chambers Street (between Greenwich Avenue & West Street) and is convenient to the 2/3, A/C/E and R/W subway lines and the New Jersey Path Train. For more information please visit our website, www.tribecapac.org.

No hidden agendas here; taking particular interest and pride in younger African Americans who are working in jazz in entrepreneurial pursuits, last January at the NEA Jazz Masters awards program at Dizzy’s, at the pre-show media event, I met Brian Pace. His principle entry point in the jazz community has been in the visual media marketplace, particularly his video interview series, The Pace Report. What was also of interest was his news reporter (as opposed to “glorified fan”) approach to the task of interviewing artists; no surprise given his considerable legit news experience, detailed below. You can sample the Pace Report and some of his various interviews at thepacereport.blogspot.com and www.thepacereport.com. Clearly some questions for Brian Pace were in order…

Brian left, with (unidentified), the brains behind Jazzcorner Lois Gilbert, and JJA Prez Howard Mandel

What’s your background in music media and how did you get started down this path?

I’m originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. I got started in television production in high school at WJEL-FM/TV at North Central High School. They offered a class where they taught teens how to produce, write, and direct their own shows which aired on the local public access channel. They also had a student run radio station and we had to produce radio spots and DJ live shows and all the sporting events. It had a low signal, but teens played the music they wanted to for their shifts. This was also the time I joined the Youth Telecommunications Workshop for Indiana Black Expo. This program was created to teach African-American teens between the ages of 13-17 television production skills in which they produced local programming geared towards teens but as a need to get more students of color behind the scenes in television and film. It was also this program that got me to make a guest co-host of Black Entertainment Television’s “Rap City” with host and now comedian Chris Thomas. Upon graduation I was a producer and director for Indiana Black Expo’s video and public relations department working with international clients like Coca Cola and McDonalds.

I attended the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff where I got a job as the weekend disc jockey at KPBQ and KZPY-FM. It was there I got wonderful on-air experience doing country music and urban soul for Pine Bluff Radio, INC which owned three stations. One of my dear friends got me a radio producing job at WMC-AM in Memphis, Tennessee. I ended up transferring to The University of Memphis where I was working at the number # 1 news/talk, television, and FM station in the city. While there, I produced news segments and co-anchored the “Sunrise” with the late Dave Black who was the agriculture news director for WMC news. I was also blessed to intern on the television side at WMC-TV while working at WMC-AM and studying in college at the same time. During my time in school I worked as a producer for WHBQ-AM, and DJ and producer at WPLX-AM. When I finished school I moved to Detroit where I took many jobs in broadcasting like reporter/producer at WXYT-AM, Executive Producer and Reporter for the I.E. American Radio Network, Writer and Production Assistant at WXYZ-TV, and Marketing and Promotions at WCSX-FM. I was also the stateside reporter for Mississippi Public Radio for one year. Later I produced freelance work for WBGO Journal for WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey.

How did jazz come on your radar screen and what’s been your experience with the music in your media pursuits?

Jazz music was always played at my Grandparents home in Detroit, Michigan. In fact, all forms of popular Black roots music was played there. Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Jazz was where my deep love of the culture came from. My grandfather was a barber, math and carpenter teacher at Mumford High School, and was also a private contractor. My grandmother was a labor organizer for one of the major unions in Detroit. My grandfather was jack of all trades and used to cut Kenny Burrell and Elvin Jones‘ hair in the 1950’s. My granddad built this beautiful bar in the basement of their home in northwest Detroit and that was a staple where many of their friends would come over and stay all night playing cards and dominoes. In the basement “Paw Paw”(that’s what I call my grandfather) and “Granny” used to play those gothic Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff records. I think this was also how I’ve been able to shoot film and work late night into the morning working with artists today due to my grandparents all night shindigs!

My real first exposure to the music was when he’d try to teach me to play checkers and he played one of his favorite pianists, Dave Brubeck. “Jazz Goes To College” was my real foray into jazz music at 7 years old. I can see why now, looking back some 30 years. My granddad was an educator and an intellectual. Brubeck was the music of my grandparents generation long before rock and roll came along. But, Paw Paw was also an avid Louis Jordan and Charles Brown fan as well. The real record that my granddad played me that moved me was Duke Ellington‘s “Live at Newport”. Man, he had three copies of that record. Every year my granddad bought me jazz recordings and would teach me what big bands had the best players as well as the history of the music.

In addition to my hangs with Paw Paw, one of my favorite hangs was going to the famous Bakers Keyboard Lounge on Livernois which was under 10 minutes from their house. I used to see live jazz music at an early age and loved it just as much as hip-hop, which is the music of my generation. One more VERY important part of my love for the music and culture was Mr. Eugene Potts in Detroit. I used to hang at the barber shop with my granddad on the east side of Detroit. The shop was located on the corner of Chene and Mack. Right around corner was Potts Record Shop. Mr. Potts in addition to running his record store, was also a choir director and arranger. Mr. Potts taught me about Thomas A. Dorsey and some of the elements of the Blues, Jazz, and Gospel music. He’d give me stacks of records that were monumental in my learning of the music and history of Black music. At age 12 he gave me Stanley Jordan‘s debut album, and to this very day I am still his biggest fan. Mr. Potts gave me Roland Kirk, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Jean Luc Ponty, Bob James, David Sanborn, David “Fathead” Newman and endless records in my early teens. By the time I was 16, my musical tastes were so advanced due in part to my granddad and Mr. Potts.

Talk about some of your more successful encounters with jazz artists in your work.

I think every encounter with the artists I shoot for The Pace Report is successful. One, the artists or group gets treated equally. Two, The Pace Report was needed in that I needed to build and maintain a relationship with the record labels, publicists, management, artists, club venues, and music fans so that they can all interact via the internet and social networking platforms. The internet is what radio used to be! For the people, by the people! And The Pace Report has done great job getting the fans in touch with their favorite artists and the artists want to communicate with their fans. I still have some goals to accomplish but I haven’t lost sight nor God’s vision for me to fulfill his will.

With Branford Marsalis at the 2013 NEA Jazz Masters event at Dizzy’s

Your credo says the Pace Report is about “Presenting the Truth in Media”. Speak to that emphasis on the “Truth” as it pertains to your various observations of the music media.

There have been times where I’ve interviewed artists where the source of info was incorrect! Some of these sources are from credible and famous books and magazines, only to find out some or most of the information was inflated or not accurate at all. For years as a journalist readers and viewers have placed certain reporters or publications on a pedestal and hold them as “the law.” Now, with the over-saturation of bloggers and news websites, with slanted political views or favoring a certain position, then you’re misleading the people with false info. Plus, today’s news has gone in the way of the tabloid “crack” mode, meaning, “If it bleeds it leads, but lets make money by any means!” And some of the news organizations have made money by not checking the facts and its just business as usual.

I’m “Presenting the Truth in Media” because I’m going to the direct source! The artist will tell their side of their history not some journalist’s inflated version of their interpretation just to gain views or to sell copies. Every artist or group I’ve interviewed and profiled have been candid as well as frank about what makes them do and create what they do. In presenting their truths, its up to me to let them speak and bring everything to light that needs to cleared and open and let the viewers decide and learn from my dialogue with them.

How did jazz journalism and your media efforts intersect and develop?

I began The Pace Report based on three major influences of media that I saw as a teenager. On Sunday nights, Dr. Ben Sidran hosted and performed a groundbreaking show on VH-1 called “New Visions”. The show was my foray into the live jazz performances and interviews with the legends and newcomers to the world of jazz and blues. I saw the Marsalis Brothers, Courtney Pine, Dr. John, Jon Hendricks, Terri Lyn Carrington, The Microscopic Octet and endless others play and share their ideas about their music and works. Then, pianist Ramsey Lewis hosted a show on Black Entertainment Television that did the same thing as Dr. Sidran, but it wasn’t like “New Visions.” Then, Dr. Billy Taylor used to host the jazz segments on CBS’s “Sunday Morning” and he, like Dr. Sidran, became my heros! These guys really got me schooled on the art of our culture and got me to start reading biographies and studying the legends.

Now lets fast forward to 2003. Ramsey Lewis hosts the nationally syndicated PBS show “Legends of Jazz”. Mr. Lewis interviewed the legends and I began to see the lack of a couple of things. One, the focus of showcasing the culture was being weeded out to reality TV programming like “American Idol” and “The Real World.” Two, people of color are not carrying on the legacy of Dr. Taylor and other respected broadcasters like Gil Noble, Ed Love, Carl T. Rowan, and Tavis Smiley. So when I took my rich television and radio skills that I learned over the years and fused it with the social networking media that we’re in, I created a personal and up-front multi-media format that viewers and readers can pull up on their tablets, smart-phones, and internet driven devices.

What brought you to your current Harlem home-base?

Harlem is where one of the most important cultural experiences took place. The Harlem Renaissance was where the literary, music, fashion, religions, and language took shape that changed the Black experience forever. The new Harlem still reflects some of the old 1920’s. I wanted to come back to the roots of the experience and I think the spirits of old have had a strong presence in my work and attitude as well. I live a half block from the old Savoy Ballroom. That corner still speaks volumes without saying a word.

Given your observations of jazz and the jazz community, what’s your overall sense of the music here in the year 2013?

I believe jazz, like hip-hop, still is evolving and moving forward. I just posted my interview with pianist Christian Sands. This brotha is “outta this world”! He’s the last descendant of the late Dr. Billy Taylor, yet be brings a different flavor to the music and game. So do other pianists like Eldar, Orrin Evans, Marc Cary, John Medeski, and Gerald Clayton.

What I’m tired of is, the jazz community, especially writers, have gotta stop rehashing the past and riding their own coattails! What I mean by this is simply, BECAUSE YOUR A WRITER THAT’S BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR DECADES, IT DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO PUT DOWN AND BE HARSH TOWARDS AN ARTIST’S WORK OR BODY OF WORK! I feel so sorry for the veteran writers that continue to bash producer and instrumentalist Robert Glasper. Glasper did what Miles Davis did with fusion jazz in the late 1960’s. Or, jazz writers who don’t want to acknowledge and respect guys like Medeski, Martin and Wood or US 3 or drummer Jamire Williams‘ EMiMAJ project. I love and respect all forms of music and for a writer to diss or disrespect ones work, that’s not a good move.

Many established writers feel that they’re entitled to being the so-called authority on the music and people quote them as the law! They may even have degrees to back their knowledge. But, a lot of times speaking and reading other writers work, they put their views on a high pedestal and have many times left the reader not interested in reading their work again. James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison wrote about what they knew, the black experience. They wrote critical analysis on music, politics, the arts, and religion. But what sticks out about their work is that they wrote from the heart and touched a nerve with readers. That’s what I’m doing with The Pace Report. I want viewers and readers to be compelled to spend time in a jazz club or music hall from Ramsey Lewis to soul icon Lenny Williams. My point, GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND WRITE FOR THE PEOPLE!

The major important fact of The Pace Report is that I’ve created community. I wanted as a journalist to let the artist set the record straight, as I stressed earlier. Some writers have forgotten that readers and viewers make the final decision. One or two bad reviews or negative interviews set musicians away from journalists. I’ve been told endlessly from many musicians over the years that they’ve enjoyed speaking with me and that they’ve expressed a disconnect with writers in general. Some have told me that writers can be mean-spirited and cold. Respected writers like you, Greg Thomas, and music websites like irockjazz.com and NextBop.com respect the basics of journalism. The who, what, where, why, when, and how.

With NEA Jazz Master conguero Candido

Speaking of writers like Ellison from yesterday, and today Greg Thomas, what’s your sense of African Americans writing about jazz?

I think the way the media industry is going, people of color have a great way to express what we need to say as a people via the social networking means of communication. Jazz is just another sidebar of what I write about. Now that the American people have elected the first President of Color and he’s invited soul, blues, and jazz musicians to perform at the White House, now is the time to make your voice known!

That’s why The Pace Report has taken off. I’m talking with the movers and shakers of the music world and they’ve been candid about their lives and art. So, as a Black journalist I hope that I’m carrying on Dr. Taylor’s legacy with his CBS segments that he hosted and produced for some 20 years. I hope that my race and political dialogue with the artists opens the door for people to have constructive conversations that both blacks and whites can agree to disagree upon. Me allowing to this helps other young journalists to do what I do via the black experience so other up and coming journalists can do the same, but better.

With Pat Metheny

What have you got on tap for the Pace Report and what are some of your aspirations with the work?

With The Pace Report about to enter it’s 5th anniversary in July, I will be getting more contemporary in the artists I interview. Jazz and soul music will be what my viewers will always expect, but its also time to interview the Paul Simons and Stevie Wonders of the recording industry. It’s beginning to move in that direction with some of the names that I’ll be interviewing soon and later in the year. Also, artists are hiring me to shoot their video and still photos for their upcoming recording projects. I’m glad that I’m working for myself for my production company and at age 40 more and more new doors are opening for me.