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Jon Gordon

@jongordonmusic1

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Jazz saxophonist, composer, educator, Thelonious Monk award winner, author of “Jazz Dialogues”, and professor at the University of Manitoba.

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The 2nd half of the "Along Came Betty" solo from last summer at the Black Bear Pub w/Kirk MacDonald, Neil Swainson and Bernt Reiter. Thanks to Pam Kohly for taking and posting the video and Dan Keding for his help with it... by @jongordonmusic1

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We had a great night at Birdland Sunday with the nonet! Thanks to all the musicians who played so great, and to Gianni and everyone at the club for having us! Afterwards, Alex Goodman, Matt Marantz and I went to hear Charles McPherson at Dizzy’s for his 87th birthday week! Such a great band! Amazing writing! Charles is one of my biggest heroes, and had a profound impact on me as a player, mentor, composer, and all around deep, soulful and brilliant human being! He also received the jazz journalists award for best alto saxophonist of the year from Ted Panken at the earlier set, very glad to see that! So well deserved! Later that night we heard Geoff Keezer’s wonderful band and music at the great new club Jazzcultural, named after Barry Harris’ club from the 80-90s. I thought it was a great way for Spike Wilner, the club owner and excellent pianist, to pay tribute to Barry. Next, Bill Charlap just sent me a photo of Eddie Locke I’d never seen. Eddie was a great jazz drummer and really one of our musical fathers; along with being incredibly fun, funny, spirited, caring and generous! I also did a presentation and performed a couple of pieces last week at the Irish American Artists and Writers group; it was an especially great night, some wonderful readings and performances. There’s a photo with John Kearns and I. It was right around the corner from Locke’s place, at the Ellington on 105th and Broadway- strange synchronicity. Next, I came across some photos of Eddie Chamblee with Dinah Washington and Louis Armstrong that I’d never seen. Eddie was another one of my mentors and musical fathers. I was sooo lucky!… Check out his sound here w/Dinah on Trouble in Mind! Eddie Locke used to say to me, “The whole reason you’re doing what you’re doing is because you keep going down there and playing with Eddie Chamberly every Saturday at Sweet Basil!!”… Which was 100% right of course! But it was not unlike him to enthusiastically mispronounce something!… I told that to Chamblee who responded in a comically annoyed tone and said, “ Why is it no one can pronounce my name?… It’s just Cham- blee, Cham-blee..” And we laughed!… Thanks for checking in… by @jongordonmusic1

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This is from last July, part of a really fun tour with Kirk MacDonald, Neil Swainson and Bernd Reiter! The start of a solo on "Along Came Betty" at the Black Bear in Toronto. Thanks to Pam Kohly for taking and posting the video! Looking forward to bringing my Nonet to Birdland this Sunday July 19th, hope to see you there!... by @jongordonmusic1

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This was from a couple weeks ago at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival with Marikea Galea and Tetyana Harashuck, on Tetyana's piece, "Now and Then". Thanks to Witchpoliceradio for taking and posting the video... by @jongordonmusic1

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Bill Parrott passed away this week at 93. We had a small meeting in his honor yesterday with his wife Jacqui, friends and family. He was raised on a farm in Missouri. He was in the military in the 1950’s on Staten Island, where he later opened a foreign car repair shop and was a local fixture. I met Bill and Jacqui, through their son Brian when I was 12 and Bill was 47. But he seemed older and wiser than that to me. He was funny, and a great story teller. He had depth, insight and wisdom that was very inspiring to me. I lived in their home for weeks at a time between the ages of 13-23. He would often pick me up and drop me off. This sometimes was hard. But Bill was so patient. Sometimes we’d sit in the car for an hour and he would point out how one house on the street was built with care and another wasn’t, and how it was important to do whatever you did with care and integrity… He got me my first job, through one of his repair clients, washing dishes at Mother Earth restaurant when I was 14 in the summer of 81. By that fall I’d saved $100, and he had a client selling an alto saxophone, an old silver Buescher, for $200. I’d never had my own and was borrowing one from my old junior high school. Bill leant me the other $100 and we went to buy it. I could tell you so many stories about the kind of man he was. He was kind, decent, caring, grounded, peaceful. I used to say he looked and sounded like a wizard… like Gandalf from The Lord of The Rings… if Gandalf had been from a farm in Missouri. But I’ll tell you one more. There was a family of very talented musicians on Staten Island that I met on the ferry. The mom was a wonderful singer, the dad a bass player and their son a talented saxophonist. I’d talked and played with them a bit. In 1990 the dad passed, suddenly, way too young. Bill called me and said, “You know how you’ve said that you wanted to help Jacqui and me the way we helped you? Well, we appreciate that, but you’re going to help other people, that’s how it works. Here’s the phone number of the young man who just lost his Dad. I want you to call him and make sure he’s ok.” That was Bill… I was very blessed to know him! Thanks Bill, for everything!… by @jongordonmusic1

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I had a great time last week at the Winnipeg jazz festival! Thanks to Sikorsky photography for taking such great photos! The first photo is from Thursday with Marika Galea and Tetyana Haraschuk, “Fractures Trio”, and a set of all original music. Thanks to Marika for putting it together, she and Tetyana sounded great and it was really a fun gig! The second photo is from a performance of Joni Mitchell’s music, Tuesday at The Fort Garry Hotel, with Erin Propp, Larry Roy, Karl Kohut and Romiro Sepulveda. Everyone sounded amazing and Joni’s music is so inspiring! The next three are Marika, Tetyana and I. The next photo is one I took from a wonderful performance by Ava Persaud Soares’ group at the Little Brown Jug. There were so many great groups happening all week! Great to hear them and see so many friends. The next 5 are from my walk to my office. Then there are two photos of Jody Redhage and Alan Ferber’s excellent large ensemble performance earlier in June at Madison square park in NYC. The last photo is of my sons, Liam and Shane, as they were watching the Knicks! I was thankful to be back in NYC Sunday to see them for Father’s Day! by @jongordonmusic1

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"All Blues" from a gig w/Mike Morreale, Tony Regusis, Bill Moring and Tim Horner at The Kitano a few years back... by @jongordonmusic1

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2 months ago

I had a great time earlier this week at Fort Hamilton high school with Bill Charlap. It’s always fun to see and work with Katie Westerlund, our old PA pal Tom Oberle and their terrific students! They’re sounding great! by @jongordonmusic1

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I played a fun gig last week with Mike Morreale’s band, photos 1-5. The band members are listed from Dan Klein’s post about the gig- thanks Dan! It was right across the street from where I grew up. That got me thinking about those days. The next photo is of my teacher, Caesar DiMauro, in the mid 70s, with Chuck Wayne, Morris Edwards, Dan Bremer and John Trentacosta, who recently posted it. I was lucky enough to get a 4 year scholarship to study with Caesar during high school, thanks to my junior high music teacher, Larry Laurenzano. He also got me a horn because I couldn’t afford one- it’s crazy how much support I got growing up! Caesar was a great jazz and classical player, a local legend on Staten Island! Phil Woods loved him, as did everyone who knew him! The next photo is of Jacqui and Bill Parrott, who I lived with for weeks at a time from 1980 on and have been a huge part of my life. Jacqui is also an amazing pianist! Jacqui and I were visiting Bill, who’s 93, at the Silver Lake nursing home. The 3rd person in the photo is Siva. He runs a floor of the home, and we and everyone there are amazed and inspired by his boundless kindness, patience and care! An angel! Then there are photos from Dan Lynch, a blues club on 2nd Ave between 13-14th. Denise Dicey went to IS61 with me and invited me to her Dad Bill’s Sunday afternoon jam session while we were still in 8th grade in 1980- just an incredible experience! We went and off for 1-2 years. After the club you see Charles Otis, Bill and Eugene Richardson. The next photo is of Bill and Denise around the time we met. Such kind people and such a blessing to be around that music! Thursday my youngest son Shane turned 25- it was a great party! His friends all told his mom Jen and I that we’d raised a great person! There’s one photo with us and Liam, and one with Jen and Shane. Then a few nature shots. Tuesday Bill Charlap and I are playing in Brooklyn in a theater name for Larry Laurenzano at Ft Hamilton HS, because somehow my life is filled with those synchronicities…Lastly, there was a beautiful memorial for Ken Peplowski this week. An incredible musician and friend. Thanks Ken… by @jongordonmusic1

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The start of a few choruses on So What, with Mike Morreale’s group at the Hop Shoppe on Staten Island Friday night. Mike’s a great friend and an incredible musician who I’ve known since I was a teenager. On tenor was Allan Yourke, a former student who’s playing great! Tim Horner is another old friend and one of my favorite drummers! It was fun to get to hang and play with Kris Kaiser on guitar and Earl Sauls on bass who sounded great! This was in part to commemorate the 100th birthday of Miles Davis later this month. Kind of surreal as I grew up across the street, when the bar was known as Hugo’s. It was great to see lots of of old friends that came out. The night before I heard my old pal Bill Charlap’s trio at Birdland with David Wong and Dennis Mackrel; stunning as always! Prior to that I heard the wonderful Grant Stewart at an early set at the Five Spot, with a band of really great young players! And then Saturday I heard Keyon Harold at Carnegie Hall, which was really a beautiful and moving tribute to Miles Davis, with an amazing band and concept! Quite a few days of music! Thanks for checking in… by @jongordonmusic1

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"I Thought About You", from a gig w/Mike Morreale at the Kitano a few years back, with Tony Regusis on piano, Bill Moring on bass and Tim Horner on drums. I'll be playing with Mike's group with Tim, Allan Yourke, et al, tomorrow night at the Hop Shoppe on Staten Island, on the block I lived on from 11-18, so it'll literally be my old stomping grounds... Looking forward to it! by @jongordonmusic1

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This is a tune by Scott Reeves, "Last Call, at the 55 Bar some years back, w/Scott, Masayasu Tzboguchi, Mike McGuirk and Andy Watson. Really miss this room! Heard so much great music there and always loved playing there!... by @jongordonmusic1

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