JOHN SHAPELY OCTET & TONI BYRD

John Shapely ~ Saxophone, Justin Golding ~ Alto Saxophone, Frank Briscoe ~ Trumpet, Timmy Markey ~ Trombone, Jordan Thorne ~ Baritone Saxophone, Dallas McCorkendale ~ Keys, Chris Enghauser ~ Bass, Lee Roberts ~ Drums, Toni Byrd ~ Vocals

Since its inception in South Florida in 1994, the John Shapley Octet has grown in popularity among mainstream jazz listeners. The band plays swinging classic jazz arrangements and compositions by Shapley, Bill Dobbins, Rob Lussier, Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Quincy Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Dave Pell, Oliver Nelson, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Yellowjackets and others. With it’s beautiful solos and horn section passages, the band has been featured in South Florida at the 1995 Hollywood Jazz Festival, 1996 Riverwalk Sunday Jazz Brunch series, the 2001 Greater Florida Jazz and Swing Club and maintains an active performing schedule in jazz clubs and concert venues in Atlanta, Georgia and throughout the southeast. It is well known for the production of the show  The Essence of Ellington featuring classic transcriptions of genius jazz composer Duke Ellington. In 2003 the John Shapley Octet released two CD’s entitled John Shapley Octet:Essence of Ellington and John Shapley: Jazz Ensembles which attracted attention and  has been sold to listeners all over the United States, Canada, Europe and South America. In 2006 the band relocated it’s home base to Atlanta, Georgia where it continues an active performing and touring schedule. The John Shapley Octet is currently available for bookings in public and private concert venues.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,,

VIJAY IYER

Composer-pianist Vijay Iyer has carved out a unique path as an influential, shape-shifting presence in 21st-century music. His deeply interactive, powerfully expressive musical language is indebted to the composer-pianist lineage from Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk to Alice Coltrane and Geri Allen, the creative music movement of the 60s and 70s, and rhythmic traditions of South Asia and West Africa. As MinnPost recently observed, “twining composition and improvisation is rightfully his most celebrated métier.” He has released twenty-six widely praised albums; received three Grammy nominations, numerous national and international prizes, and a MacArthur Fellowship; composed for orchestras, soloists, and chamber ensembles; and collaborated with poets, filmmakers, choreographers, and music-makers from across the planet.

Iyer’s artistry finds perhaps its purest expression in his most celebrated group, the Vijay Iyer Trio, praised by NPR as “truly astonishing” and by The New York Times as “one of the best bands in jazz.” Iyer’s ever-evolving trio conception, developed over the last 30 years, finds inspiration in the trio music of Ahmad Jamal, the Ellington/Mingus/Roach summit Money Jungle, Andrew Hill’s Smokestack, McCoy Tyner’s 1970s ensembles, the rhythm-section alchemies of James Brown, Fela Kuti, and the Meters, South Asian rhythmic forms, and the expressive nuance of chamber music. The results, over the span of his trio’s five pivotal recordings and hundreds of performances, have not only defied the old categories, but inaugurated entirely new ones.

The Trio: Piano: Vijay Iyer | Bass: Harish Raghavan | Drums: Jeremy Dutton

More Posts: ,,,,,,,

JACKY TERRASSON

Jacky Terrasson, the most widely traveled of all jazz pianists, is the “piano player of happiness,” according to Telerama magazine in France. He is an exhilarating musician, one of those who play their public straight to euphoria. Born in Berlin, of an American mother and a French father, he grew up in Paris, France. He moved to America to study at Berklee College of Music, and in 1993, after winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Award, he began touring with Betty Carter. He then decided to move to New York, where he still lives today.

One year later, Jacky was introduced in the New York Times Magazine as one of the 30 under 30 and signed with the Blue Note label. He made three initial trio recordings for Blue Note (Jacky Terrasson, Reach, and Alive). He then devoted himself to several collaborations: “Rendezvous”, with Cassandra Wilson, and “What it is”, with Michael Brecker and Mino Cinelu. Beginning in 2001, he recorded “A Paris” for Blue Note; a very personal interpretation of classics of French song “Smile,” (winning him Best Jazz Album of the Year); and finally a solo album, “Mirror.”

This Franco-American national has never stopped dazzling us, either by his prestigious collaborations with greats such as Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dianne Reeves, or with his minimalist and energetic music hammered out with drummer Leon Parker and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, in a trio that was considered one of the best jazz trios of the 90s. And this intuition, this instinct, this openness, leads him to the discovery of the great burgeoning talents of his many groups.

Terrasson has been compared to Bud Powell for his carefully controlled velocity on the piano keys and to Ahmad Jamal for his sense of phrasing. Jacky also possesses a deep knowledge of the great French composers savants, such as Ravel, Fauré and Debussy. Through his fingers, as he mingles and melts the colors and the inventions of the great pianists of yesterday and today, Jacky creates his own style, all in subtleties, freshness, facility and ease, with the desire to rewrite and reinvent, again, every day and forever.

In 2019, Jacky released “53,” a trio album (his favorite format), on Blue Note.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,

KEYON HARROLD PRESENTS FOREVERLAND

Known as the “mugician,” trumpeter/vocalist Keyon Harrold is a triple threat: unimpeachable trumpet virtuoso, soul stirring singer, and deep appreciator of many musical genres. This recipe leads to a musical synthesis that only he can concoct and makes him a trailblazer in 21st-century music.

Harrold’s career is a spectrum of greatness, from touring and recording with Jay-z and Cirque Du Soleil to being signed by legendary Rapper Nas (Mass Appeal) and writing the theme song for The Queen Latifah Show. Keyon is a frequent collaborator with YEBBA, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, Common, PJ Morton, and Gregory Porter. Harrold is a first-call artist with feature credits with Keith Richards, Black Pumas, Mac Miller (Stay), and Nas (The Jarreau of Rap) and Harrold’s latest collaboration with UK crooner Samm Henshaw ( Still Broke). He is also the new Artistic Advisor for Jazz St.Louis. Finally, he is an activist for social justice and equality.

One show – No Intermission. Tickets can be reserved up to 2:00 p.m. on the day of the show; remaining tickets available at door at show time. for a rare opportunity to hear these two jazz titans share the stage. After a captivating Jazz Bakery performance in 2018, we knew it would only be a matter of time until these two met again.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,

DONALD HARRISON

The Art Of Passion

Saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master “Big Chief” Donald Harrison is a musician/composer who is considered a master of every era of jazz, soul, and funk. Born in New Orleans, Harrison honed his experience playing with uncountable legends, including Art Blakey, Terence Blanchard, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, The Headhunters, and The Notorious BIG. At the age of nineteen, Harrison created a modern jazz take on the New Orleans second-line tradition and introduced his composition “New York Second-Line” to the jazz world in 1979.

By the mid-’80s, he created Nouveau Swing, a distinctive sound that blended the swing beat of modern jazz with hip-hop, funk, and soul music. In the ’90s, Harrison recorded hits in the smooth jazz genre. He began exploring music through the lens of quantum physics in 2000.

Harrison’s new recording “The Art of Passion” is a multi-genre exploration of a single tune, showcasing Harrison’s versatility and creativity all at once. He will be joined at the Moss Theater by his band: pianist Dan Kaufman, drummer Brian Richberg, and bassist Nori Naroaka.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,

« Older Posts       Newer Posts »
© Notorious Jazz 2026