RONNIE LAWS
Ronnie Laws is an award-winning tenor saxophonist and composer whose career has, since the early 1970s, straddled the worlds of jazz and R&B. Since 1975, he has placed seven albums in the Top 200 — including his 1975 Blue Note debut Pressure Sensitive — as well as being the first saxophonist for Earth, Wind & Fire. He has worked as an in-demand session man and live musician with a who’s-who of jazz and R&B greats including Ramsey Lewis, Gregory Porter, B.B. King, George Duke, Quincy Jones, Stanley Jordan, and dozens more.
The Performers:
Ronnie Laws ~ saxophone
David Dyson ~ bass
Alvin White ~ guitar
Tim Steele ~ drums
Vince Evans ~ keys
Shawn Allen ~ vocals
Tickets: $55.00 ~ $65.00 + fee | Streaming: 5:00pm Only ~ $15.00 + fee
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,club,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,preserving,saxophone,travel
CATHERINE RUSSELL
My Ideal, a breathtaking new album from acclaimed GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell and prodigious pianist Sean Mason. This modern classic marks a significant milestone in both artists’ careers, capturing a powerful and intimate musical dialogue. My Ideal elevates their partnership to new heights, featuring a complete set of voice-and-piano duets that hark back to classic jazz traditions.
Since her debut solo album in 2006, Catherine Russell has captivated audiences with her rich, soulful voice and exceptional interpretative skills, with her eight previous solo albums garnering critical acclaim. Catherine has toured and recorded with Carrie Smith, Steely Dan, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, Levon Helm, Toshi Reagon and Rosanne Cash, among others, appearing on over 200 albums.
Tickets: $45.00 ~ $55.00 + fee | Streaming: 6:00pm Only ~ $15.00 + fee
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,club,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,preserving,travel,vocal
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Martin Oliver Grosz was born on February 28, 1930 in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He became resident in the United States by the age of three growing up in New York he began playing ukulele at the age of eight. A few years later he heard a record that highlighted guitarist Bernard Addison’s shuffle-beat behind Roy Eldridge’s trumpet and out went the uke and in came the banjo and guitar. He attended Columbia University and in 1950, recorded his first record with a band that included a young pianist Dick Wellstood and veteran New Orleans bassist, Pops Foster.
Settling in Chicago, Illinois in the Fifties for nearly 20 years, Marty played with among others, Albert Ammons, Floyd O’Brien, Art Hodes, and Jim Lannigan. He recorded with Dave Remington, Albert Nicholas and Hodes in the 1950s. He led sessions of his own in 1957 and 1959 for Riverside and Audio Fidelity. He gave his best effort to coax Jabbo Smith out of retirement but was pretty obscure.
Returning to New York City in 1979 he joined Bob Wilber and Kenny Davern’s Soprano Summit as a vocalist and guitarist. A round of touring ensued along with recording with Dick Wellstood’s Friends of Fats, Yank Lawson and Bob Haggar, and the New York Jazz repertory Orchestra.
In the 1980s he was a member of the Classic Jazz Quartet with Dick Wellstood. He played, sang, and wrote most of the group’s arrangements. He has also performed at concerts with Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, and Charlie Byrd.
Guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer Marty Grosz has recorded thirty-one albums as a leader and thirty-four as a sideman. At 95 he still plays occasionally.
More Posts: bandleader,banjo,composer,guitar,history,instrumental,jazz,music,vocals
The Jazz Voyager
The nation’s capital is this week’s destination as the Jazz Voyager departs the warm climes of South Florida for a more frigid weather experience ranging in the thirties. But jazz only knows two temperatures — cool and hot and the latter will be warming up the room at Blues Alley this Thursday with two shows at 7:00 and 9:30pm.
Wife and husband team Jean and Marcus comprise The Baylor Project which hail out of New York City are taking the stage this week. They have been nominated for four Grammy awards and continually pay homage to their wide-ranging musical influences. In doing so they generate an eclectic sound whose overall effect is spiritual, buoyant, and feel good music.
Tickets: $35 + $7 fee
Food and Beverage: $15 Minimum Per Person
Blues Alley’s address is 1073 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007. For more information visit bluesalley.com.
More Posts: adventure,club,drums,genius,jazz,music,preserving,travel,vocal
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Joseph Kelson Jr. , known professionally as Jackie Kelso, was born in Los Angeles, California on February 27, 1922. He began taking clarinet lessons at age eight, studying with Caughey Roberts. When he was fifteen his Jefferson High School classmate Chico Hamilton urged him to take up the alto saxophone, making his professional debut with Jerome Myart that same year. By the time he graduated from Jefferson, he was playing with Hamilton, Buddy Collette, and Charles Mingus at Central Avenue clubs.
The 1940s saw Jackie playing with Barney Bigard, Marshal Royal, Lucky Thompson, Kid Ory, Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and Roy Milton. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 with Marshal and Ernie Royal, and, after training at Camp Robert Smalls, he was stationed with the Royals with St. Mary’s College Pre-Flight School band.
After the war he continued playing and by the 1950s he was performing with Johnny Otis, Billy Vaughan, Nelson Riddle, Bill Berry, Ray Anthony, the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, Bob Crosby, C.L. Burke, and Duke Ellington. Joining Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps in 1958 he was featured on several recordings from that period such as Ac-centu-ate the Positive.
Working as a studio musician between 1964 and 1984, in addition Kelso recorded with Mercer Ellington and Mink DeVille, toured worldwide with Hampton, Ellington, and Vaughan, and appeared in The Concert for Bangladesh. Semi-retiring from music in 1984, he returned to perform in 1995 with the Count Basie Orchestra, where he became a regular in 1998.
Saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist Jackie Kelso, who reverted to his birth name Kelson. died on April 28, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California, aged 90.
Get a dose of the musicians and vocalists who were members of a global society integral in the making and preservation of jazz for over a hundred and twenty-five years…
Jackie Kelso: 1922~2012 | Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet
More Posts: clarinet,flute,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone