University of North Florida UNF Digital Commons Jacksonville Jazz Festival Collection Materials Jacksonville Jazz Festival Collection 1996 Jacksonville Jazz Festival Jacksonville Magazine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/jacksonville_jazz_text Part of the Music Performance Commons WJCT Jacksonville The 17th Annual WJCT Jacksonville Jazz Festival is internationally recognized · Jazz Festival for featuring world renowned jazz artists as well as for showcasing emerging and Performers local/regional talent. Among the performers for the 1996 event are: Aquarium Rescue Unit Aquarium Rescue Unit is as novel as its name, juxtaposing jazz, rock, funk, blues, Latin, soul, Southern-boogie, bluegrass and avant-garde. And it does so with improvisational prowess and song­ writing savvy. Rolling Stone gave the group's last release, in a perfectworld, a solid four-star rating, exclaiming, "It rocks, swings, smacks, clangs, walks and runs, this music, with its eyes rolled back in its head." Not surpri singly, this one-of-a­ kind band has also attracted a growing and loyal cult following. The brainchild of eccentric lead vocalist/ philosopher Col. Bruce Hampton, ARU originated in Georgia in the early 1990s. Its first album, Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, captured the band live in concert, revealing its pol­ ished genre-jumping and jamming skills. ARU's second studio release, Mirrors ofEmbarrassment, fo llowed, with Medeski, Martin & Wood eclectic compositions and stunning musicianship. New York's street-jazz trio, Medeski, Martin & Wood, plays a Major personnel changes preceded in a pe1fect world. Citing powerful mix of acoustic jazz and funky hip-hop. Keyboardist ill health due to incessant touring, Hampton left the band, as John Medeski, who plays the Hammond B-3 organ, is the did mandolinist Matt Mundy. Today, the quintet consists of orig­ group's primary soloist. Chris Wood holds down the center on inal members Oriel Burbridge on bass guitar/vocals, and Jimmy bass and Billy Martin is behind the drum kit. According to the Herring on guitar. Newcomers include vocalist Paul Henson; Austin (TX) Stateman, "the band's music is undeniably jazz. It's Kofi Burbridge, Oriel's brother, on keyboards/flute; and Sean also very enlightened jazz, full of clever quotes from some of the O'Rourke on drums. more esoteric tunes of the classic jazz repertoire." ] A C K S O N V I L L E 33 The trio has toured the U.S. College in Boston. During these years, he was influenced by gui­ several times since the release of tarists Carlos Santana,John McLaughlin and Pat Martino. its second album, Friday After­ In 1982, he recorded an album in Peru called Portrait in noon in the Universe. A follow-up Black and White, which was the first Afro-Peruvian jazz album release is scheduled for this fall. ever recorded. Zellon's current CD, Cafe con Leche, was record­ ed in Boston, Los Angeles and Lima, with a talented cast of Latin Caribbean Jazz Project and jazz musicians. The 12 tracks, ten of which are Zellon's orig­ featuring Paquito inal compositions, are all based on authentic Latin rhythms. d'Rivera, Andy Narell Zellon is currently a resident of Florida and a veteran of the & Dave Samuels Central Florida jazz scene. The CaribbeanJazz Project, an unusual sextet formed in New Richard Elliot York City in 1993, blends a strong Contemporary jazz jazz foundation with tropical saxophonist Richard rhythms. It is co-led by three of Elliot landed his first the most popular voices on gig when, as a teenag­ the contempora1y jazz scene er, he toured with today: Cuban saxophone and Natalie Cole and The clarinet great Paquito d'Rivera , Pointer Sisters. Later, steel pan legend Andy Narell and he joined Kittyhawk, a vibes/ marimba master Dave Samuels. cutting-edge fusion D'Rivera's early professional experience found him soloing group, before being with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra and co-founding drafted to record with the renowned Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, which he Motown favorites Smokey Robinson, the Four also conducted for two years. In 1981, he joined Dizzy Gille­ Tops and The Temptations. spie's band, then embarked on a solo career, subsequently As one project led to another, he was recruited releasing more than 15 albums. to play on The Yellowjackets' second album, Samuels was a charter member of Spyro Gyra, and has embarked on a tour with Melissa Manchester. He became a full­ recorded four solo albums, including Natural Selection and Del time member of the legenda1y Tower of Power in 1982. Sol. He has performed and recorded alongside jazz icons such Five years later, Elliot launched a solo career. His first five col­ as Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Stan Getz, as well as with lections were issued by Enigma Records, while the four most such diverse pop artists as Frank Zappa, Bruce Hornsby and recent packages, including City Speak, which was released ear­ Pink Floyd. lier this year, carried the Blue Note label. City Speak features 10 Narell was introduced to the steel pan at age 7, and, in the new compositions and a cover tune, "I'll Make Love to You ," years since, he has developed close ties to the people and cul­ originally performed by Boyz II Men. The album closes with a ture of Trinidad. He is known as the world's premiere purvey­ traditional jazz number called "That's All She Wrote." or of the steel pan sound, and has performed solo and with his band in Trinidad, as well as with such Bela Fleck and the artists as David Rudder, Charlie Roots, Flecktones featuring Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and Robert Victor Lemonte Wooten, Greenidge. He has recorded six albums FutureMan and (the latest is Down the Road) and has Special Guest Mike Marshall notched numerous appearances on Bela Fleck and The Flecktones have albums by other artists. been a Jazz Festival favorite ever since the group thrilled the crowd in 1991, and Richie Zellon returned as headliners the following year. Guitarist Richie Zellon, the child of a Back by popular demand, the band fea­ Brazilian mother and an American father, tures Bela Fleck on electric and acoustic grew up in Lima , Peru, where he taught banjo, Victor Lemonte Wooten on elec­ himself to play the guitar. His early music tric bass guitar and "FutureMan" on the influences included the Brazilian music Synthaxe Drumitar, a hybrid guitar/ per­ his mother loved, the jazz records he col­ cussion synthesizer which he invented. lected and indigenous Peruvian forms The Flecktones frequently tour with like festjo and lando, the latter a style of a rotating special guest roster, music believed to have its roots in the which has featured Paul West African country of Angola. McCandless, Sam Bush, Bruce By the mid-'70s, Zellon moved to the Hornsby, Edgar Meyer, Chick United States to study at the Music and Corea, Howard Levy, Matt Arts Institute in San Francisco and Berklee Mundy and others. By sharing 34 NOVEMBER 1996 WE Join us in applauding a talented group of local students the spotlight with guest musicians, the selected from eight area interaction among the live ensemble high schools to perform as an always changes, and the audience is E X P E C All-Star Student Ensemble treated to consistently fresh interpreta­ tions of older tunes, while hearing at the WJCT JacksonvilleJazz unique versions of new ones---depend­ Festival on November 12 and 16. ing upon whom the band is touring with G RE These performances are part of at any given time. Consequently, while contracting in "AT&Tl Jniversal Jazzin the Schools:· number, the Flecktones have expanded an innovative arts in education their sound, adding to their already eclec­ program created by AT&Tl Jniversal tic musical quilt patches of Celtic, folk, □ blues and even classical chamber music. Card Services and WJCT 0 For performance information, Buddy Guy Big Band call 354-6304. Don't miss your Blues guitarist Buddy Guy has experi­ □ chance to hear education enced tremendous success over the past six years. Beginning with his 1991 come­ at the speed ofsound . back album, Damn Right I've Got the Blues, Guy has won long-overdue acco­ lades. Damn Right won a Grammy in T H E S E - 1991, and Guy notched another Gram­ - my in 1993 for his Feels Like Rain LP. AT&T These honors were then topped by the ultimate tribute-Billboard Magazine's STU DEN AT&T Universal Card CenturyAward, recognizing a lifetime of distinguished creative achievement. Guy started out in the early 1960s as a much-in-demand session player with Chess Records. However, he dreamed of the opportunity to play independent­ Feeling Left Behind? ly and fully display his distinctive brand the next two decades, he toured extensively and is said to have inspired Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Born in Louisiana, Guy now lives in Chicago, and owns the club Legends, where he performs when not touring. Four of the songs that appear on Live! The Real Deal, his first in-concert album j A C K S O N V I L L E 35 C. Harb's Rugs in over 20 years, were recorded at the artist's own venue. Third generation Rug nperts "I play for people," he says. "When I walk out on stage, they motivate me. I Findtfie pe1fect rug to compliment know that they are saying, 'Give me all any decor at C. Harb's Rugs. you got, Buddy.'" We offer an unparalleled selection of new, antique and semi-antique fiand knotted rugs from around tfie world. Our personalized services include: • Thorough gentle cleaning • Non-skid pad • Enzyme urine removal • Expert repair • Stainproofing Saxophonist • Mothproofing Boney James plays November 9, 9:25 • Appraisals p.m.