September 15th – 9:00 pm
Ben Neill is a composer, performer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. The mutantrumpet was originally designed with the help of synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog and was further developed at the Steim Studios in Amsterdam. The instrument has three bells, two sets of valves, a trombone slide and is a fully functional MIDI controller. In Neill’s live performance, laptop computers merge the mutantrumpet with live digital audio and video. In addition to controlling electronic sounds in real time, Neill literally plays the moving pictures, making the images an extension of his instrument. XIX is a new project by Neill that explores the expressive qualities of 19th century romanticism with live instruments and new digital technologies. Futuristic sounds of Neill’s mutantrumpet coombine with live interactive video by artist Bill Jones; bassist John Conte and drummer Jim Mussen add live grooves to the mix.
Small and Medium is a duo co-lead by trumpeter Eric Biondo and drummer/lap top artist Chris Vatalaro (both from the group Antibalas). This acoustic/electronic duo combines influences of afrobeat, electronica, funk, jazz and storytelling. Trumpet melodies will emerge from beds of swinging beats, forward moving improvisations and operatic interludes. Some of the songs involve specialized microphone system that fits into the pipes of the trumpet creating sounds comparable to what a baby hears in the womb. www.ericbiondo.com
Vector Trio, Scott Forrey (trumpets, loops, and electronics), Gary Rouzer (electric bass, loops, and electronics), Marshall Hughey (drums and landscape percussion) began life in 1996 as a septet, the brainchild of trumpeter/composer Forrey. In 2002 Vector became a trio as they began making use of electronics, including looping devices and effects processors, to expand the possibilities of the smaller unit. Their work to date is showcased in their all-original CD, Plot Twist (2004) and Live in DC (2005), recorded at Sangha Café and Velvet Lounge. Vector Trio is a project designed to explore freedom and possibility in three voices, contextualized by cultural disharmony. Vector Trio’s newest CD, Paths Unknown, was released on September 1, 2006. www.vectortrio.com
September 16th – 8:30 pm
A Living Tribute To Don Cherry
Part of Merkin Hall’s Reissue: Classic Recordings Live seriesA Living Tribute to Don Cherry: Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell Perform the Symphony for Improvisers
Roy Campbell and Dave Douglas perform original music and interpretations of Don Cherry’s pieces with their own quartets. Then both ensembles unite to play Cherry’s seminal piece Symphony for Improvisers, featuring bassist Henry Grimes who played on the original recording forty years ago. Other important improvisers featured in this celebration of Don Cherry’s 70th birthday include bassist William Parker, drummers Andrew Cyrille and Hamid Drake and saxophonists Mixashawn and JD Allen.
Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell co-founded the Festival of New Trumpet Music in 2003. They continue, along with Jon Nelson, as its co-directors.
Dave Douglas has collaborated widely across the spectrum of American music and art including work with John Zorn, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell, Don Byron, Steve Lacy, Fred Hersch, Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford, Andy Bey, Nick Didkovsky, Trisha Brown, Terry Winters, Jennifer Tipton, Louis Sclavis, Henry Grimes, Tim Berne, Tom Waits, Rabih Abou-Khalil, DJ Olive, Ikue Mori, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, Chris Potter, Uri Caine, Mark Turner, Roswell Rudd, Andrew Cyrille, Marc Ribot, Karsh Kale, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Marty Ehrlich, Martial Solal and many others.
Mr. Douglas recently started his own internet-based company, Greenleaf Music. www.greenleafmusic.com
As a bandleader, Roy Campbell, Jr. has long maintained several stellar working units. TAZZ (with Andrew Bemkey, Chris Sullivan, and Michael Thompson) is a reflection of various musical styles, languages, backgrounds, and sources, with a mission to break down cultural barriers. Roy Campbell also leads THE PYRAMID TRIO (with William Parker and Hamid Drake), which he began in 1983 and which includes music of many world cultures with a jazz overtone. In addition, he founded the collective group OTHER DIMENSIONS IN MUSIC (with Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Rashied Bakr), which plays improvised music of all styles. In 1995 he formed SHADES AND COLORS OF TRANE (with Walden Wimberley, Hilliard Greene, and Warren Smith), a tribute band for master saxophonist John Coltrane. And in 1999 Roy added the group DOWNTOWN HORNS (with Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen).
In addition to leading his own groups, Roy Campbell has performed with Yo La Tengo, William Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Matthew Shipp, and others. Dave Douglas also leads ensembles, works as an educator, and has performed with John Zorn, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, and Anthony Braxton.
September 17th – 8:00 pm
In collaboration with FONT Music, The Williamsburg Jazz Festival presents two prominent artists on the Williamsburg Scene. Opening the night, Rick Parker’s Ambient Assault will feature New Orleans trumpet great, Maurice Brown. Other members are Rick Parker (trombone and effects), Sam Barsh (keyboards), Mark Guiliana (drums), Kyle Struve (drums).
Long time Williamsburg denizens Jesse Selengut and Sabir Mateen will co-lead the closing band in a marriage of avant-garde and groove, featuring Kyle Struve on drums and Gavin Fallow on bass.
The Williamsburg Jazz Festival is in it’s fourth season and runs from September 10th through the 17th. www.wjazzfestival.com
September 19th
“Out Of The Battlefield”
Trumpet Avishai Cohen is one of the most in demand trumpet players in New York and around the globe. His diversity has allowed him to perform and record regularly with folk/jazz vocalist Keren Ann, Jason Lindner, Roy Hargrove, Third World Love, as well his own band. Cohen blends his love of African music, traditional jazz and his Israeli heritage to create a dynamic musical experience focusing on rhythmic exploration, unusual compositional forms and groove. His second CD as a leader, “After the Big Rain,” will be released in the Winter of 2006. www.avishaicohenmusic.com.
Jeremy Pelt arrived in New York in 1998 after graduating from Berklee College of Music. Once he got there, it wasn’t long before he started being noticed by a lot of top musicians in the city. His first professional Jazz gig was playing with the Mingus Big Band. That gig lead to many long lasting associations with many of the talent in the band, and a great opportunity for growth. Since his arrival, he has been fortunate enough to play with many of today’s and yesterday’s jazz luminaries, such as Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Charli Persip, Keter Betts, Frank Foster, Ravi Coltrane, Winard Harper, Vincent Herring, Ralph Peterson, Lonnie Plaxico, Cliff Barbaro, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Short, Bobby “Blue” Bland, The Skatalites, Cedar Walton, and many, many more. However, Pelt’s major focus is on writing music and leading his three bands: “Creation,” “Noise” and “The Jeremy Pelt Quartet.” www.peltjazz.com
Keyon Harrold is one of the top up and coming trumpeters on the scene today, as well as a noted hip-hop producer, working with the likes of Charles Tolliver, David Weiss, amongst many others. This versatile and eclectic artist draws his influences from jazz greats such as Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday and Woody Shaw, and hip-hop legends such as Common, Kanye West, Tribe Called Quest and many others.
September 20th
Taylor Ho Bynum and Stephen Haynes have a ten-year musical relationship, from co-leading the cooperative brass ensemble Paradigm Shift to anchoring the trumpet section of Cecil Taylor’s present large ensemble.
For the Festival of New Trumpet Music, they debut a new project, as they combine two brass/guitar/drums trios into a double-image sextet. The members of this cross-genre, cross-generational ensemble range in age from twenty-five to seventy-two, and range in experience from indie rock to ragtime and from Motown to Stomp, but all the musicians share a deep commitment to the pursuit of creative music.
September 21st
Born in Vancouver and raised in Nanaimo, Canada, Ingrid Jensen headed east after receiving a number of scholarships to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since graduating in 1989, her life has contained a whirlwind of musical activities. From her early days playing in the subways of New York, to establishing herself as a leader and soloist in a wide array of musical genres, Ingrid has made her mark. Her three CD’s for the ENJA label won her nominations from the Canadian Juno Awards, including an award in 1995 for Vernal Fields. Jensen is currently on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. www.ingridjensen.com.
Lina Allemano is a Toronto jazz trumpeter and composer with an established career playing, recording and touring internationally with numerous groups. In addition to fronting her own band, Lina Allemano Four, she is also a permanent member of the improvising trio “N,” Tim Posgate’s Jazzstory and Horn Band, and Jane Fair/Rosemary Galloway Quintet. Lina appears on over twenty recordings including Lina Allemano Four Concentric, William Carn/Lina Allemano Old Souls, Tim Posgate Jazzstory, Jane Fair/Rosemary Galloway Waltz Out, and NOJO Highwire. Lina was winner of the 2005 National Jazz Awards’ CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award and she was nominated for the 2005 Canadian Independent Music Awards Favorite Jazz Artist and the 2005 National Jazz Awards Trumpeter of the Year. Upcoming releases in 2006 include Lina’s second CD as leader, Lina Allemano Four, “Pinkeye.” www.linaallemano.com
September 22nd
Greg Glassman, Sean Jones, and Marcus Belgrave are all friends and fans of one another, Marcus being a mentor to both Greg and Sean. They will gather for a tribute to the late unsung hero of modern jazz composition, Detroit drummer, Lawrence Williams, playing three sets of their own music, as well as many Williams originals. These are three true creative trumpet voices, coming together out of pure love of the music of Lawrence Williams – a night not to be missed.
September 23rd
The Millennial Territoty Orchestra, formed in 1999, recently released its debut cd “MTO Vol. 1” on Sunnyside Records. The 9 piece ensemble features Doug Wieselman-clarinet, Erik Lawrence- baritone saxophone, Charlie Burnham-violin, Clark Gayton-trombone, Matt Munesteri-guitar, Ben Perowsky-drums, and special guests Tony Malaby- tenor saxophone and Brad Jones -bass. Bernstein will lead the MTO through a very rare performance of Don Cherry’s Relativity Suite, which was commissioned by the JCOA in 1970, and recorded on Valentine’s Day in 1973.
A ubiquitous figure in New York’s downtown jazz scene, Bernstein has been the musical director/leader for John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards, the Kansas City Band (from Robert Altman’s film Kansas City), and Hal Wilner’s Leonard Cohen and Doc Pomus Projects. He has released several important albums under his own name on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records: Diaspora Soul, Diaspora Blues, and Diaspora Hollywood. Bernstein has also performed with jazz giants including Roswell Rudd, Don Byron, and Medeski, Martin & Wood, as well as artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Linda Ronstadt, Sting and Courtney Love.
September 24th
Play The Small Group Music of Don Cherry
A never-before-heard collaboration, revisiting and reinterpreting the music of one of America’s greatest visionaries.
Graham Haynes is a cornetist, trumpeter and bandleader. Graham was a founding member of Steve Coleman’s M-Base collective and has also played with David Murray, George Adams, Ed Blackwell, and Cassandra Wilson. He has created a series of important collaborations with bassist and producer Bill Laswell.
Dave Douglas is a Grammy-nominated trumpeter, composer and bandleader who has surveyed the music of many important American figures including Mary Lou Williams, Wayne Shorter, Booker Little, Lester Bowie, Miles Davis, and others. He is the co-founder of a recording company, Greenleaf Music, and composes music in many different formats.
Dave and Graham are thrilled to be joined by very special guests Henry Grimes, bass, Andrew Cyrille, drums, and JD Allen, tenor saxophone.
September 28th – 9:30 pm
David Glukh International Ensemble is one of the most unusual ensembles performing on the concert stage today. Eclectic by repertoire and design, the group is creating new forms of expression by combining a vast, ever expanding repertoire, consisting of diverse musical traditions from around the world. The ensemble’s second CD, featuring traditional klezmer and world fusion improvisatory original compositions, was released in November 2005.
Mark Gould is the former co-principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He is in demand internationally as a soloist and a teacher, and is on faculty at The Juilliard School. He is also the director of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, the Main Street Band and his controversial ensemble Pink Baby Monster. Angel Records has recently released Gould’s wonderful new album, CAFÉ 1930. This recording pairs the trumpet and guitar in “cantabile style” performances that exploit the natural melodic strength of the music and Mark’s considerable operatic and jazz experience.
September 29th – 9:30 pm
The Rodriguez Bros. music is an exciting new combination of contemporary jazz harmony with Afro-Cuban influences. This concert brings together Michael Rodriguez, an important new voice in Latin jazz, with seasoned veteran Brian Lynch in a premiere collaboration. Don’t miss this unique meeting of the horns!
Trumpeter/composer Michael Rodriguez was inspired to pursue music as a career by his father, who is the drummer, Roberto Rodriguez. Michael has performed and toured with pianist Eric Reed and is a member of the Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra. He has also worked with Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley Band, Eddie Palmieri Septet and the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra. In December of 2003 Michael recorded on Charlie Haden’s Grammy award winning album featuring Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Joe Lovano, entitled Land of the Sun. Michael has also recorded on Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra’s latest album entitled Not in Our Name. www.rodriguezmusic.com
48-year-old trumpet master Brian Lynch is a respected insider within both the hardcore bebop and Latin communities. He’s as comfortable negotiating the complexities of clave with Afro-Caribbean pioneer Eddie Palmieri as swinging through advanced harmony with bebop maestro Phil Woods. He’s worked in recent years with Buena Vista Social Club alumnus Barbarito Torres, dance remixer Joe Clausell, and the members of the influential Latin alternative group Yerba Buena. He arranges for Japanese pop star Mika Nakashima and producer Shinichi Osawa, has written string charts for Phil Woods, and has played with such pop luminaries as Maxwell, Prince, and Sheila E. www.brianlynchjazz.com
October 3rd – 7:30 pm
The Peter Evans Quartet features Evans (trumpet/piccolo trumpet), Brandon Seabrook (electric guitar, amplified banjo, analog electronics), Tom Blancarte (double bass) and Kevin Shea (drums). Evans presents a new set of maximalist insanity featuring a quartet comprised of similarly inclined collaborators.
Peter Evans has been a member of the New York musical community since 2003, when he moved to the city after graduating Obelrin Conservatory. Peter currently works in a wide variety of areas, including solo performance, chamber orchestras, free improvised settings, electro-acoustic music, and composition. As a performer, Evans has been slowly working to break through technical barriers of his instrument, and enjoys playing with steady configurations of improvisors; each band explores a specific concept or style as much as possible. Current bands include the quartet featured at the 2006 FONT, Moppa Elliott’s terrorist bebop band “Mostly Other People Do the Killing”, the duo “Sparks” with Tom Blancarte, the Histrionics, and the Language of, with Charles Evans. Peter has just released his first solo trumpet album, “More is More”, on psi records.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 3rd – 9:30 pm
Cuong Vu’s latest recording, “It’s Mostly Residual,” is available through ArtistShare. Vu is widely recognized by jazz critics as a leader of a new generation of innovative musicians. A truly unique musical voice, Cuong has lent his trumpet playing talents to a wide range of artists including Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford, Cibo Matto, Mitchell Froom, and Chris Speed. The trumpeter has recently been on tour with The Pat Metheny Group. www.cuongvu.com
Cuong will appear with his long-standing trio with Stomu Takeishi – electric bass, and Ted Poor – drums.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 4th – 7:30 pm
Air Glow
the heart evokes an air glow
that never goes dark wholly
-=-=-=
In an age when despair, desolation, and wretchedness become the norm, so evolves our acquainted aesthetic taste. And yet it is splashes of sudden glances to the often neglected splendors that left us entranced, that make us confronted to the deformity of any elaborated vindication, to the melt-down of tactics.
air glow: light emitted from the upper layers of the atmosphere of Earth, or of another planet.
TPTS performs this and other original works for trumpet ensemble.
Du Yun, founding International Contemporary Ensemble composer, improviser and pianist, started her music training at age of four. Her works have been featured on China’s National Radio Station, Radio-Shanghai, China’s National Television Station. Du Yun’s music has been performed by the Oberlin Orchestra, the ICE, the North/South Consonance Chamber Orchestra, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne of Canada, the Electrolune of France, and the cellist Frances-Marie Uitti, among others.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 4th – 9:30 pm
Mark Gould is one of the best known trumpeters of his generation. He was principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1974-2003 and has been on the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1982. He joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in September 2004.
Mr. Gould has been very active as a trumpet soloist and conductor. He has conducted and performed as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Colorado Philharmonic, Buffalo Symphony, The Juilliard Wind Ensemble, The Waterloo Festival, The Caramoor Festival and the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. In 2001, he was the conductor of the Juilliard Wind Ensemble in the recording: “Shadowcatcher”, on NEW WORLD RECORDS, which features the work of Juilliard composers, Eric Ewazen and William Schuman.
Mark Gould has led an active life in chamber music. He is the director of The New York Trumpet Ensemble and has recorded six albums with them. He has appeared and recorded with numerous high profile chamber music groups and ensembles. He has been a frequent guest with Speculum Musicae, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The MET Chamber Ensemble, Empire Brass, Canadian Brass, Summit Brass, The Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble and Extension Ensemble.
Mr. Gould’s most recent recording is Café 1930, an album of trumpet and guitar music on ANGEL/EMI.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 5th – 7:30 pm
When Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar traveled to Baghdad, he fell in love with maqam, a soulful, improvisational music played in Iraqi coffeehouses, homes and mosques for centuries. But political turmoil has left the genre endangered, as its masters have fled. Soon, ElSaffar would take leave of his jazz career in New York – where he performed with Cecil Taylor, Billy Hart and Randy Brecker – to travel through Europe and study maqam under exiled masters, learning the santur, a hammered dulcimer.
For FONT he brings together an ensemble to integrate maqam with jazz. ElSaffar (trumpet, santur, vocals) performs with: Rudresh Mahanthappa (alto saxophone), Carlo DeRosa (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), Zaafer Tawil (percussion, oud, violin), Tareq Abboushi (buzuq, percussion), Hakan Ali Toker (qanun, accordion), Dmitri Mikelis (oud). In addition to his work in the traditional realm, Amir has developed a new approach to playing the trumpet, which utilizes the microtuning and ornaments that are characteristic to Arabic musical instruments but are not typically heard on the trumpet. He has performed on trumpet with Egyptian violinist Alfred Gamil, Palestinian violinist Simon Shaheen and Qantara, and Shusmo.
Every so often one may arrive at a space-where one feels rooted in a routine and understanding. Yet this feeling of stability almost inevitably gives way to a recurring and ongoing inquiry of dynamism and stasis as it pertains to the human condition. Strange Stasis is a sonic meditation on this process: phases of resolve altering into the unresolved, only to return to their original state. Through the use of resonant timbres, and through the juxtaposition of target consonances and dissonances, evoking the ongoing shifts of stasis through time.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 5th – 9:30 pm
FONT MUSIC COMMISSIONS
Noted as a trumpeter and composer of exceptional merit, Jonathan Finlayson is an active member of the creative music scene of New York. He’s garnered press from such publications as The New York Times, Time Out, and DownBeat. A long-standing veteran of Steve Coleman and Five Elements, having joined the band before he graduated from high school. Jonathan has performed on several recordings and maintains a busy tour schedule across the United States and at prestigious European festivals and clubs. As a bandleader, he has presented original music performed by two groups of his own, “Common Thread” and his Quartet, at various venues. Jonathan has also performed wth a wide array of musicians including Jason Moran, Nasheet Waits, Ravi Coltrane, Meshelle Ndegeocello, Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn, Ralph Allesi, Magic Malik and Abbey Lincoln.
Makor 35 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Showtimes are 7:30 & 9:30 PM, TKTS are $15. For more information about Makor, call 212 601 1000 or click on www.makor.orgComposed with generous assistance from the Greenwall Foundation.
October 10th – 8:30 pm
In this performance, the solo trumpet, played by Amy Horvey, will be used as a laboratory for a performative journey through the architecture of the instrument’s acoustic identity – an attempt to rethink the concept of “trumpet” from a different perspective, farther from the cultural idea of “what the trumpet is” and closer to its acoustical properties.
Trumpeter Amy Horvey, 25, has worked internationally with a wide range of performance projects specializing in cutting-edge contemporary music. She studied with, among others, Lou Ranger, Frank London, Vincent Cichowicz, Andre Heuvelman, and Marco Blaauw. In 2004 she won the Jury Prize at the “Link” Music Competition in the Netherlands and in 2005 premiered Philip Matuczewski’s Concerto for Trumpet. Amy currently plays trumpet in the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and works as a trumpet instructor at Lakehead University.
October 10th – 10:30 pm
UK-born trumpet player Bart Miltenberger is a lyrical and melodic player who first appeared in FONT Music in Trumpet Nation on the opening night of the 2nd annual Festival. He has studied with Dennis Sandole and was an American Composers Forum grant winner in 2003. He has worked with a variety of artists including Fathead, G-Love and Special Sauce, Conjunto 23, The Digable Planets, Jon Faddis, James Moody, Dave Liebman, Tyrone Brown, Farid Barron, and Tom Lawton. In addition to his group The Chance Trio, Miltenberger regularly performs with Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound and Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph.
The Chance Trio is a one-of-a-kind Philadelphia-based acoustic trio, started in 2001 by Miltenberger (trumpet, flugelhorn), Matt Davis (acoustic guitar), and Michael Taylor (upright bass). They perform music influenced by jazz, blues, folk, rock, and the avant-garde with a quiet intensity straight from the heart. The Chance Trio’s debut album, Marnee Birds, is available in stores and online at www.thechancetrio.com
October 10th – 10:30 pm
The Chris DiMeglio Group combines elements of rock, classical, jazz, and experimental music, presenting original pieces with concrete and unusual forms, free improvisation inspired by photography, unique trumpet and percussion effects, and an integration of poetry both recited and sung.
Chris DiMeglio is a free-lance trumpeter, arranger, and composer in New York. He has toured the US and England with numerous chamber ensembles and has performed with Trumpet Nation (at FONT Music 2005), the Goodwill Games Festival Orchestra, the Astoria Symphony, the Macon Symphony, the Long Island Brass Guild, and Kyle Jason. Chris performs regularly with Soul Be It, Glass Houses, and the Royal Brass. As a composer he has recorded pieces for small and large ensembles and is now working on his first original album, The Open Field. www.chrisdimeglio.com
October 11th – 10:00 pm
The group will perform music from the newly released recording “All the Things We Still Can Be” (Crows’ Kin) as well as a fresh batch of bold new originals. A compelling mix of accessibility and nuance, the Jacob Varmus Quintet focuses on music that sounds natural without adhering to any theory or dictum-except perhaps Debussy’s “pleasure is the law”.
Being pushed in a pram along the banks of La Scala in 1976 the two-year old Jacob Varmus suddenly emitted squeals and shrieks of unmasked delight. The most rapturous sounds he’d ever heard were bouncing off the plaza stone: a lone trumpeter’s warming up from within open stage doors at the local opera house. Thirty years later Jacob Varmus has a trumpet of his own and is finding his voice as a trumpeter, composer and songwriter of boundless vision. His newly released debut as leader features Varmus originals that provide great showcases for himself and for the other members of the band.
Jacob has recently been a member of New American Wing (2004-2005), a chamber trio featuring improvisation with stylistically unclassifiable and spare writing for trumpet, cello and guitar; Astoria Chamber Symphony (2003-present); Jacobsen-Varmus Collective (2001-2003); Brian Woodruff Sextet (2004-present); and, of course, the Jacob Varmus Quintet.
He is the artistic director for Astoria Music Society’s jazz concert series.
www.jacobvarmus.com
October 11th – 8:30 pm
Punk, funk, heavy metal, trip-hop, techno – not words typically used when describing Thelonious Monk’s music. However, these are words used to describe Brilliant Coroners. More of a “Thelonious Monk cover band” than a jazz outfit, this NYC based sextet takes Monk’s music and updates them for the 21st Century.
John McDonough is a composer/improviser/trumpeter based in NYC. He has a number of improvisational outfits, including McDonough Warren & Sparke (trumpet/guitar/drums), phYsYcacKle (trumpet/cello/keyboards) and Dr. Benstock (turntable duo). He has played with Joe Gallant’s Illuminati and Drew Gardner’s Flash Orchestra. He was also a regular at the Punk Rock/Heavy-Metal karaoke at Arlene Grocery, where he usually sang Bad Brains songs.
John has worked with Anthony Braxton and recorded a duo CD this past July. He is currently working on a piece for 25 saxophones, an album of standards, and is collaborating with Canadian singer-songwriter Tony Hightower.
October 12th – 8:30 pm
Tom McNalley
Improvisations using live electronic processing of quarter-tone trumpet and electric guitar. Jeff Kaiser has played with groups led by Vinny Golia, Steuart Liebig, Michael Vlatkovich, Eugene Chadbourne and others, as well as his own ensembles The Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet, The Choir Boys and more. He writes his own audio processing software (using Max/MSP) and is currently working on a commission for choir involving live processing of the vocalists. He plays a quarter-tone trumpet made by Joe Marcinkiewicz. www.jeffkaiser.com
Recently relocated to Los Angeles, guitarist Tom McNalley has worked as both a sideman and a leader. He has performed with a wide variety of musicians, including Nels Cline, Mark Dresser, Jeff Kaiser and John Zorn, as well as with his own groups. www.tommcnalley.com
October 12th – 10:00 pm
Gordon Allen was born in Toronto and lives in Montreal. He has played across Canada and in the U.S. with the likes of William Parker, Jean Derome, and Steve Lacy. He is working on the release of a solo electro-acoustic recording. He practices trumpet in his kitchen. This is the Canadian trumpeter’ s NYC debut. His quartet, co-led with Nate Wooley, plays spontaneous music.
Nate Wooley grew up in a Finnish-American fishing village in Oregon. He has spent the rest of his life trying musically to find a way back to the peace and quiet of that time by whole-heartedly embracing the space between complete absorption in sound and relative absence of the same. He began playing trumpet professionally at age 13 with his father, and after studying he moved to Colorado where he studied more with Ron Miles, Art Lande, Fred Hess, and improvisation master Jack Wright. His tenure with Jack began to break Nate out of self-imposed molds and into the sound world that he has embraced as his own. www.natewooley.com
October 13th
Two contemporary jazz masters come together for the first time to create an exciting new brass project!
JOHN McNEIL is regarded as one of the most original and creative jazz artists in the world today. For nearly three decades John has toured with his own groups and has received widespread acclaim as both a player and composer. His highly personal trumpet style communicates across the full range of contemporary jazz, and his compositions combine harmonic freedom with melodic accessibility. John’s restless experimentation has kept him on the cutting edge of new music.
His background includes the Horace Silver Quintet, Gerry Mulligan, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. John is equally at home in free and structured settings, and this versatility has put him on stage with artists from Slide Hampton to John Abercrombie.
www.mcneiljazz.com
Since 1982, trumpeter Ron Horton has been an integral part of New York’s flourishing jazz scene and he stands out both as an exemplary instrumentalist and as a highly progressive composer and arranger.
Horton has had many long musical associations with leaders such as saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom (1983-2000) and pianist Andrew Hill. He was a member of Hill’s sextet from 1998 until 2003, and appears on the group’s critically acclaimed cd, Dusk (Palmetto 2000). He was also musical director and co-arranger for Hill’s big band, and is featured on the cd, A Beautiful Day (Palmetto 2002).
Horton has also had an integral collaboration with New York’s Jazz Composers Collective, going back to its inception in 1992, and appears on several cds by the other members of the group, such as Ben Allison and Michael Blake, as well as the collective’s Herbie Nichols Project. He is an original member of the HNP, a group co-led by Frank Kimbrough and Allison, that is dedicated to performing known and unknown compositions of the late, great pianist. In 1995, Horton went to the Library of Congress and uncovered over three dozen of Nichols’ songs that had never been recorded. Several of these works appear on the three cds released by the HNP on Soul Note and Palmetto.
www.ronhorton.net
October 14th – 9:00 pm
A FONT Music tradition, Trumpet Nation is a unique amalgam of twelve (maybe more) trumpeters’ sounds.
Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor. Morris came to attention with saxophonist David Murray’s groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Morris has gained notice and acclaim directing various ensembles in what he calls Conduction: a type of structured improvisation where Morris directs and conducts an improvising ensemble with a series of hand and baton gestures.
Drummer Charles Moffett conducted improvisations of jazz musicians in the 1970s, and Morris credits Moffett as a major influence. In his travels and many recorded conductions, Morris has worked with a wide variety of musicians.
www.conduction.us/butchmorris.html
October 14th – 10:30 pm
International Brass and Membrane Corp.
Ted Daniel began studying trumpet in elementary school. He began his professional career playing local gigs with his childhood friend, the legendary guitarist, Sonny Sharrock. He briefly attended Berklee School of music and Southern Illinois University before a tour of duty will U.S. Army Bands. After his discharge, Daniel began his recording career on Sonny Sharrock’s first album Black Woman. His second recording was with a band he co-lead (Brute Force) with his brother, Richard Daniel. The self-titled recording was produced by Herbie Mann. Since then, Mr. Daniel has participated in over thirty published recordings with great artists such as: Archie Shepp, Dewey Redman, Andrew Cyrille, Sam Rivers, Billy Bang and Henry Threadgill. He has held workshops at Amherst College, Bennington College, Williams College and the University of Hosei in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Daniel has produced three albums under his own name, The Ted Daniel Sextet, Tapestry and In The Beginning. Presently, Mr. Daniel is writing and performing with his new group, the International Brass and Membrane Corporation (IBMC). This trio was conceived as a flexible and expandable creative music performance group which utilizes instruments from the brass and membrane instrument families.
October 15th – 2:00 pm
Featuring 2006 FONT Music artists and special guests including Henry Grimes, John Zorn, Andrew Cyrille, Dave Douglas, Steven Bernstein, Jonathan Finlayson, Peter Evans, Marcus Rojas, Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, The Practical Trumpet Society, and many others.
All proceeds will be donated to the Fund for Public Schools and directly benefit music programs in New York City schools. There is an urgent need for this support: The money will be used to hire band teachers, to pay for field trips, for participation in Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall education programs and in the music memory program. Most urgently, funds are needed to pay for instrument repairs and purchase, to buy music, music stands, reeds, mouthpieces, and cases.
Donations of these items are also welcome! Instruments are of course most helpful, as are music stands (foldable). Mouthpieces and reeds…. You may also earmark money for things like: field trips, tickets/hiring musicians to come into schools for specific types of music.
There will also be special offers like CD packages in exchange for donations, as well as the opportunity to pay for a musician to donate teaching time for kids. Buy a private lesson with a professional musician for a student in preparation for a concert or audition!
Please join us for this special closing event and for the post-concert reception in the parish house at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery.
Tickets will range in price from $20 – $100 with all proceeds going to support music in the NYC schools.
October 7th – 8:00 pm
Thomas Heberer is one of the most interesting players on the current European scene. In New York, he has most recently been heard with Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and the Instant Composers Pool (ICP). He has long-standing relationships with bassist Dieter Manderscheid as well as his partners in SSH: Frank Schulte on keys and turntables, and Norbert Scholly on guitars and computer. Thomas has also worked with Pina Bausch, Muhal Richard Abrams, Eugene Chadbourne, Maria Joao, Joachim Köhn, Oliver Lake, George Lewis, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Elliott Sharp, Tomasz Stanko, Kenny Wheeler and Attila Zoller.
On SSH:
“Some low register over-blowing and greasy, fat-dripping passages give us the all-important jazz lineage: Lester Bowie, Roy Eldridge, and of course the brightness and clarity of Louis Armstrong. The way the ensemble thickens, sometimes adding strange vibrations in the extremely high register, is quite surprising…”
– Eugene Chadbourne
October 7th – 10:00 pm
Rob Henke records, works, and tours with many New York City bands including Dr. Nerve, Gary Lucas’ Fast and Bulbous, Diane Moser’s Composer’s Big Band, and The Henke/Sturm Duo. Additionally, he works as an actor with, and co-director of, the educational theater company Good Clean Fun, has performed with The Likeable War Criminals, and has worked as playwright with the Strike Anywhere theater company.
Rob Henke’s tunes come from a simple January idea – sit quietly in a room with a trumpet and some music paper, capture whatever melody is floating around. Name the tune after the first person who comes to mind (no cheating!). Repeat. Stop and record when you have a small pile of tunes. The result nods to jazz of the 30’s, Ornette, and American minimalism. Other stuff too, but that’s for listeners to decide. The completion of this project was made possible by a generous grant from the Aaron Copland Foundation.
October 8th – 8:00 pm
The trumpet player/composer plays his compositions in a new project. The group features members of the School for Improvisational Music, a non-profit educational entity for emerging improvisers based in Brooklyn.
Since 1991, trumpeter/composer/educator Ralph Alessi has been an active member of the New York jazz and improvised music scene as both sideman and leader. Called “…a highly-in-demand, adventurous virtuoso who can handle just about anything” (L.A. Weekly), Alessi has performed and recorded with the likes of Steve Coleman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Sam Rivers, Drew Gress, Fred Hersch and many other of the great innovators in improvised music.
As a leader, Alessi has three recordings to his name: Hissy Fit, Vice Virtue and This Against That (voted one of the top ten records of 2002 by Jazz Times). In the coming year he will release 3 more recordings including one by his quintet, This Against That and a quartet featuring Jason Moran. As an educator, Alessi has been a member of the faculties at Five Towns College and the Eastman School of Music. He is currently the founder and director of the School for Improvisational Music (www.schoolforimprov.org), a non-profit entity currently holding improvisational music workshops in Brooklyn.
www.ralphalessi.com
FREE: At 7 pm, Ralph Alessi, Jonathan Finlayson, Nate Wooley, and others will join Dave Douglas in a panel discussion on new music and the trumpet, from the stage of Tonic.
October 8th – 9:30 pm
David Weiss Point of Departure Quintet David Weiss has distinguished himself through finding flexibility and innovation in music that has it’s roots in the mainstream. He has worked with Jaki Byard, Frank Foster and Jimmy Heath and has studied with fellow trumpeters Tommy Turrentine and Bill Hardman. His arrangements/transcriptions have appeared on over 80 CDs, including recordings by Abbey Lincoln, Freddie Hubbard, and Rodney Kendrick. In 1996 Weiss recruited some young, first-call New York musicians and composers to form the New Jazz Composers Octet. The collective quickly established itself as the “sound of the new jazz mainstream” (Ben Ratliff, New York Times) and was praised for their ability to “stretch hard bops kind-of-unstretchable formula” (Jim Macnie, The Village Voice). The CD was also lauded as a “gem” and received a Critic’s Pick as one of the Top 5 Albums of the Year in JazzTimes.
September 17th – 8:00 pm
In collaboration with FONT Music, The Williamsburg Jazz Festival presents two prominent artists on the Williamsburg Scene. Opening the night, Rick Parker’s Ambient Assault will feature New Orleans trumpet great, Maurice Brown. Other members are Rick Parker (trombone and effects), Sam Barsh (keyboards), Mark Guiliana (drums), Kyle Struve (drums). Long time Williamsburg denizens Jesse Selengut and Sabir Mateen will co-lead the closing band in a marriage of avant-garde and groove, featuring Kyle Struve on drums and Gavin Fallow on bass.
The Williamsburg Jazz Festival is in it’s fourth season and runs from September 10th through the 17th. www.wjazzfestival.com
October 7th – 9:30 pm
12 tones sound silence and melody
melodic karate trumpet tai chi
The trumpet works of Pasquale Cangiano Pasquale began playing trumpet at the age of 17 a self taught composer & improvisor Pasquale spent some years studying teachnique with master jazz trumpet player Roy Campbell Jr Collaborations with others have included: Working with drummer Tom Bruno in a duo setting called “The Ginnies” a racial slur that describes the two musicians ethnic background.
Playing on Natalie LeBrechts Greenpot Bluepot recording Waraw. Currently working on solo works cd a set of trumpet music a melodic journal of concepts from the past few years of solo performance available to the public on BRSS soon.
For this very special short performance Flex will appear with Mike Evans on percussion and probably two dancers.
September 17
3:30: Masterclass with David Krauss, Co-Principal Trumpet, MET Opera
“Preparation of Contemporary Orchestral Repertoire”
6:00: Performance
Music for Solo Trumpet, and Trumpet Ensemble I
Performers: David Krauss, Gareth Flowers, Liam Day, Micah Killion
Works by Terry Riley, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alban Berg, Gareth Flowers, Jonathan Harvey, Paul Rutti.
September 24
3:30: Masterclass with Jim Ross, New York Philharmonic
6:00: Performance
Music for Solo Trumpet and Trumpet Ensemble II
Performers: Gareth Flowers, Liam Day, Micah Killion, Peter Evans
Works by Charles Whittenberg, Hans Werner Henze, Peter Evans, Toru Takamitsu, Sofia Gubaidulina
October 1
3:30: Masterclass with the Atlantic Brass Quintet
“The Contemporary Brass Quintet”
6:00: Performance
Performers: The Atlantic Brass Quintet
Works by Sam Headrick, Jan Bach, Bernard Rands, John Manning, Silvestre Revueltas
This will be the ABQ’s first NYC performance in over 10 years.
October 8
3:30: Panel Discussion – Through Composed and Improvised Music for Large Ensembles
with David Sanford, Dave Douglas, Dave Ballou, and others TBA
6:00: Performance
The Music of David Sanford
Performers: The Pittsburgh Collective, Meridian Arts Ensemble
Works: Selections for Big Band written for the Pittsburgh Collective and Directed by David Sanford, Corpus for Brass Quintet and Drum Set
This concert will announce the release of the Pittsburgh Collective’s debut CD, and the CD release of Sanford’s work entitled Corpus, recorded by the Meridian Arts Ensemble.