2010 MJF PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: WHEN: Saturday Night Sept. 18, 2010 / 10:50pm WHERE: Arena / Jimmy Lyons Stage MJF HISTORY: CHICK COREA FREEDOM BAND MJF DEBUT! CHICK COREA 1969, 1991, 1995, 2009, 2010! ROY HAYNES MJF DEBUT! CHRISTIAN McBRIDE 1994, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010! KENNY GARRETT 1994, 2010!

One of the most creatively restless and indefatigably imaginative artists in jazz, Chick Corea defies categorization. He is equally at home in acoustic settings and in electric formats. He performs sublime solo concerts and welcomes richly arranged collaborations with orchestras.

In the past two years, he has mounted three hugely successful world tours: first with a celebrated reprise of Return to Forever’s classic quartet lineup; then with his electro-acoustic quintet with guitar legend John McLaughlin, the Five Peace Band. Both projects resulted in two adventurous live albums: Return to Forever: Returns and Five Peace Band Live. In 2009 he joined RTF's Stanley Clarke and Lenny White for an acoustic world tour in Corea, Clarke & White. Together, these tours reached beyond traditional jazz listeners to an enthralled new base of music lovers.

Chick received his 55th Grammy Award nomination in 2009, for Five Peace Band Live. He earned his 15th Grammy Award in 2008, for The New Crystal Silence, which celebrated the 35th anniversary of his chamber jazz duo with vibraphonist Gary Burton. He has also explored new collaborations, with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and Japanese pianist Hiromi.

In 2010, Chick received Chamber Music America's top honor, the Richard J. Bogomolny Award. In 2008, Corea was named JazzTimes’ Artist of the Year and Best Electric Keyboardist. He also won the Downbeat Readers’ Poll as Best Electric Keyboardist/Synthesizer, and was named in Japan’s Swing Journal as International Jazzman of the Year.

Corea broke onto the jazz scene in the early 1960s, working with bands led by such stars as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. One of his most significant sideman gigs was with Miles Davis’ seminal electric fusion bands, from 1968-70, when he participated in the classic albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. It was there that Corea first met and worked with John McLaughlin.

As a solo artist, Corea recorded his debut in 1966, Tones for Joan’s Bones, followed by what’s come to be known as a classic jazz recording, 1968’s Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes.

While Corea’s musical career teems with significant explorations and advances, one of his highlight moments came in 1971 when he created Return to Forever, the legendary jazz-rock fusion band. While it lasted just seven years in three different editions, RTF is heralded as one of the most important and forward-looking bands in jazz history. In 2008, Corea assembled a reunion of the quartet version of the band. It swept the world with a tour that was easily the most anticipated event of the year for jazz fans.

Celebrating the four partners in fusion revisiting their past material played in the present tense, Downbeat ran a cover story on RTF, leading a multitude of national press, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Newsweek. When the tour ended in the summer of 2008, Corea was already revving up for his next musical adventure, the Five Peace Band, a collective co-founded with fellow Davis alum John McLaughlin on guitar, Kenny Garrett on alto sax, Christian McBride on bass and either Vinnie Colaiuta or Brian Blade in the drum chair.

In 2010, the recording Five Peace Band: Live was named Best Jazz Instrumental Jazz Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards, making it Chick’s 16th Grammy Award.

Also in 2010, Chick premieres the Freedom Band on extended tours of the U.S. and Europe. Chick’s new all-star quartet features alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Christian McBride, and legendary drummer Roy Haynes, who turns 85 this year.

McBride and Garrett both previously played in Chick’s Remembering Bud Powell group and the Five Peace Band. Haynes was also a member of Remembering Bud Powell and played on Chick’s landmark 1968 recording, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. The blend of forward-looking jazz and genre-defying World music is unparalleled in modern music. Corea is also writing new music for this group.

“The Freedom Band is a meeting of free spirits in music,” says Chick. “The art and practice of improvisation will be our platform. The quartet will be celebrating freedom of expression and freedom to make music the way we feel at the moment. This is our definition of 'freedom.'"

2010 MJF PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: WHEN: Saturday Night Sept. 18, 2010 / 10:50pm WHERE: Arena / Jimmy Lyons Stage FREEDOM BAND WHEN: Sunday Afternoon Sept. 19, 2010 / 2:00pm WHERE: Dizzy's Den CONVERSATION WITH ROY HAYNES WHEN: Sunday Night Sept. 19, 2010 / 9:30pm WHERE: Dizzy's Den FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BAND MJF HISTORY: MJF DEBUT!

Roy Owen Haynes, born on March 13, 1925, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is one of the few jazz musicians alive today whose roots touch the origins of jazz itself. Of West Indian descent, his first experience in music was observing his father, a church organist.

The drum legend made his professional debut at the age of seventeen in his hometown, working around Boston with pianist Sabby Lewis, Frankie Newton, and Pete Brown. In September of 1945, Roy Haynes made his New York City debut at the Savoy, playing in the big band pioneer Luis Russell’s group. Before long, he became drummer of choice for large and small ensembles and in 1947 he joined Lester Young’s band, and two years later, Charlie Parker’s. From late 1940s through mid-1950s, Haynes worked with such greats as Miles Davis, Bud Powell, and Kai Winding. He toured with Sarah Vaughan for five years before joining Thelonious Monk’s band in 1957. He made eight recordings with Eric Dolphy in 1960-61, worked extensively with Stan Getz from 1961 to 1965, and played and recorded with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1963 to 1965.

While leading his own bands, he has also worked with artists like Billy Taylor, Hank Jones, Art Pepper, Ted Curson, Joe Albany, Horace Tapscott, and as an itinerant drummer in a variety of settings. He has enjoyed an occasional playing relationship with Chick Corea, dating back to their Stan Getz days and joined Corea’s Trio Music band in 1981. Haynes’s bands have included some of the more exceptional young musicians on the scene, ranging from his Hip Ensemble to his various quartets.

In the last sixty-plus years, Roy Haynes has shaped some of the most important recordings in Jazz history, transforming the role of the percussionist from timekeeper to front-line collaborator. Before the innovations of Jo Jones, Sid Catlett, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, jazz drummers were timekeepers. These percussion masters redefined the role of the drummer. Haynes in particular, extracted the rhythmic qualities from melodies and created unique new drum and cymbal patterns. Rather than using cymbals strictly for effect, Haynes brought them to the forefront of his unique rhythmic approach. His idiosyncratic style, now instantly recognizable, was the inspiration for his nickname, “Snap Crackle.”

In the past dozen-plus years, Roy Haynes has recorded several albums for Dreyfus Jazz, three of which were nominated for a Grammy: Fountain of Youth (2004) and Birds of a Feather (2001) for Best Jazz Instrumental Album; and Whereas (2006). The unstoppable octogenarian’s blistering drum solo from that release, “Hippidy Hop,” was nominated for 2007 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.

In August of 2004, Haynes became the 101st inductee into the DownBeat Hall of Fame.  In 2005, the DownBeat Critics Poll awarded him their prestigious Drummer of the Year plaque, as did the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) and Jazziz Readers Poll.

Honorary doctorates from Berklee and the New England Conservatory were added to his many other achievements, including the JAZZPAR prize in 1994, the French Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et Des Lettres in 1996, Zildjian’s American Drummers Achievement Award in 1998, and the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame Award.

In 2006, the Jazz Journalists Association awarded Haynes its Lifetime Achievement Award, and Roy Haynes was again the winner of DownBeat Magazine’s 2007 Critics Poll for Drummer of the Year, as well as the Jazz Journalists Association Award for 2007 Drummer of the Year.

Also in 2007, Dreyfus Records issued a career-spanning retrospective, A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story that illustrated for the world the thread that this great drummer weaved through all eras of jazz. The set won the Special Award at the Victoires du Jazz, the highest honor for a jazz recording in France. It also was named Best Boxed Set by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2008.

The honors and recognition keep coming his way, with the City of Boston officially declaring an entire week of April 2009 as “Roy Haynes Week.” During that same month, both Berklee School of Music and Harvard University gave special honors to Roy for his contribution to music and culture. Also in 2009, WKCR in New York dedicated 300 hours of programming to the complete recorded works of Roy Haynes,  and the French government held a service in Roy’s honor, naming him an Commander of Arts and Letters.

Roy continues to tour, record, and inspire audiences the world over with his amazing music. Pat Metheny calls Roy a “National Treasure,” and he is held in high regard by the entirety of the jazz community, and many important figures in Rock and Pop, including The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, Phish, Aretha Franklin, and countless others. Roy’s recent performance at President Obama’s Inaugural concerts at the Kennedy Center, prompted the New Yorker to say: “…what knocked me to the floor was the appearance of Roy Haynes, eighty-three and dressed better than even Beyoncé or Michelle O. …He pretty much is American music, living and breathing and fast.”

The Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian McBride has been at the forefront of jazz since he emerged as part of the talented generation of players that took the genre by storm in the early 1990s. Born in 1972 in Philadelphia, Christian began playing electric bass at age 9, mentored by his father and great uncle. After studying both jazz and classical music at Philadelphia’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Christian was awarded a partial scholarship to attend the Juilliard School in New York City in 1989. Almost immediately upon his arrival in New York, McBride began working with saxophonist Bobby Watson's Horizon and started working at clubs with John Hicks, Kenny Barron, Larry Willis and Gary Bartz. After one year at Juilliard, McBride decided to leave school to tour with trumpeter Roy Hargrove. From that moment, McBride began a remarkable ascent to the top ranks of the music industry; many top jazz artists recognized his virtuoso status, such as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Superbass (with Ray Brown and John Clayton), Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman and many others.

During the 1990s, Christian recorded close to 150 albums as a sideman for such artists as Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Roy Haynes, Benny Green, Kathleen Battle, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, Jimmy Smith, Joe Lovano, McCoy Tyner, George Duke, and many more, as well as appearing onscreen in Robert Altman's 1940s period film, Kansas City. Signed to Verve in 1994, McBride released four records as a leader, including Gettin' to It, Number Two Express, A Family Affair and SCI-FI.

In the new century, McBride continued to expand his scope of live and recorded performances with Sting, George Duke, Chick Corea, Chris Botti, John Scofield, Jim Hall, and dozens more. In 2004, he won a Grammy Award for his participation on McCoy Tyner’s Illuminations, and he undertook his first pop Musical Directorship for Carly Simon’s Christmas show featuring gospel royalty BeBe Winans. In 2006, McBride performed with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown at the Hollywood Bowl, and in 2007, he recorded with and acted as Musical Director for Queen Latifah, presented Charles Mingus’ Epitaph in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, and performed with Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes at a 50th Anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall.

Confounding the purists by embracing the funky and electrified sounds of his youth, McBride has also pushed the boundaries of jazz with the Philadelphia Experiment (with The Roots’ drummer and high school classmate ?uestlove, Uri Caine and Pat Martino) and has released two recordings, Vertical Vision and Live at Tonic with his own group, the Christian McBride Band. Christian has also cultivated new sounds with his eclectic, anything-goes-electro-acoustic Christian McBride Situation, which can include DJs as well as traditional instruments.

Christian McBride is also a devoted jazz educator and mentor. He is the Artistic Director at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer program, the Co-Director of The Jazz Museum in Harlem, and is Creative Chair for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Past Artistic Director and residency positions include stints at the Henry Mancini and Brubeck Institutes, the Berklee College of Music, and Stanford Jazz Workshop.

McBride is also a talented composer/arranger and has written dozens of tunes and has received commissions from such entities as Jazz at Lincoln Center ("Bluesin' in Alphabet City," performed by Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra) and the National Endowment for the Arts (“The Movement, Revisited,” a dramatic musical portrait of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s written and arranged for quartet and a 30-piece gospel choir.)

In 2008 alone he performed duties as artist-in-residence at both the Detroit International Jazz Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. A few years ago at a concert where they both performed, bass legend Ron Carter told McBride, steeped in the jazz tradition, “It’s good to see you respecting the music so much.”

McBride's latest album, the critically-acclaimed Kind of Brown, recorded with Inside Straight, was released on Mack Avenue Records in 2009. The 10-track album featured his new acoustic jazz quintet, comprised of old friends (pianist Eric Reed, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer Carl Allen) as well as newcomer vibraphonist Warren Wolf, one of McBride’s former students.

Also in the period from 2008 - 2010, McBride has recorded and performed live with Melissa Walker, Joe Sample and Randy Crawford; Tia Fuller, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Lynne Fiddmont, Willie Nelson, Annekei, the Five Peace Band, Rosana Eckert; James Carter, Angelique Kidjo, Dee Dee Bridgewater, the New York Funk Exchange, The Manhattan Transfer, Benito Gonzales, Yotam Silberstein, Dana Lauren, Kirk Whalum, and more.

In 2010, Christian won his second Grammy for the Five Peace Band: Live, a live project featuring Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, and Vinnie Colaiuta.

McBride has also recently released Conversations With Christian on Mack Avenue Records. Originally issued digitally as podcasts, Conversations With Christian will produce 20 duets - musical conversations - with a diverse array of guest including Hank Jones, Angélique Kidjo, Roy Hargrove, George Duke, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Russell Malone, Eddie Palmieri, Sting and others. The duets’ actual conversational accompaniment will be exposed in a series of podcasts, usually with exclusive pictures or video.

Beginning in 1994, Christian has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival six times: with Ray Brown, Pat Metheny, the Brubeck Institute, the Christian McBride Situation, the Christian McBride Quintet, and with Dave Brubeck in 2002, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the “Real Ambassadors.” In 2008, he acted as MJF/51 Artist-In-Residence. In 2010, he will keep time with both the Freedom Band and Angelique Kidjo.

Another alum of Miles Davis’s support team (he was prominently featured in the trumpeter’s band until his death in 1991), alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett has grown into one of jazz’s most potent and thoughtful artists.

Hailing from Detroit, Garrett launched his career in 1978 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, led by Duke’s son Mercer Ellington. Then he gigged with the Mel Lewis Orchestra (which was spotlighting the compositions of Lewis’s former musical partner, Thad Jones) and the Dannie Richmond Quartet (which in homage to Richmond’s longtime tenure as Charles Mingus’ drummer re-explored his ex-boss’ works). In later years he played in pop settings with Sting, Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen.

While Garrett recorded a couple of solo albums in the late ‘80s, it wasn’t until his brilliant African Exchange Student (released in 1990 while employed by Davis) that his career as a leader took off.

Writing in the All Music Guide to Jazz, Scott Yanow heralded Garrett’s outing: “Whether it be the modal tribute piece ‘Shaw,’ the rarely played John Coltrane song ‘Straight Street’ or the minor blues ‘Nostradamus,’ Kenny Garrett justifies the praise that he received from Miles.”
Another top-notch effort came in 1996, when Garrett recorded Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane, with sidemen Pat Metheny, Brian Blade and Rodney Whitaker. 2006’s Beyond the Wall was an adventurous project that infused his jazz expression with Asian music influences. Sidemen included jazz veterans Bobby Hutcherson and Pharoah Sanders, who characterized Garrett’s saxophone blowing as “very spiritual,” adding that the depth of his performance suggests that “he’s playing with his guts rather than his diaphragm.”

Garrett, like all of the other great musicians and artists that came before him, just keeps moving forward in still another of his many creative directions. The latest of those ideas became Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium, a capricious excursion into open-ended melodies over grooves that reflect the artistry of key sidemen from Miles Davis' many groups - from John Coltrane to Kenny himself. Consisting of five compositions (and clocking in at just under an hour), Sketches of MD is a compositionally relaxed yet performance intense record of some music Kenny performed at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City with his band (Benito Gonzales on piano, Nat Reeves on Bass, and Jamire Williams on drums) and special guest, tenor saxophone legend Pharoah Sanders.

Breaking down Sketches of MD, Kenny states, "I wanted to document the band I took on the road for Beyond the Wall while we were working with Pharoah and also write some new songs. The idea of doing the Miles-related songs just evolved. It's funkier than Beyond the Wall, but then again not really... When you think of John Coltrane's or McCoy Tyner's music, they had an ostinato, vamp kind of feel with elongated tunes. What we're doing is a little different basically because the beats are different." The result, captured before a captive audience in New York City, is a soul-stirring energy exchange. "That's because this music was as new to the audience as it was to the band," Kenny explains.