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Ben Wolfe was born on August 3, 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland but was raised in Portland, Oregon. Early on in his career he formed a duo with Harry Connick Jr. and went on to be his musical director, recording over a dozen albums and soundtracks. He then joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet, remaining until it disbanded. This engagement was followed being an part of Diana Krall’s touring band, playing on many of her recordings, including the Grammy Award winning project When I Look In Your Eyes.
As a member of The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), Ben has performed with Joe Henderson, Doc Cheatham, Jon Hendricks, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Billy Higgins as well as recording with Branford Marsalis, James Moody, Eric Reed, Carl Allen, and Benny Green.
Wolfe has been awarded the 2004 New Works: Creation and Presentation Program Grant by Chamber Music America and funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. As a result he composed his extended composition Contradiction: Music for Sextet. He has also composed the score for Matthew Modine’s film short I Think I Thought.
Double bassist, composer and educator Ben Wolfe currently performs, records and teaches in the Jazz Division of the Juilliard School in New York City.
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Bill Lee was born William James Edwards Lee III on July 23, 1928 in Snow Hill, Alabama the son of Alberta Grace Edwards, a concert pianist, and Arnold Wadsworth Lee, a musician. A bassist by profession, he is also a composer, arranger and conductor.
Bill scored his son’s first four movies, and was also the musical director and performer Sonny Darling in She’s Gotta Have It, the bassist in the Phyllis Hyman Quartet and the music conductor of the Natural Spiritual Orchestra for School Daze and Do The Right Thing, and appeared as Father of the Bride and also the music director for Mo’ Better Blues.
Lee was arrested in 1991 during a police drug sweep for heroin possession, fell out with his son, Spike Lee, over the arrest and subsequent interracial marriage to second wife that took place shortly after his first wife Jacquelyn, Spike’s mother, passed away from cancer. Bad blood continued as Spike made Jungle Fever that set a negative light on White/Black romantic relationships.
Along with Stuart Scharf he was the music arranger for the stage play A Hand is on the Gate. He has appeared on the Today Show, the Harry Belafonte television specials, has composed operas, stage music for the Apollo Theatre and has recorded with The Brass Company, Stanley Cowell, Richard Davis, Clifford Jordan, Harold Mabern, Pat Martino, Johnny Griffin, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Odetta, Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot and Peter, Paul and Mary among others. Double bassist and bass guitarist Bill Lee continues to compose, arrange and conduct.
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Lloyd Trotman was born on May 25, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts. He began playing the club scene on 52nd Street in New York in 1945, playing with the likes of Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. One of his earliest recording sessions was on Duke Ellington’s 1950 album Great Times Piano Duets with Billy Strayhorn and Oscar Pettiford.
He worked with, traveled with, and recorded with many jazz artists including Johnny Hodges, Woody Herman, Bud Powell, Red Allen, Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Scott, Billie Holiday, Lucky Millinder, Boyd Raeburn and Blanche Calloway. He was a member of the Apollo house band during the late 40’s and early 1950s.
During the 1950s Lloyd worked as a session musician at Atlantic, RCA Victor, Mercury, Okeh, Vik, Cadence, Brunswick and many other recording studios alongside producers and arrangers such as Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Leiber and Stoller, Jesse Stone, Sammy Lowe, Leroy Kirkland and Archie Bleyer. He played behind Sam “The Man” Taylor, King Curtis, Panama Francis, Mickey Baker, Ernie Hayes, Al Caiola among others and was a member of Alan Freed’s Rock & Roll Orchestra at the Brooklyn Paramount and Fox Theaters during the late 1950s.
He continued to play many weekend nightclub dates into the early 1980’s and after retiring from the music business, he became a loan officer at Islip National Bank. Jazz bassist Lloyd Trotman, who backed numerous jazz, Dixieland, R&B, and rock and roll artists in the 1940’s, 1950s and 1960s, passed away at the aged 84, on October 3, 2007 on Long Island, New York.
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Review: Julie Dexter & The HC3 | The Smiling Hour
There is an inherent understanding of individual artistry I bring to this listening experience. I am filled with anticipation, expectation and a curiosity of what this ensemble will do with the compendium of genius represented in part by Carmichael, Ellington, Lins, Shorter and Higginbotham.
The true measurement of a vocalist is the musicians encircling her and this storyteller has chosen well. With minimalistic accompaniment, they cajole the melody along with a voice that undeniably understands what the lyricist penned. Her interpretations are pure and simple statements from the emotional depths of her soul. Of course, I speak of Julie Dexter, who brings to bear a jazz sensibility reminiscent of the legendary jazz vocalists of the last century.
But do not be deceived. This is far from a project of solo amplitude but a synergy of rhythmic voices that speak volumes. The subtleties in their playing do not bemoan their complete lack of ego as they unfold the story in each song. Like children passing notes in school, this rhythm section comprised of pianist Nick Rosen, bassist Kevin Smith and the anchor Henry Conerway III on drums, easily play off one another, keeping the improvisation of the story vibrant while maintaining the integrity of the composition.
They begin the set with an up-tempo swing invitation to come along to the Black Nile interjected with a bit of scatting on her interpretation of a Vanessa Rubin lyric. Turning to a light-hearted lament, Julie relates her loss of words that’s more a compliment that a complaint with You Leave Me Breathless. The quartet reaches back some forty years to remind the listener that Thom Bell and Linda Creed are still relevant in this modern day world of strife with People Make The World Go Round.
There are three moments of quiet during this session where the ballad takes the spotlight: Jay Livingston’s Never Let Me Go, Hoagy Carmichael’s The Nearness Of You and Good Morning Heartache by Irene Higginbotham. Kevin’s refreshing bowing and plucks, Nick’s offerings of piano accents and Henry’s brush setting tempos compliment Julie’s heartfelt interpretations.
Returning to the fun, we have Nat Adderley’s composition The Old Country, an easy romp with That’s Livin’, a tribute to Duke Ellington that showcases the trio’s interaction on the lone instrumental, Cotton Tail. Well placed in the lineup is the gentle Ivan Lins’ bossa title track The Smiling Hour giving you to sway to the rhythms before closing out the set with the classic Mongo Santamaria’s Afro Blue.
In a world where the milieu seeks style over substance, this formidable foursome is notorious for the honesty of their sound, thus proving substance is their style. There is sparseness in their articulation exhibiting a maturity that echoes less is more. Within this offering lies an unscripted collective intimacy that captures the discipline and freedom in each performance and they have given a new bloom to the classics that will stand the test of time. But what I like most about this expose they’ve aptly titled The Smiling Hour is… the promise of things to come.
carl anthony | notorious jazz | may 19, 2015
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Stafford James was born April 24, 1946 in Evanston, Illinois. As a young man he enlisted in the Air Force and after his discharge he studied at the University of Chicago. In 1969 he moved to New York City and studied at the Mannes College for Music. Here he met Pharoah Sanders, with whom he played his first jazz concerts in New York. He played with Monty Alexander, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane and Albert Ayler.
James did the first road tour of the Broadway show Hair through Canada, met Melba Moore in 1971 and played the David Frost Revue with her, and went on to Rashied Ali, Roy Ayers, Al Haig, Barry Harris, Andrew Hill, Andrew Cyrille and Chico Hamilton.
In 1973 Stafford toured Europe for the first time with Gary Bartz, then became a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. At the same time he met Woody Shaw, began a lifelong friendship with Betty Carter and started teaching at the United Nations International School in NYC. He recorded his debut album as a leader in 1975 with Enrico Rava, Dave Burrell and Beaver Harris. A year later he founded a quintet and toured Europe.
He met Dexter Gordon while on tour with Al Cohn and recorded Homecoming with him upon his return to the United States. He continued to tour through the 1980s, arranged compositions by Ellington, and composed sonatas. By the end of the decade and into the next James moved to Paris, collaborated with Pharoah, Barney Wilens and Lavelle, formed the Stafford James Project, played with his trio and continued to compose for large ensembles.
His list of collaborations, recording sessions and tours is extensive and in recent years he has recorded The Stafford James String Ensemble, taught master classes at the university level, had a two-hour program on his life and compositions, founded the Top Hat Music Society, performed with Max Roach’s percussion ensemble M’Boom and continue his tradition of performance, composing, recording and touring around the world.
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