Dominick Farinacci

About 15 years ago my old friend, pianist-educator Eric Gould invited me to speak to his students at a Saturday morning music education program at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). When I arrived the students were running down a chart, then they took a break before my talk. As they broke the kids were bouncing off the walls like normal 13 year olds… all except for one young guy.

From hearing the kids earlier, this particular serious looking, dark-haired trumpet aspirant was clearly less experienced. But while the other kids were enjoying a raucous break, this kid was off by himself practicing. A few months later Eric invited me back for part 2 of my talk. Same thing… same kid off in a corner rigorously practicing by himself. I took note – maybe this is one to watch. Now, fifteen years later, having been taken under Wynton Marsalis‘ prodigious wing at 16, matriculated as part of Juilliard’s first jazz class, and become a big fave in Japan, now 28 Dominick Farinacci is one of the brightest young trumpeters of his generation.

As one of an impressive crew of trumpeters who’ve come through the Tri-C JazzFest education program – including Sean Jones, Curtis Taylor, and Donald Malloy – Dom is all about giving back. Along with his peer bandmates pianist Dan Kaufman (who reminded me that he’d been one of the kids featured on my old JazzEd BET show), drummer Lawrence Leathers, percussionist Keita Ogawa, bassist Paul Sikivie, vibist Christian Tamburr, and the vivacious old soul/young spirit vocalist and pride of Brooklyn, Charenee Wade, Farinacci has launched a Young Artist Residency program.

Their first Tri-C residency was this week. They did band clinics for Tri-C Jazz Studies students (under Steve Enos’ able direction) all day Monday. The day was capped by a music biz panel discussion for Tri-C’s Recording Arts Technology (RAT) students (name another community college with a state-of-the-art recording studio program) and jazz students. Featured speakers were moderator Tommy Wiggins from RAT, artist manager Brian McKenna, Grammy-winning recording engineer Todd Whitelock and Tri-C JazzFest managing director Terri Pontremoli.

Tuesday they spent the day at Cleveland Heights High School. What struck me about their activities at the high school was the fact that their classroom work wasn’t exclusive to music students. They did clinics for English and Geometry classes. Whitelock told me later that he was impressed by the excitement and maturity of the high school students’ questions.

Young Artists Residency at Cleveland Hts. HS

As Steve Enos aptly observed, one of the keys to these young artists’ effectiveness with both high school and college students was their relative youth. By and large it was clear the students did not view them as older authority figures, which seemed to heighten and broadened the ultimate reach of their message. Clearly this is a jazz ed program with legs!

Ain’t But a Few of Us… – Black music writers tell their story.
by Lofton A. Emenari, III – Part 1

Many years ago I learned that being a so-called “Black” writer on jazz music would be an enriching but harrowing journey. It would not be out of the question to say that I was a ‘child of the civil rights movement’. With parents that instilled a love of kith and kin, past and present, ever cognizant of the social realities abounding. It was from this fertile nest that I became a writer/journalist – initially seeking, altruistically to address seeming wrongs and speak for the unheard and unseen. Jazz was a part of my household – played everyday either on the record player or radio. As a child I was exposed to Downbeat magazine and became an avid reader in high school. Then I had no real working knowledge of ‘Black’ writers per se in the field yet once out of high school I would join various writers collectives in Chicago. That alone gave me more intellectual power/measure. And the first black writers I learned of were Leroy Jones/Amiri Baraka and A.B. Spellman. And while Baraka would leave the jazz arena for a moment, it took years for me to break his spell on not only my thinking but writing style as well. He was that influential motivator.

Later I would be influenced by the writings of Albert Murray, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Ted Joans and ultimately Stanley Crouch. These were icons who set the bar. They collectively told OUR story as no others dare or could. It was because of them that I diligently studied the history of this music. It was, as Val Wilmer’s classic tome indicated, “As Serious As your Life”. The study of this music, the very research began in the venues and in the very lives of the musicians themselves. Study this music I did. Everywhere the music was I went to hear and feel it. In the same time I became a broadcast journalist, having a weekly jazz radio show on WHPK-FM University of Chicago. It was there that I would meet Ted Pankin, who remains one of the most knowledgeable and interesting writers on jazz – Black or white. Ted followed the exploits of the avant garde in particular the AACM (an all Black music collective supposedly espousing a Black nationalist agenda. More on that later).

I would form some lasting friendships with some of the musics most gloried pracitioners. At this point by my count I’ve interviewed over 1,000 musicians. I first became a published writer on jazz through the initial impact of reading ‘underground’ magazines like ‘The Grackle’, which was published in New York by a loose coterie of black writers in Roger Riggins, Ron Welburn and James Turner. this was in the mid to late 70s. Yet I was to find out there were more Black writers out there when copies of The Jazz Spotlite made their way to Chicago outside of New York. Here in Chicago there were perhaps two Black writers on jazz – Brent Staples (who since is an editor at the NY Times) and Salim Muwwakil, one time editor of Muhammad Speaks and current columnist of ‘In These Times’. They would become invaluable mentors and significant friends.

My first article for a ‘major’ jazz publication was Downbeat ‘79 (thanks to then editor Howard Mandel, who serves as the head of the Jazz Journalist Association). Yearly, I’ve voted in the annual Downbeat International Critics Poll. I began writing about jazz in many various community newspapers and journals; with a 10 year column in the Chicago Observer; 28 years in the Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group. At one point because of the apathy I felt was prevalent in jazz journalism I published a journal The Creative Arts Review, which I garnered articles from writers, mostly unpublished on the music (i solicited articles regardless of gender or race). It was a one issue wonder that included the writing of voices such as Hakim Sulieman (an unrecognized jazz historian and archivist); Brent Staples; Larry Queen (an accomplished ‘black’ art critic); Keith Boseman and a few others. But it was mainly a platform for my theories on the music.

Over the years I’ve found the niche of ‘liner note’ writing to be almost a closed circle. This is particularly prevalent with the so-called major jazz labels. In the late 70s early 80s I began to query some of the musicians I knew, on a personal basis about writing liners for them. I asked, in no certain order Robert Watson; David Murray; Joe Henderson; Arthur Blythe; Terrance Blanchard/Donald Harrison; Wallace Roney, Javon Jackson and many others. Only Blanchard/Harrison, Jackson and Wallace Roney granted my wish. This was for Columbia/Sony, a major label. And at the time they were a ‘major’ voice in the wake of the ‘Marsalis’ phenomenon. Roney, of that ‘wave’ was with a major/minor label in Muse. And consequently I’d secure liner gigs with Donald Brown, Billy Pierce and Stephen Scott.

Yet there was something missing from the average liner note reading. Most often I dreaded reading liner notes for there were the same writers on rotation. I called it the Bob Blumenthal Syndrome school of notes. Patronizingly dull, mundane, almost pedestrian. The kind of writing that was basic ABC recognizable standard fare. Writing that catered to ‘new’ jazz listening. I recognized that most liner were either 1.biographical – recounting the bio background of said artist. or 2. Musically Detailed – . Which prompts the whole issue of ‘liner note’ writing as genre (which some awards committees deem an award-able category of recognition).

An incident with the producer (Blue Note) of Javon Jackson was most trying. Prior I had the honor of penning liners for Jackson’s first recording as a leader on Criss Cross (which most jazz fans would consider a major international label). Jackson asked me to write some liners for his second release, a debut on the heralded Blue Note label. Dutifully submitting the notes the producer phoned me wanting to discuss the notes in detail. After going over the notes she told me, in a matter of fact way that my writing was way too, “Amiri Baraka-ish” and the language, “too hip”! Needless to say I was floored when she said that she couldn’t use them due to deadline constraints, blah, blah, blah.

My mind was in a tizzy. How can liners be “too hip”? At worst sounding too, “Amiri Baraka-ish” was a flag waving signal. Yet I was at a loss. Javon Jackson, whom I considered a close friend apologized and I understood his position. He was powerless under the might of corporate Blue Note. I did not blame him. I blamed the Bob Blumenthal syndrome. I got similar remarks from the producer of the Stephen Scott disc as well however they (Verve) went with them.

The first [Chicago artist] to offer assignments was Malachi Thompson, for whom I wrote for his first domestic debut for Delmark (a great Chicago indie). However, because of a remark I made in an article about a beloved ‘white’ DJ Dick Buckley, label owner Bob Koester considered me an outcast – even to the extent of unofficially banning me from the Jazz Record Mart (which he owned. We’ve since patched up the rift and moved on. He is also the owner of Delmark and has offered me liner assignments).

Herein lies the situation for Black musicians and artists. Who owns the labels from which they are afforded the opportunity to record? The Black Jazz label of the early 70s sought to rectify or balance the artistic outlets available. As did countless other independent efforts Black Jazz died. Economics, media exposure, ad nauseam. Yusef Lateef’s own YAL label is perhaps the only self produced ‘black’ owned and operated label, outlasting all others in the past two decades.

End of Part 1: Stay tuned for Part 2

Thelonious and the Keyboard Bugs
by Walter Bishop, Jr.

Picture if you may:
The scene was Harlem of an earlier day.
Bugs and roaches crawling up and down keyboards
The whites, the blacks,
In and out of the cracks.
Check the facts.
An incredible lot they were;
They had their own kingdom,
They had their own hierarchy,
They had their own God.
It was a centipede named Art –
Brother, he played piano with every part.
He became known as God.
The King was a mighty gnat named Cole.
He played and he sang like a merry old soul.
Then there was elegant Edward, the firefly –
A most illuminating creature.
“Sophisticated Ladies” was to become his feature.
And he’d go on to become the Duke
Of that wonderful land we know of as Ellingtonia.
Then there was Bouncin’ Bill from Red Bank,
The grasshopper.
He had this weird habit
Of jumpin’ up and down at one o’clock each night.
Now, he became known as the Count of Swing,
But you and I know he really was King.
Tad, the talented tadfly –
He would go on to rule Dameronia to “our delight”
Then there was Amazing Bud, the hornet.
He turned the whole thing around
With a machine-gun like sound.
He struck the keys magically
But would end up tragically
In a glass enclosure.
J.P. the honeybee –
In his day he was master, for none could play faster.
Eubie, the termite –
They say he used to eat up piano keys
Morning, noon and night.
And lest I forget –
Those lightening-fingered ladybugs
With names like
Hazel,
Dorothy,
And Mary Lou.
I want to tell you,
They could run up and down the keys with the best of them too.
So you might say
Thelonious learned from the boogie, the stride and the rag,
Then he proceeded to come out of his own personal bag.
But Thelonious had problems, you see,
Because he was a bit too deep
For the average creep.
And I don’t think all his friends could be trusted,
Because lo and behold, Thelonious got busted.
And dig the charges:
Thelonious assault on stock standards.
Melodious malpractice.
Diatonic distortions on boring ballads.
And add to that
Fornicating with the likes of
Liza,
Honeysuckle Rose,
And Sweet Georgia Brown.
How could they know he was just a gigolo.
Well, fortunately for Thelonious,
None of these chicks showed up to press charges.
‘Tis my belief
They dug the changes he put ’em through.
I know they were never the same!
So,
That slowed him down for awhile,
But he wasn’t about to change his style.
He merely went underground
And proceeded to perfect his sound.
And wouldn’t you know it –
Soon the scene became imbued
With the sound of “Monk’s Mood”.
And even the finks
Ordered their drinks
“Straight, No Chaser”.
I mean, from underground artiste,
Outwit the beast.
Become high priest.
Which reminds me:
In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
It was Polonious,
While counseling his son Laertes,
Who was about to embark on a trip to England –
The last thing he said to him was
“This above all things, my son,
To thine own self be true.”
In our lifetime, it would be Thelonious’s life style
Which was the embodiment of these words of wisdom.
A seer without peer.
A musical mutineer.
He would go on to commandeer
A new frontier.
And become known among nations
For his bold innovations.
What more can I say?
He loved to love us
And left us
The ‘evidence.”

In our ongoing series of dialogues with artists on their expectations of music critics & journalists, and the publications they write for, NEA Jazz Master Benny Golson – one of the more thoughtful people in this music – weighed in with two essays. Here is the second of Benny’s two erudite contributions to the dialogue.

The Value Of An Interview

In the early nineties, after being interviewed by a respected journalist of international repute, I was told by a mutual friend of ours that he was somewhat disappointed with my interview. Speaking of interviews in general, he said, “Some (people) have it and some don’t,” negatively referring to mine, of course. Without being influenced by “The law of unintended consequence,” I’ve found this to work both ways, however, if a person is not asked the most thought-provoking questions in a most thought-provoking way, the interview can become a challenge of linguistic arithmetic rather than that which is consequential and inspiring. The most meaningful way a interviewer can be consequential, that is, aside from knowing how to write, is to intimately know the subject — at least by reputation — prompting what he does, connoting as he probes on deeper levels. Connoting? That is, suggesting additional meaning, can prompt the subject to think in more expansive and intense ways, whether the suggestions of the interviewer are right or wrong. If he’s right, the subject, having first hand information, could possibly be inclined, influenced, persuaded to expound on it, taking it toward a logical and enlightening conclusion. If he’s wrong, the subject, again having first hand information, could possibly be prompted to defend the truth by elaborating on it. In both cases becoming much more exhaustive, circumstantial, and specific in his replies. Otherwise, the subject must be prepared to tirelessly fill in for what is adumbrate, fractional, equivocal, and opaque. Some interviewers often circle the camp but never enter. Things would be so much easier if they entered and directly touched someone or something. What I’m saying here is that a bad interview sometimes results because of the one chosen to conduct it. When an interview begins with: “When were you born?” or “Who is your favorite saxophone player?” or “When did you begin playing?” etc., rest assured, you’re off on an arduous journey to nowhere, believe me.
The unfortunate thing here is that the interviewer might never know what he’s done, or more accurately, what he’s not done. True, that which is basic is sometimes essential in setting up some sort of detailed backdrop, depending upon the nature of the interview. If it centers around times, places, and dates, then the questions will have no choice but to set up answers of chronological importance. In spite of this, never should the interview be platitudinous: banal, that is, deficient in originality, and freshness. Yes, freshness! No rubber stamp questions; each person interviewed is a completely different entity. Why try to fit him into someone else’s mold? Unfortunately, the interviewer might intuitively, or otherwise, be too strongly affected by the critical acclaim critically afforded himself, causing him to not always be critical of himself. It’s possible for him to be overreached by the complacency of self-assurance, even if he had no such intention. This, too, is a part of our imperfect, human make up. I mention this only because I’ve seen it happen time and again. The value of an interview depends upon all of the aforementioned things. But to what end? That people come away with not only information, but with things presented in an interesting, informative, and exhaustive way, enabling them to form a complete and accurate mental picture because of not being “there.” Afterall, that’s the purpose of an interview, isn’t it? These are all things that should be controlled by the interviewer, providing the subject understands. And if he doesn’t, it’s the interviewers commission to make him understand.
Fortunately, there are many wonderful journalists who bring out the best in the people they face; many even going beyond what I’ve written here. They are as gems meticulously cut from among humankind, then polished with the cloth of time.

NEWS
Artists Collective, Inc.
1200 Albany Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06112
(860) 527-3205
For Immediate Release

Contact: Melonae’ McLean
November 3, 2011

ARTISTS COLLECTIVE RECEIVES DONATION FROM JOSH GROBAN’S FIND YOUR LIGHT FOUNDATION


ARTIST COLLECTIVE FOUNDERS JACKIE & DOLLIE MCLEAN

Groban to Recognize Artists Collective from Stage During Concert at Manchester, New Hampshire at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday, November 8th.

Hartford, CT – Artists Collective today announced that it has been selected by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Josh Groban to receive a donation from his new Find Your Light Foundation, which is dedicated to enriching the lives of young people through arts, education, and cultural awareness. Artists Collective is one of just 42 arts education nonprofit organizations selected by Groban to receive funds from The Find Your Light Foundation during his “Straight to You” tour.

Founding Executive Director, Dollie McLean said “This is quite an honor for the Artists Collective, the children and community we serve, the State of Connecticut and the
City of Hartford. Josh Groban is demonstrating that he is not only a great artist, he is also a humanitarian. His Find Your Light Foundation recognizing arts organizations around the country during his national tour is setting a wonderful example for other artists with popular, international fame to give back and help others along the way.”

“Josh Groban is creatively weaving his social consciousness into his performances for the greater good. This is a wonderful example and lesson for everyone, particularly children. Artists Collective Founder Jackie McLean was frequently quoted as saying “You have to be a good person first to be a great artist.”

“Ensuring every child has the opportunity to experience an arts education is very important to me,” said Groban. “Artists Collective shares this goal with me, and it gives me great pleasure to highlight the work they do.”

While Groban tours the U.S. on his “Straight to You” tour, his Find Your Light Foundation will make a cash donation to a nonprofit arts education organization that operates in each locale in which the tour stops. In addition, Groban is inviting the head of that nonprofit; the artists, students and/or teachers who provide services for the nonprofit; and the children and young adults who receive services from the nonprofit to attend his concert and be recognized from the stage. They will also have the opportunity to meet Groban prior to the performance.

Taking the foundation’s mission one step further, Groban is partnering with Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, to launch a joint text-to-give campaign, which will run for the duration of his “Straight to You” tour in 2011. Proceeds from the campaign will go to support both The Find Your Light Foundation and Americans for the Arts as they work to ensure every child and young adult in America has access to quality arts education experiences. Text ART to 50555 to make a $10 donation to support the cause.

Groban will be in Manchester, New Hampshire at the Verizon Wireless Arena to perform on Tuesday, November 8th. as part of his “Straight To You” worldwide tour running through November. The tour supports his recent and fifth studio album, ‘Illuminations’ which has already been certified platinum in the U.S. Its No. 4 debut on Billboard’s Top 200 chart is Groban’s fourth consecutive Top 5 chart bow. Tickets for Josh’s upcoming shows are available through http://www.ticketmaster.com .

Artists Collective, Inc. founded in 1970 by Jackie McLean, the internationally acclaimed alto saxophonist, composer, educator and community activist, has entered
its 41st year as an interdisciplinary arts and cultural institution serving the Greater Hartford, Connecticut region. As the only multi-arts cultural organization of its kind
in Connecticut that emphasizes the cultural and artistic contributions of the African Diaspora, the Collective continues to offer the highest quality training in the performing arts-dance, theater, music and visual arts. In addition, the Collective exposes students and the community at large to great and too often overlooked artists of the past and present.

About Find Your Light
To find out more about the Find Your Light Foundation, please visit the organization’s website at http://www.findyourlightfoundation.org and/or its Facebook page athttp://www.facebook.com/findyourlightfoundation.

About Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org .

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