I had a great musical week playing with Billy Hart, Buster Williams and Billy Childs (for the first time) at Birdland. Taking Billys place on Saturday evening was one of my oldest bandmates, Lenny White, who played with me as a teenager and was around my first loft in NYC, jamming with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Steve Grossman and a cast of dozens, where we cut our teeth. It was a particular thrill to play Impressions with Lenny, who is a very strong drummer out of the Elvin Jones school and has a completely different sound than Billy Hart. Revisting the specific kind of energy when playing in the Coltrane style brought back memories of our sessions in the lofts, over 40 years ago. Of course, the hookup of Billy and Buster is rightfully famous from their time with Herbie Hancock in the 70s. Buster has a sound as big as the ocean with a great beat. Of course playing the first time with Billy Childs was a pleasure. He is a very complete musician and a well known composer. As well this week, I played with Different But the Same, the group I share leadership with Ellery Eskelin, featuring Jim Black and Tony Marino. One of my favorite groups to play with, the music is quite open and free. What was interesting was the audience reaction, since we were playing a free open-air concert in Bryant Park, located near Times Square in NYC. The people who were not necessarily jazz fans sat patiently and listened intently to what may be viewed as not the most accessible music to grasp. All in all a really great musical week. This week coming, I will conducting my 27th annual Saxophone Master Class utilizing the facilities at East Stroudsburg University near my home in PA for nine saxophonists coming from far and wide. They will be performing along with Phil Markowitz, Mike Stephans and Tony Marino this coming Friday evening at the venerable Deerhead Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 20:46:44 +0000
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