£3.50 £3.50 U.K. PRIL 2011 DOWNBEAT.COM A D OW N B E AT MARSALIS FAMILY // WOMEN IN JAZZ // KURT ELLING // BENNY GREEN // BRASS SCHOOL APRIL 2011 APRIL 2011 VOLume 78 – NumbeR 4 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Ed Enright Associate Editor Aaron Cohen Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Associate Maureen Flaherty ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Classified Advertising Sales Sue Mahal 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale March 15, 2011) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2011 APRIL 2011 ON THE COVER 24 Team Marsalis All In The Family BY JIM MACNIE The Marsalis clan—patriarch Ellis and his sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason—were named Jazz Masters this year by the National Endowment for the Arts. On the day of the awards-presentation ceremony, DownBeat grabbed the guys for a roundtable discussion about family dynamics and the way jazz has impacted their lives. 24 Features From left: Wynton, Jason, Ellis, Delfeayo and Branford Marsalis JIMMY KATZ 30 Equal Time Cover photography by Jimmy Katz shot on location at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, located in Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Women In Jazz Today BY JOHN EPHLAND 36 Kurt Elling Invitation To Epiphany BY KEN MICALLEF 40 Benny Green Purified Focus 49 Marcus Shelby Orchestra 53 Lynne Arriale 54 Jeremy Pelt 59 AfroCubism BY DAN OUELLETTE 74 Musicians’ Gear Guide Great Finds From The NAMM Show 2011 Departments BRASS SCHOOL 8 First Take 18 Caught 72 Jazz On Campus 64 Master Class bY GORDON GOODWIN 10 Chords & 20 Players 82 Blindfold Test Discords Matthew Rybicki Fred Hersch 66 Pro Session Patrick Cornelius bY KIRK GARRISON 13 The Beat Ryuichi Sakamoto Jen Shyu 68 Transcription 15 European Scene 45 Reviews 70 Toolshed 6 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2011 First Take | BY JOHN MCDONOUGH L A ON Nati ER, ER, T CEN S VE I H C ON TI U ON, AR ON, CTI STIT N IN IA COLLE M ON H S H YT H R MIT , S , Y OF OR TS R A HIST HE T N ICA ER L SWEE M A ON OF A OF ati M EU S ERN T International Sweethearts of Rhythm IN MU Honoring Jazz’s Historic Sweethearts f this were the radio, the air would be ablaze with blast of a swing band, circa 1945, in full battle mode on “Bugle Call Rag” or “Lady I Be Good.” You would surely be thinking vintage Count Basie, Benny Goodman, or maybe one of great Harlem outfits like Lucky Millinder. But, alas, you would have succumbed to my little trap: All that abandon and grit was the work of an all-girl band—the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. You’d be surprised, and at the same time reminded that the last frontier of pre-judgment in jazz remains the most deeply rooted: gender. For nearly a decade the 17 young ladies of the ISR crisscrossed the country, often breaking attendance records set by the big name man-bands. Its history is being honored this March by the Smithsonian Museum of American History, whose Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) is examining the legacies of women in jazz. Sadly, the Sweethearts’ surviving footprint in jazz history remains as tiny as Snow White’s slipper: only five commercial records, a few Soundie films and about a dozen broadcast performances (all gathered on a single CD, Hot Licks). Back in the ’40s DownBeat was no help. In February 1938 this otherwise progressive magazine ran a story explaining “Why Women Musicians Are Inferior.” It virtually ignored the ISR in its day, as it did fe- male bands. The ISR was organized in 1937 by Laurence Jones to raise money for the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi, which Jones had founded in 1910 as a foster home and trade school for poor black children. With the rise of a few popular all-girl white bands in the late ’30s, Jones de- cided to organize his best female music students into a dance band. After a couple of years of touring, it began to find its footing. By 1941 Piney Woods was netting about $3,000 a month from its concerts. But as the Sweethearts grew increasingly professional, the rank and file grew restless. It wanted to see some of that money for itself. Tensions with Piney Woods sharpened. Finally, in the late spring of 1941, the band revolt- ed and literally escaped to Washington D.C. There it found a sponsor and, more important, a noted musical director: Eddie Durham, who had come up with the early Count Basie band. By September 1941 the Sweethearts were playing to cheering crowds in Harlem. But the ISR’s success in per- formance failed to translate into the usual parley of radio and record deals. Several alumnae of the ISR are expected to appear March 29 at a JAM launch event, an initiative of the Smithsonian Institute Museum of American History. They include Willie May Wong, Johnnie Mae Rice (both of the charter 1937 band), and Ros Cron (one of the first white Sweethearts). Helen Jones, daughter of Lawrence Jones, is also expected to attend. DownBeat’s appreciation of women active in jazz today, as well as a preview of JAM 2011, begins on page 30. DB 8 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2011 Chords & Discords Missing Moody James Moody I know there must be dozens of James Moody stories, but here’s mine. About 10 years ago I stopped by Moody’s house to borrow some photos for a jazz drum book I had been working on. Moody greeted me with a bear hug, told me he was practicing the flute. “My flute chops are so bad, I have to start with the basics again,” he explained. Oh yeah, I thought. Before his wife Linda arrived to help me with the photos, he tried like the most enthusiastic waitress in the world to serve me. He asked me if I drank coffee (I did, he didn’t), so he literally tore the pantry apart to find the drink. He gave me a banana, and told me it was good for me. I cannot remember Moody not smiling, and I’m sure everyone else who knew him felt the same. John McDonough’s (February) article title is certainly appropri- ate: “Moody: A Hard Man Not To Love.” JAMES MORTON venues. Baltimore may not be the great jazz LAKESIDE, CALIF. city of yesteryear, but we’re still in there swinging. BOB JACOBSON Marians: In The Now BALTIMORE It’s amazing to read that Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, has been the spot to Hot Box Credibility catch visiting American stars (“150 Great Jazz I have wondered about the selection of CDs for Rooms,” February). More amazing would be The Hot Box reviews. While I am unclear how to read that Marians has been for years and these individual discs are selected, I would like to still is the leading jazz haunt in Switzerland, offer a new approach.