Blue Note Jazz Club, one of the world's most iconic jazz and blues venues based in Greenwich Village, is proud to announce an impressive schedule of acts for February 2014. Highlights include: Ron Carter in two settings - with his Quartet and with Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band; Bill Evans Soulgrass with guests John Popper, John Medeski, Eric Krasno & Neal Evans, Tim Carbone, and Marco Benevento; Valentine's Week programs with vocalists Nicole Henry and Rachelle Ferrell; Les McCann with Javon Jackson; Patricia Barber; and a special all-star benefit concert for Earthquake/Tsunami Relief in Japan, among others.
Maceo Parker
Saturday - Sunday, February 1 - 2
Saxophonist Maceo Parker kicks off Blue Note's February schedule, closing out a six-night run with his working band. Parker is best known for his collaborations with artists such as James Brown, George Clinton and Ray Charles. As The New York Post declared, "Maceo Parker wrote the book on funk."
Roy Nathanson's Jazz Passengers & Sotto Voce Present:
"Subway Moon, A Poetic Reverie" Featuring The Students of I.C.E.
Monday, February 3
Saxophonist/Poet Roy Nathanson's Jazz Passengers and Sotto Voce band will join his students from New York City's Institute for Collaborative Education's (I.C.E) in a poetic, musical reverie about the subway. Over the last year, students in this 6-12th grade New York City public school have taken parts of poems and prose pieces and transformed them into songs about romance, loss and angst with the backdrop of the NYC subway - providing a generational contrast to songs from his Nathanson's 2009 Enja release, Subway Moon. Performed together around a backdrop of Andrew Gurian's video, they give a broad sense of the diverse magic of our underground imagination. We are proud to present this 10th incarnation of Nathanson's Subway Moon project featuring songs, musical improvisation as well as tight arrangement, choral singing and video image at Blue Note.
Ron Carter Quartet
Tuesday - Sunday, February 4 - 9
Among the most original, prolific, and influential musicians in jazz, bassist Ron Carter is scheduled to appear at Blue Note in multiple settings over the coming weeks - with Roy Haynes (2/25-26) and Donald Harrison & Billy Cobham (3/4-9). However he'll kick off this unofficial Blue Note residency with a six-day run featuring his working Quartet (comprised of pianist Renee Rosnes, drummer Payton Crossley, and percussionist Rolando Morales-Matos).
International Guitar Night
Monday, February 10
The International Guitar Night (IGN), founded in 1995, is the world's premier touring guitar festival, each show bringing together the world's most interesting and innovative acoustic guitarists to exchange musical ideas in a public concert setting. For each tour, IGN founder Brian Gore invites a new cast of guitar luminaries to join him for special evenings of solos, duets, and quartets that highlight the dexterity and diversity within the world of acoustic guitar. This year IGN's North American tour features Pino Forastiere, Mike Dawes, Quique Sinesi and Gore.
Nicole Henry
Tuesday - Wednesday, February 11 - 12
Vocalist Nicole Henry will kick off Blue Note's Valentine's Week. Henry's passionate, soulful voice and heart-felt charisma has earned her a 2013 Soul Train Award for "Best Traditional Jazz Performance" (for her recent album, SO GOOD, SO RIGHT: NICOLE HENRY LIVE) three Top-10 U.S. Billboard and HMV Japan jazz albums, and rave reviews both domestically and internationally by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Japan Times, JazzTimes, Essence and more.
Rachelle Ferrell
Thursday - Sunday, February 13 - 16
Equally gifted as a vocalist, pianist, and songwriter, Rachelle Ferrell returns to Blue Note to close out Valentine's Week. While Ferrell has an established fan base in the contemporary jazz community, she has also made her mark as a crossover artist on the pop/urban contemporary scene, singing backup for Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams and George Duke to name a few. Having released albums as a leader on both Blue Note and Capitol record labels respectively, Ferrell's talents transcend generic classification.
Mino Cinelu World Jazz Ensemble
Monday, February 17
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, programmer, and producer, Mino Cinelu has performed with world renowned artists such as Miles Davis, Sting, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed, Vicente Amigo, and Stevie Wonder, among others. At Blue Note, he leads his new quartet, the World Jazz Ensemble, featuring keyboardist/vocalist/percussionist, Jamshied Sharifi, bassist Mamadou Ba, tubist/percussionist Jose Davila, and trumpeter Bria Skonberg. The ensemble offers a unique repertoire of instrumental, percussion and vocal works, a mélange that bridges world and jazz orchestrations.
Les McCann With Javon Jackson Band
Tuesday - Thursday, February 18 - 20
Iconic jazz/funk keyboardist-vocalist Les McCann returns to Blue Note with saxophonist Javon Jackson, following their successful collaboration on Jackson's recent release, Lucky 13. McCann is best known for his work in the late 1960s/early 1970s with partner/saxman Eddie Harris, whom he first encountered at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album, Swiss Movement (1960), was a top selling jazz record, and the single "Compared to What" sold platinum. Known for his work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Jackson has worked with Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter, Donald Byrd, Ron Carter, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bobby Hutcherson, and Ben E. King. He released five albums as a leader on Blue Note Records in the 1990s.
Patricia Barber
Friday - Sunday, February 21 - 23
"Few performers in or out of jazz are as consistently brilliant as Patricia Barber." - JazzTimes. A savvy bandleader who has honed a tight, telegraphic style with her quartet, vocalist/pianist Barber is known for transforming unlikely pop tunes into sleek jazz numbers, reinventing Cole Porter, and constantly reworking her impressive book of originals. Her latest critically acclaimed album is titled Smash (released on Concord Jazz in 2013).
"Music For Tomorrow: A Benefit For Japan" Hosted by Bob James
Monday, February 24
Featuring: Makoto Ozone + Kenny Barron (piano), John Scofield + Mike Stern (guitar),
James Genus (bass), and Clarence Penn (drums), Among Others
March 2014 will mark the three-year anniversary of The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011. To remember the tragedy and show how music has the ability to raise up spirits in the most difficult of times, Blue Note Jazz Club, Bob James, and NHK Enterprises (Japan's national public broadcasting organization) present "Music For Tomorrow: A Benefit For Japan," a benefit concert to support Tohoku (the severely damaged area in northern Japan), with
special guests (listed above). The concert will be recorded by NHK, broadcast throughout Japan (including the Tohoku area) and internationally through NHK channels. All admission proceeds will be delivered as a charity to The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami victims.
Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth with Ron Carter
Tuesday - Wednesday, February 25 - 26
Blue Note Jazz Club proudly presents eminent drummer Roy Haynes and his Fountain of Youth Band with bassist Ron Carter: two jazz legends, two nights only. Haynes and Carter performed together at George Wein's 2009 CareFusion Jazz Festival 55 in Newport, RI. Pianist Ethan Iverson (The Bad Plus) witnessed the Newport performance and described it on his blog, Do The Math, as "...a rare chance to hear jazz today like they used to make it." Haynes, 88, is a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award-winner and a NEA Jazz Master. This marks Carter's second appearance at Blue Note in February, appearing with his Quartet earlier in the month.
Bill Evans Soulgrass with Special Guests
Thursday - Saturday, February 27 - March 1
Described by NPR as "a supergroup of virtuoso musicians," saxophonist Bill Evans' Soulgrass returns to Blue Note for a three night residency, joined by a number of special guests: Railroad Earth's Tim Carbone, Soulive/Lettuce's Neal Evans and Eric Krasno (February 27), John Medeski (February 28), Blues Traveler's John Popper (February 28 - March 1), and Marco Benevento (March 1). With more than 20-years under his belt as a solo artist, Evans and his Soulgrass project are known for exploring a variety of musical settings that go well beyond the confines of traditional jazz, including rock, hip-hop, jam, fusion, reggae, Brazilian and funk. This run marks the one-year anniversary since their last summit at Blue Note.
LATE NIGHT GROOVE SERIES
Blue Note Jazz Club proudly presents its Late Night Groove Series, which showcases New York's up-and-coming jazz, soul, hip-hop, R&B and funk artists. Shows are on Friday and Saturday nights. Doors open at midnight and shows begin at 12:30AM. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 day-of-show, unless otherwise noted. The upcoming schedule features:
February 1 - Chris Rob
February 7 - Sean Schulich, Peter Levin, Aaron Maxwell, David Diamond, w/ Maritri
February 8 - Thiefs
February 14 - Kelli Sae (All tickets $15)
February 15 - iLLspokinn
February 21 - Akim Funk Buddha
February 22 - Ty Stephens (All tickets $20)
February 28 - Farah Siraj
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