Snooks Eaglin - With His New Orleans Friends

This is a review that I wrote in Fall 2006 and published in the November-December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 288). I will be posting other reviews from this every few days in next couple weeks.

Universal Music on the Verve label has released the second batch of CDs in its series, The Sonet Blues Story. These sides make available albums from the 1970s that were issued in Europe on the Sonet label although some were imported in the United States and some were even issued in the US, as GNP-Crescendo issued The Legacy of the Blues recordings stateside. This latest batch includes more from that series along with other albums that Samuel Charters had produced for Sonet. I will be posting these reviews every few days.

Snooks Eaglin was represented by a prior volume in this series playing solo. The 1977 recordings represented on this latest album is With His New Orleans Friends who include the great Clarence Ford on tenor sax, George French on bass and background vocals, Bob French on drums and Ellis Marsalis on piano for a set of New Orleans R&B in the mode of Eaglin’s Imperial recordings.

The songs include Down Yonder, a Smiley Lewis number that Eaglin would keep in his repertoire decades later, Roscoe Gordon’s No More Doggin’, J.B. Lenoir's Talk to Your Daughter, Fats Domino’s Going to the River and Let the Four Winds Blow, James Wayne’s Traveling Mood (which Eaglin recorded for Imperial), Fat’s Domino’s Going to the River, and even Sir Mack Rice’s Mustang Sally (which comes off as tolerable in Eaglin’s hands. 

The band plays solidly behind Eaglin here, although not quite as inspired as the bands Snooks would have on his Black Top recordings. Charters notes how Eaglin insisted on his fuzzy tone for his guitar and there is plenty of his unique guitar playing with the band playing solidly behind him and these enjoyable sides foreshadows his spectacular Black Top recordings that started a decade later. 

I likely received review copies from Jazz & Blues Report. This may still be available new or used and as downloads. Here is a Snooks Eaglin performance

Roderick Harper Evolving

Roderick Harper
Evolving
Self-produced

"Evolving" is the latest release from New Orleans-based vocalist Roderick Harper. It was recorded live with a cast of friends and mentor, including appearances from late piano legend Ellis Marsalis, sax icon Donald Harrison, and vocalist/drummer Jamison Ross. Others among the accompanists include pianists Oscar Rossignoli, Jesse Davis, Shea Pierre, and John Jones; bassists Robin Sherman and Roland Guerin; drummers Chris Guccione, Gerald Watkins, and Geoff Clapp; and soprano saxophonist Roderick Paulin. Among the twelve tracks are originals mixed in with some choice covers sung with a smooth, romantic warmth and soulfulness that are tastefully supported. At times Harper suggests to this listener a softer version of Donny Hathaway and other places a jazzier Johnny Mathis.

There is plenty of romanticism on the opening "Infinite Heart," which was co-written with Donald Harrison. Harrison graces this track with an airy solo. The late Ellis Marsalis provides the understated piano accompaniment for the blue ballad "Never Let Me Go" that complements Harper's disciplined singing. It is followed by a marvelous rendition of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free," with Rossignoli superlative accompaniment. His singing here displays his mastery of phrasing, diction, pitch, and dynamics. There are also compelling interpretations of "The Big City" and "Look What I Got," where Harper extracts every iota of meaning from the lyrics.

Other standout selections include his horn-like scatting for Ivan Lin's "Valsa Minera," the heartfelt rendering of Charles Mingus' "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love," and a buoyant treatment of Alvin Battiste's "Salty Dogs." There is a gentle, reflective quality in his singing of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?" that is the final track. John Jones' Fender Rhodes provides an airy setting for the vocal, with Roland Guerin adding a terrific bass solo. It is as memorable and engaging performance as the other songs on this superb album of jazz singing.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is Roderick Harper performing "Never Let Me Go."

Sixth Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Stands Up For Real Jazz

Paul Carr

The Sixth Annual Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival returns Presidents’ Day Weekend to the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Put on by the Jazz Academy of Music, the motto of Mid-Atlantic Festival is “Standing Up For Real Jazz.” In this vein, the focus is on hard, swinging jazz with a number of national headliners mixed in with some of the finest musicians in the Washington DC area. The featured performers for this year include vocalists Tierney Sutton, Allan Harris and Carmen Lundy and instrumentalists including trumpeter Sean Jones; saxophonists James Carter, Jimmy Greene, Craig Handy and Marcus Strickland; bassist Rufus Reid; trombonists Delfaeyo Marsalis; and pianists Kenny Barron, Ellis Marsalis and Patrice Rushen. Local jazz favorites include vocalists Sharon Clark and Janine Gilbert-Carter; saxophonist Paul Carr; pianist Eric Byrd, and vibraphonist Warren Wolf. Performances are held both on the Ronnie Wells Main Stage as well as smaller club settings.

Sharon Clark

Friday night, February 13, the Ronnie Wells Main Stage opens with tenor saxophonist Paul Carr, head of the Jazz Academy of Music, and a marvelous player leading a group with vocalist Sharon Clark. Clark, arguably DC’s leading female jazz singer. Writing in the New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote that she “evokes not Holiday but rather a less operatic Sarah Vaughan fused with the more animated side of Shirley Horn, a singer who also liked to take her time. Ms. Clark’s voice is rich, her phrasing unfussy, her jazz embellishments minimal.” They will be followed by another terrific singer Tierney Sutton, with trumpeter Sean Jones closing the evening with his group.

Main Stage activities resume late morning Saturday February 14 with the Mid-Atlantic "Jazz Voice"--Vocal Competition with six semi-finalists competing for a $2000 Grand Prize. Shortly afterwards an afternoon session features DC drummer Samuel Prather and Groove Orchestra with the marvelous vocalist Christie Dashiell. They are followed by Chelsey Green and the Green Project, led by the talented violinist. Saturday Evening’s Main Stage performance opens with a Tenor Saxophonist Summit with three of today’s most compelling tenor players: James Carter, Craig Handy and  Marcus Strickland. After their set, vocalist Allen Harris will captivate the audience followed by Ellis Marsalis and son Delfaeyo, on The Last Southern Gentleman Tour.

Craig Handy

Sunday on the Main Stage, Vuyo Sotashe, the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Vocal Jazz Competition winner, opens the afternoon show followed by the great bassist and composer Rufus Reid leading his Quartet. Craig Handy and Second Line Smith closes the session. Handy’s latest project mixes New Orleans grooves with a tribute to the great organist Jimmy Smith.

Sunday evening’s final Main Stage session opens with one of this writer’s favorite vocalists, Janine Gilbert-Carter backed by a trio that includes pianist Eric Byrd with a saxophonist to be named. Carter brings plenty of warmth and a touch of Dinah Washington to a varied selection of material. Next is  tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene whose backing group includes the legendary Kenny Barron on piano and will focus on music from Greene's latest album, “Beautiful Life” on Mack Avenue Records. Greene is a masterful saxophonist with a robust tone and this recording is part of his ongoing grieving process at the sudden and tragic loss of his 6-year old daughter, Ana Marquez-Greene, who fell victim to the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass murder in Newtown, CT. After this performance, vocalist Carmen Lundy will close out the Main Stage with the great Patrice Rushen on piano and keyboards.

Marcus Strickland

Throughout the festival, there will be plenty of music in the MAJF Club and the MAJF Juke Joint rooms. Friday night the Marcus Strickland Quartet performs two sets in the MAJF Club while David Cole will be laying down blues in the Juke Joint. Saturday shows in the MAJF Club include the Terry Koger Sextet, vocalist Chad Carter, and the great drummer Winard Harper, while Memphis Gold will be in the Juke Joint. Sunday evening Shirletta Settles, Anthony Compton, and Sarah McKenzie are among the MAJF Club room performers while Anthony “Swamp Dog” Clark will be blowing his harmonica and shouting the blues in the Juke Joint.

Additionally there will be free performances in the Hotel Atrium including Big Band and Combo competition performances. There will also be interviews with a number of the artists and workshops for students that are led by some of the performers. One can see how packed the weekend will be. For more information with fuller artist biographies, information on accommodations and tickets along with special features on several of the performances visit, http://www.midatlanticjazzfestival.org.

American Jazz Quintet's Modern New Orleans Jazz Sounds

The reactivated AFO label has licensed some recordings to ACE Records in Europe, including three collections of Gumbo Stew and an album, The Classic Ellis Marsalis, and a reissue of a rare modern jazz album The Monkey Puzzle, with legendary drummer James Black. It has also issued in this country some vintage and new albums, including the highly regarded American Jazz Quartet that included Marsalis, clarinet player Alvin Batitse, tenor saxophonist Harold R. Battiste, Jr., bassist Richard Payne and drummer Eddie Blackwell. Harold Battiste, the moving force behind the reactivation of AFO (a pioneering musicians cooperative label), has rescued 1958 concert performances, Boogie Live … 1958, by a slightly different version of the American Jazz Quintet (AJQ-2) in part as a tribute to the late Eddie Blackwell who was known to Battiste and friends as Boogie. This was a group that simply is not known to most jazz listeners because they were in New Orleans, and not New York. The album, with saxophonist Nat Perilliat replacing Battiste, opens with a lengthy treatment of Battiste’s tribute to trumpeter Clifford Brown, To Brownie, with a melodic theme and head that suggests the great Brown-Roach groups, followed by originals by clarinet player Batiste (Fourth Month is an interesting take on April in Paris) while Marsalis’ Toni is a tender ballad. Blackwell drives everybody along as well as gets his solo spaces. There is one flaw in the packaging, The times for two tracks on the back cover is wrong. Three Musketeers is 17:45 not 12:45, while Fourth Month is 18:35, not 10:35, so one gets over a hour of superb jazz. This review appeared in Jazz & Blues Report February 1996 (issue 208), and this disc can still be ordered from the Louisiana Music Factory, www.louisianamusicfactory.com. I believe I purchased this.

Little Freddie King coming to Duke Ellington Jazz Festival

I was recently in New Orleans for the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival along with the 8th Ponderosa Stomp. As part of the Stomp I had the pleasure of seeing the down home blues of Little Freddie King who was part of a New Orleans Music revue at the stomp. Freddie is a wonderful down home blues performer with a style not that far removed from the North Mississippi Hills style of the late R.L. Burnside while also being an animated performer. Little Freddie will be coming to the Nation's capital as part of the musical gumbo to be displayed at this year's Duke Ellington Jazz Festival.

As stated, the music of New Orleans music will be featured at this year's Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington DC. There will be performances on the National Mall on the weekend of June 13 and 14 with Little Freddie and such other acts as Nicholas Payton, Don Vappie, Bob French, Buckwheat Zydeco, Rebirth Brass Band, and Irma Thomas Duke Ellington Orchestra The Duke Ellington Orchestra will be performing the late maestro's New Orleans Suite. Also on the National Mall, Friday night June 12, The Terence Blanchard Quintet with Chamber Orchestra will perform his A Tale of God’s Will – A Requiem for Katrina. On Monday, June 15, the Festival concludes with a Kennedy Center hosted JazzMasters Tribute to pianist, composer and educator Ellis Marsalis with Marsalis' sons Wynton, Bradford, Delfeayo and Jason performing along with Harry Connick Jr., Dr. Billy Taylor, Herlin Riley and Eric Revis. The Festival also has family events and concerts throughout the Washington area between June 6 and 15 and club performances during this time span at venues like Twins and Blues Alley. Many performances are free. For more information visit http://www.dejazzfest.org/.

JazzFest Still Rocks Despite the Rain - Day 1

This is the first part of my write-up of the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other events I saw at the end of April in the Crescent City. You can also read the entire article with more pictures by downloading the June 2008 Jazz & Blues Report.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has evolved over the decades into one of the major popular music events. Increasingly over the past decade or so, tensions have risen over the Festival as a celebration of the music and culture of Louisiana and its increasing status as a major music festival. And ticket prices continue to increase so that it now costs $50 a day to attend, and purchasing advance tickets does not save money when one adds in TicketMaster's ridiculously high fees. Every day the festival brings in major pop icons and headliners whose connection to Jazz & Heritage increasingly seems remote. My frustration is while they spend the money to book a Billy Joel, they do not spend the money to bring in say Sonny Rollins, who last appeared at JazzFest in 1995 (the first year I went to JazzFest). They did bring in the Bad Plus, Lizz Wright, the Count Basie Orchestra, and Cassandra Wilson, along with Terence Blanchard, performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic in the Jazz Tent, but I was told that at least one prominent New Orleans trumpeter (not Wynton Marsalis) turned down the Festival's offer as too low. Ellis and Jason Marsalis both appeared, but neither Bradford nor Wynton were performers this year. Prior to Katrina I saw a marvelous Coltrane Tribute band anchored by McCoy Tyner, and while this year's festival sported a tribute to Max Roach with Jason Marsalis and others, they could have booked the amazingly still youthful Roy Haynes, or Chico Hamilton. For a Jazz Festival, they could do better.

This year, I attended the Festival's first weekend and, for the first time since Katrina, the second weekend expanded to four days. The weather was not cooperative this weekend, affecting the Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend. I understand that the weather was better the second weekend. For the first time since the nineties, my wife was with me for the Festival, exploring different performers than I do, such as spending a bit more time at the Fais Do Do stage than I did. I did try to catch and shoot as many different performers, although the weather and other circumstances limited my ability to see some of them.

Arriving at the New Orleans Fairgrounds, Friday April 25, after getting a spicy sausage poorboy, I went to the Economy Hall Tent for a group led by June Gardner, a drummer who once anchored the bands of Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls and Lionel Hampton as well as having spent five years on the road with Roy Good Rockin' Tonite' Brown. They played some nice, traditionally styled New Orleans Jazz. After enjoying several numbers, I stopped by the always-full gospel tent for the Voices of Distinction, one of the many groups, famous and not famous, that stir the soul over the two weekends. Then to the Blues Tent where I got to see Rufus 'Rip' Wimberly and the Dreamers playing some nice low-down blues. After a few numbers I went to the Acura Stage where Sheryl Crow would close that day for Susan Cowsill. A surviving member of the band the Cowsills, she has emerged as a well-regarded singer-songwriter. Before and after her I caught some performances from the local Delgado Community College Jazz Ensemble, a big band that sported crisp, energetic musicianship and had a pretty darn good singer as well.

They were followed by a solid modern jazz band from Holland led by pianist and composer, Amina Figarova, whose interesting compositions were matched by the fine ensemble work. After several numbers I wandered to the blues tent to see the fine Baton Rouge harp player and vocalist, J'Monque'D who certainly delivers his blues with wit backed by an excellent band supporting him, and it was real treat to hear him again in his annual JazzFest performance. A bit of brass band music from the Real Untouchables was up on the Jazz & Heritage Stage followed by a visit to the jazz Tent to catch the mix of modern and contemporary jazz from The James Rivers Movement, one of the Crescent City's most visible saxophonists, before I transversed across the Fairgrounds to hear the cross between New Orleans R&B and Tex-Mex Conjuncto music that characterizes The Iguanas on the Gentilly Stage. From there it was Congo Square Stage for Big Sam's Funky Nation, one of the highlights this day for me with their mix of Brass band horns with a deep funk groove mixed in with some blues seasoning that was exuberantly received. I missed Dwayne Dopsie on the Fais Do Do Stage, but did see Jamil Sharrif's New Orleans Jazz Professors in Economy Hall mixing in the older New Orleans repertoire with some swing before seeing a wonderful singer, Leah Chase singing some Dinah Washington and other classic songs in the Jazz Tent.



One of the few headline acts that interested me were the pairing of Allison Krauss (who as a young prodigy toured with the likes of Claude The Fiddler' Williams and others) with rock legend Robert Plant who really exhibited their considerable empathy and unique musical gumbo. I would have loved to see Leo Nocentlli and His Rare Funk gathering with folks from Living Colour and P-Funk, but the opportunity to see Ellis Marsalis took precedence and his marvelous quartet (vibes, piano, bass and drums) allowed him to explore some of his own underrated compositions as well as that of Monk (his most recent recording is centered on Monk's music) as well as Tab Benoit, whose thoughtful, muscular guitar is matched by a rare expressiveness as a vocalist. My Monday ended split between some marvelous singing from Lizz Wright in the Jazz Tent and Buckwheat Zydeco's strong set in the Blues Tent. The big stages closed that day with Sheryl Crow, Ozomatti and Burning Spear, the latter group being one aggregation I would have liked to see, but circumstances did not permit.

That night after the Festival, we visited Club 300, a jazz bistro where we had dinner and enjoyed some nice jazz from saxophonist Tony Dagradi, whose band backed up the vocalist Mary Jane Ewing, a vivacious ebullient vocalist. Weekdays the Club hosts the likes of Delfeayo Marsalis and Marlon Jordan, Jason Marsalis, and Steve Masakowski. It was an enjoyable dinner and music but the room was not full.