50 years of jazz in the Triangle: Saxophonist and bandleader Gregg Gelb on his performance and teaching career, and new music with La Fiesta Latin Jazz Quintet

Six Count hosted its first listening session with a small group of musicians in January. Dexter Moses, the featured guest, curated the following playlist for the evening: 

• “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” by Charlie Parker and Jay McShann (1942)
• “Cherokee,” by Charlie Parker and Efferge Ware (1942 or 1943)
• “Bag’s Groove” (1953) and “Off Minor” (1947), by Bud Powell
• The Black Peril, by Soweto Kinch (2019)
  • Liberation Rag
  • Degeneration, Pt. 11 – The Disorder Within
  • Liberation’s Dawn
  • Black Friday
  • Homecoming
• “52nd Street Theme (Live),” by the Branford Marsalis Quartet (2014)
• “I Cover the Waterfront (Live),” by the Don Shirley Trio (1968)
• “All The Things You Are,” by Phineas Newborn Jr (1956)
• “I’ve Done My Work,” by Donald and Geraldine Gay (2001)
• “Sugar (Solo Piano – The Keystone Transcriptions),” by Teddy Wilson (1939-1940)
• “On a Turquoise Cloud,” by Duke Ellington (1948)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify. *Not all versions of the songs selected by Dexter are available on the music service.

The musician also shares about his debut album, New Perspective. He plans to begin recording in April. 

Dexter is a previous guest on Six Count. Listen to his episode from September 2023 on the under-appreciated influence of Don Byas on swing and bebop. 

More about the artist 

Dexter is a saxophonist, composer, and educator in Durham.

A double alumnus from North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Dexter holds a bachelor’s in jazz studies and master’s in jazz composition and arranging. On Wednesdays, he hosts Evening Jazz at WNCU 90.7 FM, the university’s jazz radio station, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m.

Dexter teaches private lessons in saxophone, flute, and clarinet at the Russell Lacy Music school in Durham. 

(Episode art by Micah Haycraft)

Music credits

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count for GivingTuesday, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app. The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Larry Q. Draughn is a percussionist and educator based in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

You can catch Larry next this Friday, January 26, at the Sharp Nine Gallery in Durham. The drummer will perform a double trio at 7:30 p.m. with Lynn Grissett on trumpet, Jason Foureman on bass, Steven Haines on bass, Devin Fuller on drums, and two special guests. Get tickets.

In addition to performing throughout the Triangle and beyond, Larry teaches at Brightwood Elementary School in Guilford County and directs the North Carolina Jazz Continuum Project. 

Larry has performed at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival (South Bend, Indiana); the Ravinia Jazz Festival (Highland Park, Illinois); Jazz Port Townsend (Townsend, Washington); Detroit Jazz Festival (Detroit, Michigan); Newport Jazz Festival (Newport, Rhode Island); and the Fiji Jazz and Blues Festival (Port Denarau, Fiji), among others.

The drummer has recorded with the NCCU Jazz Ensemble, vocalist Lenora Helm Hammonds, Steve Haines, and Mondre Moffett, and he’s shared the stage with Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo, and Nneena Freelon, to name a few. In 2012, his music was featured in ESPN’s “Free to Be” commercials in 2012 during the network’s Black History Month campaign.

The drummer holds a bachelor’s in classical percussion from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a master’s in jazz studies from North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Larry is an alumnus (’07) of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, a two-week jazz residency performance and composition project administered through the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He’s also studied at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute in Highland Park, Illinois. 

You can follow Larry on Instagram and YouTube. 

Music credits

A live recording of “Koko,” by the North Carolina Jazz Continuum, featuring Larry Q. Draughn on drums, Thomas Linger on piano, Lynn Grissett on trumpet, Kenny Phelps-McKeown on bass, and Dave Finucane on sax. The performance took place on March 25, 2016 at the Sharp Nine Gallery in Durham. 

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count for GivingTuesday, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app. The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Cicely Mitchell is the co-owner of Missy Lane’s Assembly Room, Downtown Durham’s newest venue dedicated to jazz and other Black American Music (BAM). Cicely spoke with Six Count during the venue’s opening weekend on January 14, 2024. She shares reactions from the inaugural evening headlined by vocalist Lois Deloatch, her vision for the space as a hub for art and community, and what guests can expect. 

Miss Lane’s plans to put on three seasons of live programming per year, with each announced at least sixty days in advance. The venue also offers club memberships to receive early access to tickets, preferred seating, members-only events, and a “personalized hospitality concierge.”

The venue has partnered with Weldon Mills Distillery, Little Waves Coffee Roasters and Ninth Street Bakery, Duke Arts, and C7 Yoga. Missy Lane’s will serve as a coffee house and meeting space by day, serving java from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. 

On Fridays and Saturdays, Missy Lane’s will host Office Hours from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. with a house DJ, Professor X. The DJ will play jazz, Afro beats, improv, and more, and the event will feature a percussion jam session.

Missy Lane’s is located on 310 E Main St, Suite 100. Free parking is available on weekends in a lot adjacent to the building, or in nearby decks.

Music credits

This episode features live recordings from Missy Lane’s opening night on January 13, 2024. That evening’s performances featured Lois Deloatch Gomes on vocals, Ernest Turner on piano, Butler Knowles on bass, and Donovan Cheatham on drums. 

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app. The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST.

If you love jazz and live in the Triangle, you know Al Strong. The two-time Grammy-nominated trumpet player, composer, recording artist, mentor, and educator spoke with Six Count at Duke University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on October 4, 2023. 

Al is the co-founder of the Art of Cool Project, a nonprofit that hosts a jazz education summer camp and the Art of Cool Music Festival. 

The Washington, D.C. native is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, the only public high school in the Capitol that provides dual curriculum in college-preparatory academics and pre-professional arts training.

Al holds a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies from North Carolina Central University, where he leads the program’s trumpet studio, and a master’s in jazz performance and pedagogy from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. 

The musician has performed internationally at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and the Peru Jazz Festival in Lima, among others. His shows have headlined the Blue Note Jazz Festival and Winter Fest in New York City, as well as D.C.’s Blues Alley Jazz Festival.

Al’s career has included performances and recordings with Aretha Franklin, the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Hamiltones. He has also served as music director for the rapper Rakim, and performed with former rapper Eric Roberson (also known as Erro) and hip hop duo the Foreign Exchange.

Al and Six Count host and producer Xara Wilde were invited to speak at a class about jazz in the Triangle. The course’s instructor, Peter Burke, manages the local jazz blog Locavore Jazz. Thank you, Peter, for the opportunity! 

Music credits

This episode features a live recording of Al Strong performing with the Rebecca Kleinmann Latin Jazz Quintet at Beyu Caffee on January 7, 2023. The performers that evening included Rebecca Kleinmann on flutes and vocals, Stephen Anderson on keys, Andy Kleindienst on bass, Gastón Reggio on drums, and Brevan Hampden on congas and other percussion. 

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count for GivingTuesday, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app. The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Happy One-Year Anniversary to the Six Count podcast in North Carolina! Since launching in fall 2022, we have: 

• interviewed twenty-three musicians for seventeen episodes
• partnered with an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina (taintradio.org)
• upgraded  our equipment 
• had first interview with a live audience
• collaborated with blogger Peter Burke of Locavore Jazz to co-host an episode

Thank you to our guests for joining the show and to our listeners! 

2022–2023 Six Count guests: 

• Andrew Berinson
• Paul Creel
• Donovan Cheatham
• Ellis Dyson
• Michael Pelz-Sherman
• Hal Goodtree
• Ittai Korman
• Theous Jones
• Joe MacPhail
• Rebecca Kleinmann
• Frankie Alexander
• Christian Tamburr
• Mark Wells
• Brad Linde
• Taha Arif
• Laura Windley
• Keenan McKenzie
• Angela Bingham
• Ernest Turner
• Gregg Gelb
• Kai Lance
• Dexter Moses

What will the next year bring? Let us know who you want to hear from on the Six Count podcast in 2024!

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count for GivingTuesday, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Music credit

This episode features a live recording of the song “Find Your Way,” by Thrio. The group performed at the Sharp 9 Gallery on September 23, 2022. We chose this song because Six Count’s first episode in North Carolina featured the group! We interviewed pianist Andrew Berinson, bassist Paul Creel, and drummer Donovan Cheatham before their show that evening. 

Joseph Silvers is the founder of the Hot Club of Raleigh, a jazz manouche band based in the City of Oaks. The group has performed at Watts & Ward and Young Hearts Distilling, among other establishments in the Triangle and beyond. 

On this episode, Joseph shares the story of when Jean-Jacques “Babik” Reinhardt, son of Django Reinhardt, performed with the Hot Club of North Carolina during a U.S. tour from France with the François Vola Group. 

François Vola, a French guitarist and composer, is the godson of Louis Vola, the bassist in Django Reinhardt’s original Quintette du Hot Club de France. François once lived in North Carolina before returning to France in the late nineties.

Griffin saw the François Vola Group with Babik play in Hickory and invited them to perform with his group. They accepted the invitation, performing at the Paisley Pineapple (now Natty Greene’s) in Greensboro for the Hot Club of North Carolina’s Monday night gig. 

For further reading, check out this 1997 review by the Washington Post on Vola and Reinhardt’s album “Old World New World.”

Early years

Joseph was born in Greensboro and grew up in rural Madison (Rockingham County, North Carolina) among tobacco farms. 

At five years old, Joseph’s grandfather gave him a three-quarter-size acoustic guitar from a thrift store, and he’s been playing ever since.

Joseph began learning the bass, and later the guitar, when he was eleven years old from Rex Griffin, founder of the Hot Club of North Carolina. Quickly advancing under Griffin’s mentorship, the musician picked up a Washburn guitar (also gifted by his grandfather), beginning his jazz manouche journey. 

When Joseph was fifteen, Griffin booked him for his first gig at Madison Dry Goods and Country Store on Murphy Street downtown. Just a year later, he was regularly subbing for Griffin’s rhythm guitarist in the Hot Club of North Carolina for their weekly gig at Tate Street Coffee House in Greensboro. 

While with the group, Joseph performed with Frank Vignola in the summer of 2009 for a tour that included stops in Greensboro, Raleigh, and Madison.

Griffin passed in 2021. 

Forming the Hot Club of Raleigh

After serving as a full-time band member for several years, Joseph established the Hot Club of Raleigh in 2018. 

The original members included Joseph, Steven Ray (who passed in 2018; may he rest in peace), Matt York on woodwinds, and Andy Powell on bass. The group now comprises Joseph and Andy, Devin Frazier on guitar, and previous Six Count guest Dexter Moses on woodwinds.

You can also find Joseph playing with Gallus Mag, a noise rock band, as well as with Hunter MacDermut at Lanza’s Cafe, Carrboro, on the last Sunday of each month. The duo will play next on November 26. 

Joseph holds a bachelor’s from North Carolina State University and a master’s from the University of Illinois, with both degrees in electrical engineering. 

If you’re interested in playing at a weekly jazz manouche jam, get in touch with organizer Richard Badu.

Music credits

This episode features the songs “Limehouse Blues” and “Troublant Bolero” by the Hot Club of Raleigh.

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

Saxophonist Aaron Hill spoke with Six Count before moving back to the West Coast this past August. 

Aaron accepted a position as an assistant professor at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. The musician will serve as director of big bands and applied saxophone in the university’s School of Music. 

On this episode, Aaron reflects on his many musical collaborations in the Triangle since moving to the area in 2007, including with pianist and bandleader Eric Hirsh; the Mint Julep Jazz Band (led by past Six Count guest Laura Windley); trumpeter, bandleader, and educator Jim Ketch; colleagues at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and many others. He also shares about the jazz scene in Hawaii, where he lived for nearly a decade. 

The saxophonist has performed internationally in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, and Sweden, among others, as well as domestically in forty-eight states. He’s shared the stage with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Branford Marsalis, and Joey Calderazzo, among many others.

The Washington native holds a master’s degree in jazz studies and jazz performance and composition from NCCU, as well as a doctorate of musical arts in saxophone performance from UNC Greensboro. In addition to teaching at NCCU, he has taught at N.C. State, UNC–Chapel Hill, UNC Pembroke, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. 

Aaron joined the show a day before his farewell concert at Magnetic Sound Studios in Durham with the Eric Hirsh Quartet. 

Music credits

This episode features the songs “Somehow It Seems to Help” and “To Comfort a Shadow” from the album Distillation (2018), by Eric Hirsh featuring Aaron Hill.

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebookand Instagram @thexarawilde.

Dexter Moses is a saxophonist, composer, and educator in Durham. 

In addition to his own group, the Dexter Moses Quartet/Quintet, the musician has performed and recorded with Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Joey Calderazzo, and Nneena Freelon, among others.

A double alumnus from North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Dexter holds a bachelor’s in jazz studies and master’s in jazz composition and arranging. On Wednesdays, he hosts Evening Jazz at WNCU 90.7 FM, the university’s jazz radio station, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m.

On this episode, Dexter shares about: 

• the life and legacy of the legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon (to whom he dedicated his August show at the Sharp 9 Gallery in Durham);
• how listening to a bootleg recording of saxophonist Don Byas and bassist Slam Stewart inspired his master’s thesis at NCCU, which argued that Byas should be named among the founding fathers of bebop alongside saxophonist Charlie Parker;
• and negotiating the complexities of performing historic swing music today as a Black musician within the context of race and racism in the United States.

Further reading: Dexter mentions the longest musicians’ strike and recording ban in entertainment history, which took place from 1942 to 1944. Learn more about “The Day the Music Stopped.”

Dexter joined Six Count the day after being a featured artist of the Wednesday jazz jam hosted by drummer Taha Arif at Hayti Collective Kitchen and Cocktails in Durham. You can find out more about the weekly event, which takes place from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., by listening to Taha’s episode (published in April 2023). 

Dexter teaches private lessons in saxophone, flute, and clarinet at the Russell Lacy Music school in Durham (and he’s accepting new students!).

Episode art credit: Micah Haycraft

Music credits

This episode features a live recording of “The Change,” by the Dexter Moses Quartet.

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram @thexarawilde.

Listen to the  Six Count podcast on taintradio.org, a noncommercial venue for independent producers. The online jazz radio station based in North Carolina presents music and music-related programming 24/7. 

Six Count airs on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Music credits

This episode features the song “Forged in Rhythm” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebook and Instagram@thexarawilde.

North Carolina native Kai Lance is a guitarist and educator based in Chapel Hill.  

Kai will perform with the Mark Tipton Trio at the Sharp 9 Gallery in Durham on Saturday, August 19. The lineup: 

• Mark Tipton, trumpet
• Kai Lance, guitar
• George MacLaurin, piano
• Aaron Gross, bass
• Donovan Cheatham, drums 

Buy tickets for the show. 

Mark is a trumpeter, composer, and educator. The musician is pursuing a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he is a teaching fellow. Mark earned his bachelor’s from the Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, and a MM (Master of Music) from the Mannes College of Music in New York City. 

Kai, also a student at the conservatory, shares about what to expect at the August show, as well as a never-going-to-be-the-same-again moment at a high school jazz camp in Louisville, Kentucky; his mentors from the Triangle’s jazz scene; and his aspirations as a musician. 

Follow Kai

• Instagram
• YouTube
• Bandcamp
• SoundCloud
• Facebook

Music credit

This episode features the songs “Seresta,” by Paquito D’Rivera (performed by Kai Lance) and “Lost Cause,” by Kai Lance.

This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist. 

How to listen

You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Support the show

If you’d like to support Six Count, you can make a gift on DonorBox or Venmo @thexarawilde. Follow Six Count on Instagram at @sixcountpodcast and Xara Wilde on Facebookand Instagram @thexarawilde.