By Virginia DeBerry
The New Brunswick Jazz Project “quickly becoming NJ’s freshest jazz presenters” (Star Ledger-Jan 25, 2011) continues its March Women in Jazz Month with performances Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at The Hyatt Regency, New Brunswick and Makeda Ethiopian Restaurant, respectively.
Wednesday’s show at the Hyatt will feature the Mimi Jones Quartet. New York native Mimi Jones (aka Miriam Sullivan) is a multi talented bassist, vocalist and composer. She has played with the great Lionel Hampton, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Barron, Sean Jones, toured 5 continents and participated in the Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center Rhythm Abroad Program as a Jazz Ambassador. "Her bass work is strong and solid and her vocals reach right down to the depths of your soul…" says Dick Metcalf of Improvijazznation Nation. Mimi’s quartet will include Willerm Delisfort on keys, Camille Thurman on sax and Shirazette Tinnin on drums.
Women in jazz continues Thursday at Makeda with the Noah Baerman Quartet, featuring Erica Von Kleist . Noah, a Connecticut native earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Jazz Studies from Rutgers, studying under Kenny Barron, Joanne Brackeen, Bill Fielder & Ralph Bowen. While at Rutgers, Noah performed in and around New York with jazz artists including Charles Fambrough, Stefon Harris, Rufus Reid, and many others. Noah is celebrating the release of his latest CD, "Know Thyself." A rising star in the jazz world saxophonist, Erica von Kleist has begun to make her mark on the New York jazz scene. She is one of the most in-demand young musician’s in the city, performing and recording with Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Sean Jones, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, DIVA and the Grammy® Award-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. While performing is Erica’s primary passion, she is a gifted composer with commissions from Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Julliard and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra.
Saturday rounds out the week back at Makeda with the Shirazette Tinnin Quartet. In 2008 Shirazette won the Sisters in Jazz Competition for IAJE making her the top female jazz drummer in the world! And as an international musician Shirazette represented the U.S.A. as a Liberace Scholar during the Lima Jazz Festival in Lima, Peru. She currently has a new project called The Shirazette Experiment that debuted in August 2008 at Jazz in the Alley, Chicago IL. Tinnin is currently the resident drummer in NYC at Tutuma Social Club in NY.
Jazz at the Hyatt, 2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ : Wednesday March 9. 7:30-10:30PM
Jazz at Makeda, 338 George St. New Brunswick, NJ : Thursday March 10 7:30-10:30PM
Jazz at Makeda, 338 George St. New Brunswick, NJ : Saturday March 12 9:00PM-1:00AM
Please visit NBJP.org for complete schedule.
