Jazz Masters
Buy the four-concert subscription (available through September 9) for $70 and save 18%.
Friday, September 9, 8:00 p.m.
Joe Locke/Geoff Keezer Quartet, $20
One of the most exciting combos in American music launches our Jazz Masters series, jointly led by phenomenal vibraphonist Joe Locke and inventive pianist Geoff Keezer.
The Times (London) wrote, “Every so often a truly exceptional group sneaks up on the inside lane and takes the jazz world by surprise.” Legendary pianist Chick Corea said, “This quartet is unique, a chamber jazz form that truly sizzles with virtuosity and creativity.” And All About Jazz described them as “a remarkable confluence of form and freedom, never-superfluous or self-indulgent virtuosity, and uncanny, telepathic spontaneity.”
Keezer makes a much-anticipated return to the Williams Center stage, following his brilliant 2006 collaboration with Jim Hall, while Locke appears in his long-overdue debut, along with Mauricio Zottarelli on drums and Mike Pope on bass.
Join us for this 25th annual Easton Jazz Festival event, presented in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Easton.
Thursday, October 13, 8:00 p.m.
Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo, $22
Ed Brunswick Concert
Two of the most celebrated figures in American music join forces in this limited tour, in support of their recent Nonesuch release, Highway Rider.
Revered both in this country and in Europe, Brad Mehldau has worked with a number of great jazz musicians, including Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, and John Scofield. He was appointed curator of an annual four-concert jazz series at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall during its 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 seasons, and Carnegie Hall named him to the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair—the first jazz artist to hold this position since it was established in 1995. Time magazine says, “Mehldau achieves an almost spiritual resonance, chords echoing like amens.”
Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to emerge in the 1990s. After winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition in 1996, Redman quickly hit his stride, touring with Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Elvin Jones, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, and Clark Terry. In 2000 he was named artistic director of the prestigious San Francisco Jazz Festival, and in 2004 he originated the touring and recording efforts of the award-winning SFJazz Collective. The New York Times writes, “Mr. Redman is a supremely affable and flowing improviser, at times a borderline brilliant one, working in a glow of clarity.”
Friday, February 3, 8 p.m.
Mingus Big Band, $25
Charles Mingus was a towering leader in American jazz—charismatic, visionary, and passionate in his linking the power of music and the zeitgeist of his day. Created by Sue Mingus as a continuation of the landmark 1979 Carnegie Hall tribute to her late husband, the Mingus Big Band has wowed audiences for three decades at its weekly New York appearances. A steady roster of New York’s finest big band jazz musicians keeps the music alive, with their common devotion to the exuberant style and probing musicianship exemplified by this great American master.
The Mingus Big Band has ten recordings to its credit; its recent Live at the Jazz Standard won the 2011 Grammy for Best Big Band.
The Los Angeles Times praises the band’s “spirited blend of the lush harmonies and boisterous blues sections, interwoven ensemble passages and sudden tempo shifts that made the late bassist Charles Mingus one of the most exhilarating and celebrated artists in jazz.” The New York Daily News says, “The Mingus Band is a wonder and an anomaly…[having] taken a musical legacy and transformed it into a creative force that generates a contemporary originality and vitality all its own.”
Wednesday, March 7, 8 p.m.
Vijay Iyer Trio, $18
Vijay Iyer, one of today’s most acclaimed and respected young American jazz pianists, received the 2010 Musician of the Year award from the Jazz Journalists Association, the 2010 Echo Award (the “German Grammy”) for best international ensemble with his Trio, and the top place in the Down Beat Critics’ Poll “rising star small ensemble of the year” category.
His 2009 recording, Historicity, with Marcus Gilmore, drums, and Stephan Crump, bass, garnered all the top awards from the jazz press, and was named the #1 jazz album of the year by The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, the annual Village Voice jazz critics poll, and the Down Beat International Critics Poll.
The Boston Globe wrote, “Historicity brims with Iyer’s signature method and tone: spectral, spacious, with exquisite use of rhythmic repetitions that lurk in the background and serve as points of departure.” The Los Angeles Times adds, “Bewitching…takes listeners to places they’ve never heard.”