WILLIE JONES TRIO FEATURING HOUSTON PERSON
Willie Jones III:
With an unparalleled style of rhythmic expression, drummer Willie Jones III is one of the world’s leading jazz drummers. In addition to honoring his monumental influences – the late greats Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey and Billy Higgins – Jones’ bold articulation and constantly innovative sense of swing are results of his life-long musical experience.
Born in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 1968, Jones’ earliest exposure to music was through his father, Willie Jones II, an accomplished and notable jazz pianist, who offered guidance and inspiration to his gifted son. Dedicated to the further development of his skills, the younger Jones spent the next few years working diligently with acclaimed drummers and music instructors and began performing with distinguished musicians by the time he was in his teens. He completed his academic training after receiving a full scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts where he studied under the tutelage of the legendary Albert “Tootie” Heath. Before he was a semifinalist in the 1992 Thelonious Monk Jazz Drum Competition, Jones co-founded jazz band Black Note. Influenced by the rich soulful energy of the West Coast bop movement, Black Note’s hard-swing sound propelled them to first place in the prestigious John Coltrane Young Artist Competition in 1991.
Near the end of 1994, while Jones was reaching for a higher level of drumming dexterity, he gained the privilege of playing sideman to the renowned vibist Milt Jackson, where Jones learned the importance of pacing and sensitivity. Meanwhile, his musical career continued to unfold.
From 1998-2005, Jones was a member of Roy Hargrove’s Quintet and is featured on Roy Hargrove’s CD releases on Verve: Moment To Moment, Hard Groove, Nothing Serious and RH Factor’s Distractions. Jones can be heard on a host of recordings including Kurt Elling’s GRAMMY® nominated Night Moves (Concord) and Eric Reed’s Here (Max Jazz). Jones has worked with Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Houston Person, Billy Childs, Eric Reed, Ryan Kisor, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones.
Houston Person:
Houston Person, born in Newberry, South Carolina in 1934, is the natural heir to the Boss Tenor crown worn so long and so well by Gene Ammons. In the more than twenty-five years that he has been a working bandleader, Person has taken his music to most points on the globe. A travelling Jazzman in an era that has found that particular species a veritable rara avis, Person does it all himself. He books his own tours, hunts up the new clubs, has the phone number of every major concert promoter on each continent and produces his own albums: truly the vertically integrated Jazzman.
If, given all this, he played mediocre tenor it would be easy to forgive him. But he doesn’t – he plays damn good tenor and it keeps getting better. One of the last proponents of the big sound, his tone has gotten bigger even as his delivery has mellowed and rounded out. And, of course, with Person you are likely to hear almost anything in terms of repertoire. He has recorded disco and gospel, pop and r&b in addition to his natural Jazz but beyond that he has an enormous and ever changing book. Nothing pedestrian or everyday for Person!
He grew up in Florence, S.C., studied at the state college there, was later named to the school’s Hall of Fame in 1999, and continued his studies at Hartt College of Music in Hartford, CT. Earlier, in the U.S. Air Force, he played with Don Ellis, Eddie Harris, Cedar Walton, and Leo Wright. Contrary to popular belief, he was never married to the late singer Etta Jones, but did spend many years as her musical partner, recording, performing and touring.
Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul Jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing. He received the Eubie Blake Jazz Award in 1982.
He has more than 75 albums under his own name on Prestige, Westbound, Mercury, Savoy, Muse, and is currently with High Note Records. He has recorded with Charles Brown, Charles Earland, Lena Horne, Etta Jones, Lou Rawls, Horace Silver, Dakota Staton, and more.
Houston has deffine ideas about Jazz: “Well, it’s uplifting and important. And a release and a relief. That’s what it is, Jazz, so called Jazz, to me. It’s important that it’s relaxing. Something that when the end of the day comes, after a hard and frustrating day out in the world, that relieves you. Relaxes you and makes you feel good.” Person adds that all he wants is to give people “good solid melodies with some improvisation and plenty of blues feel.” He smiles, “You always want that dance feeling there, that happy, happy feeling.”
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SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE
Founded by SFJAZZ in 2004, the SFJAZZ Collective is an all-star ensemble and composer’s workshop that represents what’s happening now in jazz, celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2024.
Since the beginning, the Collective’s mission has been to perform newly commissioned pieces by each member and fresh arrangements of works by modern masters. Through this pioneering approach, simultaneously honoring music’s greatest figures while championing jazz’s up-to-the-minute directions, the SFJAZZ Collective embodies SFJAZZ’s commitment to jazz as a living, ever-relevant art form.
To celebrate two decades as a working ensemble, the supergroup will perform a landmark Anniversary program that both honors the history of the group and looks ahead to its future. In tribute to the artists who have been honored by the Collective over its 20-year history, as well as the world-class composers who have been a part of the ensemble, the band will revisit past original compositions and arrangements from its innovative repertoire, updated and re-imagined by this singular lineup of jazz masters. Additionally, the band will emphasize the spirit of its name by collectively composing a new suite dedicated to and inspired by the history of the ensemble.
Chris Potter ~ music director & saxophone
David Sánchez ~ saxophone
Mike Rodriguez ~ trumpet
Warren Wolf ~ vibraphone
Edward Simon ~ piano
Matt Brewer ~ bass
Kendrick Scott ~ drum
Streaming: $15.00 + fees
Saturday Showtimes:
Sunday Showtimes:
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TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON | NEW STANDARDS
With technical wizardry and profound creativity, NEA Jazz Master, Terri Lyne Carrington, has become one of the giants of today’s jazz music. A three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator, Carrington began her professional career at only ten years old and received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music at the age of 11. She is the first female artist to ever win the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, which she received for her 2013 work, “Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue.”
Over the four-decade-plus span of her career, she has played with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Lester Bowie, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Stan Getz, Al Jarreau, John Scofield, Pharoah Sanders, and Esperanza Spalding among countless other jazz luminaries. The critically acclaimed 2019 release, “Waiting Game”, from Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science earned the esteemed Edison Award for music and a Grammy nomination.
The Band:
Terri Lyne Carrington (drums & bandleader)
Kris Davis (piano)
Matthew Stevens (guitar)
Isaac Coyle (bass)
Christiana Hunte (dancer)
Christie Dashiell (vocals)
Streaming: $15.00 + $2.05 fee
Saturday Showtimes: 6:00pm | 8.30pm
Sunday Showtimes: 5:00pm | 7:30pm
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ralph Morris Penland was born on February 15, 1953 in Cincinnati, Ohio. While in high school he was a percussionist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He attended the New England Conservatory of Music and played in Boston, Massachusetts with Gil Scott-Heron and Webster Lewis.
In New York City in the early 1970s he played with Freddie Hubbard among others. By 1975 he was in Los Angeles, California and led his own group, Penland Polygon; he also worked as a session musician for Chet Baker, Kenny Burrell, Eddie Harris, Harold Land, Charles Lloyd, Ronnie Matthews, and Nancy Wilson.
In the 1980s he worked with George Cables, Dianne Reeves, Buddy Montgomery, Charlie Rouse, Jimmie Rowles, Rick Zunigar, Andy Simpkins, Dave Mackay, Bunky Green, Richard Todd, and John Nagourney. In the 1990s he toured with Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, and Carlos Santana.
Ralph was active as a studio drummer, recording with Bob Cooper, Eddie Daniels, James Leary, Marc Copland, Dieter Ilg, Lou Levy, Carmen Bradford, Janis Siegel, Fred Hersch, Rickey Woodard, Carmen Lundy, Joe Sample, and Miki Coltrane.
Drummer and percussionist Ralph Penland, who over the course of his career recorded on fifty-six albums across a wide genre of music, died from a heart attack on March 13, 2014.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Okay Temiz was born on February 11, 1939 in Istanbul, Turkey and was influenced in his early years by his mother, Naciye, who was classically schooled in music.
Temiz started playing professionally in 1955 while studying at the Ankara Conservatory and at the Tophane Art Institute. After meeting Maffy Falay and Don Cherry, he settled in Sweden. With Cherry and bassist Johnny Dyani he toured US and Europe in 1971.
In 1972, he founded the band Xaba with Dyani and trumpeter Mongezi Feza. His drums are of his own invention, and are constructed using hand-beaten copper, in the style of Turkish debuka’s.
Fusion jazz percussionist and drummer Okay Temiz has recorded seventy-two albums and continues to perform and record.
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