Photo Courtesy of Joan Dadian
Joan Dadian
Jazzy Joan (aka Joan Dadian) never studied music history in college or jazz at the conservatory, but music has always been part of her life. “Since I was a little kid, I grew up in a household with jazz and classical music playing. I was exposed to Dave Brubeck and Ahmad Jamal from infancy—and I liked it!” she says.
Her unaffected enthusiasm led to her role as organizer and host of listening sessions. Starting in 2021, Joan launched a monthly series—a 21st century record spin with commentary—at bar centro (804 E. Center St.) called “The ABCs of Jazz.” Each installment centered on a particular jazz artist who first name began with the letter of the evening as she worked her up the alphabet from A through Z.
With all 26 letters behind her, Joan decided to reboot with a series, a new format and a new name, “Jazz: Where It Is & Where It’s Going.” Like “The ABCs,” it will be “an open exploration,” she says, one in which “I often learn about jazz artists I had little knowledge of.” The focus of “Where It Is & Where It’s Going” will be living artists and, for at the least the first episodes, artists from particular nations or regions. First stop: Italy.
Her Italian night will concentrate on trumpeter Paolo Fresu, drummer Aldo Romano and singer Mario Biondi. All three are composers but in different idioms. Fresu uses electronics and collaborates with a classically trained accordionist. Romano is “a master of cymbals,” Joan says, drawing from Italian as well as African roots. She describes the soulful Biondi as “a cross between Pavorati and Barry White.”
“Jazz is always about the groove—the thing that gets you swinging, tapping your toes, bopping your head, the vibration between you and the artist,” she says, adding, that it’s also about “the hang,” getting together to appreciate the music rather than listening alone.
“Jazz: Where It Is & Where It’s Going” debuts 7-11:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 at bar centro.
