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James Weidman Trio at an Die Musik Live in Baltimore on Saturday, March 29th

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Sat, 03/29/08
From: 08:00 PM To: 09:00 PM


An die Musik LIVE!
409 North Charles Street
Second Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
888.221.6170
410.385.2638

James Weidman, piano
Jay Hoggard, vibes
Belden Bullock, bass

James Weidman, piano

New York-based pianist James Weidman is indisputably one of the world's top sidemen. Over the years he has played and recorded with musicians as diverse as Max Roach, Woody Herman, Archie Shepp, James Moody, Greg Osby, Slide Hampton, Jay Hoggard, Marvin “Smitty" Smith, Gloria Lynne and blues diva Dakota Staton. For five years he was the featured keyboardist (replacing Geri Allen) for avant-garde saxophonist Steve Coleman and the Five Elements and the M-Base Collective. And he was part of the Spirit of Life Ensemble that held the Monday night spot at Sweet Basil for five years, as well as co-leader (with saxophonist TK Blue) of the Afro-Caribbean-Jazz quartet, Taja.

He has also been the accompanist of choice for some of the world's most celebrated singers, including legendary jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln (for nine years), and Cassandra Wilson (for two years), adding his consulting and arranging talents to the latter's Blue Skies CD -- arguably her best recording -- and performing on three albums with her. “Working with Cassandra was very liberating. Because her music was so open-ended, I felt I could do anything I wanted," says Weidman, of the experience. Clearly, Weidman -- described by New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff as playing “smoothly and decorously" behind Lincoln at a recent reuinion concert -- is one those rare accompanists to whom singers feel it is safe to give free rein. Since 1992 he has been pianist and Musical Director for Kevin Mahogany, with whom he's been investigating the bluesier side of jazz, particularly on their latest CD Pride and Joy -- which features special arrangements of Motown songs. He has also recently exercised his producing chops on singer Ruth Naomi Floyd's Fan into Flame (their third collaboration), which features some of his compositions and arrangements, as well as his expert accompaniment.

“When I first moved here, someone said to me: 'Be careful in New York. They(tm)ll typecast you!'" laughs Weidman, whose incredible versatility -- developed over 30 years of working in a myriad of styles -- has made that impossible. “The more genres you are comfortable with, the deeper your understanding of music," he asserts. It has helped Weidman to develop his amazing technique and, as he imparts to his students (he is a faculty member at William Paterson, New Jersey), “the better your technique, the better your communication." However, the content of the communication is the most important thing. “You're really telling a story to your audience," he says. “It(tm)s a shared journey. That's why I called my first solo album People Music, because we are all supposed to share this music."

Jay Hoggard - Vibraphonist/Composer

Vibraphonist Jay Hoggard's music has touched the hearts and souls of listeners around the world for thirty years. Noted journalist Owen McNally wrote, “Jay Hoggard's artistry has a universal quality, an intellectual and emotional resiliency that makes it seem very much at home when creating something new and fresh in every genre from the roots of African music to the outer reaches of the blues ....He is not just one of the premier voices on vibraphone but also one of the top-seeded instrumentalists and composers of the jazz world today."

Jay Hoggard draws on traditional and contemporary musical vocabulary to develop new directions for the vibraphone. His performance repertoire represents the three B's of the jazz tradition (Blues, Bop, Ballads) with original innovations. Jay Hoggard has recorded 17 CDs as a leader and over 50 as a collaborator.

Jay's January 2007 release, Swing ”Em Gates, is a tribute to the late vibraphone grand master Lionel Hampton. “Eight of the compositions on this recording are tunes that I played when Lionel Hampton sent me to sub for him with his band in the 1990's; Once, when Hamp called me to play for him, I asked what tunes he wanted. He replied, 'Just swing 'em, gates.'" That conversation was the inspiration for Jays's composition of the same name as well as the direction of this musical tribute to Hampton in Hoggard's musical voice The recording features stellar performances by top New York collaborators with a guest appearance by piano master, Dr. Billy Taylor on three tunes.

Born September 28, 1954 in Washington, DC, Jay Hoggard was raised in Mt. Vernon, New York in a religious family. His father, Bishop J Clinton Hoggard, was a retired bishop in the AME Zion Church. At age 15, Jay began playing the vibraphone. “One night I had a dream that I was playing the vibes. I asked my father to rent me a set and from the first moment, I knew that this was what I was supposed to do." Jay majored in the renown World Music program at Wesleyan University . He toured Europe and played at Carnegie Hall during his freshman year. In his junior year, he traveled to Tanzania to study East African xylophone music. After graduation in 1976, Jay returned to New York City where he was proclaimed “the most dazzling new vibraphonist in jazz" by Robert Palmer in the New York Times.

Jay Hoggard has been honored and commissioned as a composer in various contexts. He collaborated as composer with choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson on The Wisdom of the Baobab Tree, commissioned by Lincoln Center Out of Doors. He was commissioned by the Hartford Festival of Jazz to compose La Tierra Hermosa, dedicated to Tito Puente. He was commissioned by Wesleyan University to compose Joyful Swamp and Crossing Point for Max Roach and percussion ensemble, and Vibarimbala for symphonic and jazz orchestras.

As a performer, Jay Hoggard has toured the globe to rave reviews. He has performed in many of the finest venues of music presentation throughout the United States , Africa, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Jay has performed in major venues (Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Schomberg Center) jazz festivals (St. Lucia. JVC, Montreux, Mt.Fuji, Pori, Hartford), colleges, universities, churches, galleries, libraries, and clubs around the globe. Jay has been featured on radio (NPR, Pacifica) and television (ABC Times Square, CBS Sunday Morning, BETJazz) nationally and internationally. He led a quintet on an extensive tour sponsored by the United States government to North Africa, the Middle East and India.

Jay performed in special concert collaborations with vibraphone masters Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Tito Puente and Bobby Hutcherson. He has recorded and toured with creative artists such as Kenny Burrell, Dr. Billy Taylor, James Newton, Hilton Ruiz, Oliver Lake, Sam Rivers, Anthony Braxton, Jorge Dalto, Terumasa Hino, Dwight Andrews, Geri Allen, Anthony Davis, Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sherry Winston, Ahmed Abdullah, and was a guest artist with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. Jay has accompanied singers, instrumentalists, and poets and has performed with gospel, theater, dance, percussion, and orchestral ensembles.

For the past 16 years, Jay Hoggard has been director of the Wesleyan University Jazz Orchestra, where he has taught and mentored hundreds of students.

Jay has been married for over twenty years to Donna Dinkins Hoggard, a public health professional.They have two children. (Copyright 2007 Jay Hoggard)

Belden Bullock

BELDEN BULLOCK is an accomplished acoustic/electric bassist who hails from Boston, where he has played and recorded with many of the top acts in the area. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, and spent several years teaching at Berklee after graduation as an ensemble professor.

Since moving to New York in 1988, Mr. Bullock has become a regular fixture at most of the top clubs throughout the tri-state area. In the early 1990's, he played exclusive engagements with such jazz greats as pianist Ahmad Jamal, pianist Andrew Hill, saxophonist James Spaulding, and the late tenor saxophonist George Adams.

Belden currently plays regularly with such artists as Enja recording artist Abdullah Ibrahim, Evidence recording artist the Ralph Peterson Fo'tet, Black Saint recording artist The Oliver Lake Quintet, and Muse recording artist The Jay Hoggard group.

During his career, he has performed with the following prominent jazz artists: drummer Roy Haynes, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, vocalist Gloria Lynn, and trumpeter Ted Curson.

Mr. Bullock continues to perform with many of the top musicians in the New York City area.

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