Monday, December 31, 2007

"Satchmo" is jazz greatest trumpeter


Jamaica’s most renowned trumpeter is unquestionably Sonny Bradshaw OD, a bandleader since 1950 who founded the famed Jamaica Big Band. Another illustrious Jamaican trumpeter is the self-taught Mickey Hanson and remember the highly acclaimed Bobby Ellis, then there is the celebrated UK based, septuagenarian Jamaican trumpeter Eddy “Tan Tan” Thornton, and Don Drummonds. Offbeat must mention a promising young and upcoming trumpeter Craig Henry.

Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, one of the most famous jazz musicians of the 20th century, he was first known as a cornet player, then as a trumpet player, and toward the end of his career he was best known as a vocalist and became one of the most influential jazz singer.

Digital DeamDoor.com cites Louis Armstrong not only as the #5 Greatest Singer, the Greatest Jazz Artist of all-times but also to that website voted Satchmo as the Greatest trombonist ever ahead Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Below are their 100 Greatest Trombonist.

1, Louis Armstrong, 2. Miles Davis, 3. Dizzy Gillespie, 4. Clifford Brown, 5. Lee Morgan, 6. Roy Eldridge, 7. Freddie Hubbard, 8. Donald Byrd, 9. Bix Biederbecke10. Fats Navarro, 11. Harry James, 12. Wynton Marsalis, 13. Art Farmer, 14. Chet Baker, 15. Roy Hargrove, 16. Arturo Sandoval, 17. Blue Mitchell, 18. Maynard Ferguson, 19. Kenny Dorham,

Selected trumpeters

20. Al Hirt, 21. Joe 'King' Oliver, 22. Woody Shaw, 23. Don Cherry, 29. Clark Terry, 30. Chuck Mangione, 36. Rick Braun, 41. Hugh Masekela, 42. Herb Alpert, 44. Quincy Jones, 48. Terence Blanchard, 52. Chris Botti, 72. Stacy Rowles.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Charlie Parker greatest ever sax player


No Jamaican musicians, so far, has made the DigitalDreanDoor.com 100 greatest jazz musician lists so do not expect to see today’s top saxophonists Dean Frazier and Tony Green, pass greats Tommy McCook, Lester Sterling (Skatalites) or the younger, promising players, Phillip ‘Doc” Martin and Tafane in their compilation.

The all time greatest saxman Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential jazz musicians. Early in his career Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" . The shortened form "Bird" remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life, and inspired titles of many Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite" and "Ornithology".

Jazz historians consider Parker one of the greatest jazz musicians, along with other pioneers such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington Jazz critic Scott Yanow endorsed that "Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time” and there is a memorial to Charlie Parker at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas
DigitalDreamDoor.com selects the following saxophonist as the 100 Greatest of all-times.

1. Charlie Parker, 2. John Coltrane, 3. Lester Young, 4. Coleman Hawkins, 5. Sonny Rollins, 6. Eric Dolphy, 7. Cannonball Adderley, 8. Wayne Shorter, 9. Stanley Turrentine, 10. Dexter Gordon, 11. Joe Henderson, 12. Benny Carter, 13. Michael Brecker, 14. Gerry Mulligan, 15. Stan Getz, 16. Ornette Coleman, 17. Sidney Bechet18. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, 19. Johnny Hodges, 20. Grover Washington Jr.,

Selected saxophonists
22. Art Pepper, 23. Pharoah Sanders, 24. Paul Desmond, 25. King Curtis, 26. David Sanborn, 27. Gato Barbieri, 33. Sonny Stitt, 34. Illinois Jacquet, 38. Junior Walker, 41. Joshua Redman, 43 Kenny Garrett, 45. Phil Woods, 46. Ronnie Laws, 56. Kirk Whalum, 61. Gene Ammons, 66. Sonny Fortune, 72. Dave Koz, 76. Yusef Lateef, 77. Sonny Simmons, 83. Louis Jordan, 97. Branford Marsalis

Friday, December 28, 2007

Women head greatest jazz vocalists list


Billie Holiday heads the list of six female vocalists (Sarah Vaughan (#2), Ella Fitzgerald (#3), Nina Simone (#6), Dinah Washington (#7) and Carmen McCrea (#9) as the all-time greatest jazz vocalists. Whereas men dominates as greatest players of instrument women vocal capability gave them an edge in a male dominated music industry.

Behind the three great ladies are great crooners of early times, the velvet voice Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and the Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra occupying fourth, fifth and eighth places respectively.

Interestingly, there are 15 women in the first 20, and some 60 women in the top 100 vocalists.

The first 20 of 100 Greatest Vocalist and selected singers from the DigitalDreamDoor.com list are:

1. Billie Holiday, 2. Sarah Vaughan, 3. Ella Fitzgerald, 4. Nat King Cole, 5. Louis Armstrong, 6. Nina Simone, 7. Dinah Washington, 8. Frank Sinatra, 9. Carmen McRae, 10. Johnny Hartman, 11. Etta Jones, 12. Tony Bennett, 13. Ernestine Anderson, 14. Betty Carter, 15. Diana Krall, 16. Cassandra Wilson, 17. Anita O'Day, 18. Shirley Horn, 19. Blossom Dearie, 20. Nancy Wilson,
22. Astrud Gilberto, 23. Chet Baker, 24. Billy Eckstine, 25. Peggy Lee, 28. Etta James, 29. Freddy Cole, 30. Ray Charles, 31. Harry Connick Jr., 32. Natalie Cole, 36. Michael Buble, 39. Mel Torme, 41. Diane Schuur, 42. Rosemary Clooney, 44. Chaka Khan, 47. Dee Dee Bridgewater, 51. Lena Horne, 52. Eartha Kitt, 53. Al Jarreau, 55. Diane Reeves, 56. George Benson
60. Norah Jones, 63. Karrin Allyson, 73. Fats Waller, 74. Cab Calloway, 78. Vanessa Rubin, 79. Louis Jordan, 80. Aaron Neville, 81. Lou Rawls, 82. Marlena Shaw, 84. Linda Ronstadt, 85. Ruth Brown, 86. King Pleasure, 88. Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), 89. John Pizzarelli, 91. Susannah McCorkle, 96. Jamie Cullum, 98. Kurt Elling.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Monk's the greatest jazz pianist

A veritable list of reputed Jamaican performing pianists must include Ibo Cooper, Robbie Lyn, Seymour “Foggy” Mullings, Monty Alexander, Marjorie Whylie, Harold Butler, Leslie Butler, Peter Ashbourne, Jon Williams, Kathy Brown, Frankie Bonitto, world-renowned classical pianist Orrett Rhoden, and concert pianist Huntley Brown, Charmaine Bowman, Harold Davis and Dennis Rushton.

The DigitalDreamDoor.com Greatest jazz pianists below were chosen for their originality, versatility, compositional skill, impact and influence in addition to their technical and improvisational playing of the instrument.

Thelonius Sphere Monk is jazz greatest pianist he had a unique improvisation style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire (including his classic works Round Midnight and Blue Monk). He is often regarded as a founder of bebop although his playing style evolved away from the form.

Among the Greatest jazz pianists are;

1. Thelonius Monk, 2. Art Tatum, 3. Bill Evans, 4. McCoy Tyner, 5. Oscar Peterson, 6. Herbie Hancock, 7. Bud Powell, 8. Keith Jarrett, 9. Chick Corea, 10. Jelly Roll Morton, 11. Duke Ellington, 12. Count Basie, 13. Fats Waller, 14. James P. Johnson, 15. Earl Hines, 16. Tommy Flanagan, 17. Bob James, 18. Joe Zawinul, 19. Kenny Kirkland, 20. Scott Joplin,

21. Teddy Wilson, 22. Red Garland, 23. George Shearing, 24. Horace Silver, 26. Dave Brubeck, 28. Erroll Garner, 29. Ahmad Jamal, 30. Ramsey Lewis, 31. Sonny Clark, 32. George Duke, 35. Dave Grusin, 36. Wynton Kelly, 45. David Benoit, 47. Eubie Blake, 50. Nat King Cole, 66. Joe Sample, 76. Andre Previn, tsey, 80. Marian Macpartland, 86. Kenny Barron, 88. Brian Culbertson, 93. Perez Prado, 95. Cedar Walton, 98. Abdullah Ibrahim.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Charles Mingus is jazz greatest bass player

The bassist is arguably the most significant member of the band in any genre of music, and more so in reggae and jazz. Jamaica as produced many standout bass players than with any other instrumentalist, bassists the caliber of Ritchie Daley (Third World), Robbie Shakespeare (Sly & Robbie), Rohan Reid, Frankie Campbell (Fab Five), Lloyd Parkes, Glen Browne, an elite bassist in reggae and jazz., to name a few.

How do they measure against the 100 greatest jazz bassists below, noting that Glen Browne often jet around the world to play for Monty Alexander. DigitalDreamDoor.com, a web org that compiles the all time best musicians list, presents upright bass player Charles Mingus as the greatest jazz bassist of all times.

Charles Mingus , American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, social activist, nicknamed "The Angry Man of Jazz.”, is highly ranked among the composers and performers of jazz, and he recorded many highly regarded albums. Dozens of musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. His tunes—though melodic and distinctive—are not often re-recorded, partly because of their unconventional nature.

He plays piano on a 1963 album, Mingus Plays Piano

The Greatest bassists of jazz are;

1 Charles Mingus, 2. Stanley Clarke 3. Paul Chambers, 4. Jaco Pastorius, 5. Ron Carter, 6. Dave Holland, 7. Ray Brown, 8. Charlie Haden, 9. John Patitucci, 10. Scott LaFaro, 11. Milt "The Judge" Hinton, 12. Paul Jackson, 13. Eddie Gomez, 14. Marcus Miller, 15. Steve Swallow, 16. Tony Levin 17. Gary Willis, 18. Victor Wooten, 19. Brian Bromberg, 20. Miroslav Vitous,

Selected noteables in the Top 100;

38. Richard Bona, 43. Christian McBride, 54. Larry Graham, 58. Verdine White, 96. John Clayton.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82

Oscar Peterson, whose early talent, speedy fingers and musical genius made him one of the world's best known jazz pianists, has died. He was 82.

Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson's wife and daughter were with him during his final moments.

The cause of death was kidney failure.

During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s.

"One of the bright lights of jazz has gone out," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. "He was a regular on the French stage, where the public adored his luminous style."

Peterson's impressive collection of awards include all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as a Lifetime Grammy (1997) and a spot in the International Jazz Hall of Fame.

His growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as "Maharajah of the keyboard," while Count Basie once said "Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I've ever heard."

Herbie Hancock, another legendary jazz pianist, said Peterson's impact was profound.
"Oscar Peterson redefined swing for modern jazz pianists for the latter half of the 20th century," Hancock said. "I consider him the major influence that formed my roots in jazz piano playing. ... No one will ever be able to take his place."

Jazz impresario Quincy Jones said it was a blessing to have worked with Peterson.
" He was one of the last of the giants, but his music and contributions will be eternal," Jones said.

Jazz pianist Marian McPartland called Peterson "the finest technician that I have seen."
McPartland said she first met Peterson when she and her husband, jazz cornetist Jimmy McPartland, opened for him in Toronto in the 1940s.

Born on Aug. 15, 1925, in a poor neighborhood southwest of Montreal, Peterson obtained a passion for music from his father. Daniel Peterson, a railway porter and self-taught musician, bestowed his love of music to his five children, offering them a means to escape from poverty.
Oscar Peterson learned to play trumpet and piano at a young age, but after a bout with tuberculosis had to concentrate on the latter.

He became a teen sensation in his native Canada, playing in dance bands and recording in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But he got his real break as a surprise guest at Carnegie Hall in 1949, after which he began touring the United States and Europe.

He quickly made a name for himself as a jazz virtuoso, often compared to piano great Art Tatum, his childhood idol, for his speed and technical skill.

He was also influenced by Nat King Cole, whose Nat King Cole Trio album he considered "a complete musical thesaurus for any aspiring Jazz pianist."

In 2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him.

Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993 that weakened his left hand, but not his passion or drive for music. Within a year he was back on tour, recording "Side By Side" with Itzhak Perlman.

Peterson leaves behind his wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Celine.

Louis Armstrong: the greatest jazz artists


A miniscule of Jamaican musicians would categorize himself or herself as a solely jazz artist. Reason is that improvised music is lowly regarded in the land of reggae and its offshoot dancehall. Many such musicians, for economic reasons, straddle the unequal divide between jazz and contemporary Jamaican music

Outside of Jamaica, though, jazz, the music originated with Blacks of New Orleans, is a big industry that has produce greats like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltane, and Ella Fitzgerald whose names are indelible etched in the annals of music.
According to DigitalDream Door.com non in jazz has achieved the level of greatness than the legendary Louis "Satchmo” Armstrong who they elect the Greatest Jazz artist of all times.
Armstrong defined what it was to play jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate jazz to this day.

The website’s Greatest jazz artists are set out below;


1.Louis Armstrong, 2. Duke Ellington, 3. Miles Davis, 4. Charlie Parker, 5. John Coltrane, 6. Dizzy Gillespie, 7. Billie Holiday, 8. Thelonious Monk, 9. Charles Mingus,10. Count Basie, 11. Lester Young, 12. Ella Fitzgerald, 13. Coleman Hawkins, 14. Sonny Rollins, 15. Sidney Bechet, 16. Art Blakey, 17. Ornette Coleman, 18. Bill Evans, 19. Art Tatum, 20. Benny Goodman.

Others jazz artistsof note and their rankings:
22. Stan Getz, 24. Sarah Vaughan, 25. Herbie Hancock, 26. Bud Powell, 27. Wayne Shorter, 31. Dave Brubeck, 37. Lionel Hampton, 38. Art Pepper, 40. Oscar Peterson, 44. Earl Hines, 46. Wes Montgomery, 49. Artie Shaw, 50. Lee Morgan, 52. Chick Corea, 53. Modern Jazz Quartet, 54. Max Roach, 55. Anthony Braxton, 57. Cannonball Adderley, 58. Dexter Gordon, 59. Keith Jarrett, 62. Chet Baker, 64. Joe Henderson, 65. McCoy Tyner, 66. Gerry Mulligan, 68. Teddy Wilson, 70. Freddie Hubbard, 78. Wynton Marsalis, 80. Erroll Garner, 83. Pat Metheny, 100. Glenn Miller

Monday, December 24, 2007

Wes Montgomery is ''Greatest jazz guitarists'


In the world of improvised music, American jazz guitarist John Leslie “Wes” Montgomery, who passed on June 1968, has been deemed the Greatest guitarist of all times. He was for years considered one of the major jazz guitarists alongside Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian who were ranked as second and fifth respectively in the DigitalDreamDoor.com list.

Here are the DigitalDream Door Greatest jazz guitarists;

1. Wes Montgomery............. 11. Larry Coryell
2. Django Reinhardt............... 12. Kenny Burrell
3. Pat Metheny ........................ 13. Bill Frisell
4. Joe Pass.................................. 14. Larry Carlton
5. Charlie Christian.................... 15. Pat martino
6. John McLaughlin.................. 16. Mike Stern
7. Allan Holdsworth.................. 17. Al DiMeola
8. Grant Green..........................18. Lenny Breau
9. John Scofield......................... 19. Herb Ellis
10. Jim Hall..............................' 20. John Abercrombie

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Kathy Brown’s CD plays on jazz stations overseas

Dr. Kathy Brown debut CD Mission: A Musical Journey, that generates great interest at home, is being played on jazz stations overseas. Local interest spiked within the last few weeks on account of the pianist's recent radio interviews on Power 106, News Talk 93, FAME FM and RJR 94 FM and among guests at the corporate functions she performs.

Offbeat has learnt that, on Tuesday, listeners to Miami based "Serious jazz" radio station WDNA 88.9 FM heard Grandfather, a track from the CD, on the program Latin Jazz Quarter, hosted by Cary Alexander.

Jamaican Howard “Flagga” Duperly, sales & marketing manager and WDNA FM disc jockey, confirmed the Latin Jazz Quarter airplay and also featured tracks from the album on his Saturday afternoon show, The Reggae Ride.

In August, the CD garnered airplay on two Toronto radio stations, CUIT FM on Global Rhythms, hosted by Ken Stowar and on CHUM FM after Brown’s solid performance at the Island Soul Festival at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

20 Greatest Jazz Drummers

The musicians on the list of 100 Greatest Drummers constitute all the myriad forms and interpretations of the diversity of jazz occurring today.

How would Jamaican Jazz drummers like Desi Jones, DeLeon “Jubba” White, and Akeem “Red Bull” Karam equate with the DigitalDreamDoor.com list we cannot measure since the drummers herein were chosen for their originality, versatility, impact and influence within the genre.

The criteria also took into consideration their innovations and the technical ability for improvisation & musical expression in addition to their compositional skill & creative inspiration.

The 20 Greatest Jazz Drummers, spanning the period from the first note of jazz was sounded to the present, are:


1. Buddy Rich (inset) 2. Elvin Jones 3. Max Roach 4. Roy Haynes 5. Jack DeJohnette 6. Tony Williams 7. Billy Cobham 8. Art Blakey 9. Joe Morello 10. Kenny Clarke

11. Gene Krupa 12. Dave Weckl 13. Harvey Mason 14. Peter Erskine 15. Chick Webb 16. Louis Bellson 17. Ed Blackwell 18. Bill Stewart 19. Steve Gadd 20. Papa Joe Jones

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Dermot Hussey 'thriving on a Riff'

The phrase may have come from Charlie Parker’s bebop original but each weekday at 8:30 pm on News Talk 93 FM renowned Jamaican musicologist Dermot Hussey is indeed “Thriving on a Riff” that sounds off across Jamaica and on live streaming on http://www.newstalk.com.jm/

What is Riffin? Offbeat inquires of the Program Director at XM 101. “Riffin”, a musical term is common to jazz, but not exclusively, for in any popular music, where there is a continuously reiterated musical phrase over changing harmonies, that is a “riff”. It’s also used in a wider sense, when one is extemporizing on a subject that too is considered “Riffin”, Dermot states .

“ For someone who has always been musically eclectic , Riffin summarizes all that I represent in music, and in a diversity of styles. It also represents the highest possible standards in improvised music, and under the umbrella of a riff, I can cover all and any style of music in any given programme. I’m also moving away from the regimentation of category, for in the final analysis it’s all about the music, and the best music too, and from wherever it might spring like hope, ever eternal,

Five nights a week Dermot Hussey dishes out a palatable banquet of diverse musical styling, music that is eclectic and decidedly improvised.

Indeed, Riffin is five nights of improvised music, five nights of music without borders “Heard Everywhere” on Jamaica’s NewsTalk 93 FM.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Spyro Gyra: Good to Go at Jazz & Blues


Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival has netted another big act, the most prolific, commercially lucrative American Jazz Fusion band, Spyro Gyra.

Many middle-aged Jamaicans would be, wittingly or unwittingly, familiar with Spyro Gyra through the band’s breakthrough instrumental Morning Dance that was the theme song to Neville Willoughby’s Evening People Show on RJR. And, Willoughby did most to popularize the group in Jamaica.

Formed in Buffalo, New York in 1975 and led by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra has been widely recognized for its US Top 5 hits Shaker Song, Catching the Sun, and Café Amore. The group, however, has released 26 albums, between 1978-2007, and amassed sales well over 10 million making them the most prolific group in jazz-fusion idiom.

According to Wikipedia, “Spyro Gyra's music has been criticized for being light-weight and for emphasizing melody over improvisation. They have nevertheless been praised as skilled instrumentalists and for their live performances, which average nearly 100 per year”.
Spyro Gyra is up for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the single "Simple Pleasures" from the CD Good To Go-Go which is also nominated in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category.
Personnel:
Jay Beckenstein - saxophones
Tom Schuman - piano, keyboards
Julio Fernandez - guitars
Scott Ambush - bass
Bonny Bonaparte - drums, percussion

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Herbie Hancock vies for Grammy Album of the Year

The Grammy nominations are out and maybe the biggest news for The Offbeat is the selection of a jazz album for Album of the Year. Herbie Hancock’s Rivers: The Joni Letters CD, a tribute to the music of an old friend and colleague, Joni Mitchell, Hancock recorded with Mitchell on her 1979 Asylum album, is in contention for Grammy biggest prize, Best Pop Album

One of the icons of modern muisc, Hancock will chance for two Grammys with his nomination also in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category.

Nominees for the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category are; Party Hats, Will Bernard [Palmetto Records], Downright Upright, Brian Bromberg [Artistry Music], Re-imagination, Eldar [Masterworks Jazz], River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock [Verve], He Had A Hat, Jeff Lorber [Blue Note]

REGGAE GRAMMY

The Best Reggae Album (Vocal or Instrumental.): The Burning Spear Experience, Burning Spear [Burning Music Production], Mind Control, Stephen Marley [Tuff Gong/Ghetto Youths/Universal Republic], The End Of An American Dream, Lee "Scratch" Perry [Megawave], Anniversary, Sly & Robbie And The Taxi Gang [Taxi Records] , Light Your Light, Toots & The Maytals, [Fantasy]

JILL SCOTT

R&B new sensation Jill Scott, who comes in for Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival 2008, received a nomination in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her single Hate On Me, track from The Real Thing album. Fresh from her successful acting performance in the film Why Did I Get Married, Jill Scott will headline the Montego Bay Festival on Friday, January 25, 2008.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Roll Call on Jazz in Jamaica

Jazz, the African-American inspired music that is central to New Orleans and environs, has been explored and certainly exploited by the earliest Jamaican musicians, coming to mind readily is master trumpeter Sonny Bradshaw and his Big Band. Thereafter, Jamaica produced internationally recognized pianist Monty Alexander, guitarist Ernest Ranglin, and Birmingham, UK legendary saxophonist Andy Hamilton.

Other jazz musicians who had overseas visibility in a distant past include names like Dizzy Reece (trumpet), Joe Harriott (saxophone), Bertie King (saxophone). Most of these musicians opted to ply their craft overseas in more lucrative, artistically motivating concert halls and jazz clubs of Europe and the United States.

Other luminaries of the local jazz scene, both past and present, include Hedley Jones, Seymour "Foggy" Mullings, Cedric Brooks, Myrna Hague, Carl "Cannonball" Bryan, Jasper Adams, Roy Burrowes, Wilton Gaynair, Totlyn Jackson, Billy Cook and Reuben Alexander.

Straight-ahead jazz musicians are today a rarity and others, for survival, basically play the field of jazz, reggae and dancehall to make ends meet. Today’s Jamaican practitioners, players of improvised music, reads Desi Jones (drums), Seretse Small (guitars), Kathy Brown (piano), Harold Davis (piano), Deleon White (drums), Denver Smith (percussions), Akil Karam (drums), Djenne Greaves (percussions), Sherwayne Thompson (bass), Aeion Hoilett (bass), John Williams (multi-instrumentalist) Maurice Gordon (guitars) Marjorie Whylie (piano), Alicia (singer) Dennis Rushton (piano), Dale Haslam (bass), Ouida Lewis (percussions), Charmaine Limonius (pianist and singer), Alex Martin (piano) Karen Smith (songstress), Christine Fisher and those we inadvertently omit.

The calendar shows are Jazz in the Garden (bimonthly), Jazz on the Green (annual), Harold Davis Moonlighting, Ocho Rios Jazz Festival (annual), Optimist Jazz Show (annual), and Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival (annual)

Jazz is played on a regular basis at Christopher’s Jazz Cafe, Red Bones Blues Café, Rib Cage Restaurant, Pegasus Hotel, Terra Nova Hotel, and The Event Place (Montego Bay) and those other open house for improvised music that we inadvertently omit.

Two of 18 radio stations and currently 3 programs are jazz-oriented; Riffin (Dermot Hussey) on News Talk 93 FM weekdays 8:30 – 9:30 pm, Sunday Brunch (Monty “Merritone” Blake )New Talk 93FM, Sundays 12- 4 pm, Sunday Bess (Lou Gooden) on BESS 100 FM Sunday 12-6 pm.

Some personalities behind the music includes Keith Brown (Musicologist), Ken Nelson (Jazz in the Gardens), Walter Elmore (Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival), Sonny Bradshaw & Myrna Hague (Ocho Rios Jazz Festival), Mutabaruka and Dermot Hussey (musicologists/presenters), and Herbie Miller (jazz historian).

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Monty Alexander comes for Rebel Salute


Legendary Jamaican pianist, Monty Alexander is among the first set of acts billed for the 14th anniversary of Rebel Salute 2K8.anniversary.

By grafting the traditions of American jazz to his authentic Jamaican roots, Monty Alexander has spent a lifetime exploring the rich depths of musical and cultural diversity. As such the internationally famous pianist has undertaken numerous reggae projects which he has embellished with his musical genius.

Among them his two sets with his interpretations of some of Bob Marley's classics for the Cleveland, Ohio-based Telarc Records, the company for which he also recorded the album, Monty Meets Sly and Robbie.

(paraphrase of Observer staff reporter Basil Walters article in Sunday Observer December 02, 2007


All times best-selling Jazz CD/Album


King of Blue
Miles Davis’ King of Blue is considered the highest selling jazz CD album of all times. Released on August 17, 1959, Miles best work, according to Wikipedia, is regarded as the greatest jazz album yet apart from having, as of January 16, 2002, been certified triple platinum, that is over 3,000.000 units, by the RIAA making it the best selling jazz album of all times.
Track Listing
"So What" – 9:22
"Freddie Freeloader" – 9:46
"Blue in Green" – 5:37
"All Blues" – 11:33
"Flamenco Sketches" (take 2) – 9:26
Musicians:
Miles Davistrumpet, leader
Julian "Cannonball" Adderleyalto saxophone, except on "Blue in Green"
John Coltranetenor saxophone
Wynton Kellypiano, only on "Freddie Freeloader"
Bill Evans – piano, liner notes
Paul Chambersbass
Jimmy Cobbdrums
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_of_Blue

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Jazz great Sonny Rollins wowing audiences in Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium - He did jail time on Rikers Island, played the requisite dances with record labels and pioneered the bass-drum saxophone accompaniment known as strolling.

The images of him blowing his tenor saxophone on the lower level of New York's Williamsburg bridge are an indispensable part of jazz culture. Sonny Rollins has been rocking the tenor sax since 1946 and he has no intention of giving it up now.

"I'm raring to go because I'm a very serious musician," he said in a telephone interview with Canadian News. "I still practise everyday. I'm still studying and learning. You never learn all of music." Rollins is in the midst of a two-week tour of Western Europe and Wednesday night at the BOZAR concert hall in Brussels, the 77-year-old proved he's still got it.

Not that there was any doubt.

Wednesday's audience varied in age, with many parents bringing their teenage children. In Europe, jazz is passed from generation to generation.

Canadian News (Google)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Jazz & Blues Fest draws top performers


The slate of artist continue to be filled and artists slotted in the lead up to next year’s Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival: The Art of Music, set for the Aqueduct in the friendly city of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The OFFBEAT can say with a measure of sureness that legendary R&B/Jazz diva Diana Ross will headline Saturday night, January 26th, 2008, R&B/Actress Jill Scott on Friday, January 25th and R&B/Jazz performer Anita Baker will head up an All-Jazz Thursday 24th. Well, that’s according to the festival website
http://www.airjamaicajazzandblues.com/08.

Other acts indicated for the big event including American Blues musician Taj Mahal, R&B singer Billy Ocean, South African trumpeter singer Hugh Masekela, Jamaican pianist extraordinaire Marjorie Whyle, soul musician Ryan Shaw, NYC based Latin band Yerba Buena, Montreal teenaged singing sensation Nikki Yanofsky, and the rejuvenated Jamaican reggae band Chalice.

The festival takes place in Montego Bay, Jamaica from Thursday, January 24th to Saturday, January 26th 2008.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

This Music called Jazz

Jazz is a music form characterized by improvisation and spontaneous creations of melody. Created by obscure black musicians in the late 19th century, jazz at first synthesized western harmonic language and forms with the rhythms and melody of Africa. The black marching bands of New Orleans that often accompanied funeral processions played traditional hymns on the way to the cemetery however, for the processions back to town they would break into jazzed-up versions of the same hymns.

Jazz is rooted in the mingled musical traditions of African Americans and include traits surviving from West African music; black folk music forms developed in the Americas; European popular and light classical music of the 18th and 19th centuries; and later popular music forms influenced by black music or produced by black composers. Among the surviving African traits are vocal styles that include great freedom of vocal colour; a tradition of improvisation; call-and-response patterns and rhythmic complexity.

The earliest recordings identified as Jazz made in 1917 in New York by the original Dixieland Jazz Band under the leadership of Nick La Rocca. The players were white musicians from New Orleans, playing the style that they learned from blacks in that city.

They first important recordings released by black musicians were made in 1923 by king Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, a group that included Louis Armstrong, Johnny & Warren “Baby” Dodds and Honore Dutrey.

A musician named Buddy Bolden appears to have led some bands that influenced early jazz musicians, but this music and its sound have been lost to posterity. Although some jazz influences can be heard on a few early phonograph records, not until 1917 did a jazz band record.

This band, a group of white New Orleans musicians called The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, created a sensation overseas and in the United States. Among the band’s many successors, two groups emerged in the early 1920s that were particularly celebrated: the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Creole Jazz Band,