Cornelia Street Cafe Presents John McNeil-Billy Hart Quintet And More This Weekend

Cornelia Street Cafe announces upcoming schedule for Fri Mar 26 9 & 10:30PM at 9:00PM & 10:30PM HOT & COOL: NEC JAZZ 40TH: JOHN MCNEIL-BILL MCHENRY QUINTET with John McNeil, trumpet; Bill Mchenry, tenor saxophone; Billy Hart, drums; Ethan Iverson, piano; Matt Penman, bass. 

Hot & Cool: NEC Jazz 40th and the Cornelia Street Café present the John McNeil-Bill McHenry Quartet featuring the legendary jazz drummer Billy Hart and pianist Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus, and Matt Penman, bass. Both McNeil and Hart are faculty icons at NEC and McHenry is a '91 grad.

"Mr. McNeil, a trumpeter, and Mr. McHenry, a tenor saxophonist, hail from different generations but share an attraction to unfettered harmonic terrain."
- Nate Chinen, New York Times "A mix of wit and glee is fetching-one reason why this multi-generational trumpet-tenor team has seemed so inspired of late."
- Jim Macnie, Village Voice

John McNeil is one of the most original and creative jazz artists in the world today. For over three decades John has toured with his own groups and has received widespread acclaim as both a player and composer. His highly personal trumpet style communicates across the full range of contemporary jazz, and his compositions combine harmonic freedom with melodic accessibility. John's restless experimentation has kept him on the cutting edge of new music and has kept him from being easily categorized.
http://www.mcneiljazz.com/

Billy Hart is widely regarded as one of the most capable of modern-jazz drummers; he is equally at home in electronic and rock-influenced styles, in free jazz, and in bop. He's played with a veritable who's who of jazz - everyone from Shirley Horn to Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock to Larry Coryell and is featured on over 500 CDs.

Saxophonist/composer Bill McHenry is known for his melodic/free form composing and improvising. As New York Times critic Ben Ratliff writes: "There are tons of young jazz saxophonists out there pursuing ideas of harmony and structure and rhythm, but he has something rare going for him. He has a sound. Mr. McHenry is a fresh new voice. Lyrical is probably the most overused word in jazz criticism, but if anyone deserves the word, Mr. McHenry is the one."
http://www.billmchenry.com/

Ethan Iverson is most widely known as a member of the groundbreaking trio The Bad Plus. Prior to TBP, he was the musical director for the Mark Morris Dance Group and has worked with Dave Douglas, Dewey Redman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Billy Hart, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Padmore, Paul Motian and Charlie Haden.

Matt Penman hails from Auckland, New Zealand. Residing in New York, he is currently an established member of the SFJazz Collective. He also performs regularly with John Scofield; in his trio-plus-horns formation, and in a quartet with Joe Lovano and Matt Wilson and the Joshua Redman trio. Past collaborators and projects include Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heartcore band, Kenny Werner, Brad Mehldau, Chris Cheek, Brian Blade, Seamus Blake, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Mark Turner, Guillermo Klein, Rebecca Martin, Eric Truffaz, Nicholas Payton, and from 2004-2006 he toured extensively with the singer Madeleine Peyroux.

This performance is part of a week-long New York celebration of NEC's first-in-the-nation Jazz Studies program. With a faculty that has included 5 MacArthur "genius" grant winners and 4 NEA Jazz Masters, and alumni that reads like a who's who of jazz, NEC's Jazz Studies Program has spawned numerous Grammy winning composers and performers. As Mike West writes in JazzTimes: "Four decades after its founding, NEC's jazz studies department is among the most acclaimed and successful in the world; so says the roster of visionary artists that have comprised both its faculty and alumni."
Cover $10

Sat Mar 27 9:00PM & 10:30PM
ANAT FORT TRIO
(Anat Fort, piano, composer; Gary Wang, bass; Lieven Venken, drums)

"Fresh from mixing her new trio record in Oslo, Anat Fort returns to the beloved basement of Cornelia St. Café. This festive event features with with long time trio member Gary Wang on bass, and relatively new collaborator Lieven Venken on drums. And the material: her oldies and newbies compositions with the usual ever-growing space for improvisation".
Cover $10 http://www.anatfort.com

Sun Mar 28
8:30PM KOMEDA PROJECT - CD RELEASE PARTY
(Russ Johnson, trumpet & flugelhorn; Krzysztof Medyna, saxophone; Andrzej Winnicki, piano; Don Falzone, bass; Jeff Davis, drums)

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