May, 2017 | Notorious Jazz

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Denise Donatelli was born May 26, 1950 in Allentown, Pennsylvania and began playing piano at the age of three and studied classical piano for 15 years, winning first place awards in the National Federation of Music Clubs’ piano competitions three consecutive years. After college she set her musical career aside for marriage and family and did not begin singing professionally until her sons were in their teens.

While living in Atlanta, Georgia she was encouraged to return to music after attending a jam session that attracted the region’s top players, including guitarist Russell Malone. she sang several songs with Russell, and began getting calls for performances. When veteran blues singer Francine Reed joined Lyle Lovett’s band, Donatelli joined the three-nights-a-week engagement at the Ritz-Carlton.

A career at Turner Broadcasting Network gave her contact with Los Angeles-based associates and an introduction to arranger Neal Hefti. One thing led to another and Denise was soon recording studio spots for episodes of The Simpsons and television promos for Frasier, Card Sharks and Turner Classic Movies as well as national and international commercials for CNN, Hyundai, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and others, as well as performing You Only Live Twice as a parody theme song on The Simpsons, Season 25, Episode 4 YOLO.

Donatelli has also been heard performing and recording with Bill Cunliffe, Bill Mays, Roger Kellaway, Tamir Hendelmen, Larry Koonse, Julian Lage, Peter Sprague, Bob Sheppard, Joe LaBarbara, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Christian Jacob’s Big Band Theory, Alf Clausen and his Jazz Orchestra, and the Stan Kenton Alumni Band.

She has been nominated four times for Grammy awards for her 2010 release When Lights Are Low for Best Jazz Vocal Album and another for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, her 2012 release Soul Shadows for Best Jazz Vocal Album and in 2015 with Find A Heart for Best Jazz Vocal Album.Denise has been honored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society with Jazz Vocalist of the Year Award, and Downbeat Magazine named her in the top ten of the 61st Annual DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star Female Jazz Vocalist category.

Vocalist Denise Donatelli continues to tour extensively gracing the stages of jazz festivals, jazz clubs, performing art centers, and with university jazz bands where she conducts master clinics.

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Atlanta Jazz Festival…2017

Tradition takes time and through that time the dream weathers the tests that will one day allow it to stand alone. Tradition is not a task for the faint-hearted but is best relegated to the visionaries who recognize its value and grasp the baton as it is passed.

In Atlanta, the gateway city to the South, the bastion of tradition has long been the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the largest free jazz festival in the country. It is truly the hallmark of legacy heralding the vision of Mayor Maynard Jackson that began in 1974. It took four years of planning before the then Bureau of Cultural Affairs would launch the inaugural festival in 1978. Not without its obstacles, its success established the foundation upon which forty consecutive festivals have presented this music to admiring and adoring fans.

For 40 years, 5 mayors, Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Bill Campbell, Shirley Franklin and Kasim Reed, 4 decades of City Council men and women and 7 directors of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Robert Lomax, Shirley Franklin, Tom Cullen, Shirley Cooks, Harriet Sanford, Barbara Bowser and Camille Russell Love have kept jazz a vibrant invitation and welcome to the city each year. They have given opportunity to more than a 1000 jazz musicians and vocalists to grace the stages of the Atlanta Jazz Festival before millions of spectators.

Without their staunch support and hard work, the ever-evolving festival would not have been able to give visibility to venues around the city during the 31 Days of Jazz that precedes each Memorial Day weekend festivities. Nor would they have been able to have more than a 100 middle and high school bands compete each spring in the Youth Jazz Band Competition to win a coveted performance spot on the main stage to open each day of the festival.

Over the years without the support over the decades with staff like Michael Lomax, Malcolm Johnson, Joe Jennings, Kole Eaton, Ebon Dooley, Mitchell Feldman, Rob Gibson and John Armwood, festival managers Alonzo Craig and Melissa Laurenceau, project supervisor Nnena Nchege who ran logistics & 31 Days or Valarie Benning Barney responsible for sponsorship & marketing, there wouldn’t be current project coordinator Herman Wilson.

7 photographers have been primarily responsible for documenting festival’s growth: Jim Alexander, Sheila Pree Bright, Michael Reese, Sue Ross, Eric Waters, Julie Yarbrough and Ernest Gregory. With the onset of the internet hundreds more amateur and professional photographers have shared their photos and videos across multiple platforms.

The media has played an important part of getting the message to the people and we recognize radio sponsors WVEE 103FM, WCLK 91.9FM, 94Q Jazz Flavours, WRFG 89.3FM, WJZF, WALR/Kiss 104.1, WABE-PBA, WJZZ 107.5, 790 The Zone, as well as radio personalities Ernest Gregory and perennial emcee, John Armwood, Bobby Jackson, Steve Bowser, Phil Clore, Carl Anthony, H. Johnson, Riva Blue, and Jamal Ahmad among numerous others, who have lent their voice and time volunteering. Print media sponsors have been Creative Loafing, Jazziz, Jazz Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jezebel Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, Rolling Out, Abyss Jazz Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Atlanta Tribune The Magazine, Southwest Atlanta Magazine, and television sponsors MediaOne, BET on Jazz, WSB TV, Mundo Hispanico, and Comcast.

Last but never the least, we must never forget to give thanks to the thousands of volunteers, aptly dubbed Jazzteers by Nnena Nchege in 2005, who over forty years have unselfishly given their time to insure the success of the festival. Without their help the behind the scenes production activities that make operations run smoothly would not happen. They have are a vital component to each year’s event.

The Atlanta Jazz Festival is the acknowledged largest continuous free jazz event in North America and contributes greatly to the success of the city’s tourism, hospitality and community. Standing alongside all of the men and women who have been proud to have supported this tradition and are currently a part of this annual endeavor, it has been a privilege and an honor to be numbered among this cast.

This 40th year anniversary celebration lineup includes performers who graced the stage the very first year, those who have performed over the years and those who are first time initiates. They are the Pedrito Martinez Group, the Robert Glasper Experiment, the Allan Harris Band, Regina Carter: Simply Ella, Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Quintet, Reńe Marie and Experiment in Truth, Charles Lloyd Sky Trio, Moonchild, Nik West, Nicholas Payton Afro-Caribbean Mixtape, Macy Gray, Little Tybee, Harriet Tubman: The Band, Deva Mahal, Marquis Hill Blacktet, the Miles Davis Electric Band Tribute All Star Jam with Lil’ John Roberts feat. Russell Gunn and Miles Davis band member Mino Cinelu, Dwight Andrews, Joe Jennings & Howard Nicholson’s Life Force, Celebrating Sarah: Kathleen Bertrand & Friends Honor Sarah Vaughan, the Joe Gransden Big Band with Alexandra Jackson, the Ojeda Penn Experience with Jean Carne, Freddy Cole, Frank Houston, Kemba Cofield, Darren English, Cleveland P. Jones, Julie Dexter and Jacob Deaton Duo featuring Rasheeda Ali, Mamaniji Azanyah & Mastery, Russell Gunn & African Drums meets Kebbi Williams’ Wolf Pack and Mausiki Scales & Common Ground featuring Giwayen Mata.

Sponsors & Partners of the 2017 Atlanta Jazz Festival are Wind Creek Casino & Hotel Wetumpka, Resurgens Atlanta, Bank of America, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, City of Atlanta, Publix Supermarket Charities, Marta, Fontis Mountain Spring Water, Lyft, Loews Atlanta Hotel, and Sprouts Farmers Market.

The Official Print partner is Creative Loafing and the Official Radio Partner is WCLK 91.9FM #AJF40

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Phil Ranelin was born May 25, 1939 in Indianapolis, Indiana and lived in New York City before moving to Detroit, Michigan in the 1960s. He worked as a session musician on many Motown recordings, including with Stevie Wonder.

In 1971, he and Wendell Harrison formed a group called The Tribe, which was an avant-garde jazz ensemble devoted to black consciousness. Alongside it he co-founded Tribe Records. He released several albums as a leader in the 1970s, and continued with The Tribe project until 1978. Following this, Ranelin worked with Freddie Hubbard, Freddie Redd and the Red Hot Chili Peppers..

Working for the most part locally around Detroit in the following decades, Phil did not find widespread acceptance among jazz aficionados. He did, however, eventually gain the attention of rare groove collectors who became increasingly interested in his work. As a result, Tortoise drummer John McEntire remastered some of his older material and re-released it on Hefty Records. He also recorded on Lifeforce, Wide Hive and Rebirth record labels.

Trombonist Phil Ranelin continues to perform, compose, and record.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Signorelli was born in New York City on May 24, 1901 and was a founding member of the Original Memphis Five at age sixteen in 191. He went on to join the Original Dixieland Jazz Band briefly in 1921. By 1927 he was playing in Adrian Rollini’s New York ensemble, and subsequently worked with Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke, Matty Malneck and Paul Whiteman.

1935 saw him as a part of Dick Stabile’s All-America Swing Band and from 1936 to ‘38 he played in the revived version of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He recorded with Phil Napoleon in 1946 and with Miff Mole in 1958.

As a songwriter, Signorelli composed I’ll Never Be The Same, initially called Little Buttercup by Joe Venuti’s Blue Four, Gypsy that was recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, Caprice Futuristic, Evening, Anything, Bass Ale Blues, Great White Way Blues, Park Avenue Fantasy, Sioux City Sue, Shufflin’ Mose, Stairway to the Stars and A Blues Serenade which was recorded by Signorelli in 1926, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in 1935 and Duke Ellington’s version in 1938.

On December 9, 1975, pianist Frank Signorelli, who never led a recording session, passed away in New York City, New York.

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The Jazz Voyager

It’s the Gateway to the South where this Jazz Voyager is heading in anticipation of a great jazz weekend at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in Piedmont park. The festival turns 40 this year and there’s no other place to be than in the park celebrating this anniversary. For those veterans who’ve been there, you know No charcoal, only gas grills and no dogs allowed on the festival grounds.

For the initiates, be for-warned as the vets know you have to get in early to get your ideal spot for lawn chairs and blankets, tents, food and grills. There’s going to be thousands of folks gathering once again to celebrate this banner year of the festival. Bring plenty of water to keep hydrated and watch your children. Don’t want any lost boys and girls. Other than that, check out the lineup below, print a copy and see you there. Enjoy yourself!!! #jazzvoyager#wannabewhereyouare

The Lineup
Friday May 26th – Legends Stage:
The Pedrito Martinez Group | 7:00pm
Robert Glasper Experiment | 9:00pm