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 Tuesday, 09 February 2010 |
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Don Byron Plays Junior Walker at Yoshi's Feb 19th and 20th |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Thursday, 15 February 2007 |
 Don Byron © Till Krautkraemer
For over a decade, clarinetist and composer Don Byron has been exploring widely divergent traditions while continually striving for what he calls "a sound above genre." Down Beat's 1992 "Jazz Artist of the Year" redefines every genre of music he plays, from funk and salsa to classical and klezmer, and any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge improvisation. Time Magazine says: "Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet - it just doesn't begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category."
 Don Byron
Born and raised in the Bronx, Byron was exposed to a wide variety of music by his father, who played bass in calypso bands, and his mother, a pianist. His taste was further refined by trips to the symphony and ballet and by many hours spent listening to Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Machito recordings. He formalized his music education by studying classical clarinet with Joe Allard while playing and arranging salsa numbers for high school bands on the side. He later studied with George Russell in the Third Stream Department of the New England Conservatory of Music and, while in Boston, also performed with Latin and jazz ensembles.
An integral member of New York’s cultural community for over a decade, Byron has taken part in an extraordinarily wide range of projects. For four seasons, he served as artistic director of jazz at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where he curated a concert series for the Next Wave Festival and premiered his children's show, Bug Music for Juniors (formerly Tunes and ’Toons). Other special projects include arrangements of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musicals; There Goes the Neighborhood, a piece commissioned and performed by the Kronos Quartet; and original scores for the silent film Scar of Shame and a 1961 comedic television episode by Ernie Kovacs. He wrote and performed music for the Bebe Miller Dance Company and was featured in Robert Altman’s movie Kansas City and the Paul Auster film Lulu on the Bridge. He also composed and recorded the score for Joel Katz’s film Strange Fruit, a documentary about the 1930s protest song made famous by Billie Holiday. Recent composing commissions include "Spin", a piece for violin and piano premiered at the Library of Congress; and "Red", a big band suite which was premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2002.
 Dean Bowman
Schooled in the traditional Black spirituals and gospel by his mentors John Paxton and Dr. James Mumford, Bowman developed his jazz vocabulary under the wings of David Baker and Barry Harris. In 1989, he joined the Black Rock Coalition and established relationships with Don Byron and David Fiuczynski, with whom he later recorded.
 George Colligan
Recent highlights of George's activities would include his tenure with Grammy winning vocalist Cassandra Wilson from 1999 to 2001. Not only did George tour with her in Japan, North America, and almost every country in Western Europe, but he appears with Cassandra in The Score, a movie which features Robert Deniro and Edward Norton. In 2001, George began working with clarinetist Don Byron. The itinerary with Mr. Byron has so far included a Stravinsky concert in Vienna, several duo concerts, a soundtrack recording for a PBS documentary, a Six Musicians tour of the U.S., and a quintet tour with concerts in Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Macedonia. In addition to Do The Boomerang, George has performed with Don Byron in his Jungle Music project, which features early works of Ellington, and Bug Music, which features music of Raymond Scott.
Catch this exciting group with Don Byron on tenor saxophone, Dean Bowman on vocals, guitarist David Gilmore, George Colligan on Hammond B-3 organ, bassist Brad Jones, and Will Calhoun on drums at Yoshi's in Oakland February 19th and 20th with two shows each night. Tickets for the 8pm shows are $20 and tickets for the 10pm shows are $12. For more information visit Yoshi's at www.yoshis.com.
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