On Oct. 31, The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) continues its Thursday afternoon series at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (58 West 129th Street) with guitar master Teddy Royal. His sound was the real definition of R&B. He has lent his bluesy rhythmic flow to such the bands as Hank Crawford, Koko Taylor, Lou Rawls, and Patti LaBelle, but most die-hard old school blues folks will acknowledge him for his 30-year tenure with the legendary Fats Domino on hits like “Blueberry Hill,” “Blue Monday,” and “Ain’t That a Shame.”
On Halloween afternoon at 2 p.m., before the goblins come out for fun and mischief, Royal, the New Orleans native, will perform with a trio that’s sure to pull out some oldies but goodies, as well as his originals from his previously released albums.
This event is FREE and open to the public! For more info, visit www.jazzfoundation.org.
From Oct. 31-Nov. 3, as witches and werewolves howl through the streets of New York on that special frightening night, Dizzy’s jazz club (10 Columbus Circle) will be busy on their usual jazz front featuring the super all-star collaborative septet The Cookers. Since their inception in 2007, conceived by trumpeter David Weiss, the septet with over 250 years of experience has captivated audiences around the globe. Their dynamic arrangements and improvisational musicianship make for a different journey regardless of how many times you experience their performances. The lineup of longtime collaborators features trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss, tenor sax Azar Lawrence, alto sax Craig Handy, pianist George Cables, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Billy Hart.
One question that crosses my mind: Is the name The Cookers at all related to the albums “Night of the Cookers: Live at Club la Marchal,” Vols. 1 & 2 recorded in 1965 at the noted Brooklyn club and released on Blue Note Records in 1965 and 1966, respectively? Those two incredible nights also presented an all-star septet that featured trumpeter Lee Morgan, saxophonist James Spaulding, pianist Harold Mabern Jr., bassist Larry Ridley, Pete LaRoca, and percussionist Big Black. Regardless of the answer, the current Cookers are carrying on their predecessors’ tradition in grand fashion.
For one night only, one of the most invigorating trumpeters on the music scene, Josh Evans, brings his big band into Dizzy’s jazz club on Nov. 4. When the first call trumpeter isn’t gigging with the likes of Christian McBride, Rufus Reid, Gregory Porter, or David Murray, he is off leading his own band.
Evans has performed with such an array of musicians in and out of his own bands, it will be a surprise to see who will be part of this big band, which is sure to be an exciting evening. Over the years he has performed with a prestigious list of musicians such as Muhal Richard Abrahms, Jackie McLean (his mentor), Gregory Porter, Oliver Lake, Rene McLean, Billy Harper, and Charles Tolliver.
For one intriguing night, Evans will showcase his big band which should include some of his contemporaries, who, like him, bring fresh music and ideas pushing the elements of jazz to new realms, presenting his own arrangements of original material and standard tunes. They will perform two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
For more information and to make reservations, visit jazz.org.
Nublu, the tiny music nest on the Lower East Side known for its independent music explorers who often go beyond jazz limits, recently featured Japanese trumpeter and composer Seiki Yukimoto. Only in the Apple for a brief moment from his native Japan, he managed to sell out both shows for his one-night appearance.
His ensemble was a gathering of New York established band leaders, who performed with Yukimoto during his city engagements. The noted musicians included guitarist and producer Spaceman Patterson (Miles Davis, James Brown), bassist Stanley Banks (George Benson), percussionist (congas, bongos), Jose Luis Abreu (Andrew Lamb, Matt Lavelle), drummer Craig Holiday Haynes (Freddie Hubbard, Gloria Lynne), and Newman Taylor Baker on the rarely used washboard; he is the “one man percussion orchestra” as described by Max Roach, known for his drumming he found a unique sound on the washboard (Matthew Ship, Henry Threadgill).
With only a sound check, no rehearsal, and a few collaborative notations with Yukimoto, the group jumped right into a deep whirlwind of blistering music. It was an evening of genre cross pollination. They played off each other with an intuitive sense allowing for hard-hittin’ solos with Spaceman bringing the guitar funk, Abreu’s Latin tinge, Burrs’ R&B keyboards with Banks soul á la mode, Haynes bringing it home with lyrical melodic inserts, Baker’s wash board improvisations, and the leader playing bold trumpet riffs and yet something new on his Quena flute bridging the sound of East and West.
Yukimoto, who arranged and composed all the music, explained, “I like using different musicians to give me a different sound that stretches the parameters of jazz,” he explained. “I want to have an all-around sound in jazz tradition but with more grit. I play jazz and beyond that is what we call it in Japan, it’s not fusion.”
Yukimoto isn’t new to the Apple, having lived here during the 1980s while attending Columbia University. His two notable roommates were avant garde trumpeter and composer Don Cherry and Miguel Pinero, playwright and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He says of Cherry, “Don was completely different; everything he did was new to me. He was a super musician. The NYC musicians play with so much power and there is so much competition so I have to do lots of practice to try to keep up always practicing but I love playing in New York it’s so much energy.”
Here in the city, Yukimoto has a modest reputation, but in Japan he is a renowned bandleader, having led his popular Soulbleed band for over two decades. “I am educating young people to play my music in Japan, it is a mix of East meets West with some of my influences Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Don Cherry,” commented the trumpeter. “I am working on music for his [Cherry] documentary.” For more info, visit seikiyukimoto.com.