Howard Wiley Quartet: I Love The 80’s @ Intersection for the Arts – 3/28
When: Thursday March 28, 2013 at 8pm
Where: 925 Mission Street Suite 109
Tickets: http://jazzintersectionmar28.eventbrite.com
HOWARD WILEY QUARTET: I LOVE THE 80s
Howard Wiley – saxophone; Michael Aaberg – piano; Sly Randolph – drums; Marcus Shelby – bass
Howard Wiley brings a new quartet to Intersection performing music influenced by favorite pop hits from the 80s. Howard Wiley’s grandfather, Sam Wiley, played saxophone in Count Basie’s Orchestra, and gave constant advice to the young musician growing up in Hercules, CA. Wiley’s debut recording, The Businessman (Sax Records, 1995) was produced shortly after his 15th birthday by Steve Savage and Jim Nadel, founder of The Stanford Jazz Workshop. While still in high school, Wiley received the Thelonious Monk Scholarship, Downbeat Blues/Pop/Rock Instrumentalist award for best soloist, and the MVP Award for the Grammy All-American Jazz Band. In recent years, Wiley has also had the great fortune of being able to learn from, perform with, and befriend two living jazz legends – saxophonists Bill Stewart (who has performed with Lionel Hampton, Sonny Stitt, and Gene Ammons) and Jules Broussard (who has performed with Charles Mingus, Eddie “Cleanhead†Vincent, and Carlos Santana). Through Wiley’s ongoing relationships with these two men whose mentoring abilities have become indispensable to his growth as a musician and composer, Wiley has directly and intimately learned tradition, understanding, and historical perspective of jazz music.
Wiley has performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the North Beach Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, the Fillmore Jazz Festival, and the Huntington Beach Jazz Festival, and has been the recipient of a Meet The Composer Commissioning Music/USA commission and a recording grant from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music. Wiley’s second recording, Twenty-First Century Negro, was independently released by High Cotton Productions in 2002. Inspired by his early years attending church and the continuing and deepening influence of the blues, gospel, and spirituals on his musical performance and compositional writing, Wiley has been composing for and performing with his newest ensemble – The Angola Project – which investigates the roots and legacies of African American prison spirituals, encompassing folk, blues, and gospel, with a focus on the songs and stories from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA from the 1950s onward. He released his third recording, The Angola Project, in 2007, and his fourth recording, Twelve Gates to the City, in 2010, which has received critical reviews nationwide.
**************************************
Founded by Intersection for the Arts and local award-winning composer and bassist Marcus Shelby in 1999, Jazz at Intersection provides local Jazz artists and audiences with consistent and ongoing opportunities to celebrate the diverse and powerful Jazz traditions that are unique to the San Francisco Bay Area, while encouraging experimentation and creativity with new forms and styles. Since establishing the program, we have presented over 170 performances featuring over 400 musicians and vocalists (many of whom have performed multiple times in our series) to thousands of audience members. Dozens of new Jazz compositions have been commissioned and premiered through our series. We aim to nurture an audience not for specific artists or traditions, but rather for a broad and inclusive definition of the Jazz idiom.
“Jazz At Intersection is notable not only for the breadth of its musical content, but for bridging communities across all lines: age, race, gender, cultural affiliation, and even class…†– Sam Prestianni, SF Weekly
We continue a series in our new home at 5th and Mission Streets that highlights an array of contemporary and historical musical styles within the Jazz idiom; provides insight into what influences new music and musicians; and also shows direct connections between well-known songs and composers and the new music being created today. Our approach to presenting Jazz is based on an intimate and direct connection between the musician, the music, and the audience. The 2013 series will include 8 indoor performances at Intersection’s new location with the 5M Project (a flexible performance space that can seat up to 100) and a dozen free outdoor performances in partnership with Off The Grid, a local organization that produces pop-up food markets featuring independent mobile food trucks.
