Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

Beat by Beat | Jazz Stories continued from page 34
formulaic.”
Jessel’s career highlights on
Broadway would include being
chosen by Richard Rodgers to write
additional lyrics for I Remember
Mama in 1979, and his songs being
recorded by Louis Armstrong, John
Pizzarelli and Michael Feinstein
(who nicknamed Ray Jessel “the
millennium Noel Coward”).
At 72, Jessel made his cabaret
performing debut at Hollywood’s
Gardenia Room in April 2002, after
which he played to a series of sellout
performances there, at L.A.’s
famed Jazz Bakery and in New
York at Danny’s Skylight Room and
at Don’t Tell Mama. He made his
Lea DeLaria
debut at Toronto’s Top o’ the Senator
in May of 2003, and ten years later, October 2013, he played at the
same address, 251 Victoria, now Jazz Bistro. Both shows were booked
by Sybil Walker, who reflects on the first time she presented him
alongside the great Jackie Richardson:
“Meeting Ray and presenting him to Toronto audiences was a
uniquely rewarding experience – I was prepared for him to be entertaining
but he was jaw-dropping funny, singing impossibly clever
lyrics that left every member of the audience in a state of hilarious
disbelief. Top o’ the Senator audiences had been entertained by the
wonderful lyricists Dave Frishberg and Mose Allison through the years
but Ray’s was a talent that caught us all off guard.”
JAZZ.FM91 on-air personality, producer and Jazz Safari bwana,
Jaymz Bee, has long been a fan:
“The first time I saw Ray Jessel was at Birdland in New York City. My
dad and I laughed so hard we literally had tears in our eyes and he
came over to our table to chat.
When I told him I knew his sister Viv he made a big fuss over us.
Since then I had the privilege of interviewing him several times for
JAZZ.FM91 and he was always down to earth and hilarious. The fact
that he was so funny never prevented him and his wife from writing
serious love songs. He is up there with Bob Dorough and Dave
Frishberg in my books – one of my favourite composers!”
Ray Jessel’s legacy will be celebrated at Jazz Bistro on Monday,
October 26 from 7 to 11pm with a very special lineup of singers that
will pay tribute to his life and music. Reservations are highly recommended
(416-363-5299).
Finally, I do have another live music tip for you. If you’re not planning
on going trick-or-treating, I recommend that you treat yourself
October 31 to a night with Lea DeLaria at the Danforth Musical Hall.
Since being cast as Big Boo on the hit Netflix show Orange is the
New Black in 2013, the larger-than-life DeLaria has become an international
star, but she has been hard at work for quite a while. In 1993
she made history as the first openly gay stand-up comic on the latenight
talk-show circuit with an appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show.
She has been based in New York for many years, appearing on countless
stages and screens.
In addition to her stand-up and acting career, DeLaria is a wellknown
and highly entertaining jazz singer whose bebop chops are
served with an in-your-face bravura. With a voice that is as big as her
imagination, she has long been an audience favourite in New York
clubs for her outrageously entertaining shows. DeLaria’s latest jazz
recording, House of David, finds her reimagining a dozen David Bowie
classics. On the Danforth Music Hall stage, DeLaria will be joined by
longtime friend and frequent collaborator, stand-up comedian Maggie
Cassella. Expect big laughs, good times and priceless timing.
Ori Dagan is a Toronto-based jazz musician, writer and
educator who can be reached at oridagan.com.
KPMT Jazz Bash
Not the Same
Without Jim
STEVE WALLACE
The Ken Page Memorial Trust will hold its 17th Annual Jazz
Fundraiser on Thursday, October 22 at the Old Mill in Toronto.
This autumn jazz bash has become a local institution and as ever,
will be conducted along the lines of a jazz party, combining some of
the best American mainstream jazz artists with a cadre of Toronto’s
elite musicians in an informal, but musical, jam-session format. The
lineup of prodigious talent promises a jazz banquet and plenty of
interaction between players of like instruments. The trumpeters will
be Warren Vaché, one of the most lyrically inventive cornetists in jazz,
Guido Basso and his sophisticated and mellifluous flugelhorn artistry
and John MacLeod, who favours the cornet and is equally well-versed
in traditional and modern jazz styles.
The trombone will be handled by the fine Chicago-based veteran
Russ Phillips – whose father replaced Jack Teagarden with Louis
Armstrong’s All-Stars in 1951 – and Toronto’s Alastair Kay, simply one
of the best trombonists in the world, Canada’s answer to Urbie Green
for 35 years now.
The evening will boast some great reed players: the hard-swinging
tenor saxophonist Harry Allen; Ken Peplowski, best-known for his
virtuosic clarinet but also a fine tenor player; the stylistically versatile
Scott Robinson, who plays all the reeds but specializes in the
rarely heard bass and contrabass saxophones; and Toronto’s John
MacMurchy on tenor and clarinet, a fine player who deserves to be
more widely known.
Brooklyn-born pianist Johnny Varro, now 85 and a much-revered
veteran of swing and mainstream circles, will be the only American
in an otherwise all-Toronto rhythm section. Multi-instrumentalist
Don Thompson will play vibes (probably also some piano) and Reg
Schwager – who can play anything – will be the guitarist. Providing
the bedrock will be two of Canada’s very best – Neil Swainson on bass
and Terry Clarke on drums.
As great as this cornucopia of jazz talent is, there will be something
missing from this year’s bash – for the first time Jim Galloway will be
absent, owing to his death this past December after several months
of illness. Jim was a founding member of the KPMT and its musical
director for the past 16 years, so dying was probably the only thing
that could keep him away from such a jazz jamboree. It won’t be quite
the same without him; he’ll be missed both musically and personally.
This year’s event is billed as a tribute to Jim. There will no doubt be
some stories told about him and some fond memories rekindled. He
played with all the musicians involved often over the years so they’ll
no doubt summon his spirit – he won’t be there in person, but he will
be present nonetheless.
This is just the kind of jazz setting Jim relished – freewheeling,
diverse and informal, with no written music. He loved the spontaneous
give-and-take that can occur between musicians with nothing
planned and no structure except a common heritage of standard
tunes and knowledge of jazz tradition. He excelled at directing traffic
in these groupings to avoid monotony – a trumpet-piano duet here,
three saxophones a cappella there, perhaps just trombone and bass for
a chorus. He understood that special music can be made when good
musicians are playing their best but are relaxed and having fun, not
being competitive but rather mutually inspiring.
In his heart of hearts he was a jazz musician but that label is insufficient,
as he was much more: an important booking agent; an
Without Jim continues on page 51
thewholenote.com Oct 1 - Nov 7, 2015 | 35