Alex Harding & Lucian Ban 'BLUTOPIA' Album Release — live event

Alex Harding -bari sax Lucian Ban -piano & Fender Rhodes Bob Stewart -tuba Mat Maneri -viola Brandon Lee Lewis -drums SUNNYSIDE RECORDS releases (May 17) Alex Harding & Lucian Ban BLUTOPIA with special guest star BOB STEWART For their second album for Sunnyside baritone saxophonist Alex Harding & pianist Lucian Ban highlight their long and fruitful partnership with a singular ensemble propelled by Bob Stewart, one of the most heralded improvising tuba players in jazz and also featuring drummer Brandon Lee Lewis and iconoclast master violist Mat Maneri. Their new recording, Blutopia, showcases the leaders’ attuned rapport developed over decades of collaborations into an album that transcends the expectations of the jazz genre. The music on Blutopia is mysterious yet rooted, the tuba speaking of the whole history of jazz, yet Ban’s use of the Fender Rhodes and Maneri’s electronic effects giving a contemporary, Afro-Futurist meets new music tint. From the opener “ Speak our Silence”, an atmospheric collective improvisation, to the urban avant-funk take on Andrew Hill’s “ Blue Black”, from the mysterious compositional universe of Paul Motian’s “Fantasm” to the ever charging “Hieroglyphics”, from the Randy Weston’s tribute song “Marrakesh” to the deep gospel feeling of Alex Harding’s “ Spirit Take my Hand” the music on Blutopia is a true celebration of the spirit and imagination of five masters of contemporary jazz. ALEX HARDING | www.alexharding.net Alex was born in Detroit and studied music in his early years with Yusef Lateef, Beans Bows and Herbie Williams, and had a chance to play with Wynton Marsalis and Donald Byrd while still in high school. Alex went on to win music scholarships to the University of Massachusetts and the Aspen School of Music. His first European engagement in 1990 was in Porgy and Bess. A year later, he went to Mexico to the Arts and Music Festival with percussionist Francisco Mora. After settling in New York in 1993, and a stint touring with Phatoms, a Haitian group, Alex joined Julius Hemphill’s Saxophone Sextet. He also began performing with Muhal Richard Abrams, Craig Harris, Lester Bowie, Frank Lacy, Oliver Lake and David Murray’s Big Band. In 1996, Alex joined Hamiet Bluiett’s Baritone Group and appeared with the Mingus Big Band, Jayne Cortez Firespitters and Lester Bowie’s Hip-Hop Philharmonic. He also recorded with Greg Osby, Frank Lowe, David Lee Roth and Rodney Whittaker. The following year, Alex recorded At Doctor King’s Table with the Julius Hemphill Sextet, a CD with Hamiet Bluiett’s Baritone Group, and he made his debut with the Sun Ra Arkestra under Marshall Allen’s leadership. In 1998, Alex was part of the Sun Ra All-Star Project that premiered at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival and has performed with the late Roy Hargrove Big Band and with Aretha Franklin.

Starts: 2024-05-29T19:30:31Z

Ends: 2024-05-29T21:00:31Z

Where: 1158 Broadway, New York, New York 10001, United States

Price: $0.0

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