David Murray Black Infinity Quartet
David Murray, saxophones
Marc Cary, keyboards
Charnett Mofett, bass
NasheetWait, drums
$25/$15 students
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Tenor saxophonist David Murray is characterized by a mighty sound and an open mind, having linked his soulful free jazz style to, among others, a gipsy ensemble and a Latin big band. Still riding over the success of the Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole En Espanol, David Murray strikes back with a new unique project and line-up: Black Music Infinity Quartet, gathering around him three top musicians from New York and a brand-new repertoire.
The name of Black Music Infinity was inspired to David from a group of people he met at the age of 18 years old (in '73) close to black studies. The term Black stayed, and combined with the name of a loft in New York he used to transform into a studio: ‘Infinity’, the name of Black Music Infinity Quartet was born. This new quartet is the time and place for David to create a new repertory for his next album.
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Hailed by Down Beat as one of the most, “multi-dimensional keyboard players on the scene today,” whose music reveals those multi-dimensions in sensual living color, Marc Cary’s continual search for his musical identity has brought him to all corners of the earth, quenching his thirst to bring forth indigenous musics in all of their forms.
His latest offering on this journey will embark on April 13th, as Motéma Music releases their third Cary project, Focus Trio Live 2009, the follow up to his earlier live release, Focus Live 2008, which is available only digitally. Recorded live at select festivals across Europe and the US, Focus Trio Live 2009 features Cary's longstanding trio: on tabla and drums, Sameer Gupta and on bass, David Ewell, both of whom he met on the west coast. With inimitable style, Cary drives the trio towards hard-hitting turns, fusing together indigenous East Asian, Indian, African, and Native-American influences within the African-American blues and jazz traditions, as only a player with his undeniable talent can manage to do while simultaneously claiming new virtuosic territory.
The Boston Globe said of the group, “Marc Cary coming from a traditional jazz background lays the musical foundation, incorporating his Native American roots. However, Gupta and Ewell also season the sonic landscape with their Indian and Chinese roots. Gupta incorporates classical Indian rhythmic and melodic concepts. With David Ewell's bass playing you can hear tonal centers that are based around scales you may hear in traditional Chinese music. The FOCUS project is one that seeks to cross-pollinate.”
A member of the High Integrity Band and later connected with Let Um Play and the Frontline Jazz Ensemble, Cary was among the pioneers of Washington, D.C.’s infamous "GO-GO" rhythms that defined that musical scene and are continuously being referenced in hip-hop and jazz. His family carries a musical tradition: his great-grandmother played piano at local movie houses, her partner was Eubie Blake; his mother is a visual artist and father played trumpet. By 18, he found himself playing with the Dizzy Gillespie Youth Ensemble at Wolf Trap. He has earned four Grammy® nominations for his ensemble work, most recently in 2009 for "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" as a participant in Stefon Harris's Blackout. His production work on Q-Tip's The Renaissance helped earn that disc a nomination for "Best Rap Album" of 2009. Cary’s seminal masterwork, Rhodes Ahead Vol 1., released in 2000 and considered by many to be a classic, earned him the first Annual Billboard/BET "Best New Jazz Artist Award." His collaborations in all musical genres across the board include work with Meshell Ndegeocello, Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Arthur Taylor, Abbey Lincoln, Erykah Badu, Max Roach, Shirley Horn, Ani DiFranco, Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, among others.
Now, with Focus Trio Live 2009, Cary returns to a live acoustic setting to showcase a collection of both standards and original compositions – 11 incendiary tracks, 10 of which Cary has never recorded. “Minor March,” a Jackie McLean tune originally featured on Focus 2008, is taken to new synergistic heights here.
Cary’s series of recordings for the Motéma label began with his label debut, Focus (2006) and continued with the digital release of Focus Trio Live 2008 (digitally co-released in 2009 with Marc’s ‘Caryout Productions). In 2011 Cary will return with a studio project expected to be recorded in Summer/Fall of 2010. In addition, there are two other exciting Cary Out projects in the works: Cary Out Productions is planning a collaboration with Motéma to begin a new digital series, where Marc will release a brand new single every month on the Motéma website – each single exploring the various areas of interest in Cary’s musical journey. The first single will be a brand new GO-GO track, release date tentatively slated for August. In addition, coming this Fall, is an Indian music focused project entitled Namaskar, that is co-produced by Marc with his Focus Trio partner, Sameer Gupta, and reveals yet another facet of Marc’s multi-dimensions.
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Charnett Moffett grew up in a musically active household. His father, the
renowned jazz drummer Charles Moffett Sr., was a member of Ornette Coleman's
trio of the mid 1960s as well as leader of the Moffett Family Band.
(Charnett's name is a contraction of both Charles and Ornette). As a child
prodigy, Charn'ett first appeared on record at the age of seven in 1974 with
the Moffett Family Band and the following year toured Japan with the group.
After attending Fiorello H. La Guardia H. S. for the Music and Arts in New
York City, he studied at Mannes College of Music and obtained a scholarship
to study at the Juilliard School of Music. Moffett joined Wynton Marsalis'
quintet in 1983 at the age of 16 and later appeared on the influential,
Grammy Award-winning 1985 recording Black Codes From the Underground. During
the '80s he also worked with guitarist Stanley Jordan, the Manhattan Jazz
Quintet and drummer Tony Williams.
In 1987, Moffett signed with Blue Note Records and debuted as a leader that
year with Netman, which featured Michael Brecker, Kenny Kirkland, Al Foster,
Stanley Jordan and Mino Cinelu. The following year, he recorded Beauty
Within featuring his father Charles on drums, older brothers Mondre on
trumpet, Charles Jr. on tenor sax, Codaryl on drums and sister Charisse on
vocals. Special guests include Kenny Garrett, Bernard Wright and Kenny Drew
Jr. and in 1991 with Nettwork, his swan song for the label.
In 1993, Charnett recorded Rhythm & Blood for Sweet Basil's Apollon Records.
A savvy mix of jazz and pop, it placed high on the music charts in Japan
that year. Moffett would subsequently score artistic triumphs on the
Evidence label with 1994's Planet Home and 1997's Still Life featuring
keyboardist Rachel Z and drummer Cindy Blackman. Another Charnett recording
from 1995, Moffett & Sons, is a collaboration with father Charles that also includes appearances from pianist James Williams, saxophonists David Sanchez, Joshua Redman and Bill
Pierce, and trumpeters Wallace Roney and Philip Harper.
In 1996, Moffett appeared on two simultaneous releases by Ornette Coleman's
Sound Museum - Hidden Man and Three Women. Another 1997 recording, Acoustic
Trio for Teichiku Records, showcased Charn'ett's innovative acoustic bass
playing. Three other '90s recordings for the Sweet Basil/Evidence label were
done under the collective name of General Music Project and featured former
Miles Davis alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, pianists Geri Allen and Cyrus
Chestnut and father Charles Sr., who passed away before the group could tour
together. In 2001, Charnett released a potent recording with Kenny Garrett,
pianist Carlos Mckinney and drummer Louis Hayes, Mr. J.P (a tribute to Jaco
Pastorius), for the now-defunct Sweet Basil label.
In 2004, Charnett achieved another artistic triumph as a leader with For the
Love of Peace on Piadrum Records, featuring brothers Codaryl Cody Moffett on
drums, Mondre Moffett on trumpet and Scott Brown on piano. A compelling
statement as well as a manifesto for the bass and the harmolodic principles
he has upheld throughout his career, Charn'ett lavishes listeners with 14
pieces of challenging, stimulating original music.
In addition to leading his own band, Charnett is also currently a member of
McCoy Tyner's group, appearing on the great pianist's 2003 Telarc recording,
Land of the Giants. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Art
Blakey, David Benoit, Anita Baker, Harry Connick Jr., Ornette Coleman, Kevin
Eubanks, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Stanley Jordan,
Kenny Kirkland, Joachim Kuhn, Frank Lowe, Branford Marsalis, Wynton
Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Bette Midler, Mulgrew Miller, Courtney Pine,
Dianne Reeves, Wallace Roney, Pharoah Sanders, Arturo Sandoval, Sonny
Sharrock, David Sanborn, McCoy Tyner, Sadao Watanabe, and Tony Williams. He
has also performed on various movie soundtracks, including The Last Boy
Scout, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Visit and was a featured soloist for The
Score.
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Son of legendary percussionist Freddie Waits; Nasheet Wait is a New York native
who has been active on the jazz scene since early in his life. Before
pursuing a music career, he studied psychology and history at Morehouse
College in Atlanta. Nasheet also holds a degree from Long Island University
in music. While studying at L.I.U, instructor Michael Carvln secured Waits a
spot in the percussion ensemble M'Boom, started by drummer Max Roach in
1970. Waits has recorded or performed with a myriad of talented musicians
including Fred Hersch, Antonio Hart, Joe Lovano, Jason Moran, Andrew Hill,
Bunky Green, William Parker, Eddie Gomez, Casimir Liberski, John Medeski,
and Mark Turner.
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