2013-0418 Frank Basile Celebrates Pepper Adams at Kogod-7736

2013-0418 Frank Basile Celebrates Pepper Adams at Kogod-7736, a photo by NoVARon on Flickr.

Thursday April 18, the monthly Take 5! program at the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art featured baritone saxophonist Frank Basile and his group celebrating the music of the late Pepper Adams.

Frank Basile

Adams, one of the most celebrated baritone players of the sixties until his death in 1986, first came to notice when he co-lead a group with Trumpeter Donald Byrd. He may be best known for his associations with Charles Mingus and the Thad Jones-Mel Louis Village Vanguard Orchestra, but was also a composer of note as well as a great player.

Basile, one of the finest young baritone sax players on the New York scene, has recorded CDs of Adams composition and brought his arrangements of Adams music for a group that included fellow baritone saxophonists Leigh Pilzer and Brad Linde. The rhythm section included pianist Hod O'Brien (who had played with Adams), bassist Tom Baldwin and drummer Tony Marucci.

It was a real pleasure listening to the three saxophonists, each with their own distinctive sound playing Adams' music. Reminder that the Take5! series takes place the third Thursday of the month and starts at 5:00PM, and runs until 7PM (8PM in the late spring and summer).

Frank Basile Celebrates Pepper Adams' Music at Museum of American Art

Baritone saxophonist Frank Basile has established himself as among the most formidable players of the Baritone saxophone on the scene today. Thursday, April 18, he well lead a celebration of the music of the great baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams at the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in the Penn Quarter section of Washington DC, just across 7th Street from the Verizon Center and opposite F Street from the Spy Museum. The free program is part of the Museum's monthly Take 5! series on the third Thursday of each month and takes place from 5 PM to 8 PM.

The Museum's website describes this program:

"Relax and Take 5! with free, live jazz in the Kogod Courtyard. Frank Basile celebrates the music of Pepper Adams, the exceptional baritone saxophonist and composer who played with Charles Mingus, Donald Byrd, and Thad Jones. Basile and fellow baritones Leigh Pilzer and Brad Linde perform original arrangements, accompanied by Hod O’Brien (piano), Tom Baldwin (bass), and Tony Martucci (drums)."

I have become aware of Frank Basile from a Kickstarter project supporting his most recent recording Modern Inventions. One of the premiums I received for my participation was one of several recordings he has performed of the compositions of Pepper Adams and it was a terrific introduction to Basile's music. I am looking forward to the triple baritone attack at the Kogod Courtyard.

Frank Basile's website is: http://www.frankbasilemusic.com.

Mingus' Complete Town Hall Concert

1994 saw Blue Note release Charles Mingus, The Complete Town Hall Concert. As long a fan of the late bassist, composer and leader, it certainly was a delight to listen to and here is a review from the November 1994 Jazz & Blues Report.

Blue Note’s CD reissue of Charles Mingus’ Town Hall concert provides a more complete view than the previous releases of this material. The posthumous performance of Epitaph created some interest in hearing more of this concert, which contained some of the big band scores that formed the basis for the latter suite. The concert has a reputation of being a low point in Mingus’ career, in part because of the prior, less complete releases of this material. While rough edges are obvious, the recovery and release for the first time of much of this is revelatory. This is Mingus at his more exploratory with the turbulent, almost explosive, ensembles, shifting tempos and flavors, and searching solos perhaps best exemplified by Epitaph Part 1 with its echoes of Mingus’ Pithecanthropus Erectus at the beginning, with suggestions of Ellington later, with Eric Dolphy, Clark Terry and Britt Woodland among those featured.The relatively melodic Peggy’s Blue Skylight provides a contrasting mood. Some of the others present include Ernie Royal, Jimmy Cleveland, Charles McPherson, Buddy Collette, Zoot Sims, Pepper Adams, Jaki Byard and Milt Hinton. It should be caveated that this is not an album for those new to Mingus who would be better served by the Rhino double compact disc set, or Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus on Candid.