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James Moody joins Terence Blanchard and Benny Green for Nationwide Monterey Jazz Fest
James Moody joins Terence Blanchard and Benny Green for Nationwide Monterey Jazz Festival Tour
Building on the exciting and unprecedented legacy of fifty years of historic jazz presentation, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced the nationwide, ten-week, fifty-four date Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Tour in 2008. Heralded as a meeting of three generations of jazz masters, the 50th Anniversary Monterey Jazz Festival All-Star Band features the leaders of the past, present and future with Terence Blanchard on trumpet, James Moody on saxophone, Benny Green on piano, Derrick Hodge on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums. Vocalist Nnenna Freelon will also be a featured member of the group as they embark on the twenty-two state tour starting in January, 2008. If you can’t come to Monterey, Monterey will come to you! A schedule of the tour follows this article.
Since the 1940s, saxophone master James Moody has serenaded audiences with his signature song "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation on the chord progressions of "I'm in the Mood for Love." Whether he’s playing tenor sax, the alto, soprano or flute, Moody does so with the fluidity, resonance and passion that has made him one of the most expressive and enduring figures in modern jazz. A born performer, Moody always engages the audience with his wit and wisdom as well as his woodwind prowess.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, on March 26th, 1925, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, James Moody took up the alto sax, a gift from his uncle, at the age of 16. A few years later, impressed by saxmen Buddy Tate and Don Byas of the Count Basie Orchestra, he switched to the full-bodied tenor saxophone. Following his discharge from the US Air Force in 1946, Moody joined the influential BeBop big band of Dizzy Gillespie. During that time, he recorded with trumpeter Howard McGhee and vibist Milt Jackson for Dial Records. A year later he made his recording debut as a leader (James Moody and His BeBop Men), using players from the Gillespie band. His now legendary 16-bar solo on Gillespie's "Emanon" alerted jazz fans to an emerging world-class soloist.
Terence Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962 and attended Rutger’s University on a music scholarship. One of Terence’s professors was so impressed by his talent that he brokered him a touring gig with Lionel Hampton’s band. In ’83, Wynton Marsalis recommended Blanchard as his replacement in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Part of the Blakey legend was his ability to foster performances and individual personalities from the young malleable talents he brought into his fold. Blakey utilized and nurtured the improvisation and compositional ideas of his band members to solidify his own unique artistic vision. The legacy of the working band as jazz workshop is at the essence of jazz and Blanchard remains one of the few on the scene today who fully embrace that dynamic. Flow is a dramatic example of this theory put in practice.
Two years later, Terence and fellow Messenger Donald Harrison split to form their own quintet. In ’90,TB departed to pursue a solo career. During his tenure at Columbia, both his soundtracks to Mo’Better Blues and he Heart Speaks were nominated for Grammy Awards. Signed to the Sony Classical label in 1999, the trumpeter/composer gained acclaim as a bandleader and scorer of movie andtelevision soundtracks (including the Grammy nominated Wandering Moon and a Golden Globe nomination for his score for Spike Lee’s The 25h Hour). It was the best of times…and the worst.“When I was at Sony Classical, I had to do all those concept albums,” he explains. “We had fun doing them and they were cool, but I always felt that that band never really got a chance to shine—until we did Bounce, our Blue Note debut." His lates.t release: A Tale Of God's Will (A Requiem For Katrina), has been nominated for a Grammy.
Born on April 4, 1963 in New York City, Piano master Benny Green is an exciting and hard-swinging pianist in the Bud Powell mold. Green ranks alongside Mulgrew Millerp and Donald Brown as one of a number of talented hard-bop keyboard stars to have graduated from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers training ground. During America's hard-bop revival of the ‘80s, Green established his own distinctive voice as the leader of a number of bands.
After high school, Green moved to the West Coast and freelanced around the San Francisco Bay Area, gaining experience working as a sideman. But it was after his return to New York in the spring of 1982 that Green's career took a sharp upward turn. Benefiting from studies with Walter Bishop Jr., he joined Betty Carter's band in April 1983 and began a four-year stint of performing, recording and learning with jazz's most respected vocalist. The piano chair in Art Blakey's prestigious Jazz Messengers followed, as well as a year with the Freddie Hubbard Quintet in 1989. Green joined Ray Brown's Trio in 1992 and was with it un Brown's death.
Derrick Hodge received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Temple University Ester Boyer College of Music where he studied Jazz Composition and Performance. He studied acoustic and electric bass privately with Vince Fay. He was also involved in the Temple University Jazz Band and Small Ensemble, conducted by Terell Stafford, and was the first Jazz major to participate in the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Biava, and New Music Chamber Orchestra. He was also a student at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Academy, under the instruction of Christian McBride and Loren Schoenberg. Along with formal collegiate training and experience, he performed with the Temple University Gospel Choir, among others. Hodge has performed and/or recorded with Terell Stafford, Donald Byrd, Bootsie Barnes, Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Sade, Terence Blanchard, Mulgrew Miller, Clark Terry, and others. Aside from Hodge’s performing side, he has always had a passion for music composition. Being granted the opportunities to write for artists in the past has enabled him to be identified as a writer in various genres of music ranging from Jazz and Orchestral Chamber music to Pop and R&B. Over the past few years, Hodge has been developing his writing skills for extended music scoring and film music.
Born Kendrick Allen DeWitt Scott on July 8, 1980 in Houston, Texas. Kendick Scott attended Houston's famed High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) where his high school career culminated in many awards - the most notable being The Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, given by the International Association for Jazz Education and The National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. Upon graduation from high school in 1998, Kendrick was awarded a scholarship to attend The Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. At Berklee, Scott majored in Music Education. “Going to Berklee was pivotal for my growth as a musician. I met so many great amazing musicians and friends,” he exclaims. As an undergrad, Scott gigged with Pat Metheny, Gary Burton and Kenny Garrett. Life after Berklee has been equally successful as Kendrick has enjoyed stints with John Scofield, Joe Sample & The Crusaders, Stefon Harris, Nicholas Payton, Lizz Wright, Maria Schneider, Terence Blanchard, David Sanborn and Dianne Reeves, to name a few.
MJF/50 ANNIVERSARY BAND TOUR DATES
Jan. 8, 2008, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham, WA,
Jan. 9, 2008, Washington Center, Olympia, WA,
Jan. 11, 2008, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA,
Jan. 12, 2008, Cal Performances, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA,
Jan. 14, 2008, Campbell Hall, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA,
Jan. 15, 2008, Gallo Center for the Arts, Modesto, CA,
Jan. 16, 2008, Cal Poly Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo, CA,
Jan. 17, 2008, Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA,
Jan. 18, 2008, Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA,
Jan. 19, 2008, Citrus College, Glendora, CA,
Jan. 20, 2008, UNLV Performing Arts Center, Las Vegas, NV,
Jan. 22, 2008, Lancaster Performing Arts Center, Lancaster, CA,
Jan. 23, 2008, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA,
Jan. 24, 2008, California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA,
Jan. 25, 2008, Chandler Center, Chandler, AZ,
Jan. 26, 2008, Centennial Hall, Univ. of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ,
Jan. 27, 2008, Popejoy Hall, Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM,
Jan. 31, 2008, Stephen F. Austin State, Nacogdoches, TX,
Feb. 1, 2008, McFarlin Auditorium, Dallas, TX,
Feb. 3, 2008, Mississippi State University, Meridian, MS,
Feb. 4, 2008, Thomasville Cultural Center, Thomasville, GA,
Feb. 5, 2008, Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, Charleston, SC,
Feb. 6, 2008, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC,
Feb. 7, 2008, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC,
Feb. 8, 2008, Atlanta Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA,
Feb. 10, 2008, Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, FL,
Feb. 11, 2008, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, FL,
Feb. 12, 2008, Kravis Center for the Perf. Arts, W. Palm Beach, FL,
Feb. 14, 2008, Phillips Center, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL,
Feb. 16, 2008, Ferguson Center, Newport News, VA,
Feb. 17, 2008, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA,
Feb. 19, 2008, The Music Center at Strathmore, N. Bethesda, MD,
Feb. 20, 2008, Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE,
Feb. 21, 2008, Community Theatre, Morristown, NJ,
Feb. 22, 2008, McCarter Theater Center, Princeton, NJ,
Feb. 23, 2008, The Mainstage at Proctor's, Schenectady, NY,
Feb. 24, 2008, Baker Hall, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA,
Feb. 26, 2008, Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA,
Feb. 27, 2008, Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, MA,
Feb. 28, 2008, The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH,
Feb. 29, 2008, Jorgensen Auditorium, UCONN, Storrs, CT,
Mar. 1, 2008, Jorgensen Auditorium, UCONN, Storrs, CT,
Mar. 2, 2008, Zeiterion Theatre, New Bedford, MA,
Mar. 4, 2008, Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA,
Mar. 5, 2008, Colonial Theatre, Keene, NH,
Mar. 6, 2008, Purchase College, Purchase, NY,
Mar. 7, 2008, North Fork Hall, Brookfield, NY,
Mar. 8, 2008, Hershey Theater, Hershey, PA,
Mar. 9, 2008, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA,
Mar. 11, 2008, Univ. at Buffalo Center for the Arts, Buffalo, NY,
Mar. 13, 2008, Madame Walker Theatre, Indianapolis, IN,
Mar. 14, 2008, Music Hall Center for Perf. Arts, Detroit, MI,
Mar. 15, 2008, Music Hall Center for Perf. Arts, Detroit, MI,
Mar. 16, 2008, Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, Grand Rapids, MI,
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