James Carter Sax Machine
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OCTOBER 2014—ISSUE 150 YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE NYCJAZZRECORD.COM JAMES CARTER SAX MACHINE GENE CHES BOBBY EDDIE BERTONCINI SMITH ROSE HARRIS Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 116 Pinehurst Avenue, Ste. J41 OCTOBER 2014—ISSUE 150 New York, NY 10033 United States New York@Night 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: [email protected] Interview : Gene Bertoncini by ken dryden Andrey Henkin: 6 [email protected] General Inquiries: Artist Feature : Ches Smith 7 by ken waxman [email protected] Advertising: On The Cover : James Carter 8 by russ musto [email protected] Editorial: [email protected] Encore : Bobby Rose 10 by andrey henkin Calendar: [email protected] Lest We Forget : Eddie Harris 10 by anders griffen VOXNews: [email protected] Letters to the Editor: LAbel Spotlight : New Atlantis 11 by clifford allen [email protected] VOXNEWS 11 by katie bull US Subscription rates: 12 issues, $35 International Subscription rates: 12 issues, $45 For subscription assistance, send check, cash or money order to the address above In Memoriam 12 by andrey henkin or email [email protected] Festival Report Staff Writers 13 David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Fred Bouchard, Stuart Broomer, CD Reviews 14 Katie Bull, Tom Conrad, Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Brad Farberman, Sean Fitzell, Miscellany 37 Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, Alex Henderson, Marcia Hillman, Event Calendar Terrell Holmes, Robert Iannapollo, 38 Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin, Robert Milburn, Russ Musto, Sean J. O’Connell, Joel Roberts, Change. October and the turning of the leaves makes us think of change (speaking of trees, John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, check out our fancy new paper stock). All things change over time. We’ve had 149 issues Andrew Vélez, Ken Waxman before this one and felt our own yearning for change. Some things go away, others appear, still others look different. It is rebirth, rejuvenation, remarkably risky. We hope you like it. Contributing Writers Brian Charette, Brad Cohan, Phil Freeman, Change is part of jazz history, as we all know. Saxophonist James Carter (On The Cover) was Anders Griffen, George Kanzler, once a new hope for the avant garde scene but has since become an exemplar of traditionalism Ken Micallef, Ivana Ng wiithout having given up the former. Guitarist Gene Bertoncini (Interview) has transformed himself over the decades from classic jazz guitarist to elder statesman of the nylon string, all Contributing Photographers with the same repertoire. Drummer Ches Smith (Artist Feature) plays out-rock one day, avant Bob Barry, Scott Friedlander, Peter Gannushkin, garde jazz the next. Eddie Harris (Lest We Forget) played the electric saxophone! And can a Alan Nahigian, Frank Rubolino label be better named to represent reincarnation than New Atlantis? Doubtful. R.I. Sutherland-Cohen, Jack Vartoogian And as far as change goes, you won’t have much left over after buying all the CDs we’ve reviewed and attending the concerts we’ve listed and recommended. Sorry. Change. Embrace it. We have... nycjazzrecord.com On The Cover: James Carter (photo by Alan Nahigian) In Correction: In the August issue’s What’s News column, Woodlawn Cemetary is the Bronx, not Queens. In last month’s Label profile, Tom Blancarte’s wife Louise Dam Eckhardt Jensen’s name was misspelled. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors. 2 OCTOBER 2014 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD OCTOBER 20l4 CHICK COREA & THE VIGIL SEPT 30 - OCT 5 LEE RITENOUR OCT 7-l2 CASSANDRA WILSON OCT l6-l9 DIZZY GILLESPIE™ ALL-STARS OCT 2l-26 BEBEL GILBERTO OCT 27-28 KENNY G OCT 30 - NOV 2 JOANNE BRACKEEN WITH RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA OCT 6 • RUSSELL GUNN OCT l3 • GATO BARBIERI OCT l4 DOUBLE FEATURE: NIR FELDER & KRIS BOWERS OCT l5 • DIRECT FROM THE NETHERLANDS: OLIVER’S CINEMA feat. ERIC VLOEIMANS OCT 20 • JESSE FISCHER OCT 29 SUNDAY BRUNCH DIZZY GILLESPIE™ ALL-STARS - FALL SUNDAY BRUNCH RESIDENCY OCT 5, l2, l9 & 26 Every Sunday Now Through Dec 28 KENNY LATE NIGHT GROOVE SERIES FRANK CATALANO / PERCY JONES BAND OCT 3 • SEAN SCHULICH OCT 4 • AARON COMESS (OF SPIN DOCTORS) OCT l0 DORON LEV & UGLYBRAINE OCT ll • KAVITA SHAH OCT l7 • DESSY DI LAURO’S NEO-RAGTIME OCTOCT l8 • CHELSEA 30 thru BARATZ NOV OCT 25 2 bluenotenyc RD l3l WEST 3 STREET NEW YORK CITY • 2l2.475.8595 • WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM @bluenotenyc TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY FRIDAY & SATURDAY SUNDAY BRUNCH TELECHARGE.COM @bluenotenyc 8PM & l0:30PM LATE NIGHTS: l2:30AM ll:30AM & l:30PM TERMS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLY OCT 21 - 26 WORLD’S FINEST JAZZ CLUB AND RESTAURANT 131 W. 3RD ST. NEW YORK CITY 212. 475. 8592 WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM 2751 Broadway NYC, NY (btw 105th & 106th Streets) www.smokejazz.com 212.864.6662 October 2014 OCTOBER WEEKENDS OCTOBER WEEKNIGHTS OCTOBER ’ROUND MIDNIGHT 10/3, 10/4 & 10/5 W 10/1 SYOTOS TUE EMMETT COHEN ORGAN TRIO RENEE ROSNES QUARTET T 10/2 CYNTHIA SCOTT WED CAMILLE THURMAN QUARTET Walt Weiskopf [ts] Renee Rosnes [p] THU NICKEL & DIME OPS Peter Washington [b] Bill Stewart [d] FRI PATIENCE HIGGINS’ SUGAR HILL QUARTET M 10/6 F.O.J. FEAT. JAMES BURTON III SAT JOHNNY O’NEAL & FRIENDS 10/10, 10/11 & 10/12 T 10/7 MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET THELONIOUS MONK CELEBRATION SUN WILERM DELISFORT QUARTET W 10/8 ALAN HARRIS BAND ORRIN EVANS QUARTET T 10/9 THE BAYLOR PROJECT THE SMOKE JAM SESSION Eddie Henderson [tp] Orrin Evans [p] Ben Wolfe [b] Donald Edwards [d] FEAT. SPECIAL GUESTS & HOSTED BY + guest vocalist Joanna Pascale M 10/13 THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND M 10/6 JOHN FARNSWORTH M 10/13 ORRIN EVANS 10/17, 10/18 & 10/19 T 10/14 MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET W 10/15 CHARLES / DELISFORT QUARTET M 10/20 JOHN FARNSWORTH ONE FOR ALL M 10/27 ORRIN EVANS Jim Rotondi [tp] Eric Alexander [ts] Steve Davis [p] T 10/16 CHARENEE WADE David Hazeltine [p] John Webber [b] Joe Farnsworth [d] SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH M 10/20 F.O.J. FEAT JOE MAGNARELLI 10/24, 10/25 & 10/26 S ANNETTE ST. JOHN & HER TRIO EDDIE HARRIS AT 80 T 10/21 MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET W 10/22 PETER ZAK TRIO “RECORD RELEASE” SEAMUS BLAKE QUARTET Sets at 7, 9 & 10:30pm (MON at 7 & 9pm only) Seamus Blake [ts] Brian Charette [p & Rhodes] T 10/23 ALEXIS COLE Gerald Cannon [b] Joe Farnsworth [d] MON Jam Session starts at 10:30pm TUE - SUN ’Round Midnight sets at 11:45PM 10/31, 11/1 & 11/2 M 10/27 THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND FRI & SAT ’R.M. also at 11:45PM & 12:45AM WILLIE JONES III QUARTET T 10/28 MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET Joe Magnarelli [tp] Justin Robinson [as] W 10/29 DEE DANIELS SUN Brunch sets at 11:30am, 1:00pm & 2:30pm Larry Willis [p] Gerald Cannon [b] Willie Jones III [d] T 10/30 ALAN HARRIS BAND NEW YORK @ NIGHT Composer/bandleader James Jabbo Ware presented Symphony Space’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater hosted ARTS BROOKFIELD his annual Friends of the Family Awards Concert at Egberto Gismonti for the opening concert (Sep. 12th) Manhattan’s Church for All Nations (Sep. 13th), paying of the second annual New York Savassi Festival. PRESENTS tribute to a saxophonist with whom he’s shared a path Wearing his trademark skullcap tied to a long, silvery over the last 50 years. Ware and baritone saxophonist ponytail, the Brazilian legend began his almost two- Hamiet Bluiett worked the St. Louis circuit together in hour solo concert on ten-string guitar, running through the ‘60s before Ware followed the slightly older Bluiett original compositions like “Dança das Cabeças”, which MONK AT 97: to New York City. Ware and his Me, We and Them displayed his unique two-hand technique of Orchestra played two sets as a part of the evening hammering basslines on the low strings with his left COUNTING DOWN honoring Bluiett, who trombonist Bill Lowe called a hand while simultaneously plucking arpeggios with “teller of truth in music”. Ware opened with “Jabbo’s his right, even slapping the soundbox like a cajón or TO 100 Place”, written with the late pianist Hilton Ruiz, who shekere player. In spite of the difficulty of these had said that Ware needed a theme like Duke Ellington techniques and the complexity of the musical ideas, had; it’s a tight piece, played with a fast succession of the rhythm flowed organically, speeding up or slowing solos and indeed, Ellington was evident in the graceful down as his mood dictated. After four numbers on the arrangement. It was a bit ironic, then, that Ware ten-string, Gismonti played four more on 12-string FRIDAY introduced his “Emotions” by talking about the guitar, most based on open-string keys, others using musicians who inspired him when he wrote it—Gene more ambiguous harmonies. Immediately following OCTOBER 17 Ammons, Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Jimmie this amazing recital, he strode over to the grand piano Lunceford—saying he hadn’t been a big Ellington fan and began an equally amazing series of tunes. On the at the time. The evening was a bit like Ware’s own keyboard his touch was, if possible, even more sensitive WINTER GARDEN AT memory book, with a piece dedicated to John and similar to his guitar style in that he often played Stubblefield, one musing on his own mortality and looping mid-range motives with his left hand while his BROOKFIELD PLACE “Portrait in Six Colors (Bro Blu)” written for the night’s right hand did double duty, stabbing out melodies in 220 VESEY STREET, NYC honoree.