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| The Stretchin' The Ivories Festival with Mulgrew Miller Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola continues the Stretchin' The Ivories Festival with the great pianist Mulgrew Miller, leading his ensemble, Wingspan, featuring Duane Eubanks on trumpet, Steve Nelson on vibes, and Steve Wilson on alto and soprano saxophones. Holding down the After Hours spot is George Colligan, a much in demand pianist that has worked with seemingly everyone, from Cassandra Wilson to Benny Golson. January 24-29 7:30pm & 9:30pm w/additional 11:30pm set on Friday only Mulgrew Miller and Wingspan, Mulgrew Miller (piano), Steve Nelson (vibes), Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Steve Wilson (alto and soprano saxophones), Ivan Taylor (bass), Rodney Green (drums) Pianist Mulgrew Miller has kept this group - featuring Steve Wilson on alto saxophone and vibraphonist Steve Nelson- for many years, but has not been given the opportunity to record all his new music until quite recently. The Sequel, on MaxJazz, appeared in the fall of 2002 and reached the number one position on the radio charts in the U.S. Wonderful original music and inspired solos contribute to the success of this group. Mulgrew remains one of the most recorded pianists in the scene today, second only to Kenny Barron, with over 400 recording sessions to his credit. His latest releases, on MaxJazz, include The Sequel, featuring Mulgrew surrounded by long-time associates Steve Nelson and Steve Wilson and Live at Yoshi's (2004), where Mulgrew can be heard fronting his regular trio featuring Derrick Hodge and Karriem Riggins. A highly original composer, Mulgrew has moved, as an interpreter, from such influences as McCoy Tyner and Wynton Kelly to become very recognizably his own man, powerful, lyrical, and imaginative. Regarding his keyboard approach change from a quintet or trio setting to a solo performance, Mulgrew told AAJ.com: "In a trio or quintet, I sometimes tend to become more focused on melodic improvising. And especially in a quintet, I'll have a more concise approach to playing. But as a solo performer, I try to be more orchestral and use more of the entire instrument. After all, it's just you, so you need to come up with different things to make the music more interesting. In essence, I do things that are more pianistic." January 24-28 11pm Tuesday-Thursday, 12:45am Friday-Saturday After Hours With: The George Colligan Trio, George Colligan (piano), Josh Ginsburg (bass), Johnathan Blake (drums) George Colligan has been on the New York scene since moving to Brooklyn in 1995. In addition to his work as a bandleader, George plays regularly with the bands of Buster Williams, Don Byron, Lonnie Plaxico, Jamie Baum, and the Mingus Band. He has also worked with Cassandra Wilson, Gary Bartz, Benny Golson, Gary Thomas, Steve Coleman, Eddie Henderson, Ralph Peterson, Vanessa Rubin, Steve Wilson, Jane Monheit, Ravi Coltrane, Lenny White, Michael Brecker, Mike Clark, Nicholas Payton, Sheila Jordan, Janis Siegel, Christian McBride, Billy Hart, Charles Fambrough, Rodney Holmes, Billy Kilson, Mark Turner, David Binney, Don Braden, Shunzo Ono, Lee Konitz, Michal Urbaniak and Stefon Harris and many others. As a leader, Colligan has released Mad Science (Sunny Sky), a superb trio recording featuring Colligan exclusively on the Hammond B-3 organ. His newest recordings include Realization, released in the Spring of 2005 and a trio recording featuring Bill Stuart and Vicente Archer titled Past Present Future. January 31-February 5 7:30pm & 9:30pm w/additional 11:30pm set on Friday only Marc Johnson's Shades of Jade featuring Eliane Elias, Joe Lovano and Joey Baron Marc Johnson (bass), Eliane Elias (piano), Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone), Joey Baron (drums) Bassist Marc Johnson is perhaps best remembered as the last bassist for pianist Bill Evans from 1978 to his death in 1980. On the bassist's third ECM CD Shades of Jade, Johnson pays tribute to another great Evans band and bassist Scott LaFaro. The music here has the same kind of quiet intensity as its touchstone even if the group is larger - guitarist John Scofield, saxophonist Joe Lovano, pianist Eliane Elias and drummer Joey Baron round out the line-up. Johnson and Elias handle the composition responsibilities, both together and separately, and Elias's playing really shines as she provides prodding accompaniment. A wonderful expansion of Evans's lyrical trio concept, Shades of Jade accomplishes everything Johnson could have hoped for. Pianist/composer/singer, Eliane Elias is known for her distinct and immediately recognizable musical style that blends her Brazilian roots with her impressive jazz and classical skills. Born in Sao Paulo, Elias' musical talents began to show at an early age. She started studying piano at age seven and at twelve, was transcribing solos from the great jazz masters. By the time she was fifteen she was teaching piano and improvisation at one of Brazil' s most prestigious schools of music. Her performing career began at age seventeen, working with Brazilian singer/songwriter Toquinho and the great poet Vinicius de Moraes who was also Antonio Carlos Jobim's co-writer/lyricist. In 1981 she headed for New York and in 1982 landed a spot in the acclaimed group Steps Ahead. She has since recorded and toured as a leader to critical acclaim. Joyous Encounter, Joe Lovano's 17th recording for Blue Note, is an anomaly in his extraordinary career, as it marks the first time that the saxophonist has returned to the studio with the same band to record a sequel to his celebrated 2004 quartet record, I'm All For You: Ballad Songbook, a masterwork featuring Hank Jones on piano, George Mraz on bass and Paul Motian on drums. Lovano, whose discography is expansive both stylistically and thematically and who regularly changes ensemble configurations from one album to the next, decided to revisit the quartet magic, this time with a broader range of tempos, rather than rev up another one of his projects waiting in the wings for documentation. Drummer Joey Baron was born into a Jewish working class family in Richmond, Virginia. He is largely self-taught by means of watching others play and listening to recordings, radio and television. His early influences ran the gamut from Ed Sullivan show guests, to "The Wild Wild West" television show theme, to records by Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, James Brown, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. Besides being a member of the Bill Frisell Band for ten years until 1995, he has performed and recorded with an impressive list of musicians - including Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Hampton Hawes, Chet Baker, Laurie Anderson, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Vinicius Cantuaria, Jay McShann, David Bowie, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Big Joe Turner, Philip Glass, John Abercrombie, Mel Lewis, Pat Martino, Harry Sweets Edison, David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, Jim Hall, Randy Brecker, Marian! McPartland, John Scofield, Marc Johnson, The Lounge Lizards and many others. January 31-February 4 11pm Tuesday-Thursday, 12:45am Friday-Saturday After Hours With: Nathalie & Family with Marc Cary Nathalie (vocals), Antonio Dangerfield (trumpet), Marc Cary (piano), Matt Rybicki (bass), Sean Kelly (drums) write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |