Thursday, March 28th, 6 to 9 PM.
McRoskey Mattress Company’s 3rd Floor Loft
1687 Market Streetat Gough in SF
RSVP to [ mailto:marchrsvp@kcsm.net ]marchrsvp@kcsm.net
Guilty by Disassociation: Robert Glasper and José James Redefine the Jazz Sensibility
By: Brandon Roos
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Singer José James, in an effort to combat the labels musicians often shoulder, says that “once I realized that jazz singing is just something that I do and it’s just a label, it freed me as an artist to just write without any boundaries.” It’s a notion he took to heart on his latest, No Beginning No End, which shines because of the musicianship that accompanies his musical breadth.
Similarly, pianist Robert Glasper has been a vocal opponent to some of current jazz culture, critical of the importance of jazz standards in artist repertoire. As he told Jazz Wax in March, “The cats that we look up to in the jazz world didn’t do this. . . They always played something that was modern and up-to-date. That’s all I’m trying to do now, without losing what makes jazz special and personal to the listener.”
Both artists arrive in San Jose at the end of the week as part of Winter Fest 2013. They’re leading examples of jazz’s future, and a proper fit for a festival that looks to celebrate where jazz is headed.
While their opinions may signal a move away from the jazz idiom, their progressive notions have always been at the heart of jazz. As such, both James and Glasper have proven themselves true jazz musicians, even while they seem to be at odds with the seeming constraints of the art form.
“True jazz has always incorporated other idioms,” explains KSJS Program Director Brad Stone, who’s followed the careers of both Glasper and James. “The really innovative, progressive artists of today incorporate different genres into the music, whether it be other [types of] world music or hip-hop.”
The More You Give, The More You Learn
Tony Monaco still vividly recalls early interactions with idol Jimmy Smith. Local organ newcomer Kevin Coelho tells similar storiel of mentor Monaco.
By: Brandon E. Roos
Tony Monaco still vividly recalls the moment that shaped the rest of his life, when his father’s wedding band mate handed him a Jimmy Smith record he wasn’t very fond of. He recalls taking off the 45 spacer and slowing the speed down to 33, dropping needle to vinyl, and the epiphany that soon followed.
“When I heard that Jimmy Smith record,” he remembers, “I wanted to switch from the accordion to the organ. That was what I wanted to do!” he lovingly shares when thinking back to that day when he was just 12.
Tracing Delhi 2 Dublin’s Influences
band member Tarun Nayar speaks on the atmosphere of the group’s first rehearsals and explains that their music is more about having fun than preserving the essence of the different influences that inform their sound.
By: Brandon E. Roos
While speaking in a van crossing the roads of western Canada, Delhi 2 Dublin member Tarun Nayar (tabla, electronics) made light of an exchange with a fan after a show a while back. The fan wondered how his band sounded so good pulling from such a vast array of influences. Nayar’s response was matter of fact: “It’s because we only play the stuff that sounds good.”
True, the rehearsal process eliminates sounds that go nowhere, but the fan’s question speaks to a certain wonder attached to the Vancouver-based quintet, who will be performing as part of San Jose Jazz’s Winter Fets 2013. Their influences on paper seem jarring; listening to these sounds co-mingle, however, proves the pairings are much more organic. You hear genres as varied as bhangra, Irish traditional, reggae / dub and electronic — sometimes within the span of a single track.
Barbara Dane has sung with the best like Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jack Teegarden and may others. From her bio at http://www.barbaradane.net/Home.html:
Born into a white middle-class family, as a child Dane sang and played piano in Sunday school and also learned to play guitar. From the mid-40s she became involved with the labor, civil rights and feminist movements. She sang folk and jazz, working with Pete Seeger, Kid Ory , George Lewis , Turk Murphy and others, appearing at festivals and on television, and she even hosted her own show in San Francisco. Dane appeared at many prestigious venues and shared bills with distinguished performers, including Louis Armstrong, Memphis Slim, Lightnin’ Hopkins and controversial comedian Lenny Bruce. In 1959, she recorded with Earl Hines and toured with Jack Teagarden ‘s band, and continued her high profile on television, radio and in concert, throughout the 60s and 70s. In this time she became increasingly involved in political causes, including demonstrations and marches in support of the civil rights movement and in protest against American military involvement in Vietnam. She concentrated her musical efforts on singing at fund- and consciousness raising gatherings in America, Spain, Cuba and Italy, and traveled to Vietnam in 1975. Dane’s decision to ally her singing to political causes has tended to keep her from the general audience. Her folk singing has a strong sense of commitment and she is also a sound and convincing singer of the blues. Her records are hard to find but worth seeking out.
Peter Zak grew up and studied music in Oakland. After graduating from UC Berkeley he played at many of the local clubs and now resides in NYC. In NYC he plays with his trio and is a faculty member at the renowned jazz program at the New School University. His latest album is Nordic Noon and was released in 2011. He regularly plays at Smalls Jazz Club in NYC. Tune in and here him chat with Michael Burman.
David Weiss put together a stellar septet call the Cookers. The group derives its name from the Freddie Hubbard album titled “The Night of the Cookers: Live at Club La Marcha”. The group features Billy Harper, tenor saxophone Eddie Henderson, trunpet, David Weiss, trunpet, Craig Handy, alto sax, George Cables, piano, Cecil McBee, bass, and Billy Hart on drums. Take a look at their website at http://jazzlegacyproductions.com/cookers_pages/thecookers.html for more info and to hear clips from their latest album Warriors.
Anat Cohen is a jazz clarinetist and saxaphonist. She and her two brothers have been producing great jazz since 1999. Her latest album is Claroscuro. From her web site www.anatchon.com:
Anat Cohen – celebrated the world over for her expressive virtuosity on clarinet and saxophone, not to mention the sheer joie de vivre in her charismatic stage presence – presents the latest record of her evolution with Claroscuro, her sixth album as a bandleader. Claroscuro takes its title from the Spanish word describing the play of light and shade (chiaroscuro in Italian).
A video about her album is at
Kenny Burell, jazz guitar player, has been a professor at UCLA Department of Music and Ethnomusicology. As a recognized expert in the work of Duke Ellington his course on Ellingtonia was first taught in 1978 and is one of the first college courses on jazz. Musically Kenny has been playing since 1956 and is recorded on hundreds of albums. His has been recognized as an NEA Jazz Master. His most recent albun released in 2010 is a collection of jazz standards. Listen to him chat with Chris Cortez about his current projects and music.
Taylor Eigsti
The brilliant young jazz pianist returns to Piedmont Piano Company for a special evening of solo piano and collaboration with special guests. Proceeds will benefit KCSM’s “Jazz on the Hill” in 2013.
