Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Cocuzzi was born in Camp Springs, Maryland on Andrews Air Force Base on October 26, 1964. Taking a very early interest in playing drums, immediately after graduating from high school, in 1982 he attended Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Maryland as an applied percussion major. While there he also studied arranging with Bill Potts, who wrote for Buddy Rich and others.
Towards the end of the decade he had established himself, performing in and around the nation’s capital. During these years, in addition to playing drums, Cocuzzi also played piano and vibraphone, gradually advancing his skills on the latter instrument until it became the dominant force in his impressive arsenal.
The early 90s saw John appearing at numerous festivals across the country, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands. Throughout his career he has mainly led his own small groups and has also played piano with the swing, blues and jump band, Big Joe And The Dynaflows, led by Big Joe Maher.
He has worked and/or recorded with Howard Alden, Joe Ascione, Louie Bellson, Bobby Gordon, Chuck Hedges, Nat King Cole, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, Russell Malone, Ken Peplowski, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Eddie Locke, Barbara Morrison, Peter Appleyard, Russell Malone, Ed Polcer, Daryl Sherman, Warren and Allan Vaché, Johnny Varro, Bob Wilber and Snooky Young. A dynamic and swinging drummer, Cocuzzi is a fluently inventive improviser on piano. His vibraphone playing ably blends the urgent thrust he displays in his drumming with the fluid grace of his piano playing.
On radio, Cocuzzi recorded a session for NPR’s “Riverwalk: Live at The Landing” with the Jim Cullum Band. It was a tribute to Benny Goodman, The Swing Shift: Jazz on Late-Night Radio, and featured Allan Vaché on clarinet with Nicholas Payton on trumpet.
For 15 years, he was the music director for the 219 Restaurant’s Basin Street Lounge in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. He was also music director for the Crystal City Jazz Celebration from 2003 to 2006.
Jazz, blues and swing vibraphonist, pianist and drummer John Cocuzzi, whose influences are Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, continues to perform
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GEORGE COLLIGAN
George Colligan – piano | Nicole Glover – saxophone | Alex Claffy – bass | Kush Abadey – drums
George Colligan is not only one of the great jazz pianists of his generation, but he has earned an international reputation as a multi-instrumentalist (drums, trumpet, organ, keyboards), composer, accompanist, teacher, and bandleader, as well as popular blogger. Winner of the 2015 DownBeat magazine Critics Poll (Keyboard), he has had a long association with living jazz legend Jack DeJohnette; recent touring took Colligan around the U.S. with “An Evening with Jack DeJohnette and Savion Glover.” He has also recently toured the U.S. and Canada as a leader with his trio featuring legends Buster Williams and Lenny White. With over 130 albums to date as an accompanist, Colligan has worked with a long list of jazz greats, including John Scofield, Buster Williams, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Botti, and many others. His latest album, “King’s Dream” (PJCE Records 2022) is his 36th as a bandleader.
Colligan, a New York resident for 15 years, now resides in Portland, Oregon where he is a Full Professor at Portland State University. He has recently won two Region Arts and Culture Council grants, A South Arts Jazz Road grant, and a PSU Faculty Development grant. Colligan recently won the PSU College of The Arts Dean’s Council Award for Research, Scholarship and Creativity(2020), and also won the Researcher of the Year Award from the PSU College Of The Arts(2021).
Ticket Fees: $2.58~$3.56
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THE HEAVY HITTERS
The Heavy Hitters is a sextet co-led by pianist Mike LeDonne and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. The band is rounded out by some of the premiere purveyors of straight-ahead swinging jazz: Vincent Herring on alto saxophone, Joshua Bruneau on trumpet, Peter Washington on upright bass, and Kenny Washington on drums.
The music is built to tickle your mind, hit you in the heart and get your head swaying back and forth. The Heavy Hitters make soulful kickass swinging music that you might have heard on a Blue Note record back in the day. Not to look back… this is a band that is all about the NOW because it’s happening right now!
The Heavy Hitters have been swinging hard their whole lives! Their debut record was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, a place we are so lucky to still have up and running and that is putting out the same great sound we have all loved for all these years. It’s a true “Jazz” sound, recorded by some of the greatest jazz musicians of their generation.
Tickets Fees: $3.07~$4:05
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JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON
The Band: Jason Moran – piano | Tarus Mateen – bass, double bass | Nasheet Waits – drums
Moran worked with Greg Osby in his New Directions band and out of that band the trio that was formed became The Bandwagon. The trio performs many compositions of Moran’s and some by Mateen, along with those by Duke Ellington, Björk and Byard.
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TYSHAWN SOREY TRIO
At 43, Tyshawn Sorey is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music. Sorey has received accolades for performances, recordings, and compositions ranging from improvised solo percussion to opera, with work in best-of lists for both classical and jazz music.
A Newark native, is among the most formidable denizens of the in-between zone. Here is an extraordinary talent who can see across the entire musical landscape.
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