Previous Issues Current Issue   WINNING SPINS BY GEORGE KANZLER Globalization isn't just a socio-economic phenomenon these days. It's increasingly affecting jazz, our most American of art forms, too. For proof, consider this month's Winning Spins pair. One is an album project combining musicians from an Eastern European country who have been heavily influenced by Asian and Arabic music with American jazz musicians. Meanwhile, the other is an orchestral album led by a Canadian with New York-based musicians playing jazz with Brazilian and Afro-Cuban foundations. On both albums, the composer/arranger/leaders bring together various facets of jazz with rhythms, melodies, harmonies and scales associated with, on the one hand, Romania and, on the other, Latin America. On The Romanian-American Jazz Suite (Jazzway Records), credited to American soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome and Romanian pianist Lucian Ban as co-leaders, there's a folk and chamber jazz flavor provided by a sextet that also includes Romanian guitarist Sorin Romanescu and bassist Arthur Balogh plus American baritone saxophonist/bass clarinetist Alex Harding and drummer Willard Dyson. Ban contributes three pieces: an original based on a Romanian Asiatic/Arabic scale in an odd meter, "Danube Stroll"; a dance-folk song given a funk-flavored groove, "Transylvanian Dance"; and a Romanian Christmas song, "Carol." Newsome's contributions include "Prelude", a slow chant on a pentatonic scale; "Colinda", another adaptation of a Romanian carol applying Wayne Shorter's "harmonic variation" technique to the repeating melody; and the two-part "Bucharest" employing a Romanian diatonic scale with "modal progressions." "Part One" is a slow, 4/4 march, while "Part Two" a lively, gypsy-tinged dance piece is in 7/4. Dividing and ending the compositions are improvised tracks evoking a folk music feeling by the co-leaders, the first in trio with guitar, the second as a duo. Despite the daunting musical descriptions, the tracks are vividly engaging as reflections of both another culture's music and inventive jazz. Each track has its own unique flavor, achieved through specific textures and sequences, including choice of solo voices. Ban's piano has a spare authority; Romanescu's guitar possesses an ethereal tone suggesting he's listened to Pat Metheny; Newsome can conjure a folkish, piping tone or a deeper jazz resonance on soprano, all with very little vibrato; and Harding's baritone covers a wide tonal spectrum from gruff and dirty to suede-smooth. On "Transylvanian Dance", baritone and soprano engage in lengthening trades flowing into polyphony; and on "Carol" the soprano's rubato opening is shadowed by bass clarinet obligati. "Bucharest, Part Two" dances with gypsy fervor in solos that gnaw at phrases (soprano), chop up riffs (guitar) and take off with febrile energy (baritone). It's an album full of rewarding surprises, a jazz delight. On Felicidade (CAP), arranger Gary Morgan deploys a kaleidoscope of orchestral strategies and a veritable cornucopia of tones and timbres, instrumental combinations and colors with his PanAmericana big band, which includes French horns as well as the usual trumpets and trombones, a reed section that doubles frequently on a variety of woodwinds, and percussion including copious deep drums as well as a most apposite use of the triangle. Sometimes all the rich episodic movement and suite-like intricacies of his arrangements come close to being a surfeit of riches - until he hits you with just the right shot of jazz adrenaline to move things right along. Morgan's orchestral palette is panoramic; he's learned a lot from Gil Evans and Thad Jones, as well as Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra. It's an approach that applies highly sophisticated modern jazz orchestration to Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythmic settings and compositions. Five numbers are Morgan originals; five others were composed by Brazilian masters. The classic "Black Orpheus" Jobim title piece is treated in both slow and faster tempos, as in the film, with Terry Goss's baritone sax first etching the theme over a brass choir, then sharing it with the ensemble as the samba beat heats up, French horns swooping in cinematically. The Cuban son style and clave beat of Morgan's "Because Why?" eschew a montuno groove in favor of elaborate horn and woodwind section exchanges, shout choruses and kicking brass. Richly textured, multiple, weaving ensemble lines come at you in layers on Jovino Santos Netos' "Batuki di Bangu", with distinct Brazilian percussive accents. Muted brass and flutes, after soaring French horns, bring a pensive feel to Luiz Eca's "Reflexos." That triangle emphasizes the light rhythm of Itibere Zwarg's "Pedra Vermelha" with its flutes lead and piano concerto feel. But then every one of the ten pieces has its own distinctive, idiomatic feel, with Morgan's own "Moragatu" - a play on the Brazilian rhythm called maracatu - a whirlwind sonic tour of perspicacious orchestral possibilities that is a central highlight. There's even his "Celtic Echoes Theme", a blend of the title-suggested melodies and Cuban son; and "Dream City", his bolero in tribute to a Paul Klee painting. Finishing off the album is "Viajando Pelo Brasil" (Traveling Across Brazil), a punchy, fanfare-ish setting of a Hermeto Pascoal classic. Sam Newsome and Lucian Ban bring their Romanian-American Jazz Project sextet to the Jazz Standard on July 1. Gary Morgan's PanAmerica ensemble celebrates the release of its new CD at Iridium on July 23. SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL BLAIR AND George Kanzler RUDY LAWLESS LENOX LOUNGE/JULY 4 AND 5 He's Harlem jazz history embodied. Lawless grew up near Amsterdam and W. 159th, within blocks of where drummers Sid Catlett, Denzil Best, Slick Jones and Jimmy Crawford all lived. He recalls that a neighborhood pal named Jackie McLean helped him set up his first drumset - and that Art Blakey once dropped by to offer percussion tips. By 16, he was already touring with a band. These days, he may be as well-known in Japan as he is in his hometown. Included in his group at this uptown appearance will be pianist Lenore Raphael, with whom he teamed for five nights recently at Dizzy's. PB TERRY WALDO SMALLS/JULY 30 Not many current jazzmen can boast of early successes on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour broadcasts. But Waldo can. This pianist is a master of the ragtime and stride styles. In fact, he wrote a definitive book (This Is Ragtime) on that classic keyboard style, and later hosted an NPR series on ragtime traditions. He's played tuba in an Army band, led a group called the Gotham City Stompers, appeared in "One Mo' Time," toured with Leon Redbone, delighted noontime crowds in Bryant Park and cut albums for specialty labels like Fat Cat and Stomp Off. For a visual preview, catch his YouTube performance of a tune called, uh, "Proctology." PB DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA BLUE NOTE/JULY 1-6 A decade ago, after the death of Duke Ellington's son Mercer, the Duke Ellington Orchestra had hit a nadir. At that juncture, its only justification for survival seemed to be commercial (like a society band, two editions could be playing at two different locations on a single night), in short, a "ghost" band in the worst possible sense of the word. But now Paul Mercer Ellington, Mercer's son and Duke's grandson, has taken over the helm and made it ducal again. The rejuvenated band, with that incomparable Ellington book containing such classics as "Cottontail," "Solitude," "Satin Doll" and literally thousands of others, should turn this club Ellington blue for a week. GK SHERYL BAILEY GARAGE/JULY 18 Enthusiastic audiences seem to push this player to new musical heights. That's apparent on Live @ The Fat Cat, a disc which captures her over the course of two 2005 nights at that downtown club. And that's why she invited fans and friends to join her last month at Nola Studios on W. 57th for the recording of her sixth disc (this one for MelBay) as leader. The trio format, with organist and drummer aboard, is ideal for a guitarist whose style will remind many of Grant Green's and Pat Martino's best work. Also noteworthy are the tunes she writes. They wear especially well over time, as do her albums. Catch her also at 55 Bar on July 9. PB PIERS LAWRENCE KITANO/JULY 3 Stolen Moments is the title of guitarist Lawrence's debut CD, one that's won him loads of airplay on jazz radio around the country. Contributing to a series of solid grooves on tracks like Sonny Rollins' "Pent-Up House," Bird's "Donna Lee," the title tune by Oliver Nelson and a catchy Jaco Pastorious number called "Reza" are pianist Chuck Fowler, bassist Jim Hankins and drummer Sir Earl Grice. It's the same foursome that will play this Kitano date. Look for them, too, on July 19 at Sugar Bar, the Ashford & Simpson boîte on W. 72nd St. By the way, Piers hosts online broadcasts of his own on Tribeca Radio. PB URI CAINE VILLAGE VANGUARD/JULY 1-6 Although pianist Caine probably won't include a hip hop d.j.turntable scratcher for his trio gig at this venerable temple of straightahead jazz, he still might delve into the compositions of Gustav Mahler, the German classical composer, whose work Caine has recorded with a d.j. Caine grew up in Philadelphia and has played with that city's boppers and hard boppers. Yet he's also as comfortable with innovation as he is with tradition, whether it be jazz or classical. His latest CD on Winter & Winter, The Classical Variations, is a compilation of his jazzy experiments - some would say deconstructions - of classical music. GK ALEX SIPIAGIN CACHACA/JULY 25-27 Sipiagin has already travelled far. When he first heard jazz at fifteen, the music was tough to get hold of in his Russian hometown. Less than a decade later, he was touring the U.S. with an ensemble of promising young Russian jazzers. He placed well in a Monk Institute trumpet competition, moved to NYC in 1991 and was soon playing regularly in groups led by Gil Goldstein, George Gruntz, Bob Moses and Michael Brecker. These days, he's most often heard with Dave Holland's big band and several Mingus outfits - and on a series of superb Criss Cross releases. Astonishing technique never gets in the way of his fine solo ideas. PB JOHN COLIANNI BARGEMUSIC/JULY 10 That talented pianist backing Les Paul on Mondays at Iridium? It's Colianni, whose c.v. also includes a lengthy stint in Lionel Hampton's big band, some time as part of Woody Allen's group and nearly five years backing Mel Torme. Colianni grew up in the Washington area, honing his keyboard chops while working with the very best musicians thereabouts. Those skills are on fine displayed through a series of recordings, including three on the Concord label. At BargeMusic, he'll lead a quintet that includes two guitars. Look for him, too, doing one or two brunch gigs a month - the 6th and 20th in July - at The Garage in the Village. PB CHUCK MACKINNON CORNELIA STREET CAFE/JULY 18 A mainstay on the San Francisco scene in the 90s, this trumpeter's now Brooklyn-based - that is, when he's not somewhere else arranging for or playing with pop stars like Jon Mayer and Norah Jones. But the aural evidence on his just-released CD New Transmission (for the imaginatively named Krispytone label) suggests that no-fuss neo-bebop remains his first love. We really like this one. Here his five-member Maxtet group will include a pair of talented hornmen also present on the recording: Doug Yates (bass clarinet and alto) and Kenny Brooks (tenor), along with organist Brian Charette and drummer George Schuller. Chuck also plays at Fat Cat on July 11. PB RUSSELL MALONE DIZZY'S/JULY 8-13 A gig by guitarist Russell Malone is always rewarding and fun. Malone played for extended periods with two of the most entertaining peroformers on the jazz scene today, Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall, and like them he knows how to please and connect with audiences, as well as lead a band. He also knows his way around jazz guitar. His prepossessing technique allows him to range through the instrument's jazz history at will, not to mention delve into the deep blues of his native South. His quartet at Dizzy's includes pianist Martin Bejerano, bassist Tassili Bond, and drummer Jonathan Blake. GK JAZZ IN JERSEY BY SHEILA ANDERSON CATHERINE RUSSELL NEWARK MUSEUM/JULY 31 Dusky and soulful, yet touchingly vulnerable, Catherine Russell's voice radiates interpretive power as she launches fearlessly into each tune she sings. With her wide range of material - shimmying through a barrel-house stomper, channeling 50s R&B, dragging her weary heart through some torchy juke joint number, or kicking up her heels honky-tonk style - Ms. Russell can stand comparison to many of the greats who preceded her. Talent seems to run in the family. She's the daughter of bandleader Luis Russell (who won fame as Louis Armstrong's musical director) and noted bassist/singer Carline Ray. Notoriously picky writers like Nat Hentoff and Will Friedwald have praised her singing. For a preview, hear Catherine on Sentimental Streak, issued under the World Village/Harmonia Mundi label. CECIL BRIDGEWATER WILLIAM PATERSON/JULY 21 Cecil Bridgewater's 30 years of experience includes work as composer, arranger, and trumpet soloist with Max Roach's well-remembered quartet and double quartet. Before that, he'd been a member of both Horace Silver's quintet and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. This Grammy-nominated artist has also shared stages and studios with Lena Horne, the Basie and Ellington bands, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Henderson and Art Blakey. Born into a musical Illinois family (younger brother Ron is a noted saxophonist), he's spent considerable time off the road in recent years as a Manhattan School of Music faculty member. A newish Brownstone CD called Mean What You Say demonstrates that two decades of teaching hasn't detracted from his playing. He's a stormer. SUMMIT STOMPERS JAZZ BAND BICKFORD/JULY 7 This seven-piece trad band take its name from the Summit, NJ area where its members reside. Led by trombonist Kent Blair, they're all outstanding players who simply love to perform. Local fans are already familiar with these co-conspirators: drummer Don Robertson, who was New Jersey Jazz Society prez and Jersey Jazz editor; pianist Fred Fischer, a fixture in numerous local bands over the years; and Bart Bartholomew, who blew trumpet with Dr. Dubious. Also aboard are clarinetist Sy Helderman, tuba player Mike MacBurney and banjo specialist Jon Martin. Last year, they put together a nifty tribute to Turk Murphy, who ignited a San Francisco jazz frenzy back in the 40s and 50s. CHRISTIAN SANDS SHANGHAI JAZZ/JULY 19 Sands is a young keyboard phenom who gave an especially memorable performance with Oscar Peterson at the 2006 Grammy "Salute to Jazz" Tribute. One critic called him "a dynamic pianist with extraordinary musical maturity beyond his years." His first recording (2002's Harmonia) appeared when he was just fourteen. Two years later, he followed up on that success with a second disc, Footprints. George Benson predicts great things for this young man: "Christian has mastered two of the key elements necessary for success - making music that sounds good and feels good." Having caught Sands sitting in at a recent Jazzmobile event, this writer couldn't agree more. EDDIE HENDERSON: GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU by Ken Dryden One of a handful of active jazz musicians who has also practiced medicine, Eddie Henderson learned early on to balance his many interests. "When I was in fifth grade in the Bronx," he recalls, "I took a musical aptitude test. I wanted to play clarinet but they'd run out of them. All they had left were accordion and violin, which didn't draw me. My uncle had a trumpet, though, so that's how I started out on it. My mother and her identical twin sister were dancers at the original Cotton Club. In fact, they're actually visible in about fifteen of Fats Waller's movie shorts. My mother also knew Louis Armstrong and took me to hear him play when I was ten years old. Louis showed me how to make my first sound on his horn. Then I took private lessons." Henderson's family relocated to California during his youth. "I was taking private classical lessons at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Miles Davis was staying at our house during the period when he had Coltrane and Cannonball in his band. I actually once told Miles that he didn't play trumpet correctly. That didn't go over too well." Once young Eddie learned who Davis was and began listening to his records, he was drawn to jazz and began to imitate Miles' sound. "During a later visit, Davis asked me if I was still copying him. I had earlier learned that he himself had copied Freddie Webster, and Miles whispered into my ear, 'Everybody's a thief. I just made a short-term loan.'" For a time, this young trumpeter considered another career path. "I was a competitive figure skater in my teens [he'd once skated in an ice show with Olympic gold medalist Peggy Fleming] and the discipline involved in learning those skills was intense. I was up at 5:30 AM every day." As a result, he developed good study and organizational habits at an early age. "I was going to school, playing trumpet and skating, all at the same time." After military service and completion of his undergraduate degree, Henderson earned a medical degree from Howard University, then returned to San Francisco to do a residency in psychiatry (jazz pianist/psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin was his advisor), though he never practiced in that specialty. "It wasn't that hard balancing two careers. I practiced general medicine part-time for about twelve years while playing jazz, though I gave up medicine around 1990." Henderson says that his wife has also contributed to his success as a musician. "I was playing a concert and Natsuko came to hear the gig. She was a friend of the drummer, Tommy Campbell. I called her and we hit it off. We've now been married fourteen years. She's studied piano, alto sax and xylophone but has never pursued music as a career, allthough she chases me out of the room whenever she's composing. I recorded two of her tunes a couple of years ago on my Precious Moment CD. Al Foster heard just a few notes of the title tune and recognized it immediately as her melody!" The trumpeter knows what he wants out of musicians for his gigs. "I used to go out every night to hear music. Sometimes I pick people whom I've never heard play together, but I listen for the chemistry and somehow know how they're going to sound as a unit, based on how they relate to the people they're playing with. I haven't made a mistake yet. That's one thing I appreciate about Miles Davis. Like in chemistry, you either have an explosion or an emulsion. Miles picked musicians to make the music sound good. It's a collective portrait. My friend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball player, plays alto saxophone. He comes to a lot of my gigs and equates jazz performances to those by an NBA team. 'Pass the ball, pass the ball - and if somebody has an opening, not necessarily the superstar, play together, just like a jazz quintet.'" Selecting material for a record date is always important, asserts Henderson. "I choose tunes that I'm familiar with. I like the band to be well-rehearsed, so we're playing rather than reading. Naturally, it's best when we have live gigs before the recording session, so the material becomes second nature. I try to get musicians on the same mental wavelength. That way, if somebody makes a mistake, we all adjust in such a way that we all come out wrong together - and that's right!" Teaching is now a part of Henderson's impressive resume. "Last September, I joined the Juilliard faculty. They invited me to teach part-time and let me work around my travel schedule. I have private students; I audition applicants; and I serve as artist-in-residence." In addition to leading his own group, Henderson is active as a sideman. "I'm a part of Benny Golson's new Jazztet, which is debuting at Smoke in August. Carl Allen, Steve Davis, Buster Williams and Mike LeDonne are also part of that band. I've been working with Benny off and on for five years. He's written new music for us to rehearse, play on the gig, then record the following week." Henderson has future recordings of his own in mind. "A friend who owns a Greenwich Village club called Nublu has his own record company. We've talked about recording two albums of my music, anything I want. The music he presents is cutting-edge, with the drummer, bassist and keyboardist all playing through computers. What's more, he has recordings of all kinds of sounds to mix in. I don't know how to describe the overall effect, but the club is always packed." Eddie Henderson's quartet - with pianist Dave Kikoski, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Steve Williams - will perform at Smoke on July 17-19. TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI: MASTERFUL PIANISTICS by Paul Blair Toshiko Akiyoshi remains one of the jazz world's innovative and distinctive orchestrators/arrangers. Want confirmation of that widely-held opinion? Just ask any other arranger. Those talents are on vivid display throughout a series of brilliant albums recorded by her 1970s West Coast big band - and her 1980s New York-based ensemble. On many of them, she deftly incorporates motifs from traditional Japanese music into an otherwise bebop-oriented sound. For four nights at Birdland, this month, though, the focus will be on the Akiyoshi piano, as she appears along with the trio headed up by her husband, saxophonist/flautist Lew Tabackin. "When Lew and I perform together as half of a quartet," she says, "it's not always four of us playing together all the time. I generally do a trio number or two without his horn. And he may play one or two with just bass [Peter Washington] and drums [Mark Taylor] because some of what they do out on their own doesn't require my piano. But the four of us do some things together, of course. "As a matter of fact, Lew and I just recorded our first real duet album after all these years of playing together. It came at the end of a thirteen-concert tour through Japan. The label was a small one called T-Tuc, and who knows whether it will ever be readily available in the U.S., except through mail order. Much of what I've recorded in recent years is on smaller labels, and they're difficult to acquire here, unless you go through Amazon or some service like that. As you probably know, the usual practice has always been for Japanese companies to license American jazz recordings for sale in Japan. But it almost never happens the other way around, so things done originally for sale in Japan rarely make it to America, except as fairly expensive hard-to-get imports." It's likely for her arranging triumphs, rather than for her keyboard skills, that the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Toshiko one of its coveted NEA Jazz Master awards last year. Yet certain pianists figure prominently in her own personal history. One of the first American stylists she had the chance to enjoy on records was Teddy Wilson. Sometime later, during a tour of Japan, Oscar Peterson chanced to hear Toshiko and urged Norman Grantz to record her. But Bud Powell - honored today perhaps as much through the generations of younger pianists he inspired as for his own sparkling performances - set Toshiko off in a whole new direction. "I may have heard Bud on record back in Japan as early as 1949," she recalls, "on an Armed Forces Radio broadcast. What he played really hit my heart. In those days, you could buy good jazz records only on the black market and they were very, very expensive. During the years that followed, I learned a lot about great musicians by hanging out in what we used to call jazz coffee shops, and Bud Powell's approach especially fascinated me. "Anyway, when I came to the United States in 1956 to begin studying at Berklee, I was eager to meet Bud somehow. My plane arrived in Boston at 2:00 AM, coincidently on the last night of Bud's weeklong gig at the club called Storyville and I rushed over there. It also happened that Ed Thigpen, whom I'd met in Japan, was playing drums with Bud that week. He urged me to play a number, which I was nervous about but did anyway. I don't recall exactly what I played. But when I finished, I heard Bud sitting at the back of the room, laughing his head off. In fact, he even stood up and bowed several times. I guess he was amazed that some little Japanese girl had been so heavily influenced by him." After finishing up at Berklee in 1959, Toshiko moved to New York and could soon be heard at prominent clubs like The Five Spot, The Half Note, The Village Gate - and Birdland, at that point still situated on Broadway just above 52nd St. "I played often at The Hickory House, and whenever Bud was booked at Birdland, he'd dash over between sets to hear me. Because of his rather fragile emotional situation in those days, he actually had bodyguards following him around as minders, and they always knew where to locate him if I was appearing down the street. I recall that when I was at The Showboat in Philadelphia, he was the attraction at The Bandbox not far away, and we used to visit one another's clubs there, too. These encounters are still some of my fondest memories of Bud Powell." Toshiko Akiyoshi plays with Lew Tabackin's trio at Birdland on July 2-5. JAZZWOMEN! BY ELZY KOLB A month of Mondays Pianist JoAnne Brackeen usually plays a four-night gig in July to celebrate her birthday. This year she's spreading it out over the whole month with a different band and theme on four different Mondays at the Jazz Standard. The fun begins July 7 with a group that includes Tia Fuller on alto and Ada Rovatti on tenor. JoAnne plans to do 1980s-vintage originals, some brand-new material, and a few standards. "That's my idea, anyway," she says. "We haven't actually rehearsed yet, so it could change." On July 14, JoAnne's reuniting with bassist Eddie Gomez, to revisit material from her 1991 recording, Breath of Brazil. The following week, July 21, she'll focus on music associated with three legends with whom she played early in her career: Art Blakey, Stan Getz and Joe Henderson. "Those three were totally different," she says. "I feel like I learned almost everything there was to learn from them, not just about music but about putting a band together. Blakey would try anything, but he wouldn't keep you if you didn't work out. Getz was so arrogant and picky, but he was an amazing musician. Joe Henderson was a really good friend. I was in bands of his from 1972 to 1986. He always kept in touch, which is rare among musicians. He was a master communicator." The final night, July 28, features Ravi Coltrane, who has toured and recorded with JoAnne. "I have material earmarked and now I have to go back and relearn it," she says with a laugh. Sing it like you mean it Carrie Jackson identifies herself as a child of the 1960s. But when the vocalist was growing up she wasn't relating to rock or dance music. She was in awe of the singers all jazz fans recognize by their first names: Ella, Carmen, Sarah, Billie, and Dinah. Vocalist Melba Moore, who was Carrie's elementary school music teacher in Newark, heard something she liked in the child's voice. "She singled me to come to the front of the class to sing some little ditty, which I hated doing," because she way shy, Carrie recalls. By her teens, "I was hanging out in clubs I wasn't supposed to be in. All the greats came to town and I was in awe of their music. There was something about it that I internalized." Great diction is part of what she continues to admire about her favorites. "With Sarah or Carmen, every word is crystal clear," Carrie says. When listening to singers, she wants to know, "What is the message? Am I feeling what they're saying? Are they telling a story?" As a vocalist herself, she strives to keep the emphasis on telling a story. "You never know whom you may touch," Carrie says. "The audience has to believe that you believe what you're singing." She'll be at Skippers in Newark on July 6, at the Lenox Lounge on July 18-19, and at Trumpets on July 24 hosting the vocal jam session with Betty Liste. Sound spectrum It was inevitable that Anne Drummond would become a musician. Her father is a classical guitarist, her mother is a flutist; both play professionally and teach. "I couldn't really escape it," Anne says, laughing. Fortunately, she loved the flute from the get-go. When she was 5 years old, she begged her mother to give her lessons. She added piano to her musical regimen at age 8, and discovered jazz as a fourth grader. "I wrote a report for school on Duke Ellington," Anne recalls. "My grandmother had a lot of jazz LPs, which I took over." Her family nurtured her enthusiasm: "They thought it was interesting that a young person should be interested in jazz." Anne also tried her hand at trombone, playing in her high school big band in Seattle. "I did tons of trombone but decided to quit because it was interfering with my flute chops. Flute has always been my passion." Keep an ear out for Anne's upcoming CD, tentatively titled Like Water (Oblique Sound). In the meantime, catch her at the Zinc Bar on July 14th. The club is moving soon. "I'm gonna miss it," she says. The current location "has a vibe no other club has. Everyone should come out to see this room before they're not here anymore." Congrats to … Vocalist Sheila Jordan, recipient of the 2008 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award for her lifetime of service to the music … Pianist/educator/composer Valerie Capers, Jazz Institute of Chicago Director Lauren Deutsch, and Jazzschool founder Susan Muscarella, who are among this year's Jazz Journalists Association's "A Team" inductees … Violinist Gayle Dixon, who has retired after 20 years in the Phantom of the Opera pit to concentrate on playing jazz and devote time to her publishing company, Jazzbows Music … Guitarist Amanda Monaco, who just received her masters from City College. Celebration central Offer prolific pianist Satoko Fujii best wishes on a major birthday at Roulette on July 3; to mark this milestone she has a trio of new releases: Trace a River, Cloudy Then Sunny, and Kuro, (all on the Libra label) … Singer Ayana Lowe has a new book out for kids, Come and Play: Children of our World Having Fun; she also sings the Hot Mama Blues at the 55 Bar on July 5 … Congrats to Tessa Souter, on the U.S. release of her book Anything I Can Do, You Can Do Better; Tessa sings at the Blue Note on July 7 … Composer/saxophonist Jessica Jones celebrates the release of Word (New Artists) at the Bowery Poetry Club on July 12 … Pianist Eri Yamamoto has a CD release gig for Duologue (AUM) at the Cornelia Street Café on July 15 … Keyboardist Hiromi celebrates the release of Beyond Standard (Telarc) at the Blue Note on July 22-27 … Vocalist Diane Hoffman's release party for My Little French Dancer is at Iridium on July 16. Hear 'em live … Miki Hayama plays piano with Valery Ponomarev's big band at Iridium on July 2, with Neal Smith's sextet at Smoke on July 10, and with Alex Sipiagin's group at Cachaca on July 26 … Chamber jazz string quintet Imani Winds plays at Caramoor in Westchester on July 3, part of the Sonidos Latinos series … Lenore Raphael tickles the ivories at the Lenox Lounge on July 4-5 … Multi-instrumentalist Kali Z plays the Stone on July 8 … Sheryl Bailey plays guitar at the 55 Bar on July 9, and at the Garage on July 18 … Maria Guida sings at Cachaca on July 9 … Nora McCarthy sings with the ACE Collective at Smoke on July 16; keep an eye out for her new CD, Circle Completing … Jill McManus plays piano at Sofia's on July 17 … Flutist Jan Leder is at Larchmont's Watercolor Café on July 17 … Singer Flora Purim will be at Dizzy's on July 22-27 … Pianist Geri Allen plays with the all-star Trio 3 at Birdland on July 23-26 … The 92nd Street Y's Jazz in July festival includes vocalists Sandy Stewart (July 23), Vera Mars (July 29), and Carol Sloane (July 31) … Or on CD Check out flutist Jamie Baum's long-awaited septet recording, Solace (Sunnyside) … Introducing Andromeda Turre (Jazzbows) presents standards and originals by the singer from the musical family … The Tiptons Sax Quartet (formerly known as the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, in honor of the pioneering pianist) has a new release, Laws of Motion (Zipa/Spoot); the group includes reed players/vocalists Amy Denio, Jessica Lurie, Sue Orfield, and Tina Richerson … Sheila Cooper plays sax and sings Tales of Love and Longing (Candid) … Stevie Holland sings Before Love has Gone (150 Music) … For saxophonist Tineke Postma, it's A Journey that Matters (Foreign Media) … Becca Stevens sings and plays guitar, glockenspiel, kalimba, and harp on Tea Bye Sea (BSB) … Give a listen to the haunting compositions of Myriam Alter on Where is There (Enja/Justin Time) … Vocalist Mercedes Hall projects Pure Emotion (West End Jazz) … Joanna Pascale sings tunes from back in the day Through My Eyes (Stiletto) … Everybody Knows Sharon Robinson used to sing backup, but now she's in the spotlight … Violinist Regina Carter guests on Steve Kroon's El Mas Alla (Beyond) on his Kroon-a-Tune label. HOT FLASHES BY PAUL BLAIR AT LOUIS' HOME If you haven't yet toured the Corona residence that Louis and Lucille Armstrong called home for several decades, you're in for a genuine treat. And here's a perfect excuse to trek out to that Queens neighborhood on July 8: a free outdoor concert and block party (6:00-8:00 PM) featuring trumpeter Ray Vega's group, appearing as part of Jazzmobile's summer programming. House tours will also be available during the proceedings. Consult satchmo.net for easy directions from the No. 7 train - and for word on other musical happenings taking place in Louis' shaded garden on July 20 and August 24. ALSO ON THIS MONTH'S MENU Prime July choices at The Garage include saxist Virginia Mayhew (July 5), trumpeter Valery Ponomarev's big band (July 8 and 15), guitarist Rick Stone (July 10) and organist Akiko Tsuruga (July 12). We also plan to catch trombonist Samuel Blaser (at Cornelia Street, July 16), Luis Perdomo (at the Jazz Gallery, July 18-19), Wallace Roney (at Cachaca, July 18-20), Jimmy Cobb's quartet with Theo Crocker (at the Rubin Museum, July 17), Fred Hersch's Pocket Orchestra (at Smalls, July 21-22), singer Ed Reed (at Jazz Standard, July 22), Mose Allison (at Iridium, July 24-27) and Michael Weiss (at Kitano, July 25-26) … Jon Hendricks brings the vocal trio he calls "LH&R Redux" to the Jazz Standard on July 3-6. The other two athletic voices involved belong to Jon's daughter Aria and longtime associate Kevin Burke, who'll be singing the parts originally covered on those grand old LPs by Annie Ross and Dave Lambert respectively … Vibraphonist Mike Freeeman's Latin jazz group ZonaVibe plays a free concert between 2:00 and 4:00 PM on July 27 during the Harlem Meer Performance Festival. A NEW BROOKLYN VENUE The Park Slope scene continues to expand. For example, a comfortable brasserie called Belleville (330 Fifth Ave., between 3rd and 4th Sts.) offers jazz on a semi-regular basis these days. On the sked on July 1, 15 and 17 are trios led by Belgian saxophonist Robin Verheyen, now a NYC resident. Pascal Niggenkemper is his bassist over all three evenings; drumming duties fall to either Tyshawn Sorey or Jeff Davis. Sets begin at 8:00 PM. Phone: 718-832-9777. GOING FOR THE All-TIME RECORD There'll actually be an official observer from the Guinness Book on hand at Minton's, that famed Harlem bebop incubator, on Friday, July 4, as several dozen of the city's best players undertake an attempt to play, in turn, for 48 consecutive hours. The music begins at noon on the fourth and will end only at midnight on Sunday. (OK, you do the math…) Among the many involved are Grady Tate, Geri Allen, Patience Higgins, Kiane Zawadi, Eli Fountain, Mala Waldron, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Melba Moore, Cyrus Chestnut and Jack Jeffers, all of whom will presumably invite their own musician friends to play as well. During daytime hours each day, there'll be picnicking outside on W. 118th St., just West of Seventh Ave. What's more, a complimentary breakfast will be served from 5:00 to 8:00 AM on Sunday. It all sounds like something you might eventually want to tell your grandkids about. JAZZMOBILITY Jazzmobile swings into its 45th season with plans for sixty free concerts in various locations around Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, as well as in Mount Vernon and Newark. During July and August, Jazzmobile will be at Grant's Tomb (122nd St. and Riverside Dr.) each Wednesday - and at Marcus Garvey Park (122nd St. and Fifth Ave.) on Fridays. Music gets underway at 7:00 PM. Among the notables who'll be featured this year are Frank Wess, Geri Allen, Wycliffe Gordon and Ray Mantilla. Loads more info is available online. GARDENING FOR THE HIP The Museum of Modern Art's sculpture garden hosts a series of great free concerts this month and next. On July 13, they'll welcome a Billy Bang sextet that also includes James Zollar (trumpet) and James Spaulding (alto and flute). Ted Nash leads a quartet (with Frank Kimbrough playing piano) on July 27. August attractions are Susie Ibara's quartet (on August 10) and Miguel Zenon's foursome (on August 24). Beginning at 7:30 PM, you can enter the garden via the gate on W. 54th St between Fifth and Sixth. If it rains, they'll move everyone inside to MOMA's lobby, which can be reached from W. 53rd St. Full details are posted at www.moma.org.