Roy Haynes©Andrea Canter

“As 'Fountain of Youth' so exuberantly captures, Roy Haynes is one of the seven wonders of modern jazz." --Dan Ouelette (Billboard) 

If there is an “Energizer Bunny” of jazz, it has to be drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes. At an age when even jazz musicians tend to slow down and take it easy, Haynes has done the opposite, revving up his engines with his latest “Fountain of Youth” Band—so aptly named for its leader, issuing volcanic recordings and traveling cross country to share the beat. One of the most dynamic timekeepers in the business, Haynes’ career mirrors the history of modern jazz as one of the last of the great innovators of the 1940s who is still pushing the genre forward in the 21st century. Few working musicians in 2009 include the bands of Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie on their resumes; but many of today’s top 20-something rising stars are graduates of the “Academy of Roy Haynes.” The Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC) presents the Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band on Saturday, April 4th as part of the 10th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival - "A Decade of Keeping Our Music Alive."  This concert, to be held in the Brooklyn Tech Auditorium, will benefit the not-for-profit arts organization, CBJC, and help continue its mission of providing cultural programming to the underserved population of Brooklyn.  

Frank Wess © Ronald K Marsh

A multi-instrumentalist whose inspired solos have kept big-band jazz fresh and vital into the present, Frank Wess is revered as a smoothly swinging tenor saxophone player in the Lester Young tradition, as an expert alto saxophonist, and as one of the most influential, instantly recognizable flutists in jazz history. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Wess first studied classical music and played with the Kansas All-State High School Orchestra. After moving to Washington, DC, as a teenager, in 1935, he began to play jazz in lunchtime jam sessions with fellow students, including Billy Taylor. An early touring career was interrupted by military service -- he played in a 17-piece band during World War II -- and then was resumed when Wess came out of the Army and joined an outstanding lineup in the Billy Eckstine Orchestra. It was at this time that he took up the flute, studying at the Modern School of Music in Washington.

"This music speaks to you in a natural voice. You don't have that in modern music anywhere else. In Cuba it is there everyday, flowing like a river." --- Ry Cooder

Yaure Muniz and Igort Rivas © Andrea Canter

When Americans think about Cuban music, most likely they first think “salsa,” the infectious hybrid Latino dance music that permeates many cafes, markets and night clubs. Yet the music of Cuba is a rich tapestry of sounds and rhythms that draw on its own “salsa” of native and African traditions—particularly rumba, son, and danzon. Under the leadership of Cuba’s maestro of the famed Buena Vista Social Club, Juan de Marcos, the latest edition of the Afro Cuban All Stars launched a 40-city tour of the U.S. in late February, starting on the West Coast and traveling east. They land in Ohio with stops in Cincinatti (March 22) and Oxford (March 24)  before heading east to New Jersey, New York (Town Hall) and then swinging south to end the tour at Knight Concert Hall in Miami on April 11th. Despite the mere 90 miles separating Cuba from American shores, de Marcos needed to look far beyond Havana to assemble an orchestra free to tour in “the land of the free.”

Larry Coryell © Andrea Canter

By popular demand - two jazz legends who are unrivaled masters of their respective instruments will once again join forces when Joey DeFrancesco and Larry Coryell return to the Iridium in New York this week. Jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco is an astonishing natural talent with blistering speed who demonstrates complete control of the organ at all times and a tremendous ear for harmonics.  After being "diccovered" by, and then touring with Miles Davis as a teenager, DeFrancesco was largely responsible for bringing the jazz organ back into prominance in the 1990s. One of the “Guitar Gods” of jazz and fusion, Larry Coryell is credited with giving birth to the fusion movement of the 1970s, particularly with his band Eleventh House. Ever growing as an artist and musician, Coryell has become a 'Renaissance man' who excels at all styles of playing.  Completing the trio is the swinging, hard-driving Philadelphia drummer Byron Landham, who has enjoyed a long musical partnership with DeFranceso. This tremendous trio will perform at the Iridium in New York with sets at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26th trhough Sunday, March 29th Tickets are $35 and available at www.iridiumjazzclub.com.