JAM Magazine: February/March 1999 Issue: Folly Jazz News

by Doug Tatum

Veteran bassist Ray Drummond states, "I've always maintained that it's important to get out of New York. People should be able to hear you, and not just on recordings or when they come to Manhattan." Kansas City jazz fans will get just such a chance at the Folly Theater when Drummond's All-Star "Excursion" Band performs on Saturday, February 13 at 8:00 p.m. with a "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussion at 7:00 p.m.

Mitchell Seidel once wrote in Down Beat, "The easiest way to find a recording featuring Ray Drummond is to go blindfolded into your local record store and stick your hand in a bin." The fact is, this statement is not all that much of an exaggeration. For many years, Ray Drummond has been one of the busiest bassists in jazz. He has worked with just about everybody, including Kenny Barron, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Art Farmer, Randy Brecker, Betty Carter, Billy Higgins, John Scofield, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among many others.

While he enjoys being the quintessential sideman, more and more he has been focusing his energies as a bandleader. About Ray's work, Robert Hicks wrote in The Villager, "what separates Drummond from other bass players is his ability as a band leader and composer." Drummond's writing is designed around the members of his band. "My approach is the single-minded Miles Davis theory of bandleading. You get the right guys for the gig together, give them good material, and just help the chemistry along. If you've made the right choices, the music should happen naturally... Miles was the consummate master of picking guys with individual sounds who could come together and create something totally different... Jazz isn't about just replicating the great sounds of the past. It's always been about innovation as well as conservation. Whether it's Louis Armstrong or John Coltrane, jazz musicians have always used their love and knowledge of the past to create a unique sound. That's the ultimate mark of a serious jazz musician."

For his current tour, Ray has put together one of the hottest bands to be found anywhere, featuring some of the finest talent in jazz today. In particular, saxophonists David Sanchez and Craig Handy have been tearing things up wherever they appear, bringing an intensity and excitement to the stage that is genuine and uncontrived. Ray's band will also will include pianist Stephen Scott (who is Sonny Rollins' first-call pick), veteran drummer Billy Hart, and Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam.

In 1991, the Folly Theater was one of twenty jazz presenters selected nationwide to comprise the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network, which was a partnership program designed to provide support for the community of jazz performers, presenters, educators and audiences across the United States. A primary criteria of this program was to cultivate, develop, broaden and diversify the audience for jazz. For the record, I would like to publicly acknowledge the Folly Theater's gratitude to the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund for this major jazz initiative. Unfortunately, the funding program to underwrite the National Jazz Network came to an end as of December 31, 1998. At the last annual meeting of the Network, however, members voted to continue the National Jazz Network as a national consortium to continue to carry out the goals and objectives that were established with the formation of this program. What this means from a financial standpoint, however, is that the Folly Theater and other members of the National Jazz Network must find ways to replace the major underwriting that we were so fortunate to receive from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.

As part of our endeavors to do so, in a special benefit concert in support of the Folly Jazz Series, the Folly Theater is proud to present the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet on Sunday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. For this benefit, tickets are $35.00 for Folly Jazz Subscribers or members of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors; single benefit tickets are $50.00. (Please note that there will not be a "Jazz Talk" for this engagement.)

Without a doubt, Dave Brubeck is a true jazz icon. The youngest of three musical brothers, Brubeck was born in Concord, California on December 6, 1920. His father was a cattle rancher, and his mother a pianist and music teacher. Although Dave began playing professionally by his early teens, he enrolled in college as a pre-med student with the idea of becoming a veterinarian and returning to the ranch. He worked his way through school as a jazz pianist in local clubs, and eventually decided to forsake the cattle business and changed his college major to music.

Brubeck and his trio with Cal Tjader and Ron Crotty cut their first records in San Francisco in 1949, and won Best Small Combo Awards in both the Critics Poll and Readers Poll in Down Beat Magazine. When the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond was first formed in 1951, it caused quite a stir in the jazz world, launching what later became known as "West Coast Jazz" or "Cool Jazz." The Quartet's recordings and concert appearances on college campuses probably introduced more new fans to jazz than any other group in jazz history. Throughout his career, Brubeck's joy in performing has continued to excite multiple generations. An early jazz "experimenter," Brubeck's courage and talent led the Chicago Tribune to call him "a musician who always has delighted in crossing musical boundaries that lesser artists fear."

More information about these and other Folly Jazz concerts is available by calling the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444 during regular business hours.

Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.

RETURN TO FEBRUARY/MARCH 1999 MAIN INDEX

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






	Search our site:		by Doug Tatum Veteran bassist Ray Drummond states, "I've always maintained that it's important to get out of New York. People should be able to hear you, and not just on recordings or when they come to Manhattan." Kansas City jazz fans will get just such a chance at the Folly Theater when Drummond's All-Star "Excursion" Band performs on Saturday, February 13 at 8:00 p.m. with a "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussion at 7:00 p.m. Mitchell Seidel once wrote in Down Beat, "The easiest way to find a recording featuring Ray Drummond is to go blindfolded into your local record store and stick your hand in a bin." The fact is, this statement is not all that much of an exaggeration. For many years, Ray Drummond has been one of the busiest bassists in jazz. He has worked with just about everybody, including Kenny Barron, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Art Farmer, Randy Brecker, Betty Carter, Billy Higgins, John Scofield, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among many others. While he enjoys being the quintessential sideman, more and more he has been focusing his energies as a bandleader. About Ray's work, Robert Hicks wrote in The Villager, "what separates Drummond from other bass players is his ability as a band leader and composer." Drummond's writing is designed around the members of his band. "My approach is the single-minded Miles Davis theory of bandleading. You get the right guys for the gig together, give them good material, and just help the chemistry along. If you've made the right choices, the music should happen naturally... Miles was the consummate master of picking guys with individual sounds who could come together and create something totally different... Jazz isn't about just replicating the great sounds of the past. It's always been about innovation as well as conservation. Whether it's Louis Armstrong or John Coltrane, jazz musicians have always used their love and knowledge of the past to create a unique sound. That's the ultimate mark of a serious jazz musician." For his current tour, Ray has put together one of the hottest bands to be found anywhere, featuring some of the finest talent in jazz today. In particular, saxophonists David Sanchez and Craig Handy have been tearing things up wherever they appear, bringing an intensity and excitement to the stage that is genuine and uncontrived. Ray's band will also will include pianist Stephen Scott (who is Sonny Rollins' first-call pick), veteran drummer Billy Hart, and Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam. In 1991, the Folly Theater was one of twenty jazz presenters selected nationwide to comprise the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network, which was a partnership program designed to provide support for the community of jazz performers, presenters, educators and audiences across the United States. A primary criteria of this program was to cultivate, develop, broaden and diversify the audience for jazz. For the record, I would like to publicly acknowledge the Folly Theater's gratitude to the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund for this major jazz initiative. Unfortunately, the funding program to underwrite the National Jazz Network came to an end as of December 31, 1998. At the last annual meeting of the Network, however, members voted to continue the National Jazz Network as a national consortium to continue to carry out the goals and objectives that were established with the formation of this program. What this means from a financial standpoint, however, is that the Folly Theater and other members of the National Jazz Network must find ways to replace the major underwriting that we were so fortunate to receive from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. As part of our endeavors to do so, in a special benefit concert in support of the Folly Jazz Series, the Folly Theater is proud to present the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet on Sunday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. For this benefit, tickets are $35.00 for Folly Jazz Subscribers or members of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors; single benefit tickets are $50.00. (Please note that there will not be a "Jazz Talk" for this engagement.) Without a doubt, Dave Brubeck is a true jazz icon. The youngest of three musical brothers, Brubeck was born in Concord, California on December 6, 1920. His father was a cattle rancher, and his mother a pianist and music teacher. Although Dave began playing professionally by his early teens, he enrolled in college as a pre-med student with the idea of becoming a veterinarian and returning to the ranch. He worked his way through school as a jazz pianist in local clubs, and eventually decided to forsake the cattle business and changed his college major to music. Brubeck and his trio with Cal Tjader and Ron Crotty cut their first records in San Francisco in 1949, and won Best Small Combo Awards in both the Critics Poll and Readers Poll in Down Beat Magazine. When the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond was first formed in 1951, it caused quite a stir in the jazz world, launching what later became known as "West Coast Jazz" or "Cool Jazz." The Quartet's recordings and concert appearances on college campuses probably introduced more new fans to jazz than any other group in jazz history. Throughout his career, Brubeck's joy in performing has continued to excite multiple generations. An early jazz "experimenter," Brubeck's courage and talent led the Chicago Tribune to call him "a musician who always has delighted in crossing musical boundaries that lesser artists fear." More information about these and other Folly Jazz concerts is available by calling the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444 during regular business hours. Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater. RETURN TO FEBRUARY/MARCH 1999 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------- © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.