Kenny Werner © Andrea Canter

A child prodigy, Kenny Werner was born in Brooklyn and joined a children’s song and dance group at age four. At age 11, he recorded a single with a fifteen-piece orchestra and played stride piano on television. Still in high school, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music, later becoming a classical piano major. His interest in improvisation led him to the jazz program at the Berklee School of Music; he began recording in the late 1970s, appearing on Charles Mingus’ “Something Like a Bird.” In the 1980s, Werner toured with Archie Shepp and the Mel Lewis Orchestra, worked in duo formats with Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond, and Jaki Byard, and performed solo concerns in Europe and New York. Three National Endowment of the Arts grants helped further his career as a composer and enabled him to present his compositions at Symphony Space in New York. He also wrote compositions for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, which became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. With Ratzo Harris and Tom Rainey, Werner spent 14 years experimenting with trio formats, and in the 1990s, this format became his main focus. Bob Blumenthal (Boston Globe) noted that Werner’s ensemble “has provided an ever-evolving definition of the spontaneity that remains at the heart of jazz... unsurpassed as a working trio.”

Over the years, Kenny Werner has performed and/or recorded with such luminaries as Bob Brookmeyer, Ron Carter, Joe Williams, Chico Freeman, Sonny Fortune, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Lee Konitz, Billy Hart, Marian McPartland, Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Gunther Schuller, Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Chris Potter, and Joe Lovano.

Chris Potter © Andrea CAnter

And it is hard to imagine a more innovative team: Chris Potter has amassed a long list of awards and accolades in his 34 years: the IAJE Young Talent award for saxophone at age 12; named Presidential Scholar, Down Beat’s top high school jazz instrumentalist and winner of the Hennessey Jazz Search and Zoot Sims scholarships to study jazz at The New School for Social Research upon graduation from high school; finalist, 1991 Thelonious Monk Institute tenor sax competition; 1999 Grammy Award nominee; youngest recipient of Denmark’s 2000 Jazzpar Prize. His list of recordings as sideman to the stars (e.g., Joanne Brackeen, Kenny Werner, Marian McPartland, Steely Dan, Dave Holland, Dave Douglas) as well as leader in his own right, is equally staggering.

Nicholas Payton © Andrea Canter

Austrian bassist Hans Glawishnig attended the Berklee College of Music and Manhattan School of Music. His resume includes stints with Bobby Watson, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Barretto and David Sanchez, as well as performing and recording with a long list of modern jazz artists.

Drummer Brian Blade grew up in Shreveport, LA, where he first studied violin before switching to drums. Moving to New Orleans for college at Loyola University, he was mentored by Ellis Marsalis and Dixie drum masters Johnny Vidacovich and Herlin Riley. His chops have grown as he has worked in diverse musical settings, from Joshua Redman and Kenny Garrett to Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and Joni Mitchell, as well as his own acclaimed Brian Blade Fellowship.

This is a CD Release Party at Dizzy’s, with most of the recording cast present—Payton and Weidenmueller will fill the roes of Dave Douglas and Scott Colley, who appear on the recording. The recording will be released on Blue Note on March 6^th.

The Kenny Werner Quintet celebrate their CD release at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Broadway at Columbus Circle) in Manhattan, on March 6-11, two sets each night; tickets at www.jalc.org