Jazz Legends

Trumpeter/composer Tom Harrell, born June 16, 1946, is one of most creative players of his instrument, and a prolific and fresh compositional voice as well. His achievements are all the more remarkable when you consider he suffers from symptoms of schizophrenia, and has only one lung! Early in his career he toured with the big bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, followed by sideman stints with Horace Silver and Phil Woods. For the past three decades he has carved out his place as a leader in his own right, and composes wonderful original music in abundance.

Composer/lyricist Cole Porter, born June 9, 1891, was a rarity among composers of American popular songs. Besides being among only a handful of songwriters who penned their own lyrics, he was unique in that he was born into a wealthy Indiana family. He produced a staggering number of songs that have been embraced by jazz musicians over the years, in a remarkable career that spanned four decades.

Brazilian songwriter Antônio Carlos Jobim (also called Tom Jobim), born January 25, 1927, is the best known and most prolific of the composers who originated the bossa nova. His compositions have captured the imaginations of jazz musicians from the outset. His lyricism and harmonic imagination have made his tunes popular worldwide, and he is so revered in Brazil, that the Rio de Janero airport is named in his honor, a singular recognition for a popular song writer.

Jackie McLean (May 17, 1931 - March 31, 2006) was one of the many jazz musicians to be deeply influenced in the generation coming up under the influence of Charlie Parker. He always had his own unique sound and approach though, recording with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus and other leaders before leading his own groups, notably on Blue Note Records, for whom he recorded twenty-three sides. He was one of the early supporters of Ornette Coleman’s innovations, recording with Ornette on his New and Old Gospel LP. He was a revered teacher as well, turning out many students during his long tenure as a professor at Hart School of Music who have gone on to their own careers.

Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 - September 22, 1989) was one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of all time. His accomplishments as a  composer and lyricist are even more remarkable when you consider that English wasn’t his native language (he grew up speaking Yiddish) and his piano skills were limited to playing in only one key (he famously had a custom built piano with a “gear shift” to transpose the instrument into other keys)! He was an astute businessman as well, one of the first songwriters to control his own publishing. Jazz musicians have embraced his tunes for their lyricism and harmonic twists since his earliest hit, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, which he wrote around the time he was still working as a singing waiter on New York City’s lower East side.

Miles Davis once said all musicians should set aside a day each year to honor Duke Ellington. This year, the Jazz Evensong Quintet has set aside two.

It’s not hyperbole to state that this man contributed as much to jazz and American music as anyone living or dead, his legacy as a composer, performer, and band leader is undeniable. His band featured many of our greatest musicians as well, a great many staying with him for the bulk of their careers.

Saxophonist/composer Joe Henderson (born April 24, 1937) was an eclectic performer, recording over thirty albums on Blue Note records, raging from straight ahead sessions with Horace Silver to more avant-guard outings with Andrew Hill, always sounding like himself in every setting. He recorded with Herbie Hancock and even spent a period of time with Blood, Sweat and Tears. The bulk of the material we’ll play is drawn from the seminal recordings he made with trumpeter Kenny Dorham in the 1960s, many of the tunes this group recorded have become jazz standards.

Henry Mancini (born April 16, 1924) was one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of all time. His film scores won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He had a lifelong affinity for jazz and jazz musicians, hiring many of Hollywood’s greatest jazz players for his recordings and film scores, and his tunes have been embraced by jazz musicians worldwide for their melodic lyricism and intriguing harmonic structure. We’ll perform many of his best loved tunes, Days of Wine and Roses, Two for the Road, Moment to Moment, Dreamsville, and of course The Pink Panther.

Bassist/composer Charles Mingus (born April 22, 1922) was one of the most prolific composers the music has produced. Over his decades long career, he collaborated with many of our music’s greats, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Eric Dolphy to name a few. He was one of the first artists to attempt to control the recording and distribution of his own recordings, founding Debut Records in the 1950’s, and was a vocal proponent for equal rights, many of his compositions are social commentary on the injustices perpetrated on black people in America. On Sunday, April 14th, we'll be performing many of his tunes that have become jazz standards, including Goodbye, Porkpie Hat, Duke Ellington’s Sounds of Love, Better Get It In Your Soul and many others.