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Prudential Financial Presents The Hartford Jazz Society’s Monday Night Jazz NEW DIRECTIONS I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him ... the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost's hired man, the fate of having "nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope". -- President John F. Kennedy: Remarks at Amherst College, October 26, 1963 Monday Night Jazz in 2008 will present some of today's most progressive and cutting-edge jazz musicians. They are part of the latest wave of artists who are using "the influences of whatever musics they know and adapting them into the broadest possible jazz context.” [1] MNJ in 2008 will stretch the boundaries of jazz. Of course, jazz has a long and vital history of pushing its own envelope, from as far back as the 20s, when listeners first heard the sounds of Louis Armstrong, and later Charlie Parker, and countless others since. And, lest we forget, that history extends to Hartford. After all, it was Hartford that gave jazz maverick Ornette Coleman the keys to the city in 1985 [2]; and it was Hartford where, throughout the 1940s and 1950s, a vibrant jazz scene flourished in the north end at such places as Club Sundown, the Cotton Club, the Turf Club, the Elks Clubs, and many others; where John Cage performed at South Church in 1966; where on one evening in 1982 HJS presented Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, Leroy Jenkins, Amina Claudine Meyers, Andrew Cyrille, Leo Smith, Bill Lowe, and others; where HJS presented Anthony Davis in 1977, Sam Rivers in 1979, the Art Ensemble of Chicago in 1980, Jackie McLean in 1989, Archie Shepp in 1993, Joe Morris in 2001, and Andrew Hill, Greg Osby and Dave Douglas in 2004; where the Artists Collective presented Cecil Taylor in 2006; and where Real Art Ways, under the directorship of Joseph Celli, produced the adventurous and memorable "RAW August Jazz" series in the 1970s and 1980s. And the list goes on. As MNJ charts its new direction in 2008, we are mindful of the trails that so many others have blazed throughout the history of jazz in Hartford. If the engines of creative improvisation could be started with words, they would be the words that Duke Ellington penned in his poem, What is Music?: The scope of music is immense and infinite. It is the ‘esperanto’ of the world.[3] So let the music begin! Joe Morris It is fortuitous that Joe Morris was available and willing to serve as artistic director for this series because he himself is very much in the vanguard of this “wave.” He is also featured as leader, co-leader and sideman on over 50 recordings. He was therefore well-situated to put together this stellar lineup. Apart from his talents as a musician, he has also had considerable experience organizing concerts, festivals and performance series, including the successful Firehouse 12 performance space in New Haven. He has performed workshops and master classes in a wide variety of settings throughout North America and Europe. He has taught improvisation and/or guitar on the faculty at Tufts University Experimental College, Southern Connecticut State University, and New School University. He is currently on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory and in the Modern American Music Department at Longy School of Music. The Lineup The lineup for this year’s Monday Night Jazz features both new and emerging talent as well as seasoned veterans. Their discographies reveal the depth and scope of their experience, their unceasing creative spirit, and their desire to move the music in new directions. We are fortunate to be able to present them in concert over the course of four Monday evenings. Bill Sullivan, Chair HJS Program Committee ******************************************************************************** ****** Prudential Financial Presents The Hartford Jazz Society’s Monday Night Jazz A series of FREE concerts in Bushnell Park, Hartford Each followed by a Jam Session at Black-eyed Sally's Each Monday at 5:00 PM there will be a guided tour of Bushnell Park starting at the Arch, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial July 7 6 pm Roy Campbell’s TAZZ Roy Campbell (trumpet, flugelhorn) Andrew Bemkey (piano) Michael T.A. Thompson (drums) Chris Sullivan (bass) - bios 8 pm Matthew Shipp Trio Matthew Shipp (piano) Whit Dickey (drums) Joe Morris (bass) - bios July 14 6 pm Jim Hobbs' The Brothers of Heliopolis Jim Hobbs (alto sax) Jamal Moore (tenor sax) Kurtis Rivers (baritone sax) Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) Forbes Graham (trumpet) Bill Lowe (bass trombone, tuba) Timo Shanko (bass) Django Carranza (drums) Joe Morris (guitar) - bios 8 pm Dominique Eade Quartet Dominique Eade (vocals) Bruce Barth (piano) Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass) Matt Wilson (drums) - bios July 28 6 pm Tim Berne's Bloodcount Tim Berne (alto sax) Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet) Michael Formanek (bass) Jim Black (drums) - bios 8 pm William Parker Quintet William Parker (bass) Jason Kao Hwang (violin) Lewis Barnes (trumpet) Rob Brown (alto sax) Zen Matsuura (drums) - bios August 4 6 pm John McNeil/ Bill McHenry Quartet John McNeil (trumpet) Bill McHenry (tenor sax) Joe Martin (bass) Jochen Rueckert (drums) - bios 8 pm Gerald Cleaver's Violet Hour Gerald Cleaver (drums) Jeremy Pelt (trumpet) J. D. Allen (tenor sax) Andrew Bishop (soprano/tenor sax, bass clarinet) Ben Waltzer (piano) Chris Lightcap (bass) - bios

I finally finished the book during a business trip to St. Louis over the past weekend. I tought it was very well done and will be an important historical document about the AACM. I did feel, however, that as much detail was put into the early days it kinds of skimmed through a lot of what was going on from the mid seventies to present, but that is a minor quibble.

Does anyone have anything substantive to say about Kidd Jordan and his music? I have heard some of this recordings and caught him at last year's Vision Quest. To be honest, I have not heard enough variety in his playing to become a fan. Based on what I have heard (which is more than just a few things) he seems to go straight for the jugular all the time. I do, however, try to be an open listener so I am always welcome to suggestions of specific recordings fans consider worthwhile.

I suppose I should consider myself extremely fortunate to have received it at the low price.

Strange. I actually received my order a couple of weeks ago.

I received a message that my order was shipped on the 20th.

Having witnessed some unexpected extremes in people I know in the time of grief, I think everyone is entitled to some leeway under those circumstances. I do not think that is necessarily a good time to get a good idea of personality characteristics of anyone.

I don't have ANY Hezekiah Walker. What vintage is that one? What label? MG It is a 2005 release on the Verity label.

For different reasons I have really been moved by the following two tracks and listened to them both repeatedly over the weekend: Hector Lavoe - "El Cantante" - El Cantante - The Originals HezeKiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade - "Faithful Is Our God" - 20/85 The Experience I realize these are not the typical tracks expected to be mentioned on this thread, but it is what it is.

I ordered a copy for $1.99 from half.com. I was just reminded today that I never received this disc.

I received my copy last week. It will take a while to get through.

Glad I ordered mine as soon as I saw the notice and got the $29.99 price. Got an email last week that it is in the mail.

I preordered the book and received a shipping notice email form Amazon earlier this week. Really looking forward to reading this one.

For some reason that disc has been difficult for me to locate. Downloading from emusic or iTunes is one possibility. That is what I did. Thanks for the info, but the collector in me prefers the actual factory manufactured CD with all the art work and any liner notes. Never would of guessed that you are a "collector" I suppose I could have mentioned that I do already have the music in my collection in the form of a copy of the radio broadcast that the CD was presumably taken from. The only thing a download would do for me right now would be a possible sonic upgrade as my copy probably likely came from a cassette of the broadcast that was eventually converted to CDR. I did notice today that J&R has the recording for a reasonable price, but I think that is a prior issue. I think I read somewhere (possibly the label's website) that the recent edition is upgraded sonically. If I am going to purchase it, I might as well get the best one available. Unless of course someone could tell me the original 90s release is fine enough.

For some reason that disc has been difficult for me to locate. Downloading from emusic or iTunes is one possibility. That is what I did. Thanks for the info, but the collector in me prefers the actual factory manufactured CD with all the art work and any liner notes.

For some reason that disc has been difficult for me to locate.

There is no link or anything else in the original post on my screen. Not that big a deal, I can read it from home later tonight. It is just wierd to me since theoretically my computer system at work is probably better than my Dell desktop at home with a few years on it.

I still do not know why it is that i can't see these things when i am in the office. Maybe it has something to do with the flash player that we do not have?

I enjoyed them, but don't think they are necessarily essential. Soem nice blowing by both. I will have to check out that sale. There are a few Dickerson recordings on SteepleChase that I would like to add to the collection.

I don't own much of this at all. I placed an order. For the price it is worth the risk.

I can't help but wonder how much of that was really a Miles influence on Rivers? Didn't Williams play with Rivers before playing with Miles? So isn't it possible that there is actually no direct influence? Just a thought.

I think Redman and Mehldau are both talented musicians, but I do agree that both had the misfortune of being overhyped a bit and to date have not lived up to the lofty expectations. Over the years as my listening preferences have evolved I have cooled on both of them. After the YaYa3 album I kind of soured on Redman during the Elastic Band period. I thought the first album was fairly fresh and the latter a bore. I have, however, really enjoyed the SFJAZZ Collective, but that is the sum of the parts as opposed to Joshua Redman. Speaking of bore - this is no lie - i actually struggled to stay away during a Mehldau solo performance a couple of years ago in Litchfield. Trust me - I was not the only one. With that said, although I do not go out of my way to spend my little bit of extra money on either and there are many people I would listen to before, I have beeb able to enjoy both in various contexts from time to time. I will also confess that Redman's Back East is also in my yourmusic.com cue - even though it has gotten pushed down a couple of times. (and yes I do own a few Reggie Noble discs and my brother even interviewed him when he was trying to start a grass roots hip hop magazine years ago).

Joe Romano is still with us, he's about 78, and lives in Port Townsend, WA. The record that he made with Sam Noto is great. This reminded me of a live gig I a couple of years ago from Nick Molfese's daughter from Casblanca(?) with Noto, Romano and Sam Falzone in the front line.

PM sent regarding: Sean Bergin, “Nansika” (Data) [quintet w/ C. Clark, F. Douglas, de Boo] Benjamin Herman, “Heterogeneity” (A-Records) [quintet w/ Mengelberg, B. Joris]

PM sent re: WALT DICKERSON " 1976" Why Not MTCJ-2009 ultra rare $15 MAX ROACH "Quiet As It's Kept" Mercury UCCM-9096 $12