This is sure to be an epic night of music! Four of the most incredible musicians in the world are bringing their friendships and talents to Madison.
John Lee, current leader of the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band and long time bassist for Dizzy himself, leads a tremendous quartet this Saturday night! John is a celebrated musician, band leader, composer, engineer, and producer. He has performed on over 50 albums and performed with the likes of, in addition to Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Joe Henderson, Larry Coryell, Paquito D’Rivera, Gregory Hines, Claudio Roditi, Arturo Sandoval, Joachim Kühn and Philip Catherine.
Drummer Karl Latham’s career has spanned the globe performing, recording and producing with Grammy Award winning artists, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and multitude of internationally acclaimed musicians. Karl is best known for his exceptional ability to dig into a variety of musical styles. Karl is included in the Drummerworld Top Drummers list. In addition to performing as a freelance drummer, Karl can be heard drumming when leading his own group “Living Standards”, as a co-leader of Big Fun(K) with saxophonist/composer Don Braden and co leader with Ryan Carniaux and Mark Egan of the “2016 BMW Welt Jazz Award”nominated group “Constellations”. Karl is a proud endorsing drum artist for Yamaha Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Innovative Percussion and Big Fat Snare.
Eric Alexander:Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. He started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. “The people I listened to in college are still the cats that are influencing me today,” says Alexander. “Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson–the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language and that feel, that’s the bread and butter of everything I do. George Coleman remains a big influence because of his very hip harmonic approach, and I’m still listening all the time to Coltrane because I feel that even in the wildest moments of his mid- to late-Sixties solos I can find these little kernels of melodic information and find ways to employ them in my own playing.”
Alex Collins Alex Collins is a New York City based pianist, composer, arranger and vibraphonist. Alex made his debut at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival with the Brandon Wright Quartet in 2010. Alex is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Jazz Composition) and earned his undergraduate degree from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media (Piano)). He received the Wynton Kelly Jazz Foundation Award for Jazz Achievement (2003) and participated in the prestigious Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program (2006). Aside from leading his own trio, Alex has performed in the bands of Ronnie Burrage, Micelle Coltrane, Big Funk, Gerry Gibbs, Karl Latham, John Lee, Lonnie Plaxico, Lenny White, and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars.
Seatings at 6:15 and 8:35, $40 food & drink minimum per person. $10 entertainment fee. Reservations strongly recommended.