Lazaro Vega

From the Ann Arbor News: WUOM probe checks gifts, fundraising Officials investigating whether gift-giving was legal, attorney says Tuesday, March 14, 2006 BY ART AISNER News Staff Reporter The criminal investigation into University of Michigan public radio station WUOM involves the station's fundraising and whether employees improperly received gifts from businesses mentioned on air, said an attorney representing a former employee questioned by police. Dan Geherin, the attorney for Justin Ebright, the station's former development director, confirmed Monday that Ebright was recently interviewed by investigators with the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety. "The station has incentive programs put in place to reward top employees, and they're looking into if some of the incentive programs crossed the line into criminal behavior,'' Geherin said. Authorities are checking on whether gifts were given to station employees by businesses - including meals at local restaurants - in return for on-air mention, Geherin said. The likelihood of charges hinges on whether or not authorities determine that taking the gifts was illegal or a violation of the station's policies, he said. No criminal charges have been filed as of Monday, and may not be, he said. "I don't know if even one person, or two, or maybe 100 will be charged in this. It is an odd investigation,'' Geherin said. Geherin said at least one other sales employee under Ebright's supervision, Jeremy Nordquist, was recently interviewed by police. Nordquist, an account executive, was fired in January. His attorney, Tom Moors, did not return messages from The News Monday. Moors told a Detroit newspaper that Norquist, in addition to meals, received a pool table and Persian rugs as performance bonuses. Nordquist is challenging his dismissal. Geherin would not comment on whether Ebright received similar bonuses. Diane Brown, spokeswoman for U-M police, said Monday she couldn't comment on the nature or scope of an ongoing investigation. The U-M administration is also conducting its own audit and formal review of the station's development operations, said university spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham, who declined further comment. The probe began shortly after Donovan Reynolds, director of Michigan Public Media, said he notified authorities in November after finding irregularities with the station's development operations. He began supervising the development department last June. Reynolds resigned his job earlier this month, saying he had to take responsibility since the investigation occurred while he was director. Michigan Public Media is the umbrella organization for WUOM, 91.7-FM, and affiliated radio stations in Flint and Grand Rapids; Michigan Television, the public-TV channel that broadcasts from Flint; and the Michigan Channel, which carries U-M programming on local cable systems. Art Aisner can be reached at aaisner@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6823. ©2006 Ann Arbor News © 2006 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

Thanks for listening Uncle Skidmore. The version of "Impressions" from Trane's "Newport '63" is one of the great moments in jazz drumming. Nessa turned me on to that.

The Jazz Datebook March 14, 2006 Muskegon – Every other Tuesday The Truth in Jazz Orchestra plays at the West Side Inn, Beidler St.. Last on the bandstand March 7th and upcoming March 14th and 28th the sixteen piece big band led by bassist/bass trombonist Dave Collee. This neighborhood tavern fills up over the course of the performance. Music from 7 p.m. on the school night. Grand Rapids – Monday, March 20th, 6 to 9 p.m., the Grand Rapids collective Mind’s Eye, which has recorded a suite of movements named for each of the Great Lakes, features a repertoire of bop and swing favorites when they appear at the Kopper Top Guest House 638 Stocking N.W. (one door south of Fourth Street). Pianist-composer-educator Steve Talaga is featured in this collective of area musicians including the “Ira Sullivan of Michigan” Rob Smith on both trumpet and saxophones; Tom Lockwood, bass (or baritone saxophone); and Keith Hall, drums. This is a “Jazz Gumbo Showcase” presentation of the West Michigan Jazz Society. WMJS phone, 458 – 0125, or www.wmichjazz.org . p.s. On the last Monday of each month beginning March 27th, the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, a talent rich area big band, appears from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Kopper Top Guest House. Grand Haven – The Theater Bar, 24 Washington St., features either jazz and blues guitarists Rick Hicks or Eric Glatz on Wednesday evenings from 8 to 11 p.m. and live local jazz bands on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 to 11 p.m. Saugatuck – Saturday, March 25th, 8 p.m., Chicago vocalist Kirsten Gustafson tunes up for a national tour with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra by appearing with entertainer Michael Holmes in their production called “Swinging the Standards” at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ Bertha Krueger Reid Theater. “You Taught My Heart To Sing” was Gustafson’s 1992 debut on Atlantic records with liner notes by Sammy Cahn. In 2000 she released “Live at Montreux” recorded at the famous Swiss music festival. Seats are $15 through the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, (269) 857 – 2399 or www.sc4a.org . East Lansing – Wednesday, March 22nd, 7 and 9 p.m., trumpeter Ingrid Jensen performs with Michigan State University’s Professor’s of Jazz led by bassist Rodney Whitaker at The Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, Michigan State University. 1-800-WHARTON or www.whartoncenter.com . See www.ingridjensen.com for biography and music samples of this fabulous trumpeter. Ann Arbor – Tuesday, March 28th , 8 p.m. , Misha Mengleberg, Han Bennink and Holland’s world-renowned Instant Composer’s Pool Orchestra get creative at the Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Avenue. For directions to the multi-directional music of the ICP Orchestra see www.kerrytownoncerthouse.com Ann Arbor – Thursday, March 30th Russ Gershon’s labor of love The Either Orchestra, recently recorded at the Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Ababa, is the second mid-size band to appear in the same week at the Kerrytown Concert House. A different vibe than the crazy Dutchmen, the Either Orchestra is known for their recasting of jazz classics by Charles Mingus and Miles Davis as well as leader Gershon’s amazing wit, as in his piece “There’s a Bus That’s Leaving Soon for Alban Berg’s House.” www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com Ann Arbor – Friday, March 31st , 8 p.m., The San Francisco Jazz Collective plays a tribute to Herbie Hancock at The Michigan Theater. Joshua Redman, saxophones and artistic director; Bobby Hutcherson, vibes and marimba; Renee Rosnes, piano; Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; plus a rhythm section to be announced. Part of the 12th Annual Jazz Series presented by The University Musical Society, now in it’s 127th season. See www.ums.org Hart – Friday, May 12th, pianist Butch Thompson and Friends at the Hart Public Schools Auditorium in the Hart Middle School. Tickets at the door, $7.00. Contact Tom Kirk, (231) 873- 6320.

The day after his 81st Birthday we'll hear Haynes with the Summit Meeting at Birdland; Bird in Boston, 1952; Miles first Prestige recordings, and J.C. live at the Village Vanguard "Chasin' Another Trane." For openers. Classic music right now and jazz after 10 p.m. www.bluelake.org If the WMP cuts out and on, find this description on the same page under the WMP, next to the streaming schedule: "If you are unable to hear the broadcast from your web broswer, please click here: Listen Now " Opening that link tends to flow uninterrupted. According to that great "Listening With Roy Haynes" in the New York Times his band is opening tonight at the Village Vangaurd and playing until Sunday. In lieu of being there..... From the Manistee National Forest,

Nice. An Oscar for Treadwell. Would like to mention, too, that the sluff off of the Cincinnatti Conservatory of Music....pianist Phil DeGregg can play, he's a swinger, and an effective teacher. I've had the chance to record him on a tour of Europe and he's worth more as a jazz musician than the brush-off given here.

That's right.

Eric Dolphy's "Out There" sounds great. The Ammons has his tenor sliding in and out of echo that almost sounds like he's sticking it back into a Chess microphone then, as he plays softer than the force needed to trigger the echo, slides back to the present. Trippin that.

Yes, if you're going to get into Hines as a soloist per se and not just the great solo music he did late in his career, there are the two 1939 Blue Notes, too, which are essential to the story.

Isn't there a solo record on Halcyon, Marian McParland's label, or is that the stuff on Chairoscuro? For wildness there's "Jive Sugar," Hines on the blues. Going to listen to "My Shining Hour" from the Masters of Jazz release on Storyville. Hearing that (now, which is the reason for the edit) he does what Andrew Hill recently described as "concertizing" for the first half of the piece, then turns into Hines Waller at the mid-point and the improv goes out. His ability to relocate the tune from the edges he visits rhythmically and with such complex intertwined linearity.... And the Tchaikovsky ending, spelling out the melody with grandiose bass chords seperated by rests, My____ Shin_ing___ Hour. He winks at the middle section to close it out.

Didn't hear that. After about a minute there's children to attend to which makes the long narrative impossible to absorb. He mentioned 1975 and the multi-day Coleman marathon, said they sent a copy of the broadcast to O.C., and that's about as much as I got. What did he say? He must have played four sides of "Free Jazz" as I heard two "flips." ?

Can't believe they played "Free Jazz" on vinyl. Not that it's a bad thing hearing the "flip," but there're a couple of good versions on CD.....

Phil Schapp just took over.

Yes, Fred Hersch is in Kalamazoo with a concert on Wednesday, and then Grand Rapids on Thursday at the UICA, a solo concert on a 9 foot grand. Blue Lake will record Thursday with the help of the audio lab people from Hope College. So the week after that in Ann Arbor is Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and the ICP Orchestra on the 28th, the Either Orchestra on the 30th and, at the Michigan Theater, the San Fransisco Jazz Collective in a tribute to Herbie Hancock on the 31st. Great week for Ann Arbor.

(This came across the desk via CHI IMPROV and is a press release). DOUGLAS R.EWART AND INVENTIONS "SO SORRY, LEASE FORGIVE ME!" HAMID DRAKE, GUEST PERCUSSIONIST (On Friday only) DEE ALEXANDER, VOICE & PERCUSSION DUSHUN MOSLEY, DRUMS EDWARD WILKERSON Jr., WINDS & PERCUSSION MWATA BOWDEN, WINDS & PERCUSSION WALLACE LaROY McMILLAN REEDS & PERCUSSION DARIUS SAVAGE, BASS DOUGLAS R. EWART, WINDS, PERCUSSION & VOICE 10:00 PM Admission $12.00 Friday 17th & Saturday 18th March 2006 Velvet Lounge 2128 1/2 South Indiana Ave. Chicago IL 60616 312-791-9050 AACM: Power Stronger Than Itself! Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians Douglas R. Ewart is current co-chairman of Chicago Chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Mr. Ewart is an internationally renowned composer, musician, visual artist and educator. He has performed with noted musicians: Muhal Richard Abrams, Amina Myers, Dee Alexander, Rita Warford, Beah Richards, Mia Masaoka, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Mwata Bowden, David Baker and Cecil Taylor. He builds and plays his own instruments and has exhibited work at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art and other museums around the world. He teaches in the Twins Cities and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Ewart can be seen regularly with incarnations of Orchestra Inventions at Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge, and other venues.

By THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: March 3, 2006 BAUHAUS QUARTET (Thursday) Kevin Norton is a probing drummer, vibraphonist and composer, although not always in that order; his Bauhaus Quartet, with Dave Ballou on trumpet, Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and John Lindberg on bass, exemplifies the taut intellectualism of jazz's far-left wing. 8 and 10 p.m., Jimmy's Restaurant, 43 East Seventh Street, East Village, (212) 982-3006; cover, $10, with a one-drink minimum. (Chinen) (article forwarded to Blue Lake by Kevin Norton who also runs Barking Hoop Records)

The ICP Orchestra is in the same venue on the 28th. Damn. Yes, The Either Orchestra (and the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet) played Grand Rapids several times and they've been excellent. Their most recent recording was done in Addis Abbaba at the Ethiopian Music Festival. Long improvisations and some incredible grooves with the "local" musicians joining the band. They take Sun Ra and Mingus seriously, and Gershon is musical friends with Albert Ayler (among many others). He's the band's strongest soloist but there are still some strong players in the band. A real labor of love. If you pick up "Across the Omniverse" you'll see photos taken during a Grand Rapids concert on some long gone Halloween. That was the first time I heard them play "There's A Bus That's Leaving Soon For Alban Berg's House."

Well, a good example of how the current national political climate influenced public broadcasting was the horrible Tomlinson affair. The current political climate has free and open reporting in it's sights. There's a lot of pressure from the right aimed at Universities these days, too. But, as I said, who knows. Ken makes a good point. This could be anything. Nuts and bolts or dirty tricks. Time will tell.

It is with no joy this post is up. One of Blue Lake's former announcers, Alan Young, became Ann Arbor's morning classical producer and host many years before the NPR news model came through. Hazen Schumacher's jazz programming pointed the way back to some great music, even though he wasn't everyone's cup of tea. He was a big part of college for me as I played his program Saturday mornings while board operating on WKAR AM. 6 a.m. Hazen. I've wondered what happened to their 78 rpm jazz collection. Heard U of M radio's classical library went to a collector in Germany. And there's Michael Jewett, who learned alongside Hazen and hosted a great Saturday Night Jazz Program on WUOM, still on over at WEMU. I know WUOM is planning on strengthening their FM signal in West Michigan. They launched a funding campaign a few months ago. When they were all classical Blue Lake "compeated" with them in the Grand Rapids market, if you could call it that. As I said, we turned into a farm club for them in one instance. When they switched to news there was a flood of listeners to Blue Lake, which happened again two years ago when the lone commercial classical station in Grand Rapids was sold to a country format. In the current political climate of the country who knows what is really happening.

WUOM facing criminal probe U-M police investigating operations in wake of Reynolds resignation Friday, March 03, 2006 BY AMALIE NASH News Staff Reporter The University of Michigan Department of Public Safety confirmed Thursday that an investigation into operations at the university's public radio and television service is under way. DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said she could not disclose the nature of the investigation or what role it might have played in the resignation Wednesday of the director of Michigan Public Media, the umbrella organization that covers WUOM, 91.7, affiliated radio stations in Flint and Grand Rapids, Michigan Television and the Michigan Channel, which carries U-M programming on the local cable system. "DPS is conducting a criminal investigation into the operations at the radio station, but I can't comment any further at this time,'' Brown said. Donovan Reynolds, the director of Michigan Public Media, announced his resignation Wednesday without offering an explanation. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday or Thursday. Reynolds was appointed to lead Michigan Radio in 1996. Previously, he was executive director of Michigan Public Radio in East Lansing. No replacement for Reynolds has been named. His departure followed that of Michael Coleman, deputy director at Michigan Public Media, who left in July to become the general manager of the public radio station associated with Wayne State University in Detroit. Reynolds created a furor shortly after joining WUOM when he changed its classical music format to a jazzed-up mix of news and talk, adding such National Public Radio mainstays as "Car Talk,'' "Fresh Air with Terry Gross'' and "Talk of the Nation.'' Recent Arbitron ratings indicate that WUOM, at 535 W. William St. in Ann Arbor, is the most popular radio station in Ann Arbor, ahead of all Detroit and Ann Arbor commercial stations. WUOM also routinely exceeds its fundraising goals. In 1999, WUOM was named the Best Station in America by the Public Radio Program Directors Association. Amalie Nash can be reached at anash@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6832. ©2006 Ann Arbor News © 2006 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

So everyone's noticed Horace's web site is up?

Yes, 7/4. I've been at it at Blue Lake since March 1, 1983. I still don't know how WKCR gets around the limitations on streaming set up in the digital millenium copyright act.

I really like that Cecil Brooks III album with Ludwig; especially (for Ludwig) "Serenade In Blue" and, for Brooks, the old Sonny Payne feature with Basie, "Cute."

Like I said, don't get me wrong. But it would have been nice to have an album of material such as "willow weep for me" and another album of new standards and soul classics such as the Prince tune, or "It Was A Very Good Year." They have range, but rather than try to show it all on one disc it may have been more effective over several.

Blue Lake will be featuring Ornette on Thursday evening, then Bix on Friday.

Don't get me wrong there were things about the first record that I really loved, and it is a hellofa cookin' band who I was happy to promote on the air when they've come into Michigan, but the first recording lacked focus in it's approach. As in, let's put everything we can do on a single disc, rather than make one disc of the BEST thing they can do, another disc from a second aspect, etc. A little scattershot as an album.