Art Farmer Tribute January 28, 2023

On Saturday, January 28, 2023, Arnie Perez and VTY Jazz Arts, Inc. produced a tribute to Art Farmer held at The Cutting Room in New York City. The band was made up of Duane Eubanks, trumpet and flugelhorn, Steve Davis, trombone, Rick Germanson, piano, Tony Davis, guitar, Santi Debriano, bass and Jerome Jennings, drums.

Although Farmer was not known primarily as a composer, his 50-year recorded legacy provided a number of pieces with which he was strongly associated and these made up the basis of the titles selected for performance at the tribute. Here are the playlists with composers and solo orders for the two sets:

Set 1:

  1. Farmer’s Market (Art Farmer) (solos: trumpet, guitar, trombone, piano, bass, drums)
  2. Whisper Not (Benny Golson) (solos: trombone, trumpet, guitar, piano)
  3. Sometime Ago (Sergio Mihanovich) (solos: trombone. piano out; guitar, flugelhorn, bass)
  4. Social Call (Gigi Gryce) (solos: trumpet with cup mute, trombone, guitar, piano)
  5. Nica’s Tempo (Gigi Gryce) (solos: trombone, trumpet, guitar, piano, drums)

Set 2:

  1. Context (a.k.a. Contour) (Kenny Drew, Sr.) (solos: trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, drums)
  2. Mox Nix (Art Farmer) (solos: trumpet, guitar, trombone, piano, bass, drums)
  3. Stablemates (Benny Golson) (solos: trombone, trumpet, piano, guitar, drums)
  4. Evening in Casablanca (Gigi Gryce) (solos: bass, flugelhorn)
  5. Farmer’s Market (reprise) (Art Farmer) (solos: trombone, trumpet, guitar, piano, drums)

At intermission, Lynne Mueller spoke briefly about recent developments regarding Farmer including her donation of his materials to the Living Jazz Archives at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey and the establishment of the Art Farmer Jazz Master Endowed Scholarship at that institution. Trumpeter Ernest Royeppen, the most recent recipient of the scholarship, was in attendance.

The audience enjoyed this remembrance of some great music from the past interpreted by jazz heavyweights of today. It is hoped that a follow-up event will look further at the legacy of Art Farmer, a  jazz master.

Left-to-right: Rick Germanson, Duane Eubanks, Santi Debriano, Steve Davis, Jerome Jennings
Tony Davis and Santi Debriano

 

When did Art Farmer record these tunes?

  • Here is a summary listing: Recording Date/Album Title/Record Label/Leader.
  • Listen to Farmer playing the tunes by clicking on the song titles below. The versions you will hear are the ones with the album title in bold.

Farmer’s Market

1952-01-21   Wardell Gray Memorial, Vol. 2    Prestige                  Wardell Gray

1956-11-23   Farmer’s Market                        Prestige                   Art Farmer

1961-05-15   The Jazztet at Birdhouse            Argo                        Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

1981-08-06   Foolish Memories                       Bellaphon (Ger.)      Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

1983-05-30   Moment to Moment                    Soul Note (It.)           Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

Farmer's Market

Whisper Not

1958-12-28     Bags’ Opus                                United Artists            Milt Jackson

1962-03-02     Here and Now                            Mercury                    Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

1978-02-02     Big Blues                                  CTI                            Art Farmer

1982-04-24     Voices All                                   East World (Jpn.)      Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

Sometime Ago

1963-08-01    Interaction                                                                                 Atlantic            Art Farmer

1964-01-10    Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual: Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer        Koch               Art Farmer

Social Call

1955-05-26    When Farmer Met Gryce     Prestige    Art Farmer

Nica’s Tempo

1955-10-21    Art Farmer Quintet Featuring Gigi Gryce          Prestige                       Art Farmer

1956-06-11    The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi                  ABC Paramount           Oscar Pettiford

Context (Contour)

1956-08-03    2 Trumpets: Farmer/Byrd       Prestige            Art Farmer, Donald Byrd

1981-11-29    Manhattan                             Soul Note (It.)   Art Farmer

Mox Nix

1958-09-10    Modern Art                                United Artists                  Art Farmer

1960-02-06    Meet the Jazztet                         Argo                               Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

1982-04-24    Voices All                                    East World (Jpn.)          Jazztet (Art Farmer, Benny Golson)

Stablemates

1958-04-19    Portrait of Art Farmer                                        Contemporary              Art Farmer

1979-05-25    Something Tasty                                                  Baystate (Jpn.)            Art Farmer

1981-09-05    Aurex Jazz Festival ‘81                                       East World (Jpn.)         Hank Jones

1982-06-19    In Performance at the Playboy Jazz Festival      Elektra Musician          Art Farmer, Benny Golson

Portrait of Art Farmer

Evening in Casablanca

1955-10-21    Art Farmer Quintet Featuring Gigi Gryce          Prestige           Art Farmer