We at The New York City Jazz Record are not ones to spend a lot of time patting ourselves on the collective back. There is simply too much jazz to cover in the city and beyond to get wrapped up in self-congratulation. Plus we know that we couldn't exist without all the hard work of our writers and photographers as well as the jazz community at large. But there are few milestones worth celebrating. This issue marks 10 years of operation as New York's only homegrown jazz gazette. It makes us dizzy to think of it. A decade. 121 issues. Hundreds of artists featured. Thousands of CDs reviewed. Seemingly millions of concerts listed. When we started this venture in May of 2002, we honestly had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and we've barely had a minute to breathe since.
But 10 years of anything is an accomplishment and to that end we've taken the bold step of dedicating this month's cover story to ourselves. Take a look at our commemorative centerfold spread, wherein we've canvassed many of the legendary musicians who have graced our covers over the past years (all of which make up the image on the front cover) for testimonials. We are truly humbled by the kind words they have shared with us, taking time out of their schedules to offer praise for our efforts to support the world of jazz in all its iterations: in and out, local and international, large and small. That we have their support has made the monthly struggle more than worth it and invigorates us for another decade of continuing our mission.
But their thanks are not reserved for us; they apply to anyone who supports jazz, whether it be by playing, attending a concert, buying an album, running a record label, booking a club, writing a review, teaching a class or, most importantly, turning someone else on to this wonderful and timeless art form. We'll keep doing our part, content with our modest role as jazz proponents, and you do yours. Together we'll succeed and jazz will continue to thrive.
Thank you so much for 10 years of support.
Interview: CAMERON BROWN
By Laurence Donohue-Greene; photo by Jack Vartoogian
Bassist, educator and bandleader Cameron Brown has anchored some of the most important jazz ensembles since the '70s and has performed and/or recorded with a who's who of jazz including George Russell, Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Art Blakey, George Adams, Don Pullen, Dewey Redman and Joe Lovano. He leads two ensembles - Cameron Brown and the Hear and Now and his Dannie's Calypso. Brown is at Cornelia Street Café May 12 in duo with Sheila Jordan and 26th with Jason Rigby.
Artist Feature: RAOUL BJORKENHEIM
By Martin Longley; photo by Peter Gannushkin
Although born in Los Angeles, Raoul Björkenheim's parents are Finnish. He moved to their homeland at the age of 15. In 2001, he came to live in NYC, but has recently resettled in Helsinki. Björkenheim came to international prominence as a member of drummer/composer Edward Vesala's Sound And Fury. Vesala was one of Finland's most famed jazzers and a strikingly individual bandleader. This was an auspicious beginning. Björkenheim is at The Stone May 17th and Le Poisson Rouge May 25th.
Encore: GRASSELLA OLIPHANT
By George Kanzler
It's an enticing story. The Collectables reissue label brings out a CD in 2005 combining the only two LPs a jazz drummer recorded, in 1965, and three years later the drummer, Grassella Oliphant, seems suddenly to appear out of nowhere on the jazz scene after an absence of almost four decades... An irresistible narrative but, like many good stories, short on the actual facts. Oliphant is at Dizzy's Club May 29th-Jun 2nd.
Lest We Forget: CHICK WEBB
By Donald Elfman
With a childhood illness that left him very short in height and with a severely deformed spine, Chick Webb went on to become an unlikely pioneer of big band swing drumming and bandleading and also introduced a singer who was to become one of the world's most popular entertainers.
Megaphone: D-Day
By Marc Hannaford
I have recently released two albums: Sarcophile and Ordinary Madness. I have decided against producing physical copies for these releases, instead opting to manage each aspect of the releases myself and offer them as download-only. Below I discuss some of the reasons and why I think I'm on the right track.
Record Label Spotlight: MAYA
By Ken Waxman
As much as anything else, the birth of Maya Recordings, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, was driven by impatience. Swiss violinist Maya Homburger, who operates the boutique label with her husband, British bassist/composer Barry Guy, recalls that in 1991, since another label was slow in releasing Arcus, a recording by Guy and bassist Barre Phillips, they decided to do so themselves. By 2012 31 Maya CDs have been released.
CD Reviews
(this month's performance venues in parentheses):
Jim Ridl -- Blue Corn Enchilada Dreams s/r (55Bar)
Anthony Branker -- Dialogic Origin
Stone Quartet -- Live at Vision Festival Ayler
Motian Sickness -- For the Love of Sarah Grizzley Music
Mike Wofford/Holly Hofmann -- Turn Signal Capri
Ali Ryerson -- Con Brio! ACR Music (Birdland)
Jiri Stivin/Ali Haurand -- Old Wine New Bottled Konnex
Project Trio -- Random Roads Collection Tummy Touch (Joe's Pub)
Mikko Innanen -- Clustrophy TUM (Douglass Street Music Collective; Downtown Music Gallery)
Sheila Jordan/Harvie S -- Yesterdays HighNote (Cornelia Street Café; Blue Note)
Alon Yavnai -- Shir Ahava s/r (Joe's Pub)
Ehran Elisha/Harold Rubin/Haim Elisha -- East of Jaffa OutNow
JC Jones -- Myelination Kadima Collective
NYJAZZ Initiative -- Mad about Thad Jazzheads (The Players Club)
Miles Okazaki -- Figurations Sunnyside (The Jazz Gallery)
Tim Berne -- Snakeoil ECM (Shapeshifter Lab)
Steve Kuhn -- Wisteria ECM (Birdland)
Tom Guarna -- Bittersweet SteepleChase (Dizzy's Club)
Seamus Blake -- Live at Smalls smallsLIVE (Dizzy's Club)
Solid! -- Visitor (with Seamus Blake) Parallell
Opus 5 -- Introducing Criss Cross
Rich Perry -- Grace SteepleChase (Cornelia Street Café; Somethin' Jazz Club)
Ben Riley -- Grown Folks Music Sunnyside (Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival)
Duke Ellington -- Meets Coleman Hawkins/& John Coltrane Impulse-Verve (Dizzy's Club)
Bobby Bradford/Mark Dresser/Glen Ferris -- Live in LA Clean Feed (NYU Steinhardt School; Roulette; Cornelia Street Café)
Ron McClure -- Dedication SteepleChase (McDonald's)
Ron McClure -- Crunch Time SteepleChase (McDonald's)
Eric Reed -- The Baddest Monk Savant (Dizzy's Club)
Rene Marie -- Black Lace Freudian Slip Motema (Jazz Standard)
Jack Walrath -- Forsooth! SteepleChase (Somethin' Jazz Club)
Pailbug -- Eponymous Generate (I-Beam)
Andy Haas -- Ask the Oracle Resonant (ABC No-Rio; Yippie Café)
Michael Dessen -- Forget the Pixel Clean Feed (Cornelia Street Café)
Wynton Marsalis -- The Music of America Masterworks Jazz (Rose Theatre)
Bria Skonberg -- So Is The Day Random Act (Kaye Playhouse)
David Bindman -- Sunset Park Polyphony s/r (Sunset Park Library; Windsor Terrace Library)
Guillermo Klein -- Carrera Sunnyside (Village Vanguard)
Gary Smulyan -- Smul's Paradise Capri (Village Vanguard)
Eugene Chadbourne/Warren Smith -- Odd Time Engine (NYC Baha'I Center)
Evan Parker/Okkyung Lee/Peter Evans -- The Bleeding Edge Psi (Zebulon)
Mary Halvorson -- Bending Bridges Firehouse 12 (Cornelia Street Café)
Cecil Taylor -- The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note Black Saint/Soul Note-CAMJAZZ (Harlem Stage Gatehouse; Issue Project Room)
...and Plenty More!
Look for other sections like On This Day, In Print, On DVD, Listen Up!, VOX News, NY@Night, Recommended New Releases, Birthdays, In
Memoriam, and our invaluable Event Calendar.
Thanks so much for reading The New York City Jazz Record, the city's only homegrown gazette devoted to the music.
