The first annual International Jazz Day came and went on April 30 with no mention on Riffitdes, a lapse I regret. Fellow arts journal blogger Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, has a fine report at his Jazz Beyond Jazz site. Howard includes a great quote from United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon (pictured) and a tribute to Herbie Hancock, who came up with the idea of such a day. A video posted on YouTube gives a scattershot idea of some of the events at the UN that inspired Howard’s enthusiastic account.
International Jazz Day
May 3, 2012 by
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
The concerts from Congo Square and the United Nations are available for streaming at http://jazzday.com
We also invite everyone from around the world who participate in an event on April 30 to fill out a form on Jazzday.com and let us know and we will post the info including youtube videos.
No need to regret, Doug. I didn’t even know that there is something like an International Jazz Day. For me is every day a jazz day anyway. Or a classics day, or a … silent day
Here in the UK we needed yesterday, to be made aware that it WAS ( or had been) Jazz Day, a few days earlier.
Italian pianist Rossano Sportiello, this week’s attraction at our local jazz club, had been in New York at the U.N. two days previously taking part in the events there.
Last night he was here performing for a UK audience alongside Japanese clarinetist Eiji Kitamura. and British bassist Dave Green with drummer Bobby Worth.
We may not have known about Jazz Day but we surely were within the sprit of things !
The repertoire, appropriately was mostly American standards.
The opening date of the First Annual International Jazz Day is particularly significant for me and my colleagues-regulars of the Moscow Jazz Art Club, as the latter was opened exactly on April 30 (1994) and this year we celebrated the double occasion. More so, we are all in anticipation of the concert the Godfather of the IJD, Herbie Hancock, is going to give on May 14 in the Moscow International House of Music.