Avery benefit on a growing spring calendar

Harold Singletary is a special friend of jazz in the Lowcountry.

He's been programing live events for years now and with great success. In 2003, Singletary created the Poetic Jazz Society, a loose collective of poets, storytellers and musicians who performed extemporaneously in front of a live audience.

It took the town by storm and added Charleston to the nationwide growth of the popularity of spoken word.

In 2006, Singletary combined forces with Quentin Baxter, who was responsible for the jazz portion of the society, to produce a jazz concert to benefit the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston.

Baxter put an ensemble behind singer Rene Marie and they slammed Mount Pleasant's Alhambra Hall, a gorgeous venue for live jazz, probably like it had never been rocked before.

They followed the next year with up-and-coming vocalist Nicole Henry, who was bursting onto the national scene then, selling out that time too.

Last year, Singletary and Baxter changed the pace with crooner Allan Harris, who, with Baxter's band, performed a repertoire of Nat "King" Cole tunes, a real crowd pleaser. Harris' version of "Unforgettable," for instance, was as fabulous as the venue's view out on to Charleston Harbor that evening.

It was such a hit, they've decided to bring Harris back this year.

The show will be 5-8 p.m. Sunday back at Alhambra Hall, 131 Middle St., Mount Pleasant. Tickets are $50. Call Avery at 953-7609.

Baxter has worked with Harris a couple of times since the last benefit so there's no telling what they might come up with. They have performed here in the States and in Europe, where Harris is very popular.

Avery has been an important part of Charleston's jazz legacy for more than 100 years. In the late 19th century, Avery Normal Institute, the former segregation-era school today's research center is named after, provided music instructors for the legendary music program at Jenkins Orphanage, one of America's most important jazz nurseries. In the '20s and '30s the institute produced, among others, the likes of saxophonists Willie Smith and St. Julian Bennett Dash, two of the most important, innovative soloists in the history of jazz.

The research center is home to the abundant collection of the Charleston Jazz Initiative. The group started its research activities and public programming at Avery in 2003.

Supporting the May 17 show will help keep alive the center's programs.

More jazz

--Another benefit worthy of your support is 8-9:15 p.m. Saturday at the Gage Hall Coffeehouse, 4 Archdale St., to aid the academic enrichment programs at Mitchell Elementary School.

--Pianist Dr. Franklin Ashley will perform in a quartet, promising music from Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers and Hart and others.

--Saxophonist Don Nordquist, bassist John Gamble and trombonist Tony Agresta will round out the group. Franklin, award winning professor emeritus of playwriting at the College of Charleston, is very popular in these parts. He played for Jimmy Carter's inaugural and performed for Bill Clinton at Renaissance Weekend in 1999.

--Tickets are $10 adults, $5 students. Coffee (donated by Earth Fare), sodas, and home-baked desserts available for purchase. Call 367-9663 or 224-4472 for more information.

--The Charleston Jazz Initiative will hold its 2009 conference, Modern Jazz in Charleston: 1950-2000, noon-3 p.m. June 6 at the Avery Research Center, 125 Bull St.

--The symposium is a series of events that examines social and musical perspectives of Charleston's jazz scene.

--The event will include an exhibition, JAZZ! Art Quilts in Performance, by the highly regarded Charleston quilter Marlene O'Bryant Seabrook. The exhibition is June 1-July 31.

--As a Charleston Jazz Initiative co-principal, I will moderate Conversations in Jazz, a colloquy in front of a live audience including hometown former club owners, photographers, broadcasters, promoters, musicians and fans. There will also be live jazz from the period by the Quentin Baxter Jazz Ensemble. For more, visit www.charlestonjazz.net.

--Jazz Artists of Charleston will present its 2009 JAC Jazz Series May 22-June 5 at Mistral Restaurant and the Charleston Music Hall.

--Thirteen ensembles will perform at Mistral, 99 South Market St., for two shows each night, 7:30 p.m. and 10. JAC turns the second floor into an intimate jazz club that seats 60. This series is formerly a part of Piccolo Spoleto and was a huge hit last year, selling out every night. The run at Mistral includes Charleston's Gradual Lean and Tommy Gill Trio and Asheville's Hedgepeth & Holstein Duo.

--Holy City Homecomin' is a special event in the series, set for the Charleston Music Hall, 39 John St., the city's new home of swing and residence of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra, a 20-piece big band.

--On June 2 at 7 p.m., the orchestra will perform a repertoire of songs specially arranged by guest conductor Bob Belden, a Grammy-winning performer, composer and arranger. The occasion is a return to the Charleston area for Belden, a Goose Creek native, who lives in New York City and travels the world producing records and concerts. Belden has selected and arranged tunes from his own book as well as those of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson for the concert. He has partnered over the years with all these masters. Tickets and more is available at 843-641-0011 and www.jazzartistsofcharleston.org.

--The Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs is poised to contribute to the ongoing look into Charleston's jazz legacy. Piccolo Spoleto Festival, administered by the office, is hosting a free concert, Sunset Serenade, the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra 8-9:30 p.m. May 22 behind the U.S Custom House.

--The Charleston Swing Dance Association is sponsoring Charleston Lindy Exchange today through Sunday at a number of venues around the Lowcountry. The centerpiece event looks like the one Friday 7:30-11:30 p.m. at the Charleston Visitor Center. This is for folks interested the popular dances from yesteryear associated with big bands.

--The dance Friday will feature the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, a seven-piece band that plays the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and others. More info at www.charlestonlindyexchange.com.

Jack McCray, author of "Charleston Jazz," can be contacted at jackjmccray@aol.com.