Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Skeets Herfut was born Arthur Relsmond Herfut on May 28, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Denver, Colorado. While attending the University of Colorado he played in different bands. By 1934 he was performing with Smith Ballew, and through the decade with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, and Ray Noble.

After moving to California, Herfut worked with Alvino Rey, then served in the Army from 1944 to 1945. After the war, he flourished as a studio musician in Hollywood, California and led his own band. Between 1946 and 1947 he performed with Benny Goodman and Earle Spencer.

Into the 1960s Skeets’ studio sessions were with Billy May, Louis Armstrong, Georgie Auld, Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton and again with Goodman. By the end of the 1960s he joined the Ray Conniff orchestra for several tours of Japan and Germany as well as recording sessions during the 1970s.

Herfurt bacme a member of Lawrence Welk’s orchestra and weekly television show from 1979 to 1982, performing on lead alto saxophone. During his career he recorded with Glen Gray, Ray Anthony, Joe “Fingers” Carr, Frankie Carle, Larry Clinton, Bob Eberly, Helen O’Connell, The Four Freshmen, Bob Keene and Pete Rugolo.

Saxophonist and clarinetist Skeets Herfut, who appeared as a saxophonist in the 1956 film The Nightmare, playing clarinet on the soundtrack, and performed on the soundtrack to the 1974 film The Fortune, transitioned in New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 80 on April 17, 1992.

BRONZE LENS

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QUARTET SAN FRANCISCO W/ GORDON GOODWIN

Raymond Scott Reimagined featuring Quartet San Francisco and members of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

Quartet San Francisco’s CDs have gathered multiple Grammy nominations for Best Crossover; three for Best Engineered, Classical (Leslie Ann Jones and Judy Kirchner); and two for Best Instrumental Composition (Gordon Goodwin and Vince Mendoza). QSF was the grand prize winner of the Argentine Consulate’s International Tango Competition in New York City.

Founded in 2001 by violinist and composer Jeremy Cohen, QSF expresses itself in its agility and standout virtuosic playing. These crossover specialists excel in multiple styles — from jazz to tango, pop to funk, blues to bluegrass, gypsy swing to big band and beyond. Since its concert debut in 2001, Quartet San Francisco has offered its groundbreaking literature to local, national and international audiences in performing arts centers, tango and concert halls, jazz festivals, museums across the US, Italy, China, South Korea, and Japan.

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DEVIN PHILLIPS QUARTET

Devin Phillips, Saxophones
Kiran Raphael, Piano
Eric Gruber, Bass
Tyson Stubelek, Drums
Born and reared in New Orleans, Devin Phillips’s intense affair with the saxophone began at the age of eight. At 14, he was accepted into the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, whose alumni include Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and Nicholas Payton. There, trained in music theory and multi-styles composition, he graduated in 2000 with top honors. He has also tutored under clarinetist and educator Alvin Batiste. Like many budding young horn players form the Big Easy, he put his time in playing with the local brass bands in a traditional process of initiation in the musical process. Devin Phillips has paid his dues performing, touring and recording with top jazz artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, The Headhunters, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, musician Lenny Kravitz, and Los Hombres Caliente, with whom he recorded two award-winning albums.
His reputation as a sax man with intricate and rhythmically innovative sounds made him a popular feature at jazz festivals: France’s Jazz de Vien Festival; Tokyo’s JVC Jazz Festival; Itanbul’s The Ruins; Spain’s Barcelona Jazz Festival; the Netherlands’ North Sea Jazz and the New Orleans Jazz Festival. In 2005, Phillips formed New Orleans Straight Ahead. But in August, Hurricane Katrina muted the music. With all gone, save his sax, and his family scattered throughout the U.S., Phillips evacuated to Portland and reformed New Orleans Straight Ahead with other musician evacuees. Phillips and took advantage of a program created by the PDXJazz Festival in partnership with Azumano Travel, which invited jazz musicians affected by the hurricane to come to Portland with their families, either for temporary shelter or for good. The invitation included free transportation to Portland, temporary housing, and access to an active jazz network with performance and workshop opportunities.
Over the course of six months, more than 50 New Orleans musicians traveled to Oregon, a dozen musicians, including Phillips, have decided to remain in Portland. Since arriving, Phillips has performed at a number of local clubs and appreciated the opportunity to be part of the Portland Jazz Festival. Phillips says that opening the festival with “Amazing Grace,” talking with McCoy Tyner and being asked to stand in for one of Eddie Palmieri’s frontline players were high points for him.
Showtimes: 7:00pm & 9:00pm
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LAKECIA BENJAMIN & PHOENIX

Lakecia Benjamin, Saxophone
Zaccai Curtis, Piano
Ivan Taylor, Bass
EJ Strickland, Drums
PHOENIX, released in January 2023 on Whirlwind Records and was masterfully produced by Terri Lyne Carrington alongside an incredible cast of soon-to-be-announced iconic special guests. The live tour will feature Benjamin’s quartet. The new album is a deeply personal outing for Lakecia and presents mostly all original compositions and arrangements, solidifying her standing as not just an amazing player but as a formidable composer and arranger. The record continues Lakecia’s legacy work with artists that she respects and has been mentored by and was heavily influenced by her experiences over the past two years, and all that she has learned since the release of Pursuance at the cusp of the pandemic.
Lakecia says: “This album is a bit of a rebirth for me; it continues the inter-generational legacy work I’ve been doing in the past by featuring guests that have inspired me musically, spiritually and as a human being. I am painting the picture of reinventing and recreating oneself from ‘the ashes’, so to speak, although this time using my own compositions as the vehicle. I am excited to be starting a new journey and partnering with Whirlwind Recordings to introduce this album to the world.” One of the most sought-after and revered saxophonists in the world, Lakecia was voted 2020 Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star Alto Saxophonist and Up and Coming Artist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Known for her charisma and dynamism as a player, as a composer she has an inimitable skill of fusing traditional conceptions of jazz, hiphop and soul. She’s performed alongside Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Macy Gray and many more.
Showtimes: 5:30pm & 7:30pm
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SIMON MOULLIER QUARTET

Simon Moullier, Vibraphone
Lex Korten, Piano
Alexander Claffy, Bass
Jongkuk Kim, Drums
Grammy Award Winner, New York City based vibraphonist & composer Simon Moullier has distinguished himself as one of the leading voices of his generation and became recognized for his entirely new approach and sound on the instrument. He has shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Buster Williams, Gerald Clayton, Terri-Lyne Carrington, and is featured on recording with Mark Turner, Kendrick Scott, Miguel Zenon, Dayna Stephens. In the fall 2020, he releases his debut album “Spirit Song”, followed by his standards Trio Album “Countdown” less than a year after, on Fresh Sound Records which was nominated in the “Best New Jazz Artist” at the Jazz Music Award in 2022. His latest album “Isla” was released in February 2023.
Showtimes: 6:00pm & 8:00pm
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