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| All Miles 1950s & the Jeff Lofton Quintet at Austin's Elephant Room Austin-based jazz trumpeter Jeff Lofton leads a new All Miles 1950s show with the Jeff Lofton Quintet, Thursday, April 24, at the Elephant Room. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. with no cover. The Elephant Room, located at 315 Congress Avenue, recently made the Top 50 Jazz Clubs in American List in Downbeat magazine, and Wynton Marsalis' Top 10 list of jazz clubs in USA Today. Lofton's All Miles 1950's show features music written by, or made popular, by Miles Davis and performed with the distinctive style of Davis' three different eras of the 1950s. “In the early 1950s Miles' sonatas mixed with early bebop writing/playing reflects a faster, more Dizzy Gillespie style," Lofton says. “It involves playing many notes to achieve a solo interpretation. In the mid-1950s, Davis created more space in his music. Fewer notes were used and more emphasis was put on the notes he does play. The late 1950's were more Avant Garde, as well as modal concepts as heard in the album Kind of Blue." Last fall Lofton's Miles Davis show kicked off a Sunday Night Jazz series at the historic Victory Grill, one of the few remaining juke joints from the Chitlin' Circuit. The show's great reception led it to an encore performance at the Elephant Room, and it's now back again with new songs. The Jeff Lofton Quintet also includes Austin musicians Sam Lipman on saxophone (http://www.myspace.com/samlipman); Marc Devine on piano (http://www.marcdevine.com); Chris Budhan on bass (http://www.myspace.com/cbudhan); and Steve Schwelling on drums (http://www.myspace.com/steveschwelling). “Jazz is a backdrop for popular American music," Jeff Lofton said in a recent interview with The Monitor (http://www.thev247.com/entertainment/jazz_2162___article.html/music_lofton.html). “Some people think it's too complicated, sophisticated, or hear one artist playing avant-garde jazz and say, 'I don't like it.' But it's a myriad of cultures and diversity and connected to other music." Since relocating to Austin last year, Lofton has shared the stage with the Marc Devine Trio at Reed's Jazz and Supper Club, the Sean Hopper Quartet at Central Markets, and frequently sits in at the Elephant Room's Mike Mardecai Jazz Jam on Monday nights. The Jeff Lofton Quartet's other Austin performances include Central Market Westgate, Central Market Central, Club 40, Club 1808, Jerry's Artarama Artist Festival and a Barack Obama fund raising event. Recent Texas shows outside of Austin include Kirby's Fine Dining in San Antonio, Cine El Rey historic theatre and Espana Mediterranean Cuisine in McAllen, and Shenanigan's in Brownsville. Lofton debuted his first jazz CD, Jazz Therapy, in 2005, with the Jeff Lofton Quartet. The self-produced CD mixes old style be-bop with modern forms of jazz in the tradition of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. In addition to Lofton on trumpet, the CD also includes Roland Haynes on piano, Reggie Sullivan on bass and Kenneth Salters on drums. Born in Germany to American parents, Lofton grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, where he studied music at the University of South Carolina. Playing trumpet for nearly thirty years, Lofton has spent time on the road in Chicago and New York City. He has performed with such musical talents as Austin's own guitarist Jim Mings, saxophonist Rene Sandoval, Ron Westray and Wycliff Gordon of the Wynton Marsalis septet, Fred Wesley of the James Brown horn section, Fred Hampton of the Chicago A.A.C.M., and South Carolina musicians Skip Pearson, Robert Gardner, Dr. Dick Goodwin, Dr. John Enkey, Teddy Linder and many others. Lofton also works as an R&B and hip-hop producer, producing such artists as Legend and The Gutsmen. As a winner of the juried competition, Lofton was an artist in the music category of the South Carolina Arts Commission's Arts in Education Roster. The program provides grants for work in educational settings statewide. He currently leads jazz clinics for high school students in Austin. In South Carolina, The Jeff Lofton Quartet had a strong local following from a long-running Friday night show at Meritage in the Vista, as well as performances at Mac's on Main. Lofton is also well known for the Jazz Therapy Jazz Quintet featuring himself and Skip Pearson performing on Sundays at the club Group Therapy. Other groups Lofton has played with include Defellas (an avant guard jazz group), Deja Voodoo (a hip hop/jazz fusion group) and Wadada (a reggae group). write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |