I have no idea who adjudicates the MacArthur Foundation’s annual Fellowships, aka the “Genius” awards, but if you do… please recommend an eminently worthy candidate: pianist-composer-educator Danilo Perez. What Danilo has done in his native Panama in the name of music education for disadvantaged children is nothing short of miraculous. And that doesn’t even take into account what he has done to enrich his home country’s annual cultural calendar with his Panama Jazz Festival. But calling that event Danilo’s festival sells it short as the event is truly a family and friends labor of love, including his vivacious Chilean wife, a burning alto saxophonist in her own right, Patricia Zarate, who is the hands-on executive director of the festival, and Danilo’s parents who are quite actively involved in the Danilo Perez Foundation – which has initiated, supported and operated the pianist’s selfless music education enterprise. Danilo (pictured below on the cover of his latest release “Providencia”) is quick to tell inquisitors that this is not about him or his artistry. In fact if you visit the festival’s website at www.panamajazzfestival.com, you have to search to find the humble pianist.

By any estimation – as a longtime sideman with Wayne Shorter, as a recording artist (currently Mack Avenue) and bandleader himself, or as an educator at Berklee College of Music – Danilo Perez is one of our leading musicians. But all those lofty stations pale by comparison to the incredible work he’s doing in his home country. Using the Panama Jazz Festival, which recently celebrated its ninth running January 18-21, as an excellent springboard, Danilo has channeled his teaching affiliations with New England Conservatory and Berklee, plus forged a relationship with Princeton University, to build a music education program that has far-reaching implications for Panama and for the visibility of its subsequent musicians on the world stage.

As with many prominent jazz festivals, the Panama Jazz Festival is built on a serious music education for youngsters platform. One difference is the fact that this event is the first and only one of its kind in this agreeable, tropical nation. As members of the press and guests visited sites around the country we were impressed at the robust atmosphere of building and development. One evening the first in a series of festival-sponsored receptions and galas took us to the Miraflora Locks of the Panama Canal. And what an engineering marvel the Panama Canal remains. We were fascinated by a video presentation on the development and history of the Panama Canal, which as it turns out was designed principally by the engineer who designed Egypt’s historic Suez Canal.

We viewed with great interest the video details of a forthcoming new lock system that will increase and streamline ship travel through the Panama Canal, impressed at how this development will further boost Panama’s economy and enhance the country’s burgeoning growth. When you consider that ship transfer through the Panama Canal is pretty much a 24/7 proposition, and that each vessel which makes the journey pays tariffs that start at $60K per ship, one begins to mentally tally this country’s bright economic future. On yet another evening the U.S. Embassy hosted a party in honor of Danilo and the festival, again demonstrating how the event and its founder have been embraced. And in a high class touch, as we entered the U.S. Embassy and shook hands with the very gracious ambassador (she also showed up the night of the State Dept.-supported performance of the Jed Levy Quartet played the festival, stayed for all the other bands, and had a great time), her aides passed out copies of Dr. Martin Luther King’s now-famous speech on jazz at the Berlin Jazz Festival… in Spanish!

Back to the energetic Danilo, he and Patricia were each a constant, working presence at the festival, particularly in overseeing the festival’s auspicious music education efforts. At each reception and gala we were entertained by joyous bands of children and young adults, and be they from a folkloric or student jazz perspective they were delightful and quite promising musicians. Danilo and his foundation’s endeavors have brought music to children who study music with a proud zeal and a thirsty attitude. You see evidence of that at the daily clinics and music education classes during the festival as well as at festival performances. Danilo and Patti have parlayed their affiliations with NEC, Berklee, and Princeton to the tune of awarding over $1.5 million in scholarships to deserving Panamanian youngsters. Danilo will eagerly grab you by the shoulders and point out some young saxophonist or drummer of impressive early prowess and illustrate how this or that youngster came from extremely humble means, no instrument or music instruction in sight; all made possible through efforts spurred on by the festival. Press colleagues from NPR and Billboard magazines told stories of Danilo taking them to urban neighborhoods or rural landscapes of deep deprivation to meet youngsters who have been transformed by this music ed opportunity.

The festival itself annually honors a deserving Panama jazz elder, and this year that elder was saxophonist Carlos Garnett. Stateside and on the world stage folks recall Carlos Garnett for his work around New York in the 1970s and 80s, including a series of fine dates for the Muse label. Garnett was at the time part of a coterie of Brooklyn-based musicians who operated in a kind of post-Coltrane spiritual and black consciousness raising wing of the music, often to be found onstage at the legendary Brooklyn cultural center known as the East. He returns to Brooklyn on occasion to play gigs at places like Sista’s Place [both the East and Sista’s Place were previously profiled in The Independent Ear; check our archives].

Garnett’s honorific included two concert performances with his New York rhythm section, including the crafty bassist Brad Jones. Carlos performed on Thursday evening at the convention center ATLAPA, closing his rewarding set with a hilarious, over-the-top vocalese performance of the familiar even in Central America Flintstones theme. Garnett reprised that performance, with the art of the improviser’s variance, on Saturday at the festival’s culminating free, all-day blowout on the plaza in Old Panama City. Other highlights included the opening Wednesday evening gala, a touching duo performance at the graciously aging Teatro Nacional opera house by the Cuban masters pianist Chucho Valdes and vocalist Omara Portuondo.

Trombonist Luis Bonilla, who teaches at New England Conservatory, gave two robust performances alongside an exceptional ensemble of NEC students who were on hand with teaching assignments.

A student ensemble from Berklee that is part of Danilo Perez’s and Marco Pignataro‘s Global Jazz Institute at Berklee, acquitted itself very well in two performances. Puerto Rican trumpeter Charlie Sepulveda, who delightedly told the surprised audience that he’d trimmed off 80 lbs since they last saw him, gave a tight and expansive quintet set with his group The Turnaround, and the U.S. State Department-sponsored quartet led by tenor man Jed Levy gave an excellent account of themselves as part of the Rhythm Road project.


And John Scofield displayed his usual brilliance in trio with bassist Ben Street and drummer Bill Stewart. Salseros got their due from two well-received performances by Tito Puente, Jr. leading a skilled Panamanian horn section, demonstrating the high level of professional musicianship of the country. Vocalist Teri Roiger and her partner bassist John Menegon rounded out a finely balanced roster of festival artists.

Throughout the festival youngsters audition for a plethora of scholarship opportunities. One of the true delights of the event came at the free Saturday afternoon plaza performances when Patricia announced the scholarship and instrument winning recipients. The joy of the youngster who won a brand new tenor saxophone spilled out all over the plaza. You cannot help but leave the Panama Jazz Festival deeply heartened by these wonderful endeavors and the zeal and humility with which Danilo, Patricia, and their family and associates spin out their humanitarian efforts.

Nnenna Freelon – with Lois Deloatch – sings an impromptu tribute to Jazz Griot Donald Meade at the JEN conference

At last month’s very successful Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference (1/5-7) in Louisville, one of the more heartwarming programs was bassist-educator Larry Ridley‘s Jazz Legacy performance. The music was rich, and specific to Ridley’s Indianapolis roots. Following the performance two vocalist sister-friends, Nnenna Freelon and Lenora Zenzalai Helm joined other celebrants, including JEN’s own founding member Mary Jo Papich and vocalist Lois Deloatch, in paying homage to Jazz Griot Donald Meade. Apropos they bestowed the Meade Legacy Jazz Griot Award on Donald. The distinguished, folksy Donald Meade is someone I’ve seen for years and chatted with occasionally at the old IAJE conferences, who now supports JEN with zeal. Always in the company of one great or another, whether it was the ancestor and drum master Ed Thigpen, or NEA Jazz Master Clark Terry, Mr. Meade seemed to always be holding court, dropping wisdom on various folks in the music, be they grizzled vets or callow youngsters, his quick wit always at the ready. Since Nnenna and Lenora traveled to Louisville specifically to honor Donald Meade, I asked them to reflect on what he means to them and why they inaugurated this Meade Jazz Griot Award on this most deserving gentleman and namesake. Here’s what Lenora wrote in response.

Basically, Poppa (Donald Meade) is considered a Jazz Griot because he tells the stories we ought to know about jazz history as it was being made, but tells us the missing components about how lives were impacted in the midst of those stories. To read about Ella Fitzgerald‘s career being pivoted for the better under Norman Granz’s influence is one thing, but to have Poppa tell you how Ella REALLY felt about it (because of his conversation with her in the moment), and Norman Granz, was quite another thing. To hear him recount what Ella would say to her musicians backstage, or how she felt compelled to sing 25 – 30 numbers a night in one concert – is a deep treasure; in what history book would I get that?

A Griot tells us stories for the protection of the owners of the history, so that things withheld (whether inadvertent or deliberately cloaked) are made transparent, and in that transparency, clarity comes, THEN ownership IS protected. Poppa gave me an understanding of the inner workings of how jazz history, as we see presently, is discussed and documented in the media and how it is impacted by a jazz musician’s decisions. The decisions we make as jazz musicians about repertoire, personal and social politics, from the very small creature comforts of how we live, to how all of those decisions are perceived – so that we take nothing for granted, so that we don’t miss anything as we scrutinize our decisions.

So, so many times, Poppa has been my personal crystal ball. He has been a father, brother, friend, confidante and mentor. He was at my father’s funeral and told each of my siblings that he would “look after me” after my dad’s passing. In the almost decade that I’ve known him, I’ve discussed each personal, musical and career decision I’ve wanted to make, prior to making it. That’s why I got on a plane to be there when he was honored – and I had no previous intentions to be at the JEN conference. I was there for Donald “Poppa” Meade. He’s encouraged all of us – Nnenna (Freelon), Lois (DeLoatch) and I, to continue being a part of the JEN conference – to not be derailed by the machinations that surround the jazz music industry. He impresses upon us the importance of staying in the conversation, and being at the discussion table, no matter how frustrating or political those machinations have become – basically to not give up our rightful seat at that table – but stay focused on being honest to the music. To do that, we only have to remember the time he took – hours of phone and in-person conversations, getting on a plane to be at our life events (marriages, births, deaths, concert performances, career events), and the promise he asked of us to keep to pay it forward to the next generations of jazz musicians and students – and audiences.

[The following account of the JEN program honoring Donald Meade with the Meade Legacy Jazz Griot Award originally appeared in the site polyrhythms.ning.com.]

Louisville, KY, Jan. 5th: It was the best of times at the 3rd Annual Jazz Education Network Conference with the diligent support of Past President, Mary Jo Papich, as Larry Ridley & the Jazz Legacy Ensemble sponsored by the African American Jazz Caucus made time for his friends and the Universe to honor noted jazz historian Donald Meade as the first recipient of the Jazz Griot Award. (See attached) This annual award which will forever bear his name was made before an excited throng thrilled to pay homage to one of the most knowledgeable jazz historians of our time.

What is a Griot?
The Griot emerged from West African traditions as a storyteller, historian, chronicler and keeper of the timeline. The Griot in short, remembers through word and song all of the important events and experiences of a particular community. He holds sacred the collective memory, preserving for future generations.

Donald Meade is a timeless treasure. His life parallels the evolution of jazz music and culture. His love for music extends far beyond mere knowledge of facts and important figures. Meade brings to the conversation reflections on the origins, dynamics and byways of jazz music. He includes more than just an intimate familiarity with the people that inhabit the landscape, but a thorough knowledge of how these artists mirrored and informed the development of the American culture at the time. His first voice stories embrace the social, political and cultural realities that shape and created musical truths. He was in fact there when what we refer to as “history” was being made. One cannot argue with living history!

Meade, born December 8, 1928 in Joliet, Illinois, was raised in Joliet and later in the Watertown area of East Moline, Illinois, during the time when jazz was coming of age. Meade speaks fondly of growing up musically in the time of Duke Ellington, Nat Cole, Pat Patrick, Louis Armstrong, Clark Terry and many other pioneers and innovators of the day. He has been a life-long friend and confidant to many of the jazz legends and innovators, and has traveled extensively with jazz giants such as Ed Thigpen, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton, the Heath Brothers, Art Farmer, and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few. “At one time jazz was the popular music” he says.

The son of a revered labor leader, Alfred (Mule) Meade, Donald Meade remarks: “The history of some aspects of the culture in this country cannot be explained without first understanding the country’s labor history.” As a former laborer at John Deere Harvester Works and later a TWA baggage supervisor, Meade comments: “Were the opportunity to work not here, all of those musical influences from New Orleans to New York, would not have gravitated and uniquely jelled here.” We have all heard versions of the history of this music, but rarely in the context of the symbiotic relationship of arts and labor. It is an insightful view of life and music unique to Mr. Meade.

The history of jazz has often depended upon the reports of witnesses regardless of how far removed. A supremely valid history of jazz is on the lips of those who were there. Meade’s retelling of first-hand accounts has influenced jazz education and generations of young people.

It is fitting that Donald Edward Meade be honored as the first recipient and namesake of the 1st Annual Meade Legacy Jazz Griot Award. Recognized internationally by top jazz musicians, loved and respected by the jazz community, Donald Meade has been a faithful steward of the oral history of this music we all love.

The latest from vocalist-educator Lenora Zenzalai Helm

Our dialogue on the black audience for creative music, which began with filmmaker-educator Natalie Bullock Brown, vocalist-educator Alison Crockett, and vocalist Angela Stribling, has stimulated some very interesting follow-ups. The first comes from an old friend, the distinguished writer, editor and author Robert Fleming. Robert and I grew up on the East side of Cleveland and I can remember many an hour spent in Fleming’s hothouse 3rd floor walk-up spinning the latest jazz sides and postulating on the music and musicians. Giving full credit where it is due, Robert Fleming is one of those responsible for shaping my sensibilities where this music is concerned. As fledgling writers one of our greatest joint thrills was our two-hour interview encounter with Miles Davis during a kinetic week at the old Smiling Dog Saloon, back in our days of endless contributions to various so-called alternative weekly papers around the area.

The second contribution in this installment comes from the young aspiring DC-area singer-jazz presenter Chad Carter. I’ve been mightily impressed with Chad’s zeal to learn this music and its interior elements from several perspectives. Some months ago I encouraged Chad to attend the Jazz Education Network conference in Louisville earlier this month. Everywhere I turned at the conference there was Chad, soaking up the knowledge, meeting & greeting people from all walks of the jazz life, seizing the opportunity with a refreshing thoughtfulness. In addition to developing his recording and performing career as a singer, Chad and his equally zealous father Ted – with invaluable encouragement and assists from his mom – has turned Monday nights into jazz nights at the Silver Spring, MD restaurant Vicino’s, crafting a steady and rewarding schedule of performances by many of DC’s finest, and several ringers from Harlem as well. In turn he has also performed at the Lenox Lounge.

ROBERT FLEMING

The African American audience for creative music is there, yet small in number but just as passionate. Stats and those responsible for them only count audiences as those between ages 15 to 40. Very few of that age group goes to anything but concerts of rap music. In that age group, I think some of those folks would go to concerts if they were not priced out of their budget. If it was a toss-up between Christian McBride and Missy Elliot, or Sonny Rollins and Snoop Dogg… then the rap representatives would win.

Not only are the young people priced out of these concerts, but all of us as well. Even the boomers. Going to see Keith Jarrett at Carnegie Hall or Cecil Taylor at Town Hall costs an arm and a leg. Exposure to something new is vital, especially when one is young. When I was a sprout, I saw Satchmo at the Home and Flower Show, and George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra doing Mozart and Brahms in a free concert sponsored by my junior high school. Exposure meant seeing Luis Bunuel’s “Un Chien Andalou” and Truffaut’s “400 Blows” in high school with Mr. Mucha, my Spanish teacher.

Those who own the venues are greedy and will do anything to make a profit. As long as tickets go up and up, it will be only an elite, white audience who will witness our music and culture. At some point, those who have the means will have to pull back their thirst for profits and dividends and allow our music and culture to survive. I’m saddened by your situation at your festival in Cleveland. [Editor’s note: Earlier I related how Tri-C JazzFest struggles to engage African American audience members for ticketed shows, but has no problems attracting a robust black audience for our free concerts component. We’ll expound on that in an upcoming installment of this dialogue.]

If there is ever a dire time in our communities and so many downhearted people in need of reasonable, refreshing entertainment, this is it. Keep up the good fight.

CHAD CARTER

This is a discussion that’s been needed for so long and is needed often. I recall reading a piece in JazzTimes back in 2003 by Ron Wynn that asked the same question about where the Black audience is for Jazz. Here we are 8 plus years later asking the same question. As a jazz artist and jazz presenter, this is an issue that I know exists all too well.

Here’s an additional idea to go along with Brother [Nicholas] Payton‘s BAM acronym. I’ve coined the term or acronym BLUHM – Black Unabridged History Music (pronounced Bloom), aka Jazz. I’ve always felt that since before, but particularly during and after slavery, that our music has been the most accurate accounting of our history as a people in the United States of America. Through our music, we have always addressed our happiness, fears, sorrows, dreams, struggles, and our triumphs… our stories. For a people who were stripped from our culture and homeland, our music has sort of been our USB memory stick, our unofficial, official record of our experience in the world as told by us, through us, for us and ultimately for the world. Another term to call our music could be TORIG – The Original Music – since we come from the continent of the origin of humankind; it makes sense to refer to the music in kind.

The question Willard poses about the Black audience is an interesting one. This issue in many ways underpins the greater question of our “community” as a whole. I believe sisters [Natalie Bullock] Brown, [Alison] Crockett, and [Angela] Stribling have all hit on things that are part of the complex equation of regaining OUR community. When segregation ended and integration began, we gave birth to the beginning of the erosion of OUR COMMUNITY. The mistake we made was as the song by Mercer and Bloom says, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, and so I come to you my love, my heart above my head…” As human beings, we yearned for love and acceptance in America. We wanted the American dream. When we were “accepted” we ran for the brass ring at the expense of the brass rings we forged in our own community. One of those brass rings was our oral history through song, jazz in particular. To have access to “things” is one thing but nothing can ever replace the wealth we shared as a community. We did not survive all those years of slavery and torture through dumb luck. There was pride, ingenuity, love, wisdom, ambition, etc., etc… On some level we failed to protect the strengths we developed through our survival of slavery to the end of Jim Crow. Our resolve got watered down… spread out and shared among others not of our own community. Thus our collective strength has been tremendously weakened. It goes back to the simple but true statement of “Together we stand, divided we fall.” Well, we might not feel like we are falling but some would say we are going down slow and slow is relative depending on one’s perspective on what “slow” means.

We must accept our own diversity and embrace it, nourish it, and acknowledge ALL of it, good, bad, and ugly as OUR COMMUNITY. There have been numerous attempts to form our community via the internet and black business directories, etc…. but until we really get a centralized method of coming together, it will remain a truly daunting task, infighting and fear of corruption exists in any and every community. Therefore, as twisted as this may sound, if there is going to be corruption, and generally speaking, there is, why not have the corruption take place within our community, try to minimize it and at the end of the day that which does not exist, at least the money and resources are staying in our community… at least we hope so. Herein lies the problem with integration, integration created outside community opportunity and nourished greed outside of the community too. However, on the flipside, I can honestly say that it is White audiences that come out to support jazz in consistent numbers, whereas Black patrons are hard to come by with any frequency. Some point to the inequality in economics. Though that still exists, I submit to you that our people are simply choosing not to come, and instead choosing something else. So, all parties in OUR COMMUNITY would have to put the community first before individual gain or at least before the integrated community at large, unless that person or persons does their part to give back to the community.

I would like to point to the Jewish community as an example. This is nothing new, but their sense of community is not just an ideal. I know for a fact that there are “COMMUNITY” books that are provided to a person in our community by a kind of primary identification key or serial number if you will. This book is provided based on where someone moves and settles down. It could be a young man going off to school in another state or a young man moving for a job and career opportunity. Where ever he or she moves, they are provided a book with names, numbers, for any resources for living that one might need. Those contacts are all within their “COMMUNITY” and those contacts take care of their brother or sister because they are a member of that community. My folks raised me to understand that when possible, try to spend your money in your own community, not as a slight to other communities, rather as a support to your own culture and survival of your heritage and people. Unfortunately we are all forced to have a race label in this country and world. I happen to claim African American, and I claim that proudly. However, I’m what I like to call an international Omelet. I’ve got a little bit of this, and a little bit of that in my lineage as so many of us do. I could ask for one of those books legitimately if I wanted to but I’m not sure I’d be provided one.

The Black community has this too but we do this in much smaller numbers or self-insulated bubbles, which cuts us off from one another. The Church used to be our strongest traditional community and still is in many places around the country. However, that has eroded as well from where it was some time ago.

So, to reclaim jazz, perhaps that is the better question as daunting as it sounds, the question of regaining our entire cultural community sounds even more daunting. Perhaps if we figure out how to reclaim jazz and get the Black audience back for jazz, then we just might have an avenue to getting our COMMUNITY back as a people.

One idea I had for regaining our COMMUNITY audience for jazz is to assemble an ongoing All-Star cast of major mainstream artists who have a heavy influence and respect for jazz. This cast of stars would tour in addition to their already packed schedule, interspersed with those major acts would be major stars within the educated jazz audience community. Let me explain by giving an example.

The all=star cast of performers and entertainers would be Pop artists and celebrities who would have concerts and host smaller outreach initiatives to expose kids, particularly African American kids to jazz and show why it is cool, why it is important and why it is their music to claim and share with the world. However, for them to share it, they have to know about it, know its cool, learn that its fun, know that its a major art form that grows out of their heritage and that it is something for them to be proud of being the first in their family to earn a college degree and all that it implies achieving that accomplishment in the context of their history as a people. The message does not have to be overly complex nor should it be “dumbed down” to the point where the significance is lost, it just simply has to be relatable, fun and approachable.

Here’s a list of artists I think would work for this effort.
Note: Each of these artists would meet certain criteria for the purpose of greatest impact socially, economically, musically, educationally, and sustainability.

Sample All-Star Cast-
Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will I Am, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Trombone Shorty, Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Lenny Kravitz, Eric Benet, Clint Eastwood, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Common, Queen Latifah, Mos Def, Cee-Lo Green, Tyler Perry, George Lucas, Janet Jackson, Esperanza Spalding… and the list would go on and on… (there would of course need to be the involvement of several existing jazz masters in some shape or form so as not to send the wrong message to the existing jazz audience that is already educated most likely a bit more than the masses.) However, it would also be up to the production efforts of such a project to address these kinds of concerns to the established jazz audience too. Obviously, though the goal is to cultivate new listeners for the music, we would not want to disenchant the existing audience either.

Ultimately, a full blown production would need to be established in grand fashion, ala Michael Jackson style… meaning bigger than life, thinking outside the box to present the music while still being very classy with it. The event would need to be sold as a blockbuster, worthwhile, fun experience to be embraced by mainstream popular culture. From this effort, records would need to be pressed and actual jazz artists on the jazz scene today would need to be brought into the fold in creative ways to make them relatable to the mass population of young people.

The stars listed above would also need to take an active role in contributing to creative ways to pull this effort together. They would be traveling ambassadors for America’s music, jazz, but they would be traveling primarily within the United States. A certain percentage of the proceeds from the concerts would be slated to fund jazz music programs at some of the schools and communities that are being exposed to the music. I would also suggest having a plan already laid out to provide tools for the kids to learn the most popular songs that come out of the tour. For them to learn jazz, they have to like it and relate to it. Once they are fans, people tend to be fans for life and thus they become interested more and more in its origins, and like most music, they will dig deeper to whatever degree fits them. Any degree is good and healthy for the future of jazz and the future of jazz in the African American community and audience rebuilding effort. That’s my two cents for the moment. This response was jazz-inspired, total improvisation!

New Year, New Voices in Jazz: Monk in Motion’s Top Finalists Perform in NYC this Winter

The BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is proud to present the talented winners of this year’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in piano. We are especially proud to partner with Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute once again as they celebrate their 25th year of this remarkable competition! Announced in early September, this year’s three finalists – Kristopher Bowers in First Place, Joshua White in Second Place and Emmet Cohen in Third Place – will perform three solo concerts on January 28, February 11, and February 18 respectively. Each performance is a Saturday at 7pm and single tickets are $25 (students/seniors $15) or $20 for TribecaPAC Mainstange Members. All performances will be held at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street (Between Greenwich and West St.) in Theatre 2.

Monk in Motion: The Next Face of Jazz is a partnership between BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center and the Thelonious Monk Institute that presents the top three winners from the renowned Annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Each concert features one winner and their combo from various parts of the world, demonstrating the versatility and variety of different jazz styles. We are thrilled to host the finalists’ first show in New York City since the competition!

ARTIST BIOS

Kris Bowers – January 28 7pm

Kris Bowers, a native of Los Angeles, began studying piano privately at the age of nine. Beginning his formal lessons in classical music, Kris found it hard to concentrate on just one genre as he was surrounded by the sounds of old school R&B and Funk at home, and the Hip-Hop and Pop of his generation. Immersed in this musically diverse world, Kris soon found himself attracted to the rhythmic and soulful feeling of Jazz. He then enrolled in both classical and jazz classes at the Colburn School for Performing Arts, where he remained until the end of high school. While at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), Kris received numerous awards, accreditations and scholarships, and in 2006, he graduated from LACHSA and moved to New York to continue his studies at the Juilliard School.

Since his arrival in New York, Kris has shared the stage and/or recorded with jazz artists such as: Terell Stafford, Vincent Herring, Louis Hayes, Casey Benjamin, and Kenneth Whalum III. In addition, he has continued working in a number of other genres, performing and/or recording with: Murs, Q-Tip, Josè James, Jay-Z and Kanye West. Kris can be heard on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s latest album, Watch the Throne. He has also had the good fortune to perform for notable individuals like Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and President Barack Obama.

Joshua White – February 11 7pm

Pianist Joshua White is a remarkably gifted young jazz performer, classical pianist, and composer. He began formal piano training at the age of seven and became the organist and pianist for the Encanto Southern Baptist Church by age 10. Recently, Joshua won second place honors at the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition in Washington D.C.

Emmet Cohen – February 18 7pm

At 21, jazz pianist Emmet Cohen plays with the maturity and confidence of a seasoned veteran. With astonishing technique and an innovative harmonic palate, Emmet engenders a deep musical bond with his audience. Cohen has shared the bandstand with a plethora of musical luminaries, including Christian McBride, Benny Golson, Joshua Redman, Dave Holland, Patti Austin, Maceo Parker, Carmen Bradford, Billy Hart, and many others. He is completing a music degree at the University of Miami where he studies with Brian Lynch, Terence Blanchard, Shelly Berg, and Martin Bejerano. Emmet regularly appears as a sideman and leader on both piano and Hammond B3 Organ in New York and Miami.

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.

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton has fostered a healthy, ongoing dialogue on the subject of the creative music widely known as jazz, the implications of that “J” word (negative as he sees it; preferring Black American Music, or the acronym BAM he has subsequently coined and begun running with), and various aspects and implications. Part of his contention seemed to suggest that somehow some element of theft has occurred relative to the African American origins of this music. I wrote a subsequent piece in The Independent Ear, once again suggesting that there’s really been no theft, that through attrition, lack of interest, and inattention to the legacy, black folks have simply given the music away. Nicholas was quick to disabuse me of the notion that his theory involved thievery, but the ensuing dialogue – including blog, Facebook, and Twitter posts – got me to thinking that perhaps one way to foster a broader dialogue on the puzzling subject of the black audience for the music – BAM, African American Classical Music, jazz or however you call this creative musical force – might be to pose a question to certain black folks who have deep investment in the music and get their take.

I started out by posing this simple question to a select few friends and colleagues in the music; however this question is not limited to that select group and if you wish to be part of the dialogue The Independent Ear would be happy to hear from you and subsequently publish your response in this space as part of a series of such dialogues. So here you go…

Where’s the African American audience for creative music, where did it go, can we recapture that audience, and how can we go about doing so. Is the term “jazz” a hindrance, or is that argument pure nomenclature?

The first two responses come from two extremely talented and brilliant women, both of whom have in-depth histories with the music and care deeply about its future. I’ve also included a thoughtful letter from one of my old BET Jazz colleagues who weighed in on the dialogue that firestarter Nic Payton laid out there for our consideration.

NATALIE BULLOCK BROWN, Producer/Consultant; filmmaker, college/university educator, and one of the producers of the Ken Burns’ PBS series “Jazz”.

I have really been pondering your question and honestly, feel like I should do research and conduct polls! I mean this is the stuff of thesis papers, really. It’s a very deep question. Following is my humble attempt at an answer.

I don’t really know where the African American audience for creative music, aka “jazz,” has gone. But I suspect that integration had something to do with the dispersement. I think that when the African American community was united under Jim Crow, we supported our PEOPLE – whether they were doctors, lawyers, teachers, singers or even jazz musicians. But with integration came many opportunities to be distracted by all the new choices we were afforded, and unified support of the “community” became less and less a priority. Now, we have so many issues as a people, not the least of which is that many of us tend to ascribe the term “white” to anything we don’t do (like speak the King’s English) or don’t understand (like jazz). And it really doesn’t matter what we might call jazz, the thinking will be the same.

Many of us think to be smart is acting white, to eat well and take care of our bodies is acting white, and to play or sing anything other than hip hop, R&B or gospel is – you guessed it – playing the white role; [a] deep pathology in our community now. Deep. And unfortunately, as a result, we’ve walked away from a music – whatever you want to call it – that WE created. Now, our position vis a vis jazz, or BAM, is like that of an absent father who has been away from his offspring for many years. The music has evolved and mutated and grown – it has become so many things to so many people, and spread in ways that could never have been anticipated during the music’s infancy. There’s so much that our community has missed as jazz has grown up. So in many ways, it is hard for us to appreciate what it currently IS because we missed the years of maturation and experimentation – the “teenage years,” if you will.

Now that jazz is all grown up, (even though very much a work in progress, still), it seems to me that African Americans have to want to get to know jazz in order to re-establish the relationship. And that’s on us – not the music. Because the sweet thing about jazz is that it is so completely welcoming, holds no grudges, and forgives absence in a moment, that it will take us back the minute we step back into the clubs, or the concert halls, or the festivals. We have to want it, though. We have to recognize the need, all that we’ve missed, and how enriched and enlightened our lives can be when we return to the music we left.

In other words, we as a people have to grow up. We have to mature and desire clarity, knowledge, wisdom. We have to love ourselves in order to love what has come from us. Only God knows how to accomplish this. In the meantime, I hope that our music will continue to be what it always has been – inviting, funny, transcendent, peaceful, transformational, suggestive, sexy, brilliant, heady, clever, beautiful and all of the other amazing things jazz is. Because eventually, prayerfully, we WILL evolve and grow and return to ourselves. Only then will a true reunion take place.

ALISON CROCKETT, vocalist/educator

Where is the audience for black music? Listening to Drake, Rhianna, and Beyonce. They’re black. That’s where they’re going. This music is part of their lives on a daily basis. It’s on their iPods. They listen to it on YouTube. It’s on the Disney Channel. It’s in Church and school. It’s the music playing at the ice skating rink and the music they dance to in their dance classes.

Music outside of that is “special.” Music that you are told about in school for an assembly; your parents take you out to see to enlarge your cultural perspectives. Or, what your parents may or may not listen to in the car or in the house.

Music is always about function. We use our culture for purpose. In the past, dance music was big band music. But Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie turned it into “art” music; fast and difficult to dance to and use in daily life. Coltrane moved the music into a “spiritual” path and Monk made unique shapes and sounds with it. These different ways of looking at music did not always lend themselves to easy, singable melodies all the time that you could dance to and use in your daily life. Solos became longer and it possibly became more difficult for the unknowledgeable listener to follow the basic structure of the tune. There was Motown and later Gamble and Huff for that. [Editor’s note: Kenny Gamble once told me in an interview that in his orchestrations for the legion of Gamble & Huff hits he always strove to emulate the swinging atmosphere of the Basie band; listen to some of their classic R&B hits – the O’Jays “Love Train for example – the orchestration always swung.] These are not value judgments; I love all these musical expressions. But truth is truth. Its hella hard to dance to “Donna Lee” or sing along with “Brilliant Corners.” Also, the music was listened to in small clubs while you smoked or drank. As people did less of both, and it became more and more expensive to do either in a public situation, I’m assuming there is less going out. Also, you can smoke and drink at home with your state-of-the-art system for watching and listening in your hooked-up living room.

The black community still has yet to embrace en masse any art form of music not embraced by the larger “majority” community. Money is an issue. Economic class is another. We do not value our culture monetarily as a group. I include myself in this assessment. As a mother of 2 young children, I don’t always have the resources between mortgage, groceries, children’s activities, and daycare. There’s only so much left to go around for entertainment and when I do, it’s centered on children, or something that I really want to see. There’s also a long and continuous history of going out and listening to music while drinking in the white community around the country. This is not mirrored in the black community to the same extent. The black community also doesn’t really want to talk about or hear, as a group, themes outside of love, sex, relationships, etc. They do not want to be spoken to about activism, deep thoughts or emotions, complex ideas, etc. Not to put us down, but as a grooup, we would prefer to watch Maury or Oprah when it comes to entertainment.

What do you do about it? I really don’t know. It’s a holdover from the slave mentality I believe. The ship may have already sailed. That may sound like a cop-out, but… there it is. One thing that really needs to be thought of is money and structure. Quincy Jones created Vibe magazine to support hip hop. It helped to legitimize the music. In this day and age, there needs to be a legitimizer in the black community for jazz and jazz-inspired music. There needs to be an embracing of the styles within jazz and a knowledge of what they are: neo-soul, drum ‘n bass, soulful house music, etc. These more electronic modes of music use jazz as their base and should be embraced by the wider American jazz listener and musician. We have to allow the music to evolve also. Whenever I performed with Orrin Evans, there was always a sense of fun in the show. In DC, Allyn Johnson has the same feeling. We musicians need to respond to the public and the public needs to respond to us. We can present the music that we love in a way that people of all ages can respond.

It’s a long educational slog on both sides that can be an invigorating experience for all. Many of the people that I know are interested in hearing good music, but don’t have the time to dig for it or go see it. Creating interfaces for busy people with disposable income is a must. Make the music a part of people’s lives in an organic way, just like people do with country music. My family went to a pig pull of a well known sweet potato farmer in South Carolina and there was not an ounce of music presented; FYI, it is when a local farmer gives a LARGE dinner for all the important people in the area, thanking them for their support. Food was delicious, and there should be music that is a part of it. Though this may be a little bit of a stretch, we have to think outside of the box in order to compete with the multi-leveled, media-saturated environment that we are in today.

And this related note in response to some black folks’ ongoing email dialogue on Nicholas Payton’s think-pieces; from vocalist and former BET Jazz host ANGELA STRIBLING:

Happy New Year All!
Thanks for including me in this post. I often ponder the same thing about the plight of Jazz today and tend to agree with Willard! No one is putting up a fight for it. So, we’re essentially giving it away!

My question is, how can we as jazz musicians and enthusiasts attract more African Americans out to hear this beautiful music?

Like many of you, I perform Straight Ahead Jazz all over the world and get so much support for this art form. However, when it comes to gigs here in the States, I rarely see “us” in the audience…

We know it’s a growing problem… For years we’ve watched this transformation… Now, what can we do to get our people into jazz again?

Without any of us being judgmental or too critical of what we come up with… can we just kick around some ideas? I’d love to hear what you think:)

In the meantime, keep swinging’ and have a Blessed and Prosperous 2012!