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| Hank Johnson Trio, Rashid and others Burn Bigtime! On August 20th, 2005 at the Afrikan Poetry Theatre to use Fats Waller's expression “the joint was jumping”, was and under statement! The sets were on fire! Richard Howard opened up the evening with his group playing some tunes from his new CD. The place filled up with many jazz lovers for this bargain of a lifetime concert only $10.00 admission! It was billed as “JAZZ XPOSE 2005', and was produced by Cornell McKnight (jazz promoter and recording engineer). This production was reminicent of an early Norman Grantz production of the 1940's, when top jazz musicians were brought together to play together in a sort of jazz concert with 3 different groups, styles, under one roof all for the affordable price of $10.00! Food and drinks were available--and the people who came were exposed to some of the greatest jazz, not controlled by big corporations but independent production. Vocalist Dianne Allen sang her heart out in the style of herself plus her influences of Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin. Hank Johnson's piano had that smooth Oscar Peterson / Art Tatum esxcellence complimenting Dianne's vocal renditions and just fit like a glove without getting in the way and provided top accompianment. “Cool Mike” Fitzjamin was what Ray Brown was to Jazz at the Philharmonic, a top bassist that can play behind anybody with excellence and the right notes. Gary Smith who has played with Hank Johnson for many years was true to his form--flawless time, a great “thinking man's drummer”, in the Ed Thigpen tradition of excellence. The concert was recorded on Video and there are possible plans to release some of the footage sometime in the future. This will be announced on the jazzbone records website and will be seen on t.v. (also t.b.a.). The evening was a wonderful opportunity for jazz listeners tired of paying big cover charges to hear some real jazz. The audience was not hustled by bar people, and thus it was easy to relax and really enjoy the music. Irt was a swell evening for all. By Cleofus Rawls, Public Relations Officer for Jazzbone Records write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |