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| Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y (7.22-31.03) |
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| Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500 |
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| Media Contact: Beverly Greenfield, 212.415.5452, email |
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| JAZZ IN JULY AT THE 92ND STREET Y |
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| July 22-31, 2003 |
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| Dick Hyman, Artistic Director |
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BIX BEIDERBECKE CENTENARY
CLARINET MADNESS
PREMIERES BY DICK HYMAN & RANDY SANDKE
with
Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli, Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks,
Jay Leonhart, Eric Comstock, Hilary Kole, Mike Lipskin, Joe Wilder,
Ken Peplowski, Kenny Davern, Andy Stein, Alan Vaché, Evan Christopher,
Peter Appleyard, Wycliffe Gordon, Louis Mazetier Derek Smith & MORE!
All Concerts at 8:00 p.m.
92nd Street Y / Lexington Avenue & 92nd Street
Information: 212-415-5500 or www.92y.org
Tickets: $40 ($35 for six or more)
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| New York, NY, Arpil, 14, 2003—Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y returns for its 19th year under the artistic direction of jazz great Dick Hyman. Six shows over the course of two weeks feature New York's best players and outstanding guests in a very modern celebration of traditional jazz music, musicians and composers. Tickets to all concerts are $40, or $35 each for any combination of six or more Jazz in July tickets. For a one-page overview of the festival, see page 8. |
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| HIGHLIGHTS |
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Opening night (July 22) celebrates the centenary of BIX BEIDERBECKE and two of his contemporaries, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang.
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If you thought Jazz in July was only about "old stuff," think again. Thursday, July 24 is a night of NEW STUFF: the world premiere of a jazz ballet by RANDY SANDKE, the New York premiere of "Gold Coast Variations" by DICK HYMAN, a clarinet concerto by JAMES CHIRILLO and songs by JAY LEONHART.
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CLARINET FANS, REJOICE! On July 29, Hyman and company revisit Benny Goodman in his early years. The next night, July 30, Jazz in July presents one of its ever-popular "Licorice Schtick" shows, an all-out jazz clarinet hootenanny, with KENNY DAVERN, KEN PEPLOWSKI, ALAN VACHÉ and EVAN CHRISTOPHER (no, not all at the same time) — and guests.
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The festival closes with a night of Stride Piano. MIKE LIPSKIN channels the great Willie "the Lion" Smith; TOM ROBERTS channels Charles "Luckey" Roberts (no relation), and LOUIS MAZETIER channels the great Donald Lambert. DICK HYMAN, as usual, channels them all.
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| DETAILS |
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VENUTI, BIX, AND LANG: CENTENARIES
Tuesday July 22 at 8:00 p.m.
On opening night, Tuesday, July 22, DICK HYMAN leads a triple centenary celebration of three jazz greats: the legendary cornetist and composer BIX BEIDERBECKE (1903-1931) and two of jazz's earliest instrumentalists, violinist JOE VENUTI (1903-1978), and guitarist EDDIE LANG (1902-1933), who were longtime partners. Hyman and friends recreate some of Beiderbecke's own recordings, as well as music the three friends did with the orchestras of Jean Goldkette and Frank Trumbauer. They revisit Venuti and Lang's signature sound, and audiences can catch a glimpse of the original violin-guitar jazz duo in film footage of Venuti and Lang playing "After You're Gone" in 1931. In addition to the music, there are sure to be stories about Venuti's famous practical jokes - like hiring dozens of bass players for a non-existent gig at 57th Street and 7th Avenue, and then driving by to see the sight of mass bass confusion.
The legendary and talented Bix Beiderbecke lived hard and died an alcoholic before he hit 30, but he left behind several influential piano pieces that Hyman describes as a cross between "the syncopated dance music of the 1920s and the classical music of Ravel (1875-1937) and [Edward] MacDowell (1860-1908)." Joe Venuti was a contemporary of Beiderbecke, but outlived him by about 45 years; he set the style for jazz violin players, and was a direct influence on Stephane Grappelli. Venuti was a prolific recording artist and performed well into his seventies - long enough for Hyman to have played with Venuti a couple of times in the 1970s. Eddie Lang was born Salvatore Massaro in Philadelphia. His recordings, both those with Venuti and the ones he made as blues guitarist Blind Willie Dunn, have a place in jazz history. But Hyman says Lang couldn't compete with his two contemporaries personality-wise. "He was a quiet type, died young, and I don't know any stories about him," Hyman says.
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DICK AND DEREK'S ANNUAL PIANO PARTY
Wednesday, July 23 at 8:00 p.m.
On Wednesday, July 23 DICK HYMAN and DEREK SMITH host their annual Piano Party, welcoming jazz's hottest pianists, instrumentalists and singers for an unpredictable jazz party. This year, Hyman and Smith welcome a couple of worthy novices to the stage, as well.
This year's guests include singer/pianist ERIC COMSTOCK, who created Our Sinatra, with singer HILARY KOLE, who starred in the show, stride pianist MIKE LIPSKIN and Hyman's frequent collaborator JOHN SHERIDAN (the two recorded a duo-piano CD, Forgotten Dreams: Archives of Novelty Piano, released on Arbors in February 2002). New to the big stage this year is ART TOPILOW, a veteran of Hyman and Smith's pre-festival master class, whose day job as a physician apparently hasn't kept him from developing serious chops as a jazz pianist. The party band features JOE WILDER on trumpet; alto saxophonist ROBERT LANDHAM (Hyman heard him on a record and snapped him up for the festival); LES LIEBER on pennywhistle; NICKI PARROT, a young (female) Australian-born bassist who studied with Rufus Reid and currently plays regular Monday night gigs at Iridium with Les Paul; and drummer EDDIE LOCKE.
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NEW STUFF: ORIGINAL JAZZ CONCERT MUSIC
Thursday, July 24 at 8:00 p.m.
On Thursday, July 24, Hyman and some of his jazz buddies strut their New Stuff. The show includes new songs by bassist/songwriter JAY LEONHART and the New York premiere of DICK HYMAN's "Gold Coast Variations." Also on the bill is new (or recent) music for big band: the world premiere of RANDY SANDKE's jazz ballet and JAMES CHIRILLO's 1995 clarinet concerto, featuring Ken Peplowski
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New Songs from Jay Leonhart
Jay Leonhart shares some new songs from his vast collection, many of which address - with Leonhart's trademark wit - life as a bass player. Songs from his one-man show, The Bass Lesson, include "Bass Aboard a Plane" and "Ban the Bass Blues."
Dick Hyman's Gold Coast Variations — New York Premiere
Hyman - who lives primarily in Florida these days - wrote this piece for the Gold Coast Jazz Society and premiered in Fort Lauderdale in February. It is an 18-minute piece in three movements, written for a nine-piece jazz group featuring piano. Hyman describes its contours as "motif and development, but swinging," with sections of free improvisation for the musicians. Matt Schudel wrote in the Florida Sun-Sentinel that the composition "charges through a variety of time signatures and key changes, with a harmonic palette that places it firmly in the realm of adventurous modern jazz."
The nine-piece band features HYMAN on the piano, with LEW SOLOFF on trumpet; WYCLIFFE GORDON on trombone; CHUCK WILSON on alto saxophone; SCOTT ROBINSON on tenor saxophone; JACK STUCKEY on baritone saxophone; HOWARD ALDEN on guitar; JAY LEONHART on bass and CHUCK REDD on drums; DICK HYMAN on piano.
James Chirillo's Homage Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra
James Chirillo, who is probably better known as a jazz guitarist than a composer, actually majored in music composition at North Texas State University. In 1995 (after more than a dozen years on the New York jazz scene), the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Chirillo a Jazz Composition Grant for this clarinet concerto. He wrote the piece for Ken Peplowski, who revisits it this year at Jazz in July. The Concerto for Clarinet is scored for clarinet, four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, and a rhythm section: piano, bass, drums and guitar.
As a guitarist, Chirillo studied and played with "Tiny" Grimes, was in Benny Goodman's last band, has worked extensively with Claude "Fiddler" Williams, and was a charter member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra from 1992-1999.
Chirillo conducts the Jazz in July big band: RANDY SANDKE, VIRGIL JONES, BOB MILLIKAN, LEW SOLOFF, trumpet; WYCLIFFE GORDON, JOE BARATI, BOBBY PRING, HARVEY TIBBS, trombone; KEN PEPLOWSKI, CHUCK WILSON, TED NASH, BILL EASLEY, SCOTT ROBINSON, JACK STUCKEY, reeds; BOOTS MALLISON, bass; HOWARD ALDEN, guitar; CHUCK REDD, drums.
Randy Sandke's Subway Ballet — Premiere!
Randy Sandke is a longtime veteran of the New York jazz scene, and since he plays the trumpet (and not the tuba), he can hop on the subway to get around, instrument in hand. Given all those subway rides, Sandke says he's "been thinking about writing a real New York jazz ballet for a long time - something about the subway and all the different people who ride on it every day." Sandke's brand new Subway Ballet features six contemporary, jazz-infused movements: Dance of the Downtown Punks; Dance of the Wall Street Brokers; The Blind Beggar Encounters the Korean Peddler; Dance of the Hasidic Diamond Merchants; Pas de Deux; and Dance of the Midtown Career Women.
"I tried to fit the music to the characters, and I wrote this very much as a dance piece," says Sandke. "So the theme for the blind beggar is bluesy, and the theme for the Korean peddler uses flutes playing an Asian tune." At Jazz in July, Sandke conducts the concert version of the ballet, which is scored for three trumpets, four trombones, five winds/reeds (a flexible combination of saxophones, flutes and clarinets), bass and drums. He has yet to connect the music with a willing troupe of dancers, but he's working on it.
Sandke conducts the band (see above - line-up is the same as for Chirillo's piece).
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EARLY BENNY
Tuesday, July 29 at 8:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, July 29, Hyman salutes the music of "EARLY BENNY" (Goodman, that is), with a celebration of Goodman’s music from before he was the "King of Swing." The concert focuses on Goodman's pre-swing music in the 1920s and his small swing combos (rather than the big bands he's famous for), with rare film footage of Goodman in action as a youngster playing lead alto sax and clarinet with Ben Pollack's orchestra in the late 1920s and early '30s. (Pollack never achieved great fame himself, but his bands included more than a handful of future hot-shots, including Goodman, Jack Teagarden and Glenn Miller.)
In the first half of this show, clarinetist DAN LEVINSON joins VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS to recreate the music Goodman played in the 1920s, as a sideman in Pollack's band.
After intermission, Hyman shines the spotlight on the music from Goodman's quartet recordings of the 1930s, with some of today's best players echoing the musicians who played with Goodman half a century ago. Clarinetist ALAN VACHÉ, a veteran of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in San Antonio, has been compared to Goodman stylistically. Vaché's musical pedigree includes studies with Kenny Davern, gigs with Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa and Clark Terry; and being born the son of bass player Warren Vaché Sr. and brother of cornet player Warren Vaché Jr. PETER APPLEYARD on vibes recalls Lionel Hampton; HYMAN, on piano, studied with Teddy Wilson and brings his musical voice to the stage; drummer WINARD HARPER counts Gene Krupa as one of his inspirations; and the versatile bassist SEAN SMITH fits right in with the veterans.
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LICORICE SCHTICKS
Wednesday, July 30 at 8:00 p.m.
On Wednesday, July 30, Jazz in July brings back its always popular jazz clarinet hootenanny, Licorice Schticks. Hyman assembles four of the hottest jazz clarinetists around and lets them loose on each other (not all at once), the audience and the assembled horn and rhythm sections.
On the clarinet: KENNY DAVERN, KEN PEPLOWSKI, ALAN VACHÉ and EVAN CHRISTOPHER. Joining them are JON-ERIK KELLSO and ED POLCER on cornet, WYCLIFFE GORDON on trombone; DICK HYMAN on piano, FRANK TATE on bass and JOE ASCIONE on drums.
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THE LION, THE LAMB, AND LUCKEY
Thursday, July 31 at 8:00 p.m.
On Thursday, July 31, Jazz in July goes out with the intricate, foot-stomping rhythm of Harlem stride piano. Harlem stride is an energetic style of piano-playing born in the 1920s that combines elements of both ragtime and swing and challenges pianists to play galloping bass and percussion with the left hand while the right hand improvises melodies and harmonies. The Lion, The Lamb, and Luckey is a tribute to three giants of the style: Willie "The Lion" Smith (1897-1973) - whose name is synonymous with stride - as well as the lesser known Donald Lambert (1904-1962) and Charles "Luckey" Roberts (1887-1968). The program also features film footage of Smith, culled from a recent PBS documentary.
MIKE LIPSKIN channels the great Willie "the Lion" Smith; TOM ROBERTS channels Charles "Luckey" Roberts (no relation), and LOUIS MAZETIER channels the underrated and overlooked Donald Lambert. DICK HYMAN, as usual, channels a little bit of everyone. Also on the program: clarinetist EVAN CHRISTOPHER and drummer EDDIE LOCKE.
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| JAZZ GALLERY EXHIBIT: PHOTOGRAPHS OF HANK O'NEAL |
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Running concurrently with the festival, the 92nd Street Y's Weill Art Gallery (adjacent to the concert hall) displays a photographic retrospective by world-renowned jazz producer and photographer HANK O'NEAL. O'Neal founded the Chiaroscuro label in the 1970s (he sold it to Audiophile in 1978, but reacquired the catalog in the late 1980s), which recorded artists like Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Ruby Braff and Joe Venuti, among others. His photographs feature the musicians who created the golden age of jazz, and the exhibit at the 92nd Street Y includes unpublished photographs from his collection and unusual new work designed especially for Jazz in July. His photographs are featured in Hank O'Neal: Portraits, 1971-2000 (Wilkes College, Sordoni Art Gallery, 2000). O'Neal is also editor of The Best of Jazz: Noted Writers on Great Jazz Records (Horizon, 1987) and author of Berenice Abbott: American Photographer (McGraw-Hill, 1985). Stanley Blum is curator of the exhibit.
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PRE-FESTIVAL MASTER CLASS
Monday, July 21 at 8:15 p.m., Tickets: $15
Prior to the festival, on Monday, July 21 at 8:15 p.m. , DICK HYMAN and DEREK SMITH present their annual pre-festival master class, a musical primer from two pianists who have played it all, from the ragtime riffs of Scott Joplin and searing bop of Bud Powell to the pastel-tinted lyricism of Bill Evans. To be considered to play with Dick and Derek, a recent performance tape (postmarked no later than May 1) must be submitted to: Jazz Piano Master Class, Tisch Center for the Arts, 1395 Lexington, New York, NY 10128.
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| FESTIVAL OVERVIEW |
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Tuesday, July 22, 8:00 p.m.
OPENING NIGHT — VENUTI, BIX AND LANG at 100
RANDY SANDKE, trumpet/cornet
HOWARD ALDEN and BUCKY PIZZARELLI, guitar
ANDY STEIN, violin
VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS
DICK HYMAN, piano
Wednesday, July 23, 8:00 p.m.
DICK & DEREK'S ANNUAL PIANO PARTY
ERIC COMSTOCK, piano and vocals, and HILARY KOLE, vocals
DICK HYMAN, DEREK SMITH, MIKE LIPSKIN, JOHN SHERIDAN, ART TOPILOW, piano
JOE WILDER, trumpet
ROBERT LANDHAM, alto sax
NICKI PARROT, bass
EDDIE LOCKE, drums
Thursday, July 24, 8:00 p.m.
NEW STUFF: ORIGINAL JAZZ CONCERT MUSIC
DICK HYMAN's Gold Coast Variations - New York Premiere
RANDY SANDKE's Subway Ballet - World Premiere
JAMES CHIRILLO's Homage Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra with KEN PEPLOWSKI
New Songs from JAY LEONHART
Tuesday, July 29, 8:00 p.m.
EARLY BENNYbr>
DAN LEVINSON, clarinet
VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS
ALAN VACHÉ, clarinet
PETER APPLEYARD vibes
DICK HYMAN, piano
WINARD HARPER, drums
SEAN SMITH, bass
Wednesday, July 30, 8:00 p.m.
LICORICE SCHTICKS
KENNY DAVERN, KEN PEPLOWSKI, ALAN VACHÉ and EVAN CHRISTOPHER, clarinet
JON-ERIK KELLSO and ED POLCER, cornet
WYCLIFFE GORDON, trombone
DICK HYMAN, piano
FRANK TATE, bass
JOE ASCIONE, drums
Thursday, July 31, 8:00 p.m.
THE LION, THE LAMB, AND LUCKEY: A Tribute to WILLIE "THE LION" SMITH, DONALD LAMBERT and CHARLES "LUCKEY" ROBERTS
DICK HYMAN, MIKE LIPSKIN, LOUIS MAZETIER, TOM ROBERTS, piano
EVAN CHRISTOPHER, clarinet
EDDIE LOCKE, drums
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| ABOUT THE 92nd STREET Y |
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| The 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts, endowed through the generous support of the Tisch family, produces and presents world-class concerts of classical, world, folk and cabaret music, lyric theater and jazz. The Center's Unterberg Poetry Center, established in 1939, produces a renowned literary reading series that presents the most distinguished writers of our time and offers extensive educational programs for writers of all levels. |
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The 92nd Street Y unites culture, education and community service in one multifaceted institution. Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the Y has grown into an organization guided by Jewish principles but serving people of all races and faiths. Its mission is to enrich the lives of the 300,000 people who visit its three facilities each year. People come to the Y to attend performances of classical and popular music, jazz, American standards and modern dance; to hear renowned novelists, poets and playwrights read from their work; to listen to world leaders, public figures and experts in every field discuss timely issues; to explore the richness of Judaism with eminent scholars; and to see thought-provoking foreign and independent films. Adults and children enjoy classes in the arts, wellness and fitness, while parents, families, teenagers, older adults, and young people with special needs participate in programs that help them reach their full potential. Committed to sharing its programs with all New Yorkers regardless of economic circumstance, the 92nd Street Y provides over $1 million in annual financial assistance as well as outreach programs that bring the arts into the lives of 8,000 economically disadvantaged children.
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