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JAZZ PIANO MASTERS SERIES
George Cables Trio
Internationally renowned pianist, composer, arranger, educator, and recording artist George Cables has been performing as a bandleader and sideman for many years, along with the best the jazz world has to offer. Known for his own compositions as well as his creative interpretations of the standards, his repertoire is as varied as it is fun and engaging. Debuting at the piano store as a bandleader, he’ll be joined by Essiet Essiet (bass) and Jerome Jennings (drums). The trio’s most recent recordings are on HighNote Records with a new release scheduled for this Fall.
$35 General Admission
We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend this performance in person. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is encouraged but not required.
GEORGE CABLES
When George Cables was going to school in New York City he used to walk the streets at night, taking in the cosmopolitan sights and sounds, mentally recording his encounters with “so many different kinds of people.” In his musical career as well, Cables has prowled sidestreets and main thoroughfares in relative anonymity, absorbing countless influences into his personal style.
Born in New York City on November 14, 1944, Cables was classically trained as a youth and when he started at the “Fame” worthy High School of Performing Arts, he admittedly “didn’t know anything about jazz.” But he was soon smitten with the potential for freedom of expression he heard in jazz.
He has performed and recorded with some of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, including: Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Williams, Bobby Hutcherson and Dizzy Gillespie.
George Cables has emerged as a major voice in modern jazz. He is currently performing and recording as a soloist, with trio and larger ensembles, and as a clinician in college jazz programs. In addition to composing and arranging for his own albums, George Cables has contributed to recordings by Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson and many others. He is noted for his fresh Interpretations of classic compositions and for his innovative style of writing. georgecables.com
ESSIET ESSIET
Essiet Okon Essiet first received critical acclaim more than a decade ago as a member of saxophonist Bobby Watson's post hard bop group Horizon He has long since established himself as one of New York's premier bassist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, his parents having moved there from Nigeria, West Africa, the family later moved to Wisconsin where Essiet began his musical studies at age 10 on the violin. Four years, later he switched to the bass. As a child, and into his teens, his family moved often. His father worked for the US, as well as the Nigerian government, and his job took the family to many places including Europe, Africa and various cities in the US. His family finally settled in Portland, Oregon where he began studying jazz at the age of 14. Having traveled widely as a youngster with his family, he had an easy time adjusting to life on the road once he turned professional. More importantly, his early exposure to many cultures, languages, folkways and religions, fostered his world view of strength through diversity. "Some musicians are purist" says Essiet, "but I like to mix styles. I like many different types of cultures."
He has performed and recorded with such notables as Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Sam Rivers, George Adams, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Jackie McLean, Frank Morgan, Kenny Barron, Louis Hayes, Ben Riley, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Higgins, Billy Hart, Art Farmer, Abby Lincoln, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy Cobham, Bennie Maupin, Al Foster, Eddie Henderson, Steve Turre, Jon Faddis, Bobby Watson, Victor Lewis, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Kirkland, Mulgrew Miller, Jeff "Tain " Watts, Mike Stern, Kevin Mahogany, Kurt Elling, Fort Apache Band, Danilo Perez, Claudia Acuna, Geri Allen, and Ralph Peterson to highlight only a partial list.
Currently, Essiet leads his own group called "IBO" named after a Nigerian tribe. It is a Nigerian jazz project which mixes jazz harmonies with West African rhythms. essietokonessiet.net
JEROME JENNINGS
Jerome Jennings is a drummer, activist, bandleader, sideman, and Emmy Award-winning composer. His debut recording ‘The Beast’ is a reflection of the everyday joys and traumas of black life in the U.S. It was named one of the top three Jazz releases by NPR, received a four-star rating in Downbeat Magazine, and was nominated for the prestigious French ‘Grand Prix du Disque’ award for Album of the Year in 2016. Jerome’s sophomore recording, ‘Solidarity’, released November 2019, was recognized by NPR as best music that spoke truth to power of 2019.
To date, Jerome has performed, toured, and recorded with legendary musicians like Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Gerald Wilson, Christian McBride, Ron Carter, George Cables, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Wynton Marsalis (J@LC), The Count Basie Orchestra, Philip Bailey, Henry Butler, and countless others. He has also made recordings and shared the stage with contemporary musicians Sean Jones, Camille Thurman, Jazzmeia Horn, Tadataka Unno, Christian Sands, Charenee Wade, and Bokani Dyer, to name a few. He has composed music for and is the musical director for Maurice Chestnut’s dance production Beat’s Rhymes and Tap Shoes.
In the summer of 2007, Jerome earned a Masters of Music from the prestigious Juilliard School in Manhattan, NY. In 2014, he passed Jazz At Lincoln Centers Swing University 301 history course, the most comprehensive study of jazz from a non-performance perspective available." Jazz At Lincoln Center has Jerome Jennings on file as an accredited jazz scholar. Jerome was the Resident Director of The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra from fall 2017 to 2021. While on faculty at Juilliard, he designed a class entitled The Juilliard Jazz Community Project. Jerome is a professor of graduate jazz history at Montclair State University.
Jerome has participated on several panels, including Chamber Music America: Music, Language, and Revolution; Lincoln Center: Freedom’s State of Mind; Winter Jazz Festival: Jazz & Gender: A Discussion Of Community, Culture & Participatory Allies. Fall 2020, Jerome co-curated with Naomi Extra, a series of panels, performances, and discussions at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem entitled ‘Jazz in The Era of Black Lives Matter.’ He has also designed and taught several courses for Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Swing University.
Currently, Jerome is keeping busy teaching, conducting clinics, and educational youth outreach nationally and internationally. He is one of the most successful in Black American music education. Jerome has been an artist-in-residence and has lectured at dozens of Universities and Academy, nationally and internationally, including UNC Greensboro, John Hopkins Peabody Institute, Rutgers University, The Juilliard School, Jazz Music Institute JMI (Brisbane, AU), Sydney Conservatory of Music, Xavier College (Melbourne, AU), The Ohio StateUniversity, Aspen Colorado, Brigham Young University, University Of Ghana -Legon School Of Performing Arts, Rockport Jazz Workshop, and the Universidad Sergio Arboleda (Bogota Colombia) and The National Taiwan University of The Arts.