2011 Vail Jazz Festival Artists A - J
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In a career spanning five decades, pianist Monty Alexander has built a reputation exploring and bridging the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica. Monty was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and later moved with his family to the United States. While playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, which opened doors to some of the greatest legends of jazz. He has performed and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bill Cosby, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare. In Hal Leonard’s 2005 book The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time, Alexander was listed among the top five Jazz pianists of all time. As a leader, Monty Alexander has recorded over 60 albums to date. His 1976 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival performance with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton has become one of the most celebrated live recordings in contemporary jazz. Monty’s latest release is Uplift. |
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Born in Orange, Texas to a family whose female members all played piano, Marcia grew up in the small town of Vinton, Louisiana, right across the border from Texas. She began taking piano lessons at age five, playing old Tin Pan Alley tunes from her grandmother's collection. From her aunt, Marcia heard more modern and popular music. But it wasn't until one day in 1962 when she was 13 that Marcia discovered the blues while watching Irma Thomas deliver the most soulful and spirited performance the young teenager had ever seen. Since those early days, Marcia has created her own music, mixed with equal parts of simmering soul fervor and two-fisted piano pounding. Between her deeply emotive vocals and her incisive, often poignant songwriting, Marcia is in a class by herself. Her groove-laden New Orleans R&B and driving Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite of music fans all over the world. A four time Grammy nominee, she knows how to raise roofs and tear down walls with her infectious, intelligent and deeply emotional brand of southern boogie, rollicking, roadhouse blues and heartfelt ballads. Over the course of her three-decade career, Marcia has earned a huge and intensely loyal following all over the world. Her latest release is Roadside Attractions. |
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Bruce Barth is widely considered to be one of finest jazz pianists and composers of his generation. His is a modern and original voice, with great expressive depth and compelling rhythm. Barth has appeared in major jazz festivals, clubs, and concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, with his trio, as a solo pianist; alongside several of jazz’s greatest elders, and with some of the most dynamic voices of his own generation. He has played on more than ninety CD’s, including nine as a leader. Originally from Pasadena, California, Barth started piano lessons at the age of five. He fell in love with jazz as a teenager, and studied privately with Norman Simmons and at the New England Conservatory with Jaki Byard, George Russell, and Fred Hersch. While in Boston he recorded “The African Game” and “So What,” with George Russell's Living Time Orchestra, for release on Blue Note Records. Within a year of moving to Brooklyn in 1988, Barth toured Japan with Nat Adderley. After a brief stint with Stanley Turrentine, he joined Terence Blanchard’s quintet in 1990. During the next four years, he toured extensively with Blanchard, recorded six CD’s and several movie soundtracks, and even played onscreen in Spike Lee’s film, Malcolm X. Barth has performed with James Moody, Slide Hampton, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Nancy Wilson, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, and the Mingus Big Band. Barth is a Grammy-nominated producer, and has more than twenty albums to his credit. A gifted and original teacher, Barth is currently on the faculty of Temple University in Philadelphia. His latest release is Home: Live in Columbia, Missouri. |
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Shelly Berg is a jazz pianist originally from Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of six Shelly entered the Cleveland Institute of Music studying classical music. Berg holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Houston School of Music. A devoted music educator, Berg has recorded critically acclaimed albums, his latest being The Nearness of You (Arbors, 2009), preceded by Blackbird (Concord, 2005) and The Will (CARS, 2000). In 2006, he arranged most of the songs on the album Ray Sings, Basie Swings (Concord). Shelly was previously the McCoy/Sample Professor of Jazz Studies at the USC Thornton School of Music. He is currently Dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. |
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Born in Los Angeles, alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton cites the “emotional majesty” of his childhood Baptist church as a major musical inspiration. The seeds of Jeff’s career were sown in the fertile ground of his hometown. He took a break from studying oboe at California State University Northridge to tour with Stevie Wonder. Jeff credits saxophonists Johnny Hodges and Cannonball Adderley as his most significant jazz influences, along with trumpeter Thad Jones and bassist Ray Brown. He co-leads the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with brother John and drummer Jeff Hamilton and is co-leader of the Clayton Brothers Quintet. In demand as a touring and studio musician, Jeff has recorded with Wonder, Kurt Elling, Gladys Knight, Kenny Rogers, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Michael Jackson, Patti Labelle, Madonna and Earth Wind & Fire. He has worked with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton and Lena Horne, and had a short stint with the Count Basie Orchestra. Jeff has toured with Gene Harris, Dianne Reeves, Joe Cocker, B.B. King and Ray Charles and was a member of the Philip Morris Superband from 1989-91. He is featured on Ray Brown’s 1990 release “Evergreen” (GMI) recorded with Milt Jackson and on all of the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra releases as well as the Clayton Brothers Quartet/Quintet releases, including Grammy nominated “Brother to Brother” on the ArtistShare label and the soon to be released “New Song and Dance” also on the ArtistShare label. Jeff has taught at the Vail Jazz Workshop for the past 16 years. Jeff’s latest offering is The New Song and Dance with the Clayton Brothers Quintet. |
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John Clayton began seriously studying the bass at 13 with Ray Brown. At 19, the Grammy winner and four-time Grammy nominee became the bassist for Henry Mancini’s “The Mancini Generation.” After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in double bass in 1975 from the University of Indiana, John toured with Monty Alexander and the Count Basie Orchestra. He moved to Amsterdam and was principal bassist in the Amsterdam Philharmonic for five years. John’s work as a composer and arranger has been guided by, among others, Robert Farnon, Count Basie, Johnny Mandel, Mancini, Marty Paich and Frank Foster. He has written and arranged music for Diana Krall, Dee Dee Bridgewater (including her Grammy-winning “Dear Ella”), Natalie Cole, Regina Carter, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Quincy Jones, George Benson and Dr. John. He has received commissions from the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the American Jazz Philharmonic, the Iceland Symphony, the Metropole Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Big Band, the Richmond Symphony and the Amsterdam Philharmonic, among others. He is co-leader of the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Clayton Brothers Quintet. He is president of the International Bassist Association and artistic director of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and Centrum Jazz Workshop. John is Director of Education and a Board member of the Vail Jazz Foundation and Director of the Vail Jazz Workshop for the past 16 years. John’s latest offering is The New Song and Dance with the Clayton Brothers Quintet. |
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Bill is equally in demand as a performer, arranger and composer. The year 2010 has been a banner year for Bill winning his first Grammy for his arrangement of his “West Side Story Medley,” followed up by the premiere of his original composition “fourth stream . . . La Banda” at Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, which was reprised by a performance at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. Bill earned a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music. After teaching three years at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, Bill toured with the Buddy Rich Big Band as pianist and arranger, doing two tours of Europe with Frank Sinatra. He then played and toured with jazz world greats including Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, James Moody and Joshua Redman. Bill is the author of “Jazz Keyboard Toolbox,” which has become a standard jazz reference book. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Award and has received stipends from the National Endowment for the Arts. Bill currently performs with his own trio, sextet and Latin jazz nonet, as well as the Clayton Brothers Quintet, with trumpeter Terell Stafford and flutist Holly Hofmann. His CD, “Imaginacion,” by his Latin jazz nonet charted at #2 on national jazz radio. Bill also composes classical music, having written among other compositions a three-movement “Romantic” Fantasy for piano and orchestra and “Viva Mexico” for orchestra, both of which he recorded. He performs his own distinctive arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” with orchestras and plays with his group, Trimotif. Bill recently joined the faculty at California State University Fullerton and has been a teacher at the Vail Jazz Workshop for the past 16 years. Bill’s latest release is Mort Weiss Meets Bill Cunliffe. |
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Guitarist and Los Angeles native Graham Dechter is one of the most promising young jazz musicians on the scene today. Born into a family of musicians, Graham's musical journey began at the age of five when he started taking violin lessons and composing orchestral pieces. It was at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California that Graham discovered his passion for guitar, and began pursuing his life's calling: jazz. Here Graham studied improvisation with legendary jazz bassist Marshall Hawkins, and also studied privately with guitarist Jim Fox, taking every opportunity to attend live performances of his musical heroes, many with whom he would later perform and record. Upon graduation, Graham entered the Jazz Studies program at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. After completing a year at Eastman, and at the invitation of Jeff Hamilton, 19 year old Graham accepted the guitar seat in the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (CHJO). Graham has performed and recorded with Ernie Andrews, Charles Aznavour, Michael Buble, Regina Carter, Gilbert Castellanos, Freddie Cole, Natalie Cole, Bill Charlap, Paquito D'Rivera, Kurt Elling, Roberta Gambarini, Wycliffe Gordon, and Benny Green. His latest release is Right On Time. |
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Jazz singer and accomplished pianist Dena DeRose studied classical piano throughout her childhood, and at 17, began studying with jazz teacher Doug Beardsley. After high school, DeRose was offered a scholarship to Concordia College but chose to attend Binghamton University instead. At 21, DeRose was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis; suffering severe pain in her right hand, she was forced to stop playing the piano. One night she was in a bar listening to Doug Beardsley's trio when someone suggested that she get up and sing – and a new vocal talent was discovered. After two surgeries on her right hand, she was once again able to play the piano. She moved to New York City in 1991 to further her career. Dena is a dedicated jazz educator, and is on the faculty at the New School and Purchase College, The Hartt School of Music and the Groningen Conservatory of Music in The Netherlands. She frequently teaches at clinics and workshops and summer jazz camps. She has served as a judge at both the Thelonious Monk Competition and the NJ Star Ledger Scholarship Awards. Dena and her trio (Martin Wind on bass and Matt Wilson on drums) have developed a hard-swinging and dynamic sound that audiences crave, and have accumulated a list of performance credits that proves it. Her latest release is Live at Jazz Standard: Vol 2. |
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The passion Bobby Floyd displays on piano, organ and keyboards is the result of innate talent, years of practice and decades of experience. Floyd displays a unique, musical power that uplifts and inspires audiences around the world. Floyd has performed with Ray Charles, Rusty Bryant, Jeff Tyzik, Chris Howes, Byron Stripling, Sarah Morrow and his own trio. His current touring schedule includes performances as featured soloist with orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. Floyd, who resides in Columbus, Ohio, is also a frequent soloist with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. His recent performances in Europe and Japan have garnered high praise and he continues to accompany the top jazz, blues and gospel artist in the country. Floyd has taught at Ohio State University, his own private studio and the world famous Jamey Aebersold Jazz Workshops. His critically acclaimed CD's Interpretations, Setting The Standards, Floyd's Finest Gift, and his latest Notes To And From My Friends demonstrate hisability to electrify audiences and have received the highest praise from critics and musicians alike. |
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Musical ambassador and interpreter of Americaʼs music, Wycliffe Gordon experiences an
impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz receiving
great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger
mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound, has solidified Gordon a place in musical Gordon is one of Americaʼs most persuasive and committed music educators, and currently serves on the faculty of the Jazz Arts Program at Manhattan School of Music. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2006 from the University of Scranton, for his tireless dedication to the field. His work with young musicians and audiences from elementary schools to universities all over the world is extensive, and includes master classes, clinics, workshops, childrenʼs concerts and lectures — powerful evidence of his unique ability to relate musically to people of all ages. Wycliffe Gordon is a Yamaha artist. For additional information visit www.wycliffegordon.com or contact Brumfield & Associates, info@brumfieldassociates.com. |
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Born in Brooklyn, New York, drummer Dana Hall received his Bachelor of Music from William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey and in 1999, his Masters degree in composition and arranging from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois; both degrees were earned after completing his education in aerospace engineering at Iowa State University. Mr. Hall joined the faculty of the University of Illinois AT Urbana- Champaign in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Music. He is presently a distinguished Special Trustees Fellow completing his Doctorate in ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago. The list of exceptional artists with whom Mr. Hall has performed, toured, and/or recorded directly reflects the diverse and varied approaches of his music-making in the fields of jazz and popular music; Branford Marsalis, Ray Charles, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Horace Silver, Michael Brecker, Nicolas Payton, Kurt Elling, Benny Green, Frank Wess, Ken Peplowski, Wycliffe Gordon, Diana Krall, Clark Terry, and the Mingus Big Band. Mr. Hall is a member of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and formerly a regular member of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band under the direction of Jon Faddis. Professor Hall is also an active clinician and educator. He has served as a faculty member at the University of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago, is also a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Band Directors Academy and Essentially Ellington faculty, recently completed a four-year association with the prestigious Ravinia Festival’s Jazz in the Schools Mentoring Program, Merit School of Music, a member of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’s Jazz in America Program and the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Artists Residency Program. Mr. Hall uses and endorses Yamaha Drums, Bosphorus Cymbals, and Pro-Mark Drumsticks. His latest release is Into the Light. |
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Singer, songwriter, dancer and choreographer Niki Haris, daughter of the Grammy nominated jazz pianist Gene Harris, Niki performs to express her love of music, dancing, and choreography. Niki pursued her singing career in Southern California has worked with Ray Charles, David Sanborn, Michael Sembello, Leann Rimes, Michelle Branch, Santana, Kylie Minogue, Luther Vandross, All Saints, Wilton Felder of the Jazz Crusaders, Stanley Turrentine, the Righteous Bros., Julian Lennon, Anita Baker, Mick Jagger, Whitney Houston and Madonna. Niki toured with her father while promoting their albums, “Down Home Blues” and their inspirational CD “In His Hands”. After her father’s passing and the release of their live CD, “Jazz Alley Cats”, Niki resumed her love of jazz and today carries on her father’s legacy. Niki performs at a multitude of benefits for AIDS, Cancer research as well as Camp Harmony for inner city children. She is also a strong supporter for the Music in the Classroom program and RAAD, Rockers Against Drunk Driving. She diligently lends her time in serving and is an annual participant in the Season for Non Violence. Her latest release is I’m Glad There is You. |
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Born in Mexico City, Magos Herrera is considered one of the most beautiful voices and the most active vocalist of the contemporary Latin American jazz scene. Immensely popular throughout Mexico and Latin America, Herrera is an accomplished singer-songwriter known for her beguiling rhythmic scatting, inflected with soulful Latin-Andalusian phrasings. Magos Herrera owns a unique signature that elegantly blends her classic jazz styling with Latin-American melodies. Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and English, her repertoire is filled with the yearning romance, intimacy and enchantment of Mexican and Cuban sones and boleros, and sultry, languid Brazilian beats. Her career started in Italy in 1988, and her love for music eventually lead her to Los Angeles, where she graduated from the “Musicians Institute.” For over 12 years Magos has performed in international performing arts centers, festivals, and concert halls. She was nominated in Mexico in 2006 for ”Lunas del Auditorio Nacional” for the best Jazz concert among Bobby McFerrin and Bill Frisell. Based in New York since 2007, Magos Herrera promptly became part of the scene since her successful concert at New York Winter Jazz Festival in 2008. She has recorded with saxophonist Tim Ries for “The Rolling Stones Jazz Project II” and for contemporary composer Paola Prestini for Traveling songs “VIA project.” In spring 2009 Magos released her newest CD ”Distancia” on Sunnyside records, produced by Tim Ries, featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke, pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Ricky Rodriguez and drummer Alex Kautz. Her latest release is Mexico Azul. |
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Vibraphonist-composer Jay Hoggard seamlessly blends gospel roots with African/Caribbean rhythms and blues, bop, and ballads. Born in Washington, DC, Jay Hoggard was raised in Mt. Vernon, New York in a religious family. At age 15, Jay began playing the vibraphone. Jay majored in music at Wesleyan University, where he also toured Europe and played at Carnegie Hall during his freshman year. In his junior year, he traveled to Tanzania to study East African xylophone music. Jay Hoggard has recorded 21 CDs as a leader, including his latest release Solo from Two Sides, Soular Power, Swing Em Gates, The Right Place, and Songs of Spiritual Love. Jay has performed with Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Tito Puente, Kenny Burrell, Dr. Billy Taylor, Bill Cosby, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, and Hilton Ruiz. Currently a professor of music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Jay directs the Jazz Orchestra and has taught and mentored hundreds of students. |
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The Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra is a Denver based nine piece band that specializes in swing, dance music, and big band jazz. Their unique style has been developed from the great swing and jazz bands of the thirties and forties. The Hot Tomatoes excel at re-creating the music of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others of the Swing era. We are very popular at weddings, dance events, concerts, and jazz festivals throughout the western United States. The band boasts an extensive library of over 1000 musical arrangements that includes swing, ballroom, lindy, latin, waltzes, rhythm and blues, and other popular dance forms. The band is completed by four vocalists who interpret music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joe Williams. Louis Prima, Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and others. Their latest release is Come Fly with Us. |
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Tommy Igoe is one of today's most talented and diverse drummers. Born in New Jersey to a musical family, Igoe spent 15 years studying classical and jazz piano. Igoe went on to tour with the Glenn Miller Band when he was just 18. In 1986, he joined the band Blood, Sweat and Tears as their touring drummer. Through the years that followed, Igoe quickly moved on to other great bands and artists until 1997, when he was asked to help create the drumset book for what would become a legendary production: The Lion King on Broadway. His book, which integrated the modern drumset with traditional African percussion, established a new benchmark for the drumset voice within musical theatre. In 2004, Igoe created what has since become a legendary fixture in any serious drummers collection: Groove Essentials. This groundbreaking work has been credited with influencing more teachers and educators than any educational publication of the last 50 years. Igoe's latest and most exciting project, The Birdland Big Band, is currently the hottest weekly music event in New York, and will be recording an all-new studio CD in 2011. Igoe exclusively plays and endorses the highest quality instruments: Yamaha drums and hardware, Vic Firth sticks, Evans drumheads, Zildjian cymbals, and percussion from LP and Rhythm Tech. |