At the Kennedy Center .... The Detroit-based group Straight Ahead was particularly impressive, with bassist Marion Hayden and flutist Lori Bell standing out. Bell also participated in the afternoon jam session, where her fire and commitment were just as notable.
Aug 97
Flute of distinction
George Varga-Pop Beat

San Diego flutist Lori Bell has
performed with such jazz luminaries as pianists Mike Wofford and Dave Mackay (her longtime musical partner), and former Sarah Vaughan bassists Andy Simpkins and Bob Magnusson. But her performance last month at the Mary Lou Williams wonmen in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., stands out as a highlight in her career.
"It was a very prestigious gig", said Bell, 39, who performed with the Detroit-based quartet Straight Ahead.
.... "They faxed me their arrangements and overnighted their CD and I memorizd all their original material," Bell said. "We had a 20-minute rehearsal at the Kennedy Center, and then we opened up the festival. It was exciting."

Other featured artists included Tania Maria, Shirley Scott, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and 10 others. Bell also participated in two jam sessions with trumpeter Stacy Rowles, saxophonist Ann Patterson, the rhythm sections from Maiden Voyage and Diva.

"I heard from several people in attendance that (noted pianist and jazz educator) Billy Taylor said he was impressed with my playing," Bell said. "And being heard and recognized by the other female artists there was wonderful. I would love to be invited back to next year's festival with my trio Interplay, which features Dave Mackay and Ron Satterfield."

 

 


Leonard Feather-CALENDER
"LOVE WILL WIN." Dave Mckay Trio. Discovery DS 883.
.... Soul is the ingredient, pianist Mackay and flutist Lori Bell, backed by the eminenet bassist Andy Simpkins, serve it up in substantial portions on "Just Friends," Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes" and three Mackay originals. Bell, 25, is a new talent on whom tto keep one's ears trained. 4 1/2 stars.

Dear Lori,

Your solo CD appears on the initial Grammy Ballot under Best New Artist, Best Instrumental Composition ("A Heart is But a Flower"), Best Instrumental Arrangement ("Equinox"), Best Jazz Instrumental Solo ("Cartagena"), and Best
Contemporary Jazz Album. You certainly have our vote. Truly unbelievable
that your CD is here at Beezwax.

David A. Seyboldt | Beezwax Records

"Flutist Lori Bell possesses a tone that I am sure certain others have sought for in vain. She is discrete where others fail, modest in just those ways that allow her strength of tonal shading to present itself proudly and without bravado. One hears the welcome in Lori Bell's playing. It is cheerful and open like a smile offered with a hug or a hearty handshake." Jim Merod --- Jazz News - 1998

"It's hard to imagine a more synergistic gathering of virtuosity, freedom and the sheer joy of musical conversation." Richard Simon --- Bird Magazine -- 1998

"The flute takes on warm characteristics in the hands of Lori Bell. She makes the music happen with her wide range of improvising skills and melodious tonality" Frank Rubolino ---- Cadence Magazine -- 2002

"Lori plays an inspiring flute ringing with confidence. The music is as fresh as morning dew, all with the relaxed feeling of Brazilian samba". D. Oscar Groomes --- O's Place jazz Newsletter --- 2002

"One cannot help but be very intrigued by Lori's technical and improvisational ease. Her command of the flute is outstanding and the way she breezes over chord changes makes her dexterity sound quite light and unassuming. She is a remarkable flute player"

Marco Pignataro --- Jazz Improv Magazine 2002

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Interplay
Dave Mackay, Lori Bell, Ron Satterfield

How would piano, flute and guitar, plus some vocalese, sound together on a jazz CD? In this case, they're simply astonishing. But don't you lose something vital when you dispense with drums and bass? Yes: your inhibitions.

Three of today's most highly evolved, spontaneously interactive musicians have collaborated on this venture out of San Diego. In the opener, the pianist's romp "Joyful," the tone is set. Mackay's hard-swinging, humor-laden piano statements are punctuated by the bass lines of Satterfield's guitar, as remarkable as those of Tuck & Patti's Tuck Andress. Bell's incisive flute and Satterfield's vocalizing play a deceptively intricate game of tag, and Mackay is always right there with conspiratorial wit. Cut number two ingeniously combines the Ellington/Tizol and Strayhorn favorites "Caravan" and "Take the A Train" with a relentless, Latin-flavored 6/8 groove. Mackay and Bell introduce "When You Wish Upon a Star" in an undulating stirde/shuffle. The half-chorus of piano solo is a model of economy and taste. "Sweet and Lovely" has Satterfield stepping forward from light Freddie Green-style chording to full-throttle scat-singing and comping. Bell comines virtuosity with wit in her ear-popping solo, quoting "It Ain't Necessarily So" and spinting into double-time. The flutist's original contributrion is a happy waltz, "Playing in the Snow," which features an exquisite piano solo and Satterfield's soaring vocalizing. Elsewhere, there's a Pat Metheny tune, a "Wizard of Oz" medley (Mackay, who recorded "Its Not East Being Green" over a decade ago, is fortunately still on speaking terms with his inner child), a Benny Carter standard, more Ellington, Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child," and a closing number by the guitarist. It's hard to imagine a more synergistic gathering of virtuosity, freedom and the sheer joy of musical conversation.
- Richard Simon

DAVE MACKAY TRIO- Love Will Win, Discovery DS883 Produced by Albert L. Marks, Lori Bell's flute and Andi Simpkins' bass share the grooves with the leader's impressive pianistics on seven tracks, three of which are Mackay's original compositions. "Just Friends" and "We'll Be Together Again" are intriguing examples of gentle, intimate chamber
jazz.

 

 

 

 

 



 


****
"Take me to Brazil" (Discovery) from the sextet of pianist Dave Mackay and flutist Lori Bell, is a vivacious Brazilian-based collection of six originals and three works by Brazilian writers. Alex Mahlieros' "Cascade of the Seven Waterfalls" spotlights Mackay's wistful piano, while Bell's buoyant flute shines on her "Zara," among others. Mackay adds a whisper-ish vocal on Luis Bonfa's "The Gentle Rain" and is joined by his wife, Melissa, for the jaunty closer, "Now". 4 stars.