Here is Jazz Stream: August 18th – August 23rd:

Conrad Tao – National Sawdust – August 18th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao is best known for performing classical music. However, for this National Sawdust event he’s going to be adding his own improvisations to the mix. The program is scheduled to include China’s Gate by composer John Adams. The work was written in 1977. After that the improvisations take over.

Tao is one of our most talented musicians. To see and hear him move beyond the classical idiom with which we’re already familiar into the jazz world should be very interesting indeed. Take a look at how quickly and deftly he can maneuver his away up and down a keyboard.

This is a live-stream event I strongly encourage you to watch.

There is no charge to watch this performance. Donations to the performer are encouraged.

An Evening with Monty Alexander – Birdland – August 18th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

In the second of Birdland’s new series, Radio Free Birdland!, jazz pianist Monty Alexander performs at the venerable New York club.

Born in Jamaica, Alexander has been playing live since the age of 14. Ever since then his concerts, which he performs around the world, run the gamut from jazz to the Great American Songbook to gospel & blues to bebop to calypso and, given his heritage, reggae.

The cost to watch this performance is $23.50

Brooklyn Circle – Smalls – August 19th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Brooklyn Circle. But I have heard Stacy Dillard play and that’s reason enough to watch this performance from Smalls in New York. Dillard is a sublime musician who has been acclaimed for his austere use of bass and drums. But don’t be fooled, he and his musicians can let it rip, too!

Dillard already has an extensive amount of touring and recording experience under his belt. He’s performed with such artists as  Winard Harper, Cindy Blackmon, Shirley Ceasar, Frank Lacy, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Ali Jackson, John Hicks, Carl Allen, Victor Lewis, Steve Wilson, Jeremy Pelt, Antonio Hart, Russell Malone, hip-hop legend C.L. Smooth, Mark Whitfield, Stephanie Mills, Freddie Jackson, Blowfly, Clarence Reid and more. 

Joining Dillard for this performance are Diallo House on bass and Ismail Lawal on drums.

Dominick Farinacci and Tamir Hendelman – August 19th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

This is the first of two different performances by Dominick Farinacci that I’ve included in week’s Jazz Stream. Here the trumpeter will be performing with pianist Tamir Hendelman. (You might remember that Hendelman is the musician who performs with jazz singer Tierney Sutton.)

Farinacci is a graduate of Juilliard. His career was launched in Japan before going global. When the New York Times‘ Nate Chinen reviewed Farinacci’s 2011 album, Dawn of Goodbye, he said:

“Mr. Farinacci plays beautifully, with expressive control, throughout a program of love-haunted standards and compatible originals, including his yearning title track. His phrasing attests to some close study of Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, but avoids outright imitation. That evident respect for jazz history is one reason for both his great success in Japan (where he has released seven albums) and his early endorsement by Wynton Marsalis (who featured him on a PBS special at the age of 17).”

The cost of seeing this show is $25

2020 National Endowment For the Arts Jazz Masters Tribute – SFJAZZ – August 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This year the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Tribute was slated to be held at SFJazz. We all know why that isn’t happening. But the NEA and SFJazz have teamed up to make this year’s event a free-streaming one we can all watch.

The honorees this year are Dorthaan Kirk (a jazz advocate), vocalist/composer Bobby McFerrin, saxophonist/composer Roscoe Mitchell and bassist/composer Reggie Workman. The emcee for the event is singer Dee Dee Bridgewater was was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2017.

Every tribute is bound to have the obligatory speeches bestowing the honor and accepting the honor. But this is jazz, so you know there’s going to be music.

Terri Lyne Carrington is the Music Director. Slated to perform are Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Carter, Gerald Clayton, Vincent Davis, Lisa Fischer, Morgan Guerin, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Jevon McFerrin, Madison McFerrin, Taylor McFerrin, Kanoa Mendenhall, Junius Paul and Steve Turre, as well as the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars.

The event will be followed by an on-line discussion with the honorees. Randall Kline, SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Director, will lead the conversation which will be open to questions from the audience.

Unlike other SFJazz streaming programs, there is no charge to watch this event. It can also be streamed on arts.gov.

Mike Rodriguez Quintet – Smalls – August 21st – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

Mike Rodriguez is a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer who has toured and/or performed with Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, Jessica Simpson, The Chico O’Farill Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley Band and Quintet, The Clayton Brothers, Kenny Baron’s Quintet, Conrad Herwig Latin Side Projects, Clayton Brothers Quintet, Harry Conick Jr., Bob Mintzer, Eddie Palmieri Septet, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra and is a member of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra.

Credits are great, but what matters is the music. Take a look and hear what he can do:

Joining Rodriguez for this performance from Smalls in New York are John Ellis on tenor sax; Gary Versace on piano; Joe Martin on bass and Obed Calvaire on drums.

Dianne Reeves – SFJazz – August 21st – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

I’m not sure much truly has to be said about Dianne Reeves. She’s quite simply one of our finest singers.

In this concert at SFJazz from February of 2019 Reeves celebrated the 20th anniversary of her album Bridges. On that album she performed songs by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel. The album was Reeves’ 11th in a long and successful career that began in 1982.

Reeves received one of her nine Grammy nominations for Bridges. Though she didn’t win that year, she has, to date, five Grammys.

This performance, while celebrating the album’s anniversary, was also a tribute to the producer of Bridges, the legendary keyboardist and composer George Duke. Duke was her cousin. He passed away in 2013.

This concert is part of SFJazz’s Fridays at Five series. As a reminder you must sign up for either a one-month membership ($5) or a full year membership ($60) to watch this concert. Those memberships will give you access to other upcoming Fridays at Five concerts and also their newly-launched live performances.

Andrew Cyrille – Village Vanguard – August 21st – August 22nd – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

At the age of 80 years old, drummer Andrew Cyrille has seen it all and performed it all. But rather than rest on his laurels, he continues to record and collaborate with some of today’s finest musicians including Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Bill McHenry and many more.

Cyrille’s resume would takes pages to fill. From an early recording session with Coleman Hawkins to becoming a member of Cecil Taylor’s band to working with 2020 NEA Jazz Master Reggie Workman, Cyrille has performed and recorded massive amounts of music.

In addition to performing and composing, he’s also a life-long advocate of music education and has long been teaching.

Joining him for these two live performances from the Village Vanguard in New York will be Bill Frisell on guitar; David Virelles on piano and Ben Street on bass. (Side note: Frisell just released a new album on Blue Note called Valentine.)

There is a $10 charge to see each performance.

Dominick Farinacci’s Rhapsody in Blue: Revisited – Tri-C JazzFest – August 22nd – August 23rd

Here’s our second of Dominick Farinacci’s performances. What appeals to me about this one is he will be playing his revised version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue from 2018. Goodbye clarinet, hello trumpet.

Joining Farinacci for this performance are Jamey Haddad on percussion, Walter Barnes Jr. on bass, Jonathan Thomas on piano, Gabe Jones on drums and Orlando Watson performing spoken word. Rhapsody in Blue is one of my favorite pieces of music. I’m intrigued both by the focus on trumpet and the inclusion of spoken word.

Will it work? Who knows. But it’s at least going to be interesting.

There’s your eclectic line-up for Jazz Stream: August 18th – August 23rd. Enjoy and stay cool!

Photo: Stacy Dillard (Courtesy of his Facebook Page)

Correction: We incorrectly stated that George Duke was Dianne Reeves’ uncle. He was her cousin. We regret the error.

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Our government will soon announce plans bailing out the airline and travel industries. What you won’t hear them discuss, and it is highly unlikely they would even contemplate this, is support for the performing arts and the artists who create and perform. But we, who love the arts and know how much they enrich our lives, can.

Rather than ask for refunds for canceled performances, I’d urge you to consider donating the price of your ticket to the company that has had to outright cancel remaining or upcoming performances. (Many, but not all, such donations will be tax-deductible.)

Certainly longer-running shows will probably have the flexibility to offer you an exchange of tickets for another date. But what of something like Sweet Land by a small company like The Industry? A company that continually invests their assets into their next creative endeavor? Or CAP UCLA which just today announced the suspension of the rest of their 2019-2020 season?

Profits are not guaranteed in the arts. If you drive through town you’ll often see banners along the streets for LA Opera or Center Theatre Group or other performing arts organizations. Those banners are only available for non-profit companies. Even one as large as Center Theatre Group is a non-profit.

The federal government does very little to support plays, musicals, dance, music, artists etc… This isn’t Europe where the arts are supported by the government. In fact, America has a pretty lousy reputation for trying its best to not support the arts. In his most recent budget, Trump has suggested eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts – again!

As PBS says their programming is made possible by viewers like you. So are the performing arts. But ticket sales don’t cover all operating costs. Imagine what the cost of all these refunds would be not just in the short-term, but in the long-term.

And what of the actors, singers, dancers, musicians and more who make their livelihoods by sharing their talents with us?

Chances are that if you can afford a ticket to the opera, a play, the ballet, a concert or a musical, a certain percentage of your income is expendable. If it truly is expendable, and you value the arts as much as I do, I hope you’ll think twice about requesting a refund for a canceled performance.

In fact, while you’re thinking about that, perhaps a donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and/or The Actors Fund, can be added to your charitable donations to help performers who find themselves out of work. Why wait until December to make last-minute tax-deductible donations when those dollars can be put to very good use right now?

We are all going to make it through this crisis, but no one can predict how long this pandemic will last. The longer it goes on the closer we get to the point where companies large and small have to close or significantly scale back their programming. The end result is we will all be much poorer.

But when it is over, we will all be clamoring for the opportunity to share in the magic of live performance with one another as quickly as possible. So I ask, brothers (and sisters), can you spare your dimes?

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

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