JAM Magazine: August/September 1997 Issue: Folly Jazz News

by Doug Tatum

1997-98 at The Folly
With this issue of JAM, I am happy to announce the lineup of the 1997-98 Folly Jazz Series. It took longer than usual to put the series together this year, but I hope you'll agree it was worth the wait!

Saturday, October 25: Chick Corea and Gary Burton.
This year, pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first collaboration. What has become one of the most enduring combinations in jazz began rather casually as an unplanned improvisation at the 1972 Munich Jazz Festival. This meeting led them into the recording studio, resulting in the now-classic ECM recording, Crystal Silence. About their long musical relationship, Corea says, "We keep getting back together and it always flies!... We manage to keep having fun and to keep the music fresh. We're a combination that works."
Friday, November 14: The Roy Haynes Quartet.
Roy Haynes is generally acknowledged as being the "father of modern drumming" and the link between bebop and contemporary styles. Consider the 50-year span of Roy's amazing career; he has played and recorded with Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny. Throughout, Roy has played with an intensity that has been on the cutting edge of whatever style of jazz he has been involved with. Roy has the ability to be driving and light at the same time, qualities that have influenced virtually every modern jazz drummer. Roy Haynes is "The Master."
Saturday, January 17, 1998: Don Byron's "Bug Music" Orchestra.
The big band sounds of the 1940s come alive with a contemporary twist as acclaimed clarinetist Don Byron leads his exuberant band through meticulous and faithful transcriptions of swing era composers John Kirby, Raymond Scott and Duke Ellington. Byron was featured last year in the film "Kansas City," and performed in the "Kansas City Band" that toured as part of the Verve Jazz Fest. (Byron played all of the hot clarinet solos!) Wondering about the name? "Bug Music" is the title of Byron's latest CD and is a tongue-in-cheek reference to The Beatles from an episode of "The Flintstones." This concert, however, has nothing to do with The Beatles. Or The Flintstones. But it does have everything to do with great jazz.
Friday, February 20: "Celebrating the Kansas City Style."
This special concert is a component of "Lost Jazz Shrines," a national collaborative project paying homage to the many clubs and ballrooms of yesteryear where jazz first developed and flourished as an American art form. Among others, featured artists will include:

Jay McShann, who is, of course, a Kansas City jazz legend. Arriving in KC in 1937, Jay soon formed a big band that included an 18-year-old alto saxophonist named Charlie Parker. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, Jay is recognized worldwide as being one of the finest jazz/blues stylists of all time, and an international jazz icon.

Claude "Fiddler" Williams, another undisputed KC jazz legend, who began his career as a guitarist, and was Count Basie's first recorded guitarist in 1936. Claude also worked with Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy, Don Byas, Buddy Tate and Nat "King" Cole. Today, Claude remains quite active recording and performing around the world.

Harold Ashby, who was born and raised in Kansas City, and was the protégé of tenor sax titan Ben Webster, another Kansas City native. For years, Harold freelanced with bands having a strong blues orientation in Chicago and New York. Harold joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1968, and his work is considered to rank with the greatest ever created on the tenor saxophone in the history of Ellingtonia. This concert will represent a great Kansas City "homecoming" for Harold!

Harry "Sweets" Edison, who is still one of the most distinctive and brilliant trumpet stylists in all of jazz history. For many years he was a featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra, and he has worked with virtually every jazz great, including Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.
Saturday, March 14: The Joe Henderson Quartet.
Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson first came on the jazz scene in the 1960s. One of the greatest jazz success stories of the '90s is that Joe is finally receiving the recognition that he deserves as a giant of the tenor saxophone. Henderson is a two-time triple crown winner in Down Beat magazine with awards for "Jazz Album of the Year," "Jazz Musician of the Year" and "Tenor Sax of the Year." About Joe Henderson, the New York Times wrote, "A master at the height of his powers... as close to artistic genius as jazz gets."
Saturday, April 18: The Marian McPartland Trio.
Marian McPartland's virtuoso performances at the piano along with her own personal style have won her international acclaim as one of the most important figures in jazz today. A native of Great Britain, Marian was performing for American troops during World War II when she met and married trumpeter Jimmy McPartland. The couple came to the States in 1946, where she performed with her husband's quintet before establishing herself as an important jazz soloist. Since 1977, she has served as producer, host and performer on her Peabody Award-winning "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" on National Public Radio.
Friday, May 8: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the living tradition of authentic New Orleans Jazz, as performed by many of the very musicians who created it. It has been an institution in New Orleans' French Quarter for nearly five decades.

All concerts at the Folly Theater start at 8:00 p.m. and are preceded at 7:00 p.m. by "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussions with Dick Wright, host of KANU's "The Jazz Scene." For more information, or to request a flyer, please call the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444.

(Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.)

RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1997 MAIN INDEX

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		by Doug Tatum 1997-98 at The Folly With this issue of JAM, I am happy to announce the lineup of the 1997-98 Folly Jazz Series. It took longer than usual to put the series together this year, but I hope you'll agree it was worth the wait! Saturday, October 25: Chick Corea and Gary Burton. This year, pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first collaboration. What has become one of the most enduring combinations in jazz began rather casually as an unplanned improvisation at the 1972 Munich Jazz Festival. This meeting led them into the recording studio, resulting in the now-classic ECM recording, Crystal Silence. About their long musical relationship, Corea says, "We keep getting back together and it always flies!... We manage to keep having fun and to keep the music fresh. We're a combination that works." Friday, November 14: The Roy Haynes Quartet. Roy Haynes is generally acknowledged as being the "father of modern drumming" and the link between bebop and contemporary styles. Consider the 50-year span of Roy's amazing career; he has played and recorded with Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny. Throughout, Roy has played with an intensity that has been on the cutting edge of whatever style of jazz he has been involved with. Roy has the ability to be driving and light at the same time, qualities that have influenced virtually every modern jazz drummer. Roy Haynes is "The Master." Saturday, January 17, 1998: Don Byron's "Bug Music" Orchestra. The big band sounds of the 1940s come alive with a contemporary twist as acclaimed clarinetist Don Byron leads his exuberant band through meticulous and faithful transcriptions of swing era composers John Kirby, Raymond Scott and Duke Ellington. Byron was featured last year in the film "Kansas City," and performed in the "Kansas City Band" that toured as part of the Verve Jazz Fest. (Byron played all of the hot clarinet solos!) Wondering about the name? "Bug Music" is the title of Byron's latest CD and is a tongue-in-cheek reference to The Beatles from an episode of "The Flintstones." This concert, however, has nothing to do with The Beatles. Or The Flintstones. But it does have everything to do with great jazz. Friday, February 20: "Celebrating the Kansas City Style." This special concert is a component of "Lost Jazz Shrines," a national collaborative project paying homage to the many clubs and ballrooms of yesteryear where jazz first developed and flourished as an American art form. Among others, featured artists will include: Jay McShann, who is, of course, a Kansas City jazz legend. Arriving in KC in 1937, Jay soon formed a big band that included an 18-year-old alto saxophonist named Charlie Parker. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, Jay is recognized worldwide as being one of the finest jazz/blues stylists of all time, and an international jazz icon. Claude "Fiddler" Williams, another undisputed KC jazz legend, who began his career as a guitarist, and was Count Basie's first recorded guitarist in 1936. Claude also worked with Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy, Don Byas, Buddy Tate and Nat "King" Cole. Today, Claude remains quite active recording and performing around the world. Harold Ashby, who was born and raised in Kansas City, and was the protégé of tenor sax titan Ben Webster, another Kansas City native. For years, Harold freelanced with bands having a strong blues orientation in Chicago and New York. Harold joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1968, and his work is considered to rank with the greatest ever created on the tenor saxophone in the history of Ellingtonia. This concert will represent a great Kansas City "homecoming" for Harold! Harry "Sweets" Edison, who is still one of the most distinctive and brilliant trumpet stylists in all of jazz history. For many years he was a featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra, and he has worked with virtually every jazz great, including Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. Saturday, March 14: The Joe Henderson Quartet. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson first came on the jazz scene in the 1960s. One of the greatest jazz success stories of the '90s is that Joe is finally receiving the recognition that he deserves as a giant of the tenor saxophone. Henderson is a two-time triple crown winner in Down Beat magazine with awards for "Jazz Album of the Year," "Jazz Musician of the Year" and "Tenor Sax of the Year." About Joe Henderson, the New York Times wrote, "A master at the height of his powers... as close to artistic genius as jazz gets." Saturday, April 18: The Marian McPartland Trio. Marian McPartland's virtuoso performances at the piano along with her own personal style have won her international acclaim as one of the most important figures in jazz today. A native of Great Britain, Marian was performing for American troops during World War II when she met and married trumpeter Jimmy McPartland. The couple came to the States in 1946, where she performed with her husband's quintet before establishing herself as an important jazz soloist. Since 1977, she has served as producer, host and performer on her Peabody Award-winning "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" on National Public Radio. Friday, May 8: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the living tradition of authentic New Orleans Jazz, as performed by many of the very musicians who created it. It has been an institution in New Orleans' French Quarter for nearly five decades. All concerts at the Folly Theater start at 8:00 p.m. and are preceded at 7:00 p.m. by "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussions with Dick Wright, host of KANU's "The Jazz Scene." For more information, or to request a flyer, please call the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444. (Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.) RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1997 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.