WOMEN IN JAZZ VOL 2

COURTNEY BRYAN


Courtney Bryan, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a prolific and eclectic composer, pianist, and arranger. Her overall ambition in life is the "creation of uninhibited beauty." Her compositions are wide-ranging, including Solo Works, Jazz Quartet, Jazz Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, and even collaborations of dancers, visual artists, writers, and actors.

Courtney Bryan currently performs in and around New York with the Courtney Bryan Trio at venues like St. Nick's Pub, Nuyorican Poets Café, The Jazz Spot, Cecil's Jazz Club, A Gathering of Tribes Gallery, and Casa Frela Gallery. The Courtney Bryan Trio has also headlined at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro and Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club of New Orleans, Louisiana. Courtney Bryan co-leads Duet, with vocalist TreZure Mone performing a mix of Jazz and Rhythm and Blues. She co-developed and co-leads the Courtney Bryan/Ez Weiss Jazz Orchestra in New York, a Big Band organization that is composed of volunteer musicians who are particularly interested in the revival of Big Band. Courtney works frequently with Rome Neal and the Marvtastic Ladies. In addition, she freelances with various jazz and R & B artists.




Recently, the Courtney Bryan Trio featuring saxophonist Donald Harrison opened for the Curtis Fuller/Louis Hayes Quintet and the Chico Hamilton Sextet at the Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York. Also, Courtney performed as part of Stanley Cowell's Piano Choir in the spring of 2006. Courtney's compositions have been performed at Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio and commissioned by Cleveland State University's Jazz Heritage Orchestra, Dennis Reynolds’s Brass Choir, Conrad Herwig's Scarlet Knight Trombone Ensemble, and by saxophonist Devin Phillips for his 2006 release Wade in the Water, which was titled after her arrangement. She was featured as composer with Kathy Randel's Artspotproductions in The New Orleans Suite performed at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. Courtney was also recently a finalist in the Beyonce Knowles All-Girl Band competition for her B-Day tour. Courtney Bryan has recently released her debut recording entitled Quest for Freedom featuring famed trumpeter Marcus Belgrave.




Courtney, a proud graduate of the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Jazz Camp of New Orleans, has academic degrees from the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) '00, Oberlin Conservatory '04 (bachelors in music composition), Rutgers University '07 (masters in jazz piano). Currently, Courtney is a Faculty Fellow at Columbia University of New York pursuing a doctorate of musical arts in music composition.

Courtney was featured along with Jason Marsalis and Irvin Mayfield in Geoffrey Poister's documentary Jazz Dreams. Courtney Bryan has performed in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2000-2002, in the Detroit Ford International Jazz Festival 2003 and 2004, in the Lansing Jazz Festival 2004, and in the Detroit Taste Fest 2005. She has also performed at the Cleveland Bop Stop and Nighttown of Cleveland, Ohio; the Serengeti Gallery of Detroit, Michigan, among other venues. In 2002, Bryan was selected as a NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts) All-Star along with such musicians as Nicholas Payton, Donald Harrison, Adonis Rose, and Clyde Kerr, Jr.











DOROTHY ASHBY




Every generation or so, some enterprising soul comes along determined to haul the concert harp out of the orchestra pit. Today, there's Joanna Newsom, the anti-folk singer and songwriter who just released the characteristically harp-intensive Ys. Before her, there was the mellow Debra Hanson-Conant, and before her, the New Age freak Andreas Vollenweider. Go back another few generations, and you run into the late Dorothy Ashby, the Detroit-born harp master who stands as one of the most unjustly under-loved jazz greats of the 1950s.
Ashby swings, plain and simple. When she plays some mid-tempo scooting-along tune, like her own "Rascallity" (audio) all the stock riffage and jazz bravado common on so many records of this era disappears. Leading her chamber group, Ashby operates in an unassuming way, leaping through intricate arpeggios that no other jazz instrumentalist could attempt. Her single lines may not be terribly fancy, but she selects her notes carefully, and plays each one with a classical guitarist's stinging articulation. Ashby accompanies flautist Frank Wess on "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" (audio), sometimes snapping off chords as if the harp were just a bigger guitar, and at other times using its immense range to conjure an enveloping wash of sound in the background.
Given all the peak jazz experiences recorded around 1957 and '58 (Sonny Rollins' Live at the Village Vanguard, Miles Davis' Milestones, and so on), it's easy to understand why Ashby's In A Minor Groove didn't attract a massive audience. She and her groups of the day including Roy Haynes on drums, play pleasant, utterly typical and hardly earth-shattering chamber jazz. Still, it's a notably smart and polished version of typical, and anyone who can make a massive instrument like the concert harp dance — and use it to swing in such a cool, low-key way — deserves to be more than a footnote.

Born Dorothy Jeanne Thompson on August 6, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan, Ashby grew up around music in Detroit where her father, guitarist Wiley Thompson, often brought home fellow jazz musicians. Even as a young girl, Dorothy would provide support and background to their music by playing the piano. She attended Cass Technical High School where fellow students included such future musical talents and jazz greats as Donald Byrd, Gerald Wilson, and Kenny Burrell. While in high school she played a number of instruments (including the saxophone and string bass) before coming upon the harp.
She attended Wayne State University in Detroit where she studied piano and music education. After she graduated, she began playing the piano in the jazz scene in Detroit, though by 1952 she had made the harp her main instrument. At first her fellow jazz musicians were resistant to the idea of adding the harp, which they perceived as an instrument of classical music and also somewhat ethereal in sound, into jazz performances. So Ashby overcame their initial resistance and built up support for the harp as a jazz instrument by organizing free shows and playing at dances and weddings with her trio. She recorded with Ed Thigpen, Richard Davis, Jimmy Cobb, Frank Wess and others in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During the 1960s, she also had her own radio show in Detroit.
Ashby's trio, including her husband John Ashby on drums, regularly toured the country, recording albums for several different record labels. She played with Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman, among others. In 1962 Downbeat magazine's annual poll of best jazz performers included Ashby. Extending her range of interests and talents, she also worked with her husband on a theater company, the Ashby Players, which her husband founded in Detroit, and for which Dorothy often wrote the scores.
In the late 1960s, the Ashby’s gave up touring and settled in California where Dorothy broke into the studio recording system as a harpist through the help of the soul singer Bill Withers, who recommended her to Stevie Wonder. As a result, Dorothy was called upon for a number of studio sessions playing for such popular recording artists as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Barry Manilow. Her harp playing is featured in the song "Come Live With Me' which is on the soundtrack for the 1967 movie, Valley of the Dolls. One of her more noteworthy performances in contemporary popular music was playing the harp on the song "If It's Magic" on Stevie Wonder's 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. She is also featured on Bill Withers' 1974 album, +'Justments.
Her albums include The Jazz Harpist, In a Minor Groove, Hip Harp, Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby with (Junior Mance), Django/Misty, Concerto De Aranjuez, Afro Harping, Dorothy's Harp, The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby, and Music for Beautiful People. Between 1956-1970, she recorded 10 albums for such labels as Savoy, Cadet, Prestige, New Jazz, Argo, Jazzland and Atlantic. On her "Rubaiyat" album, Ashby played the Japanese musical instrument, the koto, demonstrating her talents on another instrument, and successfully integrating it into jazz.

Dorothy Ashby, died from cancer on April 13, 1996 in Santa Monica, California.

"MERGE"

Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of 3, he began formal studies at age 7. While in high school, he completed the equivalent of college master classes under the noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Caldwell Dawson and pianist James Miller. He joined the musicians union at the age of 14, and he began touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at the age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos. In 1950, he formed his first trio, The Three Strings. Performing at New York's The Embers club, Record Producer John Hammond "discovered" The Three Strings and signed them to Okeh Records (a division of Columbia, now Sony, Records). He began using the name 'Ahmad Jamal' after his conversion to Islam in the early 1950s.

Considering his trio "an orchestra", Mr. Jamal not only achieves a unified sound, but subtly inserts independent roles for the bass and drums. The hallmarks of Mr. Jamal's style are rhythmic innovations, colorful harmonic perceptions, especially left hand harmonic and melodic figures, plus parallel and contrary motion lines in and out of chordal substitutions and alterations and pedalpoint ostinato interludes in tasteful dynamics. He also incorporates a unique sense of space in his music, and his musical concepts are exciting without being loud in volume. Augmented by a selection of unusual standards and his own compositions, Mr. Jamal impressed and influenced, among others, trumpeter Miles Davis. Like Louis Armstrong, Mr. Jamal is an exemplary ensemble player -- listening while playing and responding, thus inspiring his musicians to surpass themselves. Audiences delight in Mr. Jamal's total command of the keyboard, his charasmatic swing and daringly inventive solos that always tell a story.

In 1951, Mr. Jamal first recorded Ahmad's Blues on Okeh Records. His arrangement of the folk tune Billy Boy, and Poinciana (not his original composition), also stem from this period. In 1955, he recorded his first Argo (Chess) Records album that included New Rhumba, Excerpts From The Blues, Medley (actually I Don't Want To Be Kissed), and It Ain't Necessarily So -- all later utilized by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on the albums "Miles Ahead" and "Porgy and Bess." In his autobiography, Mr. Davis praises Mr. Jamal's special artistic qualities and cites his influence. In fact, the mid-to-late 1950's Miles Davis Quintet recordings notably feature material previously recorded by Mr. Jamal: Squeeze Me, It Could Happen To You, But Not For Me, Surrey With The Fringe On Top, Ahmad's Blues, On Green Dolphin Street and Billy Boy.

In 1956, Mr. Jamal, who had already been joined by bassist Israel Crosby in 1955, replaced guitarist Ray Crawford with a drummer. Working as the "house trio" at Chicago's Pershing Hotel drummer Vernell Fournier joined this trio in 1958 and Mr. Jamal made a live album for Argo Records entitled But Not For Me. The resulting hit single and album, that also included Poinciana -- his rendition could be considered his "signature". This album remained on the Ten Best-selling charts for 108 weeks -- unprecedented then for a jazz album. This financial success enabled Mr. Jamal to realize a dream, and he opened a restaurant/club, The Alhambra, in Chicago. Here the Trio was able to perform while limiting their touring schedule and Mr. Jamal was able to do record production and community work.

Clint Eastwood featured two recordings from Jamal's album But Not For Me — "Music, Music, Music" and "Poinciana" — in the 1995 movie The Bridges of Madison County.

RENAIR AMIN

Renair Amin was born September 13, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pa. Renair wears many hats. A prolific author, her works have appeared in various publications including GBF (Gay Black Female) Magazine, SABLE Magazine (of which she is a board member) and DEEP HUES e-zine. She has also been a featured columnist on the Nghosi Books, Femme Noir, Sistahs for Sistahs and Soulful Pen Xpressions websites and also appears in the Nghosi Books anthology, Longing, Lust & Loving.

As a spoken word artist, Renair has performed nationally, gracing the stage in cities including Rochester, NY, New York City and her hometown of Philadelphia, PA. She is also active in her church’s ministry. A member of Unity Fellowship in Brooklyn, N.Y., Renair is co-chair of the Performance Arts Ministry and chair of the David’s Poetry Ministry.

Recently, Renair Amin added entrepreneur to her list of talents with the forming of Pmyner, Ltd., a company created to provide services to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender literary community. The website includes an online community forum and a radio station, Invisible Verse Radio, on which she hosts Myne Myc, a talk show showcasing LGBT spoken word artists, musicians and other community-related issues.

When I asked Renair what inspires her writing she responded, “My inspiration for writing is living. Whenever I had no one, I always had a pen.”
She currently resides in Bronx, NY.

"WOMEN IN JAZZ"

Jeanette Harris




Jeanette Bertha Harris, was born on March 9, 1979 in Fresno, California, to Floyd and Annette Harris. She showed an interest in music at an early age and by her 5th birthday she was playing the guitar in the church she attended. At age 6, she began taking piano lessons, and at age 9, during her 4th grade year, she started playing the saxophone. While other kids were spending their time playing video games and watching television, Jeanette could be found in her room practicing her saxophone.


Jeanette’s interest in music was supported and encouraged by her parents and her older brother Michael. Her father, Floyd Harris, Sr. plays the tuba and her brother, Michael, is a percussionist. In 1994, Jeanette, along with her father and her brother formed “The Harris Family Ragtime Band”. The band performed throughout California, from homeless shelters to big Dixieland festivals.


Jeanette was introduced to Latin Jazz while attending Roosevelt High School where she played the lead alto in the school’s Latin Jazz Band. She also played the piano in the Fresno City College Latin Jazz Band. During her high school years, she auditioned and was chosen to play in various honor bands, and while attending Bullard High School, she was the featured Saxophonist at one of Bullard’s appearances at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Upon graduation from high school, Jeanette received a number of scholarships which enabled her to pursue her dream of attending the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.



She continued to hone her skills on the saxophone while broadening her understanding of music. She was the lead Saxophonist in the Berklee College Female Big Band and played in various venues in Boston, New Hampshire, New York and Maine. She graduated from Berklee in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music with a major in Performance. Jeanette’s love of music and musical performance did not diminish. After her graduation from Berklee, she returned home to Fresno, California to start a smooth jazz band with her brother Michael Harris. Getting started was not easy, she would go to local clubs and ask if she could play at no cost to the club, but was turned down repeatedly. The “No Thank You" responses did not discourage her. She became more determined than ever and continued to master her saxophone and develop her own sound.

Then one day, a gentleman named Lionel Hawkins called to ask her if she would play his cigar shop, “Smoke Affair”. She accepted the invitation and made the most of it. During this same time period, the brother-sister team, (which consisted of Jeanette on saxophone and Michael on percussions), decided to put together their own show on a small stage at a local pizza spot on Fresno’s Fulton Mall. Long lost friend Patrick Olvera (bass) decided to Venture back from Boston to reunite with the brother sister duo for this show. With the help of family members, this night was a major success. Local clubs started calling and the local smooth jazz radio station, KEZL 96.7, invited Jeanette and her band to play at the Riverbend Jazz Festival. The Jeanette Harris Band has played in a number of Jazz Festivals, including the “The Hollywood Park Jazz Festival”, “The Inglewood Jazz Festival”, “The San Diego Street Festival”, the “Riverbend Jazz Festival”, the “China Town Jazz Festival” and the “African Village Festival”.

She’s opened for and/or played with the following smooth jazz greats; The Rippingtons; Eric Marienthal; Kirk Whalum; Eloise Laws; Denise William; Phil Perry; Howard Huit; Andre Fischer; Everette Harp; Paul Jackson Jr.; Veretta Hathaway; Debra Laws; Najee; Michael Ward; and Will Barrow. She is currently playing at different spots across the country and hopes to add international venues to her schedule soon. Jeanette released her first CD, “Here and There” on the J&M Record label. Her second CD, “Jeanette Harris Live at Platinum Live” and her newest release, “Down Route 99”, are on the Sweet Music record label. If you like good music, you will enjoy these CD’s.


ELISE WOOD - HICKS

ELISE WOOD - a flutist who hails from Philadelphia, has appeared as featured soloist, band-leader and band-member with such notables as David Murray, Archie Shepp, Butch Morris and Arthur Blythe, Sir Roland Hanna, Spirit of Life Ensemble and most frequently with her partner of two decades, John Hicks. She has recorded for Mapleshade Records, Landmark Records, Evidence Records and the recently established record company with John Hicks, HiWood Records. International festivals and tours include Japan, Finland, Italy, France, and most recently Taiwan. Documentary films such as "Femme du Jazz" and books "Madame Jazz" as well as magazine articles in WindPlayer and Fa La Lut and Jazz Hot place Ms Wood in the cutting edge of this creative American art form, Jazz. With Mr. John Hicks was a further collaborative album called "Beautiful Friendship," a duet cd which is composed of standard love songs and was also released on their label HiWood. A further Sextet recording called "Sweet Love of Mine" (Highnote) with John Hicks was released in Jan. 2007 - the first album to be released in his memory.

For the last two years Ms. Wood has dedicated herself to memorializing the life and music of her late-husband/partner with creation of the John Hicks Legacy Band. This five- to six-piece band is composed largely of alumni of the John Hicks ensembles and plays exclusively the repertoire of John Hicks. A recording of his music as performed by the Legacy Band will soon be released on Highnote records.

Ms. Wood also works with Jazz Foundation of America in the Education program with children from the ages of 8 - 14. She is also and active member of the NY Jazz Flutet, a six flute jazz ensemble that includes an instrumentation from contra-bass flute to piccolo w/drums (to be featured in the National Flute Convention 2006).

The Star Ledger "With Elise's flute sound and the way Curtis (Lundy) works from the bass bottom, I … let them surround me with the sound…

"John Hicks, Zan Stewart The Washington Post"…best revealed with Hicks' well-known ballad, "Naima's Love Song" which fully integrates the sound of the trio, flute and string section creating a lovely weave of colors and texture and heartfelt emotion.

Mike Joyce The Washington Post "Hicks eloquently collaborating with flutist Elise Wood, who was largely responsible for a haunting alto flute reprise of Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark"

Amsterdam News "Wood overwhelmed the audience with her rendition of Billy Strayhorn's Star-Crossed Lovers and (Bobby) Watson's extraordinary tendering of the classic " Soul Eyes" provided one of the great performance highlights of the festival".- Clarence Atkins

Jazz Vocalists Vol 1 - SUSAN KREBS

THE JAZZ GARDENER

There’s a growing buzz about vocalist Susan Krebs’ just released studio recording of Jazz Aviary - a celebration of birds and of the universal music that we share. Conceived and performed by Suze in collaboration with the Soaring Sextet, some of L.A.’s finest musicians, Jazz Aviary is the culmination of three years of various concert incarnations.

“Susan Krebs has nothing but fondness for our feathered friends - and expresses her joyous affection magnificently throughout this fascinating concept project... irresistible offerings from a formidable jazz artist.” (AMG)

“Krebs’ interpretive passion, intelligence and love for the project can be heard throughout.” (Jazz Improv/Bob Gish)

“Jazz Aviary is a fascinating musical presentation.” (LA Times/Don Heckman)

“One of the most refreshing, interesting, stimulating shows I’ve ever attended... Krebs and her amazing musicians created something of singular beauty.” (LA Jazz Scene)

Suze explains her long-time fascination with birds: “I remember as a kid, lying stretched out in a hammock between two grand sycamores, watching the birds, listening to the birds - digging the birds! Birds and humans have shared this planet for many millennia. Our impulse to sing and our desire to fly reflect this deep and ancient connection with the avian tribe. The eloquent biologist, E.O. Wilson, writes that the preservation of the world lies in understanding and appreciating the wonder and awe that nature arouses. With Jazz Aviary - a concert of musical ornithology, spoken word and birdsong - I want to express the wonder and awe specifically that birds arouse.”

Born and raised in Baltimore, Suze grew up in a home filled with the sounds of Bach, Beethoven, Gilbert & Sullivan, Broadway musicals and the blues of Bessie, Billie and Ella. Graduating from Hollins College with a BA in Drama & Dance, Susan went on to spend her twenties in New York City – studying acting with the extraordinary Uta Hagen, appearing in various Off-Broadway plays and musicals, TV commercials, and performing with the improvisational theater company, War Babies. The New York clubs offered her a jazz education, presenting the likes of Duke Ellington, Sheila Jordan, Jackie & Roy, Alberta Hunter, the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band, Carmen McRae.

In 1976, Suze and her fellow War Babies re-located to Los Angeles for a TV series. She chose to remain in L.A. and make it her new home – delighted that she could garden and hike – and that there were greater work opportunities. Over the years, Suze has appeared in dozens of TV shows (Numbers, The West Wing, ER), Films (Million Dollar Baby, 28 Days), Animation, TV & Radio commercials, and Theater, including her own solo musical revue, Lunar, the all-women’s improvisational company, The Wims, and the contemporary opera, A String of Pearls, both in L.A. and at Carnegie Hall.
Throughout Suze’s career as an actor and improviser, she was also occasionally performing as a vocalist, and studied for several years with the fine jazz singer and teacher, Sue Raney. – Then, in 1995, seeking clarity and artistic direction during a four month “middle years” retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Suze’s sense of herself as a “jazz gardener” came into being - which she explains as “being about the art of becoming - whether working with plants or music or with oneself - to dig down, to cultivate, to encourage growth, to thrive and flourish, and eventually to let go and begin the cycle anew.” And so, she returned to L.A. with the intent of devoting herself to the art of jazz singing both as a student and as a performer in order to tell her tale through song. She now performs regularly throughout Southern California.

“A talented singer with wit and energy...” (LA Times)

“For singer-actress Susan Krebs and her quartet of fine musicians, their goal has been simple: to be all-out entertaining whenever and wherever their gigs take them...” (LA Jazz Scene)

Her debut album was Jazz Gardener (Sea Breeze 1999)

“Categorizing Krebs’ voice is not easy; it is filled with emotion ranging from a deep, throaty hue to a girlish, higher-pitched tone. Krebs’ vocals swoop, drop behind the beat, and generally stay just a little off center... After she delivers a song, Krebs leaves nothing on the table.” (AMG)

Then came What Am I Here For? (GreenGig Music 2002).

“Krebs’ style suggests the influence of singers like Sheila Jordan, with a behind the beat approach that creates a sense of drama. As she has her way with each lyric, her slippery phrasing (check out “Out of This World’) creates an engaging presence. Further, there is a deep soulful emotionalism and Blues inflection that suits her alto range quite well. For example, Krebs is at her most distinctive on passionate, melancholy tracks like ‘Nature Boy’ and ‘Good Morning Heartache’. She also demonstrates her keen handling of lyrics on tracks like the ubiquitous ‘The Way You Look Tonight’. (Cadence)

Both recordings were created by Suze and her group of superb L.A. based musicians, including her longtime drummer/producer, Jerry Kalaf, and the saxophonist extraordinaire, Gary Foster.
Suze’s latest project is Jazz Aviary (GreenGig Music 2007) – veritable musical ornithology. A concert, conceived and performed by Suze in collaboration with the Soaring Sextet, Musical Direction by Rich Eames and Co-Produced with Jerry Kalaf, it is now a unique and beautiful recording.

Old School - Back Where We Started

KENNY GARRETT

Kenny Garrett,Low-keyed and soft-spoken, lets his music do the talking, and he communicates clearly through his post-bop saxophone styles, exuding easy listening from his alto horn. After years of apprenticeship with legendary jazz bands including the Jazz Messengers and the Woody Shaw Quintet, Garrett came to prominence during the 1980s as Miles Davis's sideman. After Davis died, Garrett moved into his own spotlight as the bandleader of the Kenny Garrett Quartet. In addition to his various album releases during the 1990s, he contributed to dozens of works by his fellow jazz musicians. He is an incessant philosopher, an innovator, a composer, and a musical arranger.

Garrett was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 9, 1960. He was the second of four siblings. Musically, his parents were heterodyne; his mother enjoyed rhythm and blues, while his father listened to jazz. Garrett's father was a professional saxophone player, and as a result, Garrett developed an early interest in music. His father taught him the scales, and Garrett started to play his own saxophone at the age of nine or ten. He enjoyed the instrument and brought it with him to school, playing whenever he found the opportunity. Garrett got his original groove in his hometown of Detroit, where he worked with Marcus Belgrave. Belgrave, well known for his community spirit, mentored Garrett for a time.

In high school, Garrett played gigs around town on the weekends, and predictably each Monday morning he stumbled tardily into the classroom. Despite his youth, he had matured into an old-school jazzman by the time he graduated, maintaining a reserved and skeptical cynicism for academia. In 1978 he gained acceptance to the famous Berklee School of Music. Coincidentally, he received an invitation to join Mercer Ellington on tour. Garrett subsequently chose not to attend Berklee and elected instead to tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Garrett avowed repeatedly that he never regretted the decision to forego school because his experience with the orchestra proved invaluable and contributed to his development as a uniquely skilled musician. From the Ellington Orchestra, Garrett's career led him to stints with Freddie Hubbard's band and with Woody Shaw.

After many months on the road, Garrett moved to New York City in 1980. There he played with a band called Out of the Blue. He cut his debut album on the Criss Cross label as a bandleader with the Kenny Garrett Quintet. The album, released in 1984, was called Introducing Kenny Garrett. Around that same time, Garrett joined with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In 1986, still with Blakey, Garrett earned a spot as sideman for Miles Davis. He worked with Davis for five years and developed a singular musical rapport with Davis. Additionally, Garrett continued as a bandleader, recording for the Atlantic Jazz label. He released Prisoner of Love in 1989 and African Exchange Student in 1990. When Davis passed away in 1981, Garrett stepped full speed into the bandleader's shoes, having apprenticed for nearly 20 years and having worked with the great jazz pjayers of history.

For the duration of the decade, Garrett settled into a quartet with Nat Reeves on bass, drummer Jeff 'Tain" Watts, and Kenny Kirkland on piano. Garrett recorded a handful of albums on the Warner Brothers label during the remainder of the 1990s, including Black Hope in 1992, Trilogy in 1995, and Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane in 1996. His next two albums—Songbook in 1997 and Simply Said in 1999—were written almost exclusively by Garrett himself. In July of 1997 he and his band spent three days in the Netherlands at the North Sea Jazz Festival at The Hague, and in June of 1998 they performed on the Symphony Space concert ticket at the JVC Jazz Festival along with jazz violinist Regina Carter. Following Kirkland's untimely death late in 1998, the Kenny Garrett Quartet regrouped to include former Toni Braxton drummer Christopher Dave, bassist Nat Reeves, and Shedrick Mitchell on piano. Pianists Nick Smith and Mulgrew Miller also contributed guest performances.
Garrett paid homage openly and often to his predecessors and heroes in American jazz. His 1996 remembrance of John Coltrane, called Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane, featured Pat Metheny on guitar, drummer Brian Blade, and Rodney Whitaker on bass. The recording earned recognition as the Jazz Album of the Year, according to a readers' poll from Down Beat. Garrett himself was named Alto Saxophone Player of the year in the same poll. His self-produced 1999 release, called Simply Said, reflects the influence of his half-decade stint with Miles Davis.

It is Garrett's philosophical attitude that rules his music. He is a paradoxical purist in the juxtaposed arena of jazz and subscribes to an idealistic school of thought and lets the truth resound from his horn. He is a "righteously devoted musician working toward a purpose somewhat higher than mere entertainment," Down Beat's Howard Mandel said of Garret. "His horn's cries are honest...." Despite his traditional, "hard-knocks" approach to performing jazz, Garrett refuses to discount the validity of other music styles and encourages musicians to experiment with popular music as well as jazz, in a quest for new and stimulating arrangements. "Young musicians shouldn't be afraid to take the opportunity to play popular music... It doesn't mean you have to stay there," he confided to Martin Johnson of Down Beat. Garrett's own compositions often surprise his listeners because his music adheres closely to rhythm and form, in apparent opposition to Garrett's impressive improvisational style and reputation. Billboard's Steve Graybow said that Garrett is "one of the music's most dynamic and adventurous players...." yet he has composed "songs that he hopes will nurture the next generation of jazz musicians." On Songbook, his 1997 Warner Brothers release, Garrett revealed what he called his "softer side," according to Mandel. "I'm trying to tell a story in a different way with the same jazz language my heroes employed.... That's why I try to mix my music up [and] play something for everybody," Garrett said.

NEO SOULJAH

Classifying herself as an “Artistic Poet”, NeoSouljah was born Unnita [Yah ‘KNEE Tah] Chambers in Cleveland Ohio April of 1962 and began singing almost as soon as she could talk. Having been a vocalist for 39 of her 45 years on Earth, her talents have been lent to nearly every style of music you can name: Jazz, Neo-Soul, Funk, R&B, Rock, Country & Western, Rap, Hip Hop, Gospel, Madrigal, Classical and Hymnal, as both lead and background vocalist, and vocal arrangement. As a Singer, this Diversity has afforded her the ability to work with some well known Ministries and Artists including HBO Def Poets Abyss and Georgia Me . As a performer, NeoSouljah has appeared in underground productions of The Wiz, A Brand New Me, a movie production "Water My Flowers", and is a member of the Christian Comedy Association.

But it was her craft of Songwriting that eventually led her to the love affair she now holds with Poetry. This gift was discovered during a showcase in an International music conference hosted by Multi Award winning Gospel artist Babbie Mason.

As a poet, NeoSouljah, or “Neo” as she is nicknamed, has not only held her own within the Open Mic circuit winning several slams, she has been found on the mic at local churches as well, given room to ‘tell it like it should be’. Sharing her years of knowledge as a stage performer with her poetic peers, she regularly holds poetry sessions in her home. Called “Confessions” these nights are filled with food, laughter, poetry, writing contests, information, and performance tips as she coaches those alongside and coming behind her. These sessions have also been visited by poets within the National Slam Poetry and HBO Def Poetry community of artists.

Outsane, as she describes herself, Neo boldly addresses the church and it’s biases, our constant decay of morals, and everyday life issues with pictorial prose that is intellectual, funny, educational, and sobering. A firm believer that you can't talk about what you don't know about, every rhyme crafted is from her experience as a Woman, Lover, Friend, Counselor, Minister, and Artist. But she is best known for her Erotiq poetry which addresses issues of the heart, mind, and body, and is Sensual without being vulgar. Her craftsmanship and knowledge of intimacy within a relationship has led The National Society of Black Engineers National Convention to called upon her several times to serve as a Clinician for a Standing Room Only workshop she has entitled: Sex And The City: Being Healed from E.T.D.’s. [Emotionally Transmitted Diseases]. designed through poetry and interactive exercises to help the participants heal from the scars of verbal abuse and develop healthy communication skills and relationships that branch from the home to the workplace, church, and neighborhood.

Currently NeoSouljah is working on a CD, as well as production of various projects both within her own company [One Love Ink], and alongside her business partner, Executive Talent Consultant for HBO Def Poetry Jam, Walter T. Mudu of Mudu Multimedia. Be sure to look out for her project “The Instrument – Me” this summer, as well as a Devotional Journal infused with Poetry later this year.

IMAGINE

NORBERT KRAPF

NORBERT KRAPF was born in 1943 in Jasper, Indiana, a German community. He graduated from Jasper High School and received a B.A. in English from St. Joseph's College, Rensselaer, IN. He received his M.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame and also his Ph.D. in English and American Literature, with a concentration in American Poetry. He taught at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University 1970-2004, where he is now emeritus Professor of English, was Poet Laureate 2003-2007, and directed the C. W. Post Poetry Center. He twice served in Germany as a Senior Fulbright Professor of American Poetry, at the Universities of Freiburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg. He was also a U.S. Exchange Teacher at West Oxon Technical College, England.

Since 1976 Norbert Krapf has written or edited 20 books, two of which are his translations from the German. His most recent publication, a full-color hardcover coffee-table book, from Indiana University Press, is a collaboration with Darryl Jones, Invisible Presence: A Walk through Indiana in Photographs and Poems (2006). Fifteen of these books are collections of his own poetry, including Somewhere in Southern Indiana: Poems of Midwestern Origins (1993), Blue-Eyed Grass: Poems of Germany (1997), and Looking for God's Country (2005), all available from Time Being Books, and Bittersweet Along the Expressway: Poems of Long Island (2000) and The Country I Come From (2002), sixty poems set in Indiana. He is the editor/translator of Beneath the Cherry Sapling: Legends from Franconia (1988), a collection of folktales set in his ancestral region, and Shadows on the Sundial: Selected Early Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (1990). He is also the editor of a book of writings about the first important American nature poet, Under Open Sky: Poets on William Cullen Bryant (1986).

In December, 2007, Acme Records of Bloomington, IN released Norbert Krapf and jazz pianist-composer Monika Herzig’s CD Imagine - Indiana in Music and Words, which includes a 20-page booklet with texts of all 14 poems and performance photo collages in color. In April, 2008, The Indiana Historical Society Press will release his prose memoir, The Ripest Moments: A Southern Indiana Childhood (275 pp. hardcover, with ca. 70 black and white photographs, $15.95); and in October, 2008, under the Quarry Books imprint, Indiana University Press will release Bloodroot: Indiana Poems, a selection of 175 Norbert Krapf poems about Indiana written 1971-2007, with 60+ black and white photographs by David Pierini.

In April of 2005, Time Being Books released his collection Looking for God's Country, 85 poems set in Indiana and Germany. Included is a cycle of 26 poems inspired by the black-and-white photographs of Franconian photographer Andreas Riedel. Poet Helmut Haberkamm, who wrote the script for a 2001 Radio Bavaria feature on Norbert Krapf's search for his Franconian roots, has translated many of Krapf's poems into German.

The revised, expanded edition of Finding the Grain: Pioneer German Journals and Letters from Dubois County, Indiana, which includes the letters of Joseph Kundek, the Croatian missionary who colonized Dubois County with German Catholics, was published in 1996 by the Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. In 1998, Rain Crow Publications of Chicago published The Sunday Before Thanksgiving: Two Prose Memoirs, nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is working on a book of essays about poetry, place, and ethnic heritage, Where It All Began, and a young adult novel about an old German immigrant in southern Indiana, The Bells of St. Michael's.

In 1999 Norbert Krapf received the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America for the poem "Fire and Ice". He has received an honorary doctorate of letters from his alma mater, St. Joseph's College, the David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching from Long Island University, and a Trustees Award for Scholarly Achievement from LIU. English artist Martin Donlin selected his poem "Back Home" to be part of a large stained-glass panel for the new Indianapolis Airport, scheduled to open in late 2008.

At the beginning of 2006, Norbert Krapf became a board member of Etheridge Knight, Inc., which promotes the arts for youth, youth at risk, adults, seniors, disabled and incarcerated individuals, and residents traditionally underserved by the arts community. EK Inc. pays tribute to the arts community and the legacy of the late African American Indianapolis poet Etheridge Knight by providing a diverse artistic environment in the interdisiplinary arts for people of all cultures. Guests at the annual Etheridge Knight Festival, begun in 1992 by the poet's sister Eunice Knight-Bowen, have included Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Toi Derricotte, Kevin Young, Allison Joseph, Martmn Espada, and many others.

On Long Island, the C. W. Post Campus Bookstore (Barnes & Noble) has the best selection of his publications, but Barnes & Noble, Manhasset; Borders, Westbury; the Book Revue, Huntington; and Canio's Books, Sag Harbor also carry his books. In Jasper, IN., Flower Stall Hearth and Home (Southgate) and the Dubois County Museum have a generous selection of his titles. Barnsandnoble.com carries his books as do Borders.com and Amazon.com, which lists reviews and includes an author interview. Individuals may order Somewhere in Southern Indiana, Blue-Eyed Grass and Looking for God's Country (2005) from Time Being Books (866-840-4344) at a discount. The Country I Come From is available at a discount price from Archer Books. Invisible Presence is available at most bookstores and is substantially discounted by Amazon.com.

Norbert Krapf's papers, including his literary correspondence and manuscripts, are housed mainly in the Rush Rhees Library, Univ. of Rochester, but also in the special collections at IUPUI, Univ. of California San Diego, Stanford Univ., and the Univ. of New Hampshire. The Indiana Historical Society has a collection of audio- and videocassettes of his radio and TV and other readings and interviews that are being converted to CD, and the Dubois County Museum holds his collection of family history materials and documents, including memorabilia from grade school, Boy Scouts, high school, and college.

MONIKA HERZIG

Monika Herzig, was Born: June 12, 1964
In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.

Since then she has completed her Doctorate in Music Education and Jazz Studies at Indiana University, where she is now a faculty member. As a touring jazz artist, she has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Indy Jazz Fest, Cleveland's Nighttown, Louisville's Jazz Factory, the W.C.Handy Festival, Jazz in July in Bloomington and Cincinnati, Columbus' Jazz & Rib Fest, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured Germany, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.

Recently she has received her third “Individual Artist Grant” from the Indiana Arts Commission in support of her newest CD project. Her previous release In Your Own Sweet Voice �” A Tribute to Women Composers has received much praise. Thomas Garner from Garageradio.com writes, “I was totally awed by the fine musicianship throughout”. As a recipient of the 1994 Down Beat Magazine Award for her composition “Let's Fool One” and with several Big Band Arrangements published with the University of Northern Colorado Press, Herzig has also gathered international recognition for her writing skills.

The current repertoire of the Monika Herzig Acoustic Project includes originals and arrangements of standard repertoire, such as Carole King's “You've Got a Friend”, Kern/ Hammerstein's “The Song Is You”, and Charlie Parker's “Yardbird Suite”. The Monika Herzig Trio can be heard every Thursday and Saturday at Rick's Cafe Boatyard at Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis. For current tour listings and sound samples/ videos visit www.monikaherzig.com.

PRESS QUOTES; "Distinctive originals and well-chosen standards reveal Herzig's warmhearted, reflective side and her cleverly playful nature." Nancy Ann Lee Jazz Times contributor and co-editor of MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide

“A lovely example of a thoroughly schooled, thoroughly modern jazz pianist.”
Cherilee Wadsworth Walker, Eastern Illinois University

"The lady can get down and play!"
John W. Patterson, AAJ Fusion/ Progressive Editor

Her Awards include; 1994 Down Beat Magazine “Best Original Composition” Winner for Let's Fool One 1994-1996 Two times finalist with BeebleBrox and winner with Oliver Nelson jr. in WTPI Winter Jazzfest Competition, Indianapolis 2000, 2003, 2005 Individual Artist Grant recipient, Indiana Arts Commission

It was such a pleasure to feature this fantastic pianist, composer, arranger, on Spotlight On Jazz And Poetry!

VESSELS OF LOVE

MANDIKA


Mandika, born and raised in Knoxville, Tenn., has always been a poet even when it wasn’t an official title. She began writing poetry at a very young age and didn’t pick up a pen to write again until five years ago and she hasn’t looked back. She feels it’s liberating to write poetry, even more so to speak it. “To speak what rests on your mind and heart is one of the greatest gifts God gave us.” She says. “We were meant to be his vessel and share his message as an act of love for him.” This is what Mandika does with poetry and spoken word. She’s a vessel of his love.

Mandika Flow, is a jazz enthusiast, writes it, eats it and speaks it with every opportunity she has. her favorite artists are Miles Davis first, Jeff Bradshaw and Roy Hargrove. Favorite jazz vocalist, Al Jarreau, Maysa and Martine Girault but I have so many.

Mandika’s poetry has an affinity toward the spiritual realm. She feels that every one should learn and examine the higher being. In her case, a being Supreme over human beings She says, “It’s clear to me and the track record speak that we need guidance and don’t know what the heck we are doing.”

Mandika is warm and loving with people in general if they allow her, if not she’s all about hers and keeps it moving. The mortal heroes in her life are her Mother, her queen and her precious and beautiful, seventeen year old niece whom is beyond her years, intelligent and the sweetest young thing you could ever meet. She would be considered handicapped as she is sight impaired but if you met her you would see and understand differently.

"Being a poet is rewarding in that people gravitate toward you and feels your spirit, primarily because it appeals to a trait or quality in them." she says "I’ve received enough accolades in the manner of certificates, trophies, merits but the biggest reward is in being able to write in a way that makes anything translate into something special that everyone can relate to." Mandika has a collection of poetry books/short stories featured on: http://stores.lulu.com/mjaton04

As a spoken word artist she’s not especially fond of her tonal quality however, it bears a certain soulful, honesty and expressiveness that everyone who hears her would agree is truly special. Mandika is a member of the Poetic Voices family whom she credits with helping her to develop that voice. "Thank you Truth Theory, you really are the truth. Also, a special thanks to Ms. Safiyyah Amina Muhammad and Ms. Lovely Brown for being Sistah’s among Sisters. I got nothing but love for you."

ANIYA

Since the late '70s, the offshoot of Jazz known as "smooth jazz" has become increasingly popular with listeners. Because the style is somewhat "laid back", it is easy to fall into the old "groove into rut" routine; therefore, it is important for a band to know what it's doing in order not to bore the listener to death.

Aniya, on its' album In the Moment and their latest album "One Love", knows how to keep the listener engaged and entertained. These six musicians come from varying backgrounds--Jazz, R&B, Gospel--and they bring all that to the table to create sophisticated sounds for the head and heart.

This music is fronted by the nimble fret work of guitarist Delbert Boyer, and the sexy sax stylings of Mark Mitchell; while the rest of the boys lay down the solid, supple rhythms and keyboard colorings, Boyer and Mitchell weave in and out of the music with the skillful dynamics of old pros. "Up All Night" and "In the Moment" are typical of the latter approach, but each man gets some spotlight time--Boyer on "God's Blue Sky", Mitchell on "D's Groove"--in which to shine.

Late in the album, the groove merchants--Tyrone Blanford on bass, Glenn Williams and Tim Sessoms on keyboards, and Nate Jacobs on drums--get their moments to excell on the hip hop influenced "Check This Out" and the Jazz meets R&B of "Longevity". In lesser hands, both of these songs would have been just ordinary, but the rhythm crew give them the right amount of oomph to send them into exquisite orbit.

Make no mistake, Aniya is a force to be reckoned with, and In the Moment is one cool collection of early morning (or late nite) bliss.

An Evening With Omar Sosa by Celestial Dancer

On a quiet Friday night, the drive into San Francisco is eerily subdued and uneventful. It’s difficult to credit any importance to the other drivers or the sudden deep chill in the air. Nothing is as eventful as what awaits, an evening with Omar Sosa. This would be my first visit to a jazz set situated in a piano store, but what more befitting environment for Omar Sosa than a nest of beautiful and rare pianos…

The Piedmont Piano Company is an open loft of wood and glass that secures the circulating acoustic sound of the piano as Mr. Sosa begins to play. We the audience, are gently mesmerized as if strung together by the music on our potpourri bed of velvet and leather piano benches. Listening to Mr. Sosa’s music from a CD is a gift, but watching his performance live is an amazing experience that could never be encapsulated in an album. His fingers alight and dance on the keys of the Fazioli as if they were rhythmically charged raindrops tapping on a stage of welcoming glass, and infusing each ear with jazz euphoria. The Fazioli, referred to as the “Ferrari of pianos” by Mr. Sosa, was custom made by the Fazioli Company, named after founder and pianist, Paolo Fazioli, in the northeastern part of Italy. Some interesting characteristics of this grande grand piano are 18K gold fittings and hinges, and a soundboard of red spruce that is seasoned for two years before being assembled. With a price tag of about $200K, the Fazioli piano was brought to life in this evening’s spirited commune with Omar Sosa.

As we were drawn into Mr. Sosa’s purposeful and playful ballads and chorus, we were equally embraced by the strikingly crisp and alluring vocals of Mola Sylla, a gifted vocalist from Senegal, Childo Tomas, electric bass player from Mozambique, and the electronic drums genius of Marque Gilmore, from New York. After the set, Mr. Sosa and his fellow artists greeted and melded with the intimate sized audience as beautiful friends. Performing several concerts on six continents each year, Mr. Sosa performs with a variety of famous and local artists that bring a fresh and invigorating integration of talent that never disappoints. Having brought world renown and universal flavor back to a small piano store in downtown San Francisco without spilling a drop, Omar Sosa and his group planted a new seed of world jazz appreciation for some, and added new memories for others that will keep his name among the circle of jazz greats, and I was most fortunate to witness this one.

BRIDGING THE GAP MIDWEST STYLE

Shukura Zuwena Huggins, better known in the poetry world as Prahduct, and often referred to by family and friends as “Ku”, born June 20, 1988, is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. Born and raised in the heart of the Midwest, Prahduct found her love for writing, very early on, and in particular that love transformed into a passion for poetry. Prahduct began seriously writing her thoughts and ideas in the form of poetry, prose, and song during her freshmen year in high school in 2002. Always marked by creativity, Prahduct added along with her skill in visual arts, the art of written word. Writing, soon led to performance art and an interest in the spoken word movement.

The name Prahduct has several meanings to this young poet, she states “the name Prahduct kind of just stuck.” It started out as an online screen name, productoftha88, and other poets just started calling her “Product.” While making a new account to a blog website she had to alter the spelling in order to avoid a duplication of another screen name. “The name Prahduct is simply a reminder that everything I’m doing is not because I am who I am, but rather because I’m a product of those who’ve come before me and are here right now.”

Prahduct credits her involvement in the spoken word movement to a poetry workshop she attended in high school along with the Alive Poet’s Society, an online interest group that led her to a plethora of poets and writers that constantly encouraged her to continue her writing and expand, and the continued support and encouragement from family and friends. From there she became associated with an online poetry group, Po3tic Voices, moderated by Truth Theory, which uses multiply.com as a venue for spoken word artists to share recorded pieces and written works and also the Spoken Truth network which connects poets and listeners from everywhere through Blog Talk Radio, to involve in progressive talk shows as well as music and poetry as a form of “edutainment”.

Being known as the “quiet kid” Prahduct still finds it unbelievable to know she has found a voice through spoken word poetry and in return has performed at the 30th and 31st Midwest Regional Youth Conference, Black August Omaha 2007, and several other open mic venues. Prahduct has had the great opportunity to work along with poets and artists such as, Truth Theory, Staci Dennis, God’s Gift, and Nique.

Prahduct uses many things as subject matter, her poems usually include an array of word play and metaphoric parallels; she particularly enjoys writing social poems as well as love poems, but feels that it’s good to be able to touch on all aspects of life through poetry because poetry is life and doesn’t have to be done one way. The incorporation of song and poetry is also something Prahduct likes to include in her writing and performance. Blending the rhythms of spoken word and the melodies of song are two ingredients that make a piece enjoyable to perform.

Now, that Prahduct, as she puts it, “has been tied down to this here poetry thing,” she plans to continue to write, perform, and record her art because it is truly something that has proved to be a blessing in her life; allowing self growth, networking opportunities, and a positive impact on listeners. Being tagged the “Prada of Prose”, Prahduct plans to publish her work and continue to hone her skills. Prahduct is currently working on establishing a Poetry Movement with the X Poetry CommUNITY in the Omaha area that will provide a venue for art to be displayed on a continuous basis, providing a place for cultural development and exposure to the Omaha community.

When asked about the relationship between Jazz and Poetry and the importance of each to our culture she responded;

"Jazz and poetry both act as tools that tell a story. They create an image with qualities as simple as the way you say a word or hit a note and that goes on to not only be a word or a sound but a story. Words can be said one way and then said another and two totally different messages are delivered the same exists among jazz. I think both poetry and jazz are very influential as creative, educational, and informative tools that are not only meant to entertain but educate as well which are important in our communities and the contribution to our culture locally and universally."

Most of all Prahduct wants people to know that poetry is universal and that we all play a part in its presence being felt, no matter if we’re performers, writers, supporters, or listeners, the movement is here and WE are the movers and shakers.

PRAHDUCT is what I consider one of the "Young Lionesses" of Poetry. Be on the lookout for more of this fantastic young woman!

HERBIE HANCOCK

Because of his crossover work, Herbie Hancock is one of the more famous jazz musicians in history, second to only Miles Davis from 1960-present. Hancock had 11 albums chart during the '70s and 17 between 1973 and 1984, including three in 1974, figures that puts him well ahead of any other jazz musician in the '70s and beyond. He is also one of the finest eclectics in jazz history, playing free jazz, jazz-rock fusion, bebop, fun, hip-hop, dance, world fusion, and instrumental pop.

Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born on April 12, 1940 in Chicago. He was a child prodigy and began studying classical piano at the age of seven. At 11, he performed the first movement of a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In high school, he moved to jazz, where he formed his own ensemble. By the time he had graduated college, he had worked in Chicago jazz clubs with such famous players as Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins. Hancock joined Byrd's quintet and moved to New York.

During this time, Hancock was beginning to develop his unique style - a lyrical style that blends gospel, bebop, and blues. While recording with Byrd, he was offered a contract as a leader with Blue Note Records. He recorded his first record in May of 1962. His supporting group included Dexter Gordon and Freddie Hubbard. His song "Watermelon Man" from that record became something of a hit.

Shortly after he joined Miles Davis legendary 1960s quintet and along with Tony Williams and Ron Carter, formed the rhythm section that allowed the Davis quintet to explore with a more flexible/less fixed music.

After playing five years with Davis, he left and formed a sextet that merged many different styles, such as jazz, rock, and African and Indian influences, but with an electric sound. After disbanding the sextet because of limited financial success (though they were an artistic success). In 1973, he formed The Headhunters, a group that merged funk, rock, and instrumental pop. They scored a very successful crossover with the album Headhunters. Afterward, he started playing more pop music, although he did a series of acoustic concerts with Chick Corea. During this time, he underwent heavy criticism for "selling out," and Hancock repeatedly defended his right to play other kinds of music.

During the 1980s, Hancock alternated between electric and acoustic music. He scored another big hit in 1983 with the song "Rockit", which utilized hip-hop (well ahead of its time) and heavy scratching. He received much airplay on MTV with his video. He spent the next two years performing traditional jazz music and won an Oscar for his score in the film Round Midnight. He collaborated with African musician Foday Musa Suso for a duet album. He hosted a variety show on Showtime and performed and lectured on public television.

Herbie Hancock continues to perform and record today.

JAZZMATAZZ HIPJAZZHOP

Keith Edward Elam better known as GURU, was born on July 17, 1966 in Boston Massachusetts. He is the lyrical half of legendary hip-hop group Gang Starr together with DJ Premier. With his Jazzmatazz series, he is also considered to be one of the pioneers of hiphop/jazz crossover. The name Guru is an acronym for "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal"

Founded in 1987, Gang Starr built a sizable following in the early 90's, releasing classic albums like, Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992). Guru's lyrical style is based on battle rhymes delivered smoothly, modestly, and with sly wit; he typically avoids using overwhelming charisma, focusing instead on his rhyming ability. His formidable skills on the mic, has earned him legions of admirers.

In 1993, he released his first solo album, Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 The album featured collaborations with Donald Byrd, N'Dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies and Roy Ayers, while his second LP, Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality, featured Ramsey Lewis, Branford Marsalis and Jamiroquai. The Jazzmatazz albums are commonly considered some of the best rap of the early 90s, Guru's reputation was also bolstered through the continued success of Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Street soul (2000)
His "first proper solo album", in his own words, was Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures (2005), released with the help of super producer Solar. The album reached #1 on the college hip-hop charts. Guru's latest project is the fourth installment in the Jazzmatazz series, entirely produced by Solar. It was released in early June 2007

JASPECTS

Jaspects, being born during the hip-hop movement, integrates their youthfulness with the maturity of the jazz language. With their interest being the progression of music, they hope to serve as a bridge between the two genres and utilize both art forms for the purpose of innovation and not imitation. Established in February of 2003, Jaspects sole purpose has been to "redefine all aspects of jazz," by bringing jazz back to the forefront of poplar music by introducing it in a way that other generations can understand, appreciate, and digest. As sons of the illustrious ’’’Morehouse College’’’, they also attempt to fuse jazz and hip-hop WITHOUT compromise.

As students of jazz and children of hip-hop, we have been forced to live within two distinct worlds. Our goal is to create and perform music that can be appreciated by aficionados of both genres without compromising the musical integrity of either. We hope to draw hip-hop lovers into the world of jazz and do the same with fans of jazz.

Jaspects strives to merge the worlds of hip-hop and jazz so that listeners can get an exhaustive musical experience that involves TRUE freedom of expression on both ends of the spectrum. The freedom of expression in jazz is obviously linked to musical improvisation and creativity, whereas the freedom of expression in hip-hop is more closely linked to lyrical creativeness. Our aim is to rescue the struggling genre of jazz while breaking down the structural constraints of hip-hop. Jaspects attempts to make music of substance in every sense of the word. We create music that has depth creatively, lyrically, and musically without ostracizing the casual fan of either genre.

Jaspects uses music as an agent for change. Music is the mouthpiece out of which the band interprets and addresses broader ideas about African American society and how to efficiently affect change. In this vein, we make a point to be active in society. Jaspects is about ushering change in the way pioneers such as Miles Davis, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye have. Whether we’re playing at the legendary Bakers’ Keyboard Lounge in Detroit or talking to a group of high schoolers in southwest Atlanta, the message conveyed by our voice is the same, "make your voice through your music mean something to the world at-large."

The band operates out of Atlanta, GA and consists of pianist/music director Terrence Brown (Memphis, TN), bassist Jon-Christopher Sowells (Dallas, TX), drummer Henry C. Conerway III (Detroit, MI), tenor saxophonist D’Wayne Dugger (Queens, NY), alto saxophonist “Sir” Jaye Price (Anniston, AL), and trumpeter James E. King (Stamford, CT). The band has released three independent albums (2005’s “In ‘House’ Sessions", 2006’s "Broadcasting the Definition,” and 2007’s "Double Consciousness”) and conducted three self-promoted tours of the eastern United States.

Most of our fans are what we like to call tastemakers: they are either collegians or are young adults in the professional world who enjoy music of substance and want to be the first to experience an act. They have proved to be loyal with them supporting us in markets such as Detroit, Berea, KY, Connecticut, Knoxville, Memphis, Houston, Dallas, Orange, TX, and Clemson, SC. These fans provide overwhelming support at our average of 90 shows per year. This healthy show schedule is reflective of our dedication to the music, with three-of-six members still in undergrad.
Individually, band members’ works have appeared in the 2005 major motion picture “Hustle & Flow,” on Chamillionaire’s platinum album, “Sound of Revenge,” on Carlos Santana’s latest album, “All That I Am,” with platinum recording artist David Banner, and in the 2005 and 2006 HBCU All-Star Big Band. Collectively, the group has performed for Yolanda Adams, Ted Turner, Gerald Levert, Bilal, and Outkast. After playing for jazz lover Bill Cosby, the band was asked to perform during the Ray Charles Tribute held in Beverly Hills, California, where Samuel L. Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Stevie Wonder among others were in attendance.

UNA FIESTA DE JAZZ Y POESIA

Marea Alta, the very versatile Latin Jazz group, is currently based in the Atlanta Metro Area, Georgia, where it showcases a prime line of innovative musical entertainment. Prior to its establishment in the city of Atlanta, the group had been regularly performing in nightclubs and at many cultural events for the last seven years in the capital of the state of Florida, Tallahassee. Originally, Marea Alta had its headquarters in the Tampa Bay Area during the early 1980s. In 1984 the Marea Alta project achieved popularity overseas when one of its original compositions reached the top ten hit parade in Caracas, Venezuela (position number four for three consecutive weeks and seven months in a row within the Venezuelan musical charts). Presently, Marea Alta features an extensive inventory of original compositions which has seized and engaged the listeners in hundreds of live performances.

The Members of the band are professional musicians who have ample experience in the realms of recording and live performance. The musical style of Marea Alta is categorized as Latin Pop Jazz/Smooth Jazz. Marea Alta incorporates the improvisatory structure of Jazz into a scheme of multiple Latin rhythms and popular melodic arrangements. The end result of this musical blend is characterized by its ability to capture the musical taste of multiple audiences. The tropical and fresh music of the group has been described as a delightful beachfront style, like a cool breeze drifting off a high tide (Marea Alta) onto a warm sunny shoreline. The music of Marea Alta is designed to reach the attentive listener looking for an original and brighter sound. Marea Alta certainly offers a pleasant journey of contemporary rhythms and a fine musical expression.

MARIA TERESA FUSARI

María Teresa Fusari was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina from a Spanish mother who loved the sea and the mountains and an Argentine father passionate for nature. She inherited that love for life, the search for our origins, the defence of human values and the respect for all kind of life.

Being a teenager she read “Rimas” (Rhymes) by the romantic Spanish writer Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. It awakened her to poetry. Since then, she became into the “rhyme writer” for every informal celebration.

Later on, at university, when studying to be a Public Translator she re-discoved her passion for poetry diving into the work of those she calls “our masters” which widened her vision of the world to unknown horizons and so fell in love for life with literature, mainly with poetry.
In that time she had the opportunity of meeting the great Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges, for whom she had always felt admiration and whose book “Moneda de Hierro” (Iron Coin) bearing his signature she keeps as one of her her most valuable personal treasures.

She started teaching English when she was sixteen years old, working at different levels, public and private.
Some years later she would combine both activities: teaching and being a translator, but her love for kids and teens and working with them had carved her deeply. Her choice was clear.

Meanwhile she started to discover internet and all the possibilities it offers. She made research and learnt how to design a webpage, building her own. That was the way a well-known Spanish Publishing House – Planeta de Agostini- got in touch with offering her to take over their page on Spanish poetry on the site they were to open, which was later known as “Temalia”. There she carried out tasks like writing articles on literature, answering visitors´ questions, leading a forum and a chat.
She got two awards that year for the tasks she carried out with the page and the chat.
That job was a good opportunity to get in touch with many well-known -and not so much- good poets and, some time later, together with a Spanish writer and critic she opened their own forum on literature.

A year later she was invited to moderate “El Fausto”, other forum of the same kind and in 2006 she was requested to take part in a judge for a literature contest.

As a teacher, she kept attending courses and seminars and trying to keep up to date with everything that could make the teaching process more interesting and dynamic.

The continuous need for new authentic material has found on.the internet an endless source of information and material.
Being very inquisitive she came to listen and enjoy the programme “Spotlight on Jazz and Poetry” so much that she immediately thought of it as a good way to make her students learn a bit more about good music and literature while practicing their English using authentic material.



Spotlight On Jazz And Poetry in the ESL CLASS


“Spotlight on Jazz and Poetry” in the ESL class.


The internet has become into an every day tool for teachers and students of English whenever they have access to it, offering a wide source of authentic material.

Personally I just try to keep a balance between their likes, which I use to the benefit of the language acquisition, and my purpose of showing that there is much more than chatting and games on the net.

Calling myself an “internet squirrel”, I keep searching for new challenging material. It was in this way that I came across “Spotlight on Jazz and Poetry”, the programme hosted by Clayton "Bigtrigger" Corley. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately felt I could use it with my students. It gave me the possibility of exposing them not only to the language but to good poetry and music on a cultural basis.

How do I use the programme?
It is excellent for practising listening comprehension, writing and speaking.
Some of the activities students carry out:

- They have to listen and get the gist which is discussed in pairs or the group.
In some cases they are encouraged to listen again to clear up different ideas.
Lower levels are helped through guides as it could be a set of questions, a true/false exercise or specific vocabulary given in advance.
- They are given a copy of part of the text –poem or biography- with some missing key words. They have to fill in the gaps while listening.
- They are given a set of true/false statements. They have to tick the right ones and correct the false ideas while listening.
- According to the student’s level they are textual sentences or they aim to the general comprehension of the verse/stanza/poem.

- Advanced students may be requested to listen and make a comment on the poem/s and the music and/or to give their opinion on the relation they find between the music as the background to the poems
- They are asked to identify specific vocabulary and explain and/or give synonyms in every day language or other type of English.
- They are encouraged to discuss the message of the poem in context and from a cultural basis.
- They may be challenge to role-play: taking the programme as a model, role-play a similar situation including poems and background music.

Working with this kind of material means a challenge to learners as they can see by themselves how proficient they are.

María Teresa Fusari
Teacher of English in Argentina


ESL: English as a Second Language

ALEJANDRO DREWES

Alejandro Drewes is writer, translator (Catalan, English, German and French) and poet. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1963.

He is also editor of the literary review AERA, www.AERArevistadepoesia.yahoogroups.com His poems and prose were published in various anthologies, including: Confluencia Poética. (collective anthology, vol. I). Buenos Aires, Nubla, 1997; Vivencias Secretas (collective anthology). Madrid, Centropoético, 2004; Antología 55° Aniversario del Ateneo Poético Argentino (1950-2005). Buenos Aires, Creadores Argentinos, 2005; Pura Luz Contra la Noche. Buenos Aires, Editorial De los Cuatro Vientos, 2006 (book presented in the National Library (Buenos Aires), September 2006, Uvas del Paraíso (to be published), Buenos Aires, Editorial Francachela, 2007.

Selected poems and prose of Alejandro Drewes have been published in the literary reviews Rampa (Colombia), Adamar (Spain), La Pájara Pinta (Mexico), Palabras Diversas (Florida, USA), LaLupe (Mexico), Añil and Ser en la Cultura (Argentina), and LaBarcadePapel (Austria)

Critic essays on a couple of poets, including Sjöstrand, Malinowski., Montale and Pizarnik, have been published in the literary reviews Gibralfaro, (University of Malaga) and Francachela (Buenos Aires). He has directed (Buenos Aires, 2005-2007), the cycle of AERA’s monthly poetry lectures in S.A.D.E. (Argentine Writers Society), and is also Honorary Member of the World Poets Society

Some of his distinctions include the National Award (Buenos Aires, Grupo Editorial Sur, 1999), in prose and poetry; the Prize Award “Hugo Paulo de Oliveira” (Rio das Ostras, Brazil, 2007) ; as well as designations as finalist in the poetry contests “Misescritos” (Buenos Aires, 2005), and “Cardo”. (México DF, 2006).

POEMS OF ALEJANDRO DREWES

HELLAS



Mis amargos guijarros cuento, me oyes
y es el tiempo una gran iglesia, me oyes
donde a veces en las imágenes, me oyes
de los santos
surgen lágrimas verdaderas, me oyes
y las campanas abren en lo alto, me oyes
un hondo pasaje que permita mi paso
Aguardan los ángeles con cirios y fúnebres salmos.

Odiseas Elitis: El monograma (fragmento)


Hunde tus dedos azules
en el anillo de las Islas,
y solamente calla:
porque la voz que me agita
no es ya ni un remo roto de mi voz,
ni vuelve Atenas a huir
de los persas al poniente.
Nada es como era,
ni sombra de alas
perdidas en el cielo, perdidas.

Hemos esperado a los bárbaros
hasta que subieron las aguas
sepultando los huesos de Jonia
y sólo esto queda: por eso
tú solamente calla,
y graba en la memoria
cada íntimo guijarro del mundo,
nuestro mundo que partió
al país de nunca jamás.
Y graba y graba, mar azul, en tu memoria.

Por todas las voces que suenan
en mitad del silencio
y por la oscura boca de los muertos
que viven aquí. Pero es tarde,
tan tarde, y se consume la última lámpara.
El viento y las zarzas sacuden
los viejos olivos de Lesbos:
donde la luna se ha ido a disgusto
y han caído las Pléyades,
errantes órbitas en tierra baldía.

Ya ni siquiera gritos de angustia
recorren las aguas celestes,
ni la cítara del viento en la noche
ilumina nuestro paso de polvo
entre tumbas egregias
y el mármol violado de Byron.
-Pero tú solamente calla-
Y escucha en demótico
la clave del tiempo
en relojes azules de estrellas.

Aquí vivieron sus sombras
oscuras o blancas,
entre sombras de zafiros.
-Y allí sobre la arena
una vez me diste tu mano-.
Extraños para otros oídos suenan
los números pares
en las múltiples rutas del arpa:
Pero tú calla: sí, calla y escucha crecer
azorado como ramas las columnas del silencio.


Translation

HELLAS

My bitter pebbles I count, do you her me?
and the time is a great church, do you hear me?
where sometimes in the icons, do you hear me?
of the saints
true tears appear, do you hear me?
and the bells open in the High, do you hear me?
a deep passage that allows me to pass
The angels wait, with candles and mournful chants.

Odysseas Elytis: The monogram (fragment)

Sink your blue fingers
in the ring of the Islands,
and then only shut up:
because the voice that agitates me
is not even a broken oar of my voice,
and won’t return Athens to shun
from the Persian to the west.
Nothing is now as it was,
any other wings’ shadow
lost in the sky, so lost.

We have waiting for the barbarians
until the waters went up
burying the bones of Ionia
and only this remains: then,
you must only shut up,
and then record in your memory
each innnermost world’s pebble,
from our world that departed
to the land of nevermore.
Let record and record, blue sea, in your memory.

For all the voices that are playing
in the very half of the silence
and for the dark mouth of dead men
who live here. But it’s late,
so late, and the last lamp consumes.
The wind and the blackberries shake now
the old olives of Lesbos:
where the moon has gone against its will
and the Pleiades dropped,
wandering orbits in a waste land.

Not even anguishing screams
pass over the heavenly waters,
nor the wind’s zither in the night
enlightens our step of dust
between all these eminent graves
and the violated Byron’s marble.
But you must only shut up-
And hear in Demotic
the key of the times
in the blue clocks of the stars.

Here did their shadows live,
the dark ones or the clear ones
between shadows of sapphire.
And there, over the sand
you gave me once your hand-
Strange for another ears
the even numbers are sounding
in the multiple routes of the harp:
But shut up: yes, shut up and hear
how do the columns of silence grow.

ENSAYO DE TINIEBLAS I


Y ahora esta suprema oscuridad
clavada en el madero del día.
Tres negaciones de palabras
que una vez te convocaron,
y ahora voces baldías apenas,
la ignorada por siempre
velada mitad de tu lecho.

Saber con la certeza más triste
que hoy comienza la oscura
noche insepulta del alma.
La larga, la dura, la lenta
implacable en los huesos
cuando ya nadie espera aquí,
como en tiempos esperara.

Sí, me pierden laberintos tan grises
como la hosca lluvia entre flores
arrancadas por fin de la tierra;
la vieja quebrada copa de oro
en vino trizado del último sueño,
bandera ignorada por el viento
en su melancólico paso,


y ahora la tensa calma contenida,
cristal de quebradas palabras
que una vez te soñaron, desnuda
y única en el difícil hotel de las horas;
porque suenan campanas oscuras
-en este instante agreste alguno ha partido,
alguien más, ayer entre los vivos-

Pero cómo decirle a la boca
que tú ya no estás, que me llevo
apenas la frágil ternura de tus pechos
en el preludio de la despedida,
que el tesoro de tus dedos
me arde en las manos, me lleva hasta nunca:
que me vuelvo nada, nada, nada.



Translation

ESSAY OF TENEBRAE I


And now it is this supreme darkness
nailed in the timber of day.
By three refusals of words
you have been once convoked,
and just now these waste voices,
the forever ignored
and veiled half of your bed.

To know with saddest certitude
That today is beginning the dark,
unburied, night for the soul.
The long and slow and hard one,
the inexorable night in the bones,
when there’s nobody here waiting for,
as in somewhere of the past it was.

Yes, I wander through a so gray mazes
like the sullen rain between the flowers
rooted out at last from the earth;
the old and rusted golden cup
with shredded wine of last dream.
Just like an ignored flag through the wind
in its long way of melancholy,

and now this sort of tense stillness,
the crystal of broken words
which once dreamed on you, nude
and unique in the hard hotel of hours;
because of this sound of dark bells
-in this wild minute somebody is departed,
and it was yesterday when still lived.

But how could I say to the mouth
that you are not still here, that I take
just your chest’s frail tenderness away
in the prelude of our farewell,
that your fingers’ treasure
is burning in my hands, and it drives me
to nevermore. That I became nothing, nothing.


A. POEMS IN ENGLISH


SOME TREES

A plain landscape
a probable vision of everness
with only three shadows.

No man's land under a high
vertical falling light,
just there, where the time

is still searching for the first mesh
of dark virginal woods,
for the days of grace.

I spoke about shadows
and light, about shadows
-and maybe not strictly about trees.


SHADOW OF THE EMPIRE

Lost in the far and hottest air,
the last clouds’ riders go.
Lead your food steps, that will go
from the night to the night, see
the slight footprint from those
before you. It’s unique this way
with yourself and its slow heavenly dust,

that’s all you have: any more for waiting,
any other changing signs under the sky.
But you have birth by a so gray belly given
in the times of great mechanical myths.
To a foggy borders of Empire you have come:
To the place where the mouth become dumb
and someone files your name under ‘nother despatch.


DEPTHS OF NIGHT


Just stay there, like the circular dream of this night passing by.
And hear: these growing shadows, beyond all of past lives
of believers and lovers, to the other side.
You can hardly know what's hidden in the darkness,
just a solitary crack loosing slowly from the burning house of love.

Words eternally flowing, like the song in a dark hearth.
Someone played a few notes on the piano - they softly fade,
like the blanks and the holes through the tent of this poem,
written by the naked moonlight, in the old-fashioned way.
They belong to the depths of night, so far from the fire days.

O beloved! Just stay there, tenderly rest over this uncertain bed of words
like other lovers did, before leaving.
Time is now -black pilgrim has come, from his no man's land-.
There is nobody out there, only the same traces of shadows on the grass,
the wind through the leaves, the hard question on God.


Words running so gently, from the I - land to the unknown,
from the scattered stones of the city to the next flood.
They will follow their heavenly way, under the last morning star.
As I said: Time is now, only now. Carpe diem.
Forgotten notes in a book of days, mystery waiting behind a closed door.

____________________________________________________________________________________

UNIQUELY THE OLD GREECE…

1

Uniquely the Old Greece could gave such a faces,
before the long days without greatness.


2
House of soul or land in the wind of a dream,
where all or maybe nothing is true,
so far from the breath, from Others’ footsteps

3

It’s surprising that so many looks
leaving any footprint in the mirror.
O you, silvery zero, ambiguous matter, so null !

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Trumpets of sun to silence fall
on house and barn and stack and wall.
Within the cottage, slowly wheeling,
the lamplight's gold turns on the ceiling.
Beneath the stark and windless vane
cattle stamp and munch their grain;
below the starry apple bough
leans the warped and clotted plow.
The moon rolls up, while far away
and thin with sorrow, the sheepdog' s bay
fills the valley with lonely sound.
Slow leaves of darkness steal around.
The watch the watchman, Death, will keep
and man in amnesty may sleep.

William Faulkner: A green bough


PASSING

Lord, so many times I walked
all around this place
-and it was not in those time
so dark as I can see it today-

could be this the same white house
where there was laugh, dazzling?
or terse house as a dream
in the book of the past days?

there became the pines,
so high in their fog,
a unique shadow of green,
waiting. And here, at sunset, a crystal

of hush is broken, beyond the birds,
in memory of the voices ready to leave
this night with myself,
with no other mercy nor return.



WE CALLED HIM...

We called Hans
to the fool of our town.
Nobody here forget
his big blue eyes,
the flourished pockets
of wild berries

-and just in these times,
his weak footsteps
had fear of us-

We called him…


IMAGES

1.
But in the house of love it’s late, so late.
There, where you leave your hearth, and thee was something brightening.
And finally the sun, like a fire against the Eastern windows.


2.
The poem and all that is can not be said.
The blanks and the holes dividing the words, as the air of the time in the net of the spider.

3.
One night, when the slow ship of the moon rolls up, just when the silence becomes a kind of everness.

4.
Somewhere, the water falls.
From time to time, the poet write some thing about its music.