A Family Focus for Upcoming D.D. Jackson Trio MOMA Performance

Canadian-born, New York-based jazz pianist/composer D.D. Jackson's free performance on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City will feature original music from his latest CD Serenity Song, and material with a distinct focus on family, with a piece dedicated to his wife and 10-month old son Jarrett Jackson (named after pianist Keith Jarrett), along with other compositions from the CD that reflect the full gamut of emotions experienced as father and husband. Joining Jackson in his trio will be New York bassist staple Dwayne Burno and AACM founding member Reggie Nicholson on drums. Also appearing will be special guest Sam Newsome on soprano saxophone.

The concert is part of the museum's prestigious “Summergarden 2007: New Music for New York" free, outdoor concert series. Showtime is at 7 pm with free entrance available on a first-come, first-serve basis. MOMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

About the performers:
D.D. Jackson is an award-winning jazz pianist/composer whose work spans 12 CD’s as leader or co-leader (including two for the major label RCA Victor/BMG) featuring almost entirely original material. His most recent CDs are Serenity Song (2006 Justin Time), Suite for New York (2003 Justin Time) (a meditation on the events of 9/11), and Sigame, a Latin-tinged work featuring drummer extraordinaire Dafnis Prieto. A member of the prestigious Lehman Engel BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, Jackson's theatre work includes an upcoming opera entitled Trudeau: Long March/Shining Path on the former Canadian Prime Minister and the musical-comedy “Depressed, Depressed&rdquo" written with Chicago City Limits veteran Carl Kissin. Jackson performs all over the world with his groups and has also appeared and recorded with some of the most distinguished names in jazz including saxophonists David Murray and drummer Jack Dejohnette. He is also an accomplished classical pianist and recently released a recording of Gershwin's “Rhapsody" in Blue on Summit Records.

Soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome has appeared with such talents as Terence Blanchard, Donald Byrd and the Black Byrds, Lionel Hampton Big Band, Leon Parker, and Jackie Terrason. As a leader, he has recorded four albums for Criss Cross, Sony, Steeplechase and Palmetto.

Bassist Dwayne Burno has recorded as a highly sought after sideman on over 100 discs, with such artists as Donald Harrison, Betty Carter, Jesse Davis, Barry Harris, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Cedar Walton, Joe Chambers, Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis Fuller, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Digable Planets, Chucho Valdes, Abbey Lincoln, David Murray, William H. (Bill) Cosby, Roy Haynes, Benny Golson, Nicholas Payton, Myron Walden, Charles Tolliver, Joanne Brackeen, Steve Turre and many others.

Drummer, percussionist and composer Reggie Nicholson is a native of Chicago, Illinois, where he performed with Jon Logan, Von Freeman, Vince Willis, Byther Smith, Fred Nelson III and Orbit Davis. In 1979, Nicholson became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), developing longstanding musical relationships with Muhal Richard Abrams, Steve McCall, Edward Wilkerson, Jr., Henry Threadgill, Phil Cohran, Joseph Jarman, Mwata Bowden, Ernest Dawkins, Douglas Ewart, Rita Warford, Amina Claudine Myers and Anthony Braxton.