Jerome Jennings The
Beast Since moving to New York from his native Cleveland 12 years ago, Jerome
Jennings has become one of the most in-demand jazz drummers on the scene.
Currently a member of the Christian McBride Trio, Craig Handy's 2nd Line Smith,
and the groups of vocalist Paula West and singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg, Jennings
boasts an impressive resume that speaks to his versatility and rhythmic
mastery.
With the release on November 18 of his debut CD, The Beast,
on his new Iola Records imprint, Jennings is now stepping out as a poised,
swinging, and strong-minded leader in his own right. He has drawn together some
of his favorite players from coast to coast -- five-time Grammy-award-winning
bassist Christian McBride, poll-winning fellow Ohioan Sean Jones on trumpet and
flugelhorn, McBride trio pianist Christian Sands, longtime Harry Connick Jr.
trombonist Dion Tucker, and the explosive Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard
Wiley, a member of Jennings's current band -- for a set of compositions by
Freddie Hubbard, Ben Webster, and bassist Jon Burr; adaptations of an ice-cream-truck
jingle and a chart-topping R&B hit (New Edition's "Cool It Now");
and three originals by the leader. Jazzmeia Horn, winner of the 2012 Sarah
Vaughan International Jazz Vocal and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute
International Jazz Vocal competition, joins the sextet for an arrangement by
Jennings and Curtis Fuller of the standard "You Don't Know What Love
Is."
The title track is based on an incident in which a
Princeton, New Jersey, police officer pulled Jennings over while he was driving
home from a gig at 2 a.m. for allegedly having a tiny Cleveland Browns football
helmet hanging from his rearview mirror. He was held for 50 harrowing minutes
before being released without having even been issued a ticket.
The hard-swinging number begins with a press roll on the
snare drum that slows to a stop, indicating the process of pulling off the
road. Tension between the horn and rhythm sections during the head and solos
reflects the way Jennings was repeatedly interrupted while trying to answer the
officer's questions.
"I call it 'The Beast' because that's another way of
saying 'police' or 'system,'" the drummer explains. "Everything I do
in that tune is significant."
Jerome Jennings was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 28,
1980. His early interest in drums turned into a passion after his mother
brought home an Art Blakey album. He played in various ensembles in high school
before receiving a full scholarship to Ohio State University, where he studied
with trumpeter Pharez Whitted. He went on to receive a Bachelor's Degree in
Music Performance from Rutgers University and a Master of Music Degree in Jazz
Studies, Performance, and Drums from Juilliard.
In 2001, Jennings set out to meet and play with as many
former members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as possible. They included
Charles Fambrough, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, David Schnitter, Ronnie
Mathews, Javon Jackson, Curtis Lundy, Wynton Marsalis, Lonnie Plaxico, Valery
Ponomarev, Bobby Watson, Frank Lacy, and, the drummer adds, "even Mr.
[Sonny] Rollins. He played a bit with Blakey. I worked with Sonny for three
years. That was almost an out-of-body experience.
Jerome Jennings "I felt that if I could play with guys
who played with great drummers, particularly Art Blakey, and they could tell me
I'm swinging, then I'm swinging," he explains. "I learned so much
from them in terms of the spirit of the music. It's not necessarily a technical
thing. It's how you're carrying yourself and how you carry the music and move
it forward by addressing where it came from."
Jennings's knowledge of and passion for the music has led to
him teaching in a variety of jazz education programs over the years. He's
presently giving classes for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz for Young People
program, Jazz for Teens at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and is a
featured lecturer for Jazz At Lincoln Center's Swing University.
When he's not playing drums or teaching, Jennings pursues an
acting career as time permits. He played a minor role as Chuck Berry's drummer
in the motion picture Cadillac Records, spent four months off-Broadway at The
Little Shubert Theatre playing drums and acting in Lady Day starring his
friend/mentor Dee Dee Bridgewater, and recently starred in Laurence Holder's
one-man play The Gospel According to Max Roach at the Nuyorican Poets Café in
New York City, among other credits. He's had to miss out on some important
auditions because of his musical commitments, "which is always tough. But
music is the priority for me."
Jennings has planned CD release shows for 11/22 at Dizzy's
in New York City, and 11/26-27 at Night Town in his hometown of Cleveland.
Personnel will include Dion Tucker, trombone; Kenyatta Beasley, trumpet; Howard
Wiley, tenor saxophone; Christian Sands, piano; and Elias Bailey, bass.
Jazzmeia Horn will be featured with the sextet at Dizzy's.
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