MARY Lou Williams First Lady of the Piano

MARCH 2018—ISSUE 191 YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE NYCJAZZRECORD.COM MARY lou williams first lady of the piano WOMEN IN JAZZ ISSUE ANAT TIA NANCY HADDA COHEN FULLER HARROW BROOKS Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 66 Mt. Airy Road East MARCH 2018—ISSUE 191 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 United States Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628 New York@Night 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: Interview : ANAT COHEN 6 by anders griffen [email protected] Andrey Henkin: [email protected] Artist Feature : TIA FULLER 7 by russ musto General Inquiries: [email protected] ON The COver : MARY LOU WILLIAMS 8 by scott yanow Advertising: [email protected] Encore : NANCY HARROW by marilyn lester Calendar: 10 [email protected] VOXNews: Lest WE Forget : HADDA BROOKS 10 by jim motavalli [email protected] LAbel Spotlight : DARK TREE by stuart broomer 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 33 Mark Keresman, Marc Medwin, Russ Musto, John Pietaro, Joel Roberts, John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, Event Calendar 34 Andrew Vélez, Scott Yanow Contributing Writers Marco Cangiano, Jim Motavalli, Eric Wendell Contributing Photographers Enid Farber. William P. Gottlieb, Shervin Lainez, Alan Nahigian, Robert I. Sutherland-Cohen, As we move from winter towards spring, we go from one Mary (Halvorson) to another, Mary Adrien H. Tillmann, TuKe Photography Lou Williams, no less visionary and the ideal choice for the cover of our annual Women In Jazz issue in conjunction with Women’s History Month. The pianist/composer was present for pretty Fact-checker much every innovation in jazz history and is definitely the only person to play with both Benny Nate Dorward Goodman and Cecil Taylor. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People series presents a celebration of Williams’ life led by vocalist Catherine Russell and drummer LaFrae Sci. As Williams’ life was drawing to a close, two future jazz stars were born: clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen (Interview) and saxophonist Tia Fuller (Artist Feature) are carrying on the legacy of female instrumentalists and composers, both with brand-new albums. Cohen is at 92nd Street Y as part of the Woman to Woman allstar band while Fuller gets a late-month weekend at Smoke. We also celebrate two figures whose careers were concurrent with that of Williams: singer/composer Nancy Harrow (Encore) and the late pianist/singer Hadda Brooks (Lest We Forget). And the front end of our CD Review section (pgs. 14-18) is dedicated to the many nycjazzrecord.com women whose contributions—year-round—make jazz as vibrant as it is. On The Cover: Mary Lou Williams (William P. Gottlieb Collection of The Library of Congress) All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors. 2 MARCH 2018 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD MARCH 2018 WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM ERIC KRASNO ROY HAYNES & CHAPTER 2 FT QUESTLOVE, MACEO PARKER REBIRTH BRASS BAND 93RD BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION ROBERT RANDOLPH, CORY FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4 BLUE NOTE RESIDENCY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS HENRY & MORE MARCH 8 - 11 MARCH 15 - 18 MARCH 19 - 21 THE SHOWDOWN KIDS FT SCOTT METZGER, KATIE JACOBY & SIMON KAFKA 8PM / WOLF! (ACOUSTIC) FT SCOTT METZGER 10:30PM MARCH 5 PETE ROCK & THE SOUL BROTHERS MARCH 6 • WEEDIE BRAIMAH & FRIENDS: MARCH 7 MCCOY TYNER MARCH 12 - 14 • MATTHEW WHITAKER TRIO MARCH 22 SPECIAL SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH $39.50 INCLUDES BRUNCH, MUSIC & COCKTAIL LATE NIGHTS STATIK SELEKTAH & FRIENDS WITH LIVE BAND FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS MARCH 2 PHONY PPL - BLUE NOTE LATE NIGHT RESIDENCY VOL. 2 MARCH 3, 17, 31 • KOOL KEITH WITH LIVE BAND SOUL'D U OUT MARCH 10 l3l WEST 3RD STREET NEW YORK CITY • 2l2.475.8592 • WWW.BLUENOTEJAZZ.COM @bluenotenyc TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY 8PM & l0:30PM • FRIDAY & SATURDAY LATE NIGHTS: l2:30AM TELECHARGE.COM TERMS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLY ACTION THU-SUN MAR 15-18 [EXCEPT SAT MAR 17] JIMMYRENEE ROSNES GREENE’S - JOHN PATITUCCI - OTIS BROWN III LOVE- ROGERIO BOCCATO IN SAT MAR 17 CLOSED FOR private event “VENUE OF THE YEAR” 2017 -NYCJR “TOP 10 VENUES IMPACTING NY MUSIC SCENE TODAY”- NY MAGAZINE TUE-WED MAR 20-21 DAN TEPFER - ALEXANDER CLAFFY THU-SUN MAR 1-4 OFRI NEHEMYA VICTOR GOULD - BARRY STEPHENSON CAMILLE BERTAULT HENRY CONERWAY III - MARCUS MILLER THU-SUN MAR 22-25 JAZZMEIA HORN DAYNA STEPHENS TUE MAR 6 HANS GLAWISCHNIG JUSTUS WEST - IGOR OSYPOV BILLY CHILDS QUARTET ARI HOENIG LOGAN RICHARDSONDeANDRE MANNINGS - RYAN LEE THU-SUN MAR 27-APR 1 WED MAR 7 WITH SPECIAL GUEST Nicholas BURNISS TRAVIS Payton MIKE MITCHELL RAVI COLTRANEWITH SPECIAL GUESTS TRIO JAMES FRANCIES TRIO [3/28 ONLY] THU-FRI MAR 8-9 Tomoki Sanders Brandee Younger [3/30 ONLY] - Ralph Alessi [4/1 ONLY] STEVEN BERNSTEIN’S SEXMOB DEZRON DOUGLAS - ALLAN MEDNARD WITH SPECIAL GUEST John medeski [3/9 ONLY] MINGUS MONDAYS MINGUS MONDAYS MINGUS MONDAYS BRIGGAN KRAUSS - TONY SCHERR - KENNY WOLLESEN MON MAR 5,BIG 12 & 26 MON MAR 19 SAT-SUN MAR 10-11 MINGUS BAND MINGUS orchestra STEVEN BERNSTEIN’S JAZZ BRUNCH SATURDAYS JAZZ BRUNCH SATURDAYS CHARLIE BUMIRNHAMLLENNIALTERRITORY - CURTIS FOWLKES - DOUG WIORCHESTRAESELMAN - PETER APFELBAUM ERIK LAWRENCE - MATT MUNISTERI - BEN ALLISON - BEN PEROWSKY MUSIC, FOOD Smokestack Brunch$ & A DRINK TUE MAR 13 12PM-1:30PM 35 SATURDAYS SAT MAR 24 SAT MAR 31 IRWIN HALL - MICHAEL KING SAT MAR 3 THEO CROKER QUINTETERIC WHEELER - KASSA OVERALL patrick sargent caroline laurin WED MAR 14 ROOTS SAT MAR 10 davis talese THE EASTER BRUNCH SUN APR 1 OWSARAEN CASW BRODER:ELL - SCOTT WENDHOLT - NICKAMERICAN FINZER - FRANK KIMBROUGH - PROJECT JAY ANDERSON JOHN FATUM & FRIENDS MATT WILSON - JAMES SHIPP - WENDY GILLES - MELISSA STYLIANOU - MICHAEL MAYO SAT MAR 17 CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT CARMEN INTORRE JR. TRIO JAZZ FOR KIDS WITH THE JAZZ STANDARD YOUTH ORCHESTRA EVERY SUNDAY 2PM-DIRECTED BY DAVID O’ROURKE NEW YORK @ NIGHT This year is Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier’s 20th in Jazz is one of the only sports in which age can be a the city and moving here probably put her on the distinct advantage. Sure, its younger athletes are often global map more quickly than had she taken a different faster, stronger, hungrier for glory, but when a veteran route. Since her first recordings were released in 1997 like 89-year-old vocalist Sheila Jordan clambers on (just before she hopped the pond) she has worked with stage to make her play, audiences know there’s history a staggering array of improvisers and composers, there, a (long) lifetime of experience to be shared. though a traditionally structured piano trio was not Valentine’s Day at Mezzrow, the long narrow bare- one of those models. In 2014, that changed with the brick room was packed with lovers (jazz and otherwise) release of Double Windsor (Tzadik), which joined her come to harken and hearten to Jordan’s siren songs. with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen, Like any old-timer, she was showing her age: her voice who revisit and expand the format’s possibilities on a bit slower, wobblier, less fluid than in her prime. But the just-released Intakt CD D’Agala, celebrated on the in all other aspects, she was at the top of her game, final two nights of her week-long Stone residency in setting the crowd immediately at ease with scatted February. The second of those nights (Feb. 11th) added repartée, relating personal anecdotes about Bird trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson to the proceedings—a (Charlie Parker) and Miles (Davis) while guiding secret weapon, in that his economical approach to listeners through a romantic evening of well chosen Courvoisier’s fiendish multi-part compositions lent and paced repertoire. Enjoying the sparse but measured them a burnished, elegant swing, especially on the support of pianist John di Martino and bassist Harvie dedication to late guitarist John Abercrombie, “South S, she sang “Better Than Anything”, “If I Had You”, Side Rules”. The pianist is rightly noted for her use of “I Concentrate on You”, her own “The Bird” (a vocalese the piano’s guts and wood to create a Karel Appel-like on Parker’s “Quasimodo”, itself a contrafact of painting of garish, violent sounds, employing “Embraceable You”), the wonderful but not-often- hammers, metal balls and other objects to the wires enough-heard “Look for the Silver Lining”, which she and soundboard. She filled the small room with completely transformed, “Slow Boat to China”, piercing scrapes and reverberant, stomach-churning a mashup of her “Ballad for Miles” with “My Funny knocks, then just as quickly turned to anthemic charge Valentine” and “Waltz for Debby (Lazy Days)”. She or lush romanticism in the vein of Mal Waldron or closed with her minor-key “Workshop Blues”, during Abdullah Ibrahim, wheeling like those fine Seagulls of which she traded one-bar phrases with her by-now Kristiansund. —Clifford Allen enraptured fans, all young at heart. —Tom Greenland G R O . S N M O I O S C S . E 5 8 R 9 P 1 X T E H Z A Z . A J W / W N W E - H N O N C - A D M N L L A I L T R .

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