Saxophonist Tim Warfield has big ideas about developing a very particular kind of jazz presenter circuit; ideas which have likely been germinating ever since he took on a producer role for the annual Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz festival in Harrisburg, PA, not far from his York, PA hometown. Towards that end, last June at the annual Pennsylvania Presenter Conference in Harrisburg Tim asked me to moderate a panel discussion on jazz presenting. Besides Tim the other panelists were tenor saxophonist Paul Carr, who has also taken on a festival producer role at the annual Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (scroll down through the Archives for the 2013 edition), and a sister named Laura Gentry who I had not met. Laura has been doing some wonderful things with jazz presenting in the areas around Cincinnati, OH, through her own LAG Productions, and our panel experience left me quite impressed with her work. In keeping with our Independent Ear month of March (Women’s History Month) series of women’s voices, some questions for Laura Gentry were in order.

What’s your background; how did you come to have such a passion for jazz?
My parents instilled in me a love for music by exposing me to every genre they enjoyed. My mother is the daughter of a musician. My maternal grandfather played guitar, banjo, and harmonica, and primarily performed blues, country, and folk music. She listened to everything: Pop, Folk, Country, Soul (now referred to as R&B) and Jazz. My father was the big jazz lover, and I heard a lot of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy McGriff, Bob James, Charles Earland, and Nancy Wilson in my home while I was young. I started singing in a Baptist church when I was 5, and also sang every week at Catholic Mass at my parochial school. I sang in musical theater in high school, and continued singing in R&B cover bands during college, so I had a well rounded exposure to all music. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that I developed a better appreciation and love for jazz, and I attribute that to the foundation laid by my parents.

How did you transition that initial love for the music into LAG Productions?
I graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio with a degree in Accounting, but by my late 20’s I realized I needed another level of fulfillment in my life other than my career. It was as simple as asking myself “What would make me happy?”, and I knew the answer lied in getting back to something with music, preferably jazz. I started hanging out at clubs and lounges in Cincinnati that had live jazz, and just trying to meet musicians and other jazz lovers. Mutual friends introduced me to a guy who was promoting “jazz sets” in his home, and calling it The Loft Society. The Loft Society held monthly jazz sets with local, regional, and a few national artists. It was quite bohemian with folks sitting on the floor in a big loft, right at the foot of the musicians, eating, drinking, getting high, and enjoying the music. As I became friends with the owner of The Loft Society, I started assisting him in coordinating the monthly performances, executing the PR for each month, scheduling and paying the bands, collecting the cover charge at each gig, and even bringing food to feed the musicians. One of the regular players at the Loft, trumpeter Mike Wade, came to me after one gig and said, “Laura, you’re doing all the real work, why don’t you do this on your own?” And that’s when the light bulb went off in my head. My birthday is February 6th. I promoted my very first gig in February 1999. It was a birthday themed event called “Aquarius Jazz Jam”, and it was a hit. I promoted the “Aquarius Jazz Jam” annually for 5 years, expanding it each year by bringing in national acts like Rene Marie, Steve Wilson and Mulgrew Miller. That very first concert in 1999 sprouted the roots for LAG Productions.

Talk about your LAG Productions activities as they relate to jazz music.
Under LAG Productions, I’ve primarily done jazz concert promotion and venue booking, working with national artists such as Steve, Wilson, Mulgrew Miller, Rene Marie, Javon Jackson, Tim Warfield, Terell Stafford, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis, Jeremy Pelt and Tia Fuller. I’ve promoted and booked jazz in venues in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio with local, regional, and national artists. I worked with the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music for five years assisting with a scholarship fundraiser for the Jazz Studies Department. In 2002, I was the co-producer and festival coordinator for the Greater Cincinnati Jazz & Heritage Festival. For 13 years I’ve been the talent coordinator for the It’s Commonly Jazz concert series. Held every Thursday in August, It’s Commonly Jazz is the longest running free jazz concert series in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 2013 being our 27th year. Since 2007, I’ve been the main coordinator for the annual Col. Bill Williams Music & Heritage festival in Greenup, KY, a festival in honor of my maternal grandfather. I have been executive producer on 3 CD’s for local musicians, and been involved with artist management/consulting for several musicians, offering service for booking/road management, composing bios, and financial advice. I joined the board of non-profit organization Jazz Alive in 2008, and became president in 2010.

The ever-sassy vocalist Rene Marie has been an LAG Productions featured artist.

Which came first, LAG Productions or Jazz Alive?
Jazz Alive was founded in 2001. The three founders, Gordon Brisker, Joseph Gaudio, and Donald Carr, are all graduates of the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music (CCM). I was invited to join the board in 2008 at the request of president emeritus Don Carr (saxophone) and vice president Jim Anderson (acoustic bass), serving as Director of Media Relations and Promotions. Both Don and Jim knew me personally and professionally as a promoter, had invited me to several Jazz Alive events, and I had also donated to the organization. I was elected president of Jazz Alive in 2010.

Please tell us more about Jazz Alive and your related activities.
Jazz Alive is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of the uniquely American music art form of jazz and its practitioners. Our mission is to bring greater appreciation and understanding of jazz from bebop era to present day. Jazz Alive does this through its five areas of presentations:
1) In School Time Jazz Program – instruction and in school performances geared toward spawning the next generation of jazz enthusiasts and musicians.
2) Jazz for Seniors Program – to entertain a forgotten audience of jazz lovers in nursing homes and retirement centers.
3) Jazz concerts within the Greater Cincinnati area – encouraging a greater appreciation of jazz in our community, and preserving and expanding the heritage of jazz.
4) Jazz Alive on the Wind radio program on WMKV-FM
5) Co presenter for the It’s Commonly Jazz concert series
In 2012 Jazz Alive presented 4 concerts in Greater Cincinnati, including the CD release party for Lucky 13, the latest CD from saxophonist Javon Jackson and Les McCann. We held 7 In School Time Jazz events reaching 600 students ranging from 2nd thru 12th grades. We were the co-presenter for the 2012 It’s Commonly Jazz series, featuring national artists Wycliffe Gordon and Steve Wilson. And we presented 3 Senior Service events, providing entertainment to 100 senior citizens in nursing homes and retirement centers in Greater Cincinnati.

What’s your sense of trying to bring jazz to your part of the country?
Promoting jazz is hard because of the lack of focus it gets as part of the arts, but it’s particularly challenging in Greater Cincinnati. I had to learn the dynamics of my market, which is critical to any promoter on how to reach your core constituency and generate new patrons. Acceptable venues that are fitting for promoting jazz and ticket price also factor into how I promote and negotiate with national artists. What some artists may not realize is they cannot command the same fee in every geographical region. It may differ tremendously from the East Coast, South, and Midwest based on the mindset and cultural awareness of the market. As a promoter I strive hard to bring artists that are affordable for my market and give great performances because I feel every jazz concert should be an event that leaves a lasting impression on the listener. I like bringing in artists that I know my market has not been exposed to, whether they’re newcomers or have some tenure in the jazz world. That gives greater exposure to my patrons about musicians on the scene and for the artist to a new audience. In 1960 George Wein produced one of his first festivals in Cincinnati, The Ohio Valley Jazz Festival It morphed into the Kool Jazz Festival, but the great tradition that was established ended in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when it changed to primarily R&B. I hope in some small way as a promoter I can contribute to the history that started with jazz in Cincinnati, and keep growing and exposing my audience into larger numbers and higher appreciation for the music.

Tenor man Javon Jackson has been featured in LAG Productions with a CD release party for his collaboration with Les McCann (shown in the collage below); this April Javon will appear in Cleveland at the annual Tri-C JazzFest (April 19-27) in residence and in tribute to Dexter Gordon.

To contact Laura Gentry: www.jazzalive.info

This past Wednesday evening (March 6) on my weekly radio program Ancient/Future, on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC metro region (streaming live at www.wpfw.org; where you may also listen to an archived copy of that program) I decided to juxtapose two exceptional recordings. Drummer-bandleader-educator Terri Lyne Carrington, who is without question one of the most resourceful and crafty drummers on the planet, recently determined to re-imagine the classic, and somewhat testy, recording session that brought the peerless trio of Duke Ellington, Max Roach, and Charles Mingus together in late ’62 for a recording session that came to be called “Money Jungle” (reissue available on Blue Note, with several alternate takes). TLC’s latest for the Concord label is “Money Jungle – Provocative in Blue”. Working with the basic trio of Gerald Clayton on piano, Christian McBride on bass and herself, Terri Lyne has augmented the basic trio setting of the original Duke-Max-Mingus configuration with occasional horns, percussion, and cleverly sampled voices. The resulting disc will likely wind up on many best-of-2013 lists.

For my radio program I decided to alternate tracks and spin both discs pretty much in their entirety to compare Carrington’s update with the original; what resulted was a fascinating sense of classic/contemporary contrast. Clearly some questions for Terri Lyne were in order.

Given that “Money Jungle” was a piano-bass-drums trio project recorded by three absolute immortals, what was it about that project that prompted you to record your own contemporary “re-imagining” of that record?

With the three vivid personalities who recorded the original “Money Jungle,” there are stories of – ahem – unrest in the recording studio, with particular conflicts reportedly between Mingus and Max. As you looked into making this record, did you take those stories into account?

When I first heard the cd, it just spoke to me on a spiritual, mystical level. Something about the energy of the trio and the vibe and the melodies made me start thinking about trying to pay homage to it and make a personal statement as well. I knew that Duke would have no problem with that because he was about the music evolving – Max and Mingus too.

Is it your sense that the apparent tensions in that original recording session made the final product all the more compelling?

Of course I heard the stories of tension in the studio during the original recording and I heard that Mingus tried to walk out half way through and Duke was savvy enough to talk him back… I used to hang out with Max, would visit him at his place in New York and saw first hand his passion AND temper 🙂 But the one thing is all of these guys were all about the music – a driving, unselfish, passion to make the best art they could. I did not think about that part of it when we recorded. I just thought about the passion of music and art.

In your planning of this session, how did you arrive at your particular instrumentation in recording this music; as opposed to going the “safer” route and simply making it a contemporary trio project?

I think there is a beauty that comes out of mud – like the lotus flower, so maybe the struggle they may have had brought forth something even more special. But they were all consummate professionals so they were about trying to make the music happen, no matter…

I start to arrange pieces and start to hear the instrumentation as I go. I wanted to keep it trio based, but then some other sounds were just calling out to me. So I honored that. ANd Duke was the master of orchestration, so I felt like he would not have had a problem with it, so I followed my instincts…

What was your sense of including voices in your view of “Money Jungle”? And what was your thinking behind including the sampled voices?

The voice is the most powerful communicator to me, so I always like to include it if it makes sense. I wanted some of the speeches to reflect the time period 50 years ago and as well as now. And I wanted others to speak lightly about economic struggle – which is apropos then and now.
AS far as the poetry on Rem Blues, I fell in love with Duke’s poem Music because it speaks to all musicians and their love of music and how we have to be madly in love with it to sacrifice all that we do and deal with it for a life time. It spoke to me deeply and I wanted to paint a tapestry that worked with it.

In honor of Women’s History Month, its time to return to our occasional dialogue with women jazz journalists and their challenges. New York-based photojournalist Stephanie Myers is the latest to join our dialogue with women jazz journalists on their career and the various gender challenges they may face as they develop their craft.

Please talk about your writing affiliations and any books or other projects you’re working on currently that you’d like to mention.

Currently, I am working on a jazz book, Inside the Note. This is a large-scale body of work that photographically documents African American Jazz artists over a period of approximately thirty years. Many of these images were taken at venues in Europe, including Nice, France; Gratz, Austria; and Bassano del Grappa, Italy. And, of course a lot of images were taken in New York City at the Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil, Bradleys’ and the Blue Note. Included in this book are such Jazz artists as Benny Waters, Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Jimmy Owens, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Nat Adderley, Illinois Jacquet, Frank Wess, Al Grey, Sun Ra, Don Cherry, Phineas Newborn, Gerald Wilson, Regina Carter, and many, many others.

Sir Roland Hanna. 2000. Savannah, GA Concert (c) 2000 Stephanie Myers

What has been your experience photographing jazz music in general?

In general, one of the most treasured experiences and greatest rewards of my life has been to photograph Jazz artists. The musicians have always been accessible and kind in allowing me to photograph them.

The most precious and gratifying reward of my career as a photographer has been to meet and get to know many of the musicians whom I’ve photographed. I must give special thanks to Richard Davis because he is the primary reason that I started to photograph Jazz musicians and is truly the person who opened so many doors for me in the beginning of this body of work. In January 1984, I went to Sweet Basil. It was a club that I frequented, even before it was a Jazz Club. That night I decided to go because I wanted to hear some Jazz music. I had been thinking about starting a new series of work.

Anyhow, Richard’s group was playing. His group at that time included Sir Roland Hanna, Freddie Waits, Hannibal Peterson, and Ricky Ford. The music was exciting, exhilarating, in fact. Something clicked both musically and visually for me. Richard, Freddie, and Hannibal were a photographer’s dream team, and the lighting was low and moody which is exactly what I like for my Jazz images. Also, many jazz musicians have an idiosyncratic manner in which they move. Freddie and Hannibal certainly did. It was a ‘click! click!’ moment! Right then and there, I decided that I wanted to photograph a Jazz series. When the set was over, I introduced myself to Richard and asked if I could photograph the group during the week. He said ‘yes,’ and I went back every night!

Later that week, Richard told me about a festival in Nice, France, called Grande Parade du Jazz and suggested that I contact Lois Kuhlman to find out more. She was a wonderful human being with whom I became good friends. She worked for George Wein and said she’d ask George if I could have a press pass. George agreed, and for the next five or six years I attended the Festival with fabulous accessibility to the groups and individuals who played. However, it was through Richard that I first met the Jazz musicians with whom he played that summer in Nice (1984). It was the J.J. Johnson All-Star Sextet. The members were Nat Adderley, Harold Land, Cedar Walton, Richard, and Roy McCurdy. I already knew Cedar from Boomers, a Jazz club on Bleecker Street in the West Village, but I didn’t know J.J., Nat, Harold, or Roy. J. J. was a very special human being. He was such an elegant and gracious person. I didn’t see him often, but I did see Nat a lot at Sweet Basil. He was very funny and so soulful.

I also met their fabulous wives, Viv and Ann, with whom I spent some afternoons shopping. At night, we’d sit together for dinner between sets. Most of the time, J. J. and Nat would join us. The conversations were always lively and interesting. That year, Richard also introduced me to Dizzy, Sweets [Edison], Buddy Tate, and Al Grey, among many other musicians who played the Festival that year. What a beginning!

Al Grey. 1984. Grande Parade du Jazz (c) 1984 Stephanie Myers

What was it about photographing musicians that attracted you to this pursuit initially?

The Blues and Jazz music were a big part of my parent’s lives. My Dad loved to play his old Bessie Smith 78s, and he’d enthusiastically encourage my siblings and me to listen with him. My parents also listened to a lot of Duke and went to his concerts whenever they could. Over the years, they got to know quite a few of the members of Duke’s Band, including Duke. Recently, I looked at their Bessie Smith 78s and discovered that they really belonged to my Mom when she was in college. I still have quite a few of them, including Billie singing Strange Fruit, and Paul Robeson singing King Joe’s Blues along with some old Charlie Shavers.

Because of my early experience listening to the Blues and Jazz, it felt natural to me to be inspired to begin a Jazz series of photographs that night at Sweet Basil.

Would you describe your experiences photographing jazz music as overall positive, and if so why or why not?

My overall experience of photographing Jazz artists has been extraordinarily positive. First and foremost, I have made some wonderful friends over the years. Richard and I have been friends for almost 30 years now. I was good friends with Roland and Freddie. Sweets and I were close friends. Whenever he came to New York, we’d get together for lunch or dinner or often go hear some music. He particularly liked to go to Bradley’s. Richard always said to me: “If you can sit next to anyone in the room, sit next to Sweets if he’s there!” Why? Because Sweets had some of the best stories! Well, I got to sit next to him a lot, and yes, he had some great stories! Between Sweets and Buddy, I heard a lot of stories about Billie, in particular. Sweets and Billie were very close. Over the years, I’ve heard some fabulous music. There were some very special nights at Bradley’s when Kenny Barron, John Hicks, or Tommy Flanagan performed. There wouldn’t be a sound in the room … just those masters playing piano. Nights at The Vanguard when Elvin[Jones] played were pure magic.

I think one of the challenges for photographers today is that it’s more difficult to take photos in clubs. The clubs have tightened up the rules. When I was most actively photographing Jazz musicians, the clubs were pretty loose. Max Gordon was totally cool with photographers shooting pictures as were Phyllis, Mel, and Horst at Sweet Basil.

Elvin Jones. 1997. The Blue Note, NYC (c) 1997 Stephanie Myers

Women occupy an interesting place in the jazz pantheon; on the one hand women instrumentalists are in the distinct minority, at least as far as prominence, and on the other hand women absolutely dominate the ranks of jazz singers. What’s your sense of that imbalance?

My sense is that it is simply a reflection of the inequalities that continue that exist for women in all aspects of our culture.

To apply this to photography: Photographers who are women are definitely in the minority and underrepresented. Women are underrepresented in all art disciplines. Women are underrepresented in the corporate world. Women are underrepresented in the sciences. Women are underrepresented in government. Is it perhaps because we are not encouraged in the same way that men are? It’s much more complicated and really reflects the institutionalized sexism that exists. Certainly, I was encouraged to pursue my art by my parents from the time I was quite young. I was also encouraged by mentors and other photographers whom I knew, most of whom were men. The challenge for me has never been about taking the images. The challenge has been the business aspects of the photography world. In that world, men dominate. Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it going to change any time soon? Highly unlikely! I did think that by now, there would be a greater push to consider women for exhibitions, but mostly, it’s a male dominated world. I have not seen a one-person Jazz exhibition by a woman at any gallery or museum in New York City. It’s time.

Would you describe yourself as a jazz music photographer and why or why not?

NO, I do not label myself as a jazz music photographer. I am a photographer. In the many years I have been a photographer, I have chosen to photograph a variety of different subjects. Jazz is one subject, and I have stayed with it for 30 years. I also have a Streetscape Series that I began many, many years ago. I am particularly interested in how walls change over time with graffiti, peeling paint, disintegrating posters and flyers, chunks of cement falling off and the resulting images the combination of these elements create. It also interests me to return to wall surfaces I’ve photographed to see how they’ve changed. One of my favorite places for wall surfaces is Paris. Another theme that interests me is isolation which is reflected in much of my street photography so to call myself a Jazz music photographer would not be accurate at all.

It’s been suggested that one of the real keys to solving the critical jazz audience development issue is that those who present the music must find creative ways to attract more women to their audiences; some wisdom suggesting that where more women go, men will follow. Is this an apt characterization of the jazz audience conundrum, and if so are there elements you might suggest to those who present jazz as to better attracting women audience members?

It has been my experience through the years that there is always a good representation of women present at any club, concert, or Jazz Festival that I’ve attended through the years, especially in Europe.

The issue is to attract audiences. Period! It’s the same old story. When there’s a pop group, hip hop group, or R&B group, there’s a line around the block of women and men. Clubs and concert venues attract women and men when the Jazz presenters book exciting Jazz artists who have chops and experience.

Clearly photographing music, and particularly photographing jazz, could well be characterized as “a man’s world.” Do you feel like that’s due more to the nature of the music or to some form(s) of overt exclusion from “the boy’s club”?

No, I do not think it’s due to the nature of the music. Photographing Jazz artists was never an issue for me. I had access to the musicians, and they were, for the most part, always kind and generous. The act of shooting photographs itself is not the issue. The business of Jazz is the issue.

Have you ever found it more difficult to pursue photographing music due to gender issues? If so please detail some of your photographing experiences that may have been fairly or unfairly colored by gender.

Yes, as I said before, the business of the Jazz music world is not fair. Having said that, a long time ago, there was a gallery on lower Broadway called the Samuel Hardison Gallery. Sam represented Robert Mapplethorpe, Lynn Davis, and Joel Peter Witkin, among others. I used to go to his gallery to see exhibitions, and we became friendly. He suggested to me that I just keep moving forward. He said: “Take the photographs that you want to take, build your portfolio with whatever subject or whomever you want to photograph, and print archivally.” I took his suggestion. I didn’t and don’t spend time dwelling on the inequalities that have been and still are present in every aspect of the art world. My issue is about the opportunity to exhibit. That challenge was there 40 years ago. It continues today. The irony of all of this is that women who are in positions to make exhibition decisions can be just as unfair. The reality is that being a photographer (female or male) is not easy for most of us.

Through the years, I’ve had some wonderful mentors and friends who were very generous to me with their time. I had the great honor to know Aaron Siskind who was very generous with his support and suggestions. My most important mentor was Vincent Dillard, a photographer, who guided me in my early years. He edited my work on a regular basis and taught me how to print. He also taught me to make sure wherever I exhibited that the gallery finance the printing and publicity for an exhibition.

Ultimately, I’ve just kept moving forward. I’ve had several one person exhibitions of my Jazz images and participated in many group shows. My most recent exhibition (2011) was at the gallery space for the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District in Newark, NJ to honor James Moody. It was called Moody’s Musical Moods and featured musicians with whom he had worked through the years with special emphasis on Moody and Dizzy. In 2003, I also had a one-person exhibition called Dizzy’s Legacy at The Palazzo Agostinelli Museum in Bassano del Grappa in Italy (2000). Twenty-five of my Jazz images are in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and in years past, my Jazz images have been reproduced in a number of books and magazines.

What can be done to encourage more women to photograph music in particular, jazz in general?

I think that to decide to photograph music or Jazz music, in particular, is a very personal choice. For me, it was based on my love of Jazz music and the visual experience of watching Jazz artists perform. I don’t think a person just wakes up one day and decides to photograph Jazz artists. I think there has to be a lot of passion involved.

What have been some of the most personally satisfying music performances you’ve either photographed or simply experienced over the last year?

The most gratifying and spiritual Jazz music experience that I’ve had in the last year occurred in Paris last summer (2012). Yusef Lateef and Ahmad Jamal performed a concert together at The Olympia that Jimmy [Owens] and I attended. The music was one of the most moving musical experiences of my life. Yusef and Ahmad’s music lifted my spirits to a place of such purity and joy that I wept. It was truly transcendent.

Each winter following the fall conclusion of the annual Thelonious Monk Competition, I curate a 3-concert series at Tribeca Performing Arts Center. In fact, Saturday, March 2 we feature drummer Justin Brown in the final concert of our 2013 series. In ’08 the Monk Competition medium was the saxophone and a young man I had not heard previously named Tim Green was one of the three top finalists, finishing second. At Tim’s concert I was duly impressed at not only his facility on the alto sax, but also at his thoughtfulness and sense of programming that evening. Clearly this was a young player to watch.

Since he returned to his nearby hometown of Baltimore, its been a pleasure to catch Tim around DC on occasion – whether its at the Bohemian Caverns or elsewhere, even gracing the annual picnic of a unique, over two decades old coalition of DC-area jazz listeners I belong to that meets monthly called The Listening Group; one of our members, veteran alto saxophonist-educator Fred Foss, has been singing Tim Green’s praises as one of the finest alto players on the scene for years. Its also been interesting to watch Tim Green’s arc and consider that unlike so many of his peers, he didn’t rush out with a slew of premature CD releases. Instead Tim chose the patient approach, finally releasing his debut recording this month. Titled “Songs for This Season” the date has warranted multiple spins on my radio program, as well as those of other fellow programmers at embattled WPFW (Check our archives, listen live at www.wpfw.org, and stay abreast of the roiling controversies at www.ThePeople4PFW.wordpress.com). Clearly some questions were in order for Tim Green.

You seem to have been very patient, taking your time with developing this project and putting it out, not rushing to capitalize on your Monk Competition success. Talk about your process for developing this debut disc.

Yes, I really wanted to take my time with doing this record since this would be my first album that features mostly all of my original music. I really had to make sure I captured each song musically and make sure the personnel was right as well. I heard a lot of deferent musicians playing on some of the songs and that took some time by itself to organize.
After the Monk Competition win there was an opportunity for me to record an album for a label but I wouldn’t have been able to have total creative rights over the music and other details that went into the project so I decided to wait until I could finance the project myself . It’s very important for me to present the vision of this music just like i hear and see it. I’ll probably do my next CD for a label but as an artist you have to make sure you’re getting your music/vision across in the way that you feel it in your heart.

There’s an interesting and close relationship in the mix between you and your guitar player. Some horn players might be a bit intimidated by what sometimes sounds lika a kind of takeover mentality of guitar players. Why did you choose that kind of relationship with the guitar player on your date?

I had been using Warren Wolf on a lot of my gigs and there was a gig with my band at the Iridium Jazz Club that he couldn’t make so I decided to try the sound of the guitar on this particular gig. I asked the drummer, Obed Calvaire, who was on the gig to recommend a guitarist and he told me about Gilad Hekselman. We played that gig and ever since then we’ve been working together. He really played great on the record. I’m a fan of Pat Metheny‘s music and adding the guitar really helped that influence to come across on the record. I just wanted everyone on the CD to express themselves without holding back and Gilad really gave his everything on all the tracks that he played on which was really an awesome contribution to the project.

What’s been your overall goal with “Songs From This Season,” and are there any messages you wanted to convey with that title?

Songs From This Season is a representation of art reflecting life. Each song on this CD is about a certain time in my life, or as I like to call it, a “season”.
I really wanted people to have a look into my life over the past 8 years through the lens of my music . I really have being taking on the concept of “It’s not about what you’re playing but about what you’re saying” after having a chance to study with Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock at the Monk Institute. Thats something that they really instilled in me during those 2 years. In return , I started looking deeper within myself in order write music that is parallel with who I am as a person.

How do you see yourself following in the Baltimore jazz tradition?

There is such a deep tradition of the blues in the Baltimore Jazz Tradition. I’m always going to keep the blues in my playing and in my writing no matter how modern I choose to write music and play music without it being forced. That is the “Baltimore” in me.

How do you intend on maximizing this release in terms of your overall career?

I’ve been getting some great reviews about this CD and thats been very encouraging so far. I’m hoping this music will connect with other musicians and artists who share the same musical views that are displayed on the CD. Also, I really wanted people to hear everything that I’m capable of doing musically and I think this CD represents that well.
In terms of career effect, my goal is that this music will connect with people all over the world and in return I’ll hopefully get a chance to tour based on the support of the response to this project.

I want “Songs From This Season” to be a blessing and add richness to people who listen at the end of it all.

www.timgreenmusic.com

Nasar Abadey

Kush Abadey

Father & Son

This weekend, Saturday, March 2 will be a very special treat at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC, located at 1333 H Street N.E., call 202/399-7993 for further info. That evening at 8:00p.m. father-son drummers Nasar Abadey and his powerhouse young son Kush Abadey will feature their own outstanding bands, their bands will interact, and father & son will got drumhead-to-drumhead in a duel that’s guaranteed to raise the roof. Check out this news piece on this extraordinary father-son drumming duo:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Drummers-Nasar-and-Kush-Abadey-Perform/192523051