Joe Gransden's Big Band Lights Up Atlanta's Cafe 290 as Gransden receives Jazz Journalist Association's Jazz Heroes Award

For the last seven years the Atlanta based trumpeter& vocalist Joe Gransden has brought his style of big band music to the crowded stage of owner John Scatena’s jazz club, Café 290 in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It has become one of those venerated rituals that those in the know can’t get enough of; a full seventeen-piece big band hearkening back to the days of Artie Shaw, Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie and Duke Ellington playing great music.

Joe Gransden leading his big band at Cafe 290

There is nothing quite like the sound of a well-tuned big band, a sound created by multiple musicians that play with a beautiful precision through musical passages, like a school of fish moving instinctively in unison through the ocean.  A big band offers a unified sound that comes from the deft arrangement of so many instruments all playing in precision concert. The band that Joe has assembled is a testament to his vision and fortitude; a commitment he and his musicians have made to persevere with this project over the last seven years. One is reminded of the revered Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, which eventually morphed into the  Village Vanguard Orchestra. That band  has played that famous jazz haunt weekly since it first started back in 1972! Through Joe and his fellow musicians, these bi-monthly performances at Café 290 have become a source of pride for the Atlanta jazz community, offering an exciting and reliably entertaining evening of music for all who love the big band genre.

The musicians are some of the best from the southeastern United States and many have nationwide credentials. They are led by Joe Gransden on trumpet and vocals, with most of the arrangements by lead trombonist Wes Funderburk. The other musicians include Mace Hibbard on lead alto saxophone, Brian Hogans on alto sax, John Sandfort on tenor sax, Mike Walton on tenor sax, Don Erdman on baritone saxophone and clarinet, Chip Crotts lead trumpet, Rob Opitz trumpet, Clark Hunt trumpet, Melvin Jones trumpet, Tom Gibson trombone, Kevin Hyde trombone, Sam LoBue Bass trombone, Geoff Haydon on electric piano, Neal Starkey on bass and Justin Chaserek on drums. Together these guys make swinging, beautiful music.

This past Monday evening was my maiden voyage to Café 290 to catch this Atlanta phenomenon first hand. We arrived early and got to see the band warm-up. The amazing thing about big bands these days is that they do not get a chance to practice together on a regular basis. With the economics of the music business being what it is, there is little money for the rental of a practice space let alone being able to compensate the musicians fairly for their time. So the warm-up session before the set was the perfect time to do a sound check, work out possible song selections for the evening and tweak sectional requirements and solo spots based on their pre-worked out book.Despite these handicaps, these guys are all professional, can sight read quickly and are accomplished session players, so when the band hit the stage for the opening song, Oliver Nelson’s “Miss Fine,” they were up to speed in no time, running as smoothly as a Swiss movement, and featuring an especially combustible trumpet solo by Melvin Jones.

The affable Gransden made his entrance after the first tune and introduced the sultry “Speak Low,” playing the melody on his trumpet in front of the big band. The band purred behind on the spirited Eugene Throne arrangement, with Gransden taking the high register lead solo on trumpet and John Sandfort taking a spirited tenor solo on this old Sinatra standby.  

The audience was transfixed with the powerful swing of this well-oiled machine as they dialed it down a bit into the slower tempo Sinatra/Count Basie arrangement of” More.”  Joe’s voice has a silky smoothness to it and his stage manner is loose and confident. In many ways he takes his vocal style from the great crooners that fronted the big bands of yesteryear like Sinatra and Tormé.

With the crowd primed for music that could be sung to, Gransden took to another Sinatra tune singing “Get Me to The Church on Time” as the band roared behind him. A quick scan of the crowd and you could see several patrons mimicking the words.

The next song, newly arranged by alto saxophonist Brain Hogans, was the Jimmy Van Heusen standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and was Frank Sinatra’s first hit he recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The lush arrangement swelled languorously as it featured Gransden’s trumpet at the lead. Joe’s playing was reminiscent of trumpeter Chet Baker’s 1959 version in both style and lyrical beauty.

Gransden is always the consummate showman and after miscalling his next chart he related how nice it would be to lose the bulky book of arrangements that he carries around. He told of how the band would soon be able to read their charts on individual I-pads with foot actuated page turning capabilities, a vast improvement.  After a short technical disruption due to microphone difficulties, the band roared into Wes Funderburk’s arrangement of “Chicago Blues”, the perfect vehicle for soloist to blow on. And blow they did with Joe singing the opening lyrics and a soon to follow rousing tenor solo by Mike Walton, a bellowing trombone solo by Kevin Hyde and a solo spot featuring the unified saxophone section before Joe returned to the refrain.

Gransden introduced a song from trumpeter Maynard Ferguson titled “Fox Hunt,” which featured a two trumpet duel between he and Melvin Jones. The two trumpets stating the line as the big band pulsed behind them. True to the Ferguson style, the trumpet licks from Jones were stratospheric. When Gransden took his solo his playing was equally as fiery. The two alternated on the high register of their horns running off lines of notes at break neck speed, eventually ending this jazz duel in flurry of high energy with piercing punctuation.

The band lowered the intensity of the proceedings by introducing a slow ballad “The Nearness of You,”  on an arrangement by Atlanta’s own Jim Basile. Gransden’s voice rendering the song with great tenderness, before he picked up his trumpet and showed what a great balladeer he can be. His tone is warm and honeyed and he often phrases with Baker-like sensitivity.  Another moving tenor solo by John Sandfort capped off this beauty.

Joe Gransden receiving JJA Jazz Heroes Award from Scott Fugate and Ralph A. Miriello

At this point in the show, members of the Jazz JournalistAssociation, Scott Fugate, aka the Jazz Evangelist, and myself had the honor to present Joe with one of this year’s JJA Jazz Heroes award. The award is given to individuals who, in the opinion of the board and members of the JJA, best represent advocacy for the proliferation and appreciation of jazz music in their respective local areas. Joe Gransden was chosen to receive this award for his tireless efforts to promote, educate and foster jazz throughout the Atlanta area. The self-deprecating Gransden accepted the award and the audience warmly applauded him for this well-deserved honor.

The band continued the performance with an impromptu saxophone duel by alto saxophonists Brian Hogans and Mace Hibbard; each man taking the other to new heights of improvisational adventures, as the rhythm section of Haydon, Starkey and Chesarek kept the groove.

After the band did a second-line birthday tribute, New Orleans’s style, to a member in the audience whose birthday some people were celebrating at the club that night, Gransden and company went into a tribute to Glenn Campbell, the Jimmy Webb song “Wichita Lineman” featuring a bass trombone solo by Sam LoBue and some nice interplay between Gransden’s trumpet and Hibbard’s alto. This was followed by a rousing version of the shout-out Glenn Miller Band ‘s “Pennsylvania 6 Five Thousand” complete with Joe’s hand-muted trumpet solo. The set ended with a Dizzy Gillespie burner, the furious “Things to Come” where Joe’s fluttering trumpet solo took flight in true Gillespie-like fashion, pianist Haydon gave a remarkable solo on his electric piano and Mike Walton screamed on his tenor.

Coming from the New York area only a little over a year ago, I was mistakenly concerned that the jazz scene in the South might be somewhat lacking. While New York is still the epicenter of jazz, musicians like Joe Gransden and the artists in his big band, as well as jazz club owner’s like café 290’s John Scatena, make it clear that jazz is alive and well in the Atlanta area.  

This band should not be missed by anyone who loves big band music. You can catch them every 1^st and 3^rd Monday night at Café 290. The band is making a special trip to appear at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York on Monday July 11, 2016. They have three  album titled It’s a Beautiful Thing, Song’s of Sinatra & Friends and I’ll Be Coming Home for Christmas  that can be purchased on I Tunes here.

Jazz Connect Conference Unites the Jazz Community at APAP NYC

On Thursday January 10^th and Friday January 11^th the Jazz Community got together to meet, renew friendships  and attend a series of panel discussions on the state of the music industry and jazz music in particular. The conference, held at the Hilton Hotel in NYC,  was sponsored as part of APAP (Association of Performing  Arts Presenters) NYC 2014 event and organized by Jazz Times magazine and the Jazz Forward Coalition. The theme of the conference  “The Road Ahead” with many of the conference panel discussions dealing with topics that are particularly relevant for musicians, producers, record labels, journalists and media experts operating in today’s increasingly morphing  entertainment and performing environment.

As a member of the Jazz Journalist Association and a freelance journalist specializing in jazz, I considered it a good place to connect with many of the artists whose music I listen to, to meet with fellow writers to discuss concerns and outlooks and to generally take the pulse of the industry. I was only able to attend the conference on Thursday, but I got to sit through several interesting presentations that were of particular interest to me.

“Engaging the Jazz Media Gatekeepers” was a panel discussion that was that sponsored by the Jazz Journalist Association,  with JJA President Howard Mandel moderating a panel  consisting Monifa Brown from Shanachie/WBGO, Newark, NJ ; Evan Haga from JazzTimes; J. Michael Harrison from WRTI Philadelphia; Hank Shteamer from the print weekly TimeOut  New York.  The concept is that  media professionals, like journalists and radio hosts, are gatekeepers between the musician and his ultimate audience. The panelists, prodded by moderator Mr. Mandel, revealed the process they use when they choose to promote a particular artist or album on their outlet. The discussion was broadly attended by musicians who were interested in getting insight into how they might improve their chances of having their music covered by the media. Some of the suggestions that came from the discussion seemed obvious. The general consensus from the panel was that with the sheer volume of label and self-produced material received made it virtually impossible to program or feature anything but the most compelling material. Clearly the subjective taste of the gatekeeper was a big factor in whether or not he or she would feature any particular music on their outlet. As Monifa Brown of WBGO said, try to target a presenter who might be sympathetic to your particular type of music; i.e. don’t send cabaret vocals to a hard bop aficionado as it most likely won’t be played. With stacks of music waiting to be opened, how does one choose which to look at and in which order? 

Several of the panel members confessed to looking for "name" artists when hunting through submissions as a way to cull out potential choices. Clearly having an artist of the stature of a Joe Lovano or a legend like Billy Hart on your album gets the gatekeeper's attention. If these guys are playing with this artist then maybe I should take a listen. I confess to being influenced by the presence of an artist that I already like on a new offering, but that leads to another question which was unfortunately never addressed at the conference. Does popular opinion within the insular jazz writing and radio community work to the detriment of uncovering new artists that deserve to be heard?  How do new artists or even established artists who remain on the periphery get the necessary exposure they need to become part of the discussion? Do new artists need to align themselves strategically with the artist du jour or an established legend to receive adequate ink and frequent air play? Is this a viable strategy for an artist provided he can remain true to his creative spirit? How do we as the gatekeepers ensure we are inclusive enough to continually expand the exposure of deserving artists?

Only speaking for myself, I try to listen to each and every artist whose music that I receive, whether or not they are known to me. If it is sent to me then the least I can do is take a serious listen. It can be a daunting task to give the music its fair share of listening time. There is many an instance when a piece of music doesn't immediately strike my fancy, but upon careful repeat listening I discover something that makes it worth the second effort. 

In this information age where we limit ourselves to  140 characters to get our point across, where people have little or no time to read in depth writing about national policy let alone jazz music how can an artist make enough of an impression to gain an audience? These are some of the perplexing issues that face new jazz artists.

Another panel discussion was titled “The New Paradigm for Record Labels” and was moderated by Jim Cuomo of Entertainment One Distribution with panelists musician Dave Douglas, of Green Leaf Music;  Jana Herzon from Motema Music;  musician Greg Osby of Inner Circle Music; Seth Rosner of Pi Records; Denny Stilwell of Mack Avenue Records and Oliver Weindling of Bable Records.  

This discussion was centered on the way the music was being delivered with streaming and downloads taking and increasing share of product placement over hard copy cds.  Artists who have formed their own labels like Dave Douglas and Greg Osby were finding that many of their listeners prefer the immediacy of downloads, using them as an entry point to the artist and his music.  It was noted that many of the younger audience have never used a cd player. Despite the fidelity issues of various media players, young people prefer downloads for their portability and space considerations. A resurgence of vinyl in record production was discussed, but it was clear that it is a tiny part of  overall sales and it has greater penetration in the European market where fidelity and cover art seemed to be of greater concern.

The effect of Spotify, the on-line streaming music service, was also discussed with most panelists deciding that the trend was inevitable. As to whether or not the overall effect on the music industry and the artists in particular was positive or negative, the sentiment was that it remained to be seen, but the consensus was that the artist share of the revenue had to be increased to a more sustainable share for it to be good for all concerned. 

I caught part of an inspirational address given by Wendy Oxenhorn from the non-profit Jazz Foundation of America, speaking passionately about the work she and the foundation has done and continues to do for elder jazz musicians who have fallen on hard times. Ms. Oxenhorn welled-up with emotion as she recalled once  finding the late saxophonist Cecil Payne, stubbornly but proudly living in seclusion, barely eating. Realizing his peril she  finally convinced him into accepting some help. I confess the story almost brought me to tears. Clearly the Jazz Foundation is a labor of love that needs to be supported by all of us and Wendy’s tireless work will be sorely missed as she is stepping down as President.

Between these and concurrent panel discussions, the conference was a great hang. I got to meet many of the musicians that I have listened to and written about and the feeling of community was palpable. The final panel that I was able to attend was held by the JJA in the afternoon.  I  met face to face with fellow members to discuss how we as a writers, educators and advocates could expand our effort to support the music. We discussed how we could continue our association with jazz educational institutions as a viable means to bring the appreciation of jazz to a younger audience.  It was agreed that we should all make efforts to raise awareness of the music locally by promoting Jazz April, the upcoming month of April as Jazz Appreciation Month and April 30th 2014 as International Jazz Day.

At the conclusion of the day I came away with a sense of being a part of something that was quite extraordinary, a community of people who aspire to create, preserve, promote and proselytize a very special music. A music that transcends boundaries and unites us all by raising our awareness. An awareness that we are all members of the human race and that creative expression is something that needs to be actively nurtured if we are to ever to reach our limitless potential as part of that race..

Friends of Santa Fe Jazz presents Giacomo Gates at La Posada

Giacomo Gates live at La Posada June 20, 2010

 Friends of Santa Fe Jazz is an organization, since its inception in 2006, dedicated to preserving and supporting live jazz in Santa Fe, New Mexico.. Billed as "a group of jazz soul mates" and co-chaired by one time President of the prestigious Berklee School of Music, Lee Berk and his wife Susan, the non-profit group organizes and presents top- notch jazz entertainment in intimate venues around the Santa Fe area.

By sheer coincidence, or shall I say synchronicity, I was at the Jazz Journalist Association yearly awards last week in New York City and had the privilege of sitting with several musicians and singers who were up for award consideration. One of these happened to be the fine singer Giacomo Gates who had been nominated as "Best Male Vocalist of the Year" by my fellow members of the JJA. While we were enjoying the proceedings, which included many fine performances by some notables like the Marc Cary Focus Trio, The Tia Fuller  Quartet and the Bobby Sanabria Big Band, I asked Giacomo where he would be gigging next. Much to my surprise he told me that he would be playing  in Santa Fe, New Mexico next week for the Friends of Santa Fe Jazz.  As life would have it, I too would be in Santa Fe that weekend and so I told him I would make the effort to get to see him perform there.

On a perfectly sunny Santa Fe afternoon, Giacomo Gates was performing in a splendidly outfitted open-aired banquet hall of the La Posada Inn and Spa. The room seated approximately one hundred and twenty patrons at twelve tables. The mostly middle-aged crowd came for an afternoon of jazz and brunch, with the music being provided  by the beguiling Mr. Gates backed by a local group, the John Trentacosta Trio, which included the drummer John Trentacosta, the bassist Michael Olivola and the keyboard artist Brian Bennett.

Mr. Gates is a tall, gangly man with large, strangely comforting features that give you a glimpse into a life that wasn't always spent singing in front of  sophisticated admirers in posh settings. By his own admission, he has spent years running bulldozers and doing other construction related  jobs-at one time running off to find adventure in the wilds of Alaska during the construction of the pipeline in the mid-seventies. With a traditional upbringing that stressed a love of music as an avocation but never as a profession, it is to his credit that he was able to eventually follow his heart and let his unique vocal talents flourish to the benefit of all.

With a warm, distinctive baritone voice that has the deep coffee tones of a dark roast, he is as disarming a troubadour as they come.  His set featured many songs from his latest release Luminosity. His delivery is smooth, confident and conversational with no traces of  arrogance. He is an endearing storyteller, as was on display by his tongue-in-cheek take on the old standard "Pennies from Heaven". Mr. Gates cleverly portrays a cuckolded soldier who returns from a three year stint in the service only to find his wife presenting him with a newborn son. Her explanation "Bennie's from Heaven".  His silky baritone is particularly adept at ballads like his slow, sensual take on "You Go To My Head"  or his hip rendering of the Gershwin classic "Summertime".

Like one of his influences, the late Eddie Jefferson, he is a master of the art of vocalese and scatting , studying instrumentalist solos from the likes of Chet Baker (on "But Not For Me" )  and Charlie Parker (on "Lady Be Good" ), precisely duplicating them with his voice in all their labyrinthine complexities.  Several times during the set he vocally mimicked instrument sounds. He voiced solos on bass, trombone and flute much to the surprise of the audience as well as the amusement of his band members- the highlight being his trombone solo on Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To".  He was equally adept at taking the bossa sound of Horace Silver's "Song for My Father" , a especially relevant song on this Father's Day, and inserting percussive accents making it his own.

Mr. Gates was ably accompanied by the fine work
of the bassist Michael Olivola who was particularly  sympathetic on the duet  " But Not For Me".
Mr. Trentacosta  unfailingly kept the pulse of the session while Mr. Bennett's electric keyboard solos filled the spaces with thoughtful comps and probing solos. The band instantaneously responded  to
Mr. Gates who directed the starts and stops of
the program with the ease of an accomplished conductor. 

Mr. Gates is a true treasure that should not be missed in "live" performance, where his warm personality adds another endearing element to his considerable vocal talents. His performance at La Posada was a tour de force and was undoubtedly the jewel of the season for the Friends of Santa Fe Jazz 2010 concert series.

Jazz Journalist Association 2009 Awards Dinner

Link to My Recent Article in AAJ on the 2009 JJA Awards Ceremony and the State of Jazz:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33280