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Dobbin's Den - March 27, 1997 |
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DOBBIN’S DEN By Len Dobbin Posted Thursday, March 27, 1997 Contents
The next concert in this season’s Saison Jazz Montréal series takes place at Salle Gesù on Tuesday, March 25 at 8 PM. The headliner for this event will be a very hot young tenorman, David Sanchez. Sanchez was born in Puerto Rico in either 1968 or 1969, depending on which source you believe. He’s been in New York since the late 80s and has been quite active on the jazz scene there. On record, he’s appeared with Arturo Sandoval (I Remember Clifford - GRP), Hilton Ruiz (Manhattan Mambo - Telarc and Live at Birdland - Candid), Kenny Drew, Jr. (A Look Inside - Antilles), Dizzy Gillespie (To Bird With Love - Telarc), Kathy Kidd (Do What You Love - Low Rider), Slide Hampton (Dedicated to Diz - Telarc), and Ryan Kisor (On the One - Columbia). He leads his own group on The Departure, Sketches of Dreams and Street Scenes (Columbia), where he’s joined by musicians like David Kikoski, Danilo Perez, Larry Grenadier, Adam Cruz, Roy Hargrove, Jerry Gonzalez, Leon Parker, Kenny Garrett and Clarence Penn. The group Sanchez brings to Montreal consists of Edsel Gomez, piano; John Benitez, bass; Adam Cruz, drums; and Pemell Satumino, percussion. In 1990, Gomez appeared on Don Byron’s Tuskegee Experiments (Nonesuch), while Cruz, who sounded marvellous with the Mingus Big Band at a recent concert at the Flynn Theatre in Burlington, Vermont, can be heard with that band on Gunslinging Birds (Dreyfus), Conrad Herwig’s The Latin Side of John Coltrane (Astor Place), which also features Benitez, and Sanchez’ Sketches Of Dreams. Trombonist Conrad Herwig comes into Upstairs (1254 Mackay) on Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29 in the company of Tilden Webb, piano; Brian Hurley, bass; and Andre White, drums. Herwig arrived in New York City in 1981 and joined the Clark Terry big band. He's also been a part of the large bands of Toshiko Akiyoshi and the late Mario Bauza and was among the musicians behind Miles Davis at Montreux in July of 1991. He's also been heard with people like David Liebman, Walt Weiskopf, Ron McClure and Chris Hunter. On record he’s on Toshiko's Wishing Peace (Ken); Mario Bauza’s Tanga (Messier); Miles Davis and Quincy Jones’ Live at Montreux (Warner Bros.); Eero Koivistoinen’s Altered Things (Timeless); Bill Evans’ Push (Lipstick); Peter Weniger’s The Point of Presence (Mons) and Hymn to Gobro (Jazzline); David Liebman’s Time Line (Owl); Chris Hunter’s Scarborough Fair (Paddle Wheel) and I Want You (Sweet Basil); Ron McClure’s Sunburst (Steeplechase) and Walt Weiskopf’s Simplicity (Criss Cross). Herwig's most recent releases as a leader are New York Breed (Double-Time) with Liebman, Richie Bierach, Rufus Reid and Adam Nussbaum recorded in January of 1996 and The Latin Side of John Coltrane (Astor Place). The latter, recorded in March of 1996, is a superb outing with a band which includes Brian Lynch, Dave Valentin, Ronnie Cuber and Gary Smulyan, Beirach, Danilo Perez, Eddie Palmieri, Edward Simon, John Benitez and Adam Cruz. Drummer/composer/leader Aldo Romano brings a group into Salle Gesù on Wednesday, April 2 as part of this year's Saison Jazz Montréal series. Romano, who is 56, was born in Belluno, Italy on January 16, 1941. He grew up in France where he studied the guitar before teaching himself drums at the age of 20. Among the drummers he admired were Elvin Jones, Ed Blackwell, Tony Williams, Billy Higgins, Philly Joe Jones and, later, Sunny Murray. In Paris he worked with people like Enrico Rava, Michel Portal, Barney Wilen and Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as American visitors such as Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Charles Tolliver and Don Cherry. He played the Newport Jazz Festival with Rolf and Joachim Kuhn and in the 70s led a rock group in which he sang and played guitar as well as drums. He worked in the band Pork Pie with Charlie Mariano and Philip Catherine. His drumming style, free in the 60s, became more straightahead in the 80s when he worked with people like pianist Michel Petrucciani. He’s recorded prolifically and has done sessions with Gato Barbieri and Cherry, Portal, Rava, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Carla Bley, Steve Lacy, Rolf Kuhn, Robin Kenyatta, Giorgio Gaslini and Karin Krog in his long and memorable career. George Joseph Hendleman died of heart disease on January 8 in Harris, N.Y. He was 76. ‘Who? ‘you say - well he was better known as George Handy. Still curious? To find out more about this composer and pianist, Read this supplement by Len Dobbin I've just learned of the recent death of drummer Charles Moffett at the age of 67. He was born in Lake Como, Texas on September 11, 1929. He had had a heart attack in 1993 and had been teaching school in the New York City area. He's listed in bios as Charles Mack Moffett but his birth certificate reads C.M. Moffett, Jr. His father was Columbus Mark Moffett but didn't like his given names and went through life at C.M. Moffett, which he passed down to his son. Jr. actually made up his own name when a teacher insisted that C.M. must stand for something. He forgot to ask his parents so he said, "Charles". When he was asked about the "m", he thought of an alto saxophone playing friend, William McPherson, and answered "Mack". His earliest musical interest came from his mother who played piano in the Church of God and Christ, a sanctified church. He has early memories of a Sister Hogan and a trombonist named Higgins in the same church. He began as a trumpet player when he was 5 or 6 years of age. The trumpet was a second choice (he'd seen Louis Armstrong in a movie). He wanted to be a drummer, but his father could only afford a trumpet. The drums would have to wait. Among the other young musicians Moffett ran with as a youth were McPherson, John Carter and Red Conners. Other musicians in the Fort Worth area at that time were King Curtis, Prince Lasha and Dewey Redman. Some of Moffett's early experience came playing trumpet in R&B or "jump" bands led by people like King Curtis, Jimmy Witherspoon and Little Richard. He met his future employer, Ornette Coleman, when Moffett was working at the Bluebird Night Club while still in his very early teens. By then he was playing drums. He joined Ornette's band in the early 60s, just after Ed Blackwell left. Shortly after his arrival in New York, Moffett went by a Coleman rehearsal where Pete LaRoca (who has now reverted to using his real name, Sims) was the drummer. The following day LaRoca was a no-show, and Charles began playing drums for the group rehearsals. Before long he found himself, along with Bobby Bradford and Jimmy Garrison, booked into the Five Spot as a member of Ornette's quartet. David Izenzon had sat in with the band at the Five Spot and when Garrison left to join John Coltrane, Moffett suggested Izenzon as a replacement for some upcoming jobs. This trio (Bradford had gone out on his own) can be heard on record on Town Hall 1962 (ESP), the two volumes of At The Golden Circle, Stockholm (Blue Note) and the unused soundtrack for a Conrad Rooks’ film, Chappaqua Suite (Columbia) where they're joined by Pharoah Sanders and a large ensemble directed by Joseph Tekula, a cellist who'd recorded with the M.J.Q. and Gunther Schuller. Moffett left Coleman in 1967. In the late 60s, Moffett also did a session for Columbia records with Ornette's sister, singer Trudy Coleman. Don Cherry and Dewey Redman were also on the date produced by John Hammond. It was never released. During the time Ornette wasn't taking any work, Charles Moffett formed a group with Carla Bley, Alan Shorter (Wayne's trumpet-playing brother) and Sanders. In 1964 he recorded the classic Archie Shepp album Four for Trane (Impulse) with Shorter, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai and Reggie Workman, an album that strangely has not yet appeared on CD. He also did The Gift (Savoy) in 1969 under his own name with reedman Paul Jeffrey (who played the Black Bottom here with Thelonious Monk, Bill Vishnu Wood and T.S. Monk), Wilbur Ware and, splitting the drum duties, Dennis O'Toole and son, Cody Moffett (then a 5-year-old studying with O'Toole). Other examples of Charles Moffett currently available on CD include Ahmed Abdullah's . . . And the Solomonic Quintet (Silkheart); part of Conversations (Celluloid) by Eric Dolphy; Prince Lasha's 1965 Firebirds (OJC); a pair by Frank Lowe, Decision in Paradise (Soul Note} of 1984 and Bodies and Souls (CIMP), recorded in 1995; Transcendance (CIMP), a 1996 Sonny Simmons date with Michael Marcus and Moffett, (just two reedmen and a drummer); General Music Project (Evidence), a 1993 date with Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen and son Charnette; and (on vibes) Ensemble (ESP), a 1966 Charles Tyler session. Charles Moffett was also very busy on both coasts as an educator. He leaves a wife and five (musical) children - Mondre, trumpet and drums; Charles Jr., alto and tenor saxophones; Codaryl "Cody," drums; Charisse, a singer who earlier played a number of reed instruments; and Charnette (a combination of the names Charles and Ornette), bass. Moffett spent a short time in Montreal during the 60s, I never met him but did have a phone conversation when percussionist Geordie MacDonald called me from the Winston Churchill Pub on Crescent Street and put Charles on the phone. Moffett was an important figure in the avant garde movement of the sixties, he and his teaching methods will be missed. A memorial salute to Moffett will be part of the April 2nd edition of Dobbin's Den on CKUT-FM. [See the February 1997 issue of Cadence for a November 1995 Bob Rusch interview with Moffett.] The April 4 issue of Down Beat which hit the stands on March 21, 1957 had singer Eydie Gorme adorning the cover. Orrin Keepnews wrote a letter to the editor (chords and discords) bitching about Leonard Feather's review of the Riverside label, Riverside History of Classic Jazz. Barry Ulanov declared Bernard Peiffer to be Art Tatum's successor. You win some, you lose some. News included Eddie Sauter leaving the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra to assume the post of musical director of Radio Sudwestfunk in Baden-Baden, Germany. Lena Horne signed as the lead in Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's Jamaica, her first Broadway appearance since Blackbirds of 1939. Brandeis University (Waltham, Mass.) announced a six-work commission of jazz and jazz-influenced works by composers Milton Babbitt, Jimmy Giuffre, Charlie (sic) Mingus, George Russell, Gunther Schuller and Harold Shapero. This marked the first time an academic institution commissioned such a project. In the same order, the compositions were All Set, Suspensions, Revelations, All About Rosie, Transformation and On Green Mountain (the latter based on a Monteverdi piece, hence the play on words). The composers were paid, are you ready, $350 each. Carmen McRae was reviewed at Birdland with Ray Bryant, Ike Isaacs and Specs Wright. Nat Hentoff found her "While not of the stature of Billie Holiday, Ella and Sarah, Carmen is the most important and consistent singer since Sarah." John Tynan covered a Cal Tjader Quintet engagement at the Interlude in Hollywood. Tjader's vibes were joined by Vince Guaraldi, Gene Wright, AI Torre and Louis Kant. Tynan found it "a swinging all-around musical unit with two outstanding soloists in Tjader and Guaraldi." Leonard Feather covered appearances by Bobby Hackett at the Voyager Room of the Henry Hudson Hotel. The leader, on cornet, was joined by Dick Cary, who arranged and doubled piano and E-flat horn; Ernie Caceres, baritone sax and clarinet; Tom Gwaltney, clarinet and vibes; John Dengler, tuba; and Nat Ray, drums. Feather's one word summary: "Yes!". The top 10 jazz best sellers were Erroll Garner Concert by the Sea (Columbia); Metronome All Stars (Clef); Ella Fitzgerald-Louis Armstrong Ella and Louis (Verve); Shelly Manne My Fair Lady (Contemporary); Ella Fitzgerald Cole Porter Song Book (Verve); Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn (with Jimmy Giuffre - Atlantic); Ella Fitzgerald Sings Rodgers and Hart (Verve); Duke Ellington At Newport (Columbia); Four Freshmen And Five Trumpets (Capitol) and Dave Brubeck/J&K At Newport (Columbia). Record reviews included J.R. Monterose (Blue Note) which garnered 4 stars from Nat Hentoff; Bud Powell's Strictly Powell (RCA Victor), 2 1/2 stars from Ralph J. Gleason; Volume One of Jazz by Sun Ra (Transition), 3 stars from Hentoff; and Cecil Taylor's debut, Jazz Advance (Transition), which got a 3 1/2 star rating from Dom Cerulli who stated, "Not since the Konitz-Marsh-Tristano experiments in free form has there been such a session dedicated to freedom and release as this one." And further on, "(Steve) Lacey (sic) is heard on (Charge 'em) Blues and Song, blowing a new sound through the horn (soprano sax) that has been too often associated with a wide vibrato and even a shrillness of tone. Lacey's soprano has the virility of a tenor and the maneuverability of an alto." An item on page 40:TORONTO JAZZ DISC JOCKEY DICK MacDOUGAL, 41, DIES. Toronto, Canada - Dick MacDougal, 41, the leading jazz disc jockey in the Toronto area died February 16 of a heart attack. He had been the host of the Jazz Unlimited shows for the last 10 years. In recent years MacDougal also built a reputation as the emcee of Tabloid, a nightly half-hour interview show on CBLT-TV. He started in radio 25 years ago and had worked at every Toronto station. He is survived by his widow and four children. Anita O'Day took Leonard Feather's Blindfold Test - she hated Betty Roche's Something To Live For and Rita Reyes’ (sic) Taking A Chance on Love with the Jazz Messengers. She loved items by Patti Page, Jackie Paris, June Christy and Billie Holiday. If you were in the right place you could catch the big bands of Charlie Barnet, Les Brown, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Preston Love, Boyd Raeburn and Larry Sonn, who were all on tour. Among the combos out there were Cannonball Adderley (Birdland, N.Y.C.), Art Blakey (Waluhaje, Atlanta), Ray Charles (Gleason's, Cleveland), Erroll Garner (Black Hawk, San Francisco), Chico Hamilton (London House, Chicago), Gene Krupa (Storyville, Boston), George Shearing (Brass Rail, Milwaukee), Jimmy Smith (Hurricane, Pittsburgh), Bobby Troup (Keynoter, L.A.) and Kai Winding (Ridgecrest, Rochester). I wonder if any of those clubs still exist. You could buy a pair of Bop Glasses by mail for $2.25 (clear or tinted lenses/men’s and ladies’/brown or black frames). Bop and String Ties went for $1.00 each. Down Beat sold for $0.35! Some superb trio playing at Café Boomers by a world class trio led by pianist Steve Amirault with Ron Séguin, bass and Michel Lambert, drums. It doesn't get much better than this. Steve's distillation of Satin Doll is a gem! His Holiday Spirit and Since You Have Gone are memorable originals. There was some discussion as to who wrote I'll Remember April. The composer was Gene de Paul (Don Raye did the lyrics). What else did he write? Star Eyes, You Don't Know What Love Is, He's My Guy, Cow Cow Boogie, Mr. Five by Five and Namely You and the scores to Lil’ Abner and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers are some of his prolific output. The other lyricists he worked with were Hughie Prince and Johnny Mercer. Actually the question was about the authorship of I Remember You (my hearing must be going). That one was written by Victor Schertzinger, who was described as a composer whose hobby was making movies, or a movie-maker whose hobby was writing songs. He who wrote the soundtrack to the 1929 film, The Love Parade, which was director Ernst Lubitsch's first sound movie and marked the screen debut of Jeanette MacDonald. I Remember You is from the 1942 flic The Fleet's In, which he also directed. It was released posthumously. Among the others songs in that film's score were Tangerine and Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In A Hurry. THIS WEEK IN MONTREAL (March 27 through April 2, 1997) On Thursday, March 27 at Club Soda (5240 Park) at 8:30 PM, the Montreal Jazz Big Band, under the leadership of Philippe Hudon and directed by Benoît Glazer, will present its second Brazilian evening. Featured along with this star-studded band will be singers Paulo Ramos and Monica Freire. Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim will again be a major feature of the evening. Last year's concert was certainly musically memorable. Café Boomers in Pointe Claire, where the jazz policy is one year old on April 3, has a slight change in schedule, the Robin Chemtov trio will now be joined by a guest on Thursday nights. This week it's Richard Ring, and next week is Kelly Jefferson. Guitarist Jon Gearey brings his group in this Friday and Saturday. Koen Nys is on tenor with Tommy Babin on bass and Claude Lavergne, drums. Don't be surprised if singer Louise Thibault drops in to do a song or three. The Joshua Ell group featuring Kim Richardson continues Thursdays at Upstairs where American trombonist Conrad Herwig appears with Tilden Webb, Brian Hurley and Andre White on Friday and Saturday. Jam sessions with Greg Amirault and (usually) Ron Séguin and Michel Lambert are the Sunday feature here with Mondays and Tuesdays turned over to various McGill student combos (a chance to hear some future stars, perhaps?). On Wednesday, April 2, there will be a Michel Berard conducted concert by Jazz Improvisation I students at the Concordia Concert Hall (Loyola Campus). Tenor saxophonist Joel Miller's trio is at the Unicorn Café (3901 St. Laurent) on Monday, March 31. The group of drummer Aldo Romano appears at Salle Gesù on Wednesday, April 2 as part of the Saison Jazz Montréal series. April 3
April 4 & 5
April 6
April 11 & 12
April 18 & 19
April 19
April 20
April 21
April 25 & 26
Coming into Upstairs (separately) in the month of May are a number of Toronto based musicians - pianist Brian Dickinson with Brian Hurley and Andre White; vibraphonist Don Thompson with Mike Berard, Hurley and Dave Laing; and guitarist Reg Schwager with Hurley and Michel Lambert. John Hicks is also rumoured for May. Schwager and Lambert with Dave Young on bass will be at Café Boomers on May 9 and 10. The week prior, May 2 and 3, the Ron Séguin Quartet with Frank Lozano, Steve Amirault and Michel Lambert will be there. Jan Jarczyk with Alec Walkington and Dave Laing hit on May 16 and 17 followed by the Dave Turner Latin Sextet, May 23 and 24. The Boogie Gaudet Quartet ends the month's lineup on May 30 and 31. The quartets of Richard Ring and of Billy Kerr are strong possibilities for June at Boomers. Much further in the future, the Richard Parris Quintet with Joe Sullivan, Greg Clayton, Tim Nolan and Andre White booked October 23 for the Jazz sur le vif fall series at Maison de la Culture Frontenac. Also signed for that series are the Steve Hall Quartet (October 17), the Michel Donato-Dave Young Duo (October 18), a 50th Anniversary salute to Guy Nadon (October 18) and the Fred Henke trio with Donato and Lorne Ellen (October 22). If you attended the John Hicks solo piano concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on July 8, 1992, you'll be overjoyed with the news that the marvellous music made that evening will soon be available on the DSM label. The music includes Strayhorn's A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing and Chelsea Bridge; Thelonious' Monk's Dream, Reflections and Ruby My Dear; Trane's Moment's Notice, a combined Some Other Spring/Some Other Time (the latter a piece that Hicks practically owns) and Hicks' near standard, After The Morning, plus Mt. Royal Blues and Mid-west Blues (aka Blues On The River and inspired by John's hotel room view of the St. Lawrence). A quiet week but, just in time for his April 2nd Saison Jazz appearance, a pair by drummer Aldo Romano arrived: Intervista is a 2-CD set (Verve) recorded in France last September and October with saxophonist Stefano di Battsita, Nelson Veras, guitar and Palle Danielsson, bass. An interview (in French) conducted by Philippe Carles, recorded last November, is included. Palatino (Label Bleu) was recorded in June of 1995 and is a quartet recording with Glenn Ferris, trombone; Paolo Fresu, trumpet; and bassist Michel Benita (the same lineup that will be at the Gesù on April 2). The latter is highly recommended. That scheduled new CD by Ingrid Jensen (Justin Time) has among its merits, pianist George Colligan, the most musical Billy Stewart on drums and the explosive saxophone of Gary Bartz. Bassist Ron Séguin will be recording with a group of Frank Lozano, Steve Amirault and Michel Lambert. That's live at Café Boomers, May 2 and 3. DOBBIN'S DEN (ON RADIO)
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