JANUARY 2017—ISSUE 177 YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE NYCJAZZRECORD.COM JEFF “TAIN” SPECIAL FEATURE: WATTS BEST OF UNCON-TAIN-ABLE 2016 JON MIKE LEON ROY FADDIS LEDONNE PARKER CAMPBELL Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 66 Mt. Airy Road East JANUARY 2017—ISSUE 177 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 United States Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628 New York@Night 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: Interview : Jon Faddis 6 by ken dryden [email protected] Andrey Henkin: [email protected] Artist Feature : Mike LeDonne 7 by russ musto General Inquiries: [email protected] On The Cover : Jeff “Tain” Watts 8 by terrell holmes Advertising: [email protected] Encore : Leon Parker by john pietaro Calendar: 10 [email protected] VOXNews: Lest We Forget : Roy Campbell 10 by kurt gottschalk [email protected] LAbel Spotlight : Newvelle by marcia hillman US Subscription rates: 12 issues, $40 11 Canada Subscription rates: 12 issues, $45 International Subscription rates: 12 issues, $50 For subscription assistance, send check, cash or VOXNEWS 11 by suzanne lorge money order to the address above or email [email protected] In Memoriam Staff Writers 12 David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Duck Baker, Fred Bouchard, Festival Report Stuart Broomer, Thomas Conrad, 13 Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Philip Freeman, Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, Anders Griffen, CD Reviews 14 Alex Henderson, Marcia Hillman, Terrell Holmes, Robert Iannapollo, Suzanne Lorge, Mark Keresman, Special Feature: Best of 2016 26 Marc Medwin, Ken Micallef, Russ Musto, John Pietaro, Joel Roberts, John Sharpe, Miscellany 36 Elliott Simon, Andrew Vélez, Ken Waxman. Scott Yanow Event Calendar Contributing Writers 38 Robert Bush, Tyran Grillo, Laurel Gross, Matthew Kassel, M.J. Lester, Eric Wendell One of the more tumultuous years in recent memory is finally behind us. The challenges don’t stop with the turning of the calendar page but there is a moment of mental restart, of (a New Contributing Photographers Year’s) resolution towards addressing issues facing our country and the world. And in times Gerard Beckers, Richard Conde, of strife, art is a healer, a unifier and a mirror into which society looks at itself. Alan Nahigian, Susan O’Connor, Dino Perrucci, John Rogers, Steve Sussman, But before we throw the last spadeful of dirt onto 2016, we take a moment to celebrate the R.I. Sutherland-Cohen, Jack Vartoogian brightest in jazz from the past year, with the Best of 2016 center spread and our choices in a Fact-checker wide array of categories. And in more somber tones, we also publish the list of all those stitches Nate Dorward lost in the jazz tapestry (pg. 12) and a special section of CD Reviews (pgs. 34-35). But on to 2017: drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts (On The Cover) celebrates the release of his new album at Jazz Standard; trumpeter Jon Faddis (Interview) appears around town; pianist Mike LeDonne (Artist Feature) and drummer Leon Parker (Encore) perform as part of the annual Winter Jazzfest; and late trumpeter Roy Campbell (Lest We Forget) is honored with an evening at the Arts for Art Evolving Music concert series. And our CD Review section is packed with release concerts, some of which may end up in our best of 2017 list 12 months from now. nycjazzrecord.com On The Cover: Jeff “Tain” Watts (john rogers/johnrogersnyc.com) Corrections: In last month’s Lest We Forget, the Castro who denounced Pérez Prado was actually Fernando Castro, local agent of the Southern Music Publishing Company. In last month’s CD Reviews, Billy Hart played with Wes Montgomery from 1966-68. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors. 2 JANUARY 2017 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM JANUARY 2017 VICTOR WOOTEN & DENNIS CHAMBERS SAVION GLOVER ROY HARGROVE WITH BOB FRANCESCHINI JANUARY 12 - 15 JANUARY 16, 23, 30 JANUARY 17 - 22 WILL CALHOUN “CELEBRATING ELVIN JONES” FT. RAVI COLTRANE (JANUARY 24), THE COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA RANDY BRECKER (JANUARY 25), KYLE EASTWOOD FT. DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER AND RUSSELL MALONE (JANUARY 26) JANUARY 27 - 29 JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 5 12th ANNUAL CHRIS BOTTI HOLIDAY RESIDENCY DEC 12 THRU JAN 8 SPECIAL SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH $35 INCLUDES BRUNCH, MUSIC & COCKTAIL LATE NIGHTS CITY OF THE SUN JANUARY 6 • PHONY PPL RESIDENCY JANUARY 7 & 21 • TBAJANUARY 13 CHRIS MCCLENNEY (LIVE) - "PORTRAIT IN TWO” RELEASE PARTY JANUARY 14 • VICTOR WOOTEN & DENNIS CHAMBERS WITH BOB FRANCESCHINI JANUARY 20 NICK HAKIM RESIDENCY JANUARY 27 • MASEGO JANUARY 28 @bluenotenyc l3l WEST 3RD STREET NEW YORK CITY • 2l2.475.8592 • WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY 8PM & l0:30PM • FRIDAY & SATURDAY LATE NIGHTS: l2:30AM TELECHARGE.COM TERMS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLY WED JAN 18 VIC JURIS TRIO JAY ANDERSON - ADAM NUSSBAUM THU-SUN JAN 19-22 BirhtDAY jeff“tain”watts:CELEBRATION “TOP 10 VENUES IMPACTING NY MUSIC SCENE TODAY” [2015]-NEW YORK MAGAZINE RAVI COLTRANE - DAVE KIKOSKI - PAUL BOLLENBACK - JAMES GENUS [EXCEPT 1/21] - YUNIOR TERRY CABRERA [1/21 ONLY] SUN JAN 1 ANDY GRAVISH - JOHN ELLIS - ANDRE MURCHINSON TUEJAN 24 JASON MARSHALL - DAVE STRYKER JOHNATHAN BLAKE - KHALIL KWAME BELL CAMILA MEZA &the NECTAR ORCHESTRA DR. LONNIE SMITH OCtet NOAM WIESENBERG - KEITA OGAWA MON JAN 2HCLOSED FOR holiday WITH STRING QUARTETTOMOKO OMURA - FUNG CHERN HWEI - BENNI VON GUTZEIT - ADAM FISHER TUE-WED JAN 3-4 WED JAN 25HCLOSED FOR PRIVATE event BRIAN LYNCH: MADERA LATINO THU-SUN JAN 26-29 A LATIN JAZZ INTERPRETATION Of THE MUSIC OF WOODY SHAW & INGRID JENSEN - PHILLIP DIZACK - ZACCAI CURTIS - RUBEN RODRIGUEZ - LITTLE JOHNNY RIVERO - OBED CALVAIRE butler, BERNSTEINthe HOT 9 THU-FRI JAN 5-6 CURTIS FOWLKES - CHARLIE BURNHAM - DOUG WIESELMAN - PETER APFELBAUM ERIK LAWRENCE - MATT MUNISTERI - LUQUES CURTIS - DONALD EDWARDS REGINA CARTER: SIMPLY ELLA TUE-SUN JAN 31-FEB 4 XAVIER DAVIS - MARVIN SEWELL - CHRIS LIGHTCAP - ALVESTER GARNETT MONTY ALEXANDER:“LOOKING BACK” SAT-SUN JAN 7-8 TUE-WED JAN 31-FEB 1 ANAT COHEN tentet 1969: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS RUBIN KODHELI - NADJE NOORDHUIS - NICK FINZER - OWEN BRODER -VITOR GONÇALVES REMEMBERING MILT JACKSON & RAY BROWN SHERYL BAILEY - TAL MASHIACH - ANTHONY PINCIOTTI - JAMES SHIPP THU FEB 2 TUE JAN 10 SAT JAN 14 1977: JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIc BILLCHARLAP BILL CHARLAP SOLO BILL CHARLAP TRIO REMEMBERING DIZZY GILLESPIE, CLARK TERRY & milt jackson WED JAN 11 WITH FRI-SAT FEB 3-4 SPECIAL Freddy Cole & 2016: JAMAICA & JAZZ: HARLEM-KINGSTON EXPRESS PLUS WITH GUESTS CAROL SLOANE Houston Person REMEMBERING studio one SUN JAN 15 THU-FRI JAN 12-13 SUN FEB 5HCLOSED WITH RENEE ROSNES BILL CHARLAP TRIO HMINGUS MONDAYSHMINGUS MONDAYSHMINGUS MONDAYSH TUEJAN 17 MON JAN 9, 16, 23 & 30 FEATURING GILAD HEKSELMAN QUARTET CHRIS POTTER RICK ROSATO - JONATHAN PINSON MINGUS BIG BAND HJAZZ FOR KIDS WITH THE JAZZ STANDARD YOUTH ORCHESTRA EVERY SUNDAY AT 2PM [EXCEPT 1/1]-DIRECTED BY DAVID O’ROURKEH NEW YORK @ NIGHT It’s not every day that one gets to experience an A sudden bitter cold snap kept more than a few fans orchestra rehearsal featuring some of New York’s from picking up their pre-purchased tickets Thursday finest players directed by one of the most noted (Dec. 14th) at Asia Society, but those of sturdier stock thinkers in jazz history. On Dec. 11th and 18th, pianist who made it out to see Rez Abbasi’s Invocations were and founder of the Association for the Advancement of treated to a live preview of the group’s upcoming Creative Musicians Muhal Richard Abrams convened (third) release, Unfiltered Universe. The group, a 17-piece ensemble to work through pieces at the comprising (in addition to its Pakistani-American Carroll Music Studios in afternoon workshops free to leader/guitarist) Indian-Americans Vijay Iyer and the public. On the first day, Abrams conducted four Rudresh Mahanthappa (on piano and alto saxophone, pieces and gave short, often jovial talkbacks to the respectively), drummer Dan Weiss, cellist Elizabeth audience and assembled musicians, beginning with Means and bassist Johannes Weidenmueller, has a blues “to get the sound of the band.” Lush horns led a consciously South Asian bent and Abbasi’s new into a gospel-like, rollicking backbeat provided by works are allegedly inspired by Carnatic (South Indian pianist Richard Sears and drummer Reggie Nicholson. classical) music, but listeners would be hard-pressed It took a few starts to get going, Ned Rothenberg’s alto to make this connection. Instead, the compositions— welling up and James Stewart’s blistering, clean howl “Disagree to Agree”, the title track, “Thin King”, on tenor demarcating funk with refractive twirls. “Propensity”, “Turn of Events”, “Dance Number”— “New View” was a new piece written for the sounded more like alumni of the M-BASE school, participants, beginning with vibrato ululation and containing tricky, additive meters, hard-hitting ‘street’ swirling piano chunks. Soon, halting the proceedings beats with floating accents and lyrical, long-form again, Abrams suggested the trumpeters should “give melodies laced with odd intervals. The sextet it some drama” and “make it theirs”, before pursed negotiated these Byzantine charts with finesse and screams were laid atop trombones and reeds. Later, in Abbasi, Mahanthappa and Iyer each delivered exciting, working out a part for four bass clarinets and the cogent solos—the former with blues-inflected fusion soprano of Ingrid Laubrock, Abrams maintained that lines, the second with fiery post-postbop chromatics, “solo space means space for whatever you put into it… the latter with carefully crafted motives moving in what I would like to see here is [taking] more space parallel—but the fiercest heat beneath the pot came until it begins to talk to you. You can leave some silence from Weiss, who played like a heavy metal drummer because I trust all of you.” —Clifford Allen trapped in a jazzman’s body.