PETER ERSKINE & BOB MINTZER
Speaking about the musical marriage of drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist Darek Oles, journalist Jim Worsley from All About Jazz said, “The trio could be considered the perfect melting pot of creativity, complexity, and rhythm, pollinated with spontaneous interplay and intelligent conversation.” That’s quite a summary of these top-tier jazzmen who, after playing together for decades, find themselves at the top of their game. Their Live In Italy recording, which garnered a Grammy nomination in 2022, is evidence of their primacy.
What makes the meeting of minds extra special now is the addition of saxophonist Bob Mintzer, acclaimed composer, arranger, and founding member of the Yellowjackets. A long-time associate to all, Mintzer elevates the group’s collective mastery in a new project, The McIntosh Sessions, a direct-to-tape recording representing the partnership between hi-end audio giants McIntosh Laboratory and Sterling Sound. At the heart of this captured performance is a vibrant intimacy that speaks volumes about the singular power of jazz and pure, reproduced sound.
Erskine and company revealed this immediacy in the studio. But, in fact, they bring it to the stage each time they play.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kirk Whalum was born July 11, 1958 in Memphis, Tennessee into a musical family, singing in his father’s church choir. He got his love of music from his piano teacher grandmother and two uncles who performed with jazz bands around the country. After graduating from Melrose High School he attended Texas Southern University where he was a member of the renowned Ocean of Soul Marching Band.
By 1986 he performed at Jean-Michel Jarre’s giant concerts Rendez-Vous Houston and Rendez-Vous Lyon. Whalum would go on to record with Jevetta Steele, Luther Vandross and tour with Whitney Houston, soloing on her single I Will Always Love You.
Kirk has worked on a number of film scores, including for The Prince of Tides, Boyz n the Hood, The Bodyguard, Grand Canyon, Cousins and contributed to the 2008 documentary film Miss HIV. As a leader he has recorded a series of well received albums and has twelve Grammy nominations and his first Grammy award in 2011 for Best Gospel Song.
He is the inaugural Jazz Legend honoree of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, joined the faculty of Visible Music College and received a Brass Note on Historic Beale Street, both in Memphis.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alain Samba was born on July 10th in Pointe Noire, Congo Brazzaville. His early music experiences began with him playing different kinds of percussion native to the region such as sanza (kalimba), kikongui, marimba and drums. He was influenced by listening to both African and European music. At the age of 8 he moved to France where he studied saxophone and harmony at the American School of Modern Music in Paris.
His music is inspired mostly by the jazz of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charles Parker, Wes Montgomery, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Wayne Shorter, and the music of his native region of Congo such as bantous’ music, lari , téké , mbochi and of course the pygmies polyrhythms and polyphonies.
Since the 90’s he has performed in Paris, France clubs, and all around Europe. He created the Art Ensemble of Africa to illuminate the struggle of world citizenship with the same love of music and sharing. In Stockholm, Sweden he teaches saxophone, harmony and polyrhythms and has played with musicians from around the world based in Sweden. such as Rene Martinez, Celso Paco, Pepe Espinosa, Tropicana se, Marianne Fuglevaag, Derrick Walker, Emilio Estrada, and Jorge Arruda to name a few.
Saxophonist, composer, pianist and percussionist Alain Samba, whose main instruments are tenor and soprano saxophones, continues to mix modern jazz with traditional African music.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lembit Saarsalu was born July 8, 1948 in Roosna-Alliku, Estonia. He started playing jazz at an early age. He debuted at the Tallinn International Jazz Festival at the age of 16. He worked for many years in the State Philharmonic of the Estonian SSR , where as a paid musician he gave numerous concerts both at home and abroad. In the 1980s, Saarsalu devoted himself completely to jazz.
For decades, he has led local and international ensembles. He worked in a duo with Leonid Vintskevich, started a new international jazz festival Rainbow Jazz with music producer Merle Kollom and a competition for young musicians in Tartu.
As an educator Saarsalu introduced jazz in schools and has performed together with Olav Ehala and other well-known Estonian musicians for more than 40,000 students. Since the fall of 2016, he has been working as a saxophone and ensemble teacher in the rhythm music department of the Tartu Music School.
In the 1980s Eesti Televisioon made two films about Lembit, he has performed on Finnish and Spanish television and has made numerous recordings, numbering 200 recordings for Estonian Radio. His style ranges from blues and swing to free forms of jazz.
He has been repeatedly chosen as the best tenor saxophonist, awarded the annual prize of the Sound Art Endowment Fund of the Estonian Cultural Capital.
Saxophonist , bandleader and composer Lembit Saarsalu, who has been called the saxophone king and the calling card of Estonian jazz, continues to perform, compose and teach.
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MINGUS DYNASTY
Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was an iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and he left behind over 300 composition that deserved to be played. So a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands as new generations of musicians express their individual voices and musical personalities, and celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy.
Please arrive 30 minutes before the show your attending. Call for ticket information.
Philip Harper | Trumpet
Mark Gross | Alto Saxophone
Abraham Burton | Tenor Saxophone
Robin Eubanks | Trombone
Miki Yamanaka | Piano
Barry Stephenson | Bass
Donald Edwards | Drums
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