TKA ROSTER
2015-2016
JOHN PIZZARELLI
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA with WYNTON MARSALIS CHICK COREA BÉLA FLECK PAT METHENY CHARLES LLOYD ARTURO SANDOVAL RAMSEY LEWIS JOHN PIZZARELLI TERENCE BLANCHARD PONCHO SANCHEZ 173 Brighton Avenue, Boston MA 02134 ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY p/ 1.617.254.0007 w/ tedkurland.com DEL McCOURY BAND e/ agents@tedkurland.com JAMES COTTON RED BARAAT AGENTS STACEY KENT JACK RANDALL AK, AZ, CA, HI, IL, IA, MI, MN, NE, NV, OR, WA, WI, AND CANADA CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT jack@tedkurland.com MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO CHRISTIAN McBRIDE JAMES ZIEFERT CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV, AND DC RAVI COLTRANE james@tedkurland.com BILL CHARLAP HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA DAN PERAINO AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, KY, ID, IN, KS, LA, MS, MO, MT, NC, ND, NM, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, JAMES CARTER WY, PR, AND US VIRGIN ISLANDS MARIA SCHNEIDER dan@tedkurland.com LISA FISCHER JON ANDERSON THE EMPTY HEARTS ELLIS MARSALIS JOHN McLAUGHLIN JEFF COFFIN & THE MU’TET GARY BURTON OMAHA DINER THE SOUL REBELS SONNY ROLLINS TKA ROSTER
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ARTURO SANDOVAL & DIZZY GILLESPIE
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA with WYNTON MARSALIS
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS (JLCO) is comprised of 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today and has been the Center’s resident orchestra since 1988. Featured in all aspects of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s programming, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe; in concert halls, dance venues, jazz clubs, public parks; and with symphony orchestras, ballet troupes, local students and an ever-expanding roster of guest artists. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the JLCO performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions and original Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, to compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and many more. “The members seemed to take a particular joy in bringing [Marsalis’] music to life under his watchful eye…and, of course, it swung like mad.”
ANN ARBOR GAZETTE
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CHICK COREA CHICK COREA
is the fourth most-nominated artist in the history of the Grammys, with 61
nominations. He’s also earned 3 Latin Grammy Awards, the most of any artist in the Best Instrumental Album category. Corea’s music ranges from straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, children’s songs to chamber music (along with some far-reaching forays into symphonic works). He has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career, while also maintaining a standard of excellence that is awe-inspiring. A tirelessly creative spirit, Chick continues to forge ahead, reinventing himself again with his band, The Vigil. Featuring the modern-day monster of bass, Carlitos Del Puerto, creative force Marcus Gilmore on drums (carrying on the lineage of jazz from his grandfather, Roy Haynes), saxes, flute, bass clarinet and innovation from Tim Garland and a rising-sun (although from the west coast), guitarist Charles Altura. “[The Vigil are] the hottest newcomers anywhere on Earth.”
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
BÉLA FLECK Just in case you aren’t familiar with BÉLA
FLECK, there are some who say he’s the premiere
banjo player in the world. Others claim that Béla has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him literally all over the musical map. If you are familiar with Béla, you know that he just loves to play the banjo, and put it into unique settings. These days he bounces between various intriguing touring situations, such as performing his concerto with symphonies, in a duo with Chick Corea, a trio with Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, concerts with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, duos with his wife Abigail Washburn, picking in bluegrass jams with his old friends, and rare solo concerts. And of course Béla Fleck and the Flecktones still perform together, 25 years after the band’s inception. The recipient of Multiple Grammy Awards going back to 1998, Béla’s total Grammy count is now at 15 wins and 30 nominations. For those keeping score, he has been nominated in more different musical categories than anyone in Grammy history. “One of the most accomplished banjo players of his time.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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PAT METHENY It is one thing to attain popularity as a musician, but it is another to receive the kind of acclaim
PAT METHENY has garnered from critics and peers, winning countless polls and awards. He has won 20 Grammy Awards in 12 different categories including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo and Best Instrumental Composition to name a few. The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented seven consecutive
Grammys for seven consecutive albums, three of which went gold (Still Life (Talking), Letter
from Home, and Secret Story). Metheny has spent most of his life on tour, averaging between 120-240 shows a year since 1974. Now with Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams, Chris Potter and Giulio Carmassi, as the Pat Metheny Unity Group, Pat continues to be one of the brightest stars on the music scene. “The transition from the opening set to the expanded Unity Group was like the difference between a perfectly crafted black-and-white film and IMAX full-color 3-D.”
BOSTON GLOBE
CHARLES LLOYD CHARLES LLOYD grew up in Memphis exposed to its rich river culture and musical heritage of blues, gospel and jazz. As a teenager, Lloyd played jazz with saxophonist George Coleman, Booker Little, Harold Mabern, and Frank Strozier, and was a sideman for blues greats Johnny Ace, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King. While at USC studying classical music, Lloyd spent nights playing in L.A.’s jazz clubs with Ornette Coleman, Billy Higgins, Scott LaFaro, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson and others. Throughout his ECM career, Lloyd has shown great consistency and creativity in his recordings, much of his music containing a strong spiritual element, some of it heavily in a “world music” vein, and some of it experimental and free form. Lloyd’s concerts and recordings are events of pristine beauty and elegance, full of intensely felt emotion and passion that touches deep inside the heart. In 2013, Lloyd celebrated his 75th birthday with concerts in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum and the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. In 2015, Lloyd will be honored with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. “[Lloyd’s New Quartet has] their own language, articulate and intimate, itchy and soulful and often thrilling; it pours and pours and never goes dry.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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ARTURO SANDOVAL ARTURO SANDOVAL is one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer. He is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions performing live at the Oscars, the Grammy Awards and the Billboard Awards. Sandoval has been awarded 10 Grammy Awards, and nominated 19 times; he has also received 6 Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. His two latest Grammy award winning albums, Dear Diz, Everyday I Think Of You and
Tango Como Yo Te Siento are now available worldwide. His newest CD Eternamente Manzanero is a tribute to the legendary composer Armando Manzanero. Arturo is a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Arturo has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country, as well as abroad, and recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him respect and admiration from the most prestigious conductors, composers and symphony orchestras worldwide. Everyone who works with Arturo recognizes him as one of the most brilliant, multifaceted musicians of our time. “His playing is unabashedly spectacular, yet he uses his technique with dramatic finesse.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
RAMSEY LEWIS Composer, pianist and jazz legend
RAMSEY LEWIS
has been referred to as “the great
performer,” a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis captivated fans with his first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, in 1956. By 1965, he was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with “The In Crowd,” “Hang On Sloopy” and “Wade In The Water.” He has three Grammy Awards and seven gold records to his credit. Beginning in 2005, Mr. Lewis began seriously composing large-scale musical works, starting with the ballet, To Know Her..., created for The Joffrey. Next season marks the 50th anniversary of Ramsey’s first Top 40 crossover pop hits: “The In Crowd” and “Hang On Sloopy.” “When Lewis suddenly and unexpectedly shifts the mood, he can locate and stir the very deepest of emotions.”
LONDON JAZZ NEWS
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JOHN PIZZARELLI The Grammy-nominated
JOHN PIZZARELLI
has established himself as one of the prime
interpreters of The Great American Songbook and beyond, bringing to his work the cool jazz flavor of his guitar playing and singing. He is both a bandleader and solo performer, and has been a special guest on recordings for artists such as Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Donna Summer, Roberta Flack, Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen, and his father Bucky Pizzarelli. After his recent smash success with the Boston Pops, he was hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.” And the Seattle Times called him “a tour de force” and “a rare entertainer of the old school.” Before a recent show in the Northwest, the local paper quipped, “John Pizzarelli is so impossibly cool, he shouldn’t be legally allowed to enter Oregon.” John regularly performs with his quartet, the Swing Seven and the Big Band, as well as special occasions with his wife, Jessica Molaskey, and the legendary Ramsey Lewis. “Mr. Pizzarelli is both jazz virtuoso and a skilled interpreter of the Great American Songbook. What sets him apart are his skills as an entertainer and a firm belief the Songbook is an everevolving work in progress.”
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
TERENCE BLANCHARD Early on, TERENCE
BLANCHARD made a name for himself as a top-tier jazz trumpeter from
New Orleans and has since gone on to enjoy a multifaceted career both in the jazz world and beyond. He’s not only a five-time Grammy Award winner, but he’s also a renowned film-score and soundtrack composer (most recently for George Lucas). For the stage, he created the score for the Emily Mann-directed revival of Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play A
Streetcar Named Desire and an opera commissioned by Opera St. Louis (with librettist Michael Cristofer). Blanchard is the artistic director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s jazz series as well as for the Henry Mancini Institute, and for a decade served as the artistic director of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. His latest album for Blue Note is the compellingly titled Magnetic. “Magnetic is the sound of jazz growing in meaningful ways.”
STEREOPHILE
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PONCHO SANCHEZ If you wanted to picture the music of percussionist
PONCHO SANCHEZ, you’d be looking at
a kaleidoscopic swirl of some of the hottest color and brightest lights to emerge from either side of the Mexi-Cali border. Sanchez’s musical consciousness, by his teen years, had already been solidified by the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Wilson Pickett, and James Brown. Whatever the genre, the mesmerizing array of sounds and colors from Poncho Sanchez’s youth have telegraphed across the decades continuing to inform his creative sensibilities. His relationship with Concord Records is now in its second decade, and has yielded two dozen recordings, a Grammy Award, and several Grammy nominations. “The Latin jazz of Poncho Sanchez rolls on like a well-oiled machine, showcasing the verities that have made him North America’s (if not the world’s) most popular conguero-bandleader.”
JAZZTIMES
ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY A leading champion of The Great American Songbook,
ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY
has
made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host, and producer. Her unique way of blending jazz and traditional pop makes her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters, and clubs, as well as on television and in film. Tony nominated for her performance in the Broadway hit Swing!, she is also a Platinum Award-winning songwriter with her songs gracing six of Barbra Streisand’s recent CDs. In addition to Streisand, Callaway has also written songs with Carole King, Rolf Lovland, Barbara Carroll, and remains the only composer to have collaborated with Cole Porter. “Her understanding of The Great American Songbook makes pretenders pale in comparison… and the audience adores her.”
THE GUARDIAN [UK]
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DEL McCOURY BAND Among the most distinguished practitioners of traditional bluegrass, DEL
McCOURY has been
the epitome of the “high lonesome sound” for over three decades. McCoury first big break came in 1963 when Bill Monroe, impressed by his picking, invited him to join his Blue Grass Boys. During his stint in the Blue Grass Boys, McCoury slid into the group’s lead vocal slot and took up rhythm guitar. Today, the DEL
McCOURY BAND enjoys the praise of traditional bluegrass lovers and
tie-dyed clad “Del-Heads” alike. Their current dates range from performing arts centers to hardcore bluegrass festivals to hip, youth-oriented “jamfests” such as Bonnaroo and High Sierra; as well as collaborations with acts ranging the musical spectrum including Phish, Vince Gill, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Dierks Bentley, Steve Earle, and the String Cheese Incident – all the while spreading the bluegrass gospel wherever they go. Del has proven not to be a relic of bluegrass music’s past, but an architect of its future. To that end, he is bringing new life to the work of the “Dust Bowl Troubadour,” Woody Guthrie. With the support of Woody Guthrie’s family, Del has taken an evening’s worth of never-before-heard lyrics and set them to music. “To see the chiseled, silver-maned McCoury towering above his sons and their peers, all dressed in white shirts and dark suits, each one bobbing toward the single mike as it’s their turn to sing or solo, is to witness the best string band of our time.”
THE WASHINGTON POST
JAMES COTTON The overwhelmingly powerful harmonica of
JAMES COTTON is one of the iconic sounds of the
blues. His skills are unrivaled, his story the stuff of legend. Born on a cotton plantation in Tunica, Mississippi in 1935, Cotton learned harmonica directly from Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) as a small child. He toured with Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf, recorded for Sun Records, and spent 12 years with Muddy Waters before stepping out on his own. Leading his own band, he earned his reputation as one of the most commanding live blues performers in the world—a man who could literally suck the reeds out of his harmonica from the pure force of his playing—one highenergy performance at a time. His latest album, Cotton Mouth Man proves James Cotton’s highcompression blues harmonica playing is still a true force of nature, while his songs and stories are a living history of the blues. As The San Francisco Examiner says, “James Cotton is an inimitable blues legend. His wailing harmonica blows them away. His improvisations on the blues are full of fun and good humor. The blues don’t get much better.” “Among the greats of all time. He blazes on the harp with brilliant virtuosity.”
ROLLING STONE
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RED BARAAT There’s a reason why NPR called RED
BARAAT ‘The Best Party Band in Years.’ The pioneering
eight-piece band from Brooklyn fuse North Indian bhangra rhythms with New Orleans’ brass, jazz virtuosity, and soul. This utterly unique sound is matched by the band’s infectious and abounding energy. Red Baraat’s last album debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music Charts and the group was a subject of features in the Wall St. Journal, Rolling Stone, and in nearly every major daily newspaper in their tour markets. One of the most exceptional and vital groups playing today, their touring history includes some of the most prestigious theaters and PACs in the world (Lincoln Center, Minneapolis Orchestra Hall, Scottsdale Center, Rialto Center), the biggest festivals (Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Bestival UK, Monterey Jazz, New Orleans Jazz) and best clubs (Bowery Ballroom, 9:30 Club, Tipitinas, Slim’s). At each stop, the band draws an audience as diverse as the group itself, pulled together to celebrate and dance in Red Baraat’s spirit of joy, inclusion, and plurality. Red Baraat will be releasing their much anticipated new record in early 2015, and will enjoy a fresh wave of national/local press attention to support their live performances. “Red Baraat is the best party band I’ve seen in years. The group plays rollicking funk music steeped in Northern India’s wedding celebrations, with a dash of D.C. go-go beats and hip-hop.”
BOB BOILEN, NPR
STACEY KENT At the age of 14, STACEY
KENT discovered the endless charms of the album, Getz/Gilberto, an
historic encounter of jazz and bossa nova, after which nothing would ever be the same. Brazil became, in her eyes, more than a country: a kind of internalized poetic horizon, a chosen land on an intimate scale, adjusted to the proportions of her soul, her singing and her inspiration. Whether she literally celebrates them through covers of Tom Jobim, Sergio Mendes or Luiz Bonfá, or whether she summons the spirit through the finesse of her performances, Stacey Kent has never loosened the emotional ties that bind her to Brazilian music. It is this passion, made both of depth and lightness, that pervades her tenth album. The Changing Lights is not “Stacey Kent’s Brazilian record.” It is more a recreational break or a sound postcard than a stuffy exercise of style. In collaboration with her partner and husband, the English saxophonist, composer and arranger, Jim Tomlinson, Stacey Kent simply displays all the sensitive qualities of a musician for whom Brazil represents, precisely and foremost, “a region of the heart.” “She’s always in complete control of her craft, and smiling throughout her breezy commitment to it. Those left breathless are those lucky enough to be listening to her.”
HUFFINGTON POST
16
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Jazz songstress
CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT has dazzled audiences around the world with
her expressive style and masterful vocal technique. Winner of the 2010 Thelonious Monk Competition, she has been called a “true and remarkable jazz singer…a young jazz prodigy” by Paris Hot Club Magazine. Rediscovering unique interpretations of unknown and scarcely recorded jazz and blues compositions, McLorin Salvant has performed with renowned musicians such as Jean-Francois Bonnel, Rodney Whitaker, Dan Nimmer, Jackie Terrasson, Sadao Watanabe, Archie Shepp, and Aaron Diehl, and as a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. McLorin Salvant released her second album, Woman
Child, in 2013 on Mack Avenue Records, which garnered a Grammy Nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album. 2014 was an amazing year for Cécile in the press, winning the DownBeat Critics Poll in four categories: Jazz Album, Female Vocalist, Rising Star Jazz Artist, and Rising Star Female Vocalist. “Ms. McLorin Salvant has it all...If anyone can extend the lineage of the Big Three—Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald—it is this 23-year-old virtuoso.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT
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MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO Mercurial and masterful, MESHELL
NDEGEOCELLO has survived the best and worst of what a
career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musical trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered—unequivocally herself. A bass player above all else, Meshell brings her warm, fat, and melodic groove to everything she does and has appeared alongside the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, James Blood Ulmer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Allen, John Medeski, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan. One of the first women to be featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine, Meshell remains one of few women who write the music, sing the songs, and lead the band. Her latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. It is groove driven, infectiously melodic, lyrically meditative and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. “A singer-songwriter of searching candor and an electric bassist of mesmerizing skill.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
CHRISTIAN McBRIDE When CHRISTIAN
McBRIDE hit the jazz scene like a comet at age 17, his huge, woodsy sound
and precocious agility invited early comparisons to the storied bassist Ray Brown. Brown, in fact, asked him to join him in his legendary group, Superbass. Since the early 1990s McBride has been the go-to bassist in jazz, having recorded on over 300 dates as a sideman. McBride has recently toured with Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, John McLaughlin and Kenny Garrett, the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour – 55th Anniversary. He has maintained residencies and artistic leadership roles with organizations ranging from New York’s 92nd St. Y and Jazz House Kids to NJPAC. McBride has accomplished all of this while also touring consistently for years with his own quintet, Inside Straight, and the trio he has formed from that quintet’s core of pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. Additionally, he also fronts the Christian McBride Big Band, whose recording, The Good Feeling , won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2012—McBride’s third Grammy win overall. This year the DownBeat Critics awarded Christian the title of Best Acoustic Bass. “Jazz has been played like this for decades, but that doesn’t stifle the cheers when experts like these go for it.”
THE GUARDIAN [UK]
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RAVI COLTRANE RAVI COLTRANE is at the forefront of the restless few who are carving up new paths in jazz. DownBeat called him, “A modernist who has absorbed a wealth of jazz [and] those influences are couched so well, resulting in a unique sound, best described as ‘elusive beauty.’” Passionately committed to the value of “working bands,” Ravi pulls together like-minded individuals who can contribute to the group, moving their repertoire forward with original compositions and fresh takes on jazz standards. The Grammy-nominated Saxophonist recently debuted on the Blue Note label with his album Spirit Fiction to critical acclaim. “It was the way [Coltrane’s Quartet] locked into the tunes and one another that ultimately made for a ferocious juggernaut.”
THE BOSTON GLOBE
BILL CHARLAP One of the world’s premier jazz pianists,
BILL CHARLAP has performed and recorded with
many leading artists of our time, ranging from jazz masters Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis, to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. His Bill Charlap Trio is now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz music. Charlap is also the artistic director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at the 92nd Street Y, and he has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the JVC Jazz Festival, and the Hollywood Bowl. A two-time Grammy nominee, Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes. Together, Charlap and Rosnes have released the gorgeous duo piano recording Double Portrait on the Blue Note label. “Bill Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…no matter how imaginative or surprising his take on a song is, he invariably zeroes in on its essence.”
TIME MAGAZINE
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HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA As scion of an illustrious musical family, the Cuban pianist HAROLD
LÓPEZ-NUSSA is one of
the brightest lights on Havana’s thriving jazz scene. Son of drummer Ruy López-Nussa and nephew of pianist Ernan López-Nussa, Harold gained international attention when he won top honors at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Piano Competition in 2005 (a triumph that earned him a featured festival spot the following year). While touring widely with the Buena Vista Social Club vocalist Omara Portuondo, he launched his solo career as the leader of a superlative trio with his younger brother, the phenomenal drummer Ruy Adrián López-Nussa. Harold’s performances reveal a mature musician who has fully integrated his classical training and love of the jazz continuum with his Cuban roots. Ultimately, López-Nussa is a player of astonishing gifts, combining dazzling technique with an abundance of soul. “Harold López-Nussa is at the forefront of a new generation of Cuban jazz pianists.”
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
JAMES CARTER JAMES CARTER is a powerhouse musician and one of the most admired saxophonists of his generation, garnering plaudits for his role in helping to propel jazz full tilt into the future over the past twenty-five years. His music is fueled by deep respect and intimate knowledge of the jazz tradition. Rolling Stone asserted that “…saxophonist James Carter is as near as jazz gets nowadays to a Young Turk—not some ironically avant-post-rock experimentalist but a cocky scene stealer with…a knack for coming up with noticeable records.” For Atlantic Records, Sony, UMG and various independent labels, Carter has released 15 titles under his own name with an additional 17 titles in collaboration with other world class artists such as Madeleine Peyroux, John Medeski, Cyrus Chestnut, Julius Hemphill and the Detroit Symphony. He plays all genres of music to a world without boundaries—he is the complete musician, a technician with no apparent limits and a poet of deep sensibility. “James Carter has taken saxophone virtuosity to extraordinary lengths. His instruments don’t just talk, they whisper and roar, shout, chuckle and moan.”
THE LONDON TIMES
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MARIA SCHNEIDER MARIA SCHNEIDER has composed music hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” From their first recording,
Evanescence, Schneider began to develop a personal way of writing for her 17-member collective, tailoring her compositions to distinctly highlight the unique voices in the group. By doing so, she created a distinguished body of work, garnering nine Grammy nominations and two Grammy Awards. Subsequently, the Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide. Schneider herself has received numerous and varied commissions as well as guest conducting invites, leading her to collaborate and work with 80 plus groups from more than 30 countries spanning Europe, Australia, Asia, North and South America. This year Maria garnered 3 DownBeat Critics Awards, winning again in the Big Band, Composer, and Arranger categories. “Schneider leads what many call the best large ensemble in jazz. Her music is full of depth and variety, and her band stacked with some of the best soloists to be found anywhere.”
NPR
LISA FISCHER On tour with the Rolling Stones, Sting, Chris Botti or Nine Inch Nails, the name LISA
FISCHER
may not be on the marquee, but she doesn’t care. She’s too busy loving every minute of it. Lisa’s astonishing range and intonation, mastery of the stage, how her tone wraps itself around your heart and won’t let go; these qualities keep her phone ringing. But it’s the sweetness of her smile, her visible pleasure in watching her band mates do their stuff, her glamorous-girl-nextdoor quality that make fans all over the world think she’s their own secret discovery (while her “Gimme Shelter” duet with Mick Jagger on YouTube has millions of hits). Lisa’s featured in the Acadamy Award-winning documentary Twenty Feet from Stardom along with “the greatest artists you’ve never heard of;” Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Patti Austin, and Judith Hill. Lisa now has ideal co-conspirators in Grand Baton. Jean-Christophe Maillard (aka Grand Baton) serves as music director/shaman, guitarist, and arranger, Thierry Arpino, drums and percussion, and Aidan Carroll on bass. With Grand Baton providing a magic carpet under her feet, Lisa Fischer stretches out, freeing her virtuosity, range, and vision to mold the melodies and rhythms so we can hear familiar songs again for the first time. “She has one of those voices that is a gift from God…one of those voices you will never forget.”
CASHBOX
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JON ANDERSON Best known as the lead singer/songwriter of the legendary supergroup, Yes, JON
ANDERSON
is also an accomplished solo artist and composer. Anderson’s innovative solo music career has placed him prominently on center stage, but Jon has also teamed up with other superstars Vangelis, Kitaro, Rick Wakeman and Mike Oldfield. Jon’s solo show includes many classic songs from all across the Yes songbook & his own eclectic solo work. “This was a joyous and life-affirming night of great music.”
TONEDEAF
THE EMPTY HEARTS Even though THE
EMPTY HEARTS feature members of Blondie, The Cars, Chesterfield Kings
and The Romantics—as well as being christened by Little Steven Van Zandt from his supersecret list of unused band names—this is no cynically constructed super group. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Clem Burke (Blondie), two-time Grammy nominee and MTV Video of the Year Award winning guitarist Elliot Easton (The Cars), bassist Andy Babiuk (The Chesterfield Kings) and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Wally Palmar (The Romantics) have parlayed a combined lifetime of rock ‘n’ roll into their self-titled 429 Records debut, a sterling collection of influences that include ‘50s American roots rock ‘n’ roll, ‘60s British Invasion and ‘70s garagepunk that is anything but retro, rather a refreshing return to core musical values. “Sometimes things just make sense. The stars align and the results are unbelievable. Get ready folks because greatness will soon be upon us. For you power popsters out there, your minds are about to be blown.”
INNOCENT WORDS
28
ELLIS MARSALIS At his core,
ELLIS MARSALIS is a modern jazz musician. The term may seem dated now,
but it carried particular weight when Ellis was coming of a musical age in the ’50s and ’60s— especially in New Orleans, a city where tourism demanded that jazz musicians be nothing more than traditionalists. Ellis was different; more attuned to jazz’s future, he developed a lean and commanding approach to the piano trio, helping to create a modern movement in New Orleans with his collective American Jazz Quintet and his own quartet while also educating the next generation of jazz: Blanchard, Payton, Harry Connick Jr., and, of course, all those Marsalis Brothers. “[Let’s] set the public straight about who is the jazziest Marsalis of them all.”
THE BOSTON PHOENIX
JOHN McLAUGHLIN JOHN McLAUGHLIN has famously performed with Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and his own historic bands: The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti and The Guitar Trio. In fact, his work on Davis’ first gold record, Bitches Brew, pointed the way to new jazz possibilities. Through almost four decades of his career, one constant has been Mr. McLaughlin’s artistry as a virtuoso guitarist and venturesome improviser. McLaughlin has managed to not be eclipsed by his own history, forever moving forward with stellar outfits to interpret his latest musical direction while surrounding himself with musicians who are more than sidemen, but true collaborators. His latest grouping, Fourth Dimension, more than holds its own to make the case for the enduring and sublime power of rock-influenced jazz. “It’s hard to deny the still-blazing virtuosity of the 72-year-old after half a century on the road, or indeed the vigour of his compositions...and the collective clout of the 4th Dimension quartet.”
THE GUARDIAN [UK]
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JEFF COFFIN & THE MU’TET THE MU’TET featuring Roy “Futureman” Wooten on drums; Felix Pastorius’ electric bass; Bill Fanning’s trumpets; Chris Walter on keyboards is led by JEFF COFFIN, saxophonist from Dave Matthews Band. Also a composer, educator, and 3x Grammy winner, you likely know Jeff from his 14 years with the genre-defying Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (1997-2010). The Mu’tet takes its name from the word ‘mutation’, reflecting Jeff’s idea that music must continue to change and mutate in order to grow. Coffin strives to expand himself, his band mates and listeners, with music flavored by his wide musical interests. Drawing from the deep wells of African, New Orleans, Indian, funk, jazz, folk, Gypsy, rock, fusion, Brazilian and other styles of music, Coffin sends shockwaves down people’s spines with his fierce soloing and inspiring, memorable composition. “…equal parts Galactic and Dirty Dozen Brass Band.”
JAZZTIMES
GARY BURTON Since his acclaimed Generations albums earlier this decade, GARY
BURTON has focused his
recording and performing efforts on collaborations with old friends and new, including Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, and Julian Lage. 2007’s The New Crystal Silence, a doubleCD live concert recording with Chick Corea and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, resulted in another award at the 2009 Grammys, and their 2011 duet recording Hot House brought Gary another Grammy. Over his career, Burton has been nominated 21 times, winning 7 Grammys in total. Gary’s latest CD on Mack Avenue, featuring his quartet with guitarist Julian Lage, is titled
Guided Tour. In addition, Gary’s autobiography, Learning To Listen, has been cited as “one of the most personal and insightful jazz books ever written,” Learning to Listen was voted Best Jazz Book of 2013 by the Jazz Journalists Association. He was awarded Best Vibraphone in this years DownBeat Critics Poll. “[Burton]…knows a thing or two about what makes a jazz collaboration truly special.”
THE WASHINGTON POST
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OMAHA DINER OMAHA DINER is many things: the world’s definitive virtuoso of the seven-string guitar, the pioneer of saxophonics, a Guggenheim Fellow in music, and a Grammy nominee. In its 125 years of experience the Diner has worked in some capacity with an unlikely and astonishing array of artists: Aretha Franklin, Sting, John Mayer, Levon Helm, John Adams, Roswell Rudd, Linda Ronstadt, Pearl Jam, Elton John, My Morning Jacket, Courtney Love, The San Francisco Ballet, Sam Rivers, Marianne Faithfull, The Moscow Circus, Roger Waters, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Michael Tilson-Thomas, R.E.M., Johnny Copeland, Bonnie Raitt, Lukas Foss, The Meters, Ween, D’Angelo, Les Claypool, Alvin Ailey, Digable Planets, Sonny Sharrock, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Tom Waits. Now comes the latest invention, Omaha Diner—Charilie Hunter, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Steven Bernstein—four storied musicians attempting to re-define a format that forever perverted the way we experience music. You may love Top 40 (doubtful), you may hate it (probable), you may not care about it at all (liar), but you cannot escape it, especially the way Omaha Diner serves it up. “Not many bands can segue from Van Halen to The Osmonds with seamless dexterity, but then not many bands boast the impressive pedigree of Omaha Diner.”
SENSIBLE REASON
THE SOUL REBELS Imagine blending the sounds of Mardi Gras funk, rock, and soul so seamlessly it defies category. Now distill that idea into an eight piece ensemble, add a hip hop sensibility plus a hundred years of New Orleans tradition, and you’ll get the power-house band known as THE
SOUL REBELS.
This shrewd crew of multi-instrumentalists create a high energy, groove-laden performance engineered to force audiences worldwide to party to their ultra funky sound. Averaging over 250 shows per year world wide, The Soul Rebels bring the party to stages near and far, including: South By Southwest, Austin City Limits, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Wanee Festival and, of course, NOLA’s Jazz and Heritage Festival. “Brace yourselves folks, these men are quickly solidifying themselves amongst NOLA’s proud big brass elite... and seem intent to sublimate the homogenous tones of the contemporary urban music landscape with the lush instrumentation of our culture’s root.”
OKAYPLAYER
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SONNY ROLLINS When
SONNY ROLLINS picks up the tenor saxophone, the world listens. For over half a
century, he has played music with the majesty of a Greek god, and today remains one of the few surviving icons from a golden era of jazz that will probably never be equaled. Rollins first recorded in 1949 and was immediately recognized as one of the most promising, spontaneous, and creative tenor players on the jazz scene, being sought after by Miles, Monk, and the Modern Jazz Quartet. As the most formidable of all jazz improvisers, Sonny remains a living inspiration to musicians and listeners worldwide, he has maintained a steady program of carefully chosen performances and recordings, each one illuminating why, as the Village Voice so aptly put it, Rollins is “the last jazz immortal.” “…a showcase for one of the titans of the music to flex his ongoing dedication to an unfettered exploration of melody, invention and time.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
TKA ROSTER 2015-2016 ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY (12) ARTURO SANDOVAL (8) BÉLA FLECK (4) BILL CHARLAP (21) CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT (18) CHARLES LLOYD (5) CHICK COREA (4) CHRISTIAN McBRIDE (20) DEL McCOURY BAND* (13) ELLIS MARSALIS (29) GARY BURTON (32) HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA (24) JAMES CARTER (24) JAMES COTTON (13) JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA with WYNTON MARSALIS (2) JEFF COFFIN & THE MU’TET (32) JIMMY HERRING JOHN McLAUGHLIN** (29) JOHN PIZZARELLI (9) JON ANDERSON (28) LISA FISCHER (25) MARIA SCHNEIDER (25)
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO (20) OMAHA DINER (33) PAT METHENY (5) PONCHO SANCHEZ (12) RAMSEY LEWIS (8) RAVI COLTRANE (21) RED BARAAT (16) RONNIE EARL & THE BROADCASTERS ROY HAYNES ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD*** SONNY ROLLINS (<) STACEY KENT (16) TERENCE BLANCHARD (9) THE SOUL REBELS* (33) THE EMPTY HEARTS (28) WYNTON MARSALIS (2)
HOLIDAY ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY ARTURO SANDOVAL ELLIS MARSALIS JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA JOHN PIZZARELLI
*Performing Arts Centers, Festivals only **North America, Mexico, Caribbean only *** Excluding Europe and Australia
TED KURLAND ASSOCIATES
TERENCE BLANCHARD
2015-2016 173 BRIGHTON AVE. BOSTON, MA 02134 p/ 1.617.254.0007 e/ agents@tedkurland.com w/ tedkurland.com CONFERENCES/BOOTHS: WAA 310 / AMW 207 / PAE 1008 / IEBA Agents Alley / APAP 511 & 513