$18 Cover @ the Door ($15 Students) / Start 8pm / Doors 7:30pm
The Creative Music Series proudly welcomes
From New York
Prime lower “downtown” NY avant-garde musicians
And a first for
Boston
Three master, world class, exceptional improvisers together
The Rob Brown Trio
One of the truly important saxophonist’s and band leaders, an international figure and an anchor for decades with the great bassist William Parker for an evening of creativity and forward looking (free-form) Jazz exploration…
Rob Brown, alto saxophone, composer
"An alto saxophonist of astonishing virtuosity, Rob Brown possesses a rare mastery of the instrument's tonal colors." - Alternative Press
"...one of the most consistently musical and compelling of the…free-jazz players." - Boston Phoenix
“His solos were bright, aggressive, detailed, and nuanced”. - NPR
"Rob Brown is an awesome alto saxophonist, a mercurial improviser who is perpetually inventive” - Aumfidelity
Rob Brown was born in 1962 in Hampton VA. Rob took up the saxophone at age 12. Early on he was introduced to the music of Charlie Parker and Eric Dolphy by his older brother who also played the saxophone. He played in school concert and jazz bands by age 13 and started playing with a performing/traveling jazz-blues band at age 16. During his first year of college Rob made a serious commitment to developing his music and he moved to Boston in 1981 to study. There he encountered many other young hard working musicians that inspired him and within a couple of years Rob saw the direction he wanted to pursue as an artist, and that Boston was not the best place for him to realize that.
Rob moved to New York in 1984 and established the musical relationships that came to define his career. Immediately he reestablished ties with pianist Matthew Shipp whom he met in Boston in 1982 and continued to develop an improvising language with him. They performed sometimes with a trio or quartet but mainly as a duo and recorded their first album together in 1988 on Cadence. Within a year or two of moving to NYC Rob met William Parker and formed a trio with Denis Charles that explored a slightly more traditional jazz trio improvising language utilizing Rob’s compositions. In 1989 they recorded a cd for Silkheart and Rob’s trio concept continued to evolve, playing with different drummers and bassists producing a number of recordings.
Rob also began working with William Parker’s many ensembles and has continued to be very active with him for almost 30 years, touring Europe and the US and recording at least 18 albums. The most most prolific and steadily working of those groups is Parker’s quartet, formed in 2000 with Lewis Barnes and Hamid Drake. Rob has also been playing with William Parker’s Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since its inception in the early 1990’s. Rob and drummer Whit Dickey started playing together in the late eighties which led to a trio with guitarist Joe Morris and many other collaborations with Dickey. Rob and Joe also produced many recordings together with different configurations of musicians.
A more recent and ongoing collaboration is with cellist Daniel Levin, which began in 2003. They have produced two trio recordings of Rob’s compositions with percussionist Satoshi Takeshi and a fully improvised duo cd. They’ve toured in Europe and the US and are working on their next cd. Rob has been collaborating with visual artist Jo Wood-Brown since they met in 1996. Often performing live with Jo’s frequent collaborator dancer/choreographer Miriam Parker and/or creating sound for video and other installations.
In addition to working with NYC based improvisors, poets and visual artists since the mid eighties, he has also collaborated with and led projects with Chicago area musicians as well as European improvisers. He also has worked with improvising legends Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Reggie Workman and others. In the 2011 Rob toured Europe with the recently deceased revolutionary poet with Amiri Baraka.
The Vision Festival became an important part of the NYC jazz scene in 1996 and Rob has been very involved since the inception, frequently performing as a leader, sideman, and performing various other tasks as it is an artist run festival which continues into its 19th year.
Rob has recorded 26 albums as a leader or co-leader and many as a sideman. Upcoming is a recording by his new quartet with Kenny Warren on trumpet, Peter Bitenc on bass and drummer Juan P Carletti. Another duo recording with cellist Daniel Levin is also in the works as well as a trio with Levin and the Polish bassist Jacek Mazurkiewicz which is due for release any day. Rob also recorded a quartet under Whit Dickey’s leadership recently that hopefully will be released soon. The most recent release with Rob is the much acclaimed 8 cd boxed set “Wood Flute Songs” by the WP 4tet on Aumfidelity.
Chad Taylor, drums, composer
"What is remarkable is that there is no wasted motion, no histrionics or grandstanding, as pure emotion is translated to superlative music making on this most highly recommended recording, one for the ages." - Allmusic.com
Chad Taylor (b. 1973) is a composer, educator, percussionist and scholar who is a co-founder of the Chicago Underground ensembles. Originally from Tempe, AZ, Chad grew up in Chicago where he started performing professionally at the age of 16. Chad has performed with Fred Anderson, Derek Bailey, Cooper-Moore, Pharoah Sanders, Marc Ribot, Peter Brotzmann, Malachi Favors and many others. Chad leads his own band Circle down which debut recording was given a 5 star review by All music:
Chad has a BFA from the New School in Jazz Performance and a MFA in Jazz Research and History from Rutgers University.
Chris Lightcap, bass, composer
“Lightcap’s expertise on the bass is second to none, as he pushes and prods his way through these original works with an absolutely stellar band…The music is centered but perfectly identified by shooting out many sparks and shafts of light. ” – Michael G Nastos, All Music Guide
Bassist and composer Chris Lightcap has worked with Marc Ribot, Regina Carter, Craig Taborn, Glen Hansard, Mark Turner, John Medeski, Jason Moran, Tomasz Stanko, Chris Potter, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Dave Liebman, Paquito D’Rivera, Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris, Sheila Jordan, James Carter, Butch Morris, Ben Monder and many other artists. His playing is featured on over 70 albums and as a bandleader/composer he has produced four critically acclaimed albums of original music.
Born and raised in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Chris played violin and piano before taking up the electric bass at fourteen. As a senior in high school he started to study the upright bass and the following year he enrolled at Williams College. During this period he studied bass, composition and improvisation with Milt Hinton, Cameron Brown, Robert Suderburg, Alvin Lucier, and Bill Dixon. He also had the privilege of studying and performing with master drummer Edward Blackwell shortly before his death in 1992. Upon graduating from Williams with the school’s Hutchinson arts grant he moved to his current home, New York City.
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The Creative Music Series (CMS) was established in January, 2015, to showcase the work of adventurous jazz musicians from out-of-state, presenting them in intimate venues in the Cambridge/Somerville area. My endeavor was a reaction to the apparent lack of invitations being extended to accomplished, new talent and even unknown musicians to the Boston area. CMS has now begun to zero in on Boston based musicians who are creating their own projects with these out-of-town guests, and taking these musical risks to find an expression and gain a wider appreciation.