Celebrity Series of Boston Blog

Berklee opens Cafe 939

Berklee's new cafe is underway. Here is some Globe coverage of it. No alchohol. Local talent, emerging Berklee types and some touring acts are said to be on the menu in the long run. Cafe 939 is about Tuesday's and Thursday's in the afternoon for now, but in April Cafe 939 will add nights to the mix.

On the face of it, this looks like a bid to attract the under 21 crowd (who need activities now that Landsdowne Street is no longer an option, though they could always come to, say Jordan Hall for music) and a shot at showcasing some of the fine young talents lurking behind Berklee's walls. Nice idea, Berklee.

Globe article on Cafe 939

Berklee Cafe 939 announcement page with booking info

Cafe 939 on Yelp

Cafe 939 Jazz Times article

Preservation Hall trumpeter John Brunious, 1940-2008

John Brunious

Trumpeter John Brunious, a fixture at the helm of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for 20 years, has died at age 67. His funeral will take place this Friday, February 22. He will be honored with a jazz funeral second line procession this Saturday, February 23 at 1pm.

The Celebrity Series presented Mr. Brunious and the Pres Hall band countless times over his tenure, always in Symphony Hall. I remember a touching moment when the band played a post-Katrina benefit to open our 2006-2007 season. The band played a beautiful show, complete with wacky old cartoons on a giant screen and a thrilling guest appearance by Ellis Marsalis. The band came to the Cajun dinner that followed. John Brunious sat for the entire dinner with his trumpet on the floor beside his chair, "I don't let it out of my sight," he said. The silver-plated Conn trumpet had been a gift from the Tipitina's Foundation several months earlier. Brunious had lost six trumpets to Katrina's floodwaters and had himself been rescued from a second story window.

My favorite quote from Mr. Brunious came from Ben Jaffe as quoted in the group's press release on Brunious's passing: ‘There’s another Louis Armstrong somewhere out there in New Orleans.  I’m going to find them and teach them all I got.’

Preservation Hall Jazz Band press release

New Orleans Times-Picayune obituary

Times-Picayune listing of funeral arrangements

San Francsico Chronicle obituary

Los Angeles Times

BestofNewOrleans.com obituary

Preservation Hall Jazz Band video footage of "Hindustan" featuring Brunious

John Brunious's wikipedia page

UPDATE: Photos of John Brunious' February 23 Jazz Funeral in New Orleans

Maria Schneider Orchestra reviewed on Visionsong blog

Here's a personal blog review of our Maria Schneider Orchestra concert on a blog called Visionsong. It didn't show up in any of my blog searches, I just stumbled across it exploring blogland.. Wonder what else I've been missing.

On a related note, Steve Schwartz of WGBH (host of Jazz From Studio 4) tells me that the pianist from Maria's band, Frank Kimbrough, will be back in Boston on January 22 for a live broadcast performance at 9:00 p.m. on WGBH 89.7 FM.

Maria Schneider Orchestra: the many links of Maria

Check out Maria Schneider and the Maria Schneider Orchestra playing Boleria, Solea y Rumba. The ensemble is almost identical to the one Boston will hear this Saturday night at the Berklee Performance Center - minus Luciana Souza on vocals (sorry, not this time).

And here is a clip of the Orchestra playing Journey Home from the same gig.

Jon Garelick's Boston Phoenix preview of the Maria Schneider Orchestra: Rare Birds

Francis Davis on Maria Schneider in The Village Voice: A Composer Ascendant

Maria Schneider interviewed on About.com

Maria Schneider official web site

Maria Schneider's internet radio

Maria Schneider's wikipedia page

Bill Falconer's review of Maria's new CD, Sky Blue, for Jazzreview.com

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey) on Maria, Sky Blue and the band's Jazz Alley performance in Seattle

Maria's 2006 interview with Jazzreview.com

Fred Kaplan's Stereophile blog review of Sky Blue

Marketplace (American Public Media) story on Maria and Concert in the Garden from 2006


The Maria Schneider Orchestra plays at Berklee Performance Center this Saturday evening, November 17 - click here for more info and to buy tickets

UPDATE: Maria is scheduled to be a guest on Eric Jackson's "Eric in the Evening" program on WGBH radio 89.7 FM tonight at 9:00 p.m.

FURTHER UPDATES:
Siddhartha Mitter's Boston Globe article on Maria, From a simple start, a sophisticated style.

Bob Young's Boston Herald article on Maria, 'Sky' is the limit for jazz composer.

Listen to Maria Schneider on WBUR's syndicated public radio program Here and Now.

A jazz dispute

Jazz legends Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie work out their differences on Leap Frog, apparently by inhabiting the body of an anonymous jazzophile. Chilling? Silly? You decide.

Thanks and happy birthday to Hans.

Do the Math on Max Roach

Check out this wonderful tribute/obit on jazz legend Max Roach (who died in mid-August) from Do The Math, The Bad Plus blog. It details Roach's style in in not-too-academic shorthand with links to musical examples.

I shouldn't need to provide a connection to the Celebrity Series to justify this post, but for those keeping score (probably just me), Ethan Iverson, of The Bad Plus, is Mark Morris' former music director. And, yes, he is "fabulous."

Loved songs from Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Pianist Dan Nimmer, bassist Carlos Henriquez and Wynton Marsalis during their encore number, viewed through the Symphony Hall backstage monitor

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis came to Symphony Hall last night for a program called The Songs We Love. Here are the set lists for the evening, featuring some very lovable songs:

First set
On the Sunny Side of the Street
April in Paris
I Left my Heart in San Francisco ("This may be impolitic since we're in Boston...")
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
A Night in Tunisia
Tea for Two
Stardust
Down by the Riverside

Second set
Autumn Leaves
All of Me
Blue Skies
Happy Birthday (for Laurie Temperley, wife of J@LCO baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley)
My Favorite Things
Rhapsody in Blue

Encore
Midnight Blues (alternate title: Wynton Tears It Up)

Backstage following a J@LC concert is always a bit chaotic, in a loose and friendly sort of way, and last night was no exception. The band packed amidst a throng of people, good naturedly carrying saxophones, drums, basses and all to the stage door, chatting all the while. Wynton held court in the usual way and I heard him say several times in a familiar, soft, high-pitched voice, "well, we're just tryin' to play, you know, we're just tryin' to play..."

"Tales from the 'Hood," Jon Garelick on Wynton Marsalis

Is that an aircraft hangar he's standing in or a REALLY big club?

Jon Garelick ruminates in today's Boston Phoenix on Wynton Marsalis, mostly covering his new CD, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary, but also the legacy of performers he has inspired, his politics, etc. He even manages to get in our Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton concert next Wednesday at Symphony Hall. All in all, a thorough outing from Jon. Here's a taste:

"From the beat of the first hand-slapped tambourine, you know who you’re listening to. For all the cries back in the bad old days about how conservative his music was, what was true then is true now: no one sounds like Wynton Marsalis, and he doesn’t sound like anyone else. Looking back at his "Live at Blues Alley" (Columbia, 1988), critic Ben Ratliff pointed out that the music was accessible rather than obscure — “Yet if a traveling musician from an earlier generation of jazz were plopped down in the middle of one of these burnout tunes and asked to hang in there, he’d be at sea."

Here's the rest of Tales from the 'hood.

Regina Carter: Taking jazz violin on a trip back in time

Jazz violinist and MacArthur "Genius" Grant winner Regina Carter

Regina Carter was featured in The Boston Globe this weekend in a piece by Siddhartha Mitter. Carter talks about "I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey," and related projects, the death of her mother, who inspired the recording, as well as her MacArthur "Genius" Grant. Carter proves again that as musically reliable as her playing is, she is is a multi-faceted musical and cultural explorer. What I'm trying to say is, the MacArthur folks were right to support her efforts, because she is smart, soulful and doesn't stand still. This line from the Globe article caught my attention, especially since my enduring image of her is that of her buring up the stage at Symphony Hall on Wynton Marsalis' "Blood on the Fields" tour:

"'I grew up watching the Lawrence Welk show,' Carter says by way of example. 'It's almost a nostalgic sound, with the clarinet and the accordion.'"

Read all of Taking Jazz Violin on a Trip Back In Time.

And, as if one remarkable musician wasn't enough, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater joins Ms. Carter's great band this Saturday (something not happening elsewhere on this tour, I might add).

Jazz Week

It's official, The Honorable Thomas M. Menino, mayor of our fair city, has proclaimed the week of April 21-29 to be Jazz Week in the City of Boston. The good people at JazzBoston (with whom I have some involvement, you should know) are behind Jazz Week. I don't think anything is posted, yet, but visit their web site as info will be available there as things develop.

The Celebrity Series, for this is the Celebrity Series blog, after all, are not presenting any specifically jazz-related performances during jazz week (we book very far in advance, don't you know), though you can hardly call Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater unrelated to jazz...

Speaking of our mayor, he will be in host mode for the opening event of Dance Across the City tomorrow night at The Strand Theatre.