Scott Hamilton and Rossano Sportiello: Midnight at  Nola’s Penthouse

Two veterans team for this swinging jazz recording.  Scott Hamilton’s tenor sax and Sportiello’s virtuoso piano make for a great team.  No need for bass or drums with these two rhythm-makers.    Some tunes are lovely ballads—for example, In the Middle of a Kiss and A Garden In The Rain—and others a happy romp—e.g. All God’s Chillun’ Got Rhythm and Big Butter and Egg Man.  For those who like straight-ahead, swingin’ jazz, this is one for you.  Arbors Records has another hit!

Purchase information:  www.ArborsRecords.com

Review by Norman Vickers

Personnel:  Holly Hoffman, flute, alto flute, piccolo
Terrell Stafford: trumpet, flugelhorn
Mike Wofford, piano; Rob Thorsen, bass; Richard Sellers, drums.

Here’s another  lovely Capri release by the Hoffman-Wofford team.  This time they have  enlisted trumpeter Terrell Stafford to round out the group.  There’s room for all to swing.   The seven selections here begin with Mike Wofford’s  The Dipper, a tribute to Horace Silver.  It ends with Holly’s tune           M-Line; you’ll need to get the liner notes to understand the title’s  play on words.  Other tunes are as follows:  Espernaca by Vince Mondoza;  Karlita by Bobby Watson; Soul Street by Jimmy Forrest; Pure Imagination by Anthony Newly/ L. Bricusse; and  The Girl From Greenland by Richard Twardzik.

Purchase information:  www.CapriRecords.com
Review: Norman Vickers

This is an unusual recording in several respects.  Ousely, a music professor at Florida International University, has recorded this for benefit of Sunshine State Power and Light whose environmental mission is to mobilize the faith community in Florida to care for creation.  Some of the selections would be recognized as standard jazz.  Others might well fit into other categories.  Of special mention here is vocalization by Nanami Morikawa on Shenandoah, a lovely duet with Ousely’s bass.    About half the selections are originals by Ousley.  An outstanding recording even if not the usual jazz repertoire.

Purchase information:  www.jamieouseley.com  or www.tirerecords.net

Review: Norman Vickers

Here’s a straight-ahead jazz recording with over one hour of music.  All are skilled musicians each with years of experience.  Of the thirteen selections, cornetist Warren Vache performs on four.
All have a “river theme”—Riverboat Shuffle, Cry Me a River, Blue River;  you get the idea.  Most who will read this column will recognize the performers.  Rossano Sportiello, pianist, was  classically trained in his native Italy and plays the jazz idiom with aplomb.  Allen plays tenor sax with a full tone in the older style of Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins.  In all, a very satisfying recording.

Purchase information:  www.challengerecords.com or www.harryallenjazz.com

Review: Norman Vickers

Of the thirty-two pieces in this collection of music stories and articles of interest to serious music fans likely will include David Hajdu’s piece about pianist/composer  Fred Hersch, Geoffrey O’Brien’s article about Duke Ellington and Joe Hagan’s story entitled “I Wish I Knew How To Be Free: The Secret Diary of Nina Simone.”

Other stories give a varying picture of the music scene.  There’s one about Lady Gaga and Lauren Wilcox Puchowski’s Washington Post piece about a wedding singer Kenny Holmes who passionately pursues his vocation in competition with DJs and celebrants who want to play music from their own iPods.

David Hajdu is journalism professor at Columbia U. Graduate School of Journalism and music critic for The New Republic.  Hajdu was written about Fred Hersch previously.  The piece was originally printed in New York Times and is entitled, “Giant Steps: The Survival of a Great Jazz Pianist.”  It  chronicles Hersch’s career before and after his recovery from AIDs-induced coma.  Remarkably, in his recovery, he feels that he remembered thoughts occurring when he was comatose.  And following his slow recovery, in which he had to teach his, fingers how to move on the piano, he composed and played some remarkable new music.

The editors have also listed other music writing from the year 2011. Best Music Writing of 2011 is the twelfth in the series, having begun in the year 2000.

Review by F. Norman Vickers

Norman Granz (August 6, 1918- November 22, 2001) is a name that many jazz-fans may not immediately recognize.  However, that same person would likely recognize “Jazz at the Philharmonic,” record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo—all of which he started.  And that jazz-fan would surely recognize the names Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson, both personally managed by him.

Tad Hershorn is an archivist at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University.  He has done an excellent piece of scholarly research in documenting the life of this somewhat enigmatic man.  Hershorn relates that his deep interest in Granz when he wrote a college thesis on the man.  Following up, Hershorn contacted Granz with the idea to write a biography.  He was turned down.  Subsequently, toward the end of Granz’ life, Norman contacted him and gave Hershorn full access to his papers and participated in extensive interviews.  Interestingly, and consistent with the famous Granz reserve, Hershorn says that they never became friends.

Granz was son of Russian immigrants and grew up in an ethnically mixed neighborhood.  At age 25, Granz organized the first concert, entitled “A Jazz Concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium.” Advertising flyers shortened it to “Jazz at the Philharmonic” and this was the subsequent title of those events even when he toured.  Granz insisted that his players be paid the same, whatever race, and that concerts be presented to non-segregated audiences.

Granz was drafted in the Army and was associating with the Negro soldiers, having discovered their accommodations in the service were nowhere equal to that of the whites.  He would buy jazz records and bring back to the base for them to play.  He was recommended for Officer’s Candidate School but was turned down for unstated reasons, presumably because of his liberal views on racial equality. He then studied the Uniform Code of Military Justice and found an obscure provision which stated that if one were turned down “for no stated reason,” that person could petition for discharge.  He petitioned and discharge and, in the middle of WWII, it was granted.  So, he hitch-hiked from Texas back to California and resumed promoting jazz concerts.

Hershorn details growth and popularity of the JATP concert concept, first in the US and then in Europe.
There are many examples of his relationship with his musicians, mostly good, and his relationship with business associates and musical producer colleagues—many times mixed and occasionally downright difficult.  Similarly, details of his recording businesses and their successes.  He was an astute businessman and his successes in that area made him wealthy.
Granz discovered Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson and became Peterson’s only personal manager.  Similarly, Granz felt that Ella Fitzgerald’s personal manager and the record companies were not allowing her to reach her full potential.  She subsequently signed on with Granz who made favorable recording deals for her and expanded her vocal opportunities.  Interestingly, it would appear that she and Granz weren’t particularly close friends but that she trusted his business acumen.  Hence, it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Granz gradually extricated himself from the burdens of touring, married for the third time and lived in Switzerland.  The book also covers Granz’ interest in things epicurean—food, wine and art.  He became friends with Pablo Picasso late in the artist’s life.

This book is a valuable addition to the jazz literature.  I appreciated the detail with which the author describes Granz’ activities as well as personal and business relationship.  Foreword is by Oscar Peterson. There is a chronology of Granz’ life, full end notes and bibliography.  On a personal note, this is the first book I have read in which I read the entire end notes, ascertaining the author’s sources, before reading the text.

Review by Norman Vickers

Liz’s company, Watkins Productions, will document the Pearl Harbor Initiative which seeks to take as many Pensacola Area Survivors as possible back to Pearl Harbor for “One Last Goodbye” – one last Farewell to their comrades who fell in the attack, one last opportunity to personally participate in our nation’s commemoration of one of the defining events in US history.

The Pensacola Chapter #138 of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Inc. (also known as Florida Chapter 9, Pensacola or Gulf Breeze) includes former Navy, Marine, Army Air Corp and other service personnel who were present and on duty during the attack, and a Navy wife who, with her infant son in her arms, saw the Japanese planes attacking and had to run to shelter.

A minimum of 2 camera operators and 1 audio operator will fly with the survivors to Pearl Harbor and shadow them for a five day trip.  Liz Watkins will work with Executive Producer Holly Shelton to edit a documentary and “behind the scenes” reel.

The money will pay for our flight, hotel, rental van, meals and a greatly reduced day rate from our crew.  Neither Liz or Holly will be compensated from the goal set.

Be a Part of History, contribute at: www.kickstarter.com  Project Name: “Pearl Harbor Survivors, One Last Goodbye”

or send a check to: Watkins Productions, P.O. Box 4208, Pensacola FL 32507
(850) 516-1380

We are seeking original poster artwork which will be printed in full color on high quality poster stock and sold at the JazzFest. The winning design will also appear in all advertising, on JazzFest t-shirts, and on the cover of the JazzFest Program.

A cash award of $600 will be made for the winning poster. All entries will be on exhibit during the JazzFest.

Deadline for submission is 12:00 noon, Friday December 2, 2011.

Artists should contact the Jazz Society office by e-mail at info@jazzpensacola.com or
by telephone (850) 433-8382 if they have any questions or need any further information.

Click here to download he application and competition details.

The Jazz Society has previous winning posters on display at the Jazz Society office and on the website at www.jazzpensacola.com, in the “Photo Gallery” section under “Events”.

Please share with other interested artists!