Thursday at Project Lodge and Death of Cabana Room

by Patrick Breiner

Greetings Wisconsinites,

Hot off the presses: The Cabana Room has given the New Breed the ax. We will not be playing this Wednesday, nor the following, nor any subsequent Wednesday night. The reason? Who knows? The explanation given by a high ranking Samba Party official: “We’re not making enough money off it.” That seems strange to this guerilla as the bar is always packed with 50-100 people whenever we play. Where is all that money going? Certainly not to the hard-working citizens who keep the gears a-turnin’.

In any case, the New Breed is currently looking for a new home for underground jazzy camaraderie. We here at WPJB will keep you abreast of the wheelings and dealings.

That being said, come get your weekly fix of great music on Thursday instead!

The deets:
This Thursday, Nov 5
7:30-10:30 pm
at the Project Lodge
817 East Johnson St. at Paterson
$5

Pay admission and dip into a free cooler of Miller High Life! Or BYOB if you’re feeling hoity-toity.

This Thursday will feature, from Chicago:
Caroline Davis – saxophone
Dave Miller – guitar

From Madison:
Patrick Breiner – saxophone
Luke Polipnick – guitar

We’ll also have some awesome stage visuals by Tyler Mackie.

Don’t miss it!

Matt Wilson

Jazz drummer Matt Wilson sent in the message below. He is looking for a gig in Madison Saturday Feb 6th 2010.  Let him know if you can help.

hey madisonites!!
uw platteville is having the matt wilson quartet on their concert series friday feb. 5 2010 BUT recently lost funding to have us there for the jazz fest activities on the 6th.
would be fun to play madison on the saturday the 6th.

we guarantee a grooooovy time!
check out nov. downbeat and jazztimes where I am on the covers.
I clean up nicely….

thanks everyone, jazz lives through grassroot efforts!
M@

http://mattwilsonjazz.com/

Jane Monheit this Friday

by Andrea Breneman

Hi, I work for the Wisconsin Union Theater and would like to personally invite you to Jane Monheit’s show this Friday, October 23rd at the Wisconsin Union Theater. Monheit is a red-hot jazz singer who is sure to give an amazing performance.

Please check out the Wisconsin Union Theater’s season to see if there are other shows you are interested in attending.

http://uniontheater.wisc.edu/season2009_10.html

MMC’s 10/10/09 Cole Porter Concert Sold Out

by Howard Landsman, Board Member, Madison Music Collective

All tickets for the Madison Music Collective’s 10/10/09 special cabaret performance, “The Music of Cole Porter,” have now been sold.   The Collective will be working with the program’s musicians in the coming days to see if an encore performance can be scheduled for later this Fall.   To keep apprised of developments on that front, visit the Collective’s website, www.mmcmusic.org, in the coming weeks.  We at the Collective appreciate the community’s patience and understanding on this matter.

Jazz on WSUM student radio

by Jesse Ponkamo

Hello, just dropping in to say hi on behalf of UW-Madison’s WSUM student radio. I do a free jazz program every week the title of the program is FREEFORALL. I believe there is another jazz program at WSUM as well which might interest you, if I recall his show is more focused on straight ahead type stuff. Mine is delving more into “obscure” post bop players and focusing on their sessionography as leaders and side-people. I recently acquired access to the university’s Mills Music Facility which has a very extensive catalogue of jazz spanning many era’s of jazz and at the moment due to this my program is now almost completely vinyl. My program is every Saturday at 4PM-6PM. More information can be found at www.wsum.org regarding our fall program schedule. I hope you’ll tune in this Saturday either on the radio here in madison at 91.7FM or on our live webstream which can be found at www.wsum.org

Madison Music Collective Announces Fall 2009 Concert Series

by Howard Landsman

Cole Porter co-exists with music made on laptop as the Madison Music Collective launches the kind of eclectic concert series for which it has come to be known.  The Collective’s Fall 2009 series will range from the classic to the avant-garde, solo performances to ensemble works, vocal jazz to instrumental, acoustic sounds to advanced electronics.   The series will also be moving to weekends from its former Thursday night perch.

New Faces of Madison Jazz: Patrick Breiner (tenor saxophone) and Luke Polipnick (guitar)

September 18th, 8:00 PM, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 West Main Street in Downtown Madison, $10 general admission, $8 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society 

Fans of the New Breed Quintet will see a new side of saxophonist Patrick Breiner as he inhabits the persona of Vartan Mamigonian for his solo set on September 18th.

Saxophonist Patrick Breiner and guitarist Luke Polipnick are remarkably mature and sensitive young players who are full of fresh ideas.  Breiner moved to Madison last year from New York City, and has quickly developed a strong local following through performances at the 2009 Isthmus Jazz Festival and weekly gigs with the New Breed Quintet at the Cabana Room’s Wednesday night jam sessions.  Breiner improvises in a wide range of musical styles and contexts, and returns frequently to New York where he gigs with the likes of renowned drummer Billy Hart. 

Guitarist Luke Polipnick will perform a solo set and then join saxophonist Patrick Breiner for a duo performance to close out the Collective's September 18th concert.

Luke Polipnick moved to Madison earlier this summer from Lincoln NE.  He has been active in the Twin Cities creative music scene and performed in Madison earlier this year as part of a nation-wide tour with renowned Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani.  His music incorporates computer-based electronics and often has a dark, brooding spaciousness that evokes the vast mysterious depths of the Great Plains.

For their MMC concert, Breiner and Polipnick will each perform a solo set, unaccompanied by other musicians, and then close with a duo performance.

 

 

 

 

The Music of Cole Porter: Vocalists Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio and Marilyn Fisher

Saturday, October 10^th, 8:00 PM, Top of the Park at the Best Western on the Capitol Square, 22 South Carroll Street, $15 general admission, $12 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society

The featured vocalists for the Collective's Cole Porter concert (left to right): Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio, and Marilyn Fisher

With its panoramic view of the Capitol and its cabaret atmosphere, the Top of the Park will offer the perfect setting for for an evening of the sophisticated “uptown” music of the legendary American songwriter, Cole Porter.

Porter’s pieces are noted for their clever rhymes, complex forms and sophisticated sexual innuendos, all of which are evident in classics like “Night and Day,” “Anything Goes,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Don’t Fence Me In,” and so many more.   He and Irving Berlin stand alone as the two giants of the Great American Songbook who wrote both the words and music.

Performing in solo, duo and trio settings with pianist Paul Hastil, bassist John Mesoloras, and drummer John Becker, celebrated local vocalists Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio and Marilyn Fisher will present two sets of Porter’s popular and lesser-known songs.   Along with the music, this vocal trio will also provide background and insight into Porter’s life and works.

Electro-Acoustic Music: The Desert Fathers (Gregory Taylor on laptop computer and Jeff Kaiser on quarter-tone trumpet and laptop)

Friday, November 13th, 8:00 PM, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 West Main Street in Downtown Madison, $10 general admission, $8 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society 

The Desert Fathers are a duo comprised of WORT-FM host Gregory Taylor (R.T.Q.E., Sundays at 9:00 PM) on laptop computer and the highly-accomplished composer and music technologist Jeff Kaiser of LaJolla CA playing quarter-tone trumpet and laptop.  They use an expansive array of electronics and effects to spontaneously generate music that is complex, layered and other-worldly.  The sinuous sound of Mr. Kaiser’s trumpet will snake its way through this aural landscape while being subjected to a variety of electronic manipulations including delays, pitch shifting, and much else.  At the same time, listeners will also hear more sustained, melodic playing, making the trumpet’s quarter-tone capability apparent.

Great River Jazz Fest

The Great River Jazz Fest is an annual event this time of year in La Crosse. Here’s a note from the folks at the Great River Jazz Fest:

Great River Jazz Fest
La Crosse, WI
Interstate I-90 Exits 3 & 4

Aug 14-16, 2009

On the Mississippi, 13 bands in 2 venues, all indoors, Fri, Sat, Sun. Bobby Lewis’ Cats ‘n Jammers, Wally’s Warehouse Waifs, jazz vocals with Lisa Roti Quartet, New York City pianist Dave Marck Quartet, Arne Fogel-Tanner Taylor Quartet, Mostly Blues Quartet, Optimism Sextet, Pianorama, Wonderful World Jazz Band, Dick Chaffee’s Stardust Big Band in our Avalon-style ballroom with dance floor and tables, The DC Five, The Phat Cats, West Salem Community Big Band, Coulee Region High School Jazz All-Stars, Meet the Musicians reception (advance ticket required), Mardi Gras-style Parade, jam sessions, Sunday jazz church service, CDs, raffle, merchandise. Main gate is at the La Crosse Center. Call (608) 791-1190 and log on to www.lacrossejazz.com

Great Jazz tonight

Madison jazz fans have a tough choice tonight.

Jazz at Five starts tonight and features Francesca Johnson, and Mike Frost. An hour later at 6 pm, Butch Thompson (of Prairie Home Companion fame) and the Vagabond Reeds will play at the Coliseum Bar on Olin Avenue (Coliseum phone 608-251-2434).

And don’t forget the New Breed Jam Session at 9 pm tonight at the Cabana Room. Traditionally, many of the Jazz at Five volunteers end their night at the jam, and frequently Jazz at Five performers will sit in. This makes for a very lively scene and often some of the best music of the year at the jam session.

Sad News: Joe Andersen Passes

It’s beautiful outside and I have many things to do, but everything must wait. I feel compelled to write something after reading about Joe Andersen’s death in today’s Wisconsin State Journal. “Cadillac Joe,” as he liked to be called, was a well respected jazz  and blues Hammond B3 organist for over 30 years in the Madison area. He played as a sideman for years until starting the Blind Wolf  Blues Band, and later the Cadillac Joe Band, and the Joe Andersen Jazz Organ Group. Among other accomplishments his band originated the Monday night Hammond B3 Night that became a tradition at Cafe Montmartre, was the house band at Luther’s Blues during it’s heyday, played at Jazz at Five, and won the 2001 Isthmus Readers Poll as Madison’s best blues band.

Joe had been dealing with a rare cancer over the last 3 years, but it still comes as a shock. Last week a friend told me Joe had been admitted to the hospital with a bad infection, the result of a weakened immune system from all the cancer treatments. Now Joe’s gone.

I knew Joe through his brother Don, another sax player. Our sax quartet recorded a few times in his basement studio, and once played as a horn section behind The Blind Wolf Blues Band. I went to hear his bands play, and I ran into him occasionally around town.

The last time I saw him was a few years ago when the great jazz organist, Tony Monaco, played at Jazz At Five. Joe was very excited to hear Tony. He described frequent emails and conversations with Tony and referred to him as his mentor. At the time, Joe had just finished his first series of chemo treatments, but was  focused on improving his playing and reforming a band. He needed a new guitar player since his son was now extremely busy with his own band, Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo.

I did not know Joe well but I know he was a dedicated musician, and a genuinely good guy. He will be missed by his family, friends, and the music community. You can read more about Joe at this site set up to promote a benefit for him last December, and in the excerpt below from the International Archives for the Jazz Organ site when he was chosen organist of the month.

According to the newspaper obituary, a memorial service will be held at 11 AM, Tuesday, August 4th at the Olson-Holzhuter-Cress Funeal Home in Deefield. The family will greet friends from 10 AM until the time of the service.

From the IAJO site:

Joe tells his story how he came to the organ: In the mid 60’s I bought a Farfisa organ and taught myself to play best I could by listening and playing along with records. I learned songs like 96 Tears, House of the Rising Sun and other “garage band tunes” of the day. I bought every record I could that had some organ on it. One of those records was a Spencer Davis Group album … There was a tune called “Blues In F” on this album that totally knocked me out. In fact I can listen to that cut today and still be amazed by the incredible Hammond/Leslie sound on that cut. At the time I had no idea who the organist was or how he got that sound, but I literally wore out that track listening to it. It didn’t take long however to figure out that I couldn’t make my Farfisa sound like that. A trip to the local “hippie” music store revealed the truth to me. In a separate little room was what I thought was a church organ. Of course it was a B3. I was not initially impressed. At the time it looked like something that should be in my grandma’s parlor. They assured me this was the best, so they started it for me and I sat down to play a little. I don’t know how to really describe what happened next but when the store closed, they politely asked me to leave. Frankly I was still a kid and not much of a player yet, but this instrument brought out things in me I didn’t know existed. I think that may be the true beauty of the Hammond organ, if you have anything at all inside you, it will coax it out of you if you let it. That was 1969 and I’m of course still playing the Hammond. I’ve also played pianos and synthesizers over the years but have never gone with out a Hammond. I think most Hammond players probably feel the same, but when I sit down in front of the instrument, it’s like I’m home, everything is right and day to day hassles are gone, at least for the time I get to play. Gigs are great, some amount of notoriety is nice, but simply playing the instrument is my greatest musical pleasure. Joe Andersen

Laurie’s Living Room Concerts

The Madison jazz scene continues to show its resiliency. As the number of jazz events in Madison clubs trends downward, jazz is springing up in a variety of other non-drinking establishments. The MMC is leading the way with frequent events at Capitol Lakes, a new series of creative improvised music (free jazz) at Escape Java coffeehouse, and last weekend’s successful mini-jazzfest at Art in the Barn in Fitchburg.

This Saturday another new venue will host a jazz event. Longtime Madison bassist Laurie Lang is presenting the second in an evolving series of concerts at the Faith Community Church on Park Street. Interestingly, this church used to be the jazz club called Bunkies. There are no pews. It is set up coffeehouse style with couches, round tables with chairs,  a Kawai grand piano, and a full PA with great sound. Drinks and desserts will be available during the performance as part of the cover charge.

Last month Laurie hosted an event for a high school band doing music for young people, mostly originals, a few covers, and some of it improvisational in nature. This Saturday, Laurie and John Becker will perform a concert of John’s jazz compositions. Laurie describes John’s songs as a hybrid of Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, and Vince Guaraldi. John plays piano and drums, and sings. Laurie will play bass. Here’s the publicity blurb:

—————–

Laurie’s Living Room Concerts Presents:

“Time Stands Still”

A unique evening of storytelling, through music and spoken word.

On Saturday, July 25^th John Becker and Barb Schultz-Becker will share their journey from disappointment to parenthood. John has recorded his struggles, victories, sorrow and joy in musical compositions that tell the story of “Time Stands Still,”

John is a prolific writer of beautiful music, joyful elementary school music teacher and well- respected jazz artist. He has shared his music in concert halls, clubs, churches and schools. John grew up in Wisconsin doing concerts with his extremely musical family, studied music at UW completing a bachelor and masters degree program, and then worked as a professional musician in LA. In recent years, he has returned to Wisconsin gotten married, become a parent and still gracefully shares his music with many.

Laurie’s Living Room Concerts create a venue that is informal and yet respectful of the artists. It is a gathering to offer a performance space that is cozy, warm and inviting while showcasing the beauty of the art being presented. We ask for a donation to cover the costs involved and provide you with a distinctive performance experience.

Come:

Saturday, July 25^th. 2009

7:30 – 9:30pm

Faith Community, 3 N. Park St., Madison

Coffeehouse style performance: $10 suggested donation/per person: This donation will include the performance, an open dessert table with drinks and a $5off coupon toward a CD.