CC Booker III

Front Page News – Little 5 Points
351 Moreland Ave.
Atlanta, GA  30307
FREE – No Cover Charge

CC Booker III

Front Page News – Little 5 Points
351 Moreland Ave.
Atlanta, GA  30307
FREE!  No Cover Charge

CC Booker III

The ATRIUM at  Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
FREE Concert in conjunction with the Atlanta Jazz Festival

Will Scruggs & Friends

Front Page News – Midtown
1104 Crescent Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
Free

Noon – 3 PM

Will Scruggs & Friends

Front Page News – Midtown
1104 Crescent Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
Free – No Cover Charge

Sunday Brunch at Front Page News in Midtown.  Family friendly, beautiful French-Quarter-style patio, Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar, plus great food and music with Will Scruggs and some of the best musicians in Atlanta.

In March 2013 CC Booker III started a Friday Night Residency at Front Page News in Little 5 Points.  This weekly event, called JazzFest Fridays with CC Booker, starts at 9 pm every Friday night with music until at least Midnight.  And the best part is that these shows are FREE – No Cover Charge!!!

Please come and support the music to help us keep this great series going!

Front Page News (Little 5 Points) is a great New Orleans-themed restaurant with awesome food and two full bars (inside and outside).  Each week I’ll be putting together groups featuring my favorite musicians in Atlanta, with lots of special guests stopping through to sit in.  You can expect plenty of CC Booker’s classic SoulJazz grooves, plus a heaping bowl of Memphis Soul Stew and a side of New Orleans Funk!

For complete show details and band listings, please check the
Will Scruggs Event Page and/or Front Page News (L5P) Calendar.

5 Jazz Christmas Albums For 2012

Some of the greatest art of ages past and sometimes present has been
faith based — much classical music, once nearly all painting and sculpture.
That sometimes makes us uncomfortable to discuss or even mention in this
secular age but it’s true enough. There have also been more than a few great
jazz artists who were strong in their faith. That maybe also makes us just a
little leery to say, but it’s true enough as well.

This wonderful jazz album seems strongly Christian
in the best sense of love for humankind and
gratefulness for life and salvation. But it is no less
accomplished jazz for that. From Will Scruggs’ sax
work to Brian Hogan’s fine piano to the rhythm
section of Tommy Sauter and Marlon Patton, this
recording is as complex and pleasing as it is deeply
felt.

The musicianship is superb. The Angel Gabriel arrives with a fanfare to shake
the knees of all us sinners on “The Annunciation,” and the “Song of Mary”
shows why she is the favorite of so many of the faithful, including a recent
Pope or two.

But all is not imposing here. The album’s “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
is as joyous as the title shout out. “Go Down Moses” rings of its African
American origins and Dixieland playing. (Interestingly, here and elsewhere
we are presented in the album’s booklet with the lyrics to all songs, but the
recording is all instrumental.)

If you never thought “We Three Kings” was a fine jazz composition, you
will change your mind. And if you haven’t felt the elevated state of these
musicians at their work before we get there, you can’t miss it on the closing
“Joy to the World.” Particularly when the terrific horn ensemble kicks in to
fortify the core quintet.

As the story goes, God promised Simeon he would see the Savior before he
died. I can only promise you really, really good jazz.

If you’re looking for a jazz album for the Christmas season with a more spiritual orientation than Vince Guaraldi’s evergreen, A Charlie Brown Christmas, you might want to give a listen to Song of Simeon from the Will Scruggs Jazz Fellowship. As Scruggs explains in the liner notes, “My vision for this recording was to create a musical journey through the deeper themes of the Christmas narrative.” To this end he selected 11 pieces “to formulate a layered chronology that illustrates the profound, spiritual mystery of the radical Biblical story of the birth of Christ.” The album he came up with is certainly a testament to his spiritual journey, but it is also a testament to his musical artistry and that of his collaborators as well. Song of Simeon is straight-ahead jazz played with skill and spiritual intensity.

Joining Scruggs, who plays tenor and soprano saxophone, are pianist Brian Hogans, guitarist Dan Baraszu, drummer Marlon Patton, bassist Tommy Sauter, and percussionist Kinah Boto Ayah. Trumpeter Joe Granden, along with a horn ensemble, is featured on a Dixieland version of the Black spiritual, “Go Down, Moses” in an arrangement, we are told in elaborate artist’s notes on Scruggs’ website, based on a setting by Louis Armstrong. Although not usually a song associated with Christmas, it is one of the album’s many highlights.

The album is divided into two parts. The significance of these is explained by Scruggs’ father and spiritual advisor, the Reverend C. Perry Scruggs, Jr. Based on Luke 2:32 where the “Song of Simeon” proclaims the Nativity as “a light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel,” Rev. Scruggs points out that the first part called “The Glory” celebrates the “fulfillment of the promise to God’s people.” The second part, “The Light,” is the “gift of new light to the world.” Both parts utilize musical material both well known and more obscure.

Part I begins with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” from a 19th century adaptation, and just to give an idea of some of his thinking, he explains: “Three different voices state the theme, each with the same melody but different harmony to symbolize the Holy Trinity.” “The Annunciation – Gabriel’s Message,” based on a Basque carol is next with a triumphant emphasis. “The Song of Mary – Magnificat” in a 1928 setting and the familiar “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” follow. “Nunc Dimittus – Song of Simeon” and the stirring “Go Down, Moses” close out the first part.

Part II opens with “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” arranged from a 16th century melody by bassist Sauter. It includes “T’was in the Moon of Wintertime,” known as “The Huron Carol,” a powerful “Ideo Gloria” based on another 16th century melody and the very well known “We Three Kings.” A swinging version of “Joy to the World” with the return of the horn ensemble closes out the album’s second part.

The album includes a little booklet with the English translations of all the lyrics which are also available on the website, along with extensive explanations and analyses of what is going on musically in each of the piece.

Son of a minister, Atlanta saxophonist Will Scruggs assembled 11 canticles, hymns and traditional folk melodies to create a holiday narrative and jazz suite. Working with seven horns and a five-piece rhythm section, Mr. Scruggs arranged songs like “We Three Kings,” “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” and “Joy to the World.” Despite its religious theme, the album is distinctly a jazz effort—complete with fusion passages, World percussion and reed improvisation by Mr. Scruggs. An uplifting instrumental tale—free from the cloying clutches of Tin Pan Alley.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324024004578171393634856294.html?KEYWORDS=marc+myer

“Let’s put Christ back in Christmas” has been a popular cry of those who think the holiday season has gone off the rails, moving from the observance of a religious holy day to “Spendapalooza”.  Many of the Christmas jazz recordings we hear at Straight No Chaser tend to be of the secular variety, containing holiday spirit, but not necessarily holiday spirituality.

Will Scruggs’ Song of Simeon: A Christmas Journey is a pleasant change of pace. Scruggs has tapped into his Christian beliefs and love of music to take as he says, “eleven pieces to formulate a layered chronology that illustrates the profound, spiritual mystery of the radical biblical story of the birth of Christ.”

And did I mention that he can swing? Oh, yes. This is reverent music, but it is not staid. The Fellowship includes Scruggs on tenor, soprano and baritone sax; Brian Hogans on piano; Dan Baraszu on guitar; Tommy Sauter on bass; Marlon Patton on drums; and Kinah Boto Ayah on percussion. A Horn Ensemble (Joe Gransden, trumpet; Ryan Whitehead, clarinet; Brian Hogans, alto sax; Norm Ficke, tenor sax; Wes Funderburk, trombone; Travis Cottle, trombone; Lee Watts, bass trombone) supplements the core group wonderfully.

Scruggs has been playing and recording in the US South for years, recording two solo CDs and a Fellowship CD over the past ten years, Beyond his jazz work, he has been tapped for the horn section in bands like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and recorded with the likes of Natalie Cole and Cee-Lo Green.

I spoke with Will about the history of the project and the challenges of arranging familiar holiday tunes to create new works of art. Click here to listen to Podcast 320, including musical selections:

Will Scruggs Fellowship – “Song of Mary – Magnificat”; “T’was in the Moon of Wintertime (The Huron Carol)’ and “Joy to the World” from Song of Simeon: A Christmas Journey. The CD is divided into two sections, “Part I: The Glory” and “Part II: The Light”. The first two tunes come from the initial section, while the familiar “Joy to the World” closes the CD and Part II.

Will Scruggs Fellowship – “Till Your Well Runs Dry” from BlueBari Jam. The first Scruggs Fellowship CD allowed Will more time on Baritone sax; hence the playful CD title. This is my favorite track from that very strong release.

http://straightnochaserjazz.libsyn.com/podcast-3-holiday-podcast-1-a-conversation-with-will-scruggs

Download the Podcast and Listen to an Interview with Will!
http://traffic.libsyn.com/straightnochaserjazz/Podcast_320_-_Holiday_Podcast_1-__A_Conversation_wtih_Will_Scruggs.mp3