"DownBeat" - May 2008

DownBeat - May 2008 issue

Bonus Distribution: 11,000 High School Music Programs (Future of Jazz)
1,000 Sonoma Jazz+ Festival

COVER STORY
Branford Marsalis Quartet -- Having kept together this working group for so long stands as a major career achievement for Marsalis. And why wouldn’t he keep playing with Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joey Calderazzo and Eric Revis? After all, this group produces some of the most exciting jazz on the planet, from its adventurous albums such as Braggtown to its scintillating live shows.

FEATURES
Lizz Wright -- In only three albums, the vocalist has traveled down quite the diverse artistic path. For her third album, The Orchard, Wright has gone down a more “country” route, as opposed to her earlier forays into neo soul. The result is perhaps her most personal, resonant album yet.

David “Honeyboy” Edwards -- When our writer sat down to play some guitar with the 92-year-old Delta blues guitar legend, he did more than trade licks. He traded stories with Honeyboy about his long career, including the early intersection between jazz and the blues.

David Hazeltine -- Here’s a story on a pianist truly “working in the trenches.” For more than 15 years, Hazeltine has been one of the most in-demand pianists in New York, working as a sideman with the who’s who of the city, as well as recording a large catalog of his own swinging straightahead dates.

SPECIAL SECTION: Summer Festival Guide -- In addition to listings for more than 100 festivals, we feature stories on the 25th anniversary of the Chicago Jazz Festival, a look at the blues festival circuit, 25 great jazz festival recordings and much more!

BLINDFOLD TEST -- Brian Lynch

PLAYERS
Jon Gordon (saxophone)
José James (voice)
Marco Benevento (keyboards)
Shamarr Allen (trumpet)

THE BEAT
• Riffs --Jazz News From Around The Globe
• Roberta Gambarini and Hank Jones partnership
• State Department, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Rhythm Project
• New York’s Museum of Modern Art showcases jazz scores
• Resonance Records
• The Question, Vinyl Freak
• Backstage With ... Gonzalo Rubalcaba
• Caught: Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman at Portland Jazz Festival; Francisco Mela Blue Note showcase; Susie Ibarra at Philadelphia’s Ars Nova

WOODSHED
• Jazz on Campus: New Trier High School jazz program’s big year, with its 25th anniversary festival and year-long New Orleans initiative.
• Transcription: Mike Nock’s piano solo on “In Out And Around”
• Master Class: Vocalist Julie Hardy

REVIEWS
Hot Box
Miguel Zenón, Awake (Marsalis Music)
Charles Lloyd Quartet, Rabo De Nube (ECM)
James Carter, Present Tense (EmArcy)
Free Form Funky Freqs, Urban Mythology (Thirsty Ear)

Reviews
Alexander Von Schlippenbach’s Globe Unity Orchestra, Globe Unity—40 Years (Intakt)
Vinicius Cantuaria, Cymbals (Koch)
Peter Erskine, Tim Hagans and the Norrbotten Big Band, Worth The Wait (Fuzzy Music)
Paul Hanson, Frolic In The Land Of Plenty (Abstract Logix)
Box, Studio 1 (Rune Grammofon)
Farmers Market, Surfin’ USSR (Ipecac)
Rob Parton’s Jazztech Big Band, Just One Of Those Things (Sea Breeze)
Irvin Mayfield & Ellis Marsalis, Love Songs, Ballads And Standards (Basin Street)
Cindy Blackman, Music For The New Millennium (Sacred Sound)
Chick Corea & Gary Burton, The New Crystal Silence (Concord)
Fleurine, San Francisco (Sunnyside)
Steven Bernstein, Diaspora Suite (Tzadik)
Bjorkestra, Enjoy! (Koch)
Trio Da Paz & Joe Locke, Live At Jazz Baltica (MaxJazz)
Joe Locke Quartet, Sticks And Strings (Jazz Eyes)
Gabriel Alegria, Nuevo Mundo (Saponegro)
Victor Wooten, Palmystery (Heads Up)
Mike Ruby, Play Time (ALMA)
Lettuce, Rage! (Velour)
Andrew D’Angelo, Skadra Degis (Skirl)
George Cables, You Don’t Know Me (Kind Of Blue)
Various Artists, Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson (Range)
Roberta Gambarini & Hank Jones, You Are There (EmArcy)
Ninth & Lincoln, Ninth & Lincoln (Dazzle)
Grazyna Auguscik & Paulinho Garcia, Andança (GMA)
Montery Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Allstars, Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival)

Jazz
Marc Copland with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, Voices (Pirouet)
Kelly Brand Nextet, The Door (Origin)
Tigran Hamasyan Trio, New Era (Nocturne)
Steve Lantner Trio, What You Can Throw (hatOLOGY)
Adam Benjamin, Long Gone (Kind of Blue)
Jacob Koller, Music For Bowlers (Ropeadope)

Blues
Willie King, Down In The Woods (Visible World Films, DVD)
Various Artists, Honeydripper soundtrack (Rhino)
Grady Champion, Back In Mississippi Live (GSM)
Sean Costello, We Can Get Together (Delta Groove)
The Steeldrivers (Rounder)
Tom Principato Band, Raising The Roof! (Powerhouse)
Deering & Down, Break This Record (Retsina Glow)

Beyond
Van Morrison, Keep It Simple (Lost Highway)
Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway)
Willie Nelson, Moment Of Forever (Lost Highway)
Shelby Lynne, Just A Little Lovin’ (Lost Highway)

Historical
George Gruntz, Radio Days (TCB)

Book
Andy Hamilton, Lee Konitz (University of Michigan Press)