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Steve Vai story - March issue of Palm Beach Arts Paper
If you asked fans of 63-year-old guitarist Steve Vai (www.vai.com) what he's best-known for, you might get a variety of answers.
One might be the Long Island, New York native's recording and touring run within the fusion of styles created by Frank Zappa (1940-1993). Those seeds were sown when Vai -- still a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston -- sent him exacting transcriptions of every instrument within the iconic vocalist, guitarist and bandleader's own complex compositions in the late 1970s. Vai then moved to Los Angeles, where he still lives, to become what Zappa labeled his ensemble's "stunt guitarist" through 1983.
Another answer might be Vai's continuing 40-year solo recording career, launched in 1984 with an audio acid trip called [i]Flex-Able[i]. Or his appearance in director Walter Hill's blues-centric 1986 film [i]Crossroads[i], in which he portrays the Devil's guitarist Jack Butler, and enacts a guitar duel with actor Ralph Macchio's character (with slide guitar parts played by Ry Cooder) for possession of his soul.
Vai was also part of singer David Lee Roth's famed post-Van Halen band from 1985-1989; played on Whitesnake's top-selling 1989 album [i]Slip of the Tongue[i] and subsequent tour, designed Ibanez's JEM and Universe seven-stringed guitars, and founded the Favored Nations recording label with former Guitar Center owner Ray Scherr in 1999.
Then there's the guitar-themed G3 Tour, started in 1996 by fellow guitarist and Long Island native Joe Satriani, a former Vai instructor. The devilish, scene-stealing Vai has been part of more than two-thirds of those tours since, including the early 2024 West Coast reunion of its original lineup, with Texan Eric Johnson as the third featured guitarist.
Friends for more than 50 years, Satriani and Vai make a stop at the Pompano Beach Ampitheater on their duo "Satch-Vai U.S. Tour" on March 23.
"Joe's the best," Vai says by phone from Seattle before a G3 Tour show. "He's a few years older, but he was always very cool and sharing in his guitar lessons. He was strict, and expected you to do what was required, so I always felt like there was someone pulling me up. I can't imagine what my playing, career and life would've been like without those precious lessons from him in my youth. Joe and I are also writing some new music together, and we'll have one song, with a video, that'll be complete before the Satch-Vai Tour to surprise people with live."
[i]Flex-Able[i] was actually recorded on Vai's home eight-track recording console, and considered even by him to be too musically A.D.D. for actual release. But its signature tune, the unevenly-timed instrumental rocker "The Attitude Song," helped make it possible. The song had gotten an overwhelming response from readers of [i]Guitar Player[i] magazine after being inserted as an appropriately flexible disc that could be played on a turntable.
Drummer Chris Frazier (Foreigner, Whitesnake, Edgar Winter, Eddie Money) recorded on that tune along with two other [i]Flex-Able[i] tracks, the instrumental "Viv Woman" and tongue-in-cheek vocal pop number "The Boy/Girl Song." And he matched Vai beat-for-note in the dizzying, Mahavishnu Orchestra-like runs of "The Attitude Song."
"I had just moved to Los Angeles a few weeks before," Frazier says, "and saw an ad in the local 'Music Connection' rag that mentioned a guitar player looking for a drummer familiar with odd time signatures. Steve liked the way I played, so we recorded 'Viv Woman.' Then he said he had something more challenging, which turned out to be 'The Attitude Song.'"
"I haven't played that one in a while," Vai says with a laugh. "It's a bit of a beast. I think I started making that album when I was 22 years old, but my innocence and naivete actually enabled me to be pretty free and do whatever my heart intended. I didn't even know what I was doing in the studio, but was fascinated with the process of recording. Luckily, I had years under my belt with Zappa. He loaned me equipment to record with, and everything I knew had come from just watching him."
As with Zappa, trying to pinpoint a musical genre that Vai fits into is pointless. There's every variation of rock, including the metallic offshoots his Ibanez guitars are famous for representing, but also elements of classical music, blues and jazz, plus Middle Eastern and other world music offshoots. Like his musical mentor, Vai might only play guitar on stages during most live performances, but he's vastly more than a one-dimensional instrumentalist.
"When I was very young, before I started playing guitar, I wanted to be a composer," Vai says. "So I started writing a variety of music through high school as well as becoming a rock 'n' roll guitar player. I have a compositional mind, so even though I can't play piano or drums, I can see the parts in my head and then transcribe or program them. It's not uncommon for composers to create parts they can't necessarily play."
"Then I discovered how difficult and expensive it is to get your music performed by an orchestra. But a friend of mine in Holland, [Zappa author and enthusiast] Co De Kloet, solicits the government for creative projects to benefit Dutch culture. And he raised enough money for me to put on my first concert with the Metropole Orkest over there in 2003. Within a couple years we'd done a few more concerts, which have come out as the two volumes called [i]Sound Theories[i], the moniker I use to release my orchestral music. And I have about four more hours of music on my shelf that I've recorded with them and with the Finnish Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra."
Vai's 1996 release [i]Fire Garden[i] is one case in point regarding his compositional and instrumental dexterity,. And beyond. On his neo-classical, 10-minute "Fire Garden Suite," a four-part instrumental opus with heavy rock undertones, Mike Mangini is credited with drums; Vai with "everything else." Which means he's not only responsible for a wall of different stringed instruments, but also the programming that surrounds his otherworldly guitar figures. The second half of the album features his lead vocals as well.
Mangini was part of Vai's quartet for the 1996 and 1997 G3 Tours, along with bassist Philip Bynoe, who sometimes played a double-neck bass in which the second neck was a keyboard. Its fourth component was another Long Island native, former Satriani student, and ex-Zappa band member Mike Keneally, who wowed crowds by playing stereo guitar parts with Vai (a staple of "The Attitude Song") and adding keyboards and percussion. He even nailed Robert Plant's vocals by singing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" on some tour stops from that era. Keneally also recorded and toured with Satriani in the 2010s as a guitarist/keyboardist.
Bynoe remains in Vai's current quartet lineup, which is rounded out by second guitarist Dante Frisiello and drummer Jeremy Colson.
"Philip's been in the band for more than 25 years now," Vai says, "and Jeremy's been in it for almost that long. My previous other guitarist, Dave Weiner, recently moved on after 23 years. But he found a replacement in Dante, who was one of his students. Dave taught him all the parts, and he really delivers."
Zappa's career included featuring versatile singing rhythm guitarists like Jeff Simmons, Ike Willis and Ray White before prostate cancer necessitated the bandleader's retirement from touring in the late 1980s. But the maestro also had outside-the-box thinkers as alternate lead guitar foils, a role Vai relished. Adrian Belew would go on to find a lasting home with progressive rock titans King Crimson. And Keneally has blended Zappa's influence with Todd Rundgren's through his progressive pop solo career, and now tours with all-purpose prog-rock tribute act ProgJect. Yet Vai might have gone furthest afield in coming out from under Zappa's long shadow by blending his influence with that of other classically-tinged rock guitarists (Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore), plus the hard-to-define fusion styles of Jeff Beck and Allan Holdsworth.
"There's a rock 'n' roll-type energy to my music, but it's very diverse," says Vai. "My brain has kind of always mixed together rock with compositional music. And what emerges is something I don't otherwise know how to classify."
To say it's a bridge linking Satriani's rock instruction with Zappa's genre-be-damned approach wouldn't be a stretch. Vai's latest release is last year's straight-ahead rocker [i]Vai/Gash[i], a project from the 1990s with vocalist Johnny "Gash" Sombretto that Vai had shelved after the singer died in a motorcycle accident in 1998. Vai's previous album, the 2022 instrumental release [i]Inviolate[i], features Bynoe, Colson, ex-Roth bassist Billy Sheehan and ex-Zappa drummers Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta. With Vai on the cover sporting a customized Ibanez triple-necked instrument, it's where most of his current live material is drawn from.
"I'm still in the mode of promoting the music from [i]Inviolate[i]," he says. "I really enjoy playing it, even after touring on it for 194 shows over 19 months in 51 different countries. So there will be a lot of that material, along with a couple back-catalog reaches; whether it's stuff I've never played live before or tunes that'll get resurrected."
Of course, Vai will also perform with Satriani's quartet (rounded out by keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Kenny Aronoff) to end the show, a tradition whether on the G3 Tour or otherwise.
"We'll come out at the end and jam on some classic rock songs," says Vai. "It's always nice to get the opportunity to play with other folks like this, because they always help you to up your game. I was going to try to sing 'Crossroads' [the Cream cover of the Robert Johnson blues composition that gave Vai's '86 film its title]. It was a bit out of my vocal range, but Rai, who's quite the musical force to be reckoned with, sings it and nails it."
Scott Henderson story - February issue of Palm Beach Arts Paper
Casual music fans might not recognize the name Scott Henderson (www.scotthenderson.net) -- but area musicians from the 1970s, and fans of jazz/fusion internationally from the 1980s onward, all know the name of the greatest electric musician South Florida ever exported.
The guitarist released his seventh solo album, the self-produced [i]Karnevel![i], on Feb. 2, and has 20 total CDs over the course of his career. And like the others, Henderson's latest is an inimitable fusion of jazz, blues, rock, improvisation and humor.
Born at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach in 1954, his otherworldly natural talents overwhelmed the local music programs at Palm Beach Junior (now State) College in Lake Worth and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Even in talented area acts like the funk ensemble Pure Hell and jazz group Paradise, it was obvious that Henderson was destined to go much further.
In 1980, he did just that by relocating to Los Angeles, where he's lived ever since. Within a few years of the move, he'd recorded and toured with icons like keyboardists Chick Corea (1941-2021) and Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Henderson also formed the influential jazz/fusion band Tribal Tech, which recorded 10 albums and toured the world from 1984-2014.
His inclusion on the 1985 Ponty album [i]Fables[i], and subsequent touring, came courtesy of one of Henderson's few guitar peers. Legendary Brit Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017) was leaving Ponty's band after touring and appearing on his albums [i]Enigmatic Ocean[i] and [i]Individual Choice[i] between 1977 and 1983. Knowing the violinist needed a replacement, Holdsworth called the Frenchman and glowingly talked Henderson into the gig sight-unseen.
"I was playing with [bassist] Jeff Berlin's band and we opened for Holdsworth," Henderson says by phone from his home in the downtown L.A. neighborhood of Eagle Rock. "Allan recommended me to Jean-Luc, who just took his word for it. I didn't even need to audition. I just started playing with him, and did that for about the next three years."
Additional albums under Henderson's own name started with [i]Dog Party[i] in 1994. [i]Karnevel![i], like its preceding 2019 release [i]People Mover[i], features his highly improvisational trio with younger French musicians Romain Labaye (bass) and Archibald Ligonniere (drums). Adding Polish guitarist Lina Mastalska. who recreates some of Henderson's overdubbed parts live, they embarked as a quartet for a two-month tour through Europe, China and India in mid-February.
"I'm lucky to have them," Henderson says. "It's hard to keep up with them at my age. I was playing so much in Europe a few years ago that I asked for recommendations on European musicians. My agent at the time found Romain through Markbass, the bass amplifier company, and sent me some clips of him playing. Then Romain sent me clips of Archie. I wrote most of the material for the album during the Covid-19 lockdown, and they've added so much since to my initial charts. Some of the album sounds composed, but it's not. It's improvised."
"As for Lina, she's a great blues player and slide guitarist. I like to sometimes overdub higher piano-like voicings, which I can't recreate live in a trio. With her, audiences sometimes get to hear two guitarists playing different voicings of the same chord, which can sound larger and more pianistic."
Such musicality makes [i]Karnevel![i] a feast for the ears. The basic tracks for its 11 Henderson compositions were impressively recorded live in the studio before the guitarist added his array of overdubbed tonal embellishments. The funky "Covid Vaccination" pays tribute to Tower of Power, borrowing from the Oakland, CA band's song "Soul Vaccination" and featuring Labaye and Ligonniere mimmicking the deep rhythmic pocket of its bassist Rocco Prestia (1951-2020) and drummer Dave Garibaldi. Henderson likewise mimics the band's famed horn section by using an array of different effects.
"I used a different pedal for every horn," says Henderson. "There's distortion with a wah-wah pedal for trumpet, a fuzz tone for tenor sax, a different fuzz tone for alto sax, and a pedal called a Trombetta Robotone for trombone."
"Bilge Rat" showcases the blues influence Henderson displayed through his early solo efforts; the high-octane "Sky Coaster" is fusion that's not for the faint of heart, and the gorgeous "Greene Mansion" a first-ever recorded solo guitar piece that would make Wes Montgomery proud.
Few musical artists are capable of similar diversity. And there's not a hint of the syrupy instrumental pop, usually cloaked in saxes, guitars and synthesizers, known as "smooth jazz" (which the guitarist calls "Southern California hot tub jazz"). Henderson's gifts even make the number of strings and frets on his instrument seem practically limiting. Unfortunately for American audiences, they'll seldom hear such performances live other than on occasional club dates. Henderson no longer tours the United States.
"I didn't really decide that," Henderson says. "That decision was kind of made for me when I started working with European musicians, who need a $2,500 work visa to play over here. Which doesn't seem fair, because I don't need a visa to play in Europe. And the money that gigs pay in the U.S., factoring in air or ground travel, gas prices and gear rental, is honestly about one-fifth of what we get overseas. We were lucky to break even here."
Influenced primarily by rock and blues guitarists including Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Albert King, the jazz portion of Henderson's jazz/fusion mix primarily involves that genre's improvisational and tongue-in-cheek elements. His three-year stint with the Zawinul Syndicate in the late 1980s became a career highlight because of the improvisation within the Weather Report guru's side project.
Tribal Tech, co-led by fretless electric bass wizard Gary Willis, decreed that humor was paramount -- especially in the group's lengthy final lineup with keyboardist Scott Kinsey and drummer Kirk Covington. On its 1993 album [i]Face First[i], Covington added vocals to the song "Boat Gig" to poke fun at the schmaltz passing for music on most cruise ships. On the following album, 1995's [i]Reality Check[i], the quartet followed up a reverent reading of the jazz chestnut "Stella By Starlight" with a bombastic original sequel called "Stella By Infra-red High Particle Neutron Beam." And in 2000, it released an entirely-improvised album, [i]Rocket Science[i].
Kinsey mastered and played electronic percussion on [i]Karnevel![i], which was recorded by drummer Alan Hertz, who mixed the album with Henderson. Hertz had a lengthy recording and touring tenure with the fusion group Garaj Mahal before working with the guitarist, recording the latest three Henderson releases at Kingsize Soundlabs in L.A. He also played on Henderson's final U.S. tours as well as on his 2015 gem [i]Vibe Station[i].
As a solo artist or sideman, Henderson has also worked with a who's-who of heavyweights, jazz/fusion and otherwise: bassists Berlin, Victor Wooten, John Patitucci and Dave Carpenter; drummers Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, Steve Smith and Virgil Donati, vocalist Thelma Houston, saxophonist Albert Wing, and keyboardists Tom Coster and T. Lavitz.
"If wars were fought with notes instead of bullets, Scott would be the guy you'd want on your side," says Charlie Gonzales, singing bassist for longtime South Florida roots rockers The Dillengers.
Yet having that kind of arsenal doesn't mean one always has to use it. Henderson's deep influence on fellow musicians in general, and guitarists in particular, also involves his use of space between notes, along with his phrasing, use of effects, and signature tone, technique, taste and touch. Few other players on any instrument can come as close to exactingly mimicking parts they're hearing in their head, live and in real time.
At a 1997 Tribal Tech show at the Carefree Theater -- now a vacant lot in West Palm Beach after hurricane damage hastened its demolition -- an introduction displayed both Henderson's influence and reasoning behind leaving South Florida's stunted music scene. In attendance was young guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, a gifted recent University of Miami music grad who's since charted a successful career with a dozen albums under his name and rising star status, especially in Europe.
"Great to meet you, Scott," Kreisberg said. "Do you have any advice for me?"
"Get the hell out of here," Henderson replied.
Kreisberg returned to his native New York City soon thereafter and now lives in Brooklyn. And Henderson's latest South Florida show was back in 2009, when he played at the now-defunct Orange Door in Lake Park with drummer Hertz and former Ponty bassist John Humphrey.
With his online lessons, multiple instructional books and videos, and ongoing students at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Henderson has practically always been a teacher as well.
"I was a student of Scott's at Chafin MusiCenter in Lake Worth in 1979-1980," says veteran local singer, guitarist and songwriter John Storch. "He'd gone to high school with one of my older sisters and was renting my grandfather's house, so we became friends. I was still in high school then, and Scott would come out to see how I was progressing with our kid band at the time, SST."
Along with songwriting partner and older brother Bill Storch, a fellow singing guitarist, John Storch has since traversed additional rock, roots music, ballet scores and instrumental electronica in ensembles from Lake Worth Beach to Boston and New York City.
"We went to see Scott with Chick Corea when we were living in Boston," he says. "He got us backstage passes, and his playing was absolutely amazing. But he was always mind-blowing. Even when we were in high school, before we'd been exposed to many truly great musicians, we could tell he was a special phenomenon when we saw him play with Paradise."
[i]Karnevel![i], with its carny imagery and theme, was inspired by such visits Henderson has taken with his daughter Angela since becoming a father. It's a reflective look back that's perhaps befitting of such a small town boy who made good -- and one who will turn 70 years old this summer in his adopted hometown, the City of Angels.
"It's hard to believe," the age-defying Henderson says. "Angela is 20 years old now and studying theater at the University of California, Berkeley. She even came up with the CD cover concept of the kid riding a guitar. And I actually still feel like I could do all this for another 20 years, as long as my back doesn't go out from the hotel beds overseas, which sometimes seem like medieval torture devices. Or the flying. But our agent is good at routing us so we usually drive no more than three to four hours gig to gig. The flights here to Europe and back, plus from Europe to China and back, will be the toughest part for me."
Smokeboss Militia story - February issue of Palm Beach Arts Paper
Bands that blend a wide variety of different influences into a unique style often can't be categorized in the moment. The Allman Brothers Band, for example, was simply called a rock act as it climbed to popularity from the late 1960s onward. No one coined the terms "jam band" or "Southern rock" until later to describe such a diverse act's mesh of blues, jazz, gospel, acoustic, and country music.
Locally, a group called the Smokeboss Militia (www.facebook.com/thesmokebossmilitia) formed two years ago to defy categorization -- yet with a very different stylistic blend. Jupiter-based lead singer, acoustic guitarist and songwriter Andy Mensing recorded three albums and toured the United States and Europe with San Diego, CA punk band Rat City Riot during the 2000s and 2010s. But the Smokeboss Militia, named after Mensing's signature hot sauce, rocks while decidedly not being punk.
His girlfriend, Lucia Hare-Leahy, sings telekinetic harmonies with Mensing, but that doesn't make their act a pop or vocal group. Nor does the fact that she doubles on banjo and mandolin make it bluegrass, folk or country. A third band member, John Ace, plays violin and mandolin, yet that doesn't make the Smokeboss Militia an Irish or Celtic ensemble.
Realistically, as proven with a cast of local and West Coast guests invited by Mensing for the Smokeboss Militia's 2023 debut CD [i]Rise Again[i] (Smokeboss Trusted Records), the band is a rootsy amalgamation of all the above. Those three will be backed by the Tony Tyler Band for a Clematis By Night performance in downtown West Palm Beach on Feb. 22.
"I met Lucia at an open mic night at the Brewhouse Gallery in Lake Park," Mensing says, "so the music and relationship started about the same time."
"No, the music came first," Hare-Leahy says, as Mensing correctively nods in agreement. "But I was a bit shocked when Andy asked me to play a song with him. Everyone else that night was doing '60s cover tunes, but he was relatively new in town and brought such a different form of musical energy."
The basic tracks on [i]Rise Again[i] were recorded in Hare-Leahy's Lake Worth Beach living room by Palm Beach Gardens sound engineer Guy Gualtieri, who enhances remote rooms sonically and then captures performances with his traveling studio equipment. Overdubs were then added at his home project studio, along with the tracks captured by the out-of-towners and mixed in by Gualtieri, a Berklee College of Music grad.
Mensing's heady compositions are largely autobiographical and often about previous relationships, matrimonial and otherwise. "No Girlfriend" is a self-explanatory Led Zeppelin-esque rocker, while the leadoff single "Danglin'" is a rootsy pop number about a romance on the cliff. The second single, "I'm Out," features a serpentining, Little Feat-like funk rhythm; "Crush" is a soulful ballad recalling Lenny Kravitz, and "Misunderstood" an accelerated alt-country rave-up with the universally relatable vocal chorus of "I am not misunderstanding, I am just misunderstood."
A native New Yorker from Manhattan, Mensing's influences range from East Coast (New York City post-punk alternative metal band Helmet) to West Coast (Long Beach, CA funk/Latin/rock act War) and beyond. As a lyricist and songwriter, his versatility also recalls the broad career span of British vocal icon Elvis Costello, who's veered from his famed 1980s New Wave group The Attractions into several other genres since. Another logical influence is Eric Burdon, the singing Brit who did a 180-degree turn from his decidedly English 1960s pop group The Animals to his funky 1970s albums with War that included their classic hit "Spill the Wine."
On Mensing's loping "Trusted," California-based electric guitarist Ritchie Orduno's vintage Santana-like solos punctuate the introspective lyrics. Other friends from Mensing's San Diego days, keyboardists Peter Levin and Roger Rivas, add embellishments on piano and Hammond organ throughout the disc's 12 tracks.
"There are two additional songs on the deluxe edition you can buy on Bandcamp," says Mensing. "And Guy did a great job mixing in tracks that Ritchie, Peter and Roger recorded in California."
A seasonal South Florida resident who captains his sailboat to Virginia annually in the fall, Ace's violin is an undercurrent throughout [i]Rise Again[i]. Ditto Hare-Leahy's banjo, with occasional mandolin additions by both. On the album's title track, Ace's string work is an anchor, with Hare-Leahy's banjo providing a percussive pulse and her backing vocals a lyrical hook.
Born in Argentina; raised in Venezuela and England and still sporting a British accent, Hare-Leahy (often identified by her long-standing nickname "Shash") is a relative musical newcomer compared to Mensing. She also plays in the all-acoustic act Gypsy String Revival.
"I was infIuenced by the spaghetti western films Clint Eastwood starred in," she says, "even though there was no banjo in the soundtracks. I'd started playing guitar in a trio that never ended up recording or performing live, but I thought it might be more interesting to play banjo, an instrument I'd always loved. I took lessons online, and then this opportunity came calling."
The band's occasional cover tunes during live shows mirror the wide stylistic swath of Mensing's originals -- ranging from the roots and country of Steve Earle and Kenny Rogers to the soul and hip-hop of Seal and Cee Lo Green. But with substantial day jobs in legal videography (Mensing) and interior design (Hare-Leahy), the original-focused couple is perfectly situated not to lean on the income that only South Florida cover bands and tribute acts now seem to generate, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The only ingredients they're missing are a rhythm section and soloist for their following booking -- a March 30 slot at the third all-day, multi-act 561 Music Festival presented by podcast hosts (and Killbillies band members) Ben Childs and Hector Diaz at Mathews Brewing Company in Lake Worth Beach. The Tony Tyler Band is based in the Tampa Bay area, and traveling southeast for Clematis By Night because of the couple's familiarity with its drummer, area frequenter Paige Cantrill.
"We just need to find musicians who are both local and who are into this material," Mensing says. "We'll definitely play songs from the record at Clematis By Night, along with some covers, since it's a three-hour show."
"But the 561 Music Fest will be a shorter set, and probably all originals," adds Hare-Leahy.
The couple literally and figuratively finishes each others' sentences as both conversationalists and vocalists.
But in case of a romantic breakup, will the Smokeboss Militia lean more toward Fleetwood Mac or Heart territory? The former carried on for decades with the same personnel after such partnerships ended; the latter cast off musicians as romances flamed out.
"We should've consulted our lawyers," Mensing says with a laugh, "because we haven't written that part of the contract yet."
2023-2024 Jazz Season Previews story - October issue of Palm Beach Arts Paper
Since the dawn of the all-encompassing non-genre now known by the blanket term "pop," and specifically since the popularity surges of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, it's become increasingly difficult for jazz musicians to get substantial paying gigs. Even pop players have since become relegated to legacy acts, but jazz -- which has been called "America's classical music" -- is now hanging on via performers playing the catalogs of late pioneers like Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and the recently-departed Wayne Shorter, if not show tunes. So it isn't a world apart from symphonic orchestras recreating compositions by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.
A few rare exceptions dot the landscape of South Florida's small-scale forthcoming jazz season, most at only a handful of venues. As in pop, many predictable jazz names (mostly ignored in this year's previews in both genres) venture south to soak up the sun, board a cruise ship for a working vacation, and/or entertain aging relatives and friends. In Palm Beach County, the prime jazz location is actually a West Palm Beach restaurant called Cafe Centro, where the trios of pianist Copeland Davis and bassist Susan Merritt combine to perform five nights a week. Even events listed as jazz festivals usually include non-jazz luminaries to draw more folks out, and/or pop, cabaret and R&B performers pretending to play jazz by including pianists and horn players. Often all the above. But at least, unlike the pop concerts in this issue, very few high-end tickets reach the price of a used car, the exceptions being a jazz guitarist who was once a pop star in what must now seem like a previous life (Andy Summers) and one of the few instrumentalists who've reached bonafide jazz superstar status in guitarist Pat Metheny.
It's even become increasingly difficult to get paid if you're a jazz journalist. This February, [i]JazzTimes[i] -- one of the world's preeminent jazz publications since it was founded in 1970 -- was acquired by the BeBop Channel Corporation from Madavor Media. The new CEO and artistic director, Gregory Charles Royal, immediately put a replacement staff in place, writing in the new-look publication's first issue that Caucasian writers had an outsized voice regarding a largely African-American art form.
That contention is not without merit, yet such blanket statements are low-hanging fruit. The 62-year-old Royal is a veteran jazz trombonist, and each issue since February has featured an ad for his 2016 indie film [i]World's Not for Me[i], or him on the cover, if not both. All as the magazine's previous contributors scramble to claim their pay for several previous issues. Jazz Journalists Association president Howard Mandel advises that their best legal recourse is to go to small claims court in the states in which they reside. Lawsuits against the corporation are piling up. Signs of the jazz times.
After featuring several prominent touring jazz/fusion artists in recent years (Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Oz Noy, Aristocats, Greg Koch, Simon Phillips), the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton has shifted more toward rock, blues and R&B tribute acts in recent months.Thankfully, that changes starting early in the season with the Special EFX All-Stars. Led by guitarist Chieli Minucci (known for soundtrack credits and work with artists from Lou Reed to Celine Dion), the quintet will perform selections from two recent releases, Minucci's solo acoustic album [i]Someone's Singing[i] and the group's 40th anniversary collection [i]Twenty Twenty 2[i]. The bandleader's impressive all-star collection features violinist Karen Briggs (whose own far-reaching credits include Yanni, Diana Ross, the Wu Tang Clan, Dave Grusin, Chaka Khan, and En Vogue), keyboardist Lao Tizer (a rising star whose self-titled band's latest album is the acclaimed [i]Songs From the Swinghouse[i]), bassist Dave Livolsi (John Scofield, Jazz Is Dead, Bill Evans, Roberta Flack) and drummer Joel Rosenblatt (Carlton, Chick Corea, Robben Ford, Lee Ritenour, Steps Ahead). 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Funky Biscuit, 303 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton (561-395-2929, $40-$55).
A legacy act if there ever was one, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet pays homage to Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), the father and pioneering pianist who rose to stardom through the 1950s, particularly with a quartet featuring lyrical saxophonist Paul Desmond, iconic drummer Joe Morello, and anchoring bassist Eugene Wright. Bassist, trombonist and composer Chris Brubeck and drummer Dan Brubeck are the namesake principals of the quartet, which is rounded out by pianist Chuck Lamb and guitarist Mike DeMicco. Having recorded together since 1966, the two brothers certainly haven't tried to insistently cash in since their father's death more than 10 years ago. In truth, the late Brubeck cast such a long shadow through jazz history that it could be argued that his legacy hurt more than helped his sons to achieve stardom. With five CD releases, the quartet is certain to have plenty of original material to showcase at the intimate Lyric Theatre. But by popular demand, it's also certain to reinterpret standards like Desmond's composition "Take Five" and the elder Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk," the recognizable chestnut from his classic 1959 album [i]Time Out[i]. 7 p.m. Nov. 30, Lyric Theatre, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart (772-286-7827, $45).
If you don't know that guitarist Andy Summers plays jazz, you haven't paid attention to his lengthy post-pop career. What made his trio The Police stand out from the late 1970s to mid-1980s was, in part, drummer Stewart Copeland's world music and reggae influences, plus the jazz leanings of both Summers and singing bassist Sting. Summers' subsequent solo career includes worthy tributes to both Thelonious Monk ([i]Green Chimneys[i], 1999) and Charles Mingus ([i]Peggy's Blue Skylight[i], 2000). Other fusion efforts like [i]Charming Snakes[i], [i]The Last Dance of Mr. X[i] and the recent, unaccompanied [i]Harmonics of the Night[i] display the compositional prowess that was also integral to The Police -- as do the guitarist's career collaborations with jazz/fusion and progressive rock icons like saxophonist Bill Evans, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. A seemingly-ageless 80-year-old, Summers is also an accomplished, published photographer and writer. His current tour is titled "The Cracked Lens + A Missing String," and features his solo playing accompanied by a slideshow of his photographs. 8 p.m. Dec. 7, Wells Hall ($59-$719), 8 p.m. Dec. 9, Sunrise Theatre, 117 S. 2nd St., Fort Pierce (772-461-4775, $59.75-$69.75).
New Orleans is the quintessential American city for historically producing authentic acoustic jazz musicians, and the leader and namesake of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue continues at least part of that tradition. Just don't expect the artist formerly known as Troy Andrews to be completely traditional. The 37-year-old wind instrumentalist with the hip-hop nickname received his first trombone at age 4 in his family's famed Treme area of the Big Easy. And it didn't take long for the prodigy to start appearing on stage with notables, one of his specialties, including Bo Diddley, Lenny Kravitz, Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield, Maceo Parker, Little Big Town, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and the Foo Fighters. Andrews' 20-plus-year album catalog also includes tour stops opening for Hall & Oates and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, along with recorded performances with U2 and Green Day and multiple appearances at the White House. The most recent five of his 12 album releases have been on major recording labels, including the critically-acclaimed latest two on Blue Note, [i]Parking Lot Symphony[i] (2017) and [i]Lifted[i] (2022). 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29, Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Hwy., Suite 70, Fort Lauderdale (954-564-1074, $79-$408).
Two artists known for their educational as well as musical prowess combine to form the Tierney Sutton/Shelly Berg Trio in one of the Gold Coast Jazz Society's 2024 presentations. Sutton has remained underrated since starting her solo recording career in 1997, having been nominated for several Grammy Awards without taking one home yet. The 60-year-old singer's pristine delivery and phrasing is the focal point of her veteran self-titled band, which was hand-picked by director Clint Eastwood to perform a soundtrack that her pianist Christian Jacob composed for his 2016 box office smash, [i]Sully[i]. The vocal department head at the Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena, CA, Sutton's trio includes flutist Hubert Laws and guitarist Larry Koonse. Berg is the gifted 68-year-old pianist who likewise has a lengthy career of recordings under his name, plus Grammy nominations, and who's also dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Both headliners reached their current educational posts after lengthy tenures at another prestigious academy, the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles. 7:45 p.m. Jan. 10, Amaturo Theater, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale (954-468-3313, $65).
No last name resonates more over the last half-century of jazz than Marsalis, so the Branford Marsalis Quartet being the closing headliner at Pompano Beach's three-day, multi-stage JazzFest 2024 qualifies as a major South Florida event. The patriarch of its namesake saxophonist was Ellis Marsalis (1934-2020), a renowned pianist and educator at multiple Louisiana universities. His other sons, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and drummer/percussionist Jason Marsalis, have lengthy solo and session recording and touring careers, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has been the most visible of the siblings through his combination of celebrity and musical prowess. Yet the 63-year-old saxophonist is the eldest brother; the most open-minded, and most versatile in playing every variety of saxophone over the course of his career. Having recorded and appeared with everyone from Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins to Sting, the Grateful Dead and Public Enemy, Marsalis' veteran quartet with pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner has earned a Grammy Award amid multiple nominations. 8 p.m. Jan. 20, JazzFest 2024, Pompano Beach (www.pompanobeacharts.org/jazzfest, free general admission; $175 for three-day VIP pass).
The namesake Japanese pianist leading the Yoko Miwa Trio makes regular stops at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, lending some original compositions to the venue's frequent legacy and tribute act bookings. Miwa was initially scheduled to appear there with her trio in March of 2020 before Covid-19 intervened, but has been rescheduled for every South Florida jazz season since. After classical music studies in Japan, she audutioned on a lark at the jazz-conscious Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1997, surprising herself by earning a full scholarship and later becoming an instructor at the school. She was also the pianist of choice for Kevin Mahogany (1958-2017), one of the best and most creative male jazz singers of his generation. A fellow veteran jazz pianist, Benny Green, praises Miwa's "clarity and strength...the honesty, care and depth of foundation she touches the piano with." Along with acoustic upright bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding, the 2019 "Jazz Artist of the Year" winner within the Boston Music Awards will perform material from her nine critically-acclaimed CD releases, including the latest, [i]Songs of Joy[i] (2021). 8 p.m. Feb. 16, Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach (561-450-6357, $45-$50).
It's strange to label someone who's played with Jeff Beck, The Who, Hiromi Uehara, Toto, Pete Townshend, Mike Oldfield, 10cc and beyond underrated, but the British drummer and band leader of the quintet Simon Phillips Protocol qualifies. With his oversized drum kits, double kick drums and ambidextrous playing, the Los Angeles-based 66-year-old's propulsive work with Beck (with whom he succeeded Narada Michael Walden and Richard Bailey and preceded Vinnie Colaiuta and Miami's own Jonathan Joseph) in the 1980s practically made him the successor to former Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra drumming icon Billy Cobham, who's 13 years his senior. In Toto, Phillips succeeded late pop giant Jeff Porcaro. The drummer's Protocol band has existed with varying personnel since 1988, and the current incarnation features fellow Los Angeles-based musicians in former John McLaughlin keyboardist Otmaro Ruiz, saxophonist Jacob Scesney, guitarist Alex Sill, and longtime bassist Ernest Tibbs. The quintet is likely to perform material from Protocol's entire catalog, but focus on its fifth and latest release, logically titled [i]Protocol V[i], on which all current members are featured. 7 p.m. March 6, Funky Biscuit ($40-$55).
Canadian trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg and Pittsburgh-born singing trumpeter Benny Benack III combine for a youthful, brass-infused variety show at Stuart's premier theater late in the 2023-2024 jazz season. British Columbia native Skonberg is the duo's better-known quantity, having won a Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy Award) since moving to New York City in 2010. Now with a handful of album releases under her own name, Skonberg has been compared to Louis Armstrong as a player and Anita O'Day as a singer by Nate Chinen in the [i]New York Times[i]. The 32-year-old Benack is a notable performer in both jazz and cabaret whose recent success points toward potential stardom. He performed with the house band for [i]The Late Show With Stephen Colbert[i] in November of 2022; released his third studio album, [i]Third Time's the Charm[i], this June, and was voted the number two "Rising Star" male jazz vocalist in the August issue of [i]DownBeat[i] magazine. With both principals being composers as well as masterful musicians and charismatic singers, everything from original material to jazz standards, with vocals or as instrumentals, is possible. 7 p.m. March 10, Lyric Theatre ($50).
The vocalist leading the Cyrille Aimee Quartet has been a fearless rising star since the 39-year-old started singing on street corners and in gypsy encampments in her native France as a child. Since then, she's won both the Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in 2007 and the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012, released a dozen albums, sang at the famed Apollo Theatre in New York City, and even appeared on Broadway. Aimee co-starring with actress Bernadette Peters in a Stephen Sondheim tribute at New York's City Center was the inspiration for many of her latest endeavors. She not only released the critically-acclaimed [i]Move On: A Sondheim Adventure[i] in 2019, but also shared the adventure in a TEDx Talk, master classes, and in addresses at the Conference on World Affairs. Aimee's latest CD release is [i]I'll Be Seeing You[i] (2021), her duo recording with guitarist and longtime collaborator Michael Valeanu. Also a native of France, the guitarist and Aimee meeting in Brooklyn seemed almost pre-destined, and the duo setting exemplifies why the [i]Wall Street Journal[i] has called Aimee "one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation." 7:45 p.m. March 13, Amaturo Theater ($65).
Thank goodness Pat Metheny was once a music professor at the University of Miami, since it's unlikely that the guitarist might make annual treks to the southern portion of our cylindrical state otherwise. The 69-year-old Missouri native was playing at a club in Kansas City in his formative years when he was approached by UM's dean of music, Bill Lee (father of famed bassist Will Lee), and Metheny would also go on to also teach at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a player and composer, the guitarist is one of the architects of the modern sounds of both jazz/fusion (through his bands and his use of guitar synthesizer) and traditional jazz (through his solo works and clean-toned playing). A 20-time Grammy Award winner, his 50-year career of recordings includes the gems [i]Bright Size Life[i] (1975), [i]American Garage[i] (1979), [i]Offramp[i] (1982), [i]Imaginary Day[i] (1997), [i]Trio 99/00[i] (2000), [i]Speaking of Now[i] (2002), [i]The Unity Sessions[i] (2016), and [i]Dream Box[i] (2023). That latest album is a collection of solo performances that Metheny will focus on for his current solo tour, with an emphasis on combining his jazz/fusion and traditional sides. 8 p.m. March 19, Wells Hall ($59-$1,179), 7 p.m. March 23, Lyric Theatre, Stuart ($90).
The Grace Kelly Quartet features one of the most versatile artists in modern jazz -- an alto, soprano and baritone saxophonist as well as a vocalist -- as its namesake leader. Not to be confused with the late actress and former princess of Monaco with the exact same name, Kelly is a 31-year-old Massachusetts native of Korean ancestry, and a musical prodigy who started performing professionally before she became a teenager. Her debut album, [i]Dreaming[i], was released when she was only 12 years old, and Kelly graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music at age 19 in 2011. Her prodigious talents are displayed on more than a dozen solo recordings, which collectively include veteran collaborators like keyboardists Monty Alexander and Jon Batiste, saxophonist Phil Woods, guitarists Russell Malone and Adam Rogers, bassist Michael League, and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Kelly's most recent efforts include her latest album, [i]All That I Need[i], and a forhcoming project called "At the Movies: Grace Kelly With Strings" with a 15-piece ensemble, inspired by both her love for classic and contemporary films and the banner saxophone recording [i]Charlie Parker With Strings[i]. 7:45 p.m. April 10, Amaturo Theater ($65).