The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is on his way to his old stomping grounds in the nation’s capital to navigate his way to the cobblestone street where the intimate little club Blues Alley has been a Georgetown landmark for jazz since 1965. Located in the alley below M Street, at 1073 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 2007 it has hosted some of the biggest names in jazz over their half century of existence.
Dinner and jazz is this weekend’s fare as I will be enjoying the talented trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. There’s nothing like an up close and personal experience for jazz. Two shows nightly at 8:00 and 10:00pm and tickets are $60-$65 plus $12 minimum per person. For more information the number is 202-337-4141.
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The Jazz Voyager
The skies are clear and blue as the Jazz Voyager heads once again across the big water to East Africa, landing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There I will experience the sights and sounds of the country as I make my way to the Ghion Hotel on Ras Desta Damtew Avenue that houses The African Jazz Village to hear jazz from a new perspective.
Opened in 1951,it is situated in the heart of downtown Addis Ababa on thirty acres adjacent to what was once the jubilee palace of emperor Haile Selassie I. As the hotel is just 5 Km from Bole International Airport, it is also within a walking distance from museums and points of interest of which I will be taking advantage.
This outing will be a true adventure as I am unable to discover who will be playing this weekend. Room rates are reasonable and I have made my hotel reservations at 251 91 189 7438. #wannabewhereyouare
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The Jazz Voyager
This weekend the Jazz Voyager is heading to Queens to soak in a dose of history when I visit a national historic and New York City landmark, the Louis Armstrong House Museum located at 34-56 107th Street, in the working class Corona neighborhood in New York 11368. The brick house was designed by architect Robert W. Johnson and built by Thomas Daly in 1910. Now a museum, the house was given to the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in 1983 after Lucille’s death, and is managed by Queens College.
I will be taking the 40-minute tour through the small, impeccably preserved home and explains the significance of each room to both Louis and Lucille. They moved into this modest home in 1943 and lived for the remainder of their lives. Open to the public, I will be hearing audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings and hear Louis practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal, talking with his friends and enjoy the Armstrongs’ beautiful Japanese-inspired garden.
For those voyagers who will follow in my footsteps, the museum is closed on Monday, open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. Admission is Adults: $10, Seniors (65 and older), students, and children: $7, Group rate: $6 and Children under 5 and Members: Free. For more information on the Louis Armstrong House Museum that was added to the National Registry for Historic Preservation in 1976, the number is 718-997-3670. #preserving genius #wannabewhereyouare
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The Jazz Voyager
Heading to Louisiana and the Big Easy once again, yes, to the birthplace of jazz, to 726 St. Peter Street in the heart of the French Quarter to Preservation Hall and there is no other place that can transport the audience through time to the very origins of jazz.
Opened originally in the 1950s as Associated Artists, a small art gallery, by proprietor Larry Borenstein who found that it curtailed his ability to attend the few remaining local jazz concerts. So he began inviting the living legends of New Orleans jazz to have “rehearsal sessions” in the gallery. Then in 1961 Preservation Hall was established to preserve, perpetuate, and protect traditional New Orleans Jazz, becoming a cornerstone of New Orleans music and culture.
So this Jazz Voyager is going to soak up some traditional jazz with trumpeter Leroy Jones on Saturday and the Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band: Present a Tribute to the Ladies of Preservation Hall on Sunday, eat a few beignets and enjoy the Crescent City nightlife. Showtimes are 6:00, 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00pm nightly, seating is reserved, tickets are $40-$50 for Mr. Jones, and $15-$45 for the Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band and can be purchased at http://preservationhall.tunestub.com/eventList.cfm. More information can be gotten by calling (504) 522-2841. #preserving genius #wannabewhereyouare
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Review: Dangerus & The Freedom Fighters
Dangerus was born on March 26, 1990 in Uster, Switzerland to a Black American father and a Serbian mother, and the singer, lyricist, composer and bandleader grew up listening to rock, jazz, reggae and classical music that his father played in the house. In grammar school he sang songs in music class and sat at the feet of his father as he composed, often using melodies in his songs that his son would hum. These experiences became the foundation of his musical education and now this multi-faceted singer is adding piano to his musical arsenal.
In 2014 forming his band, The Freedom Fighters, he has brought together a multicultural and international sextet of accomplished musicians featuring Brazilian producer, arranger and keyboardist Julinho Martins, drummer Herby Casseley from Jamaica, jazz bassist Merlin Mathews of Portuguese and Canadian heritage, Chineyem Okolo, a guitarist from Nigeria and Severin Blaser, a Swiss jazz saxophonist.
Why Dangerus, is an often asked question when interviewed. The answer is quite simple. Break down his name to Danger and Us, you will understand his dis-ease. He believes his generation, like every generation before him, is in danger of inheriting a world that will not sustain them and is doing nothing to correct the situation. Poverty, oppression, hunger, genocide, the ecology and their very existence is in danger of implosion. This dynamic group of Freedom Fighters are socially and politically conscious of the destructive system that is ultimately threatening humanity. They also see themselves as one instrument of change and a danger to that very system of oppression and slavery. They are warriors of the light and music is their weapon, operating in the footsteps of Fela Kuti.
Their logo is a lion, known globally as the king of the jungle, the protector of the pride. His job, like the logo, is black and white. There is no grey area, but there are those who seek to undermine humanity for selfish gains, tending to operate in the grey between dawn and sunrise, dusk and sunset. In those cases, these warriors see themselves as guardians of their urban concrete jungle and the earth that has given them birth.
However, this is much more than a picture of a lion as it has symbolism well beyond. Look closely and one will see the lion’s teeth are his lethal weapons, represented by keyboards and guitars, the tongue is a road, implying the way of one’s journey. The nose and whiskers are two arms chained together, depicting unity, and holding the barb-wires of oppression that are his whiskers. The eyes are fire and they are the force to be unleashed upon the world through their music. The mane let’s all know they are descendants of royalty and their bearing is regal..
Never straying far from his cultural roots or the diaspora, Dangerus delivers his songs with a fervor and passion, inspired by the trials and triumphs of today’s world. If you listen closely you will hear the influences of reggae with jazz, ska, bossa nova and samba, in what can only be described as an homage to Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff and others who spoke of love, beauty, strength, politics and freedom. Dangerus and the Freedom Fighters continue this tradition, standing on the shoulders of those musical ancestors.
It is evident that this poet is contemplative and compassionate in his search for answers about an unstable world not of his making that will be left for his generation. Those of us who have marched the decades of unrest and have witnessed the beauty of the world, this is familiar territory celebrating the joy and pain of love and life. We understand, it is their generation’s turn to shout at the consciousness of society the gravity of their situation. Highly recommended listening but only if you are ready to expand your mind and face your convictions.
carl anthony | notorious jazz / november 29, 2017
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