APRIL 2018—ISSUE 192 YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE NYCJAZZRECORD.COM REGGIE WORKMAN WORKING MAN JIM JONNY RICHARD EDDIE McNEELY KING WYANDS JEFFERSON Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 66 Mt. Airy Road East APRIL 2018—ISSUE 192 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 United States Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628 New York@Night 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: Interview : JIM Mcneely 6 by ken dryden [email protected] Andrey Henkin: [email protected] Artist Feature : JONNY KING 7 by donald elfman General Inquiries: [email protected] ON The COver : REGGIE WORKMAN 8 by john pietaro Advertising: [email protected] Encore : RICHARD WYANDS by marilyn lester Calendar: 10 [email protected] VOXNews: Lest WE Forget : EDDIE JEFFERSON 10 by ori dagan [email protected] LAbel Spotlight : MINUS ZERO by george grella 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] Obituaries by andrey henkin Staff Writers 12 David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Duck Baker, Stuart Broomer, FESTIvAL REPORT Robert Bush, Thomas Conrad, 13 Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Phil Freeman, Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, Anders Griffen, CD REviews 14 Tyran Grillo, Alex Henderson, Robert Iannapollo, Matthew Kassel, Marilyn Lester, Suzanne Lorge, Miscellany 35 Mark Keresman, Marc Medwin, Russ Musto, John Pietaro, Joel Roberts, John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, Event Calendar 36 Andrew Vélez, Scott Yanow Contributing Writers Marco Cangiano, Ori Dagan, George Grella, Peter Margasak, Jim Motavalli, Anna Steegmann Contributing Photographers Thor Brødreskift, Enid Farber, While the title of our cover feature on legendary bassist Reggie Workman, who leads a band for Peter Gannushkin, Alan Nahigian, a weekend at The 75 Club at Bogardus Mansion, is a play on his last name, it speaks to a jazz John Rogers, Jacqueline Sailer, reality: very few musicians in this business ever get to slow down. Workman may have played Adrien H. Tillmann with Coltrane but, even in his early 80s, still gigs regularly and holds down a professorship at The New School. Jazz musicians typically go straight from composing to decomposing. Another Fact-checker Nate Dorward example of a workhorse is composer/arranger/pianist Jim McNeely (Interview), who has been plying his trade with various big bands around the globe for the past few decades. He returns home to lead the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra with guest Joe Lovano in two concerts dedicated to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. And in an extreme example of never stopping working, when pianist Jonny King (Artist Feature, featured for a weekend at Mezzrow) isn’t tickling the ivories, he is tickling ivory file folders as a partner in a law firm. Pianist Richard Wyands (Encore, also at The 75 Club) and late singer Eddie Jefferson (Lest We Forget, fêted at Smoke by Allan Harris) also knows/knew a thing or two about the hard work that goes into a jazz career. And before you assume all that work is selfish, read our Label Profile on nycjazzrecord.com Minus Zero, where all proceeds from the imprint’s catalogue are donated to Planned Parenthood. On The Cover: Reggie Workman (© John Rogers) All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors. 2 APRIL 2018 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD APRIL 2018 WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM THE JOHN SCOFIELD MICHEL LEGRAND DIZZY GILLESPIE KENNY GARRETT QUARTET TRIO AFRO CUBAN EXPERIENCE APRIL 19 - 22 APRIL 3 - 8 APRIL 12 - 15 APRIL 17 - 18 IRAKERE 45 APRIL 24 - 29 CHUCHOCHUCHO MAY 1 - 6 WITH ROY HARGROVE & ROBERTA GAMBARINI • DUO WITH RON CARTER TRIO WITH RON CARTER & LENNY WHITE VALDÉSVALDÉS QUARTET WITH REGINA CARTER,RON CARTER & LENNY WHITE • SOLO PIANO DEBORAH DAVIS 20TH ANNUAL JAZZ BENEFIT FOR LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY APRIL 2 PURCHASE JAZZ ORCHESTRA W/ TODD COOLMAN FT DICK OATTS APRIL 9 • GOD FATHER OF NEO-SOUL ROY AYERS APRIL 10 & 11 MCCOY TYNER WITH SPECIAL GUESTS APRIL 16 & 30 • AARON COMESS 50TH BDAY BASH/‘SCULPTURES’ RECORD RELEASE FT GUESTS APRIL 23 SPECIAL SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH $39.50 INCLUDES BRUNCH, MUSIC & COCKTAIL LATE NIGHTS DUCK DOWN BLUE NOTE LATE NIGHT WEEKEND TAKEOVER - BUCKTOWN IN BLUETOWN - BLACK MOON APRIL 6 - SMIF N WESSUN APRIL 7 STATIK SELEKTAH & FRIENDS WITH LIVE BAND FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS APRIL 13 TONY TOUCH PRESENTS: SONI WITHANEYE FT GUESTS W/ BAND: ALBUM RELEASE APRIL 20 • PHONY PPL - BLUE NOTE LATE NIGHT RESIDENCY VOL. 2APRIL 21 l3l WEST 3RD STREET NEW YORK CITY • 2l2.475.8592 • WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM @bluenotenyc TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY 8PM & l0:30PM • FRIDAY & SATURDAY LATE NIGHTS: l2:30AM TELECHARGE.COM TERMS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLY TUE APR 17 BILLY HARPER BUSTER WILLIAMS ETHAN IVERSON QUARTET BILLY HART WED APR 18 ALEX WINTZ - MIKI YAMANAKA - DAVE BARON ROXY COSS JONATHAN BARBER “VENUE OF THE YEAR” 2017 -NYCJR H“TOP 10 VENUES IMPACTING NY MUSIC SCENE TODAY”- NY MAGAZINE THU APR 19 SUN APR 1 WITH SPECIAL GUEST DEZRON DOUGLAS Ralph Alessi ALLAN MEDNARD MIKE MCGINNIS/ART LANDE/STEVE SWALLOW RAVI COLTRANE TRIO FRI-SUN APR 20-22 TUE-WED APR 3-4 MARY HALVORSON:CODE GIRL MINGUS BIG BAND MICHAEL FORMANEK - TOMAS FUJIWARA - AMIRTHA KIDAMBI - ADAM O’FARRILL TUE-WED APR 24-25 JALEEL SHAW - FIMA EPHRON THU-SUN APR 5-8 BRAD WILLIAMS - AMMA WHATT african rhythms 92nd b’day NATE SMITH+KINFOLK sextet celebration THU-SUN APR 26-29 RANDYBILLY WESTON’S HARPER - T.K. BLUE - NEAL CLARK - ALEX BLAKE - LEWIS NASH LAFAYETTE HARRIS THU APR 5 FRI APR 6 MATTHEW PARRISH SPECIAL HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET VINCE ECTOR CECIL BRIDGEWATER SEXTET GNAWA OF MOROCCO HMINGUS MONDAYSHMINGUS MONDAYSHMINGUS MONDAYSH GUESTS & CANDIDO CAMERO & MIN XIAO FEN MON APR 2, BIG 9, 16 & 30 MON APR 23 SAT APR 7 A TRIBUTE TO JAMES REESE EUROPe WITH SUN APR 8 BLUES NIGHT AYODELE MAAKHERU - BOB STEWART - STAFFORD HUNTER - VINCENT ECTOR SALIEU SUSO - CYNTHIA SCOTT TUE APR 10 MINGUS BAND MINGUS orchestra HJAZZ BRUNCH SATURDAYSHJAZZ BRUNCH SATURDAYSH HARISH RAGHAVAN WALTER SMITH III’S “TWIO” ERIC HARLAND WED APR 11 HANS GLAWISCHNIG Smokestack Brunch PM PM MARK WHITFIELD JR. Easter Brunch SATURDAYS 12 -1:30 MANUEL VALERA TRIO SUN APR 1 MUSIC, FOOD THU-SUN APR 12-15 $35 & A DRINK the music OF miles davis CARMEN INTORRE JR. TRIO SEAN JONES - DAVID SÁNCHEZ SAT APR 7 SAT APR 14 SAT APR 21 SAT APR 28 MIGUEL ZENÓN - ROBIN EUBANKS WARREN WOLF - EDWARD SIMON josh lawrence’s ted chubb andrew theo MATT PENMAN - OBED CALVAIRE color theory band gould hill HJAZZ FOR KIDS WITH THE JAZZ STANDARD YOUTH ORCHESTRA EVERY SUNDAY 2PM [EXCEPT 4/1]-DIRECTED BY DAVID O’ROURKEH NEW YORK @ NIGHT “When are musicians going to realize that THEY Artist/activist/vocalist Abbey Lincoln was a have the power?” This statement from trumpeter Bill disrupter. As part of a series honoring ‘60s black female Dixon has often been repeated as he was incredulous pioneers, Marc Cary, who logged 12 years as her at the things musicians had to put up with from venues, pianist, staged Mothers of the Movements at Harlem record labels, promoters and the like. 54 years after Stage Gatehouse (Mar. 3rd). To help him (re)generate Dixon co-founded the Jazz Composers’ Guild, things the disruptive spirit of his former employer, Cary haven’t changed much—that said, when a venue like enlisted veteran (but eternally youthful) bassist Reggie Ridgewood’s H0l0 gets a reputation as a generally Workman, resilient drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, unfriendly pay-to-play spot, where improvisers are adaptable tabla drummer Sameer Gupta, pianist Randy basically renting space against a sure-to-be small door Noel, tenor saxophonist Edmar Colón and vocalist charge, folks start to fly the coop. So tenor saxophonist Jackie Gage (who had the unenviable task of filling John Dikeman, guitarist Jasper Stadhouders, bassist Lincoln’s shoes). Besides “Driva’ Man”, “Tears for Tony Piazza, drummer Adam Shead and trombonist Johannesburg” and “Freedom Day”, all from the iconic Steve Swell (minus the latter, the group hails from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, the set Amsterdam and Chicago and was on tour) migrated included Lincoln’s “Straightahead”, “Throw It Away”, from H0l0 to the Crown Heights art gallery Happylucky “Down Here Below” and “Music Is The Magic”, Cary’s no. 1 (Mar. 3rd), joining up with pedal steel guitarist “Running Out of Time” (set to Lincoln’s lyrics) and Susan Alcorn and Australian reedplayer Jim Denley, Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue”. Spanning two hours, who were performing duo. Surrounded by a pig’s it had vertiginous peaks linked by long broad valleys. breakfast of fiber, paper and jeweled artworks, the Cary and Carrington were the impetus behind many of quintet tussled with one another over two shortish the collective high points, each evoking animated A JAZZMOBILE COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER improvisations, Dikeman’s rugged and hoarse squall crowd responses during solo features. Colón and Gage mating well with Swell’s economical slush and were equally compelling, if less charismatic. Gupta, PRESENTED BY: 2018 JAZZY AWARD quizzical flutter, and left the space warm. Denley and too often drowned in the sea of notes, finally surfaced jazzmobile PRESENTED POSTHUMOUSLY TO Alcorn hadn’t met prior and though both initially in a few places, his delicate finger-taps dancing over JOHNNIE GARRY showed restraint, feeling one another out, the inevitable four tuned tablas. Some of the extended jams seemed loosening up led to some remarkable passages of to linger longer than necessary, though on “Down Here MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018 metallic prepared-horn grind and sine wave-like Below”, an extended lull in the middle eventually chordal bellows.