eric nemeyer’s - jazz inside · pdf fileda with pat martino’s band and soon after...
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WWW.JAZZINSIDEMAGAZINE.COM October-November 2017
Spectacular Jazz Gifts - Go To www.JazzMusicDeals.com
VillafrancaVillafranca ElioElio
With Nuevo Jazz Latino at
Jazz At Lincoln Center, November 3-4
Interviews Dafnis PrietoDafnis Prieto Jazz At Lincoln Center, Nov 3-4
Scott RobinsonScott Robinson Jazz Standard, October 31
Bobby SanabriaBobby Sanabria Dizzy’s Clu, Nov 17-19
Maria SchneiderMaria Schneider Jazz Standard, November 21-26
Warren WolfWarren Wolf Dizzy’s Club, Nov 10-12
Comprehensive Comprehensive
DirectoryDirectory of NY Club, Concert of NY Club, Concert
Eric Nemeyer’s
December 2015 � Jazz Inside Magazine � www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
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Jazz Inside Magazine
ISSN: 2150-3419 (print) • ISSN 2150-3427 (online)
October-November 2017 – Volume 8, Number 8
Cover Photo (and photo at right) of Elio Villafranca
by Jerry Lacay; Photo at right by Eric Nemeyer
Publisher: Eric Nemeyer Editor: Wendi Li Marketing Director: Cheryl Powers Advertising Sales & Marketing: Eric Nemeyer Circulation: Susan Brodsky Photo Editor: Joe Patitucci Layout and Design: Gail Gentry Contributing Artists: Shelly Rhodes Contributing Photographers: Eric Nemeyer, Ken Weiss Contributing Writers: John Alexander, John R. Barrett, Curtis Daven-port; Alex Henderson; Joe Patitucci; Ken Weiss.
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CONTENTSCONTENTS
CLUBS, CONCERTS, EVENTSCLUBS, CONCERTS, EVENTS 13 Calendar of Events, Concerts, Festi-
vals and Club Performances
18 Clubs & Venue Listings
FEATUREFEATURE 4 Elio Villafranca
INTERVIEWSINTERVIEWS 20 Dafnis Prieto 24 Scott Robinson 27 Bobby Sanabria
30 Warren Wolf 34 Maria Schneider
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Fea
ture
Elio VillafrancaElio Villafranca
Interview & Photo by Eric Nemeyer
Jazz Inside: Could you provide a glimpse
into how you discovered your passion for jazz
and the people and or opportunities that
opened the door for your immersion and de-
velopment in the music.
Elio Villafranca: I discovered my passion for
jazz when I first went to the International Jazz
Festival in Havana, Jazz Plaza, and experi-
enced my very first jazz performance with
Richie Cole’s quartet. At the time I didn’t
know what blues was, but his performance
impacted me so much, that from there on I
knew that I wanted to become a jazz musi-
cian. I was 16 years old. After that experience,
some of the Cuban musicians who traveled a
lot to the exterior would provide me with jazz
recordings and charts so I could listen, learn,
and study. In the U.S. I received jazz piano
lessons in Philadelphia from pianists Ed Si-
mon, Farid Baron, and Tom Lawton. Also in
Philly I became involved in the free jazz sce-
ne with Bobby Zankel and Charles Gayle.
Gradually, I began to get other opportunities
to play with people I admired like Sonny For-
tune, Jon Faddis, Johnny Pacheco, and Ralph
Peterson. A good friend of mine, Ron Berg,
put his faith in my music and supported me in
producing my first two albums, Incantations/
Encantaciones and The Source In Between. I
had the opportunity to tour Europe and Cana-
da with Pat Martino’s band and soon after I
moved to New York City where I continued
my immersion in jazz. My development as a
jazz musician is an ongoing process as I play
with and learn from other musicians. These
have included Wynton Marsalis, Billy Harper,
Billy Hart, Victor Lewis, Vincent Herring,
Lewis Nash, JD Allen and others. Music pro-
ducer Todd Barkan and Roland Chassagne
opened the doors of the beautiful Dizzy’s
Club Coca Cola to my music, and my most
recent recordings have been financially sup-
ported by Jim Luce, and Robin Wyatt. One of
my greatest opportunities came in November
(Continued on page 6)
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2010 when Chick Corea invited me to spend a
few hours jamming with him at the Jazz Gal-
lery in New York. Since Chick is one of my
biggest influences in music, it was a tremen-
dous honor to play with him and talk music.
JI: Could you discuss your recording, Dos Y
Mas, on Motema and how the initial germ of
an idea evolved into the completed artwork
for release?
EV: The idea of doing this collaboration was
first initiated by Arturo Stable. Over the last
nine years, Arturo and I have worked on many
different projects together, including my pre-
vious album The Source In Between. Realiz-
ing that we had many similar musical inter-
ests, Arturo suggested we develop a body of
original works and record a duet album. From
the beginning we established that we didn’t
want our new project to focus exclusively on
Cuban or Afro-Cuban music. We also agreed
that we wanted to create something different
from what we had each done in our previous
projects as bandleaders, something creative,
but at the same time friendly and accessible to
listeners. The idea became that of fusing vari-
ous musical elements and genres that we love
and that shaped us as musicians, such as jazz,
flamenco, Afro Cuban, Middle eastern, Rum-
ba, free jazz, son, and danzón, along with
other rhythms we came up with in the session,
hoping to create a world music sound. During
the year of preparation, the project expanded
into a cultural exploration much greater than
what we could have anticipated, which led me
to suggest the title, Dos Y Mas (Two and
More.) Working with Arturo was great. His
musicality and ability to play many different
hand drum instruments with ease created a
wide range of musical possibilities not easily
found in other similar duets. Working with
him was also effortless because we have simi-
lar musical tastes, concepts and aspirations--
perhaps because he started his musical career
as a pianist and then changed to percussion,
while I started as a percussionist and then
changed to piano.
JI: What kinds of challenges and opportuni-
ties did you experience in Cuba as you pur-
sued this creative path as a pianist and com-
poser?
EV: Like many Cubans, I learned about popu-
lar music, rock, jazz and rumba in the streets.
At that time there was no Real Book in Cuba.
We would learn jazz by transcribing what we
heard. I came from the small town of Pinar
del Rio to Havana and my family was my
only means of support. They gave me 45 Cu-
ban pesos per month to survive in the big city.
I would use it to buy cassette tapes, which
cost fifteen pesos each! Often I would buy 2
cassettes and then go to the homes of other
musicians who could travel outside of Cuba--
like pianists Ernan Lopez-Nusa, Pucho Lopez,
or Chucho Valdes — to see what new music
had come out and I would ask them if they
could make me copies. Sometimes they did
and sometimes they didn’t. But once I had a
copy in my possession I would listen to it over
and over and transcribe the music. That’s how
I learned all of the standards. I remember
spending hours at a table at Gonzalo Rubal-
caba’s home copying by hand the entire
Herbie Hancock solo on “The Eye of the Hur-
ricane,” while he practiced piano at the same
time. Jazz was something that was not al-
lowed at my school, so I had to go out side the
school to learn it. The one club where I used
to play some jazz and experiment with im-
provisation was The Maxim, the only jazz
club in Havana at the time. The first time I
played out was with trumpeter and singer
Bobby Carcases who would play regularly at
that club. Actually, I have a funny story play-
ing with Bobby: In one of my early visits to
the club, Bobby and his group played the
standard “On Green Dolphin Street.” I fell in
love with that tune, so I made the commitment
to learn it and play it in my next visit to the
club. As I mentioned before, I didn’t have a
real book, so I asked many musicians for a
copy of that standard. Finally I got a record-
ing, which I transcribed and learned in a hur-
ry. One night I went to the club with the sole
idea of playing that tune. Lucky enough, Bob-
by’s pianist didn’t show up that night, and
without my knowledge his bass player intro-
duced me to Bobby as a pianist who could do
the job for the night. When Bobby approached
me and asked me if I could do the job, I said
yes, thinking that I would finally have the
opportunity to play “On Green Dolphin
Street.” What I didn’t realize was that he was
asking me to play the entire gig that night, and
not just the only tune I knew from this band. I
spent the night luchando in the dark with no
charts, and the bassist leaning over my shoul-
der shouting out chord changes! What was
most frustrating of all, they never called “On
Green Dolphin Street.”
JI: With your Conservatory studies in Cuba
having been focused on composition and per-
cussion, how have those influenced
the processes you pursue in composing and
improvising?
EV: The earliest influences on my music ca-
reer were on the streets of my hometown, San
Luis, where I witnessed rehearsals and perfor-
mances of the Afro Cuban folkloric ensemble
of Tambor Yuka. The Tambor Yuka is one of
three important variations of Congolese music
in Cuba (along with Tambor Palo and Maku-
ta). My studies began at age 11 and continued
in varying levels of intensity until I was se-
lected into the Instituto Superior de Arte
(I.S.A.) where I developed a serious interest
in composition and continued studies in Per-
cussion. My training in composition was total-
ly in classical music. I never took a jazz or a
popular music course. Such courses were not
offered at the school, but that didn’t stop me
from writing my first jazz compositions and
founding my first jazz ensemble named
Ferjomesis. I see composing and improvising
as one thing, especially when I’m playing jazz
or free improvising. You have to be creative
instantly, compose something that is meaning-
ful and perform those ideas while they are just
forming in your head; there are no second
chances to re-write it or to change it. You
have to take what’s there and turn it into art in
the moment. My years of studies in Havana’s
music schools were essential in my harmonic
(Continued from page 4)
(Continued on page 8)
Elio Villafranca
“I see composing and improvising as one thing, especially when I’m playing jazz or free improvising. You have to be creative instantly,
compose something that is meaningful and perform those ideas while they are just forming in your head; there are no second chances to
re-write it or to change it. You have to take what’s there and turn it into art in the moment.”
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and melodic development, while the earlier
exposure to Congolese roots in my home
town, gave me a very important rhythmic
foundation that is a signature in my style of
playing and composing.
JI: Talk about your departure from Cuba and
your move to the United States.
EV: I immigrated to the U.S. in 1996 and the
reason was music. At the time I was a mem-
ber of singer songwriter Carlos Varela’s
group, I was on the faculty at the Instituto
Superior de Arte in Havana, where I was
teaching harmony courses to the students as
well as Latin jazz courses to American musi-
cians who would travel to Cuba to learn our
music. I was offered the opportunity to come
to Philadelphia to teach the same courses at
the Asociacion de Musicos Latino America-
nos in Philadelphia. I love my country, but I
needed to explore more about myself and im-
merse myself in the music I loved and wanted
to play, so I took the opportunity. Being deep-
ly interested in jazz, I knew that I needed to
come to the United States if I wanted to study
jazz seriously. In Cuba I only had the oppor-
tunity to play my music once a year, if I was
lucky enough to be selected to play at the Jazz
Festival. I also wanted to experiment with
different styles of music, not just Cuban or
American genres. I wanted to explore the
world musically and I knew that I wouldn’t be
able to do that from Cuba. The economy and
politics also played a small roll in my deci-
sion, but the main impetus was music.
JI: How has life in the United States benefit-
ed your creative pursuits and the business side
of the music for you?
EV: For me there is always a conflict between
the creative side and the business side of
things. During my training years in Cuba, I
would mostly focus on the creative side,
which is very important, but in America I
have to learn how to balance those two oppo-
site energies. I learned that art is not just the
way artists express themselves, it is also the
way we make money to survive in a capitalist
society, especially when art is not widely sup-
ported by the government. Living in New
York has given me the possibility to perform
with some of the must talented artists and
musicians in the world and made it possible to
have my music more widely heard and appre-
ciated. However, with all of these benefits I
still find it challenging to combine the artistry
and business sides of music, and be as honest
with my art as I hope to be.
JI: What kinds of understandings have
you discovered about people and/ or cultures
in your travels and performances recently?
EV: Learning about other cultures is the core
and most important thing about traveling.
Culture, and therefore music, comes from
people’s imaginations, and what we can imag-
ine comes from all the threads that are the
fabric of our lives. This may sound simple and
obvious for many, but I think that as musi-
cians, we often believe that listening to music,
transcribing tunes, and playing it are enough
to learn about a culture. However, when we
add to our knowledge of the music and history
of a place, the experience of eating their food,
observing their walk, hearing the melody of
their language, and where possible living
where they live, then we can really say we
start to be familiar with their culture, and our
understanding of their music is amplified. An
example: I had heard recordings of Ecuadori-
an marimba, so when I got a chance to visit
the country, I went to the province of Es-
meraldas where there is a strong African cul-
tural tradition. My friends brought along their
friend, Lucho, who drove a taxi and ensured
that we got to savor local foods and experi-
ence how people lived there. He introduced
me to a family of musicians who constructed
marimbas in a beautiful workshop full of
wooden instruments, performed the dances,
and carried the legends and oral traditions of
Afro Ecuadorian culture from one generation
to the next and to the larger community. A
spontaneous visit to the workshop with the
man who made the instruments where I
learned about the construction of the different
types of instruments, turned into an afternoon
of playing the marimbas with family members
dancing around us and long discussions about
their music and history. Later, I visited the
family’s elderly matriarch who sat in the af-
ternoon breeze and told Afro Ecuadorian sto-
ries, occasionally breaking into song. I went
with the man to a class at a local orphanage
where he taught the children how to play the
rhythms and melodies of marimba music. The
children then taught me their dances. The
whole experience added many dimensions to
my understanding of that particular portion in
the Ecuadorian culture.
JI: How have your activities as a music edu-
cator at Temple University influenced your
artistic pursuits and understanding?
EV: I enjoy teaching. I think it is a big part of
my training as a musician. Sharing my experi-
ences with the students and answering ques-
tion they may bring to the class helps me as
much as it helps them to achieve a higher lev-
el of understanding and consciousness about
my playing and music in general. I think curi-
osity is key in music’s development. I have
found Temple University to be a fertile terrain
where curiosity is fostered among teachers
and students.
JI: Talk about what you've learned about
leadership from one or more of the jazz artists
with/for whom you have worked.
EV: I don’t think there is a musician in the
business that takes leadership more seriously
than Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea. I
learned a lot playing with Marsalis: While we
(Continued from page 6)
(Continued on page 9)
“In times of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned find
themselves beautifully equipped to succeed in a world that
no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer, American Philosopher
Elio Villafranca
“Living in New York has given me the possibility to perform with some of the must talented artists and musicians in the world and made it possible
to have my music more widely heard and appreciated. However, with all of these benefits I still find it challenging to combine the artistry and business sides of music, and be as honest
with my art as I hope to be.”
October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com 9 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880
xxxxxxxxxxx
were waiting to come out to the stage of the
Allen room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, he was
hanging with the musicians and making sure
we all felt comfortable. Then on the stage, he
would speak to the audience, making sure
they felt comfortable as well. His casual style
is at once engaging and warm while his music
is so precise and so tight it is almost formal in
its execution. I try to follow that model for my
own performances. Watching pianist Chick
Corea at a sound check during the 2011 Re-
turn to Forever Tour was another great experi-
ence. His concept of leadership is to free eve-
rybody and trust in their contributions to the
music. He doesn’t control the interactions, no
matter what direction the music takes, Chick
is there to support the music as it develops. As
bassist John Patitucci described him… “Chick
is like your best friend, he is always there no
matter what.” I had also learned a great deal
about leadership from music producer Jeff
Levinson during the recording of Tree of Life
by Francisco Mela for Half Note Records.
Different from other producers, he would nev-
er interfere in the creative process. Instead he
would encourage me to expand my ideas
without pushing his own, and felt like good
leadership, necessary in a studio environment.
JI: Could you share some words of wisdom
you've heard, or understandings or advice
you've picked up about music or business or
life from one or more of the artists with whom
you've worked: Pat Martino, Wynton Marsal-
is; Jon Faddis; Sonny Fortune or others?
EV: The advice that most recently impacted
(Continued from page 8)
(Continued on page 10)
“Culture, and therefore music, comes from people’s imaginations, and what
we can imagine comes from all the threads that are the fabric of our lives.”
October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com 10 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880
me came from my friend and indirect mentor
Chick Corea. In November I went to see his
last performance of a month at the Blue Note,
NYC, with his electric band. Impressed with
his performance I told him about my upcom-
ing recording with my Jass Syncopators, and I
wished out loud that my project would be as
strong as his. He said, “…never compare your
work with others at the time of the perfor-
mance. That will lower your ability to fully
express yourself. I have seen your Jass Synco-
pators project at Dizzy’s with Billy Hart, Sean
Jones and the others, and it is very strong.
You should always be in the moment and put
all your energy and thoughts in that moment.
Send me a copy of the recording when you
finish!”
JI: Is there anything you'd like to talk about
that I haven't prompted you about?
EV: I recorded the album Flower by the Dry
River at Soundsmith Corporation, Peekskill,
Neq York my group Elio Villafranca & The
Jass Syncopators. The idea was to do a rare
form of recording known as Direct to Disc to
support Direct Grace Fund for Children of the
World subject to abuse, starvation and pov-
erty. Everyone involved in this project, musi-
cians, photographers, videographers, execu-
tive producers, and sound engineers, got very
excited and donated their time and talent to
contribute to the cause. One hundred percent
of the money generated by the sales of the
vinyl edition, as well as a large percent of the
money generated by the sales of the CD, will
be donated to Direct Grace to support its cam-
paign in helping millions of kids deprived of
the basic things in life such as freedom, secu-
rity, and food. The Jass Syncopators featuring
Victor Lewis, drums, Vincent Herring, alto
sax, J.D. Allen, tenor sax, Bruce Harris, trum-
pet, Gregg August, bass, Juango Gutierrez-
barril, Camilo, Molina-barril, and myself,
piano, recorded original music I composed,
which I dedicate to all children of the world
who suffer from horrible conditions. This is a
beautiful project that we all can be proud of!
(Continued from page 9)
Elio Villafranca
“Sharing my experiences with the students and answering question they may bring to the class helps me as much as it helps them to achieve a
higher level of understanding and consciousness about my playing and music in general. I think
curiosity is key in music’s development.”
October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com 11 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880
Frank WessFrank Wess Scott Robinson (interview on page 24) commented: “It’s one of the great oppor-Scott Robinson (interview on page 24) commented: “It’s one of the great oppor-
tunities of what I do. In baseball, kids grow up idolizing Mickey Mantle for exam-tunities of what I do. In baseball, kids grow up idolizing Mickey Mantle for exam-
ple. If they’re fortunate enough to get to a point where they can actually become ple. If they’re fortunate enough to get to a point where they can actually become
a major league player, Mickey Mantle is long gone. But I get to play with “Mickey a major league player, Mickey Mantle is long gone. But I get to play with “Mickey
Mantle.” I grew up listening to Frank Wess Mantle.” I grew up listening to Frank Wess –– and I reached a point where I can go and I reached a point where I can go
play at the Vanguard with Frank Wess.”play at the Vanguard with Frank Wess.” Photo taken at Newport Jazz Festival, August 14, 2004 © Eric Nemeyer
October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com 12 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880
Joey DeFrancesco Monk Centennial, Dizzy’s Club Jazz At Lincoln Center, October 12-15 © Eric Nemeyer
13 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Sunday, October 1 Freddy Cole, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Randy Weston / Billy Harper Duo, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, October 2 Mingus Big Band, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
John Colianni’s Jazz Orchestra, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, October 3 Rodney Green Trio, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Steve Cardenas With Adam Kolker, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes Quartet, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Wednesday, October 4 Nicki Parrott Celebrates Blossom Dearie, Dizzy's, JALC, 60th & Bdwy
Mike Moreno Monk Centennial Band, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Thursday, October 5 Jean Baylor & Marcus Baylor, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes Quartet, Chris Potter, Tenor; Renee Rosnes, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Lenny White, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Friday, October 6 Big Band Sound Of Rufus Reid, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes Quartet, Chris Potter, Tenor; Renee Rosnes, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Lenny White, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Saturday, October 7 Big Band Sound Of Rufus Reid, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes Quartet, Chris Potter, Tenor; Renee Rosnes, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Lenny White, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Sunday, October 8 Big Band Sound Of Rufus Reid, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Renee Rosnes Quartet, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Monday, October 9 Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Lee Konitz 90th Birthday Celebration Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monk Centennial, Frank Carlberg Large Ensemble: Monk Dreams,
Hallucinations, And Nightmares, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Tuesday, October 10 Monk Centennial, Ts Monk Sextet, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center
Joey Alexander Trio With Charnett Moffett, Ulysses Owens, Jr., Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, October 11 Monk Centennial, T.S. Monk Sextet, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center, 60th & Bdwy
Kenny Barron, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
The Bad Plus, Bill Frisell, Guitar; Ethan Iverson, Piano; Reid Ander-son, Bass; Dave King; Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, October 12 Joey Defrancesco Plays Monk, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
John Beasley's Monkestra, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Bad Plus, Bill Frisell, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, October 13 Monk Centennial, Joey Defrancesco Plays Monk, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center
John Beasley's Monkestra, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, October 14 Monk Centennial, Joey Defrancesco Plays Monk, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center
John Beasley's Monkestra, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, October 15 Monk Centennial, Joey Defrancesco Plays Monk, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center
Andrew Cyrille, David Virelles, Ben Street, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Eddie Palmieri 80th Birthday Celebration, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, October 16 Monday Nights With WBGO - Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Dizzy’s
Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Tuesday, October 17 Dizzy Centennial - Josh Evans Big Band: To Diz With Love, Dizzy’s
Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Frank Kimbrough Quartet Plays Monk At Town Hall 1959, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
McCoy Tyner, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, October 18 Dizzy Centennial, Josh Evans Big Band: To Diz With Love, Dizzy’s
Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Brian Lynch Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Chico Freeman, Saxophone; Anthony (Continued on page 14)
CALENDAR OF EVENTSCALENDAR OF EVENTS
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Wonsey, Piano; Kenny Davis, Bass; Gust Tsilis, Vibes; Billy Hart, Drums; Terri Lyne Carrington; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life & Friends - Monthly Fall Residency, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, October 19 Dizzy Centennial, Dizzy At 100 With Jon Faddis, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center
Charles Tolliver Tentet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Chico Freeman, Saxophone; Anthony Wonsey, Piano; Kenny Davis, Bass; Gust Tsilis, Vibes; Billy Hart, Drums; Terri Lyne Carrington; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Friday, October 20 Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra Songbook, 30th Anniversary
Landmark Concert With Wynton Marsalis Performs Favorite Original
Works - Composed By Members Of The Orchestra, Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Dizzy Centennial, Dizzy At 100 With Jon Faddis, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Charles Tolliver Tentet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Chico Freeman, Saxophone; Anthony Wonsey, Piano; Kenny Davis, Bass; Gust Tsilis, Vibes; Billy Hart, Drums; Terri Lyne Carrington; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Saturday, October 21 Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra Songbook, 30th Anniversary -
Landmark Concert With Wynton Marsalis Performs Favorite Original Works, Composed By Members Of The Orchestra, Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Dizzy Centennial, Dizzy At 100 With Jon Faddis, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Caleb Wheeler Curtis Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30, 116 E. 27th.
Charles Tolliver Tentet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Chico Freeman, Saxophone; Anthony Wonsey, Piano; Kenny Davis, Bass; Gust Tsilis, Vibes; Billy Hart, Drums; Terri Lyne Carrington; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, October 22 Dizzy Centennial, Dizzy At 100 With Jon Faddis, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Charles Tolliver Tentet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Chico Freeman Plus+Tet, Chico Freeman, Saxophone; Anthony Wonsey, Piano; Kenny Davis, Bass; Gust Tsilis, Vibes; Billy Hart, Drums; Terri Lyne Carrington; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, October 23 Greg Reitan Trio, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th &
Bdwy
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Harold López-Nussa Trio, Ft Gregoire Marét, Pedrito Martinez & More, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, October 24 Oran Etkin’s Reimagining Benny Goodman, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At
Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Azar Lawrence Quartet With Benito Gonzalez, Essiet Essiet, Lenny White, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Billy Williams, Drums; Village Van-guard, 178 7th Ave S.
Harold López-Nussa Trio, Ft Gregoire Marét, Pedrito Martinez & More, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, October 25 Oran Etkin: Gathering Light, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center,
60th & Bdwy
Azar Lawrence with Benito Gonzalez, Essiet Essiet, Lenny White, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Lea Delaria With Special Guest Norm Lewis, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Billy Williams, Drums; Village Van-guard, 178 7th Ave S.
Arturo Sandoval, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, October 26 Mike Ledonne Trio Featuring Ron Carter, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At
Lincoln Center
Yosvany Terry, Baptiste Trotignon Quartet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Arianna Neikrug, Lea Delaria With Special Guest Norm Lewis, Bird-land, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Billy Williams, Drums; Village Van-guard, 178 7th Ave S.
Arturo Sandoval, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, October 27 Marilyn Maye & Tedd Firth Big Band, Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln
Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Georgia Horns, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Yosvany Terry, Baptiste Trotignon Quartet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Birdland Big Band, Lea Delaria With Special Guest Norm Lewis, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Billy Williams, Drums; Village Van-guard, 178 7th Ave S.
Arturo Sandoval, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, October 28 Marilyn Maye & Tedd Firth Big Band, Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln
Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Georgia Horns, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Vinnie Sperrazza, Peter Brendler, Bruce Barth, Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th.
Yosvany Terry, Baptiste Trotignon Quartet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Sax; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
(Continued on page 16)
15 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
16 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Arturo Sandoval, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, October 29 Georgia Horns, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Frank Perowsky Jazz Orchestra, Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Billy Williams, Drums; Village Van-guard, 178 7th Ave S.
Arturo Sandoval, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, October 30 Manhattan School Of Music Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At
Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Ari Hoenig Trio, Jonathan Barber Group & After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Natalie Douglas Celebrating Shirley Bassey, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Odean Pope Sax Choir Birthday Celebration Ft. Ravi Coltrane, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, October 31 Makoto Ozone Trio Featuring James Genus And Jeff “Tain” Watts,
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Scott Robinson & The Heliotones: A Halloween Spectacular With Phillip Harper, Frank Lacy, Gary Versace, Pat O’Leary, Jazz Stand-ard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Ann Hampton Callaway "Jazz Goes To The Movies", Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, November 1 Dan Nimmer Trio, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th &
Bdwy
Andrew Gould Quartet, Josh Lawrence "Color Theory", Jovan Alexan-dre, After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Ann Hampton Callaway "Jazz Goes To The Movies", Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, November 2
George Coleman Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Dan Nimmer Trio, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy
Christopher Mcbride Quintet, Luca Santaniello Quartet, Davis Whit-field, "After-Hours" Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Ann Hampton Callaway, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, November 3 George Coleman Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Nuevo Jazz Latino, 30th Anniversary Landmark Concert With Elio Villafranca, Yosvany Terry, Dafnis Prieto, Pedrito Martinez, Carlos Henriquez, Mike Rodriguez, Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Eliane Elias: From Bill Evans To Brazil, Pianist, Vocalist, And Grammy Award Winner, Eliane Elias Performs The Music Of Bill Evans, Brazili-an Classics And Originals, Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Vinicius Cantuaria, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy
Mark Gross Quintet, George Colligan Quintet, Corey Wallace "After-Hours", Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Ann Hampton Callaway, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; John Hébert, Bass; Eric McPherson, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, November 4 George Coleman Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Nuevo Jazz Latino, 30th Anniversary Landmark Concert With Elio Villafranca, Yosvany Terry, Dafnis Prieto, Pedrito Martinez, Carlos Henriquez, Mike Rodriguez, Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Eliane Elias: From Bill Evans To Brazil, Pianist, Vocalist, And Grammy Award Winner, Eliane Elias Performs The Music Of Bill Evans, Brazili-an Classics And Originals, Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Vinicius Cantuaria Quintet, Dizzy’s Club, 60th & Bdwy
Smalls Showcase: Mike Bond Trio, Mark Gross Quintet, George Colligan Quintet, Brooklyn Circle, Small’s, 183 W. 10th
Ann Hampton Callaway "Jazz Goes To The Movies", Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; John Hébert, Bass; Eric McPherson, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, November 5 George Coleman Quintet, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Vocal Masterclass With Marion Cowings, Ai Murakami Trio Feat. Sacha Perry
Behn Gillece Quartet, Richie Vitale Quintet, Hillel Salem, After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
John Colianni Jazz Orchestra, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fred Hersch, Piano; John Hébert, Bass; Eric McPherson, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, November 6 Triangular: Ralph Peterson Trio Featuring The Curtis Brothers, Diz-
zy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center
Theo Hill Trio, Jonathan Michel Group & After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Tuesday, November 7 Triangular: Ralph Peterson Trio Featuring The Curtis Brothers, Diz-
zy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Frank Lacy Group, Abraham Burton Quartet & After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Rebirth Brass Band, Residency, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, November 8 Israeli Jazz Celebration: 7:30pm—Guy Mintus Trio; 9:30pm—Yotam
Ben-Or Quartet, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Michael Zilber Quartet, Ryan Keberle & Catharsis, Aaron Seeber, After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars; David Ostwald's Louis Arm-strong Eternity Band; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Rebirth Brass Band, Residency, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, November 9
Leonard Bernstein At The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis Celebrates The Leonard Bernstein Centennial; Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Sullivan Fortner, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
New York Jazz Nine, Nick Hempton Trio, Jonathan Thomas, After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Talib Kweli – Live band residency: “Quality” album 15th Anniversary, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, November 10 Leonard Bernstein At The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With
Wynton Marsalis Celebrates The Leonard Bernstein Centennial; Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Warren Wolf, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Tim Ries Quintet, The Flail, After-Hours Jam Session With Joe Farns-worth, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Talib Kweli, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, November 11 Leonard Bernstein At The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With
Wynton Marsalis Celebrates The Leonard Bernstein Centennial; Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Warren Wolf, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy
Jon Roche, The Flail, Philip Harper Quintet, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Bad Plus, Bill Frisell, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar, Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
(Continued on page 17)
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17 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Talib Kweli – Live band residency: “Quality” album 15th Anniversary, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, November 12 Warren Wolf, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Ai Murakami, Sasha Dobson, David Schnitter, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Bad Plus, Bill Frisell, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Ravi Coltrane, Saxophone Adam Rogers, Guitar Dezron Douglas, Bass E.J. Strickland, Drums; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Monday, November 13 Neal Smith Berklee Octet Featuring Billy Pierce, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Tim Hegarty Group, Jonathan Barber Group & After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
McCoy Tyner, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, November 14 Jerome Jennings Group Featuring Jazzmeia Horn, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Lucas Pino Nonet, Abraham Burton, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Diane Schuur, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke Band with Lenny White, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, November 15 Jerome Jennings Group Featuring Jazzmeia Horn, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz
At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Curtis Nowosad, Harold Mabern, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Diane Schuur; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke Band with Lenny White, Beka Gochiashvili, Salar Nadar, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, November 16
Embrace: A Musical Celebration Of Friends And Collaborators Of The Incredible Honk, Roswell Rudd, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Alex Lore, Brandon Sanders, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Diane Schuur; Steve Sandberg Quartet; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, November 17 Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: West Side Story At 60 Reimag-
ined, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Michael Cochrane, John Fedchock, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Diane Schuur; Birdland Big Band; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke Band with Lenny White, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, November 18 Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: West Side Story At 60 Reimag-
ined, Dizzy's Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Kristina Koller, Mike Clark Quartet, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift; Diane Schuur, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke Band with Lenny White, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, November 19 Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: West Side Story At 60 Reimag-
ined, Dizzy's Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Brian Blade, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Ai Murakami, Tardo Hammer, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
John Zorn's Masada: Book Three, Masada At The Vanguard; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Stanley Clarke Band with Lenny White, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, November 20 Steve Nelson Salutes Bobby Hutcherson, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At
Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Ari Hoenig Trio, Jonathan Barber, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life & Friends, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, November 21 Yotam Silberstein, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th &
Bdwy.
Maria Schneider Orch, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Steve Nelson Quintet, Abraham Burton Quartet & After-Hours Jam Session, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Jason Moran, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, November 22 Wycliffe Gordon, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy.
Maria Schneider Orch, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Taylor Eigsti, Asaf Yuria, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Louis Armstrong Eternity; Veronica Swift; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Jason Moran, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, November 23
Wycliffe Gordon, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy.
Taylor Eigsti, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Jason Moran, Piano; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, November 24 Wycliffe Gordon, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy.
Maria Schneider Orch, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Brandon Lee Quartet, Jerome Jennings Sextet, After-Hours Jam Session With Corey Wallace, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift With The Benny Green Trio; Birdland Big Band; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Jason Moran, Piano; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Saturday, November 25 Wycliffe Gordon, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy.
Maria Schneider Orch, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Michael Stephans, Philip Harper Quintet, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Veronica Swift, Benny Green; Birdland Big Band; 315 W. 44th St.
Jason Moran, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Sunday, November 26 Wycliffe Gordon, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Ctr, 60th & Bdwy.
Maria Schneider Orch, Jazz Standard, 7:30, 9:30 PM. 116 E. 27th.
Marion Cowings, Ai Murakami, David Gibson, Small’s, 183 W. 10th
Jason Moran, Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Monday, November 27 MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln
Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Stranahan/Zaleski/Rosato, Jonathan Michel, Small’s
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
McCoy Tyner, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Tuesday, November 28 Dayna Stephens with Taylor Eigsti, Peter Bernstein, Ben Street, Billy
Hart, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Spike Wilner, Abraham Burton, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Marcus Roberts Trio; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet; Tim Warfield, Saxophone; Bruce Barth, Piano; Peter Washington, Bass; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Fourplay, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Wednesday, November 29 Dayna Stephens with Taylor Eigsti, Peter Bernstein, Ben Street, Billy
Hart, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Nate Radley, Steve Davis, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Marcus Roberts; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Fourplay, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Thursday, November 30
David Chesky: Jazz In The New Harmonic, Dizzy’s Club, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Hailey Niswanger, Steve Davis, Small’s, 183 W. 10th St.
Marcus Roberts Trio; Birdland, 315 W. 44th St.
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S.
Fourplay, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, December 1
Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughan & Charlie Musselwhite: The Blues Triangle Memphis, Texas, And Chicago And More; Rose Theater. Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Fabulous Dorsey Brothers With Peter And Will Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Brianna Thomas, Bruce Harris, And More; The Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Fourplay, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St.
Friday, December 2
Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughan & Charlie Musselwhite: The Blues Triangle Memphis, Texas, And Chicago And More; Rose Theater. Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Fabulous Dorsey Brothers With Peter And Will Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Brianna Thomas, Bruce Harris; Appel Room, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Fourplay, Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St
Tuesday, December 13
Big Band Holidays Featuring The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis And Vocalists Catherine Russell And Kenny Washington; Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
Wednesday, December 14
Big Band Holidays Featuring The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis And Vocalists Catherine Russell And Kenny Washington; Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, 60th & Bdwy.
“...among human beings jealousy ranks distinctly as a
weakness; a trademark of small minds; a property of all small minds, yet a property
which even the smallest is ashamed of; and when accused of its possession will
lyingly deny it and resent the accusation as an insult.”
-Mark Twain
“Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free
to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back that
is an outrage.”
- Winston Churchill
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth.
Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.”
- W. Clement Stone
18 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
5 C Cultural Center, 68 Avenue C. 212-477-5993. www.5ccc.com
55 Bar, 55 Christopher St. 212-929-9883, 55bar.com
92nd St Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128,
212.415.5500, 92ndsty.org
Aaron Davis Hall, City College of NY, Convent Ave., 212-650-
6900, aarondavishall.org
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway & 65th St., 212-875-
5050, lincolncenter.org/default.asp
Allen Room, Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center, Broadway and
60th, 5th floor, 212-258-9800, lincolncenter.org
American Museum of Natural History, 81st St. & Central Park
W., 212-769-5100, amnh.org
Antibes Bistro, 112 Suffolk Street. 212-533-6088.
www.antibesbistro.com
Arthur’s Tavern, 57 Grove St., 212-675-6879 or 917-301-8759,
arthurstavernnyc.com
Arts Maplewood, P.O. Box 383, Maplewood, NJ 07040; 973-378-
2133, artsmaplewood.org
Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center, Columbus Ave. & 65th St.,
212-875-5030, lincolncenter.org
BAM Café, 30 Lafayette Av, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, bam.org
Bar Chord, 1008 Cortelyou Rd., Brooklyn, barchordnyc.com
Bar Lunatico, 486 Halsey St., Brooklyn. 718-513-0339.
222.barlunatico.com
Barbes, 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.), Park Slope, Brooklyn,
718-965-9177, barbesbrooklyn.com
Barge Music, Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, 718-624-2083,
bargemusic.org
B.B. King’s Blues Bar, 237 W. 42nd St., 212-997-4144,
bbkingblues.com
Beacon Theatre, 74th St. & Broadway, 212-496-7070
Beco Bar, 45 Richardson, Brooklyn. 718-599-1645.
www.becobar.com
Bickford Theatre, on Columbia Turnpike @ Normandy Heights
Road, east of downtown Morristown. 973-744-2600
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St., 212-581-3080
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd, 212-475-8592, bluenotejazz.com
Bourbon St Bar and Grille, 346 W. 46th St, NY, 10036,
212-245-2030, [email protected]
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (at Bleecker), 212-614-0505,
bowerypoetry.com
BRIC House, 647 Fulton St. Brooklyn, NY 11217, 718-683-5600,
http://bricartsmedia.org
Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, 2nd Fl, Brooklyn,
NY, 718-230-2100, brooklynpubliclibrary.org
Café Carlyle, 35 E. 76th St., 212-570-7189, thecarlyle.com
Café Loup, 105 W. 13th St. (West Village) , between Sixth and
Seventh Aves., 212-255-4746
Café St. Bart’s, 109 E. 50th St, 212-888-2664, cafestbarts.com
Cafe Noctambulo, 178 2nd Ave. 212-995-0900. cafenoctam-
bulo.com
Caffe Vivaldi, 32 Jones St, NYC; caffevivaldi.com
Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic St, Trenton. 609-695-9612.
Carnegie Hall, 7th Av & 57th, 212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org
Cassandra’s Jazz, 2256 7th Avenue. 917-435-2250. cassan-
drasjazz.com
Chico’s House Of Jazz, In Shoppes at the Arcade, 631 Lake Ave.,
Asbury Park, 732-774-5299
City Winery, 155 Varick St. Bet. Vandam & Spring St., 212-608-
0555. citywinery.com
Cleopatra’s Needle, 2485 Broadway (betw 92nd & 93rd), 212-769-
6969, cleopatrasneedleny.com
Club Bonafide, 212 W. 52nd, 646-918-6189. clubbonafide.com
C’mon Everybody, 325 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn.
www.cmoneverybody.com
Copeland’s, 547 W. 145th St. (at Bdwy), 212-234-2356
Cornelia St Café, 29 Cornelia, 212-989-9319
Count Basie Theatre, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank, New Jersey
07701, 732-842-9000, countbasietheatre.org
Crossroads at Garwood, 78 North Ave., Garwood, NJ 07027,
908-232-5666
Cutting Room, 19 W. 24th St, 212-691-1900
Dizzy’s Club, Broadway at 60th St., 5th Floor, 212-258-9595,
jalc.com
DROM, 85 Avenue A, New York, 212-777-1157, dromnyc.com
The Ear Inn, 326 Spring St., NY, 212-226-9060, earinn.com
East Village Social, 126 St. Marks Place. 646-755-8662.
www.evsnyc.com
Edward Hopper House, 82 N. Broadway, Nyack NY. 854-358-
0774.
El Museo Del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave (at 104th St.), Tel: 212-831-
7272, Fax: 212-831-7927, elmuseo.org
Esperanto, 145 Avenue C. 212-505-6559. www.esperantony.com
The Falcon, 1348 Rt. 9W, Marlboro, NY., 845) 236-7970,
Fat Cat, 75 Christopher St., 212-675-7369, fatcatjazz.com
Fine and Rare, 9 East 37th Street. www.fineandrare.nyc
Five Spot, 459 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 718-852-0202, fivespot-
soulfood.com
Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY, 718-
463-7700 x222, flushingtownhall.org
For My Sweet, 1103 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY 718-857-1427
Galapagos, 70 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, NY, 718-782-5188, galapago-
sartspace.com
Garage Restaurant and Café, 99 Seventh Ave. (betw 4th and
Bleecker), 212-645-0600, garagerest.com
Garden Café, 4961 Broadway, by 207th St., New York, 10034,
212-544-9480
Gin Fizz, 308 Lenox Ave, 2nd floor. (212) 289-2220.
www.ginfizzharlem.com
Ginny’s Supper Club, 310 Malcolm X Boulevard Manhattan, NY
10027, 212-792-9001, http://redroosterharlem.com/ginnys/
Glen Rock Inn, 222 Rock Road, Glen Rock, NJ, (201) 445-2362,
glenrockinn.com
GoodRoom, 98 Meserole, Bklyn, 718-349-2373, goodroombk.com.
Green Growler, 368 S, Riverside Ave., Croton-on-Hudson NY.
914-862-0961. www.thegreengrowler.com
Greenwich Village Bistro, 13 Carmine St., 212-206-9777, green-
wichvillagebistro.com
Harlem on 5th, 2150 5th Avenue. 212-234-5600.
www.harlemonfifth.com
Harlem Tea Room, 1793A Madison Ave., 212-348-3471, har-
lemtearoom.com
Hat City Kitchen, 459 Valley St, Orange. 862-252-9147.
hatcitykitchen.com
Havana Central West End, 2911 Broadway/114th St), NYC,
212-662-8830, havanacentral.com
Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St (between 9th & 10th Ave.
highlineballroom.com, 212-414-4314.
Hopewell Valley Bistro, 15 East Broad St, Hopewell, NJ 08525,
609-466-9889, hopewellvalleybistro.com
Hudson Room, 27 S. Division St., Peekskill NY. 914-788-FOOD.
hudsonroom.com
Hyatt New Brunswick, 2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ
IBeam Music Studio, 168 7th St., Brooklyn, ibeambrooklyn.com
INC American Bar & Kitchen, 302 George St., New Brunswick
NJ. (732) 640-0553. www.increstaurant.com
Iridium, 1650 Broadway, 212-582-2121, iridiumjazzclub.com
Jazz 966, 966 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY, 718-638-6910
Jazz at Lincoln Center, 33 W. 60th St., 212-258-9800, jalc.org
Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St., 5th Floor
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Reservations: 212-258-9595
Rose Theater, Tickets: 212-721-6500, The Allen Room, Tickets:
212-721-6500
Jazz Gallery, 1160 Bdwy, (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org
The Jazz Spot, 375 Kosciuszko St. (enter at 179 Marcus Garvey
Blvd.), Brooklyn, NY, 718-453-7825, thejazz.8m.com
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., 212-576-2232, jazzstandard.net
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St & Astor Pl.,
212-539-8778, joespub.com
John Birks Gillespie Auditorium (see Baha’i Center)
Jules Bistro, 65 St. Marks Pl, 212-477-5560, julesbistro.com
Kasser Theater, 1 Normal Av, Montclair State College, Montclair,
973-655-4000, montclair.edu
Key Club, 58 Park Pl, Newark, NJ, 973-799-0306, keyclubnj.com
Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Ave., 212-885-7119. kitano.com
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill, 33 University Pl., 212-228-8490,
knickerbockerbarandgrill.com
Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St, 212-219-3132, knittingfacto-
ry.com
Langham Place — Measure, Fifth Avenue, 400 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018, 212-613-8738, langhamplacehotels.com
La Lanterna (Bar Next Door at La Lanterna), 129 MacDougal St,
New York, 212-529-5945, lalanternarcaffe.com
Le Cirque Cafe, 151 E. 58th St., lecirque.com
Le Fanfare, 1103 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn. 347-987-4244.
www.lefanfare.com
Le Madeleine, 403 W. 43rd St. (betw 9th & 10th Ave.), New York,
New York, 212-246-2993, lemadeleine.com
Les Gallery Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk St, 212-260-4080
Lexington Hotel, 511 Lexington Ave. (212) 755-4400.
www.lexinghotelnyc.com
Live @ The Falcon, 1348 Route 9W, Marlboro, NY 12542,
Living Room, 154 Ludlow St. 212-533-7235, livingroomny.com
The Local 269, 269 E. Houston St. (corner of Suffolk St.), NYC
Makor, 35 W. 67th St., 212-601-1000, makor.org
Lounge Zen, 254 DeGraw Ave, Teaneck, NJ, (201) 692-8585,
lounge-zen.com
Maureen's Jazz Cellar, 2 N. Broadway, Nyack NY. 845-535-3143.
maureensjazzcellar.com
Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ, 201-653-1703
McCarter Theater, 91 University Pl., Princeton, 609-258-2787,
mccarter.org
Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Center, 129 W. 67th St., 212-501
-3330, ekcc.org/merkin.htm
Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St NY, NY 10012, 212-206-
0440
Mezzrow, 163 West 10th Street, Basement, New York, NY
10014. 646-476-4346. www.mezzrow.com
Minton’s, 206 W 118th St., 212-243-2222, mintonsharlem.com
Mirelle’s, 170 Post Ave., Westbury, NY, 516-338-4933
MIST Harlem, 46 W. 116th St., myimagestudios.com
Mixed Notes Café, 333 Elmont Rd., Elmont, NY (Queens area),
516-328-2233, mixednotescafe.com
Montauk Club, 25 8th Ave., Brooklyn, 718-638-0800,
montaukclub.com
Moscow 57, 168½ Delancey. 212-260-5775. moscow57.com
Muchmore’s, 2 Havemeyer St., Brooklyn. 718-576-3222.
www.muchmoresnyc.com
Mundo, 37-06 36th St., Queens. mundony.com
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. (between
103rd & 104th St.), 212-534-1672, mcny.org
Musicians’ Local 802, 332 W. 48th, 718-468-7376
National Sawdust, 80 N. 6th St., Brooklyn. 646-779-8455.
www.nationalsawdust.org
Newark Museum, 49 Washington St, Newark, New Jersey 07102-
3176, 973-596-6550, newarkmuseum.org
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark, NJ,
07102, 973-642-8989, njpac.org
New Leaf Restaurant, 1 Margaret Corbin Dr., Ft. Tryon Park. 212-
568-5323. newleafrestaurant.com
New School Performance Space, 55 W. 13th St., 5th Floor (betw
5th & 6th Ave.), 212-229-5896, newschool.edu.
New School University-Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., 1st
Floor, Room 106, 212-229-5488, newschool.edu
New York City Baha’i Center, 53 E. 11th St. (betw Broadway &
University), 212-222-5159, bahainyc.org
North Square Lounge, 103 Waverly Pl. (at MacDougal St.),
212-254-1200, northsquarejazz.com
Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St. (betw 5th and
6th Ave.), 212-840-6800, thealgonquin.net
Oceana Restaurant, 120 West 49th St, New York, NY 10020
212-759-5941, oceanarestaurant.com
Orchid, 765 Sixth Ave. (betw 25th & 26th St.), 212-206-9928
The Owl, 497 Rogers Ave, Bklyn. 718-774-0042. www.theowl.nyc
Palazzo Restaurant, 11 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair. 973-
746-6778. palazzonj.com
Priory Jazz Club: 223 W Market, Newark, 07103, 973-639-7885
Proper Café, 217-01 Linden Blvd., Queens, 718-341-2233
Clubs, Venues & Jazz ResourcesClubs, Venues & Jazz Resources
— Anton Chekhov
“A system of morality
which is based on relative
emotional values is a mere
illusion, a thoroughly vulgar
conception which has nothing
sound in it and nothing true.”
— Socrates
19 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th St. & Prospect Park W., Brooklyn,
NY, 718-768-0855
Prospect Wine Bar & Bistro, 16 Prospect St. Westfield, NJ,
908-232-7320, 16prospect.com, cjayrecords.com
Red Eye Grill, 890 7th Av (56th), 212-541-9000, redeyegrill.com
Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main St.,
Ridgefield, CT; ridgefieldplayhouse.org, 203-438-5795
Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St, 212-477-4155
Rose Center (American Museum of Natural History), 81st St.
(Central Park W. & Columbus), 212-769-5100, amnh.org/rose
Rose Hall, 33 W. 60th St., 212-258-9800, jalc.org
Rosendale Café, 434 Main St., PO Box 436, Rosendale, NY 12472,
845-658-9048, rosendalecafe.com
Rubin Museum of Art - “Harlem in the Himalayas”, 150 W. 17th
St. 212-620-5000. rmanyc.org
Rustik, 471 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 347-406-9700,
rustikrestaurant.com
St. Mark’s Church, 131 10th St. (at 2nd Ave.), 212-674-6377
St. Nick’s Pub, 773 St. Nicholas Av (at 149th), 212-283-9728
St. Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington (at 54th), 212-935-2200,
saintpeters.org
Sasa’s Lounge, 924 Columbus Ave, Between 105th & 106th St.
NY, NY 10025, 212-865-5159, sasasloungenyc.yolasite.com
Savoy Grill, 60 Park Place, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-286-1700
Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X Blvd., 212-491-2200,
nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
Shanghai Jazz, 24 Main St., Madison, NJ, 973-822-2899, shang-
haijazz.com
ShapeShifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11215
shapeshifterlab.com
Showman’s, 375 W. 125th St., 212-864-8941
Sidewalk Café, 94 Ave. A, 212-473-7373
Sista’s Place, 456 Nostrand, Bklyn, 718-398-1766, sistasplace.org
Skippers Plane St Pub, 304 University Ave. Newark NJ, 973-733-
9300, skippersplaneStpub.com
Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St. (at 7th Ave.), 212-929-7565,
SmallsJazzClub.com
Smith’s Bar, 701 8th Ave, New York, 212-246-3268
Sofia’s Restaurant - Club Cache’ [downstairs], Edison Hotel,
221 W. 46th St. (between Broadway & 8th Ave), 212-719-5799
South Gate Restaurant & Bar, 154 Central Park South, 212-484-
5120, 154southgate.com
South Orange Performing Arts Center, One SOPAC
Way, South Orange, NJ 07079, sopacnow.org, 973-313-2787
Spectrum, 2nd floor, 121 Ludlow St.
Spoken Words Café, 266 4th Av, Brooklyn, 718-596-3923
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 165 W. 65th St., 10th Floor,
212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org
The Stone, Ave. C & 2nd St., thestonenyc.com
Strand Bistro, 33 W. 37th St. 212-584-4000
SubCulture, 45 Bleecker St., subculturenewyork.com
Sugar Bar, 254 W. 72nd St, 212-579-0222, sugarbarnyc.com
Swing 46, 349 W. 46th St.(betw 8th & 9th Ave.),
212-262-9554, swing46.com
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Tel: 212-864-1414, Fax: 212-
932-3228, symphonyspace.org
Tea Lounge, 837 Union St. (betw 6th & 7th Ave), Park Slope,
Broooklyn, 718-789-2762, tealoungeNY.com
Terra Blues, 149 Bleecker St. (betw Thompson & LaGuardia),
212-777-7776, terrablues.com
Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass St., Brooklyn. 718-522-2110.
www.threesbrewing.com
Tito Puente’s Restaurant and Cabaret, 64 City Island Avenue,
City Island, Bronx, 718-885-3200, titopuentesrestaurant.com
Tomi Jazz, 239 E. 53rd St., 646-497-1254, tomijazz.com
Tonic, 107 Norfolk St. (betw Delancey & Rivington), Tel: 212-358-
7501, Fax: 212-358-1237, tonicnyc.com
Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., 212-997-1003
Triad Theater, 158 W. 72nd St. (betw Broadway & Columbus
Ave.), 212-362-2590, triadnyc.com
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St, 10007,
[email protected], tribecapac.org
Trumpets, 6 Depot Square, Montclair, NJ, 973-744-2600,
trumpetsjazz.com
Turning Point Cafe, 468 Piermont Ave. Piermont, N.Y. 10968
(845) 359-1089, http://turningpointcafe.com
Urbo, 11 Times Square. 212-542-8950. urbonyc.com
Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave S., 212-255-4037
Vision Festival, 212-696-6681, [email protected],
Watchung Arts Center, 18 Stirling Rd, Watchung, NJ 07069,
908-753-0190, watchungarts.org
Watercolor Café, 2094 Boston Post Road, Larchmont, NY 10538,
914-834-2213, watercolorcafe.net
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, 57th & 7th Ave, 212-247-7800
Williamsburg Music Center, 367 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11211, (718) 384-1654 wmcjazz.org
Zankel Hall, 881 7th Ave, New York, 212-247-7800
Zinc Bar, 82 West 3rd St.
RECORD STORES
Academy Records, 12 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011, 212-242
-3000, http://academy-records.com
Downtown Music Gallery, 13 Monroe St, New York, NY 10002,
(212) 473-0043, downtownmusicgallery.com
Jazz Record Center, 236 W. 26th St., Room 804,
212-675-4480, jazzrecordcenter.com
MUSIC STORES
Roberto’s Woodwind & Brass, 149 West 46th St. NY, NY 10036,
646-366-0240, robertoswoodwind.com
Sam Ash, 333 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 719-2299 samash.com
Sadowsky Guitars Ltd, 2107 41st Avenue 4th Floor, Long Island
City, NY 11101, 718-433-1990. sadowsky.com
Steve Maxwell Vintage Drums, 723 7th Ave, 3rd Floor, New
York, NY 10019, 212-730-8138, maxwelldrums.com
SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, CONSERVATORIES
92nd St Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128
212.415.5500; 92ndsty.org
Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, 42-76 Main St.,
Flushing, NY, Tel: 718-461-8910, Fax: 718-886-2450
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 58 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn,
NY, 718-622-3300, brooklynconservatory.com
City College of NY-Jazz Program, 212-650-5411,
Drummers Collective, 541 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011,
212-741-0091, thecoll.com
Five Towns College, 305 N. Service, 516-424-7000, x Hills, NY
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St., Tel: 212-242-
4770, Fax: 212-366-9621, greenwichhouse.org
Juilliard School of Music, 60 Lincoln Ctr, 212-799-5000
LaGuardia Community College/CUNI, 31-10 Thomson Ave.,
Long Island City, 718-482-5151
Lincoln Center — Jazz At Lincoln Center, 140 W. 65th St.,
10023, 212-258-9816, 212-258-9900
Long Island University — Brooklyn Campus, Dept. of Music,
University Plaza, Brooklyn, 718-488-1051, 718-488-1372
Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Ave., 10027,
212-749-2805, 2802, 212-749-3025
NJ City Univ, 2039 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, 888-441-6528
New School, 55 W. 13th St., 212-229-5896, 212-229-8936
NY University, 35 West 4th St. Rm #777, 212-998-5446
NY Jazz Academy, 718-426-0633 NYJazzAcademy.com
Princeton University-Dept. of Music, Woolworth Center Musical
Studies, Princeton, NJ, 609-258-4241, 609-258-6793
Queens College — Copland School of Music, City University of
NY, Flushing, 718-997-3800
Rutgers Univ. at New Brunswick, Jazz Studies, Douglass Cam-
pus, PO Box 270, New Brunswick, NJ, 908-932-9302
Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies, 185 University
Avenue, Newark NJ 07102, 973-353-5595
newarkrutgers.edu/IJS/index1.html
SUNY Purchase, 735 Anderson Hill, Purchase, 914-251-6300
Swing University (see Jazz At Lincoln Center, under Venues)
William Paterson University Jazz Studies Program, 300 Pompton
Rd, Wayne, NJ, 973-720-2320
RADIO
WBGO 88.3 FM, 54 Park Pl, Newark, NJ 07102, Tel: 973-624-
8880, Fax: 973-824-8888, wbgo.org
WCWP, LIU/C.W. Post Campus
WFDU, http://alpha.fdu.edu/wfdu/wfdufm/index2.html
WKCR 89.9, Columbia University, 2920 Broadway
Mailcode 2612, NY 10027, 212-854-9920, columbia.edu/cu/wkcr
ADDITIONAL JAZZ RESOURCES
Big Apple Jazz, bigapplejazz.com, 718-606-8442, gor-
Louis Armstrong House, 34-56 107th St, Corona, NY 11368,
718-997-3670, satchmo.net
Institute of Jazz Studies, John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers-
Univ, 185 University Av, Newark, NJ, 07102, 973-353-5595
Jazzmobile, Inc., jazzmobile.org
Jazz Museum in Harlem, 104 E. 126th St., 212-348-8300,
jazzmuseuminharlem.org
Jazz Foundation of America, 322 W. 48th St. 10036,
212-245-3999, jazzfoundation.org
New Jersey Jazz Society, 1-800-303-NJJS, njjs.org
New York Blues & Jazz Society, NYBluesandJazz.org
Rubin Museum, 150 W. 17th St, New York, NY,
212-620-5000 ex 344, rmanyc.org.
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world
and moral courage so rare.”
— Mark Twain
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20 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Dafnis Prieto
Learning From Everything
Interview by Eric Nemeyer, Photo by Ken Weiss
JI: What kinds of challenges did you experi-
ence to your creativity and musical develop-
ment while you lived in Cuba?
DP: I always like challenges specially in mu-
sic and I think I have had lots of them around
my musical development, in Cuba one of my
biggest challenge was to play, learn and create
music with the band “Columna B.” We were
always looking for some new ideas and the
understanding of the music itself.
JI: What prompted you to migrate to the
United States, and how did that happen?
DP: I was living in Barcelona, Spain and I
wasn’t satisfied with my career there, then I
was invited by Jane Bunnett to perform in
Canada and the U.S. so I came and I decided
that I had to make a step forward with my
professional life and make the move to New
York, so I did , that was in 1999, I wanted to
live in a place where I could meet and play
with different kind of musicians, I wanted to
develop myself as much as I can, and New
York was the place for it.
JI: Could you talk about how elements of
Afro-Cuban rhythms or music play a founda-
tional role in your conception and approach to
all genres of music?
DP: Well, I was born with the Afro Cuban
music around me and I have been always in-
terested in learning from it. Afro-Cuban music
has a very deep development in Rhythms
structures, chants, melodies and it has a great
diversity of genres. But when I approach my-
self into other genres of music I try to be open
and not get stuck only where I’m coming
from, for me it’s also where I want to go with
the ideas and how much of myself I can put
in.
JI: How did you make the acquaintance of
Canadian saxophonist Jane Bunnett on whose
Blue Note album you recorded? What kinds
of discussions with Jane did you have, or what
suggestions did Jane make, and how did that
association influence you?
DP: I met Jane Bunnett for the first time in
France, then she came to Cuba and we talked
and played some music together, after that she
invited me to tour with her band Spirits of
Havana, we also made an album together title
Ritmo + Soul on Blue Note and EMI Records,
I liked the mix she had of AfroCuban tradi-
tional music with the Jazz elements.
JI: How did your experiences at the National
School of Music in Havana benefit you, or
challenge you? How did it provide the
groundwork for your career?
DP: At the time that I was at the National
School of Music in Havana I was learning
from the school all the European classic music
from J.S Bach to more contemporary Europe-
an music like Stravinsky, so I did my training
as a classic percussion such as timpani, xylo-
phone etc. I developed my reading and har-
mony, I learned about music history in gen-
eral, I also had the time to practice drums by
myself and that’s what I did almost for the
whole time. I’m self-thought on drum set. I
also had a great teacher for snare drum his
name is Roberto Concepcion he was a great
inspiration for me.
JI: What kinds of listening or study of jazz
drummers and jazz groups did you do to help
you gain proficiency to the level that your
background in Afro Cuban music provided?
DP: I listened a lot of Elvin Jones mostly with
the John Coltrane Quartet, also Tony Wil-
liams with Miles and Jack DeJohnette, Buddy
Rich, Steve Gadd and many others. I liked to
figure things out by myself, I didn’t have that
many drum books to learn from, so I learned
mostly the drum set by listening.
JI: What kinds of challenges-in terms of mu-
sic, business, career-did you experience upon
your arrival in the United States?
DP: The life of the musician in America is
hard but at least I’m doing what I like to do,
the challenge is that sometimes I have to play
music that I don’t really like and just because
I have to pay my bills, I have to go and make
it happen.
JI: Could you compare the goals, perspective
and or leadership styles of a few of the artists
for whom you have worked: Steve Coleman,
Jane Bunnett, Henry Threadgill, Michel
Camilo, Arturo O’Farrill?
DP: That’s a big question because they all
have different ways to approach music in the
first place, from the conception of the music
in their heads to the sound that come as a con-
sequence of it, They are all great but very
different....
JI: In brief, what kinds of impact did each of
these musicians make upon your artistry?
DP: I think they all influenced me and they all
challenge me to make myself a better drum-
mer and a better musician.
JI: Tell us about your experience working
with Herbie Hancock?
DP: That was a perfomance I did at the Eco-
nomic Forum. It was an All Star band with
Quincy Jones as a director, I can’t really tell
you that much about the experience because it
was only a couple of tunes that I played with
(Continued on page 22)
InterviewInterview
“The life of the musician in America is hard but at least I’m doing what I like to do, the challenge is that sometimes I have to play music that I don’t really like and just
because I have to pay my bills, I have to go and make it happen.”
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him and I saw Herbie five or then minutes
before the gig.
JI: How does your approach or perspective
differ when you are in the role of being a side-
man as compared to a leader?
DP: I try to play all the music with the same
passion as if it were mine, but when I’m play-
ing my music I know what I wrote and what I
meant in each piece, so it’s quite easier.
JI: How did your deal with Zoho Records
develop?
DP: I met Joachim from Zoho Music when he
was starting with a the Label called Khaon.
He approached me to make my own Record
but I wasn’t ready for it at that time, since
then we have been in touch and now I have
two records on Zoho Music Label, the first is
title About the Monks and the second album is
Absolute Quintet.
JI: What kinds of suggestions or direction
from producers did you receive in the creation
of your various albums?
DP: I produced my first record myself and the
second album it was produced by Roberto
Occhipinti and myself. In this case the music
kept the same with not big change, that is
great for me to work with him because I’ve
known him for many years and he knew the
kind of music I was writing for this new al-
bum, good producer also get really specific on
how the band should articulate or interpret
parts in the music and so on ... this kind of
music is more about the sound of the whole
album and to make sure that it’s recorded well
too I’m talking about live music of course.
JI: Could you talk about how you have devel-
oped your compositional skills?
DP: Well, learning from everything. I hear
what I want and I what I don’t want as a
sound projection in my bands. I study scores
and charts from jazz composers and also from
European music, African music, Indian music
and the music that comes from Cuba. I follow
a lot my intuition when I sit at the piano to
write music. It feels great when I’m doing it
but is a lot of work when you have a lot of
music to write…
JI: What processes do you go through to de-
velop those compositions?
DP: Sometime the idea comes from a simple
bass line or from a melody or from a rhythm
structure, I don’t follow a role in my writing
and I liked that way. I walk around with my
recorder player and I record those ideas any
where — when I’m walking, waiting for the
subway etc. That way I make sure that the
idea is not going to fly away from me.
JI: What words of wisdom have you received
from a teacher or mentor, or is there a quota-
tion or fragment of wisdom that has inspired
you or that you abide by?
DP: There are a lot of them that I’ve fol-
lowed, but I know them in Spanish ... haha …
(Continued from page 20)
Jazz
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“I walk around with my recorder player and I record those ideas any where — when I’m walking, waiting for the subway etc. That way I make sure that the idea is not going to fly away from me.”
Dafnis Prieto
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By Eric Nemeyer
JI: Who and what were your initial inspirations to
focus on baritone sax?
SR: Well that’s an interesting question. I actually
don’t focus on the baritone sax although a lot of
people think I do. I never played much baritone
until I came to New York. I started getting some
calls from people that needed a baritone sax player.
So I started playing it more and then I started get-
ting more calls to play it, and I played it with a lot
of big bands. Most of that has come to an end. I’m
still playing it with Maria Schneider’s band, and I
was playing it with Bob Brookmeyer. I actually
really do love the instrument and I think I managed
to develop a personal sound and approach to it
which helps to get me a lot of attention. The prob-
lem is that there’s something about the baritone
that once you start playing it and you get good at it
and you get a reputation for being good at it, no-
body wants to know that you do anything else - and
the tenor has always been my primary voice. I
found myself faced with a situation where people
weren’t calling me to play tenor anymore. Then it
became even worse. After a few years of this, if
people did see me somewhere playing tenor, I start-
ed hearing comments like, “Wow, you sound really
great. I didn’t even know you played tenor.” This
became kind of disturbing to me and troublesome. I
began to feel that I was losing my identity and my
personal voice. I never wanted to back off from the
baritone because I love the instrument. But I was
kind of forced to back off of it because of the reali-
ty that if I didn’t, my voice on the tenor would just
become lost. So I started taking fewer jobs on bari-
tone and focusing more on tenor and telling certain
people to call me for tenor and call somebody else
for baritone.
JI: How has that worked out?
SR: It’s worked out well because now I’m playing
tenor all the time. I didn’t really want to do it that
way because it’s my nature to add rather than sub-
tract. That’s why my life gets so complicated. I’m
always adding things in - and it’s hard for me to
say no and take something out. I haven’t taken the
baritone out, but I’ve cut way, way back on it. If
you look back over my recorded work, I’m on
more than 200 CDs at this point. There’s a lot of
baritone sax in there. But if you look at just the
ones I’ve done under my own name, going all the
way back to the beginning in 1984 - there’s very
little baritone sax in there. I enjoy the instrument
but it’s never been my primary focus. I’m more of
a B-flat guy. I play tenor and B-flat. I skip over the
baritone and play the bass sax a lot on my own
projects. Even though for several years now I’ve
been really focused on the tenor, some people
aren’t aware of it. I played at the Newport Jazz
Festival with two different bands — Maria Schnei-
der and Ryan Truesdale’s Gil Evans’ Project. Ma-
ria wrote a brand new piece, a big tenor sax feature
— and I stood up in front of the band for the entire
piece and played tenor. Later, I saw a review of the
Newport Festival and it said that Scott Robinson
sounded stellar on the baritone sax.
JI: When I used to go to hear Thad Jones’ band,
Pepper Adams played the woodwind doubles that
were written for bass clarinet on baritone sax –
transposing on the spot.
SR: There’s a logic to that transposition that makes
it doable, at least in a certain register. When I start-
ed playing in Mel Lewis’ band, I became Gary
Smulyan’s number one sub back in the days. I
played many, many times in that band and went to
Japan with them. I always brought the bass clarinet
and the guys were like, “Wow, nobody ever does
that.” But for me it was kind of fun, and fun to hear
those parts played as they were intended, on a bass
clarinet. I like doubling. I like playing all the dif-
ferent sounds. I have great respect for specializa-
tion. Some people really specialize and hone a
particular skill and really get it to a very, very high
level and part of me wishes I were more that way.
But I have to be true to my nature. It seems to be
my nature to have a thousand interests and to get
all excited about a million different things and add
them all into what I do - so it quickly spirals out of
control and I end up with these big complicated
projects in various stages, full of instruments that I
have to haul around. But it’s all part of the fun.
JI: What is your “laboratory” like?
SR: Well, you know, I’m attracted to science. I’m
not any kind of scientist and I never went to school
for any of that but I’m attracted to the aesthetics of
science and I use that in my music. I use it a lot. I
like taking scientific materials and looking at them
from an aesthetic viewpoint, and using them in
composition and in performance. If you came into
my lab, you’d see a lot of amazing instruments, all
kinds of unbelievable sound sources and strange
devices. You’d also see some actual laboratory
equipment, some chemical, glassware and stuff like
this. Strange beakers and vials kind of hanging
around the room and that’s just part of the vibe out
there. I have a round disc that lights up. It looks
like lightning sort of, and it responds to sound - and
they used these in Star Trek when the board is re-
charging. They use these weird plates that describe
these strange electrical arcs. I just like to turn it on
and it really puts a vibe in the room - puts a kind of
science meets music-of-the-future feeling in the
room.
JI: Let’s talk about some of the artists with whom
you’ve played who have made an impact on your
artistry and/or your perspectives about music.
You’ve played with such a wide variety of artists,
including those whose roots are in another era, the
Swing Era - like Buck Clayton and Lionel Hamp-
ton.
SR: My earliest heroes in this music were Lester
Young, Ben Webster, Louis Armstrong, Albert
Ayler, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. These are people that
I listened to when I was a boy. I don’t get caught
up in the debates over whether the music of the 20s
is more or less valid than the music of the 30s or
whether be bop was somehow the end of jazz. We
call Bebop modern jazz. Well, it’s from the 1940s,
you know? It’s a long time ago now. It’s splitting
hairs really to me to argue about Bebop versus
Swing or others. But there are a lot of people out
there that are ready to go to the mat over these
kinds of distinctions. I love the music. To me, it’s a
big river. The music is all connected. Every part of
it feeds on every other part of it and it moves to-
gether with a purposefulness all of its own. What
Scott Robinson I get to play with “Mickey Mantle.”
InterviewInterview
“The problem is that there’s something about the baritone [sax] that once you start playing it and you get good at it
and you get a reputation for being good at it, nobody wants to know that you do anything else - and the tenor has
always been my primary voice. I found myself faced with a situation where people weren’t calling me to play
tenor anymore.”
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appears to us to be part of the river is more a refer-
ence to the landscape around it because the water is
moving. The river itself has already moved on. I
love the music, if it’s good creative music. If it’s
part of that great continuum, then I love it with all
my heart and to be able to play with the masters of
this music from different eras is one of the great
treasures of my life. It’s one of the great opportuni-
ties of what I do. In baseball, kids grow up idoliz-
ing Mickey Mantle for example. If they’re fortu-
nate enough to get to a point where they can actual-
ly become a major league player, Mickey Mantle is
long gone. But I get to play with “Mickey Mantle.”
I grew up listening to Frank Wess – and I reached a
point where I can go play at the Vanguard with
Frank Wess. That is such an incredible thing. I’m
so grateful for that. I got to play with Buck Clayton
in his band, and record with him. I got to play with
Illinois Jacquet.
JI: What kinds of ideas did you pick up in terms of
leadership from some of these artists?
SR: I’ve worked for some pretty tough people. I’ve
worked for some people that are not very nice and
I’ve worked for some people who are really great
leaders. Maria Schneider is very demanding in a
certain way. She really knows what she wants to
get out of the music. It’s never sufficient to just
play the written notes and snore your way through
parts. You’ve got to really bring it to life. She’s
always asking for dynamics and emotion — and
you’ve got to put a lot of feeling into it. You’ve got
to understand the intent of the music, and really
give it what it needs to come to life. She’s very
specific about these things. But at the same time,
she loves spontaneity. She loves the creative people
that she’s brought into the band and she loves to
wind them up and let them go—and when they go,
she just revels in it. She’s very grateful to her musi-
cians for what they do. She does what a lot of band
leaders never do: she sends cards or calls up the
next day and leaves a message saying, “Oh, Scott,
that was just so incredible what you played last
night. I can’t believe it. I’m still flying.” Not every-
body does that. She really is communicative and
she’s just a great, great gal. She’s got everyone’s
respect — and I’ve worked for plenty of people
that are not that way. They know who they are.
JI: Could you elaborate a bit about how she com-
municates some of the things that she wants during
a rehearsal?
SR: She’ll gesture with her hands, and she’ll say,
“That part needs to rise up. Think of yourself as
flying. Think of yourself as flying through the
clouds and you’re soaring over everything and
you’re a little bit afraid.” She’ll give you ideas like
that - emotional things, almost programmatic con-
siderations that inform how the music is supposed
to sound … how it’s supposed to be realized. Much
of her music tells stories - and the players need to
understand the type of story that’s being told so
that they can …. we’re actors in a way, aren’t we?
We’re playing a role. We’re playing a role in some
larger drama. So as actors, we need to find the
voice and the mannerisms that bring the drama to
life. Her music is very dramatic. There’s a lot of
story in it - so it places those types of demands on a
performer where somebody else’s music might not.
JI: By comparison, how does that compare to
someone like Anthony Braxton for example?
SR: Working with Anthony Braxton … there’s
another great example of somebody that I idolized
from boyhood and eventually found myself per-
forming with. He is a real treasure. He’s something
very, very special - very powerful work ethic, in-
credibly productive person, also very demanding in
a certain way. Of course, his music is very different
from Maria Schneider’s. Much of the music I
played with Braxton was highly notated and very,
very complex. I did one quintet performance with
him where we played standards, actually, interpret-
ed in a very freewheeling manner.
JI: I remember an album of his from the 1970s on
ECM where he played Charlie Parker’s harmoni-
cally-developed “Donna Lee.”
SR: Yeah, right, right. He did a couple of albums
like that. One of them was with Hank Jones. I
asked Hank about that. I said, “What did you think
of that?” He said, “That cat has a very individual
sound and approach to music, and I respected that
and I really enjoyed the sessions.”
JI: Over the years I have read attacks on Anthony
Braxton by some well known players.
SR: Yeah, Anthony Braxton gets thrown into the
slop bucket termed “free jazz” - which is kind of
ludicrous. He’s certainly capable of playing in a
free, improvised manner. He does a lot of that but
the bulk of his work is compositional. His are high-
ly original compositions. He’s much more interest-
ed in that then in just a lot of free, open blowing.
When you play in his ensemble, you have a certain
amount of freedom to make personal statements.
But you must hue to the intent of the music and the
arc that’s being described compositionally. That’s
what’s important. Braxton is an amazingly hard
working person, incredibly prolific. He’s written all
this music … and all these operas. A term like free
jazz becomes very silly when you’re speaking of
someone like Braxton. You asked what I appreciat-
ed about Braxton. The strongest comment I could
make is that he’s a great example - maybe the
greatest living example - of someone who has real-
ly created his own world in this music. As much as
he loves standards, and he loves Lester Young, and
he loves the whole spectrum of the music … but
within the genre, he’s beyond it really. He’s man-
aged to create a world all of his own. I keep an
Anthony Braxton file, a Sun Ra file, a Mel Lewis
file.
JI: Did he provide you with any particular direc-
tion or suggestions that you found particularly
noteworthy?
SR: Well, I know you like motivational kinds of
comments. I met him again after I moved to New
York. This might have been 1985. My first album
came out in 1984. It was an LP. I saw Braxton at
Sweet Basil and I brought him a copy of the LP. He
was incredibly enthusiastic about it. He looked at it
and all the different instruments, and wow. He was
really grateful for it and incredibly friendly. He
started saying, “You know, we’re in a difficult
cycle right now. There are a lot of problems in the
world. But the important thing is that people like
you and I keep on playing music like our lives
depend on it.” He said that very emphatically and
with great passion. That stuck in my mind. He’s
very enthusiastic about other people’s work. Years
later he started talking to me about that record and I
realized wow, he really did go and listen to it and
pay attention – so that years later he can come back
and talk to me about it. It was amazing. He loves
music. I don’t know how he finds the time to listen
to all the stuff he loves listening to, and write all
the stuff that he writes. Another guy that I used to
speak with a lot was Sun Ra. I used to see Sun Ra
all the time - any chance I got. He was very friend-
ly to me and we would sit and talk for hours some-
times. He was very giving of his time, very encour-
aging. He gave me his book, signed it for me and
everything and wouldn’t take any money for it. He
was a really nice guy to me. He was another amaz-
ing person who created his own world.
(Continued from page 24)
Scott Robinson
“It seems to be my nature to have a thousand interests and to get all
excited about a million different things and add them all into what I do - so it quickly spirals out of control and I end up with these big complicated projects in various stages, full of in-struments that I have to haul around.
But it’s all part of the fun.”
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Interviw by Eric Nemeyer, Photo by Ken Weiss
JI: What are some of the key understandings
and words of wisdom - encouragement and or
warnings - you’d like to share or do share with
students and peers about career pursuits, creat-
ing music, the music business and so forth?
BS: I tell my students that it is imperative that
they know what is happening in the other arts -
dance, theater, poetry, literature, etc. That they
have to know what’s happening in the world -
politically, socially, artistically, scientifically.
I occasionally ask, “What was the last book
you read?” You’d be surprised at the stares. I
find that unfortunately we live in an era were
we have more access to information, culture,
history, science, etc., than ever before, but
many times we are the most uninformed artists
on planet earth. It didn’t used to be that way.
A true artist is totally aware of the world
around him. It informs their art constantly,
thus keeping them relevant. As a musician,
you want to be as versatile as you can possibly
be. In other words be able to fit in any musical
situation you’re thrown in, not just jazz. Every
type of music in the world has improvisation
in it, not just jazz. Have ideals, an ethos, a
sense of dignity about what you do as an artist,
but don’t become an arrogant jazz snob. Be-
cause if you do you’re gonna’ miss out on a lot
of interesting stuff that’s happening all around
you, particularly musically. You don’t know
everything, you haven’t live that long. Respect
is one the most supreme forms of love. Listen
— your ears are your best teacher. When some
tidbit of knowledge is given to you, write it
down, record it, whatever needs to be done to
retain. Knowledge is power, those tidbits add
up. Respect all elders. They’ve lived longer
than you, they must’ve done something right.
The last piece of advice? Learn how to dance,
you’ll swing harder. Particularly mambo on 2.
[smile]
JI: Could you talk about the growth and de-
velopment of the Manhattan School of Music
Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra (MSM ACJO)?
BS: Justin Dicioccio who is head of the jazz
department at MSM called me up and asked
me to actually create and teach this particular
band about 16 years ago. I had just finished a
year of teaching at my alma mater the Berklee
College of Music in the percussion depart-
ment. I was teaching ten hours on Monday’s,
flying up there and flying back that same
night. It was very rewarding, and I had great
students, but with all my other endeavors I
was just burnt out. With the traveling, etc. it
would really turn into a 20 hour day. The good
thing is that before I decided to relinquish the
position I was asked to produce and conduct a
mega-concert at the school’s performance cen-
ter in honor of Tito Puente using a student big
band. I made one stipulation to the administra-
tion. I wanted to the band to be made up com-
pletely of Latino students at the school. You
have to understand, when I was freshman there
in 1975 the faculty and student body didn’t
even know who musicians like Tito Puente,
Eddie Palmieri were. I’m a Nuyorican from
the Bronx, in New York, the first one at that
had attended the school. There was a Costa
Rican, my buddy from high school band, Da-
vid Carmona a trumpeter who turned me on to
the school, three or four Brazilians and one
Argentinean. Nobody on the faculty, except
for a gentleman who changed my life, Keith
Copeland, had the slightest idea of what Latin
music, culture really was. They only knew
Santana, Milton Nascimiento because he had
recorded an album with Wayne Shorter and
Airto because everyone in the jazz world had
him playing Brazilian percussion on their al-
bums to add some type of exotica. When you
saw a chart it would say, “Latin” on it. I was
shocked, the people I mentioned like Tito and
Eddie were some of the many that I grew up
listening to and were my heroes. I remember
when I told Eddie’s older brother, the virtuosic
pianist Charlie Palmieri, he told me - “Listen
kid, once you drive up I -95 and get past New
Haven Connecticut, people start asking - ‘Tito
who?’ “My presence at the school as the first
student of Puerto Rican descent was important
in that in my own way I began to teach others
about the music, culture, etc., simply because
of my presence. By the time I had started
teaching there years ago, that had completely
changed. When J.D. asked me to come to
MSM it was the day that I informed Berklee I
wouldn’t return. It was just kismet. I don’t
even think Justin even knew I was teaching
there. But I loved teaching and I’m good at it.
Mind you, this is before the paradigm that
exists now where everyone is trying to get a
teaching gig because performance has dimin-
ished. I was always involved in teaching,
which is basically sharing ones knowledge and
mentoring. When I was a student at Berklee I
used to hold listening parties in my dorm room
teaching about the music, culture, etc. That all
started because fellow students would knock
on my dorm room and ask, “Are you the guy
with the Latin records?” A friend told me, “If
you don’t do it, who is? You’re the most quali-
fied.
JI: How did your CD ¡Qué Viva Harlem! -
which is performed by Manhattan School of
Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra (MSM AC-
JO) - develop?
BS: For the last several years the school has
initiated a series of themes that encompass
(Continued on page 29)
Bobby Sanabria
“When we’re on the stage we’re also teaching.”
InterviewInterview
“When you’re young you rarely think about the future. I was always blessed
with a love of history and science which I inherited from my father. It has given
me perspective. My playing, composing and arranging is something that has
given me a lot of fulfillment, but I never thought I would get the same feeling
from teaching. It’s given me a satisfaction that only someone else
who is inspired by teaching can explain.”
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both the jazz and orchestral/classical depart-
ments. Each year a theme is decided upon.
Several years ago the year was dedicated to
cinema and we did a series of concerts with
the MSM ACJO dedicated to move themes.
Last year was dedicated to Harlem, so my vi-
sion was to do a concert first of Harlem Hot-
houses dedicated to many of the clubs that
once existed there and finally a concert in trib-
ute to all the different parts of the cultures that
make up Harlem. I wanted to represent the
Harlem renaissance of the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and
of course the great migration of the Puerto
Rican community that started in the 1930’s
and continued through the 50’s. Most people if
you asked them where Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz
was born would say Cuba, but it really started
at an old Jewish catering hall, The Park Palace
Ballroom on East 110th Street and Fifth Ave-
nue where in 1939 the Machito Afro-Cubans
under Mario’s musical direction created the
genre. On the new CD we feature music by
Duke, Billy Strayhorn, Juan Tizol, Clarence
Williams, Machito, and several original multi-
movement large scale works that are monu-
mental in nature by Gene Marlow and current
grad student in jazz Kyle Athayde. For the
most part every single concert at the school,
whether large or small is recorded. I’ve heard
that somewhere there are tapes of Max
Roach’s pieces being performed when he was
student at the school back in the 1950’s
[laughs]. After doing all these concerts at the
school over the years and they being great
events I thought it was sad that they were just
fleeting moments in time with no life after the
performance. Some of the most creative play-
ing, composing, and arranging is coming from
the college level, in particular at MSM. The
band I had that year was beyond superb. Every
single chair in the band was a stellar soloist. I
remember the first day of the semester after
the rehearsal/class saying to myself, “Holy
shit, this is the best group of students I’ve ever
had.” Since the school already records the
concerts, why don’t we release them – and
have the money after expenses all go to the
school’s scholarship fund. It’s a win-win situa-
tion. The company gets visibility and a reputa-
tion for putting their money where its mouth is
by supporting jazz education, the students who
are fabulous get visibility, the school gets visi-
bility, and I get to continue my passion for the
art of the big band in between my own record-
ings. Justin has been completely supportive as
has the administration. We didn’t just recreate
the original album. This is an iconic album for
fans of Latin jazz, it featured Candido, Doc
Cheatum, Patato, Cannonball, Eddie Bert, Ray
Santos, Mario, I could go on and on, so some-
thing special had to be done with it. I took the
entire album and re-conceived it with new
arrangements done by students I selected and
supervised along with some arrangers I truly
respect and have worked with like Joe Fiedler,
Michael Philip Mossman and others. Every
chart has some quirky addition to it that I add-
ed. Some of the pieces were in multi-
movements, one was even in an odd meter,
something the Machito orchestra never did.
The Borden auditorium at the school, which
holds about 900 people, was packed to capaci-
ty, the school had to close the outside doors
and turn people away. The performance of the
orchestra was superb. The resulting CD, Ken-
ya Revisited Live!!! released in 2008 was nom-
inated for a Latin Grammy in the Latin Jazz
category. The subsequent recording Tito
Puente Masterworks Live!!! in 2011 was nom-
inated for Latin Grammy in the Latin Jazz
category. Mark Ruffin at Sirius Satellite Jazz
Radio has said, “The MSM ACJO is a group
of professionals masquerading as students.”
JI: How is your work as an educator in gen-
eral helping to promote, preserve and advance
Latin music, Afro-Cuban music and or jazz?
BS: When you’re young you rarely think
about the future. I was always blessed with a
love of history and science which I inherited
from my father. It has given me perspective.
My playing, composing and arranging is
something that has given me a lot of fulfill-
ment, but I never thought I would get the same
feeling from teaching. It’s given me a satisfac-
tion that only someone else who is inspired by
teaching can explain. Everywhere I go I see
former or current students of mine making an
impact on the jazz scene. If you go to any jazz
club in New York City on any given night I
guarantee you, you will more than likely see/
hear someone whom I’ve had the privilege of
teaching. Most of my colleagues at the New
School and MSM, or any of the other great
institutions where America’s greatest art form
is taught, will tell you the same thing. The
great thing is that most of us don’t know it, but
when we’re on the stage we’re also teaching.
Teaching and reaching. [smile] Milt Hinton
said it best, “Those are my children out there
playing.”
(Continued from page 27)
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Bobby Sanabria
“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes.
That’s the day we truly grow up.”
- John Maxwell
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JI: How does that balance work for you? When
you’re out on tour and you come back is there kind
of a down period? What’s the work like when you
get back, the difference in activity?
WW: Well there’s definitely a down period. I’ve
been on the road, period, since almost 2004. Not
just with Chris, it’s just been with a lot of other
people too. But Chris McBride came into play in
2009, like around June, 2009. But when people in
this area, I’m speaking mainly of just Baltimore
and Washington, DC, when they start seeing that I
was gone a lot—especially the best times to work
with are Thursday through Sunday. When they start
seeing that I’m never here Thursday through Sun-
day or if they call and I just keep saying all the
time no, I’m sorry I can’t make it, I’m out of town,
I’m out of town, if I keep saying that over and
over, people will just stop calling after a
while. However, there were two people who under-
stood that I was gone a lot, but they always knew
well Warren has to come home sometimes. He
can’t work all the time so let’s give him a call. So
there were two or three artists in Baltimore and DC
who would call from time to time but it kind of
dwindled down. People, like I said, they just
stopped calling because they assume that you’re
out of town all the time. But I have to kind of put it
out there, like you said, on Facebook and tell peo-
ple hey, I am home. Call me for some work. Let’s
do it. I’m not out of town all the time. I just look at
that as a form of giving back. I very much enjoy
playing locally just as much as I do playing inter-
nationally. There definitely are some down
times. Surprisingly, this summer we had some off
time because Christian was out touring with Chick
Corea. And we just released a new record with
Christian on Mack Avenue called People Music. So
surprisingly I thought we were going to tour that
this summer but things like that happen in the mu-
sic business so we were off this summer. But things
again they’ll pick up starting next week, not for
Christian but there are other people.
JI: So when you were at school, how did your
experiences in the academic settings at Peabody
and at Berklee from which you earned degrees
support or challenge your artistic efforts and in-
come-producing pursuits during those periods?
WW: Well let me start with Peabody. Peabody, I
didn’t go to the conservatory, it was more prepara-
tory. I went there from the ages of five until thir-
teen. So I really can’t talk about that one so much.
JI: Were your parents pushing you to go there or
what?
WW: Oh, yes. My parents are a big part of
that. I’ve been playing music since I was three
years old. My father is retired now but he was a
history teacher for the Baltimore City public school
system. He taught U.S. and World History. But on
the side he was also a musician, not touring nation-
ally. He just had a local band around town, they do
a few gigs. But I’ve grown up watching him prac-
tice. So my dad, his name is Warren Wolf senior,
he plays drums and vibraphone and piano and all
that stuff too. So he started teaching me at the
young age of three. So I was practicing five days
per week, 90 minutes per day with him. And then
on Saturday mornings I would go to the Peabody
preparatory and I would take lessons with a guy,
with a former member of the Baltimore Symphony,
his name is Leo LePage. The great thing about Leo
was not only was he a classical musician but he
was a jazz drummer in the Boston area back in the
day. I honestly used to think the guy was Buddy
Rich because they kind of looked like each oth-
er. My parents were definitely pushing me on for
that.
JI: Well that’s a good thing.
WW: And what was the next part of that question?
JI: So when you were at school then, what were
the challenges going through an academic setting
versus—of course the old school jazz world people
didn’t go to school? It wasn’t as codified as it is
now, as Gary Campbell told me one time in an
interview. He said he got down to the University of
Miami and he said it was codified like scrip-
tures. But when I started playing, I had to tran-
scribe all of these solos, which I enjoyed. You
learn things note for note. Things weren’t as laid
out as they were, and you learned by making a lot
of mistakes on the bandstand. How did that com-
pare by comparison to your experiences in the aca-
demic world and of course you’re on the band
stand too?
WW: I can give two examples, kind of. My high
school, Baltimore School for the Performing Arts,
one of the top high schools in the country, we did a
lot of classical music training. Jazz music was
more like an elective. But I really didn’t understand
what all the classical training was doing for me
until a later age. Jumping to college, Berklee, yes,
everything is laid out for you. They tell you what to
do, and ear training and harmony, song writing
classes and all of that other stuff. But for me, de-
pending on what you want to do, if you want to be
in the production business, OK, I guess you have to
be in the classroom. But for me, I knew I wanted to
play. Did any of that stuff necessarily help me? I
would say to a certain degree, yes. But for the most
part, my true lessons came from being out Friday
and Saturday nights at the club learning from the
guys that were better than me and just picking up
pointers from them, not saying I actually sat down
and practiced with them. Because the great thing
about me is that I have perfect pitch. So I can hear
what they’re doing and just go ahead and play it
right back. And I can listen to so many different
things, like if the piano player happens to play a
minor seven flat five chord straight to a major or
change it to a minor the next time, I can hear all of
that stuff. So my true lesson again was just on the
bandstand like you were saying. School and the
academia part, that helped me in certain areas I
would say as far as writing music because when I
first got to Berklee I wasn’t that great at writing
music at all. What else?
JI: Do your mother or your father have perfect
pitch?
WW: Oh, no. For some reason my father nowa-
days he’s kind of developed it. I don’t know how
he did it. I would say not perfect. He has good
relative. It’s to the point where he can sit down and
listen to a recording. He still has his band. So now
that he’s retired he likes to write out charts. And it
takes him a little while to do it. I don’t know if
that’s just because of him getting up in age or it
just takes him a while period. But he definitely has
relative pitch. Me, I’m just like dead on, and it’s
not just like one note. I can hear up to about five to
six notes at one time. And I’m very quick at it.
JI: That’s great.
WW: My mom, she’s not a musician but she’s
actually teaching herself how to play piano
now. She’s retired also.
(Continued on page 32)
“Berklee, yes, everything is laid out for you … But for the most part, my true
lessons came from being out Friday and Saturday nights at the club learning from
the guys that were better than me and just picking up pointers from them…”
Warren Wolf “… it kind of starts with the rhythm ...”
InterviewInterview
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32 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
Joseph Jarman
JI: Yes. Did she teach as well?
WW: No, no, no. She worked at the Baltimore Gas
and Electric Company. She was a supervisor there
for about 25 to 30 years. So both of my parents
retired around the age of 60 or 59, somewhere
around there. They just live a life of playing music
together [Laughter].
JI: Do you have brothers and sisters who play too?
WW: I have two older sisters. I’m the young-
est. My sister in the middle, she used to play violin
in her elementary school days. That didn’t last. So
right now, she’s just singing a lot around Balti-
more/Washington with a few local groups. She’s
out there doing like wedding gigs and stuff like
that. I have three children. My children, they live in
Boston with their mom. My youngest son, his name
is Caden, Caden Wolf, I think he might start play-
ing drums at some point. And my daughter, she’s
the oldest, she’s a hell of a singer. She’s 13 so I’m
curious to see where she’s going to go with it. I am
33—and the last artistic person in my family is my
wife, my current wife. She’s a ballet dancer.
JI: What is your schedule like?
WW: It depends. I’ve kind of paid attention to my
schedule. It seems like every year there’s always at
least one month, I’m not saying one whole month
but if you just add up all the days, there’s always
about a month, maybe a month and a half where
I’m home. The rest of the time, the majority of the
time I’m always out. And that doesn’t mean on the
road. I just might be out around Baltimore/DC
doing some type of work.
JI: What do you do when you’re on the road? Do
you do a lot of reading? How do you occupy your
time when you’re not playing?
WW: It depends. It depends on where we’re travel-
ing to because I know sometimes it will be early
flights. We tend to get into the hotel and a lot of the
musicians, well I can’t speak for everybody, I
know what I like to do for the most part is sleep. It
can be one or two things, two or three things, I’m
sorry. I’ll read, I’ll sleep or I go exercise. I’m a big
fan of staying in the gym. As a matter of fact right
before I called you I had just left the gym.
WW: I don’t think so.
JI: Talk about some of the mentors musically that
you’ve had who have shared some words of wis-
dom or a quote or some guidance with you that has
made an impact on your artistry as well as on your
human nature, your character and integrity.
WW: It’s funny. A lot of the guys that I play with
they’ve never given me any quotes I should say. I
would say the one quote that I’m always hearing
from everyone, it’s just kind of like a universal
thing, is just to keep playing, keep playing, keep
playing. Some of the people who have been a big
significant part of my musical life, I can easily say
Christian McBride, Mulgrew Miller, he was
one. Mulgrew was one of the first person to actual-
ly, well the second person to take me out on the
road. The first person was saxophonist Ken
Warfield. He’s from New York. So Ken gave me
my first call back in 2003. He took my down to
St. Louis for 4 nights with his group. And then
Mulgrew took me on a tour to Japan with his group
Wingspan. He gave me a call like two days after
Ken called me. So through Mulgrew I had my first
tour of Japan. So while we were in Japan, he intro-
duced me to a guy named Hiro Yamashita, I think
that’s his last night. But definitely his name is Hiro.
He was a record producer for this company called
M and I, like Man and Ice, M and I. And through
that deal I did two records for the Japanese compa-
ny. We recorded the records in New York. So the
first record that came out was Incredible Jazz
Vibes. That record featured myself, Mulgrew,
Kendrick Scott on drums and Vicente Archer on
bass. And then the second record we did was titled
Black Wolf. That record featured again Mulgrew
Miller, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Rodney Whitaker on
bass. But Mulgrew was definitely like a big help
for me just getting me started and getting my name
just out there. And he’s been that way for many
people. So when he passed that was a big shock for
everybody. Yes, just getting those things, getting
my career going, he called me to New York for a
few gigs. He was always, to me at least, he was
very soft spoken and he didn’t say a lot of things
like well this is what this person said back in the
day. You know a lot of jazz guys do that. But he
would just always say Warren, just keep play-
ing. The music will take care of you as long as you
take care of the music. So he would say things like
that to me. He meant a lot to me and that kind of
hurt when he passed. He helped me out a
lot. Christian, like I said, was definitely another
one. He gave me my first world experience. We’ve
been everywhere. I’ve been touring with him for
five years and through him kind of I would say we
got the Mack Avenue deal. I can also include Tia
Fuller in that category too. I’ve worked with Tia
for a little bit, actually playing drums not vibes.
Even though I recorded vibes on her CD, I played
drums on her band for a bit. So there are a lot of
people. I could keep going down the line forever.
JI: When you were doing your first and second
album for Mack Avenue Records, what kind of
direction were you getting or suggestions about
what they wanted if anything?
WW: Nothing. This is what I tried to model my
records after. I tried to model artists on my records
after Christian because I like what he did. Like
when his first record was getting into it, and then
he went to Number Two Express, he had a whole
bunch of all stars of jazz on both of those rec-
ords. What I tried to do with the first record, and I
can’t speak for the second record for Mack Adams
because I don’t have one yet. I tried to do on the
first record what any typical jazz artist should do
on their first record is basically to come out and
play. Don’t try to get too fancy by showing all of
your original compositions and things like that. I
wanted to show that I can play and here I am. This
is Warren Wolf. I’m a bad cat. I can play my tail
off. So that was the objective with the first rec-
ord. The second record, the Wolf Gang that’s com-
ing out tomorrow, is more the type of record—it’s
still showing that I can play but it’s just showing
who Warren Wolf is as a composer. So Mack Ave-
nue actually never said anything like why don’t
you try this or why don’t you try that. It’s kind of
like I had the full thing, I could do what I want. I
have my own direction. And I pretty much know
how to do this because even though this is my sec-
ond record for Mack Avenue, it’s honestly my
sixth record as a leader. So I’ve been down this
path before so I think I know what it takes to make
a decent record.
JI: You’ve got the ears for it. All you’ve got to do
is put two and two together. You have all the expe-
rience so it should work out great each time. What
did the guys in Japan want from you? Did they
have any specifics that they were stipulating up
front?
WW: The thing about the Japanese, they are very
specific on really hearing standards for the most
part. You can do a few of your originals but their
main concern, what they like is to hear stand-
ards. So I would say for each record, let’s just say
if we had 8 to 9 tracks on each record, I would
probably do about 6 standards on each record. And
I didn’t rearrange anything. I just kind of just
played it straight down how it is. That stuff is real-
ly powerful in Japan too. Just play the tune how it
(Continued from page 30)
(Continued on page 33)
Warren Wolf
“I’m a homebody. So a lot of my thinking times and when I can just relax honestly as hard as it is just lifting weights and running. That’s when I can kind get to sit back and
just think and think about the future.”
33 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
is and they love you forever.
JI: Were you able to go through that pretty quickly
in one or two takes or how did that work out?
WW: Pretty much. Let me think. The first record
we did, we recorded the record in two days. We
only did it in two days because something broke on
the vibraphone. I remember when I was using it, a
string had popped and I think by that time I was
just pretty tired. I was getting worn out so I just
said let’s just call it a day because for most people
when they book a studio session they pretty much
like to reserve the studio for one or two days, may-
be even three just in case we need the time. So we
did that one in two days. The second record for the
Japanese label, we did that one in one day because
we had a pretty good rehearsal. So it was just a
matter of going in and just putting it down on tape.
JI: What kind of vibes are you playing?
WW: I’m not endorsed with anybody. The model
that I prefer is a Musser M55. I prefer those but I
have been playing so many different things. It de-
pends. I’ve shown up to gigs and I’ve seen Yama-
ha’s. I don’t know the model numbers on any of
those. But I prefer the Musser M55. I own a
Musser ProVibe but the only negative part about
that and I really can’t tell it that much is that it’s
tuned to A-442, and that kind of sticks out some-
times when you’re playing a ballad. Generally I
like to play Mussers.
JI: One of the first set of vibes which I still have
and I’m still looking at it over there is Deagan 592
Commander. The lower fifth, the bars are a little bit
narrower, ever so slightly narrower than the
Musser. But one of the things is when I got that,
Deagan’s A-440, everything was tuned. Their ano-
dizing machine actually broke down and I was
dying to get this thing. You know when you’re a
teenager and you can’t wait to get your instru-
ment. When I finally got it, I learned about the
instrument a lot more, that they were turning to A-
440 and Musser was tuning A-442 I guess always. I
guess if you want to call it a cleaner sound or a
different, I don’t know. I don’t really regard it as
cleaner. But apparently Yamaha modeled their line
after the Deagan line. That’s what I heard.
WW: I’ll have to check that out.
JI: There was an instrument that’s made over in I
think it’s the Netherlands or Denmark, I can’t re-
member the brand. I had seen the thing and it’s got
the hookups on every bar and really portable. The
thing was four octaves. And one of the things that
the guy Hal Trommer told me years ago when he
was working at Deagan, I guess he was the head of
things, this was back in the 80’s, was that the prob-
lem with the four octave vibraphone was they
couldn’t get the lower fifth straight.
WW: What do you mean they couldn’t get it
straight?
JI: Well, they couldn’t get the lower, let’s say
when you went down from E down to C, they
couldn’t get for a while, and they put out a four
octave one. In fact, I think I still have the catalog
which shows Terry Gibbs playing it or something,
and they couldn’t get the C, C sharp, D, D sharp
and E to resonate the way they could with the low
F.
WW: Got you.
JI: So talk about some of your practice approaches.
WW: Nowadays a lot of my practicing really is
kind of just running through scales for the most
part, just making sure I’m very accurate in nailing
each note and as far as getting my timing
down. Timing is a very big thing for me. This is
one of the things my dad used to do with me when
I was younger. He would take his stick and hit the
side of a chair and make sure I’m always like and
make sure I’m always dead on with time. So be-
tween just running through scales for the most part
and also, what else am I doing, kind of just like
freshening up on a lot of 2-5-1’s and things like
that. A lot of times when I’m practicing, I practice
freely. I’m not practicing things like necessarily in
time. I can pick any song. Let’s just say “Satin
Doll” or something like that. I’ll kind of play
through the song as if there’s no time behind me
for the most part. I’m kind of just flowing through
the song and playing through all the changes, it’s
just not in time. So I’ll kind of just do things like
that for the most part. And just trying out different
things on the instrument because I’ve kind of come
to the conclusion that there is no wrong note when
it comes to improvising, it’s just all a matter of
how you resolve it. So I’ll just try out different
things. It’s not anything in particular. I’ll just kind
of play some things and see where I end up but I
always end up in the right spot.
JI: So how about when you’re composing, where
do you find you’re drawing your inspiration or
ideas from?
WW: Well for me it kind of starts with the
rhythm. Since I’m very much a drummer it kind of
starts with the rhythm right there. It has to be some
type of rhythm going on. It doesn’t necessarily
have to be swing because there are so many types
of rhythms out here that we can use in jazz. That’s
number one. A lot of my influence on compositions
they come from stories. I have to be influenced by
something like for instance, my wife. She’s been a
big part of my influence, of course she’s my wife,
but she’s been a big part of my life. So I have four
songs already because of things that we’ve talked
about or things that she’s done that’s made me
compose a song. Like one of the songs on the rec-
ord is because of her. It’s called
“Annoyance.” Now it’s funny, when people hear
that title they’re like “Annoyance?” Wait a mi-
nute. You married a girl and she annoyed you? But
it’s really not like that. There’s a big story behind
that. Just rhythm and stories for the most part. I’m
not to the point where I can just—I mean I can do it
if I really sit down and do it, but I really don’t like
to just sit at a piano and I tend to right all my songs
for the piano. I can’t sit at the piano and just start
writing for the most part. I have to have something
that’s went on in my life that would make me want
to write.
JI: That’s good. What do you do to decompress
when you’re not on the road and you’re not sleep-
ing?
WW: Man, I’m a homebody. So a lot of my think-
ing times and when I can just relax honestly as hard
as it is just lifting weights and running. That’s
when I can kind get to sit back and just think and
think about the future. I try to run four miles per
day and then I do a lot of just heavy, heavy weight
lifting and things like that. So I can do that, other
things, typical male things for the most part, just
going to a football game, just hanging out with the
guys, going out to get something to eat, things like
that, sitting back and watching a movie.
(Continued from page 32)
I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that there is no wrong note when it comes to improvising, it’s just all a matter of how
you resolve it.
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth.
Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living
your life with integrity.”
- W. Clement Stone
Warren Wolf
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Harold Mabern September 8-10, 2017 Dizzy’s Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center © Eric Nemeyer© Eric Nemeyer
By Eric Nemeyer
JI: One of my favorite pieces that you wrote is
“Lately.” I really like how you developed the
thematic material and built it.
MS: It’s from the live album Days Of Wine And
Roses. The band really swings when they play
that. That’s one of the cuts on that record that I
felt like, “Wow the rhythm section was slam-
ming.”
JI: Are you ever struggling with a voicing or
twisting your fingers at the piano from time to
time?
MS: Oh yeah. I’m always trying to figure out
little details. And then there’s that other part of
it that’s just like, “now I know what I want this
to feel like.” I start to hear how I want it to
sound—and now how do I get it? How do I get
with these instruments? How do I get all these
lines to work; and what are these chords.
What’s happening at the same time? How do I
get it to work with these instruments, while I’m
hearing this color. It’s just the technical nuts
and bolts.
JI: Gil Evans used sit there for hours, just
working on one chord and twisting his fingers
as well.
MS: Yeah me too. I’d see that with Gil too.
Locking the door, he would be playing a cluster
in his underwear, and he’d be just sitting there
twenty minutes hitting that little cluster and then
he would turn around and hand it to me and say,
“Okay it’s done.” It’s like he had to be sure. I
know that. And that attention to detail is what
makes his music just ugh—it’s so, it’s like a
blotch. Nothing extra. You take such care, never
just slopping stuff down on the page.
JI: When you do clinics and work with students
in educational settings, how do those experienc-
es impact your artistry?
MS: I think the aliveness you feel, sometimes
the wish of these students, the freshness, re-
membering what I was like at that age. I tend to
talk to them about the things have helped me
along the way and things that I think will help
them and help them find themselves in their
music. I’m telling them exactly the things that
are important to me. And me finding my music
and me finding my art and, when I’ve got the
wrong voices going off in my head, the things
that I need to hear. I try to remind them about
what it is to be alive and how amazing it is to
create music and dive into your feelings and
communicate. And how important it is and how
essential it is that you maintain being in touch
with yourself and your own taste and your own
voice. What may be considered the wrong way
to do something might be your voice. Gil Evans
had very unorthodox ways of orchestrating. I
want to always remind students that what the
jazz world considers to be hip is one path, but
you should never follow a path that you consid-
er to resonate with you and love it just because
everybody else loves it. What do you love?
What do you want to do? Okay: learn it. Every-
day put a little attention to who you are and
what you are and talk to teachers about it. I feel
that sometimes it’s the most valuable thing that
I can talk about to them about.
JI: Tell us about the processes that led to the
development of your album Sky Blue.
MS: Well, the music was written over a period
of time. They are all commissions except for
one. And, so it wasn’t conceived—actually
none of my records have really been con-
ceived—totally as a record. What I do is I take
commissions and when I start to see that there
might be something that could fit together then
maybe I try to fill it out with one piece that
might connect it or something. But, generally, I
kind of hope that because I’ve written the music
in the same period of time that it’s going to
have some connecting element to it. I think this
music is pretty disparate. It’s like, there’s the
thing with the Peruvian influence, then there’s
some things that really have much more influ-
ence by like the landscape of my home town.
JI: Going from Peru to Minnesota is a long
way.
MS: It’s a long ways. But, what? It’s not that
long if I think about it. When I was a kid, my
father used to work in South America and Mex-
ico a great deal in the agriculture business. We
lived in a small farm town. He was involved in
designing machinery that a lot people who man-
ufactured fibrous materials in Mexico and Peru
and different places used. My father would go
there and assist with operations and things. So I
was kind of exposed to a little bit of Latin
American culture as a kid, even though I lived
in this very rural town, with like 4,000 people. I
was always fascinated by it—fascinated by the
people, the music, the exotic-ness of it. To this
day I just have such fascination with South
America. I think it’s my favorite place to visit.
Mostly I’ve been to Brazil. In Peru I was ex-
posed to a new kind of music called lando. Then
the other pieces just came out of… Most of my
music is very autobiographical. If I was to de-
scribe my music, I would say that I’m a story
teller. I love to share stories. It’s kind of a way
to share a story and all its essence in a much
clearer way than maybe words do—or in some
kind of direct emotional way. It’s not through
description so much, but I think music has so
much power that way. All the arts are some
special window to soul like that, and that’s what
I’m doing in my music: hopefully touching peo-
ple. And maybe in ways that they intellectually
describe but hopefully that they just feel. That’s
my wish. After we recorded this record, I was
really excited. I even made the bold statement,
on my website, which might have been, because
(Continued on page 35)
Maria Schneider Attention To Detail
InterviewInterview
“I try to remind them about what it is to be alive and how amazing it is to create music and dive into your feelings and communicate. And how important it is
and how essential it is that you maintain being in touch with yourself and your
own taste and your own voice. What may be considered the wrong way to do
something might be your voice.”
35 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
I was sharing the whole process. I tend to share
my insecurities as well as my securities. Vulner-
ability is the thing that connects people always.
Actually, when I first starting doing the whole
ArtistShare thing and I did my first record, I
was in the middle of writing this piece “Concert
in the Garden,” and I was in a complete crisis. I
was writing some journal stuff on the website
and I was saying how I was really in a crisis and
blah blah blah. My father called me up and said,
“Geez, Pinky, nobody’s going to want to buy
this record.” He kind of panicked me because,
in a way, I felt, “Well it’s true.” Then I said to
him, “Yeah, but this is about sharing the pro-
cess.” And I’ve gone through this thing every
single time I’ve ever written a piece. So part of
me knows and hopes it comes out the other side.
I don’t want to create any illusion that this stuff
comes out of me like the baby Mozart.
JI: Composing can be a real struggle.
MS: It can be. It almost always is.
JI: Do you find that there are days that you
have great ideas and other days when you are
struggling with a little motive that’s in one
measure.
MS: Oh yeah, and usually struggling with what
the big picture is. “Where is this thing going?”
…and struggling with the timing issues. For me
the most difficult thing in writing music is how
long should something happen. How long
should this development be, how long should
this section going from here to—for instance in
the “Bird” piece, there was this section where I
really wanted to give the sort of evocative feel-
ing, imagining what it would be like for a little
warbler to be migrating amongst other warblers
with all the little wings fluttering by the light of
the moon and the stars navigating in the night.
Thousands of kilometers without stopping - that
journey takes weeks. Here I am, writing a 22
minute piece, and this is one little part of it. So
how do you create that feeling for the right
amount of time for the music? Make it kind of
meditative and make it not feel dull. Those
kinds of things I really struggled with.
JI: Do you sketch out the ideas or a direction,
or is it really evolving organically?
MS: Not really at this point, because the materi-
al that I’m using isn’t something that is really
like a chunk of bars or a phrase. It’s more like
I’m developing something out of a motif. I
mean, here and there there’ll be something
that’s a tune like that and sort of works that
way. But there are a lot of other sections and
things that are very much more like writing
classical music. And so it’s trying to come up
with this balance. I love tunes. I love the evoca-
tiveness of classical music as opposed to, some-
times, jazz. Sometimes it is fun or it’s exciting
or it’s beautiful. But is it taking you on this
journey? I want to take people on this little trip.
All those decisions I’m making are really guid-
ed by something very internal in me: my heart
and my imagination. Trying to imagine this
journey myself and always trying to imagine
what it’s like to hear a piece for the first time.
Trying to create a feeling of suspense, some-
times beauty, tension, resolution, lushness—but
not too much lushness. More and more, I think
joy is an element in my music - wanting to do
that without pushing it over the top. Like, “Oh
I’m so joyful!.” It’s trying to get to notes on the
paper to speak truthfully about the way I’m
feeling and trying to be dedicated enough in
every moment to not stop until I get across what
I feel like I want to get across. Not giving up.
That’s the struggle. I tend not to give up, so the
frustration is I’m not satisfied until I’m satis-
fied. And that point of satisfaction, sometimes I
press that bar pretty hard and high for myself,
so it’s like, “Ahh, God, am I ever going to get
this sounding the way I want?” And if it’s not
exactly what I want, I’m just tremendously dis-
appointed. It’s not a little thing. Kind of make a
big deal about it, which maybe you’ll under-
stand.
Hear Maria Schneider and her Big Band at
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., November 21-26.
(Continued from page 34)
Maria Schneider
36 To Advertise CALL: 215-887-8880 October-November 2017 Jazz Inside Magazine www.JazzInsideMagazine.com
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