Savannah Music Festival LIVE Presents: Marcus Roberts

Monday, February 8th @ 9pm

In the 100 years since jazz music became an integral part of American culture, the piano has remained fundamental to its development. There have been many great pianists whose original contributions and achievements have helped define the course of jazz, and that tradition still remains intact today. In this episode of the Savannah Music Festival LIVE, we listed to one of the most extraordinary pianists of our time, Marcus Roberts. Hear Roberts perform solo, with his trio and with a few special guests (Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup and Walter Blanding) during his spring 2008 visit to the Savannah Music Festival.

North Carolina’s Contribution to Jazz

Friday, February 12th @ 9pm

Thelonious Monk’s sound is one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. An original on and off the bandstand, he launch pad of modern bebop, and also created a body of work in its own orbit. (NPR Jazz Profiles)

Sunday, February 14th @ 3pm

Feb. 6th, 2010, marks the 62nd birthday of Bob Marley. In this interview/music mix, Dred Scott Keyes speaks with Christopher Farley, author of the best-selling book, “Before The Legend:The Rise of Bob Marley.” Farley lays to waste some of the myths surrounding Marley including the fact that his father was neither white nor served as an officer in the British army.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE Presents: Battle Royale

Monday, February 15th @ 9pm

The tradition of instrumental competition on the bandstand in jazz goes back to the origins of the music. By the early 1930s, such competitive on-stage battles became known as “cutting contests,” and they almost always produced some terrific entertainment for the audience in attendance. In this episode of SMF Live, we listen to a concert we produced at the 2009 Savannah Music Festival entitled Battle Royale. It featued a variety of instrumentalists squaring off against one another, but the purpose was completely musical. Driven by the creative conception of Marcus Roberts to put two rhythm sections on stage side by side, The Clayton Brothers and the Marcus Roberts Trio provided the foundation for an explosive display of musicality featuring such artists as Wycliffe Gordon, Andre Heyward, Terrell Stafford, Scotty Barnhardt and many others.

Friday, February 19th @ 8 and 9pm

John Coltrane’s never-ending quest for musical improvement and self-awareness distinguished his playing and compositions in the ’60s. It was driven by an increasing spirituality, most potently unveiled in his 1964 recording A Love Supreme. Coltrane later created music of great turbulence and ecstasy, and he remains a powerful inspiration to artists of all disciplines. (NPR Jazz Profiles)

Other specials:

Truckin’ My Blues Away : Saturday, February 13th, 9pm: – a look at the music and musicians of the drink houses and juke joints of the rural South. Host Barry Yeoman takes us into the lives of colorful artists named Captain Luke, Guitar Gabriel, Boo Hanks, Eddie Tigner, and Little Freddie King. Working men in their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, who have written, sung, and played songs about their world all their lives

Saturday, February 20th @ 2-4pm

This is award-winning musical documentary is about the life of Sam Cooke- from his days in Gospel music to his triumph in R&B to his untimely demise.

On Dec. 14th, 1964, the death of Sam Cooke was broken across the world. Some saw his death as the wrath of God- and an omen- for crossing the line between gospel and R&B music. Others saw his death as a needless tragedy. Still others saw Sam’s death as an end of the road towards self-reliance and musical independence. Today, Sam Cooke remains one of America’s most influential singer-songwriters, having been inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame. “The Gospel Truth: The Sam Cooke Story” looks at the life of Sam Cooke through the eyes and voices who knew him well- his father and brother, the Rev. Charles and L.C. Cooke, Soul Stirrers member Leroy Crume, biographer Peter Guralnick and others.

Sunday, February 21st @ 3pm

While African-Americans are credited with inventing rap music, it was Jamaican artists like U Roy and I Roy who began that musical phenomena. A dub poet is a poet who has set his or her words to music, Jamaican style. Dred-Scott Keyes and Bernard White interview Mutabaruka, Jamaica’s original dub poet.

Monday, February 22nd @ 9pm

Imagine a musician single-handedly redefining what an instrument can do, elevating it to a whole other level. That’s what the late Max Roach did for the drums. Whether its jazz or rock or funk, there isn’t a drummer today who isn’t somehow influenced by what Roach played. But that’s only a part of Max Roach’s story, which spanned the Harlem Renaissance, the development of modern jazz, right up to hip hop and multi-media. Over a fifty-year career he blazed his way across genres as percussionist, bandleader and composer. Max Roach tells his story with frankness and a characteristic sharp wit, supported by “special guests” including Dizzy Gillespie, and noted drummers Paul Motion and Art Taylor.

Max Roach—Drums Unlimited is narrated by Kenny Washington, a host of shows on public radio and Sirius, and himself a well-known jazz drummer. Washington brings his own drum-knowledge to the table, as well as a friendship with Max Roach. Max Roach passed away in August, 2007.

Gospel radio sensation Brother Milton “Steve” Satterfield passed on Thursday, January 14, 2010, at the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C. after battling a lengthy illness.

Steve was a volunteer announcer for many years at WNCU 90.7 fm. He was host of gospel program, Precious Memories, which aired Sunday mornings from 6:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m.

A wake and “musical celebration” will be Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 6 to 8 p.m. at Union Baptist Church, 904 N. Roxboro St., Durham, N.C.

Homecoming services are scheduled for Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 2 p.m. at Union Baptist Church, 904 N. Roxboro, St., Durham, N.C.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Burthey Funeral Home of Durham, N.C.

Family will take visitors at 3405 Gibson Rd, Durham, N.C.

Ed Thigpen, drummer with the Oscar Peterson Trio during the famed jazz pianist’s popular early-’60s period, died on Wednesday, January 13, at the age of seventy-nine. Besides appearing on dozens of albums with Peterson, Thigpen recorded and performed with many other jazz greats, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Drew, Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane, and Dinah Washington, as well as pop artists including Johnny Mathis, Pat Boone, Peggy Lee, and k.d. lang.

He also released a number of albums as a leader, his last being 2004’s #1. Thigpen was a renowned drumming educator, most recently teaching at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he had made his home since 1972. He was the author of the popular tutorial book Rhythm Brought To Life and, as a well-known master of brush playing, the creator of the DVD The Essence Of Brushes. Thigpen was the inspiration for signature brush, stick, cymbal, and practice pad models from Regal Tip, Sabian, and Remo. For more news visit www.edthigpen.com.

Photo by Nicola Fasano

Click here to download pdf file.

December 24 and 25th – all holiday jazz during the day. Bob Parlocha..all holiday music overnight on the 25th.

December 25 – holiday jazz all day, then from 7-9pm-re broadcast of the NCCU/WNCU 2nd annual holiday bash.

December 25 from 9pm-10pm – Jazz Piano Xmas XX from NPR

December 26 at 9pm – Can’t Quit the Blues-a special on Buddy Guy

December 27 from 7pm-10pm -The Man and his Music-Count Basie- 3 part series on Count Basie-from NPR’s Jazz Profiles

Descriptions:

WNCU/NCCU holiday bash rebroadcast: originally aired on Friday Dec. 4th. NCCU Jazz Faculty Group plays holiday jazz from 7-9pm, Dec. 25th.

Jazz Piano Xmas XX: Dec. 25-9pm

This ever popular program will include original interpretations of holiday classics and duo combos performed by Dr. Billy Taylor, Ramsey Lewis, Patricia Barber, Eldar, and Robert Glasper. Felix Contreas hosts.

Buddy Guy-Can’t Quit the Blues: Dec. 26-9pm

Hosted by journalist Anthony DeCurtis, this program also features 15 classic tracks from throughout Guy’s career. Buddy Guy tells his own story, looking back on his life and career as only he can. He begins the story with his poor, sharecropping roots in Lettsworth, LA, and guides up through all his stops along the way to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – the first time he met the blues on a John Lee Hooker record, the birth of his trademark guitar style while regularly jamming for customers at a gas station, his explosion on the Chicago blues scene, his influence on many of rock’s great guitarists (Clapton, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Rolling Stones, John Mayer and many more), and much more.

Throughout “Can’t Quit the Blues,” Buddy Guy opens up and reveals himself as a man with a soul as great as his musical skills. He is extremely grateful to all those who helped him along the way, and always happy to share his knowledge with those inspired by him. At 70 years-old, he continues to live a great life, always thankful of how he came to be one of the world’s great blues guitarists.

“If I had my life to live over,” he says, “I would come back the same road that I came and pick up the acoustic guitar and hope to make somebody happy and smile.”

Count Basie: The Man and His Music: Dec. 27th7-10pm

Part 1: The 1st installment traces Basie’s early years; his childhood, his pilgrimage to Harlem,his relationship with Fats Waller, and his early life as a traveling musician with Katie Krippen and her Kitties, Walter Page and the Blue Devils, and Jimmy Rushing.

Part 2: The story picks up with the death of Benny Moten and the genesis of Count Basie’s first band at the Reno Club in Kansas City. Broadcasts on experimental station W9XBY bring Lester Young and others to Kansas City to see the band they had heard on the radio. Thanks to the addition of Young and the All-American rhythm section, the Basie band bursts onto the national scene. Basie comes to New York with an uncertain reception and then breaks through with his first record contract with Decca. This installment covers a period that marks the both the pinnacle of success for Basie’s Kansas City style and also some setbacks, including the death of tenor man Herschel Evans, the recording ban of the early 1940s, and the advent of World War II.

Part 3: In the 1940s, the bandleader found himself staring at the impending decline of the Swing Era. But the sophisticated groups he put together in the years to come started a musical renaissance which helped confirm his place in jazz history.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) just moved H.R. 894, “Honoring the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album `Kind of Blue’ and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure”. It will be voted on later today.

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. RES. 894

Honoring the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album `Kind of Blue’ and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 5, 2009

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr.

MCGOVERN, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

————————————————————————

RESOLUTION

Honoring the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album `Kind of Blue’ and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure.

Whereas, on August 17, 1959, Miles Davis, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, and Julian `Cannonball’ Adderley collaborated to record the album `Kind of Blue’;

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ ranks 12th on the list of the `500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ published by Rolling Stone magazine;

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ was recorded in 1959, the year Columbia Records declared `jazz’s greatest year’;

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ marked the beginning of the mass popularity of jazz in the United States;

Whereas in 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America awarded `Kind of Blue’ quadruple-platinum status, meaning 4,000,000 copies of the album had been sold;

Whereas in 2002, the Library of Congress added `Kind of Blue’ to the National Recording Registry;

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ was recognized as the bestselling record in the history of jazz;

Whereas 50 years after the release of `Kind of Blue’, MOJO magazine honored the Legacy Edition of the album by giving it the `Best Catalogue Release of the Year’ award;

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ both redefined the concept of jazz for musicians and changed the perceptions of jazz held by many fans;

Whereas today, the sole surviving member of the Miles Davis Sextet, Jimmy Cobb, is performing and touring with his So What Band in tribute to the 50th anniversary of `Kind of Blue’; and

Whereas `Kind of Blue’ continues to be the standard masterpiece of jazz for American musicians and audiences: Now, therefore, be it

/ Resolved,/ That the House of Representatives–

1. honors the 50th anniversary of `Kind of Blue’ and recognizes the unique contribution the album has made to American jazz;
2. directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to transmit enrolled copies of this resolution to Columbia Records;
3. encourages the United States Government to take all appropriate steps to preserve and advance the art form of jazz music;
4. recommits itself to ensuring that musical artists such as Miles Davis and his Sextet receive fair protection under the copyright laws of the United States for their contributions to culture in the United States; and
5. reaffirms the status of jazz as a national treasure.

He tried his hand at the cello. He went out for the football team in Hope Mills, N.C., but he says he was awful at both. Twenty-three-year-old Steven Moore found his “wow” with the trumpet in North Carolina Central University’s jazz studies program. Moore will graduate with the class of 2009 on December 12.

“My father played the trumpet. But it wasn’t until I heard the Miles Davis CD Kind of Blue that I knew. I played that cut over and over,” says Moore. He was like the old adage about a duck taking to water. “I got involved, playing in honors bands. I played in the first annual All-State Band Festival for Jazz.” Then a family friend suggested he meet Dr. Ira Wiggins, the director of NCCU’s Jazz Studies program.

“Steven Moore has a gift in the manner in which he composes and performs music in the jazz idiom. At his age, he is further along in his musical development than many of his peers,” says Wiggins. “His style of trumpet playing is reminiscent of Clark Terry and Freddie Hubbard and with continual study and training, Steve will become a master artist in his own right.”

In the past year, Moore performed with fellow musicians at the legendary Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and the Detroit Jazz Fest in Michigan. He has studied with NCCU’s artist-in-residence, Branford Marsalis. “Studying with him was transforming. He took me back to the roots of music. He had me listen to tons and tons of Louis Armstrong recordings, and you can’t get any better than that,” Moore recalls.

Currently, Moore is a student teacher at Hillside High School. “There is a lot of talent at Hillside…it needs to be nurtured…for the kids to reach their potential,” he said. “They have a hunger.” Moore is trying to make up his mind about his future. He wants to go to graduate school and he wants to be a music educator.

Question Moore about jazz and he waxes almost lyrical. “Jazz is the truest form of therapy. It is a spiritual experience,” he says. “People consider baroque and classical music as serious. Why not jazz? Jazz musicians have to walk in two worlds—the sophisticated world and one foot in show biz.”

“Young musicians are the legatees of a huge tradition. The mission is to get jazz out there, pull in the masses. We have to produce the next Miles Davis, the next Picasso, or a John Coltrane,” maintains Moore.