ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—The beloved concert series, “Jazz Under the Stars,” is back in Englewood for the seventh year.
The popular community event, directed by Calvin Hill, takes place every Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. from June 20 through Aug. 8 on the front plaza of the Englewood Public Library. The concert series is free and open to the public.
On June 27, dozens of residents and visitors from all over Bergen County came to hear a concert by the Kamau Adilifu Quartet, “One for Sonny.” The performance was a tribute to Sonny Fortune, the jazz legend who passed away this year at age 79.
The quartet was led by acclaimed jazz trumpeter Adilifu. He was accompanied by Michael Cochrane on piano, Calvin Hill on bass and Darrell Green on drums. Each of these musicians has been performing since childhood.
“I started playing trumpet when I was 9 years old,” said Adilifu, who is now 75 years old. “I got serious when I was 16. Many of my family members were musicians, including two of my uncles who played trumpet. One uncle lived with us and he started giving me lessons when I was a teenager.”
Adilifu earned a bachelor’s in music from The Manhattan School of Music in 1967, but he began his career even before graduation. In 1965, he auditioned for and won the job as solo trumpet in the dual Off-Broadway production of the Bertolt Brecht play “The Exception and The Rule” and the Langston Hughes musical, “The Prodigal Son.”
He played with Lionel Hampton and Roy Haynes’ Hip Ensemble in the late ‘60s, then toured briefly as Count Basie’s lead trumpeter in 1970 and with Lonnie Liston Smith in 1971. He played with Sy Oliver in 1972, and Norman Connors in 1973.
Adilfu toured Europe and recorded with Abdullah Ibrahim in 1973 as well, then worked and recorded with Sonny Fortune, Carlos Garnett, Bennie Maupin, Ricky Ford, Eddie Jefferson, and Woody Shaw, as well as cutting his own records, through the remainder of the 1970s. He began leading Black Legacy in the late 1970s and continued into the 1980s.
Michael Cochrane also remembers playing piano professionally since he was young.
“I met Calvin Hill when we both attended Boston College and we have done collaborations ever since,” said Cochrane.
Drummer Darrell Green started playing jazz at age 7.
“I love the freedom of jazz. It’s a genre of music that lets you do whatever you want,” said Green.
“Jazz Under the Stars” founder, Hill, has many talents. He is a bass player, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Bridgeport, Conn., Hill started studying music when he was 10 years old. He played trumpet, trombone, and saxophone in school bands, then switched to bass his last year of high school.
Hill received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Special Education from Hunter College.
Hill first began his professional career in Boston as a bassist in area nightclubs, performing with a wide variety of artists, including Billy Eckstine, Mel Torme, Mose Allison, John Lee Hooker, Kirby Stone Four and Matt Monroe. While in Boston, Calvin met and played with Joanne Brackeen, whom he continues to play with today.
Hill moved to New York in 1969 where he played with McCoy Tyner Quartet, recording “Sahara,” a record that was voted album of the year by the critics at Downbeat Magazine.
Hill has also been a member of groups led by Pharaoh Sanders, Betty Carter, George Coleman, James Moody, Chet Baker, Junior Mance and Max Roach.
Hill’s own 2005 release “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” was a critical success and is available in the Englewood Public Library.
Still in his prime at age 74, Hill remains an active studio musician and also tours and works with various artists, including the Spirit of Life Ensemble, as well as his own Quartet or Quintet.
Seven years ago, Hill created the “Jazz Under the Stars” series in Englewood because the area is a premier venue for jazz musicians and audiences. The June 27 tribute to Sonny Fortune was most appropriate, as Hill had been a longtime friend and collaborator with him, as was Adilifu.
As he welcomed the audience, Adilifu explained, “Tonight’s concert, ‘One for Sonny,’ is a tribute to the memory of the great musician whom I knew for 40 years. Our first number is ‘Invitation,’ a song that Sonny recorded in a group he led in 1987.”
Eight other jazz standards were also performed with different combinations of instruments: “Escapade,” “A Tribute to Holiday” (another of Fortune’s favorites), “Body and Soul, “Oh So Basal,” “Tres Palabras,” “December,” “Seven Beauties,” and “Airegin.”
For jazz enthusiasts, it was a soulful and memorable evening.
Upcoming “Jazz Under the Stars” concerts
• July 11: Frank Noviello, Jazz Vocalist;
• July 18: The Vince Ector Group;
• July 25: Saxophonist Bill Saxton;
• Aug. 1: Lines of Reason;
• Aug. 8: The Sharp Radway Band.