Obama Music Education Issue

504 MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 6

CITYBUZZ

Welcome to the New NEW ORLEANS

W W W. 5 0 4 M A G . C O M

Barack

OBAMA 504 Mag is proud to celebrate Black History Month and the birth place of Jazz , New Orleans

ALSO featuring: Mayor Mitch Landrieu Donald Harrison Calvin Johnson Stephaine Jordan Yisrael Trio Michael Brecker David Sanborn Dr. Michael White Buddy Bolden Sonny Rollins: and more

504Mag supports music education

“with music on their mind there’s no time for crime”

NOLA- FOR- LIFE IT’S TIME TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON CRIME IN OUR

CITIES 504MAG.COM

CONGRATULATIONS NEW ORLEANS 504MAG & SHELL OIL CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY

BUDDY BOLDEN

THE BIRTHPLACE OF JAZZ

LOUIS ARMSTONG THE TEACHER

DR.M.L. KING

FOR BIRTHING JAZZ in 1819 Mayor Mitch Landrieu

MONTH AND THE BIRTH PLACE OF JAZZ NOLA

CHARLIE “BIRD” PARKER

NAT KING COLE

BENNY GOLSON

JOHNNY GIFFIN

Michael Brecker

cONTENTS 5

THE NEW NEW ORLEANS “This magazine is dedicated toward building the New NEW ORLEANS�

- Doc Jones -

Mr. Mayor

Donald Harrison

504

magazine

Interviewing Mayor Mitch Landrieu on the Nola for Life Program

14

504Mag talks with DONALD HARRISON

5

20

14

504Mag introduces Calvin Johnson For customer service, change of address, and subscription inquiries, please visit www.504mag.com

28

Stephanie Jordan Representing a great New Orleans musical family

Calvin Johnson

20

30 Music Education a Must Barack Obama

34 Yisrael Trio the furture is here Neo School Of Jazz

38

A Tribute to Michael Brecker

40

David Sanborn set down with 504 magazine and more

30

Yisrael Trio

34

38

A Tribute to Michael Brecker

Sonny Rollins & Barack Obama

Stephanie Jordan

Daivd Sanborn

28

40

all content and photograph material are copyrighted to their respected owners. to contact our editorial team please email us at publish@504mag.com

38 504 MAGAZINE 4

flip the script on crime today By: Cynthia Gill Mitchell 504Magazine surmises that the excellence Mitchell Landrieu has exuded as a mediator continues to serve him quite well in his role as Mayor of New Orleans. Our investigation evidences he continues to tout the same gumption in his mayoral role as he did during the 15 years he ran his own law firm. In the Mayor’s quest to pursue and maintain the trust of the people of NOLA, no doubt the 61st Mayor of New Orleans has proven his worth by standing up for a city previously hardened and broken by the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Landrieu heard the voices loud and clear from a people who undoubtedly crave a different spirit – a leader who possesses an eclectic brand of quality leadership in their time of major strife. He complied, and continues to act as a productive advocate for people who need his support, refusing to settle for small dreams for all residents of NOLA’s torn communities.

504 Mag Interviews Mayor Landrieu on the Importance of Music Education in reducing crime

Coming from a family of 9 children, Mayor Landrieu and his wife Cheryl have 5 children of their own, and as a proud family man, it’s with little wonder that one of his passionate focuses are aimed at the New Orleans’ family and its continued growth. According to Mayor Landrieu, “he always seeks to

bring people together to find common ground…“ – hence, his mantra: One Team, One Fight, One Voice, One City.

Who would disagree that it still takes a village.

504Magazine is proud to join the majority to concur that Mayor Landrieu has mastered some major feats during his 2-year tenure as Mayor of New Orleans. He has most definitely run a distance with his sleeves rolled to conquer the odds in order to renew and rebuild a city obviously still reeling from the aftermath of unexpected human tragedies and grappling with long-lasting, devastating memories. Beating some of those odds has definitely been a major conquest – especially considering all he has ultimately achieved since taking office in 2010. Although the Mayor still has a way to go, but in the interim, his non-stop drive and tenacity is serving to dispel a lot of doubts that might still be in the forefront of the minds of those who have endured Mother Nature’s horrific wrath.

Continued on page 8 504 MAGAZINE 5

The Mayor, Trumpet Black,

Take their message to the

and Trombone Shorty

schools let’s play not fight

“NOLA FOR LIFE” Mayor Mitch Landrieu set out to “Flip the Script” on muder in New Orleans

By: Cynthia Gill Mitchell

Mayor Landrieu graduated from Catholic University in Washington, DC in 1982, and Loyola University Law School in New Orleans in 1985. He served as a State Legislator for 16 years in the Broadmoor community, where he and his family still reside. He was also Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana for 6 years. While at his law firm, he focused on alternative dispute resolution. Hence, his astounding leadership prowess has served him well.

It is 504Magazine’s pleasure to share with you the profound statements made by the Mayor when we queried him about his views on the newly launched NOLA FOR LIFE fund, the “Flip the Script Campaign” backed by Spike Lee, and the messages he reveals in his love for the music and collaborations with some of NOLA’s finest musicians on the “Horns for Schools” project.

504Mag.: The Greater New Orleans Foundation will house the NOLA FOR LIFE Fund, which was created by the City of New Orleans. As part of your NOLA FOR LIFE murder reduction plan you also received a $1 million dollar donation to the fund from Chevron. It is also reported that the City will match the tax-deductible donations to the NOLA FOR LIFE Fund dollar-for- dollar, up to $250,000. How will it be determined who will receive these funds, and what organizations will be recipients of same?

Mayor Landrieu: We’re committed to using the money raised through the NOLA FOR LIFE Fund to help the population of young men who are most at risk to kill or be killed to turn their lives around. We’ve made $500,000 available for a first round of grants to local non-profit organizations who can deliver high-quality programs and social services to this population of young men. These grants will be awarded through a highly competitive process to ensure that we identify and support organizations with a track record of success and a commitment to serving at-risk youth.

8 stylus magazine

504Mag.: Do you have a goal in mind as to how much funding you plan to distribute to each selected recipient, or will you just simply run the gamut and distribute as needed?

Mayor Landrieu: Our goal is to identify and support local non-profits that can make the biggest difference in helping young men escape the cycle of violence and murder. Each proposal will be evaluated and the selection committee will determine the final number of grants and amounts awarded in this first round, with the maximum grant amount being $50,000. This is the first of what we expect will be multiple requests for proposals from the NOLA FOR LIFE Fund.

504Mag.: You have a link called http://nolaforlife.org., which will allow organizations as well as individuals to donate. Is there a minimum, and how will the average, “hard-working” man/woman know if their earned dollars will be distributed as requested?

Mayor Landrieu: Yes, people who want to help with this initiative can go to NOLAFORLIFE. org to donate what they can. No amount is too small and donors can select whether they want their money to be used for specific programs like social services, jobs or housing.

Highlighting the importance of public private partnerships, there also is a link on the site to purchase items available through local entrepreneurs, with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting the Fund. We also have information about volunteer and mentoring opportunities for those who want to make a difference in the lives of young people.

504Mag.: Do you agree with Spike Lee’s statement: “Bright young lives are being snuffed out on New Orleans’ streets daily. Our young Black men are killing each other like it’s a selfimposed genocide.”

Mayor Landrieu: There’s no doubt that young Black men killing young Black men is a serious problem in New Orleans. There’s a culture of murder in our community that’s not new. What we’re trying to say with NOLA FOR LIFE is that we can and must find a way to stop the killing. We have a plan; but to end the cycle of violence and death on our streets, it’s going to take every one’s involvement. We have to have all hands on deck.

504Mag: Genocide is one of those words not used very often these days in describing violence among Blacks. Do you think that “Flip the Script” can bring back an awareness of this stigma?

Mayor Landrieu: Flip the Script, the public awareness campaign we launched in association with NOLA FOR LIFE, has a message that is ultimately positive. We’re showing the violence in the headlines that we’ve all become too accustomed to seeing, can be removed – that young men caught up in the cycle of violence can flip the script on their lives and find a new direction. We want to help them.

We can, as a community, help them and show them that their lives are worth fighting for.

504Mag: Is it in “Flip the Script’s” future plans to suggest this concept to high officials in other major cities that are also experiencing extremely high crime rates; for instance, Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago? If so, would it be based solely on your successes, or, would you suggest others to launch a si milar program on the heels of your organization spearheading a nationwide collaboration?

Mayor Landrieu: Since launching the NOLA FOR LIFE initiative last year, our team has been focused with laser-like intensity on changing the culture of violence and murder in New Orleans. The initiative five pillars:

Stop the Shooting, Invest in Prevention, Promote Jobs and Opportunity, Get Involved and Rebuild Neighborhoods and Improve the NOPD. Just as we’ve looked at ideas that have worked in other cities, such as the Group Violence Reduction Strategy, we hope to be able to share our successes with other cities facing similar challenges.

504Mag: Obviously your position on music education is an important one, so I would imagine you plan to tie that interest into the NOLA FOR LIFE Crime Reduction Plan.

Mayor Landrieu: Our strategy places a big focus on prevention, jobs, and opportunities for young people. It’s why we’re reinvesting in our NORDC recreational facilities supporting community programs and projects that provide enrichment, mentoring and life skills training for at-risk youth and that use arts or cultural programming to support youth development. It’s our mission to have youth and families flourishing in safe and healthy neighborhoods, with access to quality educational, economic and cultural opportunities.

504Mag: It seems you are pretty in touch with a lot of the popular musicians in NOLA. An example of your music participation was in 2011 when you collaborated with Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews’ “Horns for Schools” Project, and you chimed in on a jam session with your performance on trumpet. Do you anticipate this and other like-programs to become a part of this collaborative effort, which will eventually include other musicians, famous and not so famous?

Mayor Landrieu: Horns for Schools is a great project. I’ve been out with Troy to four schools to give out specially designed Trombone Shorty trumpets and trombones. As Troy will tell you, whether its music, sports, or another avenue – you can choose the right path. I really applaud him for giving back to the community in this way and helping to change lives.

That’s what this plan is all about, everyone doing their part. We were fortunate to have the Hot 8 Brass Band join us at the Flip the Script launch— the band lost drummer Dinerral Shavers to murder in 2006, so this issue hits close to home— and as we continue with this effort, we’re looking forward to working with our local artists and others who want to help create a culture that celebrates life.

504Mag is quite impressed, and as the City’s 61st Mayor, Mitch Landrieu has also accomplished and embraced “enhancing quality of life,” “attracting high-tech jobs,” school performance is up,” 80% of NOLA students are currently attending charter schools,” “attacking blight,” “real estate market is thriving,” and “billions of dollars are being invested in

housing, schools, hospitals, parks and playgrounds,” “roads and vital hurricane protection.” Add to that, the Mayor and his constituents should also be applauded for: Reforming the NOPD through a partnership with the Department of Justice; Creating the Jobs of the 21st Century in New Orleans by launching the NOLA Business Alliance; Secured $1.8 billion in funding for the rebuilding of New Orleans’ school facilities; launched a comprehensive blight strategy which aims to eliminate up to 10,000 blighted and/or vacant properties by 2014 and enhance existing neighborhood revitalization strategies; Helped secure $437 million in new funding from FEMA for critical infrastructure and capital project improvements including new money for roads, drainage, parks and playgrounds, and criminal justice facilities; Reformed City budget practices, including closing $100 million budget deficit inherited in 2010; Leveraged over $76 million in philanthropic funding and federal grants designed to invest in the city; Restored trust in city government by reforming contracting and procurement processes and increasing transparency and accountability in government, and has focused on rebuilding New Orleans through the 100 Projects commitment. The projects cover a wide range of facilities, from recreation to health clinics to criminal justice facilities to major road overhauls. Mayor Mitchell Landrieu is definitely one of the powers that be who has led the brigade in an extreme effort to re-build a town whose puzzle pieces have not been easy to assemble. There are still those straggling issues, as with any administration, but I think that his accomplishments achieved in such a short time for a City so broken, have been next to remarkable. I’d say he is a nonstop, no-nonsense advocate for reform – in a big way.

Publisher / CEO William “Doc” Jones Senior Writer / Chief Editor Shirley A. Jones

NEW ORLEANS THE BIRTH PLACE OF JAZZ

Senior Writer/ Editor Cynthia Gill Mitchell Staff Writer Douglas Berry Senior Design Layout Wm. Doc. Jones Associate Editor / Ass. Layout design Patrick Gilder Chief Photo Editor Doc Jones Assistant Photo Editor Fredy Garcia ©504 Multi MEDIA LLC. All Rights Reserved Assocate Design Layout Mitchelle Williams

Dexter Gorden

Welcome to 504Magazine. As Publisher & CEO, I would like to congratulate Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Marc Morial, President Barack Obama, and all of the music educators who are committed to giving the “at-risk” youth of New Orleans the opportunity to “Flip The Script” on crime through the “Nola For Life” and other programs.

Doc Jones Publisher Wm Doc Jones & Mayor Mitch Landrieu

DOC JONES & MARC MORIAL “Keep up the good work Doc and 504 Magazine Once you meet him, you’ll remember him. Dr. William Jones (lovingly referred to as Doc) is Founder/CEO and Chief Editor of the pulse of NOLA’s, 504Mag.com. Doc Jones brings a high level energy, excitement and hands on involvement to anything he believes in. Doc’s motto, love of people, and talents continues to be, “if you believe in it, you should be a contributing factor to it.”

Doc is excited about the restoration of and is spearheading an all out effort to bring an influx of new ready-to-run contributors to the area armed with current information in 504Mag.com. He recently stated, “It’s not the remaining rubble, though the devastation of Katrina remains vividly in my mind, but the beauty of the people, the succulence of the food and the throngs of happy tourist I once performed for myself on Bourbon Street.”

504Mag.com comes to give and not take from the history of the culture within that makes NOLA so unique. I come to give and not take toward the complete restoration of New Orleans.

ARTS EDUCATION IS A MUST your work is very important” Marc Morial Doc Jones has been a music educator and professional musician /restaurant owner for more than 35 years. Everywhere he has lived from Chicago to Arizona and now New Orleans, he has left a trail of happy and fond memories. Though there will always be a special place in his heart for Chicago, Doc Jones is quoted to have said New Orleans is, “His Kind of Town.”

With Music On Their Mind

Photo By Doc Jones

There’s No Time For Crime

Doc Jones

www.reachandteachtoday.com

Music Edu. in Nola is alive and well thanks

Donald “BIG CHIEF” harrison By: Shirley A Jones

5

Berklee College of Music for three years.

great musicians call him to collaborate with

04Mag invites you to join

Though he began playing as a professional

or perform with them.

us on a journey through

while in high school, Harrison gained rec-

the life of a musical phe-

ognition for his tone and ability on both

W

hen

Blanchard

and Harrison left Blakey’s

band,

nomenon in the world of

alto and tenor saxophones, playing in the

Jazz and so much more! We’re speaking of

bands of greats such as Roy Haynes, Jack

Donald Big Chief Harrison, who was born

McDuff, and most famously, Art Blakey’s

cording as the Terence Blanchard/Donald

in New Orleans, Louisiana. Harrison, Jr. is

Jazz Messengers. Donald later partnered

Harrison Quintet. Between 1983-1988, they

as celebrated a jazz saxophonist, composer,

with Terence Blanchard also performing in

produced five albums. During that match

humanitarian and educator you might find

Blakey’s band. Donald Harrison earned his

made in Heaven, Harrison also took part in

they

began

re-

on the face of the earth today. though he

recording sessions in the

once had dual residency in New York and

jazz vanguard: in 1985,

New Orleans, he currently resides in New

he played on various re-

Orleans. He is the son of the late Donald

cordings, including The

Harrison, Sr., a legendary New Orleans

Sixth Sense (Black Saint)

folklorist who was also Big Chief of four

with Bobby Battle, Olu

different New Orleans Indian Tribes. A

Dara, and Fred Hopkins,

legacy Harrison, Jr. carries on in his ser-

and in 1986. The Quin-

vice as Big Chief Donald Harrison of the

tet split in 1989

Congo Square Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group. Harrison began his education at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and studied with elder, Ellis

station in the music realm and is known as

Marsalis. After graduating, he attended the

a musicians’ musician; that is to say, other

504 MAGAZINE 14

to theTipitinas Foundation & Donald Harrison

D

ONALD HARRISON, JR. (The King of Nouveau Swing) Donald Harrison is being called one of the most important musicians of the

new millennium by CBS Sunday Morning. A list of his accomplishments shows that he has developed into a musical category unto himself.

Photo By: Gerald Herbert

A

s a bandleader in his

T

culture as a participant.

nomic activities.” Under Harrison’s helm as

oday, though Harrison’s

Artistic Director of Internship at Tipatina’s,

seemly allows little time to

he was able to partner with an area school,

sleep or eat, he focuses on

O. Perry Walker High School’s band group,

his responsibilities a Big

known as the Chosen Ones; together they

lowed it with the historic Indian Blues. It was

Chief and his Director position at the Tipi-

collaborated to send young music student

the first time that Harrison actively engaged

tina’s Foundation. In his position since 2003,

hopefuls to Japan;; “they made it happen.”

his New Orleans musical heritage on a large

he also manages to perform and record while

The two organizations partnered sending a

scale. It wedded Mardi Gras Indian tunes and

serving as the Director of the Internship Pro-

total of16 young students to Ishinomaki and

chanting (through favor of the Guardians of

gram. Donald instructs area youth who have

Kesennuma, Japan. The music students trav-

the Flame Mardi Gras Indians with his father

displayed an interest in pursuing music as a

eled to Tsunami-ravaged Japan during the

on vocals), to funky Crescent City rhythm &

career choice. Once a week, he meets with

Fall of 2012. 504Mag honors, respects and

blues and modern jazz. The session featured

young boys and girls in his after school pro-

heralds the work of Donald Harrison, Jr. and

own right, Harrison issued the hard bop Blakey tribute album entitled

“For Art’s Sake” on Candid in 1991 and fol-

Dr. John, Cyrus Chestnut, Carl Al-

F

the Tipatina’s Foundation.

len, Phil Bowler, Bruce Cox, and Howard Smiley Ricks. Harrison

urther,

to

his

credit,

Donald

Harrison, Jr. the

also recorded the smooth jazz date

musician/educa-

The Power of Cool, which was released in Germany in 1991, but not

tor has taught an impressive list

until 1994 in the States. In 1993, he

of young upstarts which includes

signed to GRP/Impulse. His first

trumpeter Christian Scott, trom-

album for that label was Nouveau

bonist/singer Trombone Shorty,

Swing, the album -- and concept

guitarist Josh Connelly and saxo-

-- that gave Harrison his nickname

phonists Louis Fouche, Chris

“the King of Nouveau Swing.”

Royal and Aaron Fletcher. His

A

s stated, cur-

working groups have proven to

rently

Har-

be a quiet incubator for jazz band

rison is The

leaders such as guitarist Mark

Big Chief of

Whitfield, pianist Cyrus Chestnut

the Congo Square Nation Afro-

and bassist(s) Christian McBride,

New Orleans Cultural Group Na-

Dwayne Burno, and Esperanza

tion Group. During slavery, Africans danced

gram, where he teaches and shares his decades

Spaulding - all of whom spent time playing

and drummed on Sundays. Congo Square is

of “on and off the gig experience.” For those of

with Harrison, Jr.

where during Mardi Gras that time honored

you who are not familiar with this well known

tradition has residents and many ancestors

organization, Tipitina’s Foundation was set

wearing uniforms and outfits paying homage

up in 1970 and is a non-profit organization,

to West Indian and Native American historic

that supports and promotes local music, area

traditions. Retaining Congo Square’s tradi-

culture, music education in schools and many

tions are important because “The Square”

of the hundreds of area musicians. Tipatina’s

was one of the only places in America where

mission statement says its premise is “To pro-

people of African descents were allowed to

mote, preserve, perpetuate and encourage the

openly participate in their African culture.

music, arts, culture and heritage of communi-

Harrison keeps alive the offshoot rituals, call

ties in Louisiana through festivals, programs

and response chants, and drumming of this

and other cultural, educational, civic and eco-

continue page 57

504 MAGAZINE 16

Photo By: Gerald Herbert

Greatest Saxophone Players

Donald. Harrison

Charlie Bird Parker

Calvin Johnson

Kerry Cambell

of the past and future

John Coltrane

Yirmeyahu Yisrael

Michael Brecker

THE NEXT GENERATION GREAT SAX PLAYERS ARE

HERE - CALVIN JOHNSON IS IN THAT CLASS Photo by Sandrine Lee

Debut CD Jewel’s Lullaby

504 MAG IS HONORED TO PRESENT TO ITS READERS CALVIN JOHNSON By: Cynthia Gill Mitchell Doc Jones, Publisher and CEO of 504Magazine, had his feelers out and caught wind of and paid attention to the buzz on the streets - Calvin Johnson, Jr. When he first realized what this young man was made of, he didn’t hesitate to request a feature story. This vibrant, tenor saxophonist respectfully turned us down for a previous issue - but it was bittersweet for 504Mag, especially since Calvin revealed that he was anticipating the release of his first CD. It was worth the wait. Calvin indeed delivered with JEWEL’S LULLABY, dedicated to and aptly named for his “baby girl,” and which Calvin pens as a melody he composed while attempting to put her to sleep…For this “Jewel” of a melody, Calvin claims he couldn’t wait to express his feelings about this precious new bundle, and the opportunity to finally acknowledge certain emotions that he could no longer contain.

Prior to this writer’s easy-listening experience, Calvin Johnson’s performance – along with famed trumpeter, Mario Abney, at 504Mag’s 1st anniversary celebration in NOLA recently, served as somewhat of a precursor to what was next to come. Calvin Johnson’s soft-spoken, respectful demeanor, allowed me to reflect, when I returned home to personally witness 22 stylus magazine

those age-old standards tinged with a potpourri of his original masterpieces. He begins this journey with Miles Davis’s, “So Near, So Far:” a 50’s swing-like sound with a twist. “If You Could See Me Now:” I imagined older jazz cronies and aficionados of the art, snapping fingers and patting their feet to the applause nearing this piece’s slow-moving fade-out. And Calvin’s rendition of “Amazing Grace,” Ya’ll….simply amazing. A church favorite sang and played by many, was captured by Calvin to include his shadow-horn in the background that comes across like a musical echo, a melodic “imaginary” voice that chimes in and set in Calvin’s ingenious personal tones.

c

Calvin at The White House

Calvin Johnson seems unscathed by the obvious multi-tasking and overwhelming, yet welcomed line-up of musical commitments he has come to know. Discipline is a good word to describe what it took to get to where he is. Like most of those born and groomed inside the throes of the jazz music industry, it is safe to say that the mandated blueprint of his journey began at an early age. We get to discover or to recall the genetic input, thanks to the works of his granddad, Reedman, and Music Educator, George “Son” Johnson, Sr., not to mention, “uncle,” Ralph Johnson, saxophonist/clarinetist.

Calvin pursued his musical education at the prestigious New Orleans Public Arts High School, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) also attended by 2 of his mentors, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr., and honed a lot of his skills at the Louis Satchmo Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp in New Orleans, and where he now serves as an instructor.

After graduating from NOCCA, Calvin went on to study music and finance at the University of New Orleans. While this young artist continues to learn and grow, it is apparent that he eagerly gives back. He created the JOMAJO Performing Arts Company, a non-profit organization based in New Orleans and presenting with performing arts.

Also, as a resident of New Orleans’ Habitat Musicians’ Village (founded by Harry Connoick, Jr., and Branford Marsalis, – New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity {NOAHH) post-Katrina), and as a part of his community efforts, Calvin serves as a teacher at the Jewish Day School in New Orleans. Calvin is also an artist with the Preservation AllStars.

Calvin has already graced 4 continents with his music, not to mention having collaborated with some of the best. Some of his favorites include, Harry Connick Jr., Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Aaron Neville, Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Rebirth Brass Band, and he has even dabbled at and proven himself with hip-hop. He has played Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kodak Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. In 2010, Calvin even posed with President Obama and First Lady, Michelle Obama, after a miraculous performance at the Governor’s Ball – led by Harry Connick, Jr. Calvin is also known to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the French Quarter, the Voodoo Music Festival crowds, to name a few.

Calvin Johnson will undoubtedly continue to give back in a big way, for he can certainly empathize with the passions of other young, up-and-coming jazz/music stars. And to him, “music is definitely something to be thankful for.”

lPhoto’s By : Allison Murphy

stylus magazine 23

WHO WE ARE KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life.

WHAT WE DO KIPP builds a partnership among parents, students, and teachers that puts learning first. By providing outstanding educators, more time in school learning, and a strong culture of achievement, KIPP is helping all students climb the mountain to and through college.

For more information, please visit www.KIPP.org

stylus magazine 25

Photo By Doc Jones

“WITH MUSIC ON THEIR MIND Reach And Teach Today Flip’s The Script s

Photo By Doc Jones

Photot By: Lamar Rashar

THERE’S NO TIME FOR CRIME”Doc Jones Tomorrow On Black On Black crime

B

Photo By: White House

new orleans’ own

Article with Banner

504Magazine introduces stephanIe jordan

By: Doug Berry

Like a refreshing mist on a sweltering day in Algiers, Stephanie Jordan sprinkles the music enthusiast with a delightful downpour of pure sound that commands respect and attention. Seemingly effortless in her approach, this lady of jazz brings the total package to the table: The statuesque of a classical dancer; the stage presence of a spinning pulsar, and of course…the voice that rivals jazz greats past and present. Overnight success? She’s hardly that. As you read on, you’ll discover that all dues have been paid in full and this rising star is primed and destined for greatness.

Stephanie Jordan’s musical beginning is sort of the tale of two Horn(e)s. Jordan was fortunate enough to be mentored beneath the umbrella of jazz great and fellow Howard University Alum Shirley Horn, however it was the icon Lena Horne that provided the first avenues of inspiration for young Stephanie. As the story goes, in 1983 Lena Horne brought her one-woman show to New Orleans at the Saenger Theater. Being close to the production, Jordan’s father obtained tickets for the entire Jordan clan. I can imagine a starry eyed Stephanie completely caught up in the rapture of the legendary Lena Horne. Sitting on the edge of her seat all night, she was mesmerized and captivated by Horne’s command of the audience and sheer beauty. It’s safe to say that was the night of Jordan’s musical conception- the defining moment that catapulted her into the cradle of her dreams.

“Stephanie Jordan Sings A Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne; Yesterday When I was Young” is the Title of her debut cd on her Vige Music label. Chock full of jazz standards, Jordan runs the gamut, however in the song “Joey”,( Joey appears on the Marlon Jordan featuring Stephanie Jordan CD) her vocals are afforded an opportunity to flex their tonal dexterity. With brother Marlon taking the lead, Mike Esneault offers comp on the keys as Jordan volleys between the two. It’s sheer jazz mastery. ‘Justice’ aptly describes her translation of Lena Horne’s classic “Stormy Weather”. One of her more notable performances came during the 2008 NBA All-Star game. Surrounded by a host of future Hall of Famers, Jordan takes center court as gracefully as she sings. With Branford Marsalis flanked to the right, Jonathan Dubose Jr. on her left, she pauses to gather herself and then offers a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner that ranks as one of the best ever. All that were in attendance were completely wrapped around her finger.

Imagine waking up every day of your life and having a walking musical encyclopedia at your disposal. Stephanie Jordan can picture that~ As a matter of fact, she lived that. Her father is none other than jazz saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan. The patriarch taught at Southern University for over thirty years. There’s no doubt that Stephanie received her education at a minimum through osmosis from her very talented father. Ms. Jordan looks up and there is music. She looks from side to side and there is music in the form of 28 stylus magazine

siblings Marlon and Kent Jordan- trumpeter and flutist respectively, less not we forget her sister, violinist Rachel Jordan. With so much musical aptitude and skills in close proximity, it was inevitable that the education and inspiration was reciprocal.

I Jordan’s accolades are far too numerous to list in their entirety, however here’s just a few of the noteworthy notches on her belt: ~ In 2011, She recorded for the movie, “The Paperboy”. A Lee Daniels’ production, the film stars include Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, and John Cusack. ~ Winter 2011, she completed the recording of “Christmas with the New Orleans Ladies of Jazz”. The album highlights well known jazz prima donnas Germaine Bazzle, Leah Chase, and was produced by multitalented sister, Rachel Jordan. ~ Invited to perform at “Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor” The celebration was in honor of Susan Taylor’s 37 years of dedication to the legendary Essence magazine. Jordan sang Susan’s favorite jazz tune“Here’s to Life”. ~ Selected for the cover of the World’s Who’s Who in Jazz, “Showbiz, Pioneers, Best Singers, Entertainers, and Musicians from 1606 to the Present”.

All in all, Stephanie Jordan brings to the table all the ingredients necessary for a successful career in jazz music: A father that literally walked and talked music education; Siblings of comparable talent and fine musicians in their own right; An excellent formal education at one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the country. An informal education from jazz great Shirley Horn; a backing musical ensemble encompassing some of the finest artists in the nation; A physique that ensures that she is camera ready at all times; a level of class that only enhances her respect amongst her peers and fan base; and finally the voice, that’s power driven, articulate, and glides over a scale with the precision of a surgeon. I can’t speculate on your thoughts but as for me...

I can finally “see the light”.

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It’s perfectly clear where Jazz began, New Orleans; even historians agree on that one.

Jazz is to American music what the Mississippi is to America.

Like billions of music lovers all over the world, President Barack Obama, enjoys a live jazz performance, as evidenced by his continual invitations welcoming New Orleans musicians to perform at the Whitehouse. New Orleans Congo Square is the birthplace of jazz where it is said to have begun in 1819, is alive and well. Slaves would congregate on Sundays in the Square where they danced, sang and play music native to their homelands. Our President’s love of jazz is seen in his official election and re-election parody of songs, such as Coltrane’s “Blue Train,” that became Hope Train, Donald Byrd’s “A New Perspective;” also the President’s and last, but not least, Dexter Gordon’s “Our Man in Paris,” became Our Man in DC.

Photo By: White House

OObama ,Trombone Article with Collage #2

Shorty, & BB King Jam

Photo By: White House

A WORD FROM BARACK OBAMA ON WHY MUSIC EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT: .

BY: Shirley Jones

504Mag tracked down recent statements from the President

of the United States and other high ranking individuals and groups.

It seems unanimous, we all agree with President Obama’s remarks at a press conference when he explained to a group of educators and press personnel, stating, “Our kids can’t wait any longer for Congress to act. Our nation’s creativity has filled the world’s libraries, museums, recital halls, movie houses, and marketplaces with works of genius. The arts embody the American spirit of self-definition.“ As our President and the author of two best-selling books – Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama uniquely appreciates the role and value of creative expression. To that, 504Mag says Amen and Amen!

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he affects of the removal and drastic downsizing of creativity through instruction in the arts and music education has impacted our school age youth as dramatically as has removing prayer from our schools. 504Mag agrees with the President and Vice President’s initiative to reinvest in Arts Education. The President went on to say, “To remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great. To do so, we must nourish our children’s creative skills. In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage their ability to think creatively which comes from a meanin-

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gful arts education.” Unfortunately, many school districts have cut and continue to redirect budgeting monies formerly allocated to instructional time for art and music education.

The current Administration believes that the arts should be a central part of effective teaching and learning. The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts stated, “The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society.” Our goal is to support greater arts education.

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s CEO of 504Mag and MultiMedia, LLC, Doc Jones, also a music educator and professional musician, is fervently on board with President Obama’s initiatives respecting music education. Doc Jones recognized decades ago, the importance of and the correlation between creative arts (specifically music education) and standardized grammar and high school curriculums. His beliefs have been proven through years of research and data that music education has impacted the outcome on students participation in their academic achievement. On the surface there is a fairly straight forward answer: students who participate in music education frequently do better than their peers on many levels of academic achievement such as grade-point averages and standardized test scores like the SAT or ACT tests. For example, using information from the National Center for Educational Statistics, Morrison (1994), reported that on a sample size of 13,327 high school sophomores those who participated in music reported

higher grades in English, math, history, and science than those who did not participate in music education.

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ur Producer further recognizes New Orleans’ educational systems’ strides toward improvements and the number of New Orleans artists being herald around the world as well as in our own White House has increased. This Administration continues to support live jazz and other genres of music by its continual welcoming live performances by New Orleans home grown musicians.

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t’s of further importance to recognize the numerous notable New Orleans’ musicians who have set up music education foundations enabling aspiring school age musicians to study with and learn from the “masters.” Many of these foundations have been and continue to be contributed to and supported by such renown artists as Ellis Marsalis and his renown sons, by Kermit Ruffins, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Donald Harrison and others.

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here are so many music programs going in support of interested youth as and for after school participation. These programs help kids learn the correct way to play an instrument as compared to what was available to school age aspiring musicians, when I grew up, says Doc Jones as he also recalls, his earliest exposure to music education,

learning how to read music by taking beginning piano lessons once a week. I never learned about chord changes or music theory until years later.” Today’s young hopefuls are learning all types of necessary music education skills, from music’s historical roots through today’s high tech electronic music systems,, by eleven year olds. “On the real side, I take my hat off to young music students, because no matter how you learn to play your instrument, it takes a lot of dedication to perform good music on the level I do – LOL, (just pulling your chain). When you hear guys like Trombone Shorty who plays the hell out of a trumpet, or a Wynton Marsalis, Irvin Mayfield or any one of so many other outstanding musicians, believe me they did not arrive to the level of musicianship they’re at by taking a music lesson here or there. It took hours of practice, but stay focused. My parents taught me, “anything worth having is worth working hard for.”

504Mag

would like to do all that is within its power to further promote music education in New Orleans schools, and in fact, in schools across the country. We would like to here from you with your thoughts on the information contained in this article. We look forward to keeping you informed and hearing from you with “the word on the street stylus magazine 33

Article with photo

Yisrael Trio

The Future is here!

By: Tamah Yisrael

They have been often compared to the

Jacksons or simply referred to as “Them Kids” Yirmeyahu, Yah’el, and Yehosheba are The Yisrael Trio. A group of two brothers and a sister who began their musical training while still in the womb! On any given performance one may find The Yisrael Trio playing jazz, funk, r&b, neosoul, blues, reggae, pop or rock!

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heir father, Dr. Lud Yisrael, from Chicago, moved to Birmingham, AL. as a child where he began his music career.

Performing in a top 40 band as a teenager, he understood at an early age, that music kept him productive and out of trouble.

Dr. Lud put his music career on pause to dedicate his life to his children. He informally trained them as babies with prescribed doses of jazz and classical music, which played while they slept. Their formal music training began as they individually expressed interest in playing an instrument.

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irst Yirmeyahu the oldest, now 21 grew up seeing his father play saxophone, chose the saxophone at the age of 9. After passing the torch to his eldest son, Dr Lud began to play piano. Next the youngest Yah’el, now 16, chose the piano at the age of 7 after seeing his father play that instrument.

The Yisrael Trio had its early start with Dr. Lud on bass and his two sons Yirmeyahu on saxophone and Yah’el on piano. Finally, his daughter Yehosheba now 17, decided she wanted in on this music thing! Again after seeing her father have so much fun playing bass chose the bass at age 13.

The fact that music was all around them

and his children surrounded themselves with friends who played music as well.

Dr. Lud naturally began mentoring their

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friends; thus, inspiring the Neo Jazz School of Music. The Neo Jazz School of Music was the vehicle that expanded their musical training. For more information about the school, go to www. neojazz.net.

Although the group has mastered all genres, they would label their own sound as SPIRITUAL MUSIC. The music comes from deep within their souls down to their very spirits. The best attribute of The Yisrael Trio is their ability to share that spirit through music, while pleasing any crowd young or old.

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usic is a science and to excel at your craft you must dedicate the majority of your time to its perfection. Just like most scientist you need to spend many waking hours in the lab which keeps you away from all social pitfalls that are prevalent in our world today.

“Music is the science that kept my children in the lab as opposed to in the streets..” – Dr. Lud Yisrael

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s a 21 year old saxophonist and composer, “music has been my craft for the past 12 years. I attribute my greatest musical gains to my father, as saxophonist and music educator who mentored me from birth with this strong musical foundation at home”. – Yirmeyahu Yisrael

Yirmeyahu Yisrael Yirmeyahu Yisrael is the eldest mem-

ber of The Yisrael Trio. He is a saxophonist, drummer, composer and the assistant musical director at the Neo Jazz School of Music. With a large number of compositions in his repertoire, Yirmeyahu is also the executive song writer for his family record label Yisrael Records. He received all of his musical training from his father, Dr. Lud Yisrael, but briefly studied in both New York and New Orleans.

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irmeyahu’s style of playing is fueled from the fire that burns within.

Others have described his saxophone playing as explosive and heroic.

Photo By: Larry O. Gay

Photo By: Larry O. Gay

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YISRAEL TRIO

Keeping the Art of Jazz Alive

Photo by: Tamah Yisrael

An impressive collaboration of young musicians with superior talent. This, along with dedication far beyond any expectation allows them to create a seasoned mixture of Jazz Funk and Neo Soul.

For Booking contact The Neo Jazz School of music at info@neojazz.net

Education ArticleMusic with photo No. 2

A TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE GREATEST TENOR SAX PLAYERS OF ALL TIMES, MAY HE R.I.P.

Michael Brecker By: Shirley A. Jones 504Mag’s Producer, Doc Jones, deemed it appropriated to celebrate the life of and legacy of Michael Brecker’s music in our first issue of 2013.

Michael Brecker, a saxophonist extroidinaire, won 15 Grammy Awards as a composer and performer. He ranks among the most influential musicians in jazz since the 1960s. Sadly and far too soon, Brecker died in 2007. He was a young 57 years old.

This article is dedicated in celebration of his musical gifts which will be enjoyed by us for years to come. Michael Brecker was not only a great musician, but he also believed in passing it on. As far back as the ‘60’s, when 504Mag’s CEO was just a child, Brecker believed that music and music education would heal a nation that was going through racial turmoil.

He grew up in a musical family in Philadelphia. His father, though a lawyer by profession, played jazz piano. Michael began playing the clarinet at the tender age of 6, he then switched to the alto saxophone in the eighth grade, and finally settled on tenor saxophone in the tenth grade. He la38 stylus magazine

ter attended Indiana University, along with his brother Randy. Initially he pursued a music degree, then briefly switched to premed. However, he quickly recognized that wasn’t for him; he preferred playing music.

He left school and traveled to New York when he was just 19 years old.

For most of the ‘70s and through the mid‘80s he worked hard in studio sessions, becoming a fixture on albums by the Southern California pop singer-songwriter movement, which included compositions by Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell. Yet, for hard-core jazz enthusiasts, it was his work of the early ‘80s — on Steps Ahead’s first two albums, when the band was simply called Steps — as well as Chick Corea’s “Three Quartets,” from 1981, and Pat Metheny’s “80/81,” from 1980, that cemented his reputation as a great player. He was above all a condenser of exciting devices into short spaces. He could fold the full pitch range of the horn into a short solo, from altissimo to the lowest notes, and connect rarefied ideas to the rich soulful phrasing of saxophonists like Junior Walker.

On January 13, 2007 as the new year be-

gan, Michael Brecker’s life was coming to an end, but the legacy of his style of music, his performances and his recordings, his gentle giant persona in the music industry still remains with us. Even as his life waned Michael, then suffering from acute leukemia, was still thinking about his music. His wife reports, he went downstairs to his home studio to perform his last known recorded notes on an electronic wind instrument for what would be his final album.

The 57-year-old was born March 29, 1949.

He succumb to his illness in a Manhattan hospital on January 13, 2007. Just four days prior to his passing Brecker informed his Manager “the recording was ready for mixing.” The album “Pilgrimage,” was the last Michael Brecker recorded before dying from a long fought battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or leukemia. Michael Brecker was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.

3/29/49 - 1/13/2007

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504 Mag. is proud to introduce to some and reintroduce to others...

David Sanborn Grammy award winning saxophonist

Who is David Sanborn?

Distinct; in a word that, describes the music David Sanborn has produced from his instrument for decades. In fact, there are few sounds from an alto saxophone as distinctive as that of David Sanborn. In his three-and-a-half decade career, Sanborn has released 24 albums, won six Grammy awards and has had eight gold albums and one platinum album. He continues to be one of the most highly active musicians of his genre, with 2010 tour dates at more than150.

Once heard Sanborn’s music will leave an indelible impact on your musical appetite. You won’t mistake Sanborn’s lyrical, soothing, yet meaty performance for anyone else’s.

Sanborn was born July 30, 1945 in Tampa, Florida, but grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Talk about over-comers; as a young boy he was diagnosed with Polio, in fact, we might contribute this giant’s success to one of his treating physicians during that time. At the suggestion of one of his doctors, Sanborn took up the saxophone, not necessarily by choice, but to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing.

David’s solo recordings by and large blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. Although his first solo album Taking Off was released in 1975, he had been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school. He later attended the University of Iowa. Sanborn also worked extensively as a session musician on David Bowie’s Young Americans, also produced in 1975.

Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, at the time a member of Ray Charles’s band left a lasting influence on Sanborn. Sanborn also performed with blues musicians, the likes of Albert King and Little Milton at the tender age of 14 and continued on once he joined Paul Butterfield’s band in 1967, after attending the University of Iowa.

David’s performances and recordings have been described in the past by noted critic, Scott Yannow as “The most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years.” Sanborn is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz. However, Sanborn has expressed a disinclination for both the genre itself and his association with it. You be the judge of your listening and buying power.

Sanborn is one of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, at age 65, David Sanborn looks considerably younger. He continues to take on a touring schedule that keeps him on the road 200 days a year. He is looking for a lighter itinerary that will allow him more time in New York to spend with his family, especially grand daughter Genevieve. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel for me,” Sanborn said.

“That light is the light of my home.”

Sanborn has won numerous awards including Grammy Awards for Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986) and the instrumental album Close Up (1988). In television, Sanborn is well known for his sax solo on the theme song for the NBC hit drama L.A. Law. He has also done some film scoring for films such as Lethal

Weapon and Scrooged. In 1991 Sanborn recorded Another Hand, which the All Music Guide to Jazz described as a “return by Sanborn to his real, true love: unadorned (or only partly adorned) jazz” that “balanced the scales” against his smooth jazz material.[6] The album, produced by Hal Willner, featured musicians from outside the smooth jazz scene, such as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot. His more recent albums include Closer.

In 1994 Sanborn appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey of English rock band The Who in celebration of his fiftieth birthday.

In 1994 a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released.

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DAVID SANBORN

Article with photo No. 2

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EILLIS MARSALIS One of the most famous music educators in New Orleans for over 50 yrs Often it’s been said, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree;” a colloquialism never more befitting than when speaking of the musically talented Marsalis family. As synonymous as the Kennedy family name is with politics so is the name Marsalis withi the music realm.

It might seem to some who don’t no him, that elder Ellis Marsalis may have been possessed by the “Joe Jackson syndrome,” given his sons’ fame “in the business”; not so! The family’s roots go further back than this writer had time to research before meeting my editor’s deadline, much further back than information available on the subject of this article, Ellis Marsalis, Jr. Ellis Marsalis, Jr.’s father, Ellis L. Marsalis Sr., was the patriarch of the Marsalis family of Jazz greats. He was a true lover of live music, although he never played a note. At a point in his life, Ellis Marsalis, Sr. became active in both the civil rights movement and music. During his business career the patriarch converted what was originally a barn into a 40-room motel. The motel catered to Blacks who were not allowed to stay in New Orleans hotels because of racial discrimination. The Marsalis Motel quickly became famous for its well-appointed rooms, a fancy restaurant, and shaded gardens. The motel’s clients included leaders in the civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and US Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. The motel was also known for its great music, both blues and jazz.

Under Marsalis’s ownership, The motel attracted some of the best musicians in the United States. Those noted musicians helped foster a love of jazz amongst the members of the Marsalis family.

Thus, we have been blessed to enjoy the music of his son, Ellis Marsalis, Jr., a famed pianist of the Delta area and a music professor who went on to become a giant in Jazz. Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr. was born on November 14, 1934, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Early on, his first instrument of choice back then was

a tenor saxophone, he switched to piano while in high school. From his first professional performance with “The Groovy Boys” over fifty years ago, Ellis Marsalis, Jr. has been a major influence in jazz. Through the years Marsalis has recorded on various labels such as Blue Note, Columbia, Sony and Rounder.

He is bare none one of the most talented musicians today and has an even more awesome reputation for sharing his dynamic talent. He can still be seen performing on Fridays at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in New Orleans.

Just a few of the famous names Marsalis, Jr. has mentored include crooner Harry Connick Jr. as well as his four musician sons: Wynton, the trumpeter; saxophonist Branford; trombonist Delfeayo; and drummer Jason. He is known to be one of the few New Orleans musicians who did not specialize in Dixieland or rhythm and blues. He has played with many other fellow modern musicians ncluding Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, and Al Hirt and became one of the most respected pianists in jazz. Though he has recorded almost twenty of his own albums, and was featured on many discs with such jazz greats as David “Fathead” Newman, Eddie Harris, Marcus Roberts, and Courtney Pine. Ellis is known to shun the spotlight to focus on teaching. His didactic approach, combined with an interest in philosophy, encourages his students to make discoveries in music on their own, through experiment and very careful listening.

Musicians’ Village in New Orleans is named in honor of Ellis Marsalis. In 2010, The Marsalis Family released a live album titled Music Redeems which was recorded at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC as part of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. All proceeds from the sale of the album go directly to the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Having the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music named for me is more than an honor, it is also an opportunity to realize many of the dreams I have long held for the music and musicians of New Orleans.

By: Shirley A Jones

As a leading educator at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana, Ellis Marsalis has influenced the careers of countless musicians, including Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Nicholas Payton; as well as his four sons. In May, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education.On December 7, 2008, Ellis Marsalis was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at

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Legendary Saxman KIDD JORDAN By: Cynthia Gill Mitchell It seems that everybody who’s anybody in New Orleans has studied under or worked with iconic saxophonist, Edward “Kidd” Jordan. And that’s a milestone, especially since some see him as “probably the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation….” He has also been deemed one of the “busiest in the music world.” Fortunately, though, among his peers - past and present students, they hold him in the highest regard.

Clearly an educated man, Mr. Jordan proudly carries a degree in music from SUNO’s sister campus, Southern University, which he earned in 1955. After earning a master’s degree in music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, he moved on to study under Fred Hemke, reed maker, in Northwestern University’s Evanston Illinois Campus, where he did his post-graduate summer studies.

The Southern University at New Orleans Foundation honored Edward “Kidd” Jordan for BASH III. He has 51 years of musical passion to boot, 36 of which he spent at Southern University at New Orleans.

Mr. Jordan’s impeccable musical strides began in his home town of Crowley. Under the direction of French-Canadian teacher, Joseph Oger, he mastered the saxophone. Mr. Jordan eventually ended up in Baton Rouge and studied at Southern under the direction of band Director, T. Leroy Davis, and woodwind teachers, John Banks and Huel Perkins. His musical interests were also shared with another musical legend, Alvin Batiste, Jordan’s Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother and band mate, while at Southern.

After his years at Southern, Edward “Kidd” Jordan moved on to teach at Bethune High School in Norco, Louisiana in 1955. He also shared a portion of that teaching experience at New Orleans’ Faubourg Treme’ where he served as an instructor at the William Houston School of Music. Finally, in 1972, Jordan began teaching at Pontchartain Park, the home of Southern University at New Or-

leans; where he taught until 2006.

A key element demanded of and known by all Mr. Jordan’s students, is that their music has to contain one critical element – Originality. He enforces this, especially in his own work. According to Mr. Jordan, “Nowadays everybody just wants to play the same stuff that everybody else is playing. Same solos, same licks; and I can see that, because everybody wants to be accepted, but I don’t care about that. The minute someone wants to pat me on the back about something, is the minute I’m ready to leave. You’ve got to know yourself and what you’re capable of doing and how you want to do it.” From the beginning, Jordan’s philosophy has been to give young musicians a solid grounding in the basics of music performance and theory, so that as they mature they can find their own voice.

Mr. Jordan has willingly taught countless numbers of students who attended SUNO or participated in any of their on-campus programs. These stringent teachings were paramount with his organization of the World Saxophone Quartet; which includes Hamiet Bluiett,David Murray, Julius Hemphell and Oliver Lake. Charles Joseph, one of the founding members of the famed Dirty Dozen Brass Band was also one of the students remarkably influenced by Mr. Jordan under SUNO. Mr. Jordan’s personal mix of instruments includes tenor, baritone, soprano, alto, sopranino and c-melody saxophones, as well as contrabass and the bass clarinets. His impressive background of musical greats on his roster of performances include major legends, like Cannonball Adderley, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell, Ellis Marsalis, Ray Charles, Cecil Taylor, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, just to name a few. Mr. Jordan founded the Improvisational Arts Ensemble with drummer Alvin Fielder, trumpeter, Clyde Kerr, Jr. and bassist, London Branch. The name was eventually changed

to the Improvisational Arts Quintet when the late Alvin Thomas came on board.

Mr. Jordan’s work is so impressive, that it was documented by CBS’s 60-Minutes. He has also been honored with Offbeat Magazine’s First Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education. The French Ministry of Culture presented Mr. Jordan with and recognized him as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, that Government’s highest artistic award for his work as an educator and performer. In 2008, he was also named a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the Vision Festival XIII in New York City.

Whether you know this “genteel” man personally or professionally, it is no secret the amount of dedication he shows with his music. Yet, these same folks probably also know that nothing outweighs the dedication he has for his family. For years, it has been clear that he has no qualms boasting about being the husband of Edvidge Chatters Jordan and the father of Edward, Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel and Marlon. Four of the Jordan children, Kent, Stephanie [also featured in this issue], Rachel and Marlon, are professional musicians. Mr. Jordan even found a horse racing and training partner in his nephew Maynard Chatters, Jr.

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Join the 504 magazine family today, become a sales agent. For information email doc@504mag.com

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stylus magazine 49

David Simon award winning Producer Publisher’s choice

Who is Daviv Simon?

David Simon is piloting his road-worn Volkswagen Passat through the streets of New Orleans, his mind on the city. As we roll from one filming location to another of his HBO show Treme, he points out landmarks: the Industrial Canal that burst its banks during Hurricane Katrina; the Lower Ninth Ward that was drowned as a result; the former site of a studio where some of the city’s most important musicians cut their first records.

“We want the show to be about New Orleans,” he says. “It’s about what New Orleans means, about why it matters.”

Simon is best known as the creator of The Wire, HBO’s sprawling but intricately intertwined saga of crime, justice, politics, and the press in a terminally decaying Baltimore. In person, he’s garrulous and aggressively intelligent, sociable without exactly being friendly. He has rounded features and an ursine frame clad in sneakers, jeans, a Kangol cap, and a hoodie that seems barely adequate protection from the damp, biting wind on this December day.

After thirteen years as a crime reporter at the Baltimore Sun, Simon abandoned the sinking ship of newspaper journalism in the mid-1990s to write for Homicide, the NBC series based on his nonfiction book about Baltimore cops. In 2000, he adapted another book he authored into The Corner, an HBO miniseries focusing on the dealers, addicts, and civilians enmeshed in the drug mar-

ket of a West Baltimore street. That netted Simon three Emmy awards, and was the seed from which The Wire’s five-season run grew. Though The Wire never drew a huge audience, critics drooled over its multifaceted structure and nuanced portrayal of the lives of those cast off, forgotten, and fucked over by the post-industrial American economy, from petty drug dealers to inner city schoolteachers to laid-off dock workers Treme, the second season of which premieres April 24, is in some ways a similar meditation on postKatrina New Orleans. But Treme is not another cop show. Even though police, drugs, and prisons figure into Treme’s several braided and branching storylines, the show’s central concern is a unique segment of New Orleans’s working class: musicians, and what they mean for the city. Over the course of a working afternoon and a gumbo and po’ boy dinner, Simon explains why.

arrangements of Kerry Campbell, celebrated saxophonist from the Detroit. Kerry not only worked with the aforementioned groups, but he was also a principal saxophonist and soloist, while providing his expertise as a contributing arranger bringing many of their songs to life. After leaving the soul scene, Kerry Campbell recorded for Fantasy Records in Berkley, California on its Contemporary label under the direction of famed producer Richard Boch. Rich Boch recorded John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Ritchie Cole and many others.

By: Vince Beiser

Q: You’ve said Treme is not The Wire set in New Orleans. But it is a similar kind of animal. It’s a many-sided, many-charactered, novelistic examination of a badly damaged American city. Is there a common theme between them?

David Simon: Well, in terms of governance or institutions, the New Orleans of Treme may be as problematic as the Baltimore of The Wire. Even more so, because 80 percent of it went under water a short time before. So, it’s clearly the same backdrop. But it’s saying something different using that backdrop.

If you have ever enjoyed the Dramatics, The Manhattans, Marvin Gaye, and WAR, then you have enjoyed the extraordinary saxophone work and

504 MAGAZINE 48

2012 “best tourism season in years”

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“Still Working & Committed towards Recovery in the Gulf”

CELEBRATES BLACK

HISTORY MONTH

the birthplace Article with photo No. 2 of jazz nola

504Magazine present’s Buddy Bolden. He was an early inovator with the coronet, and credited By: Art Mobley with being the first to play Jazz Gus Edwards is a playwright, an educator and a jazz aficionado. He is a Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University where he taught Film and Ethnic Theatre courses. For years now he has been involved in a project about the seminal jazz figure Buddy Bolden. 504 caught up with Professor Edwards to find out more about his project and its subject 504: Who is Buddy Bolden and when did you first hear about him?

GE: I guess by now everyone interested in jazz knows or think they know who Buddy Bolden is. But to answer your question directly, Buddy Bolden is the man reputed to be the “Founding father of jazz”…I first heard about him when I was living in New York and working as a playwright. A producer at the PBS TV station called me in and asked what I knew about Buddy Bolden. I told him virtually nothing at all. We then proceeded to have a conversation where he told me who Bolden was and that he wanted to make a film about his life for PBS. His reason was because he felt that jazz was the indigenous American art form and the story of its origins had never been told in its most popular media. He wanted to correct that. Then he suggested some books for me to read.

And that’s where it all started. I became interested in the subject and wrote up a proposal for a cinematic treatment. They liked it, hired me, and then the real work began.

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504: Meaning?

GE: Doing lots of research, reading books upon books on the subject of both jazz and Bolden, talking to scholars and finally taking a trip to New Orleans to walk over the same terrain where Bolden lived and played.

504: And what did you discover or uncover?

GE: That his was a story mired in conjecture, speculation, rumor, gossip, and myth. Now according to the census of the time there were 4 Charles Bolden’s living in New Orleans. Three were musicians and one was a magician or illusionist of some sort.

The person credited with being the Buddy Bolden we’re interested in was born in 1867 or 1877, no one is quite sure. And besides being a musician he is said to have been a barber and the editor/publisher of a gossip rag called The Cricket. Based on my research, I don’t believe any of that is true. Black men hung out in barbershops then as they do now. In those days barbershops were also meeting places for musicians. That was where they hung out to tease and mess with each other and also to make contacts for getting jobs.

. There weren’t any talent agencies at the time so barbershops provided that service. But nothing I’ve read substantiates the suggestion that he was a barber as well. And about the gossip sheet, no examples of it remains and I suspect that even if he was inclined to do something like that Buddy was much too busy doing all the other things he is credited with doing. So he wouldn’t have had the time 504: So what do we actually know about Buddy Bolden that is factual?

GE: Well, first, that he did exist. So he’s not just a figment of someone’s imagination or memory. He was a horn player and the instrument he played was the cornet. He had his own band and became famous in New Orleans for a short period of time, 1900 to around 1905. He played what they called a “wide open cornet”. His music was up-tempo and he raged everything from street songs to hymns. Jelly Roll Morton called him: “The blowingst man since the angel Gabriel.” At his peak he was called “King Bolden” and he liked to hold court at the bars on Jackson Avenue where he was considered a real storyteller. In other words, a liar. But most importantly he was the first person to popularize the method of improvising off of a standard melody line and in so doing create something completely individual and different that it could stand on its own as a valid and inspired musical creation. He played hard, lived fast and was considered a tiger with women…In 1907 after an attack on his mother he was booked as insane and placed in a state asylum in Jackson, Louisiana where he lived until his death in 1931….Eleven years after his death he was identified by several prominent musician including Louis Armstrong as the founding father of jazz. Those are the facts, as I know them.

504: So, did you write the script and was the film ever produced?

GE: Yes, I wrote the script. But two months after I delivered it the producer died and the project died with him. But I never gave up on the idea of seeing his story realized on screen and now more that 30 years later I’m working on independently producing and directing the picture myself. But this isn’t the only Bolden project on the fire. Over the past few years there’s been announcements of 3 or 4 Bolden film projects but none has come out of the pipeline as yet. I don’t know if they’re still in process or have been abandoned. But based on these reports Buddy Bolden appears to be a subject whose time has come, cinematically speaking. Now, there have been many feature films about jazz and jazz musicians but not many made by African Americans. This is an important distinction because no one knows or understands our culture than we do. So in the final analysis I don’t believe anyone can tell our stories better than we can. Especially about the art we fashioned out of our pain and oppression. Buddy Bolden created the music and the form; I think we owe it to him to tell his story with honesty and dimension.

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Donald Big Chief Harrison As for the master musician Donald Harrison brings the joy of life in this unique City to the rest of the world. Harrison’s contributioni to the multiplicity universal language of music includes his being dubbed the King of Nouveau Swing which merges the swing beat with many of today’s popular dance styles of music and Smooth Jazz Styles. In 1993, Harrison signed with GRP/Impulse. His first album for that label was Nouveau Swing, the album gave Harrison his nickname “the King of Nouveau Swing.” Donald’s music incorporates traditional yet current genres of music.

His current band, “The New Sounds of Mardi Gras” has recorded two CDs and was started four years ago. Harrison, writes, plays and produces music from classic Jazz to hip hop, as well as smooth jazz, and R&B styles.

Alongside his many accolades, benevolence should most definitely be added to Harrison’s Bio, in that he has unselfishly nurtured a number of young musicians including the young Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott (Harrison’s nephew), as well as Mark Whitfield, Cyrus Chestnut, Christian McBride, and The Notorious B.I.G. During the 1980’s trumpeter Terence Blanchard an alto saxophonist were one of many great New Orleans young musicians hailed as “The Young Lions” that sparked the jazz renaissance and put the music on the map.

Harrison has been and still is a trailblazer in jazz in helping bridge the gap between upcoming musicians and those more seasoned well known musicians. He has a passion for all, the past, the present, and the future. Playing with such legendary musical luminaries such as Art Blakey, Ellis Marsalis, Roy Hay-

nes, and Jack McDuff; Harrison understands the heavy cultural and musical traditions of his Crescent City background.

nalist Association’s “A List Award,” Jazziz Magazine’s “Person of the Year,” and the Big Easy Music Awards “Ambassador of Music”.

Donald is extremely active with HBO’s critically acclaimed television series ‘Treme’ produced and written by “The Wire’s” David Simon. Simon offered him an acting role, but decided to produce and perform music for the show as well as be a consultant for some of Harrison was featured in Spike Lee’s HBO documentary, “When the Levees Broke”, and has appeared as himself in nine episodes of HBO’s TREME. His performance recordings date back as far as 1985 and on to the present.

In the Box office, Harrison appeared in and co-wrote the sound track for Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme’s feature film, Rachel’s Getting Married starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemary DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. Check your local listings for showings.

A small list of his influential musical innovations includes “New York Second Line”, “Indian Blues”, and “The Spirits Of Congo Square.” He is the founder and “King of Nouveau Swing” which is his style of jazz that merges the soulful sounds he grew up with in New Orleans with modern dance music into a swinging New York context. Experience his contribution “Quantum Leap”, and learn why he is a musical category unto himself.

The late Ed Bradley once declared, Harrison “A name you will come to know” on his segment of CBS Sunday Morning. Through his participation in many musical and cultural entities he has evolved into the personification of 300 years of American music.

Harrison’s performances showcase: cuttingedge New York swing; driving, funky, smooth sounds, New Orleans cultural music; and straight-up New Orleans funk. His concerts are a return to the style of music presentation that engages all the senses.

Harrison’s many awards include France’s “Grand Prix du Disque”, Switzerland’s “The Ascona Award”, Japan’s Swing Journal “Alto Saxophonist of the Year”, The Jazz Jour-

Harrison has performed with an illustrious list of distinguish musicians and icons in Jazz, R&B, Funk, Classical and more. The list includes (but is not limited to) Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Lena Horne, Eddie Palmeri, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Jennifer Holiday, Dr. John, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, Digable Planets, Notorious BIG, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and others as well as having studied with musicians who were members of Louis Armstrong’s band, John Coltrane’s band and he played with Nat Adderley, bother of the legendary alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. Obviously, we could go, but by now you get the picture. Donald Harrison is a musician for the annals of music history. We encourage you to support our great musicians, buy recorded music and support live music performances.

Shirley A. Jones,

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Sonny Rollins /Tenor Madness Theodore Walter Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorsteps of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out playing alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the age of sixteen, he switched to tenor, trying to emulate Hawkins. He also fell under the spell of the musical revolution that surrounded him, Bebop.

He began to follow Charlie Parker, and soon came under the wing of Thelonious Monk, who became his musical mentor and guru. Living in Sugar Hill, his neighborhood musical peers included Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor, but it was young Sonny who was first out of the pack, working and recording with Babs Gonzales, J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell and Miles Davis before he turned twenty.

“Of course, these people are there to be called on because I think I represent them in a way,” Rollins said recently of his peers and mentors. “They’re not here now so I feel like I’m sort of representing all of them, all of the guys. Remember, I’m one of the last guys left, as I’m constantly being told, so I feel a holy obligation sometimes to evoke these people.”

In the early fifties, he established a reputation first among musicians, then the public, as the most brash and creative young tenor on the scene, through his work with Miles, Monk, and the MJQ.

Sonny moved to Chicago for a few years to remove himself from the surrounding elements of negativity around the Jazz scene. He reemerged at the end of 1955 as a member of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach

Quintet, with an even more authoritative presence.

His trademark became a caustic, often humorous style of melodic invention, a command of everything from the most arcane ballads to calypsos, and an overriding logic in his playing that found him being a models of thematic improvisation.

It was during this time that Sonny acquired a nickname, ”Newk.” As Miles Davis explains in his autobiography: “Sonny had just got ten back from playing a gig out in Chicago. He knew Bird, and Bird really liked Sonny, or “Newk” as we called him, because he looked like the Brooklyn Dodgers’ pitcher Don Newcombe. One day, me and Sonny were in a cab... when the White cabdriver turned around and looked at Sonny and said, `Damn, you’re Don Newcombe!’’

Man, the guy was totally excited. I was amazed, because I hadn’t thought about it before. We put that cabdriver on something terrible. Sonny started talking about what kind of pitches he was going to throw Stan Musial, the great hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals, that evening...”

In 1956, Sonny began recording the first of a series of landmark recordings issued under his own name.

Way Out West (1957), Rollins’s first album using a trio of saxophone, double bass, and drums, offered a solution to his longstanding difficulties with incompatible pianists, and exemplified his witty ability to improvise on hackneyed material (Wagon Wheels, I’m an Old Cowhand). It Could Happen to You (also 1957) was the first in a long series of unaccompanied solo recordings, and The Freedom Suite (1958) foreshadowed the political stances taken in jazz in the 1960s. During the years 1956 to 1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz.

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New Orleans’best known Clarinet Player Dr. michael White award winning Clarinet player leans’ Xavier University, after teaching Spanish he called a “therapeutic soothing and healing.”

Dr Michael White All of the tracks on this CD are his own – acat this University for 20 years. His current cept for “St. Louis Blues” and “Will the Circle focus rests on Afro-American Jazz. in the house BY: Cynthia Gill Mitchell Dr. Michael White is recognized as one of New Orleans’ most gifted Clarinetists. A world-traveler who has performed in over 24 countries, he and his “Original Liberty Jazz Band” were the first to perform at the Village Vanguard. This gifted man also features in several dozen books, and has authored many impressive essays. He has contributed his writings in numerous journals, books and encyclopedias, and has appeared on dozens of recordings. Add to that, his contribution to over 2-dozen documentary films. Collaborating with Jazz great, Wynton Marsalis, in creating major concert tributes also lends credence to his many accomplishments. He is highly respected among his peers, and to those he has mentored - in the classroom and on the stage, including Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison.

Dr. Michael White was born and raised in New Orleans. At an early age, he excelled on the laurels of his ancestral history, beginning with jazz musician, bassist Papa John Joseph, and clarinetists, Willie Joseph and Earl Fouche. The inspiration of Creole and blues music was brought on by Johnny Dodds, George Lewis and Omer Simeon.

In 1987, White received the Chevalier of Arts and Letters by the French Government, and in 2008, was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship Award by the National Endowment of the Arts. He has also received the Keller Endowed Chair in Humanities of New Or-

However, not unlike other recipients before and since their many accolades, Dr. White has his own back-story regarding the infamous Katrina tragedies. The memories still linger I’m sure, and they each have their own stories.

This world-renowned clarinetist certainly has his “precious” memories, and those that will forever remain etched in his mind.

White, one of New Orleans most respected educators, musicologist, jazz historian, clarinetist and bandleader, lost it all. Not only did he lose his home and all of its usual contents, but he lost an array of personal jazz memorabilia collected over many years. He lost more than 50 vintage clarinets, including a special one owned by Omer Simeon, a contemporary of Jelly Roll Morton, over 40,000 books on jazz, precious thousands of recordings, sheet music – original and historic, Louis Armstrong footage of every performance he ever did, a mouthpiece that belonged to clarinetist, Sidney Bechet; and a collection of interviews by more than 3 dozen iconic musicians born between 1890 and 1910.

Shortly after this unimaginable occurrence, Dr. White escaped to what he defines as his “writing retreat.” “That was the first real chance to back off from some of the Katrina problems I had going.” Appreciating nature, and succumbing to his meditative state, eventually the words came, after realizing that this “creative twilight zone” he eventually found himself in, brought about a flow of compositional additives. From there, he eventually wrote and released “Blue Crescent,” after what

Be Unbroken.” Also during this “retreat,” it would appear that Dr. White was writing for his life, for it was not until the end did he realize that he had written more than 3 dozen songs. He had somehow converted all of his personal losses into music. “It’s a very popular thing for everyone to have Katrina stories: where you were, what you lost, how you got out, continuing your struggle for recovery.

I wanted to do that in music in a traditional form . . . to give the individual musicians their chance to tell their story in interpretation and improvisation,” says Dr. White.

While they’ve all been duly recognized, this architect of jazz songwriting recordings includes, of course. Blue Crescent, Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast, Songs of New Orleans: Preservation Hall Jazz Band, New Year’s Eve Live at the Village Vanguard, Dancing in the Sky, A Song for George Lewis, and many more, including his last six, recorded with his current record label, Basin Street Records, and most impressively includes 2 of his latest, “Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part I” and 2. “Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part 2,” was released in 2012.

Hence, no one can deny Dr. White’s quest to “both preserve and expand the authentic New Orleans jazz tradition,” not to mention behind his formation of the Original Liberty Jazz Band in the early 1980’s to “….preserve the heritage of New Orleans’ music…” He has, and will continue to do so

BY: Cynthia Gill Mitchell

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Dr. Michael White

Stephanie and Marlon Jordan New Orleans’ Brother and Sister Duo

One of the best in the business, Marlon Jordan The New Orleans-born Trumpeter Marlon Jordan was one of the “Young Jazz Lions” who were signed, recorded and promoted on major record labels in the 1980s. He recorded three impressive LPs for Columbia from 1998 to 1992, For You Only, Learson’s Return, and The Undaunted, and one for the Arabesque label entitled Marlon’s Mode in 1997.

His latest album, Marlon Jordan featuring Stephanie Jordan, You Don’t Know What Love Is announces the return of an exceptional trumpeter. It also heralds the recording debut of a new singer, his sister Stephanie and showcases an incredibly talented musical family.

This dancing and delicious document reveals a mature artist who sounds like himself. You can hear Jordan’s clean, boppish lines laced with power, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the entire jazz trumpet tradition, signed in own unique sonic signature. The setting for this session finds its precedent in the immortal jazz albums, Clifford Brown with Strings, and Bird with Strings. But what makes this CD different is that it features the Jordan family.

Stephanie’s tone and diction combine Nancy Wilson’s razor-sharp diction and phrasing with Shirley Horn’s economy. Saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, a pioneer artist and educator, was instrumental in forming The World Saxophone Quartet is the patriarch. Marlon’s older brother, Flutist Kent, also recorded a number of well-crafted recordings on Columbia from

1984 to 1988. The Peabody-trained violinist Rachel is a former member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and a music teacher at Dillard University and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and now teaches at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi.

With a Crescent City rhythm section consisting of drummer Troy Davis, bassist David Pulphus, and pianist Darrell Lavigne, who also wrote the string arrangements, Stephanie and Marlon deliver a number of standards in the classic moods and grooves full of the Negroidal rhythmic gravity we call swing. “My Favorite Things,” get things rolling, with Marlon’s full-bodied clarion calls beautifully counter pointed by his father’s torrid, “sheets of sound” solo. “I wanted to come up with a tune that my father can be included on, and be himself, Marlon said.”Coltrane made “My Favorite Things” famous, and my dad is dealing with [Coltrane’s] Live in Seattle and beyond.”

Uncle Alvin Batiste’s pithy clarinet highlights the waltzy modal “All Blues,” from the Miles Davis masterpiece Kind of Blue. “I opened for Miles,” Marlon proudly proclaimed, “and I wanted people to know that I can play in that vein.” Marlon’s Latin lilt on “Flamingo” follows Wynton’s recording of it on his Standard Time Vol. 4 and features cousin Jonathan Bloom on percussion. Another uncle, trombonist Maynard Chatters, and his son, trumpeter Mark, round out this exceptional ensemble. This recording can be summed up with a riff on an old saying: The family that swings together, stays together . . .

He and his siblings’ rendition of Here’s To Life from their live televised performance during the Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Benefit Concert appears on the recent release

by Blue Note Records. Marlon and Stephanie embark on European Tour as part of the Higher Ground Relief effort sponsored by the US States Department. The countries included Bucharest, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Marlon looks to his music for a sense of normalcy after nearly losing his life to hurricane Katrina. Trapped on his roof for five days, a long-line helicopter rescue mission pulled Marlon and his girlfriend to safety. But not before he himself rescued two neighbors who were trapped in a burning house, fracturing both his ankles in the process.

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Marlon Jordan

Le Roux

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