Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Johnny Varro was born January 11, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York and began studying piano at the age of ten. During his teenage years, he was introduced to jazz by way of the Commodore Music Shop in New York City. There he met the manager Jack Crystal, father of Billy Crystal, who was running jam sessions on the Lower East Side. At these sessions he met Willie “The Lion” Smith, Big Sid Catlett, Joe Thomas, Hot Lips Page, Joe Sullivan, Pete Brown and others. The experience of sitting in for Joe Sullivan and Willie “The Lion” Smith was invaluable and soon allowed Johnny to become a hired player.

His first professional job was with Bobby Hackett touring the East Coast with his quartet. In 1954 he worked at Nick’s with Phil Napoleon and later with Pee Wee Erwin. In 1957 Eddie Condon asked Johnny to play at his club as intermission pianist, which led to his becoming Eddie’s band pianist.

For the next several years between the Condon tours, Varro worked most of the jazz rooms around New York City before moving to Miami in 1965 to work on the Jackie Gleason Show. He toured with the Dukes of Dixieland, then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he lived, played and toured for the next 14 years. He created the swing group covering the styles of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s called Swing 7.

Pianist Johnny Varro, who has recorded some two dozen albums, made a final move to Tampa Bay, Florida in the early Nineties, where he continues to play jazz festivals, jazz parties and concerts around Europe and the United States.

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JIHEE HEO

Now, nearly 15 years into her vibrant New York City journey, South Korean jazz pianist Jihee Heo has flourished as she immerses herself in the city’s magnificent jazz piano legacy. Her rich experiences living in various countries have beautifully shaped her unique musical style before she found her home in New York. Now a steady presence in the city’s clubs, her quartet is featured on her recent album “Flow,” which was appropriately recorded at the historic Rudy Van Gelder Studio with Joe Farnsworth, Alex Claffy, and Vincent Herring. Today, Jihee invites you to indulge in the joy of her music, where fresh and vivid colors come alive, supported by the strong rhythm section of Alex Claffy and Aaron Kimmel. Grounded in a deep respect for traditional jazz, Jihee beautifully intertwines its rich history with her innovative spirit. As Vincent Herring aptly states, “She is a promising voice at the piano, pointing to the future of jazz.”

Jihee Heo is a jazz pianist and composer based in New York City. Heo has showcased her talents at renowned festivals and venues, including Smalls, Mezzrow, Birdland, Zinc, Django, Sunset Sunside in Paris, and Jacques Pelzer in Belgium, as well as prominent events such as The Washington D.C. Jazz Festival, Leverkusen Jazz Festival, The International African Arts Festival, The Jersey Shore Festival, Bergen PAC, and Harlem Stage, among others.

The Band: Jihee Heo on Piano | Alex Claffy on Bass | Aaron Kimmel on Drums

Tickets: $30.00 + $7.00 fee | $15 food/beverage minimum per person not included in ticket price.

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SULLIVAN FORTNER

For the past decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The Grammy Award-winning artist out of New Orleans received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window (Mack Avenue, 2018), alongside multi-Grammy winner, vocalist-composer Cecile McLorin Salvant. As a solo leader, he has released Moments Preserved (Decca, 2018) and Aria (Impulse!, 2015) to critical acclaim, and he’s only getting started. Now based in New York, Fortner has earned recognition in multiple DownBeat Critics Poll categories, winning first place in Rising Star Piano and Rising Star Jazz Artist.

In addition to associations with such diverse voices as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Fortner’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch and the late Roy Hargrove. Recent collaborations include GRAMMY-nominated releases Dear Love (Empress Legacy) and Generations from leaders Jazzmeia Horn and The Baylor Project, respectively.

A highly-sought improviser, Fortner has performed across the country and throughout the world at such cultural institutions as Snug Harbor, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s and The Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He’s appeared at celebrated festivals, including Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and Gillmore Keyboard, among others. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown. His notable studio contributions include work on Etienne Charles’s Kaiso (Culture Shock, 2011), Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap (FOMP, 2010), and Theo Croker’s The Fundamentals (Left Sided Music, 2007).

The Trio: Sullivan Fortner~Piano, Yasushi Nakamura ~ bass and Kayvon Gordon ~ drums

Tickets: $37.00 fee included

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THE HEADHUNTERS

The Headhunters, the legendary jazz-funk ensemble co-led by percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark with NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison on alto saxophone, celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary in 2023, having formed around Herbie Hancock’s classic recordings, Head Hunters, in 1973, Thrust in 1974 and Man-Child in 1975. The band continued without Mr. Hancock and has released 8 albums under the Headhunters name starting with Survival of the Fittest in 1975 and on Straight from the Gate in 1977 (featuring the smash hit “God Make Me Funky” sampled on over 350 hip hop and pop songs), and most recently Speakers In the House in 2022 and Live From Brooklyn Bowl in 2023. The band’s new album The Stunt Man comes out October 11th, 2024 on Ropeadope recorded at the legendary Hyde Street Studios.

Few bands can boast a history as fortuitous and storied as The Headhunters. What each member brings to the table forged a history that most bands can only dream of. Their blend of jazz with funk and rock would go on to sell over a million albums worldwide, while the band’s legacy would inspire musicians of every genre for years to come, be sampled by hundreds of hip-hop artists throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and influence countless musicians’ playing today. The Headhunters’ impact remains a global phenomenon, and their time with Hancock proved to be a life changing experience.

Bill Summers – percussion
Mike Clark – drums
Donald Harrison – saxophone
Chris Severin – bass
Kyle Roussel – piano

Cover Chaege: $25.00 – $50.00 + $3.50 fee

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TED ROSENTHAL

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