INTERMISSION

I could always disappear into live jazz. Live jazz has been a wonderful addiction that I have never been able to shake. Players with mystical skills talked to me with sounds that they had just thought of but that carried a lifetime of wisdom. It was way too complex for me to unwind., Those who played it were miracle makers. It showed up in the pictures I took. We are now taking a forced break from live music,  I remain in awe of those who can play it and those who bring it to us. These are the special people whose passion is greater than their aversion to risk. The proprietor of the Dirty Dog Jazz Club, Gretchen Valade, is one of those people. She has always made decisions with her heart. Those around her knew this and conspired to make her vision a reality. For the last six years I have written about this phenomenon. What a great gig it was.

Edouard Munch

These are strange times.

Last week I was notified by an email from the Dirty Dog Jazz Café’s accountant that the blog I wrote and the photography that I have taken there will not be necessary during the club’s mandatory shutdown. I was told that the blog was not financially sustainable.

The Dirty Dog Jazz Café has apparently elected to go silent until an intimate jazz club can reopen. For this reason the Dirty Dog blog has been terminated.

The club has had to close temporarily, but we can hope this grand idea will live on.

Here is the reality that I face

Returning safely to jazz clubs will be a hard task. What makes live jazz wonderful also throws up red flag after red flag. There are shared surfaces everywhere with the bands, chefs and wait staff jammed into small workplaces. There are small aisles with volumes of exhaled breath coming out of horns and exuberant customers shouting and whistling. Ugh. It will require more effort on everyone’s part. Even when we are told that we can go to bars and restaurants, the customers will be entering a much more sterile environment than the name Dirty Dog implies. My return to jazz clubs is even more daunting because of my age and chronic asthma. I am deeply saddened at missing out on  one of my greatest pleasures, the hugs and smiles of friends. I hope to see everyone next year.

We are all defined by how we behave under pressure. We stand strong, we blink, we are a rock, we crumble, we are decisive, we retreat, we shrivel, we show empathy, we are self serving, etc. etc. Adversity can bring forward all our best instincts and can sweep away the cover revealing our weaknesses.

In order to defeat the virus we will have to continue to give up some intimacy. To save our institutions and our livelihoods during this period of sacrifice we will need an infusion of supplemental financial assistance. Half full venues will only be possible if the proprietors don’t go broke. Our re-entry into normalcy will be complex. For a while we must avoid  acting in our own self interest. To be successful we will have to stay alert and act in unity. If we commit to the common good, listen to scientific data and have some discipline we can get back to work and play a littler sooner, and in time with a vaccine we will return to intimacy and perhaps some smiles and hugs.

 

I will try to continue to blog with a new purpose.

A pleasurable part of my life has been spent in crowded events, in a chock full jazz club, in a packed Noni’s restaurant filled with artists, shoulder to shoulder at an arts opening and elbow to elbow at the Eastern Market. As a high risk octogenarian it will be some time, if ever, that I will be comfortable with intimate gatherings. I hope that proper procedures can be put in place so that we can once again enjoy shopping for produce, sharing thoughts with artists, standing in awe of art and sitting in rapture with great live music.

I feel strongly in my heart that we must stay relevant. When everything gets so drab and ordinary we need a shot of color. Those who add that color are in a desperate place.

UNTIL WE CAN SAFELY RETURN, WHAT CAN WE DO TO ASSURE THAT JAZZ IS STILL AROUND WHEN WE COME BACK AND WILL NEED IT MOST

Listen and support the efforts of the community

Share information on opportunities and where to get help and assistance

Stay in touch

Stay informed

Stay the course

 

 

At this moment it seems that it is more important than ever to do something that supports artists in Detroit not just during these hard times but all the time. Lets have an honest discussion. Lets do it together.

Stay tuned.

John Osler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE GOT RHYTHM?

 

   

This coming week trumpeter Walt Szymanski will be playing at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café. Walt is exactly like what  a Walt Szymanski should be like. He is an affable, easy going guy from Detroit and is one heck of a horn player. He has a typical Detroit jazz artist’s bio. It is long and full of famous associates, impressive gigs and descriptions of the time he spent in NYC. Walt has gotten around and is now living in a suburb of Quito, Ecuador where he teaches at a university.  Jazz musicians can settle in anywhere and find a common language in their music. It may take a few moments, but most jazz musicians end up on the same beat. The rest of us can just walk through life moving at our own familiar beat,  a rhythm shared by those around us.

THE RHYTHM OF LIFE

I bounced my children on my knees probably with the same rhythm that my dad used to comfort me. My sister and I jumped swirled and clapped to the beat coming from my parents record player. I had  rhythm, we all got rhythm. When the rhythm of life is right, everything else seems to fall into place.

When I watch a group bustling along a downtown street, I am fascinated by the different body types and strides of the pedestrians. If you look at the movement of the group en masse their feet land at the same time and there is a definite rhythm of the stream. You could put a beat to it. The individuals have adapted their movement to match those around them. We live a life sharing a beat with those around us. We are not always aware of the complex rhythmic patterns of life. There are times when we slow down and listen.  On vacation in a quiet place it may take a few days before our beat becomes one with the sound of the waves or the wind in the trees. And then there is a trip to Cuba.

CUBA

In the New York Times’ Travel section this week was an article titled The Sweet Sounds of Cuba. It describes a  road trip through Cuba that finds each region of the island moves to its own defining rhythm.Here are some excerpts from the article by Shannon Sims.Her observations mirrored what my son Bill and I experienced on our visit to Cuba.

“Just an hour’s flight from the United States, Cuba is drenched in music. You hear it everywhere, emanating from bars or homes or religious ceremonies. For many visitors, Cuban music is defined by the traditional sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club or Celia Cruz. But Cuban music stretches far beyond those sounds; its roots draw on Africa and Haiti, France and Spain. Genres come together and break apart, like flocks of starlings at dusk, endlessly forming new shapes and sounds.

Cuban music is often described as a tree, with various primary roots that supply life for many branches. But separating the island’s music into distinct genres is an inherently flawed task — they intertwine and cross. And it’s become trickier in recent years: Styles shift with increasing speed as Cubans dive into the possibilities provided by the internet. Across the island, we met musicians taking traditional sounds and twisting them, and finding new ways to reach an audience. Cuban music is in turbo mode.

“I wish you luck in trying to describe Cuban music with words,” Claudio laughed at me as we headed home that night in Gibara, after a stop for a pork sandwich. “The way to know Cuban music is to hear it for yourself.”

To really discover Cuban music, he said, you need to head to the countryside. “In Havana you can see a lot of people from a lot of places in Cuba making interesting stuff, but what you miss are the roots.”

The core of rumba is the clave, an instrument that to an outsider looks like two wooden sticks about the width and length of carrots. But the clave, in the hands of rumba musicians like Los Muñequitos, becomes a through-line from Africa to Cuba, and acts as the maestro of rumba, setting the pace and the tone of all other instruments, like the maraca shaker, or the batá drum, a Yoruba drum that stands upright on the ground and is slapped on the top.

Other percussion elements are usually added into a rumba composition, and soon it becomes a crowd of sounds, almost like a cascade of beats. Because rumba is polyrhythmic, with multiple rhythms happening at the same time in one song, to an outsider it can sound cacophonous and disorganized. But if you let your mind give up trying to find the rhythm, you have a better chance of actually finding it.

The percussion of rumba is spiked by call-and-response singing. For some rumba musicians and listeners, rumba is a religious experience. Listeners who are also believers in Afro-Cuban religions like Santería may experience the African gods taking control of their body, forcing them to dance and move in ways typical of that orisha.

The sound of conga is predominantly percussive: Drums of all kinds are gathered (“you just grab anything and start playing!” one onlooker explained to me), but there is usually always a higher-pitched quinto drum in the mix. The earsplitting bang of conga is made by hitting metal sticks on doughnut-shaped motorcycle brakes.

Together the instruments — the six-stringed tres, the conga drums, and the cheese-grater-like guayo scratcher — sound like rain drops, falling in different tones and at different speeds, but ultimately crescendoing to form a rolling storm, one that you can almost envision rolling across the Oriente’s green hills.

The instrument that makes changüí unique is the marímbula. The marímbula looks like a big box. On the front of the box, a row of wide metal teeth bridge over holes carved into the wood. The marímbula player sits on the box, and reaches between his or her legs to pluck the metal teeth, whose vibration builds inside the box and exits the holes with a deep bass note. Listening to the marímbula in the studio, we could feel the sounds in the bottoms of our feet first, a buzzing vibration almost demanding them to lift up and dance.”

My son Bill and I were at an open air concert in Havana, Cuba. Bill is a very good drummer and was studying with local percussionists. He was trying to get a handle on Cuban rhythms. One of his new friends invited us to hear some of the Island’s hottest salsa music. The place was packed and everyone was on their feet. They moved to the music en mass, shoulder to shoulder except for the two doofuses from the USA. It wasn’t that we didn’t make the right moves, it was that we moved at the wrong time. We both moved and clapped out of sync with those around us. We opted to remain still and smile with appreciation for the remarkable complex rhythms surrounding us. With time Bill mastered the complex pulse of the Island, I learned a deep appreciation for Bill and for all drummers.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING?

Bill tried again and again to teach me the son clave. The five-stroke son clave pattern represents the structural core of most Afro-Cuban rhythms. All those at the concert had the clave embedded in their every move. I needed to learn this beat. Bill would clap the beat and I would match him once or twice. When I was alone I could never sustain the beat. It never happened. I guess that I am who I am and I move on my own beat.

When I hear it I can really feel the clave beat. I am moved by this beat, but I just can’t replicate it. What is going on.?What is missing?

ALL THE WORLD’S GOT RHYTHM

Playing for Change features musicians from around the world, all sharing their music. take a look.

Studies have shown that North American adults are not rhythm challenged, We have plenty of rhythm, but we are just more accustomed to a regular meter. It is our music’s underlying beat. We are just challenged by more complex beats that are not common in our music.

“What you find in almost all the world’s music is that at some level, there is a regular beat,” said Edward Large, who studies the neuroscience and psychology of rhythm at Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences in Boca Raton.

“Music might have a relatively complicated pattern of timing. But you still hear a basic, underlying beat—that framework that formulates the rhythm,” Large said. “We have a very strong bias toward hearing periodic regularity. Some say we actively try to impose [that regularity] on an incoming rhythm”. ( like the son clava)

BLAME IT ON OUR CULTURE

Lange’s studies point out that our culture deeply influences our perception. “Culture encompasses a tremendous range of complex societal constructs, including laws, beliefs, morals, and art.  In addition, music and language from a given culture share rhythmic properties. For example, English and French musical rhythmic structures are more similar to English and French speech rhythms (respectively) than to each other, in the sense that English music is more rhythmically variable than French music, and English speech is more rhythmically variable than French speech  broader cultural linguistic experience can improve rhythm perception. These studies show that enculturation to the rhythmic aspects of music and language occurs early in development and continues into adulthood.” This may explain my struggle learning French late in life.

WE CAN BLAME IT ON OUR YOUTH

A recent study found that kids in North American are more adept than adults at recognizing complex musical rhythms. When we are infants we respond to both familiar and more complex foreign musical rhythms. This is good, but we can also lose the ability to discern irregular rhythms. By the time babies celebrate their first birthday, their ears are already tuned to the rhythms and sounds of their culture. One-year-olds in North America, for example, notice subtle changes in waltz-like rhythms but not in the complex dance rhythms unique to other continents. At some point I didn’t get enough Xavier Cugat spun on the Victrola and have suffered rhythmically ever since.

WE CAN BLAME IT ON OUR CHURCH

” Because that’s where it all started, and that’s where it all come from – that’s where I learned to keep rhythm – in church.”  Art Blakey

Art Blakey was a professional rhythmologist, he was a drummer with an unwavering solid beat. Art Blakey was as solid as his church building and as spirited as the services he . attended. My rhythm did not come from the time I spent at an all white Episcopal Church. If anyone moved to the music it was because they began to waver from standing so properly for such a long time. I am still trying to learn to go with the beat. I have to find someone who has the beat and clap along with them.

OR WE CAN ENJOY THE RHYTHMS OF LIFE WHERE WE FIND THEM.

“I’m very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. There has to be a rhythm with it … Interviewers have said, you like jazz, don’t you? Because we can hear it in your writing. And I thought that was a compliment.”― Elmore Leonard

 

I will be tapping this out on a computer keyboard, sometimes with a latin beat. It maybe never too late to get rhythm.

John Osler

 

COMING TO THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

October 9 – October 12

WALT SZYMANSKI

Blessed as a student of both Herbie Williams and Marcus Belgrave, and then musical director for the legendary J.C. Heard & his Orchestra as well as hard-bop groups IMPACT and the Motor City Jazz Quintet marked the highlights of Walt’s early career in Detroit.

The next twenty years found Walt in NYC engrossed in a myriad of music endeavours as both trumpet/vocal artist and composer/arranger/orchestrator as well, serving in the later capacity for BET, American Idol and Dancing With The Stars.

Currently Walt lives in Tumbaco Ecuador, a suburb of Quito. He now directs his life towards chillaxin’, composing, studying, mentoring young minds, attempting to discern the pulse of the future musical model and performing with his second line group, the Zulu Kings Brass Band as well as a selection of diverse projects.

           

 

 

 

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Every year I get away from home for a few weeks. I have found a place or two where I can take some time to look around at my surroundings. This is different from traveling and is helpful in the creative process.

All artists have a unique process that they are comfortable with. When they write their kid a letter or create their life defining masterpiece they begin by realizing that they have something to say. How they get to the finished letter or final version of their masterpiece is what we can call the creative process.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

MY THOUGHTS ON THE STAGES OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

As freeing as creating something is it still tends to fall into a predictable process. A lot has been written describing the creative process. Seldom have the authors had jazz and the fast sketch in mind when they were writing, so I came up with my own set of stages for the creative process.

Creating something wonderful shouldn’t  be an arduous task that you want to delay starting and never want to finish.

When I spend time around jazz music I find myself in awe of something being created spontaneously, in the moment, and often as a group.

For a very long time I have been fascinated by the ability of jazz musicians to create new music on the fly and make it look easy.  Another guy steps up and adds to the first guy’s thoughts. Soon they are joined by others who move the groove in a new direction.  Each time I have heard Happy Birthday played at the Dirty Dog it is in a new form. No one plays it straight. It is approached like we have never heard it before.  Ian Finkelstein often has written new tunes for his Dirty Dog gig.  His quartet plays each new tune as if it were a familiar Cole Porter song. The creative juices are on full display. It is why we come to listen to live music.

Is it magic? Sometimes it is magical. I think, however that it is a result of preparation, and from that preparation comes the confidence to joyfully go down new paths. They have mastered the creative process.

They first found a story they wanted to tell. They understood the depth of the story. They then constructed the story so that it was clear to them and could be shared.  Then they told it in their own unique voice.

I have observed that poets, writers, musicians, actors, painters and all other artists are seldom conscious of their personal deliberate creative process. I do think there are stages that most artists follow.

Over the next few weeks while I am on vacation I will once again try to explore them.

CREATIVE STAGES (my version)

I feel the creative process can be broken down into the following four stages. We are constantly exploring, observing, editing our observations and putting our observations into our own words. All of these actions are equally important and affect each other.

EXPLORE

This is where the subject is found. We have to make an effort to get out and experience the things around us.

OBSERVE

It is important to clearly see those things that we have found. Soak them in.

EDIT

This is the process when we eliminate and include pieces of information.

INTERPRET

This is where we put our personal stamp on our creation.

SHARE

This is an optional step in the creative process. Sharing the product of the creative process isn’t necessary but can be rewarding in many ways.

FIRST STAGE:  EXPLORE

The beginning of a creative act comes from the artist’s personal journey. Everything in one’s life prepares that person to make something out of it. We  accumulate piles of subject matter as we go along living our lives. Some people can create from looking out the window of their favorite room if they have a passion for that view. I tend to search outside the familiar.

We learn and learn and learn. We practice and practice and practice. And then we create something that looks or sounds like what we learned and practiced. Great. The result can, however, be boring, something that has been done and is not all that interesting.

We are surrounded all our lives with expected and acceptable music and art, items that are well crafted and comfortable to live with. We call it great art when someone with complete mastery of their instrument / brush / pen freely explores a new place. What distinguishes jazz from other forms of music is the expectation that we will be witnessing a unique event. Artists are free to improvise and to stray from the expected. When they  do we shout, “Bravo”. The creative process starts after we have learned and practiced and have gained the tools. After the hard work is done we are free to create something new.

As much as we prepare and as much instruction as we get, we have to be nimble and improvise as life throws obstacles in our way.

CREATIVE EXPLORERS

A formal education isn’t required for an individual to live a creative life.

Here are some examples of creative types who were mentored by some of the best in their field, studied hard and then threw off all their restraints. They both had a gift to look around them, use what they saw and set out on a journey of exploring the possible.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Frank Lloyd Wright as far as we can tell never finished high school or college but learned his trade as a draftsman and apprentice with architectural firms in Chicago.

He put a lot of time and serious thought into his craft before he found his voice. He wasn’t satisfied to simply replicate the designs of his teachers and mentors. He looked around and founded the “prairie style” which reflected Chicago’s surrounding landscape. He called this ” organic architecture”. He said ” Study nature, love nature,stay close to nature…it will never fail you.” He took a chance when he ventured into new paths with his clients. Thanks, Frank, for taking the risk.

Here are two of my favorite quotes of F.L.W. that defined his approach.

“Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change.”

“The truth is more important than facts.”

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Louis had a rough start and a strong finish to his life. Born in poverty and abandoned by his parents he was schooled in music by a long string of mentors in New Orleans.

He started working at a very young age to support his family, singing on street corners for pennies, working on a junk wagon, cleaning graves for tips, and selling coal. His travels around the city introduced him to all kinds of music, from the blues played in the Storyville honky tonks to the brass bands accompanying the New Orleans parades and funerals. The music that surrounded him was a great source of inspiration.

Joe “King” Oliver, a member of Kid Ory’s band and one of the finest trumpet players around, became Armstrong’s mentor. When Oliver moved to Chicago, Armstrong took his place in Kid Ory’s band, a leading group in New Orleans at the time.  This experience enabled him to play with many prominent jazz musicians and to further develop his skills, learning to read music and undertaking the responsibilities of a professional gig. Louis took these gifts and then changed the music. His phrasing and voice has had a foundational influence on jazz.

Satchmo summed it up with: “We all do do,re,mi but you have to find the other notes yourself.”

PLACES THAT HAVE INSPIRED ME

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to get away to explore different places and new people. Sometimes this has provoked me into looking more closely at all the good things around me. For the next few weeks I will be at Lake Saganaga in Ontario.

THE ISLAND

GETTING AWAY TO A QUIET PLACE

I am a lucky guy. Every week I have the opportunity to leave a challenging world, enter the Dirty Dog Jazz Café and get lost in the music. Everyone needs a place like this and not all are as fortunate as I am. Sometimes I get to take a longer break from the things outside my control.

Every summer I take a break from the sounds of power mowers, TV, my aging, faltering and frustrating computer, traffic and political noise, I spend as much time as I can in an environment where you have to listen carefully to hear the sound of an eagle’s wings as it flies overhead. A place where one can make peace with oneself and recharge ones’ good feelings about our world.

When I start to paint I often stand back and spend a lot of time looking at an empty canvas or an ugly start on the canvas and sometimes find myself staring out into space. Is this staring at my empty canvas part of my creative process? I think so. I will find out.  For more of a sure thing, catch the creative jazz at the Dirty Dog.

John Osler

COMING THIS WEEK TO THE DIRTY DOG

July 24 – 27

THE FOUR FRESHMEN

For just being Freshmen they seem to have some history.

These undergraduates are perennial overachievers, especially in making us feel good. Corners of mouths start to turn up when they get in a groove. Even those who are smile challenged find themselves grinning. It’s the perfect group for lovers with memories.

67 years ago The Freshman were formed and began replacing barbershop quartets with their new sound. I was a fan of Stan Kenton, and he heavily influenced the young group. It was Stan Kenton who eventually gave the Freshmen a lift up.

Their sound is secure in the hands of the current group who might be the best set of musicians to date. More than just another vocal group, these are jazz musicians who sing. Throughout their history most members of the Four Freshmen have played more than one instrument.

Pack up your gloom and bring your memories to the Dog this week. Help us celebrate  with some good food, great jazz and a lot of smiles.

GEORGE ” SAX ” BENSON

Just over a week ago Willie Jones passed a note to a visiting pianist from New York, Emmet Cohen. Emmet then informed a sold out audience at the Dirty Dog that George “Sax” Benson had died. Emmet knows a lot about jazz and has always been drawn to Detroit’s jazz, yet when I asked him about George, he told me that he didn’t know either George or his music. He did know that the loss of any Detroit jazz artist is a major loss for jazz.

This news had the same effect on me as listening to country music often has, I was knocked back with sadness that was followed by a warm feeling that everything is going to be all right. The mention of George “Sax” Benson will bring a smile to the face of anyone who has been touched by his story and his music.

GEORGE “SAX” BENSON  1929-2019

One of the reasons that George isn’t a household name in America’s music history is because he was never interested in the spotlight. George had no problem playing in front of or talking to a throng of admirers, but reserved the right to also lead a satisfying private life. Important facts about George are that he retired from the post office after 30 years of service, that he was happily married for almost 64 years and that George could really play the sax. He was so good that he was asked to play with:

Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, Debbie Reynolds, Glen Campbell, Milton Berle, Ella Fitzgerald, Edie Adams, Dinah Washington, Mel Torme, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, Diana Carroll, Four Tops, Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Kenny Burrell, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Errol Garner, Quincy Jones, Nelson Riddle, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Brook Benton, Jackson 5, Diana Ros, Bill Cosby, Lou Rawls, Tony Bennett, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Sheila Jordan, Rosemary Clooney, Mildred Bailey, Vic Damone, Martha Reeves, Rich Little, BB Queen, Regis Philbin, Michael Feinstein, Tommy Tune, Steve Allen, Della Reese, Sammy Davis, Jr., Louis Armstrong, Tommy Flanagan, Benny Golson, Earl Bostic, Pepper Adams, J.C. Heard, Ernie Wilkins, Peter Duchin, Hank Jones, Yusef Leteef, Doug Watkins, Willie Anderson, Paul Chambers

 

This long list of America’s most celebrated entertainers all thought that George was someone special. As important to George was knowing that he was special to his family and friends. George was successful at living the life he chose to live. Wouldn’t be nice If we all could be so lucky?

A LIFE WELL LIVED

George Benson chose a life in music but would never allow music to choose his life. He told me once that he was a very lucky man. He came into music at a time when there were a lot of gigs. Early in his life Detroit was a good town to be a musician. TV shows needed live bands, people liked to dance to live music, and there were plenty of jazz clubs.

George realized that he could finish a mail route by 4PM and still get a couple of evening music gigs. He had a plan. He could get out and share his music and his family would have a secure life.  He didn’t have to go on the road.  He would never be so famous that Emmet Cohen would have heard of him, but his family and local jazz fans sure knew that this was a remarkably gifted man.

The last time I saw George was at his last gig at the Dirty Dog.

George just had his 87th birthday and his birthday gift to us was his tone and phrasing. When I watched George play,  he sometimes seemed to disappear from the moment and take us on a trip into his past. I felt his emotions even though I didn’t know what episode in his life had just reappeared in his thoughts. Listening to George play a ballad we know that George has experienced some love. As he played, George’s face showed his story as much as his saxophone.

Here is a blog that I posted after George played his last gig at the Dirty dog.

“No problem, he will be here.”  Willie Jones

There are situations that spring up and test us. Everyone looks around for a way out of the mess. Sometimes the monstrous obstacle that is thrown in our path isn’t as big as we think it is, and we just needed someone to bring the problem into perspective. Willie Jones, the manager of the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, often is that someone.

That night a pretty full house was settling in to see one of Detroit’s legendary jazz-men, George “Sax” Benson. As showtime was approaching,  George was missing. The piano player didn’t know where he was, the drummer said he was coming on his own and the bass player said, “Oh…oh…. this is unlike George.”  All eyes turned to Willie. Willie will certainly handle this. Everything will be alright. The lights dimmed which is the signal to us that the musicians are on their way to the bandstand. Happy clinks of knives and forks on porcelain mixed with laughter as the celebrants  waited for the music to start. No one including Willie knew where George was or if he would be there.

I watched in semi-panic as events unfolded. I looked at Willie who looked as calm as our old cat lying in front of the fireplace. He reminded me of those other kids that had really studied before a test. Nonplussed, unshaken, his attitude was calming and reassuring.

Whew, no problem, things will be alright, and they were. It turns out that George got waylaid in traffic and did arrive late. Willie had the piano trio go on until George arrived, and then George played an extra 30 minutes making this a great night for those who came to hear this master of the music. George’s unbridled joy in playing to an appreciative and understanding audience was on full display.

Willie’s lesson for all of us is that old saying, “Opportunity seldom rises with blood pressure.”

  HERE IS GEORGE BENSON AT THE DIRTY DOG

 Detroit Jazz Festival will be jamming at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café on the 3rd Monday of each month until the Detroit Jazz Festival.

THERE WILL BE A JAM THIS MONDAY MARCH 18, 2019 @ 7:00PM

     

DETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL JAM AT THE DIRTY DOG

The third Monday of each month the Dirty Dog Jazz Café opens its doors for the Detroit Jazz Festival sponsored OPEN JAM. This Monday the house band will be once again filled with some of Detroit’s finest jazz artists and educators. Anyone lucky enough to hear about this evening will be treated to some serious musical strutting as the young musicians unpack their best stuff and put forward their challenges to any old thinking. The evening always seems to build in intensity as the night goes on.

When Bing Crosby would attend jam sessions, the musicians would say he was “jammin’ the beat”, since he would clap on the one and the three. It is thought that these sessions became known as “jam sessions”.

In February after the jam ended some tips on “jamming the beat”were handed out. Two of Detroit’s very best jazz artists stayed around to spend some time with a group of earnest young drummers. Marion Hayden brought her bass a little closer to Sean Dobbins drum kit and started playing the song that the young drummer being instructed by Sean had played earlier that evening. She pointed out to him that he had not supplied the beat during the jam when she gave him a signal that she needed it. Sean demonstrated and the young drummer will not forget the lesson nor will those watching. No ones feelings were hurt. Jazz artists seem to be able pass on the rules of the game from generation to generation more as a gift than an admonishment. Come on out and watch the torches get passed

 

COMING TO THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

March 20 – 23

 

RAYSE BIGGS

Rayse Biggs will bring his gravity defying music  to the Dirty Dog Jazz Café for four nights of authentic Detroit jazz. Rayse has always attracted talented musicians to play alongside him. Come and hear why.

  

LOFTY PLACES

 

Photo from The Japan Times

JAZZ  JOURNALIST KYOSHI KOYAMA

This week I read of the passing of Kiyoshi Koyama. Kiyoshi Koyama isn’t a name that will jump off the page in our country. In Japan he was regarded as the nation’s preeminent jazz journalist. In the U.S. he was a friend to a lot of our best jazz musicians. He had a passion for jazz, and he filled his life with a search to find all he could about the artists who have created music out of perseverance, grit, hard work and freedom of spirit. In his lifetime he accumulated over 30,000 jazz CDs and vinyl albums. He also recorded hundreds of interviews with the best jazz musicians in the States and in Japan. He had a peculiar interest in getting to know the person as well as the musician. It was so important to him to somehow figure out what made jazz artists tick. He travelled back and forth from Japan to the US to Japan all the while bringing the music and the artist’s stories to his jazz loving island. He was the editor of Swing magazine and was a keen writer and critic. Kiyoshi produced many archival albums that were compilations from his huge personal collection. From the jolly photo above he appears to have had a pretty good life immersed in jazz.

WHERE WE FIND JAZZ WE ALSO FIND HOPE

Jazz was banned in Japan during World War II, along with other  music from the West. After the war, however, Japanese jazz musicians took up their instruments again and began playing bebop, a new style of jazz coming out of the U.S.

Following the war,  Kiyoshi Koyama was introduced to jazz music through the US’s Far East Radio Network which was run in part by our military. The music was intended for our troops stationed in Japan. It changed the course of Kyoshi’s life. In 1952 he heard his first live jazz played by by one of our country’s most important diplomats, Louis Armstrong. Louis was a symbol of all that was right about America at a time when the world needed an upbeat message. The world could relate to the jazz that Louis Armstrong played that came out of shared pain and struggle. Louis was living evidence that jazz might just help bring us back to life. Good times might be back again. Music has a way of straightening things out. The world welcomed and embraced jazz. Jazz brought the honest goodness and inclusiveness of the best of America into full view. Jazz was an American export. It was democratic, forgiving and expansive. It was very appealing to think that anyone can tell their story and vision and be heard and seen. The jazz artists that broke new barriers were seen as giants in recently  oppressed nations.

Kiyoshi wanted to know everything about the new cats who were bringing all the fresh energy to jazz He wanted to meet and write about the new wave of free thinking jazz musicians. He got his chance.

He was asked to fly to New York to write an article about the city’s avant garde jazz scene. There he met saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

ARTIST’S LOFTS

Kyoshi arrived at a time when Ornette Coleman was playing “free jazz”. He also was starting a free spirited way of life in NYC when he created one of the first “jazz lofts”.

Artists sometimes have to make do with just having music in their lives, and not much else. Sacrificing the good life for a life filled with music isn’t for everyone. Jazz lofts supplied an affordable place to crash, share costs and create.

Kiyoshi liked to interview artists in their homes. Koyama explained, “My style is to meet a musician and see his home, and find out how they live. That shows me another side of the musician. That’s interesting to me. That’s why I visited Ornette’s place. You can find a different side of a musician from the one on stage.”

Ornette Coleman’s home was  over his studio space in his large loft on Prince Street. Ornette’s loft became a venue for free jazz and an art gallery. It  was quickly replicated in dingy affordable spaces that dotted New York. The first journalist to tell us about the energy in these lofts was not local, it was Kyoshi. Since then there has been much written about the goings on in these spaces where artists could crash and learn. Cheap rent, freedom of expression and sharing of creative ideas can still be found in lofts in cities around the world, at least until success intervenes and rents go up.

 

 

Kyoshi and Ornette became friends and visited each other many times. Kyoshi’s interest in what makes jazz tick is shared by fans and musicians around the world.

Here is Richard William’s description of a solo concert in the Prince Street loft by South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim that Ornette had arranged for journalists. It may explain the international appeal of jazz. 

“Calmly, the South African seated himself at grand piano in the middle of the light, spacious loft while the visitors drew up their chairs in a semi-circle around him. He placed his hands together, bowed his head for a moment, and then he began. Perhaps he played for ten minutes, or perhaps it was half an hour. Nobody in that room would have been able to say which.

He began with a hymn tune direct from the African Methodist Episcopal Church in which he worshipped and sang as a child: a slow, wise tune, its melody moving with a graceful inevitability, supported by simple harmonics that resonated with the richness of entire choirs. Then he changed gear, into dance tune that moved to a swaying, sinuous beat and gathered momentum until it sounded like a whole township stepping out. Changing up again, his hands began to hammer great tremolos at both ends of the keyboard, the air in the room seeming to shimmer and the floor to shudder as his big fingers rolled harder and harder in a gigantic crescendo until suddenly bright treble splashes fell across the dark patterns, like sudden bursts of sunlight piercing a storm. Now pure energy took over, the melodies broken into angular abstract figures which leaped, tumbled and fought with a ferocious intensity, bypassing the logic centers of the brain to reach some place that responds only to kinetic stimuli. Just when it seemed that the intensity might burst the windows, Ibrahim came off the throttle, returned to the doubled-handed tremolos, rewound slowly and with infinite care through the dance tune and the hymn, and deposited us back where he had found us, in silence — except that the silence now sounded completely different. As each listener raised his head, he saw something in the others’ eyes: an emotion that linked the German, the Brazilian, the Japanese and the Englishman to the most profound recesses of what Hoagy Carmichael called jazz’s “deep, dark blue centre.” Thanks to a South African pianist in a New York loft, they had touched the core.”

ARTISTS LOFTS IN DETROIT

     

This past Saturday I spent time in an artist’s loft in Detroit. Luis Resto has a space in Eastern Market on the third floor of DeVries Cheese building. Luis is one of Detroit’s overly modest musicians that seem to be important to everybody but themselves. He has earned his place at the top of his profession. He also is a Detroiter and a loft guy. so he listens to others. On Saturdays he opens up his magical space for anyone who wants to to have their moment in his world. Lofts like all common places can sometimes be restricting to the free expression that you have when noone is hearing or seeing your efforts. Ornette and Luis make it clear that free expression is OK.

I have a space next to Luis’s music loft where I can store canvases and paint. I am not sure what kind of magnetic pull lofts have for bringing in interesting people but it seems they find themselves sucked in. Free jazz and freely done art continues to bring in the best people. In Detroit at this moment that means people from all over the world are likely to show up. Not much has changed since Kyoshi first told us about it.

John Osler

COMING TO THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

February 27 – March 2

GERALD GIBBS

Gerald Gibbs loves what he does. He plays the Hammond B3 organ, and plays it, and plays some more.

Here is what James Carter said about Gerald: “Gerard is basically a continuation of the organ tradition. Playing with him is like getting together with family. He is an individual that is always looking for new things in the music,” When Carter assembles an organ trio, Gerald is the organist he wants.

FEBRRRUARY

RANDY NAPOLEON VERSUS THE POLAR VORTEX

Something called the polar vortex sent dangerously cold weather into the north central states last week. Flesh left exposed to the cold wind for any time was susceptible to frostbite. We were warned to stay put and go outside only if necessary. Many Detroiters stayed at home exposing themselves to cable TV showing us endless explanations of the polar vortex and pictures of icy empty city streets. Living in the Northern Hemisphere we survive because we know that February is the last full month of winter, that the dangerously hot days of summer are way down the road, and that we are better for having the ability to stand up to winter. We feel sorry for those in the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics as they will be soon be facing the start of winter.

 

SHOWING UP

Jazz guitarist Randy Napoleon showed up last week at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café. The temperature outside the club was indeed in negative territory. The wind chill was maybe 30 degrees below zero. Inside the cozy Dirty Dog it just got hotter and hotter for four nights. The brave musicians surrounding Randy were young and energized. Those who were not curled up with a book on these bone chilling nights and wandered into the club had a heck of a good time listening to jazz music. February in Michigan can help us appreciate the great indoors. When Randy Napoleon and friends got done playing on Saturday night, they had helped drive the vortex away and the outside temperature went up 50 degrees from when they started on Wednesday.  Well done.

  

It was so cold outside the Dirty Dog last week that dogs were frozen in mid stride.

When the frigid weather sweeps in we tend to hunker down. The streets become empty and, sometimes, magic moments are missed. Again this past Wednesday night was one of those events that those who risked the storm will not forget. Randy was joined by three up and coming young jazz musicians. They played jazz and no one thought about the weather.

    

They turned out to be the right bunch at the right place on the right night. They lit up the place. There was some well deserved whooping and whistling coming from the bar area. The band had a great time connecting with their music, and their joy was contagious.

Last week at the Dirty Dog give us a chance to be part of a magical process especially in such an intimate club. The musicians tested each other and found common grooves. These were special moments.

I hesitated before putting on my gloves and heavy coat. I was rewarded for my effort and I will carry the experience of that night for a long, long time. I am glad I ventured out that night and richer for having taken the risk.

Maybe the greater risk would be to not go to the Dirty Dog.

John Osler

In February we are expecting more cold days followed by warm nights inside the Dirty Dog Jazz Café.

 

February 6-9

ROB CROZER

Rob Crozier is a jazz musician/composer/arranger living and playing bass, percussions and whatever he can find that makes music in the Southeastern Michigan area.

 The Rob Crozier Jazz Ensemble is emerging as one of Michigan’s premiere jazz ensembles. Expect a heavy dose of hard-swinging jazz mixed with Rob’s unique mix of funk and world music.  

   

February 13  – 16

ANTHONY STANCO

What a pleasure it is to watch Detroit’s young jazz artists come into their own. Anthony has become familiar to anyone that frequents the Dirty Dog. He seems to be on everyone’s go to list. He will be bringing his trumpet, his ideas and his pure sound for four days this week.

        

February 20 – 23

DAVE BENNETT

For all four nights the place will be packed. it will be jammed with those who have an appreciation of our jazz roots. They will be treated to being only feet away from musicians who share their love of jazz and will be playing it about as well as anybody can. They will unabashedly play music that makes one feel good to be alive.

    

February 27 – March 2

GERALD GIBBS

Gerald Gibbs loves what he does. He plays the Hammond B3 organ, and plays it, and plays some more. Here is what James Carter said about Gerald:

“Gerard is basically a continuation of the organ tradition. Playing with him is like getting together with family. He is an individual that is always looking for new things in the music,” When Carter assembles an organ trio, Gerald is the organist he wants.

      

 

THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT

THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS WEEK

As the holidays loom and undone tasks build. it would be easy to slip into grumpiness. We will have to make space and plan to feed a lot of our family again after having it all to ourselves, or try and find a convenient affordable airfare and get out of town.

We are at a time of year when things pile up, and we are up against a very real deadline of December 25. This is a difficult period with its unspoken demands that this coming holiday season should be a constant joyous celebration of life. Starting in December it seems that everything is stacked against us. We will have little sunshine and more darkness in Michigan. We are asked to shop at a time when stocks of goods are running short and the only parking places are at the other end of the mall. Exiting the shopping center your spirits probably won’t be lifted by the gloomy bearded guy by the cauldron eying with disapproval your donation of what was left in your pocket.

You should be watching your weight and your alcohol consumption exactly when you  need it the most. There will be little solace and understanding drifting your way from your nearby family and friends who don’t really have time, what with all their shopping. It seems that understanding, merriment and glee won’t be back in our lives until probably after Christmas dinner, right after we have had a chance to chat with that contrary uncle. if we live that long.

December sweeps in and challenges us all to remain civil and supportive of others. and we are inclined to go into our protective mode. We add layers of clothes to protect us from the chill early winter winds and pad ourselves against our inability to get everything done in time.

This is the season for decorating, forgetting, procrastinating, and neglecting.

Every year we are starting to decorate for the holidays a little earlier. Shops and front yards have had strings of lights strung, new bangles have been dangled and a lot of green  and red objects have suddenly appeared. This is intended to lift your spirit but can sometimes just remind us that we should be doing more.

What we need most at this time of year is some support and comforting smiles. 

 

Finding peace while getting all your shopping done.

At my darkest moments of falling behind in my assigned holiday tasks , I am often lifted by observing a kind act or friendly word. It happens when someone offers to help me carry my purchases to my car at Eastern Market. It happens when I get a card in the mail with a message from someone that I had lost touch with, and it happens when I listen to some carols and hear the joyous message. It happens when I hear the silly songs that remind me that we sometimes take life too seriously. It happens when we see the glee in children’s faces.

At times like this I try to be around creative people who welcome challenge and confront obstacles as part of their gig. I have noticed that so many relaxed jazz musicians who slide out of the cold and into the Dirty Dog seem thrilled to have this gig added to their busy schedule. This makes me wonder what is it about musicians that they can shake any  anxiety and just get lost in their music.

To play jazz you must carefully listen to one another, and you must be free to focus on the task at hand. Jazz musicians are remarkably good at clearing their heads. It could be that they just know how to enjoy and relish the moment. This allows them to smile their way through December.

TAKE A BREAK FROM SHOPPING AND CATCH SOME  JAZZ THIS WEEK AT THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

Some people like the idea of having a more tranquil holiday. They would choose to seek out a peaceful place where they can think deep thoughts. The Dirty Dog Jazz Café would not be  that place. Not that there isn’t any deep thinking there, but just that there is a lot more frivolity than quiet.

Break the cycle and take someone with you for a night out for some good food served as if you deserved the best. Top it off by getting lost in some jazz.

Each week the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe hosts spirit lifting live performances from the greatest jazz musicians across the country.

This week the Dirty Dog will be prepared to help you celebrate this glorious season. Forget about all the anxieties that tend to well up at the holidays. They will make sure that once you pass through into this cozy and comfortable place you will find a genial staff, a kindly bartender, tasty food and good fellowship.  Shahida Nurullah and her band  will chase the loop of bad seasonal jingles out of your head.

We hope that you will join us for an evening of good will and good fellowship at the Dirty Dog, and that you find peace and comfort in your home all through the holidays.

John Osler

THIS JOYOUS WEEK AT THE DIRTY DOG

December 19 – December 22

SHAHIDA NURULLAH

Put your snow shovel aside and  discover what Shahida Nurullah is up to. Sometimes we overuse the word resilient . Whatever, resilient is the first word that comes to mind that best describes Shahidah. Hers has been a life of bouncing back and then being asked to bounce back again. The bumps in her life included a serious accident that left her challenged to speak. Well, her beautiful voice is a testimony to the recuperative power of music. Don’t miss Shahidah. We are blessed to be able to hear her inspirational voice which will be on display Wednesday through Saturday.

DETROIT JAZZ, A HOLIDAY STORY

DETROIT JAZZ, THE BOOK

Cover photo of Will Austin at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café

One of Detroit’s greatest assets is her first class hard working musicians. Jazz drifted up the Mississippi River from New Orleans through St Louis and Chicago and spread to the bustling city of Detroit. The music found fertile ground and the city has played a key role in the development of the music from the early 30s until today. A tradition of discipline, good mentoring and living the stories has made Detroit the schoolhouse for jazz. Through good times and tough times the motor city has driven the world’s music machine. Hardship has only strengthened our jazz.  The music has always been passed on by respected and tough taskmasters to eager young musicians. From time to time there have been moments that have challenged keeping jazz alive in Detroit. A major threat happened about a decade ago.

Detroit’s defining music was at a crossroads following an exodus of businesses, jobs and people from our city. One of Detroit’s greatest assets, its jazz, was as powerful and robust as it had ever been, with many young artists ready to carry on. However, Detroit was reeling. Detroit is a city where even in tough times we keep showing up and showing up. Sure enough someone showed up, stood tall and helped save one the world’s great treasures.

GRETCHEN VALADE

Gretchen Valade’s love of the music carried the day . Mack Avenue Records was founded, The Detroit Jazz Festival was saved from extinction and The Dirty Dog Jazz Café opened its doors. The story will be told over and over by the musicians who have been touched by Detroit jazz’s angel.

It was my good fortune to have  been given access  to photograph the musicians who were playing at venues that had been made possible by the generous acts of Gretchen Valade.  A few years ago I assembled these photographs in a book,  DETROIT JAZZ  Documenting the legacy of Gretchen Valade. The book is a collection of my photographs of Detroit’s great jazz artists shot during the years when Detroit and jazz were recovering, thanks to Gretchen’s generous actions. It is my  attempt to document the results of one woman’s dream,  I wanted the world to know that Detroit’s jazz community has never faltered. This book is an attempt to document this time of renewal. I hope that the book respects and honors all of the artists, Detroit and Gretchen.

Documenting The Legacy Of Gretchen Valade

To help document what Gretchen has accomplished all of the photographs selected for this book were shot at the Dirty Dog and the Detroit Jazz Festival. Detroit has so many other musicians and venues which also deserve recognition. The rich lode of talent that play in Detroit has barely been touched in this book.

I would like to thank all of the local and national artists  who performed in these venues. Opening the door to this remarkable world were Gretchen’s right hand, Tom Robinson, Chef André Neimanis, Manager Willie Jones and all the staff of the Dirty Dog. Thanks also to the Detroit Jazz Festival and it’s director, Chris Collin. Of course, thanks to Gretchen, whose strength and foresight have provided the gentle push for both the music and this book. I hope that the book respects and honors all of the artists, Detroit and Gretchen.

If you ever want to be reminded of this great story of jazz and Detroit in photographs, you might consider picking up the book.

TO GET THE BOOK

When you come by the Dirty Dog ask to see the book. They will be pleased to show you the book and give you a chance to get a first edition copy. This book makes a great gift to anyone who likes jazz, Detroit or photography.

You can order the book online on Amazon or for a signed copy contact us at j.osler@att.net or call John at 313.886.4728 and we will get books out to you.

The book can also be purchased at the DIA.

Thank again to Gretchen and all those whose passion for jazz and Detroit helped me to produce the photographs that make up this book. I would also thank the citizens of Detroit who remind me every day that those things that seem out of reach are possible.

John Osler

Here are some pages from the book.

 

COMING THIS WEEK TO THE DIRTY DOG

December 12-15

 

DAVE McMURRAY

One of the jazz world’s greatest spirits will strip away any of your late winter blahs this week. Bring your most youthful attitude. David deserves and accepts applause

    

 

 

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STAFF

GETTING ALONG TOGETHER IN NOVEMBER

On these cold November evenings the Dirty Dog must assemble a staff that has rid themselves of any winter blahs. These are the folks who will welcome the guests into  a serene and uplifting experience. This process happens long before any patrons show up. What I have observed is that the management sets the tone, Their good natured work ethic is contagious.

I have watched the Dirty Dog Jazz Café staff prepare for an evening’s upbeat event. Tables were prepared while the kitchen started to hum. All went about their tasks with a great deal of independence and purpose. The service at the Dirty Dog is a team effort and so was the preparation. This kind of service is not an easy task, and success is not an  accident.  Gretchen, Tom. André, Willy and all the staff seem to like being around each other. The Dirty Dog is a warm place even before the guests arrive. 

Here is someone who can say this better than I can. I asked Alexander Zonjic if the staff made any difference in the clubs where  he plays. Here is Alexander’s answer.

 

HOLDING ON AS WINTER APPROACHES

It is good to keep things in our lives. Often I am informed by my wife that there will come a day that we will have to clear out some of the stuff that I have been holding on to. Most of the stuff  has been in the same place for years, waiting quietly for me to either fix and then use them or paint and sell them. This is stuff that isn’t harming anyone and just needs a little love. My basement, attic and garage are a testimony for my love of old friends. Unfortunately they aren’t surviving neglect and time very well. The outdated electronic gear, darkroom equipment, carousel projectors, and flooded basement damaged furniture are destined to soon be by the curb. We will be consolidating our belongings, but some things will be kept, like my wife, good canvases and other familiar, still beautiful and still working stuff.

We all do move on eventually for a myriad of reasons. Many of us are looking for a better place. We chase the shiny apple, the romance of travel or a better place to work. Sometimes we make changes to accommodate others or improve our situation. It is  difficult to move on from friendly things and places, and it is even harder to leave friends.

But it happens even at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café. I have watched as indispensable staff members are suddenly missing. Some come back with pictures of their new baby or pictures of their new house in Georgia. Most come back to say hello and express their appreciation for being part of a cohesive team at the Dirty Dog. Seldom does a door slam behind those who leave the place. Fortunately when someone leaves a new face appears  that is just as competent and good natured as the predecessor.How is this possible? I think it is  because of the quality of the Dirty Dog team. There has been a solid group that has been around since this jazz club first opened. They have lurched and stumbled. They have worked hard and laughed a lot. But most importantly they continue to create an atmosphere that is relaxed and welcoming.

SOMETIMES MISTAKES HAPPEN

Sometimes at the Dirty Dog the enthusiasm for the music and the place leads to unforeseen circumstances. One night when I was photographing  the band from the entryway, I was taken by the smiles and good natured banter going on in a group at the large window table. Unfortunately, in the middle of the set there was an accidental spill. A disaster? Well, no. The music continued, the table cleared, a new tablecloth was placed and then recovered with silverware, glasses and napkins. The music continued and the celebrants never stopped smiling and applauding. This was all done with efficiency and courtesy.

I watched this play out as if it where a non-event. The staff seemed pleased to be of help. No fuss. This isn’t an easy gig, serving food in a small space with grace.

I think I was the only one that noticed the resetting of the table, thanks to the  staff that provides the remarkable service at the Dirty dog Jazz Café.

 

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The Dirty Dog Café has become home for some of the country’s finest jazz artists. Musicians love to play a gig at the club because they get respect. They are surrounded by people who listen and understand. When they play the Dog they generally have the audience’s attention, an audience that is also sometimes being served in the middle of a set with a warm smile.

  The Dirty Dog remains a good place to work and to visit. When you visit, let the staff know you value their contribution. Smile back.

John Osler

COMING TO THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

November 14, 15

CHRIS CODISH

Detroit’s Chris Codish will always be true to the music, which makes him a busy guy. When Chris sits down at a keyboard he will never sacrifice emotion, feeling, expression and interaction. He believes in  making  music that moves people and gives them something they probably didn’t know they needed.“need”

November 16,17

ALEXANDER ZONJIC

Make your reservations early as Alexander has earned a loyal following eager to find out what he is up to. There will be music guaranteed to lift your spirits.

 

 

 

FRIENDS

The Charles Boles Quartet is a band that has a healthy accumulation of experiences and stories from life and from being jazz musicians. All the members have the perspectives of jazz where one learns from each other’s experiences and enjoy sharing their stories. These are jazz brothers, pals, amigos, cronies and certainly friends. Charles seems to go through life as an active friend collector.

Bassist John Dana always arrived on time every Tuesday for the band’s weekly gig at the Dirty Dog. He would haul his bass in his strong hands through the back door, past the green room and leave it on the band stand. He then returned to the green room to join Charles Boles who usually had his head in  his music.  Charles likes to arrive early to the Dirty Dog to organize his music for that evening,  before his band mates arrive. Guitarist Ron English is usually the first to join Charles in the green room at the Dirty dog. Many of the new tunes the group plays will be Ron’s compositions. Ron English would peruse his music and strum some key parts while staying respectfully quiet. That’s what friends do. When he arrived drummer Renell Gonsalves would scan the menu and announce the specials. Before going on they would exchange some familiar banter including some news and political opinions. It was a standard musician ritual, with a little  humor at each other’s expense. But it seemed to me that it was more than that. The four piece jazz band was a band of close friends happy to see each other after a week apart, happy to see they all made it one more time. Happy to get one more gig together.

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JOHN DANA   1947-2018

The past week brought with it some difficult news. Our friend John Dana passed away leaving a huge hole in our lives.

John’s smile will be missing this week in the green room, a smile that assured us that everything was going to be alright. We will miss this sturdy man who was the rock of the Charles Boles Quintet. Bassist John Dana created the solid pocket that his mates depended on. He was the floor that held them up and when they needed it his bass line would lift them up to soar. John was the solid one, the supporting member of the cast until his solos. We then got a taste of his spirit. He sometimes hunched over his bass and became one with it. We knew he was on to something. These were great moments and will not be forgotten.

  

JEFF PEDRAZ

This week the Charles Boles Quartet gathered in the Dirty Dog green room for their Tuesday night gig. The banter was muted but smiles slowly returned. A new bass was hauled into the club and carried to the band stand by a good friend of the band, Jeff Pedraz.  Jeff  would not be replacing John but simply carrying on his spirit. Throughout the night John’s positive presence could be felt.

It has probably always been this way with musicians. They are able to escape into the music and for a moment escape their sorrow. 

 On Tuesday night music once again salved some of the hurt. There is something about playing jazz that is healing. So many times its effects have been studied and documented, but when it happens in front of you like that evening you become a believer.

   

Jeff Pedraz was a friend of John’s and said this of him: “Rest easy John. I feel fortunate to have known you, your beat, and your truly beautiful soul.”

That goes from all of us at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café.

John Osler

THIS WEEK AT THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ

The music goes on.

October 23-25

CHARLS BOLES pianist

I have often been a bit intimidated by Charles Boles. He towers over me when I am in his presence. He is not imposing physically, but he has an assurance that comes from a lifetime of  experiences and hard work. He is a product of Detroit’s black bottom neighborhood, which was a cauldron of creative jazz artists. Charles has faced down hardships, racism, personal losses and has persevered. He has a powerful inter-strength and has benefited from a lifetime of playing with great musicians. It shows in his piano playing. He has earned the respect of other musicians and those lucky enough to hear him live in a small club.

October 26-27

RODNEY WHITAKER bassist

I have known Rodney Whitaker since he was a young man earnestly starting out on his storied career. There is little that Rodney has set out to do that he hasn’t achieved.  He is someone whose personal fortitude has made all around him better, just ask his students that come out of his program at Michigan State, or better yet ask his band mates when you catch him at the Dirty Dog this week.