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The Mingus concert I attended was so lightly attended that we walked up and purchased front row seats. There was a piano below and in front of the stage, and before the concert, a giant of a man dressed all in black came out (Mingus) and started playing solo piano for a few minutes. This was literally right in front of me. You could hear George Adams warming up on flute offstage right before the concert started, but he did not play flute during the concert. The actual concert was about 80 minutes long--they played five songs, either Remember Rockefeller at Attica or Free Cell Block F to open, Black Bats and Poles, Duke Ellington's Sound of Love (very long and slow and utterly gorgeous), For Harry Carney (incredible version), and The Devil Blues. George Adams was shocking to see, with his eyes rolling into the back of his head. I could not see Don Pullen's hands from my vantagepoint; it was disconcerting to hear such wild piano and only see a serious face looking stoically down at the keys. I loved every player but only liked Jack Walrath, though he grew on me as the concert progressed; I sort of felt sorry for him to have to solo in the face of such magnificent players. Mingus complained about the small size of the audience and made a joke about Alan Ginsberg, who was also appearing at SMU for this festival, The Poets of the Cities. Ellington had recently died and Mingus made some comments about him in introducing Sound of Love, but at that point (age 16), I did not really know Ellington other than as a popular bandleader.

SMOKE SCREENS PRESENTS: ENCORE RESTREAM - THE JOHNATHAN BLAKE TRIO / QUARTET FEATURING CHRIS POTTER, DEZRON DOUGLAS, & SULLIVAN FORTNER FRIDAY JULY 2 - SATURDAY JULY 3 / ENCORE RESTREAMED / 8PM EST Buy Streaming Pass Chris Potter (tenor saxophone) Sullivan Fortner (piano, Saturday only) Dezron Douglas (bass) Johnathan Blake (drums) “Despite his roots in Philadelphia, JohnathanBlake is the quintessential New York City jazz drummer.” – Lee Mergner, JazzTimes Johnathan Blake, a drummer whose dynamic playing, artistic vision, and innate versatility led NPR’s John Murph to call him “the ultimate modernist,” leads a very special group featuring saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Sullivan Fortner (Saturday only), and bassist Dezron Douglas. The New York Times says, “Blake’s drumming is as bold as thunder and as subtle as the patter of rain.” The Guardian adds, “his command of time is quite unbelievable – tricky and playful but accurate to the millisecond.”

In 1964, my (U.S. Army) family was stationed in Orleans, France, so I was only 80 miles or so from the Mingus European tour Paris concerts with Eric Dolphy. Alas, at the age of six, I was unaware. I heard the Changes group in person on November 19, 1974 in Dallas. My only other known Mingus proximities are 500 miles away in New Orleans--April 17, 1976 (night concert for New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival), April 18, 1976 (at 2 p.m. in the Jazz Tent on the Fairgrounds), and on April 20, 1977 (NOJHF night concert on the President steamship). Unfortunately, I was not able to go to New Orleans for any of these concerts. Posthumously, I saw the Mingus Dynasty at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth in 1983 (Ricky Ford, Johnny Coles, Horace Parlan, Richard Davis, Dannie Richmond) and actually got to meet Dannie Richmond. And I've seen the Mingus Big Band/Mingus Orchestra a couple of dozen times in New York.

Gosh you were fortunate to have all those opportunities to see Mingus live. There are a couple of 1977 live performances on Wolfgang's Vault (at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Nice Jazz Festival).

A live Fatoumata Diawara song. I did not realize she was the lead guitarist in her band.

James P. Johnson, 1944 (Classics)

I think in the last three minutes or so of C Jam Blues, where Kirk is playing a multi-horn drone and Adams is soloing wildly.

Mdou Moctar, Afrique Victime (Matador)

I last saw John Handy and Charles McPherson play live in October of 2015, separately but within a couple of days of one another. Both sounded great. More recently, I don't know. Jon Faddis led the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band until it disbanded some years ago. Never heard it but from what I read it had a solid reputation and was superior to Wynton's repertory big band.

Jon Faddis is also still alive, as is John Handy.

Laurindo Almeida/Bud Shank, Brazilliance, volume 1

July 28, 2021: Jackie Venson, Luna, San Antonio July 30, 2021: Jackie Venson, Three Links, Dallas September 5, 2021: Terence Blanchard E Collective, Riverfront Jazz Festival, Dallas September 12, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Verizon Theater, Grand Prairie September 13, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Paramount Theater, Austin September 14, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Tobin Center, San Antonio September 30, 2021: Shannon Powell, John Boutte, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans October 1, 2021: Tuba Skinny, Joe Lastie, Alexey Marti, Little Freddie King, Meschiya Lake, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, Denton Arts Festival October 2, 2021: Leroy Jones, Walter Wolfman Washington, Aurora Nealand, Louis Ford, Jamil Sharif, Sasha Masakowski, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans October 8-10, 2021: David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Charlie Musselwhite, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Walter Wolfman Washington, Little Freddie King, Nicholas Payton, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival October 10, 2021: iLe, House of Blues, Dallas October 11, 2021: iLe, House of Blues, Houston October 15-17, 2021: Terence Blanchard E Collective, Kingfish Ingram, Terri Lynne Carrington, Count Basie Orchestra, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival October 30, 2021: Tinariwen, Tulips FTW, Fort Worth November 5, 2021: Jason Moran: James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters, Austin November 6, 2021: Jason Moran: James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters, Cullen Theater, Houston January 26, 2022: Brubeck Brothers, One World Theater, Austin February 23-24, 2022: Pat Metheny, One World Theater. Austin February 25, 2022: Pat Metheny Side Eye, Cullen Theater, Houston February 26, 2022: Pat Metheny Side-Eye, Majestic Theater, Dallas April 23, 2022: Joel Ross, Cullen Theater, Houston May 13, 2022: Artemis, Cullen Theater, Houston

Eddie Condon, Jam Session Coast to Coast (Columbia)

https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/the-guitar-is-my-voice?fbclid=IwAR2KDKmtoEGXpLHb_dvZJd67rH6dJ41Wuvc7skGeBeBX4nm2EBUsMZg984Y Interview with Trust Samende, lead guitarist for Mokoomba.

Jimmy Ponder, Down Here on the Ground (Milestone) Curtis Amy and Dupree Bolton, Katanga (Pacific Jazz/Tone Poet) Amalia Mendoza, Boleros (RCA)

Sun Ra, The Shadows Took Shape (Transparency)

The only discos I'm going to:

Salah Ragab, Egypt Strut (Strut)

Bebop and Beyond (Concord). I saw this group in 1984 at Kimbell's in San Francisco. Earl Hines, His Piano and Ralph Carmichael's Swinging' Big Band (Capitol) Nick Brignola, New York Bound (Interplay)

June 24, 2021: Jackie Venson, Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, Galveston June 25, 2021: Walter Wolfman Washington, Antone's, Austin Jackie Venson, Dosey Doe, Spring, TX JUne 26, 2021: Jackie Venson, Paper Tiger, San Antonio July 10, 2021: John Primer, Antone's, Austin July 29, 2021: Jackie Venson, Lone Wolf's Pub, San Angelo July 30, 2021: Jackie Venson, Three Links, Dallas September 5, 2021: Terence Blanchard E Collective, Riverfront Jazz Festival, Dallas September 12, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Verizon Theater, Grand Prairie September 13, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Paramount Theater, Austin September 14, 2021: Herbie Hancock, Tobin Center, San Antonio September 30, 2021: Shannon Powell, John Boutte, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans October 1, 2021: Tuba Skinny, Joe Lastie, Alexey Marti, Little Freddie King, Meschiya Lake, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans October 2, 2021: Leroy Jones, Walter Wolfman Washington, Aurora Nealand, Louis Ford, Jamil Sharif, Sasha Masakowski, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans October 8-10, 2021: David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Charlie Musselwhite, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Walter Wolfman Washington, Little Freddie King, Nicholas Payton, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival October 15-17, 2021: Terence Blanchard E Collective, Kingfish Ingram, Terri Lynne Carrington, Count Basie Orchestra, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival October 30, 2021: Tinariwen, Tulips FTW, Fort Worth November 6, 2021: Jason Moran: James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters, Cullen Theater, Houston January 26, 2022: Brubeck Brothers, One World Theater, Austin February 23-24, 2022: Pat Metheny, One World Theater. Austin February 25, 2022: Pat Metheny Side Eye, Cullen Theater, Houston February 26, 2022: Pat Metheny Side-Eye, Majestic Theater, Dallas April 23, 2022: Joel Ross, Cullen Theater, Houston May 13, 2022: Artemis, Cullen Theater, Houston

Jason Moran, Music for Joan Jonas (Yes)

Kenny Garrett Quintet w/ Corcoran Holt, Rudy Bird, Vernell Brown & Ronald Bruner Fri-Sun, June 25-27 Get Your Tickets or Streaming Pass

Pepper Adams, Conjuration: Fat Tuesday's Session (Reservoir)

REOPENING UPDATE: Dear Smoke Family, Thank you all so sincerely for your enormous support and encouragement during these very challenging 14 months - what a long year it’s been for all of us! Now that we finally know that the idea of an intimate indoor jazz club has a future again we are busy planning for reopening later this summer. We are very excited about the prospect of welcoming you again in person and can’t wait to share more details with you! Thank you so much to all of you who have been supporting us via our weekly livestreams. We want you to know that the livestreams will continue after doors reopen so that you can enjoy the music from Smoke even if you don’t live in New York City. Thank you again for supporting Smoke throughout this difficult time and thank you especially for supporting our amazing artists, it means the world to us. In the meantime, if you are eligible, please get vaccinated so that we can all lose the masks - see you soon! Warm Regards, Paul & Molly

Harold Land, Westward Bound (Reel to Real)