In some respects the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop is an outgrowth of the NYC jazz community’s tradition of “rehearsal bands” that goes back to the 1950’s. Rehearsal bands get together for 3 primary reasons: for composers & arrangers to rehearse new (and possibly experimental) pieces, for musicians to cultivate their ensemble skills, and for all of us to strengthen our sense of community. In the late 1980s jazz writer and historian Burt Korall was able to get BMI to commit to supporting a weekly educational workshop for the NYC jazz composers community under the guidance of Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam. In the decades since, Jim McNeely, Mike Abene, and Mike Holober have led the workshop; currently Andy Farber is the Music Director with Alan Ferber as Associate Music Director.

The workshop includes a monthly big band reading session where participants can bring new music and hear it played live by a band of excellent NYC freelancers. There’s also a free concert each June to showcase pieces that participants have written. This year’s concert took place on June 20 at Symphony Space, and a new piece of mine, “Thoughtful Cat” was included in the concert. The entire band sounds great, and I’d like to especially thank the featured soloist Mark Patterson, the drummer Andy Watson and the lead trumpet player Nick Marchione for putting a lot of heart and soul into this performance. Enjoy!

Here’s a project from the summer of 2021, a set of compositions by Jazz Composer Sasha Matson. The centerpiece is a highly original “Concerto for Piano & Jazz Orchestra” featuring outstanding playing from Adam Birnbaum, for whom the work was written. Here’s the 1st movement, “Find the Pocket.”

The project was very enjoyable because of the high level of musicianship from the band, the high level of musicality and professionalism from Mr. Matson and his production team, and the relief and optimism I felt being involved with creative ensemble music again as the pandemic continued around us. It was especially interesting to play with the top notch sax section consisting of Ted Nash on lead alto, Andy Farber and Mark Lopeman on tenors, and Kurt Bacher on baritone (I played the second alto book which included some challenging flute and alto flute parts).

The album is now available through Sasha’s website and the reviews are trickling in:

This video will probably only interest a tiny number of people: if you’ve ever paid your dues out on the road, riding the bus, wearing the band uniform, reckoning with the baritone sax book of a moderately swinging dance band, probably playing the same charts night after night after night, this post is for you. Here’s 82 seconds of Serge Chaloff doing exactly that with Jimmy Dorsey at the 400 Club in New York City, February of 1946. The source of this clip is some raw footage apparently shot for a newsreel and now posted on criticalpast.com. The music is “Outer Drive,” credited to Jimmy Dorsey.

At this point in his career Serge was splitting his time between the bands led by Jimmy Dorsey and Georgie Auld, travelling up and down the East Coast and occasionally across the country. In September of 1946 (6 months after this clip) Serge was in Hollywood with the Dorsey band to make the film “The Fabulous Dorseys” when he recorded a few sides for Dial records with the “Sonny Berman/Bill Harris Big 8.” One of those recordings was a solo feature for Serge based on the chords of the song Cherokee, released under the title “Blue Serge.”

This will be a fun concert – please register and join us!

Here are the 6 altos of the band Exaltation playing Jerry’s timeless “Thank You.”

Happy Birthday and Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Jerry!

This is the big one, 120 hours of broadcast and streaming content devoted to Charlie Parker, scheduled around the 100th anniversary of his birth, Aug 29, 2020. All of it coming your way live on wkcr 88.9FM in NYC, and streaming at http://www.wkcr.org

“Commencing at midnight August 29th and concluding at midnight September 3rd, WKCR-FM (89.9 FM, wkcr.org) will present the Charlie Parker Centennial Festival, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of a colossal figure in American music with a 120-hour marathon broadcast.

The Festival will air 24 hours a day, and will showcase the majority of the saxophonist’s extensive discography, including both commercially issued material and rarities. Beginning each day with a potpourri of studio recordings and concerts, the Festival will primarily consist of thematic segments, including surveys of Parker records issued on the Savoy, Dial, and Verve labels and deep focuses into his early years, broadcast appearances, and essential collaborations with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

Following the Festival, WKCR will present Beyond Bird (September 3rd), a 24-hour celebration (midnight to midnight) of Charlie Parker’s continuing impact on the world of music, art, and poetry.”

More info about the special – and about WKCR’s regular jazz programming – at wkcr.org

We got off to a good start! Good rehearsals, good charts, high enthusiasm, GREAT playing. Our first public performance on February 20 at Silvana in NYC was a lot of fun and we had high hopes for a year of happy celebrating. When NYC’s Jazz performance scene reawakens in the future, we’ll be out there hustling for gigs and we hope you’ll be able to drop by and help celebrate Bird’s music. Until then, please enjoy the following video memento. BIRD LIVES!

Please check out charlieparkercentennial.com, a new website dedicated to the great alto saxophonist on the centennial of his birth in 1920. The site has information about his life and music, links to further information around the web, reviews of books, an informal calendar of centennial events taking place this year, a few transcribed solos & leadsheets, some photos, and other tidbits.

The site is maintained by 2 jazz alto saxophonists who have spent decades listening, learning, and debating Bird and his music. We’re not academics, we’re not marketers, we’re musicians who have gained so much from having Bird’s music in our lives and we want to share what we’ve learned. The site will evolve as the centennial year goes on; please check it out from time to time to see what’s new.