Sal Crocker
Los Angeles, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | AFM
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Dennis Adams is a man on a mission, working for more than a decade to support the Memphis jazz scene. Starting with the River City Jazz Society in 1998 which hosted Monday night jazz at the River Terrace Yacht Club, his vision has evolved into a nonprofit endeavor called Strictly Jazz Entertainment which brings this variety of music to venues across the city nearly every night of the week.
Adams, a 23-year FedEx employee spends much of his free time promoting the jazz scene in Memphis. His goal is to increase the awareness and visibility of the jazz scene in Memphis and promote it throughout the community, from East Memphis to Midtown to Downtown.
Other jazz venues in the past have included Café Ole, where Sax on Sundays began before moving to Neil’s on McLean and Madison.
I first encountered Strictly Jazz Entertainment at the twice-monthly jam sessions and open mic segments at Neil’s. This venue has since moved to Club Chill in Peabody Place every second and fourth Sundays. (Doors open at 6:30PM and showtime runs from 7PM until 11PM). Among the regular performers are Sal Crocker (tenor saxophone), Ben Levitt (acoustic bass), Stephen Lee (piano) and Jeramy Warren (drums), along with all of the talented and brave performers who sing and jam during the open mic portion of the evening. I’ve been quite (happily) surprised by the quality of singers and performers who have stepped up. True to Memphis’ history, we are a musically-gifted city.
March 13th marked the 1-year anniversary of jazz at the Westin downtown on Friday evenings. It’s a lovely place to have a beverage and listen to appropriately-amplified music. (Maybe I’m just getting old, but so much of the music these days is painfully loud. You don’t have to worry about that at the Westin where the music is played at enjoyable decibels.)
You can find Strictly Jazz Entertainment on Facebook, and they also have a website with information about upcoming events.
WUMR is the University of Memphis jazz radio station, at 92FM. Their daily listening is here:
Broadcasting in stereo with 25,000 watts of power, WUMR is the only exclusive jazz outlet in the Memphis metro area. The station offers a mix of contemporary and traditional jazz, as well as a sampling of fusion, Blues, Latin, and new age Jazz. The station also serves the Mid-South community with unique educational, sports, and community service programming.
For alternate Sundays (when you’re not at Club Chill), you can find the Memphis Jazz Orchestra at Alfred’s on Beale Street. This is tremendous fun. Couples often enjoy swing dancing to the music, as well as listening to Tom Prestigiacomo singing (his voice is B*I*G and amazing). There’s also the occasional Jazz in the Box at GPAC.
On Sundays, jazz students from The University of Memphis can be heard playing at Earnestine & Hazel’s.
One of the great things about jazz in Memphis is that it is intergenerational and multiracial. People of all backgrounds and levels of appreciation can enjoy this music. Some people refrain from jazz because it seems like an inaccessible genre exclusively for aficionados with refined tastes, or people who can name every Miles Davis tune. Trust me: it’s not like that at all. Many of the musicians that play at these various venues may be sitting at the table nearest to you one moment, and up on stage the next song. You’ll be having a conversation with an incredibly cool person and then all of a sudden they’re performing.
This unassuming jazz scene is one of Memphis’ great treasures that adds to the already-known rich musical history of our city. - Commercial Appeal
On Sunday January 20th, ALOMA presents internationally regarded Memphis Tenor Saxophonist Sal Crocker joined by a top notched Atlanta trio consisting of pianist Louis Heriveaux, drummer Marlon Patton and bassist Tommy Sauter for an entertaining evening of Memphis influenced swinging music, popular jazz standards, and more… You don’t want to miss this rare Atlanta appearance of one of Memphis’ finest jazz musicians.
The admission fee of $25 ($15 for strudents)includes food and beverage and all proceeds go to the musicians. Sal is also a Captain for United Airlines.
Video from the concert:
ALOMA jazz Sal Crocker
After the show: saxophonist Sal Crocker, drummer Marlon Patton, bassist Tommy Sauter, pianist Louis Heriveaux
Posey Miller
Host and ALOMA board chair Posey Miller announces the musicians. - ALOMA - Atlanta Lovers of Music Association
Keeping Jazz Alive in Memphis
Posted: Apr 04, 2011 6:26 PM PDT
Jazz musicians in Memphis are working to keep their music alive with a series of performances you won't want to miss. Dennis Adams and Sal Crocker join FOX13 with more on what's going on around town. - MyFox Memphis
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
Sal Crocker has been characterized as a blend of soul and intellect. Born in New York City October 29, 1965, Sal moved to Memphis at the early age of four. While growing up in Memphis, Sal was exposed to a rich heritage of music covering a broad and wide spectrum. Early on as a child his father would take him to Willie Mitchell’s studio where he would observe sessions and breath the native soulful B3 sounds and classic rhythmns of that era. This became a part of him, in addition to the gospel and jazz traditions of the region.
At the age of ten, Sal began playing the tenor saxophone under the direction of noted saxophonist and studio musician Jim Terry, better known as “JT”. JT set the bar extremely high for Sal at a young age. By the time Sal entered his last year of high school he had already earned best soloist at the Austin Peay Jazz festival judged by Marvin Stem, won a chair in the Tennessee All-State Jazz band three years in a row, and finally awarded a seat on the highly selective McDonalds All-American Jazz and Marching Band, along with a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music Conservatory in Boston, Massechusetts. Before departing for Boston, Sal was awarded a key to the city of Memphis by Mayor Richard C. Hackett.
During his tour with the McDonald’s All-American Jazz Band, Sal was in the company of future greats Delfeayo Marsalis, Mark Whitfield, and Javone Jackson who were also members of the band. After touring the country with the McDonald’s Band, Sal found himself at Berklee studying with world renowned saxophonist Billy Pierce formerly with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and also performing with the top band, a position usually held by more senior students. The influence of that environment added another dimension to Sal’s makeup. He worked beside his peers and friends such as Cyrus Chestnut and Mark Whitfield in this very contagious learning environment.
Before returning to Memphis, Sal reunited with his father musically on jazz festivals and cruises performing on the same billing with many greats such as Freddie Hubbard, Lou Donaldson, Etta James, Gerald Albright, Arthur Prysock, Charles Erlin and many many more. After returning to Memphis Sal found himself wearing many musical genre hats, from R&B to Jazz and backing artist such as the Diamonds, Marvels, Angels, Platters, The Temptations, James Williams, Phineas Newborn, Mulgrew Miller, Dinah Shore, Kenny Loggins and more, while also performing in church ministries.
Sal also studies with Grammy Award Winner and YellowJackets saxophonist Bob Mintzer of Los Angeles, CA. Bob is also head of Jazz Studies at University of Southern California.
Jimmy Heath says “Sal has the sound of music. He knows the meaning of music!”.
This diverse life experience has yielded an individual who is not cut from a traditional mold. This musician brings a wealth of soulful, spiritual and intellectual insights from a place within as evidenced in his performances, where he frequently draws from his infulences such as Bob Mintzer, Grover Washington, John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Michael Brecker, Miles Davis, Eliane Elias, Don Grolnic, Joe Henderson and Kenny Garrett.
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