Jazz Journalists
Association

COPY

Santa Cruz, October 26 & San Francisco, October 30 by Robert D. Oberg
Tucson, October 11 by Ken Keuffel Jr.

CALL FOR COMMITTED REVIEWERS, TO POST FROM THE ROAD

The Charles McPherson Quartet, under the auspices of the Western Jazz Presenters Network (part of the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network) is touring to 28 towns in 10 states in the US and Canada from Sept. 27 to Nov. 22, and the Jazz Journalists Association has planned to follow the tour, posting as many reviews as possible from stops along the way.

Our purpose is three-fold: to chart the progress of the musicians, to give attention to the lesser known as well as the better known venues, and to afford an opportunity for JJA members and our associates to add their varied voices and perspectives to reportage and criticism of McPherson's music.

To kick off this initiative, the JJA has posted Zan Stewart's review of the quartet pre-tour, performing at Steamers Cafe in Fullerton, California (which originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County edition, July 20, 1998). We welcome reviews previously or simultaneously published in other media, as well as writing (and photography, and interview transcripts with McPherson and his players) that are created specifically for this project.

To participate, e-mail Yvonne Ervin
yervin@aol.com
or mail/phone her at:
P.O. Box 85101, Tucson AZ 85754
520-903-1265

As is evident from the list below, the tour extends outside the Western States region.

Tour Dates:

Sept. 27Carlsbad Arts and Humanities Council, NM
Sept. 28-29New Mexico State University, Las Cruces
Oct. 1Mimbres Arts Council, Silver City, NM
Oct. 2New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro
Oct. 3Cibola Arts Council, Grants, NM
Oct. 4Taos Art Association, NM
Oct. 5-6Outpost Productions, Albuquerque, NM
Oct. 7San Juan College, Farmington, NM
Oct. 9 (noon)California Plaza Presents, Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 9Cal State Northridge
Oct. 10San Jose Jazz Society, San Jose, CA
Oct. 11Tucson Jazz Society, AZ
Oct. 17 & 19Lincoln Center (premiere of McPherson composition with a septet - not part of the tour, but we can certainly review it)
Oct. 23Pacific NW Jazz Alliance, Bellingham, WA
Oct. 24Victoria Jazz Society, Victoria, BC
Oct. 25Coastal Jazz & Blues Society, Vancouver
Oct. 26Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA
Oct. 29Earshot Jazz, Seattle
Oct. 30San Francisco Jazz Festival
Nov. 7Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH
Nov. 9Antioch College, OH
Nov. 10Murphy's, Toledo, OH
Nov. 11Bluffton College, OH
Nov. 12Miami University, Hamilton, OH
Nov. 14Folly Theater, Kansas City, KS
Nov. 19Pennsylvania State College, State College
Nov. 20Northeastern Ohio Jazz Society, Cleveland
Nov. 21Carrboro Arts Center, NC
Nov. 22Central PA Friends of Jazz, Harrisburg

BACKGROUND: Originally encompassing just the Western States Arts Federation region, the tour the tour of alto saxophone great Charles McPherson and his quartet eventually expanded from 19 towns and cities in the West to include nine engagements in four states east of the region. The venues include two Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network sites in the West: Earshot Jazz in Seattle and Outpost Productions in Albuquerque, and three other Network sites: the Folly Theater in Kansas City, the Northeastern Ohio Jazz Society in Cleveland and the Carrboro (NC) Arts Center.

McPherson's quartet represents some of the finest talent in the West. Along with the alto saxophonist, who resides in San Diego, the group comprises Randy Porter of Portland on piano, Jeff Littleton of Los Angeles on bass and McPherson's son, drummer Charles, Jr., also from San Diego. The tour begins in New Mexico, where eight members of the New Mexico Presenters Alliance block booked the quartet on tour.

The tour also includes two dates in British Columbia - the Victoria Jazz Society in Victoria and the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society in Vancouver. These societies, along with two other presenters in western Canada, are active members of the Western Jazz Presenters Network. Two of the largest festivals in the West are part of the tour: the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle.

The Western Jazz Presenters Network (WJPN) is a coalition of more than 80 jazz presenters in the western region of North America. The WJPN is dedicated to mutual support through networking, collective block booking of touring jazz artists and professional development and advancement of the full diversity of the jazz field. The WJPN operates a listserv for its members and a webpage with a password-protected area for sharing information on artist bookings. The Network's first tour encompassed nine sites in the West, touring reedman/poet Oliver Lake in his one-man show "The Matador of 1st and 1st" in the Fall of 1996.

The travel, advertising and promotional support for the tour is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with Western States Arts Federation. This tour represents the final support from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund for the National Jazz Network, after eight years of generous funding.

Charles McPherson was born in Joplin, MO and began studying alto saxophone in Detroit where he studied jazz with pianist Barry Harris. At age 19 he started playing professionally. He left Detroit for New York and replaced Eric Dolphy in Charles Mingus's band and performed and recorded with the great bassist on and off for a dozen years. While performing with Mingus, McPherson frequently collaborated with Harris, a union that continues to the present.

Clint Eastwood hired McPherson to play the Charlie Parker solos on the soundtrack for his movie "Bird." May 1998 saw the latest release from this master saxophonist, "Manhattan Nocturne" (Arabesque). From Oct. 12 to 18, McPherson will take a break from the WJPN tour to premiere at Lincoln Center a piece he composed as the result of a commission from the Lincoln Center Jazz Program.

McPherson has performed at concerts and festivals with his own band and as special guest in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, South America and Africa. He has toured with jazz artists Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, Nat Adderley and many others. He has recorded more than a dozen albums as a guest artist with Mingus, Art Farmer, Harris, Hampton, Kenny Drew, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sam Jones, Ted Harris, Bobby Jones and as a leader on the record labels Prestige, Mainstream, Xanadu, Discovery, and most recently for Arabesque for which he also has recorded "First Flight" and "Come Play With Me."

Here's what some critics have already said about Charles McPherson:

". . . the quality of his playing, the sheer, effervescent enthusiasm of his improvising, places him in a category of his own."
Don Heckma, The L.A. Times, *** Review of "Manhattan Nocturne" - May 17, 1998

"The term 'master' is well-spoken when one addresses Charles McPherson"
JazzTimes

"Charles McPherson's fluent sax . . . heexudes the conceptual spirit and strength that have characterized the bebop form for 40 years . . . McPherson moved through mostly uptempo standards . . . with chorus after chorus of invention.&nbps;. . . McPherson's technical fluency and musicianship were exhilarating. . . ."
Stuart Troup, New York Times

"Scorching bebop . . . his bright, ringing tone and his ability to weave silken webs of improvisation at the fastest tempos - his long solos are unbroken threads, logically structured - carry the touch of mastery."
Lee Jeske

"McPherson has not merely remained true to his bop origins but has expanded on them, both as improvising soloist and as composer. . . .his sound bold and full, he brought his own values to three of his original pieces: Horizons, with its shifting moods; Illusions in Blue, a sort of 21stCentury variation on the blues with archly ingenious piano chording and the rich, almost lushly evocative A Tear and a Smile. Having thus displayed his dual talents as composer/player, McPherson then felt free to tear into Cherokee at a breakneck pace."
Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times

"The craft and sincerity, the discipline and passion that Charles McPherson brings to the alto saxophone is a tribute to the beauty of jazz and to the kind of integrity that makes for visceral art. His is a talent that shouldn't be neglected."
Stanley Crouch, The Village Voice

". . . his blues and ballad interpretations are breathtaking."
Phil Elwood, San Francisco Examiner


Zan Stewart's Review | JazzHOUSE Entrance