Suga' in My Bowl
Hank Williams
Sunday 5/1/2016 Show: Riza and Marcus Printup
Photo: Riza and Marcus Printup | Joyce Jones and Ernest Gregory Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND.
The next show will air on Sunday, May 1, 2016 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with harpist, composer and educator Riza Printup and trumpeter, composer and educator Marcus Printup, who are the co-authors of a new children’s book titled Theodore and Hazel and The Bird. This show was originally scheduled for April 17, but was not able to be aired.
A harp player like no other, Riza Printup has delved deep into both Jazz and Classical styles. Among many others, Riza Printup has recorded with acclaimed Jazz Trumpeter and husband Marcus Printup on Desire (2013), A Time For Love (2011), Ballads All Night (2010), and Bird of Paradise (2007); Grammy nominated pianist and composer Kenny Werner No Beginning, No End; and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Chick Corea and the music of Mr. Corea. She’s performed the classic Saint-Saëns’s Le Cygn’ (for harp and cello) with virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma and was featured with Paquito D’Rivera in his presentation of Charlie Parker’s classic, Bird With Strings in The Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Allen Room.
She has transcribed several of Dorothy Ashby’s originals (Jazz Harpist Extraordinaire), and was fortunate to have had the opportunity to perform some of Ms. Ashby’s music with the incomparable late Frank Wess who was featured on Ms. Ashby’s 1957 and 1958 recordings.
Through Harpiana Publications, Riza has published one of her originals, arrangements of jazz standards, and an arrangement of a classic Filipino Kundiman.
Riza is also a WeBop (early childhood jazz education program) instuctor at Jazz at Lincoln Center located in New York City.
Marcus Printup, born and raised in Conyers, Georgia, had his first musical experiences hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church. He would later discover jazz as a senior in high school.
In 1991, Mr. Printup’s life would change drastically as it was then when he met his mentor/friend-to-be, the incomparable pianist Marcus Roberts. Mr. Roberts introduced him to world renowned trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis which in time led to the invitation to join the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993.
Mr. Printup has performed and/or recorded with Betty Carter (he was inducted into Ms. Carter’s first Jazz Ahead class in 1994), Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Roberts among many others.
Mr. Printup has several records as a leader, Song for the Beautiful Woman, Unveiled, Hub Songs, Nocturnal Traces, The New Boogaloo, Peace In The Abstract, Bird of Paradise, London Lullaby, Ballads All Night, A Time for Love, Homage and his latest, Desire. In 2008, he did a live Gospel CD recording for his childhood church, Peek’s Chapel Baptist Church as a benefit to raise funds for the building of a new church.
Mr. Printup is in demand as a facilitator for masterclasses / clinics at Middle Schools, High Schools and Universities across the US. He is also an educator for JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition, the JALC’s Middle School Jazz Academy, the Savannah Music Festival Swing City Competition and is an adjunct faculty member of the New School in Manhattan.
Mr. Printup made his screen debut in the 1999 movie Playing By Heart and recorded on the film’s soundtrack.
In 2005, a proclamation was granted to Mr. Printup declaring August 22nd ‘Marcus Printup Day’ in his home town of Conyers, GA.
Bios adapted from the websites of Riza and Marcus Printup, respectively.
This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Marcus Printup will be leading a sextet at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club from May 25-26.
Web Extras
Watch Riza and Marcus perform “Before Dawn” in this 2012 live performance.
Watch Riza and Marcus perform Riza’s “Along the Way” in this 2012 live performance.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 4/3/2016 Show: Archie Shepp
Photo: Archie Shepp (sax) and Amina Claudine Meyers (piano) | Joyce Jones. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND.
The next show will air on Sunday, April 3, 2016 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature a rare interview with a 2016 NEA Jazz Master recipient, alto saxophone player, composer, pianist, singer, politically committed poet, playwright and legend Archie Shepp.
Shepp grew up in Philadelphia PA, studied piano and saxophone and attended high school in Germantown. He became involved with theatre while in college and met writers and poets including Leroi Jones and wrote “The Communist,” an allegorical play about the situation of Black Americans. In the beginning of the sixties he met Cecil Taylor and did two recordings with him which influenced his musical approach.
In 1962 he recorded his first album with Bill Dixon as co-leader. During the following year he created the New York Contemporary Five with John Tchichai; made four records for the Fontana, Storyville and Savoy labels; and traveled to Europe with this group. Starting in August 1964, he worked with Impulse and made 17 records which include Four For Trane, Fire Music, and Mama Too Tight: some of the classics of Free Music. His collaboration with John Coltrane materialized further with Ascension in 1965, a real turning point in Avant-Garde music. His militancy was evidenced by his participation in the creation of the Jazz Composers Guild with Paul and Carla Bley, Sun Ra, Roswell Rudd and Cecil Taylor.
In July 1969 he went for the first time to Africa for the Pan African Festival in Algiers where many Black American militants were living. On this occasion he recorded Live at the Pan African Festival, the first of six albums in the Actual series. In 1969 he began teaching Ethnomusicology at the University of Amherst, Massachusetts while continuing to travel around the world to express his identity as an African American musician.
The dictionary of Jazz (Robert Laffont, Bouquins) defines him in the following way: “A first rate artist and intellectual, Archie Shepp has been at the head of the Avant-Garde Free Jazz movement and has been able to join the mainstream of Jazz, while remaining true to his esthetic. He has developed a true poli-instrumentality: an alto player, he also plays soprano since 1969, piano since 1975, and more recently occasionally sings blues and standards.”
With his freedom loving sensitivity, Archie Shepp has made an inestimable contribution to the gathering, publicizing, and inventing of jazz.
Bio adapted from Archie Shepp’s website.
Shepp will be honored as a NEA Jazz Master on Monday April 4, 2016. The tribute concert will feature performances by NEA Jazz Masters Chick Corea, Randy Weston, and Jimmy Heath, as well as Ambrose Akinmusire, Lakecia Benjamin, Billy Harper, Stefon Harris, Justin Kauflin, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Pedrito Martinez, Jason Moran, David Murray, Linda Oh, Karriem Riggins, Roswell Rudd, and Catherine Russell. It will be livestreamed starting at 8 PM EST.
This program is co-hosted by Joyce Jones and Hank Williams. It is engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extras
Watch Shepp in a live 2001 performance of “You Gotta Call Him” with Amina Claudine Myers.
Watch Shepp in this 2011 live performance in France.
Watch Shepp sing “Mama Rose” live at the 2010 Sant’Anna Arresi Jazz Festival.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 3/20/2016 Show: Writer Chris Becker
Photo: Connie Crothers on the cover of Freedom of Expression.
The next show will air on Sunday, March 20, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with Chris Becker, author of Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz.
The interviewees, including Terri Lyne Carrington, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Eliane Elias, Anat Cohen, Helen Sung, Diane Schuur, Ellen Seeling, Val Jeanty, Carmen Lundy, Mindi Abair, Cheryl Bentyne, Jane Ira Bloom, Sharel Cassity, Connie Crothers, Jane Monheit, and Sherrie Maricle, speak about their earliest experiences playing music, the years of practice and study required to become a professional musician, and what it means to be a jazz musician in the 21st century. The 320-page book includes a 25-page history of jazz, as well as introductions to each interview, to provide helpful context for readers who are unaware of the contributions by women to the development of this music.
“In the years since the arrival of the 21st century, jazz has evolved into a truly cross-generational, multicultural musical art form that is assimilating an unprecedented array of musical styles and techniques. At the same time, the male-dominated paradigm that has defined the historical narrative of jazz is no more. Women are shaking up the music industry while the general public is becoming much more aware of the contributions female musicians have made to the art of jazz since its inception. Freedom of Expression: Interviews with Women in Jazz documents this profound evolution.” — Chris Becker
Freedom of Expression was released November 16, 2015 and is available on Amazon and CreateSpace.
Bio adapted from Becker’s website.
We’ll begin the show with a brief interview with the NEA’s Ann Meier Baker, who’ll present a preview of the 2016 NEA Jazz Masters awards, who will be recognized in a livestream concert on April 4.
Lastly, we’ll have a ticket giveaway for the last two events of the Schomburg Center’s Women’s History Month jazz festival, curated by Toshi Reagon. We’ll be offering a pair of tickets to both the March 21 show and March 28 show. Tune in during our “On the Bandstand” segment at the end of the first hour for details.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 3/6/2015 Show: Amina Claudine Myers
Photo: Amina Claudine Myers at Vision Festival 20: July 7, 2015| Joyce Jones. All Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, February 21, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with pianist, organist, vocalist and composer Amina Claudine Myers.
Amina Claudine Myers was born in Blackwell, Arkansas. She was raised by her great aunt Mrs. Emma Thomas whom she called “mama” and her uncle Buford. This is where her music lessons began, with her uncle teaching her rhythms. She started classical piano study at The Sacred Hearts Catholic School in Morrilton, Ark. before moving to Dallas, Tex in 1949. There she continued studying piano. During her elementary school years she became pianist for a local church, co-led an all female gospel group, participated in plays at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church and in musical activities in school.
Myers moved back to Blackwell in 1957 and finished 11th and 12th grades at L.W. Sullivan High School. She helped form a group with two names “The Gospel Four” and “The Royal Hearts”. This group traveled locally for gospel shows and sang rhythm and blues songs popular during that time. Myers received several college scholarship offers, and chose Philander Smith. She played in the jazz band under the direction of music department head Mr. Whaley during her freshman year.
This was her introduction to jazz and learning to play the blues by ear. Myers continued to study classical piano and became student director for the choir. After the choir’s pianist graduated, Myers became the pianist and learned to play the pipe organ. She then toured the midwest as a member of a choir, octet, and quartet all directed by Dr. Carl Harris.
In her sophomore year, Gloria Salter got Myers a job playing in The Safari Room, a jazz club on 9th Street, the major strip for night life. She played piano, sang easy jazz standards, and experimented with work from Dakota Statton, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzerald’s “Stompin’ At The Savoy”, which she learned note by note. Myers also took a job playing church organ and later played the organ in a rhythm and blues club for three summers when she stayed with her mother in Louisville, Kentucky.
While in college, Myers directed and played for church choirs in and around Louisville KY during summer vacations. After graduating with a B.A. degree in music education, she moved to Chicago to teach and taught music at The G.T. Donoghue Elementary School for six years. She became involved in the music scene and played with The Gerald Donovan (Ajaramu) Trio as organist for several years. Ajaramu introduced Myers to The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and she became a member. There she met Muhal Richard Abrams and other creative musicians and began composing for big band, various ensembles, and formed a “voice choir”.
After resigning from teaching, Myers toured as organist with The Gene (Jug) Ammons Quartet for two and a half years and The Sonny Stitt Trio off and on for approximately six months.
In 1976, Myers moved to New York City and became involved with the creative musicians who had migrated from Chicago and St. Louis, playing music in the New York lofts. She then taught at the State University of New York for a year and developed a gospel chorus there.
Myers began touring Europe with The Lester Bowie Quintet and The NY Organ Ensemble around 1978. This began her European (all of western Europe, Hungary, Turkey and Poland), Japanese, Canadian and U.S. performances of concerts, festivals and clubs as a soloist, with her trio, quartet, sextet and voice choir. This included workshops, seminars and residencies in universities and schools in the U.S. as well as Europe. Myers had the opportunity to perform in Cape Town, South Africa at The North Sea Jazz Festival with saxophonist/composer Archie Shepp and in Accra, Ghana with composer/ vibraphonist Cecilia Smith during their jazz festival.
Myers has recorded and toured with many great musicians such as Muhal Richard Abrams, James Blood Ulmer, Bill Laswell, Henry Threadgill, Archie Shepp, and Charlie Haden.
Myers premiered her Improvisational Suite For Chorus, Pipe Organ And Percussion (sixteen voices, pipe organ and two percussionists, showcasing operatic voices in an improvisational setting) in N.Y. Other large works include, When The Berries Fell (eight voices, two percussionists, piano and electric organ. An odyssey through the world of music) Focus (a mixed media event with piano, voice, electric bass and slides of Blackwell, Arkansas), Interiors (a chamber orchestra piece with eleven instruments including a string quartet) Balcor and Park People (compositions for big band). A View From The Inside (a one time completely improvised performance of an inside look of the creative mind with a New Orleans chef, a weaving designer, a choreographer, pianist/composer and composer/guitarist/trumpeter and AGA (compositions for violin, cello and piano.)
Continued ongoing collaborations include recordings and performances with Sola Lui a wonderful chinese composer, designer and vocalist. This combination of Chinese and African American cultures has performed in Europe and the U.S. Myers has also worked with the exciting choreographer Diane McIntyre to recreate a work by Helen Tamaris titled How Long Brethren (Negro Protest Songs written during the thirties). Myers directed the symphony orchestra and chorus at George Mason University in VA and Western Univ. in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Myers’ works of blues, jazz, gospel and extended forms continues. She also teaches privately, giving lessons in theory, composition, piano, voice, organ, classical piano and assisting clients interested in stage/performances. Myers has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Iridium Club, Birdland and other sites with her groups and with other artists and still continues to perform nationally and internationally.
Bio adapted from Myers’ website.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extras
Watch Myers in a live 2001 performance of “You Gotta Call Him” with Archie Shepp’s Quartet.
Watch Myers play with bassist Henry Grimes in a preview of the 2015 Vision Fest.
Watch Myers lead a trio in a live 2014 performance.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 2/21/2016 Show: Mavis Staples Documentary/ Jessica Edwards
Photo: Mavis Staples | All Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, February 21, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with director and producer Jessica Edwards, who will discuss her latest feature titled Mavis!, which screens at Village East Cinema for only ONE WEEK on February 19 through February 25. We will also connect the generations of message music with a brief discussion with composer, vocalist, producer and curator Toshi Reagon.
Mavis! is the first feature documentary on gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, The Staple Singers. From the freedom songs of the ’60s and hits like I’ll Take You There in the ’70s, to funked-up collaborations with Prince and her recent albums with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis has stayed true to her roots, kept her family close, and inspired millions along the way.
Featuring powerful live performances, rare archival footage, and conversations with friends and contemporaries, MAVIS! reveals the struggles, successes, and intimate stories of her journey. At 75, she’s making the most vital music of her career, winning Grammy awards, and reaching a new generation of fans. Her message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.
Toshi Reagon will curate a fifth year of the Women’s Jazz and Blues Festival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library on Mondays in March during Women’s “Herstory” Month.
Bio adapted from the Mavis! Film website.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extras
Watch the trailer for the Mavis! documentary film.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 1/24/16 Show: Billy Childs
Photo: Billy Childs | Billy Childs.com, All Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, January 24, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with composer, arranger and pianist Billy Childs, who will be bringing his Grammy winning Laura Nyro project titled “Map to the Treasure: Reimaging Laura Nyro” to the Jazz Standard from January 26-28 for two sets per night.
Billy Childs has emerged as one of the foremost American composers of his era, perhaps the most distinctly American composer since Aaron Copland – for like Copland, he has successfully married the musical products of his heritage with the Western neoclassical traditions of the twentieth century in a powerful symbiosis of style, range, and dynamism.
A native of Los Angeles, Childs grew up immersed in jazz, classical, and popular music influences. A prodigious talent at the piano earned him public performances by age six, and at sixteen he was admitted to the USC Community School of the Performing Arts, going on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition under the tutelage of Robert Linn and Morton Lauridsen.
By the time of his graduation from USC, Childs was already an in-demand performer in the L.A. jazz scene. Soon thereafter he was discovered by trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, with whom he embarked on a successful performing and recording tour. He recorded and performed with a number of other influential jazz musicians including J.J. Johnson, Joe Henderson, and Wynton Marsalis before landing a record deal with Windham Hill Records in 1988, when he released Take For Example, This…, the first of four critically acclaimed albums for the label. The albums Twilight Is Upon Us (1989), His April Touch (1991), and Portrait Of A Player (1992) followed, each expansive contributions of depth and virtuosity. Since then Childs has written and produced I’ve Known Rivers (1995) on Stretch/GRP, The Child Within (1996) on Shanachie, and two volumes of “jazz/chamber music” (an amalgam of jazz and classical music) – Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1 (2006) and Autumn: In Moving Pictures, Vol. 2 (2010); the recordings earned him two GRAMMY awards and five nominations.
Simultaneously with his recording career, Childs has occupied a parallel niche as an in-demand composer. His orchestral and chamber commission credits include Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, The Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Kronos Quartet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The American Brass Quintet, The Ying Quartet, and The Dorian Wind Quintet.
Thus far in his career, Childs has garnered thirteen GRAMMY nominations and four awards: two for Best Instrumental Composition (“Into the Light” from Lyric and The “Path Among The Trees” from Autumn: In Moving Pictures) and two for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist (“New York Tendaberry” from Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro and “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” from To Love Again). In 2006, Childs was awarded a Chamber Music America Composer’s Grant, and in 2009 was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was also awarded the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013, and most recently, the music award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015.
Most recently, Childs has recorded a collection of re-imagined Laura Nyro compositions for Sony Masterworks, released in September 2014. Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro was produced by Larry Klein and features guest artists: Renee Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Wayne Shorter, Alison Kraus, Dianne Reeves, Chris Botti, Esperanza Spalding, Lisa Fischer, Susan Tedeschi, Rickie Lee Jones, Shawn Colvin, Ledesi, Becca Stevens, Chris Potter, Brian Blade, Steve Wilson and Jerry Douglas.
As a pianist Childs has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, Renee Fleming, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chick Corea, The Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, The Ying Quartet, The American Brass Quintet, and Chris Botti.
Bio adapted from the Billy Childs website.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams. You’ll have a chance to win tickets to Billy Childs’ Jazz Standard dates!
Web Extras
Watch Childs perform “The Confession” from Map to the Treasure live at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival.
Watch Childs perform with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s Quintet live in 1981.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
January 10, 2016 Show: James Blood Ulmer
Photo: James “Blood” Ulmer at the 2014 Vision Festival. | Joyce Jones. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Some Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, January 10, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with composer, guitarist and Blues man James Blood Ulmer, who is one of the artists lined up to be featured during the 2016 Winter Jazz Festival. This program will close out our series focusing on the festival, which starts on January 13.
James “Blood” Ulmer is one of the few exceptions — an outside guitarist who has forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman’s vaguely defined Harmolodic theory, which essentially subverts jazz’s harmonic component in favor of freely improvised, non-tonal, or quasi-modal counterpoint. Ulmer plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his lines are frequently texturally and chordally based, inflected with the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. That’s not to say his sound is untouched by the rock tradition — the influence of Jimi Hendrix on Ulmer is strong — but it’s mixed with blues, funk, and free jazz elements. The resultant music is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid that is, at its best, on a level with the finest of the Harmolodic school.
Ulmer began his career playing in funk bands, first in Pittsburgh (1959-1964) and later around Columbus, OH (1964-1967). Ulmer spent four years in Detroit before moving to New York in 1971. He landed a nine-month gig at the famed birthplace of bop, Minton’s Playhouse, and played very briefly with Art Blakey. In 1973, he recorded with the ex-John Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali and his Quintet on the Survival label. That same year, he hooked up with Ornette Coleman, whose concept affected Ulmer’s music thereafter. The guitarist’s recordings from the late ’70s and early ’80s exhibit a unique take on his mentor’s aesthetic. His blues and rock-tinged art was, if anything, more raw and aggressive than Coleman’s free jazz and funk-derived music (a reflection, no doubt, of Ulmer’s chosen instrument), but no less compelling from either an intellectual or an emotional standpoint. In 1981, Ulmer led the first of three record dates for Columbia, which helped to expose his music to a wider public. Around this time Ulmer began an association with tenor saxophonist David Murray, bassist Amin Ali, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. As the Music Revelation Ensemble, this intermittent assemblage (with various other members added and subtracted) would produce a number of intense, free-blowing albums over a span of almost two decades.
Ulmer’s work has varied in quality over the years. In 1987, with the cooperative group Phalanx (George Adams, tenor sax; Sirone, bass; and Rashied Ali, drums), Ulmer drew successfully on the free jazz expressionism that made his name. His ’90s recordings with the Music Revelation Ensemble showed him still capable of playing convincingly in that vein.
Ulmer dug deeply into an investigation of the blues as the century turned. First he recorded Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions with guitarist Veron Reid both performing and producing. The album also starred veteran Ulmer sideman Charles Burnham on violin. In 2003, Ulmer issued No Escape From the Blues, recorded at Electric Lady studio. A thoroughly psychedlic funky take on the genre, Reid and Burnham were present in the same roles once more, and old friend Olu Dara stopped in to contribute as well. In 2005, Blood released Birthright, on Joel Dorn’s Hyena label. It is easily his most intimate recording. Completely solo in the studio (Reid once again produced), it contains ten orignals and two covers of classic reportoire and takes Blood’s blues journey to an entirely new level.
Bio adapted from Allmusic.
Ulmer will take the stage during the first of the marathon nights at the Winter Jazz Festival on Friday, January 15, 9:00 p.m. at the New School Auditorium, 66 West 12 Street.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
The 2016 Winter Jazz Fest runs from January 13-17 at several locations in Greenwich Village. See the full schedule and artist lineup at their website. Head on over to our blog for previews, our annual cheat sheet to selected acts, and a full review when it wraps up.
Web Extras
Watch Ulmer perform live at the 2015 Skopje Jazz Festival.
Watch Ulmer perform “Are you Glad to be in America” live.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 12/27/15 Show: Winter Jazz Fest/ Julian Lage
Photo: Julian Lage. | Mike Bouchard via Flickr. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Some Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, December 27, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with composer and guitarist Julian Lage, who is one of the artists lined up to be featured during the 2016 Winter Jazz Festival held in January. This program is a second in the series that Suga’ will focus on the 2016 Winter Jazz Festival.
Julian Lage is somewhat of a child prodigy — playing his instrument at the age of five and performing in public a year later. Shortly thereafter, Lage began playing with such renowned artists as Carlos Santana (when he was only eight years old!), Pat Metheny, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Martin Taylor, and David Grisman, among others, resulting in Lage being the subject of the 1997 Academy Award-nominated documentary film Jules at Eight. In addition to performing, Lage has recorded as a duo with Grisman (the 1999 release Dawg Duos), and contributed a fine cover of “In a Sentimental Mood” with Martin Taylor and David Grisman, to the 2000 compilation Acoustic Disc: 100% Handmade Music, Vol. 5. Lage has also appeared at numerous jazz concerts/festivals, including the St. Louis Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival, and even performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. In 2009, Lage released his debut solo album, Sounding Point, on Emarcy. The album was widely celebrated as the arrival of a new and authoritative voice on the instrument.
This was followed by the concept offering Gladwell in 2011. He fronted a quintet that featured bassist Jorge Roeder, tenor saxophonist Dan Blake, cellist Aristides Rivas, and drummer/percussionist Tupac Mantilla.
Lage switched labels for the 2013 Free Flying release on Palmetto Records. It was recorded in duet with pianist Fred Hersch.
The duo format apparently agreed with Lage, though its focus shifted a bit. In 2014 he issued two such albums; the first was Avalon with guitarist Chris Eldridge. Produced by the Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale, it contained bluegrass, folk, jazz, and classic pop standards; the pair called it a “love letter to the acoustic guitar.” In late November, Room, with fellow jazz guitarist Nels Cline, appeared on Mack Avenue. Its focus was on a range of material, from intricately composed and complex works to free and spontaneous improvisations.
Lage’s most recent release is a solo guitar recording titled World’s Fair on Modern Lore Records in February 2015. Many of these selections will be played during his set as he opens for Channeling Coltrane: Rova’s Electric Ascension during the closing evening of the Winter Jazz Festival on Sunday, January 17.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
The 2016 Winter Jazz Fest runs from January 13-17 at several locations in Greenwich Village. See the full schedule and artist lineup at their website. The next Suga’ show will feature our final installment of artists at the festival with guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer. Head on over to our blog for previews, our annual cheat sheet to selected acts, and a full review when it wraps up.
Web Extras
Watch Lage perform live at the 2012 Winter Jazz Fest.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 12/13/15 Show: Winter Jazz Fest/Brice Rosenbloom
Photo: Brice Rosenbloom (L) and saxophonist Kamasi Washington. | Joyce Jones. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Some Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, December 13, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with Brice Rosenbloom: organizer and producer of the 2016 Winter Jazz Fest held in January. This program kicks off a series of Suga’ Festival coverage.
In 2005, the Winter Jazz Fest was established to give greater exposure to Jazz in New York and beyond. What started as a one-night festival featuring 19 groups has grown into four-day festival that lights up 10 venues with 100+ acts.
Live music promoter and event producer Brice Rosenbloom is the Co-Artistic Director of Le Poisson Rouge and founder of the NYC Winter Jazzfest. His company, Boom Collective, presents hundreds of concerts a year in venues all over New York City.
As an active presence in New York’s vibrant cultural scene, Rosenbloom curated the intimate MAKOR music series beginning in 1999, nurturing developing artists. Rosenbloom then collaborated for a year working shoulder-to-shoulder with Wynton Marsalis to establish the launch season of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center.
From there Rosenbloom continued overseeing a myriad of bookings with artists at the iconic Knitting Factory in 2005. Rosenbloom was then inspired towards the creation of the NYC Winter Jazzfest, which he produces with concert promoter Adam Schatz.
Rosenbloom’s prolific booking expertise within clubs and concert halls is complemented by artistic curating credentials in the performing arts world, representing varied interests in jazz, world, experimental, rock, electronic, and emerging contemporary music.
We’ll talk festival history and the logistics of putting on the event, preview the next festival, and play music from some of the participating artists such as saxophonist Kamasi Washington (see our previous show on him), trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, and much more!
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
The 2016 Winter Jazz Fest runs from January 13-17 at several locations in Greenwich Village. See the full schedule and artist lineup at their website. The next two Suga’ shows will feature coverage of artists at the festival. Head on over to our blog for previews, our annual cheat sheet to selected acts, and a full review when it wraps up.
Web Extras
Watch the official Winter Jazz Fest 2015 recap video.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Sunday 11/29/15 Show: Gary Burton
Photo: Gary Burton | Bruno Bollaert/Flickr. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Some Rights Reserved.
The next show will air on Sunday, November 29, 2015 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will feature an interview with vibraphonist, composer, educator and 2016 NEA Jazz Master Gary Burton.
Gary Burton was born in 1943 and raised in Indiana. Burton taught himself to play the vibraphone and, at the age of 17, made his recording debut in Nashville, Tennessee, with guitarists Hank Garland and Chet Atkins. Two years later, Burton left his studies at Berklee College of Music to join George Shearing and subsequently Stan Getz, with whom he worked from 1964-1966. As a member of Getz’s quartet, Burton won Down Beat magazine’s Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition award in 1965. By the time he left Getz to form his own quartet in 1967, Burton had also recorded three albums under his name for RCA. Borrowing rhythms and sonorities from rock music, while maintaining jazz’s emphasis on improvisation and harmonic complexity, Burton’s first quartet attracted large audiences from both sides of the jazz-rock spectrum. Such albums as Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram established Burton and his band as progenitors of the jazz fusion phenomenon.
During his subsequent association with the ECM label (1973-1988) the Burton Quartet expanded to include the young Pat Metheny on guitar, and the band began to explore a repertoire of modern compositions. In the ’70s, Burton also began to focus on more intimate contexts for his music. His 1971 album Alone at Last, a solo vibraphone concert recorded at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival, was honored with his first Grammy Award. Burton also turned to the rarely heard duo format, recording with bassist Steve Swallow, guitarist Ralph Towner, and most notably with pianist Chick Corea, thus cementing a long personal and professional relationship that has garnered an additional four Grammy Awards.
In the ’70s, Burton began his music education career with Berklee College of Music in Boston. Burton began as a teacher of percussion and improvisation at Berklee in 1971. In 1985 he was named Dean of Curriculum. In 1989, he received an honorary doctorate of music from the college, and in 1996, he was appointed Executive Vice President, responsible for overseeing the daily operation of the college.
June 2011 saw the release of Common Ground, Gary‘s first release on Mack Avenue Records featuring the New Gary Burton Quartet. The new group reunites the vibist with guitar star Julian Lage with the addition of drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Scott Colley. The group toured throughout 2011 and 2013 and released their second CD, Guided Tour, in August 2013.
Meanwhile, Gary‘s latest duet collaboration with Chick Corea, Hot House (2012), on the Concord Jazz label, has been released world-wide and won Gary his 7th Grammy Award in the Best Improvised Solo category.
Burton formed a new band in 2003 after retiring from 33 years of service at Berklee College of Music and began touring regularly. The “Generations” band featured a line-up of talented young musicians including then sixteen-year old guitarist Julian Lage and Russian-born pianist Vadim Nevelovskyi. Gary recorded two CDs with the group titled Generation and Next Generation and the band toured steadily from 2003 through mid-2006.
Burton is also the author of Learning to Listen: The Jazz Journey of Gary Burton. In Learning to Listen, Gary Burton shares his fifty years of experiences at the top of the jazz scene. A seven-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Burton made his first recordings at age seventeen, has toured and recorded with a who’s who of famous jazz names, and is one of only a few openly gay musicians in jazz. Burton is a true innovator, both as a performer and an educator. His autobiography is one of the most personal and insightful jazz books ever written.
Bio adapted from Gary Burton’s official website.
This program is engineered, produced, hosted and edited by Joyce Jones.
Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extras
Watch Burton in a live performance with guitarist Pat Metheny at the 2008 North Sea Jazz Festival.
Watch Burton in a 2011 live performance with Chick Corea.
Watch Burton in a live 1967 performance with guitarist Larry Coryell in Berlin.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
Suga' in My Bowl 