Jazz: Monty Alexander makes a "Yard Movement" for Christmas

With a near inexhaustible list of major-league A-list credits - from the late Natalie Cole to the ageless Tony Bennett, an annual Jazz festival named after him in Maryland since 2010, and a listing in the Top 5 of Hal Leonard's 50 Greatest Jazz Pianists of all Time(2005), Monty Alexander might be forgiven for not being seen more often in his homeland.

But a decade-long wait comes to an end next month as Alexander, with is critically-acclaimed fusion project, The Harlem-Kingston Express, rolls into Kingston - on Dec 11 - in  benefit concert titled "Home For Christmas" in aid of the Global Giving Programme of the university of the West Indies. The show unfolds at the Jamaica Pegasus beginning at 7:00pm. The performance is under the Patronage of former Jamaican Prime Minister P J Patterson, who as former manager of the legendary Skatalites is certainly familiar with Alexander's oeuvre and development, and UWI Vice-Chancellor, Sir Hilary Beckles.

The affable and often effervescent pianist will continue his genre-bending explorations of the sounds of  his beloved homeland (mento, ska and reggae) and the swing stylings that established him in the US and caught the pleased ear of "Chairman of the Board" the late Frank Sinatra, who in turn was instrumental in  getting Alexander residency in America.

Of course, no one venue or event could contain the pianist's vast and still-growing discography, but patrons can expect him to expertly weave through his myriad associations - including a variety of combos with iconic Jamaican guitarist Ernie Ranglin and longtime trio partners Hassan Shakur (bass) and Herlin Riley (drums) as well as reggae stalwarts Glenn Browne and Courtney Panton.

Tickets are J$10,000, and outlets will be announced shortly.

Live Music: Musical Minds Meet, reunite at the Alibi

Often when bands have a "reunion" its on the back end of an either acrimonious or mystifying break-up.

But, while there may have been a definite sense of surprise, there was nothing but joy when bassist Paul "Smiley" Madden and drummer Neison Hardy (the latter now working out of the T.O joined keyboard ace Ozuoune last Wednesday night for the regular - yet never routine "Jazz and Cocktails" session.

The three rekindled memories of heady nights at a another notable Kingston lounge - Christopher's Jazz Cafe - where they had their genesis as P (Paul) O (Ozuoune) and N(Neison) Fyah, with a typically scintillating run.

The current PON Fyah line up -  Carlton Jarrett on bass and a rejuvenated Junior "Bird" Baillie on drums was also on hand, as was drummer Richardo, who spelled Bird while the latter recuperated from illness earlier this year.

the night's entertainment also included a performance from Linstead reggae collective Cologne and the Cornerstone Family, promoting their CD release, "Countryside".

The Jam session happens every Wednesday, beginning around 7:30 and going till about 11pm, with recorded favourites before and after.

No Cover, donations for the band gladly accepted. Emcee: Michael A. D. Edwards

Music: Donnie and Bowie, a young jazzman's contribution to the pop legend's swan song

- from The Guardian

Nine months have passed since David Bowie’s death, but his last collaborator, Donny McCaslin, still has to pause when he talks about it. “There’s so much emotion,” McCaslin says, the words catching in his throat. “It’s devastating.”

McCaslin speaks about his experience with Bowie sitting in 55 Bar, the micro Greenwich Village jazz club where Bowie first heard the musician perform back in 2014. Shortly after seeing that show, Bowie chose McCaslin’s band to back him on his final album, the acclaimed, jazz-fusion leaning Blackstar.

McCaslin vividly remembers the night Bowie came to the club to check him out. “I was definitely nervous,” the saxophonist said. “I glanced up and saw where he was sitting. I just tried to keep myself grounded and not think about it. But the pressure was on.”
Even so, McCaslin says his band “were going for it. It wasn’t a watered-down version of what we do. Afterwards Bowie said: ‘Wow, that was really loud!’”


Clearly, he liked it that way, because a few days later, Bowie emailed the musician to ask if his band would work with him on what would be his last release, an album that turned out to be one of his most adventurous. The experience of creating music with Bowie proved so deep, and its aftermath so jarring, that McCaslin decided to turn his new album, Beyond Now, out 14 October, into a tribute. It includes several transformative covers of Bowie songs, including Warszawa from Low, and A Small Plot of Land from Outside, along with a song McCaslin wrote inspired by a piece Bowie left off Blackstar. (That track, plus two other cuts that didn’t make that release, will come out on 21 October on the cast album from the musical Bowie wrote in his last year, Lazarus).

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McCaslin knew his Bowie salute had to be special. “I wanted the depth of my experience with him, and the impact on my life, to be reflected,” he said. “I was digging deep on every take to get the gravitas I felt it should have.”


For Blackstar, that meant giving McCaslin’s band nearly free rein. “He set the tone from the beginning,” the saxophonist said. “He told us: ‘Whatever you hear, I want you to go with it.’ He said ‘great’ to everything.”
At the same time, McCaslin couldn’t tell anyone outside of his immediate family about the project. Bowie had the band sign non-disclosure agreements, the better to keep the album a secret until he was ready to release it. At the same time, Bowie was aware he had cancer, which was an even more closely guarded secret. McCaslin politely demurs when asked if he knew the star was sick during the recording process. “He was so private,” he said. “I want to honor his wishes that we not talk about it.”

At the time, McCaslin wasn’t even sure the music he cut with Bowie would come out or, if it did, how much of his band’s efforts would make the ultimate cut. It wasn’t until late last fall, when a British journalist asked to interview the musician for a story about a new Bowie album, that he found out about its impending release and heard its final form.

On 8 January, Blackstar finally appeared. Two days later came news of Bowie’s death and, suddenly, everyone wanted to talk to McCaslin. “I wasn’t prepped,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say.”
He gave a few interviews, talking only about the music. Then, journalists started to get nosier about the details of Bowie’s illness and demise, and McCaslin shut down. He also began to fully experience his grief. “We had this amazing connection,” he said, “and then he was gone.”

Music: Ganja trumps Jazz (for now) t legendary California record store

Founded in Berkeley, California, Amoeba Music has established itself as one of America's most iconic music store chains. With three locations across the state, co-founder David Prinz says its Los Angeles store alone brings in $20 million in annual revenue.
It's original location on Telegraph Avenue, however, has seen revenues plummet by 50 percent over the past decade. Thanks to the initial rise of pirating services like Napster and LimeWire, and then legal streaming services like Spotify, students in the local area stopped buying records and CDs.
But financial trouble is not unique to Amoeba; Telegraph Avenue is blighted and its local economy has been in decline for years. Since the 1990s, sales at stores along Telegraph have dropped over 40 percent, Dave Fogarty, Berkeley economic development project coordinator, told San Francisco Chronicle in 2013. Prinz, who started Amoeba with Marc Weinstein in 1990, said they needed to create a new revenue stream to prevent the Berkeley shop from closing. It's rescuer? Medical marijuana.

Four and a half years ago, as the medical marijuana business started to show its muscles in California, Prinz and Weinstein decided to convert its once-popular 3,000 square foot jazz room into a marijuana dispensary. After submitting an application last fall, the founders finally received approval last week from the city of Berkeley for a license to sell medical marijuana. Prinz says the dispensary, which will be a totally separate space with its own entrance, will open by May 2017. "Marijuana will save Amoeba Music in Berkeley," says Prinz.
This isn't Amoeba's first foray in marijuana. Since April 2014, its San Francisco location has been running a medical marijuana recommendation clinic with Dr. Samuel Dismond. The clinic, which does not sell marijuana, sees about 50 patients a day who consult with the doctor and leave with a recommendation to use cannabis.
"The clinic helps us continue to pay the rent and helps us pay our employees," Prinz said. "But the dispensary is going to be more lucrative."

The Berkeley location will sell marijuana and THC-infused products. Because Prinz and Weinstein have never sold marijuana before, they partnered with longtime advocate and marijuana entrepreneur Debby Goldsberry. She's also a founder of Berkeley Patients Group, a respected cannabis supplier and dispensary operating since 1999. (BPG is seen as a model for the industry--it pays millions in taxes, follows rules and regulations, and donates to the poor.)
"I don't think we could've kept Amoeba Berkeley going without this. Our store in Berkeley took the biggest hit; college kids are the first to find out how to get music for free," says Prinz. "I think we'll see the college kids come back again once the dispensary opens."

Prinz says they invested about $500,000 in total for the license, and to keep the store open. The dispensary will not grow its own marijuana, but instead purchase the cannabis from farmers in Northern California. He says he's been flooded by interest from growers who want to help stock Amoeba's shelves with weed.
Twenty years ago, Rolling Stone said we built the best record store," says Prinz. "We think we'll be able to do that for this industry--my goal is to build the best dispensary in the world." He hopes to bring the "Amoeba experience" to the dispensary, which will be called the Berkeley Compassionate Care Center. (If the shop ever becomes recreational, Prinz says they will call it "AmoeBuds.")

The impetus for the dispensary was to save the business, but Prinz and Weinstein say there was another motivating factor: Rasputin Music has been on Telegraph Avenue since 1971, decades before Amoeba Music moved in across the street. Founded by Ken Sarachan, Rasputin watched record store after record store bite the dust.
To honor the fallen record shops, the store made a tote bag with a cemetery illustration, featuring tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow "Twenty years ago, Rolling Stone said we built the best record store," says Prinz. "We think we'll be able to do that for this industry--my goal is to build the best dispensary in the world." He hopes to bring the "Amoeba experience" to the dispensary, which will be called the Berkeley Compassionate Care Center. (If the shop ever becomes recreational, Prinz says they will call it "AmoeBuds.")
The impetus for the dispensary was to save the business, but Prinz and Weinstein say there was another motivating factor: Rasputin Music has been on Telegraph Avenue since 1971, decades before Amoeba Music moved in across the street. Founded by Ken Sarachan, Rasputin watched record store after record store bite the dust.
To honor the fallen record shops, the store made a tote bag with a cemetery illustration, featuring tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow Records, Star Records, Aron's, and more.
"I care about Berkeley, I care about Telegraph, I care about the kids, the patients, but we will not end up on that bag," said Prinz, half joking. "I paid over half a million dollars so we don't end up on that bag."
Rasputin and Amoeba have been locked in an epic feud for 26 years--ever since Weinstein quit working at Rasputin and opened up shop across the street. "We are fighting to keep our store open, we are fighting to keep our employees' jobs," says Prinz. "We think marijuana will help us continue the fight."

Music: Macy is back in the Gray

-from JAZZIZ magazine

Vocalist Macy Gray released Stripped, her debut album for Chesky Records, on September 9.

The album’s track list features a mix of new original compositions and covers, such as a 1930’s-style take on Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and a new version of her own 1999 hit “I Try.” Her band includes drummer Ari Hoenig, guitarist Russell Malone and trumpeter Wallace Roney.

Stripped was released by Chesky Records as part of the label’s “Binaural + Series,” made up of music recorded with a single microphone in a multi-dimensional setting. Other albums in the series include trombonist Wycliffe Gordon’s Dream of New Orleans and percussionist Candido Camero’s The Master.

Live Music: Nothing Fancy - Just great music from Clancy (Eccles) at the Alibi

On his prior gig at the start of September, Clancy Eccles Jr stuck mostly to the rich vein of Jamaica's ska tradition, aided  and abetted by the Pon Fyah band ( Ozoune on keyboards, Carlton Jarrett on bass and Richardo on drums) along with the very promising "import" (all the way from St Thomas, Andrew on trombone.

Clancy Eccles Jr (in red0 with Arthur Williams and john Hinds at the Alibi Wednesdays

the inevitable return engagement 2 weeks later was a more free-wheeling yet soulful affair, drawing from a range of popular ballads and mid-tempo numbers spanning a wide time span and artists.

In the end, such details hardly mattered. What did was great entertainment and enjoyable nights, which have been a trademark for the now veteran crooner, himself an inheritor of a great and oft-acknowledged vocal tradition.

And, in the now established Alibi tradition, there were surprise guests - in the first instance, the always welcome, supremely handy saxophonist Nicholas Laraque, a frequent visitor to the Alibi on those occasions when his services are not in demand among Jamaican music's finest touring the world.

On the more recent outing, two nights ago, Clancy was supported by two other Alibi loyalists, though not quite as often seen. Known for his rich baritone voice, and prowess on bass guitar, the hitmaker Mikey Spice is perhaps less known as a multi-instrumentalist. He showed his easy flair on keys on bass, and on vocals. A long-time first call drummer on the Jamaican scene, Akil "Red bull" Karram has decamped to South Florida, but still makes a point of passing through "Yard" and on those visits, he's often on the prowl for a live gig to sit in on. Wednesday night was no exception showcased the maturation of his hard-charging yet   deliberate style.

All in all, the Wednesday Live jazz series continues to gather steam as it closes in on the completion of its first year at the high-rise Alibi venue.

Its anybody's guess as to exactly who will come through or what will go down on future Wednesdays, but its bound to be great

Music: Saluting a Journeyman Sax player who made fantastic musical journeys

- from Jazz Promo Services Saturday, September 24, 2016 • 5 pm Saint Peter’s Church Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, NYC BARRY HARRIS LEROY WILLIAMS RONI BEN-HUR TARDO HAMMER RAY DRUMMOND MELBA JOYCE BILL SAXTON JOE MAGNARELLI TYLER MITCHELL MURRAY WALL DAVID WILLIAMS RICK GERMANSON RALPH LALAMA LEE HUDSON GEORGE COLEMAN TEX ALLEN LOUIS HAYES NEAL SMITH LARRY RIDLEY RICHARD CLEMONS GEORGE CABLES VICTOR LEWIS ADDITIONAL PERFORMERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Born in Goodman, Mississippi, Charles Davis was raised in Chicago and graduated from DuSable High School before studying at the Chicago School of Music. Davis also studied privately with John Hauser. He played with Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Sun Ra, Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, Philly Joe Jones, Shirley Scott, Illinois Jacquet, Elvin Jones and Ahmad Jamal to name a few. He also performed and recorded with Kenny Dorham, with whom he was associated musically for many years.   He recorded and toured the world accompanying the Clifford Jordan Big Band, Barry Harris Jazz Ensemble, Dizzy Reece, Aaron Bell and the Duke Ellington Tribute Orchestra, Roni Ben-Hur and the El Mollenium Band, the Charles Davis All Stars, Apollo Hall of Fame Band and was the musical librarian for Spike Lee's Mo Better Blues. In 1964 he won Downbeat's International Jazz Critics Poll for the baritone saxophone and in 1984 he was named a BMI Jazz Pioneer.   Davis instructed private students from The New School; taught at the Lucy Moses School and for over 25 years was an instructor at Jazzmobile and also trained students internationally.   He leaves behind his legacy in his recordings and his family: daughters Linda Harris and Talya Wilkinson, sons Louis Davis and Lewis Holmes, grandchildren Chantell Harris, Danielle Walker, Fyielle Howard, Rachelle Jennings and Sha- keem Jennings, seven great-grandchildren, a host of relatives, friends, fellow musicians, students, and fans.   He has released multiple albums and is featured on over 100 recordings. His final release FOR LOVE OF LORI a tribute to his late wife Lori Samet Davis with Charles Davis (ts), Steve Davis (tb), Rick Germanson (p), David Williams (bass), Joe Magnarelli (tp), Neal Smith (d) Reade Street Records (2014). Other releases include: BLUE GARDENIA Charles Davis (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Peter Washington (b), Joe Farnsworth (d) Reade Street Records; OUR MAN IN COPENHAGEN Charles Davis (ts), Sam Yahel, Ben Street, Kresten playing the music of Bent Jaedig. Fresh Sound Records (2008); LAND OF DREAMS Charles Davis (ts), Tardo Hammer (p), Lee Hudson (b), Jimmy Wormworth (d) Smalls Records (2007); INGIA! Charles Davis (bs), Gerald Hayes (as), Ronnie Mathews (p), Tex Allen (tp), David Williams (b), Louis Hayes (d) with his son Louis Davis on guitar. Strata-East Records (1974)    Charles Davis forged his bracing, bebop tenor saxophone style in Chicago’s clubs and jam sessions, but it was only when he began to specialise on the more cum- bersome baritone that he found his true voice and gained wider international recognition. It was his instrumental com- mand and solo fluency on baritone that brought Davis several recording oppor- tunities and led band leaders as varied as the trumpeter Clark Terry and jazz mystic Sun Ra to recruit him for their touring orchestras. It also led to Davis combining with Gary Smulyan and Ronnie Cuber in the memorable Three Baritone Saxophone Band which played Ronnie Scott’s in 1998 – my first encoun- ter with the majesty of his playing. (John Gilmore and Clifford Jordan (mid 50s)  Latterly, Davis had returned to the tenor saxophone as his main instrument, fronting his own quartet and playing with the all-star Jimmy Heath big band while still taking the occasional tour with Marshall Allen’s Sun Ra Arkestra.

Charles Davis, jazz saxophonist, composer and educator, born 20 May 1933; died 15 July 2016 –– Peter Vacher The Guardian

Live Music: Wowing 'Em at the Wine Shop

Its probably the last place one might expect to see an octet (plus vocalists) in action, but the parking lot of Kingston's Southdale Plaza proved quite conducive to a typically spirited live music session, part of a series dubbed "Jazz in the Street" and spearheaded by Ahmet Osman, proprietor of The Wine Shop that anchors the popular mall (popular coffee bar Suise's sits at the other end).

Harold Davis led the aforementioned 8-piece (with guitarist Seretse Small doing double duty as musical director  and he began with suitable respect to the "jazz" in the title with Lerner and Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love" (popularized by Nat King Cole among others). Thereafter, it was the expected (at least for this writer) but still heartily welcome mixed bag of Jamaican and global standards (including a superior reading of Jobim's "Desafinado", all delivered with Davis' trademark joyous stance - both on vocals and on keyboards, and supported by a crack team of players: Andrew Thompson drums; Paul Madden on bass; Courtney Sinclair on keyboards; Warren Harris on alto sax; Romeo Gray on trombone; Everol Wray on trumpet. Sabrina Nembhard and Thamar Williams provided background vocals andalso presented their own mini-cabarets earlier in the evening.

A rousing ska/rocksteady tribute mixed well with Osman's libations to get most of the crowd (and most of them women, in fact) out of their seats and on their feet, a closing suite which segued nicely into a brief medley of American r n' b classics, the latter preceded by a bad joke and the obligatory calls for encore.

By night's end, the audience, though not fully sated, were certainly well-served musically, in compliment to the wine and buffet that Osman and Company intend to form the core of the experience as the series continues.


ofr enquires, contact The Wine Shop at wineranch46@gmail.com

Live Music: Wowing 'Em at the Wine Shop,

Its probably the last place one might expect to see an octet (plus vocalists) in action, but the parking lot of Kingston's Southdale Plaza proved quite conducive to a typically spirited live music session, part of a series dubbed "Jazz in the Street" and spearheaded by Ahmet Osman, proprietor of The Wine Shop that anchors the popular mall (popular coffee bar Suise's sits at the other end).

Harold Davis led the aforementioned 8-piece (with guitarist Seretse Small doing double duty as musical director  and he began with suitable respect to the "jazz" in the title with Lerner and Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love" (popularized by Nat King Cole among others). Thereafter, it was the expected (at least for this writer) but still heartily welcome mixed bag of Jamaican and global standards (including a superior reading of Jobim's "Desafinado", all delivered with Davis' trademark joyous stance - both on vocals and on keyboards, and supported by a crack team of players: Andrew Thompson drums; Paul Madden on bass; Courtney Sinclair on keyboards; Warren Harris on alto sax; Romeo Gray on trombone; Everol Wray on trumpet. Sabrina Nembhard and Thamar Williams provided background vocals andalso presented their own mini-cabarets earlier in the evening.

A rousing ska/rocksteady tribute mixed well with Osman's libations to get most of the crowd (and most of them women, in fact) out of their seats and on their feet, a closing suite which segued nicely into a brief medley of American r n' b classics, the latter preceded by a bad joke and the obligatory calls for encore.

By night's end, the audience, though not fully sated, were certainly well-served musically, in compliment to the wine and buffet that Osman and Company intend to form the core of the experience as the series continues.


ofr enquires, contact The Wine Shop at wineranch46@gmail.com

Live Music: Wowing 'Em at the Wine Shop,

Its probably the last place one might expect to see an octet (plus vocalists) in action, but the parking lot of Kingston's Southdale Plaza proved quite conducive to a typically spirited live music session, part of a series dubbed "Jazz in the Street" and spearheaded by Ahmet Osman, proprietor of The Wine Shop that anchors the popular mall (popular coffee bar Suise's sits at the other end).

Harold Davis led the aforementioned 8-piece (with guitarist Seretse Small doing double duty as musical director  and he began with suitable respect to the "jazz" in the title with Lerner and Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love" (popularized by Nat King Cole among others). Thereafter, it was the expected (at least for this writer) but still heartily welcome mixed bag of Jamaican and global standards (including a superior reading of Jobim's "Desafinado", all delivered with Davis' trademark joyous stance - both on vocals and on keyboards, and supported by a crack team of players: Andrew Thompson drums; Paul Madden on bass; Courtney Sinclair on keyboards; Warren Harris on alto sax; Romeo Gray on trombone; Everol Wray on trumpet. Sabrina Nembhard and Thamar Williams provided background vocals andalso presented their own mini-cabarets earlier in the evening.

A rousing ska/rocksteady tribute mixed well with Osman's libations to get most of the crowd (and most of them women, in fact) out of their seats and on their feet, a closing suite which segued nicely into a brief medley of American r n' b classics, the latter preceded by a bad joke and the obligatory calls for encore.

By night's end, the audience, though not fully sated, were certainly well-served musically, in compliment to the wine and buffet that Osman and Company intend to form the core of the experience as the series continues.


ofr enquires, contact The Wine Shop at wineranch46@gmail.com

Venice becomes "La-La Land"

Damien Chazelle, director of Whiplash, is set to make his return to the big screen with his new feature, La La Land. The film is scheduled to open the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Italy, where it will have its world premiere on August 31. The Venetian screening will also mark the film’s world premiere.

La La Land is a musical romance set in Los Angeles. It tells the love story between Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a dedicated jazz musician who scrapes by playing piano gigs in dingy bars.

Chazelle’s new film re-unites him with Whiplash composer Justin Hurwitz, who co-wrote the score of songs in La La Land along with the Tony-nominated team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

La La Land’s U.S. theatrical release is set for December 2.

Music: Herb (Alpert) and His horn Save the Day in L.A.

This week, Herb Alpert is in Hollywood's Capitol Studios with an orchestra, cutting his first Christmas album in 48 years. But it's really Christmas in August for the school where his foundation has just promised $10.1 million — Los Angeles City College, which says it will be able to provide free tuition as well as private lessons to all its music majors for years to come as a result of the Herb Alpert Foundation's gift.

LACC is not one of Southern California's "glamor schools" when it comes to star gift-giving, but the trumpeter is hoping to start a "tag, you're it" chain reaction among his fellow philanthropists, retraining some of their financial attention on the community college system.

"Some kids are in situations where it's a bit of a struggle just to get their mojo working," says Alpert. "I was just thinking about how expensive it is for kids to go to UCLA or 'SC or one of the major colleges, and I love the idea that we can open the door to help students who are financially challenged to study at LACC, which is a beautiful college. I mean, it's a gem. If you haven't been there lately, the campus is alive and kicking, and there are a lot of great teachers and a lot of great energy there."lpert's donation sets a record, or comes close, in several regards. The $10.1 million he has promised more than quintuples the previous high-water mark for a gift to an arts-related program in California's community college system, set last year when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave $2 million to LACC's cinema department. It's also the most anyone has ever given to a community college in Southern California for any purpose, and the second-highest amount ever handed over to any two-year school in the entire state, according to Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Los Angeles City College Foundation.

"I think once this gift is announced, we're going to see an even greater influx of talented kids coming in from around the city," says Schwartz. LACC currently has about 175 students majoring in music, but the level of funding — with an endowment set at about $400,000 a year in perpetuity — is designed to accommodate an expected 250 music majors getting a free education at the school. Also benefiting in some way will be the rest of the 2,000 students per semester who enroll in at least one LACC music class.How rare is this kind of gift? "I'll give you this statistic," says Schwartz. "Last year in the United States, there was approximately 40 billion dollars given to higher education in gifts, and of that, less than 2 percent was given to community colleges. Juxtaposed with that is the fact that in the United States, about 80 percent of the workforce has been educated at a community college. Again, of that 40 billion, about a third of that number went to about 20 schools, so it's very concentrated."

John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Charlie Mingus and Chet Baker are among the past students at the school who could have benefited from this largess. Schwartz likes to point out that LACC — which has offered music courses since opening in 1929 — was the first college in the country to offer a jazz major, starting in the 1940s.

Alpert never attended LACC himself, but his brother, David, did. When he considers the roots of his interest in funding music education, he inevitably thinks back well beyond college days."When I was 8 years old in my grammar school here at Melrose Elementary, there was a music appreciation class," Alpert says. "And luckily for me there was a table filled with instruments, and I happened to pick up the trumpet. And when I finally made a sound out of it — because I thought you just blow hot air into the horn — it was talking for me. I was super shy; I was an introvert, and this horn was speaking for me. … I like the idea of world music — that kids can experience their own creativity and appreciate their own uniqueness. And if they can do that, then hopefully they'll appreciate the uniqueness in others, which is a win-win, because I think we're in kind of a bind today with the world situation."

Some of the younger students who'll benefit from Alpert's generosity may be surprised to learn that their benefactor is bigger than Taylor Swift — at least according to one ranking: Alpert currently sits at No. 7 on the list of the top Billboard 200 album artists of all time, just ahead of Swift and just behind Mariah Carey. Twenty-five of the albums that put him on that list are being reissued on CD in September, concurrent with the release of a brand-new album,Human Nature, which features a cover of the Michael Jackson hit of that name as its title trac

Jazz: Glasper and Co set for next Experiment

from JAZZIZ

The Robert Glasper Experiment will release their new album ArtScience on Blue Note Records on September 16.

The album features keyboardist Glasper alongside saxophonist Casey Benjamin, bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Mark Colenburg. Each of the band members shared in the production and songwriting duties for ArtScience, which will feature their characteristic sound, defined by an eclectic mix of influences from strands of jazz, funk, rock, soul, hip-hop, electronic music and pop.

The Experiment will celebrate the release of the album with a concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on October 3.

For more information, go to http://www.robertglasper.com/

Jazz: And Jazz for All

The Rockefeller Foundation and Jazz at Lincoln Center are teaming up on a new education outreach program for students in disadvantaged schools.

 The program, titled “Jazz for Young People: The Resilient Tour,” will connect live jazz performances to an American history curriculum. It is expected to reach 9,000 students in 60 schools in five cities, including New Orleans; Chicago; St. Louis, Missouri; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Sydney, Australia.

The initiative is an expansion of a partnership that was first forged in New York City public schools and will highlight jazz’s response to social struggle, with an emphasis on resilience. The tour is fueled by a $1 million foundation grant and led by Wynton Marsalis.

Jazz: Happy Birthday, Tony Bennett

Singer Anthony “Tony” Benedetto was born on
August 3rd, 1926 in New York City, New York.

After fighting on the frontline of WWII, he
returned to the States to pursue a career in
singing and adopted the stage name Bennett.

Tony Bennett was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, on August 3, 1926. Bennett had his first hit, "Because of You," in 1951, and made a career singing standards, including his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Bennett's career waned in the mid-1960s, as rock music became dominant, but rebounded in the 1990s.

Early Life

Bennett grew up in a poor family, in circumstances made more difficult by the Depression and by the death of his father when he was 9. While he attended the High School for the Industrial Arts in New York City, Bennett began working as a singing waiter. After serving in the Army infantry during World War II, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and studied singing and acting at the American Theatre Wing. During this period his vocal coach Mimi Spear offered some advice that he took to heart: Don't imitate other singers; emulate instrumentalists instead.

Early Hits

The young singer was discovered by Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village and subsequently hired by Bob Hope in 1949. Hope advised him to take the name Tony Bennett (rather than the name he had been using, Joe Bari) and put him in his road show. Bennett told Billboard in 1997, "I've been on the road ever since." He signed with Columbia Records in 1950 and started working with record producer Mitch Miller. His early hits included "Rags to Riches," "Because of You" and "Stranger in Paradise." His most famous song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," was released in 1962 as a B-side on a single; it also earned Bennett his first Grammy Award.

By the early 1950s he had established himself
as a pop singer and formidable jazz performer.

Bennett's success led to some artistic differences between the singer and his record company. His interest in singing quality material made him want to try new songs and new kinds of music. Columbia, however, wanted to repeat the style of his early hits. For some time, Bennett and Miller compromised by each selecting one half of the material to be recorded. After 20 years of recording with Columbia, however, he was told not to do any new songs. Company management wanted Bennett to cover top 10 hits. Soon thereafter, Bennett ended his relationship with the company, formed his own label and recorded on others. Bennett ended up taking a long hiatus from recording, staying away from the studios for some 10 years before he made the 1986 album The Art of Excellence.

Bennett's break from recording coincided with some difficult times for the singer. He moved to California in the late 1970s and began using cocaine and marijuana, drugs that were an integral part of the celebrity party scene. A near-death experience passing out in the bathtub and the memory of Lenny Bruce's drug-related death scared Bennett into changing his habits. Bennett was also struggling with a change in the public's taste in popular music, with the increased dominance of rock and roll. When he began his career, pop music appealed to all ages. Bennett asserts that young listeners were being taught that rock music belonged exclusively to their generation and that this alienated children from their parents. Moreover, music marketing was so focused on young listeners that it was squeezing adults who bought Bennett's albums out of the record stores.

Career Revival

Bennett has weathered such troubles and completely revitalized his career. He credits his son Danny, who is now his manager, with making many key decisions. Danny put Bennett on television, on the animated series The Simpsons, on talk shows with David Letterman and Jay Leno, and on MTV Unplugged. The last appearance earned the singer a flock of young fans. He now has a recording contract with Columbia that allows him to simply turn in his finished record, with no corporate input on content. Among Bennett's later recordings are the Grammy-winning MTV Unplugged; a series of tribute albums, Bennett/Berlin (Irving Berlin), Perfectly Frank (as in Sinatra), Tony Bennett on Holiday (Billie Holiday) and Here's to the Ladies (miscellaneous female singers); and the children's album The Playground. he releasedSteppin’ Out in 1993 which went on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.These recordings demonstrate that Bennett still has plenty of ideas about the music he wants to sing, and that he is in fine form. With a half-century of professional singing under his belt, Bennett credits learning bel canto technique with preserving his voice; he told Billboard, "It teaches you how to breathe properly and how to sing so that you don't push and you don't destroy your voice."

During the 1990s Bennett published two books that gave fans an inside look into his personal life and career. Tony Bennett: What My Heart Has Seen(1996) is a coffee-table book of his paintings, exhibiting a very serious pastime for a man who once aspired to be a painter. His autobiography The Good Life(1998) details his childhood, singing career, personal life and friendships. Signing his name "Anthony Benedetto," he began showing his paintings in 1977 and has since sold his work for as much as $40,000 a canvas. What My Heart Has Seen includes a number of portraits of famous people, as well as still-lifes, landscapes, and cityscapes that are dominated by scenes of New York and San Francisco.

To mark his 80th birthday in 2006, he released Tony Bennett: Duets - An American Classic, recorded with a collection of stars including Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Bono and Sting. The project proved to be such a success that he did another celebratory album in 201l for his 85th birthday.

Bennett released Duets II in the fall of 2011, and his work with Lady Gaga on "The Lady Is a Tramp" proved to be one of its highlights. The album also featured another distinctive track—the late Amy Winehouse's final recording. She and Bennett sang together on "Body and Soul." Their collaboration won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 2012. That same night, Bennett also took home an award for "Who Can I Turn To?" his duet with Queen Latifah.

One of the best known entertainers of the 20th
century, Bennett’s success continues today.

The Word on Weed #2: Anslinger's War

 Marijuana has been in an “official” state of prohibition since 1937-s Marijuana Tax Act (in the United States). Because, among other reasons, it made supposedly white women desire black men.

Maia Szalavitz has a great takedowen of pundits like Tina Brown and David Brooks, who recently made specious claims that marijuana makes you stupider. Brown actually said Americans who smoke pot won't be able to "compete" with the Chinese. Her moment of xenophobia wasn't out of keeping with the history of anti-pot rhetoric.

Writes Szalavitz:

The truth is that our perceptions of marijuana—and in fact all of our drug laws—are based on early 20th century racism and "science" circa the Jim Crow era. In the early decades of the 20th century, the drug was linked to Mexican immigrants and black jazzmen, who were seen as potentially dangerous.

Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (an early predecessor of the DEA), was one of the driving forces behind pot prohibition. He pushed it for explicitly racist reasons, saying, "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men," and:

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

The main reason to prohibit marijuana, he said was "its effect on the degenerate races." (And god forbid women should sleep with entertainers!)

Although it sounds absurd now, it was this type of propaganda that caused the drug to be outlawed in 1937—along with support from the Hearst newspapers, which ran ads calling marijuana "the assassin of youth" and published stories about how it led to violence and insanity. Anslinger remained as head of federal narcotics efforts as late as 1962, whereafter he spread his poisonous message to the world as the American representative to the U.N. for drug policy for a further two years.

Before marijuana was made illegal, the American Medical Association'sopposition to prohibition was ignored, as was an earlier report on marijuana in India by the British government, which did not find marijuana to be particularly addictive or dangerous. That "Indian Hemp Drugs Committee" reporthad concluded way back in 1894 that, "The moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all."

Jazz: New Masters (and Mistress) from the NEA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced the 2017 Jazz Masters Fellows, recipients of the highest honor in jazz in the U.S., for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions for the advancement of jazz.

 The five recipients are vocalist are vocalist and broadcaster Dee Dee Bridgewater; bassist, cellist composer and bandleader Dave Holland; keyboardist, composer and arranger Dick Hyman; organist and composer Dr. Lonnie Smith; author, editor, producer and educator Ira Gitler. 

Each one will receive a $25,000 award and will be honored at a tribute concert on April 3.

The free concert will be held at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, will be open to the public and available through a live webstream. 

Live Music: Get Festive! Choosing the region's best music festivals

Take your pick from jazz and blues to techno, reggae and soul and you’ll find a music festival in the Caribbean that will keep your toes tapping and your hips swaying.  Check out our musical calendar and snag a front row seat at the Caribbean’s longest running jazz festival in St. Lucia, get groovy to soul sounds on the beach in Aruba, blues on the beach in Nevis and rock all night to a reggae beat in Jamaica.

What started as a single show to celebrate the January 15 birthday of reggae homegrown hero Patrick ‘Tony Rebel’ Barrett has morphed into a mainstay on the Jamaican music calendar. For two days — January 15 and 16 — Rebel Salute honors roots and reggae at the Plantation Cove in St. Ann. With a nod to the Rastafarian lifestyle, the no meat and no alcohol policy makes the festival family-friendly with food vendors dishing up vegetarian options to music fans of all ages. On the bill this year are old-school reggae singer Johnny Clarke and boy band Inner Circle. Sponsored by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association, fans honor Bob Marley’s February 6 birthday with a month-long series of celebrations and concerts at Reggae Village at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Hope Road in Kingston: the heart and soul of reggae and the city where Marley was born.

Brand new on the music scene, SXMusic is the island's first electronic music festival from March 9 – 13. Named for the three-letter airport code (SXM) of the Princess Juliana International Airport, performances take place at a host of venues on both sides of the island like Kontiki Beach, Loterie Farm, Port De Plaisance Country Club and Le Dreams Beach Bar. The five-day fest impresses with an international lineup like Welsh DJ Jamie Jones and Cuban-born electronic spinner Maceo Plex to Dubfire, Iranian-American Grammy winning techno disc jockey and record producer. To be seen, the hip and happening head to after-parties on the beach, in lavish villas and on super yachts that keep the vibe all night long.

 big festival on the small island with miles of pink sandy beaches, 'Eleuthera…All that Jazz' is music for a good cause with profits from ticket sales donated  to the Haynes Library. From March 30 — April 3, the festival is a beacon for global artists like jazz singer Gabrielle Stravelli adored for her unique take on American greats like Duke Ellington and Dolly Parton, American pianist and composer Art Hirahara whose latest recording Libations & Meditations is taking the jazz world by storm and New York’s King Solomon Hicks packing his jazzy guitar sounds to the good time festival. Venues include the Rainbow Inn in Governor’s Harbour, St Patrick’s Church and on the final evening, musical jam session at the Fish Fry in Anchor Bay is a free show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

With St Kitts in view across the channel, The Nevis Blues Festival is center stage on the coconut-lined beach at Oualie Bay from April 14 — 16.  The best soul, funk and yes, the blues heat up the festival that was so popular last year, it’s making a comeback in 2016. Gates open at 7 p.m. with no more than 1200 music fans let in each night. On the bill, British bluesman Ian Siegel, American guitarist Kirk Fletcher acclaimed for his cool riffs, Belfast-born singer Simon McBride and the bluesy Rhythm Chiefs from the Netherlands. With roots in Nevis, Denise Gordon has performed her brand of gospel for the Queen and making music with long hollow pipes; Sugar Hill String Band is fun for the whole family. Single tickets are priced at USD$45 while a VIP ticket at USD$150 ups the ante with reserved seating for dining and plenty of fine wine sipping.

hat started more than a quarter century ago as an intimate jam session on the beach is now the longest running independent music festival in the Eastern Caribbean and the hottest ticket on the island. From April 21 — 24, Moonsplash is beach reggae greatness at the Dune Preserve Beach Bar that is cobbled together from battered coconut trees and old shipwrecks. On the sand at Rendezvous Bay, the beach blowout at the beach bar is hosted by reggae hero Bankie Banx and is a showcase for international reggae artists, a proving ground for new talent and a musical reunion of many of reggae’s finest. Tickets sell out early as the 2016 lineup is announced closer to show time.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the longest running jazz festival in the Caribbean. Spanning nine days from April 29 — May 8, St. Lucia Jazz attracts thousands to shows performed by more than 50 acoustic, fusion and new age jazz artists from the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the U.S. With the dramatic Piton peaks in view from virtually everywhere on the island, stages are set up at 15 venues from picturesque Pigeon Island, Derek Walcott Square (named for the island's Nobel Prize winning poet), Fond D’Or Heritage Park and even the down-home fishing village called Gros Islet. Be sure to check out side shows like Sulphur Springs Jazz at the world’s only drive-in-volcano and Jazz Rhythms at Rodney Bay Mall.

A host of festivals keeps Curacao rocking all year long, with the International Blue Seas Festivalleading the pack from May 6 — 7.  With stages in the laid-back neighborhood near Willemstadcalled the Pietermaai District with its centuries-old mansions and funky bars and restaurants, performers taking the stage include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame great Leon Russell and California-based Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real and their infectious cowboy hippie surf sounds. Book your tickets early for the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival September 1 — 3 at the World Trade Center near Piscadera Bay in Willemstad. This year marks the seventh year for this popular festival, with crowd-pleasing performers like the Dominican ‘King of Merengue’ Juan Luis Guerraand the Zouk band Kassav from Guadeloupe belting out their get-up-on-your-feet brand of carnival music.