In late March, I received an e-mail from trumpeter Bobby Shew Bobby Shew
b.1941
trumpet . He said he'd performed a gig in West Palm Beach, FL, and had met my brothers, whom he described as "nice guys." My first impulse was to write back and ask if he could have been mistaken. My brothers? Nice guys? Well, the fact is that my brothers, Tom and Ed, do live in Tequesta, FL, and Bobby did indeed meet them at the concert in West Palm. "Your brother Ed," he wrote, "gave me his card! Is that a family thing?" He had good reason to ask. Whenever I'd see Bobby at concerts and other events, before he moved back to New Mexico three or four years ago and I got to know him better, I'd always hand him my business card. Finally, after about a dozen such episodes, Bobby stared at me and said, "What? Another card?" To which I replied, "Don't tell me you actually keep them!"

Bobby was in Florida for a "tribute" to Chet Baker Chet Baker
1929 - 1988
trumpet " with John Proulx John Proulx
, a pianist from Los Angeles whose voice approximates Chet's. They'd presented a similar concert a year or two ago in nearby Corrales. Proulx handles the vocals while Bobby emulates Baker's laid-back trumpet style. They were accompanied in West Palm by a group that included drummer Danny Gottlieb Danny Gottlieb
b.1953
drums , bassist Dave Clark Dave Clark
, guitarist Jason Ennis and tenor saxophonist Fred Haas Fred Haas

saxophone .

Speaking of Bobby Shew . . .

He'll be in Los Angeles in late May, 2011 to take part in the Los Angeles Jazz Institute's "Big Band Olympics," performing as part of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Toshiko Akiyoshi
b.1929
piano -Lew Tabackin Lew Tabackin
b.1940
sax, tenor Big Band's West Coast Reunion and in an International Trumpet Summit with Dusko Goykovich Dusko Goykovich
b.1931
trumpet , Guido Basso Guido Basso
b.1937 and Valery Ponomarev Valery Ponomarev
b.1943
trumpet . The Olympics, "celebrating the big band sound from around the world," is to be held May 26-29 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel. Other bands set to appear include those led by Goykovich, Ponomarev, Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval
b.1949
trumpet , Rob Pronk, Tommy Vig Tommy Vig
b.1938
vibraphone , Chris Walden Chris Walden

arranger , John Altman John Altman

saxophone , Christian Jacob Christian Jacob

piano , Tim Davies Tim Davies
b.1972
composer/conductor and the incomparable Bill Holman Bill Holman
b.1927
band/orchestra . Also slated are tributes to the Clarke-Boland Big Band (by the Cal State-Long Beach Concert Jazz Orchestra) and Rob McConnell Rob McConnell
1935 - 2010
trombone 's Boss Brass (with alumni including Basso, Terry Clarke Terry Clarke
b.1944 , Don Thompson Don Thompson
b.1940
multi-instrumentalist and Ian McDougall Ian McDougall
), plus concerts by the Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California, the Los Angeles Society Big Band and the Jazz Kidz from Montreal, Canada. That's in addition to the usual films, panel discussions and a special presentation by Ken Poston, "Howard Lucraft and Stan Kenton Stan Kenton
1911 - 1979
piano 's Jazz International." For more information, go online to www.lajazzinstitute.org or phone 562-200-5477.

Out and About

Only one straight-ahead concert was held locally in March, but it was a good one. The Arlen Asher Arlen Asher
—Paul Gonzales Quintet played two delightful sets March 17 at The Outpost Performance Space. Gonzales, who has known the 81-year-old Asher since he was a first-grade student in Albuquerque and Asher brought some instruments to his wife's class for "show and tell" (Gonzales chose to "audition" on baritone sax), played trumpet and flugelhorn, while Asher, a master of every reed and wind instrument, brought only his soprano, alto and tenor saxophones and flute. The front-liners were ably backed by pianist Brian Bennett, bassist Michael Glynn Michael Glynn
and drummer John Trentacosta (Asher's co-host on a weekly Jazz program in Santa Fe). The quintet played mostly standards with a few originals by Gonzales inserted to keep the sellout audience engaged. A good time was had by all.

Two More Giants Are Gone

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