Comment

Comment by Dr. Nelson Harrison on November 9, 2011 at 2:11am

Just thought I would share with you at our recent (Nov 4) Smooth Jazz Fridays at the Holiday Inn - Oakland, we featured a band called Funkdafied Jazz from Cleveland that had a female drummer, they awesome!  What was even more incredible, Larry Coryell & Randy  Brecker sat in with the band on three songs, it was phenomenal!  They were staying at the Holiday Inn for their event on Saturday with Nathan Davis, so it was special treat that my customers got.  They played to a couple of standing ovations as well!  it was great!

 

We had were hoping Billy Cobham would come down and make an appearance, but apparently he was feeling under the weather.  Maybe next time!

 

This is the kind of stuff that Pittsburgh misses and needs! 

 

Thanks,

 

Shawn Hopson

Comment by Dr. Nelson Harrison on October 29, 2010 at 7:05pm

EUR on the Scene: Boppin’ and Rocking at Playboy Jazz Festival
Story and photo by Ricky Richardson
June 16, 2010 at 06:49 am Comments (0) If You like this story, click here to become a Fan on Facebook

Jay Hoggard and Bill Cosby at 2010 Playboy Jazz Festival
*Los Angeles – A festive, upbeat party mood was the norm during the 32nd Annual Playboy Jazz Festival presented in cooperation with the L.A. Philharmonic Association, June 12-13, 2010. The festival was held at the historic Hollywood Bowl.

I couldn’t make it to the Bowl in time to see the opening act, El Dorado High School Jazz Band under the direction of Richard Watson. I always try to begin the festival by enjoying the talents of the next generation of jazz legends.

I’m sure that the next act was the first in the history of the Playboy Jazz Festival to perform solo to my knowledge. Jake Shimabukuro is a unique musical artist, recognized internationally as an exciting and innovative ukulele player and composer. Festival attendees had to stop pulling their coolers etc. and take note of this talented artist showmanship on the ukulele.

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue served up a tasty set of “SupaFunkRock.” The audience and I thoroughly enjoyed every morsel dished out by the group. A sea of handkerchiefs could be viewed all over the Bowl to the following tunes “American Women,” “You Got The Same Thing On,” “Let’s Get It Started,” “Higher Ground,” an upbeat version of “St. James Infirmary,” and concluded with “When The Saints Go Marching In.”

Vocalist Kurt Elling was dressed to the nines for his Bowl debut. His trademarked vocal styling’s and scatting delighted the crowd. His tight band featured Ernie Watts-sax; Laurence Hobgood-piano; Harris Raghavan-bass; and Ulysses Owen on drums. I’m not sure if this was a coincident that Kurt Elling was singing “Golden Lady” at the same time as Hugh Hefner and his beautiful entourage was making their grand entrance to their boxed seats that were front and center. Kurt saluted Hef with a few choruses of “Hail to the Chief.”

Javon Jackson Band was bopping for most of their set before performing the classic tunes “Cold Duck Time,” and “Compared to What” with special guest Les McCann.

I must admit that I was one of many who kept looking on stage for instruments during the performance of Naturally 7. The crowd and I were blown away with this acapella group’s ability to imitate actual instruments. They were excellent on “Waiting for Your Love,” “Come Together,” and their sensational YouTube hit/version of “I Can F eel It In the Air” by Phil Collins. Check out this video on YouTube. You will not believe what you are hearing and or seeing without instruments. Everyone of their CD’s that were on sale sold out at the CD booth on site. Quite naturally, pun intended.

Marcus Miller Band with special guest trumpeter Christian Scott revisited the Tutu CD by Miles Davis. The band got busy with some funky grooves for the last half of their set. Don’t be surprise if Christian Scott returns to the Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Festival next year with his band.

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra features an All-Star roster of Los Angeles based musicians. Their set of straight-ahead jazz was another of the many highlights of the festival.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar presented Chick Corea with a birthday cake to kick off his set. The band dived into some original tunes featuring some amazing solos by Chick Corea, saxophonist Kenneth Garrett and Christian McBride on bass. Legendary drummer Roy Haynes rounded out the band.

The cliché “the family that a play together; eventually jams together” applies to Pete Escovedo Orchestra featuring Sheila E., Peter Michael and Juan Escovedo. They were hands down crowd pleasers as the crowd got their groove on dancing the cha-cha and salsa to the contagious Latin rhythms laid out by the band.

Sax for Stax with Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum and Jeff Lorber closed out the first day of the festival with some smooth jazz.

I also missed seeing the opening act on Sunday, the L.A. All District High School Band under the direction of Tony White and J.B. Dyas.

The Jazz Mafia’s Brass Bows and Beats served up a smorgasbord of sounds of epic proportions. This was the largest group on the line-up of about 50 band members. They also served up a delicious four course meal of sounds featuring some hip-hop, jazz, big band jazz and some tunes that would fit perfectly as a soundtrack for a movie.

The Cos of Good Music is always a treat to hear each year. This year the band consisted of Bill Cosby and Ndugu Chancler on drums; Mark Gross-saxophones; Jay Hoggard-vibes; D.D. Jackson-piano; Ron Johnson and Dwayne Burno on bass and Ingrid Jensen wailing away on trumpet.

Robert Randolph Family Band was making a return engagement to the festival to deliver another explosive set of original tunes including the crowd favorite “It Doesn’t Matter.” Robert Randolph can add actor to his resume. He did a superb job portraying Bo Diddley in the movie Who Do You Love. This is a movie worth purchasing if you haven’t already had the pleasure of viewing in its limited release in theaters.

Esperanza Spalding is fast becoming a Media/Press and crowd favorite at the festival. This is another return engagement to the Bowl to showcase her boundless energy with a memorable set consisting of some Afro-Cuban jazz and Brazilian music with some funk and pop.

The Playboy Jazz Festival continued their association with the Crescent City acknowledged as the birthplace of jazz. Irving Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra didn’t disappoint the jazz purist in the house. The band also featured a rising new jazz vocalist Johnaye Kendrick for a few songs.

I could have listened to Bobby Hutcherson & Cedar Walton Quartet all evening. This wouldn’t be fair to others on the line-up. These two legends still remain true and pure to America’s number one art form-JAZZ.

Salif Keita was another highlight of the two day festival. This was his debut performance at the festival, which I hope will not be his last. Mr. Keita is an internationally known Afro-Pop singer who continues to delight audiences all over the world. Festival goers and I were treated to a special evening of World music.

The Manhattan Transfer and George Benson were extremely entertaining in their respective time slots.

Miami based Tiempo Libre brought down the house to closed out the 32nd Playboy Jazz Festival. Their was a huge conga line snaking out the Bowl to the parking lots and waiting shuttles. A good time was had by all.

Ricky Richardson is a Southern California based writer, music reviewer and photographer. Contact him via: liltampared@netzero.net.

Comment by Ricco J.L.Martello on October 9, 2010 at 12:08am

Hey check out the story I wrote on Roy Ayers and Tom Brown
http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_cont...

Comment by Ricco J.L.Martello on August 30, 2010 at 3:26am

its a pleasure to be a member hope all is well

Comment by Dr. Nelson Harrison on July 19, 2010 at 3:44am

On the Kenny Fisher Memorial Jam Session at the Black Beauty on Centre Avenue on June 24th, 2010: The Black Beauty was like old times. Jazz was home with the folks. Amiri once said, "The music and the people are the same." & Kofsky said jazz must come back to the black community to move forward. Concerts are tough. But the music is must at home in the black community with the reciprocal relationship between the audience and the musicians. The same people.
Fred Logan

Comment by Francis Bruce Marion, DC on September 15, 2009 at 5:23pm

Sunday the 13th day of September 2009 Jazz Day in the Park was a Pittsburgh volcanic eruption (OVER 9 HOURS) of the earthy jazz way to live! With Joe Negri, 10 singing Jazz Diva's, Harold Betters Quartet w/ Kenny Blake, 6 singing Jazz Divo's , The Benny Benack Big Band, Roger Humphries RH Factor! featuring Sean Jones and The ALO (American Latin Orchestra)!!! (And I can't leave out the SuperKeyboard man Max Leake (who backed almost everybody)! All Pittsburghers should donate music, time and/or $ to make sure these kind of eruptions keep happening with DUQ's Tony Mowod and the Pittsburgh Jazz Society!!!
Some of performances will be on our net site PittsburghJAM.org

Comment by Karoly Domonyi on March 1, 2009 at 4:59am

Hi, just wanted to thank you for adding me as a friend at group.
Hope to gain and share some knowledge about marketing online!

Aries Network - Add URL - Free B2B - Dog&Cat - Art Gallery


http://ariestrade.ning.com/

Comment by david shane on July 23, 2008 at 1:35pm

Those who missed the 1st anniversary jam at AVA's would have really enjoyed the fiery energy of the special guests! they all were diggin' really deep on Monday nite! Whoah! The fiery energy from 4 trombones and Dr. Harrison, and the sweet sounds of all the horns atop the regulars who hold it all together - you know who you are - (!) made for an unforgettable night!.....a great Midsummer Nights Dream in Jazz.... yah! ..... .thanks to AVA's owner/mgrs for knowing who to allow the freedoms needed to really make this place happen!.... anyone visiting from out of town would be blown away to visit this terrific gathering spot in the Eastside for jazz in the 'burgh! .....

Comment by Frank B. Greenlee on July 17, 2008 at 6:55pm

I think we need to have some concerts to honor and thank the artists who have left and/or stayed in Pittsburgh and have represented us well. People like James "Blood" Ulmer, John Heard and Lena Horne just to name a few. This should include dancers, actors, visual artists and musicians of all types. Let them know what we feel while they can appreciate it.

Whay do you think?

Comment by Dr. Nelson Harrison on May 30, 2008 at 6:18pm

Musical performance, information joined together for ‘informance’ on musical style, genre

By Deb Kelly
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE Fri, May 30 2008

— What do you get when you combine a musical performance with educational information about the musical style and genre?
An “informance,” of course!
In what may be the first of a series of “informances” to educate and entertain the community about various types of music styles, Arts Illiana, Downtown Terre Haute, Inc., Americorps and Indiana State University on Wednesday presented area band “Just Us,” in partnership with Kenan Foley, to explore blues and rock & roll music. Foley is a professor of African and African-American Studies at ISU .
The Verve, a downtown Terre Haute nightclub, opened its doors from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, and community members were invited to bring lunches and enjoy the free performance of “Just Us.”
In addition to the performance, Foley and the crowd had opportunities to interact with the band and to talk about the influence of African and African-American culture on rock and blues.
Derek Kendrick, communications specialist for Arts Illiana, said the pilot program will be evaluated and if it is deemed successful, more funding will be sought for future events.
Live blues music spilled out onto the sidewalk along Wabash Avenue in the middle of the afternoon, coaxing some to come in off the street and listen. Band members Brock Hudson (vocals), Gary Wells (guitar), Archie Smith (keyboard), Jamal Smith (percussion) and Jimmy Dunn (drums) played rock and blues favorites including “My Girl,” and “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
After the program, Foley said he felt it was successful.
“This was a pilot idea to see how it would work and what kind of response we would get and to just try some innovative thinking,” Foley said, adding that the informance was the result of a “Liberal Learning in Action” grant sponsored by the Center for Public Service and Community Engagement.
“The idea is to bring the classroom into the community,” Foley said.
“My hope is that it will open up that idea of engagement between the university and the town,” he said.
Anne Lynk, president of the Terre Haute Symphony, attended the program. During a break, she said, “This is a nice little outing. It’s great to have things like this where people can come out on their lunch hour, and we’ve learned that people that love music love all kinds of music.
“We all enjoy this kind of thing,” she said.
Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Photos


Cool class: Guitarist Gary Wells and vocalist Brock Hudson perform for an Indiana State University African-American studies class at the Verve Wednesday afternoon. The Tribune-Star

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page