Wallace Roney Sextet at the Green Mill
Posted: 2005-08-30 | This article has been read 61 times.


By Paul Olson
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Wallace Roney Sextet
Green Mill, Chicago
August 27, 2005

On the second night of a two-day stand at Chicago’s Green Mill, trumpeter Wallace Roney blended acoustic postbop and electronic groove over three deeply satisfying sets. It’s not as if this sort of stylistic synthesis is unheard of these days, but it was notable on just how successful Roney’s synthesis has become. Roney was accompanied by his sextet of brother Antoine Roney on tenor and soprano sax, Clarence Seay on acoustic bass, Eric Allen on drums, Robert Irving III on acoustic piano and Yamaha Motif synth, and DJ Val Jeanty on turntables. The group was profoundly tight, attuned and, on this Saturday gig, noticeably listening—no one was content to merely play changes on the more boppish tunes nor did anyone lose concentration on the long groove numbers. This was a band that reached for, and attained, some lofty musical heights.



Roney’s had a long, hard road trying to overcome the somewhat glib “Miles Davis clone” criticisms that have followed his every recorded move. Older CDs like 1996’s Village or 2000’s No Room For Argument were showered with critical comparisons to Miles’ Nefertiti or Filles de Kilimanjaro, and while Miles is certainly an undeniable stylistic point of reference, so is Booker Little, or Freddie Hubbard, or, for that matter, Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band (who come most readily to mind upon hearing Roney’s excellent 2004 Prototype CD). What Roney has become is an accomplished sum of his influences—and truly, there isn’t a musician working an electric-keyboard-laced groove who doesn’t owe something to Miles Davis. For that matter, there isn’t a jazz trumpeter who doesn’t owe a portion of his licks to Louis Armstrong, so let’s move on. The Green Mill sets showcase a trumpeter and band alternating between the searing hard bop of “Metropolis” and the snaky, deliberate electric groove of “Cyberspace”; the audience heard a trumpeter burning through the straight rapidfire bop lines of “Then and Now” and the sweet, melodic lyricism of “Christina.” This is an artist that should be viewed as his own man.

The above description might suggest the sets had a schizophrenic nature, but this band blended styles into a powerful, almost intimidating whole. Turntablist Jeanty’s scratching seemed lost and inessential on “Metropolis” as she struggled to find a place for her turntable accents in Antoine and Wallace Roney’s fine solos (the saxophonist ripping on tenor through a tricky nine-count staccato section), but this was the only tune of the evening where she seemed even remotely out of place. Her slashing turntable cuts were integral to the deep-groove “Shadowdance,” responding to Antoine Roney’s Pharoah Sanders-ish low-register solo like, well, a jazz musician. Her rapport with Irving was especially keen; the only word for her scratched accompaniment to Irving’s Wurlitzer-like (the Yamaha Motif can sound, really, like anything) solo would be “comping.” Irving did the work of two keyboardists throughout, playing a magnificent Clavinet-style break on “Cyberspace” and a block-chord-packed solo on “Then and Now” that rivalled the leader’s multisyllabic trumpet lines or Antoine Roney’s searing across-the-beat phrasing for sheer excitement and impact. On “Quadrant 329-4-526,” Irving played both instruments, making this group the sonic equivalent of a septet.

Throughout it all, Allen’s kit work was utterly propulsive and alert, whether he was working the static, unwavering groove of “Quadrant 329-4-526” or pounding out Art Blakey-styled hard bop bombs on “Then and Now.” Seay managed to remain noticeable even on the dense and bottomless groove of “NuBeings”—which transitioned so seamlessly out of “Northern Lights” that I felt compelled to ask Antoine Roney after the set if they always played the two songs together. “No, that’s just listening,” he told me.

Let’s not forget to mention the band’s leader, who’s playing at a very high level these days. Roney coupled deep reservoirs of winsome emotion and sharp, taut articulation on a cover of the Al Green classic “Let’s Stay Together.” His trumpet lines rode the funky 6/8 groove of “Shadowdance” majestically as he played intricate, chromatic runs that were multicolored and thematically fascinating.

No single night of performance can eliminate the years of critical disparagement Roney’s endured for the crime of being influenced by perhaps the most influential musician of the previous century. But the crowds at the Green Mill Saturday night were elated, excited and buzzing—and during the set breaks I didn’t hear a single person use the “M” word. No dearth of the word “Wallace,” however.

Photo Credit
Mark Sheldon



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Paul Olson lives in Chicago, no longer smokes cigarettes and spends way too much time with a pair of headphones on. More about Paul...

Recent photos of my sister Jacquie and my Grandma, my parents standing in front of Allegheny Mountain and my kids in Central Park.

Recently, my daughter, Ariana, Came to Japan for her first visit. We had a great time. During her visit we went to the famous onsen (hot spring) resort area of Hakone. From these photos, you can see the steam and gas coming out of the ground.

8/27/05 Music and News Updates From Tokyo Trumpet Player Neil Stalnaker and His Website www.neilstalnaker.com


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Well, I did it. I finally went to this little club near my house. I've been avoiding it for a couple of years. I kind of had that "gut feeling" about the place. But, a lot of people I know in the neighborhood had been trying to get me to set-up a gig there. I went in the other night to talk with the "master" (that's what we call club owners in Japan). We met and had a little "small talk" and then started to get into the business. It was obvious from the beginning that he didn't really want to talk with me (for whatever reason). Anyway, he did this thing where (without ever hearing me play or any of my recordings) he tried to trap me into describing my music and then whatever my answer was, turn it around and say that it wasn't right for his club. It was total b.s. Finally, I just walked out in mid-sentence.

It's amazing to me that I can do 14 concerts on the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, tour Russia, play 200 concerts a year in the USA, do weekly concert series' for 4-5 years at the Smithsonian Museums in D.C. with guest artists like Joe Pass and Bob Minzter and still have a few clubs here in Tokyo (around Roppongi, Aoyama, and Ikebukuro) that I just absolutely can't do a gig. Why? Well.....I'd like to say it's a mystery to me but.....I have a few ideas.

A lot of people ask me.....

Right now, I'm listening a lot to Brian McKnight, Luther Vandross, Nitin Sawhney, Booker Ervin, Chick Corea, D'Angelo, George Benson, "Sweets" Edison, Jimmy Scott, Joe Henderson, Keith Jarrett, Antonio Sanchez, Shirley Horn and Stevie Wonder.

I love the trumpet players but, I don't want to listen to them much. I'm listening to a lot of R&B singers because I love their phrasing.

I'm always asked about my favorite trumpet players. I like 'em all. In junior high school, I was lucky to meet and talk with Clark Terry. A year or two later, I heard Maynard Ferguson and Bill Chase several times live. Listened to Al Hirt at his club in the New Orleans French Quarter in 1976. I heard Richard Williams around 1975. In the summer of 1978, I was in Chicago and heard Roy Eldridge. That was huge! A couple of years later, I sat at the front table at Ronnie Scott's club in London listening to Harry "Sweets" Edison. While I was living in D.C., I heard Freddie Hubbard many, many times. He always came and played for a week at a time at Blues Alley. I used to go everynight. I used to go to the One Step Down and listen and talk to Tom Harrell and Woody Shaw. I was in school with Branford Marsalis at Berklee. He made me go to Lulu Whites' Club to meet and hear his brother Wynton, who had come up from school at Julliard in New York to sit-in with Art Blakey's band. Unfortunetly, he wouldn't even shake my hand when we met..just walked away and left me standin there with my hand extended. Later in the year, heard Randy Brecker in Cambridge. Couple of years later, heard Johnny Coles with the Ray Charles Band. I sat-in with Ted Curson at the Blue Note in New York around 1984. Heard Snooky Young and Conte Condoli bring the house down at the I.A.J.E. in L.A. around '85. Jammed several times with Roy Hargrove in New York at Small's and other places. Heard Wallace Rooney at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Listened to and jammed with Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi. Heard Lester Bowie play some of the most soulful trumpet I've ever heard at the 1991 I.A.J.E. in Washington, D.C. Heard all the new "great" players in New York at Small's, Savoy and the New York I.A.J.E. Listened to Tim Hagens in Boston and New York. Jammed with Sam Noto in Buffalo. Heard Ingrid Jensen in New York. Hung out and had a lesson with Joe Wilder in Atlantic City....Bob McCoy in New York. Spent a great day hangin and eatin with Clark Terry in Witchita, Kansas...just the two of us!

I've been lucky. I've gotten to hear so many of the great players in trumpet history. I like 'em all.

But, a couple of my favorites are "cats" you've probably not heard about. Tomaz Stanko (Poland), Tom Williams (lives in D.C.) and Pete Henderson (Pittsburgh). Pete passed away a couple of years ago. Pete was soooo soulful. I did a bunch of sessions with him. Those Saturday afternoon sessions, hosted by drummer Roger Humphries at the Too Sweet Lounge in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, were like something out of a jazz history book. I still think Pittsburgh has the hippest "jazz spirit" of any city I've ever been. I won't EVEN try to describe Pete's playing here. All I can say is that he was badddddd! He didn't waste any notes....didn't play a bunch of crap.

It took me a lot of years to really hear my way through the media. To really hear what someone is playing. The record companies, the magazines, radio shows, t.v. etc always telling me who the next Miles or Trane is going to be is total bullshit.

I remember a great interview of Dexter Gordon. He talked about how he tried to develop solos....developing ideas...telling a story. He described how he linked new ideas together with what he called "filler". You know, those running 8th note lines (usually around the turnarounds). Dexter mentioned how a lot of players he hears now play all "filler" and almost no ideas.

I really enjoyed a Lester Bowie interview where he described the current state of affairs in music where the "industry" actually awards players for sounding like their heros....no originality. I can't tell you how many times I've had players say to me, " Mannn you gotta hear this new cat! He sounds just like -------! He's great!" haha...I don't want to hear somebody that sounds just like --------. That doesn't mean anything to me. It only means that somebody sat at home copying the hell out of someone and forgot to let go of that and develop something of their own. I want to hear something new.

It's not what you play.....It's HOW you play it!

8/20/05 Music and News Updates From Tokyo Trumpet Player Neil Stalnaker and His Website www.neilstalnaker.com On this podcast, Neil plays 2 original "grooves" (at the beginning and end) with trumpet and percussion only. Also, there is a cut from his new CD, ....and now the "bad News", November Bossa.


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eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth......doesn't work.....it shows weakness

Podcasting goes mobile
Published: August 19, 2005, 12:38 PM PDT
By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
TrackBackPrintE-mailTalkBack
The podcasting craze will soon hit cell phones.

Melodeo, which makes peer-to-peer software that allows mobile users to listen to music on their cell phones, announced on Friday that it now offers software for podcasting on cell phones. The new software, called Mobilcast, will allow people to find and download podcasts on mobile phones.

Podcasts are radio-like shows that can be downloaded from the Internet to a computer or digital music player. Initially, podcasting was dominated by techies who produced idiosyncratic talk shows. But the format has evolved quickly and recently has been adopted by major media institutions ranging from radio giant Clear Channel Communications to BusinessWeek.

Apple Computer has said that its next version of iTunes software will include support for creating and distributing podcasts, which could expand their reach substantially.


While podcasting has gained popularity over the past year, its distribution has been limited to PCs and music players. Melodeo believes that its software can expand the reach of podcasts to millions by allowing them to be downloaded on mobile phones.

"The mobile phone is the perfect tool for finding and listening to podcasts," Don Davidge, senior vice president of sales at Melodeo, said in a statement. "With Mobilcast, Melodeo applies the same software and user experience to podcasts that we have applied to other types of digital media."

The Loneliest Monk
Posted: 2005-08-16


By Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius


This is an apocryphal story. During Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, he was doing an interview with supposed intellectual, Tabitha Soren of MTV. Soren asked him if there was anything he dreamt of doing. Clinton replied that he had always wanted to play sax with Thelonious Monk. Soren screwed on her best smart-girl face and replied, “And who was the loneliest monk?”

At the current rate of production, scientists believe that the current U.S. supply of morons will increase despite the proliferation of information technologies. This is not including the number of dolts, dinks, dumbasses, gits, nitwits, and just plain fools out there. Concurrently, the production of geniuses in this country has remained fairly stagnate since the introduction of MTV in the early eighties (I was born in 1967, before the proliferation of cable TV). What does this mean to you, the Average American? It means that every day, the Moron Majority causes the greatest figures in jazz history like Thelonious Monk to become just a bit more obscure while elevating their own empty-headed ilk like pop stars and professional wrestlers to fleeting fifteen minute blocks of godlike status.

Did I sound a little harsh there? I apologize. As I write this, Lent has only just ended and it will take a while for enough alcohol to get into my system to make me a decent human being again.

So let's enjoy this moment while it lasts.

Thelonious Sphere Monk (Sphere the monk, sphoil the thelonious, I always say* ) was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on October 10, 1917. Moving to New York at the age of five, and finding not many career opportunities for a five year-old named Thelonious, he decided to become an eccentric genius whose demanding and completely unique compositions remain to this day a standard by which the very best of jazz can be measured. Kids had goals back then, in the days before Ritalin-soaked theories of progressive education.

Anyway.

Monk began taking piano lessons around the age of 12, and within a couple of years was playing rent parties in Harlem and accompanying his mother's singing at church. At the age of 13, Monk entered and won the weekly amateur show at the Apollo so often that he was eventually barred from competing. By the age of 19, he was the house pianist at Minton's Playhouse (and the house dressing was a roasted garlic vinaigrette. This may or may not come into play later on, but I'd rather err to the side of caution), along with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Together, working mostly at nights with bits of leftover stuff they found lying around, they invented a style of jazz known to this day as BeBop.

In the forties, New York was lousy with jazz, mostly of the big band variety. Every streetcorner featured its own band, and anyone who could play an instrument was expected to play in a group much like today's equivalent of every high school guitarist who can play Enter Sandman being expected to join a band. This led not only to an excess of musicians, but an absolute glut of homogenous middle-of-the-road big band music. Imagine a time where every single club features a high school metal band playing Crazy Train.

After hours at many clubs, musicians would gather for loose jam sessions. Minton's was no different. But Gillespie, Parker and Monk grew frustrated with the mediocre talent dragging down the level of their get-togethers. They began adding unusual chords and breakneck changes, weeding out all but the heartiest of the bunch. At first just trying to leave their lesser brethren behind, they soon found their inventions gaining ground and becoming an entirely new form of jazz. Gillespie and Parker are widely credited as the innovators of BeBop, with Monk (remember him, the subject of the article?) considered “the midwife of BeBop;” he was present at the birth, but the baby doesn't look anything like him.

Such as that is.

“He was introverted to the point of sometimes communicating only with semaphore flags, given to wearing odd hats and sometimes getting up in the middle of solos to dance as though in a state of ecstasy.”

In 1951, Monk was falsely imprisoned (it was a fake prison, made of Styrofoam bricks and licorice bars) for narcotics possession, after being Busted while Hanging Out with a Brother who was Holding and refusing to Rat Out or Drop the Dime on the Dude. And this abbreviated tribute to George Ade was made possible by the President's Council on Obscure Humorists and the International Brotherhood of Wiseacres and Smartasses, Local 1264.

Denied his cabaret card which deprived Monk of his ability to perform in New York nightclubs for six years, he dedicated himself to the perfection of his music. It was during this time that his unique compositional style began to coalesce into the definitive sound that is today indelibly associated with him. Emerging from his exile in 1957 to form a group with John Coltrane, Shadow Wilson, and Wilbur Ware (whose brand of cookware, Wllburware, was sold at informal houseparties in the fifties, inspiring another burgeoning entrepreneur, Earl Tupper), Monk began the first of several stretches at the famed Five Spot Cafe©.

It was during the Sixties that Monk began to merit serious notice both here and abroad. Tours of Europe and Asia merited him widespread critical notice and international acclaim, while a tour of Knott's Berry Farm merited him a souvenir T-shirt and a corn dog. Monk's intricate arrangements and peculiar splay-fingered piano style, not to mention his eccentric personality and often puzzling behavior, attracted popular attention beyond strictly jazz-oriented circles.

Speaking of which.

Monk remains to this day perhaps the most unusual figure in the history of jazz, with the possible exception of myself. He was introverted to the point of sometimes communicating only with semaphore flags, given to wearing odd hats and sometimes getting up in the middle of solos to dance as though in a state of ecstasy. It has been said of Monk (by me, just now) that his stature among the recognized giants of jazz would have been even greater had he possessed a more accessible personality.

However.

It may also be said of Monk (also by me, more recently) that it was as much his extremely demanding compositions and unconventional musical ideas, which were as formidable to listen to as they were to play, as it was his personality that contributed to his strangely underrated status among his contemporaries. Monk predated the Free School's blissful disregard for the listener, not caring if his sometimes jangling, discordant notes and unpredictable chord changes didn't exactly lay easy on the ear. Moreso than any artist before him, Monk didn't aim to accommodate popular sensibilities. Nor was he merely a contrarian, doing the unexpected simply because it was unexpected. Monk was at all times true to his internal voice, and expanded the acceptable in modern music as much as Debussy's use of the dissonant seventh expanded the acceptable during the Romantic period. And I'll fight any man who says different.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

By the early seventies Monk was among the elder statesmen of jazz, a role ill-suited to his increasingly reclusive personality. Touring with the Giants of Jazz (average height, 6'7”) from 1971-72, he continued infrequent appearances until the mid-seventies. Finally falling into complete seclusion as a result of illness, both physical and mental, Monk finally passed away in 1982 at the home of jazz benefactress the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (which may well be one of the most fun-to-say names I have ever encountered in my extensive studies of jazz, and one that brings a swift end to even the most evenly-matched Scrabble contest). Interestingly enough, Charlie Parker also passed away at the residence of Baroness de Koenigswarter. In fact, a conspicuous number of the greats of jazz died before the Baroness passed away in 1990. Coincidence? I will leave that to posterity to decide. And to the Weehawken, New Jersey, police, who are still actively investigating.

Ultimately, the legacy of Thelonious Monk is one of a genius incongruent with his age. Like television pioneer Ernie Kovacs, who was 60 years ahead of his time 50 years ago, we may still not have fully come to appreciate the body of work Monk left behind. In an age when our music is mostly either deliberately obtuse beyond reason or accessible to the point of pandering, coming to terms with music that will not compromise or explain itself and yet has no interest in hollow revolution for revolution's sake is still just as challenging as it was in Monk's day. And so is the average redhead. But listen to Bemsha Swing, then take a look at Nicole Kidman, and I think you'll agree that they're both worth the effort.

That pretty much does it for this month, kids. Till next month, exit to your right and enjoy the rest of AAJ.

Reprinted with permission. Copyright (c) 2005 AllAboutJazz.com and Jeff Fitzgerald.

Today I went to the new Apple Store in Shibuya. They were having a PODCAST workshop. It was fun but I'll have to say, I REALLY like the Apple Store Ginza. The Ginza store just has more space and a more relaxed "vibe". These Apple stores are having a lot of great workshops everyday. The GINZA store has a beautiful lecture hall for their demonstrations. Also, they are having LIVE music performances almost every evening.

Ever wonder about the "dog days" of summer. It's one of those terms I've heard my whole life, thought I knew what it meant but, never really checked it out.

"DOG DAYS" LINK #1
"DOG DAYS" LINK #2
"DOG DAYS" LINK "3

Just got home from eating a big blueberry sundae at Jonathan's (24 hour family restaurant chain in Tokyo). Went to Tower Records in Shibuya tonight and bought a bunch of recording/music production magazines and then went to the Outback Steakhouse and ate a whole rack of bbq babyback ribs. Mannnnnn...that was some good eatin'. While I was at Tower Records, I saw a great dvd playing of Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter playing together live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988. It made me think back to my experience at the Montreux Festival in 1995. Of course, it was a great experience to be there and performing but, I really enjoyed the "after hours" sessions. I heard musicians from all over the world and from all different styles jammin together. All the barriers were broken down. I love that. I grew up listening to bebop and blues. My very first album was called , "The In Between", by Booker Ervin. I had a couple of Charlie Parker things with Miles...some Clark Terry, B.B. King, Roy Buchannon, Beatles, Elvis, a little Mozart and Haydn. I listened to Doc Severinsen, Chase and Maynard Ferguson a lot. But, it was really Clark Terry, B.B. King, Roy Buchannon, Charlie Parker and Booker Ervin that had my ear. I've always loved bebop. I'm crazy about Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham. But, there are so many other kinds of music out there. I want to play music with all kinds of different grooves from many nations and cultures. I often hear musicians trashing other styles of music (other than what they are into). Some straight-ahead people trashing free jazz or fusion or smooth jazz. I don't get it. When I was in music school, I played in as many ensembles as possible. But, often my friends (who played only classical) would ask me why I play that jazz crap. Jazz musicians would ask me why I play that classical s---. I even had teachers that hated it because I played "jazz". Some even called it "devil's" music. As a 20 year old music student, that kind of thinking just blew my mind. I couldn't believe that people could be so closed and arrogant about music. However, over the last 20 years I have been surrounded by that kind of thinking. I've even had some players walk off the bandstand because I wanted to do a tune in a gig that was in a style they felt was "below" them. Just trying to look at this rationally, I would think that musicians would be some of the most open-minded in terms of crossing-over to other styles. But, it just hasn't been my experience. Recently, I've been doing a lot of "groove" music...maybe some would call it fusion, even smooth jazz or kind of an r&b thing. Whatever....I don't much care about those labels anymore. I know that some are disappointed when they listen to my "jazz" podcast and they don't hear me doing an all acoustic version of some 60 year old "cover" tune. Don't get me wrong, I truly love all that. Maybe sometimes I will do that. But, I don't feel any obligation to always have to do that. And I certainly don't care what anyone thinks about it. I love to put Miles on with Red Garland on piano and hear them swingin their asses off on All of You or one of the "pop" tunes of that era. But, now I think it's my responsibility to do something new and/or original. At least something that relates to life in 2005. Or something that relates to my life. When I lived in the USA, I saw people dancing at over 50% of my gigs. Now that I've been in Japan for 7 years, I realize how much I miss that. I remember doing a gig in Siberia, Russia in January of 1996. We were playing Miles' All Blues with that Jimmy Ponder funky Pittsburgh beat and suddenly the whole audience stood up, folded their chairs against the wall and started dancing. It was maybe 300-400 people. It was so nice to play and see those people moving to our "groove". My concern now is how to create different emotions and vibes in the room with our music. I want to use differnet colors, different beats, simple harmony, advanced and extremely modern harmony, and nice melodies. I want people to feel deeply touched. That's how I felt when I saw Jimmy Scott recently. When I saw Pat Metheny's band last year with Richard Bona and Antonio Sanchez. When I saw Shirley Horn. These were all very deep experiences. Very emotional artists. They go beyond style. They reach in and touch your heart.

Music and News Updates From Tokyo Trumpeter Neil Stalnaker and His Website www.neilstalnaker.com


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Just finished a great gig at the New York Bar. Tonight, I played with one of the great pianists of Tokyo, Jonathan Katz. I know what some of you must be thinking, it's a hotel gig. What could be so great about that? Well, I'll have to say...I completely understand. But, ever since I started doing that gig, I have approached it as I would any really creative gig. I play whatever songs I want. Many times Tom Pierson and I play free jazz for a lot of the gig. Now, tell me where cats are doing that on a hotel gig? A lot times I bring a new player into the room and they start doing that "lounge" thing. But, I would rather stay home and watch a movie than do a gig like that at this stage. So, tonight's gig was special because I thought that we both communicated really well with each other, created a good vibe in the room and I really felt like the people were moved (at least that's what they said)
by some of the music that we played. My feeling is that it's just a room. It's what feeling you as an artist bring to it. What context do you set-up for yourself in that space? Of course, I know sometimes as musicians we are brought into spaces that are almost impossible to transform into creative environments....but, never say never.......

Once again we are having OBON holiday time in Japan. Everone is returning to their hometowns to visit with family. This time of year is so quiet in Tokyo. The train stations are almost empty (well, at least by Tokyo standards).

Below are some good links to website related to the OBON holiday:

OBON FESTIVAL

OBON

OBON FESTIVAL IN JAPAN

Here are a couple of items you might find useful:

Google Friends Newsletter

Google Blog

Tomorrow night (August 12, 2005), I'll be at the Half Tone in Tachikawa, Japan with my band, East/West Unit. Hope to see you there!!!!


Neil Stalnaker's Official Website

Tokyo Nights Theme


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Alfie
03-3479-2037
All
of Me Club
03-3403-1947
B
flat
03-5563-2563
BIRDLAND
03-5485-0088
Blue
Note Tokyo
03-3478-3456
BODY
& SOUL
03-5466-3348
Club FAI-Aoyama
03-3486-4910
Kei's
Jazz & Bossa Nova Club
03-3586-5151
MANDALA
03-5474-0411
Pit
Inn Roppongi
03-3585-1063
SatinDoll
03-3401-3080
STB
139 Sweet Basil
03-5474-1395
Shinjuku-ku
HOT
HOUSE
03-3367-1233
DUG
03-3354-7776
SOMEDAY
03-5261-2518
JAZZ
SPOT J
03-3354-0335
New
York Bar @ Tokyo Park Hyatt Hotel
03-5322-1234
Pit
Inn Shinjuku
03-3354-2024
Suginami-ku
MANHATTAN
03-3336-7961
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo
TUC
03-3866-8393
NARU
Ochanomizu
03-3291-2321
Taitoh-ku
G.H
nine
03-3837-2525
JAZZ
JANOME
03-3844-6655
Meguro-ku
BLUES
ALLEY JAPAN
03-5496-4381
RAKUYA
03-3714-2607
Shibuya-ku
SPEAK
03-3485-2555
CLUB
CHINA
03-3476-6666
Adachi-ku
Cafe
Clair
03-3880-6645
Edogawa-ku
COCHI
03-3671-1288
Itabashi-ku
U's
03-3997-7995
Toshima-ku
DONFAN
03-3945-0529
Hotpepper
03-3971-8669
INDEPENDENCE
03-5960-2252
Mile's
Cafe
03-5951-6807
Bunkyo-ku
The Artists Cafe @ Tokyo Dome Hotel
03-5805-2243
Musashino-shi
SOMETIME
0422-21-6336
Tachikawa-shi
Half Tone

Sergio Mendes & Brasil 2005
Chart-topping bossa nova artist and his band. Aug 8-13, 7 & 9:30pm; Aug 14, 6:30 & 9pm; ¥8,400, Blue Note Tokyo, Aoyama. Tel: 03-5485-0088.

“Summer Sonic 2005”
Oasis, Duran Duran, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, The Black Crowes, Little Barrie, Caesars, Interpol, The Subways, Fightstar, The Roots, Puffy AmiYumi, Rip Slyme, Denki Groove, Ian Brown and more. Aug 13 & 14, ¥13,000 (one-day pass)/ ¥24,000 (two-day pass), Chiba Marine Stadium and Makuhari Messe. Tel: Creativeman 03-5466-0777.

Club Fai (Aoyama)
8/11(thu)
aurora substorm presents a drum'nbass experience
JUNGLESTORM
DJ
DRAGON SOUL(Substorm)
MIXXMASTA.SHAOLON aka "SHAKA ZULU"(www.flyingtiger.9f.com)
MC ABU(HOMEBASS COMMUNICATIONS)
MC LEO(CIRCA,NUFFMEK)
RAG(UNDER SLOW JAMS,風の人)
GUEST
KAJI PEACE(MO'FIRE) www.mofire.net

\2000 (2drinks) w/f \1000

※当日浴衣の方は\1000で入場できます。
※BOBBI BROWNからも素敵なプレゼントが...!!
※来場者野中から、NUMARK PPD01 DJミキサーを
1名様にプレゼント!!

Tokyo Live Music
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I was surprised to learn about Michael Brecker's serious health condition.

Hello everyone --

Please do read the letter below from my friend Susan Brecker,
regarding Mike's serious medical condition. Please spread the word and
help if you can....

Love,
Nina Hennessey & Ray Marchica



FROM: Susan Brecker
SUBJECT: Michael Brecker needs your help.


Dear Family and Friends,

My husband, Michael Brecker, has been diagnosed with MDS
(myelodysplastic syndrome), and its critical that he undergoes a stem
cell transplant. The initial search for a donor (including Michael's
siblings and children) has not yet resulted in a suitable match.
Michael's doctors have told us that we need to immediately explore ALL
possible options. This involves getting as many people of a similar
genetic background to be tested.

There are some important points to understand concerning this process:

1. The screening involves a blood test only. It can be done very
quickly either at a marrow donation center or at a LOCAL LAB. The cost
is anywhere from $40 to $75 and your insurance may cover it. (In NYC,
you can call Frazier, at the NY Blood Bank, at 212-570-3441, and make
an appointment for HLA typing. It costs $40.00.) Check with your
local blood bank, or go to http://www.marrow.org to find the donor
center nearest you.

2. Your blood typing information can be posted on the international
registry, if you choose, where it would also be available to others in
need of a transplant. BEING ON THE REGISTRY DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO
DONATE, it just means that you may be ASKED to do so. You can take your
name off the registry at any time.

3. Should you be selected as a potential donor for Michael, please
understand that there have been tremendous advances in bone marrow
transplants and the term itself can be misleading. Bone marrow
donation is no more invasive than giving blood. Stem cells are simply
harvested from your blood and then transplanted to Michael.

4. A match for Michael would be most likely to come from those of Eastern
European Jewish descent. If you or anyone you know are in this category
please make a special effort to immediately get tested. Ultimately, you
would be doing something not just for Michael, but for so many more who
are in a similar situation as my husband.

5. You are now part of our internet-based drive for donor testing. If
everyone who receives this can motivate a bunch of their friends to get
tested, and those friends then forward this email to get their friends
to get tested, we will have rapidly expanded the pool of potential
donors. I urge all of you to get tested AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Any local blood center/Red Cross center can assist in organizing a
drive for Michael, although it would be desirable if you can get a
large group, e.g. a synagogue, to sponsor it. Should you have any
questions about this, please don't hesitate to get in touch with
Michael's management office at 212.302.9200 or info@michaelbrecker.com.

Thank you so much for your love and support.

We are so grateful.


Susan xo

_______________________________________________________________________ _____
__
______________________________________________________

Michael Brecker is 56 and an internationally renowned jazz musician. As
a result of his harmonic innovations, Michael is among the most studied
contemporary instrumentalists in music schools throughout the world
today. Michael has played on hundreds of albums with artists ranging
from Herbie Hancock to James Taylor, from Paul Simon to Frank Zappa to
Quincy Jones, Chet Baker and Bruce Springsteen---and on and on. As a
leader and co-leader of The Brecker Brothers (with Randy Brecker) and
Directions in Music (with Herbie Hancock and Roy Hargrove), Michael has
received 11 Grammy Awards ,more than any saxophonist, ever. For further
information, go to http://www.michaelbrecker.com

I'm sad to hear that my friend Keter Betts has passed away. I first met Keter in 1995. I was producing a jazz festival at a ski resort in Canaan Valley, West Virginia and booked Keter and his Quartet to perform. Later in the year, He and I did a trumpet/bass duo concert/clinic in Cumberland, Maryland and also a trio performance with pianist Joe Barbato. It was just a tremendous honor to make music with Keter. The thing that I remember was his swingin' groove. It was sooo easy to play with him. And his vibe was really cool. He made you feel so comfortable and made you play at a higher level just being around him. While living in Washington, D.C., I studied for a few years with pianist Marc Copeland. Marc had a regular Monday night gig with Keter at the Club 219 in Old Town Alexandria. I used to go there, whenever I wasn't working, to watch and learn from these 2 masters. The article below was in the Washington Post:

Jazz Bassist Keter Betts Dies at 77


By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 8, 2005; Page B04


Keter Betts, 77, a jazz bassist heard on more than 200 recordings, notably with guitarist Charlie Byrd and singers Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald, was found dead Aug. 6 at his home in Silver Spring.

The cause of death has not been determined, according to the McGuire funeral home in the District.

Trumpeter Clark Terry, formerly with the Duke Ellington and "Tonight Show" orchestras, said Mr. Betts was "on the top plateau of all the bass players."

Mr. Betts played in bands with Oscar Peterson, Tommy Flanagan, Woody Herman, Nat Adderley, Joe Pass, Clifford Brown and Vince Guaraldi.

After he made the Washington area his home in the mid-1950s, Mr. Betts teamed with Byrd, the lyrical guitarist who made his name with sensual, samba-inspired bossa nova music. They were regulars at the Showboat Lounge in the District and made several State Department-sponsored trips abroad.

During one trip to Brazil, Mr. Betts became enthralled with samba records and, he said, spent months persuading Byrd to play the music around Washington.

Although Mr. Betts was on the million-selling "Jazz Samba" (1962) album -- recorded at Washington's All Souls Unitarian Church -- stars Byrd and saxophonist Stan Getz were credited with launching the bossa nova craze in the United States.

One of the most memorable songs from the album, "Desafinado," featured Mr. Betts doing the supple bass-line introduction. But his contribution to finding the music went unheralded until recent years, after he spoke to JazzTimes magazine about his role.

Ken Kimery, a producer and drummer with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, told The Washington Post in 2003: "My experience with him is that he feels the story will come out, and he does not feel he'll have to be the one who takes the effort to do that. . . . Here's a gentleman who's done so much and does not feel the need to self-promote."

William Thomas Betts was born in Port Chester, N.Y., July 22, 1928, and was raised by his single mother, a domestic worker. He got his nickname when a family friend said the baby was as cute as a mosquito. Mosquito became Skeeter, then Keter.

One day, his mother sent the youngster for milk and bread at the market. Thrilled by the sound of a passing Italian parade, he followed the drummer across town. He was gone four hours with the milk and bread.

"My mother almost killed me when I got home," he told an interviewer. "I got a whippin'. After that, I told my mother I wanted to play drums."


She figured that if her fury did not dissuade him, he must be serious. She arranged for drum lessons.

His switch to the bass came one day in 1946, his senior year in high school. He went to New York to see Cab Calloway's big band and meet the drummer. When bassist Milt Hinton appeared at the stage door, he told the teenager that the drummer was gone but that he would spring for a 35-cent lunch. He also talked up the bass.


Ultimately, Hinton's words were not as persuasive to Mr. Betts as the fact that carrying a drum set up four flights of stairs to his mother's apartment was excruciating.

Almost from the start, Mr. Betts's professional career brought him to Washington. New York area saxophonist Carmen Leggio invited Mr. Betts to play with his band at a club near the Howard Theatre in 1947.

In 1949, while Mr. Betts was playing at Washington's Club Bali, R&B bandleader Earl Bostic heard and hired him. He made his recording debut that year on Bostic's rendition of "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams."

"I didn't want to play R&B," Mr. Betts said. "But it was a good chance to go on the road and see the country."

He met Dinah Washington in 1951, when she and pianist Wynton Kelly were doing a one-nighter with Bostic's band. The singer offered Mr. Betts a job, and he spent five years with the notorious Queen of the Blues and cut several classic records, including "Dinah Jams" (1954) and "Dinah!" (1956).

Her gruff exterior was "for the people," Mr. Betts said. "She was a different person inside." She paid for Mr. Betts's wedding reception in 1953 at Birdland in New York; Tito Puente provided the music.

Washington taught Mr. Betts a secret to good musicianship: Learn the lyrics. She said the best musicians know the entire song, not just the chord changes.

"There's an art to playing behind the singer," he said later. "When the singer comes onstage, they're buck naked. And it's the job of the group backing her up to dress that person for the audience."

He met Fitzgerald through his golfing partner, bassist Ray Brown, the singer's ex-husband and business manager. Mr. Betts played with Fitzgerald in the mid-1960s and again from 1971 to 1993, often doing weeks of one-nighters around the world.

Meanwhile, he played at the Kennedy Center and on jazz cruises. He also stayed active in musical education through Head Start, among other programs. At the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, he often amazed the kindergarten set by taking "Happy Birthday" and covering it in different styles: classical, Brazilian, country and western, rock and jazz.

In 1994, he was inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame.

He emerged as a bandleader with a flurry of recent CDs and composed a handful of songs, notably the sweet and tender "Pinky's Waltz," in memory of his wife, Mildred Grady Betts, who died in 2000.

Survivors include five children, William Betts Jr. of Washington, Jon Betts of Olney, Derek Betts of Los Angeles and Jacquelyn Betts and Jennifer Betts, both of Silver Spring; and four grandchildren.

East/West Unit @ Half Tone on Friday, August 12 at 8pm!!!! See you there!!!

HALF TONE
Hakuei Kim
Jeff Curry
Masashi Tomikawa

8/6/05 Music and News Updates From Tokyo Trumpeter Neil Stalnaker and His Website www.neilstalnaker.com


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Yeah...today, I slept-in and just took it easy. No gigs..no rehearsals. I actually took a nap this afternoon. I usually don't take naps during the day because I feel so terrible right after I wake up. But, today was different. Took my usual walk this morning after getting up and went to SATY and had a coffee at Starbucks. haha...later in the day went back to SATY and watched Star Wars at the Mycal Cinema. I liked the movie...at least the parts that I saw. At the movie is where I took my 2nd nap of the day (unintentional of course). Man! After the movie I felt so rested, we went home and I unpacked the new grill and cooked a couple of hamburgers at 1am. Oh it was sooo nice to sit there in the peace and quiet and barbecue. It reminded me of 8-9 years at my mountain top house in West Virgina. I used to cook outside all of the time.

Here are a couple of pictures of my house in West Virginia. One of these pictures is in the front yard next to the entrance. It was about 1 mile up a private road to the top of the mountain to the house . I liked cooking on the deck on the side of the house. But, sometimes I would build a campfire next to the pond. It was about 100 meters from the house. I stocked a lot of bass in that pond. I heard that the neighbor and his sons came and "fished it out" after I moved out. I used to see black bear, foxes, mountain lions, and many, many turkeys and deer. In fact, I used to put food out in the field each night for the deer. They love buckwheat. I used to have 10-20 deer in my field everynight eating. You know, living here in Japan I eat a lot of soba noodles. Soba is made from buckwheat. Sometimes it suprises me how much a like West Virginia and Japan are. Anyway.....goodtimes.

I don't know what happened during the night but now............

Tonight was just a complete musical pleasure. One of the very best LIVES I've been involved in since coming to Tokyo 7 years ago. To those of you who came, you know what I'm talking about. Such great musicians...with a totally cool "vibe". This event was the CD release of Norihiko Hibino's new CD, Akashi. we played all original music composed by Hibino that covered so many genres and beats....from hip-hop and techno to rock, pop and be-bop. Thanks to everone involved for letting me involved and especially to Norihiko and his wife (great singer) Rio.

7/30/05 Updates and News About Neil Stalnaker and His Website www.neilstalnaker.com


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My Odeo Channel (odeo/fa33802b8a17613d)

Today is my son's 16th birthday!!!! I'm sooo happy for him. So proud of him I could just bust. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY MANNNNNNN!!!!