A struggling economy won’t impact a jazz concert season as much as it does pop music. That’s because jazz is used to struggling more than pop to succeed.
Sure, it’s a case of supply and demand — if you charged three figures for even marquee jazz artists, you’d be lucky to get three figures in attendance — but there’s more to it. A jazz performer will usually have more in common with his or her audience because of that inherent struggle, since living paycheck to paycheck often applies to all parties onstage and off.
So jazz musicians charge less for tickets and have to work harder to earn a living than pop stars, but they make their audiences work harder, too. Jazz is predominantly instrumental music, which requires audiences to actually listen, as opposed to zoning out until it’s time to sing the next repeat chorus. And more of those listeners are likely to be musicians, most of whom don’t get paid enough to attend rock concerts and have little use for popular TV pap like American Idol and Dancing With the Stars.
Jazz stopped being America’s popular music when people quit dancing to it. That happened as the swing era faded during the mid-20th century, but like all dance music, swing was homogenous compared to the bebop style that usurped it. Listening requires thinking, and for better or worse, jazz has been listening music ever since (while dance music has degraded to the point of requiring non-thinking).
Discerning listeners will find plenty to think about on South Florida’s 2011-2012 season calendar, which features both familiar names and pleasant surprises.
Eighty-two-year-old tenor saxophonist Benny Golson has lived long enough to outlast practically every legendary bandleader he’s worked with, including Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and Oscar Peterson. The Philadelphia-born Golson has also composed several jazz standards including Killer Joe, Along Came Betty, Whisper Not and I Remember Clifford, plus material for popular 1960s and 1970s TV shows like The Partridge Family, Mannix and Room 222. He’s recorded more than 30 solo albums and toured the world over countless times, and will perform in South Florida with a Frost School of Music ensemble from the University of Miami, which boasts one of the top jazz and all-purpose music programs in the United States. Golson and the Frost Studio Jazz Band appear as part of the 2011 Festival Miami on Oct. 7 at UM’s Gusman Concert Hall (8 p.m., $25-65).
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones have been a constant on the South Florida concert circuit for 20 years, but 2011 is different. For the first time since the group’s 1992 tour supporting its third CD, UFO Tofu, its namesake banjo virtuoso, bass wiz Victor Wooten and drum synthesizer player Futureman (brother Roy Wooten) are joined by original keyboardist/harmonica player Howard Levy. Other great musicians have played with the Flecktones since Levy left, but no lineup quite matched the chemistry of the original quartet, as proven by its 2011 release Rocket Science. Futureman uses his guitar-shaped electronic drum ax to create elastic rhythms with his bass-thumping brother, allowing Fleck to weave his inimitable banjo magic. And Levy is his bandmates’ equal on both of his instruments, meaning that there’s nothing this futuristic foursome can’t play, which it will prove during two shows Oct. 18 at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart (6 and 8:30 p.m., $45).
Jazz is a relative term in the hands of multi-instrumentalist Joe Craven, but that’s only because every genre is not only possible but likely. He’s best-known for being the mandolinist, violinist and percussionist for David Grisman in that fellow mandolinist’s stellar quintet, which further helped Craven learn how to blur genres from 1989-2005. The world is his percussion instrument, and he literally plays anything with strings, as he’s proven during workshops where he’s untied a shoe, stretched one of its strings tightly, and coaxed tones from it through a microphone. Having played with founding Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia, guitar virtuoso Bobby Lee Rodgers and violin legend Stephane Grappelli, Craven is paired here with rising North Carolina singer/songwriter Jon Shain. Expect material by the singing guitarist, and some from Craven gems like 2004’s Django Latino, but mostly expect the unexpected. See Craven and Shain on Oct. 19 at The Orange Door in Lake Park (8 p.m., $15).
Some native New Yorkers come to the Sunshine State to retire, but not percussionist Sammy Figueroa. After two decades of playing in the Big Apple with both jazz stars (Miles Davis, the Brecker Brothers and Sonny Rollins, with whom he still tours) and pop icons (David Bowie, Mariah Carey, Chaka Khan), Figueroa moved to South Florida a decade ago and found a vibrant Latin jazz scene that appealed to his Puerto Rican heritage. His Latin Jazz Explosion band lives up to its name, featuring pianist Silvano Monasterios, saxophonist John Michalak, trumpeter Alex Pope Norris, bassist Gabriel Vivas and drummer Nomar Negroni. The group’s third CD, Urban Nature, follows the Grammy-nominated And Sammy Walked In and The Magician, and adds saxophonist Ed Calle, pianist Mike Orta and fellow percussionist Jose Gregorio Hernandez. Saxophone colossus Rollins says “there is no better percussionist than Sammy Figueroa.” See why Oct. 22 at the Banyan Bowl in Pinecrest Gardens (8 p.m., $20-25).
You may have heard the work of guitarist Andrew Yeomanson if you saw a popular Miami-based singer named Nil Lara during the 1990s (or heard Lara’s self-titled 1996 debut CD on Capitol Records). But if you’ve seen the Spam Allstars, you’ve experienced the guitarist’s alter-ego. That’s the turntable-playing DJ Le Spam, who’s also led the genre-defying, hard-touring band since the 1990s. The group uses the term “electronica descarga” to describe its sound, a potent, worldly mix of Latin jazz, funk, hip-hop and salsa styles created by a true all-star lineup from South Florida that includes the bandleader (who contributes turntables, samples, bass and guitar), wind instrumentalists AJ Hill, Mercedes Abal, Chad Bernstein, Ted Zimmerman and Steve Welsh; guitarists Jose Elias and Andrew Zimmon, and percussionists Tomas Diaz and Lazaro Alfonso (four of whom also sing). See the Spam Allstars on Oct. 22 at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth (9 p.m., $18).
The title Jazz Meets Gershwin will prove interesting to some, but the incredible personnel involved should be the bigger draw for this forthcoming show. Hosted by popular vocalist Michael Feinstein, the tribute to George Gershwin also features singers Denyce Graves and Monica Mancini, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, keyboardists Dave Grusin and Shelly Berg, and violinist Mark O’Connor. The Mancini Institute Orchestra, named for Mancini’s father Henry Mancini and under the artistic direction of Blanchard, also participates, and the three vocalists certainly have the versatile Gershwin’s Broadway and opera sides covered. Grusin’s soundtrack expertise will help illustrate Gershwin’s impact on film, and Berg, Blanchard and O’Connor are master jazz players and educators, from vastly different backgrounds, in this Jazz Roots series presentation. See Jazz Meets Gershwin on Nov. 4 at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami (8 p.m., $25 and up).
There’s a reason that veteran pianist Shelly Berg’s name isn’t as recognizable as those of his peers – it’s because he’s focused more on educating musicians than being one. Named one of three “Educators for the Millennium” in 2000 by the Los Angeles Times, largely for 10 years of previous work for the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, Berg has been the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami since 2007. The animated player has recent CDs with his trio (Follow the Sun, with bassist Chuck Berghofer, drummer Gregg Field and guest vocalists), iconic pianist Dick Hyman (the duo disc Meeting of Minds), and a solo piano effort, Nearness of You. Berg’s trio is joined by 76-year-old tenor saxophone titan Houston Person, who has a slate of great solo albums from 1966 to 2009. See Berg’s trio with Person on Nov. 11 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts’ Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale (7:45 p.m., $40).
While stationed in Germany as a United States Army paratrooper from 1984-1987, singer/trumpeter Troy Anderson started impersonating the late Louis Armstrong under orders by an impressed sergeant major. Now Troy “Satchmo” Anderson is winning awards from Las Vegas to Europe for his expert mimicry and musicality. The native Floridian nails every nuance of Armstrong, generally regarded as the most important figure in jazz history, from facial expressions to his powerful playing and personable vocals. With backing by his stellar Wonderful World Band (pianist Dolph Castellano, clarinetist Mike Gold, saxophonist Joe Donato, trombonist Hank Bredenberg, guitarist Martin Hand, bassist Rick Doll and drummer Danny Burger), Anderson creates a time warp while growling or scat-singing hits like What a Wonderful World, Dream a Little Dream and Hello Dolly! See Anderson & the Wonderful World Band on Nov. 12 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach (8 p.m., $20-25).
Keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood may have become darlings on the jam band circuit during the trio’s 20 years together as MMW, but they certainly have jazz pedigrees. After studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Medeski and Wood moved to New York City, where Martin (who’d studied with Joe Morello and Bob Moses) had connections. The trio’s 1992 debut, Notes From the Underground, was an all-acoustic, avant-garde masterpiece before Medeski plugged in various organs and electric pianos. MMW has since released gems like It’s a Jungle in Here (1993), Combustication (1998) and Uninvisible (2002), plus two stellar CDs as a quartet with guitarist John Scofield, the latest of which is Out Louder (2006). Every one of the elastic trio’s live shows is an adventure, and every Fort Lauderdale gig a homecoming for Medeski, who grew up there. See MMW on Nov. 13 at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale (8 p.m., $32.90).
At age 63, saxophonist and Cuba native Paquito D’Rivera has become one of the iconic elder statesmen of Latin jazz. Born in Havana in 1948, and fluent in classical music as well as jazz, D’Rivera was a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna while playing simultaneously with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. He was also a founding member and co-director of the influential Cuban jazz band Irakere, which toured the United States and Europe, garnered several Grammy nominations, and won one in 1979. Several more such trophies have been added to D’Rivera’s trophy case during his solo career, for efforts from the 1996 CD Portraits of Cuba to the 2007 disc Funk Tango. The only artist ever to win Grammys in both the Latin Jazz and Classical categories, D’Rivera’s latest CD is Tango Jazz: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center. South Florida Jazz presents D’Rivera’s quintet Nov. 19 at the Broward Center’s Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale (8 p.m., $15-50).
Keyboardist and vocalist Rick Krive has been among the most talented musicians on the South Florida scene over the past few decades, yet he’s somehow flown slightly under the radar. It’s likely because he’s become so proficient as a composer, with his music appearing on the TV shows Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Friends, Everybody Hates Chris, Frasier, Will & Grace, Law and Order and The West Wing. However, Krive is set to put down the pen, get out of his studio and recruit his quartet The Circle to kick off the Jazz Arts Music Society (JAMS) of Palm Beach’s forthcoming 2011-2012 concert season. Krive’s composing and arranging skills will be on full display as he performs with saxophonist Ed Maina, bassist Nicky Orta and drummer Mike Harvey. See Krive & the Circle on Nov. 22 at the Harriet Himmel Theater at CityPlace in West Palm Beach (8 p.m., $35).
Playing steel drums since the age of 11 in his native Trinidad, Othello Molineaux relocated to St. Thomas in 1967 to pursue a career as a pianist. A more fruitful decision was recording as a steel drummer on the self-titled 1976 breakout album by bassist Jaco Pastorius, an association that elevated Molineaux’s status over the next decade. He appeared on Pastorius’ 1981 follow-up Invitation, then toured the world with the bassist’s Word of Mouth Big Band, the results of which appear on the 1983 live effort Invitation. Pastorius also produced and played on the 1981-1982 recording sessions for Molineaux’s CD Holiday for Pans (which featured steel drum arrangements of jazz and pop standards, yet was only released in Japan). The steel drummer has released stellar solo CDs such as It’s About Time, and recorded with Ahmad Jamal, Monty Alexander and Eliane Elias. Molineaux plays an islandic Christmas Eve show Dec. 24 at the Arts Garage (8 p.m., $20-25).
Saxophonist Bob Mintzer may be best-known as a longtime member of 30-year-old fusion quartet the Yellowjackets, a group he joined after previous experience as a player and arranger with big bands led by Buddy Rich, Tito Puente, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. So Mintzer’s latest recording, Canyon Cove, comes as a surprise. It’s a trio effort, and a most unorthodox one, considering that there’s no guitarist or bass player. But Hammond organist Larry Goldings and drummer Peter Erskine prove to be perfect foils for Mintzer, who plays tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute throughout. Erskine has worked with watershed acts in both jazz (Weather Report) and rock (Steely Dan), and he and Mintzer also played together in bassist Jaco Pastorius’ band. Goldings (whose associations include Michael Brecker and John Scofield) adds the glue by providing melody, harmony, and rhythm through his left-hand bass lines. See the Canyon Cove Trio on Jan. 14 at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center (8 p.m., $40).
Russia-born, Canada-based Sophie Milman has built a sizable audience by straddling, and blurring, the lines between being a jazz singer and cabaret artist. Only 27 years old, the Toronto resident and Juno Award winner (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) just released a brand-new fourth CD, In the Moonlight. Recorded in New York City, and with arrangements by Alan Broadbent and Rob Mounsey, the disc is described by Milman on her Linus Entertainment website as “lush and romantic.” Cabaret catch-words, to be sure, but her model-worthy looks — plus a recorded catalog of savvy phrasing and articulation on everything from jazz standards (The Man I Love, Love for Sale) to pop material (50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, I Can’t Make You Love Me) and novelty tunes (I Feel Pretty, Whatever Lola Wants) — may have created a true crossover star. Gold Coast Jazz presents Milman on Feb. 8 at the Amaturo Theater (7:45 p.m., $40).
Singing pianist Diana Krall is one of the few established superstars in jazz. Born in British Columbia, she earned a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston that proved a springboard toward the 46-year-old’s 20-year recording career. Producer Tommy LiPuma became a fan and mentor early on, having worked with Krall since 1994 on releases from her second, Only Trust Your Heart, through her latest, Quiet Nights. A continuation of her bossa nova-based 2001 CD The Look of Love, Quiet Nights is a Brazilian-themed gem that features Krall’s impressive piano playing and a husky, contralto voice that’s never sounded better. She’s also half of one of the most interesting couples in music with ever-inventive husband Elvis Costello, who’s graduated from punk to all-purpose singer/songwriter during his 35-year career. See Krall on Feb. 11 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Dreyfoos Concert Hall in West Palm Beach (8 p.m., $35).
Guitarist Peppino D’Agostino purposely blurs the lines between jazz and classical music, among other perceived stylistic boundaries. The native of Italy can play with his fingers or a pick on his steel-stringed acoustic instrument, and he soars on CDs like 2005’s Bayshore Road, a duo recording with electric guitarist Stef Burns that was released on former Frank Zappa lead guitarist Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label. But D’Agostino’s expertise also extends to roots music, as evidenced by his country and bluegrass songbook Metodo per Chitarra Flatpicking Country e Bluegrass, published by Italian company Berben in 1984 just as the guitarist was immigrating to the United States. Also fluent in Irish, Brazilian and progressive rock styles, D’Agostino performs on March 1 and 2 (with Paraguayan guest harpist/violinist Carlos Reyes) at the Kravis Center’s Persson Hall Cabaret in West Palm Beach (7:30 p.m., $35).
If director Ken Burns’ 2001 PBS documentary Jazz proved anything, it may have been the power of trumpeters. The 10-part series showed how one of the instrument’s practitioners, Louis Armstrong, became the most influential jazz figure during the 20th century, and how Dizzy Gillespie subsequently became the genre’s global ambassador. It also showed how Wynton Marsalis was poised to take the torch into the 21st century, and so far, the New Orleans-born trumpeter has delivered. He initiated the Young Lions movement in the early 1980s, strengthening acoustic jazz traditions and proving his virtuosity during a 30-year recording career that began at age 19. He’s also artistic director for the impeccable Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the esteemed New York City organization’s resident 15-piece jazz band since 1988. Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra continue their tour to celebrate his 50th birthday on March 7 at the Dreyfoos Concert Hall (8 p.m., $25 and up).
The Jazz Arts Music Society chose the right musician for a concert titled “The Sensual Sounds of Brazil.” Trumpeter Claudio Roditi was born in Rio de Janiero in 1946, and he enhanced an early Brazilian musical education by moving to Boston in 1970 to study at the esteemed Berklee College of Music. Adept at both trumpet and flugelhorn, Roditi’s next move was to New York City in 1976, where he quickly found work with the likes of Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, Herbie Mann, Tito Puente, Charlie Rouse and Paquito D’Rivera. Roditi also toured frequently with fellow trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra, and has released 16 CDs as a leader since 1984. Two of Roditi’s most nationalistic, Symphonic Bossa Nova (1995) and last year’s Brazilliance X 4 (with quartet partners Helio Alves on piano, Leonardo Cioglia on bass, and Dudu Da Fonseca on drums), were nominated for Grammy Awards. Roditi’s quartet performs on March 27 at the Himmel Theater (8 p.m., $35).
Seventy-year-old Brazilian keyboardist and composer Sergio Mendes is the perfect host for the forthcoming musical travelogue A Night in Rio. Along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Mendes helped to introduce Brazil’s samba and bossa nova styles to United States listeners during the 1960s. His group Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 scored chart-topping hits (Mas Que Nada, The Look of Love) through the end of the decade by blending samba and bossa with funk and pop, and the bandleader’s influence was exemplified by his 2006 CD Timeless, which featured guest appearances by Stevie Wonder, the Black-Eyed Peas, John Legend, Justin Timberlake and Q-Tip. Mendes’ special guest, gifted Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias, will present a different generational and stylistic side of Rio. The 50-year-old’s latest CD, Light My Fire, features her sultry title cover of The Doors’ pop hit. Jazz Roots presents A Night in Rio on April 13 at the Knight Concert Hall (8 p.m., $25 and up).
Jazz often is taken very seriously by those who play it, but Matt Wilson has become one of the genre’s top drummers by mixing his heralded skills with an animated exuberance that reminds us that jazz can be seriously fun. An in-demand sideman who’s played with Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz and Andrew Hill, Wilson also leads two separate quartets, one self-titled and the other called Arts & Crafts. The latter group’s three CDs, Arts & Crafts, Wake Up! (To What’s Happening) and The Scenic Route, have showed increasing group chemistry, plus the drummer’s growing maturity and prowess as a composer. As a performer, Wilson possesses some of the same taste, technique and visual flair that made Gene Krupa a star with Benny Goodman during the 1930s. South Florida Jazz presents Wilson’s Arts & Crafts (with trumpeter Terell Stafford, keyboardist Gary Versace and bassist Martin Wind) on April 14 at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center (8 p.m., $40).