OCTOBER 2013 The Baltimore Jazz Alliance Big Band . 1 Houson Person’s Big Beautiful Sound . 4 Jazz Jam Sessions . 8 BALTIMORE JAZZ ALLIANCE Left Bank ‘66: Walt Namuth’s Quintet featuring Mickey Fields . 9 BJA Member Notes, Products and Discounts . 10 Health Care for the Creative Class . 10 Ad Rates and Member Sign-up Form . 11 VOLUME X ISSUE X THE BJA NEWSLETTER WWW.BALTIMOREJAZZ.COM The Baltimore Jazz Alliance Big Band PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID SMITH BJA Big Band at Loyola University – September 10th Left to right – Front row: Mark Osteen, Brian Robertson, Steve Scheinberg, Andy Dagilis, Paul Faatz Second row: Yawn Jones, Mark St. Pierre, Jake Leckie, Anthony Villa, Rich Orr, John Lamkin II, Jeff Harrigan, Scott Stansfield, Chris Convery, Eric Heavner, Henry Seth Kornblatt, Bernie Robier Back row: Justin Taylor, David Smith s John Tegler of WEAA intro - an outlet for their big band pieces to made it obvious that the “Blue Skies” of duced the Baltimore Jazz Al - breathe the public air. There is a widen - Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer were a long Aliance Big Band, he painted a ing gap between a composer’s desire to way away. As the bass sneaked in and portrait of the group’s break from the write for big band and the chances of his the band built force, the group ex - traditional size and shape etched by or her piece being performed publicly, ploded into an extravagant rendition of Don Redman and Fletcher Henderson. but the BJA Big Band extends a slew of the famed tune, even slipping a har - Bursting at the seams, the BJA Big Band talented hands to bring these works to monic minor run in to leave you ques - had stacked its reeds and trombones, life and continue the tradition of the big tioning where in the world these blue augmenting the standard for a diversi - band in Baltimore. With this mission in skies are. Midway through the piece, fied wall of sound. While this could eas - mind, the entire program of the BJABB Mark Osteen’s tenor sax solo took the ily be a cumbersome feat, conductor and consisted of pieces composed by Balti - reins as the band followed his break - composer Anthony Villa guided the more-area musicians, with the exception neck runs. Punctuating the piece, drum - band with ease. To Villa, the BJA Big of Mike Kamuf’s arrangement of Irving mer Mark St. Pierre delivered the first Band is a bastion of preservation, pro - Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” of many solos packed with controlled viding Baltimore-area composers with Creeping quietly, the brass section (continued on page 2) The Baltimore Jazz Alliance Big Band (continued from first page) ferocity and finesse. that switches from frenzied drum-heavy BALTIMORE JAZZ ALLIANCE “This Love I Dance,” the first original sections to airy swing. A smooth solo composition of the night, penned by the from Brian Robertson on alto sax ironed band’s resident multi-reed master, Paul out the extreme dynamics of the band. We are a 501(c)(3) Faatz, brought a joyful spirit with a conta - The second Faatz piece, “Robo-Dial,” tax exempt organization gious melody passing from section to sec - kicked off with dissonant sounds of an - tion. The quasi-Caribbean motifs leaped imosity that mellowed out to a metrop - he Baltimore Jazz Alliance (BJA) is a about the band until Faatz’s clarinet solo olis of melodies filled with trumpet grass-roots organization of jazz afi - T pierced through in a pointed whisper. bursts that dropped off the swing feel in cionados, musicians and venues dedi - cated to enhancing and promoting jazz Gradually building, Faatz delivered the Shaft’s neighborhood. St. Pierre’s virtu - in Baltimore and the surrounding areas. authoritative cue leading the band into a osic drum solos leveled out the piece be - New members sharing this passion are looming crescendo. Follow ing this was a fore the rhythm section backed down always welcome as the BJA continues its tune by conductor and composer An - and let the brass end it with a dramatic efforts to build a stronger and better net - thony Villa, entitled “Chiaroscuro (Light parabola of sound. worked jazz scene. Together we can help this music thrive in the region and and Shadow),” evoking an ethereal and reward listeners and musicians alike. cloudlike feeling reminiscent of Chick Corea’s Light as a Feather album. Yet the BJA Priorities Bursting at the seams, the open-voiced chords on piano and the • To develop new audiences for jazz whole-tone sax lines of Steve Scheinberg BJA Big Band had stacked • To strengthen communication within the jazz community entered deeper and darker territory as the its reeds and trombones, • To improve media relations on force of the band drove the piece into a behalf of the jazz community much louder and aggressive arrangement. augmenting the standard for • To bring greater visibility to the In a moment of surprise, trombonist entire array of jazz offerings in the and composer Greg Boyer stepped out a diversifying wall of sound. Baltimore region on stage after the introduction of his • To provide greater access to piece, “Faklempt.” Embodying its title's In a whirlwind of dramatics and ex - performance opportunities for Baltimore-area jazz musicians Yiddish source, verklempt , meaning treme tension, Orr’s “In Search of the “flustered, tense, emotional to the point Master,” brought his alma mater’s search Visit www.baltimorejazz.com of tears,” Boyer’s altered blues was for a bandleader to life. The piece was for information about our powerful and demanding. The crowd dark and brooding, weighing heavily accomplishments and future goals. clapped with the rhythm section from upon the ear, until a spirited flugelhorn Baltimore Jazz Alliance the midpoint of the tune toward the solo by David Smith pierced through the 847 North Howard Street end, leaving the band with huge grins dissonance. Just as Orr’s subject in the Baltimore, Maryland 21201 across their faces. The composer was piece, flugelhorn master Herb Pomeroy, Please direct your gracious enough to entertain us with a transformed a fledgling ensemble into an questions and comments to: solo that traded pyrotechnic runs for experienced group, Smith’s solo eased [email protected] gritty and guttural flourishes that the tension of the tune and brought the grunted as much as they sang. band to life. Spectacular. Making the transition to another Conductor Anthony Villa’s “Five trombone-playing composer, Richard Foot Six” culminated the evening with BJA STEERING COMMITTEE Orr’s first tune of the night, “DC Shuf - a tune that felt like Monk introducing Alice Downs fle,” was next. Leading with a conversa - Weather Report. With an intro delivered Liz Fixsen tional play with the melody between the by Jake Leckie on bass and St. Pierre on Leslie Imes tenor sax and trumpet, the shuffle passed drums, pianist Justin Taylor channeled Bob Jacobson, Vice President Todd Marcus around its motifs until the entire band Thelonious and led the tune into its Camay Calloway Murphy, Emerita got hold of one and bellowed it in six oc - more Weather Report-esque melody. Mark Osteen, President tave unison—a profound use of sound. The brass and reeds traded solos until Robert Shahid, Treasurer The band kicked off the second set the piece exploded into a finale that left Barry Glassman, Founder with Benny Russell’s “Miracles,” ex - the band facing a well-deserved stand - panding the piece from its original ing ovation. combo setting into a boisterous tune – CHRIS TAYLOR Page 2 / October 2013 Baltimore Jazz Alliance BJA BIG BAND PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVENSON UNIVERSITY UNIFIED JAZZ ENSEMBLE WITH GARY THOMAS OCTOBER 30 7:30 pm T MIKE NOONAN vibes / TIM STANLEY trumpet R JOHN PINEDA bass / DOMINIC SMITH drums E Special guest: GARY THOMAS saxophone C ENGINEER 'S SOCIETY OF BALTIMORE HISTORIC GARRETT -J ACOBS MANSION N 11 W. Mount Vernon Place Baltimore, MD 21201 O Tickets: $15 at the door C Information at: www.unifiedjazz.com Baltimore Jazz Alliance Page 3 / October 2013 Houston Person’s Big Beautiful Sound ouston Person is certainly carrying on the tradition PHOTO CREDIT: JABARI AGU of the big tenor sound created by his early influences HIllinois Jacquet and Gene Ammons. Although he has recorded prolifically and traveled extensively, he still, as the cliché goes, deserves wider recognition. At age 79, he is play - ing as well as ever, as his recent High Note recordings that I have been featuring on my WPFW radio show will attest. For years he recorded and toured with Etta Jones. The partnership was so strong that many fans assumed they were married. Jones and Person appeared regularly at the East Coast Jazz Festival, produced by vocalist Ronnie Wells. I would often serve as m. c. for their performances there. Since Jones’s passing in 2001 Person has worked with a few other vocalists, such as Barbara Morrison, but his focus has been to tour and record as a saxophonist without a singer in his working band. It had been a few years since I last saw him perform, so I had to make the drive up the Baltimore-Washington Park - interaction and solos were superb. “As Time Goes By” gave way to catch his performance at the Eubie Blake Jazz Insti - the feeling that time had gone by all-too quickly at the Eubie tute on Sunday, September 22nd. My arrival was delayed by Blake Jazz Institute on this Sunday evening. But it was cer - traffic and the set had begun already when I entered the hall tainly time well spent. Thank you, Mike Binsky, for bringing shortly after five pm.