WINNING SPINS BY GEORGE KANZLER Albums from two reedmen who have been working musicians for over 40 years, and whose experiences range from big band and small group jazz to Broadway and Hollywood, as well as rock and pops, make up this Winning Spins. Eddie Daniels is a clarinetist who's won numerous jazz polls on that instrument, but who has also again begun playing the tenor sax he wielded in big bands in the 1960s and 1970s. Mel Martin is a West Coast tenor sax and flute player. Both albums capture them recorded at jazz clubs on the East and West coasts respectively. Homecoming: Eddie Daniels Live at Iridium (IPO Records) is a generous, two-CD snapshot of a four night stand Daniels led at the Manhattan club last October joined by vibist Joe Locke, pianist Tom Ranier, bassist Dave Finck and drummer Joe LaBarbera. The instrumentation, explains Daniels, is inspired by "really thinking of the Modern Jazz Quartet along with clarinet...I loved the kind of serious jazz that the MJQ did that would make you quiet and listen... Jazz has lost a little bit of that beauty and sophistication." The MJQ is a direct inspiration for two of the twelve tunes on the album: Roger Kellaway's "Deja VU MJQ," a sophisticated three-part invention redolent of its model; and a long, impeccably structured version of John Lewis' classic MJQ piece, "Django." Daniels' clarinet shines on both, with a clean, fluid, piping tone that's never hard or harsh, flowing inventively and melding fluently with vibes and piano. Daniels assays a variety of tempos and moods on clarinet on five other tracks, from his own bossa "Chosen Words" to two lyrical originals by pianist Ranier, and from his "That's For Afta," a swinging contrafact of "After You've Gone," to an episodic version of Gordon Goodwin's "Under the Wire" that accelerates in stages from a slow opening through loping and rushing swing to a final exuberant coda. On tenor sax, Daniels can be tough or tender, tearing it up on burners like "Falling in Love With Love" and a "Night and Day" interpolating "Giant Steps" changes, while false-fingering into a poignant high lonesome range on ballads, especially Duke Ellington's "Warm Valley." Also a plus throughout is the easy rapport of the band, arresting solos from Ranier, Locke and a very personal Finck, and the indelible groove of the rhythm section. Just Friends by the Mel Martin-Benny Carter quintet (on the Jazzed Media label), documents a 1994 night at Yoshi's, the jazz club in Oakland when the legendary player and composer Carter was already 87. By then, he was no longer playing trumpet and clarinet, sticking to his main instrument, alto sax, but still playing it with his characteristic suave, tart and inventively swinging flair. Carter stopped playing publicly by the later 90s (he died in 2003) and Martin has become a champion of his music in the last decade, but on this album only two of the six tracks are Carter originals. One, the graceful "People Time," is a feature for Martin's gorgeous flute and Roger Kellaway's piano. The other, "Elegy in Blue," is mesmerizing for Carter's deeply evocative, bluesy solo. Martin and Carter mix it up with swinging compatibility on "Perdido," with Martin's solo a generous compendium of tenor sax references. "Secret Love," taken at an easy lope, finds both saxophonists developing long, debonair lines, plus a Red Garland-ish solo from Kellaway. The title tune is also taken at a lithe, easy swinging tempo, one that both Carter and Martin use to develop similarly coherent, extended narrative solos. Rounding out the album is a Martin feature on his own "Spritely," a jazz waltz with a title that neatly encapsulates the spirit of this album. Mel Martin will be part of the Benny Carter Centennial Band at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola on October 15. Eddie Daniels leads his band at Iridium on October 18-21. SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL BLAIR AND GEORGE KANzler DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER BLUE NOTE/OCTOBER 2-7 If it's there for a singer to do, Dee Dee Bridgewater has done it. She sang with the original Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, won a Tony in "The Wiz," recorded an album of Horace Silver songs and a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. In France, where she lived for years, she was hailed as the new Josephine Baker, and even cut an album of French classic pop songs. But she's outdone herself, again, with her latest project. Red Earth - A Malian Journey, her new CD, was recorded in Mali, and Bridgewater is bringing the same mix of jazz and traditional West African music to this gig. GK RALPH BOWEN SMOKE/OCTOBER 18 Remember Out of the Blue, the mid-80s co-op sextet assembled by Blue Note Records to introduce talented younger players to jazz listeners? Tenorist Bowen was among the cast (along with Kenny Garrett, Ralph Peterson and others of great promise). Since then, Bowen's improvising and writing has been documented on a series of Criss Cross recordings. One of those - Soul Proprietor, cut in 2001 - features the very same quintet Bowen will reassemble for this highly promising night uptown: trumpet player John Swana, guitarist Peter Bernstein, organist Sam Yahel and drummer Brian Blade. PB STEVE DAVIS BROOKLYN LYCEUM/OCTOBER 21 Among trombonists carrying on the J.J. Johnson tradition, Davis may be the most consistently rewarding to hear. With him at the Lyceum - formerly a public bath in Park Slope - will be altoist Mike DiRubbo, pianist David Bryant, bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Eric McPherson. Where does Steve first hear the talented youngsters who so illuminate his groups? Teaching at Hartford's Jackie McLean Institute certainly helps. Look for him, too, leading different groups at Smalls on November 2-3. He's also part of Smoke's One For All sextet, Jimmy Heath's big band, the New Jazz Composers Octet and the Gillespie Alumni All-Stars group. PB LARRY VUCKOVICH FIAZOLI SALON/OCTOBER 12 Born in Yugoslavia, Vuckovich has toured the world with Jon Hendricks, Philly Joe Jones and Dexter Gordon; backed singers like Mel Torme, Irene Kral and David Allyn; led house bands at European venues; served as musical director at key U.S. festivals; played all the important New York jazz clubs; and underpinned solos by everyone from Brew Moore and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson to Tom Harrell and Scott Hamilton. So how does he sound as a keyboard soloist? This appearance as part of the Fazioli showcase series will reveal all. (He'll welcome Hod O'Brien as a guest.) By the way, his Jazz-Latin Quartet plays at Dizzy's on October 8. PB MARTIAL SOLAL VILLAGE VANGUARD/OCTOBER 9-14 In 1999, Algerian-born French pianist Solal was awarded The Jazzpar, jazz's richest international honor, in terms of both prestige and money, and sometimes called "The Jazz Nobel Prize." Over his long career, he's played with everyone from Sidney Bechet, Don Byas and Lucky Thompson to Lee Konitz and Dave Douglas, having recorded duet albums with both of the latter. He's also led his own big bands and large ensembles, as well as trios. To celebrate his 80th birthday this year, he's going to do something rare: play an entire week of solo piano gigs at the storied Vanguard. A first appearance at the club in over six years not to be missed. GK DIANNE REEVES METROPOLITAN MUSEUM/OCTOBER 25 With a voice at times almost too commanding and incredible to believe, Dianne Reeves can be the jazz singing equivalent of a dominatrix. With her own mythically folksy story-songs, she can weave tales like a griot. Yet Reeves is also well-versed in the jazz tradition of singing the American Popular Songbook exemplified by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. In fact her soundtrack album from the Edward R. Murrow biopic "Goodnight and Good Luck" was a pitch-perfect evocation of the end of the golden age of jazz- pop singing. Backing her for this gig will be guitarists Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo. GK BEN SIDRAN JAZZ STANDARD/OCTOBER 8 Few of the people featured in our monthly have played with rockers Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs, produced Diana Ross albums, hosted shows on VH-1 or collaborated musically with Van Morrison. Sidran has. We know him best, though, as a pianist and singer whose work most nearly approximates Mose Allison's. Dr. Sidran (he earned his PhD in Philosophy/Musicology through research into African-American music and culture) has also presented jazz on long-running NPR programs called "Jazz Alive" and "Sidran on Jazz." His Talking Jazz Quartet at the Standard also includes other names you'll recognize: Rufus Reid, Carl Allen and Phil Woods. PB LIONEL LOUEKE JAZZ GALLERY/OCTOBER 26 AND 27 You've surely heard his name by now, but have you heard him? This exceptional guitarist/singer, a native of Benin, has already recorded as sideman with Terence Blanchard (on both Bounce and Flow), Charlie Haden (on Land of the Sun), Avishai Cohen (on The Big Rain) and Herbie Hancock (on Possibilities). These days, much of his attention is currently focused on Gilfema, his own trio, which also includes Swedish-Italian bassist Massimo Biolcati and Hungarian percussionist Ferenc Nemeth. Together, they do weave the sort of musical spells that defy easy description. And there's more magic on two other recent Loueke CDs: In a Trance and Virgin Forest. PB AARON DIEHL RUBIN MUSEUM/OCTOBER 12 Wynton calls him "the Real Diehl." Though he's apparently still studying in Juilliard's jazz program, Diehl's pianistic talents have already attracted considerable attention, with Japanese listeners currently gaga over his Mozart Jazz CD released there. In fact, during a 2002 high school jazz band competition at Lincoln Center, he was accorded Most Outstanding Soloist honors. Aaron grew up in Columbus studying classical music, played with a local youth symphony and gradually drifted into the jazz universe. He'll lead a trio at the Rubin Museum, two days after having taken part of the Monk Birthday Celebration farther downtown. PB VICTOR LIN TRIBECA PAC/NOVEMBER 15 Highlight in Jazz impresario Jack Kleinsinger caught pianist Lin's sets at the Knickerbocker and decided he ought to be heard by more New Yorkers, so he booked him for this concert. Good move. A first-generation Taiwanese-American, Lin's already been featured at the Blue Note, Flushing Town Hall and the Japan Society, even as he devotes time to finishing up his doctorate at Columbia. Meanwhile, he teaches at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Camp. (He's a violinist, too.) His trio includes bassist Michael Olatuja and drummer Ulysses Owens. Also on this concert bill are singer Kevin Mahogany and pianist Bill Charlap. PB JAZZ IN JERSEY BY FRED McINTOSH FRANK VIGNOLA BICKFORD THEATRE/OCTOBER 1 Truly a virtuoso guitarist, Frank Vignola leads an unusual quintet this time out which includes fellow guitarist Vinnie Raniolo, mandolinist Josh Pinkham, bassist Pete Coco and drummer Rich Zucor. You've doubtless heard music by the Frank & Joe Project he co-leads with drummer Joe Ascione, but he's also performed alongside such talents as Bucky Pizzarelli, Les Paul, Howard Alden, Lionel Hampton and Jon Faddis - and stretched into other genres through projects involving Elton John, ragtime pianist Max Morath and Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing group. We like Blues for a Gypsy, Frank's 2001 solo CD on Acoustic Disc. WINARD HARPER WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY/OCTOBER 14 Drummer Harper brings his always-exciting sextet to WPU's Jazz Room Series, which includes a pre-concert meet-the-artist session. Winard says Roach and Blakey were definitely favorites but cites Billy Higgins as a prime influence. He backed Betty Carter for a spell and has played over the years with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Abdullah Ibrahim, Billy Taylor, Clifford Jordan, Jimmy Heath and Ray Bryant, among others. His band this time out includes Josh Evans Jr. (trumpet) Lawrence Clark (tenor), Jonathon Notar (piano), Ameen Daleem (bass) and Senegalese percussionist Alloune Faye. Want a preview? Check out the uplifting Harper CD called Make It Happen on the Piadrum label. JOHN ALLRED ARTS GUILD OF RAHWAY/OCTOBER 12 Allred, certainly among the most fluent and inventive trombonists on today's scene, continues a family tradition established by his grandfather and his father, both of whom become jazz musicians. His resume, which he's still building, already includes stints with some notable large ensembles (eg. the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Woody Herman, the Matteson-Phillips Tuba Jazz Consort , the outfits led by Toshiko Akiyoshi, Clark Terry and Harry Connick Jr.) and he's made dates with leaders like Ruby Braff, Al Cohn, Ralph Sutton, Buddy DeFranco, Dave McKenna, Vince Giordano and a host of others. By the way, this guy also plays great tuba and euphonium as well. BOB DE VOS TRUMPETS/OCTOBER 27 Here's a thinking man's guitarist/composer who plays from the heart. His message is clear and his sound is warm. Bob's trio, which also includes organist Dan Kostelnik, appears at this Montclair club during the same week that his new High Note CD Playing For Keeps (also featuring titan Eric Alexander and drummer Steve Johns) will be released. In appraising his work in partnership with players like Sonny Stitt, Jimmy McGriff, Hank Crawford, Harry Allen and Jerry Weldon, critics have used adjectives like "glowing" and "assured." Who might his improvising remind you of? Well, he cites Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall and Pat Martino as particular favorites.   RUFUS REID: UNDERLINING THE PROCEEDINGS by Ken Dryden Long considered one of the top bassists in jazz, Rufus Reid has recorded extensively as a sideman. In recent years, however, he's had more opportunities to record as leader. "I grew up in California," he says, "where I played trumpet in grade school and high school bands. I had two teachers who exposed us to lots of jazz. For instance, we read through the original manuscript of Neal Hefti's "Li'l' Darlin'" arrangement for Basie and performed at dances and theater shows. At the time, though, I didn't realize I was becoming infatuated with the bass." After completing high school, Reid considered his options. "I decided to go into the military rather than get drafted, get married or go to college - none of which sounded good. I auditioned for the Air Force band and passed by the skin of my teeth. For the next five years, I played trumpet. That first year, I had lots of time on my hands in Montgomery, Alabama, I was the only black person in the band. After noon, the rest of my day was free, so I began to teach myself bass, I got a book and started playing. The guys in the band enjoyed my time feeling. I went to Japan for my last two years. That's where I met Ray Brown and played more and more. The C.O. in the band allowed me to play the string bass parts in the concert band since we had so many trumpets, though I still played trumpet in formations. When I was discharged, I sold my trumpet and bought my bass the same week from a high school buddy. I went to Seattle to study for a couple of years, then finally got a real bass teacher who prepared me to go to Northwestern University. "Here's what Ray Brown told me: 'We play in the rhythm section, but keep the bass up front.' All the great bassists have good time and don't need a drummer or piano player. I tell my bass students that you have to put on a half-hour concert, playing melodies and improvising. You're successful when don't miss the drums or the harmonic instrument. Ray mastered many different styles and played with everybody. His stories and anecdotes were always both entertaining and instructive. These days, I can play for an hour alone, interspersed music with stories. It's challenging, though, since people's ears have to come way down to hear the bass. I'm not a virtuoso or digital technician, by any means. Still, if it's melodic, in tune, swings and feels good, you got 'em!" The bassist has been writing for some time and lately gaining greater recognition for his own compositions. "I do a great deal of composing at the piano. In school, I was a performance major and never actually studied composition. But I'm fortunate to have been mentored by and played with many great composers. I was on the road with Eddie Harris for awhile, then came to New York to play with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis' band. I ended up as Director of Jazz Studies in Performance at William Patterson, where I stayed for twenty years. When I left, I was eager to get involved with the BMI Composer's Workshop, since I'd heard great things about it. My good friends Jim McNeely, Manny Albam and Michael Abene were the coaches and I was accepted. I'm intrigued about the process of composing. When you're composing by improvising, there is no second chance. But when you write, you decide who gets that note. Once you put something down and someone plays it and it really jumps off the page beyond your expectations, that's pretty amazing. "The great composers who are my mentors - Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Bob Brookmeyer, Thad Jones, Quincy Jones and Jim McNeely - have all been great players themselves. Muhal Richard Abrams and I used to play together with Eddie Harris. I played with Benny and Art Farmer in the Jazztet. They've heard my music and said, 'Wow! That's another side of you that we didn't know existed.' Composing is a very intimate, personal thing. What's more, I think it's made me a better player." Reid is a seasoned conductor, too. He directed ten bassists in "The Judge and the Jury," a piece composed for Milt Hinton's eightieth birthday party at Town Hall. Then when Milt passed away, Reid conducted music for fifty bassists at the service held in Riverside Church. "My book The Evolving Bassist, which came out in 1974, was like my first child. When I updated it later, I added a DVD and it's still selling fairly well. Mulgrew Miller and Lewis Nash make appearances, too. But it's mostly me talking to the camera for nearly two and one-half hours, so it works as a lesson or series of lessons. We actually used five cameras in taping it at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild." “My newest release is Live at the Kennedy Center with trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, tenorist Rich Perry, pianist Sumi Tonooka and drummer Tim Horner. They've been with me for the past couple of years. Fortunately, that Washington concert was taped and Motema picked it up for release.” Reid is obviously excited about his upcoming gig at the Kitano Hotel. "I've known the pianist Steve Allee for several years. He's a great piano player and composer. We get together during the summer to do workshops. We've also talked about recording together in future. Meanwhile, Duduka da Fonseca, a fantastic Brazilian drummer who's part of the group Trio da Paz, has been my friend for quite some time, so I've been wanting to work with him as well. Duduka doesn't even know Steve, so it'll be a very fresh outing for all of us." Reid plays with Allee and Da Fonseca at the Kitano on October 19-20. RANDY WESTON: ANYTHING BUT RETIRED by Elzy Kolb If Randy Weston were your average octogenarian, his autobiography might be out of print by now. But the memoirs of this pianist, composer and educator are a work-in-progress. Whenever it seems like the book may be almost done, a chance meeting with an acquaintance revives old memories, or a gig creates new ones. "Every day I have another new adventure in my life," Weston says. Weston was immersed in jazz from the get-go. Right in his own neighborhood, the Brooklyn native could hear musical history being created by the likes of Duke Ellington. "I was such a big jazz fan," Weston says. "Before I played music, I was in love with music, before I ever played a note. I'm still a big fan." He spent time with Monk, and listened to Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Count Basie and many others. Weston made his recording debut as a leader in 1954, with a collection of standards by Cole Porter. A year later the Down Beat International Critics' Poll voted him the "New Star Pianist." "I'm blessed to have a talent of music, which is a gift from the Creator," Weston says. "I think being a musician is probably the most beautiful profession in the world because you meet people all over the world, and you speak a language that all people speak, which is music." Since childhood, Weston has been aware of his identity as an African born in America. He had his first opportunity to visit the continent of his ancestors in the early 1960s, when he played and lectured in Nigeria. He later performed in fourteen African nations on an extended State Department tour, and ended up making Morocco his home for several years. Spreading the word about African Americans' influence on music is important to Weston. As early as 1958, he was lecturing on the history of jazz at New York University. He cites a shared interest in African history and culture as the reason for the longevity of his relationships with musicians such as percussionist Neil Clarke, bassist Alex Blake, trombonist Benny Powell, and altoist/arranger T.K. Blue, the core of his various African Rhythms bands. "We've been together for quite a few years," Weston says. "We're a family. We have a common heritage. We have great respect for our ancestors and the musicians before us. So we're always reading books and trying to understand more about the history of the music that we play, going back to the traditional African music itself. We try to express some of the ancient rhythms so that the young people will realize that the music really came out of Africa. What we do today is because of what our ancestors created." Recently, Weston performed a tribute to James Reese Europe, with a nine-piece version of African Rhythms. Europe, a bandleader, arranger and composer, earned enormous international popularity in the World War I era. Though he's largely forgotten today, Europe influenced George Gershwin, fronted the first jazz band to play Carnegie Hall, and his Clef Club organization once racked up $100,000 in bookings in a year. "James Reese Europe is probably one of the greatest men in African American history and has completely been ignored," Weston says. For the tribute concert, "We had to capture the spirit of 1911, 1912, 1919. I listened to a lot of music of that period. For the first time I worked with banjo and tuba. T.K. Blue did the arrangements of [Europe's] compositions." Weston hopes to record Europe's music soon. At 81, Weston has no intention of slowing down. He hopes to get a big band together early next year to play arrangements by his long-time collaborator Melba Liston. "Melba's spirit is so strong, though she's no longer with us physically, I really would love to do some more work with the big band." He's also looking forward to traveling more. "I'll be going back to Africa, certainly. I love the continent, I love the traditional music. The best players go to Africa to hear the beginning of what we do." Plus, in collaboration with writer Willard Jenkins, Weston's got that autobiography to finish. Randy Weston's African Rhythms Trio, featuring Alex Blake on bass and Neil Clark on African percussion, appears at Birdland on October 3-6. JAZZWOMEN! BY ELZY KOLB Challenges welcome Singer Carla Cook says "I firmly believe in getting out of my comfort zone." That point of view led her to "make my acting debut, of sorts," when she was invited to play the role of Nina Simone in Schlomo: House of Love and Prayer, at the National Yiddish Theater earlier this year. "It was nerve-racking, because I'm not an actor, but it was fun to try. It kind of fell in my lap and I did it to see if I could. If I wanted to do this again, I'd have to be trained" as an actor. While growing up in Detroit, Carla studied voice, piano and bass, which she played in the high school orchestra. Though she has never played jazz bass, "I'm more reliant on the bass than anything else in the band," Carla says. "It's the b-a-s-s and the b-a-s-e. It holds everything together for my ear. I really love the instrument." As far as her musical comfort zone, "I'm not even sure where the edges of that are. With anything musical, if I can see the value of it, I will try it. Whether it turns out to be wonderful or not so wonderful, in the end it will help you feed your craft." Carla and her quintet are set to appear at the Baruch Performing Arts Center on Oct. 25, as part of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives series. Note that readers of Hot House will get a $10 discount on the $25 admission ticket. Sounding good in many hats Pianist Myra Melford has fronted as many as four different bands in recent years. However, "Lately I've been using the same pool of musicians who really know my music, in different configurations. So now, I'm consolidating all of my own bands into Be Bread," Myra says. That doesn't mean she's narrowing her musical horizons. Besides Be Bread, Myra plays in several small collaborations, including with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson in Trio M, which has just released Big Picture (Cryptogramophone), and with violist Tanya Kalmanovitch, with whom she put out a CD last spring. Myra, an associate professor of improve and jazz at UC Berkeley, will be in town this month for the release of her most recent collaboration Spark! (Palmetto), with Marty Ehrlich on clarinet and alto. At their Joe's Pub gig on Oct. 28, "We'll focus on music from the CD, but probably work in a few other things as well." Myra's enjoying the teaching gig, though she finds "getting used to the academic environment is challenging. I have to keep my creative work going, and stay on top of the administrative responsibilities. I'm getting a lot out of it, and it's another way to share my music and my love for music with people." Live and digital You can catch singer/pianist Champian Fulton with David Berger and the Sultans of Swing every Tuesday night at Birdland, or you can hear them whenever you want on their new CD Champian (Such Sweet Thunder) … Check out vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Blue Note on Oct. 2-7, celebrating the release of Red Earth: A Malian Journey (DDB) … Straight outta Norway: Sinikka Langeland sings music from Starflowers (ECM) at Scandinavia House on Oct. 4 … Join singer Julie Hardy at the Jazz Standard on Oct. 16 to celebrate the release of The Wish (World Culture Music) … After a long sabbatical, the New York Voices are back on A Day Like This (MCG); celebrate with them at Birdland on Oct 17-20 … Quartet San Francisco, with Kayo Miki on violin and Emily Onderdonk on viola, plays a fabulously eclectic repertoire on Whirled Chamber Music (ViolinJazz); hear the group at Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center on Oct. 21, or check their website for numerous New Jersey gigs throughout the month: www.quartetsanfrancisco.com … The versatile Anat Cohen plays clarinet and tenor with four bands in six nights at the Jazz Standard from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4; you can also hear her with The Jason Lindner Big Band Live at the Jazz Gallery (Anzic). Out on the town Ellen Starr sings at Sweet Rhythm on Oct. 2 … Deidre Rodman plays solo piano at the Fazioli Salon on Oct. 5 … Raya Yarbrough sings at the Rockwood Music Hall on Oct. 5 … Pianist Sayuri Goto is busy this month: She plays piano with Benny Powell at Flushing Town Hall on Oct. 5, and at the Lenox Lounge on Oct. 26-27; she'll appear with her own trio at Kitano on Oct. 24 … Barbara Fasano sings at Enzo's on Oct. 5 … Vocalist Vanessa Rubin is part of the Generations of Jazz concert presented by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium at Jazz 966 on Oct. 6 … Nancy King and Karrin Allyson sing at Dizzy's on Oct. 9-14 … Bassist Kim Clarke plays the Sugar Bar on Oct. 6 … Vocalist Jody Sandhaus appears at Enzo's on Oct. 10 … Paula West sings at the Oak Room of the Algonquin on Oct. 16-Nov. 10 … Pianist Lenore Raphael plays Kitano on Oct. 18 … Pyeng Threadgill sings at the Blue Note on Oct. 19 … Vocalist Judi Silvano appears at Big Apple Jazz on Oct. 20 … The kids are back: The Jazz Standard's Youth Orchestra plays Sunday brunch most weeks, starting on Oct. 21 … Singers Laurie Krauz, Ellen Johnson, and Barbara Sfraga with Center Search Quest are on the lineup at the From the Heart concert at the Cornelia Street Café on Oct. 21 … Michelle Walker sings at Zinc Bar on Oct. 22 … Vocalist Tessa Souter plays the Jazz Standard on Oct. 22 … Pianist Valerie Capers appears at the Harlem School of the Arts on Oct. 25, part of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem's Harlem Speaks program … The aptly named Great Women in Jazz concert takes place at Flushing Town Hall on Oct. 26; the "super band" includes Regina Carter, Cindy Blackman, Carol Sudhalter, Kim Clarke, Bertha Hope and others. For the record(ing) Etta Jones sings a live one with Houston Person on Don't Misunderstand (HighNote) … Vocalist Diane Hubka also plays guitar, and Goes to the Movies (18th and Vine) … Saxophonist Sweet Sue Terry has a smokin' band on Bandleader 101, downloadable at: www.sueterry.net/music.html … KJ Denhert sings and plays guitar on originals plus a standard on Lucky 7 (Mother Cyclone) … Vocalist Stacey Kent serves Breakfast on the Morning Tram (Blue Note) … Marsha Heydt plays reeds and flute on One Night (Blue Toucan), Sheryl Bailey joins her on guitar … Gloria Lynne sings From My Heart to Yours (HighNote) … The Fantastic Merlins, with Jacqueline Ferrier on cello and electronics, urge us to Look Around (Innova) … Esperanza Spalding sings on Stanley Clarke's The Toys of Men (Heads Up) … I'm grateful to the iconic Sue Mingus for digging deep in the vaults to discover the great music on the Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy: Cornell 1964 (Blue Note) … Vocalist Sophie Milman aims to Make Someone Happy (Linus).   HOT FLASHES BY PAUL BLAIR EVENTS APLENTY The Thelonious Monk 90th Birthday Piano Marathon, a special celebration of what would have been Thelonious Monk's ninetieth birthday is taking place on Oct. 10 inside the World Financial Center's Winter Garden space at Ground Zero and brings in a bunch of talented pianists for brief sets. They include Geri Allen, Cedar Walton, Randy Weston, Frank Kimbrough, Luis Perdomo, Fred Hersch, Helio Alves, Aaron Goldberg, Dan Tepfer, Juan Jose Chuquisengo, Aaron Diehl, Ran Jia, Joel Fan, Martha Marchena, Deidre Rodman and Erno Feher. They'll play, one after another but not in this order, between 5:00 and 9:00 PM and you won't have to pay a farthing to hear them, since it's a free event sponsored by the good people at Klavierhaus. Info: 212-245-4535 … Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium's celebration of its eighth anniversary at the Fulton St. venue called Club 966 on Oct. 6 (3:00-7:00 PM) will feature music by singer Vanessa Rubin, saxophonist Gerald Hayes and an ensemble called The New Cookers which includes Kenyatta Beasley, Keith Loftis, Anthony Wonsey and E.J. Strickland. Top local restaurateurs will be offering up treats onsite as well. Get details via info@centralbrooklynjazzconsortium.org … Saint Peter's Church hosts its 37th annual All Night Soul event this month, but it's been expanded to a two-day thing, with a 7:00 PM performance on Oct. 5 by Rome Neal (his celebrated one-man Monk portrayal) followed by trombonist Alan Ferber's wonderful nonet-plus-strings aggregation; and then the Oct. 7 premiere of a new jazz mass composed by bassist Ike Sturm that will feature choir, a ten-member string section and a sextet that includes Ingrid Jensen, Loren Stillman and the aforementioned Aaron Diehl, among others. Music continues until 1:00 AM on that Sunday evening, with jazz videos and food on offer inside the church's Hungry Souls Café. Lynne Mueller has all the details: 732-549-0876 or 917-207-4953. Incidentally, this year's proceedings are dedicated to Dr. Billy Taylor … New CDs by female vocalists continue to pour into reviewers' post office boxes. But just where are the men? Lately, we've been enjoying new albums by a pair of vets with ultra-rich voices and signature styles - Andy Bey (It Ain't Necessarily So, on the 12th Street Records label) and 78 year-old Ed Reed (Love Stories, released on his own Blue Shorts label and a first-ever effort!). This month brings opportunities to catch each gent live locally: Bey at Joe's Pub on Oct. 25 and Reed at the Jazz Standard on Oct. 29 … A show of hand-tinted photos by Enid Farber, one of the jazz community's best, continues through Oct. 15 at the Cosi Gallery at 535 Washington Ave. (right across from the Pavonia-Newport PATH train stop) in Jersey City ADMIRABLE NEW RELEASES, WITH GIGS TO MATCH If you've enjoyed hearing Jason Lindner's big band at the Jazz Gallery, you'll definitely relish a superb two-disc set on Anzic documenting their two nights of work there a couple of years ago; Jason himself will play piano with Dafnis Prieto's Absolute Quintet at the Standard on Oct. 4-5 … Audacious-Title-of-the-Year honors go to pianist Cyrus Chestnut, whose Plays the Elvis Presley Songbook CD (Koch) sounds loads better than you'd guess; he's at the Miller Theater on the Columbia University campus on Oct. 13 ... All praise to reedman Marty Ehrlich, whose new one on Palmetto pairs him with pianist Myra Melford to great effect; they're at Joe's Pub on Oct. 28. ALSO WORTHY OF ATTENTION Pianist Jean-Michel Pilc celebrating the release of a new CD at the Standard on Oct. 2-3 … Guitarist Michael Musillami's quartet (with Mark Feldman, Joe Fonda and George Schuller) at Cornelia Street on Oct. 3 … Composer-arranger Darcy James Argue presenting the 18-member big band he calls Secret Society at the Jazz Gallery on Oct. 4 … Bassist Martin Wind's quartet (with the remarkable Scott Robinson doubtless playing several of the horns he's mastered) at Kitano on Oct. 12-13 … Russian saxophonist Oleg Kireyev's Exotic Band (with musicians from Bashkiria, Moldova, Ukraine, Tatarstan and Senegal) at Zankel Hall on Oct. 14 … New York Voices at Birdland for four nights (Oct. 17-20) … Baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber at Kitano on Oct. 26-27 … And saxophonist Chris Byars debuting new compositions for his quartet at the Rubin on Oct. 26. CAMPUS RUMPUS Juilliard begins its season's jazz sked with appearances by bassist Christian McBride (Oct. 1) and Paquito d'Rivera (Oct. 17) in front of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra. Tickets to these concerts are free but you must reserve them well in advance. To find out how, phone 212-769-7406 or consult www.juilliard.edu … Meanwhile, the Jazz Room Series at William Paterson University continues with Sunday-at-four performances by Jerry Gonzalez' Fort Apache Band on Oct. 7; Winard Harper's sextet on Oct. 14; Jimmy Heath on Oct. 21; and the Anat Fort trio on Oct. 28. Each is preceded by informal meet-the-artist sessions. Tix are very reasonably priced, too. Call 973-720-2371 or check www.wpunj.org. NEW BROOKLYN VENUES Yep, clubs close all the time. But new ones open, too. Heard yet about the Jalopy Theater? Located at 315 Columbia St. in Red Hook, it'll present a specially commissioned 90-minute work by saxophonist Rob Reddy's ensemble Tenfold on each Friday evening this month, with a different opening group each night. More on the remarkable Mr. Reddy is posted on www.reddymusic.com. And for hints on how to find the Jalopy, see www.jalopy.biz … Note, too, that jazz is now a regular feature on the menu at Mitchell's Bar & Grill at 259 Flatbush Ave., right on the border between Park Slope and Prospect Heights. All in all, this place sounds like an extremely hip deli. 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. Herb Ellis once told about a club the Oscar Peterson Trio was booked into. On opening night they tried a sound check and discovered that the club's sound system was completely dead. When they informed the club owner, he said, "Well, turn it on anyway. It might help a little bit." Bucky Pizzarelli told me about a studio recording made out in California back in the days of Hi-Fi. Rimski-Korsakov's "Scheherezade" had been arranged by Skip Martin for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra plus an 19-piece jazz band with heavyweight players like Conrad Gozzo, Jimmy Rowles, Irv Cottler, etc. The arrangement went back and forth between classical and jazz versions of the piece. Bucky played the LP for Benny Goodman, and he said when the brass section hit, Benny's eyes popped open. When Bucky asked Benny how he liked the record, Benny said, "Get rid of that symphony, and you've got a hell of a record!"