May sound crazy but even the birds in the trees, well in the Harlem trees actually, know when it’s time for Jazzmobile to hit the local neighborhoods of New York City. Listen to the birds, listen to their jazzy summer rhythm, chirp chirp, chirppy chirp and those high choruses of tweety-tweets. Oh, yeah, these birds are influenced by the rich swinging jazz sounds coming from the instruments of the many dynamic musicians performing at Jazzmobile. Yes, please don’t confuse these hip jazz birds (the unofficial sidemen or is it “sidebirds” of Jazzmobile) with that crazy homicidal group from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” which was released a year (1963) prior to the founding of Jazzmobile by pianist, composer and NEA Jazz Master Billy Taylor and philanthropist Daphne Anstein.
Jazzmobile, the longest running community jazz festival, just kicked off and runs now through Sept. 23. The tenor saxophonist, composer, and vocalist Camille Thurman & The Darrell Green Quartet take to the stage on July 7, at Marcus Garvey Park (124th St. and 5th Ave.).
Thurman is a multi-instrumentalist with an arsenal of instruments (bass clarinet, flute, and piccolo) to capture any audiences’ attention from deep bellow riffs of her tenor saxophone to swirling bebop Betty Carter scattin style or she may catch you with ballads from saxophone to vocals. Her long-standing band featuring the Darrell Green Quartet makes for an all-out jazz feast. Green has earned his reputation as an inventive drummer, who keeps the music swinging in or out of the pocket from his gospel roots to Latin music and the blues. The concert is from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
The concert will be followed by The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s performance of “Malvolio,” a flippant comedic sequel to Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” written by Betty Shamieh (Mellon Foundation playwright in residence).
On July 12, Houston Person Quartet returns to his favorite outdoor Harlem performance space, Grant’s Tomb (West 122nd St. at Riverside Drive).
The tenor saxophonist has a big energizing sound, soulful as a Harlem throw-down party. His ballads are as spiritual and uplifting as a Sunday morning. This mellow soul attracted such vocalists as Lena Horne, Dakota Staton and his long-time musical partner Etta Jones. Currently signed with High Note Records, he has recorded over 75 albums as a leader with an abundance of others as a sideman with cats, who love the soul of it all like Lou Rawls, Horace Silver, Richard “Groove” Holmes and Charles Earland. One must ask with such an illustrious career spanning six decades, why hasn’t Person been anointed as an NEA Jazz Master?
Person says he wants to give people “good solid melodies with some improvisation and plenty of blues feel.” He adds, “You always want that dance feeling there, that happy, happy feeling.” (7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.).
On July 14, vocalist Tammy McCann returns to Jazzmobile at Marcus Garvey Park where she will be performing songs from her newly released CD “Do I Move You?” (Io Canto Music, LLC). The album was created at the end of the COVID-19 quarantine period. In the CD liner notes Neil Tesser’s wrote, she wanted to “create something that would bring us out of the emotional isolation we’ve been in – something that would make people feel again.”
McCann, in her three decades on the music scene, has effortlessly segued from secular music to the sacred (gospel) world. Her blend of gospel, jazz and blues is explicitly woven into this latest recording. That fusion can be heard on McCann’s reverent reading of the Mahalia Jackson-associated Negro spiritual, “Canaan Land,” which also “echoes Muddy Waters and Big Joe Turner’s blues interpretations.”
The album also includes a ’70s cover of Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands.” She notes, “a tribute to all the grandmas lost to COVID.” Duke Ellington’s “Don’t You Know I Care?,” dances in waltz time, while Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing,” is a duo with McCann and longtime collaborator guitarist Fareed Haque. She notes, “this is her most personal album.”
Get ready to shout, clap your hands like church, and shake them hips like you in a hip juke joint. (7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.).
Followed by The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s performance of “Malvolio!”
For a complete schedule visit the website Jazzmobile.org
The 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue), known for its interdisciplinary multi-cultural music and arts programs will indulge jazz fans July 11-July 27 with its Midsummer MusicFest. What differentiates this jazz festival from others is its ability to present jazz as a multi-dimensional genre that influences the arts. It kicks off on July 11 with singer Norm Lewis whose rich baritone made Broadway history in his leading roles of “Phantom of the Opera,” “Porgy and Bess,” and “Les Miserables.” Lewis’s repertoire will highlight the influence of jazz on the American Songbook. His rhythm section will include; pianist and music director Billy Stritch, bassist George Farmer, and drummer Perry Cavari.
On July 13, jazz vocalist Veronica Swift joins forces with tap and swing dancer, choreographer Caleb Teicher will expand the vocabulary of jazz. Following the concert there will be a social swing dance party led by top NYC swing dancers and instructors, and the swing band Charles Turner & Uptown Swing!
On July 16, at 5 p.m., jazz and classical music socialize; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with the Vijay Iyer Trio (bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey). For over 50 years the Chamber has been a radical experiment in musical democracy, proving what happens when exceptional artists gather with total trust in each other and faith in the creative process.
Composer and pianist Iyer is the perfect candidate to assimilate with the Chamber, he is also radical, an explorer, who has no problem blurring genres. He leads a variety of configurations playing everything from avant garde, straight-ahead, classical, and stuff in between and beyond. “Emergence is a composition for my group, the Vjay Iyer Trio, plus chamber orchestra. This piece situates our trio’s collaborative improvisational language in the context of a classical ensemble,” explained Iyer. “In juxtaposing the respective powers of these very different ensembles and featuring them separately and together, we explore how these two contrasting perspectives on music might coexist.”
Jazz unites with another genre on July 17, with Christopher Lightfoot Walker Reading Series, Bob Dylan’s “Philosophy of Modern Song” with Broadway and film actor, singer, composer, and playwright André De Shields and bassist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, directed by Michael Almereyda.
Live shows will also be streamed. For a complete schedule and tickets visit the website at 92ny.org.