Singer Maggie MacDougall, at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, Aug. 22
Maggie MacDougall loves bossa nova; Portuguese for “new trend.” Her Bossamba band is also new: Jazz on Jay marks her first-ever show with its current line-up: Wayne Hawkins, piano; Lou Pappas, bass; and Mark Foster, drums – only the fifth-ever Bossamba gig, including a previous Jazz on Jay performance.
Trained on piano by her church-organist/choir director mother, MacDougall enjoyed “harmonizing on old corny songs” at her family’s rustic camp, but says, “It took me decades to warm up to the idea of fronting a band!”
She sang her first public gig at nearly 70 with her Magpies (pianist Peg Delaney and bassist Linda E. Brown) at a Catskill restaurant where she’d sung in trumpeter Chris Pasin’s jams.
A jazz fan since her teens, and inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter and Jon Hendricks, she says hearing bebop alto sax giant Charlie Parker changed her life. “I found myself singing along with those great bebop tunes as if I had always known them,” she says. “My best jazz education has come from intense listening, to recordings, mainly of horn players.” She learned jazz standards from area saxophone star Nick Brignola at his steady gig within walking distance of her apartment; and also from multi-instrumentalist husband Kenny Wenzel.
Now, MacDougall sings Brazilian music with Bossamba, her crew at Jazz on Jay. She sings in Portuguese and English: bossa nova classics “Mas Que Nada,” “Meditation,” “Samba de Orfeu,” “A Felicidade,” “Manha de Carnival,” “Triste,” and “So Danco Samba;” plus lesser-known songs including “Ligia.” She also sings standards with Languages of Jazz.
“Bossamba features improvised solos by all instrumentalists, and I’ll skat a bit here and there,”
she says. “I’m happy to perform…doing music I love with outstanding band-mates like Wayne, Lou, and Mark.” And she considers Wayne Hawkins her mentor in Brazilian music.
Jazz on Jay wraps up its 2024 season of free shows on Thursday, Aug. 29 with drummer Joe Barna’s Quartet.
Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square, the new park space opposite Schenectady City Hall. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors at Robb Alley, but patrons are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments to Jay Square.
Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District and sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, The Schenectady Foundation, Price Chopper/Market 32, MVP Health Care, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative.
Hoke's Jukebox 