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The New Brunswick Jazz Project Presents a Hot Night of Swinging Jazz with Dezron Douglas, Lummie Spann and the New Jazz Workshop

By Virginia DeBery
The New Brunswick Jazz Project Presents Dezron Douglas, Lummie Spann and New Jazz Workshop
When: Thursday September 27
Time: 7:30PM -10:30PM
Where: Makeda Ethiopian Restaurant, 338 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ
Cost: $5 Minimum
Info: http://nbjp.org
Lummie L Spann Jr is an alto and soprano saxophonist as well as a composer and educator. The Connecticut native’s style was not only influenced by his parents and the church, but from musicians such as Mahalia Jackson, Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, James Brown and Michael Jackson. Lummie received his BA in Music from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, at University of Hartford, where he went on to teach. He was a member of the Betty Carter Jazz Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Lummie has soulful, fiery original style and sound—one that has led him to perform with a host of jazz greats including among others, Rene McLean, Winard Harper, Eric McPherson, Steve Davis, Jimmy Greene, Warren Byrd, Abraham Burton, Dezron Douglas, James Burton and Zaccai and Luques Curtis.
Bassist Dezron Douglass, is one of the most in demand young bassists in jazz—if you pay attention when you listen to WBGO, you hear his name several times a day… “and on bass…Dezron Douglas.” A composer, educator and bandleader like his co-leader, Lummie, Dezron is such a sought after sideman because he is known as a musician’s musician. Also from Hartford, Ct, Dezron enrolled in the Jackie McLean Institute of African American Music at the Hartt School of Music where he learned from such notable jazz musicians such as Nat Reeves, Steve Davis, and of course Jackie McLean. Natural talent combined with his ability to swing, kept Dezron busy working with many well established jazz artists while he was still in school. His first recording session was with master drummer Michael Carvin, on his album "Marsalis Music Honors Michael Carvin" which was produced by Branford Marsalis. Dezron has also performed and/or recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Abraham Burton/Eric McPherson, Louis Hayes, Steve Davis, Winard Harper, Lewis Nash, Kevin Mahogany, Carla Cook, Kenny Garrett, Eric Reed, Papo Vazquez and The Marsalis Bros. Dezron is also a long-standing member of the Cyrus Chestnut trio.
Dezron and Lummie cofounded, The New Jazz Workshop of Hartford, a group of likeminded young musicians dedicated to preserving the heart of Jazz. NJW performs collectively and with notable jazz musicians around the world.
New Jazz Workshop released their debut recording, Underground, in May.