DONALD HARRISON, RON CARTER AND BILLY COBHAM TRIO JANUARY 8-11, 8PM & 10:30PM
The hard-swinging trio of Donald Harrison, Ron Carter, and Billy Cobham first demonstrated its strong chemistry and affinity for standards on its 2004 recording, Heroes. In April 2005, Half Note Records captured the trio live during a week-long series of shows at the Blue Note, producing the album New York Cool (2005). Half Note again recorded the trio in action at the club last year, releasing the album This is Jazz near the end of 2011. Donald Harrison is rightly regarded as one of the most influential musicians on the scene today. The son of late great Big Chief Donald Harrison, he began working with Roy Haynes at age 19 and Jack McDuff at age 20. He joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers at age 21 and soon co-led a deeply influential group with Terence Blanchard. In addition to his collaborations with luminaries like Christian Scott, Christian McBride, Cyrus Chestnut, Lena Horne, and Eddie Palmieri, he is a prodigious bandleader, having released a number of well-received records, the latest of which is Quantum Leap (2010).
Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music’s greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Eric Dolphy, B.B. King, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderley, and Bobby Timmons. From 1963 to 1968, he was also a member of the legendary Miles Davis Quintet. Over 50 years into his career, he remains incredibly active as a performer and educator. Ever since his breakthrough in the early ‘70s as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and progenitor of the jazz fusion movement, drummer Billy Cobham has remained a tireless musical explorer. In addition to his work with Mahavishnu, he also co-founded the fusion group Dreams, contributed to Miles Davis’s seminal Bitches Brew (1970) and Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971), and has led his own solo career, beginning with his debut release Spectrum in 1973. Recent years have seen him touring and recording with his “Art of Jazz” ensembles and continuing to release solo albums, including his recent effort Palindrome (2010). n