Jazz Articles

Virginia Mayhew Quartet: Mary Lou Williams: The Next 100 Years

by Edward Blanco
July 17, 2012

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth date of pianist, composer and arranger Mary Lou Williams, the Virginia Mayhew Quartet pays homage to one of the most unheralded, yet most important jazz figures of all time on Mary Lou Williams--The Next 100 Years. Presenting new arrangements of eight Williams compositions and two original blues charts, Mayhew directs a formidable quartet of veteran players and special guest, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon to make for a powerful quintet sound on several tracks.

Duke Ellington Legacy: Single Petal of a Rose

by Edward Blanco
July 15, 2012

The great Duke Ellington would be proud of the way his family has decided to keep his memory and music alive and kicking for newer generations to enjoy. In 2003, his grandchildren, guitarist Edward Kennedy Ellington II and sister Gaye Ellington, formed The Duke Ellington Legacy, a nine-piece jazz ensemble dedicated to performing the music of the late composer/pianist. Single Petal of a Rose is the group's sophomore effort, featuring guest tenor saxophonist Houston Person, and follows its highly respected ...

Virginia Mayhew Quartet: Mary Lou Williams: The Next 100 Years

by Dan McClenaghan
July 10, 2012

Saxophonist Virginia Mayhew is a rare forward-looking jazz artist who doesn't mind looking back. She leads the Duke Ellington Legacy, responsible for the superb Thank You Uncle Edward (Renma Recordings, 2007) and Single Pedal of a Rose (Renma Recordings, 2012). Now she honors Mary Lou Williams (1910-1983) in this tribute to the groundbreaking pianist/composer/arranger's one hundredth birthday. Williams could be considered underrated, but there are efforts to remedy that: pianist Geri Allen recorded a quartet version of a ...

Virginia Mayhew: A Simple Thank You

by Ken Dryden
September 11, 2008

Virginia Mayhew has been a part of the New York City jazz scene since 1987 when the San Francisco native enrolled in the New School's Jazz Performance program and was awarded its Zoot Sims Memorial Scholarship. The tenor saxophonist played with a variety of bandleaders including Earl “Fatha" Hines, Al Grey, Junior Mance, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Terry Gibbs, Kenny Barron and Claudio Roditi, as well as being a key soloist in the all-female big band Diva.

Duke Ellington Legacy: Thank You Uncle Edward

by Michael P. Gladstone
June 7, 2008

Duke Ellington Legacy is a musical consortium initiated by guitarist Edward Kennedy Ellington II, a grandson of the musical Duke. He met saxophonist/composer Virginia Mayhew in 1987, and by 2004, Ellington wanted to so something tangible about his ideas, turning the process over to Mayhew.

Thank You Uncle Edward is the product of her toils with a nonet of first-rate musicians playing a mostly Duke Ellington set list. The saxophonist was responsible for recruiting the ensemble as well ...

Virginia Mayhew Septet: A Simple Thank You

by Michael P. Gladstone
May 29, 2008

It has always been a pleasure to see saxophonist Virginia Mayhew in performance and enjoy her original compositions, which present solid material which she plays with warmth, grace and the best that mainstream jazz can offer on both tenor and soprano sax.

Mayhew had to face a definite speed bump in her musical career when breast cancer developed and this project was put on hold. Thankfully, all is well now and she has a finely-tuned album to show ...

Virginia Mayhew: A Simple Thank You

by Jerry D'Souza
April 25, 2008

The soul of an artist reverberates through the music. Virginia Mayhew (tenor and soprano saxophones) fills her playing with warmth, tenderness and an unmitigated passion. Her recordings have marked these traits, making them a veritable joy. She continues the trend here, with an expanded line-up that gives the music a greater dimension. It's the first septet she has worked with, and the whole band plays with and off each other, demonstrating remarkable empathy.

The music comprises new tunes as well ...

Virginia Mayhew Septet: A Simple Thank You

by Dan McClenaghan
March 6, 2008

This is about the coolest cover art you'll ever see on a CD: Saxophonist Virginia Mayhew in blue tones, as bald as an egg (cancer treatments), in partial profile, eyes closed, in an apparent state of repose. She looks like a sleek android discovered in arctic ice. Cool as hell.The music on Mayhew's fifth CD, A Simple Thank You, is every bit as cool as the cover art. There's nothing android-ish about Mayhew's step into arranging, writing and ...

Virginia Mayhew: Sandan Shuffle

by Terrell Kent Holmes
July 29, 2006

Convention bores Virginia Mayhew. So it's no surprise that Sandan Shuffle, her fourth release as a leader, doesn't merely embrace the unconventional, but seizes it in a bear hug. Right at the top, the blues-inspired title track is played seven to the bar, not eight and Mayhew's tenor grooves like mad. Her sax smiles throughout an inventive Calypso arrangement of “Let's Fall In Love, with Kenny Wessel laying down cool guitar lines. Bassist Harvie S contributes the ...

Virginia Mayhew: Sandan Shuffle

by Michael P. Gladstone
May 7, 2006

I had a chance to see Virginia Mayhew a few years ago in a sideman gig where she appeared as part of an all-femme quintet backing a singer. From memory, the other musicians were Allison Miller, Kendra Shank and Roberta Picket. My recollection of Mayhew's performance was that she was clearly the most pressing reason to be there. She displayed strong and melodic playing on tenor sax, plus a few numbers on soprano sax. There was nothing tentative about Mayhew's ...