Atlanta Jazz Festival…2015
2015 and another year and BADBADNOTGOOD played the Kickoff Party and the festival excitement was upon the city. As folks settled into Piedmont Park Memorial Day Weekend for the annual jazz gathering, it marked the start of another summer of music in Atlanta. The crowd came from near and far as they always do for this traditional free festival.
Once again the staff of the Office of Cultural Affairs put on a fabulous festival with many of Atlanta’s favorites Emrah Kotan, Four Women: A Tribute to Nina Simone Featuring Kathleen Bertrand, Julie Dexter, Rhonda Thomas and Terry Harper, Joe Gransden and His Big Band, Tony Hightower and the Wolfpack ATL. Coupled with the above, festival goers had the pleasure to hear some of the best names in jazz including Alfredo Rodríguez Trio, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Banda Magda, Contemporary Violinist Daniel D., Derrick Hodge, Diane Schuur, Dida Pelled, Fernanda Noronha, Jeff Sparks, Jessie Davis and the Nebraska Jones Experiment, Kenosha Kid, Mad Satta, Marcus Strickland Twi-Life, Mastery, Navy Band Southeast V.I.P. Protocol Combo, Nettwork Trio: Charnett Moffett, Stanley Jordan, and Jeff “Tain” Watts, Otis Brown III, Pharoah Sanders Quartet, Strings, The Rad Trads, Thundercat,.
The Youth Jazz Band Competition winners were Westlake High School Jazz Ensemble taking 1st Place, Tri-Cities High School Jazz Band in 2nd Place, North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band brought home 3rd Place.
Lil’ John Roberts and His All Star Jam Band held down the Late Night Jazz Jam. #AJF40
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The Jazz Voyager
Just got off the plane in Beantown and this Jazz Voyager is going to Uber to the hotel, make my reservation for jazz tomorrow, then cruise around town and visit some old haunts and get some new ones before catching up with some friends and and have a good meal while hanging out in Roxbury for the night.
Sunday morning I will be heading off to the jazz brunch with Jeff Felder & Friends from 10:30 – 2:20pm at DCBK (Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen) at 604 Columbus Ave, Boston, Massachusetts 02118. Its official name is Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen and serves up old-fashioned Southern eats, live jazz and is opened Tuesday through Sunday. For reservations 617-536-1100.
With a full belly and head of music it’s back to the hotel to finish off this two-day get away with a well-deserved lounge and movie binge watching, good night sleep, morning checkout and heading to the airport for my next destination. #jazzvoyager#wannabewhereyouare
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Atlanta Jazz Festival…2014
On May 23rd – 25th, the Atlanta Jazz Festival took to the stages in Piedmont Park for another fabulous weekend of jazz, that closed out the month-long educational focus on jazz master-classes. The Jazz Education and Workshop Series were free to anyone who wished to participate..
Performing this year were Ahmad Jamal, Airmen of Note, Ali Amr, Bill Frisell’s Guitar in the Space Age, Brian Hogans, Christian Scott, Cyrille Aimée, Darren English, Diego Figueiredo, Edmar Castaneda, Eldar Djangirov Trio, Ester Rada, Freddy Cole, Kemba Cofield, Rialto Jazz for Kids, Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra, Roberta Gambarini, Roy Hargrove, Russell Gunn’s Krunk Jazz Orkestra, Somi, Willie Ziavino and the C.O.T. Band.
The Youth Jazz Band Competition winners to open each day of the festival were North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band who took 1st Place, Tri-Cities High School Jazz Band in 2nd Place, and Milton High School Jazz Ensemble captured the 3rd Place performance spot.
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Jon Batiste hosted the Late Night Jazz Jam that closed out the day of music. #AJF40
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ira Sullivan was born May 1, 1931 in Washington, D.C. and was taught trumpet by his father, saxophone by his mother and played both in the 1950s Chicago, Illinois with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Wardell Gray and Roy Eldridge, garnering a reputation as a fearsome bebop soloist. After playing briefly with Art Blakey in 1956, he mastered alto and baritone saxophone before moving south to Florida and out of the spotlight in the early Sixties.
Sullivan was reluctant to travel which limited his opportunities to play with musicians of the first rank, but he continued to play in the Miami area, often in schools and churches. Hanging out with local younger players Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny, led to teaching and to broadening of his own musical roots to include the lessons of John Coltrane’s music and elements of jazz rock.
Adding flute and soprano saxophone to his armoury, Ira moved to New York City and in 1980 formed a quintet with legendary bop trumpeter Red Rodney where they worked on new material and fostered young talent to produce some fresh and stimulating music. He and his longtime friend and collaborator jazz pianist and vibraphonist Stu Katz, co-led a multi-night performance with at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase in Chicago.
Ira has performed and/or recorded with Red Rodney, Erin McDougald, Rob Block, Art Blakey, Frank Catalano, Kelly Sill, Charles Heath, Eddie Harris, Roland Kirk, Marc Berner, Lin Halliday, J. R. Monterose, Rita Reys and Billy Taylor and numerous others.
Trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist, and composer Ira Sullivan has recorded as a leader and taught at the Young Musicians Camp each summer at the University of Miami passed away on September 21, 2020, of metastatic pancreatic cancer in his Miami, Florida home at age 89
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Atlanta Jazz Festival…2013
As Atlanta suffered through one of the worst sports years in the city’s history, the NL East winning Braves lose to the Dodgers, Falcons dreams of the Super Bowl are dashed with a loss to the Jets, the Minnesota Lynx takes the Dream in the WNBA finals and national hopes for the Bulldogs were splattered when they lost to Mizzou. But the shining star of the year was the jazz festival that brought 31 Days of Jazz to neighborhoods venues and greeted passengers at the airport. This was the prelude to the artists that appeared in Piedmont Park, that once again hosted the annual jazz festival from May 25th to the 27th.
Aaron Diehl Quartet, Alexandra Jackson, Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, Aruán Ortiz, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dominick Farinacci, Ginou, Gretchen Parlato, Jacob Deaton and the Tribulation Band, Julie Dexter, Jose James, Meshell Ndegeocello: A Dedication to Nina Simone, Miguel Zenón Quartet, Rialto Jazz for Kids, Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra, Rio Negro, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Gamak, Tia Fuller, and the Uri Gurvich Quartet.
Benjamin E. Mays High School Jazz Orchestra came in as the 1st Place winner, North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band took 2nd Place, Stephenson High School Jazz Ensemble was the 3rd Place, Westlake High School Jazz Ensemble was 4th Place, J.C. Young Middle School Jazz Ensemble ranked 5th Place, and Tri-Cities High School Jazz Band had the 6th Place spot in the Youth Jazz Band Competition. The first three opened the main stage performances each day and the final three opened the festivals contemporary stage.
Dionne Farris with the Russell Gunn Quartet held down the Late Night Jazz Jam for the festival goers who didn’t want each day of music to end. #AJF40
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