Category Archives: News

Click to visit the Kickstarter fundraising campaign page

by Giovanni Russonello & Luke Stewart
Editorial board

As you might already know, next month CapitalBop will present the biggest shows in our history. The goal is to show all of D.C. how alive and contemporary the global jazz scene is today, and to do it in ways that are simply a lot of fun. At the third annual D.C. Jazz Loft Series at the DC Jazz Festival, we’ll be putting on three shows, and working with some stellar local visual artists (as well as national ones), DJs, chefs, and others to make them more than concerts — they’ll be immersive experiences, with the spontaneity of jazz as their compass.

But we can’t make it all happen without your support. So we’re asking that you to take a look at our newly launched Kickstarter campaign, and think about backing us up. If you donate, you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of awards — and, honestly, the prizes that we and our artists are offering are out of sight. ERIMAJ has contributed some signed, very limited-edition 45″ vinyl. Other D.C. Jazz Loft Series performers are offering you personal music lessons (they can be intense theory workouts or simple music-appreciation sessions, depending on your level). We’ve got beautiful posters that all the festival headliners will be signing. We’re giving personal guided tours of U Street, focusing on the 100-year history of its jazz scene. You could even win airtime on WPFW-FM, DJing and talking to listeners. And all donors who give $20 or more will win tickets to the series, along with their other rewards.

 
The performers at the series are simply the most exciting and illustrious we’ve ever presented. They’ll range from the rising stars Karriem Riggins and ERIMAJ — who both blend the insistent pulse of hip-hop with jazz improvising — to the legendary Peter Brötzmann, a German saxophonist who has spent almost five decades paving the path that avant-garde jazz musicians now walk.

We’re already getting some nice attention from the press for this year’s series. The Washington City Paper’s Michael J. West wrote in last week’s Summer Entertainment Guide: “CapitalBop’s 2011 entry into DCJF signaled outreach to the newer, younger, hipper District, and the offerings have only deepened since,” adding that “CapitalBop’s D.C. Jazz Loft bring[s] cutting-edge, often up-and-coming artists into the fold.”

With your help, we’re ready to take this next big step in our work to make sure jazz stays part of D.C.’s artistic boom.

Click for hi-res version of the “Improv Nonstop” flyer

by Giovanni Russonello and Luke Stewart
Editorial board

When one thinks of musical improvisation, some questions come to mind. Are they simply noodling freely? Is there a rational structure? Are the musicians on the bandstand really interacting with each other? Are they speaking a musical language with deep traditional roots, or is it a Tower of Babel? These thoughts occur to us because improvisation — when done correctly — is itself a question, a showcase of a musician’s true self. A musician is the most honest when she’s improvising. Even so, there is a well-documented rift among the different schools and traditions in improvisation. In recent years, with the emergence of more open-minded and innovative musicians willing and able to fuse their influences and approaches, this rift is slowly closing. That is evident in the number of collaborative performances that have begun to occur. Most common is the improvisational “round robin,” which aims to bring together musicians of different approaches in an organic, spontaneous, unpredictable collaboration.

 
This year, the Brooklyn-based Undead Music Festival is sponsoring a number of these concerts throughout the country under the umbrella of a “Day of the DIY,” and CapitalBop is thrilled to be co-presenting one of them. We will be holding this afternoon of improvised duets — between some of D.C.’s most thrilling, risk-taking musicians — in partnership with Sonic Circuits and Undead, at Union Arts & Manufacturing. (More about that new venue below.) The performers will include the great Brian Settles, Janel Leppin, Anthony Pirog, Brad Linde, Reginald Cyntje, Aaron Martin and many others. (Full disclosure: Luke Stewart, a CapitalBop editor who co-wrote part of this post, will be one of them.)

For the first time in recent memory, the widely varying schools of improvisation represented in the D.C. jazz community and the experimental music community are coming together in a collective atmosphere to share and collaborate. Here’s how this creative, exciting thing is going to work: One musician performs an unaccompanied improvisation lasting for a specific period of time (about five minutes in this case). Another musician then joins him for another period of duo improvisation. The first musician eventually stops and the second musician continues solo for another short period. Then yet another musician joins in for another period of duo, the other musician eventually drops out, and so on until all participating performers have played.

This Sunday, May 5, most of the musicians that will play have never performed together. Some have never heard each other’s music. It will be a totally new experience for many. And here’s something else we’re thrilled about: It will be the first formal performance in the newly opened studio/venue at 411 New York Ave. NE, dubbed Union Arts and Manufacturing. The space is fully artist-run, and it has high hopes and ambitions to help to enrich the arts community of D.C. Come out and support CapitalBop, Union Arts, and all of these bold musicians as we try out a little something new. 

Ernie Watts performs at Blues Alley with the Alan Baylock Orchestra on Wednesday. Courtesy livinglegendsmusic.com

by Giovanni Russonello
Editorial board

Listen to Ernie Watts for a minute, and you might get the feeling that he can be slotted into a rather neat category. It’s the clear, gleaming tone, the tumbling swing feel, the awe he engenders in younger jazz musicians, the confidence without swagger of a man who’s been putting his passions into practice for over four decades. But Watts isn’t your stock hard-bop stalwart. The Virginia native’s résumé encompasses work with orchestral arranger Oliver Nelson, prog-rock pioneer Frank Zappa, bop alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, fusion icon Stanley Clarke, and experimental bassist and composer Charlie Haden. On his solo projects, Watts made use of his curious ear, making music that ranged from straight-ahead to funk fusion. Traces of his abiding love for John Coltrane runs through it all.

Watts appears on Wednesday at Blues Alley with the Alan Baylock Orchestra, and we’re giving away two tickets. Baylock is the chief arranger for the Airmen of Note, the U.S. Air Force’s big band; performing with him will be a thrill for Watts, who played early in his career with Buddy Rich’s big band. To be entered to win a pair of tickets, all you’ve got to do is “like” or “share” our post on Facebook by clicking below. A winner will be selected at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Best of luck!

Click for hi-res version.

by Giovanni Russonello and Luke Stewart
Editorial board

After a temperamental winter, spring has finally decided to settle down and stick around. As the jazz songbook would have us know, there’s plenty of reason to believe, jump up, and let the joy spring forth. And there may be no better way to do that than to listen to some of the area’s greatest musicians swinging at an outdoor edition of the D.C. Jazz Loft.

Join us on the patio at Chez Billy this Sunday, when we’ll hear from the tenor saxophonist and singer Frank Mitchell, a funk and jazz master who tours with Thievery Corporation, the alto saxophonist Russell Kirk (a Greg Osby protégé), and the bassist Herman Burney.

 
As usual, entry is free, though we strongly suggest bringing $15 to donate to the musicians. You’ll also be able to order food and drink from the bar. The first act will start promptly, just after 7 p.m., so that we can wrap up the revelry in time without upsetting the neighbors.

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Click for hi-res version.

by Giovanni Russonello
Editorial board

It sure isn’t the worst February this town has ever known, but there’s still quite a nasty bite to it. At Chez Billy on Sunday, the District’s best Caribbean jazz musicians will be sending out sun-drenched rays of sound, and danceable grooves. Reginald Cyntje, one of the area’s greatest trombonists, is about to record his second LP, The Love Album, and will be displaying original material from that record with a combo. The steel pan virtuoso Victor Provost — like Cyntje, a Virgin Islands native — will play with his own band. And then there’s Quincy Phillips, one of the most imposing drummers in the world, who tours with the renowned trumpeter Roy Hargrove and plays in D.C.’s beloved Young Lions trio.

 
The loft will take place again upstairs at Chez Billy, the cozy Petworth den that serves delicious French food and drinks from a full bar. It’s located at 3815 Georgia Ave. NW, just across the street from the Petworth Metro stop. As usual, we suggest a $15 donation to the musicians, but no one will be turned away if they can’t give that much. This truly is one of the most talented loft lineups in recent memory — don’t miss out!

QUINCY PHILLIPS

Quincy Phillips, who tours with the international stars Roy Hargrove and Roberta Gambarini, has a pattering drum sound that swings and struts at the same time. He isn’t technically a D.C. resident (he hails from Baltimore) but ever since he attended Howard University’s jazz studies program the District has refused to let him go. He performs at Bohemian Caverns all the time, and always knows how to light a fire under the bandleader — whether it’s a legend or an up-and-coming local. Here he will step out in front with his own group.

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