Photo by Will Boisture // Filter by Pixlr

The New York Times‘ Nate Chinen describes Nils Weinhold as ”a young German guitarist given to crisp intricacy.” JazzTimes‘ Bill Milkowski concurs, characterizing the young musician  as “a technical monster with a warm tone and fluid delivery.” According to Milkowski, it is obvious that Nils is “a product of the angular, odd-intervallic, slightly dissonant school of post-Metheny/post-Abercrombie guitar playing.” Yet the guitarist has also been shaped by a unique lifelong journey, from his roots in a remote German village to his current rise in one of the world’s most vibrant musical cities.

Nils was raised in Bad Sachsa, Germany, a small village in the Harz mountains. He picked up the guitar before his tenth birthday, and his passion for the instrument eventually led him to the Netherlands, where he completed his undergraduate studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. After receiving his first degree, the guitarist packed his belongings and relocated once again, this time journeying across the Atlantic to attend the Manhattan School of Music.

Since moving to New York in 2008, Nils has lent his sound to both established and up-and-coming artists, including Seamus Blake, Joe Lovano, John Riley, John Escreet, and Justin Brown, among others. The guitarist can be heard regularly with the saxophonist Adam Larson‘s group, as well as the Danjam Orchestra and The Manhattan Experiment.

Milkowski notes that Nils also “impresses with…his writing,” which can be heard on his self-released debut album, Shapes. This first effort features like-minded collaborators including the saxophonist Adam Larson, the pianist Fabian Almazan, the bassist Luques Curtis, and Nils’ brother, the drummer Bastian Weinhold.

We first heard Nils in Adam Larson’s group, and presented his own project for the first time last fall. On Thursday night, we welcome him for his second bandleading appearance as a part of our debut series.

Watch a clip of Nils and his band performing “A Horse Is Still A Horse” live at The Jazz Gallery.

Photo via The Oswegonian

Lage Lund is a “deftly imaginative guitarist,” according to The New York Times. Nate Chinen elaborates, “Lund exudes a diffident and self-deprecating kind of cool… His playing and presence can both be casually magnetic. Like Jim Hall, one of the guitarists in his heroes’ gallery, he channels reticence into a whisper-quiet mystique.”

Originally from Skein, Norway, Lage moved to the States to attend Berklee College of Music, and was the first guitarist to be enrolled in Juilliard’s Institute of Jazz Studies. In 2005, he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition. The decision was made by a panel featuring Pat Martino, John Pizzarelli, Earl Klugh, Bill Frisell, Stanley Jordan and Russell Malone, who explained, “Lage wasn’t flashy. He was just all music and soul – that’s what we all agreed upon.”

As a bandleader, Lage has released five albums; his sixth, Foolhardy (Criss Cross) arrives later this month. Since moving to New York in 2002, he has also been a first call sideperson, and has appeared on recordings and in concert with David Sanchez, Seamus Blake, Jaleel Shaw, Will Vinson, Jimmy Greene, Marcus Strickland, Carmen Lundy, and others.

Lage has performed here as a leader dozens of times dating back to 2006. On Friday, he takes the stage with a quartet featuring the pianist Glenn Zaleski, the bassist Orlando le Fleming, and the drummer Johnathan Blake.

Watch a clip of Lage’s quartet performing at Smalls in March 2013.

Photo via http://www.craviottodrums.com/

“Moments after Justin Brown sat behind a drum kit on Saturday afternoon, the mood at the National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium shifted,” writes Larry Blumenfeld in the Wall Street Journal. “When he took a solo, it expressed narrative arc more than technique. The ninth of 12 semifinalists to perform at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums Competition, Mr. Brown had upped the ante, not so much by displaying skills—he did that, but so did others—as by bringing the house band together as a well-tuned vehicle fueled by clear rhythmic ideas. Above all else, that’s what good jazz drummers do, each in a personal way.”

From getting his start on the drums in church at age two to touring the world in his twenties, Justin has become one of the most in-demand voices on his instrument. His sound has been sought after for performances and recordings by the likes of Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Stefon Harris, Esperanza Spalding, Bilal, Ledisi, Thundercat, and countless others. Justin has also made invaluable contributions to the groups of Gerald Clayton and Ambrose Akinmusire, two of his peers who are shaping the current direction of the music.

We’ve been featuring Justin’s own bands at The Gallery with some degree of regularity since he first performed here as a leader almost two years ago. The drummer has also appeared here as a sideman on innumerable occasions over the past several years. Here’s an excerpt from an interview we conducted with Justin last year:

Because of these times and all of this stuff going on, people are looking for an outlet and [are ready] to relate to [a broad musical perspective], instead of putting a stamp on it. With this generation and our laptops, we truly have that power. I’m just trying to be honest about that and trying not to be shy about it.

Basically, this music is all about love, really. It’s ultimately about inspiring one that they can be themselves. We each have a purpose, and I just want people to realize that purpose within themselves, and be uplifted through my experiences with the music. (Read more here).

This weekend, we welcome Justin back to our stage for a two night run with a quartet featuring the guitarist Matthew Stevens, the pianist Sam Harris (appearing on Fender Rhodes), and the bassist Tim Lefebvre.

Watch an up-close video of a Justin Brown drum solo, recorded in 2012.

Photo via Worldwide Scene

In a review of the guitarist Gilad Hekselman‘s 2011 album, Hearts Wide Open (Le Chant du Monde), The New York Times‘ Ben Ratliff writes: “Crucially, this record isn’t only understandable as jazz-guitar music, a maze of speed and soloing. Some of these tracks…are actually songs, singable, playable on other instruments. They are melodies that stay with you.”

“Fifteen years ago he probably would have been signed to a major label,” notes Ratliff. ”You might already have read about him in a men’s magazine, or seen his face on a display rack at Tower Records. But the jazz business is more modest and artist-directed now.” Yet Gilad is thriving in this climate, in no small part due to his knowledge of his instrument, and of the music. Nate Chinen’s Best of 2011 list in The New York Times describes his playing as “an object lesson in the high bar facing a young jazz guitarist today…so much fluid knowledge it’s scary.” Chris Potter, Mark Turner, John Scofield, Ari Hoenig, and Esperanza Spalding are among several bandleaders who agree, apparently; they’ve all appeared onstage with the young guitarist.

Gilad was born and raised in Israel, and began his musical training on the piano at age six. Picking up the guitar shortly thereafter, he continued to hone his abilities through performance (even appearing for a time with the band on a children’s television show) and academics. After graduating from the highly reputed Thelma Yellin School of Arts, the young guitarist moved to New York to attend the New School on a scholarship. While still a student, Gilad won the 2005 Gibson Montreux International Jazz Guitar Competition, opened for the guitarist Paco de Lucía, and released his debut album, 2006′s SplitLife (Smalls Records). Before long, he followed with more acclaimed recordings: 2009′s Words Unspoken (LateSet), and 2011′s Hearts Wide Open (Le Chant du Monde).

On April 9th, 2013, Gilad released his most recent album, This Just In (JazzVillage), featuring his frequent collaborators Joe Martin (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums), and Mark Turner (saxophone). The album takes a formal “cue from that rapid-fire information stream” that is the modern day news cycle. Gilad speaks: “Each one of these pieces has a totally different mood to it, like they’re telling stories from different places in the world.”

We’ve been presenting Gilad in various contexts for several years, and we look forward to hosting another one of his projects on Saturday. The group will feature the keyboardist Shai Maestro, who will play both Fender Rhodes and piano, and the drummer Justin Brown.

Watch Gilad’s quartet performing live in France.

Photo via Chad Lefkowitz-Brown

“I must have been the last musician in New York City that didn’t know about Chad [Lefkowitz-Brown],” exclaims the veteran bassist Ron McClure. “When I mention his name, everyone seems to know him and how seriously good he is.” The saxophonist Donny McCaslin concurs: ”Chad is an exceptionally talented musician. His contribution to the jazz world will be a pleasure to watch in the coming years.”

Chad grew up in Horseheads, NY. After assuring his parents that he would grow up to “play the microphone” as a toddler (“I really loved singing,” he recalls), Chad took up the saxophone at age nine. His father was a music teacher, and exposed the budding musician to improvisatory approaches, as well as the music of Charlie Parker. The combination was enough to grab Chad’s interest; within two years, he was performing locally and already beginning to receive wider recognition. At the end of high school, the saxophonist was invited to join the Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program, where he spent his college years touring internationally with the institute’s quintet.

Soon after graduating, Chad made the move to New York City, and quickly became in-demand as a sideperson; you can hear him on recent recordings from Ron McClure, Clarence Penn, and Arturo O’Farrill. He also serves as the musical director and saxophonist for 2010 America’s Got Talent finalist Alice Tan Ridley. Chad recently finished his own debut recording, Imagery Manifesto, which features the trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the guitarist Travis Reuter, the pianist Sam Harris, the bassist Linda Oh, and the drummer Kenneth Salters. Manifesto is currently slated for a spring release.

This Thursday, we present Chad and the Imagery Manifesto band as a part of our debut series. Watch a clip of the band performing Chad’s composition, “Still Here.”

Photo via The Sirius Quartet

Time Out New York describes the pianist Uri Caine as “a polymath pianist at home in driving postbop, funky grooves and classical abstractions.” After apprenticing with titans Philly Joe Jones and Hank Mobley, Uri grew fluent in the aforementioned areas through deep collaborations with the likes of Don Byron, Dave Douglas, and John Zorn, which are documented on the dozens of recordings he has released as a leader or collaborator. Yet the Euro-American classical canon has been a pervasive influence in the pianist’s work for decades, and has grown even more apparent through a series of recent commissions. In at least one case, however, the pianist made the first move:

Uri recalls, “The first time I heard the Sirius Quartet was last year [2011] at The Stone in New York City, and after that, I decided I wanted to work together. So I decided to write a piece that showcased the Sirius Quartet, thinking also about a piece that we could play together.” The result is String Theories, a spellbinding work that received its world premiere at the Theaterhaus Jazz Festival  in April 2012, followed by a North American premiere at the Tribeca New Music Festival.

The New York City-based Sirius Quartet describe their own sound as a blend of “the precision of classical music with the raw energy of a rock band…challenging conventional ideas of what a string quartet is capable of.” We’ve seen them do it in the past, most recently on our stage in collaboration with Linda Oh during our 2011-2012 Residency Commissions (watch here); they’ve also worked with John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, and Steve Wilson. “Rarely do you find ensembles who master the combination of new music, avant-garde, and jazz in such a brilliant way,” proclaims the German publication Reutlinger Zeitung.

On Thursday, we are pleased to welcome the Sirius Quartet and Uri Caine to our stage. The program will place String Theories alongside new works by Quartet members Gregor Huebner, Jeremy Harman and Fung Chern Hwei. In anticipation of the show, watch a performance of String Theories.

Photo Courtesy of Camille Thurman

Rio Sakairi, our Director of Programming, offers the following advice: “Don’t sleep on Camille Thurman. This girl is bad.” The guitarist Russell Malone praises Camille’s “warm and beautiful sound,” and heralds the reedist and vocalist as “a creative improviser…with taste. Keep your ears on this young lady!” The pianist Luis Perdomo concurs, noting Camille’s ”very versatile talent” and suggesting that she is one “to watch out for.” “Look out for this fresh new voice on the New York scene,” proclaims the saxophonist Tia Fuller, “As a saxophonist, flutist, vocalist and composer, Camille is versatile and deeply rooted in the tradition. Get ready world…Camille Thurman has it all.”

If you haven’t checked out Camille’s own groups yet, you may have heard her performing with one of the artists whose effusive praise you just read. Or perhaps you’ve seen her sharing the stage with elder statesmen like Dr. Billy Taylor, Benny Golson, or George Coleman, or backing up R&B and Hip-Hop stars like Alicia Keys, India Arie, Ciara, or Missy Elliott. One thing is certain: with the formidable combination of “gutbucket” (The Hartford Courant) tenor stylings and a four-octave vocal range, you’re likely to start hearing more about Camille very soon.

Camille is a native of Queens, New York. Her musical journey started with early lessons from memorizing and singing the music of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sarah Vaughan, and other artists in her mother’s record collection. Camille added the flute and the saxophone to her arsenal in her early teens, and was performing professionally even while studying the geological and environmental sciences at Binghampton University. After graduating, Camille made the move to New York, where she is a regular member of the Nicholas Payton Television Studio Orchestra, the Mimi Jones Band, Charlie Persip and Supersound, theValery Ponomarev Big Band, and the UMOJA Sextet. Her own quartet has performed around the country and around the globe. Most recently, Camille won the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award for the second time in a row, and was one of four artists featured as a part of the “ASCAP’S Songwriters: The Next Generation” showcase at the Kennedy Center.

On Thursday, we will present Camille for the second time as a part of our debut series. This time, she’ll be supported by a quartet featuring the pianist Luis Perdomo, the bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and the drummer Johnathan Blake.

Watch a video of Camille performing “A Change of Mind” live at The Jazz Gallery last November.

Photo by Jozef Van de Poel via Flickr

A New York Times review of Jaleel Shaw‘s new album, The Soundtrack of Things to Come (Changu), praises the saxophonist’s “warm, frank tone on alto saxophone and an attraction to music of earthy enlightenment.” “The essential trait of Mr. Shaw’s music is balance: between the internal and the external, intellect and emotion, fealty and license,” they write. “Listen closely enough and you realize that he has considered his aesthetic from every angle.”

The saxophonist was born and raised in Philadelphia. He absorbed the city’s rich musical heritage, and the omnivorous leanings of it’s artists; in an interview with The Revivalist, Jaleel recalls:

The great thing about coming up in Philly is that everyone was open musically. You could play with a straight ahead player one day and the next day go do a avant-garde gig, or a hip hop gig. It was all love and everyone knew and supported each other. I think it’s great that I grew up in an environment that included such a diverse group of musicians.

After cutting his teeth on local bandstands and training under Philly educators such as Rayburn Wright, Robert Landham, and Lovette Hines, Jaleel moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. It wasn’t long before he relocated again to New York, this time to pursue a masters’ degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While still a student, Jaleel was approached by two of jazz’s premier big bands: the Mingus Big Band and the Count Basie Orchestra. He went on to contribute to two of the Mingus Big Band’s Grammy-nominated albums, Tonight at Noon and I Am Three.

Upon graduating, Jaleel began to make advances as a bandleader while continuing to work with numerous artists in New York and beyond. His debut album, Perspective, was self-released in 2005 and received strong acclaim from publications including The New York Timesand JazzWise. His sophomore effort, 2008′s Optimism, saw a similarly strong reception from the Times, OkayPlayer, and AllMusic, among others. In the wake of this release, The Jazz Journalists Association recognized Jaleel as one of the “Up and Coming Musicians of 2008″; he has subsequently been heralded as a contender for Alto Saxophonist of the Year byJazzTimes (readers’ poll).

Also in 2005, Jaleel was asked to join Roy Haynes‘ band, a group which he continues to perform with today. The ensemble received a Grammy nomination for their album Whereas (Dreyfus), and performs frequently around the globe.

Recently, Jaleel released The Soundtrack of Things To Come, a musical tale which responds to an array of impulses, from works of art to the passing of loved ones. The album has swiftly garnered critical notice. The New York Times reports:

Throughout the album Mr. Shaw plays commandingly with narrative logic and forward pull…It registers clearly that he made the album with a working band, breaking in his new music before entering a studio. His quartet features the powerfully expressive drummer Johnathan Blake — another former Philadelphian, and his steadiest musical partner — as well as the bassist Boris Kozlov and the pianist Lawrence Fields. (Mr. Shaw will lead a version of this quartet, with Linda Oh on bass, at the Jazz Gallery on April 6.) On a track like “Leel’s Tune,” which rides a shifting and often asymmetrical pulse, the rhythm section’s dynamic exchange is both bracing and matter-of-fact.

Jaleel has been performing at The Gallery as both a leader and a sideperson for many years; this Saturday night, he returns to The Gallery with his quartet to celebrate the release of The Soundtrack.

Watch an interview between Jaleel and JazzTimes in which he discusses the new album.

Photo via http://benvangelder.com

When asked about the saxophonist Ben van Gelder, the pianist Aaron Parks describes him as “just a monster. One of my favorite alto players around today, period.” JazzTimes praises his “flowing facility on the horn and fresh ideas,” and ArtsJournal proclaims, “he is one of those rare young musicians who establishes his individuality in three or four notes.”

Ben was born and raised in the Netherlands by a musical family. He studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and The New School, the latter of which included lessons with the master reedist Lee Konitz. It wasn’t long before the saxophonist started making waves in the local scene, sharing the stage with artists like David Binney, Ambrose Akinmusire, Aaron Parks, and John Escreet, among others. Ben’s talents have also been recognized by institutions; he was an NFAA Stan Getz/Clifford Brown Fellow in 2005, and received the Deloitte Jazz Award in 2008.Last year, Ben self-released his debut album as a leader, Frame of Reference, which features the pianist Aaron Parks, the vibraphonist Peter Schlamb, the bassist Rick Rosato, the drummer Craig Weinrib, as well as guests Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet) and Kyle Wilson(tenor saxophone). Praised for making a “strong impression” by JazzTimes, the album has received accolades from the international press.

This Friday, we welcome Ben and his quintet back to The Gallery with the same core quintet from Frame of Reference, except with Sam Harris occupying the piano chair.

Watch some recently posted footage of Ben’s quintet performing live in New York.

Photos via Facebook

De Akokán, the name of the co-led ensemble of the guitarist and songwriter Pavel Urkiza & the reedist Ricardo Pons, means “from the heart” in the Yoruba language. Pavel was born in Ukraine to parents of Cuban descent, and has produced much of his creative output from Spain. He has been heralded as a “maestro” by his peers in the Afro-Caribbean music community, and specializes in a style he helped develop called filin progresivo. In Pavel’s words: “I started to discover new codes, new fountains from which to drink, new colors — and I came to perceive music like painting — beyond the notes are the textures.” This is a music that incorporates elements of jazz, and rhythms from West Africa, Brazil, the Mediterranean, and India, which Pavel was exposed to in Lavapiés, an immigrant neighborhood in Madrid.

In the early nineties, Pavel teamed up with the Cuban singer Gema Corredera to form the Gema & Pavel duo, whose pioneering music the Miami New Times described as, “a post-Cold War fusion rooted in their island upbringing and marked by the émigré experience.” Pavel has also collaborated with Omara Portuondo, Angelique Kidjo, Alejandro Sanz, Tito Puente and many others.

Ricardo’s collaborative involvement in De Akokán pushes Pavel’s filin progresivo in a new direction. Ricardo was educated in New York (he holds a bachelor’s degree from City College and a M.A. from Queens College) and has performed with a breadth of artists including Chick Corea, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Mario Bauza, and Willie Colon. His interests lies in various expansions of Puerto Rican traditional music, which he explores as the Musical Director of Viento de Agua and a member of the Puerto Sax Quartet.

On Saturday, we are excited to bring De Akokán to our new stage (1160 Broadway, 5th floor). The group will be rounded out by the bassist Yunior Terry and the percussionist Tony Rosa.

We recommend checking out De Akokán’s album, Buscando la esquina, and this intimate live video of the duo performing “Luces Del Camino.”