Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charles Gayle was born February 28, 1939 in Buffalo, New York and his childhood was influenced by religion, and his musical roots trace to black gospel music. He began his musical education on piano then added tenor and alto saxophone. Much of his history is murky, he spent an apparent homeless period of about twenty years playing saxophone on street corners and subway platforms around New York City.
A multi-instrumentalist playing pianist, bass clarinetist and percussion, his music is spiritual, heavily inspired by the Old and New Testaments, explicitly dedicated several albums to God. Gayle credits among his influences Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum.In 1988, he gained fame through a trio of albums recorded on the Swedish label Silkheart Records. Since then he has become a major figure in free jazz, recording for Black Saint, Knitting Factory, FMP and Clean Feed record labels.
Charles has performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor, William Parker and Rashied Ali with his most celebrated work to date being Touchin’ on Trane with Parker and Ali. He would include lengthy spoken-word addresses in his performances and for a period performed as a mime, “Streets the Clown”. As an educator he taught music at Bennington College.
In 2001, Gayle recorded an album titled Jazz Solo Piano of consisted mostly of straightforward jazz standards in response to critics who charge that free jazz musicians cannot play bebop. In 2006, Gayle followed up with a second album of solo piano originals, and his most recent release in 2012 is titled Streets. His final recording as a leader was The Alto Sessions in 2019.
Suffering from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, saxophonist Charles Gayle, who also played piani, bass clarinet, bass and percussion, died in Brooklyn, New York on September 7, 2023 at the age of 84.
AMINA FIGAROVA SEXTET
Amina Figarova was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and as a child studied to be a classical concert pianist. Graduated from the Baku Conservatory as classical concert pianist. In 1990, she entered Rotterdam Conservatory (where she met Bart Platteau, a fellow student from Belgium) to pursue jazz, coming to the United States in 1992 to complete her formal education at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. In 1998 she was invited to the Thelonious Monk Institute’s summer jazz colony in Aspen, and after more than a decade of bookings in major U.S. jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals, the couple gained legal immigrant status in 2013, and became US citizen in 2020. They currently live in Harlem, NY and tour constantly.
Hailing from Azerbaijan, the New York-based Amina Figarova is an internationally influenced—and recognized—composer, pianist, and bandleader. Those three roles come to the forefront in Figarova’s sextets, bands with a remarkable chemistry that brings her detailed arrangements to life. Every member of the group stands out as a first-rate individual, but their dedication to Figarova’s eclectic and powerful compositions gives this group its depth of feeling and elite status. The Amina Figarova Sextet has been a hit at major festivals like the Newport Jazz Festival and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
Suite for Africa is Amina’s 18th album, all with original compositions by Amina. Other compositions for Symphonic orchestra, Musical Diana, a ballad book for Trio Del Norte, brass ensemble, flute duo and quartet, and many more.
The Band:
Amina Figarova – Piano
Charlie Porter – Trumpet
Bart Platteau – Flutes
Wayne Escoffery- Tenor sax
Luques Curtis – Bass
Donald Edwards – Drums
Tickets: Student ~ $27.98 +fee | GA ~ $59.75 +fee
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JOE ALTERMAN
Joe Alterman brings his joyful, groove-driven piano style to the stage in a performance rooted in swing, blues, and soul. A longtime mentee of Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis, he carries forward their life-affirming tradition while blending dynamic space and rhythmic fire into a sound that is both polished and accessible. A two-time Grammy–winning contributor, Alterman delivers deep swing, melodic warmth, and the kind of jazz that simply feels good. Whether leading his trio or captivating audiences solo, Alterman’s music has been described by Downbeat Magazine as “hard-swinging” and by the late journalist Nat Hentoff as “making people smile and, if the room is right, dance.”
Joe Alterman ~ piano
Jeff Reed ~ bass
Lenny Robinson ~ drums
Tickets: $15.00 +fee | GA $30.00 ~ $35.00 +fee
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tiny Parham was born Hartzell Strathdene Parham on February 25, 1900 in Winnipeg, Canada. The pianist and bandleader grew up in Kansas City and worked at The Eblon Theatre, mentored by ragtime pianist and composer James Scott. He would later tour with territory bands in the Southwest before moving to Chicago in 1926.
He is best remembered for the recordings he made in Chicago between 1927 and 1930 working with Johnny Dodds along with several female blues singers and with his own band. Most of the musicians Parham played with are not well known in their own right, though cornetist Punch Miller, banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson, saxophonist Junie Cobb and bassist Milt Hinton are exceptions.
His entire recorded output for Victor are highly collected and appreciated as prime examples of late 1920’s jazz. Tiny favored the violin and many of his records have a surprisingly sophisticated violin solos, along with the typical upfront tuba, horns and reeds.
After 1930 he found work in theater houses, especially as an organist and his last recordings were made in 1940. The cartoonist R. Crumb included a drawing of Parham in his classic 1982 collection of trading cards and later book “Early Jazz Greats” of which Parham was the only non-American born so included in addition to the book’s bonus cd containing a Parham track.
Tiny Parham passed away on April 4, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Hall Franklin Overton was born February 23, 1920 in Bangor, Michigan but grew up in Grand Rapids. As a youngster he found that his few piano lessons were not enough to discover that elusive “something” he was seeking in music. His high school music teacher urged him to study theory and composition at The Chicago Musical College, prior to military service. It was during this overseas duty that he learned to play jazz.
Following his discharge Hall attended the Julliard School of Music, graduated with a Masters and joined the faculty. As an educator he would eventually teach at Yale School of Music and The New School of Social Research. He would receive awards from both The Koussevitzky Foundation and The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
In 1954, his New York City loft at 821 Sixth Avenue, aka the Jazz Loft, provided the perfect setting for the musicians to practice. While composing his classical compositions, he was also deeply immersed in jazz, recording with Stan Getz, Duke Jordan, Jimmy Raney, and Teddy Charles. Thelonious Monk selected him to score his piano works for full orchestra and on February 28, 1959, Thelonious Monk Orchestra At Town Hall was recorded live. Monk later released another live album of Hall’s compositions on Big Band and Quartet in Concert.
Hall’s opera, Huckleberry Finn, commissioned by the Barney Jaffin Foundation, was presented by The Juilliard Opera Company just months before his death on November 24, 1972 from cirrhosis of the liver. Pianist, composer and educator Hall Overton was just 52.
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