Wayne Escoffery
2014 Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star Winner and Grammy Award winning tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery has become one of the Jazz world’s most talented rising stars and in-demand sidemen. He has recorded eight studio dates as a leader and been on numerous other recordings. He began his professional career touring and recording with The Eric Reed Septet. Since then he has been a member of many groups including The Mingus Big Band, Orchestra and Dynasty, Ron Carter’s Great Bigband, Abdulah Ibrahim’s Akaya, The Ben Riley Quaret and Jazz At Lincoln Center’s “Music of the Masters”consisting of musicians hand picked by Wynton Marsalis to perform the music of Jazz legends Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis. During his career Wayne has consistently shared his knowledge and expertise by presenting master-classes for students of all ages overseas and in the US. He is currently the saxophone instructor at NJPAC’s Jazz for Teens program in Newark, New Jersey as well as a part of the resident ensemble of the Jazz educational organization JazzReach. The vast array of contributions Wayne has made to the Jazz world in such a short time leads seasoned industry professionals like Niel Tesser to write “Pay special attention to tenor man Wayne Escoffery, whose rapid development — from album to album (and seemingly solo to solo) — has given us a jazz hero for the coming decade.”
You can learn more about Escoffery and his music on his website: http://www.escofferymusic.com/
Wayne Escoffery is a D’Addario Artist.
Freddie Bryant
You can learn more about Bryant and his music on his website: http://www.freddiebryant.com/
Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, educator, and founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. He won his third and most recent Grammy Award this February for his composition “Afro Latin Jazz Suite,” following up Grammy wins from his 2008 album “Song for Chico” and his 2015 album “The Offense of the Drum.” Arturo is the son of the late, great, Chico O’Farrill, and in 1995 agreed to direct the Chico O’Farill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, which had preserved much of his father’s music. Arturo’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra continues the tradition every Sunday night at Birdland, one of the most storied jazz clubs in the United States. Arturo has commanded big bands, youth groups, and combos that have all reinvigorated New York’s Latin Jazz scene.
You can learn more about O’Farrill and his music on his website: http://www.arturoofarrill.com/
Anthony Coleman
Composer, keyboardist, and pedagogue Anthony Coleman has been on the forefront of the experimental improvisation scene for decades. His work has been performed and commissioned by clarinetist David Krakauer, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and ISSUE Project Room. Coleman has also toured and recorded with John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Marc Ribot, Shelley Hirsch, Roy Nathanson, and many others. Coleman has recorded 13 CDs under his own name, and he has played on more than 100 CDs. His most recent CDs are The End of Summer (Tzadik), which features his NEC Ensemble Survivors Breakfast, Shmutsige Magnaten (Tzadik), a live solo performance from the 2005 Krakow Jewish Culture Festival that features interpretations of the songs of Mordechai Gebirtig; Pushy Blueness (Tzadik) and Lapidation (New World), both recordings of his chamber music, andFreakish: Anthony Coleman Plays Jelly Roll Morton (Tzadik, 2009). Coleman currently teaches Composition, Jazz Studies and Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory.
You can learn more about Coleman and his music at: http://necmusic.edu/faculty/anthony-coleman
Craig Hartley Trio Featuring Jeff Fuller
New Haven based pianist, composer, and producer Craig Hartley has long been a part of the Connecticut and New York jazz scenes. He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, and has also studied at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. Hartley has performed or recorded as a pianist with musicians including Anthony Braxton, Eddie Henderson, and Mario Pavone. He is currently working on a vast array of projects, including composing original vocal works and commissioned modern dance performance pieces, creating film soundtracks, and leading multiple ensembles.
You can learn more about Hartley and his music on his website: http://www.craighartley.me/
Hartley will be joined by bassist Jeff Fuller, an alumnus of the Yale School of Music and longtime member of the New York and international jazz community. He has toured internationally with jazz greats such as Lou Donaldson and Clark Terry. His most recent project, Sambleza, released an album last year and highlights his love for Brazilian and Afro-Cuban jazz.
You can learn more about Fuller and his music on his website: http://www.jefffuller.net/