Hampton Hawes (1928-1977): Raise Up Off Me Alley

 

In honor of Hampton Hawes (1928–1977), whose birthday falls on November 13, we'd like to draw attention to a unique tribute you can find at the SFJAZZ Center.

The loading area and passageway on the west side of the building is named “Raise Up Off Me Alley” in tribute to the West Coast jazz piano great and his incendiary autobiography Raise Up Off Me. The memoir chronicles Hawes’ meteoric career that included the 1956 DownBeat award for New Star of the Year and work with Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Dexter Gordon, as well as Hawes’ struggle with heroin, his five-year imprisonment on drug charges, and his ultimate redemption with an Executive Pardon by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. He lived in the Bay Area in the 1970s, and died of a brain hemorrhage at age 48.

WATCH: Ben Gore x Jason Moran - San Francisco Skateboarding by Night

"Fruits of the labor"—look what Jason Moran sent to us this morning: a fresh skate video from Ben Gore, filmed exclusively at night in San Francisco, beautifully complemented by Moran's solo piano piece "For Coleman Hawkins." We can't wait for Round 2 in June! Skateboarding & Jazz returns to the SFJAZZ Center 6/7-8, part of Moran's final week as a 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director.

Watch footage of last year's Skateboarding & Jazz. Grab a seat before it sells out again at sfjazz.org.

PHOTO: Henry Butler at SFJAZZ Center

Henry Butler in Joe Henderson Lab ©Gaby Esensten

Last night, New Orleans' Henry Butler rocked out in Joe Henderson Lab, singing the blues and flying up and down the piano. His sold out residency at the SFJAZZ Center goes all weekend long. New Orleans jazz and blues fans are still encouraged to drop by before a show for last minute ticket releases!

Late set ©Gaby Esensten

Soundcheck ©Ross Eustis

Soundcheck ©Ross Eustis

For more information on Henry Butler's 4-night run in Joe Henderson Lab, visit sfjazz.org. To see more photos of Butler and other artists at the SFJAZZ Center, check out the SFJAZZ Flickr Feed.

SPOTLIGHT: Rolando Luna & Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club

Pianist Rolando Luna

One of the newest members of Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club (OBVSC), rising pianist Rolando Luna began his professional career at age 15 accompanying Cuban legend Omara Portuondo. On Sunday night, September 22, after he takes the stage with OBVSC at Davies Symphony Hall to close out SFJAZZ's week of Southern Exposure, Rolando Luna will make his American solo debut with an exclusive, intimate performance in Joe Henderson Lab. A fresh voice of modern Cuban jazz, Luna's first album took Best Recording at the 2002 Cubadisco Awards (the Cuban equivalent of the Grammys). Also an enthralling soloist, Luna won the Piano Solo competition and Audience Prize at the 41st Montreux Jazz Festival.

Unbeknownst to many, Luna's solo piano work is featured in the 2010 critically-acclaimed animated film Chico y Rita, from Spanish directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. The film follows a romance between two Cuban musicians in the golden age of Cuban jazz, between Havana and NYC. Receiving praise by critics worldwide, Chico y Rita won Best Animated Film at the 25th Goya Awards, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. In the beginning of the film, Rolando Luna's flirtatious rendition of bebop legend Bud Powell's "Celia," seen below, sparks a romantic scene between Chico and Rita. At the very end of the clip, Idania Valdés, who also performs Sunday with OBVSC, scats the melody in unison with Luna.

Rolando Luna's solo debut in Joe Henderson Lab will extend the mood OBVSC sets well into the night. For more information on OBVSC and Rolando Luna, visit sfjazz.org.

**The SPOTLIGHT Series probes into the careers and unique, lesser-known aspects of the artists featured at the SFJAZZ Center.