April 26th, 2008
Jazz at Pearl’s Saved (Again) !
It looked like this was it for Jazz at Pearl’s, the wonderful San Francisco jazz room that for the past few years has been run by Kim Nalley and Steve Sheraton. Nalley sent out a press release on April 1 indicating that the club would be closing at the end of the month, but now she sends the following word through the Jazz at Pearl’s website…
Thanks for the many phone calls and emails of support that we have received in the past month with concern for Jazz at Pearls. I am pleased to announce that on April 23 we received an 11th hour reprieve and will remain open. We have accepted an offer from some local jazz aficionados that love Jazz at Pearls as much as I do and want to keep the club open, with the same terrific jazz and all the old familiar faces on staff, on the stage and in the audience, including myself. As soon as we go through the normal process of transfer of ownership and things are finalized we will announce the names of the new owners. In the meantime please enjoy a wonderful month of world class jazz that I put together at the last minute with the help and patience of many musicians. I hope you can spread the word that Jazz at Pearls is alive and well.
Best Regards,
Kim Nalley
This is the second time Pearl’s has been rescued from the edge of oblivion. Let’s all make sure it doesn’t have to happen again. Get out and hear some jazz!
April 22nd, 2008
New Articles in Down Beat & JazzTimes
I’m pleased to announce that I have articles in the May 2008 issues of both Down Beat and JazzTimes, which have recently shipped to subscribers and should be available on your local magazine rack any time now.
The May issue of Down Beat contains my news feature on the dynamic duo of rising singer Roberta Gambarini and legendary pianist Hank Jones. Crossing generations to make a terrific musical pair, Gambarini and Jones also have a deep personal relationship that has—quite literally—saved Jones’ life and helped to revitalize his career. It’s a fascinating story and hopefully you’ll find it a good read as well.
JazzTimes, meanwhile, is running an extra-large installment of my regular CD review column this month. “Undertones” usually contains 14 or 15 reviews, but the May issue includes my takes on 18 new releases by emerging or under-publicized artists. Yippee!
Check ‘em out when you get a chance, and as always, I’d love to hear what you think.
April 18th, 2008
The Roundup: April 18, 2008
Hot off the wires, here’s another collection of jazz-related press releases and interesting news tidbits that have landed in my mailbox over the previous seven days…
IAJE COLLAPSES, SEATTLE CONFERENCE CANCELED
Jazz insiders have been buzzing for a couple of months now about deep financial troubles at the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). Now comes word that the 2009 IAJE Conference in Seattle has been canceled, and the organization will go into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is a heavy blow, not only to music students in the U.S. and abroad, but to the jazz community as a whole.
My colleague in criticism Paul De Barros has the story, in today’s Seattle Times
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MONTCLAIR WOMEN’S BIG BAND GOES TO WASHINGTON
Celebrating 10 years of swinging music, Ellen Seeling and the 17-piece Montclair Women’s Big Band will be headlining at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, May 17 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The band features many of the Bay Area’s best female jazz players. While great strides have been made in recent years to dispel the backwards notion that women can’t play jazz, members of the group say they still face discrimination on a regular basis, making festivals like this a welcome opportunity to claim the spotlight. “Some women are really against the all-girl thing, but it brings women to the forefront and it’s really fun,” says saxophonist Mad Duran. “The band puts on a fabulous show.”
You can learn more about the band at: www.montclairwomensbigband.com.
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More next Thursday!
[Fo]
April 10th, 2008
The Roundup: April 10, 2008
I’ve tried weekly features on this blog before without much success in sustaining the momentum, but here’s one more go at it…
Today I launch a pair of weekly features: on Thursdays I will bring you The Roundup, a collection of jazz-related press releases and interesting news tidbits that have landed in my mailbox over the previous seven days. Watch for another new feature, Required Reading, on Tuesdays beginning next week.
Without further ado…
JAZZ AT PEARLS TO CLOSE
Alas, it’s true: Jazz at Pearl’s—the venerable North Beach jazz spot that closed in 2003, only to get a new lease on life thanks to singer Kim Nalley and Steve Sheraton—is once again departing the scene. In an email released last week, Nalley announced that the club will close its doors for good at the end of the month. “While it is in human nature to blame someone or something for this tragedy,” she said, “I would prefer to direct everyone’s attention instead to the wonderful run that we have had, the staff of Jazz at Pearl’s whose hard work and loyalty helped keep the club doors open, the great musicians and patrons that have stepped through the door and everyone that helped make this venue wonderful.” Nalley now plans to renew her focus on her own performing career.
Go visit Pearl’s while you still can: www.jazzatpearls.com
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MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL RELEASES ARTIST LINEUP:
The 51st annual Monterey Jazz Festival will take place September 19-21, with the usual great lineup of talent. This year’s headliners include Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, Maceo Parker and Cassandra Wilson. Bassist Christian McBride is this year’s artist in residence, appearing each night with a different ensemble, and bandleader Maria Schneider will present her second commissioned work for the festival.
Get the full scoop at www.montereyjazzfestival.org.
I have my hotel room in Monterey but no assignment as yet, so if any editors are reading, give me a call [wink]…
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MONTEREY NEXT GENERATION FESTIVAL WINNERS
Lafayette, California’s Alacanes High School took top honors for High School Jazz Combo at MJF’s 4th annual Next Generation Festival, recently completed in Monterey. The Alacanes ensemble will appear at September’s Monterey Jazz Festival along with winners from four other competition divisions, including the Buchanan High School Big Band from Clovis, CA, the Folsom High School Jazz Choir “A” from Folsom, CA, Cal State Northridge’s Big Band, and the Portland, Oregon’s Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra. The bands were judged by a panel that included jazz greats Christian McBride and George Duke, and were selected from a pool of more than 50 entrants
You can learn more about the Next Generation Festival at www.montereyjazzfestival.org.
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GENERATIONS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
More from the world of jazz education… two bands from New York State have been announced as finalists for the inaugural Generations International Competition for Emerging Combos sponsored by the International Center for the Arts (ICA) at San Francisco State University. Meaningtone, a six-piece ensemble from SUNY-Purchase, and the Nial Djuliarso Quartet, a New York City-area combo with roots at the Julliard School of Music, will be flown to San Francisco for several days of workshops and then face off in a special concert at Yoshi’s San Francisco on May 15. The show will also feature the Generations Mentor Band, made up of mentor musicians Jimmy Cobb, Ray Drummond, Eric Alexander, Marcus Belgrave, Ronnie Mathews and artistic director Andrew Speight.
More on this exciting new program can be found at ica.sfsu.edu.
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More next Thursday!
[Fo]
March 17th, 2008
Jazz and the Brain
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health have conducted a unique study of brain activity during jazz improvisation, and found that soloing both switches off inhibitions and activates centers of self-expression. The research, by Dr. Charles J. Limb of Johns Hopkins (a jazz saxophonist himself) and Dr. Allen R. Braun of NIH, was recently published in the online journal PLoS One, part of the open-access Public Library of Science.
A summary of the study elaborates…
Limb and Braun then analyzed the brain scans. Since the brain areas activated during memorized playing are parts that tend to be active during any kind of piano playing, the researchers subtracted those images from ones taken during improvisation. Left only with brain activity unique to improvisation, the scientists saw strikingly similar patterns, regardless of whether the musicians were doing simple improvisation on the C-major scale or playing more complex tunes with the jazz quartet.
The scientists found that a region of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a broad portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, showed a slowdown in activity during improvisation. This area has been linked to planned actions and self-censoring, such as carefully deciding what words you might say at a job interview. Shutting down this area could lead to lowered inhibitions, Limb suggests.
The researchers also saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the center of the brain’s frontal lobe. This area has been linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality, such as telling a story about yourself.
“Jazz is often described as being an extremely individualistic art form. You can figure out which jazz musician is playing because one person’s improvisation sounds only like him or her,” says Limb. “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.”
- Read the full ScienceDaily article at www.sciencedaily.com
- Read the original research paper at www.plosone.org
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