 |  | Edward Simon joins the San Fracisco Jazz Collective
| 3/11/2010 4:10:39 AM - TENOR SAXOPHONIST MARK TURNER, TRUMPETER AVISHAI COHEN,
PIANIST EDWARD SIMON JOIN ALL-STAR OCTET
AND VIBRAPHONIST STEFON HARRIS RETURNS
2010 SEASON DEVOTED TO REPERTOIRE OF HORACE SILVER
PLUS NEW COMPOSITIONS BY COLLECTIVE MEMBERS
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA, January 12, 2010)—SFJAZZ today announced the new 2010 lineup and repertoire for the SFJAZZ Collective. Commissioned exclusively by SFJAZZ, the leading nonprofit jazz organization on the West Coast and the presenter of the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the 11th Annual SFJAZZ Spring Season, running February 19 through June 12, the Collective will welcome tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, trumpeter Avishai Cohen and pianist Edward Simon. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris also returns to the Collective after a one-year hiatus from the band. The all-star roster includes veteran alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, trombonist Robin Eubanks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland. The Collective’s new lineup strikes a perfect balance among founding members, multi-year veterans and exciting newcomers. In 2010, the Collective will feature new arrangements of the work of legendary pianist Horace Silver and fresh original compositions by each of the eight Collective members.
Miguel Zenón says of Horace Silver, “If I had to describe Horace Silver in one word it would be ‘originality.’ From the early examples of him as a player and composer, we can hear that he is a special voice that is funky, groovy and bluesy. It will be our pleasure to dig into his music and try to make it as much ours as it is his.”
Edward Simon mentions, “Horace Silver is a master of the small jazz ensemble form who has managed to produce a consistent catalog of great tunes. His tunes are a joy to play. His compositions have strong melodies and grooves, two of the elements that excite me the most about music!”
Launched in 2004 by SFJAZZ and named “Rising Star Jazz Band of the Year” in Down Beat’s 2006 International Critics Poll and 2009 Small Group Ensemble of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, the SFJAZZ Collective is a workshop band unlike any other in jazz. The group features a changing lineup with each member hand-selected to contribute their own unique sounds, styles and voices. They are all distinguished not just by degree, but diversity of talent and each member is a celebrated instrumentalist, an outstanding composer and arranger, and most are among today’s most lauded bandleaders. The Collective also presents a global music perspective with musicians from Puerto Rico (Zenón), Israel (Cohen), New Zealand (Penman) and Venezuela (Simon).
Given the elite talent assembled in the SFJAZZ Collective, it is tempting, on first glance, to think of this ensemble as just another “all-star band.” But as the “Collective” portion of the group’s name suggests, these exceptional artists have come together in pursuit of a larger purpose—namely, the celebration of jazz as a constantly evolving, ever-relevant, quintessentially modern art form.
This conception of the music is shared by SFJAZZ, the San Francisco–based non-profit institution that is the group’s namesake and producer. The idea for the Collective arose from turn-of-the-millennium discussions between SFJAZZ’s founder and executive director, Randall Kline, and saxophonist and founding Collective member Joshua Redman. While deeply respectful of jazz’s origins and early traditions, SFJAZZ was concerned that the modern side of jazz, from roughly the mid-20th-century to the present day, was often overlooked in the public eye in comparison with the music of jazz’s so-called “Golden Age.” Both Kline and Redman were eager to showcase, in a manner that would resonate with jazz aficionados and newcomers alike, the artistic continuum from modern masters like John Coltrane (2004), Ornette Coleman (2005), Herbie Hancock (2006), Thelonious Monk (2007), Wayne Shorter (2008), McCoy Tyner (2009) and now, Horace Silver, to today’s new generation of players. Much like chamber music, the music is designed for a small group of instruments to be performed in intimate settings and atmospheres including performing arts centers, concert halls and salons.
Past Collective members have included the likes of Joshua Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Douglas, Nicholas Payton, Joe Lovano, Josh Roseman, Renee Rosnes, Robert Hurst, Brian Blade and other jazz stars.
Each season, SFJAZZ produces a deluxe, limited edition CD set of live performance recordings of the SFJAZZ Collective’s entire repertoire for that year. The current release Live 2009: 6th Annual Concert Tour features the Collective’s 2009 repertoire, including the work of McCoy Tyner and original compositions by group members recorded live on tour dates in the U.S. and Europe. The 2010 tour will be documented and a deluxe, limited edition CD set of live performances will be released in Fall 2010. SFJAZZ Records has released six previous limited-edition CD sets since 2004, documenting the SFJAZZ Collective’s complete annual repertoire in concert, as well as a concert DVD filmed at 2007’s Jazz à Vienne Festival in France. All recordings and more information on the SFJAZZ Collective and SFJAZZ can be found at www.sfjazz.org.
The Collective devotes several weeks each year to a group residency, which includes an intensive rehearsal period and educational workshops. During this time, the Collective members also mentor promising young musicians, including the 20-strong SFJAZZ High School All-Stars ensemble.
For more information, please visit, www.sfjazz.org.
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Mr. Simon's touch, light and warm, allows for his music to drift calmly, taking its time to get to where it has to go.
La pulsación de Mr Simon, ligera y cálida, permite a su música fluir con calma, tomándose el tiempo necesario para llegar adonde ha de ir.
-- -The New York Times
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He doesn't go in for dazzle and fleet-fingered runs but contents himself with digging in and mining the music for drama and invention. He often turns these rural sounds into deep emotional statements.
No pretende deslumbrar ni lucirse a base de virtuosismo, sino que se contenta con profundizar y extraer la música para el drama y la invención. A menudo transforma los sonidos rurales en declaraciones de profunda emoción.
-- -Jazz Journal International
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Simon is an important presence on the jazz and world music scene.
-- -Los Angeles Times
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