Before we go dumpster diving for some weekend tunes, attention must be paid to the bow-tied gentleman holding it down on our left.
Butch Ballard will be picking up a Mellon Jazz achievement award tonight before the Sonny Rollins concert at the Kimmel Center. Butch told Suzanne Cloud, president of the Jazz Bridge Project, that the $5,000 prize will go to a favorite charity.
Does the name sound familiar? Maybe you remember Butch Ballard from playing with both Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Catch him with Charlie Parker or Nina Simone? Trane? Maybe you know the Frankford-born drummer, now 87, from a wedding or a bar mitzvah. Ballard's kept time for them all.
Karl Stark wrote a closely observed profile of the man six years ago. I can't find it online in linkable form, but here's the nut:
Ballard is one of the Philadelphia jazz scene's most storied elders. Still playing local jazz clubs and private parties, he remains sought after for his unique resume, upbeat attitude and a scintillating rhythmic style forged in two of the greatest big bands.
"He's a chosen one," says Philadelphia-based singer Evelyn Sims, a frequent collaborator. "The last of the legends. "
Ballard would never describe himself that way. But he does claim to know a thing or two about jazz's essential elements.
"I always knew how to swing the band, and I always did it with the bands I worked with," he says. "That's my legacy - that's what I teach my students. `Make the band sound good. Don't sit back and entertain yourself. If you're not swingin' the band, it don't mean nothin'. "
The All Music Guide described him as one who "could make a snare drum sound as if it was being hit by a ball bearing."
Butch Ballard will be playing Dec. 7 at the Collingswood First Thursdays Jazz Concert Series. It's a party for his 88th birthday. (for info: 856-858-8914)
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Tunes time.
The first performer I ever saw in concert, Tom Rush, comes to the World Cafe Live Saturday. I wanted to find a classic clip of him playing "The Circle Game" or "No Regrets." Instead, and beginning this weekend tunes with a most mondo link, I came up with a video tribute to Clay Aiken, to the tune of Tom Rush (thank God) singing "Glory of Love."
Johnny Winter electrifies the Colonial tonight. Best seen and heard, here's the Texas blues guitarist in a YouTube clip from a late '60s gig at the Beat Club with his brother Edgar on piano. Look for Tommy Shannon on bass. It's "Johnny B. Goode," of course, from that great, three-sided Second Winter.
Think you've seen everything from My Morning Jacket? How about them playing "Into the Woods," backed by the Boston Pops? Lotta freaks. They hit the Electric Factory tonight.
Finally, someone who's on Dan Deluca's bedtime playlist: emoriffic power popster Jeremy Enigk, who plays the North Star Bar Saturday. After a 10-year solo silence, the former Fire Theft frontman has released World Waits. His MySpace page features more to listen to. Mainstream Isn't So Bad serves up an mp3 of "Been Here Before."
(photo of Butch Ballard by Ben Johnston)
