THE COVER Paquito D’Rivera. Photo by Chris Drukker
ALL THAT’S JAZZ
BY CYDNEY HALPIN
Friday, October 17th saw 42 jazz enthusiasts board a bus at the Morris Museum bound for Corona, Queens, for an all-day excursion to the Louis Armstrong House Museum & Archives.
As we made our way to Queens, the attendees were treated to a curated playlist of Armstrong music and commentary by former NJJS Board Member and LAHM Docent Dave
Dilzell, who also provided handouts featuring an Armstrong chronology and a map of all the historic jazz notables of Queens. Dilzell’s passion for and knowledge of Armstrong’s life, Corona home, and career made for great listening and supplemental learning, to and from the house.
After arriving at LAHM, the participants experienced a wonderful interactive display at the Louis Arm-
strong Center and gift shop, prior to being divided into groups to tour Armstrong’s home. Upon completion of the tours, everyone enjoyed a box lunch and camaraderie in the garden.
The afternoon was filled with LAHM Archivist, author, and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi’s presentation on the Hot Five, with newly unearthed audio from Lil Hardin herself! Riccardi’s knowledge and childlike enthusiasm of all things Armstrong is infectious and brings every soundbite, artifact, and anecdote to life.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, February 1, 2026, to attend our LIVE! event in honor of Black History Month when Ricky—along with trumpeter Summer Camargo—will give a presentation and supplemental musical celebration on the early years of Louis Armstrong.
NJJS would like to thank Regina
Bain, Adriana Carrillo, Ricky Riccardi, Junior Armstead, and the women in the Center, for their help in the planning and execution of this trip.
We’d also like to thank Jess Van Nostrand, Paul Muir, and Marcus Romero at the Morris Museum for their support with marketing and parking for this wonderful event. More thanks to bus driver Rassan at TRU Limousine in Linden for his chauffeuring skills and gallantry with the lunch efforts, and The Coffee Box of Rahway for their nice box lunches.
With comments like “totally enjoyable trip”…“It was sooooo Fab on EVERY level!!!!!!”…”It was a great trip! I just signed up for NJJS membership!”… NJJS Vice President Elizabeth and I have started to put our heads together for the “next” outing. All information will be on our website and in future eBlasts. We hope you’ll join us!
Please join us THIS Sunday, November 2nd for our Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert as we showcase the NJJS 2025 Scholarship winners Joseph Foglia and Nate Tota (Performance), Matthew Cline and Aiden Woods (Composition), and Kyra Cioffi and Sophia Varughese (Vocal Performance) under the musical direction of NJJS Advisor, saxophonist, and educator Don Braden, alongside industry professionals: Mariel Bildsten on trombone, Ted Chubb on trumpet, Caili O’Doherty on piano, Mary Ann McSweeney on bass, and Alvester Garnett on drums, Come support these amazing musicians and the Juried Scholarship Competition initiative— and get to know the future of jazz. Admission is $15 NJJS members/$20 non-members/$5 Child/ Student. Doors open at 2:30 p.m., concerts begin at 3:00 p.m. Refreshments are available for purchase.
Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, Madison, NJ. Free street parking is available. Tickets: www. ticketleap.events/tickets/new-jersey-jazz-society/jersey-jazz-livenjjs-2025-scholarship-winners
The 2025 competition was adjudicated by our prestigious panel of professional musicians, educators and industry leaders comprised of:
Don Braden - world class tenor saxophonist, flutist, composer and educator, Mariel Bildsten - Trombonist, bandleader, sidewoman, and educator, Ted Chubb - Princeton University Lecturer of Music - trumpeter, composer, educator, and arts administrator, Jason Olaine - Vice President of Programming, Jazz at Lincoln Center. Our deepest gratitude to judges Don, Mariel, Ted, and Jason for their dedication and expertise, and for their input and advice as we continue to grow this competition.
The Board and I would like to thank Nan Hughes Poole and NJJS Board Members Cynthia Feketie, Mike Katz, and Jackie Wetcher for their generous support of this initiative. We’re very grateful to them for their dedication to the young musicians of tomorrow. If you’d like to make a donation to further support and expand the 2026 competition prizes, you can do so at njjs.org via the red “Make a Donation” button on the homepage, or by check payable to NJJS, 382 Springfield Ave., Suite 217, Summit, NJ 07091. Please note “Scholarship.”
Our 2025 programming will conclude on December 7th with our Annual Meeting featuring the dynamic guitar duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo. These cats are NJJS fan favorites and are the perfect “gift” to give yourself
and friends for the holidays! Please see page 09 for more information.
If you’ve attended these events, you know they’re a great value and that the talent of our featured performers and the showcased Rising Stars is incredible. If you haven’t yet attended a LIVE! event, come be a part of the musical celebration, and bring a friend! Admission is $15 members/$20 non-members/$5 Student/Child. Doors open at 2:30 p.m., concerts begin at 3:00 p.m. Refreshments are available for purchase. Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, Madison, NJ. Free street parking is available. Tickets: www.ticketleap. events/tickets/new-jersey-jazzsociety/jersey-jazz-live-guitarduo-frank-vignola-vinny-raniolo
“There is always, always something to be grateful for.” - Unknown
BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON
Sarah Hanahan: From Rising Star to ‘Front and Center’
In December 2019 alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan was one of the emerging young stars in drummer Evan Sherman’s big band at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. A month later, she was part of a septet led by trombonist Mariel Bildsten at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre.
I saw both performances, and, in the September/October 2020 issue of Jersey Jazz, Hanahan was featured as our Rising Star. At the time, she was planning to attend Juilliard to earn a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies. A lot has happened since then.
In her first semester at Juilliard, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. was her ensemble coach. “That was
right about the time he started his band, Generation Y,” Hanahan said, and she became part of it. “He was the first person to take me overseas. Some of my friends and great musicians of this generation were in that band—(pianist) Luther Allison, (trumpeter) Anthony Hervey, and (bassist) Philip Norris. We were 24 and so excited to be in Europe.” Owens recognized her talent. When I interviewed him in May 2024, he told me Hanahan “not only played beautifully, she was a star. I said, ‘I’ll hire you and put you front and center.’”
The next step was a connection with drummer Joe Farnsworth. In 2021, Hanahan attended a livestream session recorded by Farns-
worth and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander at Alexander’s Connecticut home. “I was watching them play for almost two hours, and it was so great. Finally, at the last song, Eric said, ‘Do you want to play?’ Of course, I was waiting for that. We played a blues or something, and it was really a great moment. I connected with Joe right away. A couple of months later, he called me, and, in the summer of 2022, we spent a month touring in Europe. It was an amazing summer, and, ever since then, we’ve been touring together.” Hanahan performed on Farnsworth’s recent album, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions: July 2025). In the July/August 2025 issue of Jersey Jazz, Farnsworth said of Hanahan: “We’ve traveled a lot and grown together musically. Playing with her gave me that same feeling I had when I played
with Pharoah (Sanders). She became the focal point of the record.”
In June 2024, Hanahan released her first album as a leader, Among Giants , on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine label. DownBeat Magazine gave it five stars and named it one of the Best Albums of 2024. “As a first-time session leader,” wrote DownBeat’s Veronica Johnson, “Hanahan plays with pure fierceness and lyrical conviction that makes you believe she could, at will, access the spirits of greats like Jackie McLean and John Coltrane.”
At 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 16, the 28-year-old Hanahan will be leading a quartet at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Wayne, NJ. Playing with her will be pianist Caelan Cardello, another JJ Rising Star (January 2022), bassist Matt Dwonszy, and drummer Samuel Bolduc. Put it on your calendar.
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
Visit www.njjs.org or email info@njjs.org for more information on our programs and services
A collection of used CD’s & LP’s available at reduced prices at specific events and through mail order njjs.org/shop
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. 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
Magazine of the New Jersey Jazz Society
VOLUME 53 • ISSUE 10
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 2025. 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 EDITORS
Noal Cohen, Bill Crow, Joe Lang, Vincent Pelote, Jay Sweet
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Chris Drukker, Andrew Lepley, Carol LoRicco, Fred H. Politinsky, Mitchell Seidel
WEBMASTER
Christine Vaindirlis
WEBSITE DESIGN
Prism Digital
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 a payment online at njjs.org/advertise via the red Submit Payment button, or via check made payable to NJJS, 382 Springfield Ave., Suite 217, Summit, NJ 07901.
New Jersey Jazz Society, Officers 2025
PRESIDENT
Cydney Halpin, pres@njjs.org
EXECUTIVE VP
Elizabeth Kavlakian, 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 music@njjs.org
RECORDING SECRETARY
Irene Miller
CO-FOUNDER
Jack Stine
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Mike Katz
DIRECTORS
Jay Dougherty, Cynthia Feketie, Paul Flexner, 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
Jersey Jazz LIVE!
Made
NJJS 2025 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
with INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
Don Braden, MUSIC DIRECTOR, SAX • Mariel Bildsten, TROMBONE • Ted Chubb, TRUMPET
Mary Ann McSweeney, BASS • Alvester Garnett, DRUMS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 3:00 PM
Madison Community Arts Center 10 KINGS ROAD, MADISON, NJ
FREE STREET PARKING ON KINGS ROAD
$ 15 MEMBERS | $ 20 NON-MEMBERS
$ 5 CHILD/STUDENTS (WITH VALID I.D.)
Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo Bring Their ‘Joyful Jamming and Lyricism’ to December JJL
“I Sort of Got My Start with the New Jersey Jazz Society”
In the 1970s and ‘80s, the New Jersey Jazz Society held summer festivals at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, NJ, sometimes as part of a New Jersey arm of the Newport Jazz Festival in New York. Guitarist Frank Vignola remembers playing there 40 years ago, as a 19-year-old, with such guitar giants as Bucky Pizzarelli and Tal Farlow. “There were also other legends,” he recalled, “like (pianist) Jay McShann and (bassist) Milt Hinton. So, I sort of got my start with the New Jersey Jazz Society.”
On Sunday, December 7, Vignola and fellow guitarist, Vinny Raniolo, will be performing at NJJS’ Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert at the Madison (NJ) Community Arts Center. To Vignola, that’s just continuing a tradition. Vignola and Raniolo have performed more that 1,000 concerts together in 17 countries. A typical repertoire can range from music by Rimsky-Korsakov to standards from the Great American Songbook.
When they played at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival in August 2019, Vignola paid tribute to one of his jazz heroes, Pizzarelli. “Without Bucky Pizzarelli,” he said, “we would not know jazz guitar as it is today. Bucky always had a great way of starting a show, usually with a medium tempo song that everyone knew. This would draw the audience in and give the band a chance to get comfortable on stage. Then, the second song, he would swing it a little, and the third one, bingo! Knock it out of the park. What a great performer and man.”
In January 2021, during the pandemic, Vignola and Raniolo honored Pizzarelli and four other New Jersey jazz guitar icons—Lou Pallo, Les Paul, Tony Mottola, and Al Caiola—in an NJJS “virtual concert” from Vignola’s home in Warwick, NY.
Frank Vignola, left, and Vinny Raniolo
When Vignola and Raniolo released an album called Swing Zing! several years ago, JazzWeekly’s George W. Harris called it a “wonderful summit meeting ... They’ve been together in a variety of settings and forms, and this one delivers at least 12 strings of joy on every bite. Their sense of joyful jamming and lyricism is in evidence from the swinging and infectious ‘Cheek to Cheek’ to the frenetic fretwork on ‘Tico Tico/ Djangomania’ which has the strings tying themselves up in a Reinhardt of a knot. Together they can also create swooning melodies as on the swooning ‘I’m Getting Sentimental Over You’ and nostalgic ‘Stardust”. Four years ago, Vignola began a regular Wednesday night gig at New York’s Birdland Theater called Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night. Guests this month will include Raniolo, guitarists Mark Whitfield, Gray Sargent,
Pasquale Grasso, and Rodney Jones; pianist Ted Rosenthal; and vocalist
Tatiana Eva Marie. Broadway World’s Rob Lester described Vignola’s regular Wednesday night performances as “A cool series ... Depending on which week you pop in, you’ll find him with different fellow talents ... The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming, and I liked the Vignola vibe of comfortable, cheerful modesty: He doesn’t hog the spotlight, but generously shares it with his colleagues. Whether mellow or more energized, I loved being enveloped by the sounds in various combinations and in solos.”
In addition to performing, Vignola conducts four Big Jersey Guitar Camps every year at the Best Western Plus Executive Inn in Fairfield, NJ. There’s one this month from November 2-7. The next one is from February 1-6. Instructors, in addition to Vignola, include
such guitarists as Raniolo, Grasso, Jimmy Bruno, and Ulf Wakenius.
At Jersey Jazz LIVE!, Vignola and Raniolo will be preceded by a Rising Stars opening act featuring a quartet from Summit High School led by alto saxophonist Luka Milinkovic, a member of this year’s New Jersey All-State Jazz Ensemble (see article on the All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir on page 26). Other members
of the quartet are: drummer Jeremy Oh, bassist Gavin Lowenberger, and pianist Nicolas Solis-Negron.
: The Madison Community Arts Center is located at 10 Kings Road in Madison, NJ. The Jersey Jazz LIVE! concerts begin at 3 p.m. Admission is $15 for NJJS members and $20 for non-members. Student admission is $5 with valid ID. There will be light refreshments for purchase. To order tickets in advance, log onto www.ticket leap.events/tickets/new-jerseyjazz-society/jersey-jazz-live-guitarduo-frank-vignola-vinny-raniolo
: Funding for Jersey Jazz LIVE! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of The National Endowment for the Arts.
Luka Milinkovic
Al Cohn and Zoot Sims: Music That Is ‘Happy, Accessible, and Possesses an Infectious Swing’
“You Couldn’t Ask for a More Nourishing, More Rewarding, Experience Than to Play with Al and Zoot at the Half Note”
BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON
After almost a quarter of a century of chasing each other through innumerable jazz performances on their tenor saxophones, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims have a matchless musical empathy.” That description by The New York Times’ John S. Wilson was written in January 1971 after Wilson attended a noontime performance by Cohn and Sims at the Downbeat, a midtown eastside New York club. “The enthusiasm and imagination with which they play together,” Wilson added, “has also grown steadily, which is not always the case in such long-lasting partnerships.”
Cohn and Sims met as members of Woody Herman’s Second Herd (the saxophonist section known as the Four Brothers) and both would have celebrated their centennial birthdays this year—Sims on October 29 and Cohn on November 24. In 1947, Sims was an original member of the Four
Al Cohn, left, and Zoot Sims
Brothers, along with fellow tenors, Stan Getz and Herbie Steward and baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff. Cohn replaced Steward in 1948. That was the beginning of the Cohn-Sims musical relationship and friendship. They both left Herman’s band in 1949, but nine years later, they formed a quintet, which lasted from 1957 through the early 1980s. Their chemistry was magical. In the The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed, authors Richard Cook and Brian Morton wrote: “The jazz world would have been a much poorer place without Al and Zoot’s elegant interplay, silksmooth textures, cheerful swinging, bodacious unisons, and thumping good individual solos. It may not dig all that deep, but when you are listening, you tend to wonder why more jazz records don’t have this feel-good factor.”
Cohn and Sims’ steady New York venue was the Half Note, located at Hudson and Spring streets from 1957
until 1972 when it moved to West
54th St., lasting for two more years. Dave Frishberg was one of the pianists who played in the Cohn-Sims Quintet, and in the liner notes of a 2002 Verve reissue of a 1960 album, You ‘n’ Me, he wrote: “Together and separately they were probably the most widely admired musicians I ever came across. I used to watch other musicians listen to them, and I remember how their faces would light up, and how they would burst into spontaneous cheering and howling. I think it might have been the drummer Jake Hanna who said, ‘Everybody wants to either play like Zoot and talk like Al or play like Al and talk like Zoot.’
“If you were a piano player doing jazz work in New York in those years, you couldn’t ask for a more nourishing, more rewarding, experience than to play with Al and Zoot and their colleagues and friends and fans at the Half Note every night. You could be
on the scene each night making music with two immortals in their prime.
This was Zoot ‘n’ Al, man! This was jazz playing of the highest order and purity, the most serious and sublime joy. This is why you came to New York.”
In May 2014, Jazz Profiles’ Steve Cerra published a feature, “Al Cohn and Zoot Sims at the Half Note.” In it,
pianist Roger Kellaway recalled the scene there. “When Zoot and Al were at the Half Note,” he said, “I’d sometimes go there with Gerry Mulligan or Paul Desmond or both. Zoot, of course, had played in Gerry’s Concert Jazz Band, and Desmond was simply enthralled by Zoot’s playing. Paul said once, ‘It has the sweet innocence of a
baby’s first steps. You can’t care if he stumbles. The recovery is so charming.’
“Not to detract from anybody else’s work, but, oh, did Zoot swing. His records are the best antidote for a dark day, along with those of Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. Al Cohn was also a superb arranger, turning out countless charts back in the pre-synthesizer days when the New York (and Los Angeles and Chicago) recording studios were beehive busy with real live musicians recording real live arrangements ... Al wrote for everything, including singers’ record dates, Broadway musicals, and TV specials. I guess I first became aware of Al and Zoot when they were with the Woody Herman Four Brothers band. If you lived through that era, you can probably shut your eyes and hear that saxophone sound, three tenors and a baritone.”
The Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection is housed at East Stroudsburg (PA) University, and during a 2005
In the liner notes of the 1960 album, You ‘n, Me, pianist Dave Frishberg wrote: “Together and separately they were probably the most widely admired musicians I ever came across.”
panel discussion entitled “Remembering Al & Zoot”, jazz writer/historian Ira Gitler reminisced about the Half Note. “The Half Note,” he said, “was a place unto itself, and I always remember one night—four o’clock was closing, but Al and Zoot were still playing, and Cannonball
Adderley had come over from his gig. And, he put his rather ample frame inside the outer door after he came in; and he kind of spread-eagled and said, ‘John Haley Sims! Alvin Gilbert Cohn! Don’t quit now!’ And, they played a little more for Cannonball.”
At the same roundtable, bassist Bill Crow remembered that Cohn and Sims played often at the Edgewater, NJ, club, Struggles. “The last time that I played there,” said Crow, “was with Al and Zoot, the last time they played together.” And, bassist
Steve Gilmore recalled that Cohn and Sims “had a really funny, funny way of hiring rhythm sections. Zoot would say, ‘Listen, Al, I’ll get the bass player, and you get the piano player and the drummer.’ So, we would come up with some rather strange combinations.”
Philadelphia area multireedist Len Pierro recently formed a quintet called The A to Z Band, dedicated to playing the music of Cohn and Sims.
The band, featuring Mary Lou Newnam as the other tenor, performed on September 20 at the Montco Jazz Festival in Glenside, PA, and on October 10 at the Ocean City (NJ) Free Library. “Al Cohn and Zoot Sims,” Pierro told me, “are my favorite tenor players. It’s not only the often referred to bridge between swing and bebop or the philosophy of unpretentious hard swinging, happy-go-lucky, delightful jazz. What strikes me is the way they played together. They sounded like the friends that they were.”
Pierro started The A to Z Band because, “I thought their music should be given more attention.” When people talk about jazz innovators, Pierro said, “Al and Zoot get left out.” He also believes the style of jazz played by Cohn and Sims can be appreciated by a wider audience, “who don’t even know who they were. General audiences enjoy the music because it is happy, accessible, and
possesses an infectious swing.”
Tenor saxophonist/bandleader Andy Farber “first heard Zoot in 1980 at a jazz club in Fort Lauderdale called Bubba’s. I don’t remember who was in his band or what tunes he played. I DO remember that his swinging feel forced us all to snap our fingers and tap our feet. So, when I got home to New York, I told my dad I wanted a Zoot Sims record. I had grown up with my dad’s albums, which were mostly hard bop records.” Farber’s favorites included John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Hank Mobley.
“My old man told me he’d cop one of Zoot’s records for me, but hipped me to an album that was already in our collection—Miles Davis and Horns—which had both Zoot and Al. In fact, half the tunes on there were written by Al Cohn, so I became a fan of his as well. I really dig Al’s playing
continues to be a big influence on me. His solos often are textbook examples of, ‘How you play a solo on that tune!’”
As for Al Cohn—Demsey is a member of the Water Gap Jazz Orchestra, playing at the Deer Head Inn every month, and “We often play Al Cohn charts from the Al Cohn Archive at East Stroudsburg University. Al, like Zoot, was a swinging genius—such a great harmonic sense, so clear, and always, always swinging like crazy.”
as well, but it’s Al’s composing and arranging that really rings my bell.”
Saxophonist/educator Dr. David Demsey, who recently retired as Coordinator of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University, remembered that, “early in my development, I asked one of my teachers who the best player was to learn tunes from, in terms of swing, sound, language clarity. He didn’t miss a beat. He said it was Zoot Sims. He was right! Zoot
Sims, who died in March 1985 at the age of 59, grew up in California as the youngest child in a family of vaudeville performers. Before joining Woody Herman’s band, he played with Benny Goodman. After leaving Herman, he played with Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan before teaming up with Cohn to co-lead their quintet. His greatest influences were Ben Webster and Lester Young.
Cohn passed away in February
1988 at the age of 62. In addition to his saxophone playing, he was widely recognized for his composing and arranging. He arranged for bands led by Mulligan, Quincy Jones, and Terry Gibbs and composed for television programs such as The Steve Allen Show and Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows and specials including the 50th Anniversary of CBS and Cole Porter in Paris. He received four Grammy nominations and was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame and the ASCAP Wall of Fame.
The 95-year-old tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who will celebrate his centennial birthday on September 7, 2030, was asked about Cohn and Sims and told Jersey Jazz, in an email, that, “Both Al and Zoot were friendly guys who never bowed down to other saxophonists, to Black saxophonists. I liked both of them, and I hope they liked me, too.”
Tenor saxophonist Len Pierro leads The A to Z Band, celebrating the music of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims.
SSaxophonist/Composer/Arranger
Gigi Gryce: ‘A Musician’s Musician’
Despite His Significant Achievements, Gryce Remains Relatively Unknown
BY NOAL COHEN
axophonist/composer/arranger Gigi Gryce was an important part of the vibrant New York City jazz scene of the 1950s. Highly regarded by his peers, he was often described as a complete package—a musician’s musician—who possessed a recognizable sound and unique conception. Gryce played a significant role in many influential recordings, both as a leader and a sideman and had close connections with iconic figures such as Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. His contributions
greatly impacted the careers of notable, upcoming artists like trumpeters Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, and Donald Byrd; vocalist Betty Carter; and bassist Oscar Pettiford. Gryce, who penned around 150 pieces, with roughly 60 of those recorded, was part of an impressive group of artists of his time who excelled not only as soloists but also as composers.
Yet, despite his significant achievements, Gryce remains relatively unknown, largely due to a short career and his reluctance to travel far from
New York City. His deep aversion to flying, and even driving long distances, isolated him from wider recognition. And for the final 20 years of his life, he underwent an identity change that effectively caused him to disappear from public view, sealing his status as a lesser-known figure in jazz history.
Born on November 28, 1925, in Pensacola, FL, and raised there, George General “Gigi” Gryce would have celebrated his 100th birthday this month. He grew up in what would become a family of educators, with four sisters and a younger brother, all of whom chose teaching as a career. His musical journey began with clarinet studies through a Work Progress Administration (WPA) program. After graduating high school in 1943, he was soon drafted into the Navy where he joined the Navy Band and was stationed at Chapel Hill, NC, and other non-combat locations before being dis-
charged in 1946. It was during his military service that he first was exposed to the new music known as bebop.
After his discharge, he moved north to live with his oldest sister, Harriet, in Hartford, CT, where he met like-minded local musicians and planned his future. He attended the Boston Conservatory from 1947 to 1952, utilizing veterans benefits under the G.I. Bill, and earned a B.S. in Music with a major in composition. During his time in Boston, he played with influential musicians, including Monk, Pettiford, saxophonist Sam Rivers, pianist Sabby Lewis, and trumpeter Howard McGhee. In a significant breakthrough, saxophonist Stan Getz recorded six of his compositions between 1951 and 1952 while Gryce was still in school. This was facilitated by a connection with Horace Silver, Getz’s pianist, whom Gryce had met in Boston. Ultimately, Gryce settled in
New York City in late 1952, with his career poised for significant growth.
In 1953, Gryce began his professional music activities by joining the Tadd Dameron band, and recorded with artists such as Brown, drummer Max Roach, and McGhee. Later that year, on a rare overseas experience, he toured Europe and North Africa with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra where his first recordings as a leader
took place in Paris. These utilized his fellow Hampton bandmates as well as local French musicians. In 1954, he formed a quintet with Farmer that lasted through 1956, during which period “Social Call,” one of his most popular pieces, was introduced.
A Gryce-led quartet with Monk recorded four highly regarded tracks in 1955 for the Signal Records label, one of the few instances where Monk was a sideman. That same year, Gryce was part of pianist Duke Jordan’s quartet, which produced one of the earliest jazz play-a-longs. He also founded his first publishing company, Melotone Music, to manage rights for his own and many other composers’ works. Additionally, he was involved in multiple innovative recordings throughout 1956, including work with vibraphonist Teddy Charles and bassist Pettiford.
In 1957, Gryce joined forces with
trumpeter Byrd to form the Jazz Lab quintet and nonet which, in the span of one year, recorded six LPs for five different labels and participated in the Newport and Randalls Island festivals. He also also recorded with prominent musicians such as Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson. As his career progressed, Gryce started a second publishing company, Totem Music and saw his composition “Minority” gain incipient “jazz standard” status when it was recorded by both saxophonist Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley and pianist Bill Evans. Gryce was also present during the iconic A Great Day in Harlem photo shoot in 1958. In 1959, he formed a new ensemble called the Orch-tette featuring trumpeter Richard Williams, that performed at The Five Spot in New York City and recorded for the New Jazz and Mercury labels.
With this ensemble, he provided the soundtrack for an award-winning short dance film On the Sound, produced and directed by auteur Fred Baker. He also participated in pianist Randy Weston’s groundbreaking album Uhuru Afrika for Roulette Records (1960) which turned out to be Gryce’s last studio recording.
The final two decades of Gryce’s life (1961-1983) reveal a significant
transformation in his life and career. Following a series of live performances with the Orch-tette at Birdland in 1961, he became musically inactive, withdrawing from the scene and cutting off contact with his colleagues. Difficulties arising from his provocative publishing activities were largely responsible for this change in direction. By January 1963, he began returning publishing rights to composers, signaling the end of his Melotone and Totem ventures.
In fall of 1963, he started working for the New York City Board of Education as a substitute teacher and later was appointed a regular teacher, a position he would maintain until his death. During this period, he underwent a personal transformation, adopting his Muslim name, Basheer Qusim. Known for his effectiveness in motivating children, and highly respected as a music teacher, Gryce/
Qusim earned an M.S. in Education Administration and Supervision from Fordham University in May 1978 and continued his studies with aspirations for a doctorate. However, his health declined, leading him to return to Pensacola in February 1983, where he passed away from a heart attack on March 14, at the age of 57. His legacy endured, as evidenced by the resolution passed on June 22, 1983, by Community School Board 9, renaming C.E.S. 53 in the South Bronx (his last school) The Basheer Qusim/G.G. Gryce School, ensuring his contributions to education and the community he served would not be forgotten.
Note: On February 2, 2025, Gryce was honored at a Black History Month event in Madison, NJ, sponsored by the New Jersey Jazz Society and featuring a concert by a quintet led by alto saxophonist Bruce Williams (Jersey Jazz, January 2025).
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
Pianist George Cables Learned from the Legends. Now, He Is One.
“When I Was 18, We’d Go to the Five Spot and See Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Mose Allison, Mal Waldron, Roland Kirk”
BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON
In 1976, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon made a triumphant return to the United States after spending 14 years living in Copenhagen. He quickly established a working quartet with George Cables on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Eddie Gladden on drums. Cables, who will turn 81 on November 14, believes being hired by Gordon was a pivotal point in his career. “Up until that
time,” he said, “I was spending a lot of time with the electric piano and with other keyboards—clavinet, synthesizer, and the like. With Dexter, for me, it was rediscovering the piano.”
Cables has recorded more than 30 albums as a leader since then and will be leading a trio at Newark’s
Bethany Baptist Church on Saturday, November 8, as part of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival. When
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
Jersey Jazz celebrated Gordon’s centennial birthday (February 2023), Cables recalled the tenor saxophonist’s flexibility as a bandleader. “If he heard me playing something that was representative of some of the things that younger players were doing, he
might ask me what it was or ask me to show it to him. Once, when we were playing a ballad, when the piano solo was coming up, Rufus stopped, and, of course Eddie stopped as well. So, then the piano solo became solo piano. Apparently, he didn’t dislike the
idea so that became a regular thing.”
Perhaps the best known of the quartet’s recordings was Manhattan Symphonie, originally released on Columbia Records in 1978 and reissued in 2005. Reviewing the reissue for All Music, Thomas Jurek pointed out that Cables “provides a solid foil for Gordon ... his large chord voicings are simultaneously insistent and utterly subtle, shading the harmony with enough depth to give Gordon room to really dig into them and blow.”
Gordon, Cables added, “had a sense of humor, so some people didn’t think he took the music seriously. Dexter was strongly influenced by Lester Young— his philosophy and point of view. He would recite eight bars of the lyrics to whatever we were playing to the audience.” Gordon once told Cables that Young would turn around and recite the lyrics of the whole song to the band. “That was how important
they thought knowing the lyrics was.”
Cables’ latest album as a leader was I Hear Echoes, released on the HighNote label in 2024. Reviewing it for AllAboutJazz, Joshua Weiner pointed out that, “Cables plays with undiminished dexterity and invention ... On the evidence of I Hear Echoes, Cables still has a lot to say at the piano after 60 years in jazz.” On January 20, 2025, I Hear Echoes reached Number 1 on the JazzWeek charts.
In addition to Gordon, Cables has played with several other jazz giants including drummer Art Blakey, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, alto saxophonist Art Pepper, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. “Sometimes,” he said, “I had to pinch myself, playing with these musicians. How did I get here? I started in the music late. I went to the High School of Performing Arts. (The Upper West Side school is now known as LaGuardia
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
High School of Music & Art). My freshman year, I remember someone put Charlie Parker on the record player. Then, later I became aware of Art Blakey’s ‘Drum Suite’ and recordings by Ray Bryant and Oscar Pettiford and ‘Take Five’ by Dave Brubeck. My best friends were Rich Maldonado, whose stage name is Ricardo Ray, and a tuba player, Larry Fishkind. They taught me how to improvise. I’d go down into my basement and play ‘Autumn Leaves’ or something like that.
“When I was 18,” he continued,
“we’d go to the Five Spot and see Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Mose Allison, Mal Waldron, Roland Kirk.
Listening to records was one thing, but seeing these guys in person was something else.” The Five Spot Cafe was located at 5 Cooper Square in the Bowery and featured live jazz from the late ‘50s through the late ‘60s. According to villagepreservation.com, the Five Spot, “for a time, was probably the hippest place in town, if not on the planet.”
Ricardo “Richie” Ray is a pianist/ singer/music arranger/composer
“ HE (SONNY ROLLINS) WAS TO JAZZ
WHAT
PAUL HINDEMITH WAS TO CLASSICAL MUSIC. ”
best known as part of the duo, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. Larry Fishkind has performed with several classical orchestras including The American Symphony Orchestra, The Brooklyn Philharmonic, and The Netherlands Theatre Orchestra. He has also played with jazz artists such as trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, saxophonist Steve Lacy, and clarinetist George Lewis.
After graduating from the High School of the Performing Arts, Cables attended the Mannes College of Music and then played in a band called The Jazz Samaritans, which also included drummers Billy Cobham and Lenny White, bassist Clint Houston, and saxophonist Steve Grossman. In 1969, he joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. “Art Blakey would conduct the band from the back,” he said. “He would remind you of how to shape your solos. You might hear him in the back if he felt you could
be funkier or more soulful. He might say, ‘Let it run down your leg.’”
Cables also toured with Rollins. “He was to jazz what Paul Hindemith was to classical music—‘Elementary Training for Musicians’. It was anything but elementary. I remember my first encounter with Sonny Rollins. It was an audition
I Hear Echoes reached Number 1 on the JazzWeek chart in January 2025.
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really. He asked if I knew ‘Love Letters’. I didn’t, so he brought out the sheet music. ‘OK,’ he said, ‘let’s do it in d flat. Then, he brought out ‘Night and Day’, saying, ‘Let’s do it in e flat. Now, let’s do it in e major.’ He liked to do songs in different keys because
The Washington Post’s Mike Joyce emphasized the rapport between Cables and Pepper on this album. Cables, he wrote, “provides Pepper with harmonic clues and a gently swinging pulse.”
he felt each key had a different color. He is truly a great, great musician with a sound that can last forever.”
(Originally published in the 1940s, Paul Hindemith’s textbooks, according to halleonard.com, “are still the outstanding works of their kind. In contrast to many musical textbooks written by academic musicians, these were produced by a man who could play every instrument of the orchestra, could compose a satisfying piece for almost every kind of ensemble, and who was one of the most stimulating teachers of his day. It is therefore not surprising that these books should remain essential reading for the student and the professional musician.”).
During the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Cables spent about four years playing with Art Pepper, who he described as being “serious and sensitive about the music. One of the things I remember is his approach to ballads. After the
“ CLEARLY, CABLES IS AN UNDERRATED PIANIST POSSESSING A STRONG AND PERSONAL TOUCH. ”
melody, he would stay in that ballad tempo, keep that ballad feeling. Other musicians, after the melody, would go into quadruple time, bouncing.”
In May 1982, just a few weeks before Pepper’s death, he and Cables recorded a duo album, Goin’ Home, on the Galaxy label, with Pepper playing clarinet instead of alto sax on some of the tracks. In February 1983, The Washington Post’s Mike Joyce wrote that, “Pepper and Cables would be an inspired pairing in any context, but this one-on-one setting suits them
particularly well. Clearly, Cables is an underrated pianist possessing a strong and personal touch. He can unravel the keyboard swiftly, but more often his playing is defined by boldly articulate and unhurried phrasing, as well as the ease with which he balances melodic and rhythmic concerns”
Joyce emphasized the rapport that existed between Pepper and Cables on Duke Ellington’s “In a Mellotone”, pointing out that, “Cables’ quick response time, his right hand darting in and out of the melody, while his
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
left provides Pepper with harmonic clues and a gently swinging pulse.” Hubbard was another favorite of Cables.”I played with him for five years. Whatever he thought of, he could play. He could also sit down and play on the piano.”
At Bethany Baptist Church, Cables will be joined by bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Jerome Jen-
nings. “Alex was in my combo for two years when I was teaching at The New School,” Cables said, adding “I can say he was my rock. I’m really thrilled to see him doing what he’s doing.” Jennings was the drummer on I Hear Echoes. “I have musical and personal connections with both of them,” Cables said. “Both Alex and Jerome are 100 per cent in, always present.”
Cables’ favorite young pianists are James Francies, Tyler Bullock, and Arcoiris Sandoval. There’s a testimonial by Cables on Sandoval’s website, which says, “She has her own voice and creative point of view with an infectious energy to whatever she plays. In other words, this young woman can play!” He’s also a fan of alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan (Hanahan and Bullock have been featured as Jersey Jazz Rising Stars, in September 2020 and February 2024, respectively. See ‘Editor’s Choice” on Hanahan, page 5).
Saturday, November 22 • 3:00pm
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
David Demsey:
“I’m really treating this band like a professional band.”
All-State Jazz Ensemble/Choir Program: From Thad Jones’ ‘Big Dipper’ to Billy Joel’s ‘So It Goes’
“These Kids Can Really Play ... These Students
Pull It Off at the Highest Level”
If they hire me,” said Dr. David Demsey, “they know they’re getting some Thad Jones.” Demsey, who recently retired after 33 years as Coordinator of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University, is directing this year’s New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA)/New Jersey Association for Jazz Education (NJAJE) All-State Jazz Ensemble.
This is the third time Demsey has directed the ensemble, and he emphasized that, “This is not a program of arrangements that would be written for high school bands. These are
pro arrangements.” Thad Jones was the first William Paterson Director of Jazz Studies, and his music is part of the university’s Living Jazz Archives. The All-State Ensemble will play his “Big Dipper”, one of his earlier arrangements, initially written for the Count Basie Orchestra. It became part of the original repertoire of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Other pieces to be performed by the ensemble on Friday, November 14, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival, are: Toshiko Akiyoshi’s “Tuning
Up”; Phil Woods’ “Randi”, arranged for the Clark Terry Big Band; Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance”, written for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra; and Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments”. The ensemble and All-State Jazz Choir will present a joint performance of Drew Zaremba’s arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “As”.
The All-State Jazz Choir will be directed by Doug Heyburn, NJAJE Vocal Chairperson, who retired in 2023 after 29 years as West Milford Township Public Schools Choral Director. The choir will open the
concert with Darmon Meader’s arrangement of the “Star Spangled Banner”. That will be followed by Kelly Kunz’s a capella arrangement of Billy Joel’s “So It Goes”, Meader’s arrangement of Rodgers and Hart’s “I
Could Write a Book”; Paris Rutherford’s arrangement of Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin’s “Long Ago and Far Away”; and Kerry Marsh’s arrangement of Eden Ahbez’s “Nature Boy” as performed by Kurt Elling.
“It always amazes me how much music is thrown at these young singers in such a short rehearsal time,” Hey-
“
THESE DAYS THERE ARE SO MANY SCHOOLS WITH EXCELLENT JAZZ PROGRAMS.
”
has chosen music “from arrangers I believe are the best—Darmon Meader, Kelly Kunz, Paris Rutherford—they were always my go- to arrangers. I believe I’ve programmed Paris Rutherford in every jazz program I’ve put on.” (Rutherford, Professor in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, is considered one of the top vocal jazz TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ
burn said. “You’re literally with them four times. I have been a part of this process for 20 years and have watched all the conductors that walk in the door arguably bring their best. And, these students pull it off at the highest level. So, as the conductor this year, I can bring that experience with me, knowing they will rise to it.” Heyburn
Doug Heyburn: “It always amazes me how much music is thrown at these young singers in such a short rehearsal time.”
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
arrangers in the country today).
Toshiko Akiyoshi’s “Tuning Up”, Demsey explained, is “sort of like a meet the band arrangement where everybody gets to solo, and all the sections are featured. It’s kind of a showcase for the band.” The Phil Woods piece, “Randi” will feature the saxophone section. The title refers to Randi Holton. “She and her husband, a Swedish couple, used to host musicians in their home when the musicians were in Scandinavia for a jazz festival. It’s written for her.” As for “Stolen Moments”, so well known as the lead track on Nelson’s 1961 Impulse!
Records album, Blues in the Abstract Truth, Demsey pointed out that “the original recording was for four horns: trumpet, alto, tenor, trombone. It puts those four horns inside of a bigger band piece. The band really liked it.
“These kids,” he continued, “can really play. In older days, you were getting very talented kids who still
All-State Jazz Ensemble
Luka Milinkovic, Alto
Saxophone, Summit High School
Noah Tamiso, Alto Saxophone, Newark Academy
Jay Thatte, Tenor
Saxophone, Newark Academy
Alex Kaeser, Tenor
Saxophone, Moorestown High School
Eli Wunder, Baritone
Saxophone, Ridgewood High School
Lucas Comesana, Trumpet, Princeton High School
Connor Li, Trumpet, Livingston High School
Annika DeBear, Trumpet, Moorestown High School
Rehan Ahmed, Trumpet, Princeton High School
Shaan Dave, Trumpet, Watchung Hills High School
Cameron Van Wyk, Trombone, South Plainfield High School
Matthew Ghaim, Trombone, Princeton High School
Hayden Moon, Trombone, Millburn High School
Ace Leigh, Bass Trombone, Cherokee High School
Thomas Dinh, Piano, Robbinsville High School
Charles Budzinski, Guitar, Livingston High School
Anders Ryen, Bass, Ridgewood High School
Vir Mehrotra, Drums, West Windsor-Plainsboro South
Melody Gomez, Vibes, Shawnee High School
All-State Jazz Choir
ALTOS
Rachel Enache, Florence Twp Memorial High School
Mia Vasquez, Pascack Valley High School
Saanvi Karthik, Metuchen High School
Maria Guarraggi, Northern Burlington County Regional High School
Alina Valdez Perth, Amboy High School
Angelyna Bonilla, Rahway High School
TENOR/BARI
Thomas Fossett, Sparta High School
BASS
Stephan O’Neill, Oakcrest High School
Martin Rojas, Hackensack High School
Ronald Toth, Rahway High School
SOPRANOS
Vidhya Karuppiah, East Brunswick High School
Ababa Zienne, Hopewell Valley Central High School
Marni Kramer, East Brunswick High School
TENORS
Elijah Gonzalez, Rahway High School
Charles Japheth, Rahway High School
Lewis Wasden, Hopewell Valley Central High School
INSTRUMENTAL QUINTET
Maxwell Gasik, Bass, Shawnee High School
Gabrielle O’Neill, Drumset, Princeton High School
Jackson Provan, Guitar, James Caldwell High School
George Shekiladze, Piano, Lyndhurst High School
Richard Chen, Vibes, Millburn High School
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
TD James Moody
Jazz Festival Schedule
All performances at NJPAC unless otherwise noted.
NOV 8, 6 P.M.
George Cables Trio, Bethany Baptist Church. FREE
NOV 8, 7:30 P.M.
Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanas
NOV 9, 3 P.M.
Stanley Clarke’s
*N*4EVER with special guest, bassist Ben Williams
NOV 12, 4:30 P.M.
TD Jazz for Teens
performance and reading of Yo-Yo Ma’s “Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma”, Newark Public Library, Springfield Branch. FREE
Arturo Sandoval
NOV 13, 7:30 P.M.
Arturo Sandoval
NOV 14, 7 P.M.
NJMEA/NJAJE All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir
NOV 15, 3 & 7 P.M.
Savion Glover with PROjECT 9
NOV 15, 8 P.M.
“Blues is Alright” with singers Tucka James, King George, Pokey Bear, West Love, Lenny Williams; and singerguitarist Theodis Ealey.
NOV 16, 2 P.M.
Jazz Salsa with The Luisito Rosario Orchestra at Feldman Middleton Community Center. FREE
NOV 16, 7 P.M.
Rachel Price and Vilray Bolles
NOV 20, 8 P.M.
Represent!: A Night of Jazz, Hip Hop, and Poetry
NOV 21, 7:30 P.M.
Jazz Jams at Clements Place. FREE
NOV 21, 7:30 P.M.
Carlos Varela
NOV 21, 8 P.M.
Christian McBride Big Band
NOV 22, 7:30 P.M.
Stanley Jordan’s Jimi Hendrix Tribute
NOV 23, 11:30 A.M. & 1:30 P.M.
Nat Adderley, Jr. Quartet, NICO Kitchen + Bar
NOV 23, 3 P.M.
Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition
For more information or to order tickets, log onto njpac. org or call (888) 696-5722
didn’t know much about jazz. These days, there are so many schools with excellent jazz programs, and then you have programs like Jazz for Teens and Jazz House Kids and summer jazz camps like William Paterson and Rutgers have. I’m really treating this band like a professional band. They’re not playing charts that were written for students. They’re playing arrangements that were written for the professionals in Thad Jones’ band, in Toshiko’s band, in Mel Lewis’ band, or in Clark Terry’s band. This will give them a real snapshot of what it feels like to be a professional.”
Rachel Price and Vilaray Bolles
The All-State Jazz Ensemble has 19 student musicians from 13 high schools. Three students are from Princeton High School, and two each are from Newark Academy, Moorestown High School, Livingston High School, and Ridgewood High School. Pianist Thomas Dinh from
TD JAMES MOODY JAZZ FESTIVAL
Pianist Thomas Dinh of Robbinsville High School is in the All-State Jazz Ensemble for the third consecutive year. In March 2024, he was part of a Rising Stars quintet that played at the NJ Jazz Society’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert in Madison.
Robbinsville High School, has been an All-State Ensemble member for three consecutive years. In March 2024, he performed with guitarist Sally Shupe’s quintet as part of the Rising Stars opening act at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert in Madison, NJ. Three
other ensemble members are performing for the second straight year: Newark Academy alto saxophonist Noah Tamiso, Princeton trumpeter Lucas Comesana, and South Plainfield trombonist Cameron Van Wyk.
The All-State Jazz Choir has 17 members from 11 high schools. Four students are from Rahway High School, and two each are from Perth Amboy High School, East Brunswick High School, and Hopewell Valley Central High School. Two students— Perth Amboy alto Alina Valdez and Rahway tenor Charles Japheth—were in the choir last year. The choir will be accompanied by an instrumental jazz quintet. In addition to the November 14th NJPAC performance, the ensemble and choir will perform on Thursday, November 6, at the Claridge Celebrity Theater in Atlantic City during the New Jersey Education Association (NEA) convention.—SANFORD JOSEPHSON
Paquito D’Rivera: His Fascination with Jazz Began with Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert
“I
Had Always Dreamed of Being a Musician in New York City, and When I Finally Arrived, I Felt Like a Fish in Water”
BY JAY SWEET
Cuban-American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Paquito D’Rivera is a legend—a man whose personality is as effervescent as his music, and one who took significant risks in life to create the music he felt most deeply connected to. The 77-year-old master will be honored as the newest recipient of the Giants of Jazz Award on November 29, 2025, at the South Orange Performing Arts Center. The evening, produced by
bassist John Lee, will include performances by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, tenor saxophonist/flutist
Don Braden, vocalist Roberta Gambarini, pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Rufus Reid, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, guitarist Yotam Silberstein, and others—a lineup that reads like a who’s who of jazz.
How does D’Rivera feel about the honor? “Well, it’s a surprise for me, and I’m very honored to be
GIANTS OF JAZZ
mentioned on the same page as Kenny Barron and my very dear friend Claudio Roditi, whom we still miss so much. I do wonder whose idea this was, but I’m truly thankful and delighted that my dear friend John Lee is involved in all of this. It will
be a wonderful opportunity to have fun, make music together, and remember the people who’ve been so important in our careers.”
Although he remains humble, the recognition is most definitely deserved after a playing
career that has lasted more than seven decades. D’Rivera reflected on his remarkable journey.
“My father was a classical saxophone player.” he said. “In the early 1940s, he imported books from the French School of the Saxophone—the Paris Conservatory. So, from a very early age, I was exposed to all kinds of music. The first jazz recording I remember was Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall, the 1938 concert. For some reason, my father used to play that record back-to-back with Benny Goodman’s rendition of the Mozart ‘Clarinet Concerto’. So, growing up, I was constantly hearing everything— from Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman’s big band music to Mozart and the classics. As a child, I didn’t really understand the difference between one kind of music and another. To me, it was all just great music.
“My father gave me my first sax-
ophone—a soprano sax—which he ordered from the Selmer Company. He presented it to me in public when I was just six years old. So yes, that was quite a while ago! This year actually marks 70 years of playing music. That’s a lot of years, huh?”
D’Rivera grew up around the famed Tropicana Club. “Since I was a kid,” he recalled, “I spent time there— sitting in on rehearsals, watching the shows, and eventually playing there myself from time to time. It was such a magical place, full of energy, elegance, and incredible music.”
His early exposure led to more formal training when he attended the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory, where he studied clarinet and saxophone. “The conservatory,” he said, “offered a strictly classical education. But after hearing that Benny Goodman LP, I became fascinated by jazz—I just didn’t understand how
D’Rivera and Chucho Valdes
GIANTS OF JAZZ
it worked yet. So, my father took me to visit some of his friends who were improvisers. The first thing they told me was, ‘Transcribe the solos of the musicians you like.’ So, I started doing exactly that. I loved Benny Goodman, but also Harry James, Lionel Hampton, and especially Teddy Wilson, a pianist I still adore to this day. Then came Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond, Gigi Gryce, and so many others. Everyone who wants to learn how to improvise begins by transcribing, and then you
“
start to develop your own solos.”
“Of course, you also need to study harmony—that’s essential. Pianists and guitarists often pick it up naturally, but for us wind players, we usually have to sit down at the keyboard to really understand it. Improvising is such great fun—but you have to learn the rules first so that you can break them later!”
Around the same time, he began performing with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, starting at just 17 years old. “They used to call me
YOU HAVE TO LEARN THE RULES FIRST SO YOU CAN BREAK THEM LATER.
”
quite often, especially whenever they programmed Ravel’s Boléro,” he said. “There’s a soprano saxophone part in that piece, and for some reason, they discovered that I played the soprano, which, in those days, wasn’t a very popular instrument. It’s actually a very tricky solo, and the soprano can be a very unpredictable instrument. When you’re trying to play perfectly in tune, you never quite know what’s going to happen with the soprano!”
In the early 1970s, D’Rivera and legendary Cuban pianist Chucho
Valdés formed the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna. This large group incorporated jazz and eventually became the more scaled-down Irakere, the innovative Latin fusion group that once included the legendary trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.
“It all started,” D’Rivera said, “because the big orchestra was just too large to move around, impossible to take anywhere. So Chucho Valdés and Oscar Valdés, the singer and percussionist, decided to form a smaller group that could combine jazz, stage music, and dance music—for dance parties and concerts.” They decided, though, to stay away from using the word “jazz,” because, “In those days, in Communist Cuba, jazz was practically a four-letter word. So that’s how Irakere was born. I never really knew where they got the name—Irakere— but it sounded powerful, and I believe it means ‘jungle’ in some African dia-
D’Rivera at Carnegie Hall Museum next to photo of Benny Goodman
GIANTS OF JAZZ
lect. It had a strong, exotic ring to it.
“Dictators tend to fear jazz music. It represents freedom and independence, everything they can’t control. So, for a time, things were difficult for us. I wrote about it in my book My Sax Life—there’s a whole chapter called ‘Jazz,’ where I describe those struggles.
“Eventually, though, we managed to get away with it. Under the name Irakere, we became the first group in Cuba to blend jazz, dance music, and classical influences all at once. It was very well received, though at first people were a little intimidated. They didn’t quite know what to make of us— it was supposed to be a dance band, but instead of dancing, people would just stand there watching us play!”
Despite his success in Cuba, D’Rivera increasingly grew irritated by the personal and artistic oppression and made the very bold
decision to leave the group and the country. “During a tour in Europe, I asked for political asylum. At the very first stop, without telling anyone, I defected. And that was the end of my time with Irakere.
“It was a very difficult decision to leave Cuba. I was married to a woman I loved, and we had a fiveyear-old son. After I left, I didn’t see them for 10 years. My marriage didn’t survive—it was destroyed. And of course, I completely missed my son’s
“
DOING VARIOUS KINDS OF THINGS EVERY DAY KEEPS ME ALIVE
AND INSPIRED. ”
childhood. At that moment, though, it was the only way. There was no other escape from that system.”
Despite the risks, D’Rivera quickly found work outside his home country. “About a year before I left, in 1977, I met Dizzy Gillespie in Havana. He came as part of a jazz cruise, and when I arrived in the U.S., he helped me a lot. So did (Cuban bandleader) Mario Bauzá, wonderful people. I had also recorded with Irakere for CBS about a year before defecting, so when I came here, I managed to get my own contract with CBS Records. I recorded
more than 10 albums with them. Bruce Lundvall was the President of CBS at the time. He really supported me. So, that’s how I started my career here.
“I had always dreamed of being a musician in New York City, and when I finally arrived, I felt like a fish in water. My parents had been living here since 1968, so I knew the city. New York always amazed me—the energy, the musicians, the constant activity. Some people say New York is an aggressive place, but I don’t think so. It’s a very friendly city.”
After recording dozens of albums
GIANTS OF JAZZ
as a leader, sideman, and with the group Caribbean Jazz Project, D’Rivera continues to produce music at the highest level. His most recent effort, La Fleur de Cayenne (Paquito/ Sunnyside), with the newly launched Madrid–New York Connection, continues his lifelong dialogue between tradition and innovation. La Fleur de Cayenne means The Cayenne Flower and is named after a little flower D’Rivera’s father used to grow in the garden when he was a kid. “It’s a project we’re very proud of,” he said.
“I travel to Spain quite often,” he said. “I have several musician friends there, and I’ve been planning to record with them. One of them is Pepe Rivero, the pianist on my new album, and another is Sebastián Laverde, who plays vibraphone and marimba, instruments I absolutely love. I first fell in love with them listening to Lionel Hampton play with the Goodman Orchestra.
“In the 1990s, I actually had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Lionel Hampton himself and also with another vibraphonist I admired deeply, the late Dave Samuels. Now, with Sebastián in Valencia, I’ve found a new collaborator who brings that same spirit.”
“My dream,” he continued, “was always to be a musician, and I accomplished that. That’s all I ever wanted, to play music and to write. I love variety—doing various kinds of things every day keeps me alive and inspired.” One of his new projects is a proposal to write a cello concerto.
“I always know when I’m in writing mode,” he said, “because everything else in life seems to fade away until the music on the page feels just right.”
: For more information or to order tickets, log onto sopacnow.org or call (973) 313-2787.
An Intimate Jazz Club Experience at Sea
March 12 – 22, 2026
Jazz. Ocean. One Unforgettable Journey.
Our cruise for 20 26 features some of the great lege nds of jazz!
• Allan Vaché – Clarinet
• Ken Peplowski – Tenor Sax
• Terry Myers – Tenor Sax
• Davy Jones – Cornet
• John Allred – Trombone
• Warren Vaché – Trumpet
• Dave Bennett – Clarinet
• James Chirillo – Guitar
• Ted Rosenthal – Piano
• Chris Rottmayer – Piano
• Mark Shane – Piano
• Danny Coots – Drums
• Yve Evans – Vocals
• Banu Gibson – Vocals
• Phil Flanigan – Bass
• Eddie Metz – Drums
• Charlie Silva – Bass
Step aboard JazzFest at Sea for a 10-night Caribbean escape aboard the luxurious MSC Divina. Experience Traditional, Classic, Chicago and Swing Jazz performed by worldclass artists nighttime and afternoons in a private intimate jazz club setting for just 250 guests. This rare setting offers moments of totally unrehearsed magic you won’t find anywhere else. This is also an opportunity for our guests who are amateur musicians to bring your instrument and jam in your own JazzFest Jammer sessions. Cabins are limited and going fast reserve your spot now for the ultimate jazz experience at sea.
Check us out online at
‘Strings Attached’: Jonathan Russell and Nate Najar Will Celebrate the Hot Club of France
“I Go to Where I Know the Audiences Are Going to Be Great ... Suncoast Has Very Lively Audiences, So I Love Doing That”
BY SANFORD JOSEPHSON
The first time I saw Jonathan Russell play the violin was in January 2008 at Centenary College (now Centenary University). He was 12 years old and appearing as a special guest at a concert by the Bucky Pizzarelli Trio—Bucky, of course, on guitar, John Bunch on piano, and Phil Flanigan on bass. Russell came out twice to play duets with Bucky, and one of them was a brilliant performance of the Johnny Green classic, “Body and Soul”
A few months later, I interviewed Russell for a chapter on Joe Venuti in
my book, Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations (Praeger/ABC-Clio: 2009), and he compared the three violinists whose playing had most influenced him: Venuti, Stuff Smith, and Stephane Grappelli. Grappelli, he said, had “a sweeter tone.” Venuti,”had a rich tone and a bit of a bite.” Stuff Smith was “the opposite of Grappelli; he always had a bite. Venuti is somewhere in between Grappelli and Smith.”
Russell is now 30, and his fulltime job is composing music for Human Worldwide, a company that pro-
Jonathan Russell
SUNCOAST JAZZ FESTIVAL
vides music composition and sound design for advertising clients. As for jazz violin, “I really limit myself to the festivals that I really want to do.” One of those festivals is the Suncoast Jazz Festival being held from November 20-23 at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida.
“The thing that’s really missing for me here (at Human Worldwide),” he explained, “is I work by myself most of the day. We have teams of people who come in and give me feedback, but I miss the kind of instant gratification of performing to the audience. So, I go to where I know the audiences are going to be great. Suncoast has very lively audiences, so I love doing that.”
And, he also loves interacting with the full-time musicians who will be performing. At Suncoast, he’ll be playing a “Strings Attached” concert with guitarist Nate Najar and bassist Steve Boisen; guesting with
fellow violinist Tom Rigney; playing a duo with pianist Ehud Asherie; joining a quartet led by clarinetist Dave Bennett; and collaborating with local Florida musicians, trumpeter
James Suggs and the LaLucha Trio.
He and Najar will be doing a Hot Club Stephane Grappelli/Django Reinhart set. Najar, he said, “is so knowledgeable about that era of music. His guitar playing is just second to none. He’s incredible.” The last time Russell played with Asherie was in 2019 at Wilmington’s North Carolina Jazz Festival. “We did a version of ‘Air Mail Special’ by Benny Goodman with Adrian Cunningham on clarinet. Ehud just rips the keys apart. He’s a phenomenal player, very harmonically interesting.
“I’m looking forward to playing with Tom Rigney,” he continued. “That’s always a great time. The first time I played with Dave Bennett was
Looking forward to the Hot Club set, Russell said Nate Najar, above, “is so knowledgeable about that era of music.”
at some festival in Connecticut. I was a little smart-ass kid at the time, and we started trading fours. He would play a little snippet; then I would play that snippet back at him exactly as he played it. And, it got to the point that he was bursting out laughing. But he was cracking up so much, he could not continue playing the clarinet.”
Russell said the Grappelli-Venuti-Smith comparison he made
17 years ago holds up pretty well. “I think I kind of have more of the Stuff Smith influence now,” he said. “He was a little more of a modern player.”
As for his guest appearance with Bucky Pizzarelli in 2008, he recalled the first time he played with Pizzarelli. “It was at the Carolina Festival when I was 10 or 11. They did not tell Bucky he would be performing with me until they were driving him from
SUNCOAST JAZZ FESTIVAL
the airport because they thought he would refuse to come if he knew he was going to be performing with a kid. He was not happy about it. I think we did ‘Body and Soul’ together then. We hugged after and had a wonderful musical relationship after that. Kenny Davern was the other one who was not excited about playing with a child, but they both warmed up to me as soon as we started playing.”
Russell is a graduate of the Screen
Scoring program at New York University. “Before I was actually going to NYU,” he recalled, “I was studying with the grad department there, and the person who had the greatest impact on me was Ira Newborn, who did the music for the Naked Gun movies and the Ferris Bueller movies, and the Molly Ringwald movies in the ‘80s. The first thing he told me in my first lesson with him was how brutal the industry is. He asked me, ‘Do you still
want to do this?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ so he said, ‘Great. Let’s go downstairs and work on some stuff. (Although best known as a composer of movie soundtracks, Newborn started out as a guitarist, playing in rock, R&B, and jazz bands).
After graduating from NYU, Russell wrote music for a few independent films. “In 2020, I was going to hang up the film scoring stuff and do performing; and then the pandemic happened. All of the performances shut down, and the only thing left was advertising, so I fell into a regular cadence of doing that.” He had done some freelancing for Human Worldwide when he was 16, and they reached out to him. “I kind of ended up really loving it,” he said, “because, kind of like jazz, I enjoyed working on something completely different every day. When you’re working in the Hollywood film industry, you tend to be toiling away on the same job for months at a time.” Russell’s
music has appeared in Visa, Hilton Hotel, and Kraft advertising, and “I had some very cool Super Bowl spots this past year with Pfizer and Krinkles that were a lot of fun to work on.”
Russell began taking violin lessons at the age of five, and he heard a band playing “Bei Mir Bist Du Shein”, the Yiddish classic made into a hit by the Andrews Sisters. He began improvising on it during a lesson, and his violin teacher connected him with jazz violinist/saxophonist Andy Stein.
“The thing I can really say about Andy,” Russell explained, “is that he’s just so untraditional in his instruction. A lot of the jazz guys out there take the traditional transcribed solos approach in order to learn. Andy’s big thing was listening, just active listening. He really steered me toward listening to more horn players than violin players. His thought was, as a violin player, you listen to Stan Getz,
Ken Peplowski, left, and Diego Figureido.
SUNCOAST JAZZ FESTIVAL
you listen to Sonny Stitt, you’re going to come out sounding like them. It’s so much more individualistic to listen to all these great horn players and try to imbibe your violin playing. The best lesson he gave me was, ‘There’s nothing else I can teach you, but you really need to work on your technique.’ He and (cornetist) Ed Polcer were really the two guys who really taught me how to live on a stage and interact with other musicians.”
Other influences included guitarist Les Paul and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. “Les Paul had kind of an open mic situation at The Iridium where people who knew him or knew his band members would get to sit in with him. I knew him through (bassist/vocalist) Nicki Parrott whom I’d recorded with. He’d ask, ‘Where’s the rotten kid?’ He couldn’t remember my name. He would stand me up there and tell the filthiest joke, which
would just completely go over my head; and we would play together.”
Marsalis, he said, “is such an advocate. For Wynton, it’s all about passing that music onto the next generation. I performed with him for a concert that was geared to families. He gave me an open invitation after that to watch their rehearsals for other shows they were doing. He’s a brilliant musi-
cian, educator, writer, and arranger.”
The Suncoast Festival opens on Thursday night November 20 with a gala featuring Russell, Asherie, clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski, vibraphonist/drummer Chuck Redd, bassist Don Mopsick, and drummer Eddie Metz. It continues from morning to night for three days with three groups often play-
ing simultaneously in three different locations at the Sheraton. Some of the other highlights include:
» The Art of Improvisation with guitarist Diego Figueiredo
» Vibraphonist Jason Marsalis with pianist Simon Lasky, Metz, and Mopsick
» Holiday CD release event with trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, Asherie, Redd, Metz, Mopsick, and clarinetist/saxophonist Adrian Cunningham
» James Suggs CD release concert with LaLucha and vocalist Alison Nash.
» Vibraphonist Heather Thorn with bassist Jim Robertson, pianist Alberto Pibiri, Cunningham, Metz, and Suggs
: For more information or to order tickets, log on to suncoastjazzfestival. com.
Clockwise, from top left: Ehud Asherie, James Suggs, Tom Rigney, and Dave Bennett.
Jersey Jazz LIVE!
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 3:00 PM
FROM THE CROW’S NEST
BY BILL CROW
Iget a lot of compliments on having lived for nearly 98 years, even though I have no idea why I am still here. Back in my late teens, I nearly ended my life then. I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, and bought a Model A Ford so I could drive home on weekends to Kirkland, about 50 miles north. I had made the trip several times, but on what was nearly my last trip, I fell asleep at the wheel. It was late at night, and I woke up in midair. I had driven off the road and over a cliff. My first thought was, “I’ve killed myself!” Then I landed on all four wheels and stopped, and I heard a loud hissing noise under my car. My second thought was, “I haven’t killed
Bill Crow is a freelance musician and writer. His books include Jazz Anecdotes, Jazz Anecdotes: Second Time Around, and From Birdland to Broadway. This column is reprinted with permission from Allegro , the monthly magazine of AFM Local 802.
myself, but I’ve destroyed my car!”
Pushing the door open, I found that I had landed at the bottom of a 10-foot cliff in a huge blackberry patch in a swamp, and the canes of the bushes had broken my fall. The car seemed undamaged. I was able to climb up the soft clay cliff, and I found that there was an all-night gas station 100 yards away, and they had a tow truck! Within a few minutes my car was pulled back up onto the road, the tow truck driver was paid, and I was on my way home! You can be sure my eyes were wide awake for the rest of the trip.
When I was first learning to play the bass, I could hear the notes I wanted to play, but I sometimes had trouble finding them on the instrument. I got called for a job on which Hank Jones was the pianist. I was doing my best to
choose notes that fit the chords he was using, but I played one note that I really hadn’t intended to play. Instead of giving me a dirty look, Hank said, “Oh, thank you!” and changed his chord to one that used the note I had played. What a generous gesture!
Dave Lambert once told me that he was walking by the Brill building with songwriter Henry Nemo one day. That was the building that held the offices of many music publishers. Nemo said, “Let’s go up here for a minute.” They got in the elevator, and on the way up, Nemo hummed a tune. In one of the publishers’ offices, he hummed the tune for the guy at the desk, who handed Nemo a $50 advance, and said, “Get me a lead sheet on it right away.” On the way back down in the elevator, Nemo said to Dave, “Now, how did that go?”
FROM THE CROW’S NEST
Idropped by Michael’s Pub one night to hear Al Cohn’s band. My friend, Milt Hinton, was the bass player, and he let me sit in. I managed to get off a nice chorus, and while I was taking my applause, Milt came up and grabbed his bass and said, “... and don’t EVER play my bass again!” It got a good laugh. (See Jazz History, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, page ?)
When I was doing one-nighters with Claude Thornhill’s band in the summer of 1953, we had played a job near Washington DC, and afterward we were heading south on US1 to be in the next town on our itinerary, somewhere in Virginia. The band was traveling in four sedans, one for Claude and his wife and the vocalist, and the other three for the 12 band members. Two of the cars, including the one I was driving, arrived at the hotel where we were to stay that night, but the third car didn’t show
“ DON’T EVER PLAY MY BASS AGAIN! ”
up. We waited around before checking in, wondering what was keeping that car, which was being driven by saxophonist Gene Quill. It finally arrived, and we asked Gene what took them so long. Gene said, “The other guys were sleeping, and I got on US 1 like Claude told us to, and I started driving. After a while, one of the guys woke up and wondered why the sun was coming up on the right side of the car. That’s when we discovered I had been driving north!”
Gerry Mulligan told me about a big band record date he once booked. He remembered his old friend, Don Joseph, and he gave him a call. Don told him, “I don’t have a trumpet
at the moment.” Gerry said, “I have a flugelhorn that someone gave me. Can you play that?” Don agreed, and Gerry brought the horn to the date. He said that Don was a little strange on the date. When the engineer would set up a microphone for him, Don would shift in his chair so that the horn pointed away from the mike. But the session went okay, and when it was finished, Gerry stayed to hear the playbacks and forgot to ask Don for the flugelhorn. About a week later Gerry got an envelope in the mail which contained a pawn ticket, and a note from Don that just said, “Sorry.” Gerry told me, “I guess that meant that he still loved me. He could have sold the pawn ticket.”
Sax Expat: Don Byas
BY CON CHAPMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI PRESS, JACKSON: 2025
BY JOE LANG
Don Byas was one of the finest— yet generally underrated—ten or saxophonists in jazz. His story is effectively set forth in Sax Expat: Don Byas by Con Chapman. Byas came along at a time when Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Lester Young were the most promi nent tenor saxophonists on the scene. While admired and recognized by his peers and many fans, he had person ality and alcohol abuse issues that interfered with his career progress.
He was born Carlos Wesley Byas in Muskogee, OK, in 1912 to parents who were both musicians. His mother was a pianist, and his father played
clarinet, violin, and guitar. Byas began playing classical clarinet and viola at an early age and developed an attraction to jazz while studying classical music, much to his father’s displeasure. At the age of 13, he decided to give up on those two instruments in favor of an alto sax.
The young alto saxophonist soon began to play professional jobs, often with fellow Muskogeeite, pianist Jay McShann. He claimed to have played with Benny Moten, Walter Page’s Blue Devils, and Terrence Holder while still in high school, but documentation of this is sketchy. Following high school, Byas attended Langston University (Oklahoma’s only historically Black college), but whether he graduated or not is uncertain. While at Langston, he bestowed the name Don upon himself, it being an honorific title in Spanish; and that became his preferred name.
Byas was short in stature, a real-
ity that many attributed to his reputation as a man with an ego problem. This was augmented by the fact that he developed a fondness for alcohol and became belligerent when he over indulged. These problems haunted him throughout his career.
While a member of Bert Johnson’s Sharps and Flats, Byas switched from alto sax to tenor sax at the insistence of the band’s leader. It was as a member of this band that he traveled to Los Angeles in 1934 where he found work with Lionel Hampton and saxophonist/clarinetist Eddie Barefield, among others.
In 1937, Byas headed to New York City where he played in a variety of settings. In 1941, he gained a seat in the Count Basie Orchestra where he remained until 1943. Not satisfied with the amount of solo opportunities in big bands, he spent most of his remaining career in small group settings.
While on tour with a band put together by Don Redman for a tour of Europe in 1946, Byas opted to remain in Europe, settling in Amsterdam where he was based for the rest of his life. He played in various countries throughout Europe, only returning to the USA for a brief stay in 1970. He passed away in Amsterdam on August 24, 1972, from lung cancer at the age of 59.
Byas was primarily influenced by Coleman Hawkins, but developed his own style, especially when he turned to playing as a leader or sideman with small groups. He had his roots in swing, but adapted to the emerging sounds of bebop. But he never developed the kind of following that was enjoyed by Hawkins, Webster, and Young; and it bothered him as he considered them
not only peers, but believed that he was their equal. This was a major factor in his decision to remain in Europe.
Chapman has done an amazing job of researching Byas’ life and artistry. He has dug deeply into his recordings and available written information and commentary from other musicians and jazz historians/ critics to provide a comprehensive rendering of the Don Byas story. Particularly interesting are his discussions of specific Byas recordings, which can be accessed via YouTube.
Don Byas was a complex musical giant who is currently drawing much attention thanks to the recent Mosaic set, Classic Don Byas Session 1944-1946, and the publication of this fine book. If you make the effort to visit or revisit his music, you will find yourself understanding why Byas was a player who deserves the kind of accolades for his musicianship that Chapman directs his way.
OTHER VIEWS
BY JOE LANG
There are three jazz musicians who strike this writer’s ears most favorably, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, and Zoot Sims. The latter was the consummate swinger. As a celebration of Sims’ centennial year, The Scott Silbert Quartet has released Dream Dancing (self-produced), a 13-tune program inspired by Sims. If there was one thing that set Sims apart from his peers, it was his time, a reality recognized by Stan Getz when he was asked to describe the perfect tenor sax player. He responded:“My tone, Al Cohn’s brain, and Zoot’s time.” Silbert, joined by a superb rhythm section of Robert Redd on piano, Amy Shook on bass, and Chuck Redd on drums plays standards such as “Dream Dancing,” “Deep in a Dream, “You Go to My Head” and “Someday Sweetheart;” too often overlooked gems such as “That Old Devil Called Love,” “All Too Soon,” “‘Round My Old
Deserted Farm”and, “Shadow Waltz;” jazz tunes including “Louisiana,” “Low Life,” “Ballad for Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters” and “Wee Dot;” plus a Silbert original dedicated to Sims’ wife, “Blues for Louise.”
Silbert and his band nicely capture the feeling of Sims in his most popular format, a small group where he has lots of space to stretch out. (See “Jazz History: Al Cohn and Zoot Sims,” page 12) scottsilbertmusic.com
Dayna Stephens is primarily known as a saxophonist, but on Monk’D (Contagious Music) he picks up a bass for this tribute to one of his musical heroes, Thelonious Monk. In this project, he is abetted by tenor saxophonist Stephen Riley, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer Eric McPherson. Monk had a genius for creating songs that were uniquely conceived and unlike those by any
other jazz composer. His interpretations of his tunes was also unique. When played by others, they provided a foundation for much creativity, but rarely matched the magic that was created in Monk’s hands. This collection is one that should appeal to those who are attracted to Monk’s music. Iverson does not try to channel Monk, but invests each piece with his personal perspective. Riley is a soft-toned
player who is a stark contrast to the saxophonists who played with Monk, but he has also given each selection a personal stamp. Stephens is right at home providing the bass support, and McPherson provides the kind of fills that would have made Monk smile. Most of the music is by Monk, the exceptions being a melding of the songs “Just You, Just Me,” a standard, Monk’s “Evidence” and Stephens’ “Smoking Gun” to create what Stephens calls “Just You and Me Smoking the Evidence.” The closer is an original by Iverson titled “Monk’D,” that is a winning nod to Monk’s unique composing style. Monk’D is a celebration of Monk that is original and heartfelt. daynastephens.bandcamp.com
Bop Contest (Miles High Records - 8638) finds a quartet led by vibraphonist Mark Sherman with Donald Vega on piano, Ron Carter on
OTHER VIEWS
bass, and Carl Allen on drums giving masterful swinging takes on Oliver Nelson’s “111-444”; Sherman’s “Love Always Always Love” and “Bop Contest;” Cedar Walton’s “Bremond’s Blues” and “Martha’s Prize;” plus two standards, “My One and Only Love” and “Skylark.” Sherman is a master on vibes who has been playing professionally since his teen years in the 1970s. He has an impressive list of credits and has recorded 22 albums as a leader. Vega sparkles on piano while Carter and Allen offer the rhythmic support that is expected from these two jazz giants. An added bonus is the presence of trumpeter Joe Magnarelli on the tunes composed by Sherman. mileshighrecords.com
Classically trained pianist Ted Rosenthal has bridged the gap between jazz and classical music by taking classical pieces and adapting them to jazz
interpretations that fall easily on the ears of jazz listeners. These pieces also show classical music enthusiasts that jazz is a music readily compatible with the output of classical composers. On impromp2 (self-produced), Rosenthal has arranged 11 classical pieces for his jazz trio, Noriko Ueda on bass and Quincy Davis or Tim Horner on drums with Ken Peplowski adding his clarinet on two selections and Sara Caswell adding her violin to three pieces. The composers addressed include, Chopin, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Beethoven, Elgar, and Satie. What Rosenthal has accomplished on this album is beyond impressive. It’s music that will engage you from the first notes and create a desire to revisit it frequently. tedrosenthal.com
Pianist David Kikoski has been a major presence on the New York
City scene for decades. Weekend at Smalls (Cellar Music - CMSLF011) is his latest album. With support from trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Billy Hart, he plays four Kikoski originals, two by Brecker, and Thelonious Monk’s “Straight No Chaser.” Kikoski is a fluent player with an impressive improvisational sensitivity. Brecker, like Kikoski, is a long-time participant on
the New York jazz scene and is highly acclaimed for his trumpet mastery. Martin and Hart provide perfect support, with Hart demonstrating exactly why he is recognized as one of the current drum masters. The group is tight with big ears that show exactly the kind of magic that transpires when four musicians of this caliber are perfectly in tune. The crowds at Smalls were treated to a sublime listening experience, one that we are fortunate to be able to share through this recording. cellarlive.com
One of the most impressive of the young jazz pianists on the scene today is Toronto-based Anthony D’Alessandro. His second album as a leader, City Lights (self-produced) is an impressive followup to his 2024 album, Searchin’. This outing finds D’Alessandro in the company of trumpeter Summer Camargo, tenor saxophonist
OTHER VIEWS
Jacob Chung, bassist Jonathan Chapman, and drummer Ernesto Cervini for a program of six D’Alessandro originals, one song, “Oversight,” cowritten with vocalist Jennarie who sings on this track, plus two James P. Johnson stride pieces, “Charleston” and “Harlem Strut,” arranged for the trio. D’Alessandro is a fine composer with a great melodic sense and is an accomplished keyboardist. Summer and Chung are also rising stars on their instruments, and the rhythmic support from Chapman and Cervini is strong and steady. D’Alessandro is at the beginning of what promises to be a widely successful career. anthonydalessandro.ca
The sextet led by drummer Joe Farnsworth sparkles on an eight-tune program recorded at Smoke Jazz Club and released on The Big Room (Smoke Sessions Records - 2502). Along with
Farnsworth are trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, (See “Editor’s Choice” page 05), vibist Joel Ross, pianist Emmet Cohen, and bassist Yasushi Nakamura. Each of the players is among the best on their instruments and they prove to be a cohesive and exciting aggregation. Farnsworth and Ross each contributed two compositions, with Pelt, Hanahan and Cohen credited with one apiece to go along with the standard “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” a much-loved song by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Of particular note is the vibraphone/ drums duo on Farnsworth’s “The Big Room,” a rarely heard combination that Ross and Farnsworth execute engagingly. The Big Room is one not those sessions where the joy from the players pours out on each selection. (See interview with Joe Farnsworth in the July/August issue of Jersey Jazz). smokesessionsrecords.com
Tatum’s Swingin’ Session (self-produced) is a14-track recording featuring vocalist Tatum Langley with the hard-swinging, Chicago-based Shout Section Big Band. The program includes mostly pop or big band standards such as “Ridin’ High,” “I Hadn’t Anyone ’Til You,” “The Song Is Ended” and “You’re the Top;” a trio of songs associated with Peggy Lee, “That’s My Style,” “All the Cats Join In” and “You Came a Long Way From St. Louis;” a hip wordless vocal on Arnett Cobb’s “Smooth Sailing;” and a couple of more contemporary selections, “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Sing” by the Dresden Dolls. Langley’s strong, rangy voice handles the material with aplomb, right at home in front of the big band, which executes the wonderful charts, some of which are by trumpeter John Dornhauer, while others are from arrangers like Frank Foster, Bud-
dy Bregman, Bill Holman, Johnny Keating, and Paul Weston. The result is big band swing with a contemporary edge. shoutsection.com
Vocalist Quinn Lemley has been presenting a show, The Heat Is On, based on the songs associated with Rita Hayworth for several years. She has now released an album, Rita Hayworth Revealed (self-produced) containing the songs from her show. Hayworth had a pleasant voice, but as was the practice in the days of her stardom, almost all of her vocals were dubbed by professional vocalists. Lemley has a superb voice and an approach that catches the sexiness that was part of Hayworth’s successful rise to stardom. Most of the songs are from films in which Hayworth appeared such as “The Heat is On” and “Blue Pacific Blues” from Miss Sadie Thompson and “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Bewitched,
OTHER VIEWS
Bothered and Bewildered” and “Zip” from Pal Joey. Additional selections are “Steppin’ Out (With My Baby),” “That Old Black Magic,” “Ac-CentTchu-the-Positive,” “That’s All” and “’S Wonderful.” Lemley is backed by a swinging big band led by pianist/arranger Tom Wilson, with additional arrangements by Tedd Firth. quinnlemley.com (NOTE: Lemley will be having a CD release show at The Triad Theater, 158 West 72nd Street, New York City on Sunday, December 21. Reservations are strongly recommended).
Mellow Tones (HughNote - 7354) is the latest album by vocalist/pianist Dena DeRose. DeRose has been a professor of Jazz Voice at the Jazz Institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, for the last 19 years but makes occasional visits back to her native USA to tour and record. While here, she
has a trio with bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson, her bandmates on Mellow Tones, a nine-tune program with trombonist Ed Neumeister added for two selections, “In a Mellow Tone” and “My Frame for the Blues.” The latter of these has lyrics that DeRose wrote for Slide Hampton’s “Frame for the Blues,” a chart originally written for Maynard Ferguson’s Birdland Dreamband.
The other tunes are “Autumn in New York,” “Two for the Road,” “Stairway to the Stars,” “Only Trust Your Heart,” “Thank You for Everything,” “Maybe September” and “Hold Fast to Your Dreams,” an original by DeRose who composed the melody and penned the words based on a short poem by Langston Hughes, “Dreams.” DeRose has an understated approach to vocalizing with a soft voice and a profound ability to get to the essence of each lyric. DeRose started her career as a jazz pianist and her playing is hip and intelligently improvisational. The long association among this trio come through clearly in their empathetic performances. Dena DeRose never disappoints and Mellow Tones is another winner. jazzdepot.com
Live at Joe’s Pub (self-produced) by Lizzy & the Triggermen is a 15-song program that covers an eclectic vari-
ety of material from “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” to a Britney Spears tune, “Baby One More Time.” Vocalist Liz Shaps has a vocal style that harkens back to the ‘30s and the ‘40s as do the arrangements executed by the band, which includes reedmen Nate Ketner and Ricky Alexander, trumpeter Gordon Au, trombonist John Allred, guitarist Luca Pino, violinist Bobby Hawk, pianist Chris Dawson, bassist Gary Wicks, and drummer Anthony Ty Johnson. Shaps also provides fun commentary throughout the program. There are a couple of originals, “I Know a Man”, inspired by film noir movies that capture the musical feeling of the soundtracks from those films, and “Outta Your League,” a wry examination of relationships. The one strictly instrumental selection is a fine rendering of “Good Queen Bess,” a 1941 tune by Johnny Hodges. There are a couple of
OTHER VIEWS
nods to Broadway with “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” lizzyandthtriggermen.com
Deborah Shulman is an accomplished vocalist, a mainstay on the Los Angeles scene. We Had a Moment (Summit - 843) is her sixth album. Her 10-track program is selected with great taste, and she sings each lyric with deep respect and understanding. Her voice is smooth and welcoming. The selections include “Anyone Can Whistle,” “No Moon at All,” and “Without a Song.” She is supported by excellent musicians: Jeff Colella or Terry Trotter on piano, Ken Wild or Chris Colangelo on bass, and Joe LaBarbera or Kendall Kay on drums with occasional contributions from Larry Koonse on guitar. summitrecords.com
Although Danish jazz stars, vocalist Sinne Eeg and pianist Jacob Chris-
toffersen, have been performing together for about 20 years, Shikoku (Stunt Records - 25032) is their first duo recording. It was recorded in the home of bassist Seigo Matsunaga in the Japanese countryside. The 12-song program contains a mix of originals by each of them with a few standards such as “Lush Life,” “Better Than Anything,” “Maria” and But Not for Me,” plus Annie Lennox’s “Cold.” There are few current singers who can match Eeg’s intensity and vocal strength. She performs a wordless vocal on “Hebi,” a word for snake in Japan. Other songs inspired by the site of the recording are “Soba Flower,” composed by Christoffersen with lyrics in Japanese by Remi, and “Soba” with another Eeg wordless vocal. Shikoku is not an album for casual listening, rather a profound artistic statement by two exceptional musicians. stuntrecords.bandcamp.com
BIG BAND IN THE SKY
Jim McNeely: ‘He Transformed the Art of Writing Music for Big Bands’
“A Musical Visionary, Scholar, Teacher, and, Above All, a Kind and Giving Spirit”
On September 10, a special event was held at the DiMenna Center in New York City—“Celebrating Jim McNeely: Big Band and Friends.” There were nine big band performances of music composed by or associated with McNeely featuring guest conductors such as bassist and MC Rufus Reid, pianist Mike Holober, and composer/bandleader Darcy James Argue. Guest performers included guitarist John Scofield, alto saxophonist Dick Oatts, and drummers Adam Nussbaum and John Riley.
Pianist/composer/arranger
McNeely, who was in the audience, passed away 16 days later (September 26) in Manhattan at the age of 76. The cause was bile duct cancer. “He transformed the art of writing music for big bands,” Argue told The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir. On Facebook, saxophonist Steve Wilson called McNeely “a musical visionary, scholar, teacher, and, above all, a kind and giving spirit. It was a blessing and honor to have worked with him throughout my years in New York City.”
Covering the DiMenna Center
event by livestream from England, Jazz Times Editor David Adler reported that Reid announced to the audience that the Frankfurt Radio Big Band had officially named McNeely its first Honorary Conductor Laureate. “The full mid-show standing ovation that followed,” Adler wrote, “was a testament to McNeely’s stature, and it moved the ailing composer greatly.” McNeely was born in Chicago on May 18, 1949, and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music in 1975. In 1978, he joined the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra (now the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) as its pianist. Influenced by Jones and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, McNeely began to also write music. In a 2011 interview with pianist Ethan Iverson on the Do the M@th website, he said, “I
still find myself asking, when confronted with a compositional question, ‘What would Bob do here?’”
As a pianist, McNeely performed with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and alto saxophonist Phil Woods. As a composer, he was Composer-in-Residence for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, and Musical Director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. He received 12 Grammy nominations and shared one for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for the 2008 Planet Arts album, Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard. Reviewing the album for AllAboutJazz, J. Hunter singled out McNeely’s “Las Cucarachas Entran” (“Roaches Check In” and Brookmeyer’s arrangements of “Willow Tree” and “St. Louis Blues”. Drummer Sherrie Maricle, who leads the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, took private composition/arranging
classes from McNeely. “Jim was my teacher, a great teacher!” she posted on Facebook. “I played in his combo at NYU while getting my grad degrees in the mid-’80s. I also enjoyed every opportunity to hear him play and sometimes just hang out and talk ... so grateful for the beauty, joy, and profound music he left us.”
McNeely joined the Jazz Arts faculty at the Manhattan School of Music in 2008. In a statement released after McNeely’s death, MSM President James Gandre said, “His consummate gifts as a pianist, composer, and arranger underscored a deep well of generosity and warmth and erudition that shone through during his time here as a teacher ... He truly was one of the greats.”
Survivors include his wife, Marie; two daughters, Clare and Grace; a son, Peter; a brother, Tom; and a sister, Connie.
Pianist Mike Wofford:
‘An Encyclopedic
Command
of the
Whole Spectrum of Jazz.’
Pianist Mike Wofford, who died September 19 in San Diego at the age of 87, made more than 20 albums as a leader; played as a sideman with leading jazz artists such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, guitarist Joe Pass, and vocalist Mel Torme; and served as Musical Director for both Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
One of his better known albums was Synergy, released in 1998 on the Heavywood label. Reviewing it for JazzTimes, Doug Ramsey acknowledged the influence of Bill Evans but added that Wofford “has long since melded Evans into a style notable for daring, thoroughgoing musicianship and, yes, humor. What he still has
in common with Evans is a concept of the trio as an interdependent unit. Joe LaBarbera, Evans’ last drummer, naturally supports that idea and interacts superbly with Wofford and bassist Rob Thorsen. Listeners can expect rewards, whether in “My Old Flame,” a familiar jazz standard like
BIG BAND IN THE SKY
Gerald Wiggins’ “Sonar,” Ellington’s “Great Times”, or Wofford’s own intricate compositions. This album is highly recommended.”
In 1959, Wofford joined bassist Howard Rumsey’s Redondo Beach, CA-based band, the Lighthouse All Stars. In 1962, Wofford was featured as the pianist on Mel Torme’s Atlantic album, Comin’ Home Baby. According to the San Diego Tribune’s George Varga, the title track was later cited as the key inspiration for English rock singer Steve Winwood’s hit song, “I’m a Man”.
Jazz drummer and vibraphonist Jim Plank started playing gigs with Wofford as a teenager. He told Varga that Wofford “had an encyclopedic command of the full spectrum of jazz. He knew an incredible amount about the whole history of music.”
Wofford is survived by his wife, Holly Hofmann, a flutist.
Jon Newsom: He Brought More Jazz to the Library of Congress
Jon Newsom, who passed away September 26, 2025, in Lewes, DE, at the age of 84, began his career at the Library of Congress in 1966 as a Music Reference Librarian. In the early 1990s, as Assistant Chief of the Music Division, he was interested in adding more jazz collections to the LOC and sought the advice of composer/conductor Gunther Schuller, who had played French horn on the classic Miles Davis Birth of the Cool recording.
When Newsom asked Schuller whose collections he should pursue, Schuller suggested baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, who had written or arranged six of the 12 Birth of the Cool tracks.
I interviewed Newsom when I was researching my book, Jeru’s Journey:
The Life and Music of Gerry Mulligan (Hal Leonard Books: 2015), and he explained what happened next. “I wrote Gerry a letter,” he said. Although Newsom never received an answer to his letter, he connected with Mulligan a couple of years later through a mutual friend, composer David Raksin. Today, visitors to the Performing Arts Reading Room of the Library of Congress are greeted by the Gerry Mulligan Collection, an impressive display that includes Mulligan’s gold-plated Conn saxophone. Newsom told me he grew up with Birth of the Cool. “While I’m not prepared to give a dissertation on all the threads of influ-
ence that recording had,” he said, “you would find that it’s very broad indeed. I see Gerry’s influence as a young artist being probably the greatest.”
After retiring from the Library of Congress in 2005, Newsom and his wife, Iris, who passed away in December 2022, moved to Lewes, DE, where Newsom began teaching a wide range of courses covering music, literature, film, and cultural history at the University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute,.
During his tenure at the Library of Congress, Newsom also added the archives of Ella Fitzgerald and William P. Gottlieb’s complete archive of photographs of the leading jazz musicians, taken between 1930 and 1948.
He is survived by his brother, Robert Newsom; stepchildren, Lynn Myers, Ethan Bodin, and Mark Bodin; and six grandchildren. —SANFORD JOSEPHSON
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