The Dicks Den Wednesday Residency series continues into August with one of the most jazz-filled lineups to date! After some late schedule shuffling, stalwart bassist Roger Hines has taken the lead for this month’s Wednesday programming. Hines is an experienced educator and bandleader, having toured with Diane Schuur as her musical director from 1988 to 2004, after serving as the touring bassist for Ray Charles from 1980 to 1987. These days, along with a busy teaching schedule, he leads and participates in a handful of excellent local groups, most of which will be on display this month at Dick’s. Hines kindly shared details of each week’s show, so read on for programming insights. The cover each week is $4, and they will aim to start by 9:30 each week, so come out early!
Wednesday, August 6th will bring the Brett Burleson Band to the stage, featuring Burleson on guitar, Hines on bass, Eddie Bayard on sax, and Ryan Jewell on drums. The band will play tunes by Sonny Sherrock as well as the band’s originals, as featured on their recent Mug & Brush session (here’s “Contrary” and here’s “33“).
The band for August 13th has been dubbed “The Smiths.” Along with Hines and Jewell, the band will feature Adam Smith on keyboards, Stan Smith on guitar, and Stephen “Breeze” Smith, Stan’s brother visiting from Los Angeles, on percussion. The Smiths will perform music from the album Tadashi’s Room that Hines, Stan & Stephen (among others) recorded in LA in 2004 (as Nova Madrugada).
August 20th will feature the Joe Hunter Trio, which entails visiting Cleveland pianist Hunter with Hines on bass and Joe Ong on drums. This trio, one of legendary saxophonist Joe Diamond’s early rhythm sections, will perform jazz standards from the “Great American Songbook.”
The series wraps up on August 27th with Nova Madrugada “proper,” which means Michael Cox on sax, Stan Smith on guitar, Hines on bass, Ron Hope on percussion, and Danny Aguiar on drums. The band will play Hines’ original compositions, which they describe as “World Jazz Improvisations.” I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a version of this band back in April.