Jazz Poems

SOLOING

My mother tells me she dreamed

of John Coltrane, a young Trane

playing his music with such joy

and contained energy and rage

she could not hold back her tears.

And sitting awake now, her hands

crossed in her lap, the tears start

in her blind eyes. The TV set

behind her is gray, expressionless.

It is late, the neighbors quiet,

even the city–Los Angeles–quiet.

I have driven for hours down 99,

>over the Grapevine into heaven

to be here. I place my left hand

on her shoulder, and she smiles.

What a world, a mother and son

finding solace in California

just where we told it would

be, among the palm trees and all-

night super markets pushing orange

back-lighted oranges at 2 A.M.

“He was alone,” she says, and does

not say, just as I am, “soloing.”

What a world, a great man half

her age comes to my mother

in sleep to give her the gift

of song, which–shaking the tears

away–she passes on to me, for now

I can hear the music of the world

in the silence and that word:

soloing. What a world–when I

arrived the great bowl of mountains

was hidden in a cloud of exhaust,

the sea spread out like a carpet

of oil, the roses I had bought

from Fresno browned on the seat

beside me, and I could have

turned back and lost the music.

from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young

More Posts: book,classic,collectible,history,jazz,library,poet

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Nicole Rampersaud was born on December 17, 1981 in Toronto,Canada. Studying trumpet through high school she then went to earn an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in Jazz Performance. From there a scholarship led her studies to the New England Conservatory, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies. While at the Conservatory, Nicole studied with Danilo Perez, John McNeil, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Morris, Herb Pomeroy, Joe Maneri, and Bob Moses. She also studied composition with Michael Gandolfi and Ken Schaphorst.

Developing her singular voice that intersects with a broad range of musical practices and traditions, Nicole has become a sought-after collaborator with a host of artists. A few of his contemporary musicians are Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris, Ra-kalam Bob Moses, Sandro Perri, and many more.

Rampersaud’s primary groups include Brass Knuckle Sandwich with pianist Marilyn Lerner, a duo with guitarist Joel LeBlanc, and she is a founding member of the trio c_RL alongside Allison Cameron and Germaine Liu. She has performed with AIMToronto Orchestra, Eucalyptus, Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds, and Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra.

Since 2008, she has been building a catalogue of solo compositions that deconstruct the trumpet’s sonic possibilities and co-founded the improvisation-driven series, Understory. Trumpeter and composer Nicole Rampersaud continues to relentlessly seek out and create spaces to work with a diverse and expanding group of music-makers.

More Posts: bandleader,composeer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jeremy Bacon was born in New York City, New York on December 16, 1959 into a musical family that were big jazz fans. His father sang with the New York Choral Society and The Occasional Singers, an avant-garde group led by folk singer Gil Robbins. Her uncle designed album covers for Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley and numerous others for Riverside Records.

Taking piano lessons as a child he went on to  study in high school at the Center for Open Education and then jazz improvisation and composition at Oberlin. After college, Jeremy became the protégé of pianist Don Pullen. He worked regularly in a trio led by bassist Charles Fambrough, which rotated drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, trumpeters Johnny Coles and Michael Philip Mossman, saxophonists Joe Ford and Ralph Bowen, and guitarist Pat Martino.

He was musical director for Joey Arias’ Billie Holiday show at Carnegie Hall and accompanied many vocalists, including Kristin Chenoweth and Jeanie Bryson, daughter of Dizzy Gillespie. He recorded two albums as a leader Cloud Hands and Cage Free: Free Range, and Travels with the band Big Train. Bacon lent his talents to three recordings with saxophonist Joey Cavaseno, and one with vocalist Queen Esther.

Having established himself on the East Coast, a move to the Pacific Northwest in 2018 opened a new audience, performing regularly as a leader and accompanist. He taught piano on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts, accompanied dance classes in the theater department, and performed with Seattle JazzED at many regional elementary schools.

Jazz pianist Jeremy Bacon died at Franciscan Hospice House in Tacoma, Washington  on July 8, 2024, after months of treatment for metastatic colon cancer. He was 64 years old.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano

Requisites

Zoot ~ Zoot Sims Quartet | By Eddie Carter

I’d just completed a long week and wanted to hear something soothing after dinner. I chose Zoot (Argo LP 608), a 1957 album by The Zoot Sims Quartet. John Haley Sims was born in Inglewood, California and began playing the clarinet and drums at an early age. By age thirteen, he started the tenor sax and later joined the big bands of Kenny Baker, Bobby Sherwood, and Benny Goodman. He got his nickname Zoot while playing with Kenny Baker and later gained attention in Woody Herman’s orchestra as one of the four brothers’ sax section. The personnel on this date are Zoot Sims on alto sax (track: B3) and tenor sax (A1 to B2, B4), Johnny Williams on piano, Knobby Totah on bass, and Gus Johnson on drums. My copy is the 1975 Japanese Mono reissue (Cadet MJ-1013M).

The first side opener, 9:20 Special by Earle Warren, begins with the quartet’s delightfully relaxing melody. Zoot is the first to whet the listener’s appetite in the opening reading. Johnny takes the baton for a light-hearted solo next. Knobby follows with a few well-placed bass notes, and Gus shares the finale with Zoot in a short conversation ahead of the theme’s reprise. The Man I Love by George and Ira Gershwin opens with the rhythm section’s tasteful background accompanying Zoot’s tenderly warm tone in the opening chorus and the saxophonist’s first reading. Johnny is equally thoughtful and sensitive in the following interpretation. Zoot adds a few soothing last thoughts, like gentle raindrops hitting the ground, into a mellow ending.

55^th and State, an original by Zoot Sims, moves the beat upward to a medium bounce for the ensemble’s theme. Zoot leads off with an inspired improvisation, then passes the torch to Johnny, who follows with a rousing performance. Gus wraps up the finale, sharing a lively conversation with Zoot, leading to the theme’s return. Blue Room by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart is an old show tune from the twenties. The quartet rises to the occasion, getting into an infectious groove on the melody. Zoot rolls out ideas effortlessly in the opening statement. Johnny extends the joyous mood in the following interpretation, and then Gus engages in a short exchange with Zoot, leading to the ending theme and conclusion.

Side Two begins with Gus’s Blues, an original by Gus Johnson that Johnny introduces, segueing to the foursome’s easygoing melody. Zoot sets a swinging groove on the opening performance. The pianist follows the leader with a bright, bouncy interpretation, and then the saxophonist returns for a closing presentation that disappears into nothingness. The group takes on another old chestnut with their rendition of That Old Feeling by Sammy Fain and Lew Brown. After the quartet establishes the opening ensemble, Zoot launches into one of his best solos on the album. Johnny responds with a compelling reading, and then the saxophonist delivers the last word in a short sermon before the group takes the song out.

Zoot switches to alto sax for Oscar Pettiford’s Bohemia After Dark. It’s a swinger from the word go, and this point is emphasized when the saxophonist takes charge during the foursome’s theme. Zoot continues cooking with confidence on the lead solo. Johnny meets the challenge head-on in a concise presentation, then turns it back over to Zoot, who delivers the knockout punch preceding the brisk reprise and climax. The closing track is Woody ‘n’ You, Dizzy Gillespie’s tribute to Woody Herman that takes off with the quartet’s brisk theme. Zoot opens with an enthusiastic performance. Johnny matches him in agility on the following statement. Knobby has a short stint next, and then Zoot and Gus share the exclamation point before the theme reprise and finale.

Dave Usher produced the album, but it’s unknown who the recording engineer was for the session. The album’s sound quality possesses a solid soundstage despite a minor issue during Knobby’s bass solo on Woody ‘n’ You, where the bass sounds distorted; the remainder of the album is excellent. Zoot Sims’s successful career as a leader and sideman lasted forty years, recording on various labels with many exceptional jazz musicians. He passed away from lung cancer on March 23, 1985, at the age of fifty-nine. If you’re a fan of Cool Jazz, I offer Zoot by The Zoot Sims Quartet for your consideration on your next record-shopping trip. This album of originals and standards is superbly performed and should become a welcome addition to your library!

More Posts: choice,classic,collectible,collector,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Bruce David Gertz was born on December 15, 1952 in Providence, Rhode Island. He first learned to play guitar, then switched to bass guitar as a teenager, playing with local blues and rock groups.

He studied music formally at New England College and Berklee College of Music in the 1970s. After graduating from Berklee in 1976 he taught music there; he is now a professor of music. He worked with George Garzone in the Overtones in the late Seventies and was a co-leader of ensembles with Jerry Bergonzi from 1978 to 1989.

He has worked with Mike Stern both in the Bergonzi ensembles and with Stern’s own quartet. From 1982 to 1985 he was house bassist for the Willow Jazz Cafe in Somerville, Massachusetts. In the 1990s he worked with John Abercrombie, Joey Calderazzo, Ken Cervenka, Adam Nussbaum, Danilo Perez, Dan Reiser, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Schuller, and others.

Double and electric bassist Bruce Gertz continues to perform.

More Posts: bass,educator,history,instrumental,jazz,music