Cleveland Heats Up With the 26th Annual Tri-C JazzFest
15 Performances Feature the Best of Jazz During 10-Day Festival
CLEVELAND, OH -- The Tri-C JazzFest returns for its 26th year with an electrifying mix of the best in traditional and contemporary jazz. Nine venues will host 15 diverse national and local acts, ranging from the world-renowned to the hottest rising stars, from hard-bop to hip-hop and everything in between. Running from April 14 - 24, the 2005 JazzFest will heat up Cleveland with a dizzying array of legendary talents, including Wynton Marsalis, Al Jarreau, Sergio Mendez, Charles Lloyd, Bobby Sanabria and the Heath Brothers, among other luminaries.
The Tri-C JazzFest is a year-round jazz presenting and educational organization that culminates in a two-week jazz festival every April. Beyond world-class performances, it is nationally recognized as a dynamic force for jazz education, reaching more than 20,000 students annually through clinics, workshops and in-school performances. Housed on the Metropolitan Campus of Cuyahoga Community College, JazzFest serves the region through a variety of free programs on campus and in neighborhood arts centers, public schools and libraries.
Celebrating America's great musical heritage, the Tri-C JazzFest entertains music lovers from all walks of life, preserves the art form of jazz and helps develop the next generation of jazz musicians in Northeast Ohio and beyond. A premier champion of jazz in the region, JazzFest continues its commitment to present local and national talents, commission new jazz works and foster emerging artists. Attendance for the festival and educational activities routinely tops 40,000.
Unless otherwise noted, Tickets are available at www.tickets.com or by phone at 216-241-6000; toll free 1-800-766-6048. For detailed festival information, visit www.tricjazzfest.com or call 216-987-4400.
The 2005 Line-up:
Jazz Meets Hip Hop -- Part 3, Beachland Ballroom, April 14; 8:30 p.m.; Tickets $15
Now in its third installment, the ongoing series “Jazz Meets Hip Hop" kicks off at the Beachland Ballroom on Thursday, April 14 at 8:30 p.m. Directed again this year by drummer/percussionist Bill Ransom, who has worked with Najee, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Levert, the show features jazz and hip hop artists mixing it up onstage. The psychedelic funky grooves of DJ Logic return, accompanied by the lyrical spoken words of artist Sekou Sundiata, whose “Jazzoetry" fuses poetry and jazz, along with innovative Cleveland hip hop artist Iyan Anomolie. They're joined by Sundiata's artistic director, keyboardist Marc Cary, who worked with the late NEA Jazz Master vocalist Betty Carter, among others.
An Evening With Al Jarreau, Allen Theatre, April 15; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$40/$25
Al Jarreau's unique vocal style has made him one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed performers of our time, with five Grammy Awards, scores of international music awards and popular accolades worldwide. One of the rare artists versatile enough to win Grammys in jazz, pop and R&B, he even did a three-month stint on Broadway playing the role of Teen Angel in the hit musical “Grease!" In 2001 Jarreau was awarded a star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame," commemorating his status as one of the greatest singers of his generation. His latest album for GRP Records, “Accentuate the Positive," reunites him with legendary producer Tommy LiPuma for the first time since their magical work together on “Glow" (1976) and their Grammy-winning live album “Look to the Rainbow" (1977).
Bobby Caldwell and Down to the Bone, Allen Theatre, April 16; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $40/$25/$15
Tracing a twenty-year history from acclaimed jazz and soul stylist to sought-after Pop and R&B songwriter, Bobby Caldwell is one of the music industry's most celebrated singer/songwriters. Born into a show business family in Manhattan, Caldwell's songs and samples have contributed to over 40 million sales for artists as diverse as Chicago, Roberta Flack, Peter Cetera, Al Jarreau, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. He has been featured on numerous television and motion picture soundtracks, including a recent rendition of “Luck Be a Lady Tonight" for “The Cooler," starring Alec Baldwin and William H. Macy. Caldwell's live performances are electrifying, as he draws from his vast repertoire of stirring R&B, smooth jazz and big band standards.
Hailed as the kings of U.K. jazz-fusion, Down to the Bone's unique sound starts with jazz and melds with everything from straight up funk, disco and dance to powerfully driven hip hop beats. As much about the dance floor as the listening room, their latest album for Narada, “Cellar Funk," is a hypnotic and addicting hybrid of fusion jazz with enough salsa, funk and R&B to keep you tapping your feet.
Latin Jazz Night: Bobby Sanabria and Ascensión, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 16, 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
If you wanted to dance to a mambo in New York in the '50s, you went to the Palladium Ballroom. Today New Yorkers just follow percussionist bandleader Bobby Sanabria, hailed as the city's hardest working musician. Inspired and encouraged in his youth by Maestro Tito Puente (also of Puerto Rican heritage), Sanabria has been featured on numerous Grammy nominated albums, including the “Mambo Kings" soundtrack. He is joined by his nonet Ascensión, which blends Yoruba folk chants, funk, Cuban dance music and bebop with a concert repertoire that reflects a heavy dose of progressive jazz. Bring your dancing shoes for an after-concert party with Roberto Ocasio's Latin Jazz Project.
Charles Lloyd Quartet, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 17; 7:30 p.m.; Tickets $20
With his legendary quartet in the late '60s and early '70s, saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd broke barriers for an acoustic jazz group, performing alongside rock bands at the historic Fillmores -- both East and West. The quartet included such major contributors, masters, bandleaders and recording artists as pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The Charles Lloyd Quartet also ripped an artistic hole in the Iron Curtain, being the first American jazz band to record live in the Soviet Union in the late '60s (subsequently released by Atlantic Records). Lloyd will be joined by pianist Geri Allen for his first Cleveland performance in decades.
Geri Allen, East Cleveland Public Library, April 18; 7:30 p.m.; Free
One of many highly lauded jazz pianists to emerge from Detroit's fertile music scene, Geri Allen is a graduate of the venerable Cass Technical High School, where she studied under trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. Allen respects the jazz tradition, but refuses to be bound by it, and her original works journey into constantly adventurous areas, always seeking out new musical avenues. “The Life of a Song," Allen's highly anticipated Telarc debut, is her first new release in six years and features eight imaginative new compositions propelled by veterans Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
An Evening With the Charlie Hunter Trio, Museum of Contemporary Art, April 19; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
Since he set out with his unique eight-string guitar, Charlie Hunter has left fans and critics alike in awe. Using the two extra strings to generate bass-lines and organ-like riffs, Hunter has confounded those who only know the limits of a conventional guitar. Borrowing from the intensity of rock-n-roll, he incorporates funky rhythms with jazz's improvisational aesthetic to create soulful music entirely his own. A major force in the “jam band" phenomenon and a frequent hip-hop collaborator, Hunter uses a variety of grooves as improvisational springboards: joyous romps, slow grinds, soft Latin-tinged waves, and bluesy shuffles.
Wynton Marsalis, Allen Theatre, April 20; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$40/$25
Upon his arrival on the jazz scene in 1980 at the age of 19, critics were already hailing Wynton Marsalis as the “symbol for the new decade" and the standard-bearer for his generation. The son of a gifted musician and named after pianist Wynton Kelly, Marsalis received a full scholarship to Julliard then did a stretch with Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers, a veritable wellspring of jazz icons. Eschewing the brash sounds of the jazz-fusion era, Marsalis was a seminal figure in returning jazz to the acoustic style of the '50s and '60s and became a model for many young musicians who followed. The first jazz composer to win a Pulitzer Prize (for his major oratorio “Blood on the Fields"), Marsalis is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which last October opened the world's first concert facility constructed specifically for jazz.
Howard Johnson -- Artist-In-Residence, Karamu House, April 20; 7:30 p.m.; Free
After teaching himself to play baritone sax at thirteen years old, Howard Johnson sought an even greater challenge and took up the tuba a year later. When he moved to New York in 1963, few at the time aspired to play tuba outside of the Dixieland band circuit. Johnson persevered, and during the '60s and '70s he played with such luminaries as Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Buddy Rich and, in an unusual pairing, arranger Gil Evans featured a Johnson tuba solo in his 1974 version of Jimi Hendrix's “Little Wing." Always eager to blur the lines between mainstream and avant-garde music, Johnson even had a stint as conductor of the Saturday Night Live band in the late '70s. Still performing since it was formed in 1968, his group Gravity features an ensemble of six tubas with a rhythm section and proves the tuba is capable of a dizzying range of expression.
Jack DeJohnette's Latin Project, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 21; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $20
Regarded as one of the great jazz drummers, Chicago born Jack DeJohnette studied classical piano in his youth before playing the drums with his high school concert band. Though adept at both instruments, DeJohnette was persuaded to stick with the drums by saxophonist Eddie Harris, who recognized his unprecedented talent. In 1968 DeJohnette joined Miles Davis' group and with them created the seminal album “Bitches Brew," the standard for all jazz-fusion to follow. Though he has worked with the legendary Thelonious Monk and NEA Jazz Masters Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock and Abby Lincoln, to name a few, DeJohnette is probably best known for his prolific 20-year collaboration with pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Gary Peacock. His current Latin Project, which has only played at a few elite jazz festivals, includes Grammy nominee clarinetist Don Byron, pianist Edsel Gomez and conga great Giovanni Hidalgo, among others.
The Heath Brothers Featuring Jeb Patton, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 22; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $20
Though sometimes overshadowed by eldest brother Percy's long association with the groundbreaking Modern Jazz Quartet, the Heath brothers have been a major force in jazz since their early days in Philadelphia in the '40s and '50s. With over 150 years of combined experience the three -- eldest brother NEA Jazz Master Percy on bass, middle brother NEA Jazz.
Master Jimmy on alto saxophone and baby brother Albert “Tootie" Heath on drums -- have played with just about every major name from the be-bop era. Originally a violinist, Percy switched to bass in 1946 and is prized as an ideal accompanist with a warm, appealing tone. Jimmy, besides working with his own group and big band, is an accomplished music teacher and recently retired from Queens College, where a chair was named in his honor at the Aaron Copeland School of Music. Albert, who made his debut on John Coltrane's first solo recording “Coltrane," has long been a respected hard-bop based drummer with an open mind to all styles of jazz.
Ted Nash & Still Evolved, Tri-C Metro Main Stage Theatre, April 23; 2:00 p.m.; Free
Talk about a prodigy: when multitalented saxophonist and clarinetist Ted Nash was 16 he had his first professional gig with Lionel Hampton; by the age of 17 he had toured Europe and recorded three albums. Equally adept at clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor and alto saxophone, Nash has been universally praised for his most recent album “Still Evolved," which reached the #1 position on both the Jazz Week and CMJ radio charts. Currently a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, his compositions have been recorded by the American Jazz Orchestra and by orchestras in Europe, including the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra and the Rotterdam Conservatorium Orchestra.
Slight Return: The Music of Jimi Hendrix and Gil Evans featuring Howard Johnson, Vernon Reid and The Jazz Unit, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 23; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
At the time of his death in September of 1970, Jimi Hendrix was slated to work with Miles Davis and arranger/composer NEA Jazz Master Gil Evans on what surely would have resulted in an extraordinary album. In 1974 Evans was able to realize at least a measure of the Hendrix spirit on his album “Gil Evans' Orchestra Plays The Music of Jimi Hendrix" (with guitarists John Abercrombie and Ryo Kawasaki and saxophonist David Sanborn). With a nod to Evans' fusion of jazz's free-ranging leanings and Hendrix's psychedelic and blues jams, the evening features renowned guitarist Vernon Reid, an alum of the band Living Color, and multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson, who played on the “Music of Jimi Hendrix" album and was a frequent Evans collaborator. They will be backed by the Jazz Unit, under the direction of Howie Smith -- it's bigger than a combo, smaller than a big band, and features most of the heavy hitters in local jazz.
Sergio Mendes Brasil 2005, Severance Hall, April 24; 3:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$42/$37/$30
When Bossa Nova pianist Sergio Mendes and his group showed up at the doors of A&M Records in 1966, Herb Albert was so impressed he immediately signed them to a record contract. The result, Sergio Mendes and the Brasil 66 was wildly popular, spawning hits on both the jazz and pop charts. Mendes, a brilliant pianist, arranger and composer, combines Brazilian bossa nova with traditional jazz and a pop sensibility -- he's equally at home with the music of Cole Porter or Lennon & McCartney as he is with Brazilian samba legends like Jorge Ben. Some of his recent recordings have ranged from Oceano, comprised solely of Brazilian songs, to Brasileiro, a seamless pastiche of seismic Bahanian tempos, deep funk and hip hop. For tickets visit www.clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111, toll free 800-686-1141.
CLEVELAND, OH -- The Tri-C JazzFest returns for its 26th year with an electrifying mix of the best in traditional and contemporary jazz. Nine venues will host 15 diverse national and local acts, ranging from the world-renowned to the hottest rising stars, from hard-bop to hip-hop and everything in between. Running from April 14 - 24, the 2005 JazzFest will heat up Cleveland with a dizzying array of legendary talents, including Wynton Marsalis, Al Jarreau, Sergio Mendez, Charles Lloyd, Bobby Sanabria and the Heath Brothers, among other luminaries.
The Tri-C JazzFest is a year-round jazz presenting and educational organization that culminates in a two-week jazz festival every April. Beyond world-class performances, it is nationally recognized as a dynamic force for jazz education, reaching more than 20,000 students annually through clinics, workshops and in-school performances. Housed on the Metropolitan Campus of Cuyahoga Community College, JazzFest serves the region through a variety of free programs on campus and in neighborhood arts centers, public schools and libraries.
Celebrating America's great musical heritage, the Tri-C JazzFest entertains music lovers from all walks of life, preserves the art form of jazz and helps develop the next generation of jazz musicians in Northeast Ohio and beyond. A premier champion of jazz in the region, JazzFest continues its commitment to present local and national talents, commission new jazz works and foster emerging artists. Attendance for the festival and educational activities routinely tops 40,000.
Unless otherwise noted, Tickets are available at www.tickets.com or by phone at 216-241-6000; toll free 1-800-766-6048. For detailed festival information, visit www.tricjazzfest.com or call 216-987-4400.
The 2005 Line-up:
Jazz Meets Hip Hop -- Part 3, Beachland Ballroom, April 14; 8:30 p.m.; Tickets $15
Now in its third installment, the ongoing series “Jazz Meets Hip Hop" kicks off at the Beachland Ballroom on Thursday, April 14 at 8:30 p.m. Directed again this year by drummer/percussionist Bill Ransom, who has worked with Najee, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Levert, the show features jazz and hip hop artists mixing it up onstage. The psychedelic funky grooves of DJ Logic return, accompanied by the lyrical spoken words of artist Sekou Sundiata, whose “Jazzoetry" fuses poetry and jazz, along with innovative Cleveland hip hop artist Iyan Anomolie. They're joined by Sundiata's artistic director, keyboardist Marc Cary, who worked with the late NEA Jazz Master vocalist Betty Carter, among others.
An Evening With Al Jarreau, Allen Theatre, April 15; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$40/$25
Al Jarreau's unique vocal style has made him one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed performers of our time, with five Grammy Awards, scores of international music awards and popular accolades worldwide. One of the rare artists versatile enough to win Grammys in jazz, pop and R&B, he even did a three-month stint on Broadway playing the role of Teen Angel in the hit musical “Grease!" In 2001 Jarreau was awarded a star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame," commemorating his status as one of the greatest singers of his generation. His latest album for GRP Records, “Accentuate the Positive," reunites him with legendary producer Tommy LiPuma for the first time since their magical work together on “Glow" (1976) and their Grammy-winning live album “Look to the Rainbow" (1977).
Bobby Caldwell and Down to the Bone, Allen Theatre, April 16; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $40/$25/$15
Tracing a twenty-year history from acclaimed jazz and soul stylist to sought-after Pop and R&B songwriter, Bobby Caldwell is one of the music industry's most celebrated singer/songwriters. Born into a show business family in Manhattan, Caldwell's songs and samples have contributed to over 40 million sales for artists as diverse as Chicago, Roberta Flack, Peter Cetera, Al Jarreau, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. He has been featured on numerous television and motion picture soundtracks, including a recent rendition of “Luck Be a Lady Tonight" for “The Cooler," starring Alec Baldwin and William H. Macy. Caldwell's live performances are electrifying, as he draws from his vast repertoire of stirring R&B, smooth jazz and big band standards.
Hailed as the kings of U.K. jazz-fusion, Down to the Bone's unique sound starts with jazz and melds with everything from straight up funk, disco and dance to powerfully driven hip hop beats. As much about the dance floor as the listening room, their latest album for Narada, “Cellar Funk," is a hypnotic and addicting hybrid of fusion jazz with enough salsa, funk and R&B to keep you tapping your feet.
Latin Jazz Night: Bobby Sanabria and Ascensión, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 16, 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
If you wanted to dance to a mambo in New York in the '50s, you went to the Palladium Ballroom. Today New Yorkers just follow percussionist bandleader Bobby Sanabria, hailed as the city's hardest working musician. Inspired and encouraged in his youth by Maestro Tito Puente (also of Puerto Rican heritage), Sanabria has been featured on numerous Grammy nominated albums, including the “Mambo Kings" soundtrack. He is joined by his nonet Ascensión, which blends Yoruba folk chants, funk, Cuban dance music and bebop with a concert repertoire that reflects a heavy dose of progressive jazz. Bring your dancing shoes for an after-concert party with Roberto Ocasio's Latin Jazz Project.
Charles Lloyd Quartet, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 17; 7:30 p.m.; Tickets $20
With his legendary quartet in the late '60s and early '70s, saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd broke barriers for an acoustic jazz group, performing alongside rock bands at the historic Fillmores -- both East and West. The quartet included such major contributors, masters, bandleaders and recording artists as pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The Charles Lloyd Quartet also ripped an artistic hole in the Iron Curtain, being the first American jazz band to record live in the Soviet Union in the late '60s (subsequently released by Atlantic Records). Lloyd will be joined by pianist Geri Allen for his first Cleveland performance in decades.
Geri Allen, East Cleveland Public Library, April 18; 7:30 p.m.; Free
One of many highly lauded jazz pianists to emerge from Detroit's fertile music scene, Geri Allen is a graduate of the venerable Cass Technical High School, where she studied under trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. Allen respects the jazz tradition, but refuses to be bound by it, and her original works journey into constantly adventurous areas, always seeking out new musical avenues. “The Life of a Song," Allen's highly anticipated Telarc debut, is her first new release in six years and features eight imaginative new compositions propelled by veterans Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
An Evening With the Charlie Hunter Trio, Museum of Contemporary Art, April 19; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
Since he set out with his unique eight-string guitar, Charlie Hunter has left fans and critics alike in awe. Using the two extra strings to generate bass-lines and organ-like riffs, Hunter has confounded those who only know the limits of a conventional guitar. Borrowing from the intensity of rock-n-roll, he incorporates funky rhythms with jazz's improvisational aesthetic to create soulful music entirely his own. A major force in the “jam band" phenomenon and a frequent hip-hop collaborator, Hunter uses a variety of grooves as improvisational springboards: joyous romps, slow grinds, soft Latin-tinged waves, and bluesy shuffles.
Wynton Marsalis, Allen Theatre, April 20; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$40/$25
Upon his arrival on the jazz scene in 1980 at the age of 19, critics were already hailing Wynton Marsalis as the “symbol for the new decade" and the standard-bearer for his generation. The son of a gifted musician and named after pianist Wynton Kelly, Marsalis received a full scholarship to Julliard then did a stretch with Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers, a veritable wellspring of jazz icons. Eschewing the brash sounds of the jazz-fusion era, Marsalis was a seminal figure in returning jazz to the acoustic style of the '50s and '60s and became a model for many young musicians who followed. The first jazz composer to win a Pulitzer Prize (for his major oratorio “Blood on the Fields"), Marsalis is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which last October opened the world's first concert facility constructed specifically for jazz.
Howard Johnson -- Artist-In-Residence, Karamu House, April 20; 7:30 p.m.; Free
After teaching himself to play baritone sax at thirteen years old, Howard Johnson sought an even greater challenge and took up the tuba a year later. When he moved to New York in 1963, few at the time aspired to play tuba outside of the Dixieland band circuit. Johnson persevered, and during the '60s and '70s he played with such luminaries as Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Buddy Rich and, in an unusual pairing, arranger Gil Evans featured a Johnson tuba solo in his 1974 version of Jimi Hendrix's “Little Wing." Always eager to blur the lines between mainstream and avant-garde music, Johnson even had a stint as conductor of the Saturday Night Live band in the late '70s. Still performing since it was formed in 1968, his group Gravity features an ensemble of six tubas with a rhythm section and proves the tuba is capable of a dizzying range of expression.
Jack DeJohnette's Latin Project, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 21; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $20
Regarded as one of the great jazz drummers, Chicago born Jack DeJohnette studied classical piano in his youth before playing the drums with his high school concert band. Though adept at both instruments, DeJohnette was persuaded to stick with the drums by saxophonist Eddie Harris, who recognized his unprecedented talent. In 1968 DeJohnette joined Miles Davis' group and with them created the seminal album “Bitches Brew," the standard for all jazz-fusion to follow. Though he has worked with the legendary Thelonious Monk and NEA Jazz Masters Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock and Abby Lincoln, to name a few, DeJohnette is probably best known for his prolific 20-year collaboration with pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Gary Peacock. His current Latin Project, which has only played at a few elite jazz festivals, includes Grammy nominee clarinetist Don Byron, pianist Edsel Gomez and conga great Giovanni Hidalgo, among others.
The Heath Brothers Featuring Jeb Patton, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 22; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $20
Though sometimes overshadowed by eldest brother Percy's long association with the groundbreaking Modern Jazz Quartet, the Heath brothers have been a major force in jazz since their early days in Philadelphia in the '40s and '50s. With over 150 years of combined experience the three -- eldest brother NEA Jazz Master Percy on bass, middle brother NEA Jazz.
Master Jimmy on alto saxophone and baby brother Albert “Tootie" Heath on drums -- have played with just about every major name from the be-bop era. Originally a violinist, Percy switched to bass in 1946 and is prized as an ideal accompanist with a warm, appealing tone. Jimmy, besides working with his own group and big band, is an accomplished music teacher and recently retired from Queens College, where a chair was named in his honor at the Aaron Copeland School of Music. Albert, who made his debut on John Coltrane's first solo recording “Coltrane," has long been a respected hard-bop based drummer with an open mind to all styles of jazz.
Ted Nash & Still Evolved, Tri-C Metro Main Stage Theatre, April 23; 2:00 p.m.; Free
Talk about a prodigy: when multitalented saxophonist and clarinetist Ted Nash was 16 he had his first professional gig with Lionel Hampton; by the age of 17 he had toured Europe and recorded three albums. Equally adept at clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor and alto saxophone, Nash has been universally praised for his most recent album “Still Evolved," which reached the #1 position on both the Jazz Week and CMJ radio charts. Currently a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, his compositions have been recorded by the American Jazz Orchestra and by orchestras in Europe, including the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra and the Rotterdam Conservatorium Orchestra.
Slight Return: The Music of Jimi Hendrix and Gil Evans featuring Howard Johnson, Vernon Reid and The Jazz Unit, Tri-C Metro Auditorium, April 23; 8:00 p.m.; Tickets $25
At the time of his death in September of 1970, Jimi Hendrix was slated to work with Miles Davis and arranger/composer NEA Jazz Master Gil Evans on what surely would have resulted in an extraordinary album. In 1974 Evans was able to realize at least a measure of the Hendrix spirit on his album “Gil Evans' Orchestra Plays The Music of Jimi Hendrix" (with guitarists John Abercrombie and Ryo Kawasaki and saxophonist David Sanborn). With a nod to Evans' fusion of jazz's free-ranging leanings and Hendrix's psychedelic and blues jams, the evening features renowned guitarist Vernon Reid, an alum of the band Living Color, and multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson, who played on the “Music of Jimi Hendrix" album and was a frequent Evans collaborator. They will be backed by the Jazz Unit, under the direction of Howie Smith -- it's bigger than a combo, smaller than a big band, and features most of the heavy hitters in local jazz.
Sergio Mendes Brasil 2005, Severance Hall, April 24; 3:00 p.m.; Tickets $50/$42/$37/$30
When Bossa Nova pianist Sergio Mendes and his group showed up at the doors of A&M Records in 1966, Herb Albert was so impressed he immediately signed them to a record contract. The result, Sergio Mendes and the Brasil 66 was wildly popular, spawning hits on both the jazz and pop charts. Mendes, a brilliant pianist, arranger and composer, combines Brazilian bossa nova with traditional jazz and a pop sensibility -- he's equally at home with the music of Cole Porter or Lennon & McCartney as he is with Brazilian samba legends like Jorge Ben. Some of his recent recordings have ranged from Oceano, comprised solely of Brazilian songs, to Brasileiro, a seamless pastiche of seismic Bahanian tempos, deep funk and hip hop. For tickets visit www.clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111, toll free 800-686-1141.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
