Hank Williams

Sunday 5/13/2018 Show: Dave Burrell

Photo: Dave Burrell | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, May 13, 2018 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 presents an interview with pianist and composer Dave Burrell, who will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2018 Vision Fest.

Distinguished composer-pianist Dave Burrell is a performing artist of singular stature on the international contemporary music scene. His dynamic compositions, with blues and gospel roots recall the tradition of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington, as well avant garde composers Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. After majoring in music at the University of Hawaii, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in 1961. After graduating with degrees in composition/arranging and performance in 1965, he moved to New York City, where he quickly established himself as one of the most innovative and original pianists, collaborating with the emerging leaders in contemporary jazz, joining the groups of tenor saxophonists Marion Brown, Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp.

Burrell’s Jazz Opera Windward Passages, written in collaboration with Swedish-born poet/lyricist Monika Larsson, blends opera voices with world class jazz instrumentalists, a 21-piece jazz opera orchestra, dancers and chorus. Seldom has the classically trained voice played such a unique improvising roll as in this important, ground-breaking endeavor. Burrell’s dance drama, Holy Smoke, with blue-print by Monika Larsson, is being developed for contemporary dance. La Vie de Boheme, Burrell’s arrangement of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme, recorded on BYG Records, France in 1969, was presented at the Bordeaux Jazz Festival in France in 2008.

Dave Burrell appears regularly on national and international radio broadcasts, including NPR’s Bi-Centennial Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton, Dr. Jazz; Duke Ellington’s Centennial Duke and the Piano; Louis Armstrong’s The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, and Leonard Bernstein: An American Life. Dave Burrell was recently featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated show Fresh Air, hosted by Terry Gross. Burrell performed the music of Jelly Roll Morton solo piano The Lomax Legacy: Folklore in a Globalizing Century symposium, along with jazz author and scholar John Szwed, presented by American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress and at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Washington, D.C. In 2009, RAI, Italy aired “Dave Burrell Plays His Songs featuring singer Leena Conquest and lyricist Monika Larsson” on internet radio.

As a musician in-residence at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dave Burrell was commissioned to write music for “Look Again” – African-American History is American History – in 2007: Bill of Sale for a Slave.

His second commission at the Rosenbach, Syllables of the Poetry of Marianne Moore, in duet with bassist Michael Formanek, premiered in February, 2008. His third commission at the museum, Western Extention of the United States of America (1811 – Astoria), premiered in duo with bassist Michael Formanek on September 9, 2009.

Burrell wrote an original score to Oscar Micheaux’s silent black and white film Body and Soul (1925). Some of the music is featured on Burrell’s Db3’s CD Momentum (High Two Records , 2006). Amulet Records released Consequences (2007) featuring Dave Burrell and percussionist Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin and Wood). Burrell’s project, Dave Burrell Plays the Burrell/Larsson Songbook, featuring jazz singer Leena Conquest continues to tour in Europe including Italy, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic and France. RAI Trade, Italy is releasing a CD, a duo recording with Dave and Leena in 2009.

During the last 30 years Dave Burrell has appeared on over 115 recordings, 30 under his own name, (High, High Two, Echo, La Vie de Boheme, After Love, In-Sanity, Only Me, Dreams, Black Spring, Lush Life, Round Midnight, Teardrops for Jimmy, Windward Passages, Daybreak, Brother to Brother, In Concert, Jelly Roll Joys, Esquisses for a Walk, Live at Caramoor, Changes and Chanses, Recital, Expansion, Consequences, Margy Pargy, and Momentum)

Burrell is renowned for his pivotal recordings with tenor saxophonists Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown, David Murray, Beaver Harris, Grachan Moncur, Sunny Murray, Bob Stewart, and most recently William Parker.

A frequent lecturer, Burrell’s Master Classes include Strasbourg Conservatory, Tremblay Conservatory (Paris), Conservatoire Municipal (Paris), Guildhall School of Music and Dance (London), New York University, Queens College, University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College, Duquesne University School of Music, Pennsylvania, Bard College, New York, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, Rice University, Houston, Texas, DePauw University, Indiana, Columbia University, New York City and Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Recent commissions include Rosenbach Museum and Library, Philadelphia, and Whitney Museum, New York City.

Dave Burrell is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Music Foundation, William J. Cooper Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania State Council on the Arts, MidAtlantic Foundation, John Garcia Gensel Award, and the Pew Fellowship in Jazz Composition.

Dave Burrell joined Steinway’s Artist Roster in 2007.

(Bio adapted from Burrell’s website.)

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.

Dave Burrell will be this year’s recipient of Vision Fest’s lifetime achievement award on the May 23 opening night at Roulette and will play in three different combos including a composition paying tribute to the Harlem Renaissance and a reunion with saxophonist Archie Shepp.

Web Extras:

Watch Burrell play with frequent collaborators William Parker, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Blueitt, and William Hooker at the 2011 Vision Festival.

Watch Burrell perform “Leo” with Rashied Ali’s quartet in this 1972 live clip.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 4/29/2018 Show: Linda Manzer

Photo: Linda Manzer | © Andy Howell. Some Rights Reserved.

The next show will air on Sunday, April 29 2018 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 presents an interview with luthier (guitar maker) Linda Manzer.

Linda (Jane) Manzer, born in Toronto, is a Canadian luthier renowned for her archtop and flat-top acoustic guitars.

Linda received her training from Jean Larrivée between 1974 and 1978 and later with Jimmy D’Aquisto in New York. Her greatest claim to fame is that she has and still does build many custom guitars for renowned jazz musician Pat Metheny including the Pikasso which has 42 strings and three necks. Carlos Santana, Stephen Fearing, Julian Lage, Henrik Andersen, Doug Macaskill, Craig Snyder, Milton Nascimento, Liona Boyd, Heather Bishop, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Simon, Mike Francis (Pepe), Marie Lynn Hammond, Sherry Shute, John McGale and Gordon Lightfoot have to be mentioned as special customers too.

Manzer says, “I’ve been making guitars for over 43 years. I love what I do. The most important thing to me is that the player is inspired by the guitar. And plays it.”

(Bio adapted from the Manzer Guitars website.)

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.

Web Extras:

Watch Pat Metheny perform “Into the Dream” with the Manzer 42-string Pikasso Guitar.

Watch Julian Lage perform a duo with the Manzer Blue Note Guitar.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 4/15/2018 Show: Nels Cline

Photo: Nels Cline | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, April 15 2018 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 presents an interview with guitarist and composer Nels Cline.

Guitar explorer Nels Cline is best known these days as the lead guitarist in the band Wilco. His recording and performing career — spanning jazz, rock, punk and experimental — is well into its fourth decade, with over 200 recordings, including at least 30 for which he is leader. Cline has received many accolades including Rolling Stone anointing him as both one of 20 “new guitar gods” and one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.

Beyond Wilco, Cline performs in a duo project with guitarist Julian Lage in addition to a quartet, The Nels Cline 4 (featuring Lage plus bassist Scott Colley and drummer Tom Rainey), collaborates with his partner Yuka Honda as the duo Cup, performs as Stretch Woven with percussionist Scott Amendola, leads The Nels Cline Singers (featuring Amendola plus bassist Trevor Dunn and percussionist Cyro Baptista) and plays with Stained Radiance (an improvisational live project with performance painter Norton Wisdom). Cline also periodically presents concerts of his concept album Lovers, which involves a 17-person ensemble and collaborates dozens of composers/improvisers.

(Bio adapted from Nels Cline’s website.)

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.

Nels Cline will be at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday, April 16 at 7:00 PM with The Nels Cline 4, which includes guitarist Julian Lage.

Web Extras:

Watch Cline perform “Swing Ghost 59” with the Nels Cline 4.

Watch Cline with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Ches Smith in this 2005 live performance.

Watch Cline play with Medeski, Martin, and Wood in this 2017 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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 4/1/2018 Show: William Hooker

Photo: William Hooker | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, April 1 2018 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 presents an interview with drummer, composer and poet William Hooker.

William Hooker grew up in New Britain, Connecticut and basically was a good student, and came from a good home. Hook says about his education and introduction to music: “I did all that I could possibly do to make my way through New Britain High School, Nathan Hale Junior High, and Central Connecticut. State College. I tried to get good grades to be an exceptional student as far as playing in the band and orchestra, in leading the chorus and student councils. I was brought up in the church where I sang and learned the gospel repertoire in choirs and as a vocal soloist. I also was given private drum lessons as a child at the age of 10. What led me to music was the fact that I performed in a rock and roll group in Connecticut. Then I got into jazz – in a big way. My first experience playing jazz was with a quartet of older gentlemen who taught me standards(from the black book) and the essentials of leading a band. I did this for four years at the age of 16. I listened to as much music as I could and listened to all the local players in the many clubs,concerts and shows. This is what I did while I was studying in college to obtain my degree in political science,sociology and history. I also studied 20th century composers and electronic music while I was in school. I continued to play and perform, never to become a musician – I was one. I didn’t think of it in terms of the rest of my life or my career because I was good in most of the things I tried to do, be they academic life or musical life. My mentors were my mother , father and the many “professional” musicians I had the pleasure of knowing throughout my life.”

Hooker continues, “I had the great fortune to be a part of an organ trio,playing 4-5 nights a week and continuing to build the roots of “the music.” All through college the group performed standards,show tunes and the like. I played with this group for about 5 years. All the while I was listening deeply to the recordings of Impulse, ESP, Blue Note, Delmark and the like. This was a focused life – working a lot and picking up as much knowledge and skill as I possibly could in the various clubs and places where I performed. I then made the transition from classic jazz to free jazz when I relocated to San Francisco. It was there that I played-daily with an African conga group. this group was steeped in the rhythms and sounds of the drum and percussion. Upon returning to Connecticut, I made the decision to move to New York where I created and led groups using many of those mentioned in my most recent history. The concentration had changed to one in which my own musical concepts were the center of my expression.”

Hooker considers himself a “jazz musician.” “I know this word is defined in many different ways. My work fits in the jazz tradition because it’s based on improvisation..it’s based on learning one’s craft..it’s based on written out music in many cases..it’s based on traditional duo, trio, quartet and sextet settings. I use a Ludwig drum kit. It is set up traditionally: one tom, bass drum, floor tom, two cymbals, high hat, and a snare. Usually this is my preferred set up. I’m hoping that many of the projects I have happening will be recorded and performed live. Many musicians and the relationships that have been building will come to fruition. As this occurs, I will experience the beauty of this music….and I will continue to play.”

(Bio adapted from Hooker’s website.)

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.

William Hooker will be at Roulette in Brooklyn On Thursday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m. to present “The Great Migration,” s stirring multimedia and multidisciplinary suite.

Web Extras:

Watch a short video on Hooker’s multidisciplinary “Great Migration” suite.

Watch Hooker at the 2011 Vision Fest in this live clip.

Watch Hooker at the 2013 Vilnius Jazz Fest in this live clip.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 3/18/2018 Show: Lakecia Benjamin

Photo: Lakecia Benjamin | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, March 4 2018 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 presents an interview with primarily alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator Lakecia Benjamin. In addition to discussing points in Ms. Benjamin’s career, we will also discuss the upcoming RISE UP release on Ropeadope Records.

Charismatic and dynamic saxophonist/bandleader Lakecia Benjamin’s electric stage presence and fiery sax work, has shared stages with Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Macy Gray and many others, brings the soul and funk up to a fever pitch in a show that’s guaranteed to keep crowds dancing day or night. Though her own music with her band Lakecia Benjamin and Soul Squad is immersed in the vintage sounds of James Brown, Maceo Parker, Sly and the Family Stone and the Meters as well as classic jazz, Benjamin’s soaring, dance floor-friendly grooves take the classic vibe to a whole new level. The constant throughout it all is Benjamin’s summery, sultry alto saxophone, adding something special on every cut – be it a smoldering late-night ambience, an erudite, forceful jazz intensity or the tight funk multi-horn harmony sections that pepper the proceedings throughout.

A streetwise New York City native born and raised in Washington Heights, Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most highly sought-after players in soul and funk music. She first picked up the saxophone at Fiorello LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, after which she joined the renowned jazz program at New York’s New School University. By that time, she was already playing with renowned jazz figures like Clark Terry and Reggie Workman, which led to gigs and tours with a wide array of artists such as Rashied Ali, the David Murray Big Band, Vanessa Rubin and James “Blood” Ulmer. With her deep jazz roots, she was soon in demand as an arranger and horn section leader, landing stints with such acclaimed artists as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Macy Gray, the Roots, and Anita Baker.

Currently, Benjamin is a featured musician for Gregory Porter as well as a featured musician and arranger for comedy star Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious. (Robinson, best known for his work on TV’s The Office as well as such popular films as Pineapple Express and Hot Tub Time Machine, tours regularly with the Nasty Delicious band serving as the main foil in his popular comedy act). Benjamin has also had the honor of performing at the White House at President Obama’s inaugural ball. She’s performed on four continents and her extensive recording credits include saxophone and arrangements for Santigold, Maurice Brown, the Clark Terry Big Band, Krystle Warren and TalibKweli, among others.

(Bio adapted from Benjamin’s website.)

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.

Lakecia Benjamin will be at Joe’s Pub on Wednesday March 21 at 9 PM with an album release party for RISE UP.

Web Extras:

Watch the music video for “Take Back” from Benjamin’s RISE UP.

Watch Benjamin and her Soul Squad band perform “Smile” in this live clip.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 3/4/2018 Show: Mary Halvorson

Photo: Mary Halvorson @ the 2013 Vision Fest | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, March 4 2018 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 presents an interview with guitarist, composer, bandleader and educator Mary Halvorson. In addition to discussing points in Ms. Halvorson’s career, we will also discuss the upcoming Code Girl release on Firehouse 12 Records.

One of improvised music’s most in-demand guitarists, Mary Halvorson has been active in New York since 2002, following jazz studies at Wesleyan University and the New School. Critics have called her “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). The Philadelphia City Paper’s Shaun Brady adds, “Halvorson has been steadily reshaping the sound of jazz guitar in recent years with her elastic, sometimes-fluid, sometimes-shredding, wholly unique style.”

After three years of study with visionary composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, Ms. Halvorson became an active member of several of his bands, including his trio, septet and 12+1tet. To date, she appears on over ten of Mr. Braxton’s recordings. Ms. Halvorson has also performed alongside iconic guitarist Marc Ribot, in his bands Sun Ship and The Young Philadelphians, and with the bassist Trevor Dunn in his Trio-Convulsant. Over the past decade she has worked with such diverse bandleaders as Tim Berne, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, Ingrid Laubrock, Jason Moran, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Tomeka Reid and John Zorn.

As a bandleader and composer, one of Ms. Halvorson’s primary outlets is her longstanding trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith. Since their 2008 debut album, Dragon’s Head, the band was recognized as a rising star jazz band by Downbeat Magazine for five consecutive years. Most recently she has formed an octet, adding trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Ingrid Laubrock, trombonist Jacob Garchik, and pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. Their debut 2016 release, Away With You, on the Firehouse 12 Record label, was called “radiant” by the New York Times and “one of the most intricate and entrancing sets of her career” by Pitchfork. Ms. Halvorson is also a part of several collaborative projects including Thumbscrew (with Michael Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara), Secret Keeper (with Stephan Crump), a chamber-jazz duo with violist Jessica Pavone, and the avant-rock band People.

(Bio adapted from Halvorson’s website.)

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.

Mary Halvorson will be part of the John Zorn Improv Matinee: A Stone Benefit at the Village Vanguard on March 11 at 3:00 p.m. Former Suga’ guests Christian McBride and Marc Ribot will be there as well.

Web Extras:

Watch Halvorson play with Nels Cline and Ches Smith in this 2005 live performance.

Watch Halvorson’s octet in action at the 2017 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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 2/18/2018 Show: T.S. Monk

Photo: T.S. Monk | Credit: Michael Weintrob

The next show will air on Sunday, February 18 2018 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 presents an interview with drummer, composer, bandleader and son of Thelonius Sphere Monk, T.S. Monk. We will discuss some parts of T.S. Monk’s career and the direction he has taken to honor the memory of his father.

After earning a reputation in school as a rabble-rouser, and graduating, the young Monk joined his father’s trio and toured with his dad until the elder Monk’s retirement in 1975. T. S. then launched into the music that had captivated him and his generation, R&B. He first toured with a group called Natural Essence and afterward, with his sister Barbara, formed his own band with which he had hits on two recordings, House Of Music and More Of The Good Life, where he played drums, arranged, and sang.

T. S. received the New York Jazz Awards First Annual “Recording of the Year” and ‘Downbeat’s’ prestigious 63rd Reader’s Poll Award for Monk On Monk, the “80th Anniversary Birthday Tribute to Thelonious Sphere Monk” featuring twenty guest artists including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Arturo Sandoval, Dianne Reeves, Nnenna Freelon, Howard Johnson, among others perform on the recording. Critics and the public lauded T. S. Monk as his father’s true musical heir, as bandleader, and performer. Rave reviews in the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, the L.A. Times, and others, echoed the public sentiment of the sold out concert hall shows across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Shortly after these accomplishments, his father passed away leaving a rich and legendary legacy and, tragically, his sister died of cancer. To honor his father’s legacy and support the efforts of education, Thelonious turned his attention toward forming the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. As Chairman, Thelonious has been at the forefront of helping to create a number of programs that range supporting after-school athletic programs. The Institute’s activities reach from Boston to Los Angeles sponsoring music education for students in the form of full scholarships to funding and supplies and from New York to Orlando.

In 1992, Thelonious formed his jazz sextet and received raves from the moment they hit the stage and the studio. One of the most unique groups on the circuit, the T. S. Monk Sextet’s cohesive and driving style has been heard at the JVC Jazz at the Bowl festival, Sun Valley Center, Lied Center for the Performing Arts, and many of the legendary jazz clubs. For his special 80th Anniversary Birthday Tribute to his father, the sextet formed the core of the eleven musician, pulsating and dynamic show. With Grammy Award winning producer (for Joe Henderson’s Lush Life, among others) Don Sickler on trumpet, the duo has carved an innovative and dynamic approach to crafting the T. S. Monk Sextet sound; this band soars and sizzles.

For two consecutive seasons, December 1996 and January 1998, on ABC, jazz returned to network television after a twenty-five year absence. Sponsored by Nissan and The Thelonious Monk Institute, under the guidance of Thelonious, Jr. and Tom Carter, an historic assemblage of artists gathered for ‘A Celebration Of America’s Music’ hosted by Bill Cosby and featuring Natalie Cole, Jon Secada, Tony Bennett, K.D. Lang, as well as Thelonious performing his father’s signature tune, Round Midnight, with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Nnenna Freelon, Al Jarreau, Dave Brubeck, Aretha Franklin have all performed for this Annual special.

(Bio adapted from Monk’s website.)

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.

T.S. Monk will be at the Bickford Theater in Morristown, NJ on Thursday, February 22nd from 7:30 – 8:30pm. He’ll be with his sextet and feature vocalist April May Webb.

Web Extras:

Watch The TS Monk Sextet play a beautiful version of “‘Round Midnight” with vocalist Nnenna Freelon in this live 2017 clip.

Watch the TS Monk Sextet in action in this live clip from 2011.

Watch Monk perform (and sing!) the pop hit “Bon Bon Vie” in this throwback music video from 1980!

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 2/4/2018 Show: John Scofield

Photo: John Scofield | Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND.

The next show will air on Sunday, February 4, 2018 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 focuses on 2016 Grammy winner for Best Jazz Instrumental Album guitarist, composer, arranger and occasional singer John Scofield.

John Scofield’s guitar work has influenced jazz since the late 70’s and is going strong today. Possessor of a very distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B.

Born in Ohio and raised in suburban Connecticut, Scofield took up the guitar at age 11, inspired by both rock and blues players. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a debut recording with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Scofield was a member of the Billy Cobham-George Duke band for two years. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, and joined the Gary Burton quartet. He began his international career as a bandleader and recording artist in 1978. From 1982–1985, Scofield toured and recorded with Miles Davis. His Davis stint placed him firmly in the foreground of jazz consciousness as a player and composer.

Since that time he has prominently led his own groups in the international Jazz scene, recorded over 30 albums as a leader (many already classics) including collaborations with contemporary favorites like Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Mavis Staples, Government Mule, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano and Phil Lesh. He’s played and recorded with Tony Williams, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Terumasa Hino among many jazz legends. Throughout his career Scofield has punctuated his traditional jazz offerings with funk-oriented electric music. All along, the guitarist has kept an open musical mind.

Touring the world approximately 200 days per year with his own groups, he is an Adjunct Professor of Music at New York University, a husband, and father of two.

(Bio adapted from Scofield’s website.)

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.

John Scofield will be one of the artists participating in a benefit for Chamber Music Studio on Wednesday, February 6, at Le Poisson Rouge. We will also have a quick discussion with one of the benefit’s co-organizers trumpeter Steven Bernstein. See the Le Poisson Rouge website for show details and ticket information. He’ll also be at Roulette in Brooklyn for a John Abercrombie tribute on February 26 and has a run at the Blue Note from April 3-8.

Web Extras:

Watch Scofield play a blistering solo with Miles Davis’s band in this live clip.

Watch Scofield and guitarist Pat Metheny team up to perform “The Red One” in this live clip!

Watch Scofield in in this 2016 live clip from Amsterdam.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 1/21/2018 Show: Jazzmeia Horn

Photo: Jazzmeia Horn @ the 2018 Winter Jazz Fest | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, January 21, 2018 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 recognizes the 2018 Grammys by featuring an interview with composer, vocalist and Best Jazz Vocal Grammy nominee for A Social Call, Jazzmeia Horn.

Winner of the 2015 Thelonius Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition and 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Jazzmeia Horn has a name that speaks for itself capturing her very essence. Hailing from the great Dallas, Texas Horn has already earned a reputation in New York as a rising star. With the ambition to pursue a solo career, Horn graced the New York scene in 2009 and earned her degree at The New School for Jazz and contemporary Music. It wasn’t much later when she began to perform as a sideman with musicians Winard Harper, Junior Mance, Billy Harper, Lincoln Center Alumni Vincent Gardner, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, Johnny O’Neal, Vincent Herring, Kirk Lightsey, Frank Wess, and Ellis Marsalis.

Horn then began to appear in world famous jazz festivals and legendary jazz clubs such as Lenox Lounge, Bill’s Place, The Apollo, The Blue Note, Dizzy’s Jazz Club Coca­Cola, Minton’s, The Jazz Standard, Smalls Jazz Club, Zinc, Jazz Gallery, Birdland, and The New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Her accolades include Downbeat Student Music Award Recipient 2008, 2009, and Best Vocal Jazz Soloist Winner 2010; The 2013 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at The Kennedy Center­ in Washington D.C.; The Rising Star Award for the 2012 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Jazz Competition; Finalist for Mid­Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition in 2014; and The 2015 ­16th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium’s Young Lioness Award.

Currently, Horn is a teaching artist in The NJPAC Well’s Fargo­ Jazz for Teens Program and Jazz In The Schools Program in Newark, New Jersey. She appears in various clubs on the jazz scene nationally and internationally leading her dynamic group “The Artistry of Jazz Horn” which includes­ a pianist, bassist, drummer, saxophonist, poet, dancer and herself­ as vocalist. Horn humbles her life and gift of music before God and says “I am thankful for the opportunity to play music professionally and have a deep desire to uplift the souls of others in need through my artistry in the spirit of music.”

(Bio adapted from Horn’s website.)

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.

Jazzmeia Horn will be at the Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival on February 16. She also has a run at the Jazz Standard from March 1-4.

Web Extras:

Watch the trailer for Horn’s Grammy nominated A Social Call album.

Watch Horn perform her medley of “Lift Every Voice and Sing/Moanin” Live on the Tavis Smiley Show.

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 College in the City University of New York system.

Sunday 1/7/2018 Show: Winter Jazz Fest / Fay Victor

Photo: Fay Victor @ Vision Festival 21, 6/10/16 | © Joyce Jones/ Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with Permission.

The next show will air on Sunday, January 7, 2018 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 is our third (and last) 2018 Winter Jazz Festival preview program and focuses on improvising vocalist, composer, lyricist and educator Fay Victor.

Called “artistically complete” by the New York Times and “a thrilling improviser” by Downbeat magazine, Fay Victor consistently hones a unique vision of the vocalist’s role in jazz and improvised music. Victor’s eight critically acclaimed recordings as a leader since the late 90’s has seen praise in venerable media outlets such as Downbeat, JazzTimes, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The Wire, Signal to Noise, Popmatters.com, The San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out Chicago, The Chicago Reader, The New York City Jazz Record and JazzWise (UK). Victor’s long standing group, the Fay Victor Ensemble – an expansive and cohesive mix of jazz, rock, blues, new music and free improvisation – released three albums to huge critical acclaim (2009’s The FreeSong Suite made it onto numerous year-end lists including The Village Voice, NPR and Popmatters.com). The experimental blues project The Exposed Blues Duo, with FVE guitarist Anders Nilsson delving deep into a variety of blues forms released Bare in 2010. There is Herbie Nichols SUNG, Victor’s homage to the unsung be-bop pianist incorporating Victor’s lyrics and arrangements in a quintet and trio format. The trio project has been recorded and currently looking for label support for release and 2018 will see Victor release Wet Robots on ESP-DISK, a brand new vehicle for fresh sounds and improvisational approaches in a group called SoundNoiseFUNK.

In addition to Victor’s band-leading vehicles on record, her voice has attracted esteemed ensembles including Other Dimensions in Music (ODIM), the perennial free jazz outfit joined forces with Victor for 2011’s Kaiso Stories on Silkheart Records in 2011, lauded for its impressive fusion of Calypso, the music of Trinidad & Tobago and home to Victor’s cultural roots, with free jazz. The legendary and longstanding Dutch outfit, the Instant Composer’s Pool Orkest (ICP) led by Misha Mengelberg/Han Bennink invited Victor to tour with them in Europe in 2010 and appear during US tours in 2011, 2014 and 2015. Victor is the first vocalist to work consistently with ICP in it’s 50 year history. Victor was one of the vocalists on Trillium E (New Braxton Records 2011) with Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra and Trillium J during the four-day Braxtonian Festival in 2011. Reedist Ab Baars invited Victor and french horn hero Vincent Chancey to celebrate 20 years with his esteemed trio in 2011 including a 15-concert European tour, the first time Baars had written material for voice and specifically for Victor; that work is contained on The Invisible Blow (Stichting Wig 2014). Victor received a presenting commission from Anthony Braxton himself on behalf of the Tricentric Foundation for Neighborhood Dynamics (co-composed with Jochem van Dijk) that was presented during the TriCentric Festival in a double bill with Anthony Braxton’s Nonet in 2014. Neighborhood Dynamics is a piece about gentrification and the changing demographic landscape of Brooklyn, NY, where Victor calls home. Over the past four years, Victor’s work with esteemed avant-garde trombonist Roswell Rudd has seen a deeper connection appearing on his 2014 Trombone for Lovers(Sunnyside Records 2014) and now appearing on every track of Embrace (RareNoise 2017), a project of re-imagined standards. Victor was part of a voice/percussion/piano duo with MacArthur genius grant recipient, professor and composer/multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey, with appearances at Constellation in Chicago, IL (2016) and Vision Festival XVVI (2014) amongst their performance highlights.

Victor is also out on record as a part of Glorious Ravage, a sprawling song-cycle in honor of Victorian-era female explorers composed by Bay Area bassist/composer Lisa Mezzacappa (New World Records 2017). Mezzacappa and Victor have collaborated frequently since 2011 and the song cycle was originally inspired by Victor’s first trip out West to play with Mezzacappa. Finally, Victor is part of ReDDeer a trio of improvisors that met at MusicOmi in 2010 with a record of live duo/trio recordings in New York & Austria called New York – St. Johann (Evil Rabbit Records 2017) and Victor is a featured guest on Marc Ribot’s Songs of Resistance, due for release in January 2018. Victor was just awarded a residency at Yaddo Corp. for Music Composition, staying there for 6 weeks to complete a large work on the life and death of her mother, in early 2018.

Victor’s performances have included such luminaries as Wadada Leo Smith, Marshall Allen (Sun Ra), NEA Jazz Master Dr. Randy Weston, NEA Jazz Master Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd, Nicole Mitchell, William Parker, Myra Melford, Lawrence Butch Morris, Gary Lucas, Dave Burrell, Henry Threadgill, Andrew Cyrille, Jason Moran, Sam Newsome, Darius Jones, Anthony Coleman, Aruan Ortiz, Joe Morris, Vijay Iyer, Matana Roberts, Mark Dresser, Steven Bernstein, Marika Hughes, Mazz Swift, Marty Ehrlich, Melvin Gibbs, Henry Butler, Curtis Clark and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

(Bio adapted from Fay Victor’s website)

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.

Fay Victor  will be at the 2018 Winter Jazz Festival leading the SoundNoiseFunk ensemble, as part of saxophonist Darius Jones’s LawNOrder, and with Nicole Mitchell’s Maroon Cloud. See the Winter Jazz Fest site for details and check our blog for a full preview.

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.