A L’il Something for Everyone
Pondering Miles, lotsa Litchfield, and new albums!
Emmet Cohen, shown here just a few weeks ago at the Western Connecticut State University Jazz Festival, is a frequent visitor to the 8495. His new album honoring Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Universal Truth, is now out on Mack Avenue Records (8495Jazz photo)
Miles’s 100th birthday came and went Tuesday, and his presence is as ubiquitous as ever, on video, on vinyl, in print, and on stage.
If you remember, very early on in the days of this little publication, I mentioned the unlikely connection, one person removed, my family might have had with Miles, and that serendipitous realization is what more or less gave me the nudge to get a little more serious about appreciating jazz writ large.
Last Sunday, The Guardian ran a very thought-provoking editorial essay to mark Miles’s centennial; “The space reserved for Miles Davis in the pantheon of 20th-century music is not simply because he mastered jazz, but because he refused to let it stand still. As musicians and fans mark the centenary of his birth , Davis’s work still feels limitless...Davis repeatedly dismantled the sound he had helped invent – embracing the electric age in 1968, much as Bob Dylan had in folk.”
One of my favorite capture-for posterity-on-video tidbits is an archival moment on the Bill Boggs talk show in which some hapless young kid was put before Miles with a trumpet. Evidently the show’s producers thought they might get some kind of sweetsy “passing the torch” moment between the kid and the greatest trumpet player of all time.
What they got was Miles telling the very young trumpet player “he needs to practice” and to play the song in a different key. They brought another, slightly older trumpet player up, and when Boggs asked Miles about that player, Miles completely passed the poor kid by and said “What’s your organ player’s name?” The organ player was the late, great Joey DeFrancesco, whom Miles hired shortly after that TV appearance.
As Christian McBride – who played bass on that show, a moment that turned out to be a pretty seminal moment for a couple careers – said, “Anybody who knew Miles’s history knew he was as legendary for his honesty as he was for his musicality.”
Miles blended those traits in stretching his music and the music over the decades. My personal favorites, from different eras, are “Boplicity,” off Birth of the Cool, which embodies the post-war culture; the on-the-fly brilliance of the Elevator to the Gallows soundtrack, improvised as the film rolled; “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down” from Bitches Brew live at Newport in 1969, in which Jack DeJohnette’s drums show us Miles and his band were at the forefront of and also totally in the pocket of that era’s music, and 1986’s Tutu album.
There have been numerous Miles/John Coltrane centennial commemoration shows in the 8495 the past six months or so. If you haven’t caught one and would like to, there are at least a couple I know of coming up: Bruce Harris brings an all-star band to The United Theatre in Westerly, RI July 17 to play the entire Birth of the Cool album; Tanglewood brings us the Ted Rosenthal Quintet and “100 years of Miles and Coltrane” July 26; and Charlie Hall’s Get Up With It band plays the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, CT on August 24 (in a rescheduled show).
New albums on the way from 8495 luminaries
Speaking of observing the Miles/Coltrane centennial, Emmet Cohen’s new album honoring the duo, Universal Truth, officially dropped Friday. Emmet’s label, Mack Avenue, says “With Joe Farnsworth, Yasushi Nakamura, Jeremy Pelt, Tivon Pennicott and guests Ron Carter and George Coleman, Emmet brings his celebrated tribute to the studio, pairing timeless classics (‘Well You Needn’t,’ ‘My Funny Valentine’) with new originals that honor jazz’s royalty while boldly carrying their tradition forward.” It’s available here.
Emmet and his trio will be headlining the Caramoor Jazz Festival in Katonah, NY, July 25.
Another well-known artist with strong ties to the 8495 (in fact, she was born in Waterbury and still lives in CT), Nicole Zuraitis, also has a new album, The Devil I Knew, on the way. The full album drops July 17, but Nicole has released Parts I and II already and Part III will come out Friday. The album is chock full of top-drawer musicians, as befits Nicole’s Grammy-winning resume.
If you would like to see her locally, she’s appearing this coming weekend at The Jazz Forum Club in Tarrytown, NY; the Shubert Theater in New Haven June 21; and at Music Mountain in the Litchfield hills July 18. No word yet on whether or not she may pop in to one of the Litchfield Jazz Camp’s faculty concerts (she’s a camp alum and has served on the faculty there), but such mystery makes life worth living to some extent, right?
Speaking of Litchfield…
Way, way back in the day, whoever promoted large outdoor shows over in upstate New York used to use the tagline “You know it’s summer when they’re rockin’ in Middletown” (or Weedsport far upstate).
Around here jazzwise, the same kind of summer summoning may fairly be attributed to Vita Muir and her staff at Litchfield Performing Arts. They’ve put together several opportunities to see and hear great jazz musicians – and hey, you can even lend a helping hand if you so desire.
This coming Saturday (June 6), they’ll be concluding their inaugural Swinging Saturdays season with a free public concert by the program’s faculty at the Educational Center for the Arts at 55 Audubon Street in New Haven at 6:30 pm.
Swinging Saturdays was designed to introduce students ages 12 through high school from the greater New Haven region to jazz, dance, and recording arts. Across the winter and spring, students explored jazz history and the legends who shaped it, from Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to trombonist JJ Johnson. Weekly guest artists brought their stories to life, while instrumental classes and recording workshops gave students the chance to compose original lyrics and melodies.
In addition to music making, students were introduced to dance by the Matthew Westerby Dance Company, who taught tap, hip-hop, and Latin dance styles, all of which grew out of the music. Field trips to Yale University rounded out the program, giving many students their first look at a college campus and jazz and classical concerts in its world-class music facilities. The program was funded through a grant from the state education department and cost the students nothing.
Click here for your free tickets.
They have also put out the call for volunteers for the 31st annual Litchfield Jazz Festival, which will be held July 24-26 at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, CT. They are looking for folks who can help with pre-festival promotion activity as well as all the associated operations with running the festival. Detailed descriptions and sign-up sheets can be found here.
This year’s festival is a special celebration honoring the 30th Anniversary of Litchfield Jazz Camp, featuring a lineup of longtime LJC faculty alongside distinguished alumni who began their journeys as campers. Among those you’ll be able to see and hear are Don Braden and the LJF Dectet, opening things on Friday night; the Jimmy Greene Quintet, Steve Davis Sextet, Paul Bollenback Quintet, and the Curtis Brothers Trio in the “All Jazz, All Day” Saturday; and the Steve Kortyka Sextet for the always popular Sunday Jazz Brunch.
Everything you need to know about the festival, including the link for tickets, is right here.
As the particulars draw nearer for the jazz camp faculty concerts, held many nights during the four weeks camp is in session, we here at 8495Jazz will fill you in. These shows are about the best-kept secret in music around here. You should take advantage of the opportunity.
One of the last of the bebop era titans, Sonny Rollins, died Monday at 95. Sonny was a longtime resident of the Hudson Valley, with homes in Germantown and then Woodstock. He was the last survivor of the musicians who gathered in 1958 for the iconic “A Great Day in Harlem” photo by Art Kane for Esquire.
Out and About with 8495Jazz
These listings are a curated sampling of shows in the region. As an independent resource for jazz news, 8495Jazz does not receive any consideration, free tickets, or affiliate fees for these listings. Please confirm events are still happening directly with the venue.
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven, CT
Litchfield Performing Arts Swinging Saturday program conclusion. Free. See above for full info.
8495Jazz Spur of the Moment Gig TODAY
Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden CT
Klezmer workshop and concert w/Frank London (trumpet). Workshop runs 1 – 3 pm, concert at 5:30. Workshop and concert $30, concert only $20 (adult) and $15 (seniors and students). Children under 11 free.
Other Upcoming Shows
The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Junco Partners (New Orleans variety), Thursday, June 4, 7:30 pm. $30 suggested donation.
Scullers, Boston, MA
Kim Waters (sax, combo), Saturday, June 6, 7 and 9 pm. GA $42.45 - $65.35 including service fee.
The Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Rich Goldstein Into The Blue Quartet (guitar combo), Saturday, June 6, 8 pm. GA $54.45, students $27.98 including service fee.
The Parlour, Providence, RI
The Al Cron Quartet (trombone, combo), today, 5 pm. GA $10.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Greg Burrows Plays the Music of Ed Bonoff (drums, combo), Thursday, June 4, 7:30 and 8:45 pm. GA $20.76 for the early show, $10.76 for the late show. Students/vets $15.76 for early show.
Pump House Music Works, S. Kingstown, RI
The Ellington Collective (tribute to Duke Ellington), Sunday, June 7, 7 pm. GA $33.85 including service fee.
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Max Johnson Sextet (bass, combo), Friday, June 5, 8:30 and 10 pm. GA $20 for the 8:30 show, $15 for 10 pm show.
Jazz Forum Arts, Tarrytown, NY
Nicole Zuraitis (vocals), Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6, 7 and 9:30 pm. GA $43, students $37.75 including service fee.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, various Tuesdays, click link for dates, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Mahoney’s, Poughkeepsie, NY
Poughkeepsie Jazz Project, every Tuesday, 7 pm. Free.
Park City Music Hall, Bridgeport, CT
Scott Cushman and Friends followed by jam, first Wednesday of the month.
The Parlour, Providence, RI
First Sunday Jam (first Sunday of the month) with Ben Shaw Quartet followed by jam, music starts at 6. Jammers $5, audience $10.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton, MA
Jams every second Tuesday of the month through June, 7 pm. $10 at the door, no advance sales.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other Thurs from 7-9pm.
8495Jazz takes its name from the two Interstate highways that cross our region, I-84 and I-95. Within short driving distances from either, you can find incredible entertainment, from local jams to world-famous festivals in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 8495Jazz: From Newburgh to Newport!
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