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Thursday, 20 June 2013

Our Father Who Art Blakey: Valery Ponomarev and Big Band at the Iridium in September

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

After a long weekly run at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan, the Mingus Big Band will move downtown, taking up residence at Jazz Standard come October. Stepping in to fill the big band slot at the Iritidum, through September, will be Russian-born trumpeter Valery Ponomarev and his band, “Our Father Who Art Blakey.”

Valery Ponmarev

During his childhood in Russia, it was not easy to become acquainted with American jazz, but Ponomarev recalls the moment he realized his destiny: "I had been playing gigs at music college and dance bands," he remembers. "I was 18, and a friend invited me over to his place to hear something he had taped off the radio. When I got there, he said nothing, just pushed the button and out came 'The Blues Walk' by Clifford Brown [from his 1955 quintet with Max Roach]. God Almighty! I was swept off my feet. That was exactly the music I was searching for. I literally couldn't live without the music." Finding recordings was challenging, but ultimately he heard the Art Blakey Quintet's A Night at Birdland, a 1954 live date featuring Brown. Now, his goal was to become a Jazz Messenger and he spent hours transcribing "tons and tons" of trumpet solos by Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. "I loved Blakey's music so much, and had practiced it so long, that I had a clear image of myself playing with Blakey,” recalls Ponomarev. Eventually escaping Russia and settling in New York in the 1970s, the trumpeter found himself at the Five Spot standing next to the legendary drummer. The next night he sat in, and soon he was indeed a Messenger.

After recording 11 albums over four years, Ponomarev was ready to launch his career as soloist and bandleader, leaving his trumpet chair with the Messengers for a young Wynton Marsalis. With his big band at the Iridium, he honors Blakey’s years with Billy Eckstine and Earl Hines. On the bandstand with Ponomarev will be:

Saxophones: Todd Bashore, Jason Curry, Grant Langford, Peter Brainin, Frank Basil
Trombones: Earl McIntire, Alvin Walker, Barry Cooper, Stafford Hunter
Trumpets: Rick Henly, Kevin Louis, Yoshiro Okazaki, Satoru Ohashi
Rhythm Section: Miki Haiama - piano, Ruslan Khain - bass, Jerome Jennings – drums
Vocals: Kristen Sergeant

Our Father Who Art Blakey (Valery Ponomarev Big Band) takes up residency at the Iridium each Tuesday night in September (September 9, 16, 23, 30) with sets at 8:30 and 10:30 pm. The Iridium is located at 1650 Broadway (at 51st Street); www.iridiumjazzclub.com

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