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From: JAZZRADIO.com <donotreply at jazzradio.com>
To: jazzmnjoe <jazzmnjoe at aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Mar 31, 2015 8:34 am
Subject: Celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month and a Herbie Hancock Milestone
Jazz Appreciation Month & International Jazz Day
Celebrating Jazz in April
Since 2012, April has been celebrated as Jazz Appreciation Month, with April 30th being recognized as International Jazz Day. Originally founded by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) in 2011, International Jazz Day highlights the role of jazz in uniting people from all corners of the globe. International Jazz Day serves as the perfect culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month, which draws global attention to jazz and its extraordinary heritage. Paris, France has been selected to serve as the 2015 Global Host City, and the location is especially important because Paris is also the site of UNESCO’s headquarters.
This year’s celebration will kick off with a daylong series of jazz performances, education programs, roundtable discussions, and master classes with world-renowned jazz musicians and educators. The evening All-Star Global Concert will take place at UNESCO’s headquarters and will feature performances by a cast of internationally renowned jazz artists including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Hugh Masekela, Terri Lyne Carrington, Claudio Roditi, Mino Cinelu, and Al Jarreau. The Global Concert will be streamed live worldwide via the websites of UNESCO, the U.S. Department of State, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Find jazz events in your area and join JAZZRADIO.com and millions of jazz fans around the world on April 30th as we celebrate International Jazz Day and Jazz Appreciation Month!
Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage - 50th Anniversary
A Milestone for an Iconic Jazz Album
On April 12 of this year, Herbie Hancock will turn 75. As a pianist, composer, and bandleader, Hancock is easily one of the most recognizable and accomplished musicians of his generation. In the course of his career, he has performed and recorded with many of the greatest jazz artists of the era, and created music that has become timeless. In early 1965, Herbie Hancock occupied an enviable position in the jazz world. He was the featured pianist in the Miles Davis Quintet, one of the most popular groups at the time, and he had his own recording contract with Blue Note records, the most famous jazz label of the era.
In his memoir, Possibilities, Hancock remembers that during this busy period he was in Los Angeles recording an album with Davis (later released as E.S.P), and making preparations for his next solo project for Blue Note. He received a call from an advertising agency looking for something jazzy and sophisticated to be used in an ad for men’s cologne, and despite his busy schedule, Hancock readily accepted the assignment. He already had music in mind for the spot - a basic melody and rhythmic pattern that first came to him during a plane ride to the West Coast. This melody turned out to be perfect for the ad.
A few months later, Hancock was back in New York working on his next solo recording. The opening tune of the record would be fashioned from the same basic melody and rhythms he had used for the commercial. Once the session was completed, he knew he had something special, but still didn’t have names for any of the songs that had been recorded. According to the pianist, as he was playing tapes from the session for his sister and some friends, one of them said “It reminds me of water. The first song sounds like a maiden voyage.” Hancock loved the suggestion, and with its soft rolling chords and mesmerizing rhythmic pattern, the description seemed perfect for the opening tune. It would eventually become one of his most popular compositions, as well as the title for one of the iconic albums of the decade: Maiden Voyage.
Eventually, all five original tunes on the album were given names connected to the theme of a sea voyage or journey. In order, they are “Maiden Voyage”, “The Eye of the Hurricane”, “Little One”, “Survival Of The Fittest”, and “Dolphin Dance”. Recorded on March 17, 1965 for Blue Note records, Maiden Voyage features saxophonist George Coleman, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. In the 50 years since the release of this legendary album, it has lost none of its ability to captivate listeners. In fact, new generations of fans continue to be drawn to Hancock’s music, and to this day it remains one of the best-selling titles in the Blue Note catalog. You can hear music from Maiden Voyage on our Hard Bop, Piano Jazz, and Mellow Jazz channels.
Join us at the Seabreeze Jazz Festival
Spring into Jazz Festival Season
What better way to kick off springtime than with great music, sunshine, and good friends? This year, JAZZRADIO.com is doing just that as a sponsor of the 17th annual Seabreeze Jazz Festival in sunny Panama City Beach, Florida. The festival will be hosted from April 22nd to 26th, and will feature a lineup that includes George Benson, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Brian Culbertson, Norman Brown, Kirk Whalum, Rick Braun, Mindi Abair, and many more.
This fun festival is located at Pier Park and offers visitors the option of soaking in the sunshine in the main festival field or taking a stroll down to the beach where you can enjoy the music from a distance. The star-studded lineup will offer great performances all day long, and well into the evening hours as well. Other highlights include the nightly After Parties and day and evening jazz cruises in Saint Andrew Bay near the gorgeous Saint Andrews Aquatic Preserve.
JAZZRADIO.com will be onsite throughout the festival visiting with fans and giving away summery swag. Tickets are still available through the Seabreeze Jazz Festival website if you'd like to come join us!
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