All That Jazz!

As Jazz on the Rocks returns for its 24th year this month, the bios of the performing artists make clear why the festival's educational mission matters. By Steven Korn

Sedona's jazz on the rocks festival, celebrating its 24th year with performances around town from Sept. 22-25, improvises around twin themes: Music and education. Proceeds from the weekend of music, revolving around the daylong outdoor festival on Sat., Sept. 24, at Radisson Poco Diablo Resort, go to support music programs for fledgling and advanced students high school age and younger.

The musicians profiled on the following pages, including Friday night's star Luis Villegas, and the four headliners who take the stage on Saturday - Winston Byrd, Carmen Lundy, Spyro Gyra, and James Moody - all were drawn to music in their school-age years, and each received the support, at schools and at home, that helped them develop their art to the highest level. Their stories underline how programs like Jazz on the Rocks can touch lives.

Early local dividends will be seen in the Saturday performance of the Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Youth Band at the Radisson at 10 a.m. Rounding out the festival is a Thursday fund-raiser performance by pianist Michael Leroy at a Sedona private residence; a Saturday evening jam session with the Andy Margolis Trio at the Radisson at 7:30 p.m.; and the Sunday Jazz Brunch, featuring vocalist Tuey Connell, at the Sedona Hilton Resort and Spa at 10:30 a.m.

For tickets or information about the festival's programs, call 928-282-1985, or see www.sedonajazz.com.

Carmen Lundy: Sat., Sept. 24, 1 p.m., Radisson stage

Opera was Carmen Lundy's major when she arrived at the University of Miami in the early '70s - "I didn't know much about jazz until my last year of high school," she recalls. But she quickly made up for lost time. When she graduated, it was with a degree in Studio Music and Jazz, one of the first generation of singers with the opportunity to pursue jazz studies in a university degree program.

While she's a firm believer in the value of the classroom for serious musicians, Lundy also will tell you one of the most important classrooms is not in the university, but on a stage in front of real audiences. "People who come out of schools with Master's degrees have a lot of basic information," she says, "but they also need practical experience. They need a feel for people, to see them dance."

She can speak from personal experience to that. Her own musical education began with piano lessons at age 6, though "I wasn't really crazy about learning scales," she laughs. What did excite her was seeing her mother, vocalist for the Apostolic Singers, inspire an audience. Lundy was singing professionally by high school, and it helped her pay for college. She cites early influences as Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, then Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Betty Carter, Carmen Macrae and Barbra Streisand. From all of them and others, she sought to "know and understand what makes a great voice.

"Jazz is not a case of learning two chords and off you go; you have to know your instrument," she points out. "Know [what's good]," she adds, "and you can't ever be fooled."

For information about Carmen Lundy's new DVD/double live CD, Carmen Lundy: Jazz and the New Songbook - Live at the Madrid, see www.carmenlundy.com.

James Moody: Sat., Sept. 24, 4 p.m., Radisson stage

Considering Jazz on the Rocks' educational mission, it's only fitting to have Saturday's lineup build up to a Master's class from a legend who brings the accumulated wisdom of the "old school." James Moody received a sax as a gift from his uncle at age 16; at 21, he got an education players today can only fantasize of, beginning what would become a long-running association with the legendary Dizzy Gillespie in the age of bebop in 1946. His widening reputation was secured in 1949, with his recording of "Moody's Mood for Love," a classic that has been revisited by other artists ever since, including Van Morrison in 1993, and Queen Latifah in 2004 - the same year Moody released his own first recordings in six years (for a discography dating back to the '40s, see www.jamesmoody.com). And along with keeping the torch burning on stage, he's supporting the next generation in the classroom: In honor of his 80th birthday, a James Moody Scholarship for Jazz Studies at the Conservatory of Music of New York's Purchase College was established this past April.

Winston Byrd: Sat., Sept. 24, 11:30 a.m., Radisson stage

How excited was Winston Byrd when, in grade school, he heard the high school jazz band perform? "I was a flea on a hot brick," he laughs. "What I thought was, I don't know what this is, but I want to be a part of it."

Inspired by hearing players like Maynard Ferguson and Dizzy Gillespie, and digging into his father's deep record collection, by eighth or ninth grade, "I turned into a sponge," Byrd says. He began soaking up not only Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, but the legends who built Nashville like Hank Williams, rock-jazz hybrid hitmakers Steely Dan, and R&B greats like Marvin Gaye. "I tried to be a purist for a minute," he says. "But what it comes down to is, if [music]'s cool, there's no reason to have blinders to any of it."

His path to the present, contributing to the next chapter in the history of jazz trumpet innovation - both on his own and in the band of 2004 Jazz on the Rocks artist T.S. Monk - hit a bump when the jazz program at his high school in New Jersey came upon hard times. Luckily, he was given the freedom to play at schools with music programs on firmer footing, even though he wasn't enrolled there. By age 17, he was on the road in the touring band of R&B vocalists The Stylistics.

From there, he would go on to play with and learn from heroes like Illinois Jacquet, Arturo Sandoval and Clark Terry, as well as with Monk, whom he credits with helping him get to another level. "It's like grad school," he says. "You have to do the work." Then again, he says, playing jazz is also like "Delta House - we have fun at what we do."

Winston Byrd's CD, Soul Searchin', - is available at www.winstonbyrd.com and www.cdbaby.com.

Luis Villegas: Fri., Sept. 23, 7 & 9 p.m., Sedona Creative Life Center

Guitar ace Luis Villegas is no stranger to Sedona, having made a memorable appearance at the Latin Jazz Festival here in May 2002. Inspired as a teen by the scene on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, he cut his teeth on stage with high-energy rock bands. He carried that fire with him as he began to revisit the music he heard at home growing up, mastering Latin rhythms and Spanish guitar. Impressive live performances led to a recording deal in 1998 - his four CDs to date are available at www.luisvillegas. com - and acclaim for his "nuevo flamenco" style. His "Banana Bay" is on the soundtrack of the 1999 David Spade movie Lost and Found, and he made his own big-screen debut as a musician in the 2004 thriller Collateral.

Spyro Gyra: Sat., Sept. 24, 2:30 p.m., Radisson stage

Read the band member biographies on the Spyro Gyra Website, and you get a sense how much music programs like those supported by Jazz on the Rocks can mean. (From left) Julio Hernandez: "I started playing guitar at the age of nine, my father being my first and most influential teacher...by the time I was in high school, [I] was very involved with the school music program." Ludwig Afonso, taken under wing by a teacher friend of his father's, played in his middle school jazz band. Jay Beckenstein "was given my first saxophone through the music program in elementary school at age seven." Tom Schuman, at age 7, "started studying classical piano"; a teacher "arranged for him to play...on a local radio program" at age 11. Scott Ambush played in his school Jazz Ensemble and bass in rock bands with friends from age 12. Those early years have led to a distinguished career now deep into its third decade. Hear the results on their latest CD, The Deep End, which is available at www.spyrogyra.com.

Sedona Monthly Archive Home