Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense

Fans of jazz documentary will be interested in "Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense." Here's a video preview for "Icons Among Us".

The series features performances and interviews with legendary jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis and many more.

“Icons Among Us,” directed by Michael Rivoira, Lars Larson and Peter J. Vogt examines the jazz music scene today by focusing the spotlight on many current jazz icons including The Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard, Jason Moran, Ravi Coltrane, the Benevento-Russo Duo, Robert Glasper, Charlie Hunter, Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Medeski Martin and Wood.

The series makes its television debut on The Documentary Channel, April 20, 2009 and four consecutive Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT.

25th Annual Herb Patnoe Memorial Jazz Festival

(March 7, 2006) - Yes, this concert did take place a few years ago, but I've been meaning to post something on this annual event put on by DeAnza College. The great aspect of this show was/is something that never gets old: Teaching.

There's something terriffic about musicians who move beyond the essential (but limiting) "ME, ME, ME" phase of expression. These people understand the vital importance of providing wisdom, training, and inspiration to the youth.

The Herb Patnoe Memorial Jazz Festival was established shortly after the untimely death of "Doc" Patnoe in 1981. It has since become an annual tribute to the internationally revowned jazz educator and founer of the jazz programs at Foothill and De Anza Colleges. Patnoe produced some of the most outstanding jazz ensembles in the nationa at De Anza College in the 1960s and 70s. Many of his students went on to perform professionally with jazz leaders such as Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman."

Trumpeter Marvin Stam and Pianist Bill Mays were the two featured teachers in the 25th annual Patnoe Jazz Fest.

Marvin Stamm was a trumpet soloist and a member of the Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Duker Perason and American Jazz orchestras. For 23 yeras a major New York City studio musician, Stamm currently travels much of the year as a Jazz artist in duo with pianist Bill Mays of with his quartet.

Bill Mays begain his recording career as musical director for Sarah Vaughan and went on to work with such legendary performers as Frank Sinatra, Shelly Manne, Art Pepper, Clark Terry and Sonny Stitt, among others. Since moving to New York City in the mid-1980s, Bill has led his own quintets, trios, and duos at Birdland, the Blue Note, Bradley's, the Knickerbocker, the Village Gate, Visiones and many other of the city's noted venues.

Set List:
Berceuse for Mallory, Steve Spiegl
Delta City Blues, Michale Brecker/arr. Dave Eshelman
This Space for Rent, Jeff Bunnell
Kingfish, Bill Holman
Walking Ovation Blues, Alf Clausen
Samba de Oro, Bill Prince
Play Song, Bill Mays
Greetings and Salutations, Thad Jones
Just Kidding, Elaine Elias/arr. Bob Brookmeyer
So What, Miles Davis/arr. John La Barbera
Cherry Juice, Thad Jones
Who's 'at Talking'?, Marvin Stamm/arr. Jack Cortner
Ballad, Jack Cortner
Secret Love, Webster & Fain/ arr. Jack Cortner
A Tribute to Art Fern, Rob McConnell

* I quote liberally from the well-written festival program.

Herb Alpert: Music For Your Eyes

Most folks know about Herb Alpert via Tijuana Brass, or maybe from his 80's pop hit "Keep Your Eye on Me." But did you know the renowned trumpeter is also an accomplished painter and sculptor? It's all true! Read on...

THE DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL HIGHLIGHTS THE INSPIRATION OF MUSIC WITHIN ART IN THE EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE OF
“Herb Alpert: Music For Your Eyes”
ON monday, March 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT

The Documentary Channel® (DOC) will present the exclusive premiere of “Herb Alpert: Music For Your Eyes,” written and directed by Tom Neff, showcasing abstract paintings and sculptures by legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert on Monday, March 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT as part of the network’s tribute to its founder, Neff, in recognition of “Founder’s Month.”

“Herb Alpert: Music For Your Eyes,” explores Alpert’s abstract paintings and his more figurative bronze sculptures, focusing on the first major retrospective of his work given at the Tennessee State Museum. Written and directed by Neff and produced in cooperation with the Tennessee State Museum, it showcases trumpeter Herb Alpert and the infusion of music in his paintings and sculptures through color, concept, and form.


DOC is available on DISH Network (Channel 197), and several broadcast stations in major markets including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.

Charlie Hunter - Baboon Strength

I recently heard parts of Charlie Hunter's new album, Baboon Strength. It's alright! Definitely funky. I like that he's consciously trying not to overplay. If you joing his mailing list, you get a get a free MP3 of the Charlie Hunter Quartet performing Bob Marley's "Talkin' Blues", which also appears on Hunter's 1997 album Natty Dread.

1997 - that was the year when Charlie made his move to NYC and the Bay Area jazz scene lost one of its marquis players -- kind of like when Shaq left the Magic for the Lakers. Anyway, Charlie comes back to play here often. Right now, he's on tour with the personnel from Baboon Strength, Eric Deutsch on keys and Tony Mason on drums. They just finished a run at Yoshi's in December '08. Hunter's next gig in the Bay will be at Cafe Du Nord for Scott Amandola's Birthday Bash on February 6, 2009.

New York Jazz

I visited New York City over the holiday. It was bitter cold, but I had fun riding the subway around Manhattan and Brooklyn. New York is a huge city (and the music scene there is equally big), but something about the place reminds me of San Francisco. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hear much music on this trip.

Over the years, a few notable Bay Area jazz musicians have relocated to New York. Maybe it doesn't qualify as a trend, but I first started noticing it back in 1997, when Charlie Hunter moved to Brooklyn. Since then, it seems that other folks have pulled up stakes and gone East, like Jim Campilongo (in 2002) and Dred Scott. I can see the allure of New York -- there's a palpable energy there that you don't really find other places. Anyway, it'd be cool if someday they all moved back to S.F. and started a revival, circa 1993.

In other New York jazz news: Have you heard of Cleve Douglas? After a decade and a half of tours in Japan, Cleve is returning officially to the New York night club scene. Check it out: http://www.clevedouglass.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/clevejazz

CD Release Party for Valerie Minh's "Meridians"

Just in case you're in the San Francisco Bay Area area during the holidays, I'd like to invite you to my CD Release Party & performance on Dec. 28, 8pm at Anna's Jazz Island in downtown Berkeley! It's a cute jazz club, very welcoming atmosphere, located at 2120 Allston Way. I'll be performing with my trio (myself on piano, Eric Marshall on bass, Andre Custodio on drums) with special guests Alex Yeung on electric guitar, and my jazz mentor Eddie Gale, a legendary trumpeter who recorded with Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra. It should be a great evening of music!

Warm wishes for the holidays, Valerie Minh

John Pizzarelli at Yoshi's SF, Nov. 9, 2008

The John Pizzarelli Quartet gave a high energy performance at Yoshi's San Francisco on Sunday, November 9, 2008. John and the Quartet were promoting their latest album With a Song in My Heart, a collection of tunes from the "American Songbook."

John worked the crowd with humor, verve and tons of guitar mastery. He plays an incredible number of notes when soloing. Amazingly, John simultaneously sings the notes produced by his guitar, so the notes are not accidental, but premeditated.

The band really swings, too. Fuller's adept piano work provides solid support for the guitar (as opposed to doing battle with it). Aside from having that musical blood connection, John and Martin have an amusing big brother-little brother dynamic on stage. And Tony Todesco's drum work was subtle, complex and unpredictable - no mean feat when playing standards.

Players

John Pizzarelli - guitar, vocals
Martin Pizzarelli - bass
Larry Fuller - piano
Tony Todesco - drums

Set List

1. Will You Still Be Mine - Words & Music by Tom Adair & Matt Dennis

2. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket - From South Pacific

3. I'm in the Mood for Love - Words & Music by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields for the film Every Night at Eight
John introduced this number by quoting a critic's description of his vocal stylings: "A cross between two classics - Chet Baker and Alfalfa." During his solo, John did an impressive tapping technique on his guitar.

4. This Can't Be Love - Words & Music by Richard Rodgers and Lorenzo Hart from The Boys from Syracuse. This song appears on JP's current CD With a Song In My Heart.

5. Happy Talk - Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Nice brush work by Tony here.

6. I Like to Recognize the Tune - Rodgers & Hart. JP told a story about how this number was written in reaction to unconventional jazz arrangements of their songs, such as those by Peggy Lee. JP's version of the tune had snippets of a lot of different songs, like Blue Moon, Sleigh Ride and the Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm.

7. No Body's Heart Belongs to Me - Rodgers & Hart

8. Poor Johnny

9. The Waters of March - Antonio Carlos Jobim
JP: It took me a while to learn all the lyrics for this one. Someone told me, if you forget the words, just look around the room and start naming things.

10. Everything Happens to Me - Dennis & Adair

11. Lemon Twist - Bobby Troup, George Shearing
The band played this in homage to a group of martinis with a twist of lemon sitting on a front row table.

12. If Dreams Come True - George Shearing

13. Whether You're Hear or Yonder

14. Medley/Finale:
It Had to Be You
As Time Goes By
The More I See You
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Just In Time

15. Encore:
Can't Buy Me Love - McCartney & Lennon