Summer Radio

BRIGHT MOMENTS

WITH THE REDWOOD JAZZ ALLIANCE

JULY 25, 2008; HOST: MICHAEL QUAM

Playlist

Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy’s Diamonds, “Birk’s Works” [1/5] (4:56)

Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land, “Mr. Kenyatta” [3] (8:43)

Eddie Henderson, et al., Tribute to Lee Morgan, “Speedball” [4] (5:13)

Johnny Griffin, The Big Soul-Band, “Panic Room Blues” [3] (4:33)

“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” [4] (2:40)

Matthew Shipp, Blue Series Sampler: The Shape of Jazz to Come, “Cohesion” [1] (6:34)

Triptych Myth, The Beautiful, “Frida K, the Beautiful” [2] (5:12)

Jane Ira Bloom, Chasing Paint, “On Seeing JP” [4] (4:54)

Enrico Rava Quartet, The Words and the Days, “Secrets” [2] (10:31)

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Russell Malone, Sweet Georgia Peach, “Mugshot” [1] (5:37)

George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Merryteria, “Second Line Sally” [5] (11:36)

DeeDee Bridgewater, Red Earth, “Mama Don’t Ever Go Away” [4] (5:38)

Miles Davis, Live at Fillmore East (March 7, 1970), “Spanish Key” [2/4] (8:33)

Cannonball Adderley Sextet, In New York, “Planet Earth” [3] (7:59)

Scott Colley, Architect of the Silent Moment, “Window of Time” [9] (8:07)

Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu, “Ad Infinitum” [9] (7:42)

Join the RJA

A recent missive from Brother Eldridge in our name:


Hi friends,


We want to thank you for helping to make the second Redwood Jazz Alliance
season such a huge success. Each of the artists we hosted raved about your
enthusiasm and sophistication as fans of the music. It means the world to
us to know so many of you share our passion for great music in Humboldt
County.


We have a very exciting line-up coming together for the 2008-2009 season.
Stay tuned for further announcements about that in the coming weeks.


As we said many times throughout the season, we can not put on so many
wonderful concerts and free workshops without tremendous support from our
local business community.


Now as we move into our third season, we need your help too.


Please become a member of the Redwood Jazz Alliance and help us grow and
thrive this season, and in the years to come.


Your annual tax-deductible donation of $40 will make you a member of the
RJA and will help make it possible for our organization to continue as a
staple of the vibrant Humboldt County arts scene.


In addition to the satisfaction that comes in knowing you are responsible
for the exciting performances we put on six times a year, thanks to the
generosity of three of our sponsors we are pleased to offer members the
following gifts:


· a 20% discount on used CDs at the Metro throughout the season
· a 10% discount on jazz CDs at the Works (both locations) throughout the
season
· 20% off of one purchase at Northtown Books


There are two ways you can become a member of the Redwood Jazz Alliance:


Make your donation online by going to
http://redwoodjazzalliance.org/underwrtg.htm


or


Send a check to:
Redwood Jazz Alliance
P.O. Box 4443
Arcata, CA 95521


With a membership in the Redwood Jazz Alliance, you become part of a
growing community that provides a home for world-class jazz in Humboldt
County.


We hope you'll join us!


All the best,


The Redwood Jazz Alliance

We Live!

Bright Moments with the Redwood Jazz Alliance | 11 July 2008

July Birthdays:

Tomasz Stanko (b. 7/11/1942), “Svantetic.” Litania: Music of Krysztof Komeda (ECM, 1997)

Bill Carrothers (b. 7/13/1964), “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary.” Armistice 1918 (Sketch, 2004)

Ahmad Jamal (b. 7/2/1930), “Flight.” The Essence, Part 1 (Verve, 1995)

Arthur Blythe (b. 7/5/1940), “Dance Benita Dance.” Hipmotism (Enja, 1991)

Weather Report, “Eurydice” (Joe Zawinul, b. 7/7/1932) Weather Report (Columbia, 1971)

Joe Harriott (b. 7/15/1928), “Formation.” Free Form (Jazzland, 1961, reissued ReDial, 1998)

Vince Guaraldi (b. 7/17/1928), “Joe Cool.” Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits (Fantasy, 1998)

Steve Lacy & Mal Waldron (Lacy b. 7/23/1934), “House Party Starting.” Hot House (BMG/Novus, 1991)

Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band, “Rubylou’s Lullaby” (Blade, b. 7/25/1970). Season of Changes (Verve, 2008)

Edward Simon (b. 7/27/1969), “The Messenger.” Unicity (CamJazz, 2006)

Joel Harrison (b. 7/27/1954), “Here Comes the Sun.” Harrison on Harrison (HighNote, 2005) [w/Dave Liebman, soprano; Uri Caine, piano; Stephen Crump, bass; Dan Weiss, drums]

Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, “Lullaby” (b. 7/31/1918, Vicksburg MS). Kids: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Blue Note, 2007)

Kenny Burrell (b. 7/31/1931), “Cheeta.” The Best of Kenny Burrell: The Blue Note Years (Blue Note, 1995) [originally released on Kenny Burrell, Vol. Two (Blue Note, 1956)]

And some great new releases:

Jenny Scheinman, “Born Into This.” Crossing the Field (Koch, 2008)

Guillermo Klein & Los Guachos, “Luz de Liz (Filtros).” Filtros (Sunnyside, 2008)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, “Bright Moments.” Bright Moments (Atlantic, 1974)

Michael Blake, Ron Horton and Ben Allison. This is taken at the Penofin Festival, the day after they played at Humboldt with the RJA. Ben Allison's compositions are extremely wel put together. I can't think of another writer who has so much fun with the "post bebop" tradition. It gets him into funny conversations with and about Wynton Marsalis, but that's to be expected. He is listening to the world we live in, and having great big fun with it. I think he's unique.

And I can't begin to express my appreciation for Ron Horton's trumpet playing. It's lyrical, fast, as witty as Ben's material invites him to make it. His tone is pure and sweet like Armstrong, but without the hard vibrato of course. This band is rough on trumpeters, he told me: he's featured in the melody a lot of the time, and a lot of it is high and sustained note playing.

All around great stuff. A show to remember.

Ben Allison Interview

Wendy Butler conducted a very interesting interview with Ben on KHSU. Brother Eldridge has transcribed a good deal of it. You can find it here.

Two days to the show!

Man Sized Safe in Dick Cheney's Office

Next UP: Ben Allison. May 15. 8:00 PM. Fulkerson Recital Hall on the campus of HSU.

Greetings from your friends at the Redwood Jazz Alliance. We've got one more concert this season and it's going to be a good one. Ben Allison and his quintet Man Size Safe will be at Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus on Thursday, May 15 at 8 pm.

Ben Allison is one of the top young bassists in jazz today. He's won the Downbeat Magazine Critic's Poll "Rising Star Bassist" category the last three years and is equally praised as a composer and bandleader. Allison was the subject of a major profile in the April issue of Downbeat and the article proclaimed that his new CD with Man Size Safe, "Little Things Run The World" "promises to stand tall at the end of the year among the best CDs of 2008…Conceived with careful architectural attention and infused with myriad styles, including rock, pop, African, Americana and Latin, Allison’s cliché-free music has all the earmarks of jazz in motion to a higher evolutionary plateau." The article also raved that Allison is “leading a movement to create generationally relevant jazz.” He "stands at the forefront of a generation of young musicians who, steeped in the tradition, forge ahead with new modes of expression…[a place] where original music melds with social significance, where community identity trumps egocentricity and self-indulgence, where fresh standards resonate with the same emotional depth of the classic songbook."

Man Size Safe (the name was inspired by Allison reading in the Washington Post that Dick Cheney's office contains such an item) consists of Michael Blake on saxes, Ron Horton on trumpet, Steve Cardenas on guitar, Allison on bass and Michael Sarin on drums. The band mixes joyous exuberance and good-humored irreverence with textured grooves and an occasional political jab. “I’ve started to dabble in advocacy," Allison admits, "especially along the lines of alternative energy and renewable resources.” And yet, he cautions, "I don't want to use my music mainly as a platform. My main inspiration is to show by example what it means to cooperate, to celebrate this international art form that's about collaboration, peaceful interplay, and creative expression. That ties right into the biggest worldwide issues we face."

You can read more about Ben Allison, hear his music and check out some terrific multi-media content (including a podcast review of "Little Things Run The World" by New York Times critic Ben Ratliff and an "All Things Considered" feature on Allison) at our website:

http://redwoodjazzalliance.org/allison.html

Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students and seniors and are on sale now online at http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/tickets.htm and at Peoples Records, the Works in Arcata and Eureka and the Metro. (Please note the Metro charges a $1 handling fee on every ticket sold there.)

As with all artists that the Redwood Jazz Alliance brings to town, Ben Allison will also present a FREE public workshop. His is entitled "Composition and Improvisation: Two Sides of the Same Coin" and happens Friday, May 16th at 11:00 a.m. in the Studio Theater (Theatre Arts Room
115) on the HSU campus.

We'll see you at the show!

The David Berkman Trio. Tuesday night, April 22, 2008, at the Graves Gallery in Eureka, CA.