By Tom Ineck

LINCOLN, Neb.—Fall is on the way and performing arts presenters are gearing up for a new season. Below are the best of area shows scheduled for upcoming months. In addition to Lincoln and Omaha concerts, we also suggest venues and events farther afield, most notably Brownville, Neb., Kansas City, Mo., and Columbia, Mo.

Let us know if you have any calendar events you would like us to feature.

Lied Center for Performing Arts

301 N. 12^th St., Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, October 21

Turtle Island Quartet, jazz-influenced string quartet

Friday, November 4

Tiempo Libre, Latin jazz and Cuban rhythms

Monday, February 27

Doc Severinsen and His Big Band

Tuesday, March 13

SFJazz Collective, San Francisco-based all-star jazz combo

Club 1200 (at the Holland Center)

1200 Douglas St., Omaha, 8 p.m.

Friday, November 11

Alison Brown Quartet, banjo with jazz combo

Saturday, January 21

Popa Chubby, blues guitar

Friday, February 17

Tia Fuller Quartet, jazz saxophone

Friday, May 18

Kenny Barron Trio, jazz piano

Saturday, May 19

Big Sam’s Funky Nation, New Orleans funk trombone

Brownville Concert Hall

2^nd and Atlantic streets, Brownville

Friday-Saturday, October 28-29, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, October 30, 2 p.m.

Michael Pagan, piano; Millie Edwards, jazz singer

Folly Theater

300 W. 12^th St., Kansas City, Mo., 8 p.m.

Saturday, October 1

Yellowjackets, fusion jazz quartet

Saturday, November 5

Peter Nero, jazz piano

Saturday, December 17

Mark O’Connor, jazz violinist

Saturday, January 14

Nnenna Freelon, jazz singer

Saturday, February 4

Grace Kelly Quintet, with special guest Phil Woods, jazz saxophone

Saturday, March 3

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

Saturday, April 14

John Pizzarelli Quartet, jazz guitar

Jardine’s

4536 Main St., Kansas City

Sunday-Wednesday, August 28-31; Friday-Saturday, September 2-3

Marilyn Maye, jazz singer

“We Always Swing” Jazz Series

Columbia, Mo.

Tuesday, September 27, 7 p.m., Jesse Auditorium

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Sunday, October 16, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Murry’s

Rene Marie

Sunday, November 6, 7 p.m., Blue Note

John Scofield Jazz Quartet

Sunday, December 4, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Murry’s

Nilson Matta’s Brazilian Voyage with Anne Drummond and Vic Juris

Sunday, January 22, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Murry’s

Ravi Coltrane Group

Sunday, February 12, 7 p.m., Missouri Theater Center for the Arts

Chucho Valdes & The Afro-Cuban Messengers

Thursday, February 23, 7 p.m., Reynolds Alumni Center

Benny Green Trio with Peter Washington and Kenny Washington

Thursday, March 8, 7 p.m., Hickman High School Auditorium

Russell Malone with MU Concert Jazz Band

Sunday, March 18, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Murry’s

Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts with Terell Stafford, Gary Versace and Martin Wind

Sunday, April 29, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Murry’s

Tia Fuller Quartet

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By Tom Ineck

COLORADO—Sometimes, even when you’ve made travel plans to result in maximum pleasure, serendipity steps in and makes things even better!

Such was the case in mid-June, when my wife and I drove to Colorado for a nine-day outing. Our objectives were threefold—relax for a few days in the Fort Collins area, visit in-laws in Denver, then complete the trip at a cousin’s son’s wedding in suburban Denver before coming home. In the end, all three involved memorable jazz performances, as well.

Unable to reach former Lincoln resident and currently active Fort Collins saxophonist Andrew Vogt before embarking on our trip, I held out little hope of seeing him during our three-day stay. We roamed through the quaint and beautiful Old Town shopping area, spent an afternoon driving and hiking along the Poudre River Canyon up to the 10,000-foot Cameron Pass, and even took in Woody Allen’s great new movie, “Midnight in Paris,” at a funky little downtown theater. On our final night in town, we decided to dine at Jay’s Bistro and Jazz Lounge, where pianist Mark Sloniker has been fronting a trio every Wednesday through Sunday for more than 10 years. Our last visit there was in summer 2008.

Just as we laid into our dinner and Sloniker launched into his first set, Mr. Vogt strolled in the front door carrying his sax. Serendipity strikes again! Andrew ordered a pizza and joined us at the table for a chat. He was up on the bandstand for the second set, as part of a stellar group that also consisted of young Myles Sloniker on drums, Mark Raynes on bass and Ben Strauss on alto sax. Among other tunes, they deftly tackled “Green Dolphin Street,” “Bill Evans’ lovely composition “Very Early” and a funky rendition of “Caravan.”

On the following night we were at Dazzle, Denver’s  best jazz club, for a short first set by vocalist Gretchen Parlato, who fronted a four-piece ensemble that also featured Taylor Eigstei on piano and electronic keyboards, Alan Hampton on bass and acoustic guitar and Mark Guiliana on drums. This versatile foursome performed songs from Parlato’s current release, “The Lost and Found,” as well as two previous CDs, including Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly,” the title track from “Lost and Found,” performed as a duet with Eigsti, Parlato’s composition “How We Love,” and “Still,” a tune with music by Hampton and lyrics by Parlato. A Brazilian samba called “Alo, Alo” featured hand-drumming by all. Parlato’s voice is emotive, yet understated, an excellent instrument for interpreting a fusion of jazz, folk and world music.

A Los Angeles native, Parlato won the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition and has received raves, but her Denver appearance was less impressive than her outdoor performance at the 2010 Healdsburg Jazz Festival, despite temperatures there well over 90 degrees. In the air-conditioned indoor venue she seemed less inspired and less engaged, perhaps because she was saving her energy for the second set of the evening. She also showed no interest in performing an encore after the 45-minute lackluster set, despite encouragement from the audience.

Two nights later, we were back at Dazzle for a pre-nuptial jam session led by the bride’s father, longtime Denver saxophonist and educator Jim Stranahan. Among others on hand were pianist Jeff Jenkins, a Nebraska native and an old friend of the Berman Music Foundation, guitarist Mike Abbott, and young drummer Colin Stranahan, brother of the bride. An amazing talent in his own right, Colin has performed with some of the greats since moving to the East Coast, including pianist Fred Hersch and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and his is a fresh and exciting new approach to the rhythmic art.

Included in the set were such favorites as “All the Things You Are,” “Nostalgia in Times Square,” “When Sunny Gets Blue,” and “The Way You Look Tonight,” which got a lovely vocal treatment by Colin’s female companion, Maria Neckam. The group also performed a Jim Stranahan original called “Ballad for Ben,” dedicated to all who were unable to attend the wedding festivities.

Those festivities concluded the following day with a wedding and reception at Villa Parker in Parker, Co. Live music at the reception was provided by none other than a combo led by our old friend Jeff Jenkins, another unforeseen treat. Certainly, we were in privileged company. We congratulate and thank newlyweds Phil Lienert and Lindsey Stranahan and their families for allowing us to share in all aspects of the joyous occasion. Salute!

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By Tom Ineck

Ahmad Alaadeen’s life journey ended with his death last year at the age of 76, but the story of his fascinating life continues with the posthumous publication of Alaadeen’s memoir, “Dysfunctional: Life Journeys of a Second-Generation Jazz Musician.”

Alaadeen's widow, Victoria "Fanny" Dunfee, said he wanted others to read his story and to learn from his poor choices and mistakes. Throughout his illness, he spent hours talking and recording his experiences in life. He died before he could finish the book, but Dunfee completed the project by transcribing his recently taped conversations and 25 years of collected interviews.

The Berman Music Foundation has been following Alaadeen—as an influential Kansas City musician, historian and storyteller—at least since 1998, when the BMF helped to bring him to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a series of enlightening and entertaining lectures and performances. As I later reported in a newsletter article headlined “Ahmad Alaadeen tells his story of jazz,” Alaadeen described an unconventional musical upbringing.

“I came along when it was down and dirty,” he told students. He studied under Leo H. Davis, who was Charlie Parker’s teacher, and later enrolled in the Kansas City Conservatory of Music. But the school had no saxophone teacher because the instrument had yet to gain sufficient respect. “I left there and got my doctorate in the streets,” he said.

He told students of his encounters with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke and others. He also alluded to racism and rapidly changing music styles, for both players and listeners, all of which makes for interesting reading in “Dysfunctional.” The paperback book comes two years after the publication of Alaadeen’s “The Rest of the Story,” a BMF-funded instructional manual that reveals some of his secrets of improvisation while also providing some historical and biographical background.  

Jazz critic Willard Jenkins writes glowingly of the new book and its author.

“His story is full of cautionary tales and triumphs over adversities, of music made and music lost, of unstinting life lessons and subsequent sage observations, and ultimately of contributing to the music which gave him so much sustenance. This is a book that every aspiring jazz musician should read and take heed… He pulls no punches, reveals both the grit and the triumph, ranging from growing up to Jay McShann's magnetic music in the 'hood to the music he ultimately called his own. ‘Dysfunctional’ is a curious title, for this is a man who surely functioned in the world he ultimately chose, and did so with great grace and humility."

The book can be purchased at The American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th St., in Kansas City, Mo. All of Alaadeen's CDs and books also are available for purchase online at http://www.Alaadeen.com.

Editor's Note: We received a copy of "Dysfunctional" too late for a thorough reading, but we did notice that one chapter is devoted to Butch Berman, who became especially close to Alaadeen and Fanny in his final years. We will write more extensively about the new book in our next BMF website update.

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By Tom Ineck

The person most instrumental in developing and designing the periodical newsletter that the Berman Music Foundation published—first in a hard-copy version that was mailed to thousands of BMF readers and since 2003 in a PDF version that could be downloaded from our website—was recently in the news.

Rebecca Kaiser (whom we fondly remember as “Becca”) and her spouse, Natalie Wagner, were on hand May 18 when President Barack Obama made a stop in Boston to kick off his re-election campaign in New England with a series of fundraisers. As Rebecca herself reports, one of the events was just a block from their house in Boston’s South End neighborhood where the couple bought a condo last summer. Rebecca and Natalie volunteered their neighborhood contacts and helped with some of the event planning.

“We are active in Massachusetts politics,” Rebecca writes, “and these efforts led us to the incredible opportunity of being able to meet and have our photo taken with President Obama during a private reception before his speech to a larger crowd of about 900 at the Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts.” Also present were Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, other local and state politicians, Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Bill Russell and current Celtics star Ray Allen.

“It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and I feel so grateful that we were able to have this experience in our very own neighborhood!”

We extend our congratulations and best wishes to Berman “alumnus” Rebecca Kaiser, and say thanks to Becca's uncle, BMF consultant and occasional contributor Russ Dantzler, for letting us know about this story.

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Editor’s Note: At your request, we will mail a printed version of the newsletter. The online newsletter also is available at this website in PDF format for printing. Just click here: Newsletter