As I wrote in my review of the 2007 Atlanta Jazz Festival, last year's Atlanta Jazz Festival was fantastic. The 2007 festival featured some of today's great young musicians such as Vijay Iyer and The Bad Plus and living legends like Charles Tolliver, Bobby Hutcherson, and Herbie Hancock. Ever since the 2007 Atlanta Jazz Festival ended, I've been anxiously awaiting news about the 2008 festival. Who would headline this year? Would there be any great trumpet players? I even started searching the Web a little earlier than normal, as I scoured jazz musician websites hoping to see "Atlanta Jazz Festival" in their schedules. I just knew the 2008 Atlanta Jazz Festival would be one to remember! Turns out I was right…
THE GEORGIA DROUGHT TAKES ITS TOLL
Earlier this year, Piedmont Park officials announced the cancellation of all large festivals due to the Georgia drought. Apparently the ground was so dry that large crowds would have killed all the grass. While this may have been a prudent decision for Piedmont Park, it left Atlanta's largest festivals, including the Atlanta Jazz Festival, scrambling to find a venue. You can imagine how disappointed I was to hear this news. Even worse, when the news first broke, I heard rumors that there might not even be a jazz festival at all this year.
NEW FESTIVAL LOCATION
After a month or so of an uncertain future, it was announced that the 2008 Atlanta Jazz Festival would take place as scheduled, but at a new location: Woodruff Park. While it was great to hear that the Atlanta Jazz Festival found a new home, the new location brought some unfortunate compromises. For starters, Woodruff Park is much smaller than Piedmont Park. Located on just a couple of blocks in downtown Atlanta, Woodruff Park occupies just 3.3 acres of land and has a maximum capacity of less than 50,000 people. Frankly, I don't see how it can hold more than 20,000 people comfortably. By comparison, Piedmont Park is 190 acres and the main concert area can accommodate over 100,000 people. The following image should give you an idea of the different venue sizes:
Due to Woodruff Park's smaller size, the jazz festival couldn't accommodate the types of crowds that you'd expect with big-name acts like Herbie Hancock. Thus the next major compromise would be the decision to feature only Atlanta-based musicians at this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival. That's right, one of the largest metropolitan areas of the southeast was going to have a jazz festival without a single national touring artist. Heck, even Jacksonville had marquee artists like Terrance Blanchard, Casandra Wilson, and Pancho Sanchez at their jazz festival this year (not to pick on Jacksonville, but it only has a metro population of 1.3 million compared to Atlanta's 5.2 million).
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that Atlanta's jazz musicians had the opportunity to showcase their music and reach a larger audience at this year's jazz festival, especially since they haven't had much of a main-stage presence in the recent festivals. But I think the Atlanta Jazz Festival works best when both local and touring musicians are featured. To me, the absence of big-name touring acts at the jazz festival gives the impression that Atlanta doesn't take jazz seriously. I know this wasn't the intention, but I'm stating this primarily because I'd hate for the city to think a scaled-back jazz festival is sufficient in years to come. While I'm at it, I'd also like to suggest that future Atlanta jazz festivals should feature local Atlanta jazz musicians on the main stage and in a good time slot (between big-name acts). Since main-stage timeslots are in short supply, perhaps there could be an "Atlanta Jazz Showcase" event where several Atlanta musicians/groups share a set. While it's great that Atlanta jazz musicians have had the second stage in recent years at Piedmont Park, they really deserve a premium billing on the main stage. But I digress…
THE MUSIC THIS YEAR
As mentioned, this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival featured only Atlanta jazz musicians. Actually, they did manage to get smooth jazz artist, Mike Phillips, to play on the final night. I don't follow smooth jazz but I believe he's pretty well known in that world. The rest of the lineup included all six winners of our local Future Of Jazz Competition. Only two of these six acts were straight-ahead jazz. The rest were primarily smooth/contemporary jazz musicians. And depending upon how you classify things, only 3 or 4 of the remaining 9 timeslots at this years jazz festival featured straight-ahead jazz musicians. Consequently, to me it really felt like this was a smooth jazz festival with a little straight-ahead thrown in for good measure. And since I'm not a fan of smooth jazz, I wasn't digging a lot of it (here's the full schedule). I did catch one of the smooth jazz performances, though, and the audience certainly seemed to enjoy themselves. In fact, based on their enthusiastic reaction, I'd say Atlanta could definitely support a separate smooth jazz festival. It would be nice, though, if the real "Atlanta Jazz Festival" was mostly straight-ahead.
Following are some pictures and notes from three of my favorite performances at this year's jazz festival:
KEMBA COFIELD
Kemba Cofield was the winner of this year's Future of Jazz Competition for the "Straight-Ahead Vocals" category. She's also one my favorite Atlanta Jazz Vocalists. Kemba always brings a lot of energy to her performances and she has a natural rapport with her audiences. She's one of those people who you really want to succeed as a musician and she definitely did succeed in singing a great set at this year's jazz festival.
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY JAZZTET
The Georgia State University Jazztet included various members of Georgia State University's jazz faculty, including Gordon Vernick on trumpet, Mace Hibbard on saxophone, Kevin Bales on piano, Dave Frackenpohl on guitar, Robert Dickson on bass, and Justin Varnes on drums. I've heard all of these guys play and in various groups over the years so it was a real treat to hear them all on the stage at once.
MACE HIBBARD
Mace Hibbard won this year's Future of Jazz Competition's "Straight-Ahead Instrumental" category (here's a photo of Mace receiving his award). Mace Hibbard is a fantastic musician and I've seen him play many times around town. If you haven't seen him play yet, you're really missing out. Mace Hibbard is definitely on my short list of must-see Atlanta jazz musicians.
FESTIVAL ATTENDANCE
Even with the smaller venue and lack of national touring acts the 2008 Atlanta Jazz Festival still managed a pretty good turnout, at least for the size of the venue. While there were still several empty pockets around 4pm on Sunday and Monday (the two days I was at the festival), most of those areas were filled in by 6pm. That's fairly consistent with the Piedmont Park venue as well. At both locations it seems like a lot of people wait for the sun to die down a bit before heading out to the festival. Of course, Piedmont Park's "full" is around 100,000 people while the "full" crowd I saw at Woodruff Park was estimated at only 10,000 people or so. But at least Woodruff Park appeared well attended. The following picture shows the Woodruff Park audience on Sunday around 6pm.
LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR'S JAZZ FESTIVAL
As of now, it's uncertain when (or if) large festivals will return to Piedmont Park. If the Atlanta Jazz Festival is forced to find another location next year, I certainly hope they don't return to Woodruff Park. I can't really think of a delicate way to say this, so I'll just tell it like it is: Woodruff Park is not a good location for the Atlanta Jazz Festival. I know it was one of the original locations many years ago, but the festival has come a long way since then and they've had much better venues.
The first problem with Woodruff Park is that it isn't very park-like. The best viewing area at this year's festival was on Auburn Avenue, in the middle of a street (traffic was blocked off). Directly behind the street was a plaza covered in granite tile. Both the street and plaza area got VERY hot under the direct sun and the hard surfaces were totally uninviting compared to the grassy field of Piedmont Park, or any real park for that matter. There actually is a grassy section in Woodruff Park, but the way the stage was setup (and the way people were sitting and standing) you could barely see or hear the musicians from the grass so it may as well have not existed. I'm sure some people didn't mind sitting in the road or on the plaza, but I really missed Piedmont Park.
The other major problem with Woodruff Park was the high concentration of vagrants, panhandlers, and other street characters. There is certainly some of this in Piedmont Park, but they usually don't make their way into the festival audience and definitely not in such a heavy concentration. At Woodruff Park, I witnessed several instances where people were forced to move because they were being harassed in one way or another. My wife and I were forced to move at one point because some guy sat down near us and kept yelling unintelligible stuff about the Bee Gees and Michael Jackson. Then he started arguing with another street person who pulled up in a wheel chair (an hour later the wheel chair guy got up and danced… a jazz miracle!). Frankly, I feel a little silly complaining about all the street people at Woodruff Park. After all, Woodruff Park is one of their normal hangouts. If anything, the jazz festival audience was intruding on their turf. Let's do them all a favor and not bother them again next year!
If Piedmont Park isn't available next year, there are definitely better venues than Woodruff Park. The old home of the jazz festival, Grant Park, seems like a great alternative. I'd also suggest Candler Park. At 55 acres, Candler Park is much bigger than Woodruff Park and it just so happens to be within walking distance of my house :-)
SPECIAL THANKS TO FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS
While this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival certainly wasn't ideal by any stretch, I do give a lot of credit to the festival organizers for making the best of an unfortunate situation. I know the change in venue wasn't their idea and I'm sure they would have wanted to book some big-name touring acts. But, things happen and, as they say, the show must go on. Given the circumstances, I'd say the event went really well. Kudos to the Atlanta Jazz Festival coordinators for pulling it all together!
ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
For reference purposes, here's the schedule for the 31st (2008) Atlanta Jazz Festival:
May 24, 2008 - 2pm - Youth band competition, 3rd place
May 24, 2008 - 3pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Genetic Drift (Fusion)
May 24, 2008 - 4pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Heather Johnson (Contemporary Vocals)
May 24, 2008 - 5pm - Rua 6
May 24, 2008 - 6:30pm - Bernard Linnette, featuring vocalist Charito
May 24, 2008 - 8pm - Serenata Band
May 25, 2008 - 2pm - Youth band competition, 2nd place
May 25, 2008 - 3pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Bradford (Nu Jazz)
May 25, 2008 - 4pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Kemba Cofield (Straight-ahead Vocals) w/ Melvin Jones on trumpet
May 25, 2008 - 5pm - Gordon Vernick and the GSU Jazztet
May 25, 2008 - 6:30pm - Joe Jennings and Howard Nicholson's Lifeforce
May 25, 2008 - 8pm - The Ojeda Penn Experience
May 26, 2008 - 2pm - Youth band competition, 1st place
May 26, 2008 - 3pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Zon 3 (Contemporary Instrumental)
May 26, 2008 - 4pm - Future of Jazz Winner: Mace Hibbard (Straight-ahead Instrumental)
For the past few months, I've been kicking around the idea of adding an Atlanta concert journal to this jazz blog. In the journal I'd list each Atlanta jazz concert that I attend, the musicians' names, and some notes about the performance. My goal for the journal was to provide a resource where people could go to get an idea of type type of music they'll hear when they attend an Atlanta jazz concert. For instance, if somebody is unfamiliar with Bernard Linnette and they'd like to know what type of music he plays at Churchill Grounds, they could come to the Atlanta jazz concert journal page of my jazz blog and see that the previous week he played a set of fantastic straight-ahead jazz with some of Atlanta's best jazz musicians. For some people, that extra bit of information might be just what they need to make the decision to attend an event.
While I liked the idea of a Atlanta concert journal, I wasn't entirely convinced that I'd be able to adequately describe each event. And then it occurred to me... I shouldn't just write about the concerts, I should record video clips and share them online. Finally, a decent excuse to buy myself one of those cool ultra-compact cameras!
Below you'll find various Atlanta jazz video clips that I shot with my (new!) Canon PowerShot SD850. You can check this page of my jazz blog for future updates or you can subscribe to my videos on YouTube.
I've been going to the Twain's jazz jam session just about every week since it began a few months ago. I'm continually amazed at the number of talented musicians who show up night after night to play and hang out. Tonight was a special treat for me, when around 11:00pm I noticed Marcus Printup walking in with his trumpet case. I've been a big fan of his for several years but I've only seen him play live twice. Not only did I get to see and hear Marcus Printup play tonight, but I also had the pleasure of talking to him for 15 minutes or so. He was very talkative and even seemed genuinely interested in answering my dorky trumpet-related questions!
In the following clip, you'll hear Joe Gransden and Marcus Printup soloing over "Eye of the Hurricane." The entire clip was 22 minutes long so I had to edit out a bit in order to make it under the YouTube 10-minute maximum. And now, nine minutes of jazz trumpet greatness...
Marcus Printup told me he'll be spending more time in the Atlanta area so catch him if you can!
JULY 25, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Melvin Jones brought a fantastic quintet to Churchill Grounds tonight. The band included Melvin Jones on trumpet, Clarence Johnson on saxophone, Brian Hogans on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, and Che Marshall on drums. And if that wasn't enough, after a couple of tunes Victor Goines (of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra fame) arrived and joined the band on stage! As you'll hear in the clips below, it was an incredible night for jazz in Atlanta.
In the clip above, Victor Goines, Melvin Jones, and Clarence Johnson take solos on the Wayne Shorter classic, "Yes Or No".
In the clip above, Victor Goines and Clarence Johnson lead the band on "Cherokee". Victor Goines was actually one of Clarence Johnson's first saxophone teachers, dating back to when Clarence was in high school. Knowing that, it was especially cool to see and hear them playing to together.
In A Sentimental Mood Tonight was yet another great night of music at Twain's. There were a lot of musicians there to jam, including Clarence Johnson, Melvin Jones, Brian Hogans, Kemba Cofield, Janet Metzger, and Bernard Linnette. This clip features Kemba Cofield and Melvin Jones on "In A Sentimental Mood".
Once again, the jazz jam session at Twain's was the place to be tonight! Lots of great Atlanta jazz musicians showed up to jam, including Clarence Johnson, Mace Hibbard, Wes Funderburk, Che Marshall, Laura Coyle, Ede Wright, Kemba Cofield, and Janet Metzger. There were also plenty of amateur musicians who made their way up to the bandstand. This is hands down the best jazz jam session in Atlanta right now. Be sure to check it out soon!
Caravan In this clip, Wes Funderburk and Clarence Johnson perform "Caravan".
What Is This Thing Called Love In this clip, Clarence Johnson performs "What Is This Thing Called Love".
JUNE 7, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
You're Everything Laura Coyle had her Churchill Grounds debut this weekend, performing three nights in a row! Her band included, Louis Heriveaux on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, and Chris Burroughs on drums. In this clip, you'll hear Laura Coyle's rendition of "You're Everything" from Return To Forever's "Light as a Feather" album.
Twain's was definitely the hot spot tonight. Shortly before the second set began, a slew of Atlanta's finest jazz musicians arrived, including Melvin Jones, Russell Gunn, Che Marshall, and Anton Harris. If that wasn't enough, Brian Hogans and Lee Hogans are back in town and they were at Twain's too. What a great night for jazz in Atlanta!
Well You Needn't In this clip, Lee Hogans (trumpet) and Brian Hogans (piano) solo over "Well You Needn't".
Birdlike (1 of 2) This clip features solos by Melvin Jones, Brian Hogans (saxophone), and Lee Hogans over the tune "Birdlike".
Birdlike (1 of 2) Last, but definitely not least, we've got Russell Gunn's solo on "Birdlike" which came directly after Lee's solo in the previous clip (YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes so I had to break it up).
MAY 20, 2008 Graveyard Tavern - 1245 Glenwood Avenue, Atlanta, Ga 30316
Tonight, Atlanta jazz organist, David Ellington, was joined by Clarence Johnson on saxophone, John Bagnato on guitar, and Darren Stanley on drums. The band was fantastic, and it was great to hear John Bagnato for the first time. Like David and Clarence, John Bagnato is also from New Orleans -- he's also a terrific musician. I'll definitely try to catch John in the future.
Cherokee In this clip, you'll hear Clarence Johnson and Darren Stanley take solos on Cherokee. This is a great example of Clarence's ability to play pretty much anything he wants at any moment in time and have it sound absolutely incredible. Damn!
MAY 10, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Cherokee Atlanta jazz trumpeter, Joe Gransden, led a great performance at Churchill grounds tonight. The band included Sam Skelton on saxophone, Tyrone Jackson on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, and Clay Hulet on drums. In this clip, Joe Gransden and Sam Skelton perform "Cherokee" as a duet.
The First Time Joe Gransden leads the band on one of his original compositions, "The First Time".
Eye Of The Hurricane There was another great turnout of musicians at the Twain's jazz jam session tonight. In this clip, Atlanta jazz trumpet player, Joe Gransden, leads the house band on "Eye Of The Hurricane". You'll also hear Tyrone Jackson on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, and Chris Burroughs on drums.
Every Tuesday night, Joe Gransden leads a jazz jam session at Twain's Billiards and Tap in Decatur. If you haven't already, you should definitely check out the Tuesday night jam sessions at Twain's. I've been to two of them so far and both nights the turnout was great and so was the music!
Black Orpheus Atlanta jazz vocalist, Laura Coyle, sings "Black Orpheus" with Joe Gransden on trumpet, Ede Wright on guitar, Craig Shaw on bass, and Chris Burroughs on drums.
APRIL 12, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Bye Bye Blackbird David Ellington leads a trio performance of "Bye Bye Blackbird". You'll hear solos by Clarence Johnson on saxophone, David Ellington on organ, and Chris Burroughs on drums.
APRIL 1, 2008 Graveyard Tavern - 1245 Glenwood Avenue, Atlanta, Ga 30316
I first heard David Ellington play during the 2008 Future of Jazz Competition in February. David sounded great that night so I was happy to learn that he's playing at the Graveyard Tavern. According the the schedule of events on David's website, he routinely invites a variety of musicians to sit in with the band. On this night, one of my favorite Atlanta jazz musicians, Mace Hibbard (saxophone), was there along with Chris Burroughs on drums. As you'll hear in the clips below, the music was fantastic!
David Ellington Trio - Have You Met Miss Jones In this clip, you'll hear organ and saxophone solos as the band plays "Have You Met Miss Jones".
David Ellington Trio - Anthropology This clip features solos by all of the musicians on "Anthropology".
Atlanta jazz drummer, Bernard Linnette, leads a jam session at Star Jazz and Blues Lounge every Monday night. They had another great turnout of musicians tonight, including Russell Gunn, Melvin Jones, Danny Harper, Julie Dexter, Charlie Robinson, and several talented young musicians. The following clips are just a sampling. As the night went on the music got better and better but with everyone moving to and from the stage it was hard to get a good video clip. If you haven't been to Star Jazz and Blues Lounge yet, I encourage you to check them out on a Monday night.
Bernard Linnette Jam Session - Stablemates In this clip you'll hear Russell Gunn on trumpet, Louis Heriveaux on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, Bernard Linnette on drums, and Ramadan Mu Min on conga.
Bernard Linnette Jam Session - Black Orpheus Melvin Jones and Danny Harper lead the band on "Black Orpheus." Danny really surprised me with that high "F" at the end of the tune. No matter how much I practice, I'll probably never be able to play one of them in my solos... and definitely not at the END of a tune. Wow!
This year's Future of Jazz Competition takes place at Star Jazz & Blues Lounge. Last night I attended the straight-ahead jazz competition featuring Leeland Davis, Ryan Whitehead, and Mace Hibbard. Of the three, the only person that I hadn't heard before was 19 year-old Ryan Whitehead on saxophone. I don't know what Chris Potter sounded like at 19, but my guess is that Ryan isn't too far away from that. Ryan and his band, featuring Dave Ellington or organ, were excellent! Aside from the terrific music, it was great to see so many people at the concert. The place was packed. While that's certainly good for the venue and the Atlanta jazz scene, it wasn't so great for recording video clips. I would have liked to get clips from each of the musicians but I only have two recordings from Mace Hibbard's set.
Mace Hibbard - When We Last Met Mace Hibbard plays "When We Last Met," an original composition from Mace's album by the same name. You'll also hear Bryan Leitch on guitar, Louis Heriveaux on piano, Mike Beshara on bass, and Justin Varnes on drums.
Mace Hibbard - About Time Mace Hibbard performs another original composition, "About Time," in the above clip. Mace would go on to win the event securing a performance at this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival.
Bernard Linnette Jam Session - Milestones Atlanta jazz drummer, Bernard Linnette, led the first Monday night jazz jam session at Star Jazz and Blues Lounge. On this night, about a dozen of Atlanta's jazz musicians showed up to play. The track features solos by Russell Gunn on trumpet, Dennis Springer on saxophone, and Lester Walker on trumpet.
JANUARY 24, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
I saw the Atlanta Jazz choir concert earlier this night and was in the mood to hear some more jazz afterwards. Thankfully, Russell Gunn and his band were playing at Churchill Grounds. In the clips below, you'll hear Russell Gunn on trumpet, Darryl Reeves on saxophone, Takana Miyamoto on piano, Craig Shaw on bass, and Chris Burroughs on drums.
Russell Gunn - Walkin' I love the confident opening of Russell Gunn's trumpet solo in this video clip.
Darryl Reeves - Walkin' Following Russel Gunn on "Walkin'" Darryl Reeves takes a solo in this clip. As you may notice, Takana isn't comping behind Darryl's solo. Waiting for the perfect moment, she waits until the end of the clip to come in and pushes the energy to another level.
Takana Miyamoto - Minority Takana Miyamoto plays a piano solo over the jazz standard, "Minority".
JANUARY 23, 2008 Blind Willie's - 828 North Highland Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30306
Scott Glazer's Mojo Dojo - Yardbird Suite Scott Glazer's Mojo Dojo jazz band performed at Blind Willie's in the Virginia Highland area of Atlanta. On this night, the band featured Scott Glazer on bass, Gordon Vernick on trumpet, Mace Hibbard on Saxophone, Louis Heriveaux on piano, and Yonrico Scott on drums.
JANUARY 3, 2008 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Atlanta jazz drummer, Bernard Linnette, filled in for Russell Gunn's band on this Thursday night. With Bernard, you'll hear Kemba Cofield on vocals, Kebbi Williams on saxophone, Leeland Davis on piano, and Craig Shaw on bass.
Kemba Cofield - Caravan Kemba Cofield sings "Caravan", with solos by Kebbi Williams and Leeland Davis.
Kebbi Williams - Rhythm Changes Kebbi Williams leads the band on rhythm changes. Going into the tune they play the head to "Oleo" and coming out they play "Rhythm-a-ning". I've heard Kebbi play 3 or 4 times now and every time I thoroughly enjoy the energy he brings to the stage.
DECEMBER 27, 2007 Studio 281 - 281 Peters Street, Atlanta, GA 30313
Roy Meriwether Trio - Jonah Studio 281, located in the Castleberry Hill area of downtown Atlanta, often features musicians from other cities. In this clip you'll hear NYC-based jazz pianist Roy Meriwether and his trio perform "Jonah".
DECEMBER 15, 2007 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Atlanta jazz drummer, Justin Varnes, assembled a fantastic group of musicians for a tribute to the music of Cannonball Adderley. In the clips below you'll hear Melvin Jones on trumpet, Mace Hibbard on saxophone, Gary Motley on piano, Brian Hall on bass, and Justin Varnes on drums.
Justin Varnes Quintet - Limehouse Blues In this video you'll hear solos by Mace Hibbard, Melvin Jones, and Gary Motley as they perform "Limehouse Blues". A popular version of "Limehouse Blues" was recorded on the album "Cannonball and Coltrane."
Justin Varnes Quintet - Tribute To The Adderley's This video features an original tune, "Tribute To The Adderley's," written by Melvin Jones. Melvin told me that he was inspired to write this tune after listening to several Cannonball recordings a few days ago. The tune sounded great and the guys played terrific solos!
DECEMBER 12, 2007 Club 29 - 2272 Lawrenceville Hwy Decatur, GA 30033
Kemba Cofield - Route 66 Kemba Cofield sings a great bluesy version of "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" with Bernard Linnette's Interactive jazz band. Taking solos, you'll hear Derek White on trombone, Lester Walker on Trumpet, and Dennis Springer on saxophone.
London Arrington - My Funny Valentine This video features London Arrington on vocals, performing "My Funny Valentine" with Bernard Linnette's Interactive jazz band. Lester Walker takes a solo on trumpet, followed by Louis Heriveaux on piano.
DECEMBER 8, 2007 Churchill Grounds - 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308
Clarence Johnson III is a professor at Morehouse College. This was only my second time seeing him in concert (the first time was at the 2007 Morehouse Jazz Festival) and I'm already looking forward to his next gig. This guy is phenomenal! As an unexpected surprise, I also got to hear two of my favorite Atlanta jazz musicians: Che Marshall on drums and Ramon Pooser on bass. Rounding out the rhythm section was Val Parker on piano. I hadn't seen Val play before, but he was an excellent addition to the band.
Clarence Johnson - Night In Tunisia In this video, Clarence Johnson and the band play an exciting rendition of "Night In Tunisia".
Clarence Johnson - Round Midnight (1 of 2) "Round Midnight" was the second tune played during the first set. The drummer, Che Marshall, was delayed due to an earlier gig with the Atlanta jazz chorus. In this first clip (of two) you'll hear an introduction and solo by Clarence Johnson.
Clarence Johnson - Round Midnight (2 of 2) In this second "Round Midnight" clip, we've got solos by Val Parker on piano and Ramon Pooser on bass. During Ramon's solo, Che Marshall arrives (you can see him putting his cymbals on their stands). Che comes in at the end of Ramon's solo and really kicks things into high gear. A great finish to a great tune!
DECEMBER 5, 2007 Club 29 - 2272 Lawrenceville Hwy Decatur, GA 30033
Bernard Linnette Interactive - Someday My Prince Will Come Bernard Linnette's Interactive jazz group plays "Someday My Prince Will Come." On order of appearance, you'll hear solos by Dennis Springer (saxophone), Lester Walker (trumpet), and Craig Shaw (bass).
Julie Dexter - Softly As In A Morning Sunrise In this brief clip, you'll hear Atlanta jazz vocalist, Julie Dexter, sing "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" with Bernard Linnette's Interactive jazz group.
Anyone familiar with the Atlanta jazz scene is aware of how difficult it is to get a good turnout at jazz gigs (Creative Loafing recently wrote about the limited Atlanta jazz audience). There are several possible explanations for the small audiences, but certainly one of the primary causes is poor promotion. Websites like mine have helped get the word out about gigs, but there are still many ways for jazz musicians and jazz club owners to better promote their events. Following are a few suggestions that I've come up with. As I think of more ideas, I'll definitely add them to this page. Likewise, if any of my visitors have any ideas, please let me know.
HAVE A GOOD WEB PRESENCE
A good web presence for a musician would include the following (at a minimum):
Photo - so people can recognize you if they see you at a gig.
Bio - tell people a little about you and your musical interests.
Music samples - put up audio clips that demonstrate the type of music they'll hear if they see you at a live jazz concert.
Itinerary - in addition to telling people when and where you'll be playing, I'd tell them a little about the lineup and the type of music you'll be playing. For example, if you play a variety of jazz styles but somebody wants to see straight-ahead jazz, they'd probably be (extremely!) disappointed if they inadvertently show up to one of your smooth jazz performances. You may also want to include the names of a couple tunes that you expect to play. Of course, the most important thing about the itinerary is that you keep it updated.
Good keywords - make sure the words "Atlanta" and "Jazz" are in your website's title and pages. Basically, you want to make sure that if somebody searches for "Atlanta jazz (your name)" that your website is at the top of the list.
How can you get a website for little money? The easiest/cheapest option is to create a MySpace page for your music (here's an example jazz myspace page). Another free option is to put up a Blogger page (here's an example jazz blog). For a more professional solution, you might try a Dynamod site. They're about $11 a month and there are a few already in use by Atlanta jazz musicians (Joe Gransden, Melvin Jones). CDBaby also has a hosting service called HostBaby that might be worth looking into.
GET A MYSPACE PAGE
Generally speaking, I hate MySpace pages. They are easily the most unprofessional way to represent yourself on the web. But, they also happen to get extremely good search engine positioning in the king of all search engines, Google. Oh, and they're free. That doesn't hurt. Even if you have your own website already, get that MySpace page and link to your website from the MySpace page. You don't necessarily have to have your itinerary on both your existing website and the MySpace page, but it's probably a good idea if you do.
CREATE A WIKIPEDIA PAGE
As you probably know, Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia with content written entirely by volunteers. To become one of these volunteer writers, all you need to do is register for a free Wikipedia account. Once you have an account, you can create a free Wikipedia page for yourself (give the page your name) containing a biography, discography, photos, and most importantly an "External Link" back to your real website. Wikipedia pages are encyclopedic/informative by nature and therefore you shouldn't include promotional information like your itinerary nor should your article read like an advertisement. Like a MySpace page, the main benefit of a Wikipedia page is search engine positioning. Wikipedia pages typically appear at the top of Google searches so your Wikipedia page will help people find you and your real website. Here are some examples of Wikipedia pages for jazz musicians: Neil Starkey, Russell Gunn, Ornette Coleman.
CREATE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL
A YouTube Channel is basically a homepage where you can feature video clips of your jazz concerts. Here's my channel page for the Atlanta jazz videos I've recorded. And here's another channel page by a musician. As you can see, the musician's channel page has a lot of additional promotional information. This is a great way tell people about yourself and drive them to your website (assuming you have one).
To create a channel page, simply sign up for a free YouTube account and start uploading videos. All of the videos I've recorded were shot on a camera that costs less than $200 so you don't need to buy a lot of fancy equipment if you don't already own a video camera. When you do upload videos, be sure to keep each of them under 10-minutes in length (that's YouTube's limit). I'd also recommend that you only feature clips of your music on your musician channel. If, for example, you'd like to post clips of your child riding a bike, it would probably be best to create a different account for that stuff.
ATTEND LOCAL ATLANTA JAZZ CONCERTS
If you don't have a conflicting gig, support your fellow Atlanta jazz musicians by attending their concerts. Your attendance lets other jazz musicians know that you care about them and the Atlanta jazz scene. Most likely, they'll come out to your gigs and the overall attendance at Atlanta jazz concerts will improve. Larger audiences, even if they are mostly comprised of jazz musicians, are good for the scene because it shows people that these events are worth attending. An empty room, on the other hand, conveys the exact opposite message. Don't let your fellow Atlanta jazz musicians play to an empty room!
GET SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS INVOLVED
Like many large cities, Atlanta is home to several colleges and universities. Most of these schools also happen to have some form of jazz education. For example, both Emory University and Georgia State University have music majors specializing in jazz. Morehouse College, Spellman College, Clark Atlanta University, Agnes Scott, and Georgia Perimeter College all have jazz combos and/or big bands, and I'd imagine that most of these schools offer a "history of jazz" type of class to non-music majors. As you can see, there are a lot of jazz-aware students here in Atlanta!
If you could get at least some of these students to attend live jazz concerts in Atlanta, the current Atlanta jazz audience would easily grow several times in size. And what's the best way to get students to see live jazz? It's easy. You force them! As it is now, most students in jazz classes already have to see at least one or two of live concerts for class credit, but they probably just see the free concerts held at their school. With a little convincing, I bet you could get the professors and band directors to modify the requirements such that at least one of these jazz concerts needs to be outside of their school.
Following are a few other suggestions to get more students to see your concerts:
Make sure the students know who you are. Giving a free masterclass or performance during class seems like a good way to get their attention.
Once the students know who you are, make sure the students know about your gigs. Tell them about your website. While you might not be able to get professors and band directors to regularly announce your gigs in class, you probably could get them to mention the various Atlanta jazz clubs and jazz jam sessions from time to time. Having them aware of the venues is better than nothing!
Once you know who the student musicians are, invite them to sit in with you at gigs and jam sessions. Developing a rapport with the students makes it much more likely that they'll want to attend your gigs.
Get club owners to do student-oriented promotions such as lower-cost admissions or relaxed age requirements. Make sure the students know about these promotions.
Remember: The young people of today are your audience of tomorrow. Scary thought, eh?
MEET YOUR AUDIENCE
At your gigs, walk around between sets and chat with members of your audience. Thank them for coming to your show and give them a business card with your website's URL on it. Now that they have your card, they can learn more about you and your upcoming gigs once they go home. And most importantly, be friendly! Thanks in part to Miles Davis, there are many jazz musicians who think it's cool to ignore their patrons. Here in Atlanta, I've been to a few jazz concerts where the musicians didn't even say hello to the audience. That attitude might have worked for Miles, but it doesn't work so well when you're struggling to generate an audience. If you'd rather not mingle with your audience one on one, at least be friendly and appreciative to them from the stage. The better the connection you make with your audience, the more likely it is that they'll want to attend your future gigs.
JOIN THE YAHOO ATLANTA JAZZ GROUP
The biggest online meeting place of Atlanta jazz musicians, radio hosts, and patrons is the AtlantaJazz group on Yahoo. There are several hundred members, but really only a dozen or two of them are actively involved. Don't worry about the lack of participation, just join the group and be sure to announce your gigs on the site. I get a lot of my information from the group, which I post on my upcoming events page, and I know other sites like JazzAtlantaGA.com use the AtlantaJazz Yahoo group as an information source.
GET CLUB OWNERS INVOLVED IN PROMOTION
You'd think the owners of jazz clubs would do everything they can to make sure people know about gigs at their establishments. After all, they've invested a lot of money in their businesses and we've all seen other jazz clubs come and go over the years. Rather than take the most active role in promotion, club owners in Atlanta typically do very little to promote themselves. For example, on many occasions I've visited a club's website hoping to learn more about their schedule of events just to find out that their site hasn't been updated in months. Even worse, I can name at least two clubs who had websites showing that they're closed on nights when they're actually open! When you play a gig at a club, take a look at their website. Is your gig listed on the site? Does the club owner know about the Yahoo AtlantaJazz group? Does the club owner reach out to sites like mine? If not, educate the club owner about the different (free!) avenues of jazz promotion in Atlanta and encourage them to get more involved in the promotion of their venue. As a musician you might think it isn't your job to school club owners like this, but it's important to remember that their success and your success as a gigging musician are closely related. You need a place to play and both of you need a decent audience to help pay the bills.
PROMOTE YOURSELF AT ATLANTA JAZZ WEBSITES
There are a few websites and jazz blogs, like mine, which feature Atlanta jazz musicians, jazz clubs, and jazz musicians. Make sure these sites know about you and your gigs. Atlanta jazz websites that I'm aware of include JazzAtlantaGA.com, Atlantajazz.info. Other sites like Eventful.com (and maybe upcoming.org) are good places to list your jazz gigs for free.
PROMOTE YOURSELF ON THE RADIO
Atlanta's main jazz radio station, WCLK announces local gigs all the time. I'm not sure how to get your gig announced on the radio, but I'd think a phone call or fax would do it. WCLK's about us web page lists a few ways to contact them. Georgia State University's WRAS radio station has a "Blue Note" radio program that's dedicated to jazz. Perhaps you could talk them into promoting local jazz during that radio program.
PROMOTE YOURSELF IN LOCAL MUSIC STORES
If a record/cd store has a decent jazz selection, then it probably has several jazz-buying customers. Those same people would probably like to know about your gigs. Decatur CD's comes to mind as a good place to post flyers advertising your gigs. Obviously, if you have any recordings, I'd definitely get stores like this to carry them.
DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO PROMOTE
As a member of the AtlantaJazz Yahoo group, I'm constantly amazed when I see people wait until the day before their gig, or even worse, the day of their gig, to send out their first and only gig announcement. If you wait until the last minute to tell people about your gig, chances are they will already have plans or they won't actually read about it until it's too late (many AtlantaJazz members subscribe to the digest format and therefore don't get messages until the next day or two). Instead of waiting until the last minute, I recommend that you announce your gig as soon as you know the lineup/location/cost/etc and then send out a reminder announcement (or two) to the YahooJazz list a few days before the gig. This will ensure that sites like mine have a chance to get you listed on our event calendars.
MARKET YOUR RECORDINGS
If you've recorded any CD's, make sure they're easy for people to hear and buy. As mentioned above, local music stores are a good start. After that, you'll want to make your recordings available for online purchase. I know of several independent musicians who have recordings on CDBaby.com. CDBaby sells physical CDs, they host audio clips that people can listen to, and they'll get your recordings on various online music sites such as iTunes, Rhapsody, and Napster. Other sites, like TuneCore.com can also get your recordings into the various online music stores. Earlier this year, the Unofficial Apple Weblog had an article about selling music via TuneCore. Take a look at the comments to that article for a good comparison between CDBaby and TuneCore.
GET IN CREATIVE LOAFING AND ACCESS ATLANTA
Make sure your gigs are mentioned in the "Happenings" section of Creative Loafing. As I understand it, all you need to do is fax notice of your gig to the editors. When you do notify them, be sure to include the word "jazz" in your name. I'm looking at Creative Loafing right now and I see a couple of jazz musicians who are mentioned by name only. If somebody's looking for a jazz concert and they don't know who you are, then they'll skip right over your gig. Instead of "Churchill Grounds - Toots McTootie" try to get them to print "Churchill Grounds - Toots McTootie Jazz Quintet" or "Churchill Grounds - Toots McTootie Jazztet". Just make sure the word "jazz" is in there. Similarly, make sure your gig is listed in Access Atlanta and any other free publication you can think of.
TRY AND TRY AGAIN
Occasionally I'll talk with people who tell me that they tried certain promotion methods in the past, but they weren't effective. And since they didn't get the results they were looking for, they've basically given up on those methods. Website updating is a perfect example. Let's say you launch a new website for your music. You tell a few people about it, search engines index you, but you barely ever get any hits. After a few months of low traffic you stop updating your itinerary (what's the point, nobody looks at it anyway…) and you stop sending out newsletters to the nine people that joined your mailing list. You gave it a shot, but it just didn't work out like you expected. Well, it doesn't matter. New people move into Atlanta all the time. You never know when they, or the people who already live here, will decide to see a live jazz concert and stumble upon your website. Promotion is an ongoing effort. What didn't work yesterday might work today, and what works today might not work tomorrow…
The 30th annual Atlanta Jazz festival took place this past weekend. It was my fourth jazz festival since I moved to Atlanta and it was definitely the best that I've seen thus far. Following are some of the highlights from the concerts along with a few pictures. I also attended a panel discussion with Charles Tolliver and Bobby Hutcherson, which I've written about here.
Unless otherwise noted, events are listed in the order in which they occurred.
VIJAY IYER QUARTET W/ RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA
For the past year or so, I've had Vijay Iyer's "Reimaging" album and "Raw Materials" (w/ Rudresh Mahanthappa) in my regular listening rotation. Since I've enjoyed their music, I was definitely looking forward to hearing Vijay perform at the Atlanta jazz festival. I was even more excited, however, about seeing and hearing Rudresh Mahanthappa. Rudresh, or "Rudy" as I've known him, was at DePaul University's music school during the last few months before I changed majors. I didn't really know Rudy well, however he spent a year or so living with one of my good friends from music school and Rudy once sat in with a quintet that I used to play in during one of our on-campus gigs. So, it was a little nostalgic for me to see and hear him once again, especially since that part of my life seems so distant now.
CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND
Charles Tolliver is definitely one of my trumpet heroes from the great Blue Note recordings of the 1960's. I especially enjoy his playing on Andrew Hill's "Dance of Death" and Jackie McLean's "Jackknife" and "Action." I've also enjoyed listening to Charles Tolliver's recent big band recording "With Love." During their set, Charles Tolliver and his fantastic big band played several of the tunes and arrangements from "With Love" including "Right Now," a tune written by Tolliver and recorded by Jackie McLean on the wonderful album of the same name.
The big band itself was a who's-who of jazz greats. The lineup included George Cables on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Victor Lewis on drums, and Billy Harper on tenor sax. The entire band sounded terrific, but Billy Harper's solo on the final tune absolutely killed. What a powerhouse!
HERBIE HANCOCK
Herbie Hancock sure draws a crowd. This was only my fourth year at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, but I've never seen an Atlanta Jazz Festival audience remotely as large as the crowd that turned up for Herbie's scheduled performance Saturday night. From what I could tell, at least 3/4 of Piedmont Park's concert field was filled with people. There were also thousands of people lining the field's rim. I've never been to a concert with so many people!
The photo below gives you some idea of how crowded it was. This was shot from about 50 feet in front of the stage, about 2 hours before Herbie Hancock was scheduled to perform. Many more people were still on their way!
The size of the audience is testament to the fact that Herbie Hancock is easily the most well known living jazz musician. Jazz fans know him for his work as a bandleader and as a sideman with Miles Davis (!!!), Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and just about every other legendary jazz artist who recorded during the past 40 years. Everybody else probably knows Herbie for his 80's pop hit, "Rockit". Not only was "Rockit" a popular song in its day, but it also helped popularize scratching (aka turntablism). Put all of these factors together and you've got a pretty wide potential audience that includes jazz fans, DJ's/turntablists, and anyone else alive and listening to music in the 80's… oh, and don't forget all those fans of his speaker infomercials ;-).
Herbie treated us to a handful of tunes, including a mixed-meter take on the Head Hunters version of "Watermelon Man" (with a keytar solo, no less), a laid-laid back rendition of "Cantaloupe Island", and a hard driving performance of "Actual Proof" from his "Thrust" album. For me, the highlight of Herbie's performance was "Actual Proof". I don't really listen to the original recording of "Actual Proof" all that often, but whenever I do hear it I'm always amazed at its complex and energetic groove. Watching Herbie, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Nathan East (bass), and Lionel Loueke (guitar), I was similarly in awe. The four of them created a sound so rich and powerful, you'd expect to see a band twice as large.
It was my first time seeing Herbie Hancock live and I have to admit it was sort of a surreal event. I've listened to his recordings many thousands of times over the years. His recordings with Miles Davis in the 60's are possibly my favorite recordings of all time. So, it's hard to process that the man behind all that wonderful music was just 50 feet away from me.
THE BAD PLUS
The first band I saw on Sunday was The Bad Plus. I've been a fan of The Bad Plus for a few years now, and I'm a regular reader of their jazz blog, "DO THE MATH". As most of my readers probably know, The Bad Plus are known for taking modern rock/pop songs and performing them in a jazz style. For example, they've recorded jazz versions of such tunes as Blondie's "Heart of Glass," The Pixies' "My Veloria," and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not surprisingly, they've become rather popular with college kids who find their music accessible, modern, and inventive due to their avant-garde leanings.
The Bad Plus put on a great show and I think they managed to win over many of the more traditional jazz fans who at first might have found some of their avant-garde experimentation to be a bit jarring. Likewise, it was great to see that some of the college-age Bad Plus fans (they were pretty easy to identify) stuck around to hear some of the other great musicians like Bobby Hutcherson.
BOBBY HUTCHERSON
Without a doubt, Bobby Hutcherson is my favorite vibraphonist. He plays the vibes with the same intensity that you'd typically expect to hear only from a horn player. My favorite recording of Bobby as a bandleader is probably "Stick-Up" but all of his Blue Note albums from the 60's are great. As a sideman, he's been on tons of great recordings including Jackie McLean's "Destination Out," Eric Dolphy's "Out To Lunch," and Joe Henderson's stellar recording "Mode For Joe." If you want to see how truly phenomenal his list of contributions are, check out the CREDITS tab on his AllMusic.com page.
Bobby Hutcherson definitely did not disappoint during his performance at the Atlanta Jazz Festival. He was joined with Renee Rosnes on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Al Foster on drums. I hadn't heard of Renee Rosnes prior to this concert, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for her in the future. She's an extremely talented player who complemented Bobby's playing perfectly.
Of all the tunes Bobby and the band played, "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" was my favorite due to the emotion Hutcherson put into every note. As he slowly played the tune's melody, his body arched over the vibes holding him in awkward poses as if the notes needed him to physically resonate each note. Between each of these exquisite notes, Bobby took huge cheek-puffing breaths of air, perhaps to calm him from rushing the melody or ruining the moment. I found it remarkable to see such a gifted performer, and true jazz icon, taking such care to play every note just right.
PETE ESCOVEDO ORCHESTRA
The second day of the Atlanta Jazz Festival ended with The Pete Escovedo Orchestra. It was a great choice for the closing slot, and by the end of their set it seemed that the entire festival crowd was on their feet dancing. Pete Escovedo was joined by two of his children, Juan Escovedo and Sheila E(scovedo). There were quite a few Sheila E fans in the crowd and she did her best to keep everyone entertained. Even though she had lost her voice, she managed to sing a bit of her 80's hits "Glamorous Life" and "Love Bizarre" with the crowd singing along.
Rounding out the rest of the band were some Latin jazz heavyweights like trumpeter Ray Vega and Steve Turre on trombone. This was my first time hearing Ray Vega live. He only had one solo but damn was it fierce. It was one of those where he kept playing higher and higher. Each time giving the impression that he had hit his highest note... but he just kept going and going!
FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE
For the second year in a row, the Atlanta jazz festival had two stages. The second stage was reserved for local Atlanta-area jazz musicians. It's called the "Future of Jazz" stage because its performers took part in the local Future of Jazz Competition. It really isn't as much of a competition as it is a showcase for local jazz musicians, particularly up-and-coming and/or lesser-known artists. I tried to catch at least a few minutes of various performers on the second stage and was delighted to see how large the audience was for local talent. If only we could get those same people to come out and support the local jazz clubs!
I was familiar with most of the Atlanta-based musicians, however Joey Summerville really took me by surprise. I had heard his name before but didn't really know what kind of music he played. When I saw him at the jazz festival, he was playing Parliament's "Flash Light" on a red Martin trumpet while walking around in the crowd (he had a clip-on mic). People were dancing, smiling, and just plain loving his gigantic sound. His website clips are a bit too smooth for my liking, but I'd definitely welcome the opportunity to hear him play some more funk. This guy's got serious chops!
VIP SECTION -- TOO BIG?
I hate to complain about any aspect of a free jazz festival, but I really felt that this year's VIP section was too large in proportion to the rest of the prime viewing area. I don't know exactly whether it was truly larger in size than in past years, but in past years there was definitely more room between the end of the VIP section and the sound booth, so more people could get a good view of the stage, especially from the middle.
The image to the right shows how large the VIP section was this year, in relation to the prime viewing area.
For what it's worth, I'm not opposed to the VIP section. I understand that at a corporate-sponsored festival you need to give those sponsors some perks like VIP seating. Also, the VIP section allows the various festival musicians and their families to watch other acts when they're not playing. But, it's a shame that the VIP area filled most of the area directly in front of the stage. It's even more of a shame that for the majority of the day, the VIP area had 15 or fewer people sitting in it. In fact, during the first couple of acts on Saturday and Sunday, there were periods when it was totally empty.
Here's a picture of part of the VIP section during The Bad Plus performance. As you can see there are less than 10 people taking up quite a bit of space:
Despite this VIP issue, the free Atlanta Jazz Festival truly is a wonderful event and I sincerely thank everyone involved for all of the hard work that goes into making it possible. I can't wait for next year!
Updated 5/28/07: The information shown below was originally posted prior to the 30th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival. I'm leaving it here for archival purposes.
The 30th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival takes in Piedmont park this Memorial Day weekend! It's a free event, so if you're in the Atlanta area, you owe it to yourself to come out and see some fantastic jazz.
For full information about the artists, schedules, etc, you can visit the Atlanta Jazz Festival website. If you do go to the official site, I strongly suggest that you use THIS DIRECT LINK to avoid their slow-loading and somewhat confusing homepage. And for that matter, if you just want to view the Atlanta Jazz Festival's schedule of events, I'd recommend THIS SCHEDULE LINK.
Microsoft and festival organizers teamed up to present a Live Search Maps collection for the Atlanta Jazz Festival. This is a great collection that highlights the best spots to find parking near the festival, concert venue locations, restaurants and bars for after the concerts, and a live traffic feature - so you won't get caught off guard before leaving the house. VISIT THE SITE.
FESTIVAL LINEUP
As you'll see below, the Atlanta jazz festival has two stages. The main stage is where the national touring bands will perform, and the "Future of Jazz Stage" will showcase local Atlanta-area jazz musicians. I definitely encourage readers of my jazz blog to check out some of the artists at the Future of Jazz Stage. It will no doubt be less crowded than the main stage and I know the local musicians will appreciate your show of support.
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - MAIN STAGE
2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 3
3pm - Chieli Minucci and Special EFX
4:30pm - Vijay Iyer Quartet
6:00pm - Charles Tolliver Big Band
7:30pm - Terri Lyne Carrington and Friends
9:00pm - Herbie Hancock Quintet
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE
1pm - Daysahead
2:30pm - Reggie Hines
4pm - Jaspects
5:30 - Julie Dexter
7pm - Joey Sommerville
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT
1-3pm - "Artists in Retrospect" w/ Bobby Hutcherson and Charles Tolliver
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - PARK TAVERN
9:30pm - Ron James
SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - MAIN STAGE
2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 2
3pm - The Ronny Jordan Trio
4:30pm - The Bad Plus
6pm - Flora Purim & Airto Moreira
7:30 - Bobby Hutcherson Quartet
9pm - The Pete Escovedo Orchestra with Sheila E, Steve Turre, Ray Vega & Juan Escovedo
SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE
1pm - Squat
2:30pm - Joe Gransden
4pm - Hudson On Bass
5:30pm - Tammy Allen
7pm - Ken Ford
SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT
1-3pm - "Conversations: Not Just Men's Jazz" w/ Flora Purim, Dwight Andrews, and Joseph Jennings
SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - PARK TAVERN
9:30pm - Eric Essix
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - MAIN STAGE
2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 1
3pm - Nefertari Bey
4:30pm - Lou Donaldson Quartet
6pm - Monty Alexander
7:30pm - Mike Phillips
9pm - Laws Family
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE
1pm - Antoine Knight
2:30pm - Future of Jazz Competition Winner, Ron James
4pm - Toni Redd
5:30pm - Yonrico Scott
7pm - William Green
MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT
1-3pm - "Jazz Origins: Civil Rights and Jazz" w/ Joseph Jennings and Ojeda Penn
April has been a great month for live jazz in Atlanta. This month alone, I saw college big band performances at Georgia State University, Morehouse College, and Emory University (you can read about the GSU and Morehouse concerts here, I'll write more about Emory later in this jazz blog entry). I was also extremely fortunate to have attended a concert at Spellman College featuring jazz pianist, Geri Allen, in a trio setting. Hearing Geri Allen play in any setting is a delight in itself, but in this case she was joined by the legendary jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb. For those who don't know, Jimmy Cobb has played the drums on dozens of landmark jazz recordings, including Sketches of Spain, Kind of Blue, and Giant Steps. It was definitely a night to remember.
In addition to the concerts mentioned above, I was also able to see a couple of great Atlanta jazz trumpeters performing around town. Trumpeter and vocalist Joe Gransden performed as part of the nearby Oakhurst community jazz nights. Joe is a great jazz musician, but even more importantly for these types of events, he's really good with a crowd. He keeps the mood light with jokes, brief anecdotes, and the sort of charm you'd expect from a member of the original rat pack. While this type of rapport isn't necessary for every type of gig, it's definitely a great skill if you're looking to make a living as a jobbing musician. By jobbing, I mean weddings, corporate events, parties, etc. For these events, your ability to "work" a crowd might be the difference between getting a callback or not.
The other Atlanta-area jazz trumpeter I saw this month was Melvin Jones. He led one of the new Wednesday jam sessions at the Slice restaurant near Georgia State University. I have to say, while Melvin has always been a strong player, the past few times I've heard him play, he's sounded so good it's downright scary. Sometimes when I hear other trumpeters play, I'll think "In a few years time, maybe I'll sound that good." Well, Melvin has official crossed into "I'll never sound THAT good" territory! If you're ever in the Atlanta area, I strongly encourage you to check him out.
April also featured other great Atlanta jazz events, including the Future of Jazz competition. The winner, saxophonist Ron James, will be performing in this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival.
EMORY UNIVERSITY JAZZ FESTIVAL
As I mentioned earlier, I recently attended a big band concert at Emory University. The concert was part of Emory's annual jazz festival and the featured artist was one of my favorite jazz pianists, the great Kenny Barron. During his career, Kenny has recorded with many legendary jazz musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath, Bobby Hutcherson, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, and Elvin Jones. One of my favorite albums with Kenny Barron as a sideman happens to be Booker Ervin's "Tex Book Tenor", with jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw.
Like Jon Hendricks and Wessell Anderson before him, Kenny Barron also participated in a couple of masterclasses at Emory University, both of which were free and open to the public. I attended both events and was treated to some outstanding playing by Kenny Barron and even a wonderful piano duet by Kenny Barron and Gary Motley. There wasn't a lot of discussion at either masterclass, so I don't really have enough material to write a dedicated post, but the tidbits that I found interesting included the fact that Kenny didn't have any formal jazz instruction (he did have classical piano instruction, however). He learned jazz piano totally by listening to recordings and performances. Kenny also mentioned how when he joined Dizzy Gillespie's band (Kenny's first big break), there wasn't any written music. Kenny had to figure it all out by ear. He went on to explain that that's how people learned jazz back then. It was yet another endorsement of the importance of solid aural skills amongst jazz musicians.
Emory's jazz program is relatively new. It's only been a few years now that they've even had a big band at all. With that in mind, it's really impressive how much they continue to improve each year. The band sounded better than ever, and they featured some very good soloists, particularly in their saxophone section.
Next year should be another great year for the Emory University jazz program. At the end of the big band concert, the director of jazz programs at Emory, Gary Motley, announced that next year's featured artists will include the Yellowjackets (not quite my cup of tea, but obviously very popular) and legendary jazz saxophonist, Benny Golson. Emory will also feature a third artist, but Gary's still working on that one.
This past Friday and Saturday, I attended a couple of big band concerts at the local Atlanta universities. Here some notes about the concerts.
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY BIG BAND
The first concert featured legendary trombonist Slide Hampton with the Georgia State University big band. You can always count on Gordon Vernick to select an eclectic mix of tunes, and this year was no exception. Actually, this year was even more diverse than normal due to a couple of Slide Hampton's arrangements for trombone choir. For those pieces, about 15-20 trombonists came on stage (where do you even find that many trombone players?!) to perform with the rhythm section. Joining Slide Hampton as co-soloist for those tunes was local Atlanta trombonist Wes Funderburk. It had been a couple of years since I last heard Wes Funderburk play and I was amazed at how good he's gotten. It was great to hear Slide Hampton play live and the band was solid as always.
MOREHOUSE COLLEGE BIG BAND
The annual Morehouse College Jazz Festival came to a close this past Saturday with a big band concert featuring saxophonist Don Braden. Morehouse's band director and trumpeter, Melvin Jones, came through again with a very entertaining concert.
It was actually two concerts in one, as the evening began with a performance by the Clarke Central High School Jazz Ensemble. The highlight of their concert was the final number, "What Is Hip" by Tower of Power. They sounded so good on "What Is Hip", that one could easily compare them to the legendary Kashmere Stage Band. These kids were on fire. Adding extra sizzle to the performance was the addition of Melvin Jones on trumpet. His solo breaks took the tune to another level. You'd never know it was a high school band. If you're in the Atlanta area, be sure to catch the Clarke Central High School Jazz Ensemble at this year's Atlanta Jazz Festival.
After the high school band performed, The Morehouse College big band took the stage. Highlights included "Groovin High", where Melvin Jones played the role of Dizzy Gillespie, with high soaring solos. Don Braden and the Morehouse band also played wonderful arrangements of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and Chick Corea's "Spain". But, the best tune of the evening was Melvin Jones' up-tempo arrangement of Earth Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love". The rhythm section played a groove that was electrifying, so much so that several members of the band couldn't help but dance throughout the tune. It was impossible to keep still! "Can't Hide Love" was definitely one of those tunes you wish wouldn't end. But, when it did build toward the ending, the horn section started singing the "ah-ah-ah" part from the original recording while the rhythm continued to drive forward, and man was it cool. I really wish more people were there to hear it.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A BAND
I've heard too many college big band performances where the students seem bored by the musical selections. This typically occurs with lifeless arrangements and/or unnecessarily complex tunes. When playing these tunes you can tell that the students just aren't into it. The groove ends up sounding stiff, the solos are weak, and the audience is bored. It doesn't matter how good the band is, if the musicians aren't enjoying themselves, it's going to be a dull performance. On the other hand, the Morehouse College big band is a great example of how good a band can sound when they're performing tunes that they themselves enjoy playing. Half of the members of the Morehouse big band aren't even music majors, yet when they're feeling the music and enjoying themselves, they sound better than any band in town.
DON'T HOLD YOUR APPLAUSE UNTIL THE END
As most readers of this jazz blog surely know, it's common courtesy to applaud after somebody takes a solo in a jazz performance. Applause after each solo is immediate feedback to a musician, letting him or her know that we appreciate their efforts. Note that I used the word "appreciated" instead of a word like "enjoyed". I chose "appreciated" because it doesn't matter whether the jazz solo is good or bad. All that matters is that the soloist gave it their best effort.
While it certainly makes sense to applaud after a great jazz solo, it's really those not-so-great solos that need your applause the most. It might seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you think about the people who play the not-so-great solos. Who are they? They're all of us at one point or another. Unless you were a jazz prodigy, you certainly went through a period where you struggled to play a good solo. You too were once terrified before playing the opening notes of your solo, and you knew that sense of humiliation that comes when you put your horn down after a lousy solo. And, if you're anything like me, you also know how comforting it is to hear even the faintest sound of applause after those bad solos. It's the audience's way of showing appreciation for the risk you took and the effort you made to play.
I bring this up now because during the Slide Hampton concert, I sat next to somebody who didn't clap after a single student solo. At first I thought there might be something wrong with his wrists or hands. How else would you explain not clapping when everyone around you has been clapping after each solo? But he managed to clap just fine after each tune and he even clapped a couple of times after some of Slide Hampton's solos. But student after student soloed and not once did he even make the effort to applaud. I guess he thought the students weren't good enough to warrant applause. Who knows, but it was a shame to see such a lack of support. Don't be that guy. Applaud after all solos, good or bad. And remember, those not-so-great solos need your support the most!
Following are many of the upcoming jazz concerts and jazz-related events in the Atlanta area. As you'll see, I focus primarily on straight-ahead jazz. Additional events may be found at JazzAtlantaGA.com, AtlantaJazz.Info, or Eventful.com's Atlanta Jazz listings. Also, if you'd like to see some of the best jazz musicians in Atlanta, I'd definitely visit the calendar page at Churchill Grounds' website. If you're looking for a restaurant that also features jazz music, I'd recommend that you check out the itineraries for the following jazz musicians: Joe Gransden, Will Scruggs, Laura Coyle and Trey Wright.
Ede Wright CD Release at Churchill Grounds Friday-Saturday, August 29-30, 2008 at 9:30pm Cost: $10 cover, $10 minimum per set
Atlanta jazz guitarist, Ede Wright, will perform at Churchill Grounds to promote the release of his new CD. More information...
Jazz Jam Session at Star Jazz & Blues Lounge Monday, September 1, 2008, 9:30pm-midnight Cost: FREE!
Atlanta jazz drummer, Bernard Linnette, will host a jazz jam session at Star Jazz & Blues Lounge from ~9:30pm to midnight. Star Jazz & Blues Lounge is located in the Castlebury Hill loft area (just southwest of downtown Atlanta). This event repeats every Monday night. More information...
Jazz Jam Session w/ Joe Gransden at Twain's Billiards & Tap Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 9pm-11:30pm Cost: FREE!
2008 Atlanta Trumpet Festival Saturday-Sunday, September 13-14, 2008 Cost: $75 to participate, concerts are free to watch
The 2008 Atlanta Trumpet Festival will take place at Emory University on Saturday and Sunday. They haven't released the list of performers yet, so I don't know how much jazz (if any) there will be at this year's festival. Regardless, this is a great event which I thoroughly enjoyed last year. More information...
Darryl Reeves at the High Museum Friday, September 19, 2008, 5pm-10pm Cost: $18; free to members
Funderhorns Summit at Churchill Grounds Friday-Saturday, September 26-27 at 9:30pm Cost: $10 cover, $10 minimum per set
Wes Funderburk and his "Funderhorns" sextet will perform at Churchill Grounds. The band will include Wes Funderburk on trombone, Will Scruggs on saxophone, Ken Watters on trumpet, Louis Heriveaux on piano, Neal Starkey on bass, and Clay Hulet on drums. More information...
Kenny Barron Trio at Spivey Hall Friday, October 17, 2008 at 8:15pm Cost: $40
Jazz pianist Kenny Barron will perform at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Brad Mehldau Trio at Spivey Hall Friday, November 14, 2008 at 8:15pm Cost: $40
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau will perform at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Paula West at Spivey Hall Saturday, December 6, 2008 at 8:15pm Cost: $40
Jazz vocalist, Paula West, will perform at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Glenn Miller Orchestra at Spivey Hall Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 3pm and 7pm Cost: $40
The Glenn Miller Orchestra will perform two shows at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Dave Holland Quintet at Spivey Hall Friday, January 23, 2009 at 8:15pm Cost: $40
Jazz bassist, Dave Holland, will perform with his quintet at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Ramsey Lewis at Rialto Center Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 8pm Cost: $36-$62
Legendary jazz pianist, Ramsey Lewis, will perform at the Rialto Center. More information...
Terell Stafford Quintet at Spivey Hall Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8:15pm Cost: $40
Jazz trumpet player, Terell Stafford, will perform with his quintet at Spivey Hall (15 miles south of downtown Atlanta). I recommend that you call the Spivey Hall box office when ordering your tickets. I discovered that the best available seats are not always shown online but you can get them over the phone. Also, by calling you avoid the $10 processing fee. More information...
Mingus Big Band at Rialto Center Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 8pm Cost: $36-$62
The Mingus Big Band will perform at Rialto Center. While it's unclear who exactly will be performing in the band, I do know that this group typically features some of NYC's top jazz musicians such as Randy Brecker, Eddie Henderson, Ryan Kisor, Alex Sipiagin, Conrad Herwig, Seamus Blake, Donny McCaslin, Jaleel Shaw... More information...
Jon Faddis & GSU Big Band at Rialto Center Friday, April 17, 2009 at 8pm Cost: $22-$48
Jazz trumpet player, Jon Faddis, will perform with the Georgia State University big band at the Rialto Center. More information...
I hate to complain about any aspect of a free jazz festival, but I really felt that this year's VIP section was too large in proportion to the rest of the prime viewing area. I don't know exactly whether it was truly larger in size than in past years, but in past years there was definitely more room between the end of the VIP section and the sound booth, so more people could get a good view of the stage, especially from the middle.
The 30th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival takes in Piedmont park this Memorial Day weekend! It's a free event, so if you're in the Atlanta area, you owe it to yourself to come out and see some fantastic jazz.
April has been a great month for live jazz in Atlanta. This month alone, I saw college big band performances at Georgia State University, Morehouse College, and Emory University (you can 
As I mentioned earlier, I recently attended a big band concert at Emory University. The concert was part of Emory's annual jazz festival and the featured artist was one of my favorite jazz pianists, the great Kenny Barron. During his career, Kenny has recorded with many legendary jazz musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath, Bobby Hutcherson, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, and Elvin Jones. One of my favorite albums with Kenny Barron as a sideman happens to be Booker Ervin's "Tex Book Tenor", with jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw.
