Kris Funn and the Corner Store are amongst the bands playing the New Vintage Jazz & Wine Fest at the DC Fairgrounds near Nationals Park in Washington DC. This takes place Saturday August 24 starting at 2:00PM
Curated by the folks at Capital Bop (http://capitalbop.com) here is the full line-up
The artists will perform at the following times: 2:30 – Tarus Mateen 3:15 – Kris Funn & Corner Store 4:15 – Todd Marcus Quartet 5:15 – Christie Dashiell Quartet 6:15 – Donvonte McCoy Quartet, Feat. Heidi Martin 7:15 – The Funk Ark 8:30 – Rafiq Bhatia
I have enjoyed Tarus Mateen (he is bassist with Jason Moran and The Bandwagon amongst other groups); Funn, bass clarinetist Marcus and trumpeter McCoy and they are exceptional artists. Vocalists Dashiell and Martin are performers I am really looking forward to see. Capitol Bop's website has much more information on what looks like an amazing event, including more information on the performers. Here is a link to their post that announced this event: http://capitalbop.com/2013/07/24/show-announcement-new-vintage-jazz-wine-fest-amazing-talent-wine-at-the-fairgrounds/.
One footnote. I met Kris Funn at the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and he is the nephew of a former colleague of mine at the government agency I worked at. I kidded Kris that his uncle made the best pound cake I ever had. Kris is on a number of recordings of the brilliant young trumpeter, Christian Scott, in whose band he has been in for several years. His group was a highlight of a DC Jazz Loft show that was part of the DC Jazz Festival a couple years ago from which the picture at the top of this entry was taken. Here is the exceptional bassist, Tarus Mateen playing with saxophonist Brian Settles as part of a group led by drummer Lenny Robinson. Mateen will be leading his own group this day.
Donvonte McCoy is one of the Washington DC's premier trumpeters. My picture of him was taken during a salute to the music of Lee Morgan he performed at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
Todd Marcus is among the few who focus on playing bass clarinet exclusively. here he is at the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival.
The "Take 5" series of early evening concerts held at the Kogod Courtyard at the Museum of American Art in Washington DC continues on Thursday October 18 with a performance by Brian Settles who will be exploring the music of Dewey Redman. The free concert starts at 7:00PM and runs until the Museum closes at 7:00PM.
Brian Settles performing with Freddie Redd and Butch Warren at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Kogod Courtyard in July, 2012
Brian Settles may be the DC Tenor Saxophonist of the moment. The DC native is quite a presence on the local jazz scene. His first album as a leader with his band Central Union, Secret Handshake (Engine Studio), was selected by Capital Bop, as the best new DC jazz album of 2011. Talking about that recording and settles, Capital Bop observes, "Anyone who’s spent a reasonable amount of time hearing live jazz in the District over the past few years knows Settles, whether by name or not, as the slight, quietly ubiquitous gentleman who’s always stepping out of the shadows at somebody else’s gig and knocking the audience out of its seats. His solos tend to be quick, 90-second cabochons that slither and whisper, never insisting on your attention so much as requiring it." Secret Handshake is a remarkable recording that reveals new pleasures every time I listen to it. Settles can swing in a straight-ahead fashion, but he is at home in a more exploratory vein. His choice to present the music of Dewey Redman is a fascinating one. Redman was best known for his associations with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett (Jarrett's celebrated American Quartet), and also a member of Old Dreams, New Dreams with fellow Ornette alumni Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Eddie Blackwell. Capital Bop observed that Redman also "wrote and performed acerbic original music that incorporated the musics of West Africa and India."
On October 18, Settles will be presenting his arrangements of Redman's original compositions which should provide for some compelling listening. This is the second in a series of 5 concerts in which the Smithsonian will have local DC talent playing compositions of jazz legends. In September, Donvonte McCoy did a wonderful presentation on the music of Lee Morgan. The series will take a hiatus in November and December, returning January 17 when Elijah Jamal Balbed will present some of the early compositions of Wayne Shorter. Capital Bop had an excellent overview of this particular series of performances, http://capitalbop.com/2012/09/20/news-smithsonian-trains-take-5-spotlight-on-local-musicians-and-legendary-composers/.
Here is Brian Settles performing as part of a group led by Freddie Redd and Butch Warren.
I highlighted the upcoming DC Jazz Festival back in late April. Well the Festival starts in two weeks from today. One of the events associated with the Festival is the DC Jazz Loft Series that is being produced by the website Capital Bop, one of the DC area’s prime sources for what is happening jazz wise. Additionally they produce regular jazz loft shows highly upcoming performers and performers who have their own highly original approach to America’s musical art form.
To quote Luke Stewart and Giovanni Russonello, “We run CapitalBop.com, a website dedicated to promoting the city’s jazz scene by providing full-press coverage and by putting on concerts. … Since December 2010, we’ve been organizing D.C. Jazz Loft shows to spotlight this city’s vast and varied jazz talent in low-frills, exciting settings.” With respect to the DC Jazz Loft series, “[W]e’re proud to announce our return to the DC Jazz Festival for the second annual D.C. Jazz Loft Series. At three exciting shows next month, we’ll be presenting a tenacious argument for the relevance and power of contemporary jazz, and we'll be doing it at engaging, community-oriented venues." The shows at this year’s Jazz Loft series are:
June 1 // Todd Marcus Jazz Ensemble with D.C.'s Christie Dashiell Quartet, live at the Dunes. Baltimore’s Todd Marcus is among the few who specialize in the bass clarinet and is scheduled to lead his nine-piece ensemble headlining this show. Capital Bop notes that he leads a nine piece ensemble. “Thankfully, both Marcus’s oddball instrumentalism and his offbeat ensemble are astonishingly strong, modern and infectious. Few people improvise with more fervor or write music better than he does.” Opening will be vocalist Christie Dashiell featuring the former member of Howard University’s famed acapella group Afro-Blue. she’ll she’ll lead her own quartet through a blend of original compositions, and covers of jazz and pop songs.
June 2 // Tarbaby (Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis) with D.C.'s Kris Funn & Corner Store, live at the Fridge. Tarbaby is a jazz supergroup on a mission. Featuring pianist Orrin Evans (leader of the acclaimed Captain Black Big Band), bassist Eric Revis (a longtime collaborator with Branford Marsalis and a strong bandleader) and drummer Nasheet Waits (who performs with Jason Moran, among other greats), this band is uncompromisingly experimental and unabashedly outspoken. Opening will be bassist Kris Funn & Corner Store. Funn is currently a member of Christian Scott’s touring band, Corner Store, also features drummer Quincy Phillips of the Roy Hargrove Quintet. The band debuted at a jam-packed D.C. Jazz Loft where they “burned the house down, with Funn’s blues-battered bass lines, rocking originals, and dramatically danceable revisions of John Coltrane and Sam Cooke tunes taking center stage.”
June 9 // Jazz Loft MegaFest, feat. Marc Cary's Cosmic Indigenous with Lenny Robinson's Mad Curious and Elijah Jamal Balbed/Tarus Mateen/Lee Pearson II, live at the loft at 629 New York Ave. NW. “The series will culminate in a daylong Jazz Loft MegaFest on Sat., June 9. This won’t be any old concert: From 3 p.m. till 2 a.m., you’ll be immersed in a marketplace of improvised sound, visual art, quality food, drinks and creativity. We’re converting a gorgeous loft space on New York Avenue ( into a pop-up shop, music venue, art gallery, movie theater, and – with assistance from the foodies at the Taste of DC – an eatery and bar, catered by some of the top restaurants in the District.
With respect to Mark Cary, “His latest project, Cosmic Indigenous, throws everything into a pot and turns up the heat to a boil. The quintet is devastatingly danceable, which distracts you from how much creativity is happening onstage: Cary plays keyboard and laptop music, Malian singer and dancer Awa Sangho croons and yowls, two percussionists interweave (Sameer Gupta on tabla and drums, and Daniel Moreno on Latin percussion) and trumpeter Igmar Thomas brings a punchy rhythmic sensitivity to his melodic improvisations.”
Drummer Lenny Robinson is a DC fixture who plays with precision and grace, even at the swiftest tempos – but he’s also attuned to the malleability of a cymbal, or a snare drum. In his trio, Mad Curious, Robinson is joined by two of the greatest musicians in D.C. jazz, saxophone searcher Brian Settles and star bassist Tarus Mateen.
Tenor saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed is a young gun who plays every note like he’s got something crucial to prove. He swings hard, and calls up the memory of his forebears in the music such as John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. He will be accompanied by two veterans of the DC scene, bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Lee Pearson II.
Capital Bop is also engaged in a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to help produce this series. As I type this they still need to raise approximately 40% of their $4000 goal. I am one of those who are financially supporting this Kickstarter campaign and I encourage my fellow jazz lovers in the Washington DC area to show their support for the DC Jazz Loft Series, part of this year’s DC Jazz Festival. The Campaign is scheduled to end on May 31 at 11:00PM. Here is the link to the Kickstarter campaign, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/capitalbop/capitalbops-dc-jazz-loft-series-at-the-2012-dc-jaz.
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