National Jazz Museum In Harlem Celebrates New Digs

After 15 years in East Harlem, The National Jazz Museum In Harlem is now near the center of the action uptown. It’s at 58 West 129th Street just off Malcolm X Boulevard a few blocks from Red Rooster and Sylvia’s and Corner Social. The 3 p’s of the museum are preserve, promote, and present. In the words of Wynton Marsalis…”For more than a century, Harlem has been a center of creativity for countless musicians, writers, and artists who have produced some of the most extraordinary works of art. Through its exhibits and programs, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem honors this legacy and actively contributes to Harlem’s vibrant culture.”

The recent hootenanny featured music from the Harlem born pianist Marc Cary who grew up in DC but returned to the city in the late 80s and has been building his reputation as an ace ever since. Also on hand was the virtuosic sax player Bill Saxton who has been a bright light for decades in joints like the much missed St. Nick’s Pub and more recently in his own Bill’s Place on 133rd Street. Another artist who grew up in the streets north of Central Park, the wonderful vocalist Terri Davis also took part in the festivities. She sometimes performs along with Cary at Gin Fizz just around the corner from the museum where Cary hosts The Harlem Sessions every Thursday including tomorrow night. You could double dip as there’s action at the museum tomorrow night as well. A listening party will be hosted by none other than Christian McBride, who is the museum’s co-artistic director along with Jonathan Batiste. It’s part one of a three part series devoted to appreciating the enduring recordings of Cannonball Adderley. International Jazz Day on the 30th of this month would also be an excellent time to drop by.

Musical Holiday Gift Ideas for 2015

So you need some musical holiday gift ideas for 2015 – no problemo!  I have donned Santa’s hat and sprawled many tasties on a table for your amusement and to make suggestions on what to buy for yourself or the music lover on your list.  From the king of Afrobeat Fela Kuti to Rage Against The Machine, we’ve got wax and discs of audio and video to inspire and delight.

The Bob Dylan Bootleg Series Volume 12: The Cutting Edge certainly yields some treasures for Zimmy enthusiasts.  This set offers alternate takes and other bric-a-brac from the Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde sessions.  If you’re writing a book on Dylan focusing on that period, maybe you’d want every note available on 18 CD’s!  If you’re hardcore, you’d likely go for the version on half a dozen CD’s.  I’m satisfied getting the best bits which are available on 2 CD’s and/or what I got – the 3 LP set which is packaged with the utmost affection.  I could say the same about the Spoon 10th anniversary re-issue of Gimme Fiction. 

The Sly and The Family Stone set offers both early and late shows recorded at Fillmore East, the storied joint on 2nd Avenue around 6th Street, in 1968.  The Who box set offers a DVD along with 2 CD’s in what could be their final live album, but I think I said that about Who’s Last in 1984.  Same format for Eric Clapton with a DVD/2 CD’s captured at Royal Albert Hall for his 70th birthday celebration.  I was lucky enough to catch one of the two Madison Square Garden shows that he played two weeks before the Royal Albert ones so I was especially pleased that it was recorded and released as Slowhand was in such sparkling form.  The Queen DVD is worth a peek and as far as Jazz goes, I can’t speak highly enough about the Miles Davis set covering 20 years of performances at Newport Jazz Festival.  It’s phenomenal.  The Weather Report and Jaco Pastorius soundtrack I’m just scratching the surface on, but these promise many hours of rewarding listening.

The Big Band Holidays disc by Wynton Marsalis and the fellas hits the spot, as does the Johnny Mathis box which has a few Christmas songs among the singles released between 1956 and 1981.  It’s a worthy collection on Johnny’s 80th birthday.  The Them compilation includes all the tracks on Angry Young Them (1965) and Them Again (1966) along with demos and what have you and it sounds great in remastered form.  Happy holidays!

Here are some bits from interviews and performances over the past year or so put together as a celebration of jazz in NYC, past and present…full of fantastic characters!

Find the full reports on Wynton Marsalis, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill Frisell, Chris Botti, and Lew Tabackin in the jazz section.

When Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra went to Cuba in 2010, seeds were already being planted for the Jazz Across the Americas Latin America tour which begins on Friday February 27th and Saturday February 28th 2015 at Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.  The multi Grammy winning Jazz artist spoke about the Titans of Jazz concerts from a few weeks ago (the footage here is a sound check from the first of those shows) and how they are planning next weekend’s show which will feature music from composers like Oscar Peterson, Lalo Schefrin, Chico O’Farrill, and Gil Evans.