The Jazz Voyager
Leaving the land of longhorns, cowboy boots and chili for one of the most expensive cities to live in the Midwest nicknamed Tree Town. Within the boundaries of this city of Ann Arbor is where this Jazz Voyager is heading downtown to catch a new group at The Blue Llama. Located at 314 South Main Street, Michigan 48104, the club operates nightly from Wednesday to Saturday.
It will be an interesting evening as I have never heard The Eastside Jazz Collective. is a 5-piece group with vocals by Adrienne Pisoni that is based in Southeast Michigan. I’ve heard they play classic jazz and swing featuring songs made popular by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday along with some contemporary tunes. I am anticipating an enjoyable evening.
Like the music I find the cuisine tempting and will be dining on crispy deviled eggs, black-eyed pea hummus, sorbet and beignets. For those who are requiring more information go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/the-eastside-jazz-collective.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gianni Mimmo was born on February 13, 1957 in Pavia, Italy. He developed a unique blend of abstract lyricism and contemporary flavours and has built an international reputation for his unique treatment of musical timbre and his exploration of the advanced techniques on the soprano saxophone. His peculiar work is mainly focused on the relationship among distant artistic declinations and his style is based on a deep knowledge of the instrument and on a sound consciousness which is the constitutional element of his voice.
As composer he often works with graphic scores where elements coming from different musical languages find a new form where fragments and more unbound ideas ask for a fresher interpretation and performing responsibility.
His pantheon is pretty crowded and includes several names coming from art, music and philosophy: painters like Jackson Pollock, John McLaughlin, Toti Scialoja, Mario Sironi, Felice Casorati; adventurous jazz musicians like Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchell, contemporary souls like John Cage, Robert Ashely, Earle Brown, philosophers and beautiful minds like Giorgio Agamben and John Berger, writers like Yasunari Kawabata and Herman Melville, poets like Marina Cvetaeva and Wisława Szymborska.
He has numerous current projects and extensively tours in Europe and USA invited by international festivals and venues. In addition, he runs the indie label Amirani Records. Saxophonist and composer Gianni Mimmo continues to perform, compose and record.
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Requisites
The Meeting, Vol. 1 ~ Jackie McLean Featuring Dexter Gordon | By Eddie Carter
I was looking for something to listen to after dinner a few nights ago when I came across a title I hadn’t heard in a while by two of my favorite saxophonists, Jackie McLean and Dexter Gordon. This morning’s record from the library is The Meeting, Vol. 1 (SteepleChase SCS-1006). It hit the Danish and Japanese stores in 1974 and is the first of two live albums recorded a year earlier on July 20 and 21 at Montmartre Jazzhus in Copenhagen. The front line is Jackie McLean on the alto sax and Dexter Gordon on the tenor sax. The supporting cast for both sets is a magical rhythm section: Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums. My copy is the 1976 U.S. Stereo reissue (Inner City IC 2006).
Side One opens with Jackie’s introduction of the quintet ahead of the rhythm section’s introduction to All Clean by Dexter Gordon. Both horns enter next to introduce the vibrant melody. Dexter goes to work first on a lengthy opening solo. Jackie checks in next and keeps the flame burning. Kenny makes a vigorous contribution next, and then Niels-Henning takes a brisk walk in the following reading. Dexter and Jackie return to have a spirited conversation, leading to the song’s conclusion. Rue De La Harpe by Sahib Shihab begins with the ensemble’s mid-tempo theme. Jackie has the opening chorus and takes command effectively. Dexter flies straight ahead into the following solo, and Kenny keeps things moving with considerable passion until the theme’s climax.
Side Two starts with Sunset, a hauntingly beautiful ballad by Kenny Drew that he initially recorded on Everything I Love. Both horns introduce the song, proceeding to the ensemble’s delicately tender melody. Jackie begins the opening statement gently. Dexter follows with an extremely personal interpretation, and Kenny adds a meaningful comment preceding the theme’s restatement. On The Trail by Ferdé Grofé is the third of five movements in his Grand Canyon Suite. Jackie kicks off the theme’s first chorus. Dexter takes the baton in the second chorus and then makes a distinctive impression on the first solo. Jackie speaks with captivating inspiration in the following reading. Kenny executes a rewarding performance in the closer ahead of the finale.
Nils Winther did double duty on this release. He produced and recorded The Meeting, Vol. 1. The reissue’s sound quality is excellent, with a superb soundstage that transports the listener to a front-row seat in the Montmartre audience as the musicians are performing. Since I have this album in my library, I’ll be on the lookout for its companion, The Source, Vol. 2. If you’re a fan of Jackie McLean and Dexter Gordon, I invite you to attend The Meeting, Vol. 1 on your next record shopping trip. It’s a stellar lineup with great playing from each member of the quintet and a wonderful document of a live set that anyone can revisit anytime the album is on the turntable!
~ Everything I Love (SteepleChase Records SCS-1007), The Source, Vol. 2 (SteepleChase Records SCS-1020) – Source: Discogs.com ~ On The Trail – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bert Niosi was born on February 10, 1909 in London, Ontario, Canada into a family of musicians, having two brothers who became musicians. As a teenager he briefly played clarinet with Guy Lombardo in Cleveland, Ohio.
Proficient on several instruments he played clarinet, flute, saxophone, trombone, and trumpet and formed a dance band in 1931. This began a long association with the Palais Royale dance hall in Toronto, Canada which lasted until 1950.
His orchestra, and a smaller group made up of some of its members, was broadcast frequently on CBC Radio. Bert played alto saxophone and clarinet in the small band. He was also a member of CBC radio’s The Happy Gang musical series from 1952 to 1959.
Alto saxophone, clarinetist and bandleader Bert Niosi, known as Canada’s King of Swing, died in Toronto, Canada on August 3, 1987.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri was born on February 9, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York. His formal schooling only went through the eighth grade, dropping out because of an undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. He went on to receive a rigorous classical music education from Josef Schmid, who taught courses in Arnold Schoenberg’s harmony, counterpoint and composition. As a composer he was mostly self-taught and his compositions were featured at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1961, including his Divertimento for piano, drums, and double bass.
His early work was with Gunther Schuller and his 20th Century Innovations Ensemble performances of Third Stream music at Carnegie Hall. Schuller arranged a record deal for Maneri with Atlantic Records, but the 1963 recording was not released. Twenty-five years later the Atlantic recording session tapes were released by the Avant label under the title Paniot’s Nine. During the 1990s Joe released 14 additional albums on the ECM, Hat Hut, Leo labels, often in collaboration with his free-style violinist son Mat.
Maneri went on to teach harmony, 16th Century counterpoint and composition at the Brooklyn Conservatory while continuing to compose. In 1963, he was commissioned by Erich Leinsdorf of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to write a piano concerto that premiered in 1985 by the American Composers Orchestra and pianist Rebecca la Brecque at Alice Tully Hall. He founded the Boston Microtonal Society, dedicated to microtonal music and tuning.
Saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Joe Maneri invented a keyboard that had 588 notes: 72 pitches per octave and co-authored a theory book titled Preliminary Studies in the Virtual Pitch Continuum, died on August 24, 2009 at the age of 82 of heart failure.
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