Jazzin'

By Tim Roberts

Ken Clay has some fine jazz coming your way this summer. HisJazz in Central Park will be on Saturday and Sunday, August 23 and 24 at the Raney Amphitheater. The music starts both days at 5:00 p.m., with a short opening ceremony scheduled for 4:45 before Saturday's show.

Slated to perform on Saturday, in order of appearance, are: the Ron Hayden Group, continuing to celebrate the success of their latest recordingIn The Spirit; the Sherry Winston Quartet and the Roy Haynes Quartet as the show closer.

On Sunday you can hear For You, the Regina Carter Septet, and the David "Fathead" Newman Quartet.

The shows both days are free and open to the public.

If you're still wanting more jazz after Ken Clay's stellar lineup, the next weekend you can make a trip to Chicago for the 19th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival, running August 28 through 31 at Grant Park. This festival is also free. Performances each day start at noon. Transportation from Louisville is cheap if you fly Southwest Airlines. Once there, you can ride the Orange Line train from Midway Airport right into the Loop. From there, it is just a few blocks' walk to Grant Park.

More information is available at www.ci.chi.il.us/WM/SpecialEvents. Or for those who don't like to type long website addresses, call (312) 744-3370.

It went smoother than ever to have had the largest number of people ever."

That's how Jamey Aebersold described hisSummer Jazz Workshops held at the University of Louisville Music School the first week of July. Fifty-five instructors, including many locally and nationally known musicians, worked with 295 students on performance, music theory, and improvisation. The students' ages ranged from 11 to 82. And all instruments, including voice and strings, were well represented.

About 350 people attended the workshop concert held Wednesday, July 2 at the Silo. Personal commitments prevented me from attending, but I did manage to hear the Monday night faculty concert at the music school. As the combo played a selection, Jamey had a transparency of its sheet music projected onto a screen off to the right, and either he or another instructor pointed to each bar as it was played, even during the improvised solos. All students' eyes followed the pen. And each soloist received shouts and heavy applause after he finished.

It was more than a showcase of the professional talent there that week. It was a classroom. Improvisation and freedom encased in a structure of learning and discipline.

I've just been informed that I am this year's recipient of The Sloppy Penmanship Award for Jazz Journalism. Last month in this column, I reported that organist Hank Mann was one of the instructors and performers at the Summer Jazz Workshops. That should have been Hank Marr. You have my apologies and a promise that I'll be able to read what I jot down next time.

Now if I can only imrpov my tpying skils.