gary bartz rené marie nicole henry claudio roditi - Hot House Jazz

FRESH TAKESMusical chemistry can be a cumbersome"science," but once a musician finds thepersonnel combination he/she feels suitsthe music best, the sky can be the limit forthat group's potential. NYC-based trumpeter/composerJohn Raymond hasworked out such a formula in a band he willbe taking to Jazz at Kitano: guitarist GiladHekselman, bassist Aidan Carroll anddrummer Austin Walker. Raymond citesthe timeless dynamic of Art Farmer andJim Hall's quartet as an influence on hisband, particularly the album Interaction."I've chosen to play regularly with this particulargroup of musicians because each ofthem possesses a sincerity and sensitivityin their playing that feels very similar forme to what Art Farmer and Jim Hall hadtogether," he says. Raymond is looking tobring the band into the studio in theupcoming months, which will eventuallyyield his second album as a leader.At the Kitano, Raymond's band will performclassic tunes, arrangements of standardsand some of his originals. In keepingwith the strong influence of Farmer on thisband, Raymond says he will only performon flugelhorn, just as Farmer did onBy Angelo Di Loreto, student at the Manhattan School of MusicInteraction. "I've fallen in love with doingso," he says.Hailed as a "prepossessing young trumpetplayer" by the New York Times,Raymond is a Minneapolis native whomoved to New York in 2009 to attendSUNY Purchase for his master's degree.Recently, Raymond was a headliner in the2012 Festival of New Trumpet Music(FONT), as well as at the 2013 Winter JazzFestival. In the past, he has performedwith the likes ofJohn Abercrombieand Maria Schneider.The JohnR a y m o n dQuartet withguitarist GiladHekselman,bassist AidanCarroll andd r u m m e rAustin Walkerperforms atJazz at Kitanoon Nov. 21.HOT FLASHES...continued from previous pageVince Giordano, Dianne Reeves,Christian McBride and PaquitoD'Rivera will further enliven the festival,which concludes on Nov. 10 with the SarahVaughan International Jazz VocalCompetition. Visit www.njpac.org for moreinformation.Following a national tour, the DjangoReinhardt Festival makes its final stop inNew York and sets up shop at BirdlandNov. 5-10. Throughout the evenings,European jazz masters like LudovicBeier, Dorado Schmitt and PierreBlanchard will share the bill withFreddie Cole, James Carter, EdmarCastañeda and others. To pick up tickets,visit www.djangobirdland.com.Jazz EducationGrammy Award-winning producer DonSickler recently launched Jazz LeadSheets, an online library of accurately transcribedheads of great jazz works from the1950s to present day, paired with correctchord progressions and audio samples.Aimed at providing a superior alternativeto products like The Real Book—both inaccuracy of the material and in royaltiespaid to composers and artists—the librarycan be accessed at www.jazzleadsheets.com.Each month, Flushing Town Hall hostsa jazz jam and a jazz clinic. The free clinicsare available to high school-age and oldermusic students and feature members of theQueens Jazz OverGround teaching avariety of musical arrangements andcharts. Students are invited to remain andobserve the jam that follows in the evening,which is open to professional musiciansand graduate students. The Queens JazzOverGround leads the jam session andserves as house band. To learn more, visitwww.flushingtownhall.org.Edmar Castañeda34Raymond photo by John Rogers