Billy Hart©Andrea Canter

“Billy Hart, through the power of his musical vision and strength of his personality galvanizes these diverse players in a band which generates excitement as well as thought.” –High Note Records

One of the most acclaimed small ensembles of the past year, The Billy Hart Quartet (with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street) is featured this week at the Iridium in Manhattan (December 20-23). Their self-titled High Note release (2005) was hailed by many critics as one of the best of the year.

One of the unsung stars of modern jazz drumming, Billy Hart has appeared on over 600 recordings, including appearances with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, Michael Brecker, and Joe Lovano. A native of Washington, DC, among his first employers were local stars Shirley Horn and Buck Hill, while during the 60s he toured with Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Harris and Pharoah Sanders. For three years, he was the drummer for the Herbie Hancock Sextet, followed by stints with McCoy Tyner and Stan Gets in the mid to late 70s. Throughout the 80s, Hart played with the bands of Gerry Mulligan, Billy Harper, Clark Terry, Mingus Dynasty, and particularly with Quest (Dave Liebman, Richie Beirach and Ron McClure). He worked with Charles Lloyd, Joe Lovano and Tom Harrell in the 90s, backing the Three Tenors (Liebman, Lovano and Michael Brecker) starting in 1999. Hart devotes considerable time to jazz education, through the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, New York University and the New School University; for the past few years he has also been the drummer in residence for the Healdsburg (CA) Jazz Festival.

Billy Hart Quartet

Influenced by John Coltrane and Warne Marsh, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner first studied visual arts before transferring to the Berklee College of Music to pursue music. Moving to New York, he performed with James Moody, Jimmy Smith, Tana/Reid, Ryan Kisor, Leon Parker and Joshua Redman. Currently he is often on stage with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and with the trio Fly, featuring Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard. He’s released five recordings as leader as well as one with Fly.

Best known as one-third of The Bad Plus, pianist Ethan Iverson was classically trained in his native Wisconsin. Since moving to New York, Iverson has been engaged in a number of solo and ensemble projects, the latter involving work with Mark Turner, Dave Douglas, Bill McHenry, Billy Hart, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and of course Reid Anderson and Dave King of The Bad Plus. With his own trio, Iverson has released Live at Smalls, The Minor Passions, and Construction Zone (Originals) / Deconstruction Zone (Standards) for Fresh Sound, each cited by The New York Times as one of the ten best recordings of 1998, 1999, and 2000 respectively. Iverson has also served as the musical director for the Mark Morris Dance Group, performing with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo Yo Ma.

Billy Hart©Andrea Canter

Bassist Ben Street is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts and studied The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with Miroslav Vitous and Dave Holland. Living in New York for the past 15 years, he has performed and toured with Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Roswell Rudd, Lee Konitz, David Sanchez, James Moody, Mark Turner, Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Junior Cook, Charles Davis, Sam Rivers, Clifford Jordan, Billy Harper, Buddy Montgomery and Jimmy Scott.

The Iridium will be rockin’ with the power of this foursome. Two shows each night at 8:30 and 10:30 pm.

The Iridium Jazz Club is located at 1650 Broadway at 51st Street; www.iridiumjazzclub.com