The Jazz Voyager

Off to the City That Never Sleeps aka The Big Apple on my way to Harlem and the venue that still represents the standard of the community. It is still called The Apollo. After a fantastic performance in Boston it is good to be back home to experience the delights of the neighborhood.

Critically acclaimed composer and trumpeter Russell Gunn and his Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra brings to life poet and author Amiri Baraka’s groundbreaking work, Blues People: Negro Music in White America. Special guests include Weedie Braimah, Davell Crawford, Miles Griffith, Craig Harris, Stefon Harris, Jazzmeia Horn, Oliver Lake, Jessica Care Moore, and Leon Timbo.

The building that later became the Apollo Theater was built in 1913 and was designed by architect George Keister. It was originally Hurtig and Seamon’s New (Burlesque) Theater, which enforced a strict “Whites Only” policy. The theater was operated by noted burlesque producers Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon. They made alterations to the theater that same year and renamed it The Apollo.

In 1924, the Minskys took a long-term lease for burlesque shows, some of which included integrated casts with black performers such as Pigmeat Markham. After New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia cracked down on burlesque, the theater was purchased in 1933 by Sidney Cohen, who owned other theaters in the area. Lavish renovations were made and it re-opened on January 26, 1934 catering to the Black community of Harlem. On February 14, 1934, the first major star to appear at the Apollo was jazz singer and Broadway star Adelaide Hall in Clarence Robinson’s production Chocolate Soldiers, which featured Sam Wooding’s Orchestra. The show ran for a limited engagement and was highly praised by the press, which helped establish Apollo’s reputation.

The Apollo’s number is 212-531-5300. If you want to get more show information visit https://notoriousjazz.com/event/russell-gunn-the-royal-krunk-jazz-orchestra.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

William Crickett Smith was born on February 8, 1881 in Emporia, Kansas, the child of Tennessee Exodusters. His professional career began in childhood, performing in Nathaniel Clark Smith’s Picaninny Band before moving into minstrel troupes, vaudeville and cabaret.

In 1913-1914, he made several early recordings with James Reese Europe’s group, the Clef Club Society Orchestra. Between 1914 and 1919, he performed in the Ford Dabney Orchestra, the resident band at Florenz Ziegfeld’s Broadway cabaret, Midnight Frolics. Between 1917-1919, they produced several dozen phonographs.

By 1919 Smith had relocated to Paris, France playing with Louis Mitchell’s Jazz Kings until 1924. The group recorded for Pathe Records. He became the leader of Mitchell’s group in 1923. He went on to tour France, Spain and Russia with his own bands from 1925 to 1933. However, during the Depression, he spent nine years in Southeast Asia, working with Herb Flemming, Leon Abbey, and Teddy Weatherford, mostly in Bombay and Batavia. In 1936, he recorded with a group called the Symphonians.

Around 1943 cornetist and trumpeter Crickett Smith, who played jazz blues and ragtime, returned to New York City and the following year transitioned on August 30, 1944.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Conrad Joseph Gozzo was born in New Britain, Connecticut on February 6, 1922. His father played trumpet, and he began learning the instrument around the age of 5. He played in his junior and senior high school bands, but left school around the age of 16 at the recommendation of Isham Jones to join bandleader and clarinetist Tommy Reynolds in Boston, Massachusetts.

Quickly noted for his exceptional technical ability and style, Conrad played with Reynolds for nine months, then left to play with Red Norvo in 1939. Staying in the band for two years he went on to play with trumpeter Johnnie Davis, then performed and recorded with the Bob Chester Orchestra, and with Claude Thornhill’s band.

By 1942 he had a short stint with Benny Goodman before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, where clarinetist Artie Shaw had formed a band, the Rangers No. 501. Their first assignment was San Francisco, California and then Hawaii before touring in the South Pacific, the U.K. and the mainland States. After his discharge in 1945, Gozzo briefly rejoined Goodman along with fellow trumpet players from Shaw’s band.

By the Fifties Gozzo was sitting in the lead trumpeter chair on the Glen Gray, Stan Kenton, and Harry James “remakes”, and in Dan Terry’s 1954 Columbia sessions. He recorded extensively with arrangers Van Alexander, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Ray Conniff, Jerry Fielding and Shorty Rogers, and also with performers Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. He played first trumpet on all of the recordings of composer Henry Mancini.

He performed on many major live television shows broadcast on the NBC network, including the Dinah Shore Show, and performed on motion picture soundtracks including The Glenn Miller Story, The Benny Goodman Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Call Me Madam, Ben-Hur and Cleopatra. He played on the two-record set on Verve, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook. In 1955, Gozzo released his own album, Goz the Great!, signed with RCA Victor and played by “Conrad Gozzo and his Orchestra”, directed by Billy May. Three of the twelve tracks were written together by Gozzo and May.

Conrad Gozzo, whose nicknames were Goz and Gopher because of his resemblence to the animal when playing,  transitioned on October 8, 1964 from liver disease in Burbank, California. Jazz composer Sammy Nestico dedicated Portrait of a Trumpet to Gozzo.

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JOE GRANSDEN

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Joe Gransden returns to Serenbe with his quintet and all the sultry and romantic songs we love to hear. Avoid the crowds and book an early dinner reservation and then join us in an intimate fireside setting at the Lakeside Pavilion. Bring your special Valentine and enjoy the classic sounds of Sinatra, Bennett, Connick and Cole as you warm up for this special holiday.

This night of amazing music and drinks will get you in the Valentine’s spirit.

Complete with pre-purchase champagne option, this is an event that you and the special people in your life should not miss. This event will feature cabaret seating. Grab your spot before it is too late.

**Please note the Lakeside Pavilion will be enclosed and heated.  

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ETIENNE CHARLES

A high-energy spectacle blending American jazz with the sights and sounds of Trinidadian Carnival. A multicultural celebration of life, freedom, and history

The Anglophone Caribbean is the subject of Etienne Charles’s Carnival: The Sound of a People, by Trinidad-born, Juilliard-trained trumpet player and composer Etienne Charles. Charles was fascinated by Jab Molassie (Molasses Devil), the blue-colored, horned, winged, pitchfork-carrying, fire-breathing carnival characters in Trinidad and Tobago – and the people who become them for Carnival. He went to the village of Paramin on Carnival Monday, to watch them compete – only to dive in and start playing the biscuit tin along with them, getting himself splattered with blue paint. A scholar of Caribbean music and conservator of traditions who also extends the traditions in everything he does, Charles explains Carnival: “It’s music. It’s dance. It’s costume. It’s improvisation. It’s history. It’s social commentary, political commentary. It’s all of that in one word. And the only way to do it in a show is to have as much of it as possible.” This show makes its Jazz at Lincoln Center debut, rescheduled from June of 2020.

You can purchase the 9:30 performances on June 9 and 10 as part of the 9:30 in The Appel Room series – three 9:30 Appel Room shows for $99 (including fees) for any seat in the house while seats are available. Your Appel Room ticket stub can be used for a free cover to that evening’s Dizzy’s Late Night Session

Friday & Saturday: 7:00pm~& 9:30pm

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