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Dobbin's Den - May 22 1997 |
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DOBBIN’S DEN By Len Dobbin Posted Thursday, May 22, 1997 Contents
If you were on the jazz scene in Montreal back in the mid-80s, you'll know who Fred Henke is as he was one of the most in-demand pianists of that period. Henke has been living in New Jersey for some time now and before that spent quite a bit of time in Europe. Of late he's been playing a fair amount of jobs on the Hammond B3 organ and in fact has been asked to partake in an all-day jazz organ presentation at this year's Newark Jazz Festival. Henke is represented on disc by a number of sessions including dates with guitarist Sonny Greenwich in 86, 87, 91 and 92. He's also on the Pierre Béluse session recorded live at Cleo's in 1995 and, in Europe, on dates with Woody Shaw in 1987, and Carlo Atti and Steve Grossman, both in 1990. Fred Henke (on piano) will join bassist Michel Donato and leader, drummer Lorne Ellen, Friday and Saturday at a relatively new jazz spot, Eddie G's (3100 Harwood in Hudson). Guitarist Reg Schwager was also an important musician in Montreal in the mid-80s. He played around Montreal in the company of musicians like Pepper Adams, J.R. Monterose, Joe Newman and vocalist Arlene Smith. Born in Leiden, Holland on May 7, 1962, he began on violin in New Zealand when he was three. He had made the switch to guitar by the time his family moved to Sudbury, Ontario in 1969. Further studies followed in Spain and back in Sudbury. At the time he was first being heard around Montreal, he was living, as he is now, in Toronto. There he's been heard with Peter Appleyard, Wray Downes, visitors like Ruby Braff, Zoot Sims and Hank Jones, as well as with the large ensembles of Phil Nimmons, Ron Collier, Dave McMurdo and Rob McConnell. He's currently a member of the George Shearing Quintet. He recorded under his own name at the beginning and end of 1985. That was also the year that he was heard on Oliver Jones' Juno award-winning Lights of Burgundy. He's also been in the studios with McMurdo, McConnell (a Mel Torme collaboration), Moe Koffman, Don Thompson, Lenny Solomon, Jonnie Balkan, Arlene Smith and his sister, Jeannette Lambert. His trio is also heard on the Radioland label tribute to Wes Montgomery, Portraits in Jazz. This extremely talented 35-year-old guitarist is also a composer of note. His What News is played often, and he recently penned a tribute to Pepper Adams called Pepper's Red Rose, referring to the tea that Pepper always carried back from his Canadian jaunts. Schwager, with Brian Hurley on bass and Michel Lambert on drums, is at Upstairs on Friday and Saturday. Don't miss him! Vocalist Willow Quig, with guitarist Greg Amirault, is at Jazzons on Saturday. The quartet of tenorman Joel Miller with Tilden Webb, Brian Hurley and Kevin Coady takes over L'Air du Temps through Sunday. The François Marcaurelle Sextet will be heard in concert on Friday at the Maxwell Cummings Auditorium of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Trombonist Dave Grott and reedman Richard Beaudet are in the group. The Dave Turner Latin Sextet will attempt (on Friday and Saturday) to out shout the customers at Café Boomers in Pointe Claire Village. There is also jazz nightly at Jazzons, Biddles and Upstairs. Check the Jazz in the City page for other activities. Lan Xang, a New York-based band made up of Dave Binney, Donny McCaslin, Scott Colley and Jeff Hirshfield, were in fine, cutting edge form on Sunday night at Isart. On Wednesday I caught the very musical duo of Jeff Johnston and Skip Bey in a couple of sets of standards at Upstairs, their regular mid-week stomping ground. Our first trip to Café du Commerce was rewarded by some excellent trio playing from Steve Amirault with Janis Steprans and Ron Séguin. Then there was an exciting two nights back at Upstairs with Don Thompson sticking to vibes with Michel Berard, Brian Hurley and Dave Laing. I also heard a taste of tenorman Johnny Scott's new quartet with Adrian Farrugia (piano), Chris Banks (bass) and Peter Shea (drums). If those names aren't familiar locally, that's because they're all in from Toronto. They were among the musicians checking Don Thompson out at Upstairs. Others included Spike McKendry, Lorne Ellen, Ann Sullivan, Tilden Webb, Pierre Leduc, Shannon Thomson, Eric Harding, Geoff Lapp, Janis Steprans, Eli Krantzberg and Charles Ellison. May 29 - June 1
May 30 & 31
May 31 & June 1
DISCOVER JAZZ FESTIVAL (BURLINGTON, VERMONT) (802) 86-FLYNN Click here to get to the DISCOVER JAZZ FESTIVAL site June 10
June 11
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June 14
June 15
Joe Sullivan's second CD is scheduled for a June 5 release and Steve Amirault's trio session with Sean Conly and Tony Moreno is due June 6. I heard a taste of Roddy Ellias' new CD, Whale Spirit Rising, on the CBC. The cut I heard featured Charles Ellison and I Musici. It sounded beautiful! Also heard a sampling from Jean Derome's Hommage à Perec, which sounds like it will be a most impressive big band release. Lennie Tristano's Intuition (Capitol), which was reissued by EMI in the U.S. last fall, is now, due to demand, scheduled for Canadian release. Not to be missed, it contains all the Tristano sides (with Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh) that he did for the Capitol label in 1949. Also included is a rare Warne Marsh date with fellow Tristano student, tenorman Ted Brown, that was done in 1956 for the Imperial label. The bassist here is Ben Tucker and not George Tucker as listed on the back of the CD. Speaking of Tristano, also not to be missed is a CD called Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre, a two-CD set that combines music from 4 different vinyl releases. An Image, Lee Konitz with string arrangements by Bill Russo (also an early Tristano student) recorded in 1958, is worth the price of admission. Bonuses are Konitz Meets Giuffre (1959), with Konitz joined by Warne Marsh, Ted Brown, Hal McKusick and Giuffre (who did the arrangements). Bill Evans is the pianist. The 1951 Ralph Burns Free Forms for woodwinds and strings also spots Konitz on four cuts while Piece For Clarinet and String Orchestra/Mobiles consists of those two Giuffre compositions, the former in five movements and the latter in sixteen. Recorded in 1959, this has Giuffre's clarinet heard in front of the string section of the Sudwestfunk Orchestra. The memorable John Hicks solo piano recital of July 8, 1992 at the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts, part of that year's jazz festival, is now in the stores as After The Morning (DSM). Jazz Singing (Verve) is a four-CD box set. It's the fourth set put together by former Montrealer Ken Druker and again is available only in Canada - pity! There are 60 cuts here. These include Bill Henderson with the Oscar Peterson trio of 1956, 1979 vintage Betty Carter with John Hicks, 1988 Lena Horne with an arrangement by Frank Foster, Blossom Dearie's Paris-based Blue Stars recorded there in 1955, Chet Baker with Bobby Scott from 1965, Scott himself from 1958, Frank 0'Rone from the following year, Kitty White in 1955 with Bill Perkins and Gerry Wiggins, Monica Zetterlund with the 1964 Bill Evans trio, AI Hibbler (1952) and Jimmy Rushing (1957), both with Basie, and the 1994 Densil Pinnock-Bill Coon duo. My only carp is that I would have liked something from the Jackie Paris session on Wing in place of the Brook Benton piece included. And speaking of the Wing subsidiary, how about a reissue of the Paul Bley Trio 1954 session with AI Levitt and Peter Ind or Percy Heath? Cesaria Evora's Cabo Verde (Lusafrica) is a new BMG release. The barefooted nightingale is joined here by James Carter and Alain Jean-Marie, among others. You don't have to Portuguese to enjoy this one.
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