A P A PLACE FOR JAZZ O R June 2007 Editor: Tim Coakley WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.APLACEFORJAZZ.ORG—UPDATED DAILY Twenty Years of Jazz By Tim Coakley When Butch Conn decided in 1987 to Wrapping it all up on Nov. 9 will be saxo- VOLUNTEER HELP create A Place for Jazz, did he envision what phonist Keith Pray's Big Soul Ensemble, his dream would become, or how long it WANTED a group of exuberant young performers from would last? the Capital Region who have been tearing it Over the years, our fall concert series up at local clubs like Albany’s Lark Tavern. We need help: became something to anticipate, easing the Read more inside ! transition from summer to fall for jazz lovers Labeling newsletters who look forward to the welcoming ambience (1 –2 hours every 3 months.) of the Whisperdome, the chance to Moving Forward Writing music reviews, news see familiar faces again and to enjoy first- A Place for Jazz is preparing to launch class jazz by famous (and up-and-coming) what we hope will be another 20 years of Working on a young people’s players in a comfortable, quiet setting. great music. We invite you to join us on the project at the Hamilton Hill journey. You will find a membership form in Art Center As we begin our 20th season, we think we have a lineup that will carry on the ideals the back of this newsletter. Please look it Butch set for us. over and find a membership level that is comfortable for you. Your contributions If you can help, please call enable us to keep the music coming. Tim Coakley at 518-393-4011, Who's Coming? We look forward to seeing you this fall. e-mail him at [email protected] or respond We will open on Sept. 14 with the legen- dary vocalist Mark Murphy, long one of to the letter on page 11 of this newsletter. those singers whom other singers admire. He will bring his trio along for a unique trip through the Great American Songbook ... and beyond. Pianist Jeb Patton, who played for us Inside this Issue with Jimmy Heath and regularly performs with him, will bring his sparkling trio to the Jazz Calendar Pages 4-7 stage on Sept. 28. A student of the late Sir Roland Hanna, Jeb plays a delightful mixture Feature Articles: of standards and his own compositions. Our Coming Season Pages 2-3 Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan Summertime Jazz Page 8 Check out our updated- is a mainstay of the Vanguard Jazz Orches- monthly calendar on our tra and plays in a variety of big and small April Jazz Photos Page 11 bands. A Reservoir recording artist, Gary will website at www.aplaceforjazz.org. bring his big sound and his quartet to the stage for a concert on Oct. 12. or www.timesunion.com/ com- munities/jazz The distinctive sound of trombonist Wycliffe Gordon has been heard with the The calendar is updated fre- Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and on nu- quently and includes links merous recordings. Come enjoy his warm to Jazz Festivals, clubs personality, good humor, and his amazing technique on Oct. 26 as he brings his quartet and concert series to town. Page 2 A P l a c e f o r J a z z A P F J 2007 Season Vocalist Mark Murphy has enjoyed a 40- At 74, Mark Murphy continues to tour, tread the predictable, and his time signa- year recording career, and has earned the appearing at festivals, concerts and jazz tures cavort delightfully as he shifts pace accolades of many of his peers, including clubs around the world. We are delighted and thrust seamlessly. ... He is a player of Betty Carter, Peggy Lee, Shirley Horn and to have him open our 2007 concert season great expression, bringing to the surface Ella Fitzgerald. A six-time Grammy nomi- in what we are sure will be an unforgetta- every little vignette that gives a song its nee, he has been called by Stereo Review ble evening of music. depth and character." "one of the major artists of our age." His working trio is a highly compatible group,and the subtlety and fire of their Born to a musical family in upstate New music is sure to fill the Whisperdome with York, he was introduced to the music of glorious sound. This is one not to miss! pianist Art Tatum by his uncle, went on to sing in his brother's dance band and stud- ied acting and music at Syracuse Univer- sity. In 1953, Sammy Davis Jr. heard Murphy The third concert in our 2007 series will and feature the quartet of baritone saxophonist asked Gary Smulyan, known as one of the ma- him to jor voices on the baritone today. He won appear the 2004 Jazz Journalists Award for Bari- on his TV tone Saxophonist of the Year. show. This led Growing up on Long Island, he had the to an opportunity to perform with Lee Konitz, appear- Chet Baker and Jimmy Knepper. In 1978, ance on he was asked to join Woody Herman's the Steve Young Thundering Herd. After a couple of Pianist Jeb Patton is making a return visit Allen years, he left and moved back to New York to A Place for Jazz, having performed here Show as City to join the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. well. with Jimmy Heath in 1998. He graduated from Duke University as a Murphy music major, and received his master's moved to degree at Queens College, studying with New York Jimmy Heath and pianist Sir Roland Hanna, City and who was his inspiration. He has composed began his recording career at age 24 with a tribute to Sir Roland titled "Hanna's the Decca recording "Meet Mark Murphy." Mood." Producer Orrin Keepnews said, "It's re- He has toured with the Heath Brothers, markable how fully developed as an artist Etta Jones, Terrell Stafford and James Mark was so early on." Moody, among others. Since that time, he has made more than 40 Well-versed in the jazz idiom, he is also recordings, often contributing original lyrics active in the classical music field. He cur- to jazz standards like "Stolen Moments" rently teaches musicianship and piano at and "Red Clay." In 2000, he recorded Queensborough Community College. "Some Time Ago" on the High Note label. His most recent jazz recording is "A Love- It includes a sensitive version of Jimmy some Thing" with David Wong on bass and He has recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Rowles' "The Peacocks" and a memorable Peter Van Nostrand on drums, both of Getz, Chick Corea, Clark Terry and others. scat solo on "Bohemia After Dark.” whom will be joining him for this concert. He has recorded five CDs for the Criss The music ranges from standards by Cross label, one of which, "The Lure of Reviewing Murphy's 2005 recording "Once Gershwin and Porter to jazz pieces by Billy Beauty," was voted one of the 25 Best of to Every Heart," Jazz Times reviewer Strayhorn and Charlie Parker to some of 1995 by WBGO, the leading New York jazz Christopher Loudon said, " Hyperbolic as it Jeb's original compositions. may sound, I'd say that Mark Murphy is station. In All About Jazz, reviewer Jerry D'Souza incapable of making a bad album." In 2005, he played a tribute to Troy bari- wrote: "Pianist Jeb Patton is not one to A P l a c e f o r J a z z Page 3 A P F J 2007 Season tone legend Nick Brignola at the North He is also a music educator, serving on Tulip Festival, the Larkfest and A Place for Pointe Cultural Arts Center in Kinderhook. the faculty of the Jazz Studies Program at Jazz. He has received the ASCAP Louis He recently recorded “The Gary McFarland The Juilliard School, a position he has held Armstrong Award and the Essex County Project" with the Mark Masters Ensemble. since the founding of the program. His Performing Arts Award. He is a member of Several of McFarland’s most memorable work with young musicians and audiences the International Association of Jazz Educa- compositions were arranged by Masters to from elementary schools to universities all tors. feature Smulyan fronting a nine-piece over the world is extensive. Gordon is the For the past few years, he has been living chamber ensemble. youngest member of the U.S. Statesmen in New York City and playing with artists in Gary Smulyan currently performs with the multiple disciplines, including R&B, Latin, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Dizzy Gilles- jazz and big bands. pie all Star Big band and the Tom Harrell Upon returning to the Capital Region jazz Octet, among others. He is currently on the scene, Pray began searching out musicians faculty at William Paterson University. He with an eye to forming a larger ensemble. now records for Reservoir Records. His With the help of fellow saxophonist Brian latest release is "The Real Deal." Patneaude, he organized a group of kin- With his big, swaggering tone and swing- dred spirits who began playing once a ing beat, Gary Smulyan will call on all his month at the Lark Tavern in Albany. big band and combo experience to give A Place for Jazz one of its most memorable concerts. Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon was intro- duced to music by his late father, a classi- of Jazz, and in many tour performances cal pianist and teacher. His interest in the has served and continues to serve as a trombone was sparked at age twelve by his musical ambassador for the U.S.