Live at the Kennedy Center, Vol. 1

Author: Mulgrew Miller

Brand: MAXJAZZ

Details: Review

"A formidable force, pianist Mulgrew Miller has a powerful touch and a muscular interpretive flair." --City Pages (Minneapolis)

"Theres an exhilarating drive to Mulgrew Millers playing the clarity and authority of his approach recall Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson." --DownBeat

Product Description

In the fall of 2002, the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened an intimate venue, the KC Jazz Club, on the roof level of it's facility. The Club celelbrated it's two weekend of selected MaxJazz artists. The hihgly acclaimed pianist, Mulgrew Miller, and his trio featuring Derrick Hodge (bass), and Rodney Green (drums)were the featured performers on the Club's opening night in 2002. LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER VOL 1 features a sumptuous selection of songs from a trio that shifts seamlessly from hard-dirving grooves to soft ballads, all with a distinct sound that has made Mulgrew Miller one of the most in-demand pianist in jazz.

From the Artist

"A new performance venue is a precious and welcomed thing in the world of jazz. We are proud to have the distinction of being the first act to appear at The Kennedy Center Jazz Club. May it live long."

About the Artist

Selected by a New York Times poll as one of the "most in-demand" pianists in jazz, Miller was also cited by the venerable Hank Jones as one of Jones’ favorite pianists. It is interesting, however, that sometimes to move forward, a great artist must go back.
For Miller, this meant reinvigorating Wingspan, the reputable sextet he founded almost 20 years ago, for his MAXJAZZ debut, The Sequel. Requests have come in from around the world to book the re-established group, increasing Miller’s already active touring schedule. Miller also maintains trio and solo projects as evident with the release of Live at Yoshi’s Volumes One and Two. Other innovative projects include his duos with Danish jazz bassist, the late Neils Henning Orsted Pederson, his commissions to compose special works and his student workshops.
Miller was picking out melodies on the piano by ear at age six, taking lessons at age eight and gigging with his older brother by age eleven. As a teen, he soaked up every kind of music available in his small southern hometown - blues, country & western, gospel, R&B, classical - but didn’t find his passion until he heard his first jazz record featuring Oscar Peterson. Miller’s mentors included pianist James Williams, saxophonist Bill Easley and Ray Charles’ sideman Rudolph Johnson. These influences, combined with the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the lessons of the civil rights movement integral to his Greenwood, Mississippi, childhood, shaped him as both a person and an artist. A skilled, swinging player and an inventive soloist, Miller’s personal sound was forged from longtime associations with jazz legends like Woody Shaw, Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin and Tony Williams. He spent three years with Shaw’s Quintet, three with the Mercer ! Ellington Orchestra and over six years with the Tony Williams Quintet. Featured on over 400 recordings total, he made his first recording as a leader in 1985 for producer Orrin Keepnews’ former label, Landmark, and later recorded on the RCA Novus label. He composes and tours nonstop and in 1997, was invited to tour Japan with an assembly of some of the most prestigious names in jazz piano – a group of ten pianists called "100 Gold Fingers" including the late Tommy Flanagan, Ray Bryant and Kenny Barron. In 2005, Miller accepted the position of Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University. He was a close musical and personal associate of former William Paterson Jazz Studies Director, the late James Williams. David Baker was an exceptional engineer who recorded over two thousand sessions, including eleven MAXJAZZ recordings, over the span of four decades. He worked with a wide variety of artists and earned a Grammy Award in 1998 for recording "I Remember Miles" (Ver

EAN: 0610614021720

Release Date: 21-03-2016

Package Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches

Languages: English

Binding: Audio CD

Part Number: MXJ_217

model number: MXJ_217