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The Marlowsphere (Blog #159)

The Broadway-bound revival of “The Wiz,” a re-telling of the 1900 L. Frank Baum classic with an African American cast, began previews on March 29, 2024, at the Marquis Theatre ahead of an April 17 opening night. No, this isn’t a public relations piece about the show that premiered 50 years ago. This is a blog about my memories of the show’s composer and lyricist, Charlie Smalls.

I’m able to write with some authority about Charlie Smalls because I knew him, not just casually, but over a period of several years. We were classmates at The High School of Performing Arts at 120 West 46^th Street in Manhattan, just blocks away from Broadway. We were both in the same homeroom. He was a music major. I was a drama major, with strong leanings toward music.

Charlie was clearly an exceptionally talented musician and, as it turns out, a talented composer and lyricist. His ability to write lyrics was a surprise to me when I learned in 1975 about the opening of this Broadway show called ‘The Wiz,” but I was not surprised about his composing skills. Even in high school Charlie was already a player at a professional level. In fact, not only did he play the piano, but he also studied the upright acoustic bass.

I’m quite certain Charlie helped put me on the road to composing jazz pieces. There was a piano in our homeroom and he was often sitting at the piano just noodling around. I don’t recall if he ever taught me anything specific about jazz chords or structure, but I am certain that as a result of our casual meetings at the homeroom piano I was inspired to compose my very first piece at age 15 — a blues in C minor that had classical arpeggio gestures and moved from c minor to C Major and back to c minor. I also used a major ninth chord in the opening theme (although I couldn’t name it at the time). Many years later I named it “Nightcap.” Even more years later virtuoso pianist ArcoIris Sandoval recorded it, with multi-Grammy nominee drummer Bobby Sanabria, and bassist Frank Wagner for one of my albums.

Did I learn the blues from Charlie? Hard to say. I could barely read music—even though my father was a professional violinist and a composer who introduced me to jazz at a jazz jamboree in London, England when I was around eight years old. Consequently, I also didn’t know how to write music down. This was a skill I acquired years later.

Charlie was a presence. He had a big smile and a big personality. You knew he was in the room. He was talented. And he was a good soul. He was no wallflower. Every day at midday the entire school of 600 students had a lunch break. During the second half of this period, we had what was called GOPA: the Government Organization of Performing Arts where music was played over the public address system that reached everyone in the school’s lobby area. There was also a lunchroom on the same floor and when the  music blared over the GOPA system, we all danced in the center of the lobby floor. And we loved it! And so did Charlie. Not only did he program and announce the music played from the vinyl records, Charlie was also on the floor in the thick of the dancing throng. It only lasted 20-30 minutes, but this was everyone’s chance to let off some steam from the pressures of the schoolwork. Performing Arts demanded a professional attitude at all times, or you were out!

There are two other things I recall from my memory of Charlie. In my senior year I took on the task of writing and directing the senior show. This was an annual tradition in which the outgoing seniors “roasted” the staff and faculty. The show was called “A Lass in PlAy Land.” It was a rip-off of the plot of “Alice in Wonderland” There was a drama Alice (played by Jennifer Salt), a dance Alice (played by Baayork Lee), and a music Alice (played by Stephanie Dank). Each Alice represented each of the school’s majors. Charlie was my first call when it came time to add music and a trio ensemble into the performance mix. He handled the assignment with ease (no pun intended).

As an aside, you might recognize the names Jennifer Salt and Baayork Lee. Jennifer was the daughter of Waldo Salt (screenwriter of “Midnight Cowboy”) and an excellent writer in her own right. She went on to star in movies and television (e.g., “Soap”) and as a writer for television. Baayork was one of the original cast members of “A Chorus Line” and went on to work with director Michael Bennett as his assistant. She is now in charge of “A Chorus Line” worldwide.

The other memory I have of Charlie is he called me one afternoon after we had graduated and urged me to go down to a club in The Village in Manhattan to listen to a comedian. I had never heard of this comedian, but I trusted Charlie’s judgment. That comedian was Richard Pryor. I remember standing at the back of this smallish club listening to Pryor’s patter. I didn’t understand a word of what he said or why he was saying it. But it was clear how he was saying it was highly engaging and compelling.

In my yearbook Charlie wrote: “Keep writing. Stay in the groove because I want to be on my way to see your new B’way hit some time soon. Don’t fail me!” He signed it “Mr. Cool Charlie.” By “writing” I’m sure he meant composing.

Of course, 14 years after we graduated from Performing Arts “The Wiz” opened on Broadway with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. He had created a 7-time Tony-winning “hit” show. In the 14 intervening years between graduation and the opening of “The Wiz” I was busy earning two college degrees, serving six years in the United States Air Force during the height of the Vietnam War, then working as a news editor for the leading trade magazine in mass merchandizing, and finally starting a career in video and radio production. Events—personal, professional, and external–took us in different directions. Music, though, one way or another, has been my constant shadow companion.

Charlie died young, much too young. He was 43 and performing in Belgium when he suffered a burst appendix and died from cardiac arrest in the process. I’ve seen photos of him decades after he graduated from Performing Arts. He smoked and perhaps this was a contributing cause. Don’t know. He had a son whom I’d like to meet.

Either way, Charlie was no small talent. He created an enduring musical work that was morphed into a movie in 1978 and is now enjoying a Broadway revival. There’s no doubt in my mind Charlie Smalls played a brief but pivotal role in my own, long, challenging journey to embracing and realizing my innate musical talent.

I wish I had kept up with him. He was the real deal.

Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D., received the John Golden Award for Excellence in the Creative Theatre when he graduated from The High School of Performing Arts. To date, he has composed over 300 musical works in various jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, and classical genres. Four of his charts for big band appear on four Grammy nominated albums. He has released 33 albums and single tracks on his indie label, MEII Enterprises.

Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D., © 2024

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Every year in mid-January the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) hosts a multi-day conference at the Hilton Hotel on West 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas. It is one of those most important gatherings that brings together performers and their representatives and presenter decision-makers from all parts of the United States and other parts of the planet. It is an annual event where people meet and greet, network and do business. There are hundreds of exhibitors on three floors. Performers showcase their wares in performance spaces inside and outside the conference space. As the saying goes, you can feel the electricity of people rubbing shoulders over an intense, compacted period of days.

APAP is an organization that has evolved. Membership in the association was 29 in 1957 (its founding year); today, APAP has 1,600 organizational and individual members and serves more than 5,000 performing arts professionals every year. The association represents the nonprofit and for-profit sectors of the presenting and touring industry of the performing arts in the U.S. and internationally, with member organizations from all 50 U.S. states and several dozen countries.

But just like the stock market, or any market for that matter, nothing goes in the same direction forever. This is just as true with APAP 2024.

This journalist first attended APAP in 2011. At that time my focus was on the jazz genre and its representation at APAP. Since then, my focus has shifted to “international” exhibitors. I missed the 2023 conference because of contracting COVID 19. In several ways the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020-2023 represents a period in modern times that can be referred to as “before” and “after,” as in before the pandemic and after the pandemic. For some time to come the global COVID 19 pandemic will be a time marker of events.

This is true of “before APAP 2020” and “after APAP 2020.”

I spent an afternoon touring the three floors of exhibits speaking with as many “international” exhibitors as possible. My central question was usually “Why do you exhibit at APAP? What motivates you to be here given the travel and per diem expense and the exhibiting expense itself?” The last time I took this approach the most telling response was “You have to show up to be credible.”

Of note, and this is one of the key observations of APAP 2024, none of the international exhibitors interviewed for this writer’s APAP 2020 story were present at APAP 2024. None. These were a few of the faces absent from this year’s event.

Before 2020 you could take it for granted there would be several mainland Chinese exhibitors. And they were not shy about making their presence known. Their booths were among the largest on the exhibit floor. This year? There was one—The China Shanghai International Arts Festival hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and organized by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. There was no one manning the booth. Only “silent” brochures strewn across the booth tables. Not even any business “contact” cards.

On the other hand, the Taipei (Taiwan) Cultural Center in New York was present. This center was established as the first overseas office of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture in 1991. Its mission is to “build connections through arts and culture in New York and throughout North America.” According to Yu Chien Liu, “Our cultural officers are in constant contact with presenting organizations here. We feel that APAP is such a good opportunity for us to meet all the artists in one place.” This organization that looks to bring Taiwanese performing artists to the United States has been present at APAP since 2001.

I interviewed almost a dozen international exhibitors. Many of them were newbies. A few had been around for several years.

Among the newbies was “Madame Arthur” which opened in 1946 as the first transvestite cabaret of Paris. It presents weekly reviews of French music repertoire. The name comes from the famous song written in 1860 by Paul de Kock and performed by Yvette Guilbert. According to Rosie Doubremelle, the exhibit representative, the show producers were able to mount an APAP exhibit with the help of the French government.

Siudy Garrido is a Venezuelan-born, award-winning flamenco artist, choreographer as well as Artistic Director of her own company with a high reputation in the contemporary Flamenco dance scene. Pablo Croce, SIUDY Flamenco CEO re-quoted a piece of advice he had heard from another: “People do business with those they know and who they like. Being here, rubbing elbows, seeing people in the eye, and having that personal relationship is what motivates us to be here.”

Another APAP 2024 exhibitor newbie is Gregory Harrington, a self-described classical crossover violinist born in Dublin, Ireland, but based in New York City. He presented two shows: the first is “Emerald Strings,” a fusion of Irish traditional, contemporary music through the lens of classical music, and the second is “Reaching Milestones,” basically Miles Davis to Dave Brubeck punctuated by some of the great classical pieces that inspired legends like jazz pianist Bill Evans. There’s a little bit of Bach in there, a little bit of Chopin, Django Rinehart.”

He was the sole representative in his booth. When asked about his exhibiting at APAP, he replied: “In my eyes there’s no such thing as the usual route. I’ve been representing myself all my life. Just trying to see, can I explore, can I have a look at a different market, see the industry through a different lens. It’s not just about the ‘ask,’ it’s about can you create the longevity of a network. People like to do business with their friends. They don’t like to be pitched and asked all the time. If I get something out of it this weekend, great, it pays for itself, and if not, onwards.”

Another first-timer to APAP is “Incanti” based in Milan, Italy. “Incanti” means “enchantments” in Italian. This is a highly theatrical magic show featuring six of Italy’s youngest and most decorated illusionists. Their performances draw upon the writings of such theatrical authors as Shakespeare, Goethe, Pirandello, and Tennessee Williams. Piero Venesia is one of the six magicians. His awards include the Golden Wand Award at the Abano Terme International Magic Convention. Regarding exhibiting at APAP 2024 he commented: “We did a show in Latvia and we learned from someone there that he had brought a show to the United States on tour and was able to do this because he exhibited at APAP. It didn’t happen the first year, but it did the second year. We’ve toured Italy. Next year we’ll be touring Europe, so we figured that we should try to bring our show overseas, such as to America, and that’s why we’re here at APAP.”

Interestingly, two exhibitors, of which one was a first timer, incorporate jazz into the performance mix. The first is Admission Nation based in Montclair, New Jersey. It provides traditional flamenco and flamenco jazz performances with performers within and outside the United States. According to founder Ami Otero Minars: “We dedicate year-round to fostering an understanding of the art of flamenco and flamenco jazz and its diverse cultural roots. We are gearing up for a USA tour in April 2025.” APAP 2024 was its fourth time as an exhibitor.

The other jazz oriented—and first time—exhibitor was “Lee Torchia: Jazz Raga.” Kyra Helmuth, representing Ms. Torchia, observed: “There’s so much diversity of music here, but you don’t see any North Indian raga. Lee Torchia does a fusion of jazz and raga. Jazz is well known in America. She’s brings these two cultures together. She needs to be here to get exposure.”

Then there are the exhibitors who have participated in APAP previously but bring something new to the event. David Wyatt, Operations Manager for the London-based Sisco Entertainment Group, commented that APAP 2024 was the fourth time the company has exhibited. The company specializes in musical entertainment, such as “The Knights of Music,” a tribute to British entertainment’s “Knights and Dames,” that is, anyone who has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Sisco also represents “The Barricade Boys,” a theatrical vocal group, and “Gravity,” a threesome female vocal group, among other acts. Wyatt added: “APAP is like a gateway to America. This is the place where you can meet the agents, the people, rather than sitting in an office with a phonebook. This is the place where you can meet the decision-makers you need to meet over one weekend. Everybody’s here.”

As for the rest, the vast majority of exhibitors were the “usual” faces, so to speak, like CINARS (Canada), Love Productions, Golden Land Concerts and Connections, and New African Production which has been exhibiting at APAP since 2009. But in speaking to others on the floor not connected to this article’s intended international focus their collective observation was that attendance was “thin,” not only on day 2, but also on the first day of the exhibits.

Again, I refer to the “before the pandemic” and the “after the pandemic” time hack. There is no doubt the pandemic put a dent into many aspects of life, not just in the United States, but globally. Zoom has become a daily occurrence not only for business, but also for personal interactions. Commercial real estate has taken a hit in many major cities. It is a cascading, domino effect. Mortgage rates have doubled since before the pandemic (and might be in the process of coming down as of this writing), but this, in part, has led to inflation. Prices for almost everything has risen, not just incrementally, but significantly.

Is this another reason for the observation that international exhibitors were less present at APAP 2024 than in previous years? Or that attendance was “thin”? Are the mainland Chinese so disgruntled with the United States they would only send brochures to represent them at APAP 2024? And where are the other international exhibitors who always usually show up? Or is it a combination of factors?

Is the apparent shrinkage of international exhibitors at APAP 2024 compared to previous years like the canary in the coal mine? Or is it just a change in who shows up and 2024 is another transition year?

The answer to the last rhetorical question is in the affirmative.

According to Jenny Thomas, APAP’s Director of Marketing and Communications, the 2024 event attracted 3,061 attendees from 29 countries on six continents. Of these attendees 375 were first timers! There were 317 exhibitors overall. But the most telling statistic from the 2024 event was the number of showcases. According to Ms. Thomas there were 800 or so showcases in 2023. In 2024, however, that number was 1,026!

Ms. Thomas observed that prior to the pandemic everyone was on “autopilot.” It was business as usual. Post-pandemic the vibe is one of “a reset shift,” a focus on being “more creative and flexible” with attention to “audience and community engagement.” The pandemic forced many to rethink not only performance content, but also marketing strategy apparently.

APAP 2025 will tell if this reset yields the desired results.

Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D., © 2024.

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The Marlowsphere (Blog #157)

When it comes to documentaries where the subject is jazz, the American catalogue is full of viewing choices, so much so you come away with the impression that jazz is only performed in the United States and if it is performed elsewhere on the planet, well, how good could it be? If it was created and performed on a par with American jazz composers, arrangers, and musicians, well, then, certainly documentaries would be a lot more present.

Syurpriz! That’s Russian for “Surprise!” According to a recently released feature-length  documentary (114 minutes) produced in Russia, jazz has been performed in Russia (more surprise) for 100 years!

The documentary—“Jazz 100 Russia”—was the brainchild of renowned Russian tenor saxophonist Igor Butman (he’s also one of the characters in the documentary as well as one of the producers, along with Yulia Hmelevskaya).

It was written by Russia’s leading jazz journalism Cyril Moshkow. The director is Alexander Bryntsev. The documentary’s major sponsor is the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The documentary calls itself “groundbreaking” and it is that. It’s the first documentary to encapsulate the 100 years of jazz in Russia, starting with the introduction of jazz by (syupriz) an innovative dancer, Valentin Parnakh, who brought the jazz sound and aesthetic to Russia from his visits to Paris in the early 1920s.

Second, the six-part feature is a cornucopia of archival footage that no doubt took years of specific and serendipitous research.

Third, along with the archival footage, the soundtrack is wall-to-wall jazz of various stripes paralleling the evolution of jazz in the United States, from “trad jazz” to “free jazz” to today’s contemporary styles. This, too, must have required painstaking research.

Fourth, the documentary does not shy away from dealing with the political lefts and rights in Russia since the 1917 Russian Revolution, although the references are subtle and non-critical.

The 100-year span of Russian jazz history brought together in 114 minutes is in itself a work of art: gorgeously shot and edited so well the viewer does not notice the content juxtapositions. It tells a story of not just the jazz players, but also the social and cultural backdrop in which this democratic form of music through improvisation ─ and therefore individual freedom of expression ─ as survived and grown in a country with a long history of adherence to central authority.

Speaking of improvisation, one of the best definitions of jazz is articulated by Evgeny Pobozhiy, the young winner of the 2019 Herbie Hancock Jazz Guitar Competition. He says:

[Jazz] is the most perfect musical form that humans have created. Jazz culture
has absorbed the best achievements of humanity: Western traditions and oriental
ethnic traditions, and African, of course. It is based on improvisation, that is, on
spontaneous music-making, and improvisation is impossible without deep knowledge
and understanding. A jazz musician has always been something like a symbiosis of a
creator and a scientist, both involved in a certain spiritual practice.

Well stated. Just like the documentary.

The documentary will become available outside Russia after it has been shown on Russian television. Click here to see the trailer.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
Producer/Director/Writer
“Jazz in China” Winner of the 2022 Free Speech Film Festival

Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D., © 2023

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“Jazz In China: The Documentary,” chronicles the 100-year story of how jazz—a democratic form of music through improvisation—exists and thrives in China—a country with a long tradition of adherence to central authority.

“Jazz In China” is a documentary produced, directed, and written by Eugene Marlow, Ph.D. based on his 2018 book Jazz in China: From Dance Hall Music to Individual Freedom of Expression (University Press of Mississippi).

The 60-minute award-winning documentary reveals the significant influence of African-American jazz musicians with leading indigenous jazz musicians, sinologists, historians, and jazz club patrons in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and archival and contemporary performance footage.

“Jazz In China” was the winner of the 2022 American Insight “Free Speech Film Festival,” and received the “Award of Excellence” from the Depth of Field International Film Festival.

“Jazz In China” will  be an “official event” of the UNESCO-sponsored International Jazz Day, on April 30, 2023.

Many thanks to those who made this event possible:
Curator Leslie Arlette Boyce
Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library
NYFA  “Jazz In China” is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts

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