The latest edition of the all-star tour band features Raul
Midón on guitar and vocals; Ravi Coltrane on tenor
and soprano saxophones; Nicholas Payton on trumpet; musical
directorGerald Clayton on piano; Joe Sanders on
bass; and Gregory Hutchinson (January and February dates) and Kendrick
Scott (March dates) on drums.
The tour
appeared at the 58th Monterey Jazz Festival and will hit the road from January
14 - March 13, 2016, performing 28 shows in 17 cities in 10 states,
including a five-night run at Birdland in New York City. World-renowned for its
artistic excellence, sophisticated informality, and longstanding mission to
create and support year-round jazz education and performance programs in local,
regional, national, and international venues, Monterey Jazz Festival has stayed
true to expanding live performances of jazz around the country since 2008 by
presenting national tours that have reached over 100,000 fans in 135 shows
across the United States and Canada.
Raul
Midón has
appeared at Monterey three times, in 2009, 2011 and 2015. Ravi Coltranefirst
appeared at Monterey in 2001, nearly 41 years to the day after his own father,
John Coltrane, made his debut at Monterey in 1960. Ravi also appeared at the
Festival in 2013 and 2015. Nicholas Payton was the Festival’s
Artist-In-Residence in 2000, and appeared again in 2015. Gerald Clayton, Joe
Sanders, Gregory Hutchinson and Kendrick Scott,
some of the rising stars in the jazz world, have been recent performers on
Monterey stages, both at the Monterey Jazz Festival itself, and as high school
students at the Festival’s 45-year old student competition, the Next Generation
Jazz Festival.
Gerald
Clayton, a
scholarship and soloist award winner at Monterey’s 2000 and 2001 springtime Next
Generation Jazz Festival with the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts,
made trio appearances at MJF in 2010 and 2012 with Joe Sanders, and
recently performed in 2014 in duo with Charles Lloyd.
Gregory
Hutchinson and Kendrick
Scott split the drum position on the tour: Hutchinson plays the
January and February dates, and Scott plays the March dates. Both drummers have
a long history with the Festival: Hutchinson’s first of three appearances at
MJF was in 1992, and Kendrick Scott, a three-time Berklee/Monterey group
drummer from 1999-2003, has played at MJF nine times. Scott also was the
drummer with MJF’s 50th Anniversary All-Stars on the 54-date
tour in 2008, and performed on Terence Blanchard’s GRAMMY-winning recording
with the band.
The Monterey
Jazz Festival has presented nearly every major jazz star—from Billie Holiday
and Louis Armstrong to Esperanza Spalding and Trombone Shorty—since it was
founded in 1958. Held every third full weekend in September on the Monterey
County Fairgrounds, the Monterey Jazz Festival is a three-day celebration of
music, commissioned jazz compositions, in-depth conversations with artists,
panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, clinics, and an international array
of food, shopping, and festivities spread throughout 20 acres.
A nonprofit
organization, Monterey Jazz Festival now budgets more than $500,000 annually
for jazz education. Cutting-edge educational components include the Traveling
Clinician and Latin Jazz Programs; the Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp; the Instrument
and Sheet Music Library; the Digital Education Music Project; the Monterey
County High School All-Star Bands; and the Next Generation Jazz Festival—which
draws thousands of the most talented young musicians from across the country
and around the world to Monterey each spring.
The
Artist-In-Residence Program, a key component of Monterey Jazz Festival’s
philosophy of bringing leading jazz performers to work with students throughout
the year, includes their appearance at the Next Generation Jazz Festival,
Summer Jazz Camp and the Monterey Jazz Festival, both in performance and
instruction.
A leader in
jazz education, the Festival has also presented the winning bands from its high
school competition since 1971, and has showcased talented young musicians in
its all-star student big band, the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Throughout
the years, many legendary and influential artists—including Ray Brown, Ron
Carter, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Golson—have mentored and
performed with the all-star students, often premiering original works written
for the band. Some of the alumni of the group include Ambrose Akinmusire,
Joshua Redman, Patrice Rushen, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Gordon Goodwin, Larry
Grenadier, and Benny Green, to name a few.
Previous Monterey
Jazz Festival tours have crisscrossed the United States. In 2008, the 50th
Anniversary All-Star Band made 54-date tour across 22 states, to over
43,000 fans, and featured four-time GRAMMY winner Terence Blanchard on trumpet;
the late GRAMMY winner James Moody on saxophone; musical director Benny Green
on piano; Derrick Hodge on bass; Kendrick Scott on drums, and five-time GRAMMY
nominee, vocalist Nnenna Freelon.
In 2010, Monterey
Jazz Festival on Tour played 34 dates through 17 states to 26,000
fans, and featured the nine-time GRAMMY-nominated and NEA Jazz Master Kenny
Barron on piano; GRAMMY-nominated violinist Regina Carter; GRAMMY-winning
guitarist Russell Malone; GRAMMY-winning vocalist Kurt Elling; bassist Kiyoshi
Kitagawa; and GRAMMY-nominated drummer Johnathan Blake.
In 2013,
35,000 fans saw the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary
Celebrationacross the country in 40 cities in 23 states across the United
States, Canada, and Washington D.C., and featured three-time GRAMMY winners
vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and bassist and musical director Christian
McBride; pianist Benny Green, GRAMMY-winners drummer Lewis Nash and saxophonist
Chris Potter; and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire.
See tour dates here:
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