JUNE 2008   WINNING SPINS by George Kanzler Genuine jazz divas are in short supply, but the two subjects of this Winning Spins qualify for that title with ease: Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson. Both are in their early 50s, fully established in the jazz vocal pantheon and at the ripe pinnacle of their artistic careers. But they are also very different jazz singers, with diametric approaches to the jazz vocal art. Reeves is more the glamorous diva who naturally seeks out the spotlight with her personality, image and a preternaturally gifted and accomplished voice to match. Wilson, on the other hand, sems the reluctant diva, cloaking her voice in the collaborative music surrounding her, eschewing vocal pyrotechnics for the intimacy of husky low tones and shadowy intimations. In a jazz vocal aviary, Reeves would be a colorful bird of paradise, Wilson a dark, shimmering raven. Both singers offer new albums of mostly standards, with Reeves including R&B and pop in the mix, Wilson adding traditional blues, and both featuring guitars prominently. But while there's a jazz-pop gloss, thanks to producer George Duke, on some of Reeves's tracks, Wilson's homespun production (most of the recording was done in a house in Mississippi) leans toward a folk-jazz vibe, with African rhythmic undercurrents. After Reeves' last album - the period-perfect Fifties retro-jazz cabaret Good Night And Good Luck - When You Know (Blue Note) finds the singer returning to a more contemporary, at times commercial, mode. The album opens with the old Temptations signature song, "Just My Imagination," Reeves gliding and swooping through the lyrics over a vaguely tropical background of guitars, electric piano and percussion. Reeves the thespian takes over on "Over The Weekend," rivaling Nancy Wilson's dramatic take on the song with stage-ready emoting heightened by a throbbing strings section. Those strings return later to add to the centrifugal momentum of "The Windmills of Your Mind." And there's a children's chorus on the newish power-pop title song. But for fans of Reeves, the jazz singer heard to such advantage on Good Night And Good Luck, the best tracks here are the sparer, less glossy ones featuring the guitars of Romero Lubambo (acoustic) and Russell Malone, who had toured Europe with Reeves in 2007 in a format dubbed "Strings Attached." Minnie Ripperton's mid-'70s hit, "Lovin' You," is given a more intimate reading with guitars and percussion; while the Peggy Lee-Cy Coleman ballad, "I'm In Love Again," with just guitars, has an exquisite delicacy, Reeves sinuously caressing the lyric - note how she lingers on and extends the syllables of "enjoy," the kind of perfect detail that nudges a performance from very good to indelible. Such arresting moments occur repeatedly throughout When You Know. And then there is the complete, turnaround surprise of the final track, a song she credits to things her mother used to say/sing to her. "Today Will Be A Good Day" finds Malone getting down and dirty with guitar twang, tambourine and washboard adding to the country blues vibe, as Reeves lets her hair down and gets gritty in a rollicking finale. Although Wilson's Loverly (also Blue Note) lists the singer as producer, she calls this album, recorded in a house she set up as a recording studio in her native Mississippi, a collaborative effort, crediting especially the input of Yoruban drummer/perussionist Lekan Babalola. Also joining Wilson are her longtime guitarist Marvin Sewell and bassist Lonnie Plaxico, plus drummer Herlin Riley and new collaborator pianist Jason Moran, whose solos are instrumental highlights. Nicholas Payton adds his trumpet to the opening track, a fast percolating "Lover Come Back to Me," with Wilson purring along easily behind the tempo. Bassist Reginald Veal duets with the singer on her deeply contemplative take on "The Very Thought of You." With her mossy low range, insinuatingly sultry voice and penchant for lagging behind or stretching out the time, Wilson can take the most familiar standard and inhabit it as if annexing it into her own musical world. She does just that with "Gone With the Wind" and "Til There Was You," both suspended on African rhythms with Wilson's voice floating and wafting through like a low flute or woodwind. She mixes it up more with the rhythms on "Caravan" and the African "Arere" - and conspires with the hip-hop-influenced ruckus of beats on a deconstruction of "St. James Infirmary." That and "Dust My Broom" are two old blues tunes she completely makes her eccentric own. Two other tracks testify to Wilson's ability to illuminate standards in a classical jazz manner. With just Sewell's steel string slide guitar, she finds the coy and wistful sides of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," rescuing that overdone standard from the maudlin pit it falls into too often. Howard Arlen and Truman Capote's "A Sleepin' Bee" is revived as a loose, infectious swinger (no African beats here) with Wilson savoring the jeu d'esprit of the lyrics and, in her scatting, the beguiling harmonies. Cassandra Wilson is at the BAM-Harvey Theater in Brooklyn on June 7, and at the Blue Note on June 9. Dianne Reeves plays Carnegie Hall (a JVC Jazz Festival concert also featuring Al Green) on June 27; as well as at Westhampton PAC on June 28, the Friehofer Jazz Fest in Saratoga on June 29 and the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal on June 30. JAZZ IN JERSEY BY SHEILA ANDERSON JEANIE BRYSON WATCHUNG ARTS CENTER/JUNE 13 Sultry, soulful, hypnotic, inviting - there is no shortage of suitable adjectives to describe Jeanie Bryson, a Rutgers anthropology grad who happens to be the daughter of Dizzy Gillespie and songwriter Connie Bryson. Her extraordinary singing voice is at once reminiscent of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee. Moreover, she has an uncanny knack for choosing songs that perfectly compliment her voice. At this appearance, Bryson will feature a few selections from her newest project, The Dizzy Gillespie Songbook, a loving tribute that celebrates her father's life, music and legacy. She'll also be singing at Novita (formerly Cornerstone) on June 27. CYNTHIA HOLIDAY TRUMPETS/JUNE 21 Singer Kevin Mahogany, a fan, puts it this way: "Ms. Holiday has a fantastic stage presence and it's time for her music to be heard." Her time has come as she releases her debut recording, Cynthia Holiday...All The Way at Trumpets. In her vocal approach, you can hear the humor of Helen Humes, the soul of Ernestine Anderson, the warm timbre of Mary Stallings and story-telling abilities of Marlena Shaw. Yet what we hear from this Newark native is pure Cynthia. Among her special qualities are the maturity she brings to the bandstand and her ability to connect with audiences. Warm congratulations to Ms. Holiday on her maiden voyage. PHOEBE SNOW SOUTH ORANGE PAC/JUNE 7 Her debut CD in 1974 featured the now-iconic "Poetry Man" and landed her on the cover of Rolling Stone. A star out of the gate, she remains one of the most distinctive voices around. This writer recalls hearing Ms. Snow sing two decades ago in Atlantic City. None of us in the audience that night had any idea she was preparing to take some time away from performing and wouldn't return to the music scene for nearly twenty years. A recent Birdland gig proved that her remarkable vocal gifts are intact. Despite a bit of nervousness, she hit the highs and lows with ease. Pure magic! WILLIE MARTINEZ PRIORY/JUNE 27 A drummer, percussionist and vocalist, Martinez characterizes his music as "New York-style Latin jazz." He's collaborated in the past with Charlie Palmieri, Bebo Valdes, Johnny Colón, Hilton Ruiz, Ray Vega, Chico and Arturo O'Farrill, Arthur Blythe, George Cables and numerous others. The Priory date will serve to introduce material from After Winter, Spring, the new album from the group Willie calls La Familia. Also part of the band are Misha Tsiganov (piano), Jennifer Vincent (bass), Cristián Rivera and Renato Thoms (percussion), J. Walter Hawkes (trombone) and Max Schweiger (flute and baritone saxophone.) SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL BLAIR AND George Kanzler AMINA FIGAROVA JAZZ STANDARD/JUNE 16 Born in Baku, capital city in Azerbaijan, this pianist- composer studied the classics early on, but then pursued jazz studies at Rotterdam Conservatory and Berklee. While a debut CD back in 1994 reflected the influence of musicians (Hancock, Tyner, Corea, Petrucciani, Shorter) she especially admired at that point, more recent work like her September Suite album, encapsulating her feeling on witnessing the 9/11 calamity, presents a far fuller picture. With her will be flautist Bart Platteau, tenor saxophonist Marc Mommass, trumpeter Alex Pope Norris, bassist Jeroen Vierdag and drummer Chris "Buckshot" Strik. PB TIM ARMACOST KITANO/JUNE 20 AND 21 Joining this tenor and soprano saxophonist will be three other musicians, all leaders themselves: bassist Ray Drummond, drummer Billy Hart and pianist Bruce Barth. Among them, Armacost's name is perhaps the least known, though he's certainly been around - making himself at home, at various times, in Tokyo, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Mumbai and (since 1993) New York. Tim's most recent CD, Rhythm & Transformation (ArtistShare), beautifully encapsulates all those years of careful local listening and interacting and includes both Barth and Hart as co-conspirators. They and Drummond are also present on The Wishing Well, an earlier Armacost disc. PB MARIO PAVONE JALOPY THEATER/JUNE 28 A protean bassist with a plummy, ringing tone, Pavone has long been associated with a label called Playscape Recordings, which just happens to be run by guitarist Michael Musillami. In fact, the two have been involved in joint projects for years - and will share a bandstand at this Red Hook, Brooklyn venue for one night. Pavone's quintet will enjoy participation by trumpeter Dave Ballou, saxophonist Michael Blake and drummer Michael Sarin, along with Musillami. Completing the bill is be a Musillami-led sextet with Ron Horton (trumpet), Marty Ehrlich (reeds), Tom Beckham (vibes), Joe Fonda (bass) and George Schuller (drums). PB JON FEDCHOCK CACHACA/JUNE 9 Fedchock heads up one of the most diverse and exciting big bands around, filled with top soloists in every section and notable for arrangements that range from straight-ahead to progressive. Of the five CDs they've generated since 1992 (all on the Reservoir label), their latest - Up And Running - is really top-of-the-heap, although we're still tickled by a version of "Meet the Flintstones" that they cut way back in 1992. The leader, himself a trombone soloist of exceptional merit, knows the ropes, after years of touring with Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan and Louis Bellson. They'll do two sets at Cachaca: 7:00 and 8:30 PM. PB LARRY WILLIS SMOKE/JUNE 13 AND 14 Adaptability coupled with a strong personal sound have been the keystones of pianist Larry Willis' career. Born and raised in the Big Apple, Willis, 65, spent the 60s and 70s with diverse groups, from pioneering hard-bopper Jackie McLean to South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, trombonist Kai Winding to soul-jazz star Cannonball Adderley, and jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears to tenor sax giant Stan Getz. Willis also spent time with rhythm-bending Woody Shaw and has been a member of the salsa-jazz Fort Apache Band for two decades. Here he leads his own trio with bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Billy Drummond. GK PAQUITO D'RIVERA BIRDLAND/JUNE 17-21 Many musicians, even alto saxophonists besides D'Rivera, have bridged bebop and Afro-Latin music, including one of Paquito's inspirations, Charlie Parker. But Paquito has gone further, not only fusing bop and Latin in a searing fashion on his alto, but also embracing the entire range of Latin American and Caribbean musics, from folk and classical to jazz bossa nova and tango. As a clarinetist, he's performed works by Latin Americans with symphony orchestras, and he's made recordings that meld tango and Caribbean rhythms. But whatever genre, expect this Cuban virtuoso to perform with passion. GK GUILLERMO KLEIN VILLAGE VANGUARD/JUNE 10-15 Argentinean by birth, pianist-composer Klein (yet another Berklee grad) first hit town fifteen years ago. Local enthusiasts first took notice of his talents as the result of the innovative big band he organized for a series of gigs, first at Smalls and later at the Jazz Standard. Among the members of that aggregation - and of a smaller group called Los Gauchos - have been Chris Cheek, Bill McHenry and Ben Monder. His ear-opening arrangements, some inspired by the compositions of Bach and Messiaen, are available on Sunnyside. Since he's spent much of the last few years in Spain and Argentina, this return to the local scene is most welcome. PB JONATHAN KREISBERG SMALLS/JUNE 20 AND 21 This guitarist's latest, South Of Everywhere (on guitar-friendly MelBay) also includes instrumental contributions from many of the pals with whom he's frequently heard around town: alto player Will Vinson, keyboardist Gary Versace, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Mark Ferber. Wednesdays are his regular nights at Bar Next Door in the Village. In addition to this pair of evenings at Smalls, he's also playing with Lee Konitz at Dizzy's, then heading to Ireland for a festival date. You'd enjoy his most recent Criss Cross CD, too: New For Now. Later this month, he'll be doing an all-ballads album for the same label. PB J.D. ALLEN POISSON ROUGE/JUNE 22 Into this newish venue, operating in what used to be the Village Gate's Bleecker St. premises, comes saxophonist Allen as opening act - you should forgive the expression - for singer Rickie Lee Jones. A veteran sideman (Betty Carter, Cindy Blackman, Wallace Roney, Orrin Evans), Allen demonstrates on I AM / I AM, his much-praised new Sunnyside CD, that the trio format suits him well. With him this time out will be fellow Detroit native Gerald Cleaver doing the drumming, and Gregg August, one of the most talented bassists around. One reviewer noted that Allen's original tunes remain intriguing even after many hearings - and it's true. PB HARVIE S TRIBECA PAC/JUNE 13 Frustrated with what he perceived as frequent misspellings of his surname (Swartz), the bassist officially changed his name to Harvie S a few years ago. A look at the 59 year-old's discography reveals a jazz talent who's worked with some of the best musicians, from Dexter Gordon to Sheila Jordan, with whom he pioneered the iconic voice-and-bass duo. He recently rekindled another duo of his from the 1990s - one with pianist Kenny Barron - and a CD is due out this summer on High Note. This Lost Jazz Shrines concert remembering the Jazzmania Society finds Harvie's trio joined by alto saxophonist Phil Woods and tap dancers. GK FRANK WESS: CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION by Ken Franckling When asked why the expanded band he's bringing into Dizzy's for six June nights is being called the Celebration Nonet, saxophonist Frank Wess is ready with several answers. "Well, I'm still here. That's a good thing to celebrate," Wess, 86, said, before noting that drummer Winard Harper's birthday is on June 4. "We're also celebrating a chance to play my music. I've played everybody else's music for seventy years. Now here's a chance to play my own compositions, and I am looking forward to it. If you don't play your own music, who will?" In addition to Wess, the horn-rich band includes saxophonists Ted Nash and Scott Robinson, trumpeters Frank Greene and Terell Stafford, and trombonist Steve Turre, as well as a rhythm section featuring pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Peter Washington and the aforementioned Harper on drums. "I wanted people who can play, who listen and whom I like very much," Wess said. "The week will feature all original material, most of it written in the last ten years. Most is medium-tempo, groove-tempo, along with some ballads. Dennis Mackrel is doing the arrangements for me on a few recent things." Wess is best known for his years on Count Basie's hard-swinging 1950s big band. He joined Basie in 1953 and stayed until 1964, featured on tenor saxophone and flute. He later added alto to his arsenal. Wess was a prominent player on dozens of Basie recordings. His Basie affiliation was followed by an array of playing opportunities, including nearly two decades as co-leader of a quintet called Two Franks with Frank Foster, his colleague from the Basie band's saxophone section. Last year, Wess was honored with an American Jazz Masters Fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts because of his impact on and contributions to music. Wess began studying flute in 1949 with Wallace Mann from the National Symphony and Harold Bennett of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The Count Basie Orchestra's popularity enabled Wess to present the flute as an independent voice to jazz audiences, and he became one of the instrument's first major jazz soloists. But he's quick to point out that he was not the first. "I always wanted to play flute, dating back to when I was a kid," Wess said. "I used to listen to Wayman Carver, who played flute in Benny Carter's and Chick Webb's bands. Carver was the first. After his big band days, and after World War II, Wayman moved to Atlanta to teach music and run the band program at Clark College. Whenever I was in Atlanta, we'd hang out and play duets." While Wess is likely to play flute along with his tenor at Dizzy's, he isn't likely to dust off his alto saxophone. While he played lead alto over the years in the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band and Gene Harris's Philip Morris Superband, he says he plays the smaller, brighter horn less frequently because "my eyesight isn't good. The tenor parts I know - and I play what I've been playing for seventy years. I don't bother to read." Wess said he hopes to record the Celebration Nonet because "this is a special group. Everybody in the band is special." His most recent recorded release, Hank and Frank, came out in 2006 on guitarist Ilya Lushtak's label, Lineage Records. Wess said another recording is possible from his quintet, which played recently at the Village Vanguard. That particular configuration included Harper, Lushtak, Stafford and bassist Rufus Reid. "It's always fun when you have good players to record live. You get the feel and vibe and communication of a live audience. You get it and you give it. You have fun together." Though he's an elder statesman of jazz, he shows little sign of slowing down. Wess' quintet will play upstate on June 29 at the Kingston Jazz Festival. He'll also take part on in the 92nd Street Y's all-star exploration of the music of pianist-composer Billy Strayhorn - part of the Y's Jazz in July series - on July 31. In addition, he's scheduled to perform in July at Spain's San Sebastian Jazz Festival - and will be doing a two-week, ten-concert tour with drummer Lewis Nash's band this fall. He also makes time and takes time to listen to younger players, and to mentor many of them. "There are a lot of beautiful players out there now. They have such an advantage today," Wess says. "They have music in the schools and they learn it from junior high school on. I started in the streets. I was into it all the time. You didn't go to school to play jazz. They'd put you out. People called it 'the devil's music' - until they figured they could make money from it." The Frank Wess Celebration Nonet plays at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola on June 3-8. KENNY WERNER ON MASTERY by Yvonne Ervin Kenny Werner is one of those hyphenated artists: pianist-author-composer-teacher-arranger-guru. His book, "Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within," published twelve years ago, is currently fourth in sales among jazz books available through Amazon - and ranked twentieth on Amazon's self-help/creativity books list. The premise of Werner's book evolved from his teaching about practicing and performing. The volume has received lots of attention throughout the music world and given him guru-like status. One of his core insights makes a direct hit at the foundation of some jazz institutions and performers. "One of the insights I've been blessed with is that what we're doing is not important," says Werner. "It's a great knowledge to have. It really allows the music to flourish when you don't think that what you're doing is important. If musicians play from a sense of complete reverence at the altar of jazz, the question is, will they bring out their own brilliance as much as if they played from an internal point of personal satisfaction - as Joe Henderson called it in his tune, an "Inner Urge"? "When does the inner urge get diluted or camouflaged by some imagined responsibility? Ironically I think the greatest musicians in history have been the ones who haven't been constrained by history. For each, the music is theirs and they empower themselves with the same license to create as any artist in the history of the world." Werner came upon this insight early in life, although he may not have been able to articulate it at the time in quite this way. "Growing up in the cultural wasteland of Long Island meant that everything I played would come from me," he recalls. "Later on, when I imbibed culture, I believed that I saw that quality in all my favorite creators. What I tried to learn from them was not how they played, but rather how to empower myself to create and to give myself as much license as Mozart gave himself or Bird gave himself. "My favorite musicians are those who are challenging themselves in new ways. Because as long as you're here, the idea is not how well you do what you do, but how you can grow in new ways." But what Werner does - perform, compose, write, teach - he does very well, with four National Endowment for the Arts grants among his numerous achievements. Over the years, he's been challenging himself with different trios. The first, during the 1980s, involved bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Tom Rainey; while one of his most recent included Johannes Weidenmuller and Ari Hoenig. He's also recorded on occasion with Dave Holland and Marc Johnson on bass - and Jack DeJohnette and Joey Baron playing drums. "I haven't settled on just one trio," the pianist says, "and that's OK because it's more challenging to me than if I were playing with the same trio all the time." Yet another trio, featuring bassist Scott Colley and drummer Antonio Sanchez, will be joining Werner at Iridium this month to perform with jazz harmonica icon Toots Thielemans. When Toots and Kenny play together, the connection is profound. "It's a unique experience," says the pianist of playing with Thielemans for the past thirteen years. "The melodicism and the beautiful harmony that I can indulge in, I can only do with him. There are certain tunes I wouldn't play with any other soloist but Toots, like Bill Evans' Very Early and Luis Sessa's The Dolphin. Almost any other player would stretch them out beyond the charm that the tunes actually possess. Toots somehow accentuates the charms of these kinds of tunes." In contrast to his trio projects, Werner also orchestrates for large ensembles, sometimes for the Broadway/cabaret singer Betty Buckley, with whom he's worked for eighteen years. Currently, he's writing material resulting from a commission from the University of North Carolina for their orchestra to perform this fall. "Every commission I get takes me further into the language of the orchestra, with the result of playing my music just as I would with quintet or trio but fully orchestrated," he explained. "While I don't actually enjoy the composing part, I love hearing the results. But as a player, obviously the trio is the most satisfying." He's also branched out into a quintet setting with two recordings in the past two years - Democracy and Lawn Chair Society. "It's great because I can function more as a composer. I defer more to the other soloists because I'm expressing myself as a composer. But I like to come back to the trio because it gives me a full expression experience as a player." Kenny Werner appears with Toots Theilemans at Iridium on June 18-22. JAZZWOMEN! BY ELZY KOLB Open to possibilities Whether she's singing live or in the studio, intimacy and connecting with the listener is important for Gretchen Parlato. "You can create an intimate setting in the studio, but that's very different from being on stage. There's nothing like live performing," she says. "Performing is like a conversation with others, sharing this art and having the audience there to support you, encourage you. You feed off the energy and it moves the music to a different space. The audience adds energy you can't create in the studio." Regardless of the venue, Gretchen's goal as a singer is to "open myself up, and be more open, honest and vulnerable, to let that part of myself shine through. We all go through the same emotions, the same life experiences. I'm lucky as an artist to be able to share that with other people." Gretchen will be heading for the recording studio in the fall with her core group consisting of piano, guitar, bass, and drums. She'll be singing "in different settings within the instrumentation, mixing up textures and sounds," Gretchen says. "It will be quite a bit more electric sounding than my first CD, but I don't want to lose that intimacy." In the meantime, she'll combine recording and live performance at Cachaca on June 1, when her sets will be captured for Japan's NHK television network. You can also catch Gretchen on bassist Esperanza Spalding's new CD, Esperanza (HeadsUp). Inspiration of a lifetime Eri Yamamoto was just three years old when she started studying piano, but she didn't hear jazz till she was majoring in music in grad school in Japan. Eri visited her sister in New York during a school break, heard Tommy Flanagan play at Tavern on the Green, and it was love at first listen. After the first set, "I told him I wanted to be like him, if I could, and asked him what I should do." His response: "If you want to be a jazz musician, you must come to New York." Eri went home, quit school, and within a month was a resident of the Big Apple. Since then, she's studied jazz at the New School, gigged regularly and recorded four trio CDs. Eri goes in a new direction with latest recording, Duologue (AUM), which features duets with bassist William Parker, saxophonist Daniel Carter, and drummers Hamid Drake and Federico Ughi. "Last winter I had a dream about making a new album with those musicians, playing duos with those musicians," she says. "When I woke up I thought, Wow! I want to do it! My first duo album is also the first time I've recorded all original music." Eri will lead a sextet at the Vision Festival on June 12 at the Clemente Solo Velez Cultural Center. "It's open improvisation, we spontaneously try to make music at the moment," she says. "It's very challenging, very exciting." Eri also has a regular trio gig at Arthur's Tavern, every Thursday through Saturday, when she's in town. "I've been doing it since 2000, that's rare in New York City." Keep an ear out for Eri's next trio CD, which is scheduled for release in the fall. So sorry to hear … Of the loss of Mona Clayton Hinton, the widow of bassist Milt Hinton. Mona made a home movie of a historic photo shoot that ended up in Jean Bach's Academy Award-nominated documentary, A Great Day in Harlem. Contributions in her memory can be made to the Jazz Foundation of America or the American Cancer Society. Gigs galore Claire Daly (baritone), Pam Fleming (trumpet), and Nicole Nelson (vocals) appear with J.C. Hopkins' Biggish band at the Jazz Standard on June 2 … The Westchester Jazz Orchestra will play arrangements by Anita Brown and others at the Chappaqua Middle School auditorium on June 7 … Carrie Jackson sings at the New Jersey Jazz Society's Sanofi-Aventis Jazz Fest in Madison on June 8 … CoCoMaMa, featuring percussionist Mayra Casales, pianist Nicki Denner and other fine Latin jazz players and singers, will be at Riverspace in Nyack on June 8, in a free afternoon concert that's part of the Rockland Pride Festival … Linda Ciofalo sings at the Priory's brunch on June 8 … Singer Ayelet Rose Gottlieb and her sextet are at the Jazz Standard on June 9 … Violinist/vocalist Jenny Scheinman plays material from her new self-titled CD on Koch Records at Joe's Pub on June 11 … Katie Bull sings at the 55 Bar on June 12; catch vocalist Tessa Souter there on June 13 … Pianist Connie Crothers and saxophonist Saco Yasuma are part of the Vision Festival lineup on June 13 … Catch vocalist Jay Clayton at Enzo's on June 13, with Peggy Stern on piano … Flutist Jan Leder and poet Golda Solomon perform at the Hastings Public Library on June 14 … Hear vocalist Aziza at Lenox Lounge on June 13-14 ... Singer/multi-instrumentalist Kali Z. will be at the Vision Festival on June 15 … Violinist Sara Caswell plays with Michael Webster's Leading Lines at the Brooklyn Lyceum on June 18 … Keyboardist/vocalist Mala Waldron will be at Minton's Playhouse on June 21 … The JVC Jazz Festival includes appearances by bassist Esperanza Spalding and clarinetist Anat Cohen at the Society for Ethical Culture on June 25 … Amy London sings at North Square on June 29. CD central After a long hiatus from music, Norma Winstone sings at Joe's Pub on June 26, celebrating the release of Distances (ECM) … Keyboardist Hiromi and Sonicbloom are Beyond Standard (Telarc) … Singer Yoon Sun Choi can always be counted on to show Imagination (Yeah-Yeah) … Vocalist Elisabeth Kontomanou's band includes Isabelle Olivier on harp on Back to My Groove (BluJazz) … Cynthia Holiday sings All the Way (Mile High) … Wendy Sutter plays cello on Joel Harrison's The Wheel (Innova) … Kris Davis is the pianist on Jon Irabagon's Outright! (Innova) … Jessica Jones plays piano and tenor sax while her daughter Candace sings on Word (New Artists) … Liz McComb sings, plays piano, and shows The Spirit of New Orleans (GVE) … Drummer Allison Miller plays on Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors (Cryptogramophone) … Something to sing about: Lainie Cooke declares It's Always You (Harlemwood) … Fleurine's into San Francisco (Sunnyside) … Rosa Passos believes in Romance (Telarc) … Alyssa Graham has an Echo (Giant the Dog) … Alma Micic's counting The Hours (CTA) … Rigmor Gustafsson's Alone With You (ACT) … Sylvia Bennett performs Songs from the Heart (Out of Sight). HOT FLASHES BY PAUL BLAIR NOTABLE GIGS Tenor powerhouse David Schnitter at the Turning Point Café in Piermont on June 2 - and pianist Robert Gasper at the New School's Tishman Auditorium on the same evening … Bassist Ben Wolf's octet (which includes four other string players) at the Jazz Standard on June 3 … Guitarist Tony Purrone at Flushing Town Hall and Jane Ira Bloom at the Rubin Museum, both on June 6 … The Westchester Jazz Orchestra playing Jobim at Seven Bridges School in Chappaqua on June 7 … Guitarist Sheryl Bailey's trio taping a new DVD at The Collective (541 Sixth Ave.) on June 7, with guests welcome at no charge; info via 212-741-0091 … A 93rd birthday party for Les Paul at Iridium on June 9 … An Omar Sosa sextet at the Blue Note on June 10-15 … Grupo Yanqui at Smoke on June 11-12 … Lisle Atkinson and four other bassists, along with a few other players, in a salute to Monk's compositional heritage at Symphony Space on June 13 … Donny McCaslin at the Jazz Gallery on June 13-14 … pianist Benny Lackner introducing material from his new Night For Day CD at Smalls on June 14 … Kurt Elling at Birdland on June 25-29 … Jim McNeely conducting a big band for the BMI Jazz Composers Summer Concert on June 25 … Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet at BargeMusic on June 26 … Helen Sung playing piano at the Jazz Gallery on June 26 … Roberta Gambarini singing with the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band at the Blue Note on June 24-25 and 27-29 (but appearing at the Toronto Jazz Festival on the missing date) … and Emilio Solla's Tango Project at the Jazz Standard on June 30. SCANDINAVIAN JAZZERS GALORE You can take the subway, rather than your car, to enjoy a three-day event taking place at Scandinavia House (58 Park Ave. between E. 37th and E. 38th) on June 16-19. Finnish pianist/harpist Iro Haarla's quintet plays on the first evening; two attractions - Danish pianist Jacob Anderskov and the Norwegian group Beady Belle - are slated for the second; and the third night also offers two sets - one by the Swedish trio Musicmusicmusic and another by Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson. Twelve-buck admission charges also include drinks. Details on this minifest (and on regular jazz events on Wednesdays throughout July are posted at www.scandinavianhouse.org … Coincidentally, there are apparently three other Scandinavian groups playing at Joe's Pub on June 15. Which ones? Visit www.joespub.com for the whole story. ELSEWHERE The Jazz Museum in Harlem's June schedule includes performances (by Jane Ira Bloom and Joe Wilder), a church concert celebrating the Ellington legacy, seminars at which George Wein and Emmy Kemp are guests, and a continuing series of "Jazz For Curious Listeners" program devoted to Art Tatum. The website to consult is www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org … The Jazz House Kids program at Montclair Public Library concludes with an evening program at South Orange Performing Arts Center on June 10 at which Pat Metheny and Christian McBride will discuss building careers in music. Phone 973-744-2273 for particulars … The lineup for a four-night Max Roach Tribute program at Iridium on June 5-8 is most impressive, with James Carter, Odean Pope, Billy Harper, James Spaulding, Eddie Henderson, Cecil Bridgewater, Charles Tolliver, George Cables, Ronnie Matthews, Jymie Merritt, Christian McBride, Tain Watts, Joe Chambers, Jimmy Cobb and a bunch of others appearing on various nights … Street festival are a summer tradition hereabouts, but few ever feature music as exciting as the one taking place at the corner of Hudson and Dominick Sts. on June 21 (1:00-7:00 PM) under Jazz Gallery auspices. You'll hear (at no charge, of course) the sounds of Gema y Pazel, Yosvani Terry's Afro-Cuban Roots ensemble and Roy Hargrove's Grammy-winning Crisol group ... A memorial service for the influential pianist and teacher Patti Bown takes place at Saint Peter's Church on June 8, beginning at 7:00 PM, with a great many of talented colleagues and admirers scheduled to play in her honor.