On the Cover: AHMAD JAMAL

By Andrew Velez; photos by Steve Sussman

When asked what he's thinking about when he's at the piano, NEA Jazz Master and Kennedy Center Jazz Legend Ahmad Jamal replies, "Those songs that come up on my recordings or my concerts, sometimes I pull some things that are very distant and written years before I was here..." Jamal is at Blue Note May 6th-11th.

Interview: VINCE GIORDANO

By Michael Hittman; photo by Roger Robles

In 30 years as a bandleader, Vince Giordano has become the authority on recreating the sounds of '20s and '30s jazz. He worked with Dick Hyman's Orchestra on a number of Woody Allen soundtracks and his music has been featured in several motion pictures. He is also a big band historian with a collection of over 30,000 scores. Giordano is at Sofia's Mondays.

Artist Feature: GEORGE GARZONE

By Matthew Miller; photo by Scott Friedlander

An esoteric system and guru status among musicians makes for an easy target in today's niche-driven market. Terms like musician's musician and classicist start getting thrown around as a way to commodify and explain away public indifference. This, luckily, is a non-issue for George Garzone. The veteran saxophonist has avoided pigeonholing his entire career, letting his emotionally resonant music speak for itself. Garzone is at Cornelia Street Cafe May 1st with The Fringe and May 2nd with Rory Stuart, at Dizzy's Club May 6th-11th with Joe Lovano and at Smalls May 21st with Chris Crocco and May 23rd with Pete Zimmer.

Record Label Spotlight: LES DISQUES VICTO

By Kurt Gottschalk

Victoriaville is a small prairie city 100 miles northeast of Montreal in Quebec. Its name - or the diminutive "Victo" - has become synonymous among a legion of faithful with the diverse music festival that happens there every May. ... The festival and associated record label, Les Disques Victo, rival any North American festival for diversity and professionalism. Artists playing this month include Lisle Ellis at Zebulon May 4th; William Parker at Barbes May 7th with Mark Helias and Elliott Sharp at The Stone May 7th and Hudson View Gardens Lounge May 11th with Min Xiao-Fen.

Club Profile: DIZZY'S CLUB

By Laurel Gross

Love may be in the eye of the beholder but this self-described "club in the sky" has got it all or as Billie Holiday has been known to sing, "more and more and then some."

Encore: PETE COSEY

By Martin Longley

The aging process has not compromised Pete Cosey's approach to the guitar. This veteran of the mid '70s Miles Davis band has resurfaced again on a new two-disc project created by saxophonist, arranger, producer and conceptualist Bob Belden. Cosey is at Town Hall May 9th as part of the Miles From India Concert.

Lest We Forget: SAHIB SHIHAB

By Donald Elfman

Shihab was taken by the changes of bebop and became a Bird-influenced alto player and appeared with Monk on recordings from 1947 to 1951.

Megaphone: If I can make it here...

By Ben Wolfe

In late October of 1985 I loaded my car with my string bass, electric bass, Polytone amp, record collection, some cassettes a friend gave me for the drive, a boombox, my clothes, a thermos for the enormous amount of black coffee I would drink, a full-length down jacket which I would use for a blanket when sleeping in my car at night and a pile of blankets that would be my bed in Brooklyn. With my belongings loaded I started my journey to New York City.

CD Reviews

(this month's performance venues in parentheses):

1. David Murray - 3D Family hatOLOGY (Birdland)
2. David Murray - Sacred Ground (featuring Cassandra Wilson) Justin Time (Birdland)
3. Terumasa Hino/Masabumi Kikuchi - Edges Sony Japan (Village Vanguard)
4. Terumasa Hino/Masabumi Kikuchi Quintet - Counter Current Sony Japan (Village Vanguard)
5. Lionel Loueke - Karibu Blue Note (Blue Note)
6. Teo Macero - Study in Contrast Teo Prod. (Blue Note)
7. Russ Nolan - With You in Mind Rhinoceruss (The Kitano)
8. Mary Lou Williams - A Grand Night for Swinging HighNote
9. Anthony Coleman - Lapidation New World (Merkin Concert Hall)
10. Dewey Redman - The Struggle Continues ECM
11. Dennis Gonzalez - Dance of the Soothsayer's Tongue Clean Feed
12. Open Loose - Strange Unison Radio Legs (Barbes; Tea Lounge; Cornelia Street Cafe)
13. Jon Mayer - So Many Stars Reservoir (The Kitano)
14. Grant Stewart - Young at Heart Sharp Nine (The Kitano; Smoke; Smalls)
15. Conrad Herwig - The Latin Side of Wayne Shorter Half Note (Blue Note)
16. Ibrahim Electric - Meets Ray Anderson-Again Stunt (Jazz Standard)
17. Blaise Siwula/Carsten Radtke - Projection Zero Konnex (Goodbye Blue Monday; DMG; Stain Bar)
18. W.O.O. Presents Mambo Mantis - Transphonic Dimensions Konnex (Goodbye Blue Monday)
19. Nobu Stowe/Lee Pembleton Project - Hommage an Klaus Kinski Soul Note
20. Paolo Fresu/Richard Galliano/Jan Lundgren - Mare Nostrum ACT (Joe's Pub)
21. Alexis Cuadrado - Puzzles Brooklyn Jazz Underground (Bar Next Door; Jazz Gallery)
22. Anne Mette Iversen - Best of the West + Many Places Brooklyn Jazz Underground (Jazz Gallery)
23. Chris Welcome - Eponymous Tigerasylum (Goodbye Blue Monday)
24. Muhal Richard Abrams - Vision Towards Essence Pi (Community Church of New York)
25. Elliott Sharp - Concert in Dachau Intakt (The Stone; Hudson View Gardens Lounge)
26. Elliott Sharp - Octal Clean Feed (The Stone; Hudson View Gardens Lounge)
27. Deep Blue Organ Trio - Folk Music Origin
28. Bobby Broom - The Way I Play Origin (Rose Hall)
29. Duke Ellington - Live in Zurich, Switzerland TCB (Avery Fischer Hall; Dizzy's Club)
30. Duke Ellington Legacy Band - Thank You Uncle Edward Renma (Avery Fischer Hall; Dizzy's Club)
31. Trio da Paz/Joe Locke - Live at Jazzbaltica MAXJAZZ (Rose Hall)
32. Chet Baker - Indian Summer Dutch Jazz Archive
33. Chet Baker - The Quintessence Fremeaux & Assoc.
34. Jason Adasiewicz - Rolldown 482 Music
35. Tigersmilk - Android Love Cry Family Vineyard (Zebulon)
36. Bill McHenry - Sonic Pressure Fresh Sound-New Talent (Cornelia Street Cafe; Knitting Factory; Zebulon)
37. John McNeil/Bill McHenry - Rediscovery Sunnyside (Cornelia Street Cafe)
38. Pete Robbins - Do The Hate Laugh Shimmy Fresh Sound-New Talent (Cornelia Street Cafe)
39. Bob Gullotti/Leo Genovese/Dave Zinno - Planet Safety Soul Note (Cornelia Street Cafe)
40. Susie Ibarra - Drum Sketches Innova
41. Jimmy Bennington - Jazz Kaleidoscope: Solo Drums Live at On The House That Swan!
42. Andrea Centazzo - Fragments 2 Ictus
43. Andrew Drury - Renditions (Solos 2004-2007) Creative Sources (The Stone; Roulette)
44. Mulgrew Miller - Live at the Kennedy Center Vol. Two MAXJAZZ (Smoke)
45. Armen Donelian - Oasis Sunnyside (Sweet Rhythm; The Kitano)
46. Jackie McLean - 4, 5 and 6 (RVG) Prestige-Concord (Smoke; Iridium)
47. Jackie McLean - New Wine in Old Bottles East Wind-Test of Time (Smoke; Iridium)
48. Phil Woods - American Songbook II Kind of Blue (Apollo Theater)
49. Phil Woods/DePaul University Jazz Ensemble - Swingchronicity Jazzed Media (Apollo Theater)
50. John Ellis - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow Hyena (Jazz Standard)
51. Felipe Salles - South American Suite Curare (Baha'i Center; Cachaca)
52. Bireli Lagrene - Djangology/To Bi or Not To Bi (Solo) Dreyfus (Rose Hall)
53. Bireli Lagrene - Just the Way You Are Dreyfus (Rose Hall)
54. Sara Lazarus - It's All Right With Me Dreyfus
55. Various Artists - Miles From India: A Celebration of the Music of Miles Davis Times Square (Town Hall)
56. JD Allen - I AM I AM Sunnyside (J&R Music)
57. Jaleel Shaw - Optimism Changu (Jazz Gallery)
58. Max Schultz - Plays Coltrane Touche Music
59. Claudio Roditi - Impressions Sunnyside (Dizzy's Club; Iridium)
60. John Di Martino - Magical Mystery Venus (Metropolitan Room)
61. Strayhornmonk - Eponymous Unit
62. Lisle Ellis - Sucker Punch Requiem: An Homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat Henceforth (Zebulon)
63. Gerald Cleaver - Gerald Cleaver's Detroit Fresh Sound-New Talent (Roulette; The Stone; Cornelia Street Cafe)
64. Richie Barshay - Homework Ayva Music (Jazz Standard)
65. Steve Harris/ZAUM (with Andrea Parkins) - I hope you never love anything as much as I love you Amazon
66. Hayes Greenfield - Music for a Green Planet s/r (Highline Ballroom)
67. Greg Burk - Berlin Bright Soul Note (Dizzy's Club)

...and Plenty More!

Look for other sections like On This Day, In Print, On DVD, Listen Up!, VOX News, NY@Night, Recommended New Releases, Birthdays, In Memoriam, and our invaluable event Calendar.

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All the best,
Andrey and Laurence

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