Jazz Notes

Clubs have traditionally been the lifeblood of a city’s jazz scene. It was certainly that way for this “old dog” in the early part of my career, during the heyday when Toronto boasted numerous longstanding clubs such as George’s Spaghetti House, Bourbon Street and Basin Street, the Montreal Bistro and Top O’ the Senator, which presented both international and local jazz six nights a week.

If measured by this yardstick alone the health of jazz in Toronto now, with just three major clubs presenting the music on a multi-night-per-week basis – The Rex, Jazz Bistro, and the Home Smith Bar – can be called into question. However, it’s not as bad as all that, because in recent years new ways of hearing live jazz have arrived, thanks to the persistence and ingenuity of the jazz community at large – those who play the music, those who are trying to learn to play it, those who enjoy listening to it, and those who present it. These new models include:

Student Jazz Concerts at The Rex

For the past several years, Monday nights at The Rex have been given over to sets by student ensembles from the jazz programs at U of T and Humber College. These generally begin with three different U of T ensembles starting at 6:30pm and playing for 40 minutes each, followed by the Humber groups at about 9:30pm. I began teaching (and, unusually, also playing in) a jazz ensemble at U of T last year, which brought me into direct contact with this scene, and I liked what I saw and heard right away. Playing in a real club setting, one where their teachers often perform, brings out the best in the students, and I wish this opportunity had been on offer when I was a jazz student. Mondays are not a prime night out but I urge local jazz fans to attend, not just to support the students – which is worthy in itself – but because you will hear some interesting and sincere music. Both schools are brimming with young talent; in essence you will hear the future of the music in Toronto, a future I feel confident is in good hands after hearing some of these young people play.

Big Bands Are Back

Well, sort of. Phil Nimmons retired his big band years ago and following the deaths of Rob McConnell and Dave McMurdo, it seemed the future of big-band jazz in Toronto was in peril. Starting and running a big band in these times is perhaps the ultimate jazz labour of love, but John MacLeod has persisted in doing so with his Rex Hotel Orchestra, which has performed at its namesake club on the last Monday of every month for years now. The lion’s share of the arrangements are written by MacLeod in an eclectic style reflecting both modern and traditional elements, featuring stellar ensemble work and plenty of solo room for some of Toronto’s best players carrying on in the tradition established by those mentioned above. The band has produced several recordings and its latest, The Toronto Sound, will be released at a gala concert at the Old Mill on November 6, which I will be attending. Kudos to John MacLeod for his perseverance and talent in guaranteeing that high-quality big-band jazz can still be heard around these parts.

But there’s more. Three days after the Old Mill event, November 9, the Wee Big Band will be heard in concert in the Garage at the Centre for Social Innovation, 720 Bathurst Street, starting at 7:30pm. The band has been a Toronto fixture for years and has survived the death of its founder-leader Jim Galloway and several of its key players, such as lead-alto stalwart Gordie Evans. But it continues in the capable hands of Martin Loomer, its longtime rhythm guitarist and principle arranger, or perhaps I should say transcriptionist. The band’s repertoire consists mostly of early big-band classics from masters like Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Duke Ellington, Benny Moten, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford and many others, all lovingly transcribed by Loomer and played with authenticity and spirit by the musicians. It’s not possible to hear this kind of music performed live very often anymore and I for one look forward to the November 9 concert.

The House Concert

The old model of the salon concert has been revived in recent years, as an alternative to bigger clubs which can be crowded, noisy and expensive. Increasingly, dedicated fans are staging intimate concerts in their own homes, offering a unique up-close jazz experience. By necessity the audience size is small and the concerts are sporadic, which only makes them more special. Perhaps the greatest success story of these is the Jazz in the Kitchen series presented by John and Patti Loach in their spacious Beaches home, which is uniquely equipped for musical presentation. Opposite their large open kitchen is a music room sporting a wonderful Steinway grand and perfect natural sound that encourages the non-amplified jazz on offer. The audience is generally limited to 35 or 40 paying guests who sit very close to the band – Mark Eisenman’s trio plus shifting guests including John Loach on trumpet – and simply listen, enjoying both a real jazz experience and the verbal byplay between the musicians. The series started about four years ago and is always sold out. October 22 will be the 40th concert in what looked at first to be a risky proposition. I’m sure there are others run along the same lines, such as JazzNHouse in the Ottawa area, which I’ll experience for the first time when Mike Murley’s trio plays there on October 28 (also sold out).

A New Jazz Festival

The Kensington Market Jazz Festival made its debut in September of 2016, the brainchild of star singer Molly Johnson – long a neighbourhood resident – ably abetted by her organizational partners in crime, performers Ori Dagan and Genevieve (Gigi) Marenette, plus an army of volunteers. This year’s festival, a weekend affair held September 15 to 17, significantly built on the promise and success of the first one. Well over 300 local musicians performed in various small venues in the tight streets of Kensington in a dizzying array of one-hour concerts running from solo piano and guitar to trios and larger groups in various styles, all well- and enthusiastically attended. The recipe is simple, inclusive and refreshingly non-corporate – keep it small, because small is good, present “all jazz as we know it” played by local musicians of many generations, and use the vibe of the ’hood, its unique food, local businesses and “streetness” as a feel-good backdrop. As to the finances, I have no idea how they make it work, but there are ticketed events and free events; it’s cash only and all of it goes to the musicians save for a small percentage to cover costs. I played one concert in the first festival and two this year, enjoying each immensely while being paid very fairly. It was a pleasure to walk the streets and see so many musical friends all packed together so happily; this is an event which puts “festive” back into the jazz festival. Congratulations to Molly and company for their leap-of-faith vision in bringing this unique festival to Toronto at a time when the city desperately needed it.

CDs Galore

The self-financed CD is another way jazz artists can continue to reach and expand their audience, and good locally produced jazz records have spread like wildfire in recent years. One can barely keep up. These involve a leap of faith in that the outlay involved cannot often be recouped, but musicians keep making them anyway as a means of documenting their art. Even ones who have nothing left to prove, like PJ Perry. Now 75, a JUNO-winner and recent recipient of the Order of Canada, PJ has long been one of the best alto saxophonists in the world, although he doesn’t have that profile because he plies his trade in the relative isolation of Edmonton. His latest release, just out, is Alto Gusto, recorded live during two nights at Edmonton’s venerable Yardbird Suite. But here’s the real leap of faith on his part: while he had played with each member of the rhythm section – veteran Los Angeles pianist Jon Mayer; drummer Quincy Davis, originally from Michigan and until recently based out of Winnipeg, and yours truly on bass – the three of us had never even met before this gig. PJ just knew the chemistry would somehow work and it did, about two bars into our hasty rehearsal. The result is a very hard-swinging, inventive record, an honest portrait of musicians creating music in the moment.

As long as jazz has enough people – musicians, fans and presenters – who believe in it enough to make these leaps of faith, it will continue to evolve and flourish. Perhaps not as in the “good old days,” which are past, but by creating some good new days. 

Toronto bassist Steve Wallace writes a blog called “Steve Wallace –
jazz, baseball, life and other ephemera” which can be accessed at wallacebass.com. Aside from the topics mentioned, he sometimes writes about movies and food.

Jim Galloway was The WholeNote's longest standing columnist, tenacious to the last. We greet the news of his passing, yesterday, December 30 2014, with sadness. We have lost a blithe spirit, a true champion of live music. Here are the last words he wrote for us, just four weeks ago.
David Perlman, publisher

This being the 15th or 16th December/January edition of these Jazz Notes for The WholeNote, I thought that rather than essaying something completely new, I’d dip back through my little stack of back issues for things that, still being appropriate, I might appropriate. Take this, for one example:

This month’s column is a departure from the familiar concert listings of previous issues, reason being that the above mentioned departure was mine - for a month-long trip to Europe! As a result this article is coming to you from the waltz capital of the world, Vienna.

First of all, for the record, the Danube is not blue, but an industrial brown which would not inspire Johann were he to see it today. Also the Viennese waltz does not make up 3/4 of the music heard in Vienna, even though it is in 3/4, and since being here I have not heard a single zither play the theme from The Third Man.

Is there jazz in this stronghold of Strauss? – this fatherland of Freud? – this Mecca of Mozart? – this city where you can have your Vienna Phil? Yes there is and quite a lot of it at that, although, as anywhere else it is music for a small minority – and a minority that is broken into at least two camps. There are the obvious ones traditional and modern, and it would seem that never – or very seldom – the twain shall meet. (No, not you, Mark!)

No, this really isn’t about my favourite things. It’s about the relationship between music and war and it’s triggered by the fact that Remembrance Day falls on the 11th of this month and that got me thinking about songs that in all probability would not have been written had there not been the background of violence. So much for music being the food of love – it can also be the food of sorrow, anger, regret and the whole range of human emotions.

Patriotic songs have been around for centuries. One of the first Canadian examples dates from the war of 1812: ”Come all you brave Canadians I’d have you lend an ear / Unto a simple ditty / That will your spirits cheer.” Fast forward to the First World War, “the war to end all wars,” which gave us “Keep the Home Fires Burning” (1914), “Mademoiselle from Armentières,” “The Hearse Song,” “Over There” (later featured in the film This Is the Army) and “Roses of Picardy.”

“Bless ’Em All” (also known as “The Long and the Short and the Tall” and “F*** ’Em All”) is a war song credited as having been written by Fred Godfrey in 1917 but not really popular until WWII.

“Lili Marleen” became one of the most popular songs of the Second World War among both German and British troops, the most notable version sung being by Marlene Dietrich.

Irving Berlin wrote “This is the Army, Mr. Jones” (1942) for the revue This is the Army that was remade as a 1943 American wartime musical comedy film of the same name. It mocks the attitudes of middle class soldiers forced to undergo the rigours of life in the barracks.

“Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major,” (1939) is a British soldier’s song, mocking their officers.

Popular concert songs in Britain during the war included “Run Rabbit Run,” sung by Flanagan and Allen (1939) and “There’ll Always Be An England” (1939–40,) sung by Vera Lynn who also had a huge hit with “We’ll Meet Again.”

And the point of all this? It’s worth noting that the solemn music that gets trotted out at times of significant remembrance like this is generally written after the fact. What lifted the spirits of those who were then and there was music more like this.

From chalumeau to licorice stick: The chalumeau was the forerunner of the present day clarinet and the clarinet has maintained its strong presence in classical music throughout the centuries. In jazz however it has had its ups and downs.

In the review section I covered a CD by clarinetist John MacMurchy. Well, a few decades ago clarinet was king with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and less famous names. But right up there were instrumentalists such as Barney Bigard, known for his long association with Duke Ellington, Edmond Hall, for my taste the most exciting clarinet sound of them all, Jimmie Noone with one of the most liquid sounds of anybody on the instrument and Irving Fazola, born Henry Prestopnik. He got the nickname Fazola from his childhood skill at Solfege (“Fa-Sol-La”). And of course the somewhat eccentric – in sound as well as his approach to the music – Pee Wee Russell, whom you either love or hate. All I can say is that if Pee Wee’s music escapes you then you are truly missing out.

Less well known is that he was also an abstract painter. The story goes that one day his wife Mary came home with a bunch of painting supplies and told Pee Wee to try them out. The cover of one of his LPs features a painting by him. I used to have it but somebody borrowed it and I never saw it again!

I didn’t meet him until late in his life. I was playing on a jazz gig at the King Edward Hotel and we finished at 1am, but on weekends at George’s where Pee Wee was fighting a really inappropriate back-up trio, the music went until 2am. So off I went and as I reached the club he was ending a set with a lovely old song called “I’d Climb The Highest Mountain.” When he came off I told him how much I enjoyed that song and he told me it was one of Bix’s favourites. Anyway when he went on for the next set he played it again and I was innocent and vain enough to think it was perhaps for me.

Speaking of eccentrics there was a New Orleans clarinet player called Joseph “Cornbread” Thomas who took his false teeth out before playing!

Groups of clarinets playing together, or clarinet choirs, are not uncommon, although some cynics refer to them as sounding like a fire in a pet shop!

Back to Pee Wee – he had a long sort of sad face – a bit like a mournful bloodhound, but without the bark. We spent an afternoon together in his hotel room but he did not seem like a happy man. The death of his wife really affected him and I believe that a large part of him died with her. I remember he sat there in his underwear drinking straight gin – a sad figure, especially when I think of the pleasure his music gave to so many people. There will never be another like him.

Happy listening and try to make some of it live.

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at
jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

A survey in the 60s claimed that the average lifespan of jazz musicians was 44 and certainly there are facts to support this. Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke only made it to 28; Clifford Brown died at the age of 25 in a car accident; Guitarist Charlie Christian died of tuberculosis at age 25; John Coltrane had liver cancer and died at age 40. Albert Ayler drowned at age 34; Guitarist Lenny Breau died a violent death at age 43. Another violent death was that of Lee Morgan, shot by his common-law wife at age 33. Jaki Byard, a pianist, saxophonist and teacher who recorded with some of jazz’s most important figures, was shot dead February 11 in his house in Queens. (Mind you, he was 76 by then!)

On a slightly less morbid note Sidney Bechet, born in New Orleans in 1897 moved permanently to France in 1950 and had an international hit with “Petite Fleur” at the age of 53, becoming something of a national hero in his adopted country.

Some years ago I was playing at La Huchette in Paris and on the way back to my hotel one night what did I hear coming from a late-night bar? Bechet’s version of “Petite Fleur,” more than 20 years after his death in Paris (from lung cancer on May 14, 1959 on his 62nd birthday). Sigh.

Continuing the litany: Leon “Chu” Berry, hardly even remembered today, was a big, fat-toned tenor player, killed in a car accident at 33. And some of you might remember guitarist Emily Remler from her appearances here. She died of a heart attack at 32. Jimmy Blanton, pioneering bass player died of tuberculosis at 23, Frank Teschemacher whose reed playing influenced many of his successors was killed in a car crash. He was only 25. And these are only a few of the many fine musicians who left us too soon.

The flip side? If the lifestyle doesn’t kill you, the joy of the music will keep you going to a ripe old age!

One more for the road: In the days of prohibition in the U.S. there was plenty of “bathtub gin around but good alcohol was hard to find.” I remember Wild Bill Davison telling me that they always liked playing Detroit because there was a late-night bar where you could get good whisky which was hauled from Canada on a skiff under the surface of the Detroit River. Sometimes the delivery was a bit late, but it was worth the wait! And quite often the labels were washed off, not that it mattered too much, because the booze was good.

But don’t get the idea that prohibition didn’t ever exist in Canada. It was present in various stages, from 19th-century local municipal bans to provincial bans in the early 20th century, and national prohibition from 1918 to 1920. Alcohol was illegal in Prince Edward Island until 1948. Parts of west Toronto did not permit liquor sales until 2000. But by and large the enforcement of prohibition laws is a little bit like King Canute trying to turn back the tide, and, in its various forms, it has spawned drinking songs throughout the centuries: “Whiskey in the Jar,” “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me,” “ One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” “What’s The Use of Getting Sober (When You’re Gonna Get Drunk Again),” “The beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad, so I had one more for dessert (Sunday Morning Coming Down),” and “Gimme That Wine,” to name only a few.

Meanwhile, getting back to the business of longevity, the mean life span for a survey of 33 male symphony conductors was 75.6 years.

Moral? Spend a lot of time waving your arms about.

I wish you all happy listening – and try to make some of it live.

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

Once a year WholeNote puts out an issue that covers more than one month and this edition is the lucky or unlucky one depending on your point of view. On this occasion I thought I would take the opportunity to write a few words about a musician with whom I recently spent time in Vienna, Austria.

At a time when the dream of most young guitar players was to become proficient at playing three chords enabling them to play the blues and so call themselves musicians, there were a few who set their sights a little higher. One of them was a young man in Huntington Beach, Southern California. His name? Howard Alden, destined to become one of the finest jazz guitarists of his or any other generation.

The beginnings are familiar – a piano at home on which by age five he was picking out tunes and an old banjo gathering dust – a four-string model which set him on his destined path.

Those of you who are not dyed-in-the-wool fans may not recognize his name, but if Woody Allen is one of your favourites, you would have certainly heard him on one of his soundtracks. An early influence was Roy Clark on Hee Haw and his playing certainly took a change in direction when he was exposed to the music of Goodman and Basie.

A phone call from Allen in the late 90s opened yet another door for Howard when the director asked him if he would be willing to coach the principal actor for his upcoming movie Sweet and Lowdown, whose role required him to play the guitar.

The actor was Sean Penn and what Howard assumed would take a few weeks turned into six months of intensive work during which time he and Sean developed a warm relationship.

If you would like to hear the real thing in person, Howard will be in town for one night, Thursday, October 30, at the Old Mill Toronto.

Have a happy summer and spend some of it listening to live jazz. 

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

Last month Yale University Press released a book by the American photographer and artist Lee Friedlander. Friedlander, born in 1934, has spent years photographing the American social landscape, producing a vast amount of visual information. More than 20 books of his work have been published and this latest is called Playing for the Benefit of the Band. The title is from a 1958 interview with Warren “Baby” Dodds, one of the great drummers in jazz, now largely forgotten, conducted by the New Orleans historian, William Russell. An edited version this interview acts as an introduction to the book. In it Dodds says: “And that’s the way I play. I play for the benefit of the band.” (There’s a lesson there for more than a few drummers today.)

The subtitle of this book is New Orleans Music Culture and it is a collection of black and white photographs taken in New Orleans between 1957 and 1973. Many of the pictures are informal shots taken in the homes of the musicians,  mostly players who did not join the exodus but remained part of the local scene, names such as Blind Freddie Small, “Show Boy” Thomas, Wooden Joe Nicholas, Ann “Mama Cookie” Cook; the exceptions being photos of Louis Armstrong, Edmond Hall, Wellman Braud, Roosevelt Sykes and George Lewis. There is also a charming outdoor crowd scene in the midst of which Duke Ellington is kissing Mahalia Jackson.

From the late 1800s there was music regularly in the Vieux Quartier … parades, street musicians, jazz bands on the backs of trucks and wagons. The tradition has survived and New Orleans, of course, is unique among cities in North America. Certainly in Toronto there is music of a kind, usually percussion every day at Dundas Square, but it can’t compare to the street music heard in the Crescent City. There used to be a healthy number of concerts in Toronto, co-sponsored by the city and the Toronto Musicians’ Association Trust Fund, but the fund ran short of money and our world-class city could not come up with the relatively small amount of support which in the past had given us concerts in parks and other city locations. So access to free concerts, be it jazz or a string quartet remains something to be desired.

There is another way of bringing jazz to a wide audience that has been lost and that is exposure in the mass media. The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star used to have regular articles on jazz by respected writers like Geoff Chapman and authors Mark Miller and Jack Batten. Now? Apart from the occasional obit it is easier to find a needle in a haystack than a jazz article in one of our dailies.

It’s a situation which underscores the need for and importance of publications like The WholeNote which every month provides a wealth of of information – articles on, and listings of, what is going on in the local world of jazz and classical music. Yes, there is the internet with lots of blogs, some of them excellent, and promotional info, but the fact remains that jazz is poorer than the proverbial church mouse when it comes to recognition by the mass media.

Some years ago when jazz in Toronto was on a high I heard us described as the New Orleans of the North. I’m afraid that we have gone West.

Closing food for thought: The music critic Henry Pleasants wrote: “Jazz may be thought of as a current that bubbled forth from a spring in the slums of New Orleans to become the mainstream of the 20th century.”

Enjoy the music you hear and try to hear some of it live.

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at
jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

It’s time to celebrate The Duke and I don’t mean John Wayne. I do mean Duke Ellington and the annual Duke Ellington Society fund raising concert at 8pm on Saturday April 26 at Walter Hall in the Edward Johnson Building, Queen’s Park Crescent, featuring Martin Loomer’s Orange Devils, a 14-piece band specializing in Ellington’s early period. This is an important event in the jazz calendar celebrasting the music of perhaps the greatest all-round musical figure of the 20th century. I know that I’m getting ahead of myself since the concert doesn’t take place this month, but over the years this has been a sold-out event and if you are interested in attending the concert – and you should be – it is better to buy your tickets now. Ticket price is $35 available by contacting Alan Shiels at 416-239-2683

Net proceeds go to the Duke Ellington Society Scholarship Fund.

Gone But Not Quite Forgotten: I have a CD review of Bill Clifton in this month’s issue but would like to make some additional comments on this highly talented pianist. He was born in Toronto in 1916 and began his musical training at the Royal Conservatory. He was a real talent and he knew both fame and fortune throughout the 1940s and 50s. He earned the respect of jazz legends including pianists Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson

He eventually moved to the States where he worked with a number of the “name” bands including Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, Woody Herman and Paul Whiteman. Able to play in any key he was active in the studios including CBS where he accompanied all kinds of performers.

In October of 2011 I wrote a piece about the debut performance on February 12, 1924 at Aeolian Hall in New York of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the composer playing the piano solo. The audience included Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Stokowski, Serge Rachmaninov and Igor Stravinsky. The evening, led by conductor Paul Whiteman, was billed as “An Experiment in Modern Music” and the focal point, Gershwin’s Rhapsody, was a huge success.

Well, on February 12 of this year, Maurice Peress, a conductor who has made a specialty of leading works in which the influences of jazz and classical music intermingle, plans to re-create Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on its 90th anniversary. Peress will conduct Vince Giordano, an authority on recreating the sounds of 1920s and 30s jazz and popular music, and the Nighthawks with pianist Ted Rosenthal; the concert will be at Town Hall, only a block away from Aeolian Hall which is now part of the State University of New York.

The Toronto Scene: On Thursday February 27, 2014 at Massey Hall at 8pm The Spring Quartet, four jazz stars covering a wide range of age – three generations – and experience come together under the leadership of veteran drummer, Jack DeJohnette, with tenor sax virtuoso Joe Lovano, bass player, vocalist and Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leonardo Genovese. All are familiar faces to Toronto audiences with the possible exception of pianist Genovese.

Pianist Leo Genovese was born in Venado Tuerto, Argentina in 1979 and moved to Boston in 2001 where he studied at Berklee with, among others, Danilo Perez and Joanne Brackeen.

I am so accustomed to seeing Jack DeJohnette with Keith Jarrett – he has been with him for some 30 years – that it will be interesting, not to mention refreshing, to hear him in such a totally different musical space. Will we perhaps see more of that in the future?

Some other highlights of jazz in Toronto:

JPEC Series at the Paintbox Bistro continues with BrubeckBraid – David Braid (piano), Matt Brubeck (cello) Saturday February 8 and Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet – Hilario Durán (piano), Roberto Riveron (bass), Amhed Mitchel (drums), Luis Orbegoso (percussion), Saturday February 15.

If you head out to Old Mill and piano players are your thing, the Home Smith Bar is a happy hunting ground. Mark Eisenman has a couple of dates on February 1 and 28, as do John Sherwood (February 7 and 22) and Mark Kieswetter (February 8 and 21). Richard Whiteman, February 14, and Adrean Farrugia, February 15, round out the month making it a veritable feast of fingers on the keyboard.

I’ve written previously about the amount of jazz in churches without tooting my own horn, so this time I wish to report that I’ll be at Deer Park United Church on February 9 at 4:30 as part of their jazz vespers series with Mark Eisenman on piano and Rosemary Galloway, bass.

Primers: I’ve also written in the past about the large number of students taking jazz courses in colleges and universities. I sometimes feel, when a little cynicism rises to the surface, that their numbers have increased in direct proportion to the diminishing number of gigs. Students are taught by some of the most talented jazz musicians in the country who teach to  supplement their incomes as the number of gigs declines; their students then compete for the declining number of gigs.

One result of these changes in the business is that there are fewer opportunities to work one’s way up through the ranks and get the invaluable experience of rubbing shoulders with a variety of experienced players, since the newcomers are more likely to form a group of their own and play original music. So with my tongue firmly pressed into my cheek, and culled from various disreputable sources, I offer to those of you who previously would have learned these lessons along the way, the following two primers:

Hints on playing for jazz musicians:

Everyone should play the same tune.

If you play a wrong note, give a nasty look to one of the other musicians.

Carefully tune your instrument before playing. That way you can play out of tune all night with a clear conscience.

A wrong note played timidly is a wrong note.

A wrong note played with authority is an interpretation.

Markings for slurs, dynamics and ornaments need not be observed. They are only there to embellish the printed score.

When everyone else has finished playing, you should not play any notes you have left.

Happy are those who have not perfect pitch, for the kingdom of music is theirs.

How to Sing the Blues: A Primer for Beginners:

Most blues begin with “Woke up this mornin’.” It is usually bad to start the blues with “I got a good woman” unless you stick something mean in the next line.

 Example: “I got a good woman with the meanest dog in town.”

Blues cars are Chevys, Cadillacs, and broken-down trucks circa 1957. Other acceptable blues transportations are a Greyhound bus or a “southbound train.” Note: A BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, mini-van, or sport utility vehicle is NOT a blues car.

Do you have the right to sing the blues? Yes, if your first name is a southern state (e.g. Georgia), you’re blind or you shot a man in Memphis.

No, if you’re deaf, anyone in your family drives a Lotus or you have a trust fund.

Julio Iglesias, Kiri Te Kanawa and Barbra Streisand may not sing the blues. Ever.

Blues beverages are: malt liquor; Irish whisky; muddy water; white lightning; one bourbon; one scotch; and one beer. At the same time.

Blues beverages are NOT a mai-tai, a glass of Chardonnay, a Pink Lady.

Need a Blues Name? Try this mix and match starter kit:

Name of physical infirmity (Blind, Asthmatic, etc.) or character flaw (Dishonest, Low Down, etc.) or substitute the name of a fruit – Lemon – or use first and fruit names. Finish with the last name of an American President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)

Examples: Low Down Lemon Johnson; One-Legged Fig Lincoln, Lame Apple Jackson.

Need a Blues instrument? Play one or more of the following and sing with husky gravelly voice:

Harmonica, gih-tar, fiddle, sax, pie-anner (in need of tuning).

Now, you’re ready to sing the blues ... unless you own a computer.

Just kidding, folks!

Not kidding department: From the New York Times of January 14, 2014: “Springsteen and Clapton to Headline New Orleans Jazz Festival.” Need I say more!

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

I’m writing this in November and already I’m getting tired of Christmas songs being pumped out at me in shops and restaurants.

It can be said however that despite all the blatant commercialism the season does promote a spirit of goodwill, at least for a day or two. And that’s more than can be said for the origins of the celebration which are to be found in Roman bacchanalia steeped in drunken revelry and, unfortunately, racism, the dates of which were borrowed by the Roman Catholic Church and sanitized more than just a little. If you want clarification on this subject I invite you to check out the origins of Christmas.

In the spirit of the season I offer this abridged version of a parody on “The Night Before Christmas”:

’Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the store,

Each department was dripping with Yuletide decor.

The Muzak was blaring an out-of-tune carol,

And the fake snow was falling on “Ladies’ Apparel.”

It was all too much for my soul to condone,

And I let out a most unprofessional moan.

The crowd turned around, and I’ll say for their sake,

That they knew in an instant I wasn’t a fake.

“I’ve had it,” I told them, “with fast-buck promoting,

With gimmicks and come-ons and businessmen gloating.

This garish display of commercialized greed,

Is so very UN-Christmas, it makes my heart bleed!

And that’s my rant for today.

Elementary – what’s on: Starting with the concert halls there is in fact quite a lot of activity over the next couple of months. The listings section of the magazine has a complete rundown but I have singled out a few events giving an overview of the forthcoming events.

Regarded by many as the best big band in the business, Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, will offer a program called “Big Band Holidays” at Massey Hall on December 9. Formed in 1987 they have since taken their music around the world garnering enthusiastic devotees wherever they play. I’m pretty certain that one of the numbers they will play will be their version of “Oh Tannenbaum” and if you go on their website you’ll find the entire version, not just a clip. Worth checking out.

If you’re looking for something a little more contemporary and vigorous, December 14 at the Winter Garden Theatre will find The Bad Plus belting out their very personal brand of music. Drummer in the group, Dave King, has this to say, “This band contains some of the most punk energy I’ve ever seen or felt as a musician ...”

On the other hand If you’re looking for some nostalgia you’ll find it on December 19 at Roy Thomson Hall when the Preservation Hall Jazz Band presents “Creole Christmas.” The group was formed in 1961 — before some of the current members were born and while the band is no longer the original genuine article the evening will bring back memories of days and music gone by.

Not quite downtown but it’s worth the drive on December 5 to the Flato Markham Theatre where The Manhattan Transfer “Swings Christmas.” The group has been performing since 1974 although it hardly seems that long since I first became aware of them. They went from strength to strength and in 1981 won their first Grammy for their recording of “Until I Met You,” also known as the jazz standard “Corner Pocket,” composed by Freddie Green, longtime guitarist with Count Basie. Their Markham appearance comes hot on the heels of an extensive European tour and if you like vocal jazz, and in particular four-part harmony, Markham Theatre will be your destination.

Two nights later on December 7 John Pizzarelli and Daniela Nardi, vocals, will be “Celebrating Frank Sinatra and Paolo Conte”at Koerner Hall; and at the same venue on December 14, Regina Carter and Nnenna Freelon will present an evening of Jazz, funk, Motown, African and soul music.

So you can see that if you choose to, the festive concert season could put quite a strain on your wallet, but heh, better for your soul than a new smartphone.

At your service: I have commented on the number of jazz vespers which have become part of the fabric that makes up the musical coat of many colours to be found in our city. They first saw the light of day, or rather evening, 14 years ago at Christ Church Deer Park. At that time the minister was Tim Elliott and the musician who convinced him that jazz vespers was a fitting addition to the musical life of a church was Toronto musician Brian Barlow. Over the years there have been five ministers at Christ Church Deer Park, but Brian is still in charge of the jazz policy. Other churches have followed suit and something that 20 years ago would have been unheard of, literally, and still considered by a narrow-minded few to be the devil’s music, is now an accepted way of expressing joy and communicating with people through group improvisation.

Brian’s programming over the next couple of months includes Christmas Vespers with “Barlow Brass and Drums” on December 15 and on January 12, Jazz Vespers “Tribute to Louis Armstrong” with Chase Sanborn, trumpet, and a tribute talk by Barlow. Then on January 26, Jazz Vespers will feature the Russ Little Quintet with Russ Little, trombone, Michael Stuart, saxophone, Brian Barlow, drums, Tom Szczesniak, piano, and Scott Alexander, bass. 4:30pm is the start time and attendance is free, donations welcome.

Time for a little religious humour? Try this one. A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, “What is this, a joke?”

Clubbing around: In addition to the concert schedule there is the usual club scene which is well documented in the listings section, but I would like to make mention of some of the bookings at the Jazz Bistro on Victoria Street which is going some way to picking up the slack which has existed since we lost the Montreal Bistro and Top o’ The Senator. The Jazz Bistro is in fact at the same address as the Top o’ The Senator but there the resemblance ends. It is an elegant room with decent sight lines, reasonably priced food and a really fine piano. There is also an interesting booking policy thanks to the creative efforts of Sybil Walker who brings years of experience coupled with a keen knowledge of the music. Some of the artists who will be appearing over the next few weeks include a quintet on December 6 and 7 led by drummer Mark McLean featuring Kelly Jefferson, saxophone, Robi Botos, piano, Ted Quinlan, guitar, and Marc Rogers, bass. On December 19 to 21 Duncan Hopkins will share the bandstand with Mike Murley and Rob Piltch while the New Year gets off to a swinging start with Bernie Senensky on January 2 to 4, Neil Swainson and Don Thompson, January 9 to 11 and Dave Young, who will be there with his Tribute to Horace Silver Band for three nights, January 16 to 18. With Dave will be Kevin Turcotte, Perry WhIte, Gary Williamson and Terry Clarke. A week later, January 23 to 25, Bernie Senensky will take the bandstand with sax player Grant Stewart, his brother Phil Stewart on drums and Neil Swainson, bass. A strong line-up of home grown talent and if you haven’t yet visited this relatively new space then I would strongly recommend that you put it on your things-to-do, places-to-see list.

Meanwhile over at the Rex, one of the highlights has to be the appearance of John Tank on December 3. With him will be Bernie Senensky on B3 Hammond organ and Ted Warren, drums. Kitchener-born, John Tank moved to Toronto in 1970 but has made New York his home base since 1974, He has built a strong presence both there and internationally and this is a rare Toronto appearance.

All in all if you are a jazz fan “Yule” be able to have a good time.

Just a closing reference to the Christmas commercial madness —I leave you with this thought:

As Chico Marx said in A Night At The Opera, “There ain’t no Sanity Clause!”

I wish you merry listening and a jazzy new year. 

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

November may bring the colder weather but things are heating up in the clubs and concert halls this month and there are a couple of appearances I’d like to single out.

The Jazz Bistro will feature pianist Renee Rosnes for three nights, November 14 to 16; with her will be Peter Washington bass, Lewis Nash drums and Jimmy Greene saxophone.

Renee is Canadian-born but moved to New York in 1986 where she quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with and at various times was the pianist of choice for such as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, J.J. Johnson and James Moody.

She has four JUNOs to her name and her compositions have been recorded by Phil Woods, J.J. Johnson, the Danish Radio Big Band and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra. She is a very welcome addition to the Jazz Bistro’s line-up and the band, I’m sure, will be a tight unit given that their appearance here follows on a tour of India, the only change being the substitution of Jimmy Greene for Steve Wilson. If you enjoy contemporary jazz you should definitely mark your calendar.

Massey: On November 22 at Massey Hall it’s a pretty special evening with the Wayne Shorter 80th Birthday Celebration, (he turned 80 on August 25), with Wayne accompanied by pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and Brian Blade on drums. Ben Ratliff of the New York Times has described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser.” And if that isn’t enough there is also the trio of pianist Geri Allen, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist Esperanza Spalding playing music from Shorter’s days with Weather Report.

In addition there is the usual vigorous local club and concert activity which is splendidly covered in the club listings section of this magazine. (See page 53).

Shaw wordfest: Last month I wrote a piece about an address given by Artie Shaw at the 1998 IAJRC Convention. This month I would like to follow it up with his answers to some of the questions put to him by members of the audience.

In one of responses he riffed on the theme that you can’t train human beings to listen to music intelligently. Any publisher of books will tell you the same thing Shaw said: most people would rather read Danielle Steel than Thomas Mann. Even although there is no comparison they would rather have Liberace than Beethoven. What sells is what’s dominating the marketplace — we’re in a greed-driven world. If we want something good to go on we have to support it. If we were at a concert by Kenny G there would be a very large audience. That doesn’t mean he’s better, it’s simply that more people like what he does and that’s the way it works.

By the way, do you know that Artie Shaw recorded with Jelly Roll Morton? He was asked how that came about and explained that he was on a record date with Wingy Manone, so named because he lost his right arm in a streetcar accident when he was ten years old. Jelly Roll happened to be the piano player on the date and that’s how he came to play with him. Shaw found him to be “a nice guy” but a real hustler and always talking about how he invented jazz!

Asked if there were any big bands that he listened to — bear in mind that this is 1998 — he said that he liked Bill Holman and Bob Florence although he felt that Bob sometimes took too many liberties with songs and that there is a limit to how much you should distort the music without losing your audience. The more liberty you take the less audience you’re going to have and the less money you’ll make. He wasn’t suggesting that money is the main goal, but you do have to face the reality of making enough of it to pay the bills.

He also had some interesting observations about Buddy Rich whom he described as an athletic phenomenon; when he played he did incredible things with his feet and hands and had exuberance and tremendous energy. When Shaw hired him in 1938 he could not read music so he set him in front of the band for three or four nights to listen, after which he said he could do it — and did!

And speaking of drummers ... Over the years in jazz there have been as many musicians’ jokes about drummers as there are in classical music about viola players; such as “We have a quintet — four musicians and a drummer”; or “A guitar player and a drummer were walking through a park one day. The guitar player said, ‘Hey look at that dog with one eye!’ The drummer covers one eye and says, ‘Where?’”; “Why are drummers always losing their watches? Everyone knows they have trouble keeping time”; “Why put drumsticks on the dash of your car? So you can park in the handicapped spot” ... and so on.

Well, according to Artie Shaw Buddy Rich was not a musician, he was a drummer — a different thing — the difference being that musicians play in terms of what the band is doing. So he and Buddy came to a parting of the ways. Shaw took him aside and asked him who he was playing for, the band or himself and Rich answered that he played for himself upon which Artie said, “I think you’ll be happier somewhere else, you’re not going to be happy here and I’m going to lean on you pretty hard. So Buddy Rich left and joined Tommy Dorsey, although from what I’ve heard about Dorsey I’m surprised it didn’t turn out to be going from the frying pan into the fire.

I’ve just realized that as I write this there might be a number of younger readers who may be familiar with the name Artie Shaw but don’t really know much about him. He was a clarinetist, composer, bandleader and author. Acknowledged as one of the finest clarinetists in jazz, he had one of the most successful big bands of the late 30s into the early 40s. He also was the first white band leader to hire a full-time black female singer to tour the segregated Southern U.S. but after recording “Any Old Time” she left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South, as well as from music company executives. He was also actively involved in third stream music blending jazz and classical music.

In 1954 he walked away from a successful career and spent the rest of the 50s living in Europe.

His personal life was, to say the least, stormy; he was married eight times and his wives included Lana Turner, Betty Kern, the daughter of songwriter Jerome Kern, and Ava Gardner.

He died on December 30, 2004 at age 94. I leave you with two of his quotes:

“You have no idea of the people I didn’t marry.”

“Shoot for the moon — if you miss you’ll end up in the stars.”

Artie Shaw, a very different and talented human being.

Happy listening and please make some of it live jazz. 

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.