The band that recorded one of last year's hottest jazz CD's,Rev-elation, reunites as the Kitano presents Joe Locke and the Milt Jackson Tribute Band with pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Bob Cranshaw and Drummer Mickey Roker for two nights of music on Friday and Sarutrday, September 1st and 2nd.

Pianist and Milt Jackson's music director for 11 years, Mike LeDonne had asked Joe Locke to join the tribute band for weekend at Smoke in Manhattan earlier and the success of that engagement served as the genesis for the tribute band and the recording. LeDonne joined Milt's group in 1988. That quartet also included bassist Bob Cranshaw and Drummer Mickey Roker who each have even longer associations with Milt, having performed and recored with him back in the 60's. They took the show to Ronnie Scott's in London where Jackson was well known and well loved and then, played their hearts out for an enthusiastic crowd.

"... what comes through in Milt's playing is his genius. His incredible harmonic and melodic inventiveness and the genius of that. Also, his humanity comes through deeply, which is even more important. Milt was also one of the few sound innovators and by sound innovator I mean that he actually changed the sound of his instrument and how people after him played it. He even changed how people who came before him played. ... His contribution has been immense. As an improviser, he took the language of bebop created by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell and successfully translated it to the vibraphone." -Joe Locke in a recent Jazz Week interview.

Milt Jackson, a.k.a. Bags, was 'discovered' by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1946. He quickly acquired experience working with the most important figures in jazz of the era, including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. He formed a quartet with John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke called the Modern Jazz Quartet, which had a long career of 20 years until disbanding in 1974. Jackson continued to perform and innovate and the rhythm section which performs this week-end filled out his quartet until his death in 1999.

In the heart of New York’s historic Murray Hill district, The Kitano New York is located at the corner of 38th Street and Park Avenue just steps from Grand Central Terminal at 66 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016 - Tel: 212-885-7000. Website:www.kitano.com.

"Joe Locke is a wonderful young man who's all about the music, all the time! You can hear it in every note he plays." -Bobby Hutcherson