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Event Program
FRI, FEB 23
The Blue Note Quintet
Gerald Clayton (music director and piano)
Joel Ross (vibraphone)
Immanuel Wilkins (saxophone)
Kendrick Scott (drums)
Matt Brewer (bass)
Tonight’s concert will run approximately 90 minutes with no intermission
Six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist, composer and band leader Gerald Clayton earned recent Recording Academy recognition for Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, his debut release on Blue Note Records. Collaborating over the years with distinctive artists such as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and legendary band leader Charles Lloyd, Clayton currently serves as Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, following service as Musical Director for Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour.
Under the instruction of Billy Childs, Clayton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music following a year of intensive study with Kenny Barron at The Manhattan School of Music. Clayton’s creative spirit honors the legacy of his father, bassist- composer John Clayton. In 2016, he received a Duke University commission to render the Piedmont Blues experience in early 20th Century Durham; Piedmont Blues features a mixed media performance of critical acclaim. In 2019, he received a commission from LACMA to compose a musical pendant for artist Charles White’s “5 Great American Negroes” mural; Clayton titled the project White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White. In January 2020, he began work on the critically-acclaimed score for Sam Pollard’s award-winning documentary MLK/FBI. The emotional resonance of Clayton’s score imbues the film with subtle, lingering moments of struggle and humanity, and helps capture a complex arc of an enduring subject.
Six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist, composer and band leader Gerald Clayton earned recent Recording Academy recognition for Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, his debut release on Blue Note Records. Collaborating over the years with distinctive artists such as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and legendary band leader Charles Lloyd, Clayton currently serves as Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, following service as Musical Director for Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour.
Under the instruction of Billy Childs, Clayton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music following a year of intensive study with Kenny Barron at The Manhattan School of Music. Clayton’s creative spirit honors the legacy of his father, bassist- composer John Clayton. In 2016, he received a Duke University commission to render the Piedmont Blues experience in early 20th Century Durham; Piedmont Blues features a mixed media performance of critical acclaim. In 2019, he received a commission from LACMA to compose a musical pendant for artist Charles White’s “5 Great American Negroes” mural; Clayton titled the project White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White. In January 2020, he began work on the critically-acclaimed score for Sam Pollard’s award-winning documentary MLK/FBI. The emotional resonance of Clayton’s score imbues the film with subtle, lingering moments of struggle and humanity, and helps capture a complex arc of an enduring subject.
Joel Ross (vibraphone) continues refining an expression that’s true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer issued his anticipated Blue Note debut, the Edison Award-winning record KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim, followed by his 2020 release Who Are You? Which features his band Good Vibes at their most synchronous. New York Times critic Giovanni Russonello praised the album for the ways it “speaks to a new level of group cohesion...more tangle, more sharing, more possibility.”
The Parable of the Poet, Ross’ third release for Blue Note Records, explores feelings of self-awareness — confidence, doubt, regret and forgiveness — through storytelling and retellings.
Joel Ross (vibraphone) continues refining an expression that’s true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer issued his anticipated Blue Note debut, the Edison Award-winning record KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim, followed by his 2020 release Who Are You? Which features his band Good Vibes at their most synchronous. New York Times critic Giovanni Russonello praised the album for the ways it “speaks to a new level of group cohesion...more tangle, more sharing, more possibility.”
The Parable of the Poet, Ross’ third release for Blue Note Records, explores feelings of self-awareness — confidence, doubt, regret and forgiveness — through storytelling and retellings.
The music of saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins is filled with empathy and conviction, bonding arcs of melody and lamentation to pluming gestures of space and breath. Listeners were introduced to this riveting sound with his acclaimed debut album Omega, which was named the #1 Jazz Album of 2020 by The New York Times. The album also introduced his remarkable quartet with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums, a tight-knit unit that Wilkins featured once again on his stunning sophomore album The 7th Hand. The 7th Hand explores relationships between presence and nothingness across an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements. “I wanted to write a preparatory piece for my quartet to become vessels by the end of the piece, fully,” says the Brooklyn-based, Philadelphia-raised artist who Pitchfork said “composes ocean-deep jazz epics.”
The music of saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins is filled with empathy and conviction, bonding arcs of melody and lamentation to pluming gestures of space and breath. Listeners were introduced to this riveting sound with his acclaimed debut album Omega, which was named the #1 Jazz Album of 2020 by The New York Times. The album also introduced his remarkable quartet with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums, a tight-knit unit that Wilkins featured once again on his stunning sophomore album The 7th Hand. The 7th Hand explores relationships between presence and nothingness across an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements. “I wanted to write a preparatory piece for my quartet to become vessels by the end of the piece, fully,” says the Brooklyn-based, Philadelphia-raised artist who Pitchfork said “composes ocean-deep jazz epics.”
Kendrick Scott (drums) was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in a family of musicians. By age 8 he had taken up the drums, and he later attended Houston’s renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a school which has produced an impressive array of musical talent including Scott’s label mates Jason Moran and Robert Glasper, as well pop star Beyoncé and many others. While still attending HSPVA, Scott won several DownBeat Magazine student awards, as well as the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Award from the International Association of Jazz Educators. He was later awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music education.
Scott has toured with Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, The Crusaders, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kurt Elling, and Terence Blanchard, also appearing on several of the trumpeter’s Blue Note albums including Flow (2005), A Tale of God’s Will (2007), and Magnetic (2013). Scott’s first two releases on Blue Note as a leader presented his band Kendrick Scott Oracle: We Are The Drum (2015) and A Wall Becomes a Bridge (2019). Scott was also a member of the Blue Note All-Stars, a supergroup formed for the label’s 75th Anniversary featuring Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Lionel Loueke and Marcus Strickland who released the album Our Point Of View in 2017. Scott’s 2023 Blue Note album Corridors finds him paring down to a trio with saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers.
Kendrick Scott (drums) was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in a family of musicians. By age 8 he had taken up the drums, and he later attended Houston’s renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a school which has produced an impressive array of musical talent including Scott’s label mates Jason Moran and Robert Glasper, as well pop star Beyoncé and many others. While still attending HSPVA, Scott won several DownBeat Magazine student awards, as well as the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Award from the International Association of Jazz Educators. He was later awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music education.
Scott has toured with Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, The Crusaders, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kurt Elling, and Terence Blanchard, also appearing on several of the trumpeter’s Blue Note albums including Flow (2005), A Tale of God’s Will (2007), and Magnetic (2013). Scott’s first two releases on Blue Note as a leader presented his band Kendrick Scott Oracle: We Are The Drum (2015) and A Wall Becomes a Bridge (2019). Scott was also a member of the Blue Note All-Stars, a supergroup formed for the label’s 75th Anniversary featuring Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Lionel Loueke and Marcus Strickland who released the album Our Point Of View in 2017. Scott’s 2023 Blue Note album Corridors finds him paring down to a trio with saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers.
Matt Brewer (bass) was born in Oklahoma City and grew up in Albuquerque NM, surrounded by a family of musicians and artists. At the age of 10, Matt fell in love with the bass and began a lifelong study of music. He graduated high school from the Interlochen Arts Academy, and then went on to study at the Juilliard School. He's travelled the world playing in the bands of Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Dave Binney, Gerald Clayton, Ben Wendel, Aaron Parks, Vijay Iyer, Dhafer Youssef, Antonio Sanchez, Mark Turner, Steve Lehman, Ben Monder, and Lage Lund, among many others. He has been a frequent guest lecturer at the Banff Center, and is an adjunct faculty member at the New School University.
Matt Brewer (bass) was born in Oklahoma City and grew up in Albuquerque NM, surrounded by a family of musicians and artists. At the age of 10, Matt fell in love with the bass and began a lifelong study of music. He graduated high school from the Interlochen Arts Academy, and then went on to study at the Juilliard School. He's travelled the world playing in the bands of Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Dave Binney, Gerald Clayton, Ben Wendel, Aaron Parks, Vijay Iyer, Dhafer Youssef, Antonio Sanchez, Mark Turner, Steve Lehman, Ben Monder, and Lage Lund, among many others. He has been a frequent guest lecturer at the Banff Center, and is an adjunct faculty member at the New School University.
Blue Note Records has etched an indelible mark on the music industry since its inception in 1939. Founded by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jewish immigrants, Blue Note emerged as a pioneering force in the realm of jazz, dedicated to showcasing the talents of both established and emerging artists.
From its early years, Blue Note became synonymous with innovation, excellence, and a distinctive aesthetic. The label's commitment to artistic integrity and uncompromising quality led to the creation of a legendary roster that included luminaries such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock, among many others. Under the stewardship of Lion and later, producer Rudy Van Gelder, Blue Note became a crucible for the development of new styles and sounds within jazz, from bebop and hard bop to soul jazz and fusion.
Throughout its storied history, Blue Note Records has remained a beacon of creativity and authenticity, continually evolving while staying true to its core values. Today, under the leadership of President Don Was, Blue Note continues to nurture groundbreaking talent and release music that transcends genres, carrying forward its legacy as a vanguard of jazz and a symbol of artistic excellence.
This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of Susan Bay Nimoy, Estate of Douglas M. Matheson, Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Mustang Foundation, Michael Tuch Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, and The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Music programming also receives support from an endowment established by The Bydale Foundation, Mary Flager Cary Charitable Trust, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Christopher and Barbara Dixon, the Herman Goldman Foundation, William and Angela Haines, Walter and Marge Scheuer, and Zabar’s.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Artistic Director (1988-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Darren Critz Director of Performing Arts Programs
*in memoriam