This Week at the Jazz Museum Nov 27-30

Jazz Museum Events, November 27-30, 2007

New Orleans's Hot 8 conduct a NJMIH Educational Initiative at Urban Assembly School
November 27, 2007, 1pm
Jazz Film Rarities with Dick Katz
November 27, 2007, 7pm
Johnny Garry November 29, 2007, 6:30pm

Miles Davis, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington headlined the jazz film events presented by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem earlier this month at Jazz for Curious Listeners. On Tuesday of this week, Jazz Film Month concludes with a wallop: a rare look at jazz giants (including Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young) engaged in serious play, with pianist and elder statesman Dick Katz as host.

Johnny Garry carries an insider's insider view of jazz, from behind-the-scenes, yet always in the pocket, whether it's his work with Jazzmobile, Joe Williams, Nancy Williams or Sarah Vaughan. Find out what's up back stage and more, this Thursday, at Harlem Speaks.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem continues its expanding educational programming for students with New Orleans Brass Bands: From Second-lines to Frontlines, featuring The Hot 8 Brass Band in workshop and discussion with Harlem high school students, hosted by Larry Blumenfeld and presented by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem in collaboration with the Finding Our Folk Tour.

And on Monday, December 3rd witness and take part in the launch of our Jazz for Curious Readers series, another free public program by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Prolific Harlem-based author and frequent Downbeat contributor Herb Boyd will get the series off to a swingin' start, as we approach the close of a most productive year for the museum. More details below.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

HARLEM SPEAKS EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE
1:00 pm | At the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts
509 West 129th Street
New Orleans Brass Bands: From Second-lines to Frontlines

The Hot 8 Brass Band in workshop and discussion with Harlem high-school students, hosted by Larry Blumenfeld and presented by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem in collaboration with the Finding Our Folk Tour.

On Tuesday, November 27th from 1pm-3pm, the Hot 8 spends time with the students of the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts in Harlem as part of the ongoing cultural and educational programming of The National Jazz Museum of Harlem. They'll perform both traditional and original repertoire for students, explain the fundamentals of New Orleans brass-band styles, and talk about the realities of post-Katrina life and art.

For the past dozen years, the Hot 8 Brass Band of New Orleans has been a standard- bearer of a centuries-old musical tradition as well as an innovator within that tradition, updating this jazz legacy with elements of R&B, funk and hip-hop. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed the levee failures, the band's members have emerged as cultural and spiritual leaders in their local community and as important spokesmen on New Orleans for a wider audience. At traditional second-line parades, hosted each Sunday afternoon by Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, brass bands such as the Hot 8 play and supporters follow along, dancing and clapping out rhythms. These events have always been powerful expressions of community; since Katrina, they express an even deeper message - of community, solidarity, and social purpose.

The afternoon will be hosted by veteran journalist Larry Blumenfeld, who has written extensively about cultural crisis and recovery in New Orleans for publications including The Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, Salon.com, and Jazziz; he'll share his experiences covering these issues - the challenges facing musicians, and the ways in which culture is central to the city's dynamic political and social change, drawn from a book-in-progress on the subject. And he'll lead a discussion with Hot 8 Brass band members about the role of brass-band musicians in post-Katrina recovery, the ways in which they have worked with civic leaders and students, and the importance of the tradition they carry.

The Hot 8 Brass Band has epitomized New Orleans street music for over a decade. Founded by tuba player Bennie Pete, trombonist Jerome Jones, and bass drummer Harry Cook in 1995, the band plays the traditional second-line parades, infusing their performances with the funk and energy that makes New Orleans music loved around the world. The members of the Hot 8 were born and raised in New Orleans; many began playing together in high school. The Band performs annually at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, world and jazz festivals across the US and Europe, and were featured in the Spike Lee documentary When the Levees Broke.

The Hot 8 has been part of an important relief project following Hurricane Katrina - SAVE OUR BRASS!, a local grass-roots project that has brought music and instruments to shelters, temporary trailer parks, and communities across the Gulf Coast. Working with the “Young People's Project", the Hot 8 toured the program Finding Our Folk working with young people to harness their historical and cultural traditions and to promote individual and community strength, development and self-determination.

The Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts (UASPA) aims to sustain a challenging college preparatory curriculum, infusing the performing arts into all aspects of the academic experience. By using the arts as a teaching tool and providing students with the means to express themselves, UASPA breathes life and creativity into all subjects and build confidence throughout the school community. Unlike many performing arts schools, UASPA does not audition its students; the students need only to exhibit a sincere interest in the arts. UASPA is committed to bringing a quality education, resources and opportunities to underserved areas and students.

During the Finding Our Folk tour, high school and college students, supported by community elders and grassroots organizations, toured America and visited cities where Hurricane Katrina survivors were displaced. The tour partnered with local and national community-based organizations and learning institutions, to identify evacuees and the cities where they were, to develop curriculum and provide training for high school and college students to facilitate workshops and support the overall documentation of the tour. The Finding Our Folk Tour hit the road in 2007 with the Hot 8 Brass Band and continues its work in New Orleans with both the Hot 8 and Black Men of Labor, combining performances, workshops, exhibits, master classes and presentations.

Larry Blumenfeld is a Katrina Media Fellow with the Open Society Institute and editor-at- large of Jazziz magazine. This workshop and performance was also made possible through the institute's generous support.

The Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts is located at 509 West 129th Street in Manhattan, tel. 212-234-4631. This is a private event for students; for press and other inquiries please contact Wilhelmina Grant at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem: [email protected], or 212-348-8300

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

JAZZ for CURIOUS LISTENERS
7:00 pm | At the Harlem School of the Arts
Free
November is Jazz Film Month!
Tonight's feature: Rarities

Please join us Tuesday evening at the Harlem School of the Arts, 7 p.m., for the final installment of our JAZZ ON FILM evenings, where the highlight will be the showing of films you may never have seen before. Our guest host will be pianist Dick Katz, who has played with Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, Roy Eldridge, Philly Jo Jones, Milt Hinton, Benny Carter and many many more over the course of his 55 year career.

The focus will be on drummers, ranging from Jo Jones, Sid Catlett and Panama Francis to Kenny Clarke, Frankie Dunlop, Buddy Rich and many others, and of course, the films will also include the bands they are accompanying, which comprise Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, just to name a few. Thursday, November 29, 2007

Harlem Speaks
Jazzmobile Legend Johnny Garry
6:30 pm | at the Harlem School of the Arts
call 212-348-8300 to RSVP
FREE
If you've ever attended any of Jazzmobile's annual free summer concerts around New York City, you've likely seen Johnnie Garry, who serves as the Production Director. Yet few realize that he has been behind the scenes for decades as a road and stage manager for some of the most famous artists and concert series of jazz.

For example, from 1945-1960 Garry served as personal road manager for the “Divine One," Sarah Vaughan, one of the greatest singers in the jazz pantheon. For several decades he was also the stage manager for all New York City performances of vocalists Joe Williams and Nancy Wilson. In addition, he worked as road and stage manager of the Phillip Morris Superband concert tour series led by Gene Harris.

After working with “Sassy" Sarah Vaughan, Garry managed the Birdland and Club Sahara jazz venues until 1977, the year that he joined Jazzmobile. In addition serving as the Production Director of Jazzmobile's free summer mobile performances, he has worked with the organization to reach to reach national and international audiences: 1977 Winnipeg Art Gallery Program; 1980 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, NY: 1980 Semi-National 10 city tour; 1980 two week European tour of Holland, Belgium and France; 1985 Silver Bridge Concert celebrating Sister Cities New York and Tokyo - Lincoln Center 1983; three week European tour of London, Paris, Lyon, Brussels, Madrid and Milan; 1986 five week tour of Australia, Japan the Philippines and Canada.

Garry has also coordinated Jazzmobile's Saturday Jazz Workshops, Arts in Education program, and has been a community liaison for the organization founded by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem board member Dr. Billy Taylor.

Jazz artist Jimmy Owens (trumpet, flugelhorn) was the featured guest of Harlem Speaks on November 8th. He shared moments from his 45+ years of experience as a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, lecturer, and music education consultant. At three years of age, Jimmy loved to listen to Jazz. As he tells it, “I'd choose a 78 from my father's Jazz collection and play it on the Victrola. A particular favorite of mine was a picture record of Charlie Shavers performing “She's Funny That Way" on one side and “Dizzy's Dilemma" on the other side. Or I'd choose Duke Ellington's “Stompy Jones" or “Tulip or Turnip." Then my father would scoop me up in his arms and we'd dance! The best part, though, was seeing the reflection of me dancing with my daddy in the living room mirror. It was a great feeling."

At fifteen, Donald Byrd, his mentor, arranged for Jimmy to audition for a place in the Newport Youth Band. The band was sponsored by the Newport Jazz Festival that was founded by George Wein, and its musical director was Marshall Brown, one of the first Jazz educators in America. Being invited to join the band was an important step in Jimmy's musical development. He not only learned how to interpret and read music, it gave him an opportunity to perform music composed by many of the top Jazz arrangers. Other members of the band at this time were bassist Eddie Gomez, pianist Mike Abene, baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and drummer and GRP Record Company founder Larry Rosen.

By the age of twenty-five, Jimmy had been a sideman with Lionel Hampton, Hank Crawford, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann and Duke Ellington. As Jimmy continued to expand his musical horizons, he participated in different performing experiences, such as television, studio work and orchestral work. Between 1969 and 1972, he worked on the David Frost TV Show with Billy Taylor, the musical director. Also in 1969, he increased his European performances and education workshops throughout the world. However, Jimmy was restless--he wanted to start passing along what he had learned. Donald Byrd had instilled in him the importance of understanding the concepts of education and having knowledge of the business of music. Jimmy wanted to incorporate these concepts, together with his own musical experience and knowledge, to teach students how to become successful musicians. As he tells it, “it's not only about playing music, it's about knowing how to market oneself for performances and how to put together a group that is able to communicate with the audience. It all adds up to one's total musicianship, and there's a lot of work behind that." In 1972, Yale University instituted a permanent visiting fellows program in Duke Ellington's name. To launch the program, a select group of 40 Jazz masters for each instrumental section of a Jazz orchestra were selected by Ellington to be the first fellows. Among the Jazz artists chosen were trumpeters Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, and Clark Terry. On 12 October 1972, an historic concert was given to honor the recipients. That October night, a young Jimmy Owens was chosen to pay tribute to the legendary trumpet masters. His musical offering was “Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" which segued into an original composition, “Lo-Slo Bluze." As he recalls the evening, “I was center stage with some of the greatest men in the history of Jazz, and I wanted to perform something really meaningful. Since Jazz music has its roots in spirituals that later developed into the blues, I wanted to express my respect for these men by performing a spiritual and the blues. I looked around. I saw Eubie Blake, Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, and Paul Robeson. I was standing in the midst of so many of the African American people who had contributed significantly to the history of American culture. What an incredible moment it was! It reconfirmed for me what I had learned in my travels as an artist. Jazz is the heartbeat of the world." HARLEM SPEAKS and JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS are held at Harlem School of the Arts, which is just a couple of minutes walk from the A, B, C, or D train at 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue; the M3 and M11 buses also go there.

645 St. Nicholas Avenue (just a little south of 145th Street )
New York , NY 10030
tel: 212-926-4100

Directions to Harlem School of the Arts: HSA is located in the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem, several blocks from City College

B Y S U B W A Y
Take the A, B, C, or D train to 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.
When exiting the subway, walk south on the west side of St. Nicholas Avenue toward 141st Street . HSA is located near 141st Street, on the right north side of the St. James Presbyterian Church.

B Y B U S
The M3 St. Nicholas bus runs south on Fifth Avenue and north on Madison Avenue, stopping at 141st Street . Or take the M11 Amsterdam Avenue bus to 141st Street . Walk east for two blocks to St. Nicholas Avenue and turn left.

B Y C A R
From Brooklyn: take the Brooklyn Bridge and go up East River (FDR) Drive to the Harlem River exit at 135th Street. Go west on 135th Street to St. Nicholas Avenue and turn right.

From the West Bronx : take the Major Deegan to 155th Street . Turn right over the 155th Street Bridge and turn right again onto the 155th Street Viaduct. Stay in the left lane and make a left turn onto St. Nicholas Avenue .

From the East Bronx : take the Bruckner Expressway to the Major Deegan North. Exit at 149th Street and go across the 149th Street Bridge. Follow 149th and make a left onto St. Nicholas Avenue .

From New Jersey : come through the Lincoln Tunnel or across the George Washington Bridge . From the tunnel, take the West Side Highway to the 125th Street exit. Go east across 125th St. and make a left on St. Nicholas Avenue . From the bridge, go south on Riverside Drive and make a left on 145th Street, then a right on St. Nicholas Avenue.

PARKING IS AVAILABLE ON THE STREET AND IN A NEARBY GARAGE ON ST. NICHOLAS AVE., SOUTH OF 145TH ST .

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has been ensconced in its Harlem offices for over five years now; its public programs now attract several thousand people a year as they continue their efforts to obtain a permanent home. If you would like to receive updates on our progress or further information, please contact us online or by phone at 212-348-8300. To find video clips, event summaries, program updates and photographs galore from our previous programs, venture to our website below.

By the way, we are launching our new program, JAZZ FOR CURIOUS READERS a week from Monday on 12/3, at the New York Public Library 115th Street Branch 203 West 115th Street, New York , NY 10026-2403 For reservations: 212-348-8300 or register online.

Our guest will be : Herb Boyd is an award-winning author and journalist who has published sixteen books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman--The Odyssey of Black Men in America --An Anthology (One World/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News. Among his most popular books are Black Panthers for Beginners (Writers & Readers, 1995); Autobiography of a People--Three Centuries of African American History Told By Those Who Lived It (Doubleday, 2000); and Pound for Pound--The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Amistad, 2005). Most recently he worked with world music composer and musician Yusef Lateef on his autobiography for Morton Books, The Gentle Giant, released in 2006.