Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Marcus Printup was born on January 24, 1967 in Conyers, Georgia. His first musical experiences hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church and didn’t discover jazz until he was a senior in high school.
He is a versatile musician who started playing trumpet in the fifth grade, played funk as a teenager, and while attending the University of North Florida on music scholarship, won the “International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet Competition”, and was a member of a ten-piece group called “Soul Reason for the Blues”. In 1991 he met pianist Marcus Roberts, his mentor to this day, who introduced him to Wynton Marsalis, and was induction into the Jazz @ Lincoln Center Orchestra two years later.
Marcus has performed and/or recorded with Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, Carl Allen, Marcus Roberts among many others, not to mention a few of his projects as a leader, Song for the Beautiful Woman, Hub Songs, The New Boogaloo, Bird of Paradise, London Lullaby and his most recent, Desire.
Printup’s screen debut was in the 1999 movie “Playing By Heart” and also recorded on the film’s soundtrack. He tours annually with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, spending one-third of his year touring world wide, and nourishes his educator side by teaching youth and experienced musicians and contributing to several camps annually.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jason Moran was born January 21, 1975 and grew up in Houston, Texas. He began playing the piano when he was six, though he had no love for the instrument until, at the age of 13, he first heard the song “Round Midnight” by Thelonious Monk and switched his efforts from classical music to jazz. He attended Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and then enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with pianist Jaki Byard. While still in college Moran also received instruction from other avant-garde pianists including Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill.
In 1997, when Moran was a senior at the Manhattan School of Music he was invited to join the band of saxophonist Greg Osby for a European tour. Osby liked his playing and Moran continued to play with the group upon their return to the United States, making his first recorded appearance on Osby’s 1997 “Further Ado” for Blue Note, subsequently appearing on several Osby albums. This led to Blue Note signing Moran and his debut “Soundtrack to Human Motion” was released in 1999.
He has since released several albums playing with contemporaries Stefon Harris, Lonnie Plaxico, Eric Harland, Tarus Mateen, Nasheet Waits, Sam Rivers and Marvin Sewell as well as collaborations with Charles Lloyd, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, Lee Konitz, Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Von Freeman and Christian McBride.
Jason has been commissioned to create a number of works by the Walker Art Center, the Dia Art Foundation and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been voted Up-n-Coming Jazz Musician by the Jazz Journalists Association, Down Beat’s critics poll voted him Rising Star Jazz Artist, Rising Star Pianist, and Rising Star Composer for three years straight from 2003-2005, named Jazz Artist of the Year in 2007 by Playboy, and was named a USA Prudential Fellow.
Pianist Jason Moran is currently working on a multimedia project “In My Mind” inspired by Thelonious Monk’s 1959 large band concert at Town Hall. He serves as music advisor to the Kennedy Center, serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, as he continues to compose, perform, tour and record.
From Broadway To 52nd Street
Stop The World I Want To Get Off opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 2, 1962. Running for 555 performances The music and lyrics were composed by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical starred Anthony Newley as Littlechap and Anna Quayle portrays Evie. Fortunately for the jazz world one of their tunes would enter the pantheon of jazz classics – What Kind Of Fool Am I.
The Story: Set against the backdrop of a circus, it focuses on Littlechap, whose first major step towards improving his lot is to marry Evie, his boss’ daughter. Saddled with the responsibilities of a family, he allows his growing dissatisfaction with his existence to lead him into the arms of various women – Russian Anya, German Ilse, and American Ginnie – as he searches for something better than he has, only to realize in the twilight of his life what he always had – the love of his wife – was more than enough to sustain him.
Broadway History: In 1950, the tradition of the gypsy robe was born on Broadway, when a chorus member in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes sent the worn-out robe of a fellow chorus member to a friend in a different production. Since then, the robe has been passed to the chorus member with the most credits on the opening night of Broadway plays, with each former “gypsy” adding a prop from his or her performance.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cyrus Chestnut was born January 17, 1963 in Baltimore, Maryland. He started his musical career at the age of six, playing piano at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. By age nine, he was studying classical music at Peabody Institute and in 1985 earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging from Berklee College of Music where he was awarded the Eubie Blake Fellowship, the Quincy Jones Scholarship and the Oscar Peterson Scholarship.
A year after graduating his prolific career began with a tour with Jon Hendricks, followed by two-year stints with Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis and Betty Carter. Under Betty’s tutelage, Cyrus was advised to take chances and play things she had never heard.
Signing with Atlantic Records in 1993 he released the critically acclaimed Revelation followed by The Dark Before The Dawn the next year, debuting at #6 on the Billboard charts. He has performed and/or recorded with Freddy Cole, Bette Midler, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Scott, Chick Corea, Isaac Hayes, Kevin Mahogany, Dizzy Gillespie, Manhattan Transfer, Vanessa L. Williams, Brian McKnight, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, James Carter, Wycliffe Gordon and the list continues.
Never straying far from his church roots he collaborated and toured with soprano opera diva Kathleen Battle, recording the notable “So Many Stars” in 1996. Later that same year came Blessed Quietness: A Collection of Hymns, Spirituals and Carols.
Chestnut’s leadership and prowess as a soloist has also led him to be a first call for the piano chair in many big bands including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and the Carnegie Jazz Orchestra. He has amassed a further string of critically acclaimed albums while continually touring with his trio, playing jazz festivals around the world as well as clubs and concert halls.
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From Broadway To 52nd Street
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying opened the 46th Street Theatre on October 14, 1961 and ran for one thousand four hundred and seventeen performances landing it in the blockbuster musical hall of fame. Bob Fosse choreographed the musical to the Frank Loesser compositions performed by the stars of the show Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee, Bonnie Scott and Charles Nelson Reilly. From the show rose the song I Believe In You to become a jazz standard.
The Story: Based on the Pulitzer prize winning play, chronicles the rise of a window washer as he schemes, connives and plots his way to the top of the Worldwide Wicket Company. Foundation for the Michael J. Fox version of Secret of My Success)
Broadway History: In 1811, the city planners of New York City began a massive building execution of the grid, which is now a major characteristic of Manhattan. Broadway, as we know it, was born. All existing roads were redesigned according to this concept; only Broadway was spared. The theater district sits between the 41st and 53rd Street and between the Sixth and Ninth Avenues.
Some 40 theaters are immersed in a sea of light from the theaters’ neon signs, each advertising the latest performances; keeping the Broadway mythos alive. In the early years, Broadway began as a leader in the retail sector. The commercial draw is what really sparked growth in the area. The retail venues that lined the street attracted affluent patrons and created a centralized cultural environment over time. It is because of the retail area that Broadway really took off in the early 1900’s.
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