SUMMER 2019 INSIDE THIS EDITION BALTIMORE JAZZ ALLIANCE Jam Sessions .................................................................... 2 Todd Barkan Brings Keystone Korner to Baltimore............ 4 A Great Night in Harbor East.............................................. 5 Ian Wardenski: Collective Thoughts .................................. 8 Screaming Art Large Ensemble: Chronicles Of Aryeh .... 10 BJA Member Benefits ...................................................... 14 VOLUME FIFTEEN • ISSUE THREE • THE BJA NEWSLETTER • WWW.BALTIMOREJAZZ.COM PHOTO CREDIT: EFRAIN RIBEIRO • BREAKING JAZZ NEWS • Todd Barkan brings Keystone Korner to BALTIMORE Page 4 SUMMER MUSIC MOVES A Jazz and Dance Festival By Ian Rashkin From left: Susan Alcorn, Derrick Michaels, Theljon Allen, Following close on the heels of Baltimore Jazz Fest at St. John Dierker and Eric Kennedy performing at An die Musik John’s in the Village, Baltimore Jazz Alliance is excited to be partnering with Dance Baltimore to present Summer Music Moves: A Jazz and Dance Festival. From Thursday, July 25th through Sunday, July 28th, the festival will present jazz and A New Free Improvisation dance performances in multiple venues in and around Bal- timore’s Mt. Vernon neighborhood, highlighting some of the Scene In Baltimore area’s best musicians and dancers, and celebrating the di- By Liz Fixsen verse, creative, and potent nature of both jazz and dance. Free improvisation has been an important part of Balti- The festival will kick off with a free event at more’s music scene since at least 2009, when bassist Adam Center Stage, featuring musical and dance Hopkins and guitarist Matt Frazao founded the Out of Your performances by some of Baltimore’s Head collective at the Windup Space in Station North, uniting most talented youth, followed by a jam the city’s improvisers and cultivating a new scene. The collec- session and reception with a cash bar. tive eventually lost steam when several core members moved This event is free and open to the public. to New York City (and now the Wind-Up Space is, sadly, clos- Friday night, a ticketed event at Center ing its doors). Yet the group’s creative impulse never died. Re- Stage showcases some of the best jazz and cently, this impulse has been revived in Baltimore by several dance in the area, with performances by a special groups, one of which is led by saxophonist Derrick Michaels. all-star group including Warren Wolf, Carl Filipiak, Robert He directs a series of monthly improvised concerts at An die Shahid, Blake Meister, Clarence Ward III, Alan Blackman, Musik, one of Baltimore’s premier jazz venues. and more, plus Full Circle Dance Company, and Ryan K. The free improv movement arose from the free jazz move- Johnson and the Dance Baltimore Repertory Ensemble. ment of the 1960s, when musicians like Cecil Taylor, Ornette World-renowned pianist Cyrus Chestnut and award-win- Coleman, John and Alice Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Pharoah ning contemporary jazz vocalist Maysa will perform as well, Sanders, and Sun Ra explored new musical terrain. There is a (continued on page 6) (continued on page 7) The Baltimore Jazz Alliance is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. JAZZ JAM SESSIONS Where the cats congregate The Baltimore Jazz Alliance (BJA) is a grass-roots organization of jazz to groove and grow! aficionados, musicians and venues dedicated to enhancing and promoting jazz in Baltimore and the surrounding areas. New members sharing this * NOTE: As these events may be subject to change, it’s always a passion are always welcome as the BJA good idea to CALL AHEAD FOR CONFIRMATION! continues its efforts to build a stronger and better networked jazz scene. SUNDAYS Together we can help this music thrive Marie Louise Bistro – 8-11 in the region and reward listeners and Germano’s – 7-10 904 N. Charles Street. Hosted by Tom Lagana. No musicians alike. Weekly jazz jam hosted by Mike ‘n’ Ike. keyboard at this session. 410-385-9946. Instrumentalists and vocalists are welcome. 300 BJA Priorities South High Street. 410-752-4515. • To develop new audiences for jazz WEDNESDAYS • To strengthen communication 49 West Café – 7-10 within the jazz community MONDAYS 49 West Street, Annapolis. Hosted by John Starr • To improve media relations on An die Musik Live! – 7:30-9:30 and house band. FIRST & THIRD Wednesdays. behalf of the jazz community 409 N. Charles Street. Jam sessions SECOND Musicians and singers very welcome! Delicious and FOURTH Mondays co-hosted by Alex and reasonably priced food and drink available! • To bring greater visibility to the Meadow and Christian Hizon. $5 for musicians and entire array of jazz offerings in the $10 cover. Reservations 410-626-9796 $8 for others. Baltimore region • To provide greater access to HOMEslyce – 8-11 performance opportunities for The Avenue Kitchen – 7-10 336 N. Charles Street. Todd Marcus leads jazz jam Baltimore-area jazz musicians 911 W 36th Street. Hosted by Hot Club of sessions FIRST Wednesdays. 443-501-4000 Baltimore, mostly Django Reinhardt music, Visit www.baltimorejazz.com 1930s-’40s and standards. Room for dancing. THURSDAYS for information about our Full bar with extensive draft beer selection and The Place Lounge – 7:00-10:00 accomplishments and future goals. food menu. No cover. 443-961-8515 315 W. Franklin Street. Jam session/open mic is hosted by Spice every THIRD THURSDAY. Baltimore Jazz Alliance Terra Cafe – 8:30-11:30 Musicians and vocalists are welcome. 847 North Howard Street 101 E 25th Street. Monday straight ahead jazz 410-547-2722 Baltimore, Maryland 21201 jam hosted by Clarence Ward III. All are welcome to come out and express themselves. No cover, Please direct your one drink minimum. Come on in and swing with questions and comments to: us. If you know of local jam [email protected] 410-777-5277 sessions, or if any of the jazz jam sessions listed are BJA BOARD TUESDAYS discontinued, please inform Tyrone Crawley Randallstown Community Center – 6-8 the editor at: Alice Downs 3505 Resource Drive, Randallstown. Open Jazz [email protected] Liz Fixsen, Secretary Jam Sessions/Book and Poetry Readings every Jean Farnsworth Tuesday at 6-8 pm. Hosted by Derrick Amin. Musicians and vocalists are welcome. Vernard Gray 410-887-0698 Robin Houston, Treasurer Ian Rashkin, President Theresa Sise The Judge’s Bench – 8:30-Midnight Rená Sweetwine, Vice President 8385 Main Street, Ellicott City. Charlie Schueller leads informal jam sessions on the FIRST Barry Glassman, Founder and Emeritus TUESDAY of each month. 410-465-3497 Camay Calloway Murphy, Emerita Mark Osteen, President Emeritus . NEWSLETTER Gail Marten, Jazz Palette Editor/Designer www.baltimorejazz.com PAGE 2 / SUMMER 2019 BALTIMORE JAZZ ALLIANCE BALTIMORE JAZZ ALLIANCE PAGE 3 /SUMMER 2019 Todd Barkan Brings Keystone Korner to Baltimore By Bob Jacobson PHOTO OF TODD BARKAN Baltimore celebrated International Jazz Day, on April 30th, COURTESY OF KEYSTONE KORNER with a major event: the opening of the new club Keystone Korner Baltimore, in Harbor East. Keystone Korner Balti- more’s programming director and executive producer is Todd Barkan, a major figure in jazz history. In 1972, at age twenty-six, Barkan founded the Keystone Korner in San Francisco, developing it into one of the best-known jazz clubs in the world over the following eleven years. More than one hundred recordings were made there by some of the biggest names in jazz, including Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Dexter Gordon, and Bill Evans. Barkan has produced over eight hundred recordings and served as program director at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Last year he was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Mas- ter and won a Telly Award for curating the music for the doc- We aspire to become a home away from home umentary on Pittsburgh jazz history We Knew What We Had. for our welcome guests . Take care of the music I interviewed Barkan on May 7th, 2019. BJ: What made you undertake such a major venture, especially at and the music will take care of you. age 72? TB: I feel it’s what I’m supposed to do. It just felt very right comment I hear so far from customers is, “We’re going to be and very, almost, pre-ordained. This is a nice project for this back and bring more people.” stage of my life. Robert Weidemeier hosted the 2018 NEA BJ: What lessons have you brought from Keystone Korner or Jazz Masters dinner at Marcel’s, named for his son, who is a Dizzy’s? jazz bass player. We struck up an immediate friendship. He TB: One lesson is that you cannot make assumptions about said, “What about starting a jazz club here in D.C.?” I said I what’s going to work. You do that at your own peril. You would love to do that. He’s part of RW Restaurant Group, have to improvise. Each of these markets is totally different. which owns eleven properties. Various places in D.C. didn’t You have to be eternally learning. I regularly talk to my man- work out. He called me on January 8th of this year about a agers about our practices. It’s always a work in progress. place they owned in Baltimore, The Mussel Bar & Grill, and Someone warned me about Sundays in Baltimore. We had to said, “Why don’t we resurrect the Keystone Korner right switch to five o’clock sets, but I had to experience that first. there in Baltimore?” I knew that Baltimore had not had a jazz I’m still a firm believer—even after San Francisco, Oakland, club of any depth or significance since the late ‘80s . I Houston, Tokyo, New York—in guerilla marketing, even knew there was a good jazz community here.