The Miller Theatre Continues Its 2014-15 Jazz Series with RENEE ROSNES QUARTET Tonight

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues its 2014-15 Jazz series with the RENEE ROSNES QUARTET featuring Renee Rosnes, piano, Steve Nelson, vibraphonist, Peter Washington, bass, and Bill Stewart, drums. Tonight, January 24, 2015, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $20-$30 • Students with valid ID: $12-$18

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey:
"It is a pleasure to ring in the new year with Renee Rosnes. Her unique voice shines through in both her original compositions and interpretations of jazz standards. She and her fantastic bandmates will help us kick off 2015 in style."

JAZZ

In a city so heavily steeped in jazz music, Miller Theatre remains a pillar of the uptown jazz scene with a diverse lineup that embraces great jazz artists, each with their own unique style. In the 2014-2015 season, the theatre welcomes back four groups that previously enchanted Miller audiences with their dazzling improvisations and infectious energy. These artists draw inspiration from a variety of sources-gospel and bebop, West Africa and Harlem-to make this uniquely American art form their own.

Jazz

Saturday, January 24, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Renee Rosnes Quartet

Renee Rosnes, piano
Steve Nelson, vibraphonist
Peter Washington, bass
Bill Stewart, drums

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)
With an improvisational freedom that The New York Times has compared to John Coltrane, pianist Renee Rosnes has made a name for herself as a creative composer, virtuosic player, and phenomenal band leader. With its dream team of jazz veterans - vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Bill Stewart - the Renee Rosnes Quartet's hard-bop sound pulses with infectious energy, whether they're playing inventive originals or breathing new life into jazz standards.

Renee Rosnes

www.reneerosnes.com

Canadian born, Renee Rosnes is one of the premier pianists and composers of her generation. Shortly after relocating from Vancouver to New York in 1986, Rosnes established her reputation as a major talent. She has recorded and toured with such legendary musicians as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, J.J. Johnson, Buster Williams, and Bobby Hutcherson. In 1989, James Moody hired Renee for his quartet, and she remained a member of his band until his passing in 2010.

In 2012, she was the musical director for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's For Love of Moody: A Jazz Celebration, and also produced Joe Henderson's 75th Birthday Celebration for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room. From 2004-2009, Rosnes was a member of the all-star octet, the SFJAZZ Collective. From 2008-2010, she hosted The Jazz Profiles, a radio interview series produced by Canada's CBC.

Rosnes has released a series of twelve albums, four of which have garnered Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy. She has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, from established masters such as Jack DeJohnette and tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, to younger giants such as Christian McBride, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, and Steve Nelson. She is a formidable composer and in 2003 was named SOCAN's Composer of the Year. Her works have been performed and recorded by Phil Woods, J.J. Johnson, Lewis Nash, Joe Locke, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, and up-and-coming trombone star Michael Dease.

Aside from leading her own bands, Rosnes is currently a member of bassist Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet. She also frequently performs with her husband, acclaimed pianist Bill Charlap, and the couple released their first duo recording in 2010, Double Portrait on Blue Note.

Steve Nelson

Vibraphonist Steve Nelson was born in 1954 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has been a member of Dave Holland's Quintet and Big Band for over a decade. He graduated from Rutgers University with both Master's and Bachelor's degrees in music, and his teaching activities have included a position at Princeton University. He has appeared at concerts and festivals worldwide and has made recordings as the leader of his own group. As a resident of the New York area he has performed and recorded with many musicians, including Kenny Barron, Bobby Watson, Mulgrew Miller, David "Fathead" Newman, Johnny Griffin, and Jackie McLean. His most recent recording as leader is Sound-Effect (2007), featuring pianist Mulgrew Miller, Peter Washington on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums.

Peter Washington

Peter Washington initially played classical bass and played with the Westchester Community Symphony at the age of 14. Later he worked with electric bass and in rock bands. He went on to study English at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became interested in jazz and began freelancing in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1986 he joined the Jazz Messengers and moved to New York City. Since then he has worked in the Tommy Flanagan trio and for Bill Charlap, and was a founding member of the collective hard bop sextet One for All. Additionally, he can be heard on Eastwood After Hours and on pianist Jon Weber's album Simple Complex.

In 2008, Washington became part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, entitledMosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note Records/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January until April 2009. The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and Renee Rosnes.

Bill Stewart

Percussionist Bill Stewart made his name as the rhythmic force behind guitarist John Scofield's band, working with him for five years between 1990 and 1995. Self-taught on drums, Stewart is also a capable pianist, the instrument on which he composes. He attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, playing in the jazz and marching bands as well as the orchestra. He then transferred to college in Wayne, New Jersey, where he studied with Dave Samuels, Rufus Reid, and Harold Mabern. It was here that he met future collaborator, saxophonist Joe Lovano. While still in college, Stewart made his recording debut with saxophonist Scott Kreitzer and recorded two further collections with pianist Armen Donelian. After graduation in 1988 he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he began establishing his reputation and performed his first gigs with the Larry Goldings Trio.

At one of their regular sessions at Augie's Club in Manhattan, Maceo Parker attended and invited him to contribute to a forthcoming recording date (for Roots Revisited). Afterwards Stewart was invited to join Scofield's band, which also included Lovano, who has featured on both of Stewart's solo albums to date: Think Before You Think and Snide Remarks, which boasted nine original Stewart compositions.

Photo Credit: Clay Patrick McBride

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