Katrina Dixon's blog

I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on Peter Apfelbaum’s oral history, conducted by long-time friend and jazz writer, Dan Ouellette. I was most pleased to hear about the origins of The Hieroglyphics – a band Peter formed in his teens. I am fascinated by how the band has successfully shifted and transformed alongside him - growing as he did throughout the years. There is a touch of sadness about this being my last opportunity to hear a Duke Jazz artist tell his story like this – laughing with a friend while articulating the first musical sounds he ever made, pausing to find the right words to describe his artistic process, or discussing the true impact of a commission from organizations like Chamber Music America.

Each time we enter the oral history studio, I am reminded of how invaluable we are as our own, best primary resources. I am reminded of the true power of our stories – and of the humanity we feel when we share in the telling of our experiences. I feel overwhelmed with gratefulness for having had the chance to sit in on, catalog, and provide access to these artist histories. Each one has affected me in ways I would only fail in trying to articulate. I hope you will join the Library in celebrating these fine resources. Utilize them! Bring friends!

In the meantime, we do hope you will join us on Friday, November 13th when we end our Duke Jazz Series with a 12-piece bang!

The November Duke Jazz Series concert features Peter Apfelbaum and The New York Hieroglyphics: Peck Allmond, Patrice Blanchard, Charles Burnham, Natalie Cressman, Abdoulaye Diabate, Viva DeConcini, Jessica Jones, Tony Jones, David Phelps, Dafnis Prieto and Josh Roseman.

Composer/multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum started playing drums at the age of three, taking up piano and saxophone in elementary school and forming his first band at age 11. In 1977 - his senior year at Berkeley High - he formed the 17-piece Hieroglyphics Ensemble as a vehicle for composing and exploring non-traditional musical forms; the Hieroglyphics Ensemble went on to perform with artists like Don Cherry and the Grateful Dead. Apfelbaum put the Hieroglyphics Ensemble on hold during the mid-90s, forming a sextet comprising Hieroglyphics musicians and acoustic bassist John Shifflett. In 1998, Apfelbaum moved to Brooklyn, where he soon formed a New York version of his Sextet. This group grew in 2003 to become the 11-piece New York Hieroglyphics and recorded It is Written in 2004. In addition to the New York Hieroglyphics, Apfelbaum continues to perform regularly with Steven Bernstein, Trey Anastasio, Dafnis Prieto, Josh Roseman, and Kamikaze Ground Crew.

The concert will be held on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 111 Amsterdam Avenue @ 65th Street. The program is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please call 212.870.1793 or visit nypl.org/lpaprograms.

Please do stick around, say hello and share your Duke Jazz experiences at the public reception to follow! Thank you all for your continued support.

Katrina M. Dixon, Librarian
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Project

(Photo: Courtesy of Drew Gress)

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will continue its free Duke Jazz Series with a performance by Drew Gress and 7 Black Butterflies on August 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Accompanying Mr. Gress will be Tim Berne on alto saxophone, Shane Endsley on trumpet, Tom Rainey on drums, and Craig Taborn on piano. The performance will be held in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and performances begin at 7:30 p.m. All concerts in the Duke Jazz Series are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. For information, please call (212) 642-0142.

Composing for big bands since high school, Drew Gress is a bassist with a background in contemporary improvised music. His latest project is entitled The Irrational Numbers (Premonition) and features original compositions for a quintet. Earlier releases include the critically-acclaimed 7 Black Butterflies (2005), Spin & Drift (2001) and Heyday (1997). Mr. Gress’s future projects and endeavors include a solo bass recording and an electronics project. He boasts an extensive resume of collaborations with such artists as John Abercrombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Mark Feldman, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby and John Surman. He has toured extensively through North and South America, Europe and Asia and previously served as the Artist-in-Residence at St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer and Chamber Music America.

"His bass-driven jazz digs deep into, as Jack Kerouac said in his novel On The Road, the 'pit and prune juice' of the human experience." -- Kevin Eagan (http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-drew-gress-the-irrational1/)

The Duke Project is more than pleased to welcome Drew Gress and 7 Black Butterflies. I'll leave you with Drew's phenomenal rendition of Autumn Leaves (a video taken as part of David Gage Workshop/Mike's Master Class on April 15, 2008) as a sneak preview!

We hope to see you there!

Appearing in May as part of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Duke Jazz Talks is Dee Dee Bridgewater, in discussion about her life and work with Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum. Following the dialogue, there will be a brief performance.

Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater made her New York debut in 1970 with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and then went on to capture everyone’s heart (and a Tony for Best Featured Actress) as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. She has worked with such jazz greats as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, and Roland Kirk, while solidifying her theater reputation by taking on such roles as jazz legend Billie Holiday in Stephen Stahl’s Lady Day and becoming the first black actress to play Sally Bowles in Cabaret. You can hear her now on NPR's JazzSet where she continues to spread her love of jazz to listeners while highlighting live jazz music around the world.  read more »

Please join us for our next Duke Jazz Talk featuring father/son artists Bucky and John Pizzarelli on Wednesday, February 11 at 8:00 p.m. Duke Jazz Talks put the spotlight on four GRAMMY® -nominated and -award winning jazz artists. Bucky and John will discuss their lives and work with Bob Santelli, Executive Director of The GRAMMY MuseumSM; following the dialogue will be a brief performance.

Duke Jazz Talks are part of the two-year Library for the Performing Arts’ project funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to present, document, and preserve jazz, contemporary dance, and theater performances and related oral histories.

These oral histories are offering the chance to be connected to times we can never know - times we can only miss. I encourage you all to be a part of celebrating a generation of musicians whose schooling was backing Billie for a week as she passed through town - whose best education was piling into Coltrane's station wagon and traveling across the country and back. Be a part of appreciating your primary resources. Further, be a part of the movement to document, preserve, and provide access to these rich histories.

Photo Credit: Jens Palm

The Pizzarellis:

Bucky Pizzarelli has been playing professional jazz music for over sixty years. His extraordinary skill as a rhythm guitar player places him in the company of other jazz greats like Freddie Greene and Barry Galbraith. He has pioneered the great chord solo tradition begun by George Van Eps and Dick McDonough. For many years, Eps and Pizzarelli were considered the only guitarists to play the seven-string guitar exclusively.

John Pizzarelli has followed in the footsteps of his father, and has been playing the guitar since he was six years old. He began playing alongside his father at age 20, and has since gone on to have his own prolific career as a jazz guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. Internationally known for classic standards, late-night ballads, and the cool jazz flavor he brings to his performances and recordings, John Pizzarelli also hosts the nationally syndicated radio program “Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli.”

There is an admission charge of $10 or $5 for students for Duke Jazz Talks programs. For ticket reservations, please call 212.870.1793, or to charge by phone, call 212-245-5440. We also accept TDF vouchers for this event.

This event will be held in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 111 Amsterdam Avenue @ 65th Street. For more information, please call 212.870.1793 or visit nypl.org/lpaprograms

Hope to see you there!