American music
Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with Jeff Lofton at the Cactus Cafe
Mar 31, 2012 | 9:00 am
Jeff Lofton, jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader.Photo by Dwayne Hills Sr.
Jeff LoftonPhoto by Dwayne Hills Sr.
Jazz Appreciation Month, held every April, was established in 2001 to celebrateand honor jazz as an original American art form, and for its influence onhistory.
On September 11, 1945, Frank Sinatra took a bold stand for human rights using a film and a song to promote respect for others as an ideal of American freedom and civic pride. The song was "The House I Live In,” composed by Abel Meeropol, a NYC school teacher.
In Sinatra’s hands the song and the ten minute Hollywood film short he directed became a national appeal to a post World War II weary America to unite and remember those freedoms the nation had fought for overseas and throughout history, even as African Americans launched a “Double V Campaign” to obtain equality at home.
The song was covered by Paul Robeson, Mahalia Jackson and Josh White, while the film short earned Sinatra an Honorary Academy Award and Golden Globe. While Frank Sinatra and most jazz artists are rarely touted as human rights advocates or social change agents, history tells many stories.
"This music, where the skills and creative spirit of the artist are valued over race, looks, or anything else naturally leads to both the players and the audience connecting on a higher level than race, color or creed. The only discrimination in jazz is of the ears."
Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), held every April, was established in 2001 to celebrate and honor jazz as an original American art form, and for its influence on history. JAM was created by John Edward Hasse, PhD, curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. During JAM, the focus is on preservation and promotion of the historical legacy of jazz, along with jazz education and programs to the public.
The theme of JAM 2012 is “Jazz Crossing Borders & Cultures” and will include online, museum and community programs that highlight why jazz artists are respected worldwide for their roles in advancing freedom, creativity, and unity through jazz music — and the civic action and dialogues their music often sparks, making jazz men and women among America’s greatest cultural ambassadors.
One of those cultural ambassadors is Austin's very own Jeff Lofton, who will be performing on April 7 at the Cactus Cafe in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month.
"Jazz is the thread tying all modern music together," Lofton says. "It's the musical fabric the American musical experience is woven in. It has changed the way everyone looks at music forever. Whether it is funk, soul, country or hip hop, it all has a rhythm that can be traced back to its jazz roots."
Lofton, a jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader, is also celebrating five years in Austin with his Cactus Cafe show. He moved here from South Carolina in 2007, to be near his young daughter who now lives with him. Since then Lofton has been voted Best Jazz Band at the 2010-2011 Austin Music Awards during SXSW, and was inducted into the Texas Music Museum.
In an evening of original compositions and jazz standards, Lofton will debut new material from his upcoming album, "Jericho." The evening will include standards such as "Georgia on My Mind" and the legendary Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline hit "Crazy." Both songs were covered by Lofton on "Jazz to the People" which made the 2009 top albums lists for the Austin Chronicle and KUT.
"Lofton has proved to be a versatile, mature musician overtly combining straight-ahead jazz with fusion," writes Josep Pedro of All About Jazz. "His appealing, laid-back character and soulful playing has certainly earned him a rising recognition not only in Austin but across the general jazz circuit. Here is a man with a mission: Bring jazz power to the people, ideally contributing to returning jazz to a central position in the life-art-business triangle."
Lofton himself would especially like to see Austin become more exposed to and interested in jazz. Although our music scene here is vibrant and incredible, it's not a jazz town the way Chicago or New Orleans is. But he'd like to educate people that what they're listening to already is jazz; it's what all music is based on.
"Since its creation near the turn of the last century jazz has been both the cultural and ethnic integration point for America," says Lofton. "Some of the first integrated audiences post Jim Crow era in the U.S. were at jazz events. Early on you have African and European Americans working together in jazz, from Benny Goodman and Flecher Henderson to Miles Davis and Gil Evans, and now Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. This music, where the skills and creative spirit of the artist are valued over race, looks, or anything else naturally leads to both the players and the audience connecting on a higher level than race, color or creed. The only discrimination in jazz is of the ears."
"Jazz is truly the music of freedom, it's a free music, it's the music of free people," he adds.
---
The Jeff Lofton Quartet will feature Dr. James Polk on piano, Ed Friedland on bass and Andy Beaudoin on drums. Doors for the April 7 Cactus Cafe performance open at 8:00 p.m., and the show starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.cactuscafe.org.
