Jazz Notes: Goings on in the jazz world

Today is Nov. 5.

Tenor saxophonist Jack McVea was born this day in 1914 in Los Angeles. He joined Lionel Hampton's band in 1940 as a baritone player. McVea played in Norman Granz's first Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in 1944 and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1945. He led his own small groups into the 1980s.

Looking at today's hip happenings...

On the New York jazz scene... this is week one of the Blue Note's Fall Vocal Festival and it features Jon Hendricks and Company starting tonight, followed later in the week by a 30th anniversary visit from The Manhattan Transfer.

The Gary Bartz Quintet plus String Quartet are at The Jazz Standard through Sunday. He will premiere a new work, "The Rimsky Korsakov Project -- Jazz Interpretations of Sheherazade" and also perform his piece, "The Coltrane Project." Greg Osby's band is at the Village Vanguard this week. The Duke Ellington Orchestra is at Birdland tonight.

Terence Blanchard is at Edinboro College in Edinboro, Pa., tonight.

In Chicago... Men of Note are at Andy's tonight. Jimmy Sutton's Four Charms are at the Green Mill. The Louie Bellson quintet is at the Jazz Showcase this week. Ken Cheney is at Joe's BeBop Cafe and Jazz Emporium tonight. Von Freeman and Friends are at the New Apartment Lounge. Marshall Vente is at Philander's in Oak Park. The Keli Briggs Allison trio is at Pops for Champagne.

Henry Butler is at the Oscar Mayer Theater in Madison, Wis., tonight.

In New Orleans... the Ian McPhail quartet and the Ted Hefko quartet are at the Blue Nile tonight. Ingrid Lucia is at the Ritz Carlton's French Quarter Bar. Chi-Town featuring Maurice Brown is at the Funky Butt. Topsy Chapman is at Satchmo's jazz room at Harrah's casino. Greg Stafford leads the band at Preservation Hall. The Rob Wagner trio is at the Seaport Cafe tonight. Italy's Angelo Canelli trio is at Snug Harbor tonight. The Richie Moten trio and the Silverleaf Jazz Band are at the Sonesta's Mystick Den.

Tonight's schedule at the 20th anniversary edition of the San Francisco Jazz Festival features Toots Thielemans, Oscar Castro-Neves and Kenny Werner at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

Elsewhere on the California jazz scene... the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine is at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles tonight through Sunday. Flora Purim and Airto Moreira are at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood this week. The Ron Kobayashi trio is at Steamer's Jazz Cafe in Fullerton. Singer Wesla Whitfield is at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. Spazio in Sherman Oaks presents the fifth anniversary celebration of John Pisano's weekly Guitar Night series tonight.

The Cedar Walton trio with Vincent Herring and Nicholas Payton is at Yoshi's in Oakland this week. The Dred Scott trio is at Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco. Mark Levine and The Latin Tinge open the Jazz At Intersection Fall series -- "First Tuesdays" tonight in San Francisco.

On the recording front...

Mosaic Records has released "The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions" in celebration of the master guitarist's 80th birthday. The set includes "Walk, Don¹t Run!," a Smith original that became a monster hit for The Ventures a decade later, as well as two entire LPs that display other facets of his under-acknowledged versatility. The 15 LPs and four 10-inch sessions collected in the set's 178-tracks cover a major slice of the Great American Songbook.

Most tracks feature Smith in a trio or quartet setting with his guitar up front, but his earliest dates represent a series of quintet sessions featuring three of the top Lester Young-influenced tenor players of the early 1950s -- Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Paul Quinichette. These tracks include Smith¹s single biggest hit, "Moonlight in Vermont," from his very first session in 1952 with Getz.

Johnny Smith put down his guitar professionally in the mid-80s but he certainly is not forgotten. In 1999, Smith was specially honored at New York¹s JVC Jazz Festival with a gala tribute by a host of jazz guitar greats and rising stars. All recordings are available solely through Mosaic Records: 35 Melrose Place, Stamford, Conn., 06902, or by calling 203-327-7111. Check their Web site mosaicrecords.com for more information or to order.