Time for appreciation
It’s Jazz Appreciation Month, we are reminded, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, and a brief look at the jazz calendar for April shows we have much to appreciate.

The month of the birth of DC’s own Duke Ellington this year features the legendary Duke Ellington Band April 18-20 at Blues Alley. Ellington created more than 2,000 pieces of music, including the standard songs “Take the A-Train” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and the longer works “Black, Brown, and Beige”; “Liberian Suite”; and “Afro-Eurasian Eclipse.” Under the direction of Barrie Lee Hall Jr., the Duke Ellington Orchestra continues to tour worldwide.

Sonny and Nancy, Paul, Benito and Sharon
The month’s calendar includes appearances by living legends Sonny Rollins and Nancy Wilson in dates at the Kennedy Center and performances by area stars such as saxophonist Paul Carr, vocalist Sharon Clark and pianist Benito Gonzalez.

Carr, the Texas-tenor man who also plays flute, is featured with Clark, April 23, at Blues Alley and with Bruce Williams, April 25 and 26, at Twins Jazz.

Carr also has another recording out as a leader, the recently released “Musically Yours: Remembering Joe Henderson,” on his PCJ label. Carr is backed capably by Terrell Stafford on trumpet, Lewis Nash on drums, Mulgrew Miller on piano and Michael Bowie on bass on the recording, which has “If You Could See Me Now” as one highlight, with Carr’s bold tone bluesy and full of melancholia.

Willard Jenkins, writer, programmer and educator who did the liner notes for Carr’s CD, asked Carr in an interview about his feelings for Joe Henderson, the tenor saxophonist with an April 24 birthday who enjoyed classic years recording for Blue Note, Milestone and Verve labels and led and played in groups with all the greats. This writer heard him most memorably one evening at the old One Step Down on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Carr said, “Joe Henderson was a jazz tenor saxophone giant and inventor that had a very unique voice. Joe’s sound was at home in any musical style or situation. Versatility and adaptability are the two characteristics I love to hear in musicians, and Joe had that while being a true innovator, which is very difficult. You can hear influences in his playing, but he was still completely original. Another thing I admire about Joe is that he taught saxophone lessons and he wanted his students to be original as well. Joe’s musicianship and teaching principles are what I strive for in my musical career.”

Clark is still enjoying the glow from her CD, “Do It Again – My Tribute to Shirley Horn,” released at the end of last year. Gonzalez is taking time to play at Twins this month around his busy schedule, which includes New York City club dates.

Looking Ahead
There’s more to appreciate in April, with Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Dr. Billy Taylor in Blues Alley dates, and Thad Wilson’s Orchestra is back at Bohemian Caverns on Monday nights in April. If you haven’t caught Wilson’s eclectic, virtuosic big band act yet, you are missing a large, vital part of DC’s living jazz history.

Blues Alley is also the place to appreciate some of our jazz stars of the future, with Upper Marlboro’s Henry Wise High School band and the jazz ensembles from George Mason University and Shenandoah University and Berklee College of Music in performance during the month.

If it’s free events you need in these economically stressed times, check out www.smithsonianjazz.org for JAM events. You’ll see information on symposiums on the business of jazz, the culture of jazz, a lecture on Louis Armstrong, archivist and poet Reuben Jackson events on the “Hip Hop Jazz Connection” and a jazz and poetry reading, a Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra tribute to Quincy Jones and more.

JazzRadio Needs You
Log on to jazzradiodc.com whenever you get a chance. Carl Farley has lots of music for you and also photos, information and links on new music releases, as well as classic comedy clips.

April Highlights: Joshua Redman, April 3-6, Blues Alley … Ravi Joseph Trio, with James King, Greg Holloway, April 6, Twins Jazz … Howard University Jazz Band, April 11, Dave Brubeck, Dr. Billy Taylor, April 12, Kennedy Center … Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, April 13, Kennedy Center … Sonny Rollins, April 18, Kennedy Center … Kelly Shepherd and Nomad Stories, with Benito Gonzalez, April 18-19, Twins Jazz …Nancy Wilson, April 19, Kennedy Center … Remembering Calvin Jones, Allyn Johnson, April 23, Westminster Church … Sharon Clark, Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, April 23, Blues Alley … Sharon Clark, April 25, Smithsonian Jazz Café … Bruce Williams, Paul Carr, April 24-25, Twins Jazz …