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Jazz Articles about Wayne Escoffery
Wayne Escoffery: Alone!
by David Bixler
In the summer of 2023 saxophonist Wayne Escoffery found himself in Europe processing changes in his personal life while at the same time nursing a broken finger that prohibited him from playing his horn. He used this time of reflection to compose the music presented on his new record Alone on Smoke Sessions Records, which features pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Ron Carter, and Carl Allen on drums. In this episode of LINER NOTES Wayne speaks of the challenge of creating ...
Continue ReadingMeet Tanya Tobias-Tomis and Daniel Kelly from Jazz at The Lake
by Cheryl K.
In this hour, an interview with Executive Director Tanya Tobias-Tomis and Artistic Director and Curator Daniel Kelly of this year's 40th Jazz at the Lake in Shepard Park, Lake George, NY, September 12-15, 2024. Playlist Wayne Escoffery “The Ice Queen" from Alone (Smoke Sessions) 8:16 Daniel Kelly “Obfyor" from Emerge (BJU) 6:09 Jahari Stampley “Power" from Still Listening (Jahari Stampley) 4:16 Michael Mayo “I Wish" from Fly (Mack Avenue) 3:27 Ben Wendel “I Saw You Say" from Understory: ...
Continue ReadingAmina Figarova & Matsiko World Orphan Choir: Suite For Africa
by Dan McClenaghan
Happenstance played a hand in two of pianist Amina Figarova's finest recordings. The first time around it was September Suite (Munich Records, 2005). Though based in the Netherlands at the time, Figarova was staying in New York City when the planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings on September 11th, 2001. The music for the album was her reaction to the event, to the grief and mourning it caused. Heading a superb sextet, she created a beautiful ode to ...
Continue ReadingWayne Escoffery: Like Minds
by Dave Linn
Wayne Escoffery was born in London and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11, later studying at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In the late 1990s, Escoffery started gaining recognition on the jazz scene with his tenure in the Eric Reed Septet and later joining the Mingus Big Band. After completing his studies, Escoffery moved to New ...
Continue ReadingWayne Escoffery: Still Forging Ahead
by R.J. DeLuke
Saxophonist Wayne Escoffery has a long, ongoing association with the Mingus Big Band organization, including a Grammy for Mingus Big Band Live at Jazz Standard (Jazz Workshop, Inc., Sue Mingus Music, 2010). His career also includes a special relationship with trumpeter Tom Harrell, with whom he has played for many years. All that is enough to carry a strong career. But Escoffery is more than that. His career is multifaceted, documented by his own bands and CDs. He's ...
Continue ReadingTom Harrell: Number Five
by John Kelman
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," they say, and since coming to HighNote in 2007, trumpeter Tom Harrell has lived by that old adage, utilizing the same quintet for its auspicious debut, Light On, and three subsequent recordings, culminating in 2011's outstanding Time of the Sun. Number Five continues Harrell's winning streak with the same line-up, but if each successive recording has reflected the ongoing growth of one of today's most compelling small groups--the chemistry deeper and the interaction ...
Continue ReadingSteve Davis: Correlations
by C. Andrew Hovan
Surely it must be considered a milestone to chalk up Correlations as Steve Davis' 20th session as a leader. Just contemplate how much the world has changed since the trombonist started turning heads as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers back at the start of the '90s. The record business in particular occupies a vastly different landscape than was once the norm, a fact that figures all the more prominently in the precarious nature of recorded jazz. As such, ...
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