Named the JJA Guitarist of the Year in June 2011, Russell Malone, born November 8, 1963, hails from Albany, Geo.
Malone grew up absorbing music from his bedrock, the church, as well as popular blues and country tunes on radio and TV. For his golden-toned melodies played in octaves (try that some time!) and more, Malone is heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery.
His main influences are Charlie Christian, George Benson, Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery.
Malone earned his stripes as an up-and-comer with the ferocious organist Jimmy Smith, then made his solo debut on Columbia Records in 1992. He worked in combos with pianists Benny Green and Diana Krall, as well as the fabulous Ray Brown toward the end of the bassist’s life.
Malone is a longtime member of bassist’s Ron Carter Golden Striker Trio, and as recently as 2011, he’s been a member of Sonny Rollins’ band. In other words, Malone is an A-list player.
All the while, Malone has been following in the footsteps of two of his heroes: Montgomery and George Benson, guitarists with great technical skill who communicate with their audiences. For Malone, engaging the listener is of utmost importance. He wants to make you feel good.
Triple Play is his 2010 recording, and the first with his guitar trio. The guitarist lets the music breathe into his full, round, rich tone, and uses his amazing chops to serve the songs. The up tempo tunes swing and the ballads melt — Malone says the ballads are “where I live,” after all.
Congratulations to the winners of the 17th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards in music and recording, listed below. Professional Journalist Members of the JJA made open nominations in a first selection round; those who received the most nominations advanced to the final ballot. Winners will receive their awards at one of their own upcoming public performances.
Jean Bach, a lifelong jazz zealot whose fascination with a photograph of the titans of jazz gathered in front of a Harlem brownstone in 1958 led her to make a prizewinning movie about that moment, “A Great Day in Harlem,” 36 years later, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 94.
The photographer Carol Friedman, a friend, announced the death.
A print of that black-and-white photograph — one of the most famous in jazz history — had for years hung in the office of Ms. Bach’s husband, Bob, a television executive. Art Kane, a fashion and music photographer on assignment for Esquire magazine, had taken it on Aug. 12, 1958, in front of 17 East 126th Street, off Fifth Avenue, having assembled 57 jazz musicians for the group portrait at the ungodly hour — for most of them — of 10 a.m.
On the stoop or standing in front of it were Count Basie, Lester Young, Gene Krupa, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins, Marian McPartland, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Mary Lou Williams and 44 other musicians (along with children from the neighborhood). Esquire published the photo in 1959.
After her husband died in 1985, Ms. Bach, a radio producer, learned that Milt Hinton, the bassist and jazz photographer, had a home movie of the original 1958 shoot. Though she had no experience making movies, Ms. Bach acquired it and decided to use it as the basis of an hourlong film, complementing the footage with interviews with musicians who were in the photo, clips of their performances, and narration by Quincy Jones.
Released in 1994, “A Great Day in Harlem” won the top award at the Chicago International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award.
The jazz critic Whitney Balliett, writing in The New Yorker, called the film “a brilliant, funny, moving, altogether miraculous documentary.”
Ms. Bach had not originally intended it to be a movie. She had envisioned it as a series of recorded conversations that she would ultimately donate to the Smithsonian Institution. “I even planned on what I was going to wear to the ceremony,” she told The Chicago Tribune, “which pearls I would select, and how I was going to be very gracious about it all.”
For years, Ms. Bach was a fixture in the New York jazz world, with encyclopedic knowledge of the music, virtually unmatched connections and a reputation for giving great parties at her home in Greenwich Village. A gossip columnist once wrote that Frank Sinatra’s first question on coming to town was, “What’s happening down at Jean’s?”
After Ms. Bach and the pianist and singer Bobby Short had a party in 1981 to celebrate their 40 years of friendship, Mr. Short described what drew him to her when they met in 1942 at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago.
“I was a baby just out of high school,” he told The New Yorker in 1983, “and what drew me to Jean was not only her love for Duke Ellington but the fact that she could sing note for note Ben Webster solos and Cootie Williams solos and Johnny Hodges solos. And — she knew my idol, Ivie Anderson,” who sang with Ellington’s band.
Ms. Bach, he said, was “by far the most elegant and beautiful and sharply intelligent person I had ever met.”
Jean Enzinger was born on Sept. 27, 1918, in Chicago and grew up there and in Milwaukee. Her father worked in advertising, and her childhood household was full of music and parties. As a teenager she knocked on Duke Ellington’s door and established a lasting friendship.
Moving east to attend Vassar College, a short train ride from Harlem, she practically majored in trips to the Apollo Theater. In 1941, back in Chicago, she was at the Three Deuces when she met the trumpeter Shorty Sherock, then with Gene Krupa’s band. They married three weeks later.
Mr. Sherock later had his own band, which she managed. After they divorced in 1947, Ms. Bach worked as a radio scriptwriter and then as a press agent.
In 1948 she married Bob Bach, who was production coordinator for the television show “What’s My Line?” One member of the show’s celebrity panel was Arlene Francis, whose daily radio show on WOR she produced from 1960 to 1984.
Ms. Francis’s show, originally broadcast from Sardi’s, the theater district restaurant, became known for the guests Ms. Bach booked and who ranged from Leopold Stokowski to Ellington to Carl Sandburg.
In 1997 Ms. Bach directed a second movie, using outtakes from “A Great Day in Harlem.” In 20 minutes it solved one of the stranger riddles in jazz history: Did Dizzy Gillespie, in 1941, actually shoot spitballs onstage at his boss, the bandleader Cab Calloway, who promptly fired him?
No, Ms. Bach found. Interviewed for the film, “The Spitball Story,” the trumpeter Jonah Jones confessed to having done the deed. The short won awards at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival and the USA Film Festival.
In her later years, Ms. Bach, who left no immediate survivors, worked on a documentary about the saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, which is unfinished. It was all part of her mission of finding and preserving a world that seemed to be fading away in front of her.
Until six months ago, she was out on the town listening to jazz.
On Friday, June 21, the festival features 5th and York, Peter White, Euge Groove and Brian Culbertson.
On Saturday, June 22, the festival features Gregg Karukas, Marion Meadows, Paul Taylor, Vincent Ingala and BWB (Norman Brown, Kirk Whalum and Rick Braun).
Congratulations to the winners of the 17th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards in music and recording, listed below. Professional Journalist Members of the JJA made open nominations in a first selection round; those who received the most nominations advanced to the final ballot. Winners will receive their awards at one of their own upcoming public performances.
Archie Shepp is a prominent African American jazz saxophonist. He has been a feared firebrand and radical, soulful throwback and contemplative veteran. He was viewed in the ‘60s as perhaps the most articulate and disturbing member of the free generation, a published playwright willing to speak on the record in unsparing, explicit fashion about social injustice and the anger and rage he felt. His tenor sax solos were searing, harsh, and unrelenting, played with vivid intensity. In the 70’s, Shepp employed a fatback/swing based R&B approach, and in the ‘80s he mixed straight bebop, ballads, and blues pieces displaying little of the fury and fire from his earlier days.
Shepp was born Fort Lauderdale, FL on May 24, 1937, but raised in Philadelphia, Penn., where he studied piano, clarinet, and alto saxophone before focusing on tenor saxophone. He studied drama at Goddard College for 1955-59, but eventually turned to music professionally. He played in a Latin jazz band for a short time before joining the band of avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor. Shepp’s first recording under Archie Shepp-Bill Dixon Quartet was released on Savoy Records in 1962 and featured a composition by Ornette Coleman. He also established the New York Contemporary Five, which included him, Coleman, and Don Cherry. John Coltrane’s admiration led to recordings for Impulse Records, the first of which was Four for Trane in 1964.
In 1965, Shepp released Fire Music, which included the first signs of his increasingly prominent political consciousness and Afrocentricity; it included the reading of an elegy for Malcolm X, and the title is derived from a ceremonial African music tradition. The Magic of Ju-Ju defined his sound for the next few years: freeform avant-garde saxophone lines coupled with the rhythms and ideologies of Africa.
Shepp continued to experiment into the 70s using harmonica players and spoken word poets in his ensembles. With 1972’s Attica Blues and The Cry of My People, he spoke out for civil rights. He also wrote for theatre, his works including The Communist and Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy.
In 1971, Shepp began teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a music professor. He also taught at SUNY in Buffalo, NY. In the late 1970s, he continued to explore African music while also recording blues, ballads, spirituals, and tributes to more traditional jazz figures like Charlie Parker and Sidney Bechet. He is also featured in Imagine the Sound, a documentary in which he discusses his music and poetry.
In 2002, Shepp appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s tribute album to Fela Kuti. He then found his own record label in 2004 with Monette Berthomier, Archieball. The label is in Paris and features collaborations with Jacques Coursil, Monica Passos, Bernard Lubat, and Frank Cassenti.
The 23rd Annual North Carolina Central University Jazz Festival will feature performances by saxophonist Benny Golson and the Carl Allen Quartet. The festival, from April 15–20, will also include performances by the NCCU Jazz Ensembles, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, the NCCU Jazz Faculty group, student combos and the UNC–Chapel Hill faculty jazz group.
Benny Golson, a legendary tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger, has performed all over the world in a career that began in the 1940s when he was a teenager in Philadelphia. Now 84 years old, he was inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame in 2009. He has played alongside Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic, Art Blakey and other noted musicians. He is the composer of such jazz standards as “Killer Joe,” “I Remember Clifford,” “Along Came Betty,” “Stablemates,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Five Spot After Dark” and “Are you Real?” Over the years, he has recorded more than 30 albums.
Carl Allen is a Milwaukee-born, New York-based drummer, sideman, bandleader and educator. Starting in the early 1980s when he was still in college, he joined trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, served as his musical director for eight years, and recorded several albums with him. He has also played with Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Herbie Hancock, and many others. In addition to maintaining a busy performing and recording schedule, he is currently the artistic director of jazz studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. In the Carl Allen Quartet, formed just in the past year, he is joined by Tim Green on alto and soprano saxophone, Xavier David on piano and Yasushi Nakamura on bass.
Click here to visit the website and purchase tickets.
Here is the schedule for the Festival:
NCCU Jazz Combos II, III & IV; Big Bands II
April 15, 7 p.m., B. N. Duke Auditorium – No ticket is required
Vocal Jazz Summit – NCCU Vocal Jazz Combo & Ensemble & High School Students
April 16, 7:30 p.m. – No ticket required
NCCU Faculty Jazz Group & UNC Chapel Hill Faculty Jazz Group
April 17, 8 p.m., B. N. Duke Auditorium – No ticket is required
Master Class Workshop
April 18 at 2:30 p.m. and April 19 at Noon, Jazz Band Room – No ticket is required
Meet & Greet
April 18, 7 p.m., Beyu Caffe, Durham – Complimentary – No ticket is required
Opening Performance featuring Benny Golson & NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble
April 19, 8 p.m., B. N. Duke Auditorium – Purchase $15 Ticket/Combo Ticket $30
Opening Performance featuring Carl Allen Quartet & NCCU Jazz Ensemble
April 20, 8 p.m., B. N. Duke Auditorium – Purchase $20 Ticket/Combo Ticket $30
Carl Allen’s multifaceted career provides the perfect template for what a modern musician should be. As Sid Gribetz of Jazz Times wrote, “more than just another fine drummer, Carl Allen has it all together as a bandleader, businessman, and producer, becoming a force in today’s jazz world.”
Allen maintains an exhaustive schedule of recording, touring and teaching. He remains active as a sideman with Christian McBride and Inside Straight, Benny Golson and others. As a leader most recently leading The Carl Allen Quartet.
Born on April 25, 1961, Allen grew up on gospel, R&B, and funk, but later turned to jazz after hearing an LP by the legendary saxophonist Benny Carter. He studied with drum instructor Roy Sneider and band director Robert Siemele. His first hometown gigs were with sax greats Sonny Stitt and James Moody. Allen studied at The University of Wisconsin at Green Bay from 1979 to 1981, and transferred to William Patterson College in New Jersey, where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies and Performance.
Allen joined trumpeter Freddie Hubbard a year before his graduation, served as his Musical Director for eight years, and recorded several recordings with the trumpeter including Double Take and Life Flight.
Allen also played with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Mike Stern, Nellie McKay, Terence Blanchard, Phil Woods, Benny Green, Cyrus Chestnut, Joe Henderson, Billy Childs and many others. Allen’s phenomenal sideman discography also includes Jackie McLean (Dynasty), Donald Harrison (Indian Blues, Noveau Swing), Donald Byrd (A City Called Heaven), and Art Farmer (The Company I Keep).
Allen is currently on faculty at the Julliard School of Music in New York.
The Carl Allen Quartet at NCCU’s Annual Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 20, at 8pm, in the B. N. Duke Auditorium.
WNCU is broadcasting special programming for Women’s History Month from March 25-29. Tune in every evening from 9-10pm for programs that pay tribute to women in jazz. You’ll hear music from pioneers of the 20’s and 50’s. This special programming is made possible by listener support. Keep this music history available by pledging online.
Schedule
March 25 – Carmen McRae – vocalist – Painter of Song
March 26 – Emily Remler – guitar
March 27 – Shirley Scott – organ
March 28 – Melba Liston – trombone
March 29 – Bessie Smith – Empress of the Blues
HOW TO ENTER THE ABOVE GIVEAWAY: No contribution or purchase is necessary. Call (919) 560-9628 between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. EST Wednesday April 3, 2013 through Friday, April 12, 2013. Donate online between 8:00am March 5, 2013 until April 13, 2013 11:59 p.m. EST. Limit one (1) entry per person. Multiple entries, if discovered, will be disqualified.
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Named the JJA Guitarist of the Year in June 2011, Russell Malone, born November 8, 1963, hails from Albany, Geo.
Archie Shepp is a prominent African American jazz saxophonist. He has been a feared firebrand and radical, soulful throwback and contemplative veteran. He was viewed in the ‘60s as perhaps the most articulate and disturbing member of the free generation, a published playwright willing to speak on the record in unsparing, explicit fashion about social injustice and the anger and rage he felt. His tenor sax solos were searing, harsh, and unrelenting, played with vivid intensity. In the 70’s, Shepp employed a fatback/swing based R&B approach, and in the ‘80s he mixed straight bebop, ballads, and blues pieces displaying little of the fury and fire from his earlier days.
In 1965, Shepp released Fire Music, which included the first signs of his increasingly prominent political consciousness and Afrocentricity; it included the reading of an elegy for Malcolm X, and the title is derived from a ceremonial African music tradition. The Magic of Ju-Ju defined his sound for the next few years: freeform avant-garde saxophone lines coupled with the rhythms and ideologies of Africa.
He then found his own record label in 2004 with Monette Berthomier, Archieball. The label is in Paris and features collaborations with Jacques Coursil, Monica Passos, Bernard Lubat, and Frank Cassenti.
The 23rd Annual North Carolina Central University Jazz Festival will feature performances by saxophonist Benny Golson and the Carl Allen Quartet. The festival, from April 15–20, will also include performances by the NCCU Jazz Ensembles, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, the NCCU Jazz Faculty group, student combos and the UNC–Chapel Hill faculty jazz group.
musical director for eight years, and recorded several albums with him. He has also played with Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Herbie Hancock, and many others. In addition to maintaining a busy performing and recording schedule, he is currently the artistic director of jazz studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. In the Carl Allen Quartet, formed just in the past year, he is joined by Tim Green on alto and soprano saxophone, Xavier David on piano and Yasushi Nakamura on bass. 
