The Center for the Arts Presents
Saturday, April 7, 8:00PM
With REFLECTIONS: Joe Berry, Al Bent, Bill Douglass, Tim Metz
Playing the music of Thelonious Monk
$20 members, $22 non-member
“Excellence in jazz is all about the freedom to musically explore with an open mind and heart to ultimately find one’s voice…Ted Nash achieves that plateau of performance.”
- Billboard Magazine
The Center for the Arts is pleased to welcome back to Nevada County Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Ted Nash. Nash is a composer and performer with Wynton Marsalis’ big band and septet and was featured in last year’s sold-out performance at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
Nash has just released his eleventh recording as a leader, “The Creep.” Following the success of his previous release, “Portrait in Seven Shades” (performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), Nash returns to the intimate setting of the quartet to play new, original music that is loose, bluesy and expressive.
Nash recently acted and performed with his quartet in a film by Douglas Chang, Chaography: Variations on the Theme of Freedom. Nash portrayed a character based loosely on the iconic free-jazz alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman. For the film Nash wrote three new compositions. So pleased with the result of the music, and the band, Nash brought the quartet into the studio to document this new music, as well as four additional new compositions. Also on the record is a new piece by alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, and Kaleidoscope by Ornette Coleman.
This is the most personal statement to date by Nash, whose previous releases have earned him widespread acclaim and awards.
In addition to CDs and digital downloads, “The Creep” will be available in limited-edition Vinyl. This will appeal to audiophiles and collectors, and will feature the original cover illustration by Jonathan Ashley.
The Band:
Ted Nash – alto sax
Ron Horton – trumpet
Paul Sikivie – bass
Ulysses Owens – drums
Reflections – The music of Thelonious Sphere Monk
Joe Berry is a Sacramento musician that has a passion for all music. He’s mostly seen putting on his own shows all around Sacramento and even performing world music on a various instruments. On top of several music awards and a nomination for Sacramento’s “Sammie Awards” In 2009 he won 1st place in a saxophone competition in Reno. Though saxophone is his main instrument, Joe is fluent in bass, guitar, piano, flute, caisa drum (rare instrument from Germany) as well as singing and throat singing (a singing style that originates from Tuva). He recently graduated from Sac State with a Bachelors degree, and upon many offers from various schools, he has decided to pursue his Master’s degree at University of Nevada Reno. Joe (along with 10 others) was invited to attend Dave Liebman’s saxophone master class in the summer of 2010 where he studied and performed with Mr. Liebman. Joe is a prominent composer as some of his work has been premièred by the Sacramento State Big Band as well as the Sacramento State Orchestra. As a young lion, Joe has been an asset to Sacramento’s jazz scene and continues to attract attention to himself in any city he performs.
Albert Bent is a native of California and had his first formal schooling in music at Sacramento State College in 1959, studying trombone, bass and piano. He has been active for over twenty years as a performing and recording artist in a now burgeoning Bay Area scene. He has worked with such notable artists as Billy Cobham, Dizzy Gillespie, Pete Escovedo and James Moody to name just a few. Mr. Bent performs as bassist with the Latin jazz group, Soul Sauce, and trombonist with Bobby Short when he makes his appearances at Yoshi’s in Oakland.
Bill Douglass has been performing and recording since 1965 with world-renowned talents such as Marian McPartland, Bobby McFerrin, Mose Alison, Terry Riley, Art Lande, Mark Isham, Bobby Bradford, and Tom Waits. Hemispheres, Bill’s current collaboration, is on the cutting edge of jazz, combining elements of world music, many styles of jazz and the eclectic mix brought by Ian Dogole, Sheldon Brown, and Paul McCandless. Bill has appeared at major jazz festivals in the United States and Europe, including Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. The most recent festival is Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2004 with Marian McPartland. Bill also plays bamboo flute and can be heard on a variety of soundtracks including 1000 Pieces of Gold, The Black Stallion, andNever Cry Wolf as well as on two National Geographic specials.
In the Sacramento jazz scene there are few drummers as well respected as Tim Metz. Metz has studied and/or played with some of the leading lights of the international jazz scene, a list of names that includes: Rufus Reid, Conrad Herwig, Lynn Seaton, Don Braden, Dr. David Demsey, Steve Wilson, Horacee Arnold, and John Riley. In between a heavy teaching schedule Metz continues to consistently perform with some of the world’s greatest musicians, including guitarist Larry Koonse, Bassists DarekOles and Todd Johnson, saxophone pioneer Steve Gundhi, alto sax master Jeff Alkire, pianist’s Joe Gilman, Art Hirahara, and Jim Martinez, singer-songwriter Christian Kiefer, the Consumnes River College Big Band (guest artist) to name a few.
What a pleasure to be in the audience the night the Lincoln Center orchestra performed at the Veterans building in Grass Valley,Ca.
The sounds were awesome. I look forward to attending The Ted Nash Quartet in April.
Thank you for being so gracious when I introduced my self and asked for your autograph.
I am enjoying your CD that I purchased at that event.