Boston-based trombonist Brian Thomas, originally from Rochester, is releasing his first solo album On The Bone, which features a composition by the late Roger Eckers, Turn On (a cut from a 1972 Eckers record), which Thomas recorded in his memory of Eckers, who passed away on March 23 last year at 78. "Dr. Eckers was the first person to hand me a trombone at Crane Elementary School and was my band director at Rush-Henrietta High School," says Thomas, who is. "so thankful to have worked with Dr. Eckers and for his continued support and encouragement as I became a professional musician and music educator." Former Eckers student Scott Mayo of Earth Wind & Fire and The Voice also joins Brian on the track, adding a soulful sax solo that they think would make Doc proud. Mayo recalls "I miss him so much and am thankful fo ho he prepared me to be a professional." The album includes 5 additional original soul jazz compositions backed a classic organ trio and percussion rhythm section. 

The new album was available as a CD as of January 27th, and is also available to buy as a digital album (or by track) on Bandcamp (I've embedded it below and Turn On is the first cut). In coordination with Eckers' wife, Brian will be contributing 100% of the proceeds from sales of the Turn On track in Roger Eckers' memory to the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music, Performing Arts Medicine (if you want to send something more, you can send it to P.O. Box 270032, Rochester, NY. 14627-0032).

Still January, but the jazz seems to be heating up a bit.  After the fold you will find the listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester for the next seven days and then some.  You'll also find listings throughout January, February and starting with this post into March. There is also a space for some special gigs that are even further out in 2023.  Let me know when you hear about things....

For those of you who receive this post via email, I hope you like the new format, which should make the email easier to read no matter what device you're using.  Also, perhaps check out the site itself, if you haven't recently. There are a lot of other resources there. 

In July 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King received a request from the producers of the new Berlin Jazz festival to write a forward for the festival’s program. Although he did not actually deliver a speech at the festival, his words remain a powerful statement about jazz music and its musicians.  So, in commemoration of MLK Day, here is the text of the essay he provided the festival (and the world): 

God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.

Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls. Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.

And for those of you who would rather hear the words, check out this video with a reading by multiple jazz artists, a production by Jazz In Pop Culture and SF Jazz:

It's January, right?  Where's the snow (besides Buffalo)? Not to worry, we'll get ours.... After the fold you will find the listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester for the next seven days and then some.  You'll also find listings throughout January and February. There is also a space for some special gigs that are even further out in 2023.  

On your cell?  Click here to go to the site for a better mobile version of this post.

The new year is always a little light at first as people recover from NYE. But I expect it to start building again. After the fold you will find the listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester for the next seven days and then some.  You'll also find listings throughout January and into February. I've also added a space for some special gigs that are even further out in 2023.  

On your cell?  Click here to go to the site for a better mobile version of this post.