Official site of the Jazz Port Townsend jazz festival, as well as other jazz education and performance programs at Centrum, the nonprofit center for the arts at Fort Worden State Park, in Port Townsend, Washington.
Hugo Kugiya, of the Seattle Times, interviewed pianist Benny Green in advance of Green's Oscar Peterson tribute set on Saturday, July 25. Green told Kugiya, that Saturday's performance carries special meaning for him:
"I didn't want to jump on any opportunistic bandwagon in the aftermath
of his passing (in 2007)," said Green. "There were many situations that I turned
down, that paid well, much to my manager's frustration ... out of
respect for Oscar as a friend as well as an artist."
...It was bassist John Clayton, the festival's artistic director, who
persuaded Green, whom he has known for 16 years, to finally pay tribute
to Peterson's artistic legacy.
Alvester Garnett (drums), Chuck Deardorf (bass), and Randy Porter (piano) lead a 2009 Jazz Port Townsend workshop session on African and Latin rhythms.
At the 2:00 minute mark, they break into music. Check it out.
To purchase tickets to the public performance component of Jazz Port Townsend, visit our performance page - we look forward to seeing you at the shows.
Are you coming to Jazz Port Townsend next week? If so, let the world know what's happening.
If you use Twitter, use the following hashtag in your posts: #jazzpt09. You can follow everyone's tweets using this tag by visiting the Twitter search page.
If you use Flickr to host and share your photos, tag your posts "jazzporttownsend09" and we'll build a group slideshow featuring everyone's photos.
Congratulations to our Artistic Director John
Clayton, who has been confirmed as artist-in-residence at the 2009 Detroit
International Jazz Festival. In honor of the festival’s 30th
anniversary, Clayton was commissioned to compose a new work to be
performed at this year’s festival Labor Day weekend. The new
composition will be performed by Detroit-based Scott Gwinnell Jazz
Orchestra, along with the Clayton Brothers.
Ambrose is the winner of both the 2007 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo
Competition and 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. He'll be playing with the Gerald Clayton Trio, and we're confident you'll be blown away by what you hear.
To give you a sample, here's a video of Ambrose soloing at a NYC performance.
Peterson (who passed away shortly before Christmas in 2007) was one jazz's most influential
pianists.
His studio and live partners comprised a roll call of legends,
including Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis
Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole and Stan Getz.
But his musical journey with Benny Green is special.
"I was blessed to be befriended by Oscar in the fall of 1992, when he
came to hear the trio led by the late, great master of the bass, Ray
Brown, in Toronto. At the time, I was playing piano in Ray’s trio and
Jeff Hamilton was the drummer. Oscar was quite supportive of me after
hearing us play, and he encouraged a friendship, inviting me to
telephone or write him."
In 1993, Peterson won the prestigious Glenn Gould prize - an international award given every three years to an individual in recognition of their contributions to music and communication. At that time took the unusual step of publicly announcing his choice for protégé. He chose Benny Green.
The two pianists first performed together in 1996 at a gala Town Hall concert in honor of Peterson. The New York Times
said of that first musical meeting, “The bejeweled blues sensibility of
the 71-year old pianist was evident in the younger as they traded
sections of melody lines and choruses...”
The two went on to record Oscar and Benny in 1998. For these sessions, Peterson and Green selected a number of standards, exploring
a wide variety of moods and styles. In addition, in the final number,
“Barbara’s Blues, the rhythm section sits out while Peterson and Green
present a dazzling two-piano tapestry. Oscar and Benny features the two pianists celebrating their mutual admiration and musical bond with eloquence and infectious joy.
We hope you can join us on Saturday afternoon, for what we are sure will be an amazing tribute to Oscar Peterson.
Artistic Director John Clayton was kind enough to take a few moments and share his thoughts about a few of our Festival performers and teachers. Many of you have been viewing these on the faculty bio pages. However, as we get closer to the Festival performances, we'll be posting these here on the main page, as well.
Want to become more accomplished at improvising? We have the perfect opportunity for you. October 29-November 1 we are inviting one of jazz's great improvisers, Geoffrey Keezer, to spend a long weekend with you taking your existing improvisation skills to the next level. We're calling it "Advanced Improvisation."
Here's video of Geoffrey in action...
This intensive is designed for experienced improvisers (instrumental
and vocal) looking for specific suggestions as well as more abstract
concepts to further their skills. In addition to playing with other
participants and receiving coaching in a master class setting,
significant time will be given to discussions about improvising and
being a musician.
Pianist Geoffrey Keezer
draws on 20 years experience touring and recording with the greatest
artists in jazz, offering students a chance to interact on a one-to-one
basis with a contemporary jazz master. Geoffrey's free-flowing,
inclusive, positive teaching style encourages and empowers young
players to access their highest musical and creative potential, while
giving down-to-earth advice on all aspects of the jazz business.
For those of you who enjoy American Idol, be sure to watch on Wednesday, 5/13 to see Jeff Clayton featured in a solo with contestant Danny Gokey. Jeff has been a faculty member many times at Jazz Port Townsend, and will join us again this year on our mainstage with Ernie Andrews and the Clayton Brothers Quintet. Come and join us July 24 and 25 to see him live!
