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 Doug Tatum Jones, Person and Palmieri Are Coming to the Folly... (But, Are You?) The next concert of the Folly Jazz Series will feature the veteran team of Etta Jones and Houston Person on Saturday, December 11. Tenor saxophonist Houston Person describes himself as "one of the last of the road warriors," and for over 30 years, his smoky tenor sound has provided the perfect complement to the soulful jazz vocals of Etta Jones. Houston grew up in Florence, South Carolina, and studied at South Carolina State College and the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. While serving in the United States Air Force he played with Eddie Harris, Cedar Walton, Leo Wright, Don Ellis and Don Menza. After spending two years with Johnny "Hammond" Smith's band, he began his solo career in 1961.
Song-stylist Etta Jones grew up in New York City, and began her career as a teenager in Buddy Johnson's band. She has worked with Earl "Fatha" Hines, Oliver Nelson, Jack McDuff, Kenny Burrell, J.J. Johnson, Art Blakey, Charles Brown, Milt Jackson and many others. Etta earned a gold record for her recording Don't Go To Strangers (Prestige), and she received a Grammy nomination in 1981 for her album, Save Your Love For Me (Muse). Anyone who has ever heard Etta sing knows that very few can swing like she does.
"By 15, it was goodbye timbales and back to the piano until this day," Eddie says. "I'm a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano." Indeed, the enigmatic Palmieri does take an extremely high-energy, percussive approach to the keyboard, which explains in part why he has sometimes been termed the "madman" of Latin music. Eddie consistently fuses a wealth of unorthodox instrumentation and genres into his own unique blend of jazz, classical and salsa elements. Transcending musical boundaries, Palmieri is truly an inspired virtuoso who is deeply rooted in the Afro-Latin tradition. His influences include the Cuban players of the 1940s as well as jazz luminaries such as Art Tatum, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Bud Powell, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. These influences are complemented by Palmieri's curiosity and incessant search to study his family's roots and seek out the origins of the music that profoundly inspired him. Eddie's tremendous outpouring of originality takes him beyond eccentricity, securing him a well-earned place in jazz as one of the greatest leaders, pianists and composers. Reasons for Concern For this special millennium issue of JAM, I'd like to share a few thoughts and concerns about the challenges of presenting the Folly Jazz Series. It's no surprise that it has never been an easy business to present jazz. Almost everyone knows that it is a notoriously difficult business for small club owners, but it also is a major challenge for festival organizers and concert presenters like myself. As someone who always tries to take an optimistic view of things, I would like to believe the core jazz audience in Kansas City is sufficiently large to sustain national-level programming on a consistent basis. However, I must admit discouragement regarding disappointing ticket sales for a number of recent Folly concerts. As an example, the Folly's presentation of vibes legend Bobby Hutcherson resulted in sales of only 458 paid admissions. (The Folly's seating capacity is 1,078.) Most tickets are sold in pairs, so if considered in those terms, that's only 229 purchasing decisions, generally speaking, that were made in Greater Kansas City to attend the Bobby Hutcherson concert. (To put this in perspective, the population of the total KC metro area is nearly 1.5 million, according to the latest Chamber of Commerce figures.) To cite another example, our recent presentation of Tom Harrell resulted in 460 paid admissions, or 230 pairs of tickets. However you look at it, this reflects an amazingly low level of support of concerts featuring national-level, acknowledged jazz masters. If it were only an unusual aberration, I would not be so concerned. But sales are significantly down across the board for all of our concerts this season. And that's bad news. So, where are all the jazz fans? It's not as if I'm booking obscure, unknown artists. Bobby Hutcherson is a legendary jazz figure. Tom Harrell has been voted "Trumpet Player of the Year" in both the Readers and Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine and he took the #1 slot in the JazzTimes Readers Poll. Sure, I could program a more commercially-oriented series of fusion and "smooth jazz" artists, but quite frankly, I don't want to do that. That's simply not what the Folly Jazz Series is all about. What's my point in stating all of this? I wish to make an appeal to you that if you count yourself among those who love jazz and care about this music, then please, get out and support live jazz. At its very essence, the greatest jazz one can experience is in the moment of its live creation. That special quality is precisely what makes jazz the unique art form that it is. It's just not enough to be a jazz fan who only enjoys listening to recordings in the comfort of your own home. This alone will not sustain the careers of professional jazz musicians and the continued development of the music. If jazz fans are not willing to support the music they love, then who will? Speaking on behalf of all presenters of live jazz, we need your support. Let me know what you think. I welcome your ideas and comments on this subject. Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater. You can write to him care of the Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th, Kansas City, MO 64105. RETURN TO DEC/JAN. 2000 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved. |
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