Ella at Mr Kelly's

On this mournful day, on which legendary jazz keyboard player Joe Zawinul passed away, there is finally word from the Verve Music Group about the 2-disc set "Ella Fitzgerald at Mr Kelly's"!
It seems probable that it will be released on September 18, 2007, and the above is a preview of its cover! Pretty neat, don't you think... although I would've preferred something painting-like, such as the Ella-returns-to-Berlin-cover. The picture on this cover seems to be of around 1962 (she's wearing a wig), and this concert dates from 1958 (in which she looked better in my opinion, without the wig).
Just imagine that within two weeks we can finally listen to these great recordings of Ella in her prime... but in all this joy, let's not forget Joe Zawinul.

Ella at Mr Kelly's

Scheduled for release on June 6, 2007
- subject to change, and regrettably too late for some of us:

Ella Fitzgerald: Live at Mr Kelly's
Ella Fitzgerald (vc), Lou Levy (p), Max Bennett (b), Gus Johnson (d)
August 10, 1958

Disc 1
1. Your Red Wagon
2. Nice Work If You Can Get It
3. I'm Glad There Is You
4. How Long Has This Been Going On?
5. Across The Alley From The Alamo
6. Perdido
7. The Lady Is A Tramp
8. Bewitched
9. Summertime
10. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
11. St. Louis Blues
12. Witchcraft
13. Love Me Or Leave Me
14. Joe Williams' Blues
15. Porgy And Bess Medley: I Loves You Porgy / Porgy, I's Your Woman (Bess, You Is My Woman Now)
16. How High The Moon

Disc 2
1. Introductions
2. Exactly Like You
3. Come Rain Or Come Shine
4. Stardust
5. 'S Wonderful
6. You Don't Know What Love Is
7. Witchcraft
8. Perdido
9. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
10. My Funny Valentine
11. Anything Goes

This seems a 2CD-box, though it's advertised as a 1CD on most websites.
Even as a 2CD-set, some tracks of the actual concert have not made it to this upcoming release (Oop Bop Sha Bam, Too Close for Comfort et cetera), plus the track's order is different than expected, no doubt due to flaws in the master tapes, which have spent the past 50 years on a shelve.

And, it has happened before that on the day of the scheduled release, record company Verve withdrew from its promise and did not release anything at all. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Nancy Wilson's 70th birthday party at NYC jazz festival

"This year, you can count on two weeks of outstanding music featuring some of the best of traditional, straight-ahead, contemporary, Big Band, Second Line, R&B, Latin, world music and more"

A belated swinging 70th birthday party with an all-star guest list is planned for pop-jazz songstress Nancy Wilson at this year's JVC Jazz Festival.

Wilson, who turned 70 on Feb. 20, won her third Grammy earlier this year in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for 'Turned to Blue,' an album drawing on her experiences in a five-decade career as an entertainer.

At the June 29 Carnegie Hall concert, Wilson and her trio will be joined by special guests, including jazz vocalists Nnenna Freelon, Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling; pianists Herbie Hancock and Ramsey Lewis; and violinist Regina Carter. Read more

Gladys Knight To Receive ELLA Award

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 17, 2007

---

(AP)

(AP) Gladys Knight will receive the 16th annual ELLA Award from the Society of Singers. The honor, named after its first recipient, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald, salutes entertainers for their musical successes and dedication to charitable and humanitarian causes.

"It is a truly awesome feeling to be receiving this honor. Ella was the sweetest and most beautiful person as a talent and as a human being," Knight said Tuesday.

Knight will receive the award Sept. 10. Past winners include Elton John, Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion.

"Gladys Knight has one of the greatest and most distinctive voices of our time," said Jerry F. Sharell, the Society of Singers' president and chief executive officer. (The Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization offers services to meet the emergency financial needs of professional singers worldwide.)

Knight, 62, has won seven Grammys in her career, with hits including "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)."

Dianne Reeves at the Gem: Celebrating Her 'Good Luck'

"I did one concert with Rosemary and a lot of other singers many, many years ago"

Dianne Reeves was already an established top-of-the-line jazz singer when another breakthrough came in 2005.

Her appearance in the film 'Good Night, and Good Luck' provided a career boost that's 'been pretty amazing,' she says. 'It just gave me a broader audience.

'A lot of people who were fans of George Clooney saw me in the film and started coming to my concerts' -- like the one she'll give Saturday at the Gem Theater, rounding out the Jammin' at the Gem season.

Reeves has been one of the strongest singers in jazz for quite a few years. Her music-making is driven by taste, intelligence and imagination. And she's strong enough to be more respectful of the words and melodies of songs than most of the others working today. Read more

3/21/07 - NY Daily News - Hank Jones & Abbey Lincoln (Both Hospitalized)

Dr. Sandhya Balaram (standing far l.) and Dr. Daniel Swistel, both heart surgeons at St. Luke's Hospital, join their recovering patients Abbey Lincoln Moseka and Hank Jones.

 

3/21/07 - NY Daily News - Hank Jones & Abbey Lincoln (Both Hospitalized)

Subject: Hank Jones & Abbey Lincoln  Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:29:07 -0700 Finding harmony together The unexpected reunion of two New York jazz legends BY JULIAN KESNER / Daily News Posted Monday, March 19th 2007, 12:26 AM Dr. Sandhya Balaram (standing far l.) and Dr. Daniel Swistel, both heart surgeons at St. Luke's Hospital, join their recovering patients Abbey Lincoln Moseka and Hank Jones. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The jazz pianist and jazz singer sat side by side talking softly and exchanging memories. It had been 10 years since they last saw each other, and 15 since they recorded a full-length album together. Occasionally, the singer would break into song, and the pianist would pick up the tune and sing along. But there was no piano present, nor a recording studio. The only background music was the beeping of a heart monitor machine, and air moving through an artificial respirator down the hall. Their managers and producers were nowhere to be seen - only doctors and nurses, who from afar kept an eye on the pair and the reporter sitting beside them. It was an unlikely reunion in the most unlikely of places for Hank Jones and Abbey Lincoln Moseka, two jazz legends whose paths crossed again last Tuesday at St. Luke's Hospital. Jones, 88, has been playing the piano for over 60 years. He recorded with Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald, among others, and played for "The Ed Sullivan Show" for many years. The 77-year-old Lincoln Moseka grew up in Chicago as Anna Marie Wooldridge (a former manager gave her the stage name Abbey Lincoln). She came to New York in her 20s and sang at the Village Vanguard, later marrying jazz and bebop composer Max Roach (they divorced in the 1960s) and starring in several films. Producer Jean-Philippe Allard jump-started Lincoln Moseka's career in the early 1990s, culminating with the 1992 album "When There Is Love" - recorded with none other than jazz pianist Hank Jones over three or four days. The duo have also performed on tracks for other albums. Jones came to New York City in February after a few months in Japan, where he performed "a few concerts in Kobe" and spent time relaxing. Two weeks after arriving here, the problems began. "It felt like indigestion," he recalled last Tuesday, seated in Lincoln Moseka's hospital room at St. Luke's, wrapped in a thick bathrobe. "I didn't feel any pain." In reality, Jones had suffered a massive heart attack. St. Luke's cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Sandhya Balaram performed bypass surgery on Jones on Feb. 28, and he's recovering well. "He said the only thing wrong with his room was there was no piano," said Balaram. Lincoln Moseka was rushed to St. Luke's on March 3, not breathing and suffering heart failure and pulmonary edema (during which the lungs fill with fluid). St. Luke's cardiothoracic surgery chief, Dr. Daniel Swistel performed aortic valve replacement and bypass surgery and Lincoln Moseka has been in the ICU since. "Her recuperation will be a bit slower. She's got more to recover," said Swistel. Jones and Lincoln Moseka had no idea they were in the same hospital at the same time, but while Googling their respective album histories, Balaram and Swistel realized their patients' connection and arranged for the reunion. Jones is expected to be at St. Luke's a couple more weeks, continuing physical therapy after being discharged. Lincoln Moseka's recovery is more unsure; she may still be in the hospital when her new album, "Abbey Sings Abbey," is released later this year. Regardless, within minutes of seeing each other again, Jones, Lincoln Moseka and their healing hearts seemed to relax. "Old friends should never get separated. A lot of years have gone by," said Jones, adding to Lincoln Moseka, "We should record together!" "He always makes me feel special,"said Lincoln  Moseka, visibly weak but  smiling nonetheless. "It's wonderful to see him."

Jazz Vocalist Dakota Staton, 76, Dies

by Nate Guidry
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 12, 2007

Dakota Staton, an iconic Pittsburgh jazz vocalist who achieved international fame, died Tuesday at Isabella Geriatric Center in New York after a lengthy illness. Ms. Staton was 76.

Sharynn Harper, a spokesperson for Ms. Staton's brother, Fred Staton, said Ms. Staton had been in declining health after suffering a triple aneurysm several years ago.

Ms. Staton's last major performance in Pittsburgh was in 1996 when she performed at the Hill House Auditorium as part of the Mellon Jazz Festival.

Born and raised in Homewood, Ms. Staton attended Westinghouse High School and was a member of the famed Kadets, a swing band that played music ranging from "String of Pearls" to Coleman Hawkins' "Body and Soul."

After cutting her teeth working with the Joe Westry Orchestra at several of the bigger nightclubs in the Hill District, Ms. Staton moved to Detroit in search of other musical opportunities.

In 1954, Ms. Staton recorded a single for Capitol Records and began a series of highly visible concerts on the East Coast. Two years later, she was named "the most promising jazz vocalist of the year" by the critics at Downbeat Magazine. When her first album, "Late Late Show," appeared the following year, it was hailed a classic.

In the mid 1960s, Ms. Staton moved to England.

"From England I ventured all around the world," Ms. Staton told the Post-Gazette in a 1996 interview. "Most of the venues I played there were for international audiences that spoke and understood English, like the Intercontinental hotel chains and other places I worked. Many of those people had never heard the blues, and I was an oasis for them. I imagine some of them have never heard it since."

Dave Brubeck in Durham, CT

May 19, 2007 at Coginchaug Regional High School, Durham, CT, jazz legend Dave Brubeck celebrates the birth of a new children's charity - Jazz'd 4 Life, with hosts Dr. Mel from News Channel 8 and actor, author, producer, Chris Lemmon. Jazz'd4Life reaches children from our backyards in Connecticut's inner cities to our most impoverished neighbors around the world. This concert's proceeds supports Connecticut's AmeriCares, New Haven and Middlefield's Camp Farnam, as well as the B.E.M. School in Les Cayes, Haiti. Event festivities kick off Saturday evening with the Jazz'd4 Life Inaugural Fund-raising Concert with Mr. Dave Brubeck Following the concert, will be a VIP Reception including full dinner, drinks and a celebrity jam at the picturesque Lyman Homestead. This will be an evening of great food, fun and music in an intimate setting, with the performers and other special guests.

Dave Brubeck in Durham, CT

May 19, 2007 at Coginchaug Regional High School, Durham, CT, jazz legend Dave Brubeck celebrates the birth of a new children's charity - Jazz'd 4 Life, with hosts Dr. Mel from News Channel 8 and actor, author, producer, Chris Lemmon. Jazz'd4Life reaches children from our backyards in Connecticut's inner cities to our most impoverished neighbors around the world. This concert's proceeds supports Connecticut's AmeriCares, New Haven and Middlefield's Camp Farnam, as well as the B.E.M. School in Les Cayes, Haiti.

Event festivities kick off Saturday evening with the Jazz'd4 Life Inaugural Fund-raising Concert with Mr. Dave Brubeck Following the concert, will be a VIP Reception including full dinner, drinks and a celebrity jam at the picturesque Lyman Homestead. This will be an evening of great food, fun and music in an intimate setting, with the performers and other special guests.

Annie Ross at the Metropolitan Room Tuesday, March 20th at 7:00 PM

Jazz legend Annie Ross continues her run of Tuesday's at the
Metropolitan Room
At Gotham
New York's newest and best music room
34 West 22nd St. (between 5th & 6th Ave.)
New York City
Reservations (212)206-0440
http://www.metropolitanroom.com/



March 20th @ 7:00 PM
Continuing Every Tuesday in March and April

Tardo Hammer – Piano

• Neal Miner – Bass

• Jimmy Wormworth – Drums

• Warren Vaché - Trumpet (when in town)
  

Read the Recent features about Annie Ross

The Voice of Experience, but a Frisky Approach By STEPHEN HOLDEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/arts/music/16ross.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

by Zan Stewart in the Newark Star Ledger

At 73, Annie Ross is still going strong
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1170309407216780.xml&coll=1

And Will Friedwald
Life Is a Song for Annie Ross
http://www.nysun.com/article/49397


www.annieross.net


For Interviews, Photos and CDs Contact:
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net

The Very Best of the Rodgers and Hart Song Book

 

Track Listings

1. Lover

2. My Funny Valentine

3. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

4. It Never Entered My Mind

5. Ten Cents A Dance

6. Lady Is A Tramp

7. Manhattan

8. Little Girl Blue

9. I Could Write A Book

10. Where Or When

11. This Can't Be Love

12. Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered

forgot these

Ella recording Rhythm is My Business

 
 
 
 

Back covers of the original 5LP of the Gershwin Songbook

 
 
 
 

Ella and Nelson Riddle recording the Gershwin Songbook

 

Ella, recording "Rhythm is My Business"

 
 
 

Lafayette Harris Upcoming Appearance with Ernestine Anderson at Dizzy's Wed-Sun, Mar 28-Apr 1

 

Pianist Lafayette Harris is pleased to announce his appearance with vocal legend Ernestine Anderson
Wed-Sun, Mar 28-Apr 1

"Sing Into Spring Festival"
Ernestine Anderson & Houston Person
 
Featuring Ernestine Anderson, vocals; Houston Person, tenor saxophone;
Lafayette Harris, piano; Chip Jackson, bass; Willie Jones III, drums.
at
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Jazz at Lincoln Center Broadway at 60th Street
5th Floor
Reservations
Call: 212 258-9595
http://www.jalc.org/

Lafayette is featured on Ernestine  CD LOVE MAKES THE CHANGES on High Note.

Lafayette Harris Can Also Be Heard On His Latest CD


In The Middle Of The Night
AR 008
Street date May 1, 2007

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT is Lafayette's first funk and Contemporary jazz disc.
 
A Baltimore native, LAFAYETTE HARRIS, JR. has performed with reedmen Donald Harrison, Chico Freeman, Hamiet Bluiett, vocalists Ernestine Anderson, Anita O'day, drummers Cindy Blackman and the master Max Roach.
 
The period with the legendary drummer prompted him to describe Harris as "a phenomenal new voice on the music scene."
 
The publicity for this will be handled by: Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
269 S Route 94 Warwick, NY 10990
T: 845-986-1677 / F: 845-986-1699
E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net
Web Site: www.jazzpromoservices.com/
 
Neal Sapper will do the radio promotion

New World 'N Jazz Marketing, Promotion and Consulting
ph: 415 453-1558
fx: 415 453-1727
e-mail: newworldjz@aol.com
web: www.newworldnjazz.com

Artist Website: http://lafayetteharrisjr.com/
& http://myspace.com/lafayetteharrisjr For press photos (including CD cover scan) and Lafayette Harris bio:
http://lafayetteharrisjr.com/press
Distribution will be done by North Country. Cadence Building,
Redwood, New York, 13679. USA: Ph: 315-287-2852 // Fax: 315-287-2860

     

jazz scoops

Last weekend, Dave Brubeck recorded a new solo piano album, which will probably be entitled "songs out of our time". Despite of suffering during the recording session from a sprained ankle, Brubeck considers the album 'his best solo recording so far.'

On March 9, Hank Jones has cancelled his March 10 performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts "due to illness".
Let's hope he'll soon be appearing in public again.

Annie Ross at the Metropolitan Room Tuesday, March 6th at 7:00 PM

Jazz legend Annie Ross continues her run of Tuesday's at the
Metropolitan Room
At Gotham
New York's newest and best music room
34 West 22nd St. (between 5th & 6th Ave.)
New York City
Reservations (212)206-0440
http://www.metropolitanroom.com/



Dates and times:

March 6 @ 7:00 PM
Continuing Every Tuesday in March and April

Tardo Hammer – Piano

• Neal Miner – Bass

• Jimmy Wormworth – Drums

• Warren Vaché - Trumpet (when in town)
  

Read the Recent features about Annie Ross
by Zan Stewart in the Newark Star Ledger

At 73, Annie Ross is still going strong
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1170309407216780.xml&coll=1

And Will Friedwald
Life Is a Song for Annie Ross
http://www.nysun.com/article/49397

www.annieross.net


For Interviews, Photos and CDs Contact:
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net

Claire has Ella sewn up in style

By John Watson

Tribute To Ella Fitzgerald,

Symphony Hall

The magic of legendary jazz diva Ella Fitzgerald was recreated by one
of Britain's most accomplished singers, Claire Martin, with
spectacular orchestral accompaniment from the City of Birmigham
Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) under conductor John Wilson.

Claire was in magnificent voice for such Ella classics as Manhattan,
The Lady Is A Tramp and Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye.

Highlights included a strongly swinging Cheek To Cheek, a sublime
ballad version of But Not For Me, and an emotionally charged How
About Me?

At times Claire seemed to lack confidence with the lyrics, glancing
anxiously at her music stand, but this was a huge amount of
repertoire to learn for a one-off performance.

Orchestral soloists deserve special credit, particularly alto
saxophonist Howard McGill for soulful work on This Time The Dream's
On Me, and trombonist Andrew Wood on Too Late Now. Guitarist Martin
Kershaw, a studio session veteran who once worked with Ella, swung
with ease.

Conductor Wilson writes superb transcriptions of Nelson Riddle's
arrangements. Few conductors can get such large orchestral forces to
swing, but Wilson succeeds admirably.

 

Very Best Of The Song Books: Golden Anniversary Edition (2 CD)

 

In 1956, Ella Fitzgerald's career reached a new height with the release of Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book; the first of eight Song Books produced by Verve founder Norman Granz. Because of the Song Book series, on which she interpreted the finest songs by America's master songwriters, Ella Fitzgerald became known as The First Lady of Song. This two-disc set features the very best of the Ella Fitzgerald Song Books in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of their launch.

Disc 1
	1.	Night And Day
	2.	I Get A Kick Out Of You
	3.	Begin The Beguine
	4.	Love For Sale
	5.	My Funny Valentine
	6.	The Lady Is A Tramp
	7.	Where Or When
	8.	Take The "A" Train
	9.	I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
	10.	It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
	11.	Cheek To Cheek
Disc 2
	1.	Blue Skies
	2.	'S Wonderful
	3.	Embraceable You
	4.	I Got Rhythm
	5.	The Man I Love
	6.	Blues In The Night
	7.	Over The Rainbow
	8.	That Old Black Magic
	9.	All The Things You Are
	10.	Skylark
	11.	Too Marvelous For Words

 

Compilation
Selected and Sequenced by Richard Seilel
Supervised by Bryan Koniarz
Mastered by Bob Irwin and Jayme Pieruzzi at Sundazed Studios, Coxsackie, New York
Art Directed by Hollis King
Designed by Isabelle Wong/isthetic
Illustrations by Jim Salvati
Art Production by Olivia Smith
Project Assistance: Sarah Huo