The Mars Trio Performing at Canvas 2

The Mars' Trio will be performing as part of the Canvas 2 Art Premier. The event begins at 6:00 pm and is an exhibition of local artists in the Tampa area.

Where: The Crossing Church
(Click here for Directions)

When: 6:00pm to 1:00am
(The Mars Trio performs at 8:30)

Canvas 2 Purpose:
Canvas exists to simply promote a community of inspiration. Our idea, out dream, was born to provide a spring board for local up and coming artists, in such a way that would benefit both their craft and their career. Our desire is not to bleed the artists of thei funds, it is not to exploit them for sponsorship revenue, but to let them know that there are peple who care, and that we are here to help.

Canvas is the brainchild of Mike Desario(left) and Bobby Triplett, both of which make up the leadership team for Revolution, a twenty something church here in the Brandon/Tampa area. Coupled with the leadership and direction of Melissa White, local artist and marketing genius, their desire was to hold an event that could reach out to the art community of Tampa. An event that could foster both excellence and creativity and could impact a city through the expression of inspiration.

Come out and support the artist and the musicians at this great event that supports inspiration in various genres, mediums, and art forms.

Coffee and dessert's are being served throughout the evening.

Jazztorian presents HOT SUMMER JAZZ BY THE BAY

Grille 29 (channelside)
615 Channelside Dr.

Sunday July 29, 2007
3pm to 6pm

This is a fantastic fundraising event featuring Tampa’s finest jazz musicians/vocalists:

Rose Bilal & friends
Denise Moore & Then Some
The Don Capone Trio
Arbra Tawwab as mistress of ceremony/poet



A little bit about Jazztorian:
This fundraising event will aid us in our continuing effort to present highly educational fun-filled jazz programs at schools, nursing centers, shelters, and to the under served of our community. Funds raised will be used to pay professional jazz musicians/vocalist to educate and inform participants of our programs about the rich heritage of jazz music, and how it helped to form our culture.

Jazztorian, Inc., was founded in 2004. Our mission is to preserve classical jazz as a rare and valuable American treasure. Our programs are designed to promote pride in America’s history, and encourage our youth to study this American art form.

Admission $20 non-members
$15 members

Hors d’oeuvres & cash bar

Funds raised will benefit Jazztorian’s school programs

Tickets/Info: 813-221-3088

Tampa at the Aebersold Camps

USF Jazz Studies director Jack Wilkins played the dinner set at the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops tonight. Accompanying him was USF alum, Corey Christiansen, on guitar.
I am liveblogging the workshops (for which I am a staff member) at my blog.

If you look closely, you'll see Jamey in the frame.

Grille 29 Jam Wednesday Nights 8-11pm

I had the pleasure of attending the Grille 29 Jam Session in Channelside two weeks ago (my sincere apologies for my tardiness in posting). What I heard there was reassuring breath of fresh air when it comes to jam sessions. The jam session stresses what Jazz Vocalist and session leader Denise Moore calls “Pure Jazz.” Be-Bop and Hard Bop roots are always present in the musicians and jam session etiquette is expected and exists all the time. “There are no ‘Sax Wars’ and there’s always top notch etiquette. There’s a whole lotta snap,” said pianist Dan O’ Hara.



I was able to sit down to talk with the lovely Denise Moore who heads up the house band, “Denise Moore and Then Some.” When asked how she would describe the session she replied, “It’s innovative and totally open…We’ve been given a creative license. It’s a beautiful room, the food is great with a contemporary wine list and a knowledgeable staff that loves Jazz.” Denise discussed how using her own band as the core of the session and then expanding from there by letting other people sit in helps to keep the session ego-less and comfortable for everybody. This is not to say that the players aren’t as good. Quite the opposite The players are killin’! (Props to Jeremy Carter on “Stella,” that was smokin’ and Denise “Silver Eyes” set the night). They’re just not out to kill the other players. Denise said it best, “It’s a comfortable place to hang out, like my living room, only with an Eel named Diablo.”


Talking to the general manager Mark Cobalt, he told me that “Grille 29 wants to bring out and support the talent in the area, whether its local guys or the University musicians. We have the atmosphere.” And Grille 29 does. This feels like a jazz club. The group is elevated in the corner of the lounge area allowing the music to be accented and highlighted as the feature of the evening. This gives the musicians and the listeners the opportunity to experience real club atmosphere minus the smoke.

Overall the jam session is ego-less, hip, free and pulls from a vast amount of different styles and players. “There’s something for everyone, jazz lovers and non-jazz lovers.” said Dwayne White, a local jazz trumpet player. We highly recommend this session to all jazz musicians whether you know one tune or fifty, have been playing for 50 years or 1 year. The people are great and the stress is on the importance of developing a jazz community. It’s a great way to meet people, socialize and make connections, as a lot of the people attending work regularly in the area, play and enjoy a great evening in a very hip part of town.

Jazz Brasil

Jazz Brasil
with the Haroldo Mauro Trio & O Som Do Jazz
July 27 & 28
The Historic Asolo Theatre
& SPC Music Center at 8 PM

"A mesmerizing listening experience, from beginning to end." - Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz

Straight from Rio de Janeiro, Haroldo Mauro, Jr. is back for a concert of his acclaimed release Bossa na Pressao, Tampa Bay's own Brazilian sextet, O Som Do Jazz opens the concert with a variety of bossa nova, MPB and jazz.

July 27 at 8 PM - The Historic Asolo Theatre is located at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at 5401 Bay Shore Road in Sarasota. Admission is $20-$30. Call (941) 360-7399 or order online.

July 28 at 8 PM - The St. Petersburg College Music Center is located at 6605 5th Ave. North in St. Petersburg. Admission is $15 general, $12 for students and 65 and older, only available at the door. Call (727) 341-4363 for more information.

Excuses from Tampa Jazz

We at Tampa Jazz Scene dot com apologize for our silence this summer. Please trust us that there are several articles in the works. In the meantime, I will be liveblogging the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops at my blog and syndicating them here.

Hot Jazz at the Gorilla Theatre

Sunday night, it wasn't just the jazz that was hot at the Gorilla Theatre. LaRue Nickelson and his handpicked quintet kept bringing the music despite inadequate air conditioning, as the small venue on North Hubert Avenue played host to around fifty jazz fans excited to hear some of Tampa's greatest.

Nickelson was joined by some of the finest jazz musicians anywhere for an excellent evening of originals with a lone standard in the penultimate spot. USF jazz department colleagues Mark Neuenschwander (b) and Steve Davis (d) joined Jeremy Powell (ts,cl) and electric bass phenom Patrick Bettison on keys and chromatic harmonica.

That the musicians were genuinely enjoying themselves was apparent, especially when Bettison's ebullient reaction to the twists and turns of a Powell solo got the rhythm section grinning ear to ear. Nickelson's compositions (to my ear) were a modern take on jazz-meets-americana (think Bill Frisell), ranging from loping, rootsy grooves to up-tempo broken swing. The guitar duties were all covered by Nickelson's semi-hollow G&L tele, with nary a hollowbody in sight.

Aside from the overwhelming heat (which prompted Nickelson to ask the audience, "hot enough in here?" The house offered free bottled water at intermission), the night was well worth attending (even from Lakeland). The bass and piano were lost in the mix the first set, but were plenty present for the second. It is disappointing to know that the Tampa Jazz Club does not consistently sell out the tiny hall (approximately 60 seats) every show. They would be well served by initiating an e-newsletter (Jazz Club board member Bob Seymour does send out information via email, which reached me via Dwayne White) and having, at the very least, a MySpace.

Enjoy the pictures and come out to the next show.


Setlist (I will clean this up once I get corrections from LaRue):

• Thing's I've Lost
• (unknown)
  
• Wifealot
• Hey, Mr. Porter
• Back at the Cathouse
• Ed's Tune

• Oh, Joyous One
• Globular Dominatrix
• Ravine
• Flight of the Kiwi Bird
• (unknown)
• Darn That Dream
• Dark Water

Audio clips to come.