East washington life / Jazz avenues
Jazz Avenues by Steve Monroe
Bill Cole Group Plays Next for Transparent Productions Looking for a newer path, a newer sound, a fresh vibe? One so inclined might sample some of the offerings of the new Transparent Productions season of avant jazz, beginning with Bill Cole and his New Untempered Ensemble coming Sunday, Sept. 13, at Bohemian Caverns. Cole, a Pittsburgh native, has a doctorate in ethnomusicology and has served as an educator at many universities. He is admired as an innovator who combines the sounds of “untempered” instruments with jazz, specializing in using non-Western wind instruments, especially double reed horns including Chinese sonas, the Korean hojok and piri, the Indian nagaswarm and shenai, the Ghanaian flute, and other instruments. Having played with distinctive voices in the music such as Sam Rivers, Billy Bang, Julius Hemphill, Ornette Coleman, and William Parker, to name a few, Cole has led his Untempered Ensemble group since 1992. A listen to his 2014 CD “Sunsum,” among his other recordings, gives an idea of the free-form sounds Cole and friends may well provide at the Caverns (see.www.billcole.org). Michael Parker of All About Jazz says, “Cole takes solo after solo that allows a lifetime of immersion in jazz to reveal itself through the extraordinary timbral resources of his chosen instruments.” Cole’s shows on Sept. 13 – entitled “For Endangered Species, African Youth & Don Pullen – are to feature Cole on reeds, Warren Smith, drums, Althea Sullycole, vocals, Joseph Daley, tuba, Ras Moshe, reeds, Lisette Santiago, percussion, and Gerald Veasley, bass. For tickets and more information see www.transparentproductionsdc.org or www.bohemiancaverns.org. Next this month for Transparent Productions are the Evan Parker & Ned Rothenberg Dup on Sept. 26, at Union Arts, and The Thing on Sept. 27 at the Caverns. Shows later this fall include Matt Lucian & Matt Maneri on Oct. 11; Stephan Crump and Mary Halvorson on Nov. 8; The Mark Taylor Group on Nov. 29, and Grass Roots on Dec. 5.
Grubbs’ Annual Coltrane Concert Award-winning saxophonist, composer and educator Carl Grubbs performs with his ensemble at his Annual John Coltrane Celebration Concert at 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 19 at St. Paul’s Schools in Brooklandville, outside of Baltimore. The show by Contemporary Arts Inc. and St. Paul’s Schools is in the Ward Center for the Arts and features the St. Paul’s School Jazz Band, under the direction of jazz studies director Grubbs, and the Carl Grubbs Ensemble, with Eric Byrd, keyboards, Blake Meister, bass, and John Lamkin III, drums. See www.contemporaryartsinc.org or call 410-944-2909 or 410821-3047 for ticket information.
JACS Organ Sundays Organ combo sounds made for one jamming Sunday evening last month as The Jazz & Cultural Society on Franklin Street in Northeast began its Hammond B3 Organ Sundays series. Craig Briscoe on the keys, John Lee, guitar, and JACS maestro DeAndrey Howard, a renowned trumpeter showing his multi-instrumentalist skills by rapping out jazzy beats on drums, entertained a large crowd on “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Close Your Eyes,” and other tunes, with vocalist Venus Dotson coming on with a soaring, lilting
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Edgy, avant, virtuosic saxophonist and composer Brian Settles headlines the DC Jazz Jam on Sept. 20 at The Brixton. Photo: Brian Settles
vocalese on “Satin Doll.” The venue’s organ, once belonging to Dr. Bill Clark, a close friend of Howard, was purchased from Clark’s widow, “who felt the instrument would be in amazing hands at JACS,” according to JACS information. Howard said Sundays at JACS, which already had started having live music on Wednesdays, would see organ groups leading jam sessions. See www.facebook.com/jazzandculturalsociety for more information.
tles/DC Jazz Jam, Sept. 20. The Brixton … Mark Meadows, Sept. 23, Blues Alley …14th Annual DC Jazz Preservation Festival, Sept. 26, Westminster Presbyterian Church … Evan Parker & Ned Rothenberg Duo, Sept. 26, Union Arts … Tim Leahey/DC Jazz Jam, Sept. 27, The Brixton …. The Thing, Sept. 27, Bohemian Caverns … Marianne Solivan, Sept. 30, Blues Alley … Chick Corea & Bela Fleck Duet, Sept. 30, The Music Center at Strathmore …
September Highlights: EC3 & Friends, Sept. 8, Blues Alley … Bobby Muncy, Sept. 9, Twins Jazz … Greater U Street Collective, Sept. 11, Westminster Presbyterian Church … Jason Moran/ Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music and Media, Sept. 11, Blues Alley …Veronneau, Sept. 12-13, Twins Jazz … J.S. Williams/DC Jazz Jam, Sept. 13, The Brixton … Bill Cole New Untempered Ensemble, Sept. 13, Bohemian Caverns … Clifton Anderson, Sept. 16, Blues Alley … A Token of Love for Ron Elliston, Sept. 18, Westminster Presbyterian Church … Christian Scott, Sept. 18-19, Bohemian Caverns … Carl Grubbs/Annual John Coltrane Concert, Sept. 19, St. Paul’s School/Brooklandville … Brian Set-
September Birthdays: Art Pepper 1; Horace Silver, Clifford Jordan 2; Mickey Roker, Roy Brooks 3; Meade Lux Lewis 4; Andrew White, Buddy Bolden 6; Sonny Rollins 7; Wilbur Ware 8; Elvin Jones, George Mraz 9; Roy Ayers 10; Steve Turre 12; Chu Berry 13; Oliver Lake 14; Cannonball Adderley 15; Joe Venuti, John Hendricks 16; Brother Jack McDuff 17; Emily Remler 18; Muhal Richard Abrams 19; Chico Hamilton 21; John Coltrane 23; Gary Bartz 26; Bud Powell 27; Kenny Kirkland 28; Buddy Rich, Oscar Pettiford 30. Steve Monroe is a Washington, DC, writer who can be reached at steve@jazzavenues.com and followed atwww.twitter.com/jazzavenues. u