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| Bill Ware Quartet at The Iridium  Bill Ware Quartet featuring Annette Sanders (Bill Ware, vibraphone, Annette Sanders, vocals, Bob Albanese, piano, Saadi Zain, bass, Jaime Affoumado, drums) appearing at The Iridium (1650 Broadway @51st NYC) on Thursday, Apr 19th. Bill Ware is a quiet giant of the vibraphone who defines the word "groove" as he cooks rhythms on a low burn, inspired by the expressions of his fellow musicians, only to "strike out and impress with his four-mallet attacks of chords, cadences and arpeggios, surprising in every measure." Born William A. Ware III in East Orange, NJ, on January 28, 1959, Ware started out as a bass player, and trained at the Harlem Jazzmobile Workshop. Ware has performed, recorded and toured internationally on vibraphone with hundreds of artists. He first hit the scene playing Latin jazz (on bass and piano), and in 1986 formed his own Latin ensemble, AM Sleep. Early in his career he became a charter member of the internationally renowned group The Jazz Passengers (Roy Nathanson, saxophone, Curtis Fowlkes, trombone and Marc Ribot, guitar), which has featured guest appearances by Deborah Harry, Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples and many others. In the 1990s, Ware formed a backing group called the Club Bird All-Stars, with whom he toured Japan; and recorded his debut as a leader, "Long and Skinny" (Knitting Factory). Mr. Ware was at the heart of the New York City "acid jazz" scene with the popular band, Groove Collective. He toured with Steely Dan in the 1993- 1995 Alive in America concert tours as a member of the all-star band dubbed the "Steely Dan Orchestra".In 1997 Bill's life was shaken when a tumor was discovered in his spinal column, but thanks to the Jazz Foundation of America's Jazz Musician's Emergency Fund, Ware received medical treatment and was back working after a 13 day recovery. With Jazz Passengers' rhythm section of Brad Jones and E.J. Rodriguez, Ware formed a side project called Vibes, which played dark, pulsating jazz-funk; and recorded the 1998 (Knitting Factory), album of the same name. Ware followed it in 1999 with Keeping Up With the Jones' (on Cathexis), which introduced his Y2K Jazz Quartet. 2001 brought Sir Duke, an Ellington tribute recorded with only guitarist Marc Ribot as accompaniment; the following year, Ware released his fourth album for Knitting Factory, aptly titled Four, which featured numerous guests, including Deborah Harry. In 2010, Ware assembled Lenny White (drums), Onaje Allan Gumbs (piano), Brad Jones (bass), Bill Washer (guitar), Matt King (piano), and Chris Theberge (percussion), to record "Played Right, " (Cheetah, 2010). All About Jazz described Ware's approach on "Played Right" as having "the touch of a resilient, serpentine stylist, a master of quiet spectacle." Ware is also a member of the Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, whose debut release, "Natural Selection" (Sunnyside, 2010) earned 4 stars in Downbeat and one of the Best Albums of the year from the respected, Jazz Journalists Association. In his most recent work, Ware joins Arturo O'Farrill in a new quartet called the Puppeteers, with Alex Blake (bass) and Jaime Affoumado (drums), who all found a home together at Affoumado's Puppet's Jazz Bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn from 2008 to 2011. While Ware is an innovator with the use of electric pedal effects on the vibraphone, he also composes and arranges for a wide range of jazz and classical ensembles (including three symphonies and two concerti), as well as for film and multi media projects ("Martin and Orloff", "Raising Victor Vargas", "Undefeated", Hal Wilner's Harold Arlen Tribute, "Excess Baggage", and the Jazz Passenger's live performance to the cult classic film, The Creature From the Black Lagoon.) Among his special projects is "Imitation of a Kiss, " an orchestration of ten original songs for Deborah Harry, the Jazz Passengers and orchestra. (Buffalo Philharmonic 2001, BBC Concert Orchestra 2002, Northern Sinfonia Orchestra 2011). His arrangements vary diversely, from his big band arrangement of original composition "Gentleman Barbarian" performed twice at Symphony Space with ALJO, and also with Risa Negra at Birdland; to his more intimate classical/jazz projects with cellist Sara Wollan featuring eclectic instrumentations of Bach and Beethoven; to his newest work composing be-bop heads around the themes of popular songs from the 1960's-1980's that feature Horace Quick, enigmatic pianist extraordinaire. Annette Sanders Annette Sanders' career has been a constant whirlwind of recording and performing. Not only has she been heard on thousands of jingles throughout the years but she has also contracted and worked with singers on jingles, film, soundtracks, and CD's since the mid seventies. After attending Hunter College, Annette sand in the New York nightclubs where she was heard by the late producer and composer, Bobby Scott, who signed her to Mercury Records. Her big break came in 1966 when Benny Goodman chose her as his featured vocalist for his prestigious Rainbow Grill engagement, archived on the recently mastered Yale University Music Library Series. It was at the Goodman performance that Annette was again discovered. This time it was by producers of advertising jingles. Her solo for Imprevu perfume as so successful, it launched Annette's career as a much sought-after studio singer. Her distinctly recognizable sound has been heard on literally thousands of jingles, movie soundtracks and CDs. She has worked with the "who's who" of the music industry – from pop to jazz – Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Mel Torme, Michel LeGrand, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gerry Mulligan, Gloria Estefan, and Barbra Streisand to name a few. During the late 80's, Annette co-founded the jazz-tinged vocal quintet, Group Five, teaming up with several of her studio cohorts. They have appeared in concerts and clubs throughout Europe and the U.S. In 1996, the second of her four CDs, "On My Way To You" was nominated for a Grammy. That was followed by "Everything I Love", a CD she recorded with noted pianist and arranger, Mike Renzi. Since 2000, Annette has served as vocal jazz panelist for the National Foundation for Advance of the Arts, a project that supports talented high-school students. Most recently, Annette has appeared as the featured vocalist in Dick Hyman's acclaimed "Jazz Series" at the 92nd St. Y in New York City. It was at one of these concerts that she was discovered yet again by Palm Beach Pops conductor, Bob Lappin, with whom she has concertized. The past few years, Annette performed with the Token Creek Jazz Festival in Madison Wisconsin as well as the Desert Foothills Festival in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her latest recording is a duet CD with Bob Florence, the magnificient composer, arranger, and pianist from the west coast. "You Will Be My Music" was released in June, 2007. In March, 2008, Annette was part of the Billy Taylor Jazz Series at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She also has performed recently with The Canadian Brass at Avery Fischer Hall. Bob Albanese Equally at home in Jazz, Latin, Pop, and theatrical settings, pianist/composer Bob Albanese began his musical life at age 8. By age 15 he won the Garden State Talent Expo and began playing professionally. He has worked with a wide cross section of artists including Anita O’Day, Buddy Rich, Ben Vereen, Datevik, Bill Watrous, Loretta Ables- Sayre, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard, Ray Mantilla and James Ingram. Based in New York since 1980, he has toured extensively all over the continental U.S., Hawaii, Europe, Japan, Russia, Armenia, the Balkans and South America. In 2003, Bob was selected as a U.S. Jazz Ambassador and led his band, Café Simpatico inperformance, workshops and cultural exchange throughout war torn former Yugoslavia; returning in 2010 for Kosovo’s Pristina Jazz Festival promoting his critically acclaimed Zoho CD release “One Way / Detour”. He is presently musical director for Tony award winning Brazilian baritone, Paulo Szot. Saadi Zain Since moving to New York City in 1994, Saadi Zain has steadily built a career as a freelance bassist; called upon not only in the field of jazz, but also cabaret, classical, world music, musical theater and even R&B/pop. Saadi studied at the Hartt School of Music under saxophonist Jackie McLean and later studied with bassist Keter Betts while living and working in the Washington D.C. area. After moving to New York, he further honed his craft as a long-time student of the legendary Ron Carter as well as playing regularly with master drummer Charli Persip who he has been playing with regularly for over ten years as the bassist of his band Supersound. Mr. Zain has been performing in the trio of piano virtuoso Roy Meriwether, and was also the bassist with Wade Barnes Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (Wade Barnes passed away in March, 2012). As the bassist for Trudi Manns open-mic for singers for over ten years, he has extensive experience working with many kinds of singers. Saadi has also had the pleasure of performing with many other noted musicians including Al Grey, Muhal Richard Abrams, the Mingus Orchestra, The Ron Carter Nonet, Ronny Jordan, Sheila Jordan, Houston Person, Wycliffe Gordon, Joshua Bell, Marlene Verplanck, Linda Lavin as well as several local and regional orchestras and a few Broadway pits including Andrew Lloyd Webers Woman in White and The Phantom of the Opera. Internationally, Saadi has performed in Italy (the Rome Festival Orchestra), headlined a band at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Poznan, Poland, performed at the World Music Festival (Forum des Musiques du Monde) in Marseilles, France, and also performed in China, Taiwan and Malaysia as part of a jazz tour sponsored by Moet/Hennessy. Jaime Affoumado Drummer Jaime Affoumado was born in Bronx, New York on July 7th, 1965. Jaime began the drums at the early write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Jazz News :: home page |