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Jazz Bakery Presents Greg Osby and Joanne Brackeen, May 30-June 2 Print E-mail
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor   
Monday, 28 May 2007
A generation apart, two outstanding practitioners of modern jazz join forces at the Jazz Bakery this week in LA when alto saxophonist Greg Osby and pianist Joanne Brackeen share the stage, May 30-June 2.

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Greg Osby
St. Louis native Greg Osby studied clarinet, flute and alto saxophone, playing with blues and R &B groups through high school. He majored in music at Howard University in Washington, DC , studying jazz for the first time, but noting that the program was just getting underway. After two years, he transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He left before graduation for a gig in New York with John Faddis, and played with Lester Bowie, Woody Shaw and David Murray before his big break as a member of Jack DeJohnette’s “Special Edition” in 1987. Says Osby, "My musical thinking for performance and composition advanced by light years as Jack was open to my input and was very encouraging in pushing me to to maintain a steady flow of experimentation. It marked a major turning point in my development as an artist." One of the outcomes of this development was Osby’s role in the founding of the famed M-Base Collective with Steve Coleman in the late 80s. His first recording contract with German label JMT led to four releases before signing with Blue Note in 1990. During the following decade plus, Osby was particularly prolific, recording 15 CDs. His most recent release, Channel Three, features a trio with Matt Brewer on bass and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums. In 2007, Osby has also toured with the World Saxophone Quartet and in varying formats with organist Trudy Pitts.

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Joanne Brackeen
A “genuinely exciting pianist, with energy, whimsy, and sheer technical bravado” (Stuart Broomer, Amazon.com), Joanne Brackeen’s talents as pianist and composer have kept her in the forefront of modern jazz for nearly fifty years. She initially studied classical piano from age nine but found herself drawn to jazz as she wanted “to play what I was hearing on the radio.” She modeled herself after pianist/bandleader Frankie Carle, and soon had earned admittance to the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, dropping out soon after to more actively pursue jazz.. In the LA area she began playing with Dexter Gordon, Charles Lloyd, Bobby Hutcherson and Billy Higgins. Moving to New York in the early 60s with husband, saxophonist Charlie Brackeen, Joanne caught the ears of Woody Shaw and Dave Liebman. Soon she was playing with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, later with Joe Henderson and Stan Getz. In the 1970s, Joanne began leading her own trios with such supporting musicians as Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, and Sam Jones. Over the years, Joanne Brackeen has composed many commissioned works and has released over 25 recordings (Pink Elephant Magic was a 2000 Grammy nominee); over 100 of her compositions have been recorded. While her style is highly eclectic, she is perhaps best known as a composer of challenging music with playful rhythms. The recipient of two NEA grants for performance and composition, Brackeen is also a dedicated jazz educator who has served on the faculties of the New School and Berklee College of Music. She’s also been the host of a Manhattan Public Television program, Joanne Brackeen Presents.

Each of these artists is worthy of rapt attention solo. Together, Joanne Brackeen and Greg Osby will provide a rare evening of duets, two sets each night, at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, May 30-June 2.

The Jazz Bakery is located at 3233 Helms Avenue; www.jazzbakery.com
 
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