Jazz Police - Ari Hoenig With Bill Carrothers and Chris Bates at the Artists Quarter, October 12-13

Usually home to the best of local artists, the Artists Quarter in St Paul brings the best of international artists to the stage October 12-13 with the Ari Hoenig Trio, featuring Minnesota natives, pianist Bill Carrothers and bassist Chris Bates.

A native of Philadelphia, Ari Hoenig was exposed to a wide range of musical influences in his youth, the son of a classical singer/conductor (father) and violinist/pianist (mother). Young Ari began violin and piano studies at six, and took up the drums at 12, and by 14 was already gigging at such local venues as Ortlieb’s Jazz Haus. After high school, Hoenig attended the University of North Texas, studying with Ed Soph before transferring to William Paterson College in New Jersey. Back in the New York City area, he played with Shirley Scott and Gerry Mulligan in the late 1990s. He has now been a long-standing member of the Kenny Werner and Jean Michel Pilc Trios, as well as serving in the drum chair for such artists as Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Martino, Joshua Redman, Wayne Krantz, Richard Bona, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Jazz Mandolin Project, Mike Stern and Francois Moutin.

Chris Bates©Andrea Canter

An accomplished composer, Ari was awarded an NEA Meet the Composer grant to peform his own works with his Quartet. Hoenig appears on over 60 recordings as sideman. His quartet debut release in 2004, The Painter, received rave reviews, as did his solo drum recordings, Time Travels (2000) and The Life of a Day (2002). His 2006 release, Inversations (Dreyfus) featured Pilc and Weidenmueller. In 2008, with his “Punk Bop” quartet augmented by Chris Potter, Ari released the acclaimed Bert’s Playground. In addition to regular performances with both his quartet and the Hoenig-Pilc Project at Small’s, Ari teaches at the New School and Manhattan School of Music, writes a regular column for Modern Drummer magazine, and presents clinics worldwide. Ari most recently performed at the AQ with bassist Adam Linz and guitarist Gilad Hekselman (2009).

Widely acclaimed throughout Europe where he spends most of his touring time, pianist Bill Carrothers has accumulated a number of honors for his recordings in France. In addition to leading trios on both sides of the Atlantic, he has recorded about two dozen CDs as leader and has appeared with a long list of notable jazz artists including Buddy DeFranco, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Billy Higgins, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Dewey Redman, Charlie Rouse, and Toots Thielemans. Hoenig and Carrothers’ collaborations have included the recording, Keep Your Sunny Side Up.

Bassist Chris Bates is one of the most prolific artists in the Twin Cities, performing for the past two decades with a long list of bands, from the Motion Poets to the Atlantis Quartet and Love Electric, and now leading his own Red 5 and Good Vibes Trio. He;s particularly busy at the AQ this month, appearing with Babatudne Lea, Zacc Harris, and Red Planet in addition to Ari Hoenig. Last month, he was here celebrating the release of New Hope, the first recording with the new quintet, Red 5.