“[Mingus Big Band] is digging into the repertoire of Charles Mingus...capturing the best parts of the Mingus legacy: the muscle, the affection for history, the willingness to take chances, the guts and soulfulness."--The New York Times
T.S. Monk Sextet and the Mingus Big Band join the stage to celebrate the legacies of iconic jazz masters John Coltrane and Charles Mingus at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall on February 22, 2008 at 8pm as part of the Bank of New York Mellon Jazz Fridays Series. Known for dynamic jazz performances infused with elements of funk, R&B, hard bop and blues, the T.S. Monk Sextet interprets the legendary influence of Coltrane's masterful improvisational skills on successive generations of jazz saxophonists in the program, Monk on Coltrane. The sextet additionally explores Coltrane's collaboration with Monk's father, Thelonious, in the 1957 Carnegie Hall performance, and will include classics like “Epistrophy," “Evidence" and “Sweet and Lovely."
Four-time Grammy® nominated Mingus Big Band follows with a special performance of works by renowned bass player and jazz composer Charles Mingus. The 14-piece band brings back Mingus' soulful, lush harmonies and ability to fuse jazz traditions with unexplored realms of avant-garde jazz. John Pareles of The New York Times has said the group has “revived Charles Mingus' repertory and the brawling, muscular, hard-swinging, bluesy way he wanted it played."
An Artist Chat will take place with Mingus Big Band Artistic Director Sue Mingus and Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming Mervon Mehta prior to the ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
This concert is the third concert in the Bank of New York Mellon Jazz Fridays Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be the Wayne Shorter Quartet and the Terell Stafford Quartet on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 8pm in Verizon Hall.
Tickets for the T.S. Monk Sextet and the Mingus Big Band are $26, $41, $54, $59 and $69 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Drummer, bandleader, composer and vocalist T.S. Monk formed the T.S. Monk Sextet in 1992 as a tribute to his father, Thelonious Monk. Since then, the sextet's dynamic style has been heard at premier venues and festivals throughout the world, including the JVC Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, Idaho's Sun Valley Center and Nebraska's Lied Center for the Performing Arts, as well as many legendary jazz clubs. Monk has received New York Jazz Award Recording of the Year award and Downbeat Magazine's prestigious Reader's Poll Award for Drummer of the Year, among numerous other accolades. Monk's first release on his own Thelonious Records label was the T.S. Monk Sextet's Higher Ground (2003). In 2005, Monk released the Billboard pop chart-topping Thelonious Records/Blue Note jazz album Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. Also in honor of his father's legacy and to support the efforts of education, Monk formed the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in 1986.
The New York City-based Mingus Big Band celebrates the music of composer and bassist Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Mingus's widow, Sue Mingus, the 14-piece ensemble began performing Thursday nights from 1991 to 2004 at the Fez under Time Caf in New York City. In November 2004, the band began a weekly Tuesday residency at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. The band has also toured extensively in the United States, and frequently in Europe and abroad. Their debut effort, Nostalgia in Times Square (1993), was followed by seven more albums, four of which have been nominated for Grammy® Awards. The most recent albums, I Am Three (2005) and Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note (2006), each received Grammy® nominations for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Friday, February 22, 2008 | 8pm
Verizon Hall
Bank of New York Mellon Jazz Fridays Series
T.S. Monk Sextet
T.S. Monk, drums
Don Sickler, trumpet
Ronnie Matthews, piano
Gary Wang, bass
Willie Williams, saxophone
Bobby Porcelli, alto saxophone
Mingus Big Band
Lew Soloff, trumpet
Kenny Rampton, trumpet
Earl Gardner, trumpet
Seamus Blake, saxophone
Craig Handy, saxophone
Jaleel Shaw, saxophone
Abraham Burton, saxophone
Jason Marshall, saxophone
Conrad Herwig, trombone
Andy Hunter, trombone
Earl McIntyre, trombone
Donald Edwards, drums
Boris Kozlov, bass
Orrin Evans, piano
FREE AT THE KIMMEL:
Friday, February 22, 2008 | 6:30pm
Merck Arts Education Center
Artist Chat with Sue Mingus
Join us for an Artist Chat with Mingus Big Band Artistic Director Sue Mingus and Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming Mervon Mehta prior to the ticketed T.S. Monk Sextet and Mingus Big Band performance in Verizon Hall.
For more information contact Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
