I could write at length about the time when jazz and popular music embraced worldwide, but rather than lament that era’s diminution, I will say only that it was a privilege to witness these four performances: masterful artists at play.
The first two songs were performed by Freddy Cole, piano and vocal; Randy Napoleon, guitar; Frank Tate, string bass, and the latter two Had Freddy and Randy joined by Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Paul Keller, string bass; Eddie Metz, drums.
Melody plus swinging improvisation plus sentiment plus joy.
I am delighted to be able to share these two deeply swinging performances (talk about “being in the pocket”!) by Freddy Cole, piano and vocal; Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Randy Napoleon, guitar; Paul Keller, string bass; Eddie Metz, drums — performed and recorded at the 2014 Atlanta Jazz Party.
Freddy Cole, 2018. Photograph by Jason Getz.
The Groove here is quite remarkable — as is the ensemble teamwork. Please notice the immaculate empathy among these musicians, with Paul and Ed acting as one but with discrete personalities, Freddy an orchestra in himself, and the wonderful rocking created by Bucky and Randy. Two other things I would call to your attention: the way Maestro Bucky, the senior member of the ad hoc aggregation, takes it upon himself — and why not? — to direct traffic, and does so with decades of experience. Also, the smile on Randy’s face: if we could harness that glowing energy, we could abandon fossil fuel.
Sometimes what’s in the archives is there for a reason: imperfections; sometimes what’s been hidden is sublime. Case in point: this performance of Ellington’s IN A MELLOTONE (a/k/a ROSE ROOM) by a small group at the Atlanta Jazz Party on April 25, 2014. The personnel: Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Randy Napoleon, guitar; Freddy Cole, piano; Paul Keller, string bass; Ed Metz, drums. Bucky and Freddy have left us just this year, but when I checked with the younger members of this quintet, their delight in seeing this video was strong, as was their eagerness to share it.
Part of the pleasure of this performance is its infallible swing; another is watching the Old Master, Bucky, direct traffic; a third part is the joy on the faces of Randy, Paul, and Ed.
The archives hold more surprises from Atlanta in April 2014.
April is a-coming in, and so is the 2014 Atlanta Jazz Party.
I offer a beautiful interlude, recorded at the 2012 AJP, of Rossano Sportiello tenderly playing Leonard Bernstein — as a soundtrack while you read more.
At the Atlanta Jazz Party, good music flourishes over the course of a weekend. All the elements are in place before a note sounds: comfort, friendliness, ease, variety. Â AÂ well-lit room, good sound, good sight lines, easy access to high-quality food and drink in a clean, hospitable hotel. Â Each player or singer gets to lead at least one set, and the stylistic range goes back to King Oliver and forward to the present day, with pleasing stops for up-tempo romps and pretty ballads.
This is the AJP’s twenty-fifth anniversary, proof that they understand the fine art of pleasing both patrons and musicians. I’ve joined the Party twice and found it a banquet each time, supervised with generosity and common sense by Pualani and Philip Carroll.
Details! Here is the Facebook page for the AJP.
The musicians at this year’s Party are once again enthusiastic, swinging, and surprising:
You can look forward to thirty sets of beautifully-conceived jazz: ballads, New Orleans, mainstream, small-band swing, offered in four sessions: Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, Sunday afternoon. Guarantors and Patrons get to attend all four sessions plus the exclusive Saturday morning jazz brunch just for patrons, guarantors and musicians. More details can be found at the AJP site. You can sign up for a single session or for all four.  The hotel (the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North) is exceedingly comfortable: it is located at 7 Concourse Pkwy. NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30328 — about thirty minutes from downtown Atlanta. Be sure to mention the Party for the best room rate! Click here to reserve rooms.
I’m in the mood for the Atlanta Jazz Party, and it’s coming up — April 25 through 27, 2014. Â Here’s the appropriate song from the 2012 Party (played by Harry Allen, Rossano Sportiello, Richard Simon, and Ed Metz):
The Atlanta Jazz Party promises — and delivers — delightful music over the course of a weekend. Â I’ll name the esteemed musicians in a few lines, but I want to say something about what goes on above and beyond.
A jazz party is more than a series of performances: for the party to satisfy, the patrons and musicians must be happy and comfortable. Â The patrons need variety, comfortable seating, a well-lit room, good sound, good sight lines, easy access to high-quality food and drink in a clean, hospitable hotel. Â The AJP provides all of this with great style. And as for the music: the musicians are not tied down by restrictions; each player or singer gets to lead at least one set, and the stylistic range goes back to CHIMES BLUES or KEEP OFF THE GRASS up to ANTHROPOLOGY or SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, with surprising digressions along the way.
This is the AJP’s twenty-fifth anniversary, so you know they understand the fine arts of pleasing both patrons and musicians.
I’ve joined the Party twice and found it a banquet each time, supervised with generosity and common sense by Pualani and Philip Carroll.
Details! Here is the Facebook site for the AJP.
I anticipate thirty sets of beautifully-conceived jazz: ballads, New Orleans, mainstream, small-band swing, offered in four sessions: Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, Sunday afternoon. Guarantors and Patrons get to attend all four sessions plus the exclusive Saturday morning jazz brunch just for patrons, guarantors and musicians.
More details can be found at the AJPÂ site. You can sign up for a single session or for all four. Â The hotel (the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North*) is exceedingly comfortable.
*The hotel is located at 7 Concourse Pkwy. NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30328 — about thirty minutes from downtown Atlanta. Be sure to mention the Party for the best room rate! Click here to reserve rooms.
Here are two examples of uplifting jazz I recorded at the 2012 AJP.
STEALIN’ APPLES, performed by Allan Vache, John Cocuzzi, Rossano Sportiello, Bucky Pizzarelli, Richard Simon, Chuck Redd:
Bucky, solo, tenderly considering TRES PALABRAS:
As I;ve said before, if you need tres palabras from me, they could be “Mark your calendars,” or “Make your reservations,” or “Don’t miss this.”
During the weekend of April 25-27, 2014, the Atlanta Jazz Party will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary. Â I’ve joined the Party twice and it was an extravagant banquet each time, supervised with generosity and common sense by Pualani and Philip Carroll.
The music is beautifully conceived, with something for everyone: pretty ballads, rocking New Orleans, hot Goodman-style small groups; timeless Mainstream. And no one will go away hungry for music: I counted thirty sets in four sessions (Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, Sunday)Â Guarantors and Patrons get to attend all four sessions plus the exclusive Saturday morning jazz brunch just for patrons, guarantors and musicians.
More details can be found at the AJPÂ site. You can sign up for a single session or for all four. Â The hotel (the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North*) is exceedingly comfortable; the ballroom is also, with good sight lines and nice sound. Â There is a pleasing democracy at work here: everyone gets to lead a session, and the results are nicely situated between Old Favorites and New Surprises.
*The hotel is located at 7 Concourse Pkwy. NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30328 — about thirty minutes from downtown Atlanta. Be sure to mention the Party for the best room rate! Click here to reserve rooms.
Here are two examples of uplifting jazz I recorded at the 2012 AJP.
STEALIN’ APPLES, performed by Allan Vache, John Cocuzzi, Rossano Sportiello, Bucky Pizzarelli, Richard Simon, Chuck Redd:
Bucky, solo, tenderly considering TRES PALABRAS:
If you need tres palabras from me, they could be “Mark your calendars,” or “Make your reservations,” or “Don’t miss this.”
Forgive me for pulling at your coat or plucking at your sleeve, but a gentle reminder is in order. If you haven’t bought your tickets for the 2012 Atlanta Jazz Party, the twenty-third, which takes place April 20-22, 2012, what in the name of W.C. Handy might you be waiting for?
I don’t want to be excessively grim, but my Latin friends CARPE DIEM and TEMPUS FUGIT make their presence known as I write this. And at my back I always hear Time’s swinging chariot drawing near . . . which is to say (more plainly) that parties and festivals don’t always return year after year, nor do the participants. There! Now that the ominous murmurings are over, we can return to our regularly scheduled program of lifting the spirit.
Many jazz parties (I say this quietly) tend to rely on the same circle of artists — not necessarily a terrible thing: why choose novelty for its own sake? But the AJP has some special added attractions. One of them is singer / pianist Freddy Cole. Some know Freddy only as Nat’s younger brother — this is accurate but quite limiting. Freddy is a fine sinuous singer and swinging pianist — both facets evident in this romantic 2008 reading of FLY ME TO THE MOON. The applause at the end is well-deserved, and since some parties and festivals specialize in Fast and Loud, a swinging crooner is always welcome. And just in case you were wondering, he isn’t his Brother:
Here’s the eternally vigorous Bucky Pizzarelli — at 85! — in March 2011, with guitarist Ed Laub, paying tribute to Les Paul:
Even at this easy tempo, Bucky’s essential swing is as natural to him as breathing. Will you be swinging this expertly at 85 . . . ?
Sometimes virtue is rewarded while it’s still around to hear the cheers: at the 2012 AJP, cornetist / bandleader Ed Polcer will be given a richly-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. I don’t know if you first heard Ed as a swinging Princetonian, at a long string of Atlanta Jazz Parties, at Eddie Condon’s (which is where I first heard him, in 1975, standing next to Ruby Braff and Vic Dickenson) and other parties and clubs all around the world. Like Bucky, Ed always swings. Here he is only a year ago, amidst West Coast friends, playing MOTEN SWING:
And there’s something new and exciting — Joe Gransden and his sixteen-piece big band. Dance music of the highest order! Here they are in 2011, sweetly moving through NIGHT AND DAY:
All of this will take place on the weekend of April 20-22, 2012, starting Friday evening and continuing until Sunday afternoon.
But wait! There’s more!
How about a brass section to impress Gabriel: Jon-Erik Kellso, Duke Heitger, Ed Polcer, Bob Schulz, Joe Gransden, John Allred, Russ Phillips?
Reeds by Allan Vache, Harry Allen; John Cocuzzi, Freddy Cole, Mark Shane, Rossano Sportiello, piano; Ed Metz, Chuck Redd, percussion; Matt Munisteri, Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Richard Simon, Frank Tate, bass; John Cocuzzi, Becky Kilgore, Freddy Cole, Francine Reed, Bob Schulz, vocals.
I can already imagine the bands I would like to hear, and one of the nice things about the AJP is that everyone gets a chance to lead sets. I know who my favorites are and expect to be exhausted by pleasure on Sunday night.
The 23rd AJP will take place at the Westin Atlanta North — clean and friendly — and there will be a cornucopia of hot jazz, tender ballads, and good feeling. I know from experience. I guarantee it!
You can purchase tickets here — either online or fill out the form and mail it in.
I believe that the best seats go to those who sign up early . . . so don’t wait for the middle of April to make up your mind. Here’s a 2011 video with highlights — exuberant ones! — from the AJP:
I’m already arranging imaginary set listings in my head.Â
Visit the AJP website to learn more, make reservations, to get excited about what’s coming — this, the 23rd AJP. So they know how to do it correctly to make sure everyone’s glowing.
It’s only the beginning of December 2011 but I am fortunate enough to know where I will be on the weekend of April 20-22, 2012. The 32nd Atlanta Jazz Party!
If you need to ask WHY . . . .
How about this brass section: Jon-Erik Kellso, Duke Heitger, Ed Polcer, Bob Schulz, John Allred, Russ Phillips; Allan Vache, Harry Allen, reeds; John Cocuzzi, Freddy Cole, Mark Shane, Rossano Sportiello, piano; Ed Metz, Chuck Redd, percussion; Matt Munisteri, Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Richard Simon, Frank Tate, bass; John Cocuzzi, Becky Kilgore, Freddy Cole, Ashley Locheed, Bob Schulz, vocals.
I can already imagine the bands I would like to hear, and one of the nice things about the AJP is that everyone gets a chance to lead sets.
It will take place at the Westin Atlanta North — clean and friendly — and there will be a profusion (or perhaps a satiety) of hot jazz, tender ballads, and good feeling.
You can purchase tickets here — either online or fill out the form and mail it in.
My own story is that I have a deeply sentimental attachment to the AJP: the first time I went there was in 2007, because many of my heroes were playing. I got to meet Eddie Erickson face to face (and of course receive the first of many hugs) and to hear the world-shaking rhythm quartet of Mark Shane, Matt Munisteri, Vince Giordano, and Kevin Dorn. But I have personal, romantic memories of my Atlanta experience. I had met the Beloved about three weeks before and recognized that she was far beyond the ordinary. And of course she liked jazz. So one of our nice early shared memories was my opening my cellphone during a Becky Kilgore set so that the Beloved could come home, check her voicemail, and hear Miss Kilgore sing ALL I DO IS DREAM OF YOU. Right place, right time. Amor vincit omnia, you cats!
Oh. I will be bringing my camera, but don’t let that stop you. I believe that the best seats go to those who sign up early . . . so don’t wait for the end of March to make up your mind. I didn’t.
And as for the ATLANTA BLUES — I don’t expect to have them at all. The Westin is very plush: no pallets on the floor for us!
Arbors Records has created a new series featuring jazz performances and dancing at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street, NYC. And it begins tomorrow!
Harry Allen’s Monday Night Jazz
It begins May 2, 2011, and will happen the first Monday of each month through the end of the year (except the second Monday in July and September).  Most performances will feature The Harry Allen Quartet (Harry, Rossano Sportiello, Joel Forbes, Chuck Riggs) with guest artists as listed below.
Dining and dancing from 7:00-8:00 PM — — Concert from 8:00-10:00 PM
Music Charge: $20.00, One drink minimum
May 2:Â Frank Wess, Joe Wilder, Harry Allen, Norman Simmons, Joel Forbes, Ed Metz
June 6: Harry Allen’s Four Others (Harry’s original arrangements based on Woody Herman’s Four Brothers) featuring Grant Stewart, Gary Smulyan and Eric Alexander with The Harry Allen Quartet
August 1:Â Bucky Pizzarelli, Terell Stafford and Freddy Cole with The Harry Allen Quartet
September 12:Â Ken Peplowski and Houston Person with Larry Fuller, Harry Allen, Joel Forbes and Chuck Riggs
October 3:Â An evening of song with Lynn Roberts, Rebecca Kilgore, Nicki Parrott, Dan Barrett with Mike Renzi, Harry Allen, Joel Forbes and Chuck Riggs
November 7:Â An evening of Brazilian music with Maucha Adnet (vocalist with Jobim for 10 years), Duduka DaFonseca (drummer with Jobim for many years), Nilson Matta (bass), Klaus Mueller (piano) and The Harry Allen Quartet
December 5:Â Hooray for Christmas show with John Sheridan, Rebecca Kilgore, Jon-Erik Kellso, Randy Sandke, John Allred, Tom Artin, Dan Block, Scott Robinson,James Chirillo with The Harry Allen Quartet
Reservations: Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, NY, NY 10065.  Telephone: 212-339-4095
P.S. When I was a child, I had a Danny Kaye record on which he impersonated a little boy, “Maurice.” And the line that sticks in my head is Maurice’s insistent, “Not LATER! NOW!” Consider it your mantra for this series, no?
JAZZ LIVES 