BILL EASLEY TRIO
He began playing music at the age of 13 and studied at Memphis State University during the 1960s. Easley worked with George Benson in the late 1960s and with Isaac Hayes in the 1970s. He also did sessions at Stax and Hi Records with Ann Peebles and Al Green). He moved back to New York in 1980.
He has worked with Roland Hanna, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, James Williams, Bill Mobley, George Caldwell, Mulgrew Miller, Grady Tate, Victor Gaskin, Panama Francis, Mercer Ellington, and Billy Higgins.
Bill Easley ~ Alto & Tenor Saxophone | Dino Losito ~ Organ | Jimmy Johns ~ Drums
Tickets: $17.00
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,club,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,preserving,saxophone,travel
ARI HOENIG TRIO
Exposed at an early age to a variety of musical experiences. His father is a conductor and classical singer, his mother a violinist and pianist. Accordingly, at 4 years of age, Ari began studying the violin and piano. At age 12 he started in on the drums and by age fourteen he was honing his skills with other young jazz musicians at Philly clubs such as Ortlieb’s JazzHaus.
Hoenig has taught and is on the faculty at New York University and The New School in New York. He gives clinics and lectures at music schools and universities worldwide.
Ari Hoenig with his trio featuring Tivon Pennicott on sax and Gadi Lehavi on Piano and Tivon Pennicott on sax. Ari and his trio have continually challenged the status quo of straight ahead jazz while staying true to its form.
Tickets: $50.00 | General Admission
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,drums,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,preserving,travel
LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO
Pianist Lynne Arriale has performed on the most prestigious international concert stages over the past 30 years. Lynne won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Her 17 critically acclaimed albums have topped the Jazzweek Radio Charts and have received “Best of” honors in major publications.
Being Human, pianist-composer Lynne Arriale’s 17th release as a leader, addresses a troubled, divided world with an exquisite suite of optimistic, deeply felt compositions, which celebrate some of the ways that all of our lives are enriched by acts of passion, courage, love, persistence, heart, soul, curiosity, faith and joy. Being Human explores these life-affirming facets of humankind. Many of the songs are dedicated to people who’ve inspired Arriale, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Lynne Arriale Trio, featuring Alon Near, bass and Alon Benjamini, drums
Tickets: $30.00 General // $38.00 Premium
More Posts: adventure,bandleader,club,genius,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,preserving,travel
The Jazz Voyager
This week I’m taking a trip to a city most people think of as country but there has always been a strong current of jazz running through Nashville, Tennessee. It’s time for some history and education at the National Museum of African American Music.
The museum is the only one dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans. The museum’s expertly-curated collections share the story of the American soundtrack by integrating history and interactive technology to bring the musical heroes of the past into the present.
This is another new experience for this jazz voyager that is always welcomed. It houses the Roots Theater and six galleries ~ Rivers of Rhythms Pathways: The Evolution of African American Music Traditions; Wade In The Water: The History, Influence, and Survival of Religious Music; Crossroads: How Blues Changed the Music World; A Love Supreme: The Survival of African Indigenous Musical Traditions in Congo Square; One Nation Under A Groove: The Birth of Rhythm and Blues; and The Message: The Revolutionary Power of Hip Hop.
Located at Fifth & Broadway, 510 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee 37203. For more information contact the venue at https://www.nmaam.org.
Tickets: $26.95 | Adults: 18~64
-
- Online tickets are non-refundable but are valid for one year after your purchase date.
- A $5.00 technology fee will be added to every ticket.
- Discounts are available in person for seniors, military, first responders, educators, students, and children between 5 and 17. Children under 5 are free.
Free Admission: First Wednesday of Every Month
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Orie Potts was born April 3, 1928 in Arlington, Virginia. As a child he played Hawaiian slide-lap steel guitar and the accordion in his teens. At 15 he won an accordion competition with a performance of Twilight Time. After hearing Count Basie on the radio he started studying the piano in high school. He went on to attend Catholic University of America in 1946–1947, then formed his own group under the name Bill Parks, which toured in Massachusetts and Florida.
While serving in the Army from 1949 to 1955 he transcribed charts for Army bands. During this time Bill composed and arranged for Joe Timer and Willis Conover’s ensemble, The Orchestra, which was broadcasted on Voice of America radio. He wrote four of the songs on The Orchestra’s 1954 Brunswick Records LP, and recorded some of their live shows, which occasionally featured guest appearances from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
By 1956 he was leading a house band at Olivia Davis’ Patio Lounge in Washington, D.C. and Lester Young booked an engagement there. Potts convinced Young to record with him on two of the evenings. These recordings were later released as the Lester Young in Washington, D.C. sessions.
The following year he worked extensively as a composer, arranger, and performer for Freddy Merkle’s Jazz Under the Dome album which featured Earl and Rob Swope. Soon after this he suffered a crushed vertebra in a car crash and ended up in a body cast for three months. During his recuperation Bill began working on charts and arrangements for an album consisting of jazz reinterpretations of many songs from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy & Bess.
Fully recovered by 1959, he released a session under his own name titled The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess for United Artists Records. It featured a nineteen-piece band whose members included Al Cohn, Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Marky Markowitz, Zoot Sims, Charlie Shavers, Earl Swope, and Phil Woods. The album received a five out of five star rating from Down Beat magazine upon its release.
Following this, Potts spent several years working in New York City before returning to the D.C. area, where he worked locally in addition to touring with and/or arranging for Paul Anka, Eddie Fisher, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Stan Kenton, Ralph Marterie, Buddy Rich, Jeri Southern, Clark Terry, and Bobby Vinton.
In 1967 he released an album on Decca Records, How Insensitive, with a studio group called Brasilia Nueve. This group included Markowitz and Sims from the Porgy and Bess session , as well as Tito Puente, Chino Pozo, Mel Lewis, Barry Galbraith, and Louie Ramirez.
As an educator Bill taught music theory at Montgomery College from 1974 to 1990 and was the leader of the student jazz band. He also led a big band for occasional performances at Washington’s Blues Alley nightclub in the 1980s.
Retiring to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1995, pianist and arranger Bill Potts died of cardiac arrest on February 16, 2005 in Plantation, Florida.
More Posts: arranger,bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano