The passing of Michael Jackson yesterday at the age of 50 leaves decidely mixed emotion. First, given that my 50th birthday looms ahead this Fall, an increased sense of mortality hits me. Next, a sense of relief that a tortured soul may finally have been given some measure of rest. It's not easy to separate the public persona and acts performed by an artist from his work, but in considering Michael Jackson, I think its imperative. Poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound (and I am NOT comparing their work to Jacko's in any way) were a blatant anti-semite and fascist supporter, respectively, and yet their art will live forever and holds a special place in my heart. So I would prefer to remember his prepubescent enthusiasm and his days as a moonwalking megastar to the horrors of the last fifteen years, when he became a world-wide punchline and then, pariah. The writer Greil Marcus used a quote from a William Carlos William poem in reference to Elvis Presley that I think serves Jackson well - "The pure products of America go crazy." An appropriate epitaph. A Jazz Salute to Michael Jackson includes the following songs associated with the Jackson Five or Jackson's solo career: Charles Earland - "Never Can Say Goodbye" from Funk Fantastique. Lou Donaldson - "I'll Be There" from Cosmos. Ramsey Lewis - "She's Out of My Life" from Three Piece Suite. Miles Davis - "Human Nature" from The Complete Miles Davis at Montreaux. Stanley Jordan - "Lady In My Life" from Stolen Moments. Susan Wong - "Billie Jean" from 511.

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For me, the official start of summer comes the last weekend in June, when the cozy confines of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) open up for the annual Freihofer's Jazz Festival. I'll be headed there this weekend, and as always, have put together a preview of the many acts that will grace the two stages on the grounds. This way, even if you can't attend, you can get a decent feel for how varied and exciting the music can be. Podcast 149 has just some of the performers I'll get to see, both up and coming acts and certified legends like: Kendra Shank Quartet - "Life's Mosaic" from Mosaic. I've had her CD for several months now, and for no good reason haven't given you a taste of it. Kendra tackles standards with finesse and confidence, finding new and exciting ways to make the listener take notice of old chestnuts. She subtly links tunes for medleys, with her "Reflections in Blue" perfectly connecting to Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies". This track is a Cedar Walton tune, and Kendra is backed by Frank Kimbrough on piano, Dean Johnson on bass, and Tony Moreno on drums. Guest appearances are made by Bill Drewes on saxophone and clarinet, and Ben Monder on guitar. Gary Burton Quartet Revisited with Pat Metheny - "Walter L" from Quartet Live.  You've heard a lot about this one here already, so let's jsut say that this is a Gary Burton original written for the first guitar player he ever worked with, Walter L. "Hank" Garland. The band? Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. SMV - Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten - "Tutu" from Thunder. If the Jeopardy! answer is "Thunder", then the question must be, "What do you get if you put three three bass giants on stage together?" This should be a real crowd pleaser. The song was written by Miller for Miles Davis, and features him on bass clarinet, saxophone and synthesizers along with bass. Aaron Parks - "Karma" from Invisible Cinema.  A track from a welcome new piano player's debut album. He's been a key playerin Terence Blanchard's quintet, now setting out with his own band - Matt Penman on bass, Mike Moreno on guitar, and Eric Harland on drums. Bonerama - "Hard Times" (single). A New Orleans export that takes calls itself "brass funk rock"; I call it a good time. No fewer than four trombone players make up the band, including Mark Mullins,Craig Klein, Steve Suter, and Greg Hicks. Matt Perrine on tuba, Bert Cotton on guitar, and Eric Bolivar on drums round out the band. Bettye LaVette - "You Don't Know Me At All" from The Scene of the Crime. One of the best stories of the past few years was the resurrection of the career of blues/soul singer Bettye LaVette. A veteran of 1960's "Northern Soul" movement, she came back with a vengeance in 2005. This track comes from her most recent album, which finds her backed up by southern rockers the  Drive-By Truckers. George Benson - "Nature Boy" from In Flight. Benson will perform a tribute to Nat "King" Cole to end the festival Sunday night. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to go back 30 years ago for this Cole classic. The band includes Benson on guitar and vocals, Stanley Banks on bass, Jorge Dalton on keyboards,  and Harvey Mason and Ralph MacDonald on drums and percussion.

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Happy Father's Day to my Dad and all other jazz loving fathers in the world. Here's a Podcast of tunes on the topic of fatherhood, including: Deane Kincaide's Band - "Take a Tip From Father" from Classic Capital Jazz Sessions. This 12 disc compilation includes selections from Big Bands well-known (Benny Carter, Cottie Williams, Bobby Hackett) and less known, like this track. Kincaide was primarily known not as a leader, but as a member of the Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman Big Band. Recorded in 1950, and unissued until the compilation came out on Mosaic Records, it's chock full of good advice. Abbey Lincoln - "Story of My Father" from Devil's Got My Tongue. Abbey both wrote and sings this tale from her highly personal 1992 Verve album. Lincoln said that she composed the song because there were a few things she still needed to write down and to say. "It is like a letter to my mother and my father to say to them, 'Listen I really got it, I really appreciate all you did to help me to live,'" she says. "In a way, it's a monument to myself." Among those given credits are J.J. Johnson on trombone, Max Roach on drums, and Babatunde Olatunji on percussion.  Stanley Clarke - "Father and Son" from At the Movies.  This 1995 collection of material from the bass ace's movie soundtracks includes this short but sweet piece from John Singleton's film Boyz n' the Hood.  Lydia Allen - "Song For My Father" and Horace Silver - Title Track from Song For My Father.  A vocal version followed by the classic 1964 Blue Note version by the "Hard Bop Grandpop". Personnel for the instrumental are Horace Silver on piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Joe Henderson on sax, Teddy Smith on bass and Roger Humphries on drums. Dave Valentin - "Danzon for My Father" from Tropic Heat.  Flutist Valentin suplemented his quartet of pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Robbie Ameen with extra percussionist and a horn section, with the result being this dynamic tribute to his Dad. Vijay Iyer - "Father Spirit" from Panoptic Modes. Probably more ethereal than parental in "spirit", this song from the talented pianist makes a fine ending for the Podcast. The quartet is Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto sax, Stephan Crump on bass and Derek Phillips on drums.

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The hot jazz reunion tour of the summer will undoubtedly be a revisited edition of the classic Gary Burton Quartet. Their tour, and new live CD features three original members of the important group, certified jazz legends Burton, Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow, along with one new member, and perhaps one of the most prominent drummers of his generation, Antonio Sanchez.  The 11-song album Quartet Live was recorded at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland and was released on May 26, 2009. Burton has always had a strong proclivity for working with guitarists. His 1967 album Duster was arguably the first jazz fusion album, powered by a young Larry Coryell on guitar. That group included bassist Steve Swallow and Roy Haynes on drums. Bob Moses replaced Haynes from the follow-up Lofty Fake Anagram, and the original quartetâs final studio album, A Genuine Tong Funeral (featuring the compositions of Carla Bley) completed 16 months of epic recording. After the release of a quartet live album, Coryell would go on to work with Herbie Mann, and then establish a seminal jazz-rock band, the Eleventh House. Burton went in different directions, making duet and trio albums with Chick Corea, Ralph Towner, Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley and Swallow. Burton returned to the quartet setting with the new quartet of 1973, composed of guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel and drummer Harry Blazerc. However, Burton soon tapped one of his Berklee students,  19-year old guitarist Pat Metheny to work with, and then replace, Goodrick. This would be the start of a 35-year musical friendship between the vibist and guitarist that continues today. Podcast 147 traces the history of the Burton-Metheney collaboration with selections from several of their releases, including: âThe Colours of Chloeâ from Ring, featuring bassist Eberhard Weber along with Swallow. âVox Humanaâ from Dreams So Real. An album of Carla Bley compostions. âB and G (Midwestern Night's Dream)â from Passengers. Future PMG drummer Danny Gottlieb joined the Burton group for this song. âB and G (Midwestern Night's Dream)â from Quartet Live! A different reading of a Metheney composition. âQuestion and Answerâ from Quartet Live! One of my favorite Metheney compositions, originally heard on his collaboration with Roy Haynes and Dave Holland.

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Lisa Sokolov does not approach a song like most jazz singers. For her, singing is both an art of listening and making sound, of reaching deep inside a song and wringing out of it levels of meaning that she along can find. Her approach is more avant-garde than middle of the road, and her performances are often fascinating displays of vocal improvisation. When she sings, she is, as she says in this interview, searching for the mystery of what lies within and behind a song. Arriving on the New York scene in 1977, Lisa began collaborating with bassist William Parker, a collaboration that continues to this day.  She was also was heard regularly with pianists Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb in the days of Studio Henry.  Over the years she has worked with many new music and jazz notables including Cecil Taylor, Rashid Ali, Gerry Hemingway, Hilton Ruiz, and Jim McNeely. Sokolov is the originator of the method of Embodied VoiceWork, a vocal improvisation method which she teaches at The Experimental Theater Wing at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts where she is a full professor.  She was also on the faculty of The Graduate Program of Music Therapy at NYU for ten years.   In case all that is not enough, her work as a lay cantor has been featured in A CBS Special, "Sacred Art; Ancient Voices." While she is not well known in best-selling jazz circles, her past albums Angel Rodeo, Lazy Afternoon and Presence have all received Best CD of the Year citations and press kudos. DownBeat magazine gave Presence a rare rating of 5 stars, along with Best New Release of 2004. Their 2005 critics poll adds Sokolov onto their âRising Starâ vocalist  list.   Her latest album, A Quiet Thing, (Laughing Horse Records) was released last week, and I got a chance to speak with her about the new CD, her upcoming appearance at New Yorkâs Vision Jazz Festival and how she picks her material, from âOlâ Man Riverâ to âKol Nidreâ.

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He's the big man with the big baritone horn in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Roger Lewis took a few minutes to talk with me last week as he recovered from a busy New Orleans Heritage Festival. The DDBB hits the road this week for yet another busy summer, celebrating 30 years of grooving together. They will be here in Western Massachusetts on May 21 at the Iron Horse Music Hall.Lewis is a living encyclopedia of New Orleans music,having played the âchitlin circuitâ with New Orleans legends like the late pianist Eddie Bo, singer Irma Thomas and the legendary Fats Domino. He attended Southern University, where he hooked up with trombonist Charles Joseph, who was a factor in his joining the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Despite the inevitable personnel changes, thirty years later, they are still going strong. A survivor of Hurricane Katrina, Lewis lost his home in the storm and resulting levee breach. He continues to rebuild and play in town, with bands like the Treme Brass Band (for second-line parades and jazz funerals), and Delfeayo Marsalis' Big Band.Podcast 145 is an interview with Mr. Lewis and overview of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's sound, including memorable tunes like:Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "Bongo Beep" from My Feet Can't Fail Me Now. This is the 25th anniversary of the release of the DDBB's salute to their favorite jazz standards. Roger points out in the interview that listeners still wonder how they played so fast on this cover of the Charlie Parker tune. Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "Kidd Jordan's Second Line" from The New Orleans Album. A 1989 album featuring guest appearances by New Orleans legends Eddie Bo, Danny Barker and Dave Bartholomew, as well as Elvis Costello. The song was written for them by Edward "Kidd" Jordan, a professor at Southern University at New Orleans who was crucial is putting the group together.Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "I Shall Not Be Moved" from Funeral For a Friend. Howard Morris' song is part of the suite of material the DDBB chose for their critically acclaimed "New Orleans Jazz Funeral" album. For those unfamiliar with the importance of musical accompaniment to burial in the Big Easy, check out this excerpt from Wikipedia:A typical jazz funeral begins with a march by the family, friends, and a brass band from the home, funeral home or church to the cemetery. Throughout the march, the band plays somber dirges and hymns. A change in the tenor of the ceremony takes place, after either the deceased is buried, or the hearse leaves the procession and members of the procession say their final good bye and they "cut the body loose". After this the music becomes more upbeat, often starting with a hymn or spiritual number played in a swinging fashion, then going into popular hot tunes. There is raucous music and cathartic dancing where onlookers join in to celebrate the life of the deceased. Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the second line, and their style of dancing, in which they walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called second lining. New Orleans Online also has an article worth reading on the history of the Jazz Funeral.Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" from What's Going On. In response to Hurricane Katrina, the DDBB worked with friends and musical collaborators alike from rapper Chuck Dto singer Bettye LaVette to recreate Marvin Gaye's classic album through the prism of the resulting confusion of post-hurricane New Orleans. This track includes G. Love on vocal, over an electrifying horn chart.Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "Dirty Old Man" recorded live in Las Vegas May 10, 2008. Roger's "theme song" ("I'm a Dirty Old Man/Dirty Old Man/I Feel Like Spanking Somebody!") is usually the tune that send the audience home grooving on his baritone sax line.

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When I learned of "The Cat Who Went to Heaven", my curiosity was piqued (OK, OK, here's where you make the joke about what curiosity did to the cat). Nancy Harrow, who had briefly made a name for herself in the late fifities and early sixties as a jazz singer, has reinvented herself by writing jazz "song cycles" for the past ten years based on a variety of literary sources. She's set works by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Willa Cather to music, and is fine tuning a project on F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her jazzy adaption of a children's book, "Maya the Bee", had a seven year run Off-Broadway and is now in demand overseas. She's turned to another children's book. a 1931 Newberry Prize winner by Elizabeth Coatsworth entitled "The Cat Who Went to Heaven". Now subtitled "A Story in Jazz", the recording has been available for a few years, featuring (among other notable players) Ms. Harrow, Grady Tate, Clark Terry, Kenny Barron and Frank Wess. A production of the work with puppets at the Harlem School of the Arts, is now set for next week in collaboration with the Culture Project.I spoke with Ms. Harrow this week about her career as a singer, her choices of projects and the inspiration that went into adapting a children's classic as a jazz song cycle. Podcast 144 gives you highlights from that interview, along with selections from Ms. Harrow's work as a singer and "The Cat Who Went to Heaven" album. Click here to listen to:Nancy Harrow - "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" from Voices of Cool: Atlantic Jazz Vocals, Volume 2. Nancy's first album is sadly out of print, but you can find this Billie Holiday tribute on an Atlantic Jazz compilation, and a Warner Jazz recording entitled Music For A Bachelorette's Pad. Nancy Harrow - "Barney (Martha)" from Street of Dreams. Nancy reverses the gender on a Tom Waits composition, and brings a different perspective to a soulful tune. The band on the album is Jim McNeely on Piano, Steve LaSpina on Bass, Richie DeRosa on Drums, Bob Brookmeyer on Trombone and John Basile on Guitar."Celebration -jazz interlude" from The Cat Who Went to Heaven. Ms. Harrow was a long-time collaborator with the late piano great Sir Roland Hannah. She's very fortunate to have one of today's great players, Kenny Barron, along to improvise on her tunes for one of several jazzy instrumental interludes on the CD."But Not the Cat" and "I'll Paint Her In" from The Cat Who Went to Heaven. Ms. Harrow's son Anton Krukowski plays the Buddhist Priest on the album, and Grady Tate plays the artist. Tate, a widely recorded hard-bop drummer, has lent vocals to a number of albums inthe past, most notably Jimmy Smith's Go For Whatcha Know. Among his most widely heard vocal performances are the songs "I Got Six", "Naughty Number Nine", and "Fireworks" from Multiplication Rock and America Rock, both part of the Schoolhouse Rock series. "Imagine That " from The Cat Who Went to Heaven. The jazziest tune on the album features a vocal by Clark Terry, the famous trumpet player who scatted on an overdub after Barron and company had laid down the groove. Six performances of "The Cat Who Went to Heaven" will take place at The Harlem School of the Arts> Theater, 647 St. Nicholas Avenue between West 145th and 141st Streets, New> York, NY 10030 as follows:Wednesday, May 13 at 7 p.m. , May 16 at 11a.m. Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m.Suggested donation is $10. For more information, visit www.cultureproject.org or www.harlemschoolofthearts.org. Reservations can be made at 212-479-0829. 

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Keyboard player Marco Benevento is a logical candidate for "hardest working man in jazz". He performs solo; in a duo on organ with his long-time friend drummer Joe Russo; in a trio currently on tour; and numerous other formats. He recently played the New Orleans Jazz Festival and gigged across the city with the Benevento/Russo Duo, Garage A Trois (featuring Stanton Moore) and has been fronting an all-instrumental Led Zeppelin cover band called Bustle in Your Hedgerow. You can see him at small jazz clubs, large hippie festivals like Mountain Jam and everywhere in between.I spoke with Marco in advance of his performances in my neck of the woods, May 8 at the Iron Horse Saloon in Northampton, Massachusetts and Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut. We talked about his various gigs, the basis for his unique sound, and the state of music today.Click here to listen to the Podcast, which includes the interview, along with the following songs, some of which Marco commented upon:Marco Benevento Trio - "You Must Be a Lion" and "The Real Morning Party"recorded live 2009-04-07 at the Hideaway Saloon, Louisville, KY. The Trio for this happening performance was Benevento on piano, Simon Lott (Charlie Hunter Trio) on drums and Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) on bass.Marco Benevento - "Sing It Again" from Me Not Me. The Trio for these recording sessions were Benevento, Mathis and either Matt Chamberlain (Floratone with Bill Frisell) 0r Andrew Barr of The Slip. It's a highly lyrical cover of a Beck tune from the Mutations CD.Marco Benevento - "Atari" from Invisible Baby. A funkier side of Marco's personality shows up here, as the same group as in Me Not Me goes electric with Benevento on organ, piano, mellotron and a host of other electronic goodies.Bustle In Your Hedgerow - "Trampled Underfoot" recorded live 2005-07-31 - at the Subterranean, Chicago, IL. An all-Zep set was played that night, featuring Benevento on Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer, and Circuit Bent Toys, Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) on Bass, Scott Metzger on Guitar, and Joe Russo on drums. Hammer of the Gods indeed!

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Jazz musicians have never hesitated to record their versions of songs by the Beatles, but a careful check shows that the vast majority of the songs chosen were written primarily by McCartney, despite being credited to Lennon-McCartney. Clearly there is a preference for the more classic melodies and sounds that Paul took the lead on, rather than the more intricate and sometimes obtuse songs that John primarily wrote. Podcast 142 reaches into the bins to give you jazz artists who have recorded the songs of John Lennon, both his Beatles material and solo songs. I've gone to the Philip Norman book and given you a direct quote helping to explain or give some background for each number.Enjoy songs by Grant Green, Richard "Groove" Holmes & Ernie Watts, Bill Frisell, Helen Merrill and others. I find it astonishing to realize how brief Lennon's life was, and how much he packed into it. Those who have forgotten should realize that he was one of the biggest stars in the world at the age of 25, universally reviled because of his "Bigger than Jesus" comment at 27, through with the Beatles by 30, and dead by an assassin's bullet at age 40. In a world where rock stars routinely dodder on through their 60's, we can only wonder what John Lennon would have given us had he survived that fateful day in December.

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Fusion reigns as Jeff Beck releases a live CD and DVD of his intimate performances at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. Check out some rare Beck recordings with Stanley Clarke and Nigel Kennedy, and a track from Beck's recent double-bill concerts with Eric Clapton.

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