YPR PROGRAM GUIDE

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PROGRAM LISTINGS

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December 28
The Kenny Barron Trio at the Kennedy Center
Jazz Master Barron told the NEA that he loves "to grab a handful of notes out of thin air and make something out of it, to make a statement, to tell a story, . . . project an emotion, and to be able to reach out to somebody." He's been doing so ever since his time with James Moody and Dizzy Gillespie, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, and Sphere; a quarter-century of teaching at Rutgers University; and now with Kiyoshi Kitigawa on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. We hope Barron might release this Kennedy Center session as an album.

January 4, 2012
Two Skirts And A Shirt at the Kennedy Center
Rene Marie asks rhetorically, "Do you remember when it was not unusual for jazz composers to write about social issues? What happened?" and answers her question in song. Enjoy the only night on record with the exuberant Rene Marie, Carla Cook and Allan Harris together, singing music by Eric Bibb, Oscar Brown Jr., Donnie Hathaway, Gene McDaniel and Leonard Cohen.

January 11
Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor at the Litchfield Jazz Festival
Pavone lived his dream: he quit his day job and played bass in the 1970s in the free-form Manhattan loft scene, developing stamina. A New Yorker writer described his technique as working the strings the way a sculptor chips away granite. "Arc Suite for sextet is his summation of a well-shaped career, supported by Chamber Music America with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

January 18
Tribute to Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010) with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson at the Kennedy Center
Toward the end of Lincoln's life, Bridgewater personally assured the songwriter that her original music would survive her, and live on as others sing Abbey. That conversation led to this three-woman concert -- affectionate, moving and humorous -- and a climactic staging of We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, the historic 1961 recording with Abbey as vocalist. Musical Director of this concert is Terri Lyne Carrington.

January 25
Mark Turner Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard
NPR Music cites Mark Turner's "floating chromaticism, rhythmic mindfulness and lightness of tone." He's the tenor saxophonist in last week's Abbey Lincoln tribute on JazzSet, leading his wide age-range quartet with newcomer pianist David Virelles from Cuba, Ben Street on bass, and Vanguard veteran drummer Paul Motian on this JazzSet.

February 1
Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
O'Farrill is making his big dreams for Afro-Latin jazz come true. This set from Newport presents three generations of composers, from Arturo O'Farrill's father Chico to Arturo himself to Dafnis Prieto and Gabriel Alegría from Cuba and Peru respectively, and one big exuberant ensemble to play them.

February 8
Steve Wilson and Bird with Strings at the Kennedy Center
Bebop met chamber music at the 1949 Charlie Parker with Strings recording session. Steve Wilson brings a fresh, original take to this classic material, including a piece or two that did not get recorded. He beamingly calls his string quintet "the crown jewels with his working group -- Bruce Barth, Michael Bowie and Lewis Nash -- at the KC Jazz Club.

February 15
The Mingus Orchestra: Better Get It In Your Soul at St. Bartholomew's Church
Charles Mingus (1922-79) wrote, ". . . it is time our children were raised to think they can play bassoon, French horn, English horn, full percussion, violin, cello. If we so-called jazz musicians who are composers, the spontaneous composers, started including these instruments in our music, it would open everything up. This acoustic concert, held on the weekend of the annual Charles Mingus High School Competition in New York, effectively follows through on his premise.

February 22
An Either/Orchestra Premiere: "The Collected Unconcious" by leader Russ Gershon
After visiting Ethiopia in 2004 and 2011, the adventurous E/O (together since 1985) now improvises in the modes and rhythms of the country's music, on this multi-part suite. As an appetizer, Gershon adapts songs by Nerses Nalbandian, an Armenian who left a strong imprint on Ethiopian music. Thanks to Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

February 29
Kevin Eubanks at the Detroit Jazz Festival
The guitarist stepped off nightly TV, released the album Zen Food, and toured throughout the year in 2011. They loved him at the Amphitheatre stage in Detroit. Ross Davis wrote in JazzTimes that Eubanks "featured his own fine lines and plenty of room for his band mates to shine, most especially saxophonist Bill Pierce."