Culture Crawl 790 “Fighting With The Painting”

Artists Jack Hayes and Sam Weis have a combined show of their paintings in the Marvin Cone Gallery in Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College through March 9.

Sam, whose friends and fans know has a peripatetic career, also has some paintings on display in the lobby of PCI, as well as a novel coming out, and will be playing concert Feb. 15 at the Lisbon Library!

Visit Jack at www.jackhayesart.com. Find Sam on Facebook.

Soundtrack to the Struggle: Producer Norman Granz

It was easy to dislike Norman Granz. He was acerbic, sarcastic, and quite often, downright rude. But, like him or not, jazz producer and impresario Norman Granz earned universal respect for his battle for racial equality, and for equity in the music world. His biggest critics, it seemed were racists in the industry.

Granz insisted that his musicians be treated with the same respect as their white colleagues. “Because,” he said, “they were just as good. As both men and musicians.” His roster of jazz performers included legends Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Oscar Peterson – all of whom packed nightclubs and auditoriums. And, all of whom were forced to enter through the back door, and could never sit in the audience.

Unless, of course, when Norman Granz was at the show. His contracts stipulated no segregated venues. If owners didn’t comply, Granz’s artists didn’t perform. Boycotting a segregated club hurt the owners more than it hurt him. When they did take the stage, Granz guaranteed equal pay, equal dressing rooms, and equal hotel accommodations as white musicians.

Oscar Peterson often spoke of how Granz stood up to racist cops, paying the legal fees of artists arrested for simply being Black. Granz once stared down the barrel of a cop’s pistol for insisting that white cabbies drive them to their hotel. He tore down “Whites Only” signs on bathroom doors, and led the charge for the desegregation of Las Vegas nightclubs.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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New Music Monday for February 13, 2023

      Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 
 Pianist/composer Fred Hersch and vocalist/bassist Esperanza Spalding can both be counted among the most acclaimed and inventive artists in modern jazz. The Village Vanguard is the music’s most revered venue, having played host to countless legendary musicians and beloved live recordings. The duo and the club converge for a magical performance on “Alive at the Village Vanguard,” a rare opportunity for listeners to enjoy the singular and thrilling collaboration between two marquee jazz players at the top of their game.

 

 

 

 

 


     For nearly all of his four-decade career, the Los Angeles-based pianist/composer Bobby West was an unheralded scientist of sound: well-known and respected in his community, but largely unknown beyond it, with no recordings of his own as a leader. All that changed in 2021 when he released his first record. No longer a best-kept-secret from the West Coast, West’s fluid and formidable pianism is praised by jazz fans and critics alike. Josef Woodard of Jazziz magazine wrote of West’s “elegant…organically flowing energy…” and his “unpretentiously impressive musicianship.” That musicianship is on full display on West’s new release, “Big Trippin’.”

 

 

 

 

                                      

Also this week, the Verve Jazz Ensemble gives listeners an opportunity to once again revel in their originality and hard bop focus with their 8th album, “All In”;

 

 

 

               

80-year old percussionist Joe Chambers, best known for playing on a long list of critically acclaimed Blue Note jazz albums in the 1960s, brings together a global cast of talent on his third release as a leader for the label, “Dance Kobina”;

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

      and pianist Bob Himmelberger unveils his new trio release “Legacy,” featuring original compositions spanning the 45 years of his musical life.

 

 

 

 

Soundtrack to the Struggle: Roy Eldridge & Gene Krupa

It’s 1941 and drummer Gene Krupa steps between his bandmate, trumpeter Roy Eldridge, and the nightclub doorman who refuses to let him enter. Krupa points to the poster beside him, with he and Eldridge listed as headliners. The doorman doesn’t move. Furious, Krupa confronts the club owner. Fire that doorman or the band walks out – right here, right now. The doorman is fired. 

Krupa saw the effect that Eldridge had on listeners. “Even Joe Public knew this was artistry,” he said. “It was like someone switched on a light.” But it didn’t matter that Eldridge, a trumpet virtuoso, stunned audiences every time he played. He was Black and the rest of the band was white. Just getting to the bandstand was a nightly struggle.

Ironically, said bandmate Artie Shaw, “Droves of people would ask him for his autograph, but he couldn’t get off the bus to buy a hamburger.” Krupa more than once did jail time for punching a restaurant manager who refused Eldridge a menu, or for threatening a hotel clerk when the band’s reservations suddenly disappeared from the books.

As one writer noted in retrospect, Krupa was one of the most forward-thinking men in jazz. He knew that he couldn’t change the ugly face of bigotry by punching it in the nose. It wouldn’t open people’s minds. But Roy Eldridge’s playing, along with that of many other great Black musicians, would, at least, open people’s ears. And that, believed Krupa, was a good place to start.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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Culture Crawl 789 “Andy Can’t Screw Up”

The next event in Orchestra Iowa’s historic Centennial season is “Best of The Beatles,” featuring Classical Mystery Tour, who portray each of the unique eras of The Fab Four. It’s the third time the group has performed with Orchestra Iowa, and it’s always one of the most popular shows.

The Orchestra functions truly as the “Fifth Beatle” in a show like this, because the orchestrations have become just as ingrained into our memories of these classic tunes just as much as the voices of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Dennis thinks just hearing Andy Classen on the piccolo trumpet on Penny Lane is worth the entire admission price.

Feb. 11 at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets at www.orchestraiowa.org. 

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at www.kcck.org/culture or search “Culture Crawl” in your favorite podcast player. Listen Live at 10:30am most weekdays on Iowa’s Jazz station. 88.3 FM or www.kcck.org/listen.

Talking Pictures 2-8-23

Skinamarink (2023) and I, Claudius (1976 BBC Mini-Series) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Ron Adkins.

Soundtrack to the Struggle: Herb Jeffries, “The Bronze Buckaroo”

It’s the late 1930’s and Herb Jeffries, a popular singer in several big bands, saddles up to become the first African American singing cowboy.  Dubbed “The Bronze Buckaroo,” Jeffries starred in several low-budget Westerns, like Harlem Rides the Range, and Two Gun Man from Harlem.

Every Saturday, children of all skin colors packed afternoon matinees, and watched the   adventures of such white Western stars as Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. If the cast did include people of color, the roles were stereotypes and caricatures. Children of color needed heroes they could identify with, Jeffries understood. They needed characters who went through life with dignity and humanity. 

In 1937, Jeffries financed and starred in Harlem of the Prairie, making history with the first talking, singing Black cowboy picture with an all-Black cast. Over two years, he made four movies, starring as Bob Blake, the lonesome hero who rides into town, solves problems with his fists, quick wits, and six-guns. And while winning the heart of the rancher’s daughter, he finds time to sing a ballad or two.

Jeffries hung up his spurs in 1939 to join Duke Ellington’s Blanton-Webster Orchestra. Over his long career he recorded with the Erskine Tate band, Earl Hines, Sidney Bechet, and the all-male orchestra led by Blanche Calloway. His rich, silky baritone kept him on the bandstand for decades. And his pioneering movies kept him signing autographs his entire life.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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Soundtrack to the Struggle: Amanda Randolph, The First Black TV Star

It’s 1948 and the DuMont Television Network airs the first episode of its new program, The Laytons, starring jazz singer and actor Amanda Randolph. Little is known about this situation comedy, but Randolph made history in its mere ten episodes as the first African-American in a starring TV role.

Despite The Laytons’s brief run, Randolph’s performance was so well-received by the network that she made history, again, as the first African-American woman to host her own show. Simply titled Amanda, this musical variety program not only showcased Randolph’s talent, but allowed her to welcome other Black performers into the national spotlight.

But Amanda Randolph was a history-maker long before television. The piano rolls she cut in 1919 are the earliest existing recordings of a Black musician. As a singer in the Twenties, Randolph recorded with her own orchestra. She garnered rave reviews in the Eubie Blake/Noble Sissle review, Shuffle Along. She performed regularly on radio, and even lent her voice to a series of cartoons. She appeared alongside Sidney Poitier in No Way Out, and was a regular on Amos & Andy and the Danny Thomas Show.

When she passed in 1967, the entertainment trades printed tributes acknowledging Amanda Randolph’s trail-blazing career, and her work to advance the careers of fellow Black performers.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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