WINNING SPINS BY GEORGE KANZLER Two guitarists each bring us a Winning Spin this month. One disc comes from a mature veteran, Jim Hall, in a context he's championed for four decades, the duo encounter. The other is the audaciously ambitious debut album from Miles Okazaki, who's as much a composer and conceptualist as he is a master guitarist. Hall's Free Association (ArtistShare) offers a Zen-like purity in its intimate interaction between Hall's guitars and Geoff Keezer's piano. There's a sense of serenity and contemplation in the graceful way the music lyrically flows and sings. For although both Hall and Keezer are consummate technicians capable of extraordinary virtuosity and dexterity, here they pare away every extraneous note, creating a lithe, lean aesthetic valuing space and the silences between notes as much as the notes themselves. The album opens with Hall's "End the Beguine," a beguiling, playfully sinuous tune layering textures from guitars and piano played both on the keyboard and by plucking and striking strings inside the body. It's the busiest piece on the CD, yet still has a lot of breathing space. There's no layering or piano tricks on the next track, Ryuichi Sakamoto's graceful ballad "Bibo No Aozoa," as both Hall's billowy guitar and Keezer's spare, John Lewis-like piano lovingly explore every facet of the melody. The two are even more gently circumspect in their lyric silences between minimal, falling water like chords and sequences on the two collaborative improvisations on the album, "Counter Transference" and the title track. "Furnished Flats," recorded live at Birdland, is a quicksilver theme by Hall, whose guitar solo glances off quotes from familiar tunes, while Keezer's solo switches the hand roles, the right playing a rhythmic riff while the left solos. "Ouagadoudou" is a long, involved Hall piece filled with intricate interplay leading to an enchanting fade out. The album ends with Hall's limpid acoustic guitar soloing on his contemplative "October Song." In his "Aesthetic Notes" to Mirror, his self-produced debut album (available through www.milesokazaki.com), guitarist Okazaki writes: "I've taken no care whatsoever as to style or genre - there are elements of music from Brazil, Hindustani Classical Music, European Classical Music, Middle Eastern percussion, Jazz, Electronica, Funk, Heavy Metal, Carnatic Music, African Pygmy Music, etc. I am hoping that in combining many things, the things themselves become less relevant than the whole, or possibly even disappear." And miraculously as it may sound, they largely do. Okazaki, the composer-arranger, plays around a lot with various rhythms and pulses, and also with the textures and tones of saxophones and an often prominent bass clarinet, in ensembles with his acoustic and electric guitars, an acoustic or electric bass, and a percussionist who delves into tabla and frame drum. He's organized the fifteen tracks into three suites, each beginning with a short theme and developing across a wide variety of forms, some structured for improvised solos, others through written. Okazaki has an encyclopedic command of guitar styles. He strums funk rhythms and rocks out with wah-wah and whammy bar effects on "Howl," spins out long, lyrical lines like Pat Metheny in one of his more straight-ahead moods on "Chorale," and goes from slinky cool to feedback rage hot on "Volcano." Besides making good use of reedmen in the arrangements, he spotlights them judiciously in solo moments, contrasting the alto saxes of David Binney and Miguel Zenon; eliciting a memorable cameo from tenor saxophonist Chris Potter on "Improvisation," a heraldic piece based on John Coltrane's "Countdown;" and giving Christof Knoche's bass clarinet a fine showcase on "Halfway." Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter play duets at the Blue Note on April 3-8. Miles Okazaki presents music from Mirror, with many of the musicians from the album, at the Jazz Gallery on April 12. SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL BLAIR AND GEORGE KANzler KEELY SMITH TRIBECA PAC/MAY 10 Keely's back at Manhattan Community College next month. She was such a hit at one of Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights in Jazz presentations last year that he's booked her again. Now in her late 70s, Ms. Smith exhibits the zest and vitality of someone half her age. The material? Her primary focus is on the sort of ballads she recorded on those Capitol LPs of old. There'll be some jump tunes, of course - like those she used to do in partnership with onetime hubby Louis Prima. But Keely says she's really a lover at heart. Happily, she retains her distinctive style - and her poker face. PB GONZALO RUBALCABA JAZZ STANDARD/APRIL 17-22 When he burst upon the international jazz scene in the mid-1980s as a 20-something, Rubalcaba was a piano wunderkind from Cuba, so prodigiously talented and technically daunting he was compared to both Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. But he could also be self-indulgent, especially in overly rhapsodic solo moments. In recent years, though, he's put a new emphasis on the rhythms and musical forms of his native Cuba, and playing with such strongly rhythmic fellow Latino musicians as drummer Ignacio Berroa and saxophonist David Sanchez. Here he'll be joined by Michael Rodriguez (trumpet), Yosvany Terry and Matt Brewer (basses) and Francisco Mela (drums). GK MARCUS GOLDHABER MAKOR/APRIL 16 There simply aren't that many straightahead jazz singers emerging onto the scene these days. Goldhaber's a happy exception. The Moment After, his new album on the Fallen Apple label, offers treatments of songs dating from the 20s through the 50s, with not an overdone standard among them. He makes new hay out of two Waller-Razaf collaborations and even does the rarely heard verse on "Lulu's Back in Town." Expect to hear lots more from him in future. Backing him will be pianist Jon Davis, bassist Matt Hughes and drummer Lieven Venken. Look for Marcus, too, every Sunday night at Penang’s Downstairs Room and at Enzo's on May 4. PB DAVID BERKMAN IRIDIUM/APRIL 13 What stands out on David Berkman's albums as a leader on Palmetto Records is his felicitous composing and arranging. They meld seamlessly with his understated but distinctive piano playing to yield tracks that stand out as memorable tunes. Although Berkman isn't a flashy pianist, he knows how to fashion an improvisation with structured detail and plays with a clear, ringing tone. For this gig at Iridium, he's leading a quartet with tenor and soprano saxophonist Jimmy Greene, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Ted Poor. The same rhythm section, with perhaps a horn player, will join Berkman the next night to form a quartet at Kitano. GK FRANCESCA TANKSLEY FAZOLI SALON/APRIL 27 She's played in groups led by Billy Harper, Howard Johnson, Fathead Newman, Melba Liston, Erica Lindsay, Slide Hampton, Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan. She's represented the U.S. on performance tours under State Department auspices. She's been profiled in jazz books. She's traded licks with Marian McPartland on NPR and gigged at Carnegie Hall with Dizzy. She's won scholarships for her own musicianship, led numerous workshops around the country and taught at the New School. Our only complaint: she's recorded far too little under her own name. PB MELISSA STYLIANOU BIRDLAND/APRIL 3 She's already won acclaim on the Canadian scene, playing festivals across that country and twice earning nominations there as Jazz Vocalist of the Year. Her third CD, Styling Down (SBM) has just been released to considerable praise. An appearance in her new hometown - ours - has also raised her profile. With her at Birdland will be current confreres Jamie Reynolds (piano), Chris Lightcap (bass) and Rodney Green (drums). She will also perform at Bar Next Door on April 16 and Mannhatta Lounge on April 24th. By the way, Melissa also curates jazz nights at the Perch Cafe, 365 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope. PB JEFF "TAIN" WATTS CUTTING ROOM/APRIL 19 One of the most explosive percussionists on the jazz scene today, Watts has been heard on recordings by Betty Carter, Geri Allen and McCoy Tyner, among others. It's his drums that legitimize the Branford Marsalis Quartet's tributes to the great John Coltrane classic quartet, through his evocation of the rhythmic mastery of the late Elvin Jones. Watts teams with redoubtable bassist Christian McBride, pianist David Kikoski (who's also done stellar work with another titanic drummer, Roy Haynes) and reedman Marcus Strickland on his new album, Folk's Songs. And don't miss the mysterious Juan Tainish's vocals. GK FELIX SWING BAND FERRO'S/APRIL 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 These cats are definitely swing-minded: a bunch of talented musicians (sometimes a dozen or more) led by pianist Felix Endico. On various of their Felix and All the Cats CDs available through Amazon, you can enjoy the solid work of vets like trombonist Eddie Bert, clarinetist Sol Yaged, bassist Leonard Gaskin and drummer Tootsie Bean. Usually it's a quintet, though. They're most often heard during Sunday brunches at Ferro's, located inside the Hotel Kimberly, with the music kicking off at 1:00 PM. They're also playing the Fifty Coins Restaurant in Ridgefield, CT on April 12 and 26 - and at Tina's Villa in Hawthorne, NY on April 20. PB CHRIS CHEEK WITH PAUL MOTIAN BAND VILLAGE VANGUARD/APRIL 3-8 Since coming to the Apple in the early 90s from his native St. Louis, saxophonist Cheek has put out four Fresh Sound albums (the latest, Blues Cruise, features pianist Brad Mehldau) and been super-active as a sideman, working with large ensembles (e.g. Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra), Latin bands, singers (Luciana Souza), guitarists (Wolfgang Muspiel and Freddie Bryant) and, for almost a decade and a half, drummer Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, with which he's recorded six discs. He'll be featured in that Motian band, along with fellow reedman Tony Malaby, guitarists Steve Cardenas and Ben Monder, bassist Ben Street and violinist Matt Manieri. GK RAFI MALKIEL SMALLS/APRIL 26 Nineteen musicians are heard on Rafi's impressive debut album, My Island, but his trombone is the standout voice. Israeli by birth, he's played Broadway shows, film soundtracks, overseas festivals and a bunch of concerts around town. His primary interest these days lies in Latin sounds. Catch him all over town this month. Along with the Smalls gig, his sextet plays the Makor on April 5 and the Brick Theater in Brooklyn on April 19. He'll also play with Folklore Urbano (at SOB's in Soho on April 20 and LaGuardia PAC in Queens on April 27) - and with Cachimba every Wednesday at Plan B in the East Village. PB JAZZ IN JERSEY BY FRED McINTOSH SONNY ROLLINS NJPAC/APRIL13 Without doubt, he's one of the few remaining giants of jazz's golden age. Rollins recorded his own composition "Airegin" in 1954 - with Miles. Other long-established standards like "Doxy," "Oleo," "St. Thomas" and "Valse Hot" are his, too. Over the decades, he's partnered on records with Coleman Hawkins (his original influence), Babs Gonzalez, Bud Powell, Monk, the MJQ, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Diz, Coltrane, Blakey, Oliver Nelson, and numerous others. He remains one of our most formidable improvisers, whose work reflects virility, imagination, subtlety and humor. His recorded legacy is vast with his most recent CD being Sonny, Please. JEFF BARNHART BICKFORD THEATRE/APRIL 9 Pianist Barnhart pays not-so-solemn tribute to ragtime pioneer Scott Joplin during this appearance, timed to mark the 90th anniversary of Joplin's passing. An expert on early 20th Century musical styles (as well as a composer, arranger and teacher of note), Jeff is a member of such aggregations as the Galvanized Jazz Band, the Draga-Vax Connection, the Titan Hot Seven, We Three - and Ivory and Gold, a partnership with his flautist wife, Anne. He's also performed in duet situations with fellow striders Ralph Sutton, Neville Dickie and John Sheridan. In My Solitude (Arbors Records) displays the full range of Professor Barnhart's keyboard talents. RALPH PETERSON CECIL'S/APRIL 20 AND 21 The sextet that drummer/teacher/composer Peterson will lead over includes Zakai Curtis (piano), Luques Curtis (bass), Igmar Thomas (trombone), Donald Lee (tenor saxophone) and Tia Fuller (emerging as a real talent on alto). As a leader, Ralph fosters dialogue and interplay within his groups, reflecting the influence of forebears like Blakey and Elvin Jones. As a sideman, he's worked with leaders such as Walter Davis Jr., Tom Harrell and David Sanchez. But he's perhaps best known for his own Fo'tet, a group whose recordings - The Fo'tet Augmented (Criss Cross) being the latest - have featured talents like clarinetist Don Byron and vibraphonist Bryan Carrott. The Fo'tet Augmented (Criss Cross) is his own most recent CD. TOMMY DORSEY ORCHESTRA SOUTH ORANGE PAC/APRIL 28 TD led one of the most acclaimed of Swing Era big bands, generating hit after hit during the 30s and 40s. His masterful trombone playing (said to have inspired Sinatra's vocal phrasing), a passle of great Sy Oliver arrangements and the presence of stars like Berigan, Shavers and DeFranco were all factors. The whole story's well told in Peter Levinson's recent Dorsey bio. Trombonist Buddy Morrow has kept all this going with a touring aggregation playing a highly varied repertoire: Dixieland stomps, some R&B moments and loads of swing. A Collector’s Choice reissue called "Buddy Morrow on RCA" offers a preview of what they’ll do at SOPAC. THE JUNGLE RETURNS TO THE CITY by Paul Blair Duke Ellington won early prominence during the late 20s when his jungle music band was resident at a single Harlem club over a period of several years. By contrast, Pierre Dørge's ten-member New Jungle Orchestra has earned widespread acclaim by never staying in one place for very long. Over the past decade or so, NJO has dispensed joy from bandstands in Accra, Adelaide, Athens, Valencia, Vancouver, Bratislava, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Shanghai, Saskatoon, Siberia, Hanoi, Tasmania and a few other locales not renowned as jazz hotspots. For several years, they served as the official Danish State Ensemble - and were, two years ago, the first jazz ensemble to play in Copenhagen's marvelous new opera house (with Yusef Lateef as their guest artist). Mind you, this is no casually thrown together pickup group. Three members - saxophonist Morten Carlsen, trombone player Kenneth Agerholm and keyboardist Irene Becker - were actually part of the very first NJO outfit to record for Steeplechase back in 1982. Here's who else comprises today's NJO: trumpeters Kasper Tranberg and Gunnar Halle, saxophonist Jakob Mygind, bassist Thommy Andersson, percussionist Ayi Solomon and drummer Martin Andersen. Now 61, Pierre Dørge is a worthy heir to the legacies of Ellington and Mingus. A truly distinctive guitar voice, he's played free music with saxophonist John Tchicai and swing with violinist Svend Asmussen. He's absorbed the harmonies, rhythms and textures of distant spots he's visited - for instance, Bali, the Balkans, the Middle East and the West African nation of The Gambia - and woven them into compositions which veer unexpectedly between wild abandon and simple beauty. Over the years, he's also attracted the kind of musicians able to play what he's been imagining. This month's U.S. tour enjoys financial support from the Danish Arts Council. And Pierre himself won a life grant from the Danish State as a composer. Yet he's definitely no one's idea of a bureaucrat. Here's another example of a highly mixed professional resume: Irene Becker's. She earned an M.A. from the University of Copenhagen with special emphasis on Ornette Coleman's music; was subsequently a student of Karl Berger and Nana Vasconcelos at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock (and studied composition with Bob Brookmeyer); played with Tchicai, Marilyn Mazur and Johnny Dyani; and currently undertakes projects with dancers, poets and a celebrated Siberian vocalist. The NJO's last swing through New York, back in 1999, resulted in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Columbia University, along with the live recording of a Birdland gig with hordes of U.N. diplomats in attendance. But NJO isn't a group you're likely to catch on MTV (where they'd be a sensation) or see profiled in the pages of Newsweek. Hearing them requires a bit of effort on the listener's part. With the exception of three 1982-85 Steeplechase albums (New Jungle Orchestra, Brikama and Even the Moon Is Dancing, all of which still delight), just about all of their recordings have appeared on even smaller indie labels like Olufsen, Marco Polo, Da Capo, Stunt and Ilk. There isn't a loser among them, though. With its sparkling soloists, punchy ensembles, vivid tonal colors, rhythmic drive and generally high spirits, NJO music is exotic and sophisticated, yet readily accessible and always engaging. It's often wildly funny as well. Finally, here's how a presumably objective Scandinavian reviewer summed up one of their recent concert appearances: "I was weeping. The experience was as beautiful as that! It was like being embraced by the whole human race, like watching a baby being born, like being told the meaning of life and being too enraptured to worry about having to remember it. Fantastic, it was quite simply fantastic!" New Jungle Orchestra plays at Joe's Pub on April 10-11, with one 9:30 PM set each evening. PLAYING MINGUS' MUSIC, ON MINGUS' BASS by Robert Abel "Yes, this was Charles' own instrument," says Russian-born bassist Boris Kozlov. "It was built in 1927 by Heimlich Rogh. And while it wasn't created as a top-of-the-line bass, there was something about it that Charles really loved: a combination of its tone and its projective abilities. It's what I play with the Mingus Dynasty group every Tuesday night at Iridium. Funny thing is, it's been nearly destroyed four or five times but then rebuilt at David Gage's shop downtown. And yet it still retains those admirable qualities." Boris Kozlov will be one of numerous musicians taking part in a Jazz at Lincoln Center presentation of Mingus' monumental extended work "Epitaph" later this month. Kozlov remembers his participation in the last such performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam eight years ago. Sharing the bass-playing role with him this time will be the Philadelphia native Christian McBride, who, notes Mingus' widow Sue, "spearheaded the whole idea of bringing the new version of Epitaph to the public". He's been an indefatigable supporter of the whole project, she adds. Conductor Gunther Schuller has compared Charles Mingus' Epitaph to works by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Igor Stravinsky and Charles Ives; and when that earlier version was performed in 1989, critics hailed it as "the greatest jazz event of the decade." Since then, thanks to the efforts of musicologist Andrew Homzy, missing measures from Mingus' monumental composition have been found and the piece has been restored to completeness. The newly restored and resurrected version will premier in New York City on April 25 at J@LC's Frederick P. Rose Hall under the baton of Schuller, directing the thirty-one musicians of the Charles Mingus Orchestra. The piece will also be performed later in the year in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Chicago, with all performances keyed to a celebration of Mingus' 85th birth year. The Mingus Orchestra features such talents as Howard Johnson, Jack Walrath, Craig Handy, Jaleel Shaw, Ronnie Cuber, Ku-umbra Frank Lacy, Conrad Herwig, Kenny Rampton, Jonathan Blake, Orrin Evans, Abraham Burton, Wayne Escoffrey and Donny McCaslin. Mrs. Mingus, who's written a marvelous memoir of her years with Charles entitled Tonight at Noon, compares the reconstruction of Epitaph to a "wonderful detective story, which would make a great film." She says that because Charles had such staggering medical bills in his last years (he suffered from an incurable form of Lou Gehrig's disease), they sold three pieces of music, including some parts of the 500 page, 4,000 measure score of Epitaph. "Whether he did this with mischief in mind or just to deepen the mystery of Epitaph," she muses, "who can say?" It took Andrew Homzy, a Montreal-based musician and scholar, almost three years to piece the puzzle of Epitaph together. His searches included music in Mingus' personal archives, where compositions were scattered "willy-nilly," Mrs. Mingus says, and in the microfiche collection of Mingus' music given to the New York Public Library by the Library of Congress. Homzy found music which was "hard to identify," Mrs. Mingus notes. "Maybe it belonged to Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, or to something called Inquisition or In Question, depending on Mingus' notes and moods." This "huge trove of music" is now being computerized, Mrs. Mingus said, calling it "a Herculean task" and "a first in jazz" which will make the score available for researchers, music libraries and jazz educators. Epitaph was so named, Mrs. Mingus says, because Charles said it would never be performed in his lifetime. The composition encompasses a whole range of jazz styles and historical references, including those familiar to Mingus fans: blues, gospel, echoes of Ellington and other jazz innovators, and Mexican folk music. Wynton Marsalis has noted that musicians find some of Epitaph challenging "because Mingus deliberately wrote some passages out of range. Like Stravinsky, he liked the sound of struggle." Boris Kozlov's own arrangements for the Mingus Big Band have brought him critical praise (especially noted is his arrangement of "Tensions") and Ms. Mingus remarks "he's a treat to have in the band. He has unique and wonderful voicing, he's thorough, and he's a marvelous arranger. He does so many things so well, we know he is going to make headlines." Kozlov, born in 1967 in Moscow, is five years older than McBride. He began his musical career studying piano, but also assayed the trumpet and tuba before turning to electric bass while in college, and then to acoustic bass shortly thereafter. Mrs. Mingus said he was brought to the attention of the Mingus organization by trumpeter Alex Sipiagin. "We were playing in London at Ronnie Scott's and needed a bass player on short notice. Alex recommended Boris, with whom he had played in European venues, and he turned out to be a great discovery." Though comparatively young (and recently a father), Kozlov has already developed an impressive discography beyond his work with the Mingus groups. Among other notables, he has appeared with Sipiagin, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Terry Gibbs, Buddy De Franco and John Blake. He has also played with the European Broadcasting Union Jazz Orchestra and has, from time to time, led his own groups. He'll return to Kitano in early May as a member of Lew Tabackin's trio. If you want to see the bass that Charles Mingus played when he was performing, all you have to do is take in any local Kozlov set. Mrs. Mingus says: "he loves it, and he plays it." He'll be playing it April 25. In addition to the Rose Hall concert, J@LC celebrates the Charles Mingus legacy at Dizzy's with appearances by the Mingus Dynasty group on April 17 & 22, the Mingus Orchestra on April 18-19 and the Mingus Big Band on April 20-21. JAZZWOMEN! BY ELZY KOLB What a difference a decade makes Vocalist Maucha Adnet continues to feel the impact of the ten years she spent working with Antonio Carlos Jobim. "It was a learning experience forever," she says. "You keep learning from that time. I feel privileged to have been chosen to be in that band." Maucha joins drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, pianist Helio Alves, trumpeter Claudio Roditi, bassist Eddie Gomez, and singer/guitarist Paulo Jobim (son of the legendary Brazilian composer) at Dizzy's on April 24-29, for "Samba Jazz and Music of Jobim." "I worked with Paulo for ten years, and it's good to have a chance to do a few songs with him after all this time," Maucha says. In addition to compositions by the senior Jobim, they'll mix in originals and other material, and celebrate the release of Duduka and Helio's new CD, Songs from the Last Century (Blue Toucan). And there may be some surprises. "We may get new ideas from the rehearsals, that always happens," Maucha says. "When we really listen to everybody playing, you get ideas about lines, ways of handling changes. This kind of jazz is very open to that. Sometimes a song you think sounds fantastic doesn't, and one you don't expect much from is great." Make your reservations early - Maucha packed the house last time she played Dizzy's. Tenors, anyone? Meilana McLean Gillard was so much in love with the sound of the tenor sax that when she they tried to get her to play alto in her school band, "I threw a fit," she says. Though she was just 11 years old, "I knew it wasn't right. It didn't look right, I knew the shape of the neck wasn't the same as what I'd seen. I knew it wouldn't sound right." Meilana got her tenor, although she was so small it practically came down to her feet. Three years later, her band director gave her a Stan Getz recording of "Body and Soul." "That song was my epiphany that I was going to play jazz," she says. "I knew it then and I haven't changed my mind since then." A New Yorker since 2003, Meilana stays busy, playing with Charli Persip, the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, and others, plus leading her own bands and writing music that she hopes to record soon. "I'm inspired by anything and everything," she says. "You have to experience life to create music. If four walls are all you see, then your music is going to sound like that." Meilana and her Quintet Nouveau play at Puppet's in Park Slope on April 18. Benefit beat Singer Jane Monheit, bassist Louise Rogers, the New York Voices foursome and clarinetist/saxophonist Paquito d'Rivera and others raise money for the Alzheimer's Association at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse on April 12. For ticket info, visit www.alznyc.org/_events/07/jazz.asp … Nancy Wilson headlines at a Spring Fundraising Gala at the South Orange Performing Art Center on April 14; it's a benefit in support of this new venue's impressive outreach efforts. Consult www.sopac.vpsland.com for particulars ... Guitarist Amanda Monaco and her Lascivious Biddies band mates will take part in a fund-raising walk for MS research on April 22. Amanda, who was diagnosed with MS in 2005, and her team hope to raise $50,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Make a donation or sign up at www.biddies4ever.com/walk to walk with the Biddies at Amanda has a busy month planned: She's also celebrating the release of Intention (Innova) with the Amanda Monaco 4 at Barbes on April 11. So sorry … To hear about the loss of Queva Lutz, owner of the 55 Bar. Over the years, she presented night after night of exciting, eclectic music. Those wanting to share memories can do so at queva@55bar.com. Condolences to her family and her musical community. Scene Movin' on up: Tessa Souter sings at the Blue Note on April 2 ... Vocalist Claudia Acuna will be at Dizzy's on April 3-8 ... Mary Foster Conklin sings at Mannahatta on April 3 … Percussionist Annette A. Aguilar appears with her quartet at the Garden Café in Inwood on April 5; they're at Camaradas el Barrio on April 18 … Pianist Roberta Piket celebrates the release of Love and Beauty (Thirteenth Note) at Kitano on April 5 ... Pianist Rachel Z plays music from Dept. of Good and Evil (Savoy) at the Jazz Standard on April 10-11 … Hilary Gardner sings with Mike Longo's State of the Art Jazz Ensemble at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium at the Baha'i Center on April 10 … Trio Vento with Sarah Koval on clarinet and Janet Grice on bassoon play the Music at Noon series at Grace Church in White Plains on April 11 … Pianist Anat Fort will be at the BAM Café on April 13 ... Catch Marlene VerPlanck at St. Michael's Parish House on April 15 and at Eighty-eights on April 28 ... Keyboardist Hiromi and her band Sonicbloom celebrate the release of Time Control (Telarc) at the Blue Note on April 17-22 ... Kendra Shank sings Kirk Nurock at Sweet Rhythm on April 19; "crowd sonics" will be part of the fun, with audience participation encouraged. It's not your standard sing-along, since a Nurock audience usually includes more singers than "civilians" … Pianist Renee Rosnes plays the Rubin Museum of Art on April 20 ... Dianne Reeves sings at Dizzy's on April 20-21 … Don't miss the International Women in Jazz Festival at St. Peter's on April 20-22; the schedule includes "Queen of Hang" Sheila Anderson and singer Ann Hampton Calloway on April 21; vocalists Kate McGarry and Carla Cook will be on hand on April 22 ... Singer Amy Cervini celebrates the release of ACQ (Orange Grove) at 55 Bar on April 23 … Diane Moser's Composers Big Band plays the compositions of Mark Haviland at Trumpet's on April 25. Heard Keep an ear out for youthful saxophonist/composer/singer Grace Kelly as she swings down Every Road I Walked (Pazz) ... Karoline Strassmayer plays alto, flute, and clarinet with the WDR Big Band on Joe Zawinul's Brown Street (Heads Up) … Cellist Lenae Harris, violinist Nora Friedman, and flutist/vocalist Monet appear on The Rooftop: A Live Shot … See and hear violinist Karen Briggs, keyboardist Patrice Rushen, percussionist Sheila E. and others on Stanley Clarke's DVD Night School (Heads Up) ... Bronx-born pianist/singer Janice Friedman is Swingin' for the Ride (Janika Musik). HOT FLASHES BY PAUL BLAIR JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH Frankly, we don't need no stinking JAM - admittedly a catchy acronym - proclaimed each year by a federally affiliated institution in order to remind us how valuable this music is, how central to our very lives. But the Smithsonian has done it again, and this is the month. Check www.smithsonianjazz.org for word on which three state governors have issued proclamations thus far; for info on receiving free copies of some nifty color posters (hurry, just 250,000 available!) and a Louis Armstrong study kit geared to new listeners; for a downloadable calendar of jazz societies and April jazz events around the country; and for useful hints on how we can all spur interest in jazz during non-JAM months. By the way, they've recruited Carlos Santana, Chris Botti and Herb Alpert to record JAM public service announcements for use on radio stations across the nation. We'd have chosen James Moody, Bob Dorough and Matt Wilson instead. FESTIVAL WATCH This year's Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium Festival (April 4-29) is the eighth in a rewarding annual series put together by an amalgam of musicians, venue owners, community-based organizations and many of the borough's most enthusiastic jazz supporters. The 2007 lineup includes stellar players like Randy Weston, Bob Cunningham and Houston Person, along with a host of younger lions. Among the venues where the good stuff will be played are Borough Hall, the Brooklyn Historical Society, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Center, Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church and clubs like Jazz 966, Savy's, Solomon's Porch and the Sugar Hill Restaurant. The whole story's posted at www.centralbrooklynjazz.blogspot.com. Check 'em out, check 'em out ... Equally worthwhile are the events making up the Women In Jazz Festival 2007, taking place at Saint Peter's Church (April 20-22) under the auspices of International Women in Jazz, the Midtown Arts Common and the Jazz Ministry at Saint Peter's. Components include sets by Ann Hampton Callaway, Kate McGarry, Carla Cook and several other groups, along with award presentations, workshops for kids, jams and a photo exhibition. Consult Lynne Mueller of the Jazz Ministry for more information: 917-207-4953 ... Brazilian music by some of that nation’s most celebrated artists takes center stage at Birdland this month – April 17-21 – during the course of a five-night event being billed by producer Pat Philips as the “Bossabrazil Festival.” On April 17-18, it’ll be pianist-composer-arranger Cesar Camargo Mariano teaming up with guitarist Romero Lubambo, with singer Leny Andrade and saxist Paquito d’Rivera (who’s Cuban by birth, of course). On the following three evenings, Birdland welcomes famed guitarist Dori Caymmi and the wildly popular singer-composer Joyce, with backup by a trio under Kenny Werner’s leadership ... Among highlights at the 27th Cape May Jazz Festival (over the April 20-22 weekend) is a tribute to Wes Montgomery in which guitarists Pat Martino, Teddy Royal, Bob DeVos and Brian Betz will play prominent roles. Also on the bill this year are Terence Blanchard, Omar Sosa, the Charles Fambrough All-Star Group with Craig Handy, Maurice Brown, George Colligan, Mike Clark; Buck Hill, Bootsie Barnes, Everett Greene, Sharon Clarke, George Rabbai, Joanna Pascale with Aaron Graves, Eric Frazier, Sherry Wilson Butler, Chris Bergson, Frank Bey, Edgardo Cintron, Bernard Purdie with Hudson River Rats, Sila and the AfroFunk Experience, and Barbara D. Mills Gospel & Blues. The whole shebang takes place at several venues around Cape May - the Convention Hall, the Grand Hotel, the Victorian Gardens, Carney's, Cabanas, the Congress Hall Boiler Room and Café Promenade, with free buses to shuttle festival-goers between them. They'll also be complimentary workshops in guitar, saxophone, percussion and voice on Saturday morning. This festival brings enthusiasts back to the Jersey seaside year after year. Visit www.CapeMayJazz.org for details and call 609-884-7200 for tickets. ALSO WORTH CATCHING Reedman Steve Wilson at the Jazz Standard (April 26-29) ... a four-night Wes Montgomery Tribute at the Standard (April 12-15) featuring Peter Bernstein, Slide Hampton, Jeremy Pelt and five other talents, including drummer Killer Ray Appleton, who used to play with Wes ... pianists Roberta Piket and Mike Melvoin at Kitano (April 5 and April 20-21, respectively) ... the Mahavishnu Project at Makor (April 21) ... tenor master Sal Mosca celebrating his 80th birthday at Birdland (April 12) ... the same quartet heard on guitarist John Abercrombie's new ECM album at Birdland (April 11-14) ... Helen Sung on piano with the Wolfgang Schalk quartet at Cornelia Street Cafe on April 5 ... guitarist Rory Stuart at the same venue on April 27 ... singer Kim Kalesti at Mannahatta Jazz (April 10) ... guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg at Iridium (April 6) ... an exposure of Firehouse 12 Records talent at the Jazz Gallery with percussionist Tyshawn Sorey and trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum spotlighted (April 26 and 27 respectively) ... alto saxophonist Loren Stillman at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope (April 11) ... guitarist David Gilmore's quartet with Marcus Strickland at the Jazz gallery (April 21) ... pianist Matthew Shipp in a solo recital at Merkin Hall (April 14) ... vibist Joe Locke, trumpeter Lew Soloff and bassist Francois Moutin at the Knickerbocker (April 19-21) ... and Wycliffe Gordon doing a kind of one-man-band thing at a Sidney Bechet Society concert (April 9), at which he'll play not only trombone but also trumpet, tuba, euphonium, piano, bass and didgeridoo, as well as sing; pianist Eric Reed and bassist Jay Leonhart will also be on hand, in the highly unlikely event that Wycliffe runs out of either ideas or chops. See www.SidneyBechet.org for details. jazz anecdote by bill crow Bill Crow's books "Jazz Anecdotes" and "From Birdland to Broadway" can be found at your favorite bookstore, and at www.billcrowbass.com along with many interesting photos and links. When record producer George Avakian helped to produce the first New Orleans Jazz Festival in October 1955, he was ceremoniously given a proclamation and the key to the city. In 2002 at the "Satchmofest" in New Orleans, George was the surprised recipient of a second proclamation and key to the city. Bandleader David Ostwald was sitting in the same pew with George that morning. George whispered, "Gee, I suppose I have to get up and say something." David told him, "Just say, 'Thank you... it's my second key, but I guess they changed the locks since 1956.'" Don Hahn told me about a friend of his who had a gig at a club in one of the outer boroughs that paid a hundred a night. The owner had fallen behind on the guy's pay, and he went to see about getting his money. The owner told him, "I can't afford you at these prices. I've found another guy who'll do the job for less money." Don's friend said, "You mean you're going to not pay him less than you're not paying me!"