Blackman- Santana the Drumstress
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March 2012 | No. 119 Your FREE Guide to the NYC Jazz Scene nycjazzrecord.com CINDY BLACKMAN- SANTANA THE DRUMSTRESS SPECIAL DRUMMERISSUE PIERRE ••••TOMAS MICHAEL UGEXPLODE EVENT FAVRE FUJIWARA CARVIN RECORDS CALENDAR To describe the contents of this issue, we quote the immortal words of MC Rakim: “You ask me how I did ‘em / I let the rhythm ‘em”. Our first issue of spring focuses on those crucial engines of jazz, the drummers. Some might argue that jazz as a New York@Night style evolved primarily from its rhythmic elements and so we celebrate the 4 contributions recent and past of the timekeepers that make this music swing Interview: Pierre Favre (or maybe not). We invite them all to step out from behind their kits and take a much-deserved bow in this, our special Drummer Issue. 6 by Ken Waxman Cindy Blackman-Santana (On The Cover) is carrying on the traditions of her Artist Feature: Tomas Fujiwara early mentor Tony Williams and is increasingly visible inside and outside of the jazz world. She brings her Explorations band into Jazz Standard for two nights by Sean Fitzell 7 this month. Pierre Favre (Interview) is a legend in European jazz but has also On The Cover: Cindy Blackman-Santana worked with a who’s who of international jazz stars as well as being an innovator by Martin Longley in the realm of solo percussion. He makes a rare trip to the States as part of the 9 Intakt Records-curated fortnight at The Stone, performing in various configurations. Encore: Lest We Forget: Tomas Fujiwara (Artist Feature) is among the crop of exciting young drummers 10 working in the city and beyond as both compelling leaders and propulsive Michael Carvin Big Sid Catlett sidemen. He performs this month as part of the new collective group Thumbscrew by Anders Griffen by Clifford Allen and with the Bhangra funk band Red Baraat. Michael Carvin is a veteran of the Megaphone VOXNews bands of Pharoah Sanders, Billy Bang and others and has released many albums as by Dieter Ulrich by Katie Bull a leader, including last year’s Lost and Found Project 2065. He appears this month 11 at Lenox Lounge. We also have a Lest We Forget on famed prebop drummer Big Label Spotlight: Listen Up!: Sid Catlett, a Megaphone from Swiss drummer Dieter Ulrich, who is also at The Stone several times this month, a feature on drummer Weasel Walter’s ugEXPLODE 12 Flin van Hemmen ugEXPLODE label and an opening section of CD reviews (pgs. 14-19) devoted to drummers in by Clifford Allen & Oliver Steidle the forefront and in the ‘background’. We hope that this special Drummer Issue puts a 5/4 spring in your step 13 Festival Report: Winterjazz Köln • “Might I Suggest” (double pun!) as it has for us. CD Reviews: Tom Rainey, Andrew Cyrille, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ches Smith, Laurence Donohue-Greene, Managing Editor Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director Johnathan Blake, Jeff Hamilton, Elvin Jones, Allan Browne and more 14 On the cover: Cindy Blackman-Santana (photo by Jimmy Bruch) 38 Event Calendar 45 Club Directory Miscellany: In Memoriam • Birthdays • On This Day Submit Letters to the Editor by emailing [email protected] 47 US Subscription rates: 12 issues, $30 (International: 12 issues, $40) For subscription assistance, send check, cash or money order to the address below or email [email protected]. The New York City Jazz Record www.nycjazzrecord.com Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene To Contact: Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin The New York City Jazz Record Staff Writers 116 Pinehurst Avenue, Ste. J41 David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Fred Bouchard, Stuart Broomer, Tom Conrad, Ken Dryden, New York, NY 10033 Donald Elfman, Sean Fitzell, Graham Flanagan, Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, United States Laurel Gross, Alex Henderson, Marcia Hillman, Terrell Holmes, Robert Iannapollo, Francis Lo Kee, Martin Longley, Wilbur MacKenzie, Marc Medwin, Russ Musto, Joel Roberts, Laurence Donohue-Greene: John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, Jeff Stockton, Andrew Vélez, Ken Waxman [email protected] Andrey Henkin: [email protected] Contributing Writers Katie Bull, Anders Griffen, George Kanzler, Matthew Kassel, General Inquiries: [email protected] Gordon Marshall, Sharon Mizrahi, Sean J. O’Connell. Dieter Ulrich Advertising: [email protected] Contributing Photographers Editorial: [email protected] Jim Anness, Jimmy Bruch, Scott Friedlander, Peter Gannushkin, Calendar: [email protected] Susan O’Connor, Gerhard Richter, Jack Vartoogian, Andreas Zihler All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors. THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | March 2012 3 NEW YORK @ NIGHT When bassist Ben Allison dedicated his Zankel Hall There may have been a pronounced emphasis on the concert (Feb. 3rd) to New York City as a whole, he was notes between the notes at Douglass Street Music glancing back at all the chameleonic work he’s done in Collective Feb. 9th, or it may have been a business-as- town: music that has involved top jazz improvisers as usual evening of improv, only with the audience well as figures like Joey Arias, the performance artist mindful of the microtonal techniques championed by and drag queen. Arias joined Allison’s sextet onstage, Joe Maneri, who died in 2009. It would have been the in fact, and seemed less out of place than you’d think saxophonist/composer’s 85th birthday and the legacy next to guitarists Steve Cardenas and Brandon he left was evident not only in the quartertones but Seabrook, saxophonist Michael Blake, drummer Rudy also in the hosts, bedecked in jacket and tie. Son/ Royston and percussionist Rogerio Boccato. Spicing up violist Mat Maneri acted as emcee and played with a the evening with costume changes and an outrageous number of the rotating ensembles - including Michael flair, Arias was relegated to eye candy at times, adding Attias, Kris Davis, Matt Moran, Roy Campbell and a bit of interpretive dance to Allison’s crushing jazz- others - while other son/poet Abraham Maneri was rock encore “Man Size Safe”. But he sang with panache equally engaging telling stories and playing piano. on Allison’s eerie new composition “DAVE” (“digital And it may have been another bit of business-as-usual awareness vector emulator”) and joined forces with happenstance, but the evening seemed to focus on Seabrook to create wild sonic effects on “Broken”. trios, a setting in which the elder Maneri seemed to Blake switched between tenor, soprano and clarinet thrive, notably in groups with Mat and Barre Phillips and often functioned as a unit with Cardenas, doubling or Randy Peterson. But it was a duo that ended the or harmonizing melodies while Seabrook conjured night, the two brothers not just playing together but fuzztone roars (on the bright 7/8 “Platypus”) and playing out familial roles, laughingly sparring about unexpected timbres on the banjo (“Fred”). On “Roll who should start the piece and continuing to spar as Credits”, the funky 5/4 opener, Allison paired the they played. Earlier in the evening, Abraham guitars for big, unison-voiced arpeggios that rang touchingly recalled his father - who hadn’t always through the hall. But even when the volume was high, been a stellar student when he was young - being the orchestrations were endlessly subtle. And “Green awarded a degree from the New England Conservatory. Al”, which people went away humming, emphasized “I wanted the end of the story to be ‘then he got the another of Allison’s best qualities: the spirit of song. doctorate degree’,” he said, “but the end of the story is - David R. Adler always ‘but then he died.’” - Kurt Gottschalk Photo by Scott Friedlander Photo by Jim Anness Photo by Jim Rogerio Boccato, Joey Arias, Ben Allison @ Zankel Hall Abraham and Mat Maneri @ Douglass Street Music Collective Having placed second in the 2011 Thelonious Monk Anthony Coleman took full advantage of having a Competition, pianist Joshua White was also the second full evening at Issue Project Room’s new space in to appear in the Tribeca Performing Arts Center’s downtown Brooklyn and also made full use of his New annual “Monk In Motion” finalists’ showcase (Feb. England Conservatory employment Feb. 10th, playing 11th). Kris Bowers, the winner, had appeared two solo and with a pair of trios before bringing a 17-piece weeks prior with a sextet including guest vocalists and student orchestra to the stage. The opening set was a a strong R&B element and Emmet Cohen would follow suite written for Coleman’s teacher, the great pianist with a quartet (featuring Brian Lynch) a week later. Jaki Byard, performed with bassist Scott Colley and White, from San Diego, assembled a top-tier New York drummer Satoshi Takeishi. While on the surface it band for the occasion: saxophonist Marcus Strickland, seemed like easygoing riffing, the composer’s hand bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Adam Cruz. Opening was proven in the tight changes. Following a fittingly with a trio rendition of “Yesterdays”, he combined jazzy tribute, Coleman brought out saxophonist Ashley dense ‘energy’ playing with fast, in-the-pocket swing Paul and drummer Eli Keszler for a hauntingly out of a McCoy Tyner-esque stripe. Strickland joined on exploration incorporating muted horn lines, half- tenor for the lyrical original “A Million Days”, but buried vocals and dramatically inventive use of piano White again gave reign to avant garde impulses with a preparations and a Farfisa organ. A brief solo piece solo piano reading of “Skylark” - even if his harsh introduced a new series of études, which will be clustered chords led to a tranquil melody statement in inspired, Coleman explained, by various uses of eggs. the end. There were two large-canvas medleys as well: The grand finale was “Matter of Operation”, an Wayne Shorter’s “Someplace Called ‘Where’”, expansive piece for large ensemble including originally an overproduced feature for Dianne Reeves vibraphone, accordion, bassoon, euphonium and two on Joy Ryder, became a scaled-down duet for piano and double basses.