Firehouse 12 to Present the Wallace Roney Sextet April 6th

Wallace Roney, trumpet; Antoine Roney, soprano and tenor saxophones; Robert Irving, piano; Rashaan Carter, bass; Eric Allen, drums; Val, turntables

On Friday, April 6th, veteran trumpeter/composer Wallace Roney will conclude the East Coast leg of his spring tour at New Haven's Firehouse 12. The three-time Grammy winner, and only trumpet player personally mentored by Miles Davis, will perform with his working sextet featuring his brother, saxophonist Antoine Roney, along with pianist Robert Irving, bassist Rashaan Carter, drummer Eric Allen and turntablist Val.

“Roney is doing a better job of integrating elements of hip-hop and electronica into a jazz context than many a musician who have come before him," wrote AllAboutJazz.com's Gerard Cox in his review of Roney's most recent CD, 2005's Mystikal (HighNote Records). All Music Guide reviewer Matt Collar added, “he is a resolutely forward- thinking musician who borrows from a variety of sources and time periods even when the overall sound is funky. Roney's own compositions do not disappoint either with the hard funk of 'Stargaze' and the elegiac 'Baby's Breath' displaying the trumpeter's deft creative vision."

Born in Philadelphia in 1960, Roney began studying music at four, made his first recording date at 14, and earned the distinction of DownBeat's Best Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1979. Work with legends such as Art Blakey and Tony Williams followed in the 80's, as did a relationship with Miles Davis that included playing beside him at the 1991 concerts documented on Miles Davis & Quincy Jones Live at Montreux (Warner). Credited with “advancing a variety of Afrocentric futurism inherited and adapted from his trumpet mentor" (Nate Chinen, The New York Times), Roney has cultivated a recognizably inclusive sound, collaborating with a wide variety of prominent musicians and recording more than a dozen titles as a leader.

Check out this March 2006 NPR interview to learn more about Wallace Roney.

About Firehouse 12:

Firehouse 12 is an award-winning bar, state of the art recording studio and unusually intimate music venue located in New Haven's historic Ninth Square District. Its distinctive 75-seat performance space, located inside the recording studio, offers world-class acoustics and unprecedented technical possibilities to both listeners and performers. Many of the most respected names in jazz and creative improvised music have performed at Firehouse 12 since it opened its doors in April 2005.

The local media has called it “a steamy source of bold new music" (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant), noting both its “astutely stylish, updated-classic aesthetic" (Hugh Elton, New Haven Advocate) and its dedicated fan base of “people who bring near-religious reverence to the music, producing an exchange of energy that often fires great performances" (Regina DeAngelo, New Haven Independent).

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven recognized owner/producer/recording engineer Nick Lloyd with a 2006 Arts Award for his “visionary restoration" of this landmark firehouse building, which also earned the architects, Gray Organschi Architecture, a 2006 Design Award in the preservation category from Connecticut's chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 2007, Firehouse 12 founded its own label, Firehouse 12 Records, with the intention of releasing a mix of physical and digital-only recordings, including music recorded live during recent performances. Its first new releases, the Anthony Braxton 12+1tet's 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 and the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet's The Middle Picture, will be released April 3rd.

Spring 2007 Spring Jazz Series schedule:

03/16 :: Steve Davis Quintet featuring Mike DiRubbo
03/23 :: Frank Kimbrough Trio
03/30 :: Ullmann/Swell 4tet featuring Barry Altschul
04/06 :: Wallace Roney Sextet
04/13 :: Step In: Joe Fonda/Carlo Morena/George Schuller
04/20 :: Taylor Ho Bynum Trio
04/27 :: Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts
05/04 :: Tyshawn Sorey Quartet
05/11 :: David Weiss and Point of Departure
05/18 :: Rudresh Mahanthappa Quartet
05/25 :: Kris Davis Quartet
06/02 :: Andy Milne & Dapp Theory
06/08 :: Adam Birnbaum Trio