By Virginia DeBery
Jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans said "…all people are in possession of what might be called a ‘universal musical mind," and this week’s show from the New Brunswick Jazz Project is all set to prove just that, when two Israeli and two American jazz greats take the stage at Makeda Thursday night.
The New Brunswick Jazz Project Presents
The Nir Naaman Quartet
With Roy Assaf & Special Guests John Lee & Winard
Thursday November 17
7.30PM n 10.30PM No Cover
Makeda
338 George St., New Brunswick, NJ
Nir Naaman n Sax | Roy Assaf n Piano | John Lee n Bass | Winard Harper n Drums
Born and raised in Israel, Nir Naaman, who currently lives in NYC, started playing the saxophone at age 10. He served as a lead Alto Saxophone player in the Israeli Air Force Band. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston and received his Masters of Music (Jazz Studies) from Purchase College. Nir has performed professionally with Joanne Brackeen, Dave Samuels, Steve Gadd, Abraham Laborial, Eguie Castrillio, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Todd Coolman and John Riley and has toured U.S., Europe, Israel and Japan. Nir was awarded a residency at Betty Carter Jazz Ahead in Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center for the Arts where he was mentored by Dr. Billy Taylor, Nathan Davis, Curtis Fuller and George Cables. Nir is involved in many musical projects, including "Jazz Without Borders", a collaboration with west coast drummer Eddie Marshall.
Roy Assaf, a New York based jazz pianist and composer, was named the ASCAP Foundation’s Young Jazz Composer in 2008. Born in Beer Sheba, Israel, Roy studied at Tel Aviv Conservatory, Berklee College of Music and Manhattan School of Music, from which he received an MA. Assaf also won the 31st Down Beat Student Award for Outstanding Performance, 2nd place in the Charlie Palmieri Memorial Piano Competition, Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute Award, America Israel Cultural Foundation Prize for Young Israeli Musicians and the 30th Down Beat Student Award for Best Jazz Arrangement. Roy made his New York Blue Note debut with the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band and has performed with Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, Dr. Billy Taylor, Barry Harris, George Garzone, T.S. Monk, Claudio Roditi, Jimmy Heath, James Moody and Slide Hampton.
Bassist, composer, educator and producer, John Lee, a native of Boston, MA who grew up in Philadelphia, PA has worked with a star studded array of jazz greats including Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Max Roach, Gary Bartz, Joachim Kuhn, Toots Thielemans, Norman Connors, Gil Evans, Joe Henderson, Lonnie Liston Smith, Larry Coryell, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi, Chuck Loeb, Marion Meadows and Dave Samuels. John is the program director for "DIZZYT: The Man & the Music", the official concert & clinic program celebrating the life & work of John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie.
Winard Harper, leader of a vibrant sextet that appears in venues from the Kennedy Center in D.C. to Yoshi’s, the legendary West Coast jazz club. Winard’s storied career includes performances with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Betty Carter, Ray Bryant, Abdullah Ibrahim, Pharoah Sanders and Clifford Jordan. In 1990 Mr Harper and his brother Philip launched the Harper Brothers, that was declared by Leonard Feather,“… the most brilliant new jazz group of the new decade. "Winard has peformed and or recorded with Joe Lovano, Steve Turre, Wycliffe Gordon, Frank Wess, Ray Bryant, and Jimmy Heath. Franz Matzner recently wrote in All About Jazz that Harper’s performance was “…so rapid fire, so mind bogglingly dexterous, and so expressively diverse, as to be truly awe-inspiring."
