DE’SEAN JONES & URBAN ART ORCHESTRA
Prepare for a once in a lifetime explosive music collaboration between the mind bending awe inspiring drumming of Blaque Dynamite accompanied by the colorful n lush textures of Urban Art Orchestra, brought to you by Detroit’s very own Legendary Powerhouse Saxophonist and 3x Grammy nominated composer De’Sean Jones.
Special Guest: Blaque Dynamite
Tickets: $20.00, $30.00, $40.00, $50.00 | Price includes fees
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GEOF BRADFIELD
Saxophonist and composer Geof Bradfield blends modern jazz, African rhythms, and the roots music of his native South into a style that is “explicitly adventurous and forward-looking” (AllAboutJazz.com). Born in Houston and based in Chicago, Bradfield has performed throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, sharing the stage and recording studio with artists such as Randy Weston, Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Brian Blade, Ben Goldberg, Anna Webber, Orrin Evans, Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, and Ryan Cohan.
His work is featured on 50+ CDs including ten albums as a leader that have garnered critical accolades from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and NPR. He has received grants and awards from Chamber Music America, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, DCASE, Illinois Arts Council, and the Mellon Foundation. The Downbeat Critics Poll has named him a Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist and Arranger multiple years.
Cover: $20.00
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Herschel McWilliams was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas on October 17, 1978. Growing up the son of musicians, a drummer father and pianist and vocalist mother, he was introduced to many musical influences at an early age.
He started learning piano at eight years old and alto saxophone at 10 years old. He joined the band in school and though he learned to play drums from his dad, saxophone became his instrument when he was in the fourth grade. In the 7th grade he stumbled upon Weather Report and Harry Connick Big Band albums. Having great teachers and musicians around him was an important influence on him throughout elementary and high school.
He started gigging the summer after he graduated high school with a community big band. They were working musicians and it was his first call he ever got before heading off to college. After college he has become a beacon of light for jazz in his hometown.
Saxophonist Herschel McWilliams serves on the Board of Directors for Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, runs his own jazz website, and plays regular gigs in the jazz district of Kansas City as well as other venues in the area.
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CORNELL JAZZ ENSEMBLE & BILL EASLEY
Cornell Jazz Ensemble with guest saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Bill Easley, who plays saxophone, flute, and clarinet. plays saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He has worked with George Benson in the late 1960s and with Isaac Hayes in the 1970s. He also did sessions at Stax and Hi Records with Ann Peebles and Al Green.
He has also worked with Roland Hanna, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, James Williams, Bill Mobley, George Caldwell, Mulgrew Miller, Grady Tate, Victor Gaskin, Panama Francis, Mercer Ellington, and Billy Higgins.
Songs by Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones, Duke Ellington, Freddie Hubbard, and Ned Washington with arrangements by Melba Liston, Frank Foster, and John LaBarbera.
Student composition premieres by Turner Aldrich and Cedric Orton-Urbina.
Tickets: Free
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Tommy Whittle was born on October 13, 1926 in Grangemouth, Scotland. He started playing clarinet at the age of twelve before taking up tenor saxophone at 13, guided by Alan Davie. When he was sixteen he moved to Chatham, Kent, England and in 1943 started playing in Claude Giddins’ dance-hall band in nearby Gillingham.
The 1940s saw Whittle playing with Johnny Claes, Lew Stone, Carl Barriteau, and Harry Hayes. In the middle of the decade he joined Ted Heath’s band, playing with him until 1952 when he moved on to play in Tony Kinsey’s small group. In the 1950s he joined Cyril Stapleton’s BBC Show Band where he became a featured soloist in nationwide broadcasts.
Forming a quintet in 1954 with Harry Klein and Dill Jones, and later toured with a ten-piece band for nealy a year and a half. He went on to lead small groups and performed in clubs. In 1955 he was voted Britain’s top tenor-sax player in the New Musical Express and Melody Maker polls, topping the latter the following year.
During the 1950s his sextet performed in France and the United States, where in 1956 he also participated in an exchange visit with Gerry Mulligan. He briefly worked in the Stan Kenton Band, was hired as bandleader at the Dorchester Hotel in London, then followed a period of 12 years with the Jack Parnell ATV Orchestra, accompanying Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, and Barbra Streisand.
He went on to run a weekly club at the Hopbine pub, worked with Laurie Johnson’s London Big Band and recorded with Benny Goodman. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was in demand as a session musician, performed with his quartet and wife Barbara Jay and became a member and then leader of the Pizza Express All Stars Jazz Band.
Saxophonist Tommy Whittle while on holiday in Spain died on his 87th birthday after contracting pneumonia on October 13, 2013.
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