Jazzmobile’s Summerjazz fest, Great Jazz on the Great Hill, in Central Park, Aug. 5, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., is a rainbow jazz combustion.
The concert, with an annual list of performers that draw jazz fans from the tristate area, has become one of Manhattan’s major mini-festivals. For a straight-ahead musical history of what the music is and continues to be, the renowned elder-statesman tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator Jimmy Heath will take the stage with his 14-piece swinging Big Band.
The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master will present jazz stretching back to the days when the music was synonymous with dancing acrobatics and not the sound of sshhhhh!
Adding to the rainbow of jazz and the culture of Black music is the smoky baritone singer Allan Harris. The native of Harlem, who comes from a Black bar jukebox experience, will lasso a repertoire from a western song or two to Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine ballads and hard swing from the team of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
The 16-year old pianist/organist and composer Matthew Whitaker will make his statement with an eclectic musical chest brimming over with everything from rockin’ blues to out-right soul and jazzy rhythms, if that suits him in the moment.
He taught himself the Hammond B3 at the age of nine and later became the youngest artist endorsed by Hammond. His artistic resume is outstanding for any young musician; for a blind musician, it is even more impressive.
The memorable singer Alyson Williams, who earned her reputation by wading in the competitive ocean waves of R&B, will spike the Jazzmobile contingency with a slice of soul Aug. 9 (7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.) at the General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb, 122nd Street and Riverside Drive).
As the daughter of a bandleader (trumpeter Bobby Booker) she might mingle on the periphery of jazz or drop a few blues tunes. Her many fans still remember the lyrics to her hit song “Just Call My Name,” which is considered a cult classic that still gets airplay.
The trombonist, composer and conceptualist Craig S. Harris is a visionary who finds time to lead three different bands (Tailgaters Tales, Nation of Imagination and Slide Rule). Any musician who leads three bands and still has time for other projects has to be an inventive soul.
Aug. 11 Harris, whose explosive trombone sound swings from the frontline of a romping New Orleans band to avant-garde improvisational expressionism to those diversified rambles of 125th Street, delivers it all at Marcus Garvey Park (Fifth Avenue and 125th Street, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.).
The Cornelia Street Café/Underground (29 Cornelia ST.) is one of New York’s under the radar jazz scenes. The jazz here moves from tame to a bold voiceful improvisational approach.
Aug. 3-5, the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby will take the more unconventional road of improvisation playing near the avant garde pond. His associations with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and Paul Motian’s electric Bebop Band give him such a license.
The Tony Malaby Festival begins with a trio and Aug. 4, he continues on a different note with “Apparitions” featuring the cellist Michael Formanek and drummers Tom Rainey and Randy Peterson.
Aug. 5, Malaby brings in another quartet of abled musicians with guitarist Brandon Seabrook, bassist William Parker (who studied with Jimmy Garrison and Wilbur Ware. He is an influential jazz musician and composer on the avant garde and traditional sets.) and drummer Billy Mintz. Show times are 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. For reservations or a complete schedule, call 212-989-9319 or corneliastreetcafe.com.
Summerstage audiences get to see a varied spectrum of music, as well as many artistic endeavors. Poetry will be the pronounced words of choice Aug. 9 at the Nuyorican Poets Café (263 East Third Street).
The poets delivering bullets of thoughts to ponder will include Stacyann Chin (she identifies herself as a Caribbean and Black, Asian and lesbian woman living in New York City); the esteemed Ntozake Shange, one of America’s greatest living writers, an acknowledged master in the genres of drama, fiction, memoir and poetry (having written 15 plays, 19 poetry collections, 6 novels, 5 children’s books, 3 collections of essays); and native New Yorker Sarah Kay, who began performing at the Bowery Poetry Club in the East Village at the age of 14. This event is free, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
There are a few young Cuban musicians who are shining a bright light here in the city. One young lady is the vocalist, songwriter and pianist Melvis Santa. Last week at a Spanish Harlem block party (on East 109th Street) her five-piece, all-female band paid tribute to women in Cuban and Latin music.
She founded the Melvis Santa & Ellas-Son band to continue the legacy of Cuban female artists such as Rita Montaner, Celia Cruz, Merceditas Valdés, La Lupe and many others. “The repertoire includes originals and classic songs with innovative arrangements that brings together son, cha chá, mambo, rumba and a tinge of jazz,” noted Santa.
Her music kept the crowd in constant motion, and the audience seemed to know many of the songs she was singing. “Our music and foundation is similar and basically the same,” said Santa. “It is linked to salsa.”
Her energetic band included pianist and vocalist Ariacne Trujillo, flutist and vocalist Colette Michaan, bassist Jennifer Vincent and conga player Jaquelene Acevedo.
“Celia Cruz is one of my favorites for who she became, what she represents and what she did,” said Santa. “I am part of that lineage. My mission is to develop my artistry and be able to communicate it with the world the best way I can. Music has affected me and made me a better person.”
Santa is also a vocalist with Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, a popular all-female large ensemble with the majority of the members being Cuban.
The Melvis Santa & Ellas-Son band will be performing at the Lincoln Center Outdoors Festival Aug. 5 (@Hearst Plaza) and Aug. 6 (@Teatro Pregones).