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| Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights In Jazz Presents Ellington Everlasting: Art Baron & The Duke’s Men with Special Guest Sheila Jordan The 49th season of the popular Highlights in Jazz series kicks off on March 17, 2022, when producer Jack Kleinsinger presents "Ellington Everlasting." The concert turns the spotlight on the maestro's timeless compositions and enduring legacy, through the dynamic vision of trombonist Art Baron & The Duke's Men, with drummer Bernard Purdie, bassist Bill Crow, saxophonists Mark Hynes and Mark Gross, pianist James Weidman, and special guest NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan on vocals. In keeping with the long-running HIJ tradition, a surprise guest will be on hand for the concert. The venerable series returns to the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center stage after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the longest break since the first Highlights in Jazz presentation in the early 1970s. "This concert is a beacon of the return to normal, " Kleinsinger says. Each season, a Highlights In Jazz event focuses on the music of one of the departed geniuses of the genre. It's hard to think of anyone worthier of the honor than this year's pick, the legendary pianist and composer Duke Ellington, one of the most influential figures in jazz. As Ellington famously said, "There are simply two kinds of music: Good music, and the other kind." There's no doubt which category his contributions fall into, and listeners continue to enjoy his music almost a half century after his death. Ellington sparked international interest in "American Music, " his preferred term for his art, playing more than 20, 000 gigs outside the U.S. during his five-decades-long career. He wrote or co-wrote more than 3, 000 compositions including beloved standards such as "Mood Indigo, " "Caravan, " "It Don't Mean a Thing, " "Solitude, " "Sophisticated Lady, " and "C Jam Blues." Ellington's tunes have been used in hundreds of movies, TV shows and stage presentations, with the elegant bandleader sometimes making onscreen appearances himself. He garnered countless awards and honors, including a Pulitzer Prize, 13 Grammys, the President's Gold Medal, the Medal of Freedom, and the French Legion of Honor. Duke even appeared on a U.S. postage stamp. Trombonist Art Baron joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1973, the last trombonist Ellington ever hired. Since then Art has performed and appeared on hundreds of recordings with Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Bruce Springsteen, George Gruntz, Mel Tormé, Frank Wess, David Sanborn, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, Sam Rivers, Lou Reed, James Taylor, John Legend, and others. The trombonist regularly fronts his own ensembles, including The Duke's Men, which has often included other Ellington orchestra alumni. He recalls Ellington's barebones charts—"simply notes on the arrangements, " Art says. "The arrangement is just a guide, not a god. It's a guide to making music. I don't mind when people get off the paper and do something different. I like to have at least one outlaw in the band." The trombonist will be surrounded by a mix of skilled and versatile coconspirators for the HIJ return concert. When producer Kleinsinger says that drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie "played with just about everybody, " it's no exaggeration. Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson Five, Isaac Hayes, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Donny Hathaway, Herbie Mann, Albert Ayler, Herbie Hancock, and Eddie Palmieri are on the list, as are Gene Ammons, Dizzy Gillespie, Leon Thomas, David "Fathead" Newman, Shirley Scott and Hank Crawford. That's just the tip of the iceberg: The energetic octogenarian, whom Rolling Stone has ranked among its top 20 drummers of all time, is said to be the most recorded drummer in history, appearing on more than 4, 000 albums. He's even penned a memoir, Let the Drums Speak!, about his experiences. This concert will be the legendary stick man's third Highlights in Jazz appearance. "Bernard is totally reliable, but you never know what he's going to do, " Art Baron says. "He swings right at the top of the many drummers I've played with. He's in the moment, and such a delightful guy to work with." Bassist Bill Crow ranks a 1958 concert he played with Duke Ellington's orchestra as one of the greatest thrills of his life. The bass clef maven has encyclopedic knowledge of jazz history, much of it based on personal experience. An avid photographer, Bill even has pix dating to the 1950s to illustrate his treasure trove of tales. He has held down bass duties with Stan Getz, Claude Thornhill (including playing Gil Evans' arrangements for the band), Marian McPartland, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, Mose Allison, Roger Kellaway, Al Jarreau, Carol Sloane, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Clark Terry, Anita O'Day and others. Bill has written a pair of fascinating books about his musical experiences, as well as countless columns, articles and tributes. A resident of Chicago and Detroit before moving to the Big Apple, saxophonist Mark Hynes has played with David Berger, Rodney Whitaker, James Carter, Marcus Belgrave, Steven Bernstein, Britt Woodman, Jerome Richardson, Quincy Jones, Christian McBride, Craig Taborn, John Hendricks, Chaka Khan, The Duke's Men and more. He's also a respected educator, and leader of his own trios and quartets. Pianist James Weidman's credits include sharing the bandstand with players as diverse as Max Roach, Woody Herman, Archie Shepp, Joe Lovano, Jay Hoggard, Cassandra Wilson, Marty Ehrlich, Abbey Lincoln and Kevin Mahogany. James also has enjoyed a long-running musical partnership with saxophonist T.K. Blue, with whom he co-leads the band Taja. In addition to fronting a variety of ensembles—he's released several albums as a leader—the pianist also appears regularly with The Duke's Men and other bands. Saxophonist and flautist Steve Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 150 recordings and ensembles led by such celebrated artists as Chick Corea, Ron Carter, George Duke, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Joe Henderson, and Charlie Byrd among many others. "Sheila lives by Sheila's laws, she blows my mind, " declares Art Baron of vocalist Sheila Jordan. The HIJ concert will be a reunion of sorts for the trombonist and veteran singer, who have known each other since the 1980s, playing together with Roswell Rudd, George Gruntz, and others. Sheila is bebop to the bone, citing Charlie Parker as her first great influence, but she is comfortable expressing herself in any musical setting. "You gotta stay that way, baby—it's jazz, whatever the style, you take it in stride, " she points out. Sheila studied with Lennie Tristano in the early 1950s, and counts among her early recordings "The Outer View, " with the renowned jazz polymath George Russell. Check out her contributions to albums from Carla Bley, Steve Kuhn, Bob Moses, Lee Konitz, Jane Bunnett, the Royal Bopsters and more. A pioneer of bass-vocal duos, Sheila has often collaborated with Harvie S and Cameron Brown. Art and Sheila caught up with each other at the singer's 93rd birthday gig in November 2021. She is looking forward to singing "Mood Indigo" and other Ellington classics with The Duke's Men. "Art's incredible: a wonderful player, a wonderful musician, " she says. "We'll have a great time!" Kleinsinger always surprises audiences with unannounced special guests. (Hint: This concert's surprise is likely to involve a baritone saxophone.) The producer declares that at least a quarter of the special guests are a surprise even to him. "Players show up in the audience and we put them on, " Jack explains. "If I see them in the audience, they're there at their own peril—I'll get them onstage." One case in point is "Ellington Everlasting" headliner Bernard Purdie: "He was in the audience one night when Roy Haynes was the drummer and sat in for the concerts sec write your comments about the article :: © 2022 Jazz News :: home page |