Aaron Burnett's Big Machine
Writing in the New York Times last February, critic Ben Ratliff proclaimed saxophonist Aaron Burnett as one of the "most broadly curious musicians in New York right now... [W]ith his own band, Big Machine, he's working on a detailed, new-sounding, capacious vision of jazz, one that encompasses the extended tradition of jazz as well as classical and electronic music."The Jazz Gallery is proud to present Mr. Burnett and his Big Machine this Saturday, January 17th, for their third performance in our space. We caught up with Burnett when he played at the Gallery last March, and he summed up his musical philosophy thusly:
I’m looking to the future of the music, rather than being a bit of a necrophiliac like a lot of jazz musicians out there. I’m trying to introduce a concept that will last longer than I’m alive. I’m a thirty-two-year-old man, which isn’t that long of a time to be alive. I look at our society, I look at everything that’s going on and what young people are listening to and what’s popular, and that’s what drives me to make music the way I do. I can sit there and play Dexter Gordon patterns all day, but what does that really do for the music? It doesn’t do anything. It’s regurgitating something that already happened. Playing jazz today, it’s much more interesting trying to incorporate all these modern elements into the music rather than trying to emulate something that happened fifty years ago.
Come check out Aaron Burnett's Big Machine this Saturday. They will be playing a mix of bebop standards and Burnett's original compositions, extending the jazz tradition into a new era of expression. For a taste of what's ahead this weekend, you can watch Burnett in action at the Gallery last March in the video below and hear Burnett speak more about his music our previous interview.Aaron Burnett’s Big Machine performs at The Jazz Gallery on Saturday, January 17th, 2015. The group features Burnett on tenor saxophone, Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Carlos Homs on piano, Matt Brewer on bass, and Jonathan Pinson on drums. Sets are at 8 and 10 p.m., $22 general admission for the first set ($12 for members). Purchase tickets here.