The Hard Bop All-Stars
Presented by The Piedmont Piano Company
Bay Area Premier - A First In-depth Presentation of Bebop/Hard Bop/Post Bop: The Music of Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Miles, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Clark, Horace Silver, Grant Green, Joe Henderson and Trane. Featuring the front line of Erik Jekabson (trumpet) & Noel Jewkes (multi-reeds), along with Larry Vuckovich (piano), Perry Thoorsell (bass), and Jimmy Gallagher (drums).
Friday, February 8, 2013 at 8pm
at Piedmont Piano Company
1728 San Pablo Ave. (at 18th), Oakland, CA
$20 - To reserve tickets with your credit card, please call (510) 547-8188
An authentic premier of one of the most exciting eras in jazz: Bebop / Hard Bop / Post Bop including the music of the pioneers from that period. The quintet will perform such classics as "Groovin' High," "Confirmation," "Bebop," "'Round Midnight," "Cheese Cake," "Blue Minor," "Sister Sadie," "Jean de Fleur," "Inner Urge," "Impressions," and more.
Erik Jekabson is a freelance trumpet player, composer and educator who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is equally busy playing and composing for different bands, leading his own groups and teaching a wide variety of students. Erik has three CDs out under his own name: his most recent solo album “Anti-Mass”, released in 2012 on his own Jekab’s Music label, “Crescent Boulevard” (also on Jekab’s Music) and “Intersection”, which was recorded in New York in 2002 and released on the Fresh Sound/New Talent label. Erik also co-produced and played on two other recordings which are widely available: “Vista: the Arrival” and “New World Funk Ensemble”, and has recorded as a sideman on over 25 other jazz recordings, as well as doing session work in many other genres of music and on movie and video game soundtracks. He’s spent time on the road with Illinois Jacquet, John Mayer, Galactic, and the Howard Fishman Quartet, and has performed at such notable venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Algonquin Room, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Madison Square Garden, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman. For more details, visit erikjekabson.com.
Noel Jewkes is a master of several instruments and styles, he is at home performing Lester Young tenor sax style as well as the avant-garde sounds of John Coltrane. He is also one of the top clarinetists in jazz today, who can recall the traditional style of Barney Bigard and the bebop language of Bird. Noel is one of the premier saxophonists in Northern California, and has been part of the San Francisco music since the '60s, when he played with a number of blues and rock bands, including those of Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites. Moving to San Francisco in the '60s, he performed regularly with Jon Hendricks, appearing on Jon's In Person at the Trident album. He toured with Jon in the Evolution of the Blues production with Jimmy Witherspoon, and also worked with Billy Eckstine, Mel Tormé, and Rosemary Clooney. Jewkes has performed and recorded with Jerry Hahn, Jack DeJohnette, and Ron McClure, and more recently with Larry Vuckovich, Dave Ellis, Mary Stallings, Paula West, Weslia Whitfield, and Mimi Fox. Phil Elwood, late SF Examiner critic, wrote: "I don't know of a better contemporary modern saxman anywhere." For more details, visit noeljewkes.com.
Larry Vuckovich brings an authenticity and musical depth to his music drawn from his deep experiences of working with legends from various jazz influences from Dexter Gordon, Philly Joe Jones, Don Byas, Jon Hendricks and Billie Higgins to today’s masters, Tom Harrell, Charles McPherson Charlie Haden. He’s played with a Who’s Who listing of jazz masters during his years on the New York and international club and festival scenes, and as house pianist at both Keystone Korner in San Francisco and at the Domicile in Munich. He also reflects influences stemming from his Balkan, Montenegrin birthplace that have earned him recognition as a pioneer in jazz-world music, culminating in his 1980 LP, Blue Balkan, with noted vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. Its reissue with added material won a Village Voice pick among the top jazz CDs of 2002.
He has recorded on such labels as Concord Jazz, Palo Alto Jazz, Inner City Records, Hot House, and currently on his own Tetrachord Music label, producing top charting CDs, including his current Somethin’ Special with guest tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton. The 2010 CD ranked #3 on the national jazz radio charts, remaining on the charts for seven months. He has brought his Jazz-Latin quartet to many prominent venues, including Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in New York, where he also appeared as a guest and performed with pianist Marian McPartland on her popular Piano Jazz show, aired on NPR affiliates globally. He has also drawn the attention of the American film world, including noted critic Leonard Maltin, who has written highly favorable reviews of his recent CDs.
Bassist Perry Thoorsell has worked with international jazz luminaries such as Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Jessica Williams, as well as Bay Area-based legends Mark Levine, and the late Smith Dobson.
Dummer Jimmy Gallagher is a rising young player on the Bay Area jazz scene, whom many seasoned Bay Area jazz musicians are praising for a style of playing that reflects a whole lineage of jazz drummers, yet is uniquely his own style. The Mendocino native who won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, has performed with jazz greats Eric Alexander, Ray Drummond, Marcus Belgrave, Wycliffe Gordon, Dayna Stevens, John Handy, and Andrew Speight.