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News :: Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/7/08 Download as a PDF Jazz Museum Events, May 8-9, 2008
A giant of jazz saxophone, Lee Konitz, will engage in a spirited discussion of his life and career for The National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s Harlem Speaks. At week’s end, percussionist Adam Rudolph and cornetist Graham Haynes (son of living legend Roy Haynes) will play at the Rubin Museum of Art for the Harlem in the Himalayas series. Join us! Thursday, May 8, 2008 HARLEM SPEAKS One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like an imitator of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity that has led him to consistently take chances and stretch himself successfully. Early on he studied clarinet, switched to alto and played with Jerry Wald. Konitz gained some attention for his solos with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra (1947). He began studying with Lennie Tristano who had a big influence on his conception and approach to improvising. Konitz was with Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool Nonet during their one gig and their Capitol recordings (1948-50) and recorded with Lennie Tristano's innovative sextet (1949) including the first two free improvisations ever documented. Konitz blended very well with Warne Marsh's tenor and would have several reunions with both Tristano and Marsh through the years but he was also interested in finding his own way; by the early '50s he started breaking away from the Tristano school. Konitz toured Scandinavia (1951) where his cool sound was influential and he fit in surprisingly well with Stan Kenton's Orchestra (1952-54), being featured on many charts by Bill Holman and Bill Russo. Konitz was primarily a leader from that point on. He almost retired from music in the early '60s but re-emerged a few years later. His recordings have ranged from cool bop to thoughtful free improvisations and his Milestone set of Duets (1967) is a classic. In the late '70s Konitz led a notable Nonet and in 1992 he won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize. He kept a busy release schedule throughout the '90s and dabbled in the world of classical with 2000's French Impressionist Music from the Turn of the Twentieth Century. The Mark Masters Ensemble joined him for 2004's One Day With Lee. And in 2007 he recorded Portology with the Ohad Talmor Big Band. He has recorded on soprano and tenor but has mostly stuck to his distinctive alto. Lee Konitz has led consistently stimulating sessions for many labels including Prestige, Dragon, Pacific Jazz, Vogue, Storyville, Atlantic, Verve, Wave, Milestone, MPS, Polydor, Bellaphon, SteepleChase, Sonet, Groove Merchant, Roulette, Progressive, Choice, IAI, Chiaroscuro, Circle, Black Lion, Soul Note, Storyville, Evidence and Philogy. Friday, May 9, 2008 HARLEM IN THE HIMALAYAS Adam Rudolph: Originally from Chicago, composer and handrummer/percussionist Adam Rudolph has, for the past three decades, appeared at festivals and concerts throughout North & South America, Europe, Africa, and Japan. In 1988 Rudolph began his association with the legendary Yusef Lateef, which lasts to this day. He has recorded 14 albums with Dr. Lateef including their large ensemble collaborations: The World at Peace (1995), Beyond the Sky (2000) and 2003’s In The Garden with Rudolph conducting his Go: Organic Orchestra. He has performed worldwide with Dr. Lateef in ensembles ranging from their acclaimed duo concerts to appearing as guest soloist with Koln, Atlanta and Detroit symphony orchestras. Since 1992 Rudolph has lead his own performing ensemble, Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures, featuring drummer Hamid Drake, Ralph Jones, and Venice based Butoh dance innovator Oguri. The group has performed in both Europe and the United States, and has released several CD’s featuring Rudolph’s compositions. In 1995 he premiered The Dreamer, an Opera based on Nietzsche's "Birth of Tragedy". From 1998 to 2001 Rudolph performed at the Festival D’Essaouira in Morocco in collaboration with many leading Gnawa Maleems (masters). For two of those years he was artistic director and curator of “Calling Across the Water” an acoustic collaboration between American, Bambara and Gnawa musicians at that festival. Graham Haynes: Regarded as an innovator on cornet and flugelhorn, an extraordinary composer, and an emerging force in contemporary electronic music and world music, Graham Haynes has attempted to redefine and deconstruct the genre we still call jazz. While his main instrument is the cornet, he is by no means just making jazz music. These days, Haynes uses technology to create imaginative, subtle sonic environments. Even amidst electronic processing, his horn stands out, providing a level of expression that humanizes and elevates the synthetic sounds. The son of legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham was born in 1960 and raised in Hollis, Queens, where he was surrounded by innovators (his neighbors included Roy Eldridge, Milt Jackson, and Jaki Byard). While studying composition, harmony and theory at Queens College, Graham developed an interest in classical and electronic music (Robert Moog was professor of electronic music at that time). In 1979, he met alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. They formed a band called Five Elements, which launched the M-Base collective, an influential group of New York improvisers. Haynes spent much of the 1980s collaborating with Coleman and Cassandra Wilson. In the late 1980s he formed his own ensemble, Graham Haynes and No Image, and recorded his first album as a leader, What Time it Be? Since 2000, Haynes has collaborated as music director and composer on the following multimedia projects: - Electric Church, a multimedia event series at Walker Stage, NYC (2000; Haynes served as producer and curator of the event); Sights and Sounds, multimedia collaboration with visual artists at Bronx River Arts Center-Artist Space Program (2000); Afrofuturistic, with writer Tracie Morris, presented at The Kitchen, NYC (2003); A Cruel New World, a dance work by choreographer Donald Byrd, performed by Spectrum Dance Company in Seattle, WA (2003); Improvizions, with choreographer Roxane Butterfly (2005); and 51st Dream State, multimedia project by Sekou Sundiata (2006 international tour). In 2003 Haynes composed the score for Flag Wars, a film funded by PBS. And during 2004-2005, he composed and produced the original soundtrack for the film The Promise by Maria Norman. Throughout his musical career, Graham Haynes has brought together different musical traditions from African, Asian, and Arabic countries. He has lectured at New York University on the subject of Music and Trance and is a perennial guest at the Gnawa Trance Music Festival in Morocco. Graham Haynes tours annually in Europe, Asia and Africa and has appeared several times on national TV. He is in high professional demand as musical director and composer by film, theater, dance, performance and multimedia artists.
This press release was composed and edited by Greg Thomas, host of the web’s only jazz news and entertainment TV show, Jazz it Up! The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has been ensconced in its Harlem offices for over five years now; its public programs now attract several thousand people a year. The Victoria Theatre on 125th Street will be redeveloped and includes space (10,150 sq. feet) for the museum! If you would like to receive updates on our progress or further information, please contact us online at http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/contact.html or by phone at 212-348-8300. To find video clips, event summaries, program updates and photographs galore from our previous programs, venture here: www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org
Descubre Latin America And our cultural partner, The Harlem School of the Arts, hosts First Fridays: Descubre Latin America (Discover Latin America) featuring children's workshops, music performances, film screenings, and exhibits on Latin American art & culture including a performance by renowned jazz pianist Arturo O'Farrill (see link below). |
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Rubin Museum of Art