WABERI JORDAN
Waberi Jordan is a vocalist and songwriter whose signature is rooted in the Leimert Park Jazz Community of Los Angeles. Raised on a steady diet of straight-ahead jazz, at a time when R&B dominated the airwaves, Waberi’s sound bridges two pivotal eras of artistic expression.
She studied and played with Horace Tapscott along with The Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra and The Great Voice of UGMAA (Union of God’s Musicians and Artists’ Ascension), many notable performers and scholars like Dr. Art Hillary, McCoy Tyner, Azar Lawrence, Nate Morgan, Pharoah Sanders and many more.
Waberi has also performed around the world with various bands and ensembles, from SoulBop (an L.A. based collective of jazz musicians), R&B to West African Drum and Dance bands; 50-piece Jazz arkestras in L.A. and Europe to solo acapella sets. She has also been featured on numerous recordings, including the Jazz CD “Living Water” by extraordinary vocalist DWIGHT TRIBLE, and classic Reggae CD “Good’s Gonna Happen” Sahra Indio.
In 2009 Waberi released her debut album, The Trajectory of Starah. The accompanying video, Sunflowers in my Garden premiered the same year, to critical acclaim. The song has become beloved worldwide. Her second video release, Put it Right There was released in 2014, and as an added bonus, was co-directed and shot by Tim Russ, noted for his role as Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager.
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Three Wishes
While in conversation with Melba Liston, girl talk turned to the granting of three wishes and she told Pannonica that she would wish for:
- “One thing I’m concerned about is the youth music program. Kids don’t have the opportunity they should have – kids with talent, I mean. There’s an awful lot of talking, but not enough doing. There should be a workshop, or a place where they’d have a chance to learn something besides rock “n’ roll. I would love to be able to do something about that.”
- “The other things are personal…. I wish I had lots of money.”
- “I wish I had equal opportunity according to energy, ability, and desire. And sex. Mainly sex.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Bee was born on October 17, 1903 in Brussels, Belgium. He was a multi-instrumentalist adept on clarinet, harp, piano, and alto and tenor saxophone. For a year in 1924 he played with the group Bistrouille ADO before co-founding an ensemble with Peter Packay called Red Beans. The group toured widely throughout western Europe.
After returning to Belgium, David joined Robert De Kers’s band, and also played in Paris, France at Chez Florencewith Benny Carter and Willie Lewis. He recorded with Gus Deloof in the early Forties and after World War II he played with Robert Bosmans and Chas Dolne later in the decade. He led his own bands and groups at various times in the 1950s and continued recording late into the decade and the 60s.
As a composer, Bee pennedr the tunes High Tension recorded by Luis Russell) and Obsession recorded by Ted Heath and Reg Owen.
Clarinetist, harpist, pianist, alto and tenor saxophonist, arranger and composer David Bee, also known as Ernest Craps, Ernie Sparks, and Manuel Travo, transitioned in 1992.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Anthony Kerr was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on October 16, 1965. From 1981 till 1984 he received his education at the Belfast School of Music. Moving to New York City after graduating, he studied vibes and marimba with David Friedman and Kenny Werner. He won a scholarship to the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in 1987.
Returning to Ireland, Anthony went on to work as a percussionist with the RTE Symphony Orchestra. There was a period of time when he was employed with the UK’s National Theater.
Kerr later worked as a jazz musician with John Taylor, Louis Stewart, Peter King, Norma Winstone, Mike Westbrook, a bandleader he toured with around Europe. He worked with Charlie Watts and Georgie Fame, while simultaneously leading his own group and conducting jazz workshops in Belfast.
He toured with the Irish Youth Jazz Orchestra and worked with BBC Big Band and collaborated with Ian Shaw and a saxophonist Dale Barlow. He leads his own quartet and the Mallet Band with Justin Woodward, Stewe Brown and Geoff Gascoyne.
In 1994 Kerr was voted best instrumentalist at the British Jazz Awards and the following year received the Young Jazz Musician of the Year. He also won nominations in the Rising Star category in 1995, 1996 and 1998.
His first album “First Cry” was made in collaboration with singer / lyricist Jacqui Dankworth. His second album, “Now Hear This” which was recorded live at Ronnie Scott’s Club, was released in 1997.
Vibraphonist Anthony Kerr currently teaches vibraphone and jazz improvisation at the Royal College of Music in London, produces and records music from his home studio in Hertfordshire, England.
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NOEL FREIDLINE & MARIA HOWELL
A jazz Celebration of Stevie Wonder featuring special guest Adam McKnight.
For over 35 years, Maria Howell, this petite North Carolina native, who splits her time between both the east coast and the west coast, has developed her career as a singer, actor, and voiceover artist. Her debut acting role was the choir soloist in the Oscar Nominated film, “The Color Purple”. She has gone on to appear in hit TV shows as Lifetime’s “Army Wives”, NBC’s “Revolution”, and CBS’s “Criminal Minds”. Feature films…“The Blind Side”, “Hidden Figures”, and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”. As a song stylist, Maria has shared the musical stage with legendary artists as, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Ray Charles, Earl Klugh, brothers Ronnie and Hubert Laws, and veteran actor/singer, Keith David.
Pianist, vocalist, writer, arranger and educator, doesn’t come close to all things Noel Freidline! As a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of North Florida, with a BA in Music, Noel has been the bandleader of The Noel Freidline Quintet for over 26 years. He has numerous recordings to his credit, and has performed at jazz festivals from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival (FL)…to the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland)…not to mention, a 3-year stint at the world famous Bellagio in Las Vegas, as the house band, leading his NFQ, where he performed for actress Julia Robert’s surprise 35th birthday party.
Noel was named Best Jazz Musician by Charlotte Magazine in 2006 and in 2009 and was named “Best Musical Director”, by the Metrolina Theatre Association of the Carolinas. In 2011 Freidline was chosen for the Blumenthal Performing Arts Association – Center Stage Award (Charlotte, NC), in recognition of his excellence in service to the arts. And in May, 2015, Noel Freidline was inducted into the Jacksonville Jazz Hall of Fame.
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