There is a very nice documentary about Ella Fitzgerald on Netflix. She was known as the Queen of Jazz and her career spanned 60 years. Ella has a Houston connection thru Arnett Cobb who wrote Smooth Sailing for her in 1951. She recorded it many times and it is one of the few songs that she scats the entire song. Ella toured thru Houston with Chic Webb's band in the late 30's and in 1955 she was arrested during a concert at the Music Hall along with Dizzy Gillespie and Illinois Jacquet. It was retaliation for concert promoter, Norm Gantz insisting that the audience be intergrated. They were released and allowed to continue the concert. This event did not stop Ella from continuing to perform in Houston at venues like the Astrodome in the 70's and Rockefeller's in the mid 80's. We will also be spotlight the music of pianist, Jason Moran who will be in concert this Saturday night kicking off DaCamera's Jazz series. Jason will be presenting a master work celebrating the musical contribution of composer and bandleader, James Reese Europe in a work called, Absence of Ruin.
Houston Jazz
I have a question for you what radio program in Houston can you hear music from Arnett Cobb, Illinios Jacquet Nelson Mills III, Melvin Sparks, Jason Moran, Milt Larkin, Leron Thomas, Sebastian Whittaker, Robert Sanders, Bobby Lyle, Vincent Gardner, Eric Harland, Jamire Williams, Tianna Hall, Charlie Perez, David Craig, Art Fristo, David Caceres and Anthony Caceres, Clayton Dyess, Bob Henschen, Horace Grigsby, Bubbah Thomas, Joe Sample, Erin Wright, Andre Hayward, Don Wilkerson, BoomTown Brass Band, Hustlers Brass Band, Leo Polk, Yvonne Washington, Lois Albez, and Dennis Dotson, Helen Sung and many more cats from your Jazz scene? .............You know the answer, it's the Houston Jazz Spotlight. It is a pleasure and a labor of love to hip you to the music, musicians and stories from the Houston Jazz scene past and present.
Houston Jazz Festival
This evening on the Houston Jazz Spotlight we will be hipping you to some amazing Jazz happenings in the city. One of which is the 3rd Annual Houston Jazz Festival this Saturday, September 18, 8 pm at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Texas Tenor and Arnett Cobb protege, Shelley Carrol and his quartet will perform John Coltrane's magnum opus, 'A Love Supreme' in it's entirety. Guitarist, Mike Moreno's Quartet will also perform.
This video was made during our live shows, Houston Jazz Spotlight Live@ Mongoose vs Cobra, Dalton Lee on drums, Tim Ruiz on bass, Art Fristo on keys, Shelley Carrol on saxophone and Andre Hayward on trombone. Master drummer, Eric Harland has a Jazz series starting this Sunday at The Astorian and DaCamera is bringing some Latin Jazz to Miller Outdoor Theatre on Friday.
Have a Swingin Dia!
Blues - 2021
You can't talk about Jazz without talking about the Blues. Today we are celebrating Houston's amazing history with this foundational American music artform. Did you know that Peacock Records in Fifth Ward was a major force in the world of urban blues recording artist like Big Mama Thornton, Bobby Blue Bland and Floyd Dixon to list a few. Peacock Record's Buffalo Booking Agency was the primary booking managers for B.B. King. If you want to know more about this amazing history you should get a copy of the book, 'Down in Houston are checkout the documentary, 'Our Great Day:A Bond with Houston Blues' both by Houston Blues scholar, Roger Wood.
Houston Jazz Drummers
In the world of Jazz, Houston has produced more drummers than anywhere else in the lone star state. Drummers like; G.T. Hogan, Malcom Pinson, Stixx Hopper, Carl Lott, Rocky White, Micheal Carvin, Eric Harland, Kendrick Scott and Reggie Quinerly to list only a few. Today on the Houston Jazz Spotlight we are celebrating the music of the master drummer, composer and bandleader, Sebastian Whittaker. Loosing his sight at the early age of 2 did not hinder him from pursuing his love for music and becoming the most sooth after drummer on the Houston scene. We will listen to his last album, 'Moving On and Upward' recorded on his own label, UpFront Music. We will also hear from one of his most famous protege's, Chris Dave and his group, Drumhedz.
Juneteenth 2021
Our show today is dedicated to the Juneteenth holiday which is this Saturday, June 19, 2021. Juneteeth is the date that enslaved blacks from Texas were officially emancipated. The story has been told that enslaved blacks in Texas were freed 2 years late this is based on President Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The reality is much more complicated than that but what is true is that enslaved blacks in Texas have celebrated this date since 1866. It has become a date that people around the world use to acknowledge this dark era in human history. The album 'Two & 1/2 Years: A Musical Celebration To The Spirit Of Juneteenth' produced by artist Robert Hodge is a music project aimed at bringing the Juneteeth story to a young audience.
Early Houston Jazz
Today on the Houston Jazz Spotlight we are celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month with a show that spotlights the origins of Jazz in Houston. Here are just few hip facts about early Jazz in Houston. Jelly Roll Morton lived in Houston from 1914 to 1915. The earliest photo of a Jazz band in Texas was from Houston, the King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra, circa 1921 . During Prohibition you could go the Rice Hotel and get illegal hooch while listening to Peck Kelley and his Bad Boys which featured Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Reese and Louis Prima. Seven cats from Houston recorded with trumpet genius Louis Armstrong. The hottest territory Jazz band in Texas was from Houston, the Milt Larkin Orchestra, from 1936 to 1943.