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Grammy Award-Winning Vocalist Lisa Fischer Kicks Off Jazz Standard's Line-up For January

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January @ Jazz Standard

Features

Helen Sung Quintet

Ms. Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton

Stefon Harris & sonic creed

Chris Potter Underground Orchestra

New York City, NY — JAZZ STANDARD, one of the nation’s premier jazz clubs, offers another im­pressive month of music with jazz legends and rising stars throughout January. Pianist Helen Sung will lead her quintet on January 6–7, followed by singer Lisa Fischer and her band Grand Baton from January 8–10. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris and his new band will appear for one night only on January 11, and saxophonist Chris Potter will perform with an expanded Underground band from January 27–31. Our “Mingus Mon­day” resi­dency contin­ues this month with the GRAMMY Award–winning Mingus Big Band appearing 1/5, 1/19, and 1/26; and the Mingus Orchestra per­forming 1/12. Be­low is a com­plete sched­ule of January per­form­ances at JAZZ STANDARD, along with infor­ma­tion on the musicians. For every­thing else, visit www.jazzstandard.com.

ALL SHOW TIMES: 7:30 & 10:00 + 11:45PM ON FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS

Jazz Standard is located at 116 East 27th Street between Lexington and Park

Train 6 to East 28th Street

NEVER A MINIMUM

Student Discounts restrictions apply

Enjoy “NYC’s Best Barbecue” Time Out New York from BLUE SMOKE

And an extensive wine, beer and cocktail list

Jazz for Kids every Sunday

Open for lunch at 1:00pm, music from 1:30–3:00pm

For reservations call Jazz Standard at 212.576.2232 or visit www.ticketweb.com

Artists and schedules are subject to change

JANUARY 2015 SCHEDULE

1/1 – 1/4 Richard Bona & Mandekan Cubano

Richard Bona – bass, vocal

Dennis Hernandez – trumpet

Rey David – trombone

Osmany Paredes – piano

Luisito Quintero – percussion

Roberto Quintero – percussion

For over two decades, the Cameroon–born bassist/vocalist/composer Richard Bona has performed and recorded with a host of internationally renowned musicians such as Pat Metheny, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Branford Marsalis, and more. His thrilling Afro–Cuban project Mandekan Cubano weaves together disparate roots, alchemizing ancient traditions into surprising new forms. This journey unites African and South American beats in a stunning overflowing celebration of sound, rhythm, and passion. “When I was a kid, music was not music to us unless there was a beautiful story behind it. That’s my background. That’s still where I live.” (Richard Bona)

Music Charge: $35

1/5 Mingus Big Band

On this day in 1979, jazz giant Charles Mingus (1922-1979) died in Mexico at the age of 56. In a dramatic celestial event, 56 sperm whales were beached on the west coast of Mexico that same day! We celebrate Mingus with our “Mingus Mondays” residency featuring two sets by the Grammy Award–winning Mingus Big Band performing the music of Mingus. “His recordings from the mid–1950s disclose luminous intelligence and energy that was sometimes barely controlled…Gospel fervor, flamenco tinges, fog-bound moodiness, bebop complexity, the joy and despair of the blues, Schoenbergian atonality, were all bound together by Mingus. A driven skipper, sometimes more crazed than Ahab, he conducted from the bridge, shouting praise, condemnation, and love.” – From Jazz Masters: Reflections on the Music & Some of Its Maker by Doug Ramsey (1989, University of Arkansas Press)

Music Charge: $25

1/6 – 1/7 Helen Sung Quintet

Helen Sung – piano

Seamus Blake – tenor saxophone

Mike Rodriguez – trumpet

Reuben Rogers – bass

Obed Calvaire – drums

An award–winning classical pianist before jazz intervened “in the form of a Tommy Flanagan solo,” Helen Sung graduated from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and took first place in the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition. Since establishing herself in New York City, Helen has worked with jazz legends like Clark Terry, Ron Carter, and Wayne Shorter; and has been a key player in such acclaimed ensembles as the Mingus Big Band, the T.S. Monk Group, and Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY–winning Mosaic Project. In January 2014, Helen Sung released her Concord Jazz label debut, Anthem for a New Day. In his review for The New York Times, Nate Chinen wrote: “Clarity of purpose has never been a problem for Ms. Sung…[and] the quality of her touch, like her grasp of harmony and form, has never been in doubt. What’s striking this time around is an openness of vision, paired with a looseness of execution. Ms. Sung sounds both relaxed and searching, and she imparts the same qualities to her crew.”

Music Charge: $25

1/8 – 1/10 Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton 7:30pm & 10pm only

Lisa Fischer - vocals

JC Maillard - guitar

Aidan Carroll - bass

Thierry Arpino – drums

Anyone who’s seen Lisa Fischer on stage with the Rolling Stones, Sting, or Chris Botti, or in last year’s Oscar-winning documentary film Twenty Feet from Stardom will know well her astonishing range, flawless intonation, and casual mastery of the stage. But before joining the elite of session and stage backing vocalists, Lisa was an acclaimed recording artist in her own right and the winner of a 1991 GRAMMY Award for Best Female R&B Performance for her hit single “How Can I Ease the Pain.” In his Minneapolis Star–Tribune review of a September 2014 performance, Jon Bream described Lisa Fischer’s voice as “a wondrous instrument that can seamlessly blend classical, jazz, soul, gospel, rock and folk into the same song and sometimes the same sentence…She mesmerized, haunted and seduced with nuance, dynamics and remarkable inventiveness.”

Music Charge: $40

1/11 Stefon Harris & sonic creed

Stefon Harris – vibraphone, marimba

James Francies – piano

Joshua Crumbly – bass

Jonathan Pinson – drums

Elena Pinderhughes – flute, vocals

Mike Moreno – guitar

The GRAMMY–nominated vibraphonist and composer Stefon Harris – hailed as “one of the most im­portant young artists in jazz” by The Los Angeles Times – is widely recognized by both peers and critics alike for blazing new paths on the vibraphone and marimba with his high-energy compositions and technical brilliance. After a series of six acclaimed albums for Blue Note, in 2009 Harris released his Concord Jazz label debut Urbanus. In 2014, Harris assembled a great new band of mostly younger players, and tonight this ensemble will make its first appearance on our stage. Make your reser­vations now for one of the New Year’s most auspicious jazz debuts!

Music Charge: $30

1/12 Mingus Orchestra

“Gospel and blues, the New Orleans polyphony of Jelly Roll Morton and the urbane sophistication of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the stride piano of James P. Johnson and the dazzling harmonizations of Art Tatum: all went into the Mingus cauldron, seasoned with dashes of circus music, obscure pop tunes, B-movie scores, flamenco, scraps of Mozart and Richard Strauss. To listen to Mingus is to hear the black American musical tradition talking to itself.” (Adam Shatz, “An Argument With Instruments: On Charles Mingus” – The Nation, 9.17.2013)

Music Charge: $25

1/13 – 1/14 Omer Avital

Omer Avital – bass

Joel Frahm – tenor saxophone

Michael Rodriguez – trumpet

Yonathan Avishai – piano

Daniel Freedman – drums

On November 4, 2014, longtime fixture on the NYC Jazz scene Omer Avital released the Motema Music album New Song – the successor to his critically lauded Suite of The East. Vincent Bessières writes in his liner notes for New Song. “With Omer Avital. . ., the integration of jazz with the musical tradi­tions of the Arab world is more than just a convenient meeting. It is the fruit of the assimilation of two cultures…joyfully combining ritual music with Afro-American grooves, linking the phrasing of Eastern melodies with the fervor of gospel and the expressiveness of soul. From the trance of Gnawas to the funky warmth of the Jazz Messengers, Yemenite songs with the workshop spirit of Charles Mingus, Avital’s musicians are at one with him as they effortlessly and joyfully leap from one genre to another.”

Music Charge: $25

1/15 – 1/18 Aaron Goldberg Trio

Aaron Goldberg – piano

Reuben Rogers – bass

Eric Harland – drums

Aaron Goldberg is a pianist and composer performing at the forefront of jazz today. His two most recent albums are co–led projects: Bienestan (2011), with Argentinian composer Guillermo Klein, featuring original music for duo, trio, quartet, quintet and sextet; and YES! (2012), a trio celebration co–led by bassist Omer Avital and drummer Ali Jackson Jr. Home (2010) and Worlds (2006), Goldberg’s prior re­leases on the Sunnyside label, exhibited the sensitivity and dynamism of his working trio with bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, two of the premier instrumental voices of this jazz generation. In addition to performing and recording as a leader and co–leader, over the course of a fifteen–year career Aaron has worked with some of the greatest names in jazz including Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, and Freddie Hubbard, to name a few. On his new release The Now, Goldberg foregrounds a central truth about the art of playing jazz: that no two performances will be the same because the music is created “in the dynamic plane of the present”. Come hear three of the strongest players on the scene today!

Music Charge: $30

1/19 Mingus Big Band

January 19th marks Martin Luther King Day. To honor this civil rights leader, the Mingus Big Band augments its program with some of Mingus’s protest songs including “Don’t Let it Happen Here,” “Fables of Faubus,” and more. “The hippest big band in the universe— robust, earthy, sanctified!” (Time Out New York)

Music Charge: $25

1/20 – 1/21 Jazz Standard Is Closed

1/22 – 1/25 NeTTwork with Charnett Moffett, Cyrus Chestnut, Victor Lewis

Charnett Moffett – bass

Cyrus Chestnut – piano

Victor Lewis – drums

A new alignment of three outstanding musicians, each one an experienced bandleader and acclaimed recording artist in his own right. When Charnett Moffett plays his bass, “the strength, the irresistibility of Moffett’s assertion of musical time is extraordinary.” (Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz News) Cyrus Chestnut is among the finest pianists of his generation, his adventurous improvisations always grounded firmly in gospel and blues. And for more than three decades, Victor Lewis has been the drummer of choice for such jazz giants as Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson, Chet Baker, and Woody Shaw. Moffett, Chestnut, and Lewis comprise a true “super group” on today’s jazz scene – miss them at your peril!

Music Charge: $30 / $35 Fri. & Sat.

1/26 Mingus Big Band

“The 15–piece band…[brings] the kind of vivacious, sometimes outrageous feel that Mingus him­self pulled from his groups…right down to the shouts of encouragement voiced by the participants.” (The Los Angeles Times)

Music Charge: $25

1/27 – 1/31 Chris Potter Underground Orchestra CD RELEASE

Chris Potter - saxophone

Adam Rogers - guitar

John Escreet - piano

Scott Colley - acoustic bass

Fima Ephron - electric bass

Steve Nelson - vibraphone and marimba

Nate Smith - drums

Peter Sachon - cello

Lois Martin - viola

Mark Feldman - violin

Joyce Hammann - 2nd violin

For this special Jazz Standard engagement, saxophonist Chris Potter leads an expanded version of his supercharged Underground band augmented by a string quartet. It’s a new direction for the ECM record­ing artist and longtime member of Pat Metheny’s Unity Band, who has released over fifteen albums as a leader and performed with a staggering list of major artists ranging from Dave Holland to Steely Dan. In the Down Beat 2014 readers’ poll, Potter was voted the Number One saxopho­nist in jazz. “There are moments, in the tumble of a typical improvisation, when Chris Potter seems to be embarked on a hero’s journey,” wrote The New York Times’ Nate Chinen in his review of a 2011 per­formance. “With his strong, focused tone and top–to–bottom proficiency on the horn, he brings a robust physical presence to his playing and an onward–driving sense of purpose.”

Music Charge: $30

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