Inaugural Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival to Honor Norman Granz Legacy

The Inaugural Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival takes place during the weekend of February 16 - 18, 2018 with venues are in the historic Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and nearby City of St. Catharines in the Niagara Wine Country. Spearheaded by Artistic Director, the celebrated jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, the world’s first (and only!) jazz festival bearing the name of Canada’s greatest jazz artist will honor and celebrate the great pianist's legacy of excellence. This Festival is not intended to simply present concerts in tribute to Oscar Peterson, but rather to truly present jazz, showcasing the rich history and the future of the music Oscar loved. In addition to Artistic Director Rosnes, the festival is led by Artistic Producer Kelly Peterson, and Executive Producers Christine Mori and Alexis Spieldenner of Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts.

Cecile McLorin Salvant performing "John Henry." 

The 2018 Festival will be dedicated to Norman Granz, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. “Impresario, record producer, civil rights activist, and founder of Jazz at the Philharmonic, Norman Granz is arguably the most important non-musician in jazz history," said Kelly Peterson, noting his use of jazz concerts to attack racial discrimination. Jazz at the Philharmonic (“JATP” as it was known) was a series of all-star jam-session-style concerts that began in 1944 when Granz presented a concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The first to present jazz in concert halls, giving it the same respect as classical music, he made it a contractual obligation for there to be no segregation in the concert venues, leading the charge against discrimination long before the Civil Rights Movement began. Granz himself said, “The whole reason for Jazz at the Philharmonic was to take it to places where I could break down segregation and discrimination.”

Jimmy Greene's performing "Beautiful Life” with Javier Colon singing on The Meredith Vieira Show. This was the title track of his Grammy nominated album hich is dedicated to his late daughter, Ana Marquez-Greene, one of the victims of the Dandy Hook School Shootings. 

Friday night, February 16, they will present an International All-Star "Jazz at the Philharmonic" with multiple GRAMMY Award and Jazz Poll winners, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jon Faddis, Jimmy Greene, Michael Dease, Benny Green, Christian McBride, and Kenny Washington. They will be performing in a JATP style program at the Festival’s all-star opening night event at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, in St. Catharines. Saturday afternoon, the historic 1792 St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake will be the venue for screenings on Saturday afternoon of two documentaries produced by Norman Granz (one of which, "Jammin’ the Blues," was nominated for an Oscar), as well as a JATP concert film. Tad Hershorn, jazz archivist and Granz biographer, will moderate, along with Jacques Muyal, long-time associate of Granz.

The Christian McBride Trio of a few years ago, with pianist Christian Sands on piano and Ulysses Owens on drums.
 
Saturday evening will bring a Gala affair to Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake with Double Portrait, the piano duo of the Festival’s Artistic Director Renee Rosnes, the 5-time JUNO Award-winning pianist, and GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap. The post-concert Gala Reception includes hors d'oeuvres by Chef Horne of Canoe Restaurant, Stratus wine, and Soma chocolate. The Festival concludes on Sunday at Stratus Vineyards with its grand finale, featuring Canadian artists Carol Welsman, Kevin Turcotte, Mike Murley, Robi Botos, Dave Young, and Jim Doxas in another Jazz at the Philharmonic-style concert. Sunday afternoon’s event will also feature the premiere presentation of the newly created Canadian Jazz Master Awards.

Carol Welsman seen performing "Fly Me To The Moon."

The Festival's website is https://www.opjazzfest.org/ and the email address is info@opjazzfest.org. They are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/opijf, the twitter feed is @opjazzfest and the instagram link is @oscarpetersonjazzfest.

Kenny Burrell Lively Guitar Remains True to Himself

Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (HighNote) is the latest recording by the great guitarist Kenny Burrell. It comes from a live performance at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue with a group that includes Tivon Pennicott on tenor sax and flute; Benny Green on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums. This is a strong, what might have once been called, mainstream session, matching Burrell’s fleet and fluent lyricism with a strong rhythm section and Pennicott’s robust playing on a program of mostly jazz standards.

Pennicott’s sax and flute provide an energizing bite that can be reflected in Burrell’s playing on the solid rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Raincheck, with a nice latin groove and Benny Green’s piano also sounding dynamic. Opening was a nice Tin Tin Deo, from the Dizzy Gillespie repertoire with Burrell sounding quite lyrical. Pennicott’s impressive flute playing is impressively featured on Burrell’s ballad, Listen to the Dawn, followed by the leader with some precious playing. This is followed by a lively rendition of Kenny Dorham’s classic Blue Bossa, with Pennicott and Burrell standing out and Cameron is outstanding pushing the groove and his use of dynamics especially in his use of brushes during his solo. Be Yourself is a solo guitar feature for the leader, while Bass Face, with a prancing melodic hook, was originally written by Burrell for Ray Brown and spotlights Washington here.

Pennicott is featured on Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood, and responds with some wonderful playing. Will Davis, a Detroit pianist, wrote Mark I, in the mid-fifties, and Burrell is scintillating on this. Burrell and the group close this with the classic Milt Jackson blues, Bag’s Groove. A solid hour plus of swinging bop-inflected jazz that is beautifully recorded. Be Yourself is a solid addition to Kenny Burrell’s formidable body of recordings.

This review was written originally for Jazz & Blues Report from whom I received the review copy.

No Detours Stopping Chris Pasin

Born in Chicago, but raised outside New York City, trumpeter Chris Pasin had a notable career including stints with Buddy Rich’s Big band, and that of Toshiko Akiyoshi/ Lew Tabackin and working with Jack McDuff, Salsa and Brazilian bands. He had attended the New England Conservatory where he studied with Gunther Schuller, George Russell and Jaki Byard (later he studied composition with Richie Beirach) and in 1987 recorded the just issued ‘Detour Ahead” (H20 Records).

This 1987 recording has him with a fine ensemble including Steve Slagle on saxophones, Benny Green on piano, Rufus Reid on bass and Dannie Richmond on drums. The inclusion of Richmond is not a surprise given that Charles MIngus is a significant influence on Pasin’s writing along with Byard and Beirach. Pasin took a hiatus from music as he raised a family, and recently has resumed playing recently.

The opening “Lost and Found” would have made a nice title for the disc and is a pretty nice composition typical of the hard bop from the 70s and 80s with Slagle sweet and sour soprano here along with the leader’s pungent trumpet on a performance suggestive of some of the combos Woody Shaw led during this period. The notes for this recording note that “It Doesn’t Matter Now,” allude to “Monk’s Mood,” but I found the flavor of this composition reminiscent of some of Charles Mingus’ compositions (such as the slower portions of “Sue’s Changes”) with a double time tempo change occurring throughout as evident during Green’s lovely solo followed by Pasin’s solo with his appealing, round tone.

“Jackburner” is opens with a hot duo between Pasin and Richmond before a hot solo from Slagle on soprano. The title track is not a Pasin original and is a ballad he first heard done by Cedar Walton and allows him to display his bright sound with just the rhythm section and Slagle sitting out. “Light at the End of the Tunnel” is a multi-sectional number that opens with a somber lugubrious Middle-Eastern tone before kicking into a hotter tempo led by Green’s piano with nice concise playing from the leader followed by Slagle on alto, with a forceful solo from Reid.

The aptly titled “Enigma,” has Pasin playing more aggressively than the notes description of Miles-ish muted trumpet would suggest followed by Slagle’s serpentine soprano playing with the rhythm section adding some unusual accents. The Rogers and Hart standard “My Romance” is a strong straight-ahead vehicle for the quintet. The light island groove on “Island” has nice muted playing from the leader along with Slagle on flute.

Pasin’s playing is wonderfully delivered throughout this recording whether bright and mellow on a ballad, or with a crisp pungent attack elsewhere and the rhythm section of Green, Reid and Richmond is superb throughout. If the extraordinary music here had been released when recorded we would be saluting the reissue of a classic session. This is available from, (amongst other sources) amazon, cdbaby and iTunes. Chris Pasin’s website is www.myspace.com/chrispasin.


This review appeared originally in Jazz & Blues Report (December 2009 (Issue 322)). I have made minor edits.  My review copy was provided by a publicist.

Belinda Underwood Is An Enchanting Jazz Bassist and Vocalist

Among the recordings I had the pleasure to review this year for Jazz & Blues Report was the following by bassist and vocalist Belinda Underwood, that was sent to me by this publication. It appeared in the February 2009 issue (#313)

As the publicity for vocalist Belinda Underwood suggests, she is unique. After all, upright bass playing female vocalists are not that common, especially one also holding a degree in Astrophysics and holding a pilot’s license. Based in Portland, Oregon, she has a delightful new release, “Greenspace ,” with some unusual covers and her originals, that sometimes are whimsical, fit the playfulness of some of the performances. Her alto voice has a bit of sassiness, yet also is quite playful, and enchants with her delivery and phrasing. She plays bass on several tracks, but for much of the disc, Phil Baker of Pink Martini handles the bass with Martin Zarzar, also of Pink Martini on drums. Benny Green is the pianist and on three tracks, Belinda’s sister, Melissa is heard on saxophones. Nancy King adds her vocals to two selections and Egyptian Alfred Gamil adds violin to one track. Green is such a marvelous accompanist; no surprise from his tenure with Betty Carter and the rhythm is first-rate throughout.

The program opens with Underwood and Nancy King scatting to John Coltrane’s “Bass Blues,” followed by her lovely reading of Stevie Wonder’s “Secret Life of Plants,” which is one of several songs indicating a concern for things natural, even if she expresses it sometimes unusually. “No Moon At All,” is a playful waltz about falling in love with Green having a choice solo. An instrumental, “Seeing Red,” on which she plays bass has a Latin rhythm with Green emphatically stating the theme before her sister comes in on tenor. Her lovely way with a ballad is exhibited on “Blue Gardenia,” which is followed by her rendition of the bossa, “Estate,” singing about Estate and how he bathes her in the glow of his caresses and turns her no’s to tender yeses. “Polar Blue,” has a playfully expressed, but sober lyric about global warming, how the icebergs are melting and wondering why no one cares about the plight of polar bears. It is followed by a whimsical song of chickens in the chicken coop, recalling their fearful youth and the “Midnight Creeper,” the raccoon who snook into their Hen House. Underwood's playful, vocal is matched by the delightful trio accompaniment. Then there is her demonstrative lyric about singing in odd time signatures, “Odd Meter Blues.” A bit of middle eastern flavor is added by Gamil’s violin on “The Oasis.” On this, Belinda plays the oud as well as bass while the rhythm conjures images of a camel caravan heading to a desert oasis.

There are plenty of pleasures on “Greenspace,” from the songs, the wonderful playing and, most importantly, Belinda Underwood’s delightful manner in delivering a song that results in these completely enchanting performances. “Greenspace” is available from her website, www.belindaunderwood.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com, iTunes and other discerning retailers.