SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2021
VOLUME NINE NUMBER THREE
FARUQ Z. BEY
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
William Parker
(January 23-29)
Jason Palmer
(January 30-February 5)
Living Colour
(February 6-12)
Christian Sands
(February 13-19)
Henry Grimes
(February 20-26)
Charles Tolliver
(February 27-March 5)
Kendrick Scott
(March 6-March 12)
Marcus Strickland
(March 13-19)
Seth Parker Woods
(March 20-26)
Ulysses Owens
(March 27-April 2)
Steve Nelson
(April 3-9)
Steve Wilson
(April 10-16)
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jason-palmer-mn0000811989/biography
Jason Palmer
(b. February 14, 1979)
Artist Biography by Matt Collar
Jazz trumpeter Jason Palmer is a forward-thinking musician with a bent toward adventurous and cerebral post-bop. A native of High Point, North Carolina, Palmer studied his craft at the New England Conservatory in Boston. While there, Palmer was also a regular at the highly regarded Boston club Wally's Cafe, where he first sat in on jam sessions and later joined the house band. Since graduating from college, Palmer has performed with a variety of name musicians including drummer Roy Haynes; saxophonists Benny Golson, Greg Osby, and Ravi Coltrane; guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel; and many others. In 2007 Down Beat magazine named him one of the Top 25 Trumpeters of the Future. A year later, Palmer released his debut solo album, Songbook, on Ayva Music. In 2009 Palmer won first prize in the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. That same year, he starred in the independent musical film Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, in which he played a jazz trumpeter. In 2010 he released his sophomore effort, Nothing to Hide, on SteepleChase Records. A year later, he returned with the album Here Today, featuring saxophonist Mark Turner. In 2012 Palmer delivered his fourth studio album, Take a Little Trip, featuring reworkings of songs by legendary soul singer Minnie Riperton.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/take-a-little-trip-jason-palmer-plays-minnie-riperton-mw0002448896
Jason Palmer
AllMusic Review by Matt Collar
Trumpeter Jason Palmer pays homage to legendary soul singer Minnie Riperton on 2012's Take a Little Trip. Riperton, who died from breast cancer in 1979, was a highly gifted vocalist and cancer awareness spokesperson whose 1974 album Perfect Angel, produced by Stevie Wonder, is a classic of the decade. Riperton's music often incorporated jazz sounds and even featured such crossover jazz artists as flutist Hubert Laws, keyboardist Joe Sample, and pianist Ramsey Lewis. Consequently, her music is deep with harmonic and melodic material for an artist like Palmer to explore. Here, he reworks a handful of Riperton's songs, including such classics as "Lovin' You" and "I'm a Woman," into expansive yet intimate jazz numbers that both celebrate the source material and deconstruct it. Joining Palmer are guitarist Greg Duncan, pianist/Rhodes keyboardist Jake Sherman, bassist Edward Perez, and drummer Lee Fish. While the songs here are not "cover versions" by any means, Palmer does take care to evince how Riperton, with her unique five-octave range, sang them. For example, Palmer even plays Riperton's trademark falsetto fall at the end of the melody line of "Lovin' You." Of course, he does so in his own way, bringing out his burnished, gentle tone and measured phrasing. Furthermore, while Palmer clearly respects Riperton's music, he is not afraid to reconfigure these songs, most often rethinking the rhythm and tempo in inventive ways. Listen to how the bass, and not the drums as in the original, sets up the funky tempo to 1975's "Adventures in Paradise," allowing Palmer to take an extended exploratory improvisation before the full rhythm section comes in. The result is an album that, while showcasing a respect and deep of knowledge of Riperton's music, is first and foremost a forward-thinking jazz album. This won't be surprising to anyone familiar with Palmer's work either as a solo artist or a supporting player, as he's been to such artists as saxophonists Grace Kelly and Greg Osby. An intelligent, highly adept improviser, Palmer represents a new breed of 21st century jazz musicians including such contemporaries as Ravi Coltrane, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and others, who set their egos aside and take a thoughtful, intellectual, and technically adept approach to the music. Which isn't to say this album comes off as a cold, academic exercise. On the contrary, what's so great here is how well Palmer walks the line between romantic slow-jam R&B and harmonically challenging modal jazz improvisation. In that sense, the album brings to mind the '70s/'80s work of Herbie Hancock sideman trumpeter Eddie Henderson. A few songs, such as the ballad "I'm in Love Again," originally a duet with Michael Jackson from Riperton's posthumous 1980 album, as well as "Inside My Love," with its sense of ruminative, sensual isolation, even recall the introspective '70s avant-garde jazz sound of Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava. From the album's cover shot (a cheeky re-creation of Riperton's 1974 album Perfect Angel featuring Palmer in overalls) to the creative and unexpected ways in which he has reconfigured the material, Palmer's Take a Little Trip is a joyful ride.
https://www.jasonpalmermusic.com/biography.html
Biography
Trumpeter | Composer | Educator Jason Palmer is one of the most in demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith (the organist), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Common, Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash.
Having made Boston, MA his home for the past 22 years, Jason was recently named to the inaugural class of the Boston Artist in Residence Fellowship for Music Composition. In 2011 and 2017, he was named a Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2014, Jason was honored as a recipient of the French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship where he collaborated with French pianist Cedric Hanriot, collaborating on an album entitled "City of Poets" and touring the United States and Europe. Jason won 1st Place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and was cited in the June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine as one of the "Top 25 trumpeters of the Future".
In addition to performing on over forty albums as a sideman, Jason has recorded thirteen albums under his own name on labels Ayva, Steeplechase, Newvelle, and most recently with Giant Step Arts. Four of his recordings were reviewed by Downbeat Magazine, all receiving 4 stars or better. Jason has toured in over 30 countries with saxophonists Mark Turner, Greg Osby, Grace Kelly, and Matana Roberts, and has been a featured guest artist on multiple projects in Portugal, Mexico, Canada and Russia.
For the past fifteen years, Jason's quintet has been the house band every weekend at Boston's historic Wally's Jazz Café. He has presented his band at numerous clubs throughout the northeast United States including the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, Sculler's Jazz Club, the Stone in NYC, the Jazz Gallery in NYC, and the Beantown Jazz Festival. In 2007 Jason Palmer was commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a new work (based on a Sudoku game) for his quintet at the Jazz Standard. The music from that suite was later featured on his 2016 recording on SteepleChase entitled "Beauty 'n' Numbers: The Sudoku Suite".
In addition to a heavy performing schedule,
Jason Palmer offers his passion for improvised music as a
full-time Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at Berklee College
of Music and as a board member at JazzBoston. Jason has also served as
an Assistant Professor at Harvard University and at New England Conservatory. He has also served on the faculty at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Mr. Palmer has
given master classes in Boston MA, Washington D.C., New York City,
Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Alaska,
Portugal,
France, the UK, Russia, Canada, and Mexico.
Jason Palmer: “A New Breed”
Photo via http://jasonpalmermusic.com
AllMusic characterizes the trumpeter Jason Palmer as an “intelligent, highly adept improviser,” and counts him among “a new breed of 21st century jazz musicians…who set their egos aside and take a thoughtful, intellectual, and technically adept approach to the music.”
Born and raised in High Point, North Carolina, Jason has been a Boston resident for years, and has made numerous contributions to the vitality of the local scene. Every weekend for over a decade, Jason has led the house band at Wally’s Jazz Cafe. He also maintains teaching positions at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and The Mission Hill School, and serves on the board of JazzBoston. The Boston Phoenix recognized the importance of his presence by nominating his group for “Best Jazz Act” in 2011.
However, Jason’s impact in Boston has not come at the expense of international attention. The trumpeter has performed and/or recorded with some of the most acclaimed artists in the music, including Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Common, and Ravi Coltrane, among numerous others. Jason was a member of Greg Osby‘s touring group from 2004-2006, and recently became the first trumpeter ever to be hired by Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2007, DownBeat named him as one of “Top 25 Trumpeters of the Future,” and in 2009, he took home the $10,000 first prize in the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition.
More recently, Jason toured with the Grace Kelly Quintet and The Miles Davis Experience 1949-1959 (a collaboration with Blue Note Records), and completed a weeklong residency with an augmented seven-piece version of the trio FLY. He also released his fourth album as a leader, Take A Little Trip: Jason Palmer Plays Minnie Riperton (SteepleChase), featuring the guitarist Greg Duncan, the pianist Jake Sherman, the bassist Edward Perez, and the drummer Lee Fish. A man of many talents, Jason made his acting debut in the 2010 film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. Read a review from NPR, who praises Jason’s for “an assured film debut,” and watch a clip featuring Jason here.
This Saturday night, Jason makes his first appearance at our new home with a group featuring the saxophonists Mark Shim and Godwin Louis, the guitarist Mike Moreno, the pianist Leo Genovese, the bassist Edward Perez, and the drummer EJ Strickland.
Watch a video of Jason’s band performing “Velvet Hammer” live at The Jazz Gallery last year.
https://indianhillmusic.org/blog/a-minute-with-jazz-trumpeter-jason-palmer/
Named one of the top trumpeters to watch by Downbeat Magazine, Jason Palmer has performed on stage internationally with his many projects, and captivates loyal jazz audiences each week as house bandleader at Boston’s legendary Wally’s Cafe. In addition to a heavy performing schedule, Jason Palmer maintains a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board member at JazzBoston, an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at the Berklee College of Music, and a visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University. He also has several well-reviewed recordings to his name, and of course, there was also that one time he played the lead in a critically-acclaimed indie film directed by a recent Oscar winner…
Last week, Palmer took a few minutes out of his jam-packed schedule to chat with us. He and his outstanding quintet will perform at Indian Hill Music on Friday, October 19 at 7:30pm. Tickets are going fast!
What was your introduction to jazz and your instrument? What attracted you to trumpet?
I was introduced to proper jazz in my junior year in high school. I started attending the Greensboro Music Academy in NC. That’s where I started playing in a small jazz combo, which involved a lot of listening to classic jazz records and transcribing. By that time I was already immersed into the world of the trumpet. I spent most of my middle school years playing by ear along with the radio (this was back when the radio played a more diverse palette of musical stylings).
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Clifford Brown was really the first player that had a profound influence on me and it wasn’t just his playing. By all accounts he was known as an angel so I always aspired to live up to his reputation. Now I gain influence from any artist who I find plays and lives with love and integrity.
Palmer is an exciting player – achieving pinpoint focus in his attack one minute, turning his concrete bebop lines into caramel, sliding through pitches and bending them to his will the next. – Jon Ross, writer, Downbeat Magazine
Why is Wally’s Cafe such a legendary jazz venue? What’s it like to lead the house band?
Wally’s is one of the longest standing jazz clubs in the US as well as abroad. They have music seven nights a week and there is no cover to hear the music. I’ve played at clubs around the world (40+ countries) and have never seen one that does that. It’s a great privilege to have a residency there now. I wouldn’t be half the musician that I am today without it. I wish every musician was afforded the opportunity that I have with Wally’s.
Why did you stay in Boston versus moving to New York as many jazz musicians do? What is cool about Boston’s jazz scene / fans?
I’ve been teaching in Boston since the year 2000 starting with the Prep school at NEC, then on to the public school system, then to Berklee where I am currently. I also taught at the New School in NYC for a couple of years (I commuted once a week). NYC is relatively close to Boston and it’s not expensive to travel there so I do play there often. So, I don’t feel like I need to sacrifice my family’s quality of life at the moment to live there as opposed to living here. On the other hand, Boston has a lot of work to do to get on par with other cities in terms of support of this music and performing arts in general.
You have also dipped your toe into acting. Tell us about that!
I was asked by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash) to star in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench when he was still a Harvard student. It was an adventurous experience and I have no other plans to act again. Damien did ask me to make an appearance in La La Land but I was unavailable. Trumpet is enough of a challenge for me.
What are your hopes for jazz, and your part in shaping the future of the genre as an artist and as a music educator?
The idea of shaping the future of the genre is too big a burden to wish on anyone. I do believe that as Dizzy Gillespie said, “every musician has an obligation to teach, in whatever capacity you’re able to.” So, I always try to be a positive example of an artist in the music whether in the classroom or on the bandstand. What my students take from my classes and how my performances are received are beyond my control, so I always aspire to be my best self in order to have no regrets.
The Jason Palmer Quintet is: Jason Palmer, trumpet; Noah Preminger, tenor saxophone; Kevin Harris, piano; Max Ridley, bass; and Lee Fish, drums. See them at Indian Hill Music on Friday, October 19 at 7:30pm. Tickets are going fast – order online!
https://vtjazz.org/jason-palmer/
Jason Palmer
Trumpeter/Composer/Educator Jason Palmer is becoming one of the most in-demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Common, Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, and more. He has toured over thirty countries with Greg Osby, Grace Kelly, and Matana Roberts, and has been a featured guest artist on multiple projects.
Jason was a recipient of the 2014 French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship and was named a 2017 and 2011 Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Jason took first place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, and the June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine cited Jason as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future.” In addition to performing on over forty albums as a sideman, Jason has recorded eight albums under his own name and is currently a Steeplechase Records recording artist, three of his recordings receiving four stars or better in Downbeat Magazine.
Jason’s quintet has been leading the house band every weekend at Boston’s historical Wally’s Jazz Café for the past fifteen years. He has presented his band at the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, Sculler’s Jazz Club, the Stone and the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Studio in Hartford CT, as well as numerous venues throughout New England. In 2007 Jason Palmer was commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a new work (based on a Sudoku game) for his quintet at the Jazz Standard. The music from that suite is featured on Jason’s 2016 record on SteepleChase entitled “Beauty ‘n’ Numbers: The Sudoku Suite.”
In addition to performing, Jason maintains a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board member at JazzBoston. He is an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and a visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University. He previously served on the faculty at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, the Preparatory Division and the School for Continuing Education at the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Mission Hill grade school. Jason was the leading actor in director Damien Chazelle’s (Whiplash, LaLa Land) film “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.”
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/jasonpalmer
Jason Palmer
Trumpeter | Composer | Educator Jason Palmer is one of the most in demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith (the organist), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Common, Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash.
Having made Boston, MA his home for the past 22 years, Jason was recently named to the inaugural class of the Boston Artist in Residence Fellowship for Music Composition. In 2011 and 2017, he was named a Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2014, Jason was honored as a recipient of the French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship where he collaborated with French pianist Cedric Hanriot, collaborating on an album entitled “City of Poets” and touring the United States and Europe. Jason won 1st Place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and was cited in the June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future”.
In addition to performing on over forty albums as a sideman, Jason has recorded thirteen albums under his own name on labels Ayva, Steeplechase, Newvelle, and most recently with Giant Step Arts. Four of his recordings were reviewed by Downbeat Magazine, all receiving 4 stars or better. Jason has toured in over 30 countries with saxophonists Mark Turner, Greg Osby, Grace Kelly, and Matana Roberts, and has been a featured guest artist on multiple projects in Portugal, Mexico, Canada and Russia.
For the past fifteen years, Jason's quintet has been the house band every weekend at Boston's historic Wally's Jazz Café. He has presented his band at numerous clubs throughout the northeast United States including the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, Sculler's Jazz Club, the Stone in NYC, the Jazz Gallery in NYC, and the Beantown Jazz Festival. In 2007 Jason Palmer was commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a new work (based on a Sudoku game) for his quintet at the Jazz Standard. The music from that suite was later featured on his 2016 recording on SteepleChase entitled “Beauty 'n' Numbers: The Sudoku Suite”.
In addition to a heavy performing schedule, Jason Palmer offers his passion for improvised music as a full-time Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at Berklee College of Music and as a board member at JazzBoston. Jason has also served as an Assistant Professor at Harvard University and at New England Conservatory. He has also served on the faculty at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Mr. Palmer has given master classes in Boston MA, Washington D.C., New York City, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Portugal, France, the UK, Russia, Canada, and Mexico.
https://jazztimes.com/blog/jason-palmer-creates-duos-in-dedication-for-breonna-taylor/
Jason Palmer Creates “Duos in Dedication” for Breonna Taylor
The trumpeter's new YouTube project involves improvisatory collaboration with 14 other artists
Jazz is a music of the moment, and musicians from across the jazz community are finding ways to work with and respond to the obvious difficulties of the current moment. Trumpeter and educator Jason Palmer has the distinction of doing so on multiple levels. His current project comprises 14 new duo tracks—with accompanying videos—honoring Breonna Taylor, the innocent African-American woman killed in Louisville, Kentucky, in March by police executing a no-knock warrant on her home.
Palmer, an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, based the project called Justice for Breonna Taylor: Duos in Dedication on a kernel of a musical idea. For each letter in Taylor’s name, he created a brief melodic figure. He then recorded the figures, leaving eight seconds of space (representing the number of times she was shot) between each one, and allowed 26 seconds (representing Taylor’s age when she died) of improvisation.
Palmer then asked friends and colleagues if they would be interested in contributing their own ideas to his basic track. Respondents included Berklee colleagues Kevin Harris and Jason Yeager (piano), David Fiuczynski (guitar), and Austin McMahon (drums), as well as New York saxophonists Caroline Davis, John Ellis, and Noah Preminger; pianist Carmen Staaf; bassists Michael Janisch, Zack Lober, Edward Perez, and Max Ridley; drummer Tyson Jackson; and vocalist Rachel Bade-McMurphy.
Although each collaborator worked with the same basic solo track by Palmer, each piece of music is markedly different. The trumpeter has compiled all 14 pieces and their videos into this YouTube playlist.
JazzTimes
Published since 1970, JazzTimes—“America’s Jazz Magazine”—provides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the jazz scene.
https://www.dotnews.com/2018/jason-palmer-talks-jazz-and-all
Jason Palmer talks jazz and all that
September 6, 2018
Jason Palmer and his trumpet. Photo courtesy of jasonpalmermusic.com
It’s September, which means a new season of the Dot Jazz Series is on tap! The 2018-2019 iteration of the series, presented by Mandorla Music and Greater Ashmont Main Street, will kick off in style with a concert next Thursday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m. in All Saints’ Peabody Hall featuring one of Boston’s jazz giants: trumpetist Jason Palmer, who will be appearing with his quintet.
A faculty member at Berklee School of Music and a regular performer at Wally’s Jazz Cafe for more than two decades, Palmer has established himself as an internationally renowned musician and a key figure in the Boston jazz scene. In an interview with the Reporter’s Dan Sheehan ahead of the show, Palmer spoke to his artistic vision and the role Boston plays in his musical world:
Q. When did you first start playing music, and what were some of your biggest musical influences growing up?
A. I first started on cornet in sixth grade, playing in concert band and
marching band. I remember listening to a lot of motown, blues,
R&B, hip-hop music growing up on the radio (pre-clear channel
takeover) and playing my trumpet along with the songs on the radio.
Little did I know that this was a great form of ear training and forging
musical intuition in real time.
Q. You’re from North Carolina but you’ve spent a lot of time
in Boston since studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. Where
do you consider home?
A. I consider home being where I can have my family. My wife Colleen
and daughter Camilla travel with me whenever possible and I feel most at
home when they are with me.
Q. I looked at your bio. You’ve played with a lot of cats!
Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Common, and Roy Hargrove,
just to name a few. Any particularly memorable performances or musicians
you’ve gotten to know?
A. I truly consider every musical encounter I’ve had so far to be a
memorable blessing. I’ve been lucky to perform and work with most of
the living musicians that I’ve dreamed of performing with this far.
Q. I’ve seen you a few times at Wally’s in the past! Would
you mind speaking a bit on that club and your relationship with it? How
does it compare to other places you’ve played?
A. I consider Wally’s to be my musical home. I’ve been playing there
consistently since the fall of 1997! Elynor Walcott and the three
Poindexter brothers who manage the club have been so welcoming to me and
the music that I play there. I would be half the artist that I am
without access to that platform. I wish for every musician to have such
a space. It’s a one-of-a-kind place that’s hard to compare to other
places.
Q. You’ve done albums reworking songs by Minnie Riperton and
Janelle Monae. For you, how do jazz and R&B work together or
influence each other? What’s it like arranging R&B or pop tunes as
jazz tunes?
A. As far as jazz in Boston, there is a lot of work to be done. We need
more people like Mark Redmond and the Poindexter family in the scene,
those folks who take risks to make sure great art is presented to the
public. Some of the enthusiasm that this city has for its sports teams
also needs to be copied and pasted over to the performing arts! I’m
always excited about where the genre’s at. I know many great artists
who are out here doing incredible things.
Q. Can you tell me a bit about the other members of your quintet?
A. Tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger is a powerhouse player with a broad
palatal range on his instrument. He’s got a sweet tone that blends very
well with my personal sound. We’ve been playing together consistently
for the past two years. He’s an excellent composer as well.
Pianist
Kevin Harris is an incredible, acute artist with a deep well of rhythms
tracing way back in the African and Latin diaspora. His concept of
dealing with time on the piano is so refreshing and I’m lucky to have
him in my working band. We’ve been playing together in many capacities
since 1998.
Bassist Max Ridley is the newest member of my band. He
can play anything that I write with such graceful accuracy that it has
really changed the way I approach composition. Originally from Boston,
he’s been in my band for almost two years.
Drummer Lee Fish is the
longest standing member of the band; we’ve been playing together almost
15 years. We musically complete each other’s sentences often when
performing together. He comes from a musical family and happens to be
an excellent composer as well.
Q. Have you played in Peabody Hall before? What are your expectations for the show?
A. Yes. I had the fortune of getting the call from Mark Redmond to present my band last year, so I’m grateful for the call again! I’m hoping/expecting an elevating musical performance that will inspire the concert goers to go out and do more good in the world!
Tickets are $15 and are available for purchase at mandorlamusic.net. Doors open at 7 for desserts and soft drinks that are included in the ticket price. Wine will be available for a donation. A new, limited-time discounted season ticket option is also available at dotjazz20182019.brownpapertickets.com.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/jason-palmer-quintet-winter-holiday-concert/
The Jason Palmer Quintet will present a free jazz holiday concert at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in collaboration with the Summer Street Brass Band.
This performance is free but ticketed and not available through the Celebrity Series Subscription.
Jason Palmer is a trumpeter, composer, and educator who has performed with such greats as Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, and many more. Palmer was named a Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2011 and 2017 and Down Beat magazine named him one of the Top Trumpeters of the Future. He is a board member at JazzBoston and an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at Berklee College of Music.
The Concert marks Palmer’s second outing via Giant Step Arts. His highly-acclaimed Rhyme and Reason was the inaugural release for Katz’s fledgling organization. “I’m really fortunate to work with Jimmy,” Palmer says. “It’s the first time I’ve released music myself, so I’m learning so much about how that works, and I’ve sold a lot more records than I ever thought I would.”
The audacious heist at the Gardner Museum, which included works valued at more than $500 million by artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas, is a captivating story on its own. But in the disappearance of this priceless art, Palmer discovered a metaphor for the lack of respect for art and creativity in the modern world. “I found a congruence between the idea of these specific works being physically lost and art in general not being appreciated in society,” he explained. “I think there’s some kind of celestial relationship between making music inspired by works that are lost in hopes of having the art that I produce not be so lost on society.”
Palmer’s compositions take myriad approaches to translating the missing works into music. Working from images of the stolen art, he drew inspiration for some of the pieces from the content of the source material. “Christ in a Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” for instance, responds to Rembrandt’s painting of a tempest-tossed voyage with a rollicking, turbulent 15/8 groove. The same artist’s shadow-shrouded “A Lady and Gentleman in Black” spurred him to concoct a raucously funky melody using only the black keys of the piano.
Others inspired a more abstract approach, such as “An Ancient Chinese Gu,” taken from a bronze vessel used to drink wine during rituals in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The gu’s flaring, trumpet-like mouth evoked a clarion horn melody, inflected by a melody inspired by Chinese folk traditions in reference to the object’s provenance.
Photo by Jimmy Katz
Jason Palmer
Trumpeter/composer/educator Jason Palmer is becoming recognized as one of the most inventive and in-demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with such greats as Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Common, and Roy Hargrove, among others. Palmer was a recipient of the 2014 French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship and was named a Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2011 and 2017. In addition to performing on over 40 albums as a sideman, Palmer has recorded 13 albums under his own name and has toured over 30 countries. Palmer’s quintet has been the house band at Boston’s historic Wally’s Jazz Café for more than 15 years, and he maintains a busy schedule as an educator, actor and board member at JazzBoston. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has served as an Assistant Professor at Harvard University.
Giant Step Arts
Founded by renowned photographers Jimmy and Dena Katz in January 2018, Giant Step Arts is an innovative, artist-focused non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and showcasing the work of some of modern jazz’s most innovative artists. In an era where it is increasingly difficult for musicians to earn a living, Giant Step Arts offers the artistic and financial resources to create bold, adventurous new music free of commercial pressure. Musicians have total control of their artistic projects and Giant Step Arts is committed to fostering their careers by providing promotional material and publicity services.
For the musicians it chooses to work with, by invitation only, Giant Step Arts:
- presents premiere performances and compensates the artists well
- records these performances for independent release
- provides the artists with 700 CDs and digital downloads to sell directly. Artists retain complete ownership of their masters.
- provides the artists with photos and videos for promotional use
• provides PR support for the recordings
“Giant Step Arts does not sell any music,” Katz says. “Our goals are to help musicians make bold artistic statements and to advance their careers. We are also trying to increase our funding so we can help more musicians.”
Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger
Jason Palmer is one of the most in-demand jazz musicians of his
generation. He has worked with such icons as Roy Haynes, Jimmy Smith,
Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Geri Allen, Patrice
Rushen, Kenny Barron, Phil Woods, Common and Roy Hargrove. Jason took
first place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo
Competition.
The June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine cited
Palmer as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future.” His debut
recording, “Songbook,” with Ravi Coltrane and Greg Osby, was released to
rave reviews in 2008. And his second CD, “Nothing to Hide,” just
dropped in September of this year.
Jason’s group has been
playing Wally’s Jazz Café in Boston every weekend for the past decade.
The quintet has also been featured at the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, the
Stone and the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Studio in Hartford, Connecticut,
as well as numerous venues across New England. In 2007, he was
commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a
new composition based on Sudoku at the Jazz Standard.
Besides
performing, Palmer maintains a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board
member at JazzBoston. Plus, he was recently hired by Berklee College of
Music as an Assistant Professor of Ensembles. Here, he talks about
playing a title role in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, a jazz-driven
romance drama marking the impressive directorial debut of Damien
Chazelle.
Kam Williams: Hi Jason, thanks for the interview.
Jason Palmer: My pleasure, Kam, and thank you for your interest.
KW:What interested you in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench?
JP:
A little over three years ago, Damien visited Wally’s, the jazz club
that I perform weekly at in Boston, in search of a lead for his film. He
asked me if I was interested and I thought the project sounded really
interesting. I was excited about the idea of being a part of a film that
featured the musical genre at I love. I must say that in most cases
when I’m approached at Wally’s by an individual that’s interested in
collaborating, they’re usually not too serious about it, so I don’t
expect any follow ups on their end. But this wasn’t the case with
Damien. From the start I got the sense that he was motivated and on top
of things. That piqued my interest as well.
KW:
You’re a jazz trumpeter. How much acting experience did you have prior
to shooting this
film?
JP: I
had no experience acting at all. Still, there are some aspects of
performing jazz that are similar to acting. What I mean by this is that
when I’m performing I believe that I am obliged to leave all my
troubles aside.
KW:Which do you find more challenging, acting or play music?
JP:
I think that they both have their challenges. I wouldn’t rank one
harder than the other. I think that we are in a day and age now when
musical performances on stages are apt to end up on Youtube or any other
social media. Musicians are highly conscious of this. For a period in
my life, I felt a pressure to perform beyond my expectations because if I
didn’t, that particular performance might end up online for all to see
and judge. So that pressure was there. With acting, it was so new to me I
didn’t really feel the pressure in the beginning. That was also due to
the fact that in acting for this film, I had the option of doing another
take.
KW: Were you surprised by how well-received the film has been?
JP:
I was surprised because I knew that the film started off as Damien’s
thesis project at Harvard. I wasn’t aware that the film was going to be
submitted to film festivals. Due to my performing and teaching schedule,
I also didn’t get a chance to see the film in it’s entirety until after
I had learned of some accolades that the film had garnered.
KW:
I noticed that you both d gigs with your quintet and teach trumpet at a
couple of conservatories? How hard is it to juggle those careers?
JP: It’s a
challenge but it’s not anything that I can’t handle. I think that
communication is key when juggling these two things. When I’m out on the
road, I schedule make up lessons ahead of time so flexibility on both
ends is key to managing a career in music.
KW: Who are your favorite trumpeters?
JP:
How much print space do I have [LL] I’ll just say that I embrace every
trumpeter in jazz from Louis Armstrong to Don Cherry. All musicians who
play with heart and display integrity hold a special place in my heart.
KW:How would you describe your sound?
JP:
I think it’s a combination of all the trumpeters and musicians that
I’ve been influenced by over the past fifteen years. I believe that in
today’s musical climate musicians have to play many styles convincingly
and sometimes alter their sound to stay true to the style that’s being
played. This is what I try to convey whenever I take the stage.
KW:Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
JP: I’ve been asked so many questions, I can’t really think of anything at the moment. I’m pretty much an open book.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
JP:
Sure, that’s an emotion that I’m not immune to. I’m not a swimmer yet,
so you can imagine how I must feel about large bodies of water.
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
JP: I’m happy today, I was happy yesterday and the day before, and I hope to keep that streak going!
KW:The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?
JP: Right
now, I’m on a “This American Life” kick. There are some really funny
stories on that NPR radio show that have had me rolling lately.
KW: The Flex Alexander question: How do you get through the tough times?
JP:
The use of patience and action coupled with the belief that everything
happens for a reason that we are meant to learn from gets me through.
KW: The Nancy Lovell Question: Why do you love doing what you do?
JP:
I love seeing the smiles on people’s faces and sensing the joy from
them after a show. I believe that’s what I’ve been put on this earth to
do. I also love helping student musicians realize their potential and
self-worth when I’m working with them.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
JP: Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy by Robert Jourdain. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038078209X?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=038078209X
KW:The music maven Heather Covington question: What are you listening to on your iPod?
JP:
On my iRiver, I currently have the music of Kurt Rosenwinkel as well as
Janelle Monae’s Archandroid in heavy rotation. I hope she wins a
Grammy. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZFQD0E?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002ZFQD0E
KW:What is your favorite dish to cook?
JP:
I have a variation on a Costa Rican dish that I make maybe once a
week. It consists of grilled swordfish, tomatoes, onions, zucchini,
garlic, spinach, oregano, basil, salt, a little cayenne, thyme and
rosemary, all on a bed of quinoa infused with lemon juice. I also
started making lamb saagwala. That’s a challenge, but it’s fun!
KW:The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?
JP:
I haven’t really gotten into that yet. I shop at Marshall’s, Banana
Republic, and online at J. Crew occasionally. I also like places like
Brooks Brothers, but I’m pretty thrifty, so I may splurge there only
once a year or so.
KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?
JP: An end to global poverty and inequality.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
JP: My eyes.
KW:The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
JP: Sticking a key into a socket and getting electrocuted.
KW:What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
JP:
Stay persistent and don’t be afraid to be told “no.” All it takes is
one “yes” to get things rolling for you. My career has been on a slow
steady incline for some time now and I have to take it in stride.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: What do you want your legacy to be?
JP:
I do my best to pattern my life after greats such as Clifford Brown and
Dizzy Gillespie. I want to be known as a person who made an important
contribution to this music that we call jazz. I would like for my
teaching methods to live on after I’m gone. That’s why I’m writing a
book right now.
KW:Thanks again for the interview, Jason, and best of luck with all your endeavors.
JP: Thank you, Kam, and the same to you.
To purchase Jason Palmer’s CD, “Nothing to Hide,” visit: http://www.jazzloft.com/p-52740-nothing-to-hide.aspx
Jason’s blog: http://jasonpalmerjazz.wordpress.com/
To see a trailer for Guyand Madeline on a Park Bench, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2NWRydVjA8
Jason Palmer
Trumpeter/Composer/Educator Jason Palmer is becoming one of the most in demand musicians of his generation. He has performed with Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith (the organist), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel (first trumpeter to ever be hired by this highly acclaimed guitarist), Ravi Coltrane, Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Common, Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, etc. Jason was a recipient of the 2014 French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship and was named a 2011 Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Jason took 1st Place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and the June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine cited Jason as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future”. In addition to performing on over a forty albums as a sideman, Jason has recorded eight albums under his own name and is currently a Steeplechase Records Recording artist (three of his recordings receiving 4 stars or better in Downbeat Magazine). Jason is has toured over 30 countries with saxophonists Greg Osby, Grace Kelly, Matana Roberts, as well as a featured guest artists on multiple projects.Jason’s quintet has been leading the house band every weekend at Boston’s historical Wally’s Jazz Café for the past twelve years. He has presented his band at the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, Sculler’s Jazz Club, the Stone and the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Studio in Hartford Ct, as well as numerous venues throughout New England. In 2007 Jason Palmer was commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a new work (based on a Sudoku game) for his quintet at the Jazz Standard. The music from that suite will be featured on Jason’s 2016 work entitled Beauty “n” Numbers: The Sudoku Suite.
In addition to a heavy performing schedule, Jason Palmer continues to maintain a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board member at JazzBoston. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and a visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University. He also served on the faculty at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, the Preparatory Division and the School for Continuing Education at the New England Conservatory of Music in, and the Mission Hill grade school. He has given master classes in Portugal, France, the UK, Russia, and Mexico. Jason was the leading actor in director Damien Chazelle’s (Whiplash) Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. The movie received great reviews after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009. Since then the film was screened at film festivals in Greece, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Bratislava, Martha’s Vineyard (MA), Houston, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Calgary (Canada), Minneapolis, Mill Valley (CA), as well as theatrical distribution in North America and DVD release worldwide.
Follow Braithwaite & Katz and others on SoundCloud.
"Herbs in a Glass" is the first track from Jason Palmer's album "Rhyme and Reason," available March 1, 2019 thanks to the non-profit Giant Step Arts, led by noted photographer and recording engineer Jimmy Katz.
This double album is the first through Giant Step Arts, a groundbreaking, artist-focused non-profit with a single mission: to help modern jazz innovators create their art free of commercial pressure.
"Rhyme and Reason," featuring trumpeter Palmer, saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Matt Brewer, and drummer Kendrick Scott, provides vivid evidence of the adventurous and original music that can be created when artists are provided such integral support. Palmer assembled a dream band and composed bold new music that allows each of these gifted players ample space and inspiration to explore.
Jason Palmer: The Concert
The trumpeter Jason Palmer’s epic 2-disc programme The Concert brings to life legendary paintings that have disappeared from the museum that housed them for display; stolen by diabolical means, never to be seen again. In a sense they are about paintings that are “no longer there”. But what’s even more remarkable about the recording may be the utterly romantic and poetic conceit of this album and that may be explained in a somewhat analogous quote from Vincent van Gogh about Rembrandt: “Rembrandt goes so deep into the mysterious that he says things for which there are no words in any language. It is with justice that they call Rembrandt—magician—that’s no easy occupation.” Now why would this be both analogous and significant?
The answer lies first of all in the fact that Mr Palmer’s music sings of the power and beauty of the paintings that no longer visible to look at and to fall prey to their charms. The second and more significant reason is that in Mr Palmer’s hands – and at his lips – it sings with the kind of haunting eloquence that makes the heart break and the spirits soar. It seems that just as Rembrandt used the brush and colour to bring life – as it were – to life, Mr Palmer uses the sound of music to conjure them back to life again – and even more magically so via black dots (and in at least one case, just the black keys) that fly off the page to bring the vanished Rembrandts, Degas, Monet and Veneer back to life again.
As a Black American, Mr Palmer is in a unique position to approach an artistic response to approach any kind of loss including – in this case – the loss of several priceless paintings. He is able to revert to the unique language of African American art: The Blues. The Blues – the special invention of Black Americans informs everything from spiritual and secular, in music, poetry, painting and dance. “Loss” in the expression of a Black American – even several generations after the advent of the slave-ship – is still almost always both natural as well as preternatural because it comes from such a deep place. It is also the reason why even when playing admittedly “European” instruments and the drum-set, which was a Black American invention) such a non-European sound of art as a “Blue Note” came to be… and indeed The Blues and Jazz and the Sorrow Songs of W.E.B. Dubois themselves came to be.
Mr Palmer is a master of this art – his art – and you hear this right out of the gates. As his “Pictures at an Exhibition” begins with “A Lady and Gentleman in Black”. The painting’s sombre grandeur has been relocated here to a composition written on, as Mr Palmer tells us, “the black notes of the piano”. This is both telling and exciting from the ethnomusicological point of view as what Mr Palmer has, in fact done, is relocated this piece to a “Sorrow Song” (what is commonly referred to by white America as the “Negro Spiritual”). But Mr Palmer also brings something wholly new to his song of “the black notes”. He literally jazzes it up; funkifies it making the majesty of a sacred form at once funkily secular as well.
Appropriately enough the music is whipped off the page with extraordinary energy and speed as if the black dots were leaping off the page. This is a profoundly beautiful and telling opening to the show in which impressions of missing art are relocated from their empty frames and their Golden Age of Dutch, Netherlandish style or French pre-post-Impressionist style to the language of Jazz with a force that is viscerally energetic and breathlessly exciting. For instance the mystic grandeur of Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee” painted in his vivid Netherlandish style, is musically interpreted with the harmonic and polyrhythmic freedom of modern Jazz. The fifteen figures in the painting become the time signature of 15/8 – the quarter note giving us a sense that we are in the eye of that storm as dotted values of up to 15/64 become completely evocative of the storm itself.
Still it isn’t just the intellectual capacity of the artist that we find ourselves admiring to the extent of breathlessness. There is sonic emotion here as Mr Palmer as well as the incomparable saxophonist Mark Turner, the brilliant vibraphonist Joel Ross, drummer Kendrick Scott – a master of his instrument – and bassist Edward Perez who is also well-schooled in the wily entrapments of Jazz… all of whom negotiate Mr Palmer’s epic compositional endeavour, seeming to have interiorised every evocative phrase. Especially memorable is the way in which Mr Turner helps traverses the long inventions of Govert Flinck’s “Landscape with an Obelisk”, or how Mr Ross – with the undulant tintinnabulation of his instrument – sculpts the sensuous curves of Johannes Vemeer’s “The Concert” and Edgar Degas’ “The Jockey”.
Best of all is the fact that this music is performed live and it is here that both the beauty of the art and the urgency of the loss of the artworks are made complete in the controlled fury of Kendrick Scott’s drumming (dig his perfprmance on “Landscape with an Obelisk”), and in the rumbling protestations of Mr Perez’s bass. His (Mr. Perez’s) notes on his solo on “Self Portrait” will tell you why he is on this date. The glue in all of this comes from the music of Jason Palmer, represented here by arrangements of extraordinary and sensuous beauty, which he, above all else, plays with lips pressed to mouthpiece (of his trumpet) in perfectly poised embouchure that impels the hot breath through the valves and flared bell of his horn in what must certainly be one of the most distinctive voices of the trumpet. All of this – together with the warmth of the recording – makes this musical experience utterly unforgettable.
Track list – Disc One – 1: A Lady and Gentleman in Black (Rembrandt); 2: Cortege aux Environs do Florence (Degas); 3: La Sortie de Pesage (Degas); 4: Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee (Rembrandt); 5: A French Imperial Eagle Finial; 6: Chez Tortoni (Manet); Disc Two – 1: Program for an Artistic Soiree (Degas); 2: An Ancient Chinese Gu; 3: The Concert (Vemeer); 4: Landscape with an Obelisk (Flinck); 5: Self Portrait (Rembrandt); 6: Three Mounted Jockeys (Degas)
Personnel – Jason Palmer: trumpet; Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Joel Ross: vibraphone; Edward Perez: bass; Kendrick Scott: drums
Released – 2020
Label – Giant Step Arts (GSA 004)
Runtime – Disc One 1:08:18Disc Two 1:07:28
https://jasonpalmerjazz.wordpress.com/
Jason Palmer's Weblog
Liner Notes to The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella
Posted in Composition, Improvisation, Performance with tags art, Arts, Barclay, bass, Degas, Dena, drums, Edward, Flinck, Gardner, Giant, Heist, Improvisation, Intercontinental, Isabella, jason, jazz, Jimmy, Joel, Katz, Kendrick, live, Manet, mark, Museum, NYC, palmer, perez, recording, Rembrandt, Ross, saxophone, Scott, Step, Stewart, trumpet, turner, Vermeer, vibes on February 1, 2020 by pogo56Dear listener,
Firstly, many thanks to you for your support of this project, a project that is near and dear to me. I moved to Boston from North Carolina in 1997 to attend New England Conservatory to major in Jazz Trumpet Performance. At the time, the Thelonious Monk Institute was integrated with the Jazz Studies program at NEC. They gave concerts on campus as well as off. One of those concerts took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I attended on the of the concerts there once and noticed that there were empty frames on display in the museum. I didn’t understand the meaning at the time, but fast forward 20 or so years, I came to find out about the heist and the ensuing investigations that have taken place via Last Seen, a podcast produced by a local public radio station and newspaper. After taking in the beauty of the works I decided to commission myself to write a piece inspired by each of those works.
The Songs:
Disc 1:
A Lady and Gentleman in Black (Rembrandt) – The lady and gentleman in this work are indeed dressed in all black, looking to me like they are ready for an evening in the town (or village)! The melody of my composition strictly uses the black notes on the piano. This was the first song I completed of this set of music and I intended it to be the funkiest, blues-infused piece on the recording!
Cortege aux Environs (Degas) – In this scene by Degas, we see a multi-layered, almost translucent, snapshot of a party of folks traveling along a path with an incline. They seem to be in conversation as they travel along, and it’s not clear which direction they are traveling in this painting. I took a personal approach to composing a song for this piece by connecting the color scheme employed by Degas with my experience living with synesthesia.
La Sortie de Pesage (Degas) – Degas portrayed a scene which looks to be from a horse race in this painting. There are folks filing in line to either buy tickets or place bets and the rest are going to their seats. Amongst the crowd are two jockeys, assumingly making their way to the track. In assuming that this is what’s going on in the painting and also realizing that I could be totally wrong with all of those assumptions, I compelled myself to write a piece that would feature several series of deceptive harmonic cadences (within 3 main sections), a sing-songy vertical melody supported by a “gallopy”, sneaky rhythm in 6/4 time.
Christ in a Storm on the Lake of Galilee (Rembrandt) – This historical depiction by Rembrandt is epic and vivid in its’ visual capture of a tumultuous situation. In this work, I spotted 15 th individuals battling the storm on this lake, so I decided to compose a piece in 15/8 time. Kendrick sets up the rollicking, shuffle groove which introduces a rangy, turbulent theme, followed by intense trading of choruses by Mark, Joel, and me.
A French Imperial Eagle Finial – This song is the second song that was written for a piece in this set that was not a piece of visual art. Seeing this eagle finial for the first time immediately moved me to write and brisk piece with a flighty melody for the band.
Chez Tortoni (Manet) – The gaze within the gentleman’s eyes in this painting as he’s sitting at Café Tortoni in Paris is one of urgency and mystique. This gave me mixed emotions so I wrote a mixed-meter song where the harmonic landing spots were bandied between major and minor as a nod to the color scheme of the portrait.
Disc 2
Program for an Artistic Soiree (Degas)– This simple, elegant work by Degas appears to me like a sketch several ideas that happen to be a part of the same canvas. There’s an air of smokin’ song and dance in this sketch that I find to be quite sneaky for some odd reason. This work really makes me wonder what was going on inside the imagination of Degas. This drove me to write a danceable, “sleuthy” song for this piece, drawing from my 3rd stream influences. The solo sections of this song, which feature myself, Joel, and Edward, alternate between major and minor for the entire chorus.
An Ancient Chinese Gnu – This song was written for one of the two pieces of art that were stolen that actually was not a piece of visual art. This piece resembles a sort of vase with a porous base and a body that flares out exactly like the bell of a trumpet. I wanted to give this piece a song that primarily stuck in the folksy, pentatonic-ish, rangy, melody in the trumpet to give the song an Asian melodic bend.
The Concert (Vermeer) – In this visually stunning piece by Vermeer, you see a trio of musicians performing together and they appear to be deeply involved in the moment of the music. My goal for writing a song for this painting was to have it be the one of the more lyrical pieces of this set of music, in an attempt to capture the essence of what could have been heard during the occasion that was depicted in the work. When I was in the middle of finalizing the arrangement of this piece, I played it for my 5-year-old daughter and she found it to be interesting enough that she continued to ask me to play it again. I was impressed to later find out that she had committed parts of the song to memory.
Landscape with an Obelisk (Flinck) – There is something very serene, stoic, but at the same time very powerful about the view of the Landscape with an Obelisk by Flinck. There is a lone obelisk and what looks to be an ancient tree with a strong, gnarly trunk, each standing tall, perhaps in search of the sun on a cloudy day. At the foot of the tree there are two people, one on horseback and one standing. They seem to be in searching as well. I wrote a contrafact based on one of my favorite compositions entitled Like a Flower Seeking the Sun by reedman Myron Walden. Within this track, I bookended it with a flowy intro and outro with rubato, in an attempt to capture the quality of the water in the middle of the painting.
Self Portrait (Rembrandt) – I found a lot of beauty and symmetry in the Self Portrait by Rembrandt. He appears to have a perfectly round, strong jaw with piercing eyes and long, curly hair on set to one side. I composed a melody based on Miyako, one the most harmonically-symmetrical, gorgeous songs by one of my favorite composers, Wayne Shorter.
Three Mounted Jockeys (Degas) – This interesting work features a triple image of 3 jockeys mounted on a horse, 1 that’s right-side up, and 2 that are upside down. This song is in a brisk 6/4 tempo with the melody being split into 3-bar phrases (1 for each jockey).
I’d like to give a huge thank you to Jimmy and Dena Katz, along with all the folks at Giant Step Arts for helping me bring this project into fruition. Also hats off to Mark, Joel, Edward, and Kendrick for your supreme artistry, the people at the Intercontinental Barclay, Dave Darlington, Ann Braithwaite, and to my wonderful wife Colleen and daughter Camilla!
1,000 Trumpeters to check out (1-300)
Posted in Improvisation, jazz trumpet music, Musical Influences, Performance with tags 1000, Improvisation, list, trumpet on April 7, 2015 by pogo56Hello Trumpeters and everyone else,
Here’s a partial list of the 1,000 trumpeters that I think are worth checking out if you are serious about the craft. They are in no particular order. Just listing off the top of the dome!! I’ll be releasing these in sections so stay tuned!
1.Buddy Bolden
2.Louis Armstrong
3.Jabbo Smith
4.Bix Beiderbeck
5.Henry “Red” Allen
6.Doc Chetham
7.Theo Croker
8.Wallace Roney
9.Miles Davis
10.Clifford Brown
11.Fats Navarro
12.Chet Baker
13.Freddie Hubbard
14.Booker Little
15.Lee Morgan
16.Richard Willams
17.Johnny Coles
18.Carmel Jones
19.Thad Jones
20.John McNeil
21.Sean Jones
22.Ambrose Akinmusire
23.Tom Harrell
24.Terence Blanchard
25.Wynton Marsalis
26.Philip Harper
27.Philip Dizack
28.Mike Rodriguez
29.Avishai Cohen
30.Ingrid Jensen
31.Clora Bryant
32.Maurice Brown
33.Corey Wilkes
34.Nicholas Payton
35.Don Ellis
36.Taylor Ho Bynum
37.Bill Dixon
38.Dave Douglas
39.Graham Haynes
40.Ted Curson
41.Jeremy Pelt
42.Darren Barrett
43.Greg Hopkins
44.Blue Mitchell
45.Randy Brecker
46.Peter Kenagy
47.Dan Rosenthal
48.Billy Buss
49.Eric Bloom
50.Dizzy Gillespie
51.Roy Eldridge
52.Snooky Young
53.Lonnie Hillyer
54.Jack Walrath
55.Lew Soloff
56.Josh Evans
57.Scotty Barnhart
58.Marquis Hill
59.Coung Vu
60.Woody Shaw
61.Andrew Baham
62.Irvin Mayfield
63.Derrick Shezbie
64.Jeremy Davenport
65.Kevin Louis
66.Theljon Allen
67.Deandre Shaffer
68.Peter Evans
69.Jay Phelps
70.Roy Hargrove
71.Lester Bowie
72.Jon Faddis
73.Benny Benack III
74.DuPree Bolton
75.Jonah Jones
76.Joe Wilder
77.Clark Terry
78.Freddie Webster
79.Nat Adderley
80.Brian Lynch
81.Art Farmer
82Leron Thomas
83.Keyon Harold
84.Arturo Sandoval
85.Waldron Ricks
86.Alex “Pope” Norris
87.Alan Shorter
88.Conti Candoli
89.Dave Neves
90.Phrarez Whitted
91.Ryan Kisor
92.Mike Olmos
93.Geechi Taylor
94.Louis Smith
95.Donald Byrd
96.Arve Henriksen
97.Gerard Prescenser
98.Phil Grenadier
99.Adam Rapa
100.Carlos Abadie
101.Lee Hogans
102.Michael “Patches” Stewart
103.Tom Brown
104.Herb Alpert
105.Chuck Mangione
106.Chris Botti
107.Gabe Johnson
108.Raynald Colom
109.Josiah Woodson
110Johnathan Finlayson
111.Chris Klaxton
112.Maynard Ferguson
113.Ralph Allesi
114.Rolf Erickson
115.Benny Bailey
116.Scott Tinkler
117.Bria Skonberg
118.Cindy Bradley
119.Rick Braun
120.Rashawn Ross
121.Tim Hagans
122.Dave Smith
123.Seneca Black
124.Marcus Printup
125.Kenny Rampton
126.Ron Horton
127.Pat Harbison
128.Ron Miles
129.Orbert Davis
130.Dominick Farrinachi
131.Nate Wooley
132.Adam O’Farrill
133.Greg Gisbert
134.Brad Goode
135.Hugh Ragin
136.Joe Robinson
137.Jay Lineberry
138.Harry James
139.Bruce Harris
140.Scott Arruda
140.Justin Ray
141.Marlon Jordan
142.Terell Stafford
143.Ashlin Parker
144.Forbes Graham
145.Nabate Isles
146.Alex Sipiagin
147.Ray Nance
148.Bunny Berigan
149.Oran “Hot Lips” Page
150.Kermit Ruffins
151.Virgil Jones
152.Bobby Shew
153.Enrico Rava
154.Red Rodney
155.Dizzy Reece
156.Jim Rotundi
157.Christian Scott
158.Ray Vega
159.Cy Touff
160.Charles Tolliver
161.Eddie Allen
162.Franco Ambrosetti
163.Ray Anderson
164.Donald Ayler
165.Guy Barker
166.Harold “Shorty” Baker
167.Mario Bauza
168.Uli Beckerhoff
169.Marcus Belgrave
170.Anders Bergcrantz
171.Wayne Bergeron
172.Steven Bernstein
173.Russ Johnson
174.Flavio Boltro
175.Bobby Bradford
176.Ruby Braff
177.Bud Brisbois
178.Till Bronner
179.Billy Butterfield
180.Pete Candoli
181.Andre Canniere
182.Roy Campbell
183.Benny Carter
184.Bill Chase
185.Don Cherry
186.Buck Clayton
187.Bill Coleman
188.John D’earth
189.Josh Deutsch
190.Billy Eckstine
191.Harry “Sweets” Edison
192.Mathias Eick
193.Ziggy Elman
194.Don Fagerquist
195.Dusko Gojkovic
196.Dennis Gonzalez
197.Jerry Gonzalez
199.Conrad Gozzo
200.Bobby Hackett
201.Bill Hardman
202.Eddie Henderson
203.Roger Ingram
204.Mark Isham
205.Don Jacoby
206.Bunk Johnson
207.Freddie Keppard
208.Hugh Masekela
209.Howard McGhee
210.Mike Metheny
211.Bubber Miley
212.Nils Petter Molvaer
213.Joe Newman
214.Farnell Newton
215.Ibrahim Maalouf
216.King Oliver
217.Ephraim Owens
218.Jimmy Owen
219.Herb Phillips
220.Herb Pomeroy
221.Chase Sanborn
223.Carl Saunders
224.Manfred Schoof
225.Doc Severinsen
226.Charlie Shavers
227.Jack Sheldon
228.Marvin Stamm
229.Tomasz Stanko
230.Rex Stewart
231.Allen Vizzutti
232.Kenny Wheeler
233.Cootie Willams
234.Cosimo Boni
235.Felix Rossy
236.Russell Macklem
237.Al Strong
238.Tiger Okoshi
239.Amir el Shafaar
240.Abram Wilson
241.Ahmed Abdullah
242.Al Porcino
243.Al Hood
244.Amik Guerra
245.Andrea Tofanelli
246.Ansyn Banks
247.Axel Dorner
248.Baikida Carroll
249.Barrie Lee Hall Jr.
250.Scott Wendholt
251.Bill Warfield
252.Bob Lark
253.Bob Montgomery
254.Brad Clements
255.Brad Mason
256.Brad Turner
257.Brandon Lee
258.Brian Chahley
259.Brownman
260.Antoine Drye
261.Michael Shobe
262.Nathan Breedlove
263.Susana Santos
264.Ray Codrington
265.Jorge Vistel
267.Justin Kisor
268.Arthur Whetsol
270.Mercer Ellington
271.Russell Gunn
272.Melvin Jones
273.Fabien Mary
274.John Bailey
275.Tom William (DC)
276.Matt Shulman
277.Matt Holman
278.Nadje Noordhuis
279.Diego Urcola
280.Jean Caze
281.Jumaane Smith
282.Barry Ries
283.Kenny Dorham
284.Melton Mustafa
285.Igmar Thomas
286.Thad Wilson
287.Michael Thomas
288.Trent Austin
289.Rasul Saddik
290.Leroy Jones
291.Lionel Ferbos
292.Malachi Thompson
293.Mark Rapp
294.Matthew Jodrell
295.Nick Roseboro
296.Nicole Rampersaud
297.Paolo Fresu
298.Randy Sandke
299.Raphe Malik
300.Rex Richardson
More to come, Stay tuned!!
Blindfold Bootleg Series: Walter Smith III
Posted in Improvisation, Musical Influences, Performance with tags blindfold, Blog, Bootleg, III, Improvised, jason, jazz, music, palmer, Smith, test, Walter on February 15, 2015 by pogo56
I’ve maintained for years that Walter Smith III is the Wayne Shorter of my generation. I say this of the Houston native because like Wayne Shorter, who’s played alongside the greatest trumpet players of his generation and above (Miles, Freddie Hubbard, and Lee Morgan immediately come to mind); Walter has also done the same with his generation, performing with the likes of Ambrose Akinmusire, Sean Jones, Darren Barrett, Terence Blanchard, and Dave Douglas. Walter has one of the most seamless streams of music originality that you can imagine coming from and improvising music. He’s dona ALL of his homework so he is at home in any style that’s laid before him. Not only is he a great saxophonist, he’s also an excellent composer, arranger, and educator. Here’s what Walter had to say after hearing the examples:
Example 1: Marcus Strickland live at the Regattabar Cambridge Ma 2008
Marcus Strickland (sounds like his tone and time feel)
Response: I’ve been listening to Marcus for years…I met him at IAJE when I was in high school and he was playing a white LA Sax! He blew me away then and continues to be one of my favorites and a real torch bearer for our generation.
Not really sure on this one ….if I had to guess I would say Myron Walden? Sounds like his alto phrasing and articulation a bit, but I don’t know his tenor playing quite as well as his alto playing.
Example 3: Logan Richardson live at the Duc du Lombards Paris 2013
Logan Richardson (pretty awesome sound and patience).
Response: One of the absolute trend setters on the saxophone these days who is always pushing and imissed this one! Especially because I’m pretty sure that I was at this show one day that week! Ravi has great ideas and great phrasing and always brings the energy!
Again, super familiar but I can’t place it! great sound/taste.
Response: Wow! Garzone! He’s a bad dude and has taught just about everybody I know at some point. Always great to hear him.
Response: I only have “Roses” and the quartet record with Paul Motian so I’m not as familiar with his playing as the rest of the guys here but getting more of his stuff is definitely on my list of things to do. Great ideas and unique directions with his phrases. Very cool.
Tim Warfield? Sounds like his sound and inflection for sure.
Response: Tim is my man! Fell in love with his playing from the Nicholas Payton records in high school and he’s definitely a powerful saxophone player. He has one of the most colorful tones and set of inflection of anybody. I’d also imagine it would be fun to play in a rhythm section behind him since he has so much energy all the time.
Blindfold Bootleg Series: Jeremy Pelt
Posted in Improvisation, jazz trumpet music, Performance with tags blindfold, Bootleg, Improvisation, jason, jazz, jeremy, palmer, pelt, Solo, test, trumpet on February 14, 2015
I truly think that any trumpeter of my generation or younger that’s playing anything of consequence owes a debt to Jeremy Pelt. Jeremy is a prime example of an artist that has continued to reinvent himself, producing great interesting projects that are steeped in the history of the trumpet in this music as well as forward thinking. I myself owe a huge debt to my fellow JP for simply bringing me down to Wally’s in the fall of 1997 and asking me to play for him as well as the subsequent lessons that followed!! Here’s what Jeremy had to say after hearing the examples:
Example 1-Dave Douglas Live at R-bar
1) Hmmm… I must admit that I’m completely clueless as to who it might be. There are shades of Keyon Harrold in there, but it’s definitely not him. There are shades of me in there, but definitely not me. I like where his solo went though, and I can’t wait to find out who it was.
Example 2-Wynton live with Freddie Hubbard NYC
2) Wynton Marsalis sitting in with Hub at the Blue Note. Interesting to hear how his sound evolved. Also, funnily enough listening to the first couple of phrases, you get the impression the Wynton is mocking Hub, which was the wrong thing to do in THIS period of Hub. Before he called Wynton up, he completely KILLED ‘Hubtones’.
Example 3-Ryan Kisor Live in Japan
3) Hmmm…. Can’t say I know who this is either. Obviously they’re indebted to Woody. The voicings on the piano suggest that it could be Harold Mabern on the piano.
Example 4-Tom Harrell with Johnathan Blake
4) Tom Harrell…That sound is so great, and you can hear K.D. all up in it.
Example 5-Keyon Harrold live in NYC
5.) Keyon Harrold…so open. Like the shape of his lines.
Example 6-Christian Scott Live at the R-Bar
6.) Is it Marquis Hill ?
Example 7-Art Farmer live in NYC
7.) Again…completely clueless.
Do yourself a favor and keep up with Jeremy’s new music and live appearances on his website!Blindfold Bootleg Series: Greg Osby
Posted in Improvisation, Musical Influences with tags alto, blindfold, greg, Improvisation, jason, jazz, mbase, osby, palmer, saxophone, test, trumpet on February 14, 2015 by pogo56
I consider saxophonist/composer/sonic scholar Greg Osby
to be my musical godfather. He gave me my first big break by hiring me
to play in his quintet after he released St. Louis Shoes. This came
at a time when I was thinking about quitting music. I’ve learned what
it means to be on the road and how to survive once you’re there under
Osby’s tutelage. He possesses a deep well of knowledge on musical
stylings as well as a highly refined sense of taste and these qualities
shine brightly in his playing and composing. Here’s what Greg had to
say after hearing the examples:
Example 1: Marcus Strickland live at the Regattabar Cambridge Ma 2008
1. This tenor saxophonist may be JD Allen. He sometimes plays in trio format without chordal accompaniment and it doesn’t sound very much like an older person. I’m assuming that it’s JD based on the player’s vibrato and attention to tone. I say tone as opposed to sound because everyone has a sound but everyone doesn’t necessarily have a tone, as exhibited by many of the likes of a Don Byas, Stan Getz, Ben Webster, Paul Gonsalves, Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon, etc… TONE – the main ingredient, And JD has a beautiful tone and a very meaningful way of interpreting music. He some exhibits an admirable amount of patience.
AFTER: OK, it’s Marcus.
Unfortunately, I haven’t heard either him or JD enough to have answered
this one correctly, but what I have heard from Marcus validates my
response. He also has a beautiful full-bodied tone and appears to be
concerned with proper execution and the development of solos via
beautiful phrases. His ouput is very broad and lush and yet, still very
precise.
Example 2: Myron Walden live at Fat Cat NYC (year unknown)
2. I can’t recognize the player, but his rush to flash lost my interest very quickly. There was little to hold onto, in terms of thematic material and melodic development. In the beginning, there was a brief statement, and the next thing I know all the fireworks were quickly being lit. Listening to music like this is akin to being shouted at for extended periods. It’s great to thing hear or to experience music like this live but it somehow loses it’s impact on recordings, given the references to the Coltrane/Jones dynamic that has been explored and even exploited to no end. It makes one wonder why would anyone seek to frame themselves in such an environment these days when the social and arts climate is so significantly different than when this mode of expression was being developed? It just doesn’t have the same meaning behind it anymore and the overall impact is lessened considerably. Somehow, for me, it amounts to yelling and forcing a point when there is none. Again, the players here are fantastic musicians but I’ve grown weary of this approach unless I’m in the venue when it’s actually happening.
AFTER: This makes sense.
Myron is what I respectfully call a convert – which is to say that I
heard him first and know of him primarily as an alto saxophonist. I
think that would account for the way he plays tenor. Maybe not. However,
it’s easy for me to understand the excessively notey approach because
many tenor players who “hear” alto or hiigher pitches in their heads
like Stitt and Coltrane, have a tendency towards content bombardment. I
am also guilty of this, and is why no one will ever hear me play tenor
saxophone publicly, or otherwise. Mind you, playing with lots of notes
isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it should be a progressive act.
Not an aural assault just several bars in. But, just because it
overwhelmed me doesn’t make it improper.
Example 3: Logan Richardson live at the Duc du Lombards Paris 2013
3. This very definitely sounds like Logan Richardson, who does have a
very considerate and refined style with a strong sense of purpose in
his playing as well as in his compositions. I appreciated the pacing of
the build during his solo. It was very relaxed and there was no hurry to
rush into a technical display. I also recognize his tone, which has
some very personal and appealing characteristics to me. Interestingly
enough, as an alto player myself, I must admit that I have a very low
tolerance for the output of many, if not most, alto players. Some
players have sounds that are very strident and devoid of body or
fullness. Not human-like enough for my tastes. Also, the tendency for
players to overwhelmingly embrace the discoveries and breakthroughs of
the most prominent player of the day represents, to me, a failure to
define themselves adequately by developing a methodology that emphasizes
the core character in their musical makeup. They resign to playing the
role of copyists and parrots, as opposed to crafting a style for
themselves. This is one of the primary reasons why most laypersons have
the usual throwaway impression that “all jazz sounds the same,” One
can’t fully blame them for having such a perception, given the lack of
sonic diversity amongst the ranks. At any rate, this is not one of those
instances. Logan has successfully done what used to be the normal thing
to do, which was to recognize and hone one’s own voice.
AFTER: This was the
easiest and most obvious example, as Logan is one of my favorite
contemporary improvising artists. He has a great mind and is fearless.
It would have been nice to have evaluated a few more altoists during
this listening session but tenor is, and always has been, much more
popular than the smaller horn. There are many reasons for this, but
that’s an entirely different discussion.
Example 4: Ravi Coltrane live at the Jazz Standard 2013
4. More chordless saxophone trio. Again I’m at a loss for who it is. I’ll take a wild guess and say Tivon Pennicott but that’s a shot in the dark. I do appreciate the player’s sense of articulation, which is a characteristic That I find to be missing in the playing of many contemporary players who often seen to slur through every line with no detail to the attack or punctuating elements. Here, there’s a sameness in approach that is shared by many younger players that makes them difficult to identify, as if they are all influenced by the same guy. Proficient many, but hopelessly similar.
AFTER: I’ve always enjoyed
Ravi’s playing, and I’m surprised that I didn’t recognize him here. I
heard him live at Birdland a while ago and was really caught up in his
creativity and dominance on the bandstand and how he navigated around
within the forms of his music. This performance wasn’t reflective of
anything that I heard that night, although I do appreciate his approach
to the instrument. He usually doesn’t play in a manner that one would
expect, which gets my attention immediately. Perhaps he wasn’t so
inspired during this song or maybe there were other moments that night
where he caught fire.
Example 5: George Garzone live at the Museum Boston (year unknown)
5. Without know who it is, I must say that I really like this. Some
very good decisions are being made and the player sounds very mature and
he makes no effort to impress, although he sounds very proficient. The
beginning of the solo has definite Stan Getz inflections, which these
days is so rare that hearing this is a breath of fresh air. If only
players would dig into the archives and research and study the output of
some of the more ignored masterful players of the music, they would
find an untapped pool of resources that would separate them from the
rest of the pack that has chosen to emulate the popular players of the
day. I almost hear a bit of Charles Lloyd in the makeup of this player.
Yet another untapped resource worth investigating.
AFTER: I was right about the mature aspects of the tenor playing here, but I’m disappointed in myself for not recognizing George. What he does is always masterful and unique. He has a genuine love of the art and comes with a great deal of passion and information that he can back up theoretically as well as sonically. I can hear many levels of acknowledgement and history in his playing, coupled with his own discoveries and developments. He is one of the important voices and minds in contemporary improvised music.Example 6: Bill McHenry Live at the Village Vanguard Nyc (year unknown)
Example 7: Tim Warfield live at Scullers (year unknown)7. I can’t identify this player either. It’s interesting because I happen to go out to hear players perform live a LOT, and I thought that I knew the approaches styles and detail of many of the younger cats. However hearing this final player is akin to sampling perfume – in a short while, they all start to smell the same, even if they are amazing. In the case of this listening session, I’ve heard some amazingly accomplished players, but, for me, most of them lack standout characteristics in style, approach interpretation, concept, logic, phrasing and TONE (most important) This isn’t to say they are not good players, I’m saying that there’s not much of a difference between them other than that they’ve all have an exceptionally similar educational makeup and inspirational foundation. They not only speak the same language, but the same dialect and inflections as will, which makes listening to them fine – the first rime.
AFTER: It’s been years since I’ve heard Tim live, and this example shows very few outstanding or identifying markers, if you will. What he’s doing certainly shows accomplishment, but I was waiting for something that really would set him apart from anyone else, and it didn’t happen for me. I’m not referring to something very radical either – perhaps a personally developed technique, conceptual approach, a way of developing ideas and phrases, a very personal tone, juxtaposition of thoughts, etc.. something that would make me do a double take or press rewind. None of my observations are meant to suggest that he is incapable of these things, it just isn’t projected on this cut.
When I hear Ben Webster, Don Byas, Gene Ammons, Paul Desmond, Joe Henderson, Cannonball, Getz, Ben Webster, Young, Hodges, Konitz, etc.. play just a few notes, their identity is unmistakeable. Who they are is not necessarily defined by content, but by a deliberate crafting and cultivation of a trademark tone and a sense of purpose.
Everyone do yourself a huge favor by staying current to Greg’s new projects and live events by frequenting his website.
https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/jason-palmer-quintet-places/
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An active band that plays all over Boston and New England -- including a long tenure as the weekend house band at Wally's Cafe -- and at festivals and clubs across the country, the Jason Palmer Quintet kicks off the 2020-21 Neighborhood Arts season with this performance, recorded just for Series audiences, from Futura Productions Studio in Roslindale. Internationally-acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and educator Jason Palmer has played with many all-time greats and current stars and has appeared on over 40 albums as a sideman and eight as a leader. Palmer and his band mark their third consecutive season on the Series; their debut came in 2018 at the Jazz Along the Charles collaborative simultaneous concert on DCR's Charles River Esplanade.
Palmer will draw from his album Places -- on which all the tracks were written in and inspired by cities he's toured to -- to reflect on this year's missed opportunities to tour, perform, and visit far-off family and friends.
Personnel
Noah Preminger - Tenor Saxophone
Kevin Harris - Piano
Max Ridley - Bass
Lee Fish - Drums
Jason Palmer - Trumpet
FELLOWSHIPS
2017-2018 Jason Palmer selected as a Boston Cultural Council Artist Fellow
2017-2018 Jason Palmer Joins Boston Celebrity Series Neighborhood Arts Roster
ALBUM REVIEWS
2019 All About Jazz Reviews Album "Rhyme & Reason"
2019 Art Music Lounge Reviews Album "Rhyme & Reason"
2018 Arts Fuse Reviews Album "Fair Weather"
2018 Next Bop Review of "Live at Wally's"
DOWNBEAT
2018 May - Downbeat Feature Article about Jason Palmer
2017 Feb - Downbeat Magazine
Jason's Album Release Beauty 'n' Numbers - 4 STARS
2013 March - Downbeat Magazine
Jason's Fourth Album Release Review - 4 STARS
2012 March - Downbeat Magazine
Jason's Third Album Release Review - 4 1/2 STARS
2010 November 25 - Baystate Banner
Jason's Jam Session
AWARDS
2009 - Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition
Jason Palmer First Prize Winner
2007 June
- Downbeat Magazine
Jason Palmer named one of the
Top 25 Trumpeters to Watch
2011 April 14 -
MTeleh74
Jason Palmer - Jazz Trumpeter Extaordinaire
Jason
Palmer
:
Recordings
&
2014 Mid Atlantic Arts Grant French / American Jazz Exchange
Cedric Hanriot, piano
Jason Palmer, trumpet
Donny McCaslin, saxophone
Michael Janisch,
bass
Clarence Penn, drums
A musical homage to the work of science fiction writer Dan Simmons.
2011 March 2 - The Boston Pheonix
Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch, Dan Tepfer, Jason Palmer, and Donny McCaslin front a busy week
2011 May - The New York City Jazz Record
On Billy Hart - Recording "Sixty-Eight" featuring Jason Palmer
2010 May 2 - London Jazz
Jason Palmer previews Michael Janish's Paradigm Shift at Pizza Dean Street
Jason Palmer as Guy
2010 November 3 - Village Voice
Great Cinema, For a Song, in Guy and Madeline and Ne change rien
2011 January 7 - Chicago Tribune
Indie knows the score "Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench"
