Over the last few years one of the more impressive new record labels devoted to jazz music, in today’s decidedly diminished jazz imprints market, has been the Motema label. I first met Motema’s driving force, Jana Herzen, several years ago as she prepared to release Randy Weston‘s sextet date “The Storyteller”, recorded live at Dizzy’s in New York. Earlier this fall Jana, who is also a singer-songwriter, released her own second Motema date, this time in collaboration with bassist Charnett Moffett, and produced by noted jazz artist manager Mary Ann Topper. A bright woman, who clearly cares deeply about the music she releases (last time I saw her she was sitting on the floor just under the stage of Dizzy’s Den at this year’s Monterey Jazz Festival, digging Motema singer Gregory Porter‘s passionate set along with an enraptured, packed house). So I wondered, what’s up with the dual career of label owner/singer-songwriter? Clearly some questions were in order for Jana.

Where are you from and how was your love of the arts nurtured by your background?

I was born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC, and moved to Stanford University at the ripe old age of 6 months. My father was working at the NIH when I was born, and moved when he got a professorship at Stanford. My parents, who are immuno-geneticists, together have run a mom and pop laboratory at Stanford all of these years. In addition to their deep love for science, my parents also had a deep love for the arts, which was expressed in a variety of ways. My mother was an avid record collector which led to me hearing all kinds of music as a child (everything from Bach to Beatles to Miles to The Doors). My mother also is quite a good musician herself. She loved Pete Seeger and the Weavers and we often had hootenanny style jam sessions at the house with the various post doctoral students from their laboratory as well as sundry members of the anti-war movement who seemed always to be hanging at the house. (Anti-Vietnam war, that is.) My mother’s mother and uncle were responsible for nurturing my mother’s passion for music. Her uncle Irving Robinson, was a cantor, a civil rights activist, an opera singer and a good friend of Paul Robeson. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. My mother;s mother, Minnie, played piano quite well and back before there was recorded music, the people in her neighborhood used to gather ’round her piano to hear her play all the new sheet music as it came out. I dedicated this album [2012’s “Passion of a Lonely Heart”] in part to her because of how much she really lived for a good song.

How did you go from the life of a theater professional (and what did you do in theater) to singing and label ownership? Given the 21st century atmosphere for record labels, wasn’t that a daunting prospect?

It would be easier to answer what I didn’t do in theater. I stage managed, did lighting design, directed, acted, wrote grants, mopped floors, sat on the board of directors, and, perhaps most influentially, worked as a dramaturg for Manhattan Class Company which was formed to help playwrights workshop and produce their plays.

Motema pretty much grew out of my desire to promote my own music and that of drummer Babatunde Lea. After putting out my own record, and trying to promote it, I started exploring how the business worked (and didn’t work) and I started looking for solutions. As the old saying goes, if you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own. So that’s pretty much what I did. It’s been a work in progress since I started it in 2003. Of course it was a daunting prospect, and it still is! But it is a wonderful challenge, and it is super gratifying. The music that we put out means a lot to me and, so it’s really a labor of love.

How did you wind up basing your operations in Harlem?

That’s an interesting story. At first our office was based in an ‘incubator’ space on 23rd Street. Then we moved to Chinatown. Then, in 2005, I signed Marc Cary. Marc and his partner at the time, who was working for Motema in marketing, were casting about Harlem looking for a studio space to rent. They came upon Langston Hughes’ landmarked home for rent. They suggested to me that I join them in their venture by putting the Motema offices on the top floor, having two studios on the second floor and putting a performance space into the first floor. What more classy address for a jazz record label could I have than Langston Hughes’ home, thought I. So we moved up there. We had an adventurous couple of years there, and there were some amazing concerts and poetry nights and parties that happened there, but eventually the situation fell apart due to some shenanigans on the part of several people in the house. When it was clear that things were getting out of hand, we moved our offices into a brownstone on the next block and there we are to this day. It was really amazing to work in that house though. You could feel Langston’s spirit in there. I miss it.

What are your aspirations for Motema?

I want Motema to be known as a company that promotes brave, brilliant musicians with a fierce individual vision. I’d also like for the film community to discover that we have a treasure trove of cinematic jazz and world music just waiting to enrich their film soundtracks. And, I’d like to keep discovering what the Motema infinite heart has in store for us all. Every day is a new musical adventure. I love to look at our event page and see all of the places in the world that our artists are performing. I think of Motema as a hub of love, and all of the artists are out there spreading that love in myriad wonderful ways. I am always looking for ways to help the artists reach their own individual dreams and goals. It’s very satisfying when we help them reach those goals.

How do you go about developing relationships with artists you wish to record for Motema?

It all happens very organically. Mostly they knock on the door, we talk for a while, I listen to what they’ve done and what they want to do, and if it seems like a good match and there is room on the schedule, I say, ‘come on in.’ As I am a musician, it is very easy for me to relate to the musicians on the label. As I am also an entrepreneur, I have a pretty good idea of what is right for the label and I do my best to steer the ship towards artistic and financial success. It’s a pretty big ocean to cross, but we are getting there.

Talk about your own career as a performing artist.

I have performed as a musician on and off since I was 5. In my teens and twenties I pursued acting as well as doing many types of backstage jobs, including script writing. Though many people have believed in my talent through the years, it was never easy for me to promote myself. In my twenties, I gained a tremendous amount of experience in the theater, both on stage and off. My studies and experiences taught me so much about humanity. During that time I also started writing songs. Eventually, I decided to leave the theater in order to try my hand at having a career as a recording artist. I came to realize that my deepest and most personal dream was to perform as a singer/songwriter, so I challenged myself to follow my dream. I love to play the guitar and sing. My guitar has been my constant companion since I was 13. The majority of my performances have been in intimate settings: in livingrooms, small clubs, and around campfires all around the world. I have also performed quite a bit on the streets in New York, London, Paris and Australia. You can learn a lot about performing by playing on the streets. Before I started Motema, I was performing quite regularly in San Francisco,, but since founding the label, I’ve had just a few really choice engagements. I look forward to getting back out there again and sharing the music that Charnett and I have rehearsed.

What was your intent with your second release “Passion of a Lonely Heart” and how would you
describe the record?

My intent was to share these songs in an authentic and engaging way. I hope people feel that we have succeeded. This program is an intimate song cycle of love and longing. Songs that I’ve written through the years that were longing to be heard, so I finally arranged to let them out of solitary. The duo arrangements that Charnett and I have come up with grew organically out of our rehearsals. Charnett is one of the artists on the Motéma roster who I love to promote. I feel that these recordings not only showcase my performances, they also allow Charnett’s playing to come to the fore in a way that is not possible for a bassist in a larger ensemble. Charnett will release a solo record in February that brings him even more into the spotlight. What’s great is that we’ll be able to tour together to support both projects, which satisfies both the musician in me and the A&R part of me who signed Mr. Moffett for his distinctive talents.

Our ongoing series of dialogues with women music writers continues with Sheila Anderson, who is actually a triple-threat. She has written about jazz for periodicals, authored a couple of valuable books, and is a regular show host for “America’s jazz station”, WBGO, which serves the New York metropolitan area from its downtown Newark headquarters. The books pictured in this piece are all by Sheila E. Anderson

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

My two books are published by Allworth Press: “How to Grow as a Musician: What all Musicians Must Know to Succeed” and “The Quotable Musician From Bach to Tupac”. Until recently, for four years, I wrote the New Jersey Jazz column for “Hot House” Magazine, “New York’s Bible for 30 Years!” I’ve also written liner notes for several musicians; Akua Dixon, Oscar Perez, Anthony E. Nelson, Jr. the Ellington Legacy Band and many others. Currently I am working on two books that focus on culture.

What has been your experience writing about music in general jazz in particular?

At times it is a challenge for me to explain in layman’s terms what the musician is trying to express musically. Too often those who write about music can be overwhelming and analytical. I don’t consider myself to be a lyrical writer so finding proper adjectives to describe what I’m hearing takes time. Though I studied music and played the flute I still consult musicians to assist me in describing, in musical terms, what I’m listening to.

What was it about writing about music that attracted you to this pursuit initially?

I grew up in a very colorful family, that included professional musicians, who loved music. My dad was expert in his ability to tell stories. Also, my oldest brother and mother had great taste in music. At the age of six or seven I fell in love with the music of Richard “Groove” Holmes, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and other greats. From age ten to fifteen I considered becoming a Jazz musician. That did not come to pass but my love of Jazz and my interest in musicians as people never left me. For years I had a desire to write but not necessarily about music. I spent eighteen years in the publishing industry but I was not happy with the work that I was doing. While working in publishing I was searching for other work. Miraculously, in 1995, I was hired by WBGO, 88.3FM to host the show, “Sunday Morning Harmony”. I felt that I needed to immerse myself in the music and thought that the best way to learn was from the musicians, so I produced and hosted my own TV show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) called “The Art of Jazz” where I interviewed some incredible musicians. After a car accident, in 1999, I was fired from my publishing job and was without full time work for one year. When my money ran out a temporary opportunity came my way at Lyons Press that led to my getting published. It was Serendipity! My first book, “The Quotable Musician: From Bach to Tupac” allowed me to combine my love of musicians and to share their words and thoughts. My goal was to show the reader how interesting, introspective and fun musicians were/are.

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

My experience has been very positive because I had a great publisher who was willing to let me be as creative as I wanted to be. They had just started a new “Quotable” series, the first book was being written (mine was second), so they gave me a few guidelines and sent me on my way. As with my first book, my next book for Allworth Press was the second in another new “How to Grow” series of theirs, again, I was given creative license. It also helped that I had great editors for both books.

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?

Good question. Jazz is still a very male-dominated, macho, industry. I find that men, in general, are not very accepting of women musicians, that is, unless they can “play”. I’ve been told that they would rather work with a mediocre male instrumentalist than a female. However, in the last several years I have seen more women instrumentalists taking the lead, making their musical statements and being embraced by the guys. Geri Allen, Terri-Lynne Carrington, Renee Rosnes, Tia Fuller and Sharel Cassidy, to name a few, are at the forefront of Jazz – writing, arranging and playing wonderfully. Why women dominate jazz singing is difficult to answer. In talking to vocalists I understand that singing allows them to connect with the audience in a different, perhaps intimate, way than instrumentalists. On the other hand, I’ve heard so many complaints from male musicians about singers, especially women. They claim that many women don’t know music, did not study an instrument, or improperly study their instrument. Further, I’m told that they may get on stage, take all of the applause and won’t give them credit. Unless, of course, they bomb, at which time they will blame the musicians.

Would you describe yourself as a music critic or a music journalist and why?

I have to say that I am neither. A better description may be that I am a narrator or emissary. To be honest I am leery of critics and criticism, unless it comes from musicians. I don’t feel that I have the ability to dissect a musicians’ work or performance whether I like it or not. What I do is document their creative process and what they are trying to impart to the audience. Over the years I’ve found that, no matter how weak I may think some music is, someone will like it, so who am I to say that music is good, or not? However a prominent musician explained to me that, by being a radio personality, I am a music critic because I decide what I spin and not therefore I make a musical decision about what is worthy and not.

Its 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?

I’ve heard that assessment before from musicians but I’m not sure that I agree. Like Karen Chilton, in a previous post contends, I too look from a perspective of race. At any given time, when out in clubs, I’m hard pressed to find more than twenty Black people. Too often I hear that the expense of a club is prohibitive. Some time ago, one night I went to the last set on a Sunday night at Iridium to see Bilal. The line was around the block, 80% of the line was Black. No one seemed to have a problem paying the cover or the minimum. It blew my mind. There are so many factors that go into audience development but I believe that one major problem is that many young Jazz musicians do not consider themselves entertainers. People want to hear what they hear on a record and perhaps shy away from improvised music. Also, it is hard to ignore the lack of exposure. I see young Black audiences for artists who get written about in JET, ESSENCE and EBONY. Nor can I ignore the segmenting of radio, the lack of Jazz on commercial stations and the challenge in finding Jazz. Besides, young people find music from so many other sources it is hard to keep up. I do see a glimmer of hope when I go to the Thursday and Saturday late night sets that Michael Mwenso hosts at Dizzy’s. It was wonderful to see so many young people there. The place was packed with both men and women. Actually, the first night I went I left feeling OLD, which was a good thing…LOL!

Clearly writing about music, and particularly writing about 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”?

I think that it is a little of both. And I think that men tend to be more critical than women when it comes to the dissection of jazz. When I do read about music penned by women they tend to be more generous with positive criticism. I’ve heard from women that it has been difficult for them to break into the field. In my opinion, those who have broken through have been and are quite good.

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

My experiences in writing and in Jazz, for that matter, have been incredible. Opportunities have, for the most part, come to me. Being on WBGO has given me an entree into the Jazz community. But I worked very hard to ingratiate myself. [WBGO] On air host Michael Bourne, gave me the moniker, “Queen of Hang” that has stuck. However, I believe that my being overweight may have caused me to miss some opportunities. Since 1995 I have been producing/hosting “The Art of Jazz” on MNN. When BET Jazz channel started I reached out, several times, expressing my desire to host a show. Each time I was rejected or dismissed. Yet, two of my friends, one white, one Black, both an “acceptable weight” and “look” did some hosting. Neither had my experience or knowledge. I had a conversation with a musician who suggested that, given my interview skills, and with so many great shows under my belt, had I been a white woman that I would have been snatched up by a major player.

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

I encourage women to follow their passion. There are so many outlets now, for example, blogs are great outlets for writing. Women should not take no for an answer. Often we have to make our own opportunities.

Since you’re the “Queen of Hang” according to Michael Bourne, what have been some of the most personally satisfying music performances you’ve either written about or simply experienced over the last year?

I’ve been to so many performances this is not easy to answer. Some of my favorite artists who always give great shows are Eric Reed, The Clayton Brothers, Christian McBride and Inside Straight, Monty Alexander, Johnny O’Neal, Ulysses Owens, Will Calhoun, Geri Allen and Roy Haynes. To be honest, there are to many to name. These days I find the Jazz scene so exciting!

Don’t sell the DMV short – DC/Maryland/Virginia, the Washington, DC-metro area – as fertile ground for jazz presentations. And with new venues springing up across the DMV, including the spiffy joint known as The Hamilton (for Alexander) in downtown DC, and another showcase room springing up soon in Bethesda, MD, the scene is ever-expanding. Much of that scene is concert-based, though the DMV does have several active jazz clubs, including burgeoning scenes at the Bohemian Caverns and Twins Jazz on the bustling U Street corridor, and the venerable Blues Alley in Georgetown. For those whose tastes lean left of center there’s Transparent Productions (with Sunday evening hits at Bohemian Caverns by the likes of William Parker coming up November 11) and a brewing loft scene promulgated by DC Bop (we reported on their edgy component in the DC Jazz Festival last summer), not to mention An Die Musik in nearby Baltimore.

On the festival side there’s the annual Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (stay tuned to these pages for details on the 2013 edition) in February, the Jazz Appreciation month cornucopia at the Smithsonian in April, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in May, the blossoming DC Jazz Festival in June, and a new event promised for Montgomery County, MD next summer (stay tuned to IE for details on that one). The launch of a brand new DC-based, composer-oriented jazz orchestra is also just around the corner.

Fall being a time of renewal, jazz performance activities are busting out across the DMVV. Here’s just a sampling of some recent gems (and believe me there were conflicting jazz activities when these were jumping off). (Meanwhile there was a weekend-long Art Blakey tribute band swinging at the Bohemian Caverns, and Roy Hargrove was in the midst of a 4-night stand at Blues Alley.)

SF Jazz Collective, October 12 @ Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

On the same evening DC was buzzing with anticipation of a League Championship Series slot, then round about midnight dealing with the Nationals’ crushing Game 5 NL Division Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the SF Jazz Collective was launching its 2012-13 season at the handsome Clarice Smith Center (which boasts six venues) on the University of Maryland campus. Fresh off what from all reports was a very successful week-long residency – one which also enabled them to rehearse their new program right on stage each evening – the SF Jazz Collective launched their new season featuring the music of Chick Corea and originals from each bandmember. This season’s edition of the band includes saxophonists David Sanchez and Miguel Zenon, trumpeter Avashai Cohen, trombonist Robin Eubanks, vibist Stefon Harris, Edward Simon on piano, Matt Penman on bass, and drummer Jeff Ballard. David, who replaced Mark Turner in SFJC, delivered several degrees more fire and passion than the more chill Turner. David’s close partnership with Zenon, which dates back to David’s intro of Miguel in the Sanchez’ band, also serves the band well. Stefon Harris’ vibraphones lend distinctive textural gifts to the band’s harmonies, which were evident from the jump on Edward Simon’s sparkling arrangement of Corea’s classic “Spain.” Though this is an acoustic ensemble, Eubanks dared to very successfully arrange one of Corea’s Return to Forever classics, “Space Circus”, for the program.” The international flavor of SFJC also gives the band an air of distinction, with Sanchez and Zenon from Puerto Rico, Penman from New Zealand, Simon from Venezuela, and the stealthy prowess of the Israeli Avishai Cohen. The latter’s complex original encouraged some wicked modernist polyphony from the horns. The resulting CD document of this SFJC season is eagerly anticipated.

Medeski Martin & Wood, October 13 @ the Kennedy Center

This was the acoustic version of MMW, played not in the typical Kennedy Center concert hall, nor the KC Jazz Club. Per artistic adviser Jason Moran’s plan, the KC opened its new Supersized Jazz Club. Ever been to the KC on the Terrace Theatre level? If so, then perhaps you’ve had occasion to stroll the space in between the Terrace and the KC’s two restaurants for pre-or post-concert cocktails or a meal. Spotting that big open space, Moran envisioned carving out another kind of KC performance space (we’ll have a conversation with him on that endeavor and the reasoning behind it in our next IE posting); thus was born the Supersized Jazz Club, a stand-up space designed to bring a younger audience to the KC. And that it did: this gig was sold-out well in advance. When I walked in and saw a long line of 20-somethings at the bar I knew the KC was on to something. And despite the fact that MMW’s set at times bordered on the avant – with pianist John Medeski wielding a couple of peculiar electronic wind instruments along the way and drummer Billy Martin channeling Gnawa rhythms during one particularly vivid piece, the packed house was jumping around loving the music and the scene.

…And the next weekend, more goodies… Meanwhile the KC Jazz Club was hosting separate nights with the Anat Cohen Quartet and the Heath Brothers, while NEA Jazz Master Lou Donaldson played two nights at the Bohemian Caverns.) Oh well, your correspondent can’t be everywhere!

Yard Byard, October 19 @ Twins Jazz

Yard Byard is a cooperative ensemble wonderfully based on a quirky body of work which in their capable hands proves extremely viable, the compositions of the late master musician and teacher Jaki Byard. What an inspiration, why didn’t someone think of this before? The band consists of musicians who either studied under Byard at New England Conservatory, or served in his raucous, edgy Apollo Stompers band: flutist Jamie Baum, clarinetist-saxophonist Adam Kolker, drummer George Schuller, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and giving the band a real mark of distinction, that flexible flier Jerome Harris on guitar. With Baum alternating between the G-alto flute and concert flute, Kolker frequently expounding on clarinet and bass clarinet (a pleasant surprise since I only previously knew his work on tenor), and Harris’ dark rum guitar sound, this band achieves a unique harmonic pallet as they explore Byard’s trickster pieces. Add to that Schuller’s interactive posture at the traps and Okegwo’s foundation work and you’ve certainly got an ensemble to listen out for. Accordingly I’m happy to report that Kolker, who acted as the group’s spokesman most of the evening – save for a funny shout-out from the seemingly shy Jamie Baum – informed the good house of a forthcoming Yard Byard (named after one of Jaki’s pieces, of course – get it, yard-by-yard) CD release. This has to go down as one of my favorite new band sightings of the year. Those not familiar with Twins Jazz – which we’ve reported on previously in IE – its located at 1344 U Street, just east of the U Street/14th street crossroads of one of DC’s most happening nightlife corridors, and happily a joint where jazz lives upstairs, as opposed to the usual basement habitue; owned and operated by the Tesfaye twins, part of the DC-area’s large and quite entrepreneurial Ethiopian community (and yes, succulent doro watt and yebeg alitcha are indeed on the Twins menu).

Ben Williams Band, October 20 @ BlackRock Center

The following evening I had the pleasure of doing a post-concert meet-the-artist interview, but not before another briskly rewarding set by young bassist Ben Williams’ band. The venue, in what is referred to in Montgomery County, MD as “up county”, was the acoustically-inviting BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, MD. Thoroughly warmed up, tuned in, and fresh off several months touring with Pat Metheny (Ben reported they played 90 gigs over the summer!!), Ben, who is fast becoming one of the most in-demand young bassists, delivered in spades. His band, which he’s been honing for a couple of years now, comprising saxophonist Marcus Strickland (at 33 the vet of the band), drummer John Davis, guitarist Matt Stevens, and pianist Gerald Clayton, is full of youthful vigor, and an obvious hip hop connection despite its acoustic jazz setting. It was particularly good to hear Gerald Clayton playing with his peers, neatly balancing this experience with the great work he brings to his dad John and uncle Jeff’s Clayton Brothers Band (new record “The Gathering” on ArtistShare), and his own trio (Gerald recently signed with Concord). Williams played a finely balanced program from his Concord Records debut; as he informed an audience member at our post-concert interview, ‘we’ve only done one record thus far, so that’s the total of our repertoire’. In the communication department, to open his program, before hitting the stage Ben screened a short biographical film, produced 21st century music video jump cut style, that touched on his DC upbringing, from his Duke Ellington School matriculation through copping the Monk Institute bass competition prize and the Metheny set, including veteran accolades (including Christian McBride‘s warm blessings; seems like just yesterday when Christian was the youth bassist du jour!). Throughout the performance I noticed a young brother shooting video from all angles; seems Ben is taking good care to video chronicle his exploits. At the post-concert interview guitarist Matt Stevens recounted how he, Ben, Christian Scott, Gerald Clayton and some other young Concord signees had just completed a recording session compiling their jazz-oriented arrangements of modern pop songs; prompting Ben to crack wise about the moment when each revealed his choice of pop hit turnarounds – “You listen to that!” But clearly these young players had fun with that concept, so besides Ben Williams sophomore release, and Gerald Clayton and Matt Stevens’ label debuts, be on the lookout for that young guns of Concord compilation.

Don’t sleep on DC: This weekend its Ralph Peterson. at Twins Jazz, Jason Moran & the Bandwagon with Bill Frisell & Alicia Hall Moran at the KC Jazz Club, Kurt Elling at the KC Terrace Theatre; next weekend Nicholas Payton w/Lenny White at Bohemian Caverns…

Peace,
wvj

One thing about this music we call jazz, it seems that far too often when an artist is at their peek of artistic maturity, they somehow become scarce or fade a bit from the spotlight. Could that be the case with the superb pianist Sumi Tonooka? Now that she’s parented and is deep in the middle period of her artistry, we don’t hear from her enough, even though her skills have ripened beautifully in the process. Then just recently along came her lovely new solo piano 2-CD set Now (ARC label), recorded live at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY.

This solo concert recording is full of great charm and sheer beauty – along with the kind of easeful lilt, emotional depth, self-assuredness, downright swing and knowingness that comes with artistic and personal maturity. On disc one she explores three Great American Songbook selections – “I Hear a Rhapsody”, “I’m Old Fashioned”, and “All of You” – in addition to heaping helpings of Ellington, Monk, and an expansive Mary Lou Williams medley. Disc 2, with the exception of a cheery, striding “I’m Confessin'”, is all about Sumi’s originals and is the more introspective of the two discs.

Following some recent communications, time to catch up with Sumi Tonooka…

I am currently living in Seattle for an extended stay. I am living alone for the first time in some 30 years or so, and enjoying it. I am performing for the Earshot Festival on October 29th, solo piano [7:30 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space in Seattle], and the show is going to be taped for Jazz NorthWest a live syndicated show, via NPR, produced by Jim Wilke. My current solo CD NOW came out earlier this year and is doing pretty well as far as airplay and reviews.

I was one of 38 jazz composers, chosen from a pool of 200 applicants to attend the JCOI Jazz Composers Intensive this summer in LA. This program was a life changing experience for me and got me thinking in new ways about jazz, music and composition. In order to move further in the program, composers must submit an orchestra sample of our proposed piece. The selected composers then have the opportunity to take part in an orchestra reading of their piece which will be performed and recorded by a major symphony orchestra.I just completed and submitted my proposal and orchestral sampIe and I am crossing my fingers on this one.

My orchestra piece has to do with circles in life. The reason I am in Seattle now is an example of one such circle. I was looking to move and while deciding what I wanted to do I happened to call my best friend from third grade, Sharon Lee. We had reconnected about 15 years ago, and I just wanted to see how she was doing. Sharon strongly suggested that I move to Seattle and offered a place for me to stay for an extended amount of time to see how I liked it. Curiously, I had been trying to get to the Seattle area this year because it had been ten years since my mother died, and I wanted to do a pilgrimage back to to her birth place on Bainbridge Island.

Bainbridge Island is a twenty-minute ferry ride from Seattle across the Puget Sound. My mother lived there until the age of sixteen, when she was taken away by US army soldiers armed with rifles fixed with bayonets, along with one hundred thousand other Japanese and Japanese American families throughout the US. They were forced from their homes and placed behind barbed wire in Internment Camps.

This summer, my sister Carla and I returned to Pleasant beach on Bainbridge where we spread my mothers ashes ten years ago. We visited a cemetery there with the headstones of two of my uncles who had died during or soon after childbirth. My grandmother had returned there to buy the headstones much later in life. We also visited a beautiful memorial, recently erected in 2011. It has the names of all the people taken from Bainbridge that fateful day. My mother’s name, Emiko Tonooka, and the age she was when taken, is engraved in granite, as well as the names of my grandparents and uncle on their own family plaque. It was a pivotal moment in my life, experiencing this memorial. I had not even connected the dots about all of this; how strange and magical life is that I would return to my mother’s birthplace thanks to the generosity of my best friend from third grade at Powel School in West Philadelphia who just happens to have made Seattle her home for the past twenty years.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sumitonooka
sumitonooka.com
http://www.facebook.com/sumitonooka.NOW.1
http://vimeo.com/36442909
http://jazzcenter.ias-drupal7-test.cc.columbia.edu/content/jazz-composers-orchestra-institute

Jazz writing: A Woman’s Perspective: Lyn Horton

Lyn Horton, in addition to her active writing on jazz is also a distinguished visual artist. Throughout this piece we’ve posted a few examples of her work, currently on exhibit at the McKenzie Gallery in DC. “My life is invested with accomplishing a task everyday which is fulfilling. That task can not only be basic and quotidian but also creative in the sense of invention… Invention which involves my senses. I have matured enough to know that all of them are worth nurturing,” she says.

What are your current writing affiliations and any books or other projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention.

Presently, on this day in 2012, I write only for my blog: The Paradigm for Beauty.

What has been your experience writing about music in general jazz in particular?

In 1996, I started to “chat” on Jazz Central Station.com before it was wiped off the internet due to abuse by its participants. Perhaps two years later, I began to post informal “reviews” of performances I attended on the site. These “articles” received a fairly positive response except from all the “jazz experts” who felt it was necessary to question my “expertise” and criticize my lack of substance. I wrote about some mainstream music but mostly about the “avant-garde.”

Then I asked to write on JazzReview.com and was greeted with open arms. Morrice Blackwell and his staff had high regard for my work. Unfortunately the site no longer exists. I wrote for this site until 2007 when I started to contribute regularly to
AllAboutJazz.com.

Out of that experience, where my writing improved and I grew more and more confident about how to convert my viewpoints into words, I reached out to Downbeat, The New York Jazz Messenger and JazzTimes.com, respectively. At one point in time, I was writing for all these publications simultaneously.

My writing was unique: the musicians communicated that opinion to me and so did some of the editors of the aforementioned publications, all of which published my articles. A large percentage of my work was self-initiated, approved by the publications, and published. Only The New York Jazz Messenger, I discovered later, trashed my writing because it was thought to be too contorted even to warrant editing. The latter was the only print publication to pay me. Downbeat paid me for one article, but never accepted my pitches, thereafter. In 2009 or so, The Senior Editor of AllAboutJazz.com wrote an email to inform me that the publication would no longer accept articles from me because I had chosen another venue for publishing an article that was slated for a period of months at AllAboutJazz.com. Not long afterwards, I quit The New York Jazz Messenger because the editor did not want to spend time editing my articles. And I successfully wrote for JazzTimes.com for three years, but had to stop because I was totally burnt out.

What was it about writing about music that attracted you to this pursuit initially?

I want to clarify that my penchant is creative improvised music, rather than jazz. I have written about Brad Mehldau, Josh Redman, Sonny Rollins, and other high profile musicians, but mostly about those who tend to be under the radar of popular jazz journalists: i.e. Joe McPhee, Wadada Leo Smith, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Burton Greene, David S. Ware and many others.

The reason I immersed myself in creative improvised music is that I wanted to understand a challenging creative phenomenon other than visual art, which I make every day and which has been my “job” for forty years.

My ex-husband left in 2000. I wanted to support other people I really cared about in the wake of the shock of a lifetime which came in enduring separation, experiencing a divorce and being alone for the first time in twenty-five years.

Jazz turned me on when I was in high school; I followed it throughout college, and, by the time I was married, my interests had aligned with contemporary classical music due to my ex-husband’s vocation as a composer. While he was studying in a Doctorate Program at the University of New York at Buffalo with Morton Feldman, I was exposed to more contemporary classical music than I could ever have imagined and became versed in hearing innovative sounds, no matter how highly formulated. My comfort in hearing experimental music was reinforced and constantly revived with the latter experience.

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

It has been positive with regards to how the musicians about whom I write respond. The journalists/publishers have accepted what I do purely on a business as usual basis, as they should. But in addition to the situation I described above, I have generally been pushed into the back room because my writing was somehow not up to par. Perhaps, this perception is incorrect. The people who have edited my work would have to respond to this question. No one has ever imparted to me that I have a unique voice except the musicians and occasionally record producers.

On another note, one of the local colleges has been instrumental in bringing improvised music to the area. Over many years, the advisor of that institution’s radio station has done a remarkable job in promoting jazz, experimental and improvised music concerts and has created a “jazz block” every weekday morning on the radio. I have financially supported this radio station and written about innumerable concerts. Yet, I do not feel rewarded in the sense that my words have never been quoted in advertisements nor have my articles been referred to on air. And when I attend concerts, I am greeted with the expectation that I will write an article and asked what I think about the music rather than simply how I am and what I have been up to.

I reject any baiting from those associated with any music situation; I can smell it a mile away.

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?

I do not have an opinion on this. All I care about is the music, not the gender of the musicians who make the music.

Would you describe yourself as a music critic or a music journalist and why?

I am neither a music critic nor am I really a journalist. I suppose that I have practiced journalism when I have written profiles on musicians because I have had to do extensive research, fact-checking and interviewing. Yet, I have never called myself a journalist and am only perceived as one by those in the outside world. I am a member of the Jazz Journalists Association, but I do not know how long that will last.

Its 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?

This is a ridiculous assessment. I believe that women attend jazz concerts because they care about the music. I could launch into a psychological assessment of why men are attracted more to “jazz” than women are, but I won’t, even though oftentimes, I think that it applies.

Clearly writing about music, and particularly writing about 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”?

Regarding writing:
Yes, I sense “the boy’s club” all the time.

Regarding Music:
No, especially when the musicians accept me as a presence in their world.

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

I cannot fit into the “boy’s club,” which is one of control and arrogance. I have already described my experiences above.

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

I do not encourage women to write about music. Women will do it if they have the incentive.

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

Writing:
http://lynhorton.blogspot.com/2011/03/joe-mcphee-ken-vandermark-meeting-in.html;
http://lynhorton.blogspot.com/2011/03/matthew-shipp-trio-art-of-improviser.html;
http://lynhorton.blogspot.com/2011/12/ten-freedom-summers-wadada-leo-smith.html.

Performances:
The world premiere of the landmark work by Wadada Leo Smith, entitled, Ten Freedom Summers, on Oct. 28, 29, 30, 2011, in Los Angeles, CA.

Lyn Horton, October 2012 ©