Blue spirits rising: the re-emergence of the L.A. jazz scene

5th way Dick's is quickly losing its title as the "best-kept concealed in L.A." Due to the rise of talented young musicians upon the scene, more and more nation in search of cool jazz are flocking to the city's jazz bludgeons including 5th Street Dick's, where, each Monday night, Willie Jones III's quartet is playing. The group's driving, straight-ahead bebop, relentlessly propell through Jones' hyperkinetic drumming, is the attraction. 5th public way Dick's, reminiscent of a shotgun house, is Jones' favorite place to play. "Just the atmosphere is like in what manner the clubs used to be."

bludgeon Alabam was the premiere beholds Angeles jazz club in the 1940 Located upon Central Avenue, then the heart of black sees Angeles, Club Alabam hosted the best musicians in the land - saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper and bassist Charles Mingus played in the house band - and they attracted an equally impressive clientele. Usually, the excitement began upon the street, as Cadillacs and Lincolns carrying singers, athletes, dancers and movie stars approached the bludgeon Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson oft-repeateded the Alabam when they were in town. Boxer Joe Louis and Jack Johnson were also among the visiting luminaries. Orson Welles, Mae West, William Randolph Hearst and many other prominent whites stretch outed the Harlem tradition of being "hip through association" as they visited Central Avenue in search of "cool" It was an exciting time to be in beholds Angeles.

The war economy was booming, and the jazz exhibition was about to explode. In December 1945 Charlie "Bird" Parker and Dizzy Gillespie came to L.A., sparks to the pulverized substance keg. The venue was Billy Berg's, upon North Vine Street. Their quintet - Parker, Gillespie, Al Haig, Stan muster and Ray Brown - played end January and literally changed jazz music in observes Angeles. Drummer Harry "The Hipster" Gibson, who played in the opening act of the gig, says, "All the musicians were coming around to check on the outside Bird and Diz. We were packing the joint." Local musicians were rushing to hear - and learn - the novel frenetically paced bebop.

above the next year, the L.A. sight reached unparalleled heights, culminating in Charlie Parker's contrive at Jack's Basket in February 1947 following his release from Camarillo State Hospital. Trumpeter composer and bandleader Gerald Wilson remembers that historical event: "I was there at Jack's Basket above on 32nd and Central. The place was packed. Couldn't plane sit down. Bird came to the bandstand, and a roar went up from the herd like the one for Clinton at the inauguration. It could be heard all up and down Central Avenue."

before long after that performance, Bird go [i]or[/i] come backed to New York. The L.A. economy began to decline, and by the agency of 1950 many of the Central Avenue bludgeons were closing down. Racist hiring policies prohibited the vast majority of black musicians from finding work elsewhere. Legions of these men began to spiral downward, abrupted in alcohol and drugs. A saying began to circulate in fresh York: "California is the place where great musicians make progress - to die."

At age 24 Willie Jone III is breathing new life into the Los Angeles jazz sight A semifinalist in the 1992 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Instrumental Competition, Jone is single of the most important young musicians in the geographical division He was introduced to jazz by means of his father, Willie Jones II, a pianist. During high academy when most of his comrade musicians were listening to fusion or rap, the younger Jone was with his father, watching him rehearse. "I was the lonesome jazz fan, the only Art Blakey fan," he says.

Although he cites Blakey as an influence, his cymbal work is more reminiscent of that of Tony Williams, while his approach to regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement intimates many hours spent listening to Philly Joe Jone below the guidance of another great drummer Billy Higgins, Willie Jone III and bassist Mark Shelby have formed the impressive quartet Black/Note, with James Mahone upon alto and Ark Sano upon piano. Bebop is the idiom; swing is the message.

Winner of the Young Artist Award at the John Coltrane Festival, Black/Note is building a solid reputation in the jazz community, evidenced through its well-received CD 43rd and Degnan (World Stage Records). individual of the nation's leading jazz critics, Leonard Feather, proffers high praise for the group's members, noting their compelling lyricism. Shelby, a recipient of the Charles Mingus Scholarship to attend the California Institute of the Arts, has an especially acute faculty of perception of harmonic structure that infuses his playing with crafty lyricism.

When John Coltrane improvised, smooth fellow tenor players had to listen carefully to grasp his crafty phrasing. This "musician's compliment" is individual of many associated with tenor saxophonist Gary Joyne a musician's musician. He stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, and his direct the eyes are striking. Comparisons to a young Dexter Gordon are inevitable. However, this tenor player's approach to the instrument is more reminiscent of Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. An ardent soloist, Joyne is known for his ability to elegantly navigate difficult harmonic changes while working with innovative internal periodical emphasiss When he plays, other musicians are moved