Jawanza Kobie’s Weekly Wednesday Jazz Playlist June 15, 2022

Local saxophonist (Phila.) Lynn Riley enjoys a vibrant career as a jazz musician, composer, and educator, whose primary instruments are saxophone and flute. As the leader of The World-Mix, Lynn has been described more than once as "Superwoman" of the sax. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised outside of Philadelphia, Pa., she received a B. A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii. She continued her musical studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City, studied privately with Doris Sellers (principal flutist of the Kansas City Symphony), saxophone with Ahmed Alladeen, and immersed in its rich jazz tradition, apprenticed and performed with many of KC's jazz legends. More recently Lynn has been expanding her composing vocabulary, traveling and performing in Ghana, Cuba, South Africa, Bolivia, Brazil and Columbia, adding fresh material to The World-Mix repertoire. Here is ‘Too Cool’ from her most recent release 2015

Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status. Clarke is a 5-time Grammy winner, with 15 nominations, 3 as a solo artist. Clarke was born on June 30, 1951 in Philadelphia. Clarke attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy (later known as the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. Clarke intended to become the first black musician in the Philadelphia Orchestra until he met jazz pianist Chick Corea who while working with saxophonist Stan Getz was putting together a new band. That band ultimately became Return To Forever the prominent Jazz Fusion Band of its time with Drummer Lenny White, guitarist Bill Conners (later replaced by Al Di Meola) and Corea. This is one of my favorite tracks of his from his solo album Journey To Love, ‘A Song To John’ dedicated to John Coltrane.

Born in Detroit, Regina Carter began studying violin at the age of four using the Suzuki method. She attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and her training continued at the New England Conservatory of Music and at Oakland University in Michigan for jazz. She taught violin in public schools in Detroit and on a U.S. military base in Germany. She first gained attention with Straight Ahead, an all-female jazz quintet that recently celebrated its 25-year reunion at the Detroit Jazz Festival. She also recorded and toured for six years with The String Trio of New York. She has performed at numerous jazz festivals, including Monterey, Newport, Detroit, Atlanta, Bern, Montreux, Miami, New Orleans, Montreal, Mid-Atlantic (Washington, DC), PDX (Portland, Oregon), Rochester, and North Sea (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). In 1995 Regina released her self-titled solo debut on Atlantic Records. Three more albums followed in rapid succession. Here is her version of the classical composition by French composer Gabriel Faure’s  ‘Pavane.

Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras, known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established himself as a bandleader in the United States. Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho Valdés, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Here is a track from Paquito’s titled “To Brenda With Love’

Local Band (New Jersey) Cintron Band is a 14 piece group formed by percussionist Edgardo Cintron that mixes elements of Jazz, Soul and Latin influences into a very nice amalgamation that leans heavily on 60s and 70s. Here is the track ‘Suavecito’ from their release in 2015.

Local Jazz trumpeter (Wilmington DE.) Tony “Big Cat” Smith was Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Currently residing in New Castle, Delaware. Received high school diploma from Howard High School, B.S. Degree in Music from Delaware State College, and a Masters Degree in Education Administration from Wilmington University. Worked as a teacher and administrator in the Christina School District, Brandywine School District, and at Christina Cultural Arts Center. Currently retired from education. Performs regularly in the Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York areas. Performs a variety of music genres with an emphasis on jazz in small ensemble settings i.e. solo, duet, trio, quartet, quintet, and more. Here is a cut from one of his albums released in 2015 ‘Big Cat’

Maysa Leak is an American jazz singer better known by her mononym Maysa. She is well known by fans of smooth jazz both for her solo work and for her work with the British band Incognito.  Having collaborated with everyone from Stevie Wonder, Will Downing, Jonathan Butler and more, Maysa can hang with the best. She is the recipient of many awards including the Soul Train Music Award in 2009 and Grammy nomination. The Baltimore native is her with her track ‘Just Stay’.

Local Jazz trombonist Ernest Stuart has a post-bop-jazz-based but often genre-fluid sound that merges influences from Philadelphia soul past and present. Think Gamble & Huff and John Legend melded with alternative electronic pop á la Radiohead. In his mind, it’s a very Philadelphia thing to do. “Playing in Philly means playing every type of music. Scenes and sounds intersect. I’ve played salsa gigs, Brazilian music brass band. I love it. I am a musical sponge.” Equal to his music, though, is his sense of civic pride and duty, one that led him to create the still-going Center City Jazz festival in 2012, and currently finds him executing a course of study in nonprofit management and its ethics at Columbia University. Here is his track ‘Oh Snap’ from a release in 2015.

I hope you enjoy.

JK