DARING STANDARDS AT THIS WEEKEND'S PLAYBOY JAZZ FESTIVAL, THREE ARTISTS TAKE BACK THE MUSIC.Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer JAZZ VOCALIST Nnenna Freelon Nnenna Freelon, (b. July 28, 1954), is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for her vocal work,[1] stumbled upon her chosen profession in her early 30s, years after marrying and starting a family, while juggling a job as a health-care administrator. After seeing how unhappy her job made her, Freelon's husband encouraged her to pursue her lifelong dream of singing. ``He basically said, 'You're not going to use this as an excuse for your unfulfilled dream; go for it. You wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? sing? Sing,' '' she recalls. Audiences attending the Playboy Jazz Festival The Playboy Jazz Festival is an annual event sponsored by Playboy Enterprises to celebrate jazz as well as feature both established and up and coming musicians of the genre. It was founded by Hugh Hefner and was first held in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Stadium in 1959. , now in its 24th year, may be glad that she did. This year's event kicks off early Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheatre at 2301 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California, USA, that is used primarily for music performances. The "bowl" in this context is the natural cavity in the earth into which the amphitheater is built, rather than the shape of the and runs through Sunday, featuring a lineup of artists versed in everything from Latin jazz Latin jazz is the general term given to music that combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz and classical harmonies from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and United States. The two main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazilian and Afro-Cuban. and gospel-soul to Dixieland. ``Jazz has a certain kind of freedom to it,'' says Dick Rosenzweig, president of the Playboy Jazz Festival and executive vice president of Playboy Enterprises Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: PLA), also organized as New Playboy, Inc. (NYSE: PLAA), is the company founded by Hugh Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. It was created in 1953 as the HMH Publishing Co., Inc. . ``It's the most American form of music out there.'' Freelon returns to the Playboy Jazz Festival for the second time in her now decade-long singing career on the heels of her new album, ``Tales of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder.'' ``He is, in my opinion, the standard-bearer of our time,'' Freelon, now in her 40s, says of Wonder. ``When I look at the tunes from Duke Ellington or Cole Porter Noun 1. Cole Porter - United States composer and lyricist of musical comedies (1891-1946) Cole Albert Porter, Porter , as much as I love them, they belong to another generation: my parents' generation and my grandparents' generation in some cases. ``Stevie Wonder is a person who represents mine,'' she says. ``And so I took a page from the book of Ella (Fitzgerald) and Sarah (Vaughan), looking at the popular tunes and the popular songwriters of my generation, and that would be he.'' Freelon's sensual reworkings are part of Saturday's event, which features jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (b. October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Musical Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. , blues singer Etta James and jazz-soul bassist Marcus Miller This article is about the jazz musician. For the German football goalkeeper, see Markus Miller. Marcus Miller (born June 14, 1959 in New York) is a grammy award-winning jazz musician, composer and producer, perhaps best known as a bass guitarist with Miles . The bass player, who once played with greats like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, says that he started combining r&b rhythms with jazz when, as a boy, he first heard Herbie Hancock's 1974 album ``Headhunters.'' ``The thing that drew me in was that funky beat and that funky bass line,'' Miller, 43, says. ``It could have been Bootsy (Collins), you know what I mean? It could have been Sly (Stone). But it was Herbie Hancock.'' ``Rhythm'' is the operative word for Miller, who recently completed the scores for the films ``Deliver Us From Evil,'' starring LL Cool J, and ``Serving Sara,'' starring Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley, in addition to producing albums for other artists. ``Jazz has evolved to a point where it's very artistic, and there's a certain amount of concentration you have to do as a listener to be able to get it all,'' Miller says, explaining, ``There's nothing wrong with that. I just think that there are certain types of jazz where people can participate more because the rhythm draws them in.'' Yet in this age of experimentation, some things never change. Such is the case for jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain, whose appreciation for the music he learned at the so-called ``Conservatory Bourbon Street'' is unwavering. ``I never got in the progressive jazz mood because it never bit me,'' says Fountain, 72, formerly a player on ``The Lawrence Welk Show.'' The New Orleans native says that he prefers his swinging Dixie style, which combines the big-band swing of Benny Goodman with a Dixieland flavor. ``It's great for toe tapping,'' says Fountain, who performs as a guest of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the name for groups of Traditional jazz musicians from New Orleans on tours organized by Preservation Hall. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band usually performs nightly at Preservation Hall and tours around the world over 150 days a year. on the same day that Freelon unveils her ``Tales of Wonder.'' ``You can't discount familiarity,'' Freelon says. ``I tried to put my own spin on the songs, but if you tried to mess with them too much they fell apart in your hands. So I had to respect what each tune wanted to be, and if in my manipulation it became a very different thing that felt weird, I didn't go there.'' PLAYBOY JAZZ FESTIVAL Saturday's lineup: Wynton Marsalis, Etta James & the Roots Band, Arturo Sandoval, Joe Lovano's Street Band, Nnenna Freelon, Preservation Hall Jazz Band with special guest Pete Fountain, Marcus Miller, the Charles Mingus 80th Birthday Tribute Big Band, Maraca, Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, L.A. Multi-School Jazz Band under the direction of Reggie Andrews. Sunday's lineup: Herbie Hancock with Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove, Lee Ritenour, Pattie Austin and the Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra was usually a big band of at least sixteen pieces. Sometimes, as in 1950, it shrank to an eight-piece orchestra. The orchestra, founded by William "Count" Basie, was really a series of bands that had many members come and go over a span of many years, from , Keb' Mo', Cos of Good Music VII, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Alex Acuna with Justo Almario & Tolu tolu or tolu balsam: see balsam. , Chris Botti, Les Yeux Noirs Les Yeux Noirs is a traditional Roma tune and often regarded as the Gypsy Anthem. The definitive versions of this tune were played by Django Reinhardt which he recorded on several occasions. . When: 2:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles. Tickets: $15 to $95 per day. Call (213) 480-3232 or www.ticketmaster.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) FREELON (2) MILLER (3) FOUNTAIN |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion