Benny Powell, Trombonist
Nov. 9, 2006
Ross Carnegie, Pianist
Nov. 30, 2006
Eddie Locke, Drummer
Dec. 7, 2006
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA legend
Dec. 21, 2006
The Jazz Museum in Harlem closes out the 2006 season of its Harlem Speaks series with four swinging conversations during November and December.
Benny Powell, one of the most versatile trombonists and jazz lecturers on the contemporary music scene, will be the special guest on November 9, 2006. Of Powell, jazz critic Nat Hentoff has written: “Benny Powell's playing has always had a flowing coherence. The stories he tells are not fragmentary; they're complete . . . his tool is writing and arranging."
Born in New Orleans, Powell was a member of Lionel Hampton's big band and gained national attention during his twelve years with Count Basie. Since leaving Basie in 1963, Powell has enjoyed a diverse career. He has worked in orchestras for numerous Broadway shows and was one of the first jazz musicians to perform regularly on television as a member of The Merv Griffin Show band. Powell can be heard on countless recordings with the likes of Count Basie, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Benny Carter, the Heath Brothers, and Randy Weston, among many others.
Recently Powell has begun reinventing himself as a singer and lyricist. Toward that end, Powell recently recorded a collection of his engaging melodies and inspiring lyrics, backed by an all-star ensemble.
Powell devotes a large portion of his time to a broad range of educational endeavors. He regularly presents an oral/musical history of African American music, “J.11 Stories"; has taught at Barry Harris' Jazz Cultural Theatre, Jazzmobile, and Long Island University; and is currently a professor at The New School. Powell is also a committed activist on behalf of jazz related causes. In 1978, he founded the non-profit Los Angeles Committee on jazz, and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians.
Piano stylist, orchestra leader and master teacher Ross Carnegie has brought his flair for performance and a unique harmonic sense to audiences nationwide for over 35 years. Hear him recount tales from his life and career on November 30, 2006.
A native of Toronto, Canada, moved to New York City at the age of 19. He met the legendary pianist Teddy Wilson soon thereafter, and began intensive studies with the master of piano touch and harmonic voicings. He continued his apprenticeship with another master pianist and arranger, Mary Lou Williams. The lessons, skills and techniques Carnegie learned with these and other instructors, including J. Lawrence Cook, have been distilled in his path-breaking publication, Ross Carnegie's Teaching Method, Book One: Introduction to Modern Harmony.
Eddie Locke, guest of Harlem Speaks on December 7, 2006, was part of the very fertile Detroit jazz scene of the late 1940s/early 1950s. He had a variety act with fellow drummer Oliver Jackson from 1948-53 called Bop and Locke, while freelancing with other Detroit musicians. After moving to New York in 1954, he played with Dick Wellstood, Tony Parenti, Henry “Red" Allen, Willie “The Lion" Smith, Teddy Wilson, Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins, becoming a regular in the latter's group during the 1960s. In addition to recording with Lee Konitz, Tiny Grimes and Earle Warren, Locke was with Roy Eldridges' band at Ryan's throughout the '70s, and he remains active today.
National Basketball Association Hall-of-Famer and leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Harlem Speaks special guest on December 21, 2006, has had a long love affair with jazz, which began in his youth-- his father was a Juilliard-trained jazz trombonist and vocalist. The Harlem born and bred giant, who moved back home recently, is completing a documentary that explores the relationship between jazz music, hip-hop and basketball titled, On the Shoulders of Giants. “We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today's basketball stars, is directly related to jazz. When we show that connection we find that things haven't changed at all."
“One of the professional teams that was considered to be the best team played out of Harlem," Abdul-Jabbar recently told Hoopsworld.com. “They played out of the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, which was a dance hall and a place where prominent jazz musicians played. The Renaissance team would play before the main attraction when they played their home games. They would play one half of the game, then they would have one minor band, then they would play the second half of the game and then they might have Duke Ellington until 3am."
The documentary, which will feature a soundtrack by Herbie Hancock, is slated for release in February 2007.
Vocalist Arlene Talley was delightful in conversation and song for the Harlem Speaks audience on October 26, 2006. She talked about her early days in Harlem, where she born during the early '30s at Metropolitan Hospital. As an adolescent she performed “A Tisket A Tasket" at her dad's Masonic Hall. She thought she was hot stuff until a youngster a little older than Talley came in and tore up the joint with a blues.
She recouped quickly, incorporated some blues too, and kept singing in Harlem. At the age of 23 she began singing at the Club Lido, where she met Redd Foxx, Ruth Brown, and Frank “Floor Show" Culley, with whom she began performing at the Apollo Bar. She had a hit with Culley, “Little Miss Blues"; the B side was Thelonious Monk's “Round Midnight."
She went on the road with Culley, who introduced her to manager Nat Nazarro. He hooked Talley up with the Isley Brothers, and they played the Apollo Theater and the Howard Theater in Washington. She spent a year performing with Art Blakey, and then joined Illinois Jaquet's group. “He was nice, but tough," Talley remembered. “He was almost like a father to me." Jaquet and other band leaders she performed with back then thought she was young because of her small size and youthful looks.
Many of her friends and family were in attendance, and several spoke of their love for Talley. One young man even performed “Stardust" for her on alto saxophone a capella. Accompanied by keyboardist Douglass Jordan and Richard Rivers on drums, Talley sang rousing renditions of “The Song Is You," “But Beautiful," and “On a Clear Day." They perform with Talley every Saturday at St. Nicks Pub in Harlem's Hamilton Heights section.
The Harlem Speaks series, supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, is produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem's Executive Director, Loren Schoenberg, Co- Director Christian McBride, and Greg Thomas Associates. The series occurs at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm- 8:30pm.
Nov. 9, 2006
Ross Carnegie, Pianist
Nov. 30, 2006
Eddie Locke, Drummer
Dec. 7, 2006
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA legend
Dec. 21, 2006
The Jazz Museum in Harlem closes out the 2006 season of its Harlem Speaks series with four swinging conversations during November and December.
Benny Powell, one of the most versatile trombonists and jazz lecturers on the contemporary music scene, will be the special guest on November 9, 2006. Of Powell, jazz critic Nat Hentoff has written: “Benny Powell's playing has always had a flowing coherence. The stories he tells are not fragmentary; they're complete . . . his tool is writing and arranging."
Born in New Orleans, Powell was a member of Lionel Hampton's big band and gained national attention during his twelve years with Count Basie. Since leaving Basie in 1963, Powell has enjoyed a diverse career. He has worked in orchestras for numerous Broadway shows and was one of the first jazz musicians to perform regularly on television as a member of The Merv Griffin Show band. Powell can be heard on countless recordings with the likes of Count Basie, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Benny Carter, the Heath Brothers, and Randy Weston, among many others.
Recently Powell has begun reinventing himself as a singer and lyricist. Toward that end, Powell recently recorded a collection of his engaging melodies and inspiring lyrics, backed by an all-star ensemble.
Powell devotes a large portion of his time to a broad range of educational endeavors. He regularly presents an oral/musical history of African American music, “J.11 Stories"; has taught at Barry Harris' Jazz Cultural Theatre, Jazzmobile, and Long Island University; and is currently a professor at The New School. Powell is also a committed activist on behalf of jazz related causes. In 1978, he founded the non-profit Los Angeles Committee on jazz, and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians.
Piano stylist, orchestra leader and master teacher Ross Carnegie has brought his flair for performance and a unique harmonic sense to audiences nationwide for over 35 years. Hear him recount tales from his life and career on November 30, 2006.
A native of Toronto, Canada, moved to New York City at the age of 19. He met the legendary pianist Teddy Wilson soon thereafter, and began intensive studies with the master of piano touch and harmonic voicings. He continued his apprenticeship with another master pianist and arranger, Mary Lou Williams. The lessons, skills and techniques Carnegie learned with these and other instructors, including J. Lawrence Cook, have been distilled in his path-breaking publication, Ross Carnegie's Teaching Method, Book One: Introduction to Modern Harmony.
Eddie Locke, guest of Harlem Speaks on December 7, 2006, was part of the very fertile Detroit jazz scene of the late 1940s/early 1950s. He had a variety act with fellow drummer Oliver Jackson from 1948-53 called Bop and Locke, while freelancing with other Detroit musicians. After moving to New York in 1954, he played with Dick Wellstood, Tony Parenti, Henry “Red" Allen, Willie “The Lion" Smith, Teddy Wilson, Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins, becoming a regular in the latter's group during the 1960s. In addition to recording with Lee Konitz, Tiny Grimes and Earle Warren, Locke was with Roy Eldridges' band at Ryan's throughout the '70s, and he remains active today.
National Basketball Association Hall-of-Famer and leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Harlem Speaks special guest on December 21, 2006, has had a long love affair with jazz, which began in his youth-- his father was a Juilliard-trained jazz trombonist and vocalist. The Harlem born and bred giant, who moved back home recently, is completing a documentary that explores the relationship between jazz music, hip-hop and basketball titled, On the Shoulders of Giants. “We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today's basketball stars, is directly related to jazz. When we show that connection we find that things haven't changed at all."
“One of the professional teams that was considered to be the best team played out of Harlem," Abdul-Jabbar recently told Hoopsworld.com. “They played out of the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, which was a dance hall and a place where prominent jazz musicians played. The Renaissance team would play before the main attraction when they played their home games. They would play one half of the game, then they would have one minor band, then they would play the second half of the game and then they might have Duke Ellington until 3am."
The documentary, which will feature a soundtrack by Herbie Hancock, is slated for release in February 2007.
Vocalist Arlene Talley was delightful in conversation and song for the Harlem Speaks audience on October 26, 2006. She talked about her early days in Harlem, where she born during the early '30s at Metropolitan Hospital. As an adolescent she performed “A Tisket A Tasket" at her dad's Masonic Hall. She thought she was hot stuff until a youngster a little older than Talley came in and tore up the joint with a blues.
She recouped quickly, incorporated some blues too, and kept singing in Harlem. At the age of 23 she began singing at the Club Lido, where she met Redd Foxx, Ruth Brown, and Frank “Floor Show" Culley, with whom she began performing at the Apollo Bar. She had a hit with Culley, “Little Miss Blues"; the B side was Thelonious Monk's “Round Midnight."
She went on the road with Culley, who introduced her to manager Nat Nazarro. He hooked Talley up with the Isley Brothers, and they played the Apollo Theater and the Howard Theater in Washington. She spent a year performing with Art Blakey, and then joined Illinois Jaquet's group. “He was nice, but tough," Talley remembered. “He was almost like a father to me." Jaquet and other band leaders she performed with back then thought she was young because of her small size and youthful looks.
Many of her friends and family were in attendance, and several spoke of their love for Talley. One young man even performed “Stardust" for her on alto saxophone a capella. Accompanied by keyboardist Douglass Jordan and Richard Rivers on drums, Talley sang rousing renditions of “The Song Is You," “But Beautiful," and “On a Clear Day." They perform with Talley every Saturday at St. Nicks Pub in Harlem's Hamilton Heights section.
The Harlem Speaks series, supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, is produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem's Executive Director, Loren Schoenberg, Co- Director Christian McBride, and Greg Thomas Associates. The series occurs at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm- 8:30pm.
For more information contact Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services.
