NORMA WINSTONE: A Musician Who Sings

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“Norma Winstone is one of the great jazz vocalists not simply because she is so obviously accomplished in what she does, but the sheer range of her singing embraces everything the jazz vocalist can be called upon to do. Yet no single aspect of jazz singing can be said to be central to her style; she is an interpreter of the American Popular Song par excellence, but she is not a standards singer; she can scat masterfully but she is not a scat singer and she is a brilliantly imaginative free jazz singer but she is not a free jazz musician. Her sight-reading skills have frequently been harnessed to provide a wordless tone color in both small groups and large ensembles; she has explored vocalese; she has worked with electronics and she has explored abstraction and collective improvisation with singers Urzula Dudziak and Jay Clayton (and later Michele Hendricks) in Vocal Summit. She has sung with unusual combinations of instruments and she has sung with orchestras and big bands and she has sung a cappella. Whatever the context, her performances have been both distinguished and distinctive.

Much has been written about the voice-as-an-instrument, but in Norma Winstone’s case, it is fair to say she is a brilliantly imaginative jazz musician whose instrument is her voice. Her style represents one of the first independent developments of jazz vocal technique beyond the borders of the United States.”

- Stuart Nicholson for Jazz.com

“Norma Winstone’s voice is one of the great glories of contemporary Jazz.”

- The Jazz Journal

Had it not been for a mate in England’s response to my request for information about recordings featuring a version of Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way, I might never have known about Norma Winstone.

What a real tragedy that would have been. As it was, I had over thirty plus years of catching up to do, but mercifully, Norma has her own website – www.normawinstone.com – and the details of her Jazz journey are all laid out there for others to follow.

And to add to my blessings, not only did this internet friend point out that Norma had sung – sung, mind you! – an adaptation of Dave’s Jazz classic In Your Own Sweet Way, he generously sent me a copy of the long since out-of-print album that this music appeared on – Norma Winstone in Concert With John Taylor [ENO 1].

Recorded in performance before a musically discerning audience at the Guildhall School of Music in August, 1988, the album is an incredible tour de force by both artists.

“She has her own way with a song;” “she is a song stylist;” “she is in the traditional of the great, female Jazz vocalists:” somehow none of these descriptive phrases seem apt when applied to Norma.

Perhaps a better way to state it would be that Norma is an excellent musician who just happens to express herself with voice as her instrument.

Excellence as a musician is not unique to Norma, Carmen [McCrae], Sassy [Sarah Vaughan] and Blossom [Dearie], among others, were all first-rate pianists as well as vocalists.

But Norma’s singing doesn’t come from the piano, it seems to reflect all of the major elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm and texture with a primary emphasis on the latter.

Norma uses the human voice to bring a variety of sonorities to her Jazz vocals.

She sings as thought she was an arranger: one minute bringing the timbre of the brass section into play and, with the next phrase, emphasizing the sounds that reeds and woodwinds might make.

Norma reconstructs a song by altering the “feel” of the tune through her use of multifarious sounds.

“One of the things that makes Winstone so exceptional as a singer is her equal confidence with pure abstraction as with the most straight-forward vocal line. … Like Karin Krog in Norway, she is a fine musician in her own right, a sensitive lyricist as well as an imaginative standards singer.” [Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6^th Ed.].

To afford you an opportunity to listen to this “magisterial singer” with pianist John Taylor’s thoughtful accompaniment, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles developed the following video tribute to Norma on which, you may not be surprised to learn, she and John perform Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way.

Big Band Bert … Joris and The Brussels Jazz Orchestra

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Until quite recently, trumpeter Bert Joris had a long and enduring relationship with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra [BJO] as its principle composer.

Bert recorded a number of albums with the BJO many of which featured originals compositions that he authored expressly for it.

Bert’s writing and arranging efforts on behalf of the orchestra culminated when it combined with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under the direction of Danielle Callegari to perform a series of Joris’ compositions at deSingel in Antwerp, Belgium on May 27, 2006, two of which were commissioned as extended, original works.

A live recording of this performance was subsequently issued as a CD entitled Dangerous Liaisons: The Compositions of Bert Joris as Performed by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra and The Royal Flemish Philharmonic [Talent – Do Music DOM 2910 900 SP].

In his insert notes for the recording, Tom Janssens wrote the following about the commissioning of Dangerous Liaisons, the highlights of Bert’s career and the history of the BJO.

Given their comprehensive scope, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles did not attempt to improve on them, but thought it more appropriate to bring Mr. Janssens writings to you “as is.”

© -Tom Janssens, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Dangerous Liaisons

Bert Joris was commissioned by deFilharmonie (the Royal Flemish Philharmonic) and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra to write two compositions for large symphony orchestra and big band. The suggestive titles of these two works (Dangerous Liaison and Between Hope and Despair) already say a lot about the 'dangers' identified by Joris in the relationship between fixed note values and solo improvisations and the pitfalls of the creative process, in which artistic choices were weighed and reweighed and stylistic principles had to be thrown overboard.

Dangerous Liaison was Joris's first composition for large symphony orchestra and big band, and it strongly emphasizes the contrasts between the two ensembles: 'The colour palette offered by this combination is practically inexhaustible. Therefore I thought the most suitable starting point would be a long melody that returns in different settings. At the start, the symphony orchestra plays the female role and the big band the male role, but towards the end, they two become completely fused toge­ther. The structure bears the closest resemblance to the classic variation form we use so often in jazz music. Here, it is only interrupted once, by a modal passage.'

Between Hope and Despair has much less contrast than Dangerous Liaison. In this composition, Joris took the opposite approach and sought to achieve a uniform sound for a story about the caprices of human emotions. 'So as to make the orchestras blend as much as possible, I sought a tempo in which ternary and binary interpretation are compatible', explains Joris.

In Anna and Alone at Last, the two orchestras are both individually in­troduced and then completely fused. Once again, Joris creates a unique interaction between soloists, improvisers and sections. Anna was written imme­diately after the composer had met 'an extraordi­nary six-year-old girl' at a garden party. Its music was later used in the score Joris wrote for the film Dennis van Rita (by Hilde Van Mieghem). Alone at Last is a simple blues in C. This form has inspired me all my musical life and it keeps on turning up in my work. However, my own roots aren't the blues, and that's why I left out the C, which is the "root" of this blues, from the bass line, as a kind of joke.'

Bert Joris composer

Bert Joris started studying music at an early age. At first, he studied piano and violin, but eventually, at the age of fourteen, he settled on the trumpet. He had a classic education at the Antwerp music con­servatory, even though jazz held a greater attraction for him, being a style that was better suited to de­veloping his creative talents. From 1978 to 1987, he worked with the BRT Jazz Orchestra, which was led by Etienne Verscheuren. Initially, he played the trumpet there, but he also attracted notice as a composer and arranger and eventually became a guest conductor.

Meanwhile, Bert Joris continued to build on his reputation as a teacher. In 1987, this led to a teaching position at the famous Swiss Jazz School in Bern. At about the same time, he launched a jazz course at the Leuven Lemmensinstituut, which gradually developed into what is now the school's jazz department. From 1990 till 1992, he was a trumpet teacher at the Hilversum Conservatory.

In 1992, Bert Joris started up an intense colla­boration with the Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine. He has also performed with many other musicians and ensembles. He has toured Europe with the en­sembles of Rob van Bavel, Robert Jan Vermeulen,

Wolfgang Haffner, Ricardo del Fra, Michel Herr, Enrico Pieranunzi, Joe Haider and Act Big Band. In addition, he formed the Bert Joris Quartet (with pianist Dado Moroni, drummer Ore Pallemaerts and bassist Philippe Aerts). He is often invited as a soloist and/or as a composer-conductor by larger European formations and big hands like those of Klaus Weiss, Al Porcino, the Concertgebouw Jazz Orchestra, the Metropoolorkest and many others.

In 1986, he toured Europe together with the renowned drummer and band leader Mel Lewis, which led to an invitation to conduct Lewis's big band at the New York club The Village Vanguard, in a project with his own music. The sudden death of Mel Lewis put an end to this project. In 1998, he traveled to the US, where he scored a great suc­cess with the SJS Big Band, with which he con­ducted work of his own, e.g. in the famous Birdland jazz club, with Clark Terry as guest soloist. This success was confirmed in 2003 when he was in­vited to come and present his music, together with the BJO, at the most prestigious and international meeting of jazz musicians from all over the world: IJAJE in New York.

In 1998, Bert Joris received the Django d'Or Award and in 1998, he was voted the best Belgian jazz trumpet player by the listeners of RTBF and VRT and the French-language Belgian music press. As the house composer of the BJO, he has pro­duced three CDs: September Sessions, The Mu­sic of Bert Joris, and Meeting Colours with Philip Catherine.

Brussels Jazz Orchestra

The pianist-composer Kenny Werner is a big fan. The composer Maria Schneider calls them her favourite orchestra. The reviewers of the profes­sional magazine Down Beat voted it the eighth-best big band in the world and the best European big band.

In 1993, Frank Vaganee, Serge Plume and Marc Godfroid decided to set up a new professional big band. Shortly before that, the BRT big band had disappeared, and with it, the possibility for com­posers and musicians to perform big band music at a high quality level. The new ensemble was given the name of Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO), be­cause its first performances took place in the Brus­sels jazz club The Sounds, where the ensemble organized a weekly session. The core strength of the BJO consists of a traditional big-band line-up (five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, piano, bass and drums), to which more musicians can be added as required for different projects

.

Most of the repertoire of the BJO consists of productions of their own creation, ranging from concertante productions to soloist and multimedia projects. This has earned them concerts with many leading musicians, including Philip Catherine, Toots Thielemans, Chris Joris, Kenny Werner, Maria Schneider, Wallace Roney, Tom Harrell, Gianluigi Trovesi, David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Wheeler, Phil Woods, Gustavo Bergalli and deFilharmonie. The BJO works in close collaboration with the composers Bert Joris and Frank Vaganee, who are the house composers of the ensemble, but they also work with other Flemish and Belgian big band arrangers/ composers such as Michel Herr, Erwin Vann, Bob Porter and Gyuri Spies.

Meanwhile, the BJO has built itself a solid repu­tation at home and abroad. In Belgium, the band has played every significant jazz venue. Internationally, the BJO has been invited to the Netherlands, Lux­embourg, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Sweden and the USA, invariably to great press acclaim.

BJO is also the driving force behind various educational projects, including the biannual BJO International Composition Contest, big-band work­shops for amateur musicians, and a big-band tour with the orchestras of the conservatories of Antwerp and Ghent and the Lemmensinstituut of Leuven.

The discography of the BJO currently comprises six titles: Live (VRT Radio 3), The September Sessions (W.E.R.F.), The Music of Bert Joris (W.E.R.F.), Naked in the Cosmos - the BJO Plays the Music of Kenny Werner (Jazzimpulz), Meeting Colours (Dreyfuss) and Countermove (W.E.R.F.). All these recordings were warmly received by the Belgian and international press.

More info, video and sound clips on www.brusselsjazzorchestra.com.

With the help of the ace graphics team at CerraJazz LTD and the assistance of the StudioCerra production facilities, we have put together the following video which uses as its audio track – Alone At Last -  the final selection from Bert’s performance with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under the direction of Danielle Callegari in conjunction with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra at deSingel in Antwerp, Belgium on May 27, 2006.

Bert solos on trumpet followed by Dieter Limbourg on alto sax.

And here is a video from an earlier feature on JazzProfiles that features Bert’s playing on Happy Tears from the Meeting Colours collaboration between guitarist Philipe Catherine and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra.

After listening to these performances, you might agree with us when we assert that Bert Joris is one of the brightest and best musicians on today’s Jazz scene in either a small group setting [as noted in our previous feature] or when writing for and performing with a big band.

It’s nice to have him around.

Day Four - Groovin’ Hard with the Los Angeles Jazz Institute

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The four-day Groovin’ Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance event under the auspices of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute and its Director, Ken Poston, concluded on, Sunday, October 12, 2012

Gordon Sapsed, a regular attendee at LAJI events, developed this overview of  the final day’s events and, with continued thanks to him for his generosity, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles is privileged to bring you the last of his daily annotations as noted below.

The illustrations we have been using to populate these features are drawn from the event brochure as designed by Kurt Reichenbach.

You can locate more information on the Los Angeles Jazz Institute including their future concerts by visiting www.lajazzinstitute.org

© -Gordon Sapsed.  Used with the author’s permission; copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The final Day of "Groovin' Hard', the LA Jazz Institute's October 2012 Festival opened as usual with a film show. However this time the show drew on the HUGE Library, recently established, of some 4,500 editions of the 'Tonight' Show, with Johnny Carson, thousands of guests and the Tonight Show Band, both in its New York days and in its 'West Coast' days - some of which were in the 'New York' era.

Early clips showed a young Clark Terry, with Doc Severinson simply a member of the trumpet section and a young 'Snooky'. Later clips showed a young Pete Christlieb, guesting with the band on a California trip, and guests such as Benny Goodman and John McLaughlin from early shows. Johnny Carson demonstrated how he was always a Big Band enthusiast and a great supporter of the musicians in their roles outside the show - and even 'drums', with brushes on the bottom of a pail, in a sequence with Benny Goodman. Later film clips had features with full band numbers for Snooky Young and Bill Perkins.

That hour-long film show set the scene for the Sunday morning 'Brunch session - at banqueting tables in the main room with a reconstruction of the Tonight Show Band led, on this occasion by Chuck Findley. Players included John Bambridge - who played lead alto, wrote arrangements and appeared on the screen when the band was shown live, as well as in later years, when the band was not shown live but only heard (with, as John said, a disappointing drop in income), Ernie Watts, plus Gene Cipriano , Doug Webb and Lee Callet on saxes. John Fedchock, Alan Kaplan and Kenny Shroyer on trombones and a trumpet section of Bobby Shew, Lee Thornburg, Kyle Palmer and Carl Saunders - with Chuck Findley playing the Doc's parts. Bob Bain, a key figure on guitar in the band, especially in live improvised moments, was still there on this occasion. At the piano Rich Eames, Chuck Berghofer on bass and Jeff Hamilton standing in for Ed Shaughnessy on drums. Most of the 'irregulars' had depped in the band during its long tenure in LA, although Bobby Shew said 'they never called me'.

'Tonight Show Live' stories abounded - just as they did later in the Panel. Jeff Hamilton told a very long tale of depping, having to play behind a screen and being signaled by Doc to play louder - and louder and so on.

Tipped off in a break, he changed to heavier sticks and beat hell out of the kit in the second half. Doc, as it ended, said "which of you a A**holes tipped off the drummer that I'm losing my hearing?"

I, as someone from England who never, in all those years, saw the Tonight Show band live on TV, loved the refreshing take on standards that made up most the book apparently. With charts by Bill Holman, Mike Barone, Bill Potts , John Bambridge and so many others it was a delight. There are at least two CD albums by the band easily to be found and charts played, on the day, with some from those albums included 'A Train', Bill Holman's 'April in Paris' and 'Honeysuckle Rose', Body & Soul (a wonderful Ernie Watts feature), Poor Butterfly, Just Friends, and, of course, the Theme.

In the Panel Session that followed Chuck Findley challenged the audience to remember the theme - many could. He then challenged them to recall the Theme of the current Jay Leno version of the show - none could ! The panel session included five former players plus the Tonight Show archivist, himself also a bandleader, Don Freeman, with the Show's producer Jeff Carson (?). Too many stories to share but some also appear in a book "Backstage at the Tonight Show" from Don , available on Amazon.

Back in the main room Ernie Watts then led his own quartet of David Witham, Bruce Letts and Bob Leatherbarrow through a 60 minute set of music , much of which is on their 'Oasis' album. I especially enjoyed an evocative version of Round Midnight, but others included classics like Shaw Nuff and 'Five Steps' and Ernie's originals such as 'Oasis' - which made your mouth feel dry and you could almost taste the dates ....

And so to what Jim Oatts called 'The misfit section of the weekend'. The recipe was simple - take 4 top class high note trumpeters (with Herman, Buddy Rich or Kenton background and preferably a Berklee education), add an extra-high note specialist leader (originally Bill Chase), an organ for sax section and other 'width and fill' then a rock guitar a rock bassist and a rock drummer. On some tracks add a rock vocalist. Arrangements can draw on any genre, be it classical jazz, rock fusion or 'outer space'. The band's name was 'Chase', which the leader said was convenient for him. They made three albums. 

This LAJI afternoon was the fifth, or so, reunion for members of the three different bands which Bill Chase assembled before his tragic plane crash about 35 years ago. The former band members played musical chairs throughout and the couple of fast-learner 'deps' were grateful for the hour's rehearsal.

The one hour set and the one hour panel discussion which preceded it taught me a lot about Chase's music and philosophy and showed a very visible unity between the members of the band in their music and their relationships. A group ( perhaps 30 people) had come into the Festival especially to support Chase and it was something that Ken Poston had wanted to do for some time. This 70's Theme gave Ken Poston the opportunity to include them. My view is that they were no more or less 'legitimate' in a 4 day '1970's' jazz program than, say, Don Ellis, and had a lot to offer with their originality and commitment. 

Ace high-note trumpet specialist Eric Miyashiro had flown in overnight from Japan to be a guest with "Chase" and also to direct what he described as his "25th Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert.”

Eric said 'I regret that tributes are necessary and dearly wish Maynard was still with us, but feel honored to be able to play with and present again - his music and his musicians'.

Most of the Ferguson alumni had been playing during the weekend in other bands - of which they were also alumni, and for this set Brandon Fields ( sax) , Nick Lane (tmb) Serafin Aguilar, Kevin Richardson and Pete de Siena joined the band, with Rich Eames at the (electric) piano, Kevin Axt at the (electric) bass and at the (acoustic) drum kit - living up to a huge audience expectation and huge applause - Peter Erskine.

Eric Miyashiro made a big point of choosing items from the book which featured band members, although himself playing two or three of Maynard's best known features. He also brought up 'the greatest trumpet player in the world,’ (in this case Bobby Shew). Bobby modestly told of the joy he feels as 'his pupils develop and go by' recalling times with Eric in Buddy Rich's band - he then went on to justify that extreme title with a memorable version of 'Just Friends' (and real blood from that split lip as it opened up again).

Other notables for me were Bob Summers on 'Fox Hunt' and Eric himself recalling 'Maria' which attracted a standing ovation. Titles played included Winter Games, Knee Deep in ?, Dance To Your Heart, Birdland (not the same chart as Buddy Rich) and MacArthur Park (not the same chart as Kenton). Nick Lane and Bruce Johnstone had a lot of fun with 'Superbone Meets The Bad Man'. The band, after two standing ovations, played an encore to close the whole event "Go Fly Now" (?)

I'll have to ponder some overall remembrances but my major thought is that we enjoyed this event even more than we expected and are already signed up for next May. …

I'll hope to have some of my 300 photos up on www.gordonsapsed.com in the nest few days.

Gordon Sapsed”

An Evening with Patrick Williams

As a follow-up to our recent postings about events at the current Los Angeles Jazz Institute 4-day Groovin' Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance, Mike Kaiser made this excellent video of the Patrick Williams concert which was so widely hailed by LAJI attendees and received Patrick's permission to post it on YouTube.

Mike hipped the editorial staff at JazzProfiles to his video and we thought we'd share his creative efforts on the blog.

Click on the "X" to close out of the ads should they appear.

Day Three - Groovin’ Hard with the Los Angeles Jazz Institute

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The four-day Groovin’ Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance event concluded it’s third day yesterday, Saturday, October 11, 2012 under the auspices of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute and its Director, Ken Poston.

Gordon Sapsed, a regular attendee at LAJI events, develops an overview of each day’s proceedings and thanks to his generosity, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles is privileged to bring you his daily annotations as noted below.

Our apologies for failing to note previously that the illustrations we have been using to populate these features are drawn from the event brochure as designed by Kurt Reichenbach.

For more information on the Los Angeles Jazz Institute including ticket ordering for Groovin’ Hard, please visit www.lajazzinstitute.org

© -Gordon Sapsed.  Used with the author’s permission; copyright protected; all rights reserved.

 "Saturday morning at LAJI began with a clip of the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band from the 1970s (perhaps at Monterey?). Last time here we saw them in person but this time it was nice to see them 35 or so years ago and hear the music again.

Ken Poston puts a lot of work into these film shows and it's good to see audiences of 100 plus supporting them at 9 am. After that band we saw BIll Watrous from the 1970's - with that same hair style - although yesterday's live version might be grayer - the movie was in black and white. Bill guested on that occasion in the movie with somebody else's band (Tonight Show?). Then, with clothes and hair and time signatures all screaming "1970's" we saw clips of Maynard Ferguson's UK Band - with Peter King and Danny Moss, Woody's Band with Sal Nistico, Buddy Rich playing Weather Report's  "Birdland" (on a curious kit which seemed to have silver cymbals). We also saw the Don Ellis Band, when Art Pepper was with him - or said to be - the clip showed only dancers.

Next up was a panel 'Remembering Buddy Rich,’ which was a lot of fun. Bobby Shew, Chuck Findley and Carl Saunders shared the lead and all improvised beautifully, with Richie Cole, Ernie Watts, Charles Owens and Greg Smith all competing to see who had most-often been fired by Buddy. Bobby won - as he does so often on panels.. Comments included ' anything he could do on a snare drum he could also do on the bass drum with one foot', 'He couldn't read a note, but play it through twice and he could beat out every part for every instrument' … 'that anger gave him an energy rush and was often for just that reason'. All recalled their stay on that band as a great learning experience and often as a major highlight of all their career, despite the occasional grief and pain.

Then to the delight of fresh air and sunshine lovers - out to the Pool, where the very first outdoor session involved the Saddleback College 'Wednesday Night Community Big Band' ( a title distinguishing it from eight other Jazz bands at the College). Whilst the players might give the impression that the G.I. Bill is still strong down in Miision Viejo, it turned out that older members, who often have pro or semi-pro experience or Berklee credentials, are allowed in. Scheduled to play Gil Evans' 'Svengali' Charts the band had to settle for items from Sun Ra's book, when the Evans Estate refused LAJI use of the charts. Sun Ra was, however, rendered beautifully, as were some charts by Saddleback student arrangers. Full disclosure demands I report that the band also sang - a chant from Sun Ra's 'We are Space Travellers'. Joey Sellers directed the band. 

Then back indoors for that 70's sound of the biting alto sax of Tom Scott leading his 'California Express'. Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet- who impresses more with every hearing, was alongside him and I was delighted to see young drummer Dan Schelle - who often leads all-youngster groups at the Lighthouse and Quinn Johnson at the piano. This was their 'audition' with Tom Scott - who said they passed - after two numbers! Trey Henry on bass needed no audition. The band played favourites of Tom Scott and some of his originals ( you can do that when you're leader). Titles included Victor Feldman's 'The Chant', LeGrand's 'His Eyes, Her Eyes', Tom's Original 'Way Back When'  and Billie Jo MacAlastair's sad tale ...  A great swinging set - showing that the 70's were not all odd time signatures, or noisy,  musically.

The next three hours were 'Dream Time' for fans of, and former players with, The Don Ellis Band.

We opened with an hour of "Panel Discussion', when eight former members of the band gathered and told their stories of the band - mostly in terms of what versions of the band they played in. Unfortunately the sound system in that room - described earlier by Carl Saunders as 'worse than most train stations' had a bad afternoon . Despite eight microphones there was a problem at any given time in hearing the person speaking until perhaps halfway through their comment. The sound person was perhaps trying to guess who was speaking - or may not have actually been in the room most of the time .....

Musically things looked up as we assembled for the Don Ellis concert which, scheduled for an hour -overran by close to thirty minutes. However, in that time the 21 piece band wove their way through a dozen or so complex compositions bringing 5 trumpets, 4 reeds, two trombones, two violins, a viola, cello, horn, tuba, two percussion , bass and drums together under two directors Ann Patterson and Nick de Scala  About half the players were Don Ellis Alumni and others were session musicians from the LA area. The musicians included Ted Nash, saxes and flute, Alan Kaplan and Rich Bullock trombones, Jimbo Ross, who Leonard Feather described as perhaps the world's greatest jazz viola player, Alan Steinberger at the piano, with Brad Dutz and Pete Korpela on percussion and Dave Crigger, and alumnus of several Don Ellis bands, on drums.

The Don Ellis role was played, very convincingly, throughout, by John Daversa. 

The music included charts from the Star Wars album, Monterey and Montreux, with titles such as 'Desire', 'Loneliness' ( my top-rated tune), Sporting Dance and 9/2 a spectacular closer. The band also played a 'join in and sing' encore.

It was said, in the panel, that jazz fans either love or hate Don Ellis' music. It could certainly not be faulted in terms of enthusiasm or even precision in playing on this occasion - delighting the 'pro' lobby.

Some attendees at the Festival stayed away (about 280 attended by my count) and one jazz-west-coast alumnus said afterwards that he regretted not bringing his 'I survived Don Ellis' tee-shirt. However it was a memorable occasion and demonstrated yet again what LAJI exists for ....  

The two evening sessions had nearly full houses.

First up was a band of Alumni from bands led by Louie Bellson titled "Louie Bellson Explosion Revisited" .

Several of the players had participated in the Panel discussion yesterday, with Director Bill Yeager - a one-time trombonist who established the LA Jazz Workshop bands some years ago and now is a music educator.

For this set he had Jeff Hamilton in the Louie Bellson drum chair - but using his own kit and playing, I thought, in his own Jeff Hamilton big band style - but what a style. He had said yesterday that the role would have him 'sitting further forward and a bit higher' and he certainly sounded on top form.

Soloists included all the saxes Ted Nash, Andy Mackintosh , Rickey Woodard, Albert Alva and Bruce Johnstone, trumpets Bobby Shew Jim Oatts and Don Rader. trombones Jack Redmond, John Fedchock and Paul Young, pianist David Witham and Chuck Berghofer on bass. Also on hand were Mike Wimberly playing bass trombone and trumpeter John Thomas. Guitarist Grant Geissman unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute.

Charts played included originals by Louie Bellson (once described, apparently by Duke Ellington as 'the finest musician ever to play in my band') and several charts from Don Menza. Especially well-received solos came from Ted Nash, Rickey Woodard, Don Rader, Bruce Johnstone and Jeff Hamilton the hero of the set.

"Drummers Dream Night" continued when Peter Erskine, the only non-alumnus for the "Buddy Rich Alumni" - and what a band . How's this for a trumpet section : Bobby Shew , Chuck Findley, Carl Saunders and, to represent Buddy's last band, Kevin Richardson. Trombones Alan Kaplan, John Fedchock ( from Buddy's New York Band) and Mike Wimberly - who was in that ground-breaking 1966 band.

"A sax section to die for" comprised Kim Richmond, Richie Cole, dueling tenors Ernie Watts and Charles Owens, and, from the 1980's band - and the later leader of the horns for the Eagles- Greg Smith. Rich Eames was at the piano and Dave Stone on bass. Peter Erskine's drumming style was 'Peter Erskine Big Band' style and none-the-worse for that - BRILLIANT ! He seemed to be reveling in the role and had the crowd applauding and cheering loudly.

Up front Bobby Shew had made his 'don't clap the solos' speech - 'you might miss something - save it to the end'. I was reminded that Bobby, like many other musicians at this Festival a frequent listener in the audience, was clapping solos enthusiastically in other sets ! The audience couldn't always resist clapping and cheering. I had Gene Cipriano sitting behind me cheering , clapping and laughing .... (such as when Chuck Berghofer did his inevitable 'Boots' walk to end a solo in the Louie Bellson set)

Bobby Shew, as leader in the absence of Buddy Rich, did the introductions from his seat in the trumpets and had put together a set list which included charts from Bill Holman, Don Peistrup, Bill Potts, Don Menza and many others. All the favorites were there as well as some I'll have to go home and dig out again. Bobby did apologize for having left 'Love for Sale' on the table at home ....

Buddy Rich, had he been there would, I'm sure, have fired the drummer - but only to get that seat and be back among it. Otherwise it could go on tour today as the Peter Erskine Band.

This may be seen by some as 'nostalgia' - but what we heard was livin', breathin' , vigorous and enthusiastic nostalgia, with fresh new solos!

- and one more day to go -opening with the Tonight Show Band for brunch ...

(again a reminder that these reports are being saved on Steve Cerra's blog, together with the illustrations from Kurt Reichenbach's LAJI color brochure at http://www.jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/)

Gordon Sapsed”

Day Two - Groovin’ Hard with the Los Angeles Jazz Institute

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The four-day Groovin’ Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance event continued into it’s second day yesterday, Friday, October 10, 2012 under the auspices of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute and its Director, Ken Poston.

Gordon Sapsed, a regular attendee at LAJI events, continues his write-ups of each day’s proceedings and thanks to his generosity, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles is privileged to bring you his daily commentaries as noted below.

For more information on the Los Angeles Jazz Institute including ticket ordering for Groovin’ Hard, please visit www.lajazzinstitute.org

© -Gordon Sapsed.  Used with the author’s permission; copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“Continuing the overall theme of 'The Big Band Renaissance in the 1970s' the day opened with film clips - mostly from TV shows. Represented were Buddy Rich - including a somewhat jokey interview in a very 1970's studio setting laid out as a club - lots of long hair, beards and moustaches, flares, tight dresses and such and the body-swaying dancing of the day.

Also 'of the day' were the sitar in Don Ellis' Orchestra, very odd time signatures and Kenton in a concert from the Dorchester in London playing ‘Space Odyssey Revisited’ ( a.k.a. 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'), in fancy uniforms.

LAJI events, for me, always turn up unlikely 'hit' sessions which almost justify the weekend ticket price for that single event ! One such was the hour-long 'Discussion' between Patrick Williams and Kirk Silsbee. This proved revealing and fascinating. I had not known of Patrick Williams early life as a child in Missouri and NYC followed by Duke University, where he became an arranger while still in his teens and rapidly got interesting jobs in New York. His tales of those boom years there also revealed some of his own likes and dislikes ( e.g. Thad Jones - 'big band genius - I still don't understand how he achieved some of those marvelous things'). Later in the hour he talked of the behind the scenes activity in making Sinatra's Duets and his own Sinatraland album as well as talking about his NYC and LA Big Band music and film/TV scores. An interesting topic worth much more discussion was the notion, after writing music for a film or album, of 'casting' the musicians, much as a play or film might cast actors - to achieve something greater than the written work. (This discussion/interview attracted a full house of 200 plus). Some of his favorites are in the band tonight.

Kirk Silsbee, through diligent preparation, nudged the discussion in interesting directions.

The CSU Long Beach Jazz Concert Orchestra had been scheduled to play by the pool, but Californian terror on sighting a cloud drove the whole thing indoors, where they delivered a tremendously talented big band hour playing charts by Bob Mintzer, Alf Clausen (whose credits include 20 years of the Simpsons) and many others. John Fedchock, a long-standing (and tall-standing) friend of the band joined them to play some of his arrangements.

Then it was time for another flashback to the 70's - with the appearance, from Chicago, of Richie Cole to lead his Alto Madness Orchestra through a 60 minute set. The flavor being Bebop who better to stand alongside him than Carl Saunders and also Doug Webb and trombonist Dave Ryan.

At the piano Lou Forestiere, bass Jim de Julio and Dave Tull at the drums.

They played Bop standards as well as Richie Cole originals. Dave Tull was effective with the Western-styled 'Cowboy Story' and was rewarded by being allowed to sing his own ' I just Wanna Get Paid' - which may be the only vocal this whole weekend

(if you exclude the Kenton musicians in chorus for ‘MacArthur Park’!).

Eddie Jefferson's 'Last Time I Saw Janine' was offered without the lyric and the audience were awarded a unique premiere 'The LA Jazz Festival Blues'. Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable set which will surely deserves Richie an invitation back for a future event.

It is noticeable, by the way, that some of the biggest applause has been for the smaller bands in this big band event.

Then followed a panel discussion ' Remembering Louie Bellson', moderated again by Kirk Silsbee.

The panelists were Jeff Hamilton - who is taking Louie's role in a concert tomorrow and former members of the band or associates Bobby Shew, Ted Nash, Andy Mackintosh and Bill Yeager.

The universal view echoed an old adage ' the nicest guy in show business' - although several panelists cited exceptions that proved the rule! Interesting points were Louie's dislike of cymbals that didn't 'shimmer' - with Bobby inviting offers for a large collection of Louie's 'reject' cymbals, Bill revealing that, as Louie changed from sticks to brushes he always whispered 'Jo Jones' as the brushes hit the snare drum (only the trombonist sitting alongside ever heard that).

Somebody observed that Louie , like Buddy Rich and many other top drummers had a history as a tap dancer, and there was an observation that Louie always took breaths at the end of natural phrases in the music. Discussion could have gone on all night on Bobby's proposition that any music that can be completely described on a written chart is a polka (e.g.: ‘Beethoven's 4^th) - whereas music that cannot be totally described on a chart is jazz..... These panel discussions are a lot of fun and VERY educational.

Last up for the afternoon was Bill Watrous, with his big band 'Manhattan Wildlife Refuge Revisited'.

This band, which Bill presents in a unique style alternating the music with totally unrelated jokes, serves principally, in my view, as a vehicle for Bill's own solos - although there are solos by other band members in every number. The charts are by current composer/arrangers, including Phil Kelly, Gordon Goodwin and others. Numbers played included Phil's ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’, ‘Limehouse Blues’ and ‘Zipcode 2008,’ mostly played at breakneck pace, although alternated with ballads such as 'Gentle Rain'. For my personal taste this was an exercise in perfect musicianship, with little lasting memory.

The evening event however will, for me, be long remembered and, I am sure, the same will apply to many of the nearly-full house. Ken Poston, afterwards, was not arguing with those who said 'That was the best concert you have EVER organized'.

Billed as " An Evening with Patrick Williams "Threshold Revisited and Aurora", it comprised a single set just a few minutes short of 2 hours.

The link with the 1970's theme of the Festival was the big band album "Threshold", released by Capitol in 1973, but put together on a shoestring budget using techniques like Buddy Childers as a multi-tracked trumpet section. Williams was, at that time, beginning to make his name in TV and films and the jazz album was an indulgence, but proved influential. It was, for many years, a 'collectors item' until it reappeared as Threshold Revisited on CD a few years ago when interest was building in Williams' new project for big band "Aurora", which saw daylight as an Artist Share project. 

For this concert the set-list consisted of eight songs from the 2008 album "Aurora" and two from the 1970's album. Patrick Williams in introducing those items said "It is more than 30 years since I have heard those songs played and this time by a real live band.”

It must suffice in this short review to say that the concert was absolutely magical - an all-star big band playing original compositions with brilliant ensemble work and creative solos. The band's lineup had 4 trumpets ( led by Wayne Bergeron), with Bob Summers taking most of the solos, four trombones, particularly featuring Alex Iles and Bob McChesney, four French horns, five saxes - with most of the solos from Sal Lozano, Terry Harrington and Jeff Driskill. At the piano was Alan Steinberg, Chuck Berghofer on bass and Peter Erskine at the drums. There was also Jim Fox on guitar and Brad Dutz with Mark Converse adding percussion. At least ten of the band members contributed solos.

Between songs, Patrick Williams talked about the music and also about his big band philosophy and where it fits in the history of big bands - from Fletcher Henderson and the 1930's through to today. After a standing ovation and continuous applause the band played an encore which was described as ' a medley of my hit' - the theme from 'The Streets of San Francisco'.

Many of those present then waited in line to buy CDs and have them autographed to memorialize the occasion.”

- Gordon Sapsed

Day One - Groovin’ Hard with the Los Angeles Jazz Institute

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The four-day Groovin’ Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance event commenced yesterday, Thursday, October 10, 2012 under the auspices of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute and its Director, Ken Poston.

Gordon Sapsed, a regular attendee at LAJI events, continues his write-ups of each day’s proceedings and thanks to his generosity, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles is once able to once again bring you these daily commentaries as noted below.

For more information on the Los Angeles Jazz Institute including ticket ordering for Groovin’ Hard, please visit www.lajazzinstitute.org

© -Gordon Sapsed.  Used with the author’s permission; copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The first 'proper' day of the latest LA Jazz Institute event started with Ken Poston introducing a set of film clips to set the scene for the 'Big Band Renaissance' theme. 

The first clips showed the Buddy Rich band soon after its rebirth in the late 1960's with a Pacific Jazz recording contract and a line-up of new young players and the Thad Jones - Mel Lewis band, which had come into being just previously with a New York residency. Both bands were shown in chat-show clips and Ken spoke of the amazing prime time 18-minute exposure that Buddy Rich had on the Tonight Show with 'West Side Story Suite'.

Other clips showed the bands into the 70's, as well as clips of the Kenton Band at that time and, from Europe, the Clark-Boland Band.  Woody Herman's Band, like others had younger players, more exotic uniforms and longer hair styles as well as exciting new music.

The 300 or so attendees at the event then had an hour-long concert of Thad Jones Mel Lewis music delivered by the highly-talented California State University Northridge 'A' Band, directed by John Daversa. The performance was, by any test, outstanding - with perfect ensemble playing and interesting solo work. It was no surprise that it ended with the crowd on their feet and a standing ovation. Originally planned as an outdoor concert, it had been moved indoors following an overnight forecast of impending rain. Although there was no rain the venue change brought the benefit of better sound which the music certainly warranted.

The concert that followed was by an 11-piece band comprising top LA studio players, making its first LAJI appearance. The Pete Christlieb-Linda Small 'Tall & Small' Band has a 'four reeds' frontline - plus the leader making five, backed by co-leader Linda on trombone and two trumpets plus a rhythm section.

Again, the music was outstanding - much of it being from the pen of Bill Holman and appearing on the first 'Tall and Small' album. The record sleeve describes the music as 'Contemporary', but most readers here will know it as interesting tightly-written ensembles, with a linear writing style - very 'Bill Holman'  and following a West-Coast tradition, with a great deal of variety in the voicing and ample solo space.

Unusually, Pete Christlieb on this occasion played baritone on about half the numbers - such as Mulligan's 'I know but I don't know how' and 'Young Blood'. Other titles included 'Everything I Love', 'Ballade' and a delightful feature for the joint leaders on 'The Meaning of the Blues'.

The other players were Gary Foster, Terry Harrington, Alex Budman and Lee Secard who played all saxes or  all clarinets, or with two baritone saxes or two bass clarinets, or including sopranos, as required.

The two trumpet parts were played by Bob Summers and Jeff Bunnell, with Geoff Stradling (p), Jim Hughart (b) and Steve Schaeffer (d). 

The band is about to record a second album - while the first, with those Bill Holman arrangements, is available now as a CD or as a download from various sites.

Then - off to the smaller room, where Larry Hathaway moderated what he described as the '257th LAJI Kenton Panel discussion'. Kentonian alumni present this time were from that 1970's era - Mike Vax, Jay Sollenberger, Al Yankee, Greg Smith and Jim Oatts.

They recalled a string of experiences most of which centered around Stan Kenton himself - from an era when most of the band were newly out of music college and the leader was several decades older. The stories were of unrelenting one-nighters interleaved with a lot of jazz education camps and college dates and life on a bus.

The evening gave an opportunity to hear those same players and a dozen others offering 'The Creative World of Stan Kenton' in two one-hour sets.

Described as an 'All Star Band featuring Stan Kenton alumni', the orchestra was an 18-piece aggregation, led by Mike Vax, who gave a commentary on all of the music - selected primarily from the Kenton repertoire as offered in the 1970's. That did not, of course, preclude music that originated earlier - indeed the most spectacular item was ‘Peanut Vendor,’ which closed the first set and involved the trumpets roaming the body of the hall. The opener had been 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'  which was, on this occasion long-time Woody Herman trombonist John Fedchock's introduction to the Kenton book - but he had Kenton veterans Eric Jorgensen, Roy Weigand and Kenny Shroyer alongside him and Craig Gosnell handing the baritone and tuba parts. Saxes Alex Budman, Roger Neumann and Doug Webb had Al Yankee and Greg Smith alongside them - their showpieces included Kenton's first-ever arrangement for the band 'Reed Rapture'.

Although Mike Vax did not have his current alumni associates alongside him, he did have 1970's bandmates Jay Sollenberger and Jim Oatts as well as Carl Saunders and Steve Huffsteter. They all negotiated their way through some of the multi-rhythm Hank Levy charts which saw their origin in the 70's as well as items from the Lennie Niehaus 'dance' book.

Keeping the whole thing together, with great verve and enthusiasm was Peter Erskine at the drums and Dave Stone's authoritative bass. Pianist Geoff Stradling had a night off from leading his own big band to take the piano chair. 

Other music heard during these two sets included 'Chelsea Bridge', 'Here Comes That Rainy Day', Gene Roland's 'Blues Story' and Willie Maiden's ‘Little Minor Blues’ ( or 'Booze', as first titled, apparently).

Throughout the evening Mike Vax, whether up the back with the trumpets, or down the front, ran his commentary on the music and Kentonian times in the 70's. One feature for him was the 'Love Theme from Hair', which he set out to play 'dirtier' than Jack Sheldon !

Unlike Mike's Alumni Band, this evening WAS an exercise in Kentonian nostalgia, but the audience, which included Joanne Kenton, Howard Rumsey and many other members of the LA jazz elite as well as Kentonians from across the nation and abroad, were on their feet to give a standing ovation when it ended with Bill Holman's 'Malaguena'.” 

Gordon Sapsed

(Kentonia subscribers who missed yesterday's 'Woody Herman' report can find it on Steve Cerra's Cerrajazz blog : http://www.jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/)