Staff
Jane Doernberg - Office Manager
Susan Leavis - Marketing
Carline Ash* - Special Projects
Brad LoRicco - Media Support
Carol LoRicco - Photography
Ed Linehan
Vice
Prince
Secretary
Robert
Peter
Louise
Tomas
David
Carlos
Michael
Dear Jazz Club Members and Friends,
In the last edition of Sarasota Jazz Sounds we had not yet announced the lineup for the 2023 Jazz Festival. It was difficult not to leak what we knew then, but it’s all public now. We couldn’t be happier than to have the likes of Paquito D’Rivera, Kurt Elling, Marcus Miller and Lizz Wright headlining our four Main Stage concerts. We not only have these exciting individual stars, but each is coming with their band. This is an added performance value that frankly elevates this year’s festival a notch or two above past productions.
I’m sorry, but did you think we were done bragging about the lineup. We also have perennial favorites Dick Hyman and Houston Person, the ever-popular Brazilian guitar phenom Diego Figueiredo, as well as first time festival performers Tony Monaco on his Hammond B3, Charlie Hunter’s guitar, young blood pianist Christian Sands, and Tampa Bay’s own Allen Carman Project, featuring percussionist Gumbi Ortiz.
First year Music Director Terell Stafford has clearly made quite a musical statement assembling this stellar group of jazz virtuosity for our enjoyment. I encourage you to visit the festival website for lots of information about each performer and the entire schedule of festival concerts and activities: https://www.sarasotajazzfestival.com
We are also very pleased to have a new partnership with Sarasota’s Circus Arts Conservatory. Founder, President and CEO Pedro Reis and his staff are co-producing the four Main Stage events with the Jazz Club. These events will be indoors, as many of you requested, in the beautiful, comfortable Ulla Searing Big Top at Nathan Benderson Park. We also promise a world-class sound and lighting system for these events.
During the Jazz Club’s forty-three years it has always had many positive working relationships with a long list of venues and vendors; and it has enjoyed a few deeper partnerships. But over the last sixteen months there has been a burst of collaborative energy resulting in many new initiatives. As mentioned earlier, The Jazz Festival partnered first with Nathan Benderson Park and now the Circus Arts Conservatory. We are in our second year of producing the monthly series of Jazz Thursdays at SAM with the Sarasota Art Museum, and in supporting occasional concerts by a new organization/group we call the Sarasota Jazz Masters. We are also very proud to support SRQ Jazz Jam, a group of both professional and non-professional musicians that meet twice a month at the Selby Library to, as the name suggests, JAM! Lately they have also had an audience enjoying their efforts. Very cool!
The partnership I find with the most under explored potential is the symbiotic relationship the Jazz Club has with Metropics Radio, Sarasota’s own 24/7 streaming jazz radio station. Metropics Radio is the culmination of decades of artfully curated playlists compiled by ProducerDirector (and Jazz Club Board member) Carlos Pagán. “Jazz for an Interwoven Planet Modern & Vintage Jazz - Soulful World Music,” as the website states. (https://metropicsradio.org/) The club and the station share the same mission: to promote Jazz, America’s original art form. I am excited to see how this partnership evolves in the years to come. In the meantime, we are so fortunate to be able to enjoy the fruits of Carlos’s efforts each and every day.
So many of you have taken the time to write or stop and share your appreciation of my efforts as president. Your kindness is deeply appreciated. We are blessed to have a Board with many very strong leaders. I expect that a new “president elect” will be identified this winter or spring and that I will work with that person in transition until the formal end of my term in August. As for me, I look forward to continuing as a Board member and working on a project or two. Warmest regards to a wonderful group of people - the Sarasota Jazz Community,
Very truly yours,
Ed
Linehan, President
• Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight
• Nominated for a GRAMMY award fifteen times and twotime GRAMMY winner.
• New York Times proclaimed Elling, “the standout male vocalist of our time”.
• Won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards and two Dutch Edison Awards.
• 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls.
• Won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for “Male Vocalist of the Year”.
GRAMMY Awards:
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Secrets Are The Best Stories, featuring Danilo Pérez
SARASOTA JAZZ Sounds
Over a twenty-five year career of touring and recording, Elling has won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards, and has been nominated for a GRAMMY award fifteen times. He has had a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, and has won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for “Male Vocalist of the Year”.
Kurt Elling’s voice is instantly recognizable, embracing listeners with his warm, rich baritone and navigating the full span of his four-octave range as a virtuoso improviser and a compelling storyteller. The Guardian (UK) has named Kurt Elling, “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers,” and,“one of jazz’s all-time great vocalists.”
Elling has recorded and toured with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, James Morrison, and Charlie Hunter. He has performed extensively with larger ensembles like The Clayton/ Hamilton Orchestra, The National Youth Orchestra (led by Sean Jones), The Bob Mintzer Big Band, The BBC Concert Symphony (led by Guy Barker) The Metropole Orchestra (Holland), The Irish Radio and Television Orchestra (led by Brian Byrne),The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and The WDR Orchestra and Big Band (Germany).
The Wall Street Journal said, “Elling combines authenticity with stunning originality.” The Washington Post declared that, “since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring,dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling.”
Elling’s dynamism is enhanced exponentially by the fact that he consistently generates new vocal material by writing and recording signature and definitive lyrics to the compositions of foundational jazz composers like John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul. Additionally, Kurt Elling has co-created multi-disciplinary performances for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and The City of Chicago. Jazz At Lincoln Center saw the world premier of The Big Blind, an entirely new jazz musical-inprogress that Elling is co-writing with collaborator Phil Galdston (“Save The Best For Last”). National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky declared that, “In Kurt Elling’s art, the voice of jazz gives new spiritual presence to the ancient, sweet and powerful bond between poetry and music.”
Elling has toured the world in a variety of contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored “International Jazz Day” performances in Havana, Cuba, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Melbourne, Australia and in Washington DC. He has twice performed at the White House, including a performance in collaboration with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He has served as Artist-In-Residence at the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals. As a music industry leader, Elling spent six years serving as a Trustee and two years as Vice Chairman of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In 2021 Kurt Elling released “SuperBlue” (Edition Records), a head-turning torrent of roisterous funk, indelible beats and all-too-current lyrics that boasts the talents of producer-guitarist Charlie Hunter and two stars of the hip-hop generation: drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison (both of the genre-hopping band Butcher Brown).
Barbara Jordan Quartet
Five Points Quintet
Mark & Anne Burnell
Melanie Massell Band
Ross Trio
Synia Carroll Quintet The Barker Project
By ABC7 Staff
Published: Dec. 28, 2022 at 4:41 PM EST
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The Jazz Club of Sarasota has a mission to keep the music playing by providing scholarships to local music students.
Booker High School alum Colin Leonard and his saxophone are living proof of this. His tenor saxophone, is an 80-year-old vintage instrument the he lovingly calls “Susan.” Colin and Susan make sweet music together and that story began right here in the Suncoast. If asked about his favorite style, Colin won’t hesitate to answer.
“I really like jazz because it allows the musicians for improvisation, which is to make up music on the spot. I really like creative platforms and this just makes music even more creative, because we’re composing and making music on the spot,” said Colin.
Colin is currently a sophomore at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio, one of the country’s most prestigious schools to study jazz.
The Jazz Club of Sarasota has helped students like Colin by providing over *$30,000 in scholarships to Florida students who hope to pursue music education and performance.
* The Jazz Club of Sarasota provides $20,000 to $30,000 per year in scholarships. Over the years, the Jazz Club has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to aspiring young musicians.
By Ken Franckling
‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists have a lot of variation depending on the individual reviewer's personal tastes, as well as what they listened to during the year. Bottom line, all are extremely subjective.
My favorite choices below (aside from the favorite new songs of the year) are being submitted to the Jazz Journalists Association and the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll 2022 compilations. The latter is the 17th annual Francis Davis-founded and Tom Hullproduced poll, which has been published by the Boston-based online arts journal The Arts Fuse since 2021. It previously was published by The Village Voice, Rhapsody.com and NPR Music.
As I begin preparing my review of significant events and trends in jazz in 2022 for All About Jazz, I thought I'd share my 2022 favorites lists.
Favorite new jazz releases of 2022
Dave Wilson Quartet, Stretching Supreme (self-released)
Lynne Arriale, The Lights Are Always On (Challenge)
Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Leo Genovese, esparanza spalding, Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival (Candid)
Jo Harrop, The Heart Wants (Lateralize)
Javon Jackson, The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson)
Samara Joy, Linger Awhile (Verve)
Steven Feifke and Bijon Watson present Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra (Cellar)
Sam Kirmayer, In This Moment (Cellar Music)
Ricky Ford, Paul's Scene (Whaling City)
Chris Cortez, Live at Blue Bamboo (Blue Bamboo)
Favorite 2022 vocal recordings
Jo Harrop, The Heart Wants (Lateralize)
Samara Joy, Linger Awhile (Verve)
Tierney Sutton, Paris Sessions 2 (BFM Jazz)
Mark Winkler, Late Bloomin' Jazzman (Café Pacific)
Carol Sloane, Live at Birdland (Club 44)
San Gabriel 7 featuring Sinne Eeg, Under the Stars (JRL-SGS)
Catherine Russell, Send For Me (Dot Time)
Kim Nalley Band, I Want a Little Boy (self-released)
Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola, Live in Marciac (5Passion)
Xiomara Torres, La Voz Del Mar (Patois)
Favorite historical/reissues of 2022 (includes any recordings made over 10 years ago, whether newly released or reissued)
Bill Evans, Morning Glory (Resonance)
Ahmad Jamal, Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse1965-1966 (Jazz Detective)
Dave Brubeck Trio, Live From Vienna 1967 (Derry Music)
Charles Mingus, Mingus: The Los Album From Ronnie Scott's (Resonance)
Ella Fitzgerald, Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook (Verve)
Elvin Jones, Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub (Blue Note)
Chet Baker Trio, Live in Paris (Elemental)
Clark Terry, Big Bad Band, Live in Holland 1979 (Storyville)
Frank Kimbrough, 2003-2006 (Palmetto)
Peck Allmond Quartet, Live at Yoshi's 1994 (Eastlawn)
Timothy Norton, Visions of Phaedrus (Truth Revolution Recording Collective)
Oscar Hernández & Alma Libre, Visión (Ovation)
Miguel Zenón, Música de las Américas (Miel)
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Aymée Nuviola, Live in Marciac (5Passion)
Xiomara Torres, La Voz Del Mar (Patois)
Juan Carlos Quintero, Table for Five (Moondo)
Favorite new compositions from CDs released in 2022, listed alphabetically by composers:
Lynne Arriale, ”Sounds Like America” from The Lights Are Always On (Challenge)
Bob Bowman, “Yae San”” from Josh Nelson/Bob Bowman Collective, Tomorrow is Not Promised (Steel Bird)
Yelena Eckemoff, “Like Rain Upon the Mown Grass” from I Am a Stranger in This World (L&H)
Yosef Gutman and Gilad Ronen, “Joshua” from Yosef Gutman, Upside Down Mountain (independent)
Jo Harrop, Natalie Williams, James McCredie, Hannah Vasanth, “Weather the Storm” from Jo Harrop, The Heart Wants (Lateralize)
Timothy Norton, “King's Inn” from Visions of Phaedrus (Truth Revolution Recording Collective)
Rick Roe, “Agent 88” from Roe Bickley Kramer, Lucid Dream (RNR Unknown)
Jamieson Trotter and Mark Winkler, “Old Enough” from Mark Winkler, Late Bloomin' Jazzman (Café Pacific)
Walt Weiskopf, “Other Jewels” from Walt Weiskopf European Quartet, Diamonds and Other Jewels (AMM)
Miguel Zenón, “Imperios” from Música de las Américas (Miel)
JANUARY 29,2023
The annual High School Jazz Band Festival/Competition will take place on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at Riverview High School Performing Arts Center, beginning at 12:00 noon. Jazz Bands from at least six area high schools are planning to participate, including Venice, Braden River, Lakewood Ranch, Parrish Community, Booker and Riverview. The event is free and open to the public. We encourage all Jazz Club members to attend to see and hear first hand how jazz music is taught and performed by the youth in our community.
Each band will perform three selections of their choice, followed by critique and comments from a distinguished panel of three judges. The judges include Greg Nielsen, retired music director at Booker Middle School and highlyregarded jazz musician, and David Pruyn, life-long jazz
trumpeter, drummer and singer. When all bands have performed, the judges will select the top three, based on performance, musicality and interpretation.
First place receives a donation from the Jazz Club of $3,000. Second and third receive $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. All other participating bands will receive a $200 honorarium from the Club.
Come anytime between noon and 4:00 pm. Riverview High School and Performing Arts Center is located at 1 Ram Way (Lords Ave) on Proctor Road,Sarasota. You will be rewarded with some amazing performances!
Ken Franckling is a veteran arts writer and freelance photographer specializing in music photography. These articles and photos are from his blog. For more articles visit http://kenfrancklingjazznotes. blogspot.com/.