Drummers

Tuesday 7/9/2019 Show: Jaimeo Brown

Photo: Jaimeo Brown | © Joyce Jones/SugaBowl Photography. Used with permission.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday July 9, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will feature drummer, educator and activist Jaimeo Brown.

Jaimeo Brown (pronounced jah-mayo) began his drum career at age 16 with his father bassist Dartanyan Brown and mother pianist and woodwind specialist, Marcia Miget, and drum teacher, Sly Randolph, himself a Bernard Purdie protégé from Harlem. In the last 20 years, he has worked with a range of musicians including Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Q-Tip, Carl Craig, Bobby Hutcherson, Greg Osby, Joe Locke, David Murray, and several other New York based musicians. He gained extensive experience performing and educating various audiences around the world as an ambassador for the US State Department. As the Director of Transcending Arts Jaimeo is a passionate educator. He has given countless hours in community service in urban NJ and NY giving lessons to kids through programs such as NJPAC, New City Kids.

Sometimes, when you find a voice, your life is no longer your own. It belongs to those you speak to, speak for and speak of.

Jaimeo Brown has found his voice in struggle and hope. Sung with fire, healed with love, his words are the songs of the unknown labourer; the jailhouse; the coal miner, gandy dancer, and stonemason – yesterday, and tomorrow. His notes are the echoes of protest and his rhythms are the universal beat of freedom and solidarity; at once ancient and modern.

Brown reached out to producer, guitarist & longtime friend Chris Sholar to achieve what he heard in his soul. With the mantra ‘not to think of it as a regular gig’, and an MPC salvaged from the garbage, they began to program. Together they discovered a tapestry where a digital future meets a hand-stitched past; the logic of a language waiting to be spoken.

Jaimeo Brown is an educator, activist and artist whose work is a call to transcend: transcend traditional limits of creativity; transcend oppression; transcend from one to all – via artistic, technological and historical exploration, and the essential humanity that unites us.

(Bio excerpted and adapted from Brown’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.

Web Extras:

Watch the official video for Brown’s “Be So Glad” from the Transcendence release.

Watch Brown and the Transcendence ensemble perform live in this 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.

Tuesday 7/2/2019 Show: Alphonse Mouzon

Photo: Alphone Mouzon | © Guido Nardi/ Flickr.

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday July 2, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will memorialize Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records, composer, arranger, producer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist and actor Alphonse Mouzon.

Alphonse Mouzon (who was an African American mixed with French and Blackfoot Indian) was born on November 21st in Charleston, South Carolina. He attended Bonds-Wilson High School where he received his early musical training under the direction of saxophonist high school music teacher Lonnie Hamilton III, and took some drum lessons from Charles Garner before playing gigs with the Lonnie Hamilton Band. Following graduation from high school, he moved to New York to study music and drama at New York City College and medicine at Manhattan Medical School. Mouzon took drum lessons from jazz pianist Billy Taylor’s drummer Bobby Thomas. While attending college, Alphonse played in the pit band of the Broadway show “PROMISES, PROMISES” after being recommended by Bobby Thomas. MOUZON also worked as a medical technologist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital after graduating from Manhattan Medical School. However his medical career was short lived.

Alphonse Mouzon’s musical associations read like a veritable Who’s Who of Modern Jazz and Pop Music. His talents cover a broad range of musical disciplines and philosophies. He was the rhythmic foundation for the far reaching musical explorations of pianist McCoy Tyner. He was a charter member along with keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, of the group Weather Report. Along with guitarist Larry Coryell, MOUZON was co-founder of The Eleventh House, the seminal fusion band of the seventies. Mouzon and Coryell continued to tour together in a trio and with the Eleventh House.

Alphonse Mouzon’s name can be found in just about every Jazz Encyclopedia/ Dictionary, and is listed the 2nd edition of Marquis Who’s Who In Entertainment and Who’s Who In The World. MOUZON was voted the #2 BEST MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST in the 1995 Jazziz Magazine Annual Readers Poll.

As it was stated at his website: “Alphonse is a Christian and always has been a believer in Christ and the Almighty, Omnipotent God! Mouzon was a Prostate Cancer survivor who recommends that every man over 35 years old have a PSA blood test done to make sure cancer is not present. Early detection is a lifesaver!”

Alphonse Mouzon left the Earth on December 25, 2016.

(Bio excerpted and adapted from All About Jazz.)

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 Mouzon and the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorious 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.

Tuesday 6/18/2019 Show: Andrew Cyrille, Part 2

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

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight!

The next show will air on Tuesday June 18, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. As promised, we offer part two of an interview with composer, drummer/percussionist and this year’s Vision Festival Lifetime of Achievement honoree Andrew Cyrille. Part two of this conversation will pick up on Mr. Cyrille’s career after working with Cecil Taylor.

Andrew Cyrille, born in Brooklyn on November 10, 1939, studied with Philly Joe Jones in 1958 and then spent the first half of the 1960s studying in New York at Juilliard and the Hartnett School of Music. At the same time, he was performing with jazz artists ranging from Mary Lou Williams, Coleman Hawkins, and Illinois Jacquet to Kenny Dorham, Freddie Hubbard, Walt Dickerson, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, among others. He also played with Nigerian drummer Babtunde Olatunji and worked with dancers. In 1964 he formed what would prove to be an eleven-year association with Cecil Taylor, a gig that brought him new acclaim and established him in the vanguard of jazz drumming.

Starting in 1969, Cyrille played in a number of percussion groups with notable drummers including Kenny Clarke, Milford Graves, Don Moye, Rashied Ali, Daniel Ponce, Michael Carvin, and Vladimir Tarasov. Cyrille formed his group Maono (“feelings”) in 1975, with its fluid membership dictated by the forces his compositions called for rather than vice versa. Since leaving Taylor’s group, he has also worked with such top-flight peers as David Murray, Muhal Richard Abrams, Mal Waldron, Horace Tapscott, James Newton, and Oliver Lake, was the drummer on Billy Bang’s A Tribute to Stuff Smith (Soul Note 121216), notable for being the last studio session of Sun Ra.

An artist-in-residence and teacher at Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio) from 1971 to 1973, Cyrille has also taught at the Graham Windham Home for Children in New York and is currently a faculty member at the New School for Social Research in New York City.

(Bio excerpted and adapted from Drummer World.)

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 Cyrille with Kidd Jordan and William Parker at the 2003 Vision Festival.

Watch Cyrille with Haitian Fascination at the 2017 NYC Winter 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 College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 6/4/2019 Show: Vision 24 with Andrew Cyrille

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

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight! We’re back to our regular schedule following WBAI’s Spring Fund Drive.

The next show will air on Tuesday June 4, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This broadcast will kick off our coverage of Vision 24 with part one of an interview with composer and drummer/percussionist Andrew Cyrille. This is the first part of two conversations. This conversation will focus on Mr. Cyrille’s career up to his time with Cecil Taylor.

Andrew Cyrille, born in Brooklyn on November 10, 1939, studied with Philly Joe Jones in 1958 and then spent the first half of the 1960s studying in New York at Juilliard and the Hartnett School of Music. At the same time, he was performing with jazz artists ranging from Mary Lou Williams, Coleman Hawkins, and Illinois Jacquet to Kenny Dorham, Freddie Hubbard, Walt Dickerson, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, among others. He also played with Nigerian drummer Babtunde Olatunji and worked with dancers. In 1964 he formed what would prove to be an eleven-year association with Cecil Taylor, a gig that brought him new acclaim and established him in the vanguard of jazz drumming.

Starting in 1969, Cyrille played in a number of percussion groups with notable drummers including Kenny Clarke, Milford Graves, Don Moye, Rashied Ali, Daniel Ponce, Michael Carvin, and Vladimir Tarasov. Cyrille formed his group Maono (“feelings”) in 1975, with its fluid membership dictated by the forces his compositions called for rather than vice versa. Since leaving Taylor’s group, he has also worked with such top-flight peers as David Murray, Muhal Richard Abrams, Mal Waldron, Horace Tapscott, James Newton, and Oliver Lake, was the drummer on Billy Bang’s A Tribute to Stuff Smith (Soul Note 121216), notable for being the last studio session of Sun Ra.

An artist-in-residence and teacher at Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio) from 1971 to 1973, Cyrille has also taught at the Graham Windham Home for Children in New York and is currently a faculty member at the New School for Social Research in New York City.

(Bio excerpted and adapted from Drummer World.)

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.

Andrew Cyrille is getting a lifetime achievement award at the opening night of the week-long 2019 Vision Festival on June 11 at Roulette in downtown Brooklyn and will be part of eight—yes, eight—different ensembles that night. Vision starts with  film screenings on June 9 at Anthology Film Archives then moves to Roulette for nightly sets from June 11-16. See the full schedule at their website.

Web Extras:

Watch Cyrille with Kidd Jordan and William Parker at the 2003 Vision Festival.

Watch Cyrille with Haitian Fascination at the 2017 NYC Winter 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 College in the City University of New York system.

Tuesday 5/14/2019 Show: The Journey with Bobby Sanabria

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

Program note: we’re in a new weekly Tuesday night slot from 10-12 midnight! We’ll be pre-empted on May 21 and 28 for WBAI’s Spring Fund Drive. After this show, we’ll be back in June.

The next show will air on Tuesday May 14, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of the program will feature “The Journey: From Africa to the New World Through Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Haiti and Beyond” presented by drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, multicultural warrior educator Bobby Sanabria. Join us as we help continue the important work of WBAI during this Spring Membership Drive.

Bobby Sanabria, the son of Puerto Rican parents, was born and raised in the “Fort Apache” section of New York City’s South Bronx. Inspired and encouraged by maestro Tito Puente, another fellow New York-born Puerto Rican, Sanabria “got serious” and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music from 1975 to 1979, obtaining a Bachelor of Music degree and receiving their prestigious Faculty Association Award for his work as an instrumentalist. Since his graduation, Sanabria has become a leader in the Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and jazz fields as both a drummer and percussionist, and is recognized as one of the most articulate musician-scholars of la tradición living today, and was a Professor at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

He has been featured on numerous Grammy-nominated albums, including The Mambo Kings and other movie soundtracks, as well as numerous television and radio work. Sanabria was the drummer with the legendary “Father of the Afro-Cuban Jazz movement,” Mario Bauzá’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. With them he recorded three CD’s (two of which were Grammy-nominated) which are considered to be definitive works of the Afro-Cuban big-band jazz tradition.

Sanabria is also an award-winning documentary producer whose films include The Palladium—Where Mambo Was King, shown on BRAVO, and From Mambo to Hip Hop—A South Bronx Tale, shown on PBS; he was a featured interviewee in both films.

The Journey is a sweeping history of African rhythms and music, traced through the Caribbean by Sanabria’s thorough scholarship with a vast array of musical examples pulled from his incredible collection. Sanabria narrates the history in a way that makes it come alive and roots the sonic production within the historical and cultural context of the various time periods. It’s been one one of WBAI’s most popular specials for a good reason.

(Bio excerpted and adapted from his 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.

Bobby Sanabria is at 55 Bar on May 17 with Gabriela Anders.

Web Extras:

Pledge to help keep WBAI on the air and receive your very own copy of “The Journey” as a thank you gift for your donation!

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 12/23/2018 Show: Billy Hart

Photo: Billy Hart | © Girard Turner, 2017

The next show will air on Sunday December 23, 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 features an interview with composer, drummer/percussionist and educator Billy Hart. It also kicks off our coverage of the 2019 Winter Jazz Fest.

Billy Hart was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Jazz was in his blood. His family lived five blocks from the Spotlite Club, where the underage drummer pressed his ear to the window to listen to the Coltrane-Adderley-Evans edition of the Miles Davis Sextet, and the Lee Morgan-Benny Golson edition of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. His father, a mathematician and “an intellectual cat who demanded respect and knew a lot about a lot,” was a staunch Ellington fan; his paternal grandmother had played piano for Marian Anderson and knew William Grant Still. His mother was devoted to Jimmie Lunceford; his maternal grandmother—who bought him his first “good drum set for a gig with a good bebop band”—was a friend of D.C. tenor hero Buck Hill, who turned Hart on to Charlie Parker, and hired him at 17 for nine months of weekend gigs at a spot called Abart’s, where fellow McKinley High School students Reuben Brown and Butch Warren joined him six nights a week as the house rhythm section.

Hart matriculated at Howard University as a mechanical engineering major, but left when Shirley Horn, who had hired him out of Abart’s, took him on the road. Hart credits her with teaching him to play bebop at a simmer, not a roar. He also learned Brazilian rhythms from the source on early ’60s sub jobs at Charlie Byrd’s Showboat Lounge with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and Bola Sete.

Hart apprenticed with Washington, D.C. native sons like Jimmy Cobb, Osie Johnson, Ben Dixon, Harry “Stump” Saunders and George “Dude” Brown. Through local connections, he had backstage access to the Howard Theatre, where he analyzed such master New Orleanian drummers as Idris Muhammad (the Impressions), Clayton Filliard (James Brown), Ed Blackwell and Earl Palmer (Ray Charles). In 1967, he occupied the drum chair in the theater’s house band performing with The Isley Brothers, Sam and Dave, Patti Labelle, Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles among others.

He was also a sideman with Jimmy Smith (1964–1966), and Wes Montgomery (1966–1968). Following Montgomery’s death in 1968, Hart moved to New York, where he recorded with McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul, and played with Eddie Harris, Pharoah Sanders, and Marian McPartland.

In 1969, Hart joined Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking Mwandishi band and remained there for four years recording three trend-setting albums. From there he joined McCoy Tyner’s band (1973–1974) and also performed with Stan Getz (1974–1977), and Quest (1980s) in addition to extensive freelance playing and recording (including recording with Miles Davis on 1972’s On the Corner).

Howard classmate Marion Brown introduced Hart to Sunny Murray and Rashied Ali. Hart increasingly self-identified as an experimental musician, drawing on their example in a trio with Joe Chambers on piano and Walter Booker on bass. Later, during mid and late ’60s stopovers in Chicago with Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and Eddie Harris, he attended to the “textural, timbral approaches” of AACM drummers Thurman Barker, Steve McCall and Alvin Fielder. He applied those lessons during two years with Pharoah Sanders, a period when, via percussionist Mtume, he received the sobriquet “Jabali” (Swahili for “wisdom”). Hart’s mature tonal personality—advanced grooves drawing on “some knowledge of African and Indian music, and all the American traditions”—emerged during his years with Hancock’s Mwandishi band and subsequent tenure with McCoy Tyner.

Hart drew on all these experiences in conceptualizing Enchance, his debut album as a leader and subsequently, Oshumare (1985), Rah (1987), Amethyst (1993) and Oceans of Time (1997). On each record, he assembled idiosyncratic virtuosos from different circles, each signifying a stream of cutting-edge jazz thought. Functioning more as a facilitator than a stylist, he meshed their distinctive personalities, generating fresh ideas through intense drum dialogue. Each date has a singular quality, as though Hart had conjured a unitary vision out of various strains of the zeitgeist.

Hart currently leads the Billy Hart Quartet featuring Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street. They have recorded three CDs, the most recent, One is the Other, is on ECM Records.

(Bio adapted from The Cookers’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.

The Billy Hart Quartet is scheduled to appear as part of the Winter Jazz Festival NYC on the ECM Records Stage at Le Poisson Rouge during the Saturday, January 12, Marathon Night.The 2019 WJF runs from January 4-12 at several venues in downtown Manhattan and includes a series of talks. See the full lineup and details on their website.

Web Extras:

Watch a preview of Hart’s All Our Reasons album

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 11/25/2018 Show: Leon Parker

Photo: Leon Parker | © Goffredo Loertscher, Drummersworld.com

The next show will air on Sunday November 25, 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 features an interview with drummer/percussionist Leon Parker.

New-York born musician Leon Parker is one of the most intriguing musicians of his generation. Drummer, percussionist and body-rhythm pioneer, he constantly explores new sound possibilities, using an infinitive range of colors with an often-limited drumset (consisting sometimes in a unique cymbal). His distinctive groove, he draws from very natural roots, has built him a solid reputation on the jazz scene and beyond.

Leon Parker started drums when he was three, becoming a confirmed jazz musician in early adolescence. After having studied classical percussions, he took lessons with Barry Harris and started performing regularly in New York. Remarked for his unique musical print, he recorded first with Harvie Swartz and played with musicians such as Sheila Jordan and Kenny Barron.

After 10 years building his reputation as a side-man, recording with other musicians (including Dewey Redman, Jacky Terrasson, Brad Mehldau, Peter Bernstein, among others), and leading groups at clubs, he met producer Joel Dorn and recorded his first leader album, “Above and Below”, in 1994, before releasing two other albums for Sony. His 1996-album, “Belief”, and 2 years later “Awakening”, emerged as the result of a long work on sound and deep musical explorations. After the release of his album “The Simple Life” in 2001, he decided to move to France and started to work on a Body-Rhythm method.

While still appearing on numerous albums as a sideman (Including those of Jacky Terrasson and Giovanni Mirabassi), he developed his Body-Rhythm techniques for many years, teaching workshops and leading his own voice and body-rhythm group in Toulouse. This method, called “EmbodiRhythm”, is the basis on which Leon Parker has written new compositions.

(Bio adapted from Parker’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.

Sixteen years ago, Parker left the U.S. for France to focus on teaching EmbodiRhythm workshops instead of the French Jazz scene.

Leon Parker returns to New York as part of the Aaron Goldberg Trio along with Matt Penman. The Trio will have a run at the Jazz Standard from Thursday, November 29, through Sunday, December 2. Chamber Music America’s (CMA) French-American Jazz Exchange partnered with the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and Brooklyn’s National Sawdust to help bring this project to fruition. Tune in for a ticket giveaway during the live broadcast!

Web Extras:

Watch Parker’s drum solo in this  live performance of “Perhaps.”

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 7/8/2018 Show: Milford Graves Film

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

The next show will air on Sunday, July 8, 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 features a conversation with Jake Meginsky, director of Milford Graves: Full Mantis. We will also revisit our 10/2/16 broadcast of an interview with percussionist/drummer, acupuncturist, herbalist, gardener, builder, scientist, inventor and martial arts master Milford Graves.

Milford Graves (born August 20, 1941 in Queens, New York) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist, most noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the early 1960s with Paul Bley and the New York Art Quartet alongside John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, and Reggie Workman. He is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating the percussion from its timekeeping role. In fact, many of his music contemporaries, musician inspirees, and fans world-wide would argue that Graves is perhaps the most influential known musician in the development and continuing evolution of free-jazz/avant-garde music, to date. Milford Graves taught at Bennington College, in Bennington, Vermont, being a tenured professor from 1973 to 2011; in 2011, he is awarded Emeritus status.

Initially playing timbales as a kid growing up in Queens, Graves has worked as a sideman and session musician with a variety of jazz musicians throughout his career, including Pharoah Sanders, Rashied Ali, Albert Ayler, Don Pullen, Kenny Clarke, Don Moye, Andrew Cyrille, Philly Joe Jones, Eddie Gómez, and John Zorn. He has invested his time in research within the field of healing through music.

In 2013, Milford Graves along with Drs. Carlo Tremolada and Carlo Ventura received a patent for an invention that relates to a process of preparing a non-expanded tissue derivative, that is not subjected to cell proliferation in vitro, which has a vascular-stromal fraction enriched in stem and multipotent elements, such as pericytes and/or mesenchymal stem cells, or for preparing non-embryonic stem cells obtained from a tissue sample or from such tissue derivative, wherein the tissue derivative or such cells are subjected to vibrations derived from a heart sound to control the degree of differentiation or possible differentiation of the stem and multipotent elements into several other types of cells and optimize their potency. The invention relates also to a device for carrying out the process, to stem cells obtainable by the process as well as a drug for the regeneration of an animal tissue.

(Bio adapted from Wikipedia)

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.

Full Mantis: Milford Graves starts a run at Metrograph in Manhattan on Monday, July 13. Former Suga’ guest William Hooker will join Graves and Meginsky for a Q&A on the opening night. Graves and Meginsky will be present for the Q&A on June 14.

Web Extras:

Watch The trailer for Full Mantis: Milford Graves.

Watch Graves and saxophonist Kidd Jordan in this live clip from the 2013 Vision Festival.

Watch Graves and bassist William Parker in this 2010 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 4/1/2018 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 3/4/2018 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.