Yes, the ceilings leaked at the Athenaeum Hotel in Chautauqua, New York, and every year there were new Rorschach-blot patterns (is that a bird, a monkey, or a shapely leg?) above me. The venerable elevator provoked anxiety. But inside this hotel, one September weekend, starting for me in 2004, some of the best music I’ve ever witnessed was created for us, thanks to a stunning assortment of musicians. Here’s a lovely interlude; watching it, I rub my eyes: did such things happen? Well, thank the Goddess for video evidence that I can share with you.
There will of course be debate over Jelly Roll Morton’s birthdate — September or October 20? — but there should be no debating the beauty of this performance, another treasure from the 2020 JAZZ LIVES Archaeological Dig. Here’s our Becky — Rebecca Kilgore — subtly embracing the song as only she can — with the noble help of Ricky Malachi, drums; Kerry Lewis, string bass; Howard Alden, guitar; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Scott Robinson, clarinet; Dan Barrett, trombone; Duke Heitger, trumpet.
Don’t want no regular!
Thanks not only to the musicians, but to the Emperor of it all, Joe Boughton, his family (hello to Sarah, Bill, and David!) and his friendly Chiefs of Staff and Official Diplomats, Nancy Hancock Griffith and Kathy Hancock. Moments like this vibrate in the memory.
Who knew such a sad subject could be so pleasingly swung?
Rebecca Kilgore, Rossano Sportiello, Dan Barrett, Jon Burr, Ricky Malachi at Jazz at Chautauqua 2012.
Walter Donaldson’s LITTLE WHITE LIES has a brief verse detailing a romance-dream smashed because of untruths . . . which would lead us to expect a soggy morose song to follow (check out the Dick Haymes / Gordon Jenkins version on YouTube, for confirmation) but Ms. Kilgore doesn’t go in for masochism in song, so her version (with Rossano Sportiello, piano; Dan Barrett, trombone; Jon Burr, string bass; Ricky Malachi, drums) makes light of heartbreak:
Particular pleasures are Becky’s first sixteen bars — a cappella — and the joyous looseness of her second chorus. And the swinging support from this group!
Hereare two more delights from this session. More to come from Chautauqua.
And a reminder: No matter how encouraging the moonlight, aim for candor.
There are maladies everywhere, but there are also cures. You could see your doctor and get a prescription designed to take care of angst, malaise, and ennui; it would be a little plastic vial with a long name that would surely upset your stomach. Or you could simply click on the two videos below, never before seen, and wait for the results . . . with no side-effects. Music hath charms, indeed.
Rebecca Kilgore, Rossano Sportiello, Dan Barrett, Jon Burr, Ricky Malachi at Jazz at Chautauqua 2012.
These two performances took place at the Jazz at Chautauqua weekend in September 2012, and they bring joy. Specifically, Rebecca Kilgore, Rossano Sportiello, Dan Barrett, Jon Burr, and Ricky Malachi — vocals and guitar, piano, trombone, string bass, and drums — do that rare and wonderful thing.
Here’s a burst of optimism in swing, the 1939 pop hit above, which has been so completely overshadowed by WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD and IT’S A BIG WIDE WONDERFUL WORLD that I am immediately grateful to Becky and friends for singing and playing it:
And resilience added to optimism, in a song associated with the unlikely spectacle of Fred Astaire having trouble mastering a dance step.
This Kern-Fields beauty occasionally gets mixed up with the Berlin LET YOURSELF GO, perhaps the same principle, but one is about recovery (even a triumph over gravity) — the other, release:
These performances are from seven years ago, but Becky and friends are currently performing their magic in various ways and places. You can find out her schedule here, and there is her seriously beautiful new CD with Echoes of Swing (Bernd Lhotzky, Colin T. Dawson, Chris Hopkins, and Oliver Mewes) called WINTER DAYS AT SCHLOSS ELMAU, about which I’ll have more to say soon. Rossano’s globe-crossings are documented here; Jon Burr’s many adventures here and Dan Barrett’s here.
A corner in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood: Google says it is “18th and Racine”:
then, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer Andy Schumm:
then, some music that ties the two together: a performance of Andy’s own “18th and Racine” on September 13, 2013 Jazz at Chautauqua weekend, with Dan Levinson, Dan Barrett, John Sheridan, Kerry Lewis, Ricky Malachi:
That’s an admirable piece of music, which nobody can deny. The players are dressed in adult business attire, but they are neither stiff nor constrained; in fact, there’s a bit of unscripted comic repartee before they start to play.
I have been digging through my archives to find previously unknown performances from Jazz at Chautauqua, starting in 2011. This video, this performance, was hidden in plain sight: it had been given to the larger YouTube public for free six years and a month ago. I was dumbstruck to see that it had been viewed fewer than one hundred times. Was it dull? Was it “bad,” whatever that means? Had the Lone YouTube Disliker come out of the basement to award it his disapproval? No, none of those things.
I write this not because my feelings are hurt (Love me, love my videos, or the reverse) but because I don’t understand this lack of enthusiasm.
“Pop” music videos are viewed by millions, and the audience for “hot jazz,” “trad,” whatever you want to call it, is a crumb in the cosmic buffet.
But — follow me. Invent a band with a clever name. Let them sit in chairs on the street in the sunshine. Let them be a mix of young women and young men. Let them be emotive. Let there be a washboard. Perhaps one of the members is fashionably unshaven. There are shorts, there are legs, there are sandals, there are boots. No one wears a suit, because buskers have their own kind of chic, and it has nothing to do with Brooks Brothers. If the members know who Strayhorn and Mercer are, they keep such knowledge to themselves. They are very serious but they act as if they are raw, earthy, primitive. Someone sings a vaguely naughty blues.
Mind you, this is all invention.
But let a fan post a new video of this imaginary group and in four days, eleven thousand people scramble to it.
I understand that my taste is not your taste. And I know that anyone who privileges their taste (“I know what the real thing is. I like authentic jazz!”) is asking for an argument. But . . . .”Huh?” as I used to write on student essays when I couldn’t figure out what in the name of Cassino Simpson was going on.
Is this the triumph of sizzle over substance? Is the larger audience listening with their eyes, a group of people in love with bold colors in bold strokes? Is all art equally good because some people like it?
And if your impulse now is to reproach me, “Michael, you shouldn’t impose your taste on others,” I would remind you that imposition is not my goal and shouldn’t be yours, and that there is no schoolyard bully at your door threatening, “Like what you see on JAZZ LIVES or else, and gimme your lunch money!”
Everyone has an opinion. I spoke with an amiable fan at a jazz festival. I had been delighting in a singularly swinging and persuasive band, no one wearing funny clothes or making noises, and when I told her how much pleasure I was taking, she said, “That band would put me to sleep! I like (and she named a particularly loud and showy assemblage whose collective volume was never less than a roar). I replied, “Not for me,” and we parted, each of us thinking the other at best misguided. Or perhaps she thought me a New York snob, and I will leave the rest of the sentence unwritten. The imp of the perverse regrets now, perhaps six years later, that I didn’t ask in all innocence, “Do you like Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins?” and see what her reply was.
As the King says, “Is a puzzlement.”
Legal notice: no such band as described above exists, and any resemblance to a group of persons, real or imagined, is accidental. No one in the 2013 performance video asked me to write this post in their defense, and they may perhaps be embarrassed by it, for which I apologize. Any other questions should be directed to JAZZ LIVES Customer Service, to be found in the rear of our headquarters (look for the bright red cat door). Thank you.
Now that I have your attention, would you like to perfect your swing? I don’t mean you could become the next Bobby Jones, but you could become a better jazz musician or singer by studying with the pros!
In the old days, you could learn your craft by apprenticing yourself to a master craftsperson. The guilds are long gone, but the idea of studying with the Masters is still appealing. I don’t suggest that you need to learn Japanese or become certified as an electrician, but here’s the jazz version of such an opportunity — my idea of the Princeton Institute For Swing:
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION PRESENTS
THE CHAUTAUQUA TRADITIONAL JAZZ WORKSHOP
Dan Barrett, Music Director
September 11-15, 2011
Faculty:
Duke Heitger, Trumpet
Scott Robinson, Reeds
Dan Barrett, Trombone
Rossano Sportiello, Piano
Howard Alden, Guitar / Banjo
Kerry Lewis, Bass
Ricky Malachi, Drums
Rebecca Kilgore, Vocals
Chautauqua’s first-ever Traditional Jazz Workshop will be held on the beautiful grounds of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, with your home base at the historic Athenaeum Hotel. The 4-day session will include ensemble workshops, coaching, jam sessions, and performance opportunities in student groups and with faculty members. Students will focus on jazz standards and works from the American Songbook, with emphasis on improvisation and ensemble performance. Enjoy social events with faculty and fellow students on beautiful Chautauqua Lake. The workshop culminates in a performance opportunity at the opening session of the 14th Annual Jazz at Chautauqua traditional jazz party on Thursday evening.
Tuition for the workshop will be $550 USD; the lodging and meal package at the Athenaeum Hotel will be $525 per student (single occupancy) or $775 (double occupancy) USD. Stay on for the annual Jazz at Chautauqua party and receive a 20% discount on your food and lodging. For reservations at the Athenaeum, call1-800-821-1881 or email athenaeum@ciweb.org. For information about the workshop, contact Nancy Griffith at 216-956-0378 or email her at nancylynngriffith@yahoo.com.
And if you have never thought of learning to play C JAM BLUES on the trombone, please don’t rule this idea out. The jazz fans of my generation lament the impending demise of traditional jazz.
Why not give the art form we love a blood transfusion from young folks — your guitar-strumming grandson of yours who has just discovered Teddy Bunn, or that niece who is trying to play Cootie Williams’ growls on BENNY’S BUGLE. Of course, it could also have a secret didactic purpose: turning a young man or woman slightly away from heavy metal to floating swing. Attending this workshop and learning from these genial masters could be a life-changing event.
And you don’t have to be a raw youth to come aboard, either . . . if you yourself would like to sound more like Benny Morton or Tricky Sam Nanton, this is a heavensent opportunity. Or you might sign up for the singers’ workshop just to learn from Rebecca Kilgore how to sing more sweetly!
Oh, I absolutely have to start practicing! Do I have enough time to become semi-amateurish by September 2011 . . . . ?
Consider the following, very enticing for anyone who’s got rhythm:
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION PRESENTS
THE CHAUTAUQUA TRADITIONAL JAZZ WORKSHOP
Dan Barrett, Music Director
September 11-15, 2011
Faculty:
Duke Heitger, Trumpet
Scott Robinson, Reeds
Dan Barrett, Trombone
Rossano Sportiello, Piano
Howard Alden, Guitar / Banjo
Kerry Lewis, Bass
Ricky Malachi, Drums
Rebecca Kilgore, Vocals
Chautauqua’s first ever Traditional Jazz Workshop will be held on the beautiful grounds of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, with your home base at the historic Athenaeum Hotel. The 4-day session will include ensemble workshops, coaching, jam sessions, and performance opportunities in student groups and with faculty members. Students will focus on jazz standards and works from the American Songbook, with emphasis on improvisation and ensemble performance. Enjoy social events with faculty and fellow students on beautiful Chautauqua Lake. The workshop culminates in a performance opportunity at the opening session of the 14th Annual Jazz at Chautauqua traditional jazz party on Thursday evening.
Tuition for the workshop will be $550 USD; the lodging and meal package at the Athenaeum Hotel will be $525 per student (single occupancy) or $775 (double occupancy) USD. Stay on for the annual Jazz at Chautauqua party and receive a 20% discount on your food and lodging. For reservations at the Athenaeum, call 1-800-521-1881 or email athenaeum1881@hotmail.com. For information about the workshop, contact Nancy Griffith at 216-956-0378 or email her at nancylynngriffith@yahoo.com.
I wasn’t quite serious about practicing enough to be accepted into the workshop in time for September, but I meant “A Splendid Present” emphatically. Many older jazz fans lament the impending demise of traditional jazz. Why not give the art form we love a blood transfusion from young folks — that grandson of yours who has just discovered Teddy Bunn, or that niece who is trying to play Cootie Williams’ growls on BENNY’S BUGLE — being able to attend this workshop and learn from these genial masters could be a life-changing event. And you don’t have to be a raw youth to come aboard, either . . . if you yourself would like to sound more like Benny Morton or Tricky Sam Nanton, this is a heavensent opportunity. Maybe I should sign up for the singers’ workshop just to be taught breath control by Rebecca Kilgore . . . now there’s a thought.
JAZZ LIVES 