Concert Dates: 05/17/08 - 05/17/08
Ticket Cost: $15.00
Show Time(s): 9:00pm & 11:00pm
Event Description: Native Washingtonian jazz legend saxophonist Buck Hill brings his Quartet to Bohemian Caverns.
DC's own legendary jazz octogenarian, Hill is a major part of the DC jazz scene and has influenced many of the jazz players who have come out of Washington, DC. Long known and admired in jazz circles, Hill never left home, and Washington jazz fans have been very fortunate as a result. Once you hear Buck Hill play saxophone, you will never forget it.
Artist / Group Bio: The Wailin’ Mailman: living legend, Washington, DC native son and favorite tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Buck Hill displays a large tone and a swinging style. Now 80 years young, only in the last 10 or 15 years have many people come to know him. That’s because despite playing sax since he was a teenager at Armstrong High School—the alma mater of Duke Ellington and a host of Washington music greats— he made his living delivering mail and with his wife raised five children. Nights and weekends he played in clubs, belting out swing and bebop solos that have a sound all their own; vacations he usually spent playing festivals in Europe.
Hill first studied music with the same teacher who instructed a young Duke Ellington, and went on to become a member of the house band in the city’s world famous Howard Theater. A regular performer circa the 1940s in Washington's legendary U Street corridor of jazz clubs and show rooms, Buck Hill has played and recorded with artists like Sonny Stitt, Charlie Byrd, Shirley Horn, Gene Ammons, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and other greats. A fixture on the capitol jazz scene for over sixty years Hill revealed his enormous talent to the world beginning in the late seventies with a series of excellent records for Steeplechase and Muse. Guest appearance on several of fellow DC legend Shirley Horn’s cd’s brought him wider spread critical and popular notice in the ‘90’s before he once again returned to the relative anonymity of his hometown.
Hill has been recognized by jazz aficionados all over the world, and "Buck Hill Day” has been declared in Washington, DC and Ottawa, Canada. He has played such prestigious venues as the North Sea Jazz festival and the Loosdrecht Festival in Holland, the renown Wolf Trap, Kennedy Center and Blues Alley in Washington, DC, the Ottawa Jazz Festival in Canada, and Fat Tuesday's, Sweet Basil's and the Village Vanguard in New York, among thousands of others.
JazzTimes calls him "a veritable phenomenon whose robust and swinging approach is absolutely irrepressible," while the Washington Post says he "turns in one supremely confident performance after another." "His albums are occasions: never overreaching, they present Mr. Hill as a boss tenor; assertive, fluent in bee-bop and magnanimous." --The New York Times.
Relax (Severn Records), the first recording as a leader by the legendary tenor saxophonist in nearly fifteen years, marks the reemergence of one of America’s greatest national treasures onto the international jazz scene. Celebrating his 80th birthday this year, Hill remains a vital voice on his instrument, with a robust personal sound that reaches back to the horn’s early masters, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, and onward into the glory days of bebop and beyond, recalling the powerful playing of Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane.
Artist's Website: http://www.asetbooks.com/Us/BuckHill.html
Bohemian Caverns Address: 2001 Eleventh Street N.W. Washington DC 20001 U.S.
About the Venue: Bohemian Caverns began its rich history of showcasing Jazz on U Street in 1926. The original venue, known as Club Caverns, consisted of the basement level only, operated from 1926 until 1942. In 1943 Cab Calloway purchased the venue and operated under the name of The Crystal Caverns until 1958. In 1959 Tony Taylor and Angelo Alvino renamed the venue Bohemian Caverns and operated it until 1968.
The Caverns derived its name from the unique cave-like décor, faux stalactites and stalagmites that adorned the walls and ceilings of the club. Designed after a Hollywood set, The Caverns catered to the elite of its day and attracted an endless array of top Jazz performers such as Shirley Horn, Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ramsey Lewis, Less McCann, The Supremes, Roberta Flak, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, JFK Quintet, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Holiday. The club's unique décor coupled with its dynamic artist line-up made it THE fashionable place to see and be seen.
During the roaring 20's and throughout the late 60's The Caverns and the U Street corridor served as the epicenter of Black nightlife in Washington, DC. The Caverns served for many decades as a central business along the bustling U Street Corridor that included several large theaters, restaurants, after-hours clubs and private jazz societies. It was one of the few places in Washington, DC where blacks and whites came together as equals to equally share their love of jazz. During de-segregation, many U Street businesses began to decline as expanded social, shopping, residential and entertainment opportunities became available for Blacks beyond the U Street corridor. After the riots of 1968, Bohemian Caverns experienced several decades of decaying vacancy until it was purchased by Al Afshar in 1997. During the three year renovation particular attention to detail was used to ensure the original design was maintained.
On Jul 6, 2000, Bohemian Caverns opened its doors to the public with a Grand Gala Reception. The event celebrated both the rich history of The Caverns and marked the first of numerous new business and residential construction projects along the U Street corridor. The current structure is an expanded, state-of-the-art facility consisting of the elegantly adorned Bohemian Caverns Restaurant (main level), The Caverns Jazz Lounge (basement level) and Club 2001 Nightclub (2nd and 3rd levels). Weekly events include live jazz performances, happy hour events, dance parties and other social events. In addition, the facility caters various special events such as weddings, fund-raisers, birthday parties and other celebrations ranging in size from parties of two to as many as 1,000 guests.
Phone: 202.299.0801
Directions: Bohemian Caverns is located at the corner of 11th and U Streets, NW. Valet parking is available for all performances.
Venue Website: http://www.bohemiancaverns.com
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