Ray Angry and Warren Wolf Present ‘JAZZ-AGEDDON’ A Pre-Grammy Celebration and Live Recording at the Blue Note Jazz Club

Jazz fans are in for an unprecedented and tasty musical treat to kick off a week of GRAMMY Awards celebrations in New York City. Acclaimed jazz artists, band leaders, and music producers Ray Angry and Warren Wolf are teaming up to present JAZZ-AGEDDON, a unique pre-GRAMMY Celebration and Live Recording with a who’s who of special guests, including James Carter, Sean Jones, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeremy Pelt, Marcus Gilmore, Myron Walden, Ali Jackson, Ben Williams, and Willie Jones III. The three-night jazz spectacular starts on Monday, January 22, 2018 and runs through Wednesday, January, 24, 2018 with two shows nightly at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club, located in New York’s Greenwich Village.

With a lineup featuring critically hailed and genre-pushing all-stars, JAZZ-AGEDDON presents a thrilling musical exchange between innovative contemporary craftsmen at the top of their game, all celebrating America’s one true indigenous musical art form, Jazz, in the days leading up to the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which take place January 28 in New York for the first time in 15 years. The lineup and setlist of covers and originals will shift each night, ensuring that JAZZ-AGEDDON cooks up a unique gumbo of jazz flavors with each show.

“What an honor to start off 2018 performing at the Blue Note with Warren Wolf and present new music with a cast of world-renowned musicians,” says keyboardist Angry, who fronts the band Mister Goldfinger, among other projects. “Each night will be something that you won’t want to miss. Can’t wait to bring you music that will feed your mind, body, and soul.”

Baltimore-based vibraphones master Wolf adds, “I look forward to performing in Jazz-Ageddon with the great pianist and keyboardist Ray Angry. Many of our friends, Jeremy Pelt, Sean Jones, James Carter, Ben Williams, Wycliffe Gordon, Willie Jones III, Myron Walden and more will bring the very best sounds in jazz music and beyond with Ray Angry and myself at the helm.”

Shows are scheduled for 8 and 10 p.m. The Blue Note is located at 131 West 3rd Street, New York, New York 10012; for reservations, please call 212-475-8592. Tickets are available at the Blue Note Club website. The lineup for the three nights is as follows:

Monday, January 22, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), James Carter (saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums and percussion), Ben Williams (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums and percussion), and Wycliffe Gordon (trombone).

Tuesday, January 23, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Willie Jones III (drums, percussion), Ali Jackson (drums, percussion), Myron Walden (saxophone, bass clarinet), Ben Williams (bass), and Sean Jones (trumpet).

Wednesday, January 24, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Willie Jones III (drums, percussion), Myron Walden (saxophone, bass clarinet), Ben Williams (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums and percussion), and Sean Jones (trumpet).

Ray Angry is an acclaimed pianist, producer, composer and musical director, Angry has collaborated with a wide range of pop, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop artists including Jeff Beck, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Yolanda Adams, Joss Stone, Sting, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, a duo of Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart, Estelle, Richard Smallwood, Dionne Warwick, Dianne Reeves, Queen Latifah, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Kelis, Christina Aguilera and ongoing associates The Roots. His compositions have been featured on TV shows, including “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” His performance of “Celebration of Life Suite” was included on the Revive/Blue Note label’s compilation Supreme Sonacy, Vol 1. This summer, Angry is releasing his debut album, Ray Angry One.

Warren Wolf is a respected recording artist as well as an alumnus and former percussion professor at the world-renowned Berklee College of Music, vibraphone and marimba specialist. Wolf is the leader of Warren Wolf & WOLFPACK. With his mallet and percussion skills, he has served as a member of bassist Christian McBride’s group Inside Straight as well as the Bay Area’s all-star SFJazz Collective, the David Sanborn/Joey DeFrancesco Group, and the Aaron Diehl Quartet. His most recent recording as a leader is Convergence.

James Carter is multi-instrumentalist and Detroit native. Carter is best known for his innovative saxophone sound. A winner of Downbeat Magazine’s Critics and Readers’ Choice Award for baritone saxophone several years in a row, Carter is also an authority on vintage saxophones with an extensive collection. He has performed, toured and played on albums with jazz notables Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Karryn Allison, Cyrus Chestnut, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater and his cousin, jazz violinist Regina Carter. He has recorded numerous albums as a leader.

Marcus Gilmore is a young-gun drum star. Gilmore has played with the likes of Ravi Coltrane, Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, and Cassandra Wilson, among others. Born into a musical family (his grandfather is jazz drummer Roy Haynes) and raised in Queens, New York, Gilmore is currently a member of pianist Vijay Iyer’s band.

Wycliffe Gordon is considered one of the reigning trombone masters of his generation, Gordon has earned Downbeat Magazine’s Best Trombone for four years running, as well as eight honors from the Jazz Journalists Association, among other awards. A music educator and author as well as a performer and composer, Gordon frequently tours with his Wycliffe Gordon & His International All-Stars, composes for a variety of ensembles as well as stage and film projects. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Natalie Merchant, Rene Marie, Anat Cohen, Dianne Reeves, Ricky Skaggs, and Arturo Sandoval, among others.

Ali Jackson is a composer, educator, and percussionist. Jackson left Detroit to attend the New School University for Contemporary Music in New York, where he studied with Max Roach and Elvin Jones. A member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for more than a decade, Jackson has also performed and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Willie Nelson, Tony Bennett, Faith Hill, Karriem Riggins, Bobby McFerrin, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Harry Connick, Jr., Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, Vinx, Diana Krall, Gerald Albright, Jacky Terrasson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and the New York City Ballet, among others.

Willie Jones III has studied under legendary drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath in college. The band he founded, Black Note, won the John Coltrane Jazz Competition and went on to record a series of albums. Jones has recorded with Roy Hargrove, Kurt Elling, and Eric Reed; he has also worked with Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Houston Person, Billy Childs, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones, among others. In 2000, Jones released his debut CD, Vol 1...Straight Swingin’, on his label, WJ3 Records, and continues to record as a leader.

Sean Jones is a trumpeter, composer, and educator. The Ohio-born musician has captured attention for his unique sound. He held the trumpet chair in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and has also been featured as a soloist with Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson, and Marcus Miller, and toured with Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter on the 2011 Tribute to Miles tour.  A member of the SFJazz Collective, Jones has released several solo sets on Mack Avenue Records.

Jeremy Pelt is a respected traditional and contemporary trumpet player. Pelt has worked with Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ravi Coltrane, Frank Foster, Winard Harper, Jimmy Heath, Vincent Herring, John Hicks, Charli Persip, Ralph Peterson, Lonnie Plaxico, Bobby Short, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Nancy Wilson and The Skatalites, to name a few. Pelt has numerous album recordings as a leader.

Myron Walden learned woodwinds in high school and became so skilled on the alto sax that he was handpicked for a guest spot with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The Miami-born, Bronx-bred musician played with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Henderson, Kevin Hays, Stephen Scott, Greg Hutchinson and Eric Harland before earning a regular gig on Wednesday nights with his Apex Trio. He moved on to guest spots with Brian Blade’s Fellowship Band and The New Jazz Composers Octet, which made three recordings as a unit and two with Freddie Hubbard. Also a noted tenor and soprano sax player, Waldon has dozens of recordings as a sideman and several projects as a leader.

Ben Williams raised in Washington, D.C., earned a BA from Michigan State University and a MA from the esteemed Juilliard School. The acclaimed bassist is a winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 2009, Williams has gone on to record as a leader. He is also a member of noted jazz guitarist Pat Metheny’s Unity Band, which won a 2013 Grammy Award.

About the Blue Note Jazz Club

Since its inception in 1981, Blue Note has become one of the premier jazz clubs in the world and a cultural institution in Greenwich Village. Owner and founder Danny Bensusan had a vision to create a jazz club in Greenwich Village that would treat deserving artists with respect, while allowing patrons to see the world’s finest jazz musicians in a close, comfortable setting. The club simultaneously strives to preserve the history of jazz, while fostering progression and innovation within the art form.