Kenny Barron s Platinum Band

Transcription

1 University of Florida Performing Arts presents Kenny Barron s Platinum Band Thursday, October 24, 2013, 7:30 p.m. Phillips Center

2 Kenny Barron s Platinum Band Kenny Barron (piano) Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone) Lionel Loueke (guitar) Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) Lee Pearson (drums) Program The program will be announced from the stage. Biographies Kenny Barron (piano) When Kenny Barron first heard that the National Endowment for the Arts inducted him into its prestigious Jazz Masters class of 2010, he felt honored to be among the greats of the music who have also received the U.S. s top honor in jazz. I was excited at the acknowledgment of my service, says the pianist whose solo career has also garnered him numerous awards in jazz critics and readers polls. I ve been playing music for a long time, and this award reflects that I ve made a significant contribution. One of the most renowned, most lyrical and busiest pianists in jazz today, Barron is a multiple-grammy nominee, was honored with induction into the American Jazz Hall of Fame (2005) and received the MAC Lifetime Achievement Award (2005) and the Mid Atlantic Arts Living Legacy Award (2009). Also in 2009, Barron was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an esteemed honorary society and center for independent policy research. While relishing the accolades, Barron reflects on his career as a top-drawer artist as a work in progress. I don t think of myself necessarily as an innovator, he says. But what I have contributed to jazz is keeping a commitment to the honesty of the music. I never do anything that s too slick, and I play what I feel. I believe in having fun, which took a long time to discover to not take myself so seriously. As a composer, arranger and bandleader, Barron has spent five decades at the forefront of the jazz piano aristocracy. An in-demand sideman in his early days on the jazz scene, the Philadelphia native launched his solo career in 1973 with Sunset to Dawn, released by Muse Records. He has recorded more than 40 albums as a leader, including his latest, The Traveler on Universal France/Sunnyside. Undergirded by Barron s hard-swinging rhythm section of bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Francisco Mela, The Traveler featured the pianist s music with lyrics that a friend had written. At one point there was talk about putting a songbook together, but then I decided to make a recording, he says. I m pretty happy with that album. A varied cast of singers including Grady Tate, Gretchen Parlato and Ann Hampton Callaway gave voice to Barron s tunes. Additional instrumental support came from saxophonist Steve Wilson and guitarist Lionel Loueke. Barron has led several iterations of his own bands over the years, serving as a lyrical mainstream maestro oftentimes to young musicians getting their starts in the jazz world. A

3 professor of music at Rutgers University from , he has not only become a mentor to many of his students, but he s also found himself learning from them. I ve been around the jazz scene for a long time, and I ve had all these great experiences, he says. But what s important to me is to be open and continue to learn especially from musicians in the younger generation. Case in point: Barron s 2004 CD Images, which was partly based on a composition commissioned by the Wharton Center at Michigan State University. His quintet for the album comprised an impressive cast of youthful musicians, including vibraphonist Stefon Harris (the young vet of the team with several albums as a leader to his credit), flutist Anne Drummond (who made her debut recording in 2009), bassist Kitagawa and drummer Kim Thompson (who today in addition to her own jazz group serves as a member of pop star Beyoncé s all-female touring band). Over the years as a leader, Barron has not shied away from seeking out new experiences. In the early 80s, along with saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Ben Riley, he co-founded the highly acclaimed collective Sphere, which celebrated the music of Thelonious Monk with its own spin on his songs, augmented by originals written by the band members. This was definitely one of the highlights of my career, not only for the music but also for the great personnel, Barron says. We wanted to form a collective like the Modern Jazz Quartet. The idea for the band name came from a discussion Buster and I had. At first, we thought of Circle, then decided on Sphere. At the time, I didn t know that was Thelonious middle name. Sphere signed with Elektra Records, and the first album, Four for All, was recorded in Rudy Van Gelder s studio. Barron recalls, Right after we recorded the session, Buster and I were driving home and we heard the news that Thelonious had just passed away. When Rouse, Monk s saxophonist, died in 1988, Sphere went on hiatus. The band returned to action 10 years later with the addition of alto saxophonist Gary Bartz and released the critically heralded eponymous album on Verve in 1998, followed by a sold-out tour. Other diverse musical quests Barron has embarked on include potent duo improvisations with violinist Regina Carter (2001 s Freefall, nominated for a Grammy in best jazz instrumental solo category), bassist Charlie Haden (1998 s Night and The City, nominated for two Grammys: best jazz album and best solo instrumental), and percussionist Mino Cinelu (1996 s Swamp Sally). The latter, Barron says, was a growth spurt date that stretched him as a performer. I learned a lot from that recording, which we did in Mino s living room, he recalls. It was so much fun. I played keyboards and even acoustic bass. I played bass in high school, so at least I can walk a bass line. He cites another memorable challenge: Scratch, a 1985 trio recording for Enja Records that he made with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Daniel Humair. I had never met either of them before we recorded, Barron says. I loved Dave s work but had never played with him. The session was a great experience for me. In recent years, Barron s penchant to seek adventure led him to fully embrace Brazilian music, featured on his 2003 Canta Brasil CD, which co-starred Trio da Paz and Drummond. My fascination with Brazilian music started when I was playing with Dizzy Gillespie, he explains. I also remember spending time with Yusef Lateef, who influenced me in my improvisational skills, and he was listening to Sergio Mendes Brasil 65. That blew me away. So I started to become familiar with the samba school. But meeting Trio da Paz opened the door to all kinds of different Brazilian rhythms and music from the various regions of the country.

4 While Barron turned heads and opened ears early on as a member of Gillespie s quintet from and has appeared as an invaluable sideman since (with, among many others, Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson), it s his maturation as a leader that has brought him well-deserved recognition as a true jazz master. In 2004, he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a leader, and the next year New York s Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted a three-week Kenny Barron Festival. Also in 2005, Universal France/ Sunnyside released The Perfect Set: Live at Bradley s, Part Two, which documented the second set he and trio members Ben Riley and Ray Drummond recorded on April 6, 1996 at the nowdefunct Greenwich Village club, Bradley s. The first set had been released in 2002 as Live at Bradley s on Universal France. Not one to rest on his laurels, Barron continues to tour widely and learning more as he goes. I feel like I m still evolving, trying to grow, he says. As I get older, I find that I m more willing to leave my comfort zone and take chances as an improviser. Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone) The great Miles Davis once said, The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas? If these are indeed the canonical essentials of a jazz artist at his best, then saxophonist Marcus Strickland is one of today s truest exemplars. Triumph of the Heavy: Volume 1 & 2 is Strickland s fourth release from his independent Strick Muzik record label, and his seventh as a leader. The music lives up to its title, and Strickland s distinctive artistry is synonymous with its concept. With a professional career that has just passed the 10-year mark, Strickland s influential sound, distinguished body of work, impressive set of credentials and steady acknowledgement from every credible jazz critic since emerging on the scene has earned him a rightful place alongside the very best narrators of modern jazz. Strickland s desire to preach above and beyond the jazz choir is rooted in his affinity toward a multitude of musical styles. Growing up in a household which encouraged the arts, Strickland s musical palette had been vast long before his professional endeavors. This broad creative range, along with his emergence as a singular voice on his instrument, helped Strickland land his first recording deal as a leader with the Fresh Sound label, soon after the Miami native graduated from New York s esteemed New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music; a breeding ground for many who would become today s most relevant figures in jazz. Strickland has a covetable list of recording and performing credits, having collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Tom Harrell and Dave Douglas, but Strickland s longest and most impressionable working relationships include two of the most influential drummers ever to play the instrument: Roy Haynes and Jeff Tain Watts. Strickland was still attending college when jazz master Roy Haynes asked him to join his Fountain of Youth band. Strickland held the tenor spot for five years before joining Watts; a drummer who is without question at least in-part responsible for ushering in this generation of successors. As a bandleader, Strickland unsurprisingly takes cues from yet another drummer. There s a quote from Art Blakey that just says, Leave the band alone, Strickland emphasizes, through an abundance of hearty laughter. He s referring to his leading style. You know, don t tell them how to play! And it s very important. I want everybody to feel good. I want the band especially to feel good so the music can feel good, and the audience can feel good. I want there to be room for a party. So I write like that, I lead like that. Strickland s critics are listening, too. Over the last five years, Strickland has held some of the most prestigious positions in the realm of jazz journalism: Rising Star on Soprano Saxophone in Downbeat s 2012 Critic s Poll; Rising Star on Tenor Saxophone in Downbeat s 2010 Critic s Poll; Rising Star on Soprano Saxophone in Downbeat s 2008 Critic s Poll; and Best New Artist in JazzTimes 2006 Reader s Poll. For Strickland, the blueprint for triumph is based on one

5 main principle, As long as you re honest, I think nobody can mess with that. I think that s essential to being an artist... to be yourself. Really expose what s inside of you, try to put that out there in a very creative and beautiful way that people can enjoy. My whole goal is to make enjoyable music with great depth, and touch as many people as I can with it. That s all I want to do. Lionel Loueke (guitar) Lionel Loueke s story begins in Benin, a small country in West Africa, where he was born to parents that he describes as intellectual, adding that music was part of everyday life, but not in the family. Fortunately, an older brother played guitar and was part of a band that played Afro-Pop music in the style of Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade. I remember when I was 11 or 12 I was going to see my brother perform. I would be listening from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., just looking at him playing, listening to the music. Finally, when Loueke was 17, his brother let him pick up his guitar and he quickly realized that he had a great facility for the instrument. Besides the Afro-Pop music that he heard his brother performing, Loueke also began to be enamored with the traditional African music of Benin, as well as Nigeria, Congo, Zaire, Mali and Senegal. However, it was an encounter with jazz music that would set Loueke on a different course. A friend of his brother s came to visit from Paris, bringing with him a CD of guitarist George Benson. I listened to that and it was unreal for me. I had to transcribe every single line trying to play like him. Then I tried to check out what happened before him, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass. Loueke finally decided to pursue music more seriously and left Benin to attend the National Institute of Art in the Ivory Coast. Short of money, Loueke stumbled fortuitously into his first professional gig. He explains: I was a student, and I couldn t pay my rent so they kicked me out, and I needed to get a gig so bad. So there was a club, and I tried so many times to get a gig there. So one night I just went to the club because I was desperate. I didn t have anything. I needed money to survive. The band took a break, during the break I went on stage, I picked up the guy s guitar and I start playing. They came to me and tried to grab back the instrument. And the manager said No, let him play. So after I played the manager said Man, you want a gig?! [laughs] That was my first gig, and I carried that gig for two years! In 1994, Loueke left Africa and moved to Paris to pursue jazz studies, enrolling at the American School of Modern Music, a small conservatory run by several alumni of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduation, Loueke was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee, and so he left Paris and moved to the United States. It was at Berklee that he first met Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth, the musicians who would become his core band. Through jam sessions, the trio developed an immediate rapport, in part fueled by internationalism. Biolcati is of Italian decent, but grew up in Sweden, while Nemeth was born and raised in Hungary. Both had extensively studied African music and were drawn to Loueke who was just beginning to fuse a Jazz technique with his African roots. After graduating from Berklee, Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles along with Biolcati and Nemeth. The Monk Institute is a selective program that allows students to study and perform with some of the finest Jazz musicians in the world, including three legends that would nurture Loueke s burgeoning talent and become his greatest mentors: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard. I flipped, says Hancock, recalling the moment he first heard Loueke s audition tape. I d never heard any guitar player play anything close to what I was hearing from him. There was no territory that was forbidden, and he was fearless! Before even graduating from the Monk Institute, Loueke began touring in Blanchard s sextet, a highly creative band that recorded two albums for Blue Note (Bounce and Flow) and allowed

6 Loueke to begin expressing his own voice as a soloist and composer. Since leaving Blanchard s band he has been hired by Hancock and become a prominent member of the pianist s current quartet, touring extensively and recording on Hancock s Grammy-winning album, River: The Joni Letters (Verve). Loueke has also recorded two albums under his name for independent labels, In a Trance (Space Time) and Virgin Forest (ObliqSound), as well as the collective Gilfema (ObliqSound) with Biolcati and Nemeth. Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) Bassist and composer Kiyoshi Kitagawa is an integral part of today s jazz scene. Born in Osaka, Japan in 1958, Kitagawa began playing the guitar at the age of 14. He switched to the acoustic bass at the age of 19. Kitagawa began his career by playing at various clubs in Kansai area, and quickly became the most sought-after bassist in Japan. In 1988, Kitagawa relocated to New York City. Soon after, he met Winard Harper at Blue Note s jam session and joined the Harper Brothers. In 1989, he appeared at the Village Vanguard with the group, and their live recording Remembrance: Live at The Village Vanguard was extremely well received. That same year, Kitagawa went on to work with Andy Bey as well. By 1993, Kitagawa established himself as a much in demand bassist on the New York City jazz scene. He has toured and recorded with the alto great Kenny Garrett with drummer Brian Blade as well as the Jimmy Heath Quartet, which he spent more than 10 years as a regular bassist. That same year, he joined Kenny Barron Trio on the recommendation of a legendary drummer Ben Riley and has been working with him since then. Kitagawa also joined Ben Riley Quartet with Ted Dumber and Steve Nelson as well as Terell Stafford Quartet. In 1996, he formed The Trio with a versatile Japanese pianist, Makoto Ozone. Demand for Kitagawa s talents has led to work with legendary musicians including Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Kirkland, John Hicks, Ronnie Mathews, Mulgrew Miller, Steven Scott, Cedar Walton, Steve Wilson, Gary Bartz, Jaleel Shaw, Frank Wess, Eddie Henderson, Mike Rodriguez, Steve Turre, Steve Nelson, Brian Blade, Albert Tootie Heath, Victor Lewis, Lewis Nash, Ben Riley, Jeff Watts and The Maria Schneider Orchestra, just to name a few. Kitagawa has recorded with many of the leading names in jazz and can be heard on numerous albums. In addition to being a highly dependable sideman, Kitagawa has shown his manifold talents to be a composer as well as an arranger. As a leader, Kitagawa has released five albums in Japan on the Atelier Sawano label including Ancestry, Prayer, Live at Tsutenkaku which is released as a DVD, Live in Japan and I m Still Here. Besides these trio albums, his interest in expanding the full potential of the instrument has led him to record solo albums. His live recording of solo performance at the Big Apple jazz club in Japan was released in 2000 followed by studio recording of Solo 2 in 2007 both from Music Information Records. Lee Pearson (drums) Lee Pearson moves and grooves with some of the finest names in music. From Broadway to jazz, hip-hop and R&B, he is constantly refining his nest with his unique approach to the drums, while maintaining the classic vocabulary of percussion. Pearson has been featured on five notable jazz recordings, including David Murray and the World Saxophone Quartet, Hamiett Blueit and Baritone Nation. Lee is currently recording his first solo album, highlighting his new nest and unique sound as he stretches for greater rhythmic heights and deeper musical depths. Pearson s singular percussive style has led him to the bandstand with some of the world s greatest pacesetters in jazz and hip hop. In addition to touring with his own band, Beava s

7 Atmosphere, Pearson has also performed with Roy Ayers, Lonnie Listen Smith, Jean Carn, Bobbi Humphreys, Ronnie Laws, Jon Lucien, Wayne Henderson of the Jazz Crusaders, David Murray, John Hicks, Erykah Badu, R&B singer Bilal and the Tonight Show Band with Jay Leno, just to name a few. He also did a world tour with Savion Glover s multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway show, Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk from His relationship with these musical giants has encouraged him to step out on his own and perfect his unique sound. Pearson is known to say, To God be the Glory. He started developing his gift for the drums at the tender age of 2 in Baltimore, Md. His parents, Lee Sr. and Judith Pearson, bought him his first drum set at the age of 3 and the rest is history. His first teacher was his mother, an organist at the Messiah s Temple where Pearson s dad was the pastor. Every Sunday his mother would tell him what to do, and he s been doing that with style ever since. After his parents noticed young Lee s passion for the drums they enrolled him in the Baltimore School for the Arts. After high school he attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Throughout his career he has never forgotten where he came from and always puts God first. When he s not on the road he attends the Saint John Baptist church in Baltimore where he s the minister of music, where he plays the organ and teaches the choir. Lee Pearson exclusively uses Vater Manhattan 7A drum sticks and Sabian Cymbals. He is currently in the process of signing with Yamaha drums.