July 27, 2013 - Miles Davis Tribute Concert
Legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb will headline a tribute concert celebrating Miles Davis’ enduring jazz legacy and the iconic 1959’s quadruple-platinum album ‘Kind of Blue,’ which Rolling Stone Magazine called: “one of the most important, influential and popular albums in jazz.” Cobb is the last surviving member from the “Kind of Blue” sextet, which featured Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimmy Cobb, Cannonball’ Adderley, Paul Chambers and Bill Evans.
Cobb also played with: Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughn and many more. He is the 2008 winner of the National Endowment of Jazz Masters Awards and a 2011 winner of the SF State President’s award.
Cobb has assembled a group of great jazz musicians for a once-in-a-lifetime evening of Miles Davis music including:
LARRY VUCKOVICH - Yugoslavian-born, San Francisco-based pianist, composer, bandleader and recording artist, has won acclaim from critics and jazz audiences for his deeply imaginative style and repertoire heard at prestigious North American and European jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals. His major piano influences are Bud Powell, Red Garland, Bill Evans, Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones. The New York Times notes that his unique outlook and collection of influences “set him apart from most pianists who are heard regularly in New York.” He has played with legends from several eras: Dexter Gordon, Philly Joe Jones, Mel Tormé, Don Byas and Red Norvo, to today’s seasoned players: Charlie Haden, Bobby Hutcherson, Bobby McFerrin, Tom Harrell and Charles McPherson. He led the Keystone Korner house trio in San Francisco for five years before moving to the New York scene, where he played at Village Vangaurd, Blue Note, Birdland, and Bradley's. When he returned to San Francisco, Larry presented numerous music programs with legendary Bay Area musicians, including a first-time, week-long jazz festival at Kimballs East of West Coast All-Stars: Harold Land, Leroy Vinnegar, Conte Candoli, Buddy Collette, Vernon Alley, Allen Smith, Red Holloway and Eugene Wright. He was also artistic director of the former Napa Valley Jazz Festival in Yountville. He tours nationally and internationally, including an appearance with his Jazz-Latin quartet at the Lincoln Center Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, and a performance interview with pianist Marian McPartland on her Piano Jazz show, aired on NPR affiliates globally. He has drawn the attention of the American film world with highly favorable reviews of his recent CDs from the noted cinema critic Leonard Maltin. His recent recordings have placed in the top 10 of the national jazz radio charts, his last one, Somethin’ Special, with internationally-known tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton, hit #3. www.larryvuckovich.com
DOUG MILLER, was top bassist on the Seattle jazz scene for 23 years until his move to the Bay Area three years ago. He is a direct musical descendant of Ray Brown, the pioneering bebop musician who set the standard for jazz bass through the second half of the 20th century. Doug studied with Ray Brown protégé John Clayton at Indiana University, considering him one of his most important mentors. Doug has appeared in concerts, clubs, clinics and on recordings with many of the world’s leading jazz musicians, including James Moody, George Cables and Ray Vega, has toured with the Count Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras, and with vocalist Ernestine Anderson. He also worked in New York with Mel Lewis, appearing regularly with pianist Ram Ramirez, composer of the jazz standard Lover Man, and performing with a wide range of top players in bebop and Brazilian jazz. www.dougmillermusic.com
STEVE HECKMAN, multi-saxophonist/flutist/clarinetist and composer of more than 120 jazz tunes, projects the authentic phrasing and feeling of the classic John Coltrane concept. He grew up in New York City, home to numerous jazz players, before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1977. He is co-founder of the San Francisco Chamberjazz Quartet with pianist Gini Wilson He has played with such notables as Eddie Henderson, Howard McGhee, Slam Stewart, Chet Baker, Tom Harrell-Larry Vuckovich Quintet, Roswell Rudd, Andrew Hill, Benny Green, George Cables, Billy Higgins and Pete Escovedo. Saxophonists as diverse as Stan Getz, Charles Lloyd and Pharoah Sanders have praised his work. One of Steve’s previous CD’s as a leader, Live at Yoshi’s, received international praise, and was chosen by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the 10 best albums by a Bay Area jazz musician for 2005. His most recent CD, Born to be Blue, on Jazzed Media, features New York guitar great Howard Alden, and is on the national jazz radio charts. www.steveheckman.com
JOEL BEHRMAN, has studied with world-class improviser Ira Sullivan, who like Joel, played both trumpet and trombone. Besides Miles, Joel was strongly influenced by such jazz trumpet heavyweights as Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddy Hubbard and Woody Shaw. He has performed with the likes of Joe Henderson, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Joe Lovano, big band leader Maria Schneider, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin and Natalie Cole. A St. Louis native and graduate of University of Miami, Joel leads his own sextet, has played with various salsa and New Orleans-style bands and toured with such groups as The Four Tops and The Temptations. He performs widely with Pete Escovedo and currently tours internationally with Pete's daughter, percussion star Sheila E. He also works with top Bay Area horn players in swing/blues song stylist Lavay Smith's "Red Hot Skillet Lickers." www.joelbehrman.com
ANDREW SPEIGHT is a clear-toned, hard-driving alto sax player and be-bop virtuoso. Growing up in Sydney, Australia, his early exposure to jazz came from his father, a pianist who often accompanied touring American jazz artists. Andrew cut his teeth playing with such American jazz legends, such as Percy Heath, Nat Adderley and Benny Carter, as they passed through town. He formed his own band, Now's the Time, to perform in the Art Blakey style he had grown to love. Andrew’s jazz epiphany occurred when he got to see Sonny Stitt perform live, and he’s never looked back.
Performance begins at 7:00.