Art of Jazz at Buffalo AKG evolves with the years
Series opens Sunday with Dena DeRose Trio
By Elmer Ploetz
For jazz fans, the Art of Jazz series at the Buffalo AKG museum is always one of the highlights of the year.
It’s become a chance for them to hear nationally or internationally known musicians who rarely get to perform here but are stars – frequently rising stars – in their field.
This winter/spring season of the Art of Jazz includes four performances, starting with tomorrow’s (Feb. 2) show with the Dena DeRose Trio in the Lipsey Auditorium of the Buffalo AKG Museum. The show is at 3 p.m.
Others coming for the series include:
- Joe Alterman playing the music of Les McCann on March 9.
- The Jeff Hamilton Trio playing Oscar Peterson’s “Canadiana Suite” in honor of Peterson’s centennial on April 13.
- The Emmet Cohen Trio on May 18.
The series is programmed by Tony Zambito, who has followed in the footsteps of the Bruce Eaton, who had booked the series for most of its history since starting it in 1999. The first Art of Jazz performance was a concert by jazz legend Phil Woods on Oct. 16 of that year.
Many jazz legends have passed from the scene since then, but many more have come to fill their shoes.
“We’re looking for artists that typically has have not been to Buffalo either before, or haven’t been here often,” said Zambito in a recent interview. “Or there’s a unique opportunity because they have to be traveling, and it represents a nice opportunity for a debut performance in Buffalo.”
Eaton said the series originated after Artpark, where he had been presenting jazz, moved away from presenting jazz. He left there in 1996. He had a conversation with Tom Loonan of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (now the Buffalo AKG) about possible new venues and Eaton sketched out his ideas, but then he didn’t hear anything about it for awhile.
But in 1999, the museum decided to make changes in its music programming and its head of education, Jennifer Bayles, called Eaton. That first series of shows (Woods, the Dave Holland Quintet and Jack DeJohnette) all sold out.
Since then, the Art of Jazz series has become something that the musicians appreciate as much as the fans, Eaton said.
“What really made it was that auditorium is one of the best venues for live jazz in North America. And that doesn’t come from me, it comes from the musicians,” Eaton said. “There’s not a bad seat in the house and the sound is perfect, if it’s done right. So this got out with the musicians that we had a great audience – and still do.
“And I would say almost all of the musicians are very into art and culture, and so they were blown away by the collection. So it just, it just all worked.”
The Buffalo AKG Museum Director of Learning and Creativity Charlie Garling said that has been a goal all along.
“The primary goal of the Art of Jazz series when it began was relatively simple — to pair the museum’s world-class collection of modern and contemporary art with world-class jazz musicians,” he said. “Today the series allows the AKG to continue its mission to present exhibitions, performances and programs that challenge and inspire.”
Along the way, the torch for programming the series was passed along to Zambito, who also runs JazzBuffalo. He started helping out about 10 years ago.
“It’s become kind an esteemed series within the context of the AKG,” Zambito said. “And I think from an artist perspective too, we’ve developed a really good reputation where we do get a good number of
inquiries about performing.”
Both Eaton and Zambito mentioned that there has been by necessity a move toward younger artists simply because many of the longtime stalwarts have aged out.
“We’re going to have to adjust to a transition,” Zambito said. “We’re definitely going to have younger artists that we’re going to have to showcase in the future. There’s a nice crop, if you will, of next generation talent that’s coming up. So I think we’ll be very attentive to that.”
THIS YEAR’S PERFORMERS:
Dena DeRose:
The pianist-singer has 14 albums to her credit and has been a regular on Downbeat Magazine award lists. The Binghamton native currently serves as a tenured professor of jazz voice at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. She is also a voice teacher at Siena Jazz University for Masters Vocals in Italy, so American shows like this one are rare treats.
Joe Alterman:
Alterman has performed on keyboards at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland and Blue Note alongside Houston Person, Les McCann, Dick Gregory, Ramsey Lewis, and his own trio, among others. He has built a reputation for writing about jazz as well. This show focuses on his playing of the music of the late Les McCann, who was his friend and mentor.
Jeff Hamilton:
Hamilton is a jazz drummer who will know by tomorrow night whether he’s a Grammy winner for his album with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, “And So It Goes,” which was nominted in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. For his Art of Jazz date, he’ll be playing Oscar Peterson’s “Canadiana Suite” in a trio with pianist Tamir Hendelman and bassist Jon Hamar.
Emmet Cohen:
Cohen, like Alterman, is one of the younger wave of jazz pianist/keyboard players, making his reputation as a player and composer. He has headlined at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, and Birdland, and has appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival and North Sea Jazz Festival. He has also developed “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a live-streamed “Harlem rent party” that has reached a worldwide audience via tens of millions of internet views.
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