2010 in Review

2009 was a great year for a swing and bop jazz historian/performer to celebrate the anniversaries of the "Birth of the Cool", "Monk at Town Hall", and Lester Young's 100th Birthday. However, 2010 was an even better year to expand on those exciting milestones and to push forward to new things. A brief year-in-review for 2010 finds many of my musical dreams coming true, events I will look back on for the rest of my life.

January 2010- I took a sideman role to my former student and frequent collaborator, Sarah Hughes, as she crafted and executed her own performances of the music of Ornette Coleman and Lee Konitz/Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker. She even penned several of her own arrangements and compositions, in addition to numerous transcriptions.

February 2010- I had the honor of putting together the Freddie Redd Sextet and booking a performance at Birdland in New York City. In the middle of one of the worst snowstorms in recent history, I was able to get Freddie and myself to the gig and play to a very receptive audience. The BLE officially released "Feeling That Way Now" at Blues Alley on February 15 and we returned to Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia.

March 2010- Another amazing opportunity to book the Freddie Redd Quintet at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola and feature Chris Byars, Ari Roland, and Stefan Schatz with a broadcast by WBGO. Freddie then joined us in Washington DC at Twins Jazz Club.

April 2010- Jazz Appreciation Month. No one appreciated it more than I did. My ensemble performed at the Iridium in Times Square and I debuted "Sax of a Kind" at the Sylvan Theatre during the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Freddie Redd again returned to Smalls Jazz Club to perform with me and Chris Byars Quartet.
During the Big Band Jam, I was honored to feature Lee Konitz with my ensemble at Blues Alley. We performed music from the "Birth of the Cool" and his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre and Mark Masters, then we enjoyed a 6 hour drive to NC to get Lee to his next gig. After much planning, Omrao Brown and I created the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra as a resident ensemble at the 85 year old club, marking the return of big band Monday nights. The BCJO has maintained a huge following and a collective artistic direction, co-led by myself and Joe Herrera. My ensemble celebrated the birthday of Ella Fitzgerald featuring Lena Seikaly at the Smithsonian Institute.

May 2010- The BLE performed at the Mansion at Strathmore and "Sax of a Kind" featured Ted Brown at the University of the Streets in NYC.

June 2010 - DC Jazz Festival performances by the BCJO, the BLE paying tribute to Dewey Redman with Joel Frahm at Bohemian Caverns, and the Brad Linde Sextet performed at the Phillips Collection. I received a Creative Communities Grant to collaborate with Matt Ripa and Jane Franklin on an original work for the Source Festival. That initial "blind-date" created "A Great(er) Depression" and has offered repeat performances and new ventures to come.

July 2010 - The BLE shared the bill with "The Beast: North Carolina's Progressive Hip-hop and Jazz Quaret" at Busboys and Poets. We even participated in each others sets - Pierce freestyled a blues and I improvised over a hip-hop ballad before attempting to follow Pierce's dance moves.

August 2010 - "Sax of a Kind" wrapped up Lester Young's 100th birthday with a performance at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and featured music by Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Lester Young, Ted Brown, and myself.

September 2010 - The BLE performed at my new place of employment, Carroll Community College and the BCJO continued to draw crowds through the summer and into the fall.

October 2010 - BLE at Miles Cafe in NYC started the month off, then we featured the great bassist Butch Warren in a performance of his music and songs from his Blue Note years. Butch's first performance at Blues Alley in nearly 40 years revealed a strong and creative musician, one that is still composing and playing brilliantly. Freddie Redd returned to Twins Jazz with longtime bassist John Donnelly and joined what would become the Freddie Redd/Butch Warren Quintet with Brian Settles, Tony Martucci and myself.

November 2010 - I got to join the Chris Byars Octet for a weekend at Smalls Jazz Club, performing the music of Freddie Redd with Sacha Perry, Scott Wendholt, John Mosca, Ari Roland, and Mark Lopeman. I returned to NYC to perform with old Chapel Hill friends and bandmates Jack Sorock and Will Caviness at Tomi Jazz. Jane Franklin invited my quartet to reprise "A Great(er) Depression" at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. And I got to play reeds in a production of Harry Connick, Jr.'s "The Happy Elf".

December 2010 - At the urging of Bertrand Uberall, Freddie Redd and Butch Warren teamed up for the first of performances to come at a house party in Boyds, MD. The chemistry was evident from the first note and forged a band with Brian Settles, Tony Martucci and myself that looks forward to work in 2011.
I presented two nights of saxophones at Twins Jazz, featuring my favorite District reedists: John Kocur, Sarah Hughes, Brent Birckhead, Brian Settles, Elijah Balbed, and Charles Phaneuf, supported by Dan Roberts, Rodney Richardson, James King, Dave McDonald, and Dominic Smith.
My quartet also previewed new music at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The performance will take place in March 2011 as part of INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival.
The BCJO held two special holiday concerts to sold-out crowds and received 68 lbs. of donated canned goods for the Capital Area Food Bank. After years of listening enjoyment, I was able to play the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn adaptation of "The Nutcracker Suite" with an amazing band.
The year ended with an annual Holiday gig at The Fuse in Chapel Hill with some old friends and a pair of NYC performances with my heroes Ted Brown, Murray Wall, and Taro Okamoto.

With such a great year behind me, I cannot wait for 2011. If I am half as lucky as I was this year, then I'll be twice as happy (but if I am twice as lucky as this year, then I will be four times as happy). Thanks to all involved with music this year and for making it possible. I am a very lucky person and very grateful for all of these amazing opportunities. Here's to 2010.