Preview- New York Nightlife Awards to Celebrate Tenth Anniversary on January 30th, 2012 at Town Hall, NYC, with Star- Studded Evening of Performances

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The New York Nightlife Awards to Celebrate Tenth Anniversary with an Evening of Star-Studded Performances on January 30th, 2012 at Town Hall, N.Y.C.

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

Photo Credits/Copyrights from the 2009 and 2010 Nightlife Awards after-party celebrations by E. Joyce Glasgow

The annual Nightlife Awards each January, at Town Hall, www.the-townhall-nyc.org, in New York City, give audience members a crash course in some of the best artists on the scene in cabaret, jazz, comedy and musical theatre in New York City all performing in one, really entertaining, chock-full and exciting evening.

The premise of the Nightlife Awards is very unusual, in that rather than giving acceptance speeches, award recipients each perform instead, on the bill, along with other stellar invited artists. Each year participants, who have MC'd, or performed, have come from the best of the entertainment world, including such luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Eartha Kitt, Judy Gold, Bruce Vilanch, Nellie McKay, Elaine Stritch, Alan King, Robert Klein and Kristen Chenoweth.

The awardees are nominated and determined by a rounded group of New York arts critics, with expertise in the different genres voted on and include iconic critic, Rex Reed and representatives from a large number of media outlets including Time Out New York, the New York City Jazz Record and All About Jazz.

This year's event sounds particularly exciting, with performances by 2012 Nightlife winners and NEA Jazz Masters, phenomenal jazz pianist, Randy Weston and Vocalese innovator, jazz singer, Jon Hendricks, (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fame), now 90 years old and one of the most youthful, joyful and energized people you could ever imagine meeting or see performing. Christine Lavin, witty, comedic, prolific singer/songwriter will appear, as well as cabaret singer/songwriter, Amanda McBroom. The show will be MC'd by actor/cabaret artist, Lucy Arnaz and Tony Award winning actor, Bill Irwin. More 2012 award winners' names will be announced between now and the night of the the event, January 30th.

The Nightlife Awards were created and are produced by Scott and Barbara Siegel, who are New York based arts critics and authors. Scott Seigel has also created a number of innovative performance events which have infused the New York music/cabaret scene with new energy and have shown a deserved spotlight on talented artists. These include Broadway by the Year, co-produced with New York's Town Hall, Jim Caruso's Best of Cast Party, Broadway Unplugged and various themed cabaret shows, in conjunction with the Birdland Jazz Club and cabaret room, Feinstein's, at the Regency Hotel.

Learn more at www.siegelpresents.com.

Included below are press photos of Jon Hendricks, Randy Weston, Amanda McBroom and Christine Lavin from the producer, Scott Siegel's website as well as two You Tube videos, one of Jon Hendricks and one of Randy Weston.

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Preview- Virtuosic Jazz Quartet, Oregon, Appears at Jazz Alley, Seattle, WA, October 11th and 12th, 2011

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

Oregon, www.oregonband.com, the sublime jazz quartet, will appear for two nights at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, www.jazzalley.com, on October 11th and 12th. They are some of the most virtuosic and creative musicians on the planet, always pushing the envelope of improvisation and playing complex, original, memorable compositions, with an elegant, classical, chamber feel. The group is entering their forty-second year together and I've been following them every step of the way! This is a tremendous opportunity to hear this incredibly sophisticated quartet live and they are not to be missed!

Oregon is : Ralph Towner (guitars/piano/ synthesizers/composer), Paul McCandless (oboe/English horn/saxophones/bass clarinet/whistles/composer), Glen Moore (bass/composer) and Mark Walker (drums/percussion/composer).

Included here is Jazz Alley's information on their two night appearance and two You tube videos of Oregon in live performance.

			OREGON October 11-12, 2011 $23.50 Make a reservation for this show. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents OREGON, touring in support of their latest release In Stride. Band members include Ralph Towner (guitar), Paul McCandless (reed instrumentalist), Glen Moore (bassist), and Mark Walker (percussion). Set times on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday. “While new talent sprouts, veteran shapers of the future continue to harvest their fertile legacy, OREGON remains an example of a group so completely musical and original that they leave no easy comparisons. Long survived and mastering all the musical convention which they so easily disintegrate in a phrase or measure, Oregon never slows with age, never ceases to celebrate their singularity, and never misses a chance to defy commerciality. Their influence on American and international music has proven nothing less than monumental.” —Christopher Hoard, Jazziz Celebrating their 40th year, OREGON has inspired audiences in renowned concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, and Vienna’s Mozartsaal; at international jazz clubs and major festivals such as Montreux, Pori, Berlin, Montreal, and Newport Jazz; and on tours throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, Eastern and Western Europe, etc. In Stride (2010) the group’s latest CD envelopes the entire history of this band; it enhances the compositional talent of these four musicians, magnifies their voices as soloists and, above all, recalls in case you need reminding that strange and magical alchemy which transformed this quartet into OREGON. In Stride is nothing but sure indication that, rather than winding down with age, OREGON has plenty of promise still ahead. OREGON began in 1960 at the University of Oregon with undergraduate students Ralph Towner and Glen Moore who formed a musical friendship on bass and piano inspired by Bill Evans and Scott LaFaro and later by Brazilian music. Moore earned a degree in history and literature and Towner completed his in composition, taking up guitar in the process. In the mid 60’s, they both traveled to Europe. Towner studied classical guitar in Vienna with Karl Scheit; Moore studied classical bass in Copenhagen and sat in with such greats as Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon. By 1969, both were living in New York City, playing with a community of young musicians who formed the great fusion bands of the ‘70’s including Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. OREGON Website

Preview-The Family Stone to Appear at Seattle's Jazz Alley, October 6th-9th, 2011

By E. Joyce Glasgow www.artsandculturescene.com Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Family Stone, comprised of three of the original Sly and the Family Stone members, Cynthia Robinson (trumpet), Jerry Martini (sax), Greg Errico (drums) and four newer members will appear for four nights, October 6th through 9th, 2011, at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle, WA. Their songs have weathered the decades. Paving the way through the tumultuous sixties and heroes of the counter-culture, their music took on timely issues including racism and politics and their original pop blend of rock, soul, funk and psychedelia thrilled their audiences. They were also the first integrated and multi-generational major rock band. Their iconic Woodstock performance is captured forever in the Woodstock documentary film. Included here is Jazz Alley's information about the Family Stone's four night appearance. The Family Stone embodies all the verve and spunk of Sly and the Family Stone and sounds as contemporary,exciting and fresh over four decades after the original band became a pop-culture phenomenon. The Family Stone October 6-9, 2011 $26.50 Live in studio on KJR 95.7FM Friday, 10/7 around 9am. TUNE IN! Make a reservation for this show. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and original founding members of Sly & The Family Stone, Cynthia Robinson (trumpet), Jerry Martini (sax) and Greg Errico (drums): The Family Stone. Band member include: Alex Davis & Trina Johnson Finn (vocals), Nate Wingfield (guitar) and Blaise Sison (bass). Set times Thursday and Sunday at 7:30pm. Friday - Saturday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Doors open at 6pm on Thursday and 5:30pm Friday – Sunday. Keeping the legacy true to its original sound and raw funk groove, these Everyday People will leave you Taken Higher. They present a set of their classic hits like: "I Want to Take You Higher", "Everyday People", "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin", "Dance To The Music", "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Family Affair", "Sing a Simple Song" and many more. Jerry Martini is the original founder of Sly & the Family Stone; calling upon Sly Stone to become the leader of the first inter-racial, multi-gender major American Band. He has also performed with countless luminaries including Mike Bloomfield, Carlos Santana, Prince, Rolling Stone Bill Wymann, Robert Cray, Willie Lomax, Prince, Graham Central Station, and Van Morrison. Cynthia Robinson, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is back on the throne! Cynthia, along with Sly, was part of "Sly and The Stoners" in 1966. Through her years with Sly & The Family Stone, she was notable for being an early, black, female trumpet player in a major American band. In recent years, you may have seen her performing with George Clinton, Larry Graham, and Prince to name a few. Greg Errico, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and R&B Foundation “Pioneer Award” recipient. Errico’s list of credits include his ability to play a broad range of musical styles with such legends as Joe Zawinul (Weather Report), Jerry Garcia Band, Grateful Dead and Santana. Alex Davis, accomplished lead singer, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, has done just about everything there is to do in the music industry. Starting out in the early 70s with (at that time) local funksters "The Ohio Players" as a sub, Alex has toured or performed all over the world. Trina Johnson Finn studied Voice Performance and Theater at the UMKC Conservatory of Music. She has appeared on show such as the Grammy Award, Oprah, The American Music Awards, and has also graced the stage with great entertainers from Barbra Streisand to MC Hammer. Nate Wingfield - An accomplished guitarist, early on with sessions at Sigma Sound with the famous R&B producers/songwriters Gamble & Huff. Blaise Sison - bass - is musical director and has been working with Jerry Martini for twenty years he brings the funk to the bass and the music of The Family Stone. The Family Stone The Family Stone interview and history The Family Stone LIVE VIDEO Electric Picnic

Preview- Jazz Vibraphonist, Gary Burton and his New Quartet Come to Seattle's Jazz Alley for Two Exciting Performances on October 4th and 5th, 2011

New Gary Burton Quartet to Appear at Jazz Alley, www.jazzalley.com, Seattle, Wa., October 4th and 5th, 2011.

By E. Joyce Glasgow

Gary Burton, an icon of the jazz vibraphone for almost fifty years, will make a rare appearance in Seattle with three superb musicians; Julian Lage (guitar), Scott Colley (bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums) in what promises to be two exciting evenings of uplifting, energized jazz. Burton, a multi- Grammy Award winner is also a composer, educator and mentor to many musicians and has collaborated with some of the greats of jazz, including Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Ralph Towner, Chick Corea, Steve Swallow, Richard Galliano and Makoto Ozone. The New Gary Burton Quartet, who began playing together, as a group, in August 2010, is touring performing music from their 2011 CD release, Common Ground. www.garyburton.com

Burton's playing is beautiful, lyrical, elegant, joyful and sublime. Don't miss this!

Following are two youtube videos. One is The New Gary Burton Quartet, playing Afro Blue in Vienna. The other is a brief video of Gary Burton talking about his New Quartet.

Also included here is Jazz Alley's information about Gary Burton's two night appearance this week.

Gary Burton Quartet featuring Julian Lage, Scott Colley and Antonio Sanchez October 4-5, 2011 $26.50 Make a reservation for this show. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents The Gary Burton Quartet featuring Gary Burton (vibes), Julian Lage (guitar), Scott Colley (bass)) and Antonio Sanchez (drums). Set times on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday. As a member of Stan Getz’s quartet, Burton won Down Beat magazine’s Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition award in 1965. By the time he left Getz to form his own quartet in 1967, Burton had also recorded three albums under his name for RCA. Borrowing rhythms and sonorities from rock music, while maintaining jazz’s emphasis on improvisation and harmonic complexity, Burton’s first quartet attracted large audiences from both sides of the jazz-rock spectrum. Such albums as Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram established Burton and his band as progenitors of the jazz fusion phenomenon. Burton’s burgeoning popularity was quickly validated by Down Beat magazine, which awarded him its Jazzman of the Year award in 1968, the youngest ever to receive that honor. During his subsequent association with the ECM label (1973-1988) the Burton Quartet expanded to include the young Pat Metheny on guitar, and the band began to explore a repertoire of modern compositions. In the ’70s, Burton also began to focus on more intimate contexts for his music. His 1971 album Alone at Last, a solo vibraphone concert recorded at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival, was honored with his first Grammy Award. Burton also turned to the rarely heard duo format, recording with bassist Steve Swallow, guitarist Ralph Towner, and most notably with pianist Chick Corea, thus cementing a long personal and professional relationship that has garnered an additional four Grammy Awards. In the past few years, Gary has focused his recording and performing efforts on collaborations, with old friends and new, including tours and recordings with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, Polo Orti, and Richard Galliano. Armistad Suite with Polo Orti and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra was released in spring 2007. L’hymne a L’amour with Richard Galliano was released on the Camjazz label in August 2007. The double-CD live concert recording with Chick Corea, The New Crystal Silence, came out in 2008, resulting in the sixth Grammy for Gary Burton at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Chick and Gary toured full-time from September 2006 through spring 2008, and continued off and on playing concerts in the USA and Europe in 2009. June 2011 saw the release of Common Ground, Gary's first release on Mack Avenue Records featuring the New Gary Burton Quartet. The new group reunites the vibist with guitar star Julian Lage with the addition of drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Scott Colley. The group will be busy touring throughout 2011. Gary Burton Website Julian Lage Website Scott Colley Website Antonio Sanchez Website

Preview- Jazz super group "James Farm" to appear at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle WA, September 27th-29th

Jazz quartet, James Farm, will appear at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, www.jazzalley.com, this week, September 27-29, 2011, Seattle, Wa.

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

James Farm, www.jamesfarmmusic.com, founded in 2009, is an exciting quartet of four of some of the finest, seasoned jazz musicians of the their generation; Joshua Redman (Saxophone), Aaron Parks (Piano), Matt Penman (Bass) and Eric Harland (Drums). They've come to this project as equals, each contributing compelling original material to a very democratic, powerfully interactive group, with one foot rooted in the strong jazz traditions of the 20th Century, bridging with the other foot into the 21st Century and the varied musical influences and grooves of the new millenium. Their music is fresh, progressive and charts intriguing new territory and exploratory improvisation. For those interested in dynamic and intelligent jazz, don't miss this opportunity to hear James Farm live this week in Seattle.

I am including here a very well recorded live You tube video of Joshua Redman's tune "Polliwog", made during the quartet's June 2011 appearance at the Jazz Standard, in N.Y.C. This is one of my favorite tunes from their self- titled CD and I think it captures, as a good example, some of the contemporary, funky grooves that they have incorporated into their work and the tight, sophisticated and complex interplay amongst the four musicians.

I have also included Jazz Alley's information about James Farm and their three night appearance below.

James Farm - Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman and Eric Harland September 27-29, 2011 $26.50 Make a reservation for this show. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents James Farm with Joshua Redman (saxophone), Aaron Parks (piano), Matt Penman (bass) and Eric Harland (drums). Set times on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday and Thursday. Formed in 2009, James Farm is an acoustic jazz quartet collaborative consisting of saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland. These four free-thinking musicians all individually hold a stake in the future of jazz, and together form a group with a new take on song-based improvisation, a group that invites you to share in the navigation of their own musical future. From their first gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival they have been writing and honing music that carries strong melodies and buoyant grooves, but defies facile comparisons. They strive, in their own words "to make new musical connections for the times we live in, and make new beats for what now surrounds us." Indeed, there is physicality to their music, as well as an urgency that comes across in the live performances especially. This band wants to move you, and only asks for an open mind. These four virtuoso instrumentalists are committed to finding new ways to balance their work as composers with the vitality of improvisation, melding the two into a brand of storytelling uniquely their own. They're also committed to the concept of the Band, where the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Penman explains, "There’s an artistic strength in being four equal members of a group that we're enjoying exploring. Put our four heads together and you get a lot of ideas … some of them cosmic, some of them plain nuts, but its all part of the process." Redman, Penman and Harland all worked extensively together in the SF Jazz Collective 2005-2007, while Parks and Penman traded duties on each other's latest records, both with Eric Harland on drums. Parks explains "James Farm makes me play in a different way, sometimes taking more chances than I would otherwise. It forces me to step up.” He continues, "One of the things I love in this band is the balance of different energies. Our individual temperaments seem to be complementary in a way that makes for a unique creative environment, one with natural and intuitive communication, where we're constantly challenging and bringing out different sides of one another. Its complex and it's simple and it feels like a living thing." Overall, James Farm gives followers of contemporary music much to be excited about with their forward-thinking and open approach to the jazz idiom. For all their compositional ambitions, their spirit is still best summed up by their drummer. “I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Harland admits, “but I am looking forward to the journey.” James Farm LIVE in NYC James Farm Web Site James Farm on Nonesuch Records

Preview- Guitarist, Pat Metheny to Appear for Two Nights, with Bassist, Larry Grenadier, at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle, September 20 and 21, 2011

By E. Joyce Glasgow The fabulous guitarist, composer, instrument inventor, Pat Metheny will appear for two nights, in a duo, with wonderful bassist and longtime Metheny collaborator, Larry Grenadier at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle, September 20 and 21, 2011. (See Jazz Alley's show description at right) This is an amazing and rare opportunity to hear Metheny in an intimate club setting and I highly recommend these performances. Metheny is one of my all time favorite musicians and I've enjoyed his numerous projects with the Pat Metheny Group, his work with smaller ensembles and his work with his complex, multi-faceted, new, remarkable, full room sized musical instrument, Orchestrion, which he invented. Larry Grenadier has played bass with many jazz legends. He is a sensitive, musically astute, creative and lyrical performer whom I've enjoyed, since hearing him, for the first time, in his younger days, touring with the late, great, jazz vocalist, Betty Carter. Don't miss this! For those in the Bellingham, Washington area, Metheny and Grenadier will be also be playing a concert, for one night only, on September 18, 2011 at the Mt. Baker Theatre, 7 PM . I have included below a youtube video of Pat Metheny playing with bassist, Larry Grenadier (and drummer, Bill Stewart).

An Evening with Pat Metheny with Larry Grenadier September 20-21, 2011 $55.00 This show is assigned seating, you may purchase On-line or by Phone. To continue your purchase on-line click here. To make your purchase by phone call 206-441-9729. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley proudly presents 18-time Grammy-winning guitarist Pat Metheny for two nights and four shows. Joining Mr. Metheny will be Larry Grenadier on bass. Set times Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Doors open at 5:30pm. It is one thing to attain popularity as a musician, but it is another to receive the kind of acclaim Pat Metheny has garnered from both critics and peers. Over the years, Metheny has won countless polls as “Best Jazz Guitarist” and awards, including three gold records for Still Live Talking, Letter from Home, and Secret Story. In addition, Metheny has won eighteen of his thirty-three Grammy Award nominations, spread out over a wide variety of categories including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, and Best Instrumental Composition. The year 2010 brought continuing recognition and success for the star, as he won “Guitarist of the Year” and “Best Jazz Album-Orchestrion” from the Downbeat 75th Readers Poll. Spending most of his life on tour, averaging 120-240 shows a year since 1974, he continues to be one of the brightest musicians of the jazz community, dedicating time to both his own projects and those of emerging artists and established veterans alike. As well as being an accomplished musician, Metheny has also participated in the academic arena as a music educator at universities and music workshops/clinics all over the world. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. The following year at age 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where more than twenty years later in 1996, he received an honorary doctorate. Over the years, he has performed with a diverse range of artists such as Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall and David Bowie, and the list goes on. www.patmetheny.com Bassist Larry Grenadier, well known for his time spent performing with Brad Mehldau, fell in love with music at the young age of eleven, playing with his brothers in his family’s band. Inspired by jazz-bassists such as Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, and Paul Chambers, Grenadier began formal study to emulate the jazz musicians heard on his home recordings. By sixteen, Grenadier had a blossoming career playing in the San-Francisco area with local musicians and those traveling through town in need of a bass player. Grenadier has spent the last two decades touring around the world with Brad Mehldau’s Trio and performing with countless other jazz-musicians such as Joe Henderson, Gary Burton, Billy Higgins, and Pat Metheny, whom he credits his experiences with as a significant learning experience . “I really enjoy the art of being a bass player; supplying all that is needed from the bottom up; grounding and inspiring." –Larry Grenadier This is a pre-sale show with reserved seating. All purchases are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Vouchers, donated gift certificates, student, senior and military discounts, children under 12 free discounts and 2 for 1 cards are not applicable for this show. All shows are all ages. Pat Metheny Website