AN EVENING WITH KENNY GARRET & SOUNDS FROM THE ANCESTORS
Newly named an NEA Jazz Master in 2023, saxophonist Kenny Garrett is one of the most powerfully expressive, uplifting, and influential instrumentalists and bandleaders of our time. Kenny’s fiery quintet swings into Keystone Korner Baltimore for 3 nights, Friday-Sunday, July 19-21st to celebrate his latest release, Sounds From The Ancestors, which reflects the rich jazz, R&B, and gospel history of his hometown of Detroit and deeply resonates with the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe.
With his illustrious career that includes hallmark stints with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as a heralded career as a solo artist that began more than 30 years ago, Kenny Garrett is easily recognized as one of modern jazz’s brightest and most influential living masters. And with the marvelous Sounds From The Ancestors, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Garrett shows no signs of resting on his laurels.
Kenny Garrett’s latest release, Sounds From The Ancestors, is a multi-faceted album. Similar to how Miles Davis’ seminal LP, On the Corner, subverted its main guiding lights – James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone – then crafted its own unique, polyrhythmic, groove-laden, improv-heavy universe, Sounds From The Ancestors occupies its own space with intellectual clarity, sonic ingenuity and emotional heft.
Kenny Garrett ~ Saxophones
Keith Brown ~ Piano
Jeremiah Edwards ~ Bass
Rudy Bird ~ Percussion
Ronald Bruner ~ Drums
Melvin Santa ~ Vocals & Keys
Friday 7/19 ~ 7:00 pm w/Live Stream | 9:30 pm
Saturday 7/20 ~ 6:00 pm w/Live Stream | 8:30 pm
Sunday 7/21 ~ 5:00 pm w/Live Stream | 7:30 pm
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CHARLES MCPHERSON QUINTET
85th Birthday Celebration with Terrell Stafford
For more than 60 years, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most expressive and highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Wynton Marsalis, a longtime admirer says: “Charles is the very definition of excellence in our music. He is the definitive master on this instrument. He plays with exceptional harmonic accuracy and sophistication. He performs free-flowing, melodic and thematically developed solos with unbelievable fire and an unparalleled depth of soul.”
Terell Stafford, acclaimed trumpet player based in New York, has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Stafford is recognized as an incredibly gifted and versatile player, he combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous lyricism.
Jeb Patton, described as both a “young phenomon… on piano” and an “absolute great,” has earned a well-regarded reputation in the international jazz community. The multi-talented Patton is known as a “player of great expression.”
Billy Drummond is acclaimed by Downbeat as one of the hippest and versatile bandleaders now at work, his thrilling, powerful and highly musical playing has also made him one of the most called-for sidemen of his generation.
Bassist David Wong has studied classical bass with Orin O’Brien of the New York Philharmonic, and jazz bass with legends Ron Carter, Ben Wolfe, and John Clayton.
Charles McPherson ~ Also Saxophone
Terell Stafford ~ Trumpet
Jeb Patton ~ piano
David Wong ~ Bass
Billy Drummond ~ Drums
Friday 7/12 ~ 7:00 pm w/Live Stream | 9:30 pm
Saturday 7/13 ~ 6:00 pm w/Live Stream | 8:30 pm
Sunday 7/14 ~ 5:00 pm w/Live Stream | 7:30 pm
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CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA
Cindy Blackman Santana is a virtuoso drummer whose artistry spans the realms of jazz and rock. As a bandleader, musician, and the new face of NFL Monday Night Football, Cindy is a sound innovator with a passion for pushing creative boundaries and exploring movement and change. She is as known for the nuances and colors she brings to her beats and fills as she is for the sheer power of her soulful playing. “Some drummers act, some react. Some keep time, others create it. Cindy Blackman Santana is among the few who can,” writes Mike Zwerin of the International Herald Tribune.
Cindy has been creating magnificent musical time and space since the beginning of her career as a busking street performer in New York City in the ’80s through the present day, touring the globe and making albums at the top of her game—including the critically acclaimed Another Lifetime (2010). In addition to collaborating onstage and in-studio with her own group—also known as Another Lifetime—she has toured and recorded with artists including Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell, Joss Stone, Joe Henderson, Buckethead, Don Pullen, Hugh Masakela, and Angela Bofill. From 1992 to 2007 and again in 2014 & 2015 she was the drummer in Lenny Kravitz’s band, performing through multiple world tours and hit albums. In 2010, she was part of the all-star line-up performing “Bitches Brew,” a tribute to Miles Davis’ seminal album staged at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and NYC Winter JazzFest.
The Band: Cindy Blackman Santana ~ Drums | Aurelien Budynek ~ Guitar | Felix Pastorius ~ Bass | Emilio Modeste ~ Saxophone | Zaccai Curtis ~ Keyboard
Friday 7/5 ~ 7:00 pm w/Live Stream | 9:30 pm
Saturday 7/6 ~ 6:00 pm w/Live Stream | 8:30 pm
Sunday 7/7 ~ 5:00 pm w/Live Stream | 7:30 pm
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The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is leaving the confines of Baltimore and heading north to Old Lyme, Connecticut to pay a visit to the Old Lyme Inn the once housed a riding academy of some renown. Now it has 13 charming and luxurious guest rooms and a quaint, intimate one of a kind venue just steps away known as The Side Door.
Born into a family of musicians, painters, and poets, Tatiana Eva-Marie began her career at age four, immersed in the world of show business. Before her twenties, she had already recorded many albums, established herself as an actress and director. Choosing New York she quickly built up a reputation as a singer, and started the Avalon Jazz Band, which overnight became the number one reference for French swing around the world.
The venue is located at 85 Lyme Street 06371. For more information visit thesidedoorjazz.com.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Seger Pillot Ellis was born on July 4, 1904 in Houston, Texas and began his career as pianist playing live for a local Houston radio station in the early 1920s. In 1925, he was added to the orchestra of Lloyd Finlay for a recording session for Victor Records, and was also allowed to cut two piano solos. This led to Ellis being invited to Victor’s regular recording studio in Camden, New Jersey, to cut a number of piano solos, all or most of them compositions of his own. These were among the earliest records Victor made using the new electric microphone and recording equipment.
After his first recording experiences, Ellis returned to Houston and radio work as well as playing in vaudeville theaters. During this period Seger began adding singing to his piano playingwhich led to an invitation to New York City to make vocal test recordings. His first issued vocal record was “Sunday” on the Columbia label, then a string of records for Okeh Records.
Ellis selected many of the best jazz musicians of the time, including Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Andy Sannella and Louis Armstrong. His first recording career ended in 1931, however, in the late Thirties he returned to conducting and singing with his own big band, Choirs of Brass Orchestra. Later in his career, he focused more on songwriting, but recorded sporadically as well as playing the piano.
In 1939, Ellis reorganized and his new band featured the conventional four-man reed section. He disbanded in 1941, and was enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. After his discharge he moved back to Texas and began to be less active as a performer and more a songwriter and composer. His compositions were recorded by Harry James, Gene Krupa, Bing Crosby, Count Basie with a Mills Brothers vocal.
Pianist and vocalist Seger Ellis, who made a few brief film appearances in collaboration with director Ida Lupino, died on September 29, 1995 in a Houston retirement home.
Acquaint an inquisitive mind with a dose of a Houston pianist who is in the company of musical genius around the world as a member of the jazz canon…
Seger Ellis: 1904~1995 | Piano, Vocal
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