About This Event:
Kris Tokarski and Evan Christopher host an evening of classic jazz piano paired with New Orleans clarinet. Snug Harbor, the best listening room in New Orleans, provides an intimate setting for this tribute to James P. Johnson & Eubie Blake.
WHEN:
Sunday, Feb 2, 2020
Two seatings @ 8pm & 10pm
WHERE:
Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro
626 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
WHO:
Kris Tokarski, piano
Evan Christopher, clarinet
Map:
TICKET INFO:
$20 Online or by Phone
Snug Harbor: 504.949.0696
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![To be precise: No, I never “won” a Grammy. It’s a misunderstanding that I suppose I should correct when it appears in marketing such as this weekend's Charlotte shows.
What actually occurred? The year was 2006... [cue harp sweeps with whole-tone scale]
I was exiled in Paris after Federal Levees failed and flooded New Orleans in August, 2005. My first return home was a show with a New Orleans-based big band as their clarinet soloist. I appeared with them often through 2011, and also played alto saxophone in the ensemble. In the group at that time, there were many stellar musicians whose camaraderie I enjoyed including Edward Peterson, Derek Douget, David Pulphus and Victor Atkins.
Anyway… For a 2006 tour, the group’s leader conceived a clarinet feature for me and presented his idea in a rehearsal at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He had mapped out a chord progression for a funky minor section that went into a sort of shout-chorus in major. On a subway en route to the second rehearsal, I scrawled actual melodies for the two sections. My arrangement re-worked harmonies of his original sketch and incorporated his shout-riff with some small rhythmic improvements.
In 2009, the band recorded its debut CD in New Orleans in the cafeteria of Warren Easton High School. My clarinet feature was included, and the year the CD was released, 2010, it received the Grammy award from NARAS for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album”. Somewhere, I still have a certificate acknowledging my participation.
Did it annoy me that I wasn’t credited? Not much. The composer/arranger credit would have only been for that one song. And the arrangement, like the tune itself, was naively simple and, frankly, rather unremarkable. However… It had its place in the group's program and I was always proud to showcase the New Orleans clarinet tradition in a contemporary context. Performances included a now infamous Carnegie Hall concert in 2012, as pictured here.
[Photo credit unknown. Ashlin? And, no, I haven’t a clue what I am doing in this pic. 80's shuffle? Or perhaps I had just played the solo?]](https://www.clarinetroad.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
