January / February 2019 Issue 382 jazz now in our 44th year &blues report Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour January • February 2019 • Issue 382 Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour jazz Performing 26 Concerts March 15–April 14 in 16 States and Canada &blues report Editor & Founder Bill Wahl Layout & Design Bill Wahl Operations Jim Martin Pilar Martin Contributors Michael Braxton, Peanuts, Wanda Simpson, Mark Smith, Duane Verh, Emily Wahl and Ron Weinstock. RIP JBR contributors Tom Alabiso, John Hunt, Chris Colombi, Mark A. Cole, Barbara Fronckowiak & Hal Hill Check out our constantly updated website. All of our issues from our first PDFs in September 2003 and on are posted, as well as many special issues with festival reviews, Blues Cruise and Gift Guides. Now you can search for CD Re- views by artists, titles, record labels, keyword or JBR Writers. 15 years of reviews are up from our archives and we will be adding more, especially from our early years back to 1974. MJF On Tour (© R.R. Jones) Comments...billwahl@ jazz-blues.com Web www.jazz-blues.com Fifth National MJF Group Features Cécile McLorin Copyright © 2018 Jazz & Blues Report Salvant, Bria Skonberg, Melissa Aldana, Christian Sands, Yasushi Nakamura, and Jamison Ross No portion of this publication may be re- produced without written permission from Monterey, Calif.; It’s millennials only for the Monterey Jazz Festival’s fifth the publisher. All rights Reserved. national tour, March 15–April 14, 2019. Featuring some of the most critically- Founded in Buffalo New York in March of 1974; began our Cleveland edition in acclaimed, GRAMMY®-winning and GRAMMY-nominated jazz artists of their April of 1978. Now based in San Diego, generation, including three winners of the Thelonious Monk International this global e-zine edition is posted online Jazz Competition, Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour will truly showcase the bimonthly at www.jazz-blues.com next generation of jazz legends, including Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Bria Skonberg, trumpet, vocals; Melissa Aldana, tenor saxophone; Christian Sands, piano and musical director;Yasushi Nakamura, bass, and Jamison Ross, drums, vocals. As the longest continuously-running jazz festival in the world, Monterey Jazz Festival will expand on its tradition of presenting the best in jazz, and www.jazz-blues.com of jazz’s younger, international and diverse future in 2019. “This will be the 10-year anniversary of MJF on Tour and it is also one of our most exciting,” “Buffalonious” said Tim Jackson, MJF Artistic Director. “With a strong female presence on Our original the front line with Cécile, Melissa and Bria, and the mastery of Christian mascot from the Sands as our pianist and musical director, we are looking forward to spread- very early ing the joy of jazz, which is the essence of the Monterey Jazz Festival, to Buffalo Jazz Report rest of the country.” days – mid ‘70s. The 31-day tour will perform 26 concerts in 16 states and Alberta, Canada. He is older now, Highlights include New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center; Los Angeles’ Walt but global & Disney Concert Hall; Berkeley’s Cal Performances; Chicago’s Symphony still very cool! Center; Calgary Canada’s Jack Singer Concert Hall; and many others. Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour is produced by Danny Melnick for Ab- Page Two January • February 2019 • Issue 382 solutely Live Entertainment (ALE) and booked by The 2009, and has followed in Dr. Taylor’s footsteps by en- Kurland Agency, which also produced and booked couraging, inspiring and advocating for the preservation two previous MJF tours in 2013 and 2016. Visit www. and history of jazz. In 2015, he started the Jazz Kids of montereyjazzfestival.org for more information. Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark; he also teaches at About the Performers.... Jazz in July, where he is an alumnus. His second Mack One of the most acclaimed vocalists of her genera- Avenue release, Facing Dragons, was reviewed by NPR tion, Cécile McLorin Salvant is the winner of the 2010 as a “...crisply assured new album...that expresses new Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Other ideas without abandoning the old.” honors include selection for Jazz Album of the Year by Bassist Yasushi Nakamura is one of the most com- the DownBeat International Critics Poll and NPR, as manding voices on bass today. Born in Tokyo, Nakamura well as Top Female Vocalist from the Jazz Journalists moved to Seattle, Washington, eventually receiving his Association. Cécile grew up in a bilingual household bachelor’s degree in jazz performance from Berklee in Miami and traveled to Aix-en-Provence to pursue College of Music, and an artist diploma from the Juil- a degree in French law while training as a classical liard School. He has recorded or performed around the and baroque singer before switching to jazz. Her last world with Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Toshiko two Mack Avenue releases, For One to Love and Dreams Akiyoshi, Hank Jones, Dave Douglas, and many others. and Daggers, each won Grammy Awards for Best Jazz As an educator, Nakamura has led master classes and Vocal Album. Her newest Mack Avenue release, The summer intensive courses at Juilliard, The New School, Window, is an album of duets with pianist Sullivan Fort- Koyo Conservatory, Osaka Geidai, and Savannah Swing ner. Rolling Stone describes Cécile as “...one of the Central. Nakamura made his record debut as leader in greatest jazz singers of her generation, but that label 2016 with A Lifetime Treasure, followed by Hometown in sells her short.” 2017. Canadian singer, trumpeter and songwriter Bria Grammy-nominated drummer and vocalist Jami- Skonberg has been described as one of the “most son Ross won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” by Competition in 2012. A Jacksonville, Florida native, the Wall Street Journal, recognized as one of 25 for the Jamison received his B.A. in Jazz Studies from Florida Future by DownBeat Magazine, and cited as a millennial State University and his master’s from the University “shaking up the jazz world” by Vanity Fair. Signed to Sony of New Orleans. He has toured internationally and re- Music Masterworks’ OKeh Records, Bria released her corded with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jonathan Batiste, major label debut in 2016, winning a Canadian JUNO Dr. John, Jon Cleary, Christian McBride, and Carmen award and making the Top 5 on Billboard jazz charts. Her Lundy. His Concord debut, Jamison, was nominated many accolades include Best Vocal and Best Trumpet as for a Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy in 2015, and awards from Hot House Jazz Magazine and DownBeat’s his latest, All for One, was released in 2018. Jamison’s Rising Star award. In addition to performing at jazz fes- “roots in jazz and gospel give him thrilling chops and tivals around the world, Bria is an avid educator, giving unfailing feel,” writes NPR. numerous workshops and concerts for students of all About Monterey Jazz Festival ages. The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates the legacy of Tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana was born in San- jazz, expands its boundaries, and provides opportuni- tiago, Chile, and in 2013, she became the first female ties to experience jazz through the creative production instrumentalist and the first South American ever to win of performances and educational programs. the Thelonious Monk Competition. Aldana attended the Visit www.montereyjazzfestival.org for more infor- Berklee College of Music, studying with George Garzone, mation and tour dated/locations. Below is a list of the Danilo Pérez and Patricia Zarate, while hitting the clubs cities on the tour. with Greg Osby and George Coleman, among others. March 2019: New York N.Y., Boston Mass, Troy, She is also a recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award from N.Y., Bethesda, Md., State College, Pa, Philadelphia, Jazz at Lincoln Center and is a double recipient of the Pa., East Lansing, Mich., Omaha, Neb., Baton Rouge, Altazor Award, Chile’s highly prestigious national arts La., Meridian, Miss., Memphis, Tenn., Fayetteville, prize. She has released four albums as a leader, includ- Ark. ing her latest, Back Home, on Concord. Melissa “…bal- April 2019: Portland, Ore., Berkeley, Calif., Rohnert ances technical bravura with musical depth, a hallmark Park, Calif., Los Angeles, Calif., Seattle, Wash., Santa of her playing,” writes the Chicago Tribune. Barbara, Calif., Mesa, Ariz., Calgary, Alberta Canada, Pianist and MJF on Tour Music Director Christian Chicago, Ill., Ann Arbor, Mich. Sands is a five-time Grammy nominee. Growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, he started playing profes- Issues, Special Issues, Back Issues and sionally at the age of 10, and received his bachelor of Thousands of CD & DVD Reviews From Our Archives arts and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. A protégé of Dr. Billy Taylor, Sands began a six-year association with bassist Christian McBride in jazz-blues.com PAGE THREE January • February 2019 • Issue 382 Monterey Jazz Festival Announces Allison Miller and Derrick Hodge as 2019 Artists-in-Residence Monterey, Calif. - Monterey Jazz Festival is proud genres include orchestrations and arrangements for to announce that drummer and composer Allison Miller Nas with the National Symphony Orchestra, Common, and bassist, composer and producer Derrick Hodge and Kanye West. Hodge has won two R&B Grammys have been selected as the 2019 Monterey Jazz Fes- with the Robert Glasper Experiment, and co-produced tival Artists-in-Residence and will work year-round albums with Quincy Jones and Don Was. Hodge has with young musicians in performances and clinics toured, performed or recorded with Maxwell, Kanye at the 2019 Next Generation Jazz Festival, Summer West, Herbie Hancock, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Timbaland, Jill Jazz Camp Intensive, with the Next Generation Jazz Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Gerald Levert, Common, Bilal, Orchestra, and at the 62nd Monterey Jazz Festival.