Jersey Jazz • April 2024

ALL THAT’S JAZZ

BY CYDNEY HALPIN

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). Originally intended as a catalyst to encourage people of all ages to actively participate in jazz, JAM heralds and celebrates the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz. I encourage you to celebrate and do something “jazz-centric” this month by attending a live concert event or lecture, reading a book devoted to a jazz great, purchasing a CD or LP, Googling an artist or song you’re interested in finding out more about … the possibilities and opportunities are endless.

However you chose to celebrate, actively take part in the preservation and promotion of jazz and share your interest and enthusiasm of America’s great art form with someone else—perhaps introducing them to jazz for the first time.

“Jazz music is America’s past and

its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen”—Wynton Marsalis

T here is money to be won!

NJJS’ 2024 Juried Scholarship Competition—which will award a $1,000 and a $500 prize in each of two categories: Jazz Performance and Original Composition—is accepting entries.

The submission deadline has been extended to Friday, April 12, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Visit njjs. org/Education/Scholarship Program for complete details.

The competition is open to all students currently enrolled in a New Jersey college undergraduate music program, as well as to Jersey residents currently enrolled in an out of state college undergraduate program. Proof of residency is required for Jersey applicants in out of state schools.

Along with the cash award, winners will receive mentorship, the opportunity to perform with an industry professional, and coverage in Jersey Jazz.

This competition will be judged by our prestigious panel of professional musicians, educators and industry leaders comprised of:

Don Braden—world class tenor saxophonist, flutist, composer and educator

Ted Chubb—Vice President, Jazz Education + Partnerships Associate Producer, Jazz House Kids, trumpeter, composer, and educator

Jason Olaine—Vice President of Programming, Jazz at Lincoln Center

Mariel Bildsten—Trombonist, bandleader, sidewoman, and educator

The Board and I would like to thank Nan Hughes Poole and NJJS Board Member Cynthia Feketie for their generous support of this initiative.

f you’d like to support the growth

of our prize offerings, donations can be made via our website njjs.org/Donate. Please note “Scholarship Fund” where indicated. Donations can also be mailed: NJJS, 382 Springfield Ave., Ste. 217, Summit, NJ 07901. Don’t hesitate to contact me at pres@ njjs.org if you have any questions.

It doesn’t get better than this! Sunday, April 14, 2-4:30 p.m., marks the return of the Chicken Fat Ball!

Thanks to the generosity of event producers Al Kuehn, Don Greenfield, and Ed Stuart, all net proceeds from this event with benefit NJJS.

This year’s lineup of fan favorites includes: Harry Allen/tenor sax, Ken Peplowski/clarinet/tenor sax, Jon-Erik Kellso/cornet, John Allred/ trombone, Ehud Asherie/piano, Gary Mazzaroppi/bass, Paul Wells/drums.

This beloved event will be held at The Woodland in Maplewood,

ALL THAT’S JAZZ

NJ. Bring a picnic and beverage of choice and share a table with old and new friends, while enjoying TRADitional jazz at its finest.

This event sells out! For tickets and more information, please see pages 10 and 36.

Save the Date! If you haven’t yet attended one of our Jersey Jazz LIVE! events, you’ve been missing out on some spectacular music!

Plan to join us Sunday, May 5th at 3:00 p.m., for Jersey Jazz LIVE!— or more aptly titled the “Trombone Summit .” This concert will feature trombonist Mariel Bildsten and her quartet along with showcasing trombonist Ming-Lang Qin as the Rising Stars Opening Act.

Described as “irrepressibly spontaneous” by DownBeat Magazine, Mariel performers regularly in NYC, headlines jazz festivals

nationally and internationally, is a passionate educator, and has shared the stage with contemporary greats—Jon Batiste being one of them. Bandleader and sidewoman, Bildsten is equally adept at playing in big bands, small groups, as well as Afro-Latin music, rock, funk, and R&B bands. This afternoon of music should prove quite lively and entertaining.

If you’d like to support a JJ LIVE! concert or our Rising Stars/ Opening Act initiative—in part or in full—providing performance opportunities for the next generation of jazz musicians, please contact me at pres@njjs.org or at 973.229.0543.

Jersey Jazz LIVE! Is held at Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, Madison, NJ. FREE street parking. $10 Members, $15 Non Members. Doors open at 2:30PM. This event is likely to be well attend-

ed, plan accordingly. For advance ticket sales: https://madisonarts.ticketleap.com/njjs-bildsten-05-05-24/

Celebrate JAM with a road trip or two. Enjoy this Jersey Jazz issue in its entirety and learn more about: New Brunswick Jazz Project’s Tuesday and Thursday programming at Tavern on George, the Grunin Center featuring the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass 4/6 and the Sentimental Journey Big Band 4/28, William Paterson University Jazz Room, various artists 4/7, 14 & 28, Princeton Jazz Festival, various artists 4/13, McCarter Center featuring Snarky Puppy 4/16, the Gotham Jazz Festival 4/28, and Jazz Arts Project’s performance and fundraiser 4/30.

And while you’re at it, plan ahead for May 4th with Django A GoGo, and June 7 & 21 with Arturo O’Farrill and Samara Joy respectively, at The Town Hall/NYC.

There’s still time to DONATE …

Our “YOU Make It All

Possible!” annual appeal campaign kicked off in December, and we need you to join with us in this collaborative effort.

If you’ve already contributed to this annual campaign we thank you, if you haven’t, please consider a tax-deductible gift today. We need your HELP to continue our performance and educational initiatives. You can donate anytime online at www.njjs.org—via the red “Make a Donation” button. Or by mail to: NJJS, 382 Springfield Ave., Summit, New Jersey, 07027.

Please make check payable to NJJS.

We’re counting on you to partner with us and keep this uniquely American art form swingin’.

YOU make it all possible!

Despite the forecast, live like it’s spring.—Lilly Pulitzer

The New Jersey Jazz Society is pleased to announce the

2024 JURIED SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION

New Jersey Jazz Society DEADLINE EXTENDED

This competition will award two $1000 prizes and two $500 prizes in two categories: Jazz Performance & Original Composition. The competition is open to all New Jersey college students currently enrolled in a college undergraduate music program, as well as to New Jersey residents currently enrolled in an out of state college undergraduate program.

Proof of residency required. Along with the cash award, winners will receive guidance, mentorship and the opportunity to perform with an industry professional, and coverage in Jersey Jazz.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, April 12, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Visit   njjs.org/Education/Scholarship Program  for details.

THIS COMPETITION IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED by NAN HUGHES POOLE and CYNTHIA FEKETIE

EDITOR’S CHOICE

BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON

New Brunswick Jazz Project Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary

When pianist Mike Bond was a Jazz Studies major at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, there weren’t a lot of opportunities to play music outside of the classroom. But, he found those opportunities when the New Brunswick Jazz Project, now celebrating its 15th anniversary, began its Emerging Artists series.

The NBJP was founded in 2010 by three New Brunswick residents—Virginia DeBerry, Jimmy Lenihan, and Michael Tublin—to bring live jazz to their town on a regular basis, and DeBerry remembers hearing Bond perform in a concert at New Brunswick’s Zimmerli Art Museum. “At that moment,” she said, “we knew we needed to include an opportunity for young, up and coming jazz musicians to perform, in addition to working professionals.”

For Bond, there was a bonus. “In exchange for letting them borrow my keyboard,” he said, “they let me sit in with Orrin Evans.” The veteran pianist took Bond under his wing and maintained their mentoring relationship when Bond graduated in 2012. When the NBJP celebrates its 15th anniversary with a jazz party Friday, April 12, Bond’s trio will be playing at the after party from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. at Tavern on George, following an earlier performance by Swingadelic at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.

After moving around to several venues through the years, NBJP has settled on Tavern on George as its main venue. “Nearly six years ago,” said DeBerry, “we met with Doug Schneider, the owner of Tavern on George, about bringing jazz to his place. We were

very familiar with the space since we had presented our Emerging Artists series there when it was Tumulty’s. Doug had renovated the restaurant, and the downstairs was very much a ‘lounge’ environment. Jazz at Tavern was an immediate success—the ‘cool cellar’ atmosphere was reminiscent of jazz clubs in New York City, and soon the lounge setup had to be traded for more traditional tables and chairs to accommodate our growing audience.”

Tavern on George also helped NBJP survive the pandemic. “As soon as Covid hit and everything shut down,” recalled Tublin, “we started streaming live jazz events from the musicians’ homes to our fans all over the world. When things calmed down, we were able to be outside on the street, starting July 2, 2020, providing a safe environment for everyone to get out and enjoy life.”

Added DeBerry: “There was a huge tent over George Street with heaters

during the winter months. All comers were asked to wear masks, the tables were six to eight feet apart, and we were full for each and every performance. Musicians from New York City that we couldn’t usually get in New Brunswick were happy to come because they wanted/needed to play.”

Meanwhile, Bond, the son of an Irish-English father and first-generation Chinese-American mother, is a regular member of the Asian-American Pacific Islanders jazz group that plays regularly at Brooklyn’s Red Pavilion and just recorded an album (as yet untitled); and he recorded his first album as a leader, The Honorable Ones, in 2020; in addition to Tavern on George, he appears at such venues as Smalls and Mezzrow in New York and Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia.

: For more information on the 15th anniversary jazz party, log onto nbjp.org or call (732) 640-0001.

ABOUT NJJS

Founded in 1972, The New Jersey Jazz Society has diligently maintained its mission to promote and preserve America’s great art form—jazz. To accomplish our mission, we produce a monthly magazine, Jersey Jazz ; sponsor live jazz events; and provide scholarships to New Jersey college students studying jazz. Through our outreach program Generations of Jazz, we provide interactive programs focused on the history of jazz. The Society is run by a board of directors who meet monthly to conduct Society business. NJJS membership is comprised of jazz devotees from all parts of the state, the country and the world.

MEMBER BENEFITS

You become an integral part of the NJJS community, and the history and future of jazz

Access to 11 Digital Issues of our Award Winning Jersey Jazz Magazine

— Featuring Articles, Interviews, Reviews, Events and More

Discounts to our Jersey Jazz

LIVE! Sunday Concerts

Discounts at NJJS Sponsored Concerts & Events.

MUSICIAN MEMBERS

FREE Listing on NJJS.org “Musicians List” with Individual Website Link

FREE Gig Advertising in our Monthly eBlast

THE RECORD BIN

JOIN NJJS

Family/Individual $45

(Family includes to 2 Adults and 2 children under 18 years of age)

Family/Individual 3-Year $115

Musician Member $45 / 3-Year $90 (one time only, renewal at standard basic membership level.)

Youth $15 - For people under 21 years of age. Date of Birth Required.

Give-A-Gift $25 - Members in good standing may purchase unlimited gift memberships.

Applies to New Memberships only.

Fan $75 - $99

Jazzer $100 - $249

Sideman $250 - $499

Bandleader $500+

Corporate Membership $1000

Members at Bandleader level and above and Corporate Memberships receive special benefits. Please contact Membership@njjs.org for details.

Visit www.njjs.org or email info@njjs.org for more information on our programs and services

A collection of CDs & LPs available at reduced prices at most NJJS concerts and events and through mail order www.njjs.org/Store

The New Jersey Jazz Society is qualified as a tax exempt cultural organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, Federal ID 23-7229339. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. For more Information or to join, visit www.njjs.org

VOLUME 52 • ISSUE 04

NJJS org

Jersey Jazz (ISSN 07405928) is published monthly for members of The New Jersey Jazz Society

382 Springfield Ave., Suite 217, Summit, NJ 07901 973-229-0543 • info@njjs.org

Membership fee is $45/year.

All material in Jersey Jazz, except where another copyright holder is explicitly acknowledged, is copyright ©New Jersey Jazz Society 2020. All rights reserved. Use of this material is strictly prohibited without the written consent of the NJJS.

Editorial Staff

EDITOR

Sanford Josephson, editor@njjs.org

ART DIRECTOR

Michael Bessire, art@njjs.org

CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR

Mitchell Seidel, photo@njjs.org

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Bill Crow, Joe Lang, Dan Morgenstern, Jay Sweet

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Cedric Angeles, Rachel Bliss, Roberto Cifarelli, Tony Graves, Shervin Lainez, Carol LoRicco, Mitchell Seidel, Mark Sheldon

WEBMASTER

Christine Vaindirlis

New Jersey Jazz Society, Officers 2024

PRESIDENT

Cydney Halpin, pres@njjs.org

EXECUTIVE VP vicepresident@njjs.org

TREASURER

Mike Katz, treasurer@njjs.org

VP, MEMBERSHIP membership@njjs.org

VP, PUBLICITY

Sanford Josephson, sanford.josephson@gmail.com

VP, MUSIC PROGRAMMING

Mitchell Seidel, music@njjs.org

RECORDING SECRETARY

Irene Miller

CO-FOUNDER

Jack Stine

Advertising

DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING

Cydney Halpin, advertising@njjs.org

ADVERTISING RATES

Full Page: $135, Half Page: $90, 1/3 Page: $60, 1/4 Page: $30

For reservations, technical information and deadlines contact advertising@njjs.org or visit njjs.org/Magazine/Advertise .

Make payment at PayPal.com: payment@ njjs.org, or via check made payable to NJJS, 382 Springfield Ave., Suite 217, Summit, NJ 07901

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Mike Katz DIRECTORS

Jay Dougherty, Cynthia Feketie, Pete Grice, Carrie Jackson, Caryl Anne McBride, Robert McGee, James Pansulla, Stew Schiffer, Elliott Tyson, Jackie Wetcher

ADVISORS

Don Braden, Mariel Bildsten, Ted Chubb, Al Kuehn, Jason Olaine

SUNDAY, MAY 5 3:00 PM

Madison Community Arts Center

10 KINGS ROAD, MADISON, NJ

FREE STREET PARKING ON KINGS ROAD

$ 10 MEMBERS | $ 15 NON-MEMBERS

$ 5 STUDENTS (WITH VALID I.D.)

CHICKEN FAT BALL

Pianist Ehud Asherie Returns to Help Celebrate Traditional Jazz Picnic’s 60th Anniversary

A “Master of Swing and Stride” Who Grew Up in Bebop

It’s been several years since pianist Ehud Asherie performed at the Chicken Fat Ball, but he’ll feel right at home. “These are guys I’ve played and recorded with many times before,” he said.

Those “guys” are: tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, cornetist Jon-Erik Kellso, clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski, trombonist John Allred, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, and drummer Paul Wells. A celebration of traditional jazz, the CFB will be marking its 60th anniversary at 2 p.m on Sunday, April 14, at The Woodland in Maplewood, NJ.

Called “a master of swing and stride” by The New Yorker, Asherie revealed that, “In my formative years, I kind of grew up in bebop—Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Barry Harris—that New York kind of piano playing. Then I kind of came to the realization that it didn’t come out of thin air, it came out of another tradition of jazz piano.”

CHICKEN FAT BALL

Largely self-taught, although, “I did have piano lessons when I was a kid,” the 44-year-old Asherie dropped out of music school after one year. His “school” actually was the Greenwich Village club, Smalls, where he hung out as a teenager. “That was kind of an interesting time,” he recalled. “You had all these older musicians who had been playing since the 1950s. They were alive and playing—the drummers Jimmy Lovelace and Frank Gant and the pianist Frank Hewitt. And, you had a lot of musicians a generation older than me—people like (guitarist) Peter Bernstein, (pianist) Brad Mehldau, and (pianist) Sacha Perry. It was just an amazing kind of scene. Once I started hanging out there, it was amazing to feel I had been accepted into this community. It was the mid-to-late ‘90s and early 2000s.”

Asherie started playing professionally in 1997 with his own trio— Kenji Robinson on bass and Tom

Pleasant on drums—performing late on Sunday nights at Smalls. Then, he played in bands led by saxophonists Grant Stewart and Bob Mover. His last album, Wild Man Blues (Capri: 2019) was called “both quaint and audacious” by DownBeat’s Matthew Kassel. “Asherie,” he wrote, “succeeds here as an interpreter of old material thanks to his refreshingly recherché song choices: ‘And Then She Stopped’ and the title track, written by Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.”

An earlier album, Shuffle Along (Blue Heron: 2016) featured solo piano performances from Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s 1921 Broadway musical of the same name, which was being revived on Broadway. The album, wrote Jersey Jazz’s Joe Lang, contained “scintillating solo interpretations of eight tunes from the show ...” Eubie Blake, Asherie said, “was a great songwriter. He deserves a lot more recognition for his songwrit-

ing. A lot of songs that were written in the ‘20s by him were very adventurous.

Saxophonist Allen once described Asherie as someone who is “modern, yet traditional at the same time ... in the most wonderful way.” Responding to that depiction, Asherie said: “Tradition is something that you study and build on. So, then you can create and add something to it, a foundation, creativity coming from study and

knowledge, which gives it some roots. And, to me, the fascinating thing about jazz is how you create within an idiom or inside a style.” That, he explained, “gives you the ability to be modern and traditional at the same time.”

The familiarity of all the CFB musicians with each other will undoubtedly result in a spontaneous, swinging afternoon. Last year, Allen characterized the event as “like sitting

Ken Peplowski

PHOTO BY CAROL LORICCO

CHICKEN FAT BALL

around the dinner table with friends.”

Asherie and Kellso were on Peplowski’s 2018 Arbors big band album, Sunrise, which Jersey Jazz’s Lang called “big band music at its best.”

Reviewing Allen’s 2023 Triangle 7 album, With Roses, Pierre Giroux of AllAboutJazz described his playing as having “an elegant tone and swinging style in the manner of Lester Young or Ben Webster.” Lang wrote that Allen, “puts a special touch on not only his exceptional playing, but also on his always sophisticated, yet accessible, arrangements.”

Trombonist Allred was a member of Allen’s band on With Roses.

Kellso and his band, the EarRegulars, have been performing on Sunday nights at New York’s Ear Inn for 16 years. Last year, they finally recorded an album at the club. Allred is also on that album, and AllAboutJazz’s Jack Bowers, in a review, described Kellso and Allred as “splendid

soloists ... good music never grows old. The audience clearly appreciated the freewheeling performance.”

: The Chicken Fat Ball begins at 2 p.m. and is produced by Al Kuehn, Don Greenfield, and Ed Stuart. All proceeds from the event will benefit the New Jersey Jazz Society. The Woodland is located at 60 Woodland Road in Maplewood. Seating at the Chicken Fat Ball is picnic style, and guests are encouraged to bring their own drinks and snacks. For more information, or to order tickets, call (973) 763-7955.

Harry Allen

JAZZ ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Sentimental

Journey Big Band Celebrates ‘The Music That Won World War II’

“A Fresh Approach to the Great American Songbook.”

The Sentimental Journey Big Band, founded in 1991 by the late trumpeter Frank Richetti, specializes in performing the music of the swing era—transporting its audiences back to the 1930s and ‘40s when jazz was America’s popular music.

On Sunday, April 28, the SJBB will return to the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts in Toms River, NJ, as part of its Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon series. The concert will celebrate “The Music That Won World War II”. That will undoubtedly include such popular standards as Yip Harburg and Har-

old Arlen’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” (popularized by Benny Goodman), and Johnny Mercer’s “G.I. Jive”.

There will also be some new arrangements by trumpeter/retired educator Tom Bender of the English folk song, “Loch Lomond” and Benny Carter’s “Harlem on Parade”, made famous by Anita O’Day and Gene Krupa. Bender is a retired music teacher from the Jackson Twp School District.

The band is co-led by Sea Girt, NJ, residents alto saxophonist/clarinetist Curt Morton and his wife, vocalist Altha Morton. Curt Morton studied under bandleader Tommy Tucker at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) and vibraphonist Gary Burton at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Altha Morton was originally a country-pop singer. After a long career as a public school music teacher, she discovered jazz in the 1980s when she

performed with clarinetist Kenny Davern, pianist Dick Wellstood and bassist Jack Six in Manasquan, NJ.

In January, SJBB was featured in Spring Lake Magazine. “When Altha sings,” wrote Judith Jones-Ambrosini, “the audience is in for a treat. It’s not only her powerful voice—the teacher in her also instinctively educates the audience on the songs, taking them to a deeper appreciation of the music.” The band, she added, “brings a fresh approach to the Great American Songbook.”

: The New Jersey Jazz Society is a proud sponsor of the JOSA series, which is made possible, in part, through the support of the Wintrode Family Foundation. The Grunin Center is located on College Drive on the campus of Ocean County Community College. The concert begins at 3 p.m., and tickets can be ordered at the box office, by logging onto grunincenter.org, or by calling (732) 255-0500.

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN

KAREN MANTLER

MARISSA NADLER

Tuesday April 16, 2024

Terence Blanchard: Molded by the Artistic and Cultural Diversity of New Orleans

“In my Household, it was Operatic, Choral, and Church Music. Then, When I was Out of the House, I Heard Jazz, R&B, and Rock and Roll”

BY JAY SWEET

The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship is the highest honor bestowed on living jazz artists in the United States. Since its inception in 1982, honorees have included luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie. This year’s honorees include trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard, pianist and vocalist Amina Claudine Myers, saxophonist Gary Bartz, and jazz writer and historian Willard Jenkins. Blanchard graciously shared his thoughts on the award and his career during a

recent Zoom interview conducted while he was on tour in Europe.

On winning the NEA Jazz Masters award: “Winning this award is a huge honor, especially since many of my heroes have achieved this honor. I’m overwhelmed by the whole thing. It means something different than some other awards because it comes from the community and the people who keep an eye on what’s happening in our world. It’s like a stamp on all of your efforts. We don’t focus on awards as artists, but when they do come, it’s kind of a shock to the system because

we are always thinking about the next project and not what it is that we have done. When you get to my age, and people start talking about your past, you realize what you’ve done in the past, but my eyes are still always on the next thing on the horizon.”

Born in the vibrant artistic epicenter of New Orleans in 1962, Blanchard came into the world as the only child of Wilhelmina and Joseph Oliver Blanchard. Both of his parents deeply loved music, with his father even pursuing opera singing as a part-time endeavor. Beyond merely being the

birthplace of jazz, New Orleans served as a melting pot for diverse cultural influences, nurturing musical and artistic advancements—an aspect often overlooked, Blanchard pointed out.

“New Orleans,” he said, “is a town I think most people in the world always misunderstand because we are labeled the ‘Big Easy.’ We’re known for our food and jazz and for people like Louis Armstrong and all the other greats. Some people don’t realize that New Orleans is a cultural hub extending beyond jazz. One of the first fine art festivals in the country

“ MY EYES ARE STILL ALWAYS ON THE NEXT THING ON THE HORIZON. ”

NEA JAZZ MASTER

premiered in New Orleans. Plus, we had a great opera tradition. My father was part of the legacy of those musicians who loved and performed operatic and classical music. I was around a lot of African-Americans who were into that (classical) world, and it was interesting because the general public never saw them.

Growing up in New Orleans provided me with a wide range of musical interests. In my household, it was operatic, choral, and church music. Then, when I was out of the house, I heard jazz, R&B, and rock and roll. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I really feel very fortunate.”

While classical and operatic music played a huge part in Blanchard’s career, jazz ultimately caught his attention as a youth. “There was a lot of classical and spiritually based music in the house. I always heard brass band music as a kid. Then I heard jazz and started playing jazz on

the record player, except on Sundays.

On Sunday, I would want to listen to Clifford Brown and Miles Davis. My grandmother would say, ‘Not today; this is the Lord’s day, and you are not gonna listen to that music today.’

“I would hear jazz while walking down Frenchman Street,” he recalled. “I would listen to Teddy Riley, a great trumpet player. I remember feeling a secret society had been kept from me because there were so many musicians that I didn’t know about. They were amazing (jazz) musicians who did amazing work, and they weren’t household names, which confused me as a kid. Most of my friends didn’t know who Charlie Parker was. I’m like, are you kidding me? That was the first time in my life that I became aware of the inequity in our culture. It really woke me up. I mean, it’s American history, and (the lack of awareness) is a bit frustrating.

“I’m in England now and Poland tomorrow,” he said. “We were

Jungle Fever was the first of many Spike Lee movies for which Blanchard composed the soundtrack.

in the Netherlands before this, and huge festivals are dedicated to our music in Europe. Our culture has really given gifts to the world creatively, and many of those who have given those gifts haven’t been given the recognition they deserve.”

Blanchard’s earliest training was on piano, an instrument he still plays regularly, but ultimately, the trumpet’s sound truly captured his attention as a youth. “I picked it up in my elementary school and was inspired when a brass band came to my school,” he said. “I heard Alvin Alcorn and said, ‘I can’t do that on piano. I listened to him play, and I’d been taking piano lessons since I was five. I went home and told my dad I wanted to play trumpet, and he had just rented a piano for us. After he hit the fan, he calmed down. He said, ‘I’ll get you a trumpet if you practice it,’ and he got me one.’

One of Blanchard’s critical connections was his friendship with the

“ BLAKEY ALWAYS WANTED US TO PUT OUR SIGNATURE SOUND INTO THE BAND. ”

Marsalis family. “We’ve been like family for years. I met Wynton when I was going to fifth grade. He was going to sixth grade, and then I met Branford. Ellis tried to make me a piano player but finally accepted that I would be a trumpet player when he came to one of my gigs. Ellis has meant a lot to me. Ellis Marsalis, Roger Dickerson, Kid Jordan, and Alvin Batiste were all part of this little village that looked over us (younger guys). Ellis taught us to do the homework and make decisions based on our style.”

Following his rich and varied training in New Orleans, Blanchard attended Rutgers University in Newark from 1980 to 1982 under the tu-

play, and next thing you know, Lionel Hampton walked up behind me and said, ‘Let me hear you play a blues with the piano player.’ So, I started playing with him and improvising. Then, next thing, you know, he called me for gigs. I was in the band the following week. I was 18 years old.”

Blanchard’s affiliation with The Jazz Messengers and his remarkable talents as both a trumpeter and composer quickly propelled him to prominence in the 1980s. Collaborating with his Jazz Messengers bandmate, saxophonist Donald Harrison, Blanchard contributed to the recording of several acclaimed albums during this period. These albums included New York Second Line, Discernment, Nascence, Crystal Stair, and Black Pearl. By the 1990s, Blanchard had firmly established himself as one of the preeminent figures on jazz trumpet, gaining telage of jazz saxophonist Paul Jeffrey and trumpeter Bill Fielder. His connection with Jeffrey helped him land his first major gig as a member of Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra. “I was going to Rutgers University and got to school early, but I had applied late, so they didn’t have any housing.” he said. “So Paul Jeffries, who was running the program then, let me stay with him while I was awaiting housing. He had a gig with Hampton, and, instead of leaving me at home with his wife, he took me along; and I had my horn. There was a sound check, and the trumpet players in the band asked me to pull out my horn so they could hear me play. I started to

The trumpeter’s next significant move came when he was asked to join Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers as Wynton Marsalis’ replacement and, eventually, as Musical Director. “Being with Blakey was like boot camp, really intense. It was like fast-tracking your career, and I met everybody. I was there for four years (1982-1986), but I tell people I felt like I aged by 40. I grew up so much in that band. One of our first gigs was in Italy, and Dizzy Gillespie came to sit in with us. We had an intermission, and Dizzy Gillespie said, ‘When we go back out, just me and you will go out. I’ll play piano for you on a ballad, and you will play

piano for me on a ballad.’ Man, my hands were shaking. I was so nervous. The wild part about playing with Blakey is that he always wanted us to put our signature sound into the band, but that classic Messenger sound was so powerful that it was hard for us to break away from it. Writing for the band was a lot of fun back then.”

widespread recognition. His contributions to the genre during this time solidified his reputation as a leading voice in contemporary jazz.

After performing on soundtracks for Spike Lee movies, including Do the Right Thing and Mo Better Blues, Lee asked Blanchard to compose the score for Jungle Fever, one of Lee’s most famous films, leading to a long-time collaboration between the two and Blanchard’s scores for films such as Malcolm X, Clockers, Summer of Sam, 25th Hour, Inside Man, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, BlacKkKlansman, and Da 5 Bloods.

Blanchard recalled his early relationship with Spike Lee. “He heard me playing the piano and asked if he could use that melody in a scene. Then, he asked if I could write a string arrangement for it, and that’s how it all started. It’s been a great experience ever since. With Spike, I’m left to my devices until we enter the studio. I give

him some content, and he’ll assign those themes to different characters and situations. The wild part is when somebody gives you that type of room, it kind of makes you work harder. You don’t want to let them down. When you look at the cinematic excellence that Spike has brought to the world of film and its uniqueness, it’s incredible. There are so many things that he’s done that have become part of the film lexicon, and to be a part of that is a true honor. I just feel blessed and lucky to help support his artistic vision.”

The movie work has expanded beyond Spike Lee’s films. Blanchard has also scored soundtracks to dozens of other movies, including The Inkwell, Gia, Next Friday, Finding Forester, Glitter, Barber Shop, Cadillac Records, The Princess and The Frog, One Night in Miami, and dozens more.

When I asked about his shift into film music and how he balances his work in the industry with his jazz

career, Blanchard responded this way. “While I was a jazz lover and a jazz musician, I wasn’t just a jazz advocate. When it came time to write music for film, I returned to my classical background. I went back to the things I knew, and then I combined all of those elements. I would incorporate jazz harmony and orchestration from my classical background. I loved how working on films allowed me to grow. The orchestration is the fun part for me. It’s like cooking. You can get spice from this with some seasoning from that and put it together to cre-

ate a particular sound. I like coloring the melodies, putting together those combinations, creating counterlines, and deciding who plays those lines.

“Sometimes, it is a challenge to balance playing and writing,” he acknowledged, but, “When you’re sitting down to work on a film, that horn sits in the case as if it’s saying to you, ‘Hey bro, I haven’t seen you in a while. I’ve got a little surprise for you the next time you pick me up.’ There is a balance, but I learned how to maintain it over time.”

In addition to film work, Blanchard has continued to write and record for his eclectic jazz fusion band, E-Collective. His first album with the band, Breathless (Blue Note: 2015), blends musical brilliance and a message of awareness and desire for societal change. “When I put the band together,” he said, “we were just trying to inspire some young kids to play. I remember we were on tour in Europe, and here was a bunch of young (Black) people

Breathless was Terence Blanchard’s first album with the E-Collective.

who were shot and killed by police. We just kept feeling like anybody else, that enough was enough. Suddenly, we felt like we needed to make a statement. It was frustrating because this is a huge looming issue over our country that’s not being discussed as it should.

“So, we decided to make our little stand about the issues wherever we went. It’s about how we’re not talking about gun violence in our country, how we’re not dealing with this issue of how African-Americans are being misidentified by police and mowed down because of impressions and not because of anything solid. It was an intense time, and we got a chance to talk about it. So, it was helpful. Then, we did a follow-up album called Live (Blue Note: 2018), where we went to some cities and tried to participate in civic engagement on the topic. That’s what my predecessors have done. I just try to follow their lead and bring it back full circle.”

As if producing music for film

and jazz is not impressive enough, Blanchard has become involved in writing music for opera. To date, he has premiered two operas. His first was Champion, about the life of boxer Emile Griffith from St. Thomas. Champion made its Metropolitan Opera premiere in 2023, receiving the Best Opera Recording Grammy. His second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, premiered in 2019. It’s based on the 2014 memoir of the same title by journalist Charles Blow. Blanchard was the first Black composer to have an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera.

“I was asked by Jim (James) Robinson (Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis) and Tim O’Leary (General Director) to write an opera. They remembered that I had a conversation with Gene Bradford (former Director of Jazz St. Louis) about my dad being in operas. One day, I was in a little cafe with Jim, and he asked me to write an opera. I said, ‘Wait a minute,

you got the wrong person.’ But I did it, and it’s been such a great experience. I never thought I’d be a theater guy, but I’ve loved every moment and learned a great deal from it. It brought me back to having that experience when I was a kid. I feel like I owe it to my dad. If my dad were around, man, we’d have to chain him to his seat to make sure he didn’t run up on stage in excitement.”

To date, Blanchard shows no signs of slowing down as he continues to work on film and television projects, a third opera, and music for E-Collective. When it comes to the future of jazz: “I know (the future) is bright and healthy. It’s going to be interesting to see how it unfolds. We must take our experiences and utilize them to the fullest.”

: The 2024 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will be held Saturday, April 13, at the John F. Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. The concert will feature performances

by 2024 NEA Jazz Masters Terence Blanchard, Gary Bartz, and Amina Claudine Myers, remarks by the honorees, and video tributes to their lives and careers. Blanchard will perform with the E-Collective: Charles Altura, Taylor Eigsti, David Ginyard, and Oscar Seaton. Joining Bartz will be members of his band—Paul Bollenback, James King, Kassa Overall, and Marc Cary. Myers will perform with her trio made up of Thurman Barker and Jerome Harris.

In honor of Willard Jenkins, the African Rhythms Alumni Quintet will perform, featuring Alex Blake, T.K. Blue, Chief Baba Neil Clarke, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, and Sharp Radway. The concert is sold out.

: Terence Blanchard will be appearing on April 7 in Verizon Hall at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. For more information or to order tickets, log onto ensembleartsphilly. org or call (215) 893-1999.

JAZZ AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESENTS

SMALL GROUP X with DARRYL HARPER clarinet

SMALL GROUP A with JOSH LAWRENCE trumpet

SMALL GROUP I with YUHAN SU vibraphone

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY FACULTY QUINTET

TICKETED HEADLINER CONCERT CREATIVE LARGE ENSEMBLE with DAFNIS PRIETO drums

DETAILS & TICKETS

APRILSATURDAY 13

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RICHARDSON AUDITORIUM

ALEXANDER HALL FREE | UNTICKETED

8:00 PM CONCERT RICHARDSON AUDITORIUM

ALEXANDER HALL

$15 GENERAL | $5 STUDENTS

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music.princeton.edu

April 30th, 202

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Performances by:

The Randy Brecker Quintet with Ada Rovatti

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Dave Kikoski, Alex Claffy, Steve Johns also appearing:

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Esteban Castro: ‘An Inventive and Virtuosic Modern Jazz Pianist’

“When I Started Playing, I Also Wanted to Create, Not Just Play Something That was on the Page”

BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON

Esteban Castro’s parents gave him a toy piano when he was three years old. “I would just kind of gravitate toward it a lot,” he recalled. “When I was four, they rented a piano and started getting me lessons. I got into jazz because I would really enjoy improvising and composing when I started playing. I would get up in music class and improvise. My music teacher said, ‘Why don’t you play jazz?’ So, that’s when I started to get jazz lessons.”

A lot has happened to Castro since those early days. The 21-year-old moved to New York from Hackensack, NJ, in 2020 when he began attending

Juilliard on a full-tuition Thomas Dubois Hormel Memorial Scholarship. As a 13-year-old, he was the first prize winner in the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition, the youngest musician to ever receive that award. At 14, he was the youngest participant to win first prize in the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition. He has also won three ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards, 15 DownBeat Student Music Awards, and was a finalist in the prestigious 2023 American Pianists Association Awards.

When he was nine years old, his first jazz teacher was pianist Adam

RISING STAR

Birnbaum at the New York Jazz Academy. Next stop was Montclair’s Jazz House Kids where he studied with alto saxophonist/educator Julius Tolentino. “I’ve been very lucky to have worked with so many talented young musicians through the years,” Tolentino said, “but Esteban was a stand out for sure because he was even younger than the rest. He was a member of the Jazz House Big Band as a middle schooler and was already playing with so much maturity. I’m so proud of his accomplishments, and I know there is only more to come!”

At 13, Castro began studying with pianist Jeremy Manasia at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege program. Manasia vividly remembers Esteban’s MSM audition. “This little kid walks in with his father,” he recalled, “and we must’ve all smiled at how cute it all seemed; we didn’t usually have applicants at such a young age. I don’t remember what

he played, but, collectively, all of our jaws dropped after he started to play. It was certainly unrefined, but there was already a sense of virtuosity and power coming out of that little body. It was remarkable, to say the least.”

What stood out for Manasia was “how much fun music was for him. So much time was spent in our lessons laughing. Esteban was very ‘playful’ with music. He had a mind and ear

that ‘just got’ music; it made sense to him. And, he liked to play around with it, to explore where it would take him. He’d crack himself up with the crazy things he would come up with. Esteban was one of the few students I’ve had where I didn’t need to really ‘teach’ him anything; I knew he would find it. I just tried to help him move in the right direction and provide a wide-open field to explore for himself.”

After he graduates from Juilliard this spring, Castro will continue to live in New York, concentrating on performing and composing, “leading my trio, plus sideman work. It’s kind of a continuation of what I’m doing now.” At Juilliard, he is studying piano with Ted Rosenthal, who described him as “a prodigiously gifted pianist. His unique pianistic gifts have him playing everything from ‘Carolina Shout’ to Prokofiev. He is an inventive and virtuosic modern jazz pianist and is a fine composer, too. I believe he will make a strong mark on the jazz scene for years to come.”

For the past eight years, Castro has been taking private lessons from Fred Hersch. “Esteban,” said Hersch, “is a rare talent. I started teaching him at age 13, and it has been very gratifying to see him come into his own. As I continue to mentor him, I am encouraging him to stay focused and have patience in his playing. He has perfect pitch and

PHOTO BY MARK SHELDON

RISING STAR

fabulous technique and wants to use it all! I have no doubt that he will quickly mature and take his place among the top pianists of his generation.”

Castro’s piano heroes of the past are Art Tatum, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk. “For me,” he said, “they are almost the holy trinity of jazz piano. I love Art Tatum’s 20th Century Piano Genius. It’s two separate live recordings of private performances he did later on in his life. Everything on that is beautiful, perfect jazz piano playing. Obviously, his technique is amazing, but I like the spontaneity of his harmonic sensibilities. He does a lot of stuff harmonically —he’ll throw in these notes that are super, kind of unexpected. That recording had a big impact on me.”

His favorite Bud Powell album is The Genius of Bud Powell, “especially the solo piano part. And, I love Solo Monk. I think that’s an incredible

Fred Hersch: “Esteban is a rare talent

... He has perfect pitch and fabulous technique and wants to use it all!”

recording.” He’s also getting more into stride piano. “It’s hard to just even execute it,” he said. “James P. Johnson and Fats Waller were just able to make you dance and sound like a full orchestra with just one instrument. It’s really incredible. There’s so much to learn from it.”

A currenr pianist Castro particularly likes and admires is Sullivan Fortner. “I was watching an interview with him,” he said, “and he was talking about how he views the piano as an orchestra. I think that’s something that’s very unique about the piano, the idea of orchestration. When I played classical music, I played solo, but I also got the chance to play with an orchestra and chamber music and stuff like that. It helped give me an idea or sense of orchestration and also different kinds of colors, depending on what you want it to sound like. If you want the lower register to sound like a cello or a bass and the higher register to sound like the trumpets or flutes, you have the color palette accessible to be able to do that.”

Castro has been composing “for as early as I can remember because when I started playing, I also wanted to create, not just play something that was on the page. To me, composition and improvisation work hand in hand because what we do as jazz musicians —we just compose in the moment. I love doing it.”

I witnessed Castro’s piano wizardry live for the first time in late February when he was part of alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo’s quartet at the South Orange Performing Arts Center’s Jazz in the Loft series. It was only the second time he and Terakubo had played together, and she told me, “Esteban has a unique musical voice and exceptional technique on piano. I love playing with him.”

PHOTO BY ROBERTO CIFARELLI

Tomoko Ohno Quintet to Play Jazz Interpretations of Songs

by Rodgers and Hart

Rodgers and Hart Songs ... “a Perfect Blend of Familiar Chord Sequences and Unexpected Twists.”

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote the song, “My Funny Valentine” in 1937 for teenage actress Mitzi Green to sing in their musical play, Babes in Arms, which was a hit on Broadway, running nearly 300 weeks. “My Funny Valentine” was performed and recorded by many vocalists and instrumentalists, but it didn’t become a hit until 15 years later when it was recorded by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, featuring Chet Baker on trumpet.

Five years later, Miles Davis recorded it on his Prestige al-

bum, Cookin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet, and Frank Sinatra included it on his 1954 Capitol recording, Songs for Young Lovers.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, pianist Tomoko Ohno will lead a quintet playing jazz interpretations of Rodgers and Hart compositions as part of the jazz series at Allamuchy Township’s Rutherfurd Hall. Joining her will be bassist Bill Crow, drummer Nick Scheuble, violinist Sara Caswell, and saxophonist/flutist Anton Denner. At presstime, the group hadn’t decided on the exact

Richard Rodgers, left, and Lorenz Hart

JAZZ AT RUTHERFURD HALL

repertoire, but was planning to select about 10 Rodgers and Hart tunes. Many of them have jazz connections.

In 1998, Prestige released an album called The Jazz Giants Play Rodgers & Hart: Blue Moon. It featured 17 R and H songs recorded by different jazz artists. In his review for AllMusic, Richard Ginell singled out his four favorites: “Art Tatum rippling out ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ with a trio ... Stan Getz A-OK with ‘There’s a Small Hotel’ ... Benny Carter full of lusty vigor with Earl Hines and Shelly Manne powering him on ‘Thou Swell’ ... and a swinging Bill Evans doing ‘My Heart Stood Still’.”

Five years ago, Indiana Public Radio, on a program series hosted by Mark Chilla, took a look at the early songs of Rodgers and Hart and pointed out that one of the biggest hits from the 1927 Broadway musical, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, was “My Heart Stood Still”, which was subsequently recorded by Nat King

Cole, Blossom Dearie, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. The 1928 R and H musical, Present Arms, featured “You Took Advantage of Me”, which Chilla said has become “a jazz standard.” A little research revealed that it was recorded by such jazz artists as Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Benny Carter, Rosemary Clooney, Paul Whiteman, and Bud Freeman/Art Hodes.

Chilla also pointed out that “With a Song in My Heart”, from the 1929

musical, Spring is Here, was featured in the 1950 movie, Young Man with a Horn, inspired loosely by the life of Bix Beiderbecke. In the film, Doris Day sang it, accompanied by Harry James. A 1933 movie, Hallelujah, I’m a Bum, included the song, “You Are Too Beautiful”, later performed by Johnny Hartman and Sarah Vaughan. The only R and H song not associated with a movie or play, Chillin reported, was “Blue Moon”. In 1949,

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Tomoko Ohno, Sara Caswell, Bill Crow, Anton Denner, and Nick Scheuble

Rodgers was apparently unhappy with Mel Torme’s version of it, which took some liberties with the lyrics.

Music heard on the IPR program included Hartman’s “You Are Too Beautiful”, Oscar Peterson’s “Manhattan” and “My Heart Stood Still”, Hampton Hawes’ “Spring is Here”, Wes Montgomery’s “My Romance”, and Nancy Wilson and Stan Getz’s recordings of “Little Girl Blue”.

Flutist Denner is looking for-

BILL CROW PHOTO BY MITCHELL SEIDEL; SARA CASWELL PHOTO BY SHERVIN LAINEZ

ward to the Rutherfurd Hall concert because, in his opinion, “Richard Rodgers’ songs are perfect vehicles for interpretation and improvisation —something I don’t think Rodgers was too thrilled about.

“I once had the opportunity to present a solo flute concert,” he continued, “and, in choosing the repertoire, it was clear how well-suited Richard Rodgers’ songs are perfect vehicles for interpretation and improvisation were for that format. The melodies were so strong and sophisticated, even without a supporting harmony. When playing that same repertoire with a band, the harmonic structure is nothing short of fun to improvise on —a perfect blend of familiar chord sequences and unexpected twists. Incidentally, the bridge of “Have You Met Miss Jones?’ uses a harmonic progression that is usually assumed to originate years later with Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps’.”

“

RICHARD RODGERS’ SONGS ARE PERFECT VEHICLES FOR INTERPRETATION AND IMPROVISATION. ”

In December 2022, the Claudio Roditi Legacy Quartet featuring Ohno, McLaurine, Martinelli, and trumpeter Nathan Eklund, a longDenner, Ohno, Crow, and Scheuble participate in regular jam sessions at Scheuble’s house in Rockaway, NJ, and when Rutherfurd producer Ed Coyne suggested the Rodgers and Hart theme, Ohno reached out to Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell to be part of the R and H concert. Caswell was nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo for her recording of “Can’t Remember Why” on the 2017 Mama Records album, Whispers on the Wind by composer/arranger Chuck Owens. Her latest album is The Way to You (Anzic Records: 2023).

various iterations of trios and quartets honoring the memory of the late trumpeter Claudio Roditi. In April 2018, Brazilian drummer Samuel Martinelli self-released an album called Crossing Paths, celebrating the relationship between Brazilian music and jazz. It also featured Ohno, Roditi, and bassist Marcus McLaurine. Roditi died in January 2020, and, in February 2022, Ohno, McLaurine, and Martinelli performed music from the album at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Virtual Social.

time friend and student of Roditi’s, performed at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, NJ. On May 31, Ohno and Eklund will recreate that quartet for another appearance at Shanghai Jazz, this time with John Lee on bass and Tony Campbell on drums.—SJ

Ohno, the pianist with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, is also the pianist in

: Rutherfurd Hall is located at 1686 Country Road 517 in Hackettstown, NJ. For more information or to order tickets to the Tomoko Ohno Quintet Rodgers and Hart concert, log onto rutherfurdhall.org or call (908) 280-3654. Proceeds from the concert benefit the Hackettstown Rotary and Rutherfurd Hall Foundation.

Philly 5 Presents Tribute to Tenor Saxophonist Larry McKenna

“McKenna has Flown Under That Sort of Oddly Fragmented Radar for Many Years.”

Tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna passed away on November 19, 2023, at the age of 86. While not that well known nationally, he was a jazz legend in Philadelphia, his hometown. As Joe Lang reported (Jersey Jazz, December 2023), “Except for six months with Woody Herman, McKenna eschewed life on the road for the environs in which he felt most comfortable, close to his wife and children. This limited the widespread recognition and acclaim that his talent deserved.”

On Sunday, April 7, as part of Cherry Hill, NJ’s Jazz and Blues Showcase series, The Philly 5 will present a tribute to McKenna at Cunningham Piano Co. Following are comments by some of the band members about McKenna’s legacy and what he meant to them.

For vibraphonist Tony Miceli, “It is hard to put into words what Larry McKenna meant to me. He was my mentor since he was my teacher in 1980. I used to take his improv class, and Larry made everything

Larry McKenna

simple and understandable. What a gift for me to have Larry’s friendship, to play with him, and for him to be my mentor for 40-plus years.”

John Swana, who plays valve trombone and electronic wind instrument, learned from McKenna by “just sitting next to him and playing tunes. Larry set the bar for improvising over jazz standards and the American Songbook. His ballad playing was exquisite. He was also a fantastic storyteller. He shared many stories from his early years playing

gigs around the Philadelphia area.”

Saxophonist Chris Farr addressed McKenna’s lack of national recognition. “In many music communities,” he said, “the name, Larry McKenna, might be confusing, but in Philly, you could only be talking about one person, our treasure, Larry McKenna. Larry was a master of the bebop language and playing melodies. His musical qualities were only outdone by his selfless and humble nature. He has left big shoes to fill, but his music and artistry will live on.”

“ LARRY SET THE BAR FOR IMPROVISING OVER JAZZ STANDARDS AND THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK. ”

Tony Miceli: Larry McKenna was “my mentor for 40-plus years.”

JAZZ AND BLUES SHOWCASE

Added bassist Madison Rast: “On the bandstand, Larry has the ability to meet you at your level and then raise that level. From a bassist’s point of view, he possessed skills that one cannot be taught, such as the ability to lead one through a tune even if you didn’t know the song beforehand. I was the beneficiary of this skill on more than a few occasions. Larry would play in a way that the chord progression became immediately clear. It was like I didn’t have to think, just listen; and the song’s harmony would be laid out clear as a bell.”

Drummer Don Monaghan, who would drive McKenna to gigs at the end of his career, was on McKenna’s last album, World on a String (Boyer. Temple.edu: 2023). Reviewing it for Jersey Jazz (June 2023), Lang pointed out that it was, “a natural combination ... His song list concentrates primarily on ballads like ‘I’ve Got the

World on a String,’ ‘But Beautiful’, and ‘I Love You, Samantha’. On ‘Stompin’ at the Savoy’ and his own ‘Samba De Else’, he demonstrates that he is equally comfortable at any tempo. No matter what he is playing, his innate sense of swing always shines through.”

AllAboutJazz’s Richard J. Salvucci acknowledged that, “Larry McKenna is not really a celebrity. He probably never will be.” But, “Some will say he is arguably the best in the world at what he does, not just in Philadelphia ... McKenna has flown under that sort of oddly fragmented radar for many years. He has been called ‘a natural’, schooled on the gig, not in the classroom. It shows.

Chris Farr: “Larry was a master of the bebop language and playing melodies.”

“To top it off, McKenna and Jack Saint Clair, a fellow tenor player, did the arrangements. They knew what they wanted. There is no wasted space, no wasted motion, and not a wasted note. McKenna makes all the pretty changes, with spectacular results. Polished tasteful, meditative, musical, gorgeous and, in places, wryly hip. Dexter Gordon even peeks through occasionally. It is that kind of creative thinking.”

: The Philly 5 concert will be held from 3-5:30 p.m. Cunningham Piano Co. is located at 1724 Marlton Pike, East, Cherry Hill, NJ. For information about tickets, log onto jazzandlbluesshowcase.com or email jazzandbluesshowcase@gmail.com.

PHOTO BY RACHEL BLISS

Main Stage Concerts Featured Music with Important Messages

“Strange Fruit” and “Black and Blue” Cited as Examples of Courage in Face of Racism

BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON

Trumpeter Terell Stafford spent five years with saxophonist Bobby Watson’s acoustic quintet, Horizon, now considered one of the preeminent small groups of the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. The drummer in that band was Victor Lewis, who also appeared on Stafford’s debut recording as a leader, Time to Let Go (Candid: 1995).

From left, Amina Scott, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Shirazette Tinnin

So, when Stafford decided to record an album (La Coq Records: 2023), reflecting how the pandemic affected our everyday life, Lewis’ composition, “Between Two Worlds” was the natural choice to be the title track. At the opening main stage concert of this year’s Sarasota Jazz Festival, Stafford’s quintet led off with the Lewis composition, which, Stafford said, reflected “what we all do every day, how we would have to juggle during those three years living between different worlds.”

Stafford, who is Musical and Artistic Director of the Sarasota Jazz Festival, brought three band members from the album with him to Sarasota for the opening main stage concert on March 20: tenor/soprano saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Bruce Barth, and drummer Johnathan Blake. They were joined by bassist Philip Norris, subbing for David Wong, the bassist on the album. The band played several Stafford compositions from the recording that paid tribute to his family members. There was “Mi a Mia”, dedicated to his six-year-old daughter, and “Two Hearts As One” in honor of his wife, Carrie. But the showstopper was “Wruth’s Blues”, a pulsating blues number dedicated to Stafford’s mother, which was preceded by “Blues for JT”, a tribute to Stafford’s father that was not on the album but served as a catalyst for “Wruth’s Blues”. After Stafford wrote “Blues

PHOTO BY CAROL LORICCO

for JT”, his mother kept telling him how nice it was that he wrote something for his father. What she really meant, Stafford said, was ‘When are you going to write something for me?’”

“Two Hearts As One”, Stafford said, was motivated by Mia’s birth—“a 50th birthday present for me. I’ll never forget sitting in the hospital watching the two of them and thinking ‘What a gift God has given me.’” The song dedicated to Mia was inspired by his daughter coming home from piano lessons and saying, “Look, Dad, I can play this bass line.”

The concert also featured salutes to two other Stafford heroes (also on the album): Horace Silver’s “Room 608” and McCoy Tyner’s “You Taught My Heart to Sing”.

Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, following Stafford, honored some of her female

musical heroes—Roberta Flack, Nina Simone, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, and Bettye LaVette. She sang Donny Hathaway’s “Tryin’ Times”, recorded by Flack in 1969, which, she said reflected her current feelings. Before singing Simone’s “Mississippi God Damn”, the protest song about the racial turmoil of 1963, Bridgewater recalled going to Simone concerts, “sitting right up-

front. I wanted to study this woman.”

Bridgewater pointed out that “Mississippi God Damn” was written and performed by Simone in reaction to the deaths of four young Black girls in a white supremacist terror attack at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. The song also focused on the killing of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi and the violence against

Blacks in the segregated South. The Vincent Youmans/Irving Caesar standard, “Sometimes I’m Happy” was sung in tribute to Betty Carter, who performed it on a live album recorded at London’s Festival Hall, accompanied by pianist Geri Allen. Here, Bridgewater displayed her verbal pyrotechnics, utilizing her voice as a musical instrument as she interacted with the exciting

LEFT: From left, Terell Stafford, Philip Norris, Tim Warfield, Johnathan Blake.

RIGHT: From left, Wycliffe Gordon, Kaleb Thompson, Adrian Cunningham, Alvin Atkinson, Jr.

PHOTOS BY CAROL LORICCO

drummer Shirazette Tinnin, an Associate Professor in Berklee College of Music’s Percussion Department.

In the most powerful segment of her concert, Bridgewater spoke of the courage displayed by Billie Holiday, who continued to sing Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit”, about the lynching of Blacks in the South, in the face of controversy and threats by law enforcement. The song was rerecorded in 2021 by LaVette on her Verve album, Blackbirds, and Bridgewater performed the LaVette arrangement “in honor of two amazing women.”

LaVette told Rolling Stone she rerecorded “Strange Fruit” in conjunction with ongoing protests against systemic racism and violence toward Black Americans.

In a shout out to John Coltrane, Bridgewater finished with Richard Rodgers’ “My Favorite Things”, featuring a powerful musical con-

versation between keyboardist Michael King and drummer Tinnin.

To say the Wycliffe Gordon Quintet came out swinging on March 21 would be an understatement. The gregarious trombonist promised some “good old good ones”, and he delivered—Duke Ellington’s “Pie Eye’s Blues”, Hoagy Carmichael’s “Rockin’ Chair”, and Paul Barbarin’s “Bourbon Street Parade”, among the selections. Gordon also featured his rhythm section—pianist Kevin Bales, bassist Kaleb Thompson, and drummer Alvin Atkinson, Jr.—on a spirited performance of Charlie Parker’s “My Little Suede Shoes”.

In a more subdued moment, like Bridgewater the evening before, Gordon took a moment to address racism by performing Fats Waller’s “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue” (lyrics by Harry Brooks and Andy Razaf). The song was intro-

Nancy Roucher Receives ‘Satchmo Award’

IN 1959, I WAS A FRESHMAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, AND Nancy Hochman was a senior. I knew Nancy as the girlfriend of my fraternity brother, Jerry Roucher. Nancy and Jerry moved from Decatur, IL, to Sarasota in 1986, and Jerry, who passed away in 2013, became the second President of the Jazz Club of Sarasota in 1990.

Fast forward to 2017 when my wife, Linda, and I were planning to attend our first Sarasota Jazz Festival. I reconnected with Nancy (58 years later!), and we have become great friends. On Saturday, March 23, Nancy received the Jazz Club of Sarasota’s Satchmo Award, created in 1987 to honor those who have made a “Unique and Enduring Contribution to the Living History of Jazz ... Our Original Art Form.”

In addition to her support of the Jazz Club of Sarasota, Nancy has served on boards and leading arts and educational initiatives in the Sarasota area. In 2019, she received the Trailblazer Award from the Florida Alliance for Arts Education. She also created a jazz education program for students, Jazzlinks: Jazz Connects to Students, which has become a collaboration between the Jazz Club of Sarasota and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. And, she has been a JCS board member for 15 years, also serving for many years as Chair of the Music Committee. Congratulations, Nancy! —SJ

Jazz Club of Sarasota President Nik Walker presents the Satchmo Award to Nancy Roucher

duced in the 1929 musical, Hot Chocolates, by Edith Wilson and was often performed by Louis Armstrong.

“Black and Blue” was one of jazz’s first efforts to comment on racism. Waller wrote the song for the musical comedy in which a darkskinned Black woman would sing it as a lament, deploring her lighter-skinned lover’s loss of interest in her. Armstrong used the song as a comment about the difficulties faced by Blacks in a racist white society.

The band then played an exhilarating rendition of another Armstrong favorite, Don Redman’s “St. James Infirmary” with Adrian Cunningham on flute and both Gordon and Cunningham soloing with just their mouthpieces. The set ended with Juan Tizol’s “Caravan”, featuring an electrifying drum solo by Atkinson.

Other Sarasota main stage performers, on March 21-23, included

alto saxophonist Grace Kelly; saxophonist Valerie Gillespie and the Ladies of Jazz; a trio featuring organist Akiko Tsuruga, drummer Jeff Hamilton, and guitarist Steve Kovalcheck; drummer Paul Gavin and Mosaic; and pianist Chucho Valdes.

The main stage concerts were preceded on March 19 by the Jazz Trolley Pub Crawl, featuring 11 local bands. I sampled three of them— drummer Art Siegel’s Panama Drive, featuring an eclectic mix highlighted by Thelonious Monk’s “Straight No Chaser”; the Joe Bruno Band, a Dixieland group led by 96-year-old trumpeter Bruno; and Hot Club SRQ, gypsy jazz that got people up dancing.

Platinum Plus Level sponsor of the Festival was the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax, and Platinum Level sponsors were the Davis Family Arts Foundation and Jazz Cruises-Michael Lazaroff.

BY DAN MORGENSTERN

No one would I think deny that Sonny Rollins is the greatest living jazz musician. Born on September 7, 1930, he is luckily in good mental and physical shape so he can still enjoy good things. One of the very best of these is a new book, Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy (Hachette Books).

The author was not familiar to me but now takes his place among my best writers on jazz. The narrative takes us from the start to the present, and the 725 pages contain not a boring word. Sonny and I are contemporaries (I’m 10/24/29), and, while we’re not close, have been friendly for decades. My luck! Last time I heard Sonny live was Outdoors at Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was a balmy day and Newk, as his fans call him, was in top form , playing without pause for a couple of hours. It was heaven!

As a most timely adjunct to the massive book, Zev Feldman’s Resonance label has issued Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings, Sonny, backed by different bassists and drummers including bassist Henry Grimes and different drummers including Kenny Clarke. Sonny is in great form and the sound acceptable in a program of tunes he and we love, including a Rollins first for me, Sam Coslow’s Cocktails For Two. Skaal!

“

OTHER VIEWS

BY JOE LANG

When discussion comes up about the great jazz albums, the Sonny Rollins Blue Note album, A Night at the Village Vanguard, is usually part of the discussion. The material was recorded at the legendary club on November 3, 1957. The original release had only six tracks. It was reissued in 1987 on two CDs with 10 additional tracks of music and two introductory interludes. Except for two tracks that were recorded in the afternoon with Donald Bailey on bass and Pete La Roca on drums, the balance of the recordings are from the evening with Wilbur Ware on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Now it has been released in its expanded form for the first time on vinyl, as well as in a two-CD set. Included with the package is an informative booklet that includes a recent interview with Rollins. The demands of a saxophonist playing with sole support from bass and drums are intense. Rollins is such a superior im-

provisor that he carries the moment, floating on the rhythmic support that he receives. Seeing Rollins in a small club has always been a special experience, and this set is a fine example of why that is so. store.bluenote.com

Hard bop supergroup One for All has been on the scene for 27 years. Five of the six members—tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist David

Hazeltine, and drummer Joe Farnsworth—are charter members. Bassist John Webber replaced Peter Washington during their first decade and has remained with the group up to the present time. Each of the players has had extensive careers outside the group. Big George (Smoke Session Records – 2401) is their first recording since 2016. For this album, they had tenor saxophonist George Coleman on hand for three of the nine selections, Rotondi’s ‘Oscar Winner,” “My Foolish Heart” and Hank Mobley’s “This I Dog of You.” The other tunes are Alexander’s “Chainsaw,” Hazeltine’s “In the Land”, Rotondi’s “Leemo”’ and Davis’ “Edgerly” and “Cove Island Breeze,” plus “The Nearness of You.” All of the horns and Hazeltine are given extensive solo time and each demonstrates his standing as a first line jazz soloist. Webber and Farnsworth keep it all together as you would expect. It is nice to have these artists back together to produce the

kind of exciting sounds for which they have won accolades for almost three decades. smokesessionsrecords.com Bassist Buster Williams has a superb release, Unalome (Smoke Sessions Records – 2301) that finds him joined by saxophonist/flutist Bruce Williams, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, pianist George Colligan, and drummer Lenny White, plus vocalist Jean Baylor. In addition to being a first call bassist for more than 60 years, Williams is an established leader, composer, and educator. On this album, he provides four examples of his composing talent, each wonderfully constructed with engaging melodies. For “In the Middle of a Rainbow,” he is also the lyricist penning the words thoughtfully sung by Baylor who appears on all but one track. This includes a most unusual funky take on “42nd Street.” Williams, Harris, and Colligan have much solo space and sparkle each time. Williams

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has a tight group that delivers an eclectic, well-arranged program that covers a lot of bases. smokesessionsrecords.com With sole support from bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth, alto saxophonist Jim Snidero puts on a dazzling display of his incredible technique and improvisatory genius on For All We Know (Savant – 2215). He takes extended visits to six standards, “For All We Know”, “Love for Sale”, “Blackberry Winter”, “Willow Weep for Me”, (my favorite track) “My Funny Valentine”, and “You Go to My Head,” plus two classic jazz tunes, John Coltrane’s “Naima” and Charlie Parker’s “Parker’s Mood.” There is not a dull moment nor a wasted note here as Snidero states each melody and creates magic as he riffs on the changes. jazzdepot.com

Readers who frequent Shanghai Jazz have probably seen pianist Steve Ash accompanying various artists. When he

gets solo space, Ash is always imaginative and impressive. You and the Night and The Music (Cellar Music - 042423) finds him leading a terrific trio of himself on piano, Harvie S on bass, and Alvester Garnett on drums. These gentlemen have played together often enough to be totally tuned into each other. Their blend of standards, “You and the Night and the Music”, “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So”, “For Heaven’s Sake”, and “Dream Dancing with jazz tunes like McCoy Tyner’s “Effendi”, Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl”, Bud Powell’s “Una Noche Con Francis”,and Wayne Shorter’s “United,” affords them an eclectic mix of material that is open to the fresh interpretations offered here. Ash moves effortlessly from tempo to tempo with unflinching support from his trio mates. cellarlive.com

Listen to Live at Dizzy’s (Cellar Music -050123) by pianist Brandon Goldberg, and you will quickly hear why this 18-year-old whiz has been garnering accolades for several years. With backing from bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Aaron Kimmel, Goldberg plays a nine-tune program that is mostly standards, “Wives and Lovers”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, “An Affair to Remember”, “Let’s Fall in Love”, “I Concentrate on You”, and “Slow Hot Wind;” a jazz standard by Miles Davis, “Compulsion” and two nifty originals, “Unholy Water” and “Circles.” No matter the tempo, Goldberg has chops to spare and an imagination to match. Working with two well experienced players like Wolfe and Kimmel, he leads the way with confidence. With young jazz musicians

like Goldberg on the scene, the future of jazz looks bright. cellarlive.com

Those who make visits to the Deer Head Inn have probably seen pianist Skip Wilkins at some point. Wilkins spends part of his year living in an apartment in the Deer Head Inn and teaching in the music department at Lafayette College. He also spends several months in Prague. In Morava (Na Moravě) (Newportline – 022-25) by the Skip Wilkins Trio includes two Czech musicians, bassist Thomáš Hobzek and drummer Josef “Pepa” Fečo, with a few contributions by tenor saxophonist Rostislav “Rosta” Fras. The program consists of 10 tracks, all original compositions by Wilkins. There are extensive and interesting liner notes by Wilkins that detail his two-country lifestyle and the background story behind the writing of each song. Wilkins is a superb mainstream pianist who swings even when

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caressing a ballad. While the music will be new to most listeners, it quickly endears itself to you. Kudos to Wilkins and his bandmates for an hour plus of wonderful music. skipwilkinsjazz.com

One of the benefits of being a jazz enthusiast is coming across a veteran jazz player who has escaped your attention. Such is the case for me regarding 75-year-old Japanese jazz pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. Listening to A Shade of Blue (evosound – 536M) by the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio is an ear-opening experience. Accompanying him are two other veteran Japanese jazzers , drummer Toshio Osumi, 79, and bassist Hiroshi Kagawa, 61. As they proceed through a program of two Yamamoto originals and eight familiar selections, you can appreciate why Yamamoto has been a force on the Japanese scene for over 50 years, recording scores of albums and accompanying such jazz giants as Dizzy

Gillespie, Elvin Jones and Carmen McRae. He is a swinger supreme and has dazzling technique. amazon.com

Wolff Clark Dorsey is a trio of pianist Michael Wolff, drummer Mike Clark, and bassist Leon Lee Dorsey. For Clark and Dorsey, Letter to Bill Evans (JazzAvenue 1 Records), is their seventh album together as a rhythm tandem. The trio takes its inspiration from the legendary Bill Evans whose inclusion as the pianist on the classic Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue, cemented his reputation as a formidable stylist with a swiftly expanding influence. For their program, this trio draws from songs that were part of the Evans repertoire. Six of them are Evans compositions, “Gloria’s Step”, “Time Remembered”, “Peri’s Scope”, “Interplay”, “Waltz for Debby”, and “Turn Out the Stars.” The other three are two standards, “My Romance” and “You and the Night and the Music,“ plus “Nardis”

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by Miles Davis. One of the distinguishing aspects of the Evans trios was the way in which the bass and drums were not simply there for support; rather they performed as a wholly integrated trio of musicians, with each player contributing an essential part of the whole. Wolff, Clark and Dorsey have a similar relationship. Naturally, in this format, the piano draws the most attention and, like Evans, Wolff is the prominent voice here. While he has obviously listened to Evans, he has his own approach to the music. The result is a satisfying outing by three excellent and empathetic musicians. wolffcalrkanddorsey.hearnow.com

Louis the First (Livia Records - 2401) is a rerelease of a 1976 recording, the first as a leader by Irish guitarist Louis Stewart. Performing as The Louis Stewart Trio, Stewart is joined by bassist Martin Walshe and drummer John Wadham. This recording

gave notice that a major guitar talent had arrived. Stewart has fingers that fly so quickly that at times you feel there must be overdubs. The trio addresses nine tunes: “All the Things You Are”, “Bluesology”, “Body and Soul”, “Send in the Clowns”, “O Grande Amor”, “Here’s That Rainy Day”, “Alone Together”, “Autumn Leaves”, and “Footprints.” Whether Stewart is playing ballads, blues, bop, or bossa lines, he consistently impresses. It is terrific that Livia Records has made this music available once again. liviarecords.com

In the Big Band Era, female vocalists were a feature of most of the bands. Among the most famous were Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Anita O’Day, Sarah Vaughan, Doris Day, Jo Stafford,and Peggy Lee. Vocalist/pianist Champian Fulton has gathered a cast of current women for an album titled Flying High: Big Band Canaries Who

Soared (Jazz at the Ballroom). Fulton provides the piano accompaniment with either Fukushi Tainaka or Charles Ruggerio on drums and Neal Minor or Mike Gurrola on bass. The singers, in addition to Fulton, are Vanessa Perea, Olivia Chindamo, Jane Monheit, Carmen Bradford, and Gretje Angell. They lend their voices to a 15-song program that includes tunes such as “On the Sunny Side of the Street”, “I Only Have Eyes for You”,

“Sweet Georgia Brown”, “Why Don’t You Do Right”, “What a Difference a Day Makes”, “Social Call”, “You Belong to Me”, “Tea for Two”, and “Exactly Like You.” Each of the vocalists has a different style and voice, reflective of the varied talents in the original bands; and they all acquit themselves impressively. This collection has elements of nostalgia, but the performances are from today. jazzattheballroom.com

As debut recordings go, Life’s a Gig (Fresh Sound New Talent – 669) by vocalist Vanisha Gould and pianist Chris McCarthy is on the upper level. Gould and McCarthy have been working together since 2016, have developed a great musical partnership, and finally have a recording that gives a wide audience the opportunity to appreciate their artistry. They perform nine selections covering a range of styles. There are standards such as “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue

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Sea” ,“What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” and “No Moon at All; a taste of country with Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”; a jazz classic, “Monk’s Dream with a demanding lyric by Jon Hendricks; and original lyrics by Gould on “Aisha”, music by McCoy Tyner, and “Fall in Love with Me”, composed by McCarthy. freshsoundrecords.com

Some music is indefinable. Such is the output from Sundae + Mr. Goessl (aka, vocalist Kate Voss and her husband, guitarist Jason Goessl). Their album, Dreamland (Sun Goose Records) has 12 tracks of familiar tunes performed in their distinct fashion. They definitely have elements of early jazz and pop with a bit of country added plus their individual adaptation of these genres. The songs include “It’s Been a Long Long Time”, “Blue Bayou”, and “Deed I Do”, among many others.Voss has a voice that is distinct and appealing. The more you

hear her, the more you want to hear, and Goessl plays great accompaniment. There are a few tracks with backing vocals and there is some overdubbing. All in all, this is a fun collection that begs to be played more than once. sundaeandmrgoessl.com

When one hears that a Broadway performer is making a vocal album, you probably expect a large voice with an orchestra. Baritone Steven Pasquale takes a different path on Some Other Time (Center Stage Records). His approach is understated, and his sole accompaniment is the jazzy guitar of John Pizzarelli. He has chosen a ballad-heavy program that includes “When I Fall in Love,” “Young at Heart,” and “This Nearly Was Mine”.

“Some Other Time is appropriate when you want some relaxing sounds for unwinding time. This is a digital only release available at broadwayrecords.com//collections/solo-albums

BIG BAND IN THE SKY

WBGO’s Rob Crocker

‘Longest-Running Disc Jockey in the History of NYC Jazz Radio’

Rob Crocker, WBGO-FM radio host, who died March 7, 2024, at the age of 78 in New York City, started his broadcasting career in Europe, co-hosting The Netherlands-based show, “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” for Radio Free Europe.

He returned to the United States in 1971 and began to host jazz programs for the Pacifica Foundation’s New York City affiliate, WBAI. He also hosted shows on such New York City stations as WRVR, WWRL, and WRKS, known as “KISS-FM”. According to a WBGO news release, Crocker “had the singular distinction of being the longest-running disc jockey in the history of jazz radio in New York City.” Crocker joined WBGO in the

early 1980s. In the early 1990s, he relocated to Tokyo where he was a radio personality for Bay-FM and FM Yokohama. In the early 2000s, he came back to the New York area, rejoining WBGO in 2002 as host of “Lights Out”. In 2020, Crocker received the Roy Wilkins Black History Month Award from the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the NAACP.

In addition to his radio career, Crocker produced jazz albums such as Alto Memories with Gary Bartz and Sonny Fortune (Verve: 2002), Philly

Sounds featuring Randy Brecker and Jay Hoggard, and UK Underground by Japanese alto saxophonist Malta. He also produced live jazz shows such as a 2012 tribute to Bobby Hutcherson at Birdland featuring several vibraphonists: Hoggard, Steve Nelson, and Warren Wolf, backed by a rhythm section of George Cables on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums.

Survivors include his father, four brothers, two sisters, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

THANK YOU and welcome to all who have recently joined or renewed their memberships. We can’t do what we do without you!

Your membership is vital to NJJS’s mission to promote and preserve America’s great art form— JAZZ!

NOT WITHOUT YOU!

NJJS org

NEW MEMBERS

RENEWAL MEMBERS

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