Streetwise Radio One on One with David Sanchez

 

 

Grammy-Winning Saxophonist Leads 2021-2022 SFJAZZ Season

By Shelah Moody

Photo Courtesy of SFJAZZ

On Oct. 28, the SFJAZZ Collective performed original compositions highlighting social justice, addressing political upheaval sparked by the police murders of George Floyd and Breona Taylor in 2020 and the right-wing-inspired raid on the United States Capitol complex in Washington, DC in 2021.

Acclaimed San Francisco musician Martin Luther McCoy opened the performance, singing lead vocals on James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Negro National Anthem. (One person in the small, fully vaccinated audience at Miner Auditorium stood up during the song, which many in the “woke” community believe should replace the “Star-Spangled Banner” as America’s national anthem).

The Collective segued into introspective and vibrant pieces composed by members: “8’46: A Tribute to George Floyd” (Edward Simon, piano), “Joya” and “The Sower,” (Matt Brewer, bass), “Can You See/Mutuality” (Chris Potter, saxophone), “All There Inside,” (Gretchen Parlato, vocals), “Unity,” (Warren Wolf, vibraphone) and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s anti-war anthem, “What’s going On,” masterfully arranged by Trinidadian trumpet player Etienne Charles.

Grammy-winning saxophonist David Sanchez, a longtime member of SFJAZZ Collective, delivered his vibrant instrumental, “Ay Bendito, “ on tenor.

Prior to his performance with SFJAZZ, I met with Sanchez via Zoom to speak with him about the non-profit art organization’s 2021-2022 season, the state of live music in the age of COVID-19, and his global influences.

Although he was born and raised in Puerto Rico and heavily influenced by Afro-Latino roots music, percussion, in particular, Sanchez would hardly categorize himself as a Latin jazz artist. Listening to his stellar, 2019 album, “Carib,” you are transported to several countries within the African and Latin Diaspora.

“The music that I write and how I play is just a recollection of different experiences throughout my life,” said Sanchez. “Obviously, it’s going to bring in my experiences growing up in Puerto Rico, especially the roots influences. I spent 16 years in New York, 13 in Atlanta. I’ve been traveling the world constantly since I was 19.”

Sanchez, who has collaborated with music icons and influencers such as Dizzy Gillespie and Branford Marsalis, said he feels blessed to be reunited with the SFJAZZ Collective.

“The fact that we have the opportunity to come together and make music is amazing,” said Sanchez. “Finally, after this crazy pandemic, which is unreal, we are coming together after almost two years. I now see things a bit differently, I’m so appreciative of the opportunity that we have of coming together this year. Not only because we are coming together after a long time of layoffs; of not playing, but also because of our theme. This year, because of the circumstances and the adversities that most of us have faced, we decided to dedicate it to our experiences during this challenging time and to social justice. The pandemic really exposed a lot of situations that were right in our faces that were covered or consciously ignored because we were busy or moving around.”

To watch Streetwise Radio’s full interview with David Sanchez, go to:

https://youtu.be/rUmVFRiCgcI.

Also, hear the music of David Sanchez here on Streetwise Radio.

Ethio-American Singer Meklit Illuminates SFJAZZ 2021-2022 Season

 Ethio-American Singer Meklit Illuminates SFJAZZ 2021-2022 Season

By Shelah Moody

  Ethiopian American artist Meklit Hadero, who goes by the stage name, Meklit, is just one example of the wealth of diverse musical talent in the Bay Area.  Meklit became known for embracing the genres of world music and jazz and often fusing the two. Meklit gained worldwide popularity via her vibrant videos such as “Kemekem: I Like Your Afro” (https://youtu.be/qC8feW4gomo) and her TED Talk on the unexpected beauty of everyday sounds (https://youtu.be/NAkkckxE9i8). The vibrant singer/songwriter is also a community organizer, activist, and Chief of Program at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.  Meklit performs Saturday, October 16 at SFJazz Center. https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/meklit-2122/

Streetwise Radio: What challenges have you faced as a new mother and working artist living in a pandemic?

Meklit: This time is all things. It’s been amazing, it’s been challenging, it’s been a learning experience; a growth experience. It’s everything all at once. My son is two years old. He was about six months old when the pandemic started. It’s been quite a ride. On the other hand, it’s been a blessing, because if I hadn’t been working from home during the pandemic, I would have been going to work everyday and missing so many moments with my son. We are coming out of an incredibly challenging experience, even though we’re not out of it yet. I’m grateful for the ability to return to music; for the fact that performances are happening, the fact that our vaccination rates are high and our (COVID-19) infection rates are falling. I’m grateful to be living in the Bay Area, where we have been able to care for each other through mask-wearing and so many collective care measures that were put into place. SFJAZZ Center has a new ventilation system; and masks are required indoors. There are a lot of protocols that they are putting together to make sure that folks stay safe. That’s how we can have live music right now; so I’m grateful.

Streetwise Radio: I love your video,“Kemekem: I Like Your Afro.” What inspired that song? 

Meklit: Yes! So, that’s a traditional song from Ethiopia, and “kemekem”  is a slang term for the perfect Afro. It literally means, freshly mowed grass, you know, when that Afro is just perfect, done just so. I learned the song in 2010. I knew it was a traditional song that could have real Pan-African resonance. African Diaspora resonance. The video went viral in Ethiopia and ended up being played on TV every day. The last time I was in Ethiopia in 2019, people would recognize me everywhere and sing that song to me back on the street! It was really special. It was a super fun video to shoot, and we did it in an Oakland space. It was recorded in Oakland. 

Streetwise Radio: Describe the Ethiopian aesthetic and how you incorporate it into your music.

Meklit: I use a lot of traditional elements in the music I make, whether I’m singing in Amharic, one of the languages in Ethiopia, or working with the pentatonic melodies, the five-tone scales, or whether I’m working with the traditional rhythms.

I use them as jumping-off points, as foundational points, but I’m always bringing them together in conversation with jazz and singer/songwriter music as well. 

Streetwise Radio: How did you first connect with SFJAZZ? 

Meklit: I did my first show with SFJAZZ in 2010. I have a long relationship with them. We started working together before they had a space. I’m very excited to be performing on Saturday, October 16 at SFJAZZ. It’s my first live performance in almost two years since the pandemic began, so this is really my return to the stage. It’s beautiful to do it in a space that I know so well; a space that’s held me so beautifully as an artist in the Bay Area. 

Streetwise Radio. What can we expect at your upcoming SFJAZZ performance? 

Meklit: I’m actually bringing in an amazing Ethiopian pianist from Los Angeles, Kibrom Birhane. He’s a special musician who’s able to add so much color and power. We will be a seven-piece band; it’s my full ensemble; the band I’ve been playing with and singing with for years. They’re my people; my family. It’s going to be a 90-minute show, and we’ll be singing our hearts out for the people. 

Streetwise Radio: Tell us about some of the songs you’ll be performing. 

Meklit: We’ll be doing traditional songs like “Kemekem.” We’ll be doing traditional songs that really bring in Ethiopian scales, like the song, “Ethio Blue,” which is forthcoming off a new record called “Antidote,” which will be coming out next year. We’ll also be doing songs from my last full-length album, “When the People Move, the Music Moves, Too.” I play guitar and I play krar, an Ethiopian harp. Sometimes I don’t have an instrument in my hand, so I can also move around the stage and be free. My band is Kibrom Birhane, keyboards, Howard Wiley, tenor saxophone, Prasant Radhakrishnan, tenor saxophone, Marco Paris Coppola, percussion, and Sam Bevan, bass.

Streetwise Radio: Tell us about your leadership role at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts? 

Meklit: I’m the Chief of Program at YBCA. It’s a role that I started about two months before the pandemic began. It’s been a beautiful time of transition though; being able to move in a role of supporting artists who work in service of their communities— artists of all disciplines. Throughout my career; I’ve always been involved in projects and initiatives that promote community building and culture power into the questions of: what kind of world do we want to build, and how do we do it together? How are music and the arts and culture at the center of those questions?  My role as Chief of Program has allowed me to be of service in a time when it’s a challenge to be a working musician. It’s a blessing to be able to support other artists in this role.

Streetwise Radio: What is the key to getting heard and noticed as a world music/jazz artist living and working in San Francisco?

Meklit: I’m very grateful for the success that I’ve had; I think staying humble is important. You have to be grateful for every audience and every listener. The purpose of music is to bring us together; and so every time that we can build community with music, we have to be grateful. For me; it’s about being a songwriter and having a perspective that is a unique sound. And, that sound has come through learning. A lot of times, people ask me who my biggest influences are. There are so many traditional artists, like Mulatu Astatke; and jazz singers like Billie Holiday, who have been a great inspiration. I also recognize that my community has been my biggest teacher. That’s part of why I don’t see my work as an organizer as different from the work that I do as a musician. There’s no difference between building yourself as a musician and working for the health and well-being of your community. I think that working towards both of those goals simultaneously has helped me build an audience, and it’s helped me to grow the space for my music to blossom in the world.

For more information on Meklit and to hear her music, go to: https://www.meklitmusic.com/.

Ainsley House Fall Concert Series

 

The Passing Of A Jazz Great. Chick Corea.

                                          June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021

Return To Forever - Duel of the Jester & the Tryant (Live)

Sisonke Xonti Iyonde

New Orleans Artist Mykia Jovan Shines at Essencefest

                                                                       Mykia Jovan

By Shelah Moody

Photo by Douglass Washington

Mykia Jovan performs at 8 p.m., Friday, July 6, Good Vibes Superlounge, 2018, Essence Festival, Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA. essence.com.

She’s a bit Erykah Badu, a bit Ledisi, a bit Teena Marie and a bit Nina Simone. She’s a bit R&B and a bit jazz, she says, but most importantly, Mykia Jovan is a storyteller.

Jovan, one of the hottest young stars to emerge from New Orleans, performs for the first time at the 2018 Essence Festival at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on July 6.

For Jovan, who maintains a regular Sunday night gig at the Blue Nile on Frenchman Street in New Orleans, performing at Essencefest  on the bill with the likes of Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia and Ledisi is a dream come true.

“I have so much in my back pocket that I’m going to take some chances on for this performance,” Jovan said. “It’s only 45 minutes, so I’m gonna go big!”

Born and raised in New Orleans, Jovan studied theater at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. She ventured into music because she was trying to avoid auditioning through the theater process, she said.

“Music has definitely helped me build my confidence,” said Jovan. “I’ve been privileged to work at the Blue Nile and cut my teeth on the stage and take my time and figure out my craft.”

In April of this year, Jovan performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, affectionately known to locals as Jazzfest, for the for the first time as a solo act with her own band.

“I’ve done Jazziest a few times with Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, but this was my first time being able to present myself and my original music,” said Jovan. “It was very exciting and I had a great time.”

Sunday nights at the Blue Nile, Jovan and her band perform songs from her debut album, “Elliyahu,” independently produced and recorded in New Orleans. Once you hear tracks from “Elliyahu,” such as “Creep,” “Feast on the Flower,” “Idle Mind”  and “16 Shots,” which addresses the long running obsession with race, class and skin color in the south, you will be hooked. Here’s a clip of her Blue Nile performance:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwQtR1W1fNI

“Blend in, and stay out the sun, because the darker you are, the shorter the run,” Jovan sings in soaring soprano.

“The title means ‘highest, most exhausted one,’  but I added an ‘L’ to the name to kind of take away the idea of me speaking about God and more about idolatry—how we find God in people and how interpersonal relationships affect personal growth and development as individuals,” said Jovan.

“The whole album is centered around times in my life where I felt that I was looking outside of myself for something that was already the inside. That’s what you heard tonight—a bunch of love songs reaching for someone, and then eventually, I figure out how to reach within myself.”

Follow her @ mykiajovan.com.

San Jose Winterfest

From OPC to SFJAZZ: Rhiannon Giving Brings Soulful Folk Music to the Bay Area

                                       
By Shelah Moody
Rhiannon Giddens’ upcoming SFJAZZ performance at the Herbst Theatre on Oct. 28 sold out fast, but you can still catch Grammy winning folk artist Rhiannon Giddens on tour this summer and fall.  Giddens’ high profile dates include appearances at the renowned Newport Jazz Festival (Rhode Island) and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Canada. (http://rhiannongiddens.com/#shows).
Prior to the announcement of Giddens’  2016 Grammy nominations for best Folk Album and Best American Roots Performance (“Factory Girl,” Nonesuch Records), the visionary singer, composer violinist and banjoist  made a rare appearance at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music on November 19, 2016.
Giddens conducted a vocal workshop at OPC during the afternoon performed with two acclaimed young American roots artists in their own right, banjoist Hubby Jenkins and tap dancer Robyn Watson in the evening.
 In her OPC vocal workshop, Giddens had the chance to interact up close and in person with members of the Bay Area diverse community, including youth, musicians, students, poets and visual artists.
“Another man done gone/Gone from the county farm/I didn’t know his name/ I don’t know where he’s gone/He had a long chain on/He killed another man/I’m going to walk your load down by the waterfall…”

                                        
                  Rhiannon Giddens led a vocal workshop at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.

Such is the story of a man who has escaped from prison, slavery or some unbearable situation circumstance.  Giddens drew her students into the heart of the folk and blues ballad, using only her foot as accompaniment, guiding us through the song verse by verse. Giddens was quick to emphasize the joy of making music and incorporating it into daily life. Giddens found that people are often afraid to sing in public and in groups because of lack of formal training.
“We’ve gotten so divorced from that, people think, well, I can’t sing, because I’m not going to be on stage,” said Giddens, a native of Greensboro North Carolina who currently lives in Ireland with he husband and two children.
“Well, you can sing. Everybody can sing. We used to sing all the time. It’s what keeps you going. I went to the Oberlin Conservatory and I studied opera, I studied it for years and I got all in it. I loved Verdi, loved Puccini. I still love that music, and I’ve been able to take that training and use it in every aspect of what I do.”
In 2011, Giddens received a Grammy award for Best Traditional Folk Album, Performing a cappella, Giddens said, also puts you in touch with your own voice. “Genuine Negro Jig.”
“Something that you don’t hear anymore is the idea of not having a microphone,” said Giddens. “You see the youth today, and the microphone’s got to be right here (close to the mouth). “I had to learn how to use a mic, and it was torturous. The thing about learning how to sing without a microphone is that you have to learn how to breathe. I had to re-learn how to breathe. We all breathe with (the shoulders) and we become tense in that area. To breathe like an opera singer, you have to breathe from (the diaphragm). “

                                              
                                                                      Hubby Jenkins

Then, Giddens urged her students to sit up straight, relax their shoulders, and take a deep belly breath before singing. Ahhh!
After a pre-Thanksgiving community feast of chicken coconut stew, homemade cornbread, black-eyed peas and rice, yams, collard greens with caramelized ginger and sweet tea from Mamacita’s kitchen in the OPC building, the Oakland audience was treated to one of the finest acoustic performances  this writer has ever seen.  Giddens, Jenkins and Watson explored the black roots of American music from square dance to the blues idiom through banjo, fiddle, voice and dance.
For more information on OPC’s up close and personal workshops and performances, go to: https://www.opcmusic.org.

Sly 5th Ave

Out 2nd June, new signing Sly5thAve’s drops his debut EP “Composite” on Tru Thoughts. The culmination of six orchestral versions of influential pop, hip-hop and R&B tracks from the last decade, Sly5thAve arranges the music of Rihanna, Drake, Frank Ocean, Lil Wayne and Gabriel Garzón-Montano, performed with the Brooklyn-based ClubCassa Chamber Orchestra.

Sly5thAve is the project of multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II, whose sophisticated compositions are shaped by his faith in hip-hop, and deep understanding of soul and jazz. Sly5thAve’s projects and accomplishments over the last few years include; the inception of the first orchestral concert dedicated to Dr. Dre, playing saxophone with Prince, leading the ClubCassa Chamber Orchestra, and his revered co-reworking of Herbie Hancock’s classic ‘Headhunters’ LP with Jesse Fischer which was debuted on Tru Thoughts in 2015.

“Composite” ties together 6 tracks from Sly5thAve’s early experimental phase on one release for the first time. “It’s a milestone” Sly5thAve explains, “It shows the journey towards calling myself an arranger today”. Four years in the making, “Composite” was initially recorded by Sly5thAve and two members of the ClubCassa Chamber Orchestra’s thirty musicians: Jay Jennings and Joey Rayfield, in the basement of the ClubCassa Chamber Club House – a Victorian mansion a stone’s throw from Ditmas Park. On “Composite”, Sly5thAve arranges popular R&B, pop and hip-hop tracks and repurposes them with music and musicianship at the fore by replacing synthesised sounds and samples with live musicians and organic textures.

“Super Rich Kids” opens the EP with an expansive drumbeat and jazz flute, substituting Frank Ocean’s vocals for bright piano notes - akin to those used by legendary composer, arranger and producer David Axelrod whom many of hip-hop’s greats (Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest) sampled. The warm buzz of reverb underneath the soulful ooh’s take the hook, before the flutes and horn section carry the bridge and reconstruct the iconic tension of the original. “I was really into ‘Channel Orange’ when it came out it. I really liked that kind of R&B sound that wasn’t so neo-soul, it wasn’t so pop. The chord progression really stuck out to me.” Sly5thAve explains. The brilliant “Everything Is Everything” fills out the cool syncopation of Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s original into a tight jam, retaining the head-nodding drum patterns and breaks, and swapping in a sound that oozes with New York’s contemporary jazz vibrations, before dropping into a spacious drum breakdown that harks back to rhythms on his first solo album ‘Akuma’ inspired by his Nigerian descent.

On unmistakable trap number “Love Me”, Sly5thAve softens the high-energy beat by replacing it with beautiful horns, and omits Drake’s feature for dramatic flute bars. “I grew up listening to Lil Wayne” Sly5thAve explains “When he was 16 he came out on Cash Money Records and in the southern United States that whole contemporary trap sound had been going on for 20 years before it hit anywhere else”. On Rihanna’s monumental “Pour It Up”, the triumphant flugelhorns take control before launching into a powerful crescendo of trumpet, trombone and bass clarinet notes. On love groove “Stay”, staccato strings and woodwind impart a new agency and transform Rihanna’s anathema of showing the vulnerability of true love into a beautiful and empowering arrangement. Closing the EP, Sly5thAve’s take of “Hold On, We’re Going Home” focusses on the famous 1-6-2-5 jazz turnaround and replaces the jacked beat with intensifying string swells to create an unmistakably honest composition that stands tall next Drake’s notorious pop classic.

credits

released June 2, 2017

"Alexander’s blend of jazz and reggae makes for an outrageously good time" 
— The Wall Street Journal

Monty Alexander
Harlem-Kingston Express

THU, JUN 8 · 8PM
HERBST THEATRE

During this year's 35th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, Jamaica-born jazz great Monty Alexander, who has garnered acclaim for bridging American jazz and the music of his native Jamaica. Over six-decades, pianist Alexander has created a unique blend of reggae and jazz, and has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “the first—and certainly the most successful—musician to combine Jamaican music with North American jazz.”

The pianist’s 2011 GRAMMY-nominated Motéma Records release Harlem-Kingston Express stands as the ultimate expression of Alexander’s unique perspective on jazz, featuring his trio (including SFJAZZ Collective drummer Obed Calvaire) as well as a Jamaican rhythm section, embracing reggae, dub, bebop, and Afro-Cuban approaches.

› MONTY ALEXANDER: 'ON PIANO JAZZ'

Masego – 2016 San Jose Summer Jazz Festival Report by: Carol Ealey

When my husband, Michael asked me which artists I wanted to see at the 2016 San Jose Jazz Summer Festival, I had no idea except for Bobby Caldwell and Goapele two of the headline artist, so I searched the line-up to see who I could fit into our busy event schedule.

                                        Masego

The artist that I selected was Masego (real name Micah Davis) after listening to his song “Girls That Dance” on YouTube. As we headed over to the Post Street Stage one of the many stages at the San Jose Jazz Fest you could hear that thump of trap, hip hop and jazz mix of music that made you want to dance. I loved it.

Masego is a 22-year-old multi-instrumentalist – he plays the saxophone, piano, drums guitar, cello and many other instruments and he’s a singer. On stage he showed his talents by playing several instruments much like a one man band and he showed his comedic style as well as an impromptu rap about two cute girls in the audience. Masego has real talent and I love his style of music which he calls TrapHouseJazz. It merges traditional jazz sounds – saxophone, scatting with the thump of trap music and house.

Masego was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to an American mother and Jamaican father. His father is a pastor in the military so they moved around a lot when Masego was little settling in Newport News, Virginia. His mother is also a pastor, specifically the minister of music at their church. Church was a strong presence in Masego’s life, as was playing in the church band; music came naturally to him. As he said in a recent article that he listened to a lot of gospel (Jmoss, William Murphy, Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin) since that’s all he was allowed to play in the house. But Cab Calloway influenced his style and his love of jazz swing and the dances that go with it. This blend of styles is clearly evident in his music.

Masego has talent and his energetic show at the 2016 SJ Jazz Summer Festival was one of the highlights this year. If you want to hear this new style of Trap House Jazz I would encourage you to check out a sample of his music at www.masegomusic.com. You won’t be disappointed.

********

San Jose Summer Jazz Fest 2016 Report: DENISE DONATELLI

Finally at the end of my day; Denise Donatelli. I made my way over to Cafe Stritch and was greeted by an impatient, hungry line of over 70 people clamoring to see this 4 time Grammy nominee vocalist. Hey, with a line like this, how am I going to get into this place? But wait. Mike gave me a Streetwise press pass. With a sticker. I walked right up to the door and flashed the pass.

"OK," she said, "and uhh...oh yeah, you got that sticker."

I went into an empty room with the stage lights set up just right and the band was doing their mic checks. I snapped off a few shots to get my exposures down and after I burned enough frames I notice a cat tuning the piano. I was floored. I've never seen that before. I mean they always tune of for Yuja Wang and Daniel Barinboim but I've never seen a tuner for jazz or pop music. So when he was done I go over and talk this spritely Japanese dude dressed in ninja black.

"So you tune before every gig?"

"Naaa", he says, "I just hang out here cus' I love the jazz. I tune because I really want them to sound good. But a lot of guys don't appreciate it...and some guys; even really good musicians, can't even tell the difference,".

"I know man, it's sick !".

"But I just tune cus' I love it", he said, "and I want to give something back to them. So if they can't enjoy it to hell with them man." We laughed our guts out like long lost brothers.

Then I said, "So you tune ... that means you play."

"Yeah, I play", he said, "but I'm a really bad player."

"We're on the same page", I said, "It takes me two years to learn something that my 16 year old son can learn in two weeks. So if you still want to listen to me, to hell with you!!" Our laughter was broken by a KCSM dj putting in a big plug for the station and introducing, let's say it right here, the amazing Denise Donetelli.

Then Denise comes on stage and immediately has the audience in her back pocket. She's like that smooth cocktail you reward yourself with at the end of a hard day's work. The clarity of voice, the effortless sustains, the inviting warm embrace of this wonderful singer. She uses her insturment to bring new life to standards such as Green Dolphin Street and fresh interpretations of comtemporary tunes like Soul Shadows , No Better, and A Promise. I especially enjoy her rendition of the bossa nova style tune Ange where she combines latin rythms with minor discordant harmonies, not unlike the great jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, all with comfortably pure tonality and an effortlessly clear voice.

According to Wikipedia, Denise Donatelli started as a classical pianist at the age of three and studied for 15 years. For three consecutive years she won first place in competitions held by the National Federation of Music Clubs. After college, she married and had sons. To remain with her family, she did not begin to sing professionally until the boys reached their teenage years.

She has recorded studio spots for episodes of The Simpsons and television promos for Frasier, Card Sharks and Turner Classic Movies as well as national and international commercials for CNN, Hyundai, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and many more.

She has performed with Bill Mays, Roger Kellaway, Tamir Hendelmen, Bob Sheppard, Joe LaBarbara, the Stan Kenton Alumni Band. She tours extensively, performing at jazz festivals; like the San Jose Jazz Festival, jazz clubs, performing art centers, and with university jazz bands where she conducts master clinics.

Her next gig is in La Jolla, CA with Geoffrey Keezer and Friends who she records with. Donatelli has released five albums; three have been nominated for Grammy's. Although this singer's voice is truly a reward in itself, no one will be surprised if Denise Donatelli's next album finally wins the recognition this fine singer deserves.

TWW

Tom Wing Wo

San Jose Summer Jazz Fest 2016 Report: LEGALLY BLUE ByTom Wing Wo

After Kenny Washington at the Jade Leaf Lounge I had three hours to kill before singer Denise Donatelli. I headed over to the Gordon Biersch stage cus' it was only a block and a half away.

                        Legally Blue was the surprise of the Jazz Festival for me.

                                       Joanne Wegener is backed 
                      by four excellent blues musicians

John Keating on keyboards, Mike West on drums.

                                               Chris Wilder on bass.

       And the rock solid, articulate and inventive Aart de Gon                                               guitars.

All the cats in Legally Blue are excellent muscians and they'll have their first CD release party this Saturday, August 20 in Sunnyvale. Singer Joanne is dramatic and expressive with a mellow and gut wrenching interpretations of blues standards and orginal blues tunes written by each of the intermentalist in this goup. She has an inviting, relaxed rapport with her audience that makes you feel like you're at home with your family and a part of the band. She's so comfortable on stage that at one point she turned her back to the audience to shoot a selfie with the crowd in the background. The audience totally cracked up and band the blew the roof off the top of this outdoor stage.

Back in the 70's I played drums and sang vocals in a garage band called Karma Co. in Sacramento. It was founded by two brothers from Georgia who wrote blues and rock tunes. I played my share of blues but I've almost forgotten it. That all changed when I heard Legally Blue today.

Legally Blue has gotten me back into the Blues and I can't wait to hear them again.

Legally Blue Facebook Site 

Tom Wing Wo

8/18/16

San Jose JazzFest 2016 Report:Legends and Emerging Artists Triumph By Shelah Moody

Closing day of the 27^th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, Sunday Aug. 14 was a celebration of world music and a joyous weekend for Streetwise Radio.

The streets of downtown San Jose, as well hotels, cafes and restaurants hosted legendary musicians and emerging artists, attracting thousands of fans to the largest city in the Bay Area.

Our first stop on a warm south bay afternoon was the Jade Leaf Lounge, where Cuban pianist Harold Lopez Nussa, joined by Ruy Adrián López-Nussa, (drums/percussion) and Alune Wade (bass/vocals) were creating elegant, tropical soundscapes.

               
                         Harold Lopez Nussa
While children in swim suits danced through the fountains at Cezar Chavez Plaza in the heart of downtown San Jose, 

2015 Grammy nominee--saxophonist Miguel Zenon, and his band --Alex Brown (piano), Hans Glawischnig (bass) and Henry Cole (drums)-- showcased rhythms and melodies inspired by Zenon’s native Puerto Rico. The quartet played original compositions and arrangements from Zenon’s albums, “Esta Plena” and “Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook.”

“It feels great to be here,” said Zenon, who was nominated for a 2015 Grammy in the Best Latin Jazz Album category for “Identities Are Changeable.”

“This is our second time here. The first time was maybe, five years ago. Last time, we played in a theater, so it’s nice to play outside; it’s so pretty here and people are enjoying themselves. “It’s a really nice vibe.”

                    Saxophonist Miguel Zenon
Zenon comes from a fine tradition of Puerto Rican jazz greats including trombonist/composer Juan Tizol, who played with Duke Ellington’s orchestra. Incidentally, as a member of the SFJAZZ Collective, Zenon cop-produced and arranged the album “The Music of Michael Jackson & Original Compositions,” recorded live at SFJAZZ Center in 2015.

                             Rick & Russ Show

The World Famous Rick & Russ Show spun classic R&B on the main stage as Grammy winning vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, currently one of the hottest performers on the touring circuit, prepared for her set the main stage. Accompanied by pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Lawrence Leathers, the bespectacled jazz goddess opened with her original ballad, “Fog.”

                         Cecile McLorin Salvant
In February, I watched Salvant accept her Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, “For One to Love” at the Premiere Ceremony at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. Salvant is a pure, articulate singer whose voice can emulate everything from an elegant violin refrain to the sassy wa-wa of a trombone. Salvant delighted the audience with a string of jazz standards and Broadway show tunes including “The Trolly Song,” made popular by Judy Garland, “Wives and Lovers,” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, “Something’s Coming” by Leonard Bernstein, “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” made popular by Billie Holiday and the whimsical “Sam Jones Blues” by Bessie Smith.

“I was lucky to have been raised in a household where music was a very important part of our upbringing,” said Salvant, in an interview after the show. “We listened to music from all over the world including, but not only jazz. We listened to folk music from South America, from Africa, from Europe and all kinds of American popular music and folk music from Appalachian to funk and R&B to disco and classical music. When I moved to France and met my jazz teacher, I started perusing jazz as an option for a career. I never really thought I would do it professionally.”

Salvant said she has not read her extensive Wikipedia page and said she hates to google herself. The artistically inclined singer wore a colorful patterned Issey Miyake dress that fluttered in the wind and complemented the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest mural on the main stage. Miyake is Salvant’s favorite designer; she loves his vivid colors and his clothes are light weight and are easy to travel with, she said.

“I don’t like to look at myself or watch myself or be in that spirit, because I don’t think it is very enriching as a musician,” said Salvant. “It’s not very enriching to be constantly scrutinizing yourself in that way or looking at what other people think of you. Something people may not know about me is that I really love visual art and I draw a lot. I’m actually preparing a show in New York at a gallery in November. Mostly water colors and ink drawings. It’s really a fun thing to do when I’m on tour. We have a lot of moments where we wait. You know, people come to the shows and they see us perform and they think that’s what it is. But a lot of it is traveling to the performance and waiting for the plane or the train or being in a car for a long time. There are a lot of hours like that where we can’t really work on music. I can read, I guess, but I feel like drawing is a wonderful activity that’s also creative. I started doing it about five years ago and it’s been enriching to me. I’ve done a few of my album covers.”

I asked Salvant how it felt to perform at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

“It feels great,” said Salvant. “The audience was warm and wonderful. I’m having a wonderful time, and I’m actually seeing a line form at the CD table.

As Salvant graciously signed CDs for fans, a New Orleans style parade made its way around the main stage, warming up the for the evening’s headliner, Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2016.

        
Shelah Moody, Sergio Mendes and Radio host Safi Wa Narobi of KPFA FM 

The 75-year-old, Grammy-winning Bossa Nova singer/songwriter/composer and his multicultural band performed “A Celebration of 50 Years of Brasil ’66.”

My father was a jazz pianist who was heavily influence by Samba and Bossa Nova. As a child, Mendes’ iconic “Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66” and other albums were constantly played in our home, and songs such as “Fool On the Hill,” “One Note Samba” and “Look of Love” became the soundtrack of my life.

Oakland rapper H20 led the intro to Mendes’ signature tune, “Mas, que Nada,” and oh, how we danced and sang along to the “O, o-o-o-oh ari-ah, rayoh...Obah, obah, obah!” chorus!

                                Greg Bridges of KCSM FM  and Albert “Tootie” Heath
In a late Sunday night set at downtown San Jose’s Café Stritch, radio host Greg Bridges of KCSM FM San Francisco introduced the legendary drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath, joined by Richard Sears on piano and Martin Nevin on bass https://youtu.be/M5OFxodGLUQ.

                                   Albert “Tootie” Heath

“This cat has been a big part of my life through listening for many, many years,” said Bridges said of Heath. “I learned rhythm from him and cats like him. So many musicians have learned from him; he is a part of the foundation of this music that we call jazz.”

Hailing from one of the first families of jazz, Heath and his musical siblings—Jimmy Heath (saxophone), and the late Percy Heath (bass) formed the Heath Brothers in Philadelphia, PA in 1975 and produced modern jazz recordings such as “Marchin’ On,” “Brothers and Others” and “In Motion. At 81, the gracious Heath packed Café Stritch, and captivated the audience with his stamina and his polyrhythmic drumming technique.

For info on the 2017 San Jose Jazz Winter Fest, go to sanjosejazz.org.