with R.J. Bianchino
| |
with R.J. Bianchino |
|
jazz chart | birthdays | new releases | feature | calendar | beyond the neon | biography | blues news
May 24-30, 2004
Jazz Birthdays This week's jazz artists birthdays include: May 24 Charles Earland (organ, synthesizer), 1941-1999 This week's new jazz releases:
Jazz 16th Annual Joe Williams Music Scholarship Fundraiser Tuesday, May 25 jazzNotes: See Cunninghams with the Count Basie Orchestra Jazz on the Lake Saturday, May 29 Tito Puente Jr. & His Orchestra Saturday, May 29 Jazz Under The Stars #1 Sunday, May 30 Jazz 'Round Town Every Monday it's Mike Gurcillo & the Las Vegas Lab Band at Murphy's Pub (458-5516).Jazz and standards nightly, 7p-1am, at Cafe Di Amore (433-4967). Monday through Wednesday jazz pianist Dennis Mellen is at City Lights Bistro (222-4350). Kool & the Gang trumpeter/vocalist Skip Martin guests on Tuesday at the Bistro. Noon-6pm Kinda Dixie Jazz Band play the East Lounge at the Gold Coast (367-7111). At Osaka (616-3788) on Monday is the Geoff Neuman Trio with Masashi Tanaka and John Matteson. At the Sahara's Casbar Lounge (737-2111) through May 30th is David Van Such. Playing at the Jazzed Cafe (233-2859) on Tuesday is Jimmy Strong (piano, violin, vocals). Thursday it's Raj Rathor Quartet featuring Diana Smith. The Kevin Lyons Trio on Friday, Bobby Howard Quartet Saturday, and Ken Mathis Duo on Sunday completes the Jazzed Cafe schedule. The Gene Redden Quartet at Fitzgeralds (388-2462) Wednesday from 5-7pm. Oasis Jazz Club with Darrin Michaels Wednesday at Curve (785-5525) inside the Aladdin's London Club. Brewed Awakening (457-7050) from 11am-12:30 pm on Thursdays has a Gypsy Jazz Tribute to Django Reinhardt featuring guitarists Rick Chavez and Vincent Cortese. Smooth Jazz with rotating artists Thur-Tues at Joey Bistro & Bar (739-3132). At Capozzoli's on Thursday, Friday and Sunday is Lou Martinez. On Saturdays the Italian restaurant features Jerry Tiffe. Central Park West (258-1919) has Ron Knight on Friday, with Michael Anthony Henegan performing Saturday. Drummer Irv Kluger All Stars play Pogo's Tavern (646-9735) every Friday. Dick Fazio is on piano. Santa Fe Station (658-4900) Charcoal Room features Late Night Jazz and Dining on Fridays. Lou Martinez, Dennis Mellen and Conrad Csogi are at Cafe Nicolle (870-7675) Friday and Saturday. The Stirling Club (784-4607) at Turnberry Place has live jazz with Nicholas Brooks and the Playas. Also on Friday & Saturday, Diane Ellis and Alan Cole sing jazz ballads and standards at the Chianti Cafe (450-3232). Sundays from 12-3pm it's the Oasis Jazz Brunch at Gordon Biersch Brewing Company (312-5247). Jazz bands also perform at 9:30pm. Sunday Jazz Brunch from 11am to 2pm at The Saloon (388-4116) features the Bobby Geno Band. On Sunday nights, the Hurricane hosts their Jazz Jam. Live jazz with former members of the Blue Note house band at the Heights Saloon (878-5433). Open to all players. 'Nuff Said Now it's your turn. If you have any information you would like to see in this JazzBeat column send an e-mail to info@jazzinternet.com. We especially welcome club listings. Telephone numbers are supplied for all venues. Please call to verify events. Keep on jazzin' in Las Vegas and beyond. -- Bion Jazz Beyond the Neon  29th Anniversary Jazz Festival - May 29, San Diego, CA Jazz n' Blues Reviews Bridgewater Dee-lights Las Vegas Audience live review by R.J. Bianchino
Much of Bridgewater's JazzSet (which, incidently, is a syndicated show she hosts on NPR) consisted of selections from her current CD "This Is New" tributing the German composer Kurt Weill. Songs included the title tune "This Is New," "Bilboa Song," "I'm A Stranger Here Myself," "Speak Low," and "September Song." Also heard was "Song For My Father" which she dedicated to all the fathers in the audience, and "Filthy McNasty," both from "Love & Peace: A Tribute To Horace Silver." Prior to beginning the set Dee Dee gave us an idea of what we might expect to hear, but said she may not sing anything from the "Dear Ella" album. However, near concert's end she detoured from the set list and did a request. Surprising the audience, Dee Dee walked to the edge of the stage on her left and sang a beautiful rendition of "You Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini)" a capella! That said and done, she dug in her heels for two great closers. The night ended with a very bluesy, and sexy, "Dr. Feelgood/Rock Me Baby." And the last number, "Stormy Monday" was more like a "Sassy Monday" and included audience participation with the guys versus the girls. There was no doubt as to which gender won. Dee Dee Bridgewater tonight was "all women" and a songbird at her creative peak. BluesBeat Nevada
For further information on this event, and more coverage of the Las Vegas Blues scene, visit BluesBeat Nevada. Archie Shepp Biography
b. 24 May 1937, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Archie Shepp was raised in Philadelphia. While studying dramatic literature at college he began playing on various instruments including the alto saxophone. His first professional engagement was on clarinet and he later played tenor saxophone with R&B bands. Settling in New York he tried to find work as an actor but was obliged to make a living in music, playing in Latin bands. He also played jazz with Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Don Cherry, John Tchicai and others during the early 60s. With Cherry and Tchicai he was co-leader of the New York Contemporary Five. Shepp's musically questing nature drew him into the orbit of John Coltrane, with whom he established a fruitful musical relationship. Through Coltrane, Shepp was introduced to Bob Thiele of Impulse! Records and began recording under his own name for the label. Shepp's collaborations with Coltrane included an appearance at the 1965 Down Beat Festival in Chicago. That same year he appeared at the Newport Festival and had a play staged in New York. Although closely associated with the free jazz movement of the 60s, Shepp's music always included elements that were identifiably rooted in earlier forms of jazz and blues and he was very conscious of the importance of the music's roots. In an article in Down Beat, he wrote of the avant garde, "It is not a movement, but a state of mind. It is a thorough denial of technological precision and a reaffirmation of das Volk." With his name and reputation established by 1965, Shepp embarked upon a period of successful tours and recordings. He was busily writing music and occasionally stage plays, many of which carried evidence of his political convictions and concern over civil rights issues. At the end of the 60s he played at the Pan African Festival in Algiers, recorded several albums during a brief stop-over in Paris, then returned to the USA, where he became deeply involved in education, teaching music and literature, and was eventually appointed an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts. Over the next decade Shepp expanded his repertoire, incorporating aspects of jazz far removed from his earlier freeform preferences, amongst them R&B, rock, blues and bop. Some of his recordings from the late 70s and early 80s give an indication of his range: they include improvised duo albums with Max Roach, sets of spirituals and blues with Horace Parlan and tribute albums to Charlie Parker and Sidney Bechet. In the 80s Shepp had matured into an all-round jazz player, impossible to pigeonhole but capable of appealing to a wide audience through the heart and the mind. Although he has added the soprano saxophone to his instrumental arsenal, Shepp still concentrates on tenor, playing with a richly passionate tone and developing commanding solos shot through with vigorous declamatory phrases that emphasize his dramatic approach.
Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2004 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
jazz chart | birthdays | new releases | feature | calendar | beyond the neon | biography
Calendar
Last week our "blues teaser" was the 9th anniversary of Blue Cherry & Friends at the Double Down Saloon. This week brings blues lovers another celebration with the Sand Dollar 15th Anniversary Party. The legendary Las Vegas blues club will feature three of our favorite bands - SpellCasters, the Moanin' Blacksnakes and the Ruffnecks.