12.19.12 Josh Nelson Residency Part 3: “Night of the Composers” featuring Philip Dizack + Walter Smith III + Chris Dingman + Dave Robaire + Zach Harmon

Josh Nelson Residency Part 3: ”Night of the Composers”
featuring Philip Dizack + Walter Smith III + Chris Dingman + Dave Robaire + Zach Harmon

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http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2012/06/09/154628698/six-creative-presenters-finding-new-audiences-for-jazz

“Josh is that rare young musician who has not only a wealth of study and experience under his belt (all but assuring him a prominent place in jazz music), but he also possesses those rarest of musical attributes: a touch, a tone, and a “sound” that are all identifiably his own.” - Peter Erskine

“A definite fresh sound by a guy who should be in everyone’s iPod.” - George Harris, All About Jazz

“Nelson distinguishes himself as a first-rate player and composer with a fresh, wholly personal take on the music.” - Bill Milkowski

Josh Nelson, born and raised in Southern California, maintains an active and creative schedule as a jazz pianist, composer, teacher, and recording artist. At 32 years old, he has already performed with some of the most respected names in jazz, including Natalie Cole, Anthony Wilson, Bob Hurst, Jeff Hamilton, Ralph Moore, Albert “Tootie”Heath, Seamus Blake, Matt Wilson, Sara Gazarek, Ernie Watts, Jack Sheldon, Tom Scott, Peter Erskine, Abe Laboriel, and Alex Acuna, to name a few. Josh has recorded for countless albums, films, and TV shows, but also makes time for his own projects: First Stories (1998), Anticipation (2004) and Let it Go (2007, Native Language Music) all garnered international critical claim. Josh’s latest album, I Hear a Rhapsody (2009), displays Josh’s musings on new original music, standard interpretations, and reinventions of pop tunes.

Compositions and performances of his have appeared on various prime-time and cable shows and films, including “Jack and Bobby”, “The Division”, “Lucky”, and “First Daughter”. He has also worked with film composer Michael Kamen, and actors Eric Idle, Clint Eastwood, and Jon Lovitz. Josh has earned many awards, scholarships, and accolades over the years, some of which include the Louis Armstrong Award and the John Philip Sousa Award. He was also one of 12 semi-finalists in the prestigious 2006 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.

Josh is also musical director for vocal talent Sara Gazarek, of which he penned the title track of her debut record, “Yours”. That record reached No. 10 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. Sara’s second studio album, Return to You (2006), also featured Josh’s singer/songwriter skills.

Currently, Josh continues his touring with legendary vocalist Natalie Cole. He is also always working on a new CD project, and is just happy to be alive and playing with wonderful musicians.

Josh Nelson website

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From a young age, Walter began taking music very seriously. “My first gig was playing at a McDonalds in Houston with another saxophone player. I took a solo on “Blue Bossa.” It was terrible. People clapped, and I figured if I could get away with that and get applause, how could I fail?”

Walter Smith III began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 in his hometown of Houston, TX. At Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in 1998, Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Walter Graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in Music Education.

Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Smith has shared the stage and/or appeared on recordings with many jazz notables including Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Sample, Bob Hurst, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Terri Lynne-Carrington, and a host of others.  To date, Walter has appeared on over 75 recordings that are released worldwide.

Walter’s debut recording as a leader was released in March of 2006 on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and features many of the brightest young jazz talents. His sophomore release, titled “Live in France”, was released in October of 2009 to critical acclaim. His most recent album, “III”, was released in September of 2010 and was the #3 best seller on itunes in the U.S. for it’s first week. It features Ambrose Akinmusire, Jason Moran, Joe Sanders, and Eric Harland.

Over the past few years, besides leading a quintet, Walter is/has been a member of several amazing groups (recording and touring) including the Terence Blanchard group, Eric Harland’s quintet, Ambrose Akinmusire’s band, Christian Scott’s group, the Sean Jones sextet, Jason Moran’s Big Bandwagon (In My Mind:Monk at Town Hall), and the Christian McBride situation band.

Walter Smith III website

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Hailed by the New York Times as a “dazzling” soloist and composer with a “fondness for airtight logic and burnished lyricism,” Chris Dingman is one of the most sought-after vibraphonists of his generation. Schooled in the jazz tradition, yet influenced by a wide range of music and experience, Dingman draws inspiration and meaning from a diverse set of musical sources, uniting them in a progressive approach that has earned him praise for his “poignant work” (David Sprague, Variety), his “adaptive humility” (Nate Chinen, NY Times), and as “downright hypnotic” (John Barron, All About Jazz). He has performed and studied with many of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, and many others. Now based in Brooklyn, NY, he is currently working with many of the leading lights on the jazz and creative music scene, both as a sideman and as a leader. His debut album, Waking Dreams, has been called “gorgeous” (Time Out NY), “brilliant” (All About Jazz), and “deeply lyrical” (NY Times). Stereophilecalls it “a very big, pleasant surprise” and the Los Angeles Times commends: “rich and full of unexpected twists but never less than approachable, Waking Dreams casts an atmospheric spell true to its name.”

Chris Dingman website

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Dave Robaire grew up in southern California, just outside of Los Angeles. He moved to New York City in 2004 to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and to begin his career in New York. During this time, Dave had the opprtuinity to perform with Pat Martino, Wynton Marsalis, David Binney, Dave Glasser, and Andy Milne among many others. Dave recently moved back to Los Angeles to continue his career there and to be closer to his family.

Dave Robaire website

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Now twenty-three years-old, Zach Harmon was born into a musical family in Wisconsin.  He began studying classical piano at the age of four and continued for twelve years.  He was principal chair percussionist for most of his five-year stay with the Oshkosh Youth Symphony Orchestra before becoming a member of the Wisconsin State Honors Orchestra in 2002.  Zach received a drum set as a gift at age fifteen, thus beginning his lifelong pursuit on the instrument.  In 2003, Zach became a member of the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars with whom he toured Japan and performed at the 2003 Monterey Jazz Festival.  Also in 2003, Zach enrolled in the Thornton School of Music at USC where he studied with the great Terri Lyne Carrington for two years.  After his sophomore year, he transferred to the Masters program at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz where he studied under the tutelage of many of the great masters of Jazz including Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, and Benny Golson.  In 2005, as a member of the Monk Institute, he toured with Jazz legends Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock performing in a cultural mission through Vietnam.  In 2007, he toured again with Mr. Shorter and Mr. Hancock, this time throughout India.  Zach has been studying tabla with Abhiman Kaushal for two years and recently recorded tabla on Terence Blanchard’s A Tale of God’s Will for Blue Note Records; he is now a Grammy award-winner for contributing to this album dedicated to the events of Hurricane Katrina.

Zach Harmon website