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Roy Campbell, William Parker, Warren Smith and Joe McPhee At Kampo Cultural Center, October 12th

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Ancestral voices, modern artistry, futuristic vision:

ROY CAMPBELL, JR. with WILLIAM PARKER, WARREN SMITH, and special guest JOE McPHEE

Saturday, October 12, 2OO2 at Kampo Cultural Center,
31 Bond St. (2nd St.) just west of Bowery (3rd Ave.), Manhattan,
8-11 p.m., tickets $2O at the door (price includes refreshments),
venue information 212-228-1O58, http://www.kampo.com.
Take the #6 train to Bleecker St.





ABOUT THE MUSICIANS:

ROY CAMPBELL, JR. was born in Los Angeles in 1952, and his family moved to the Bronx when he was six years old. Roy's musical journey began that year with piano lessons, initially inspired by his father, whose trumpet was the first one young Roy used; by the time he entered high school, he was playing flute, recorder, and violin as well as trumpet. A trumpet major at Manhattan Community College, Roy studied music theory, arranging, and composition with Yusef Lateef and graduated in 1975 with an Associate's Degree in music.

By 1975, Roy was leading his own band, Spectrum; he had just turned 2O. He was also in great demand as a side man and studio musician. In 1978, Roy met master bassist William Parker, who invited him to join Jemeel Moondoc's Ensemble Muntu, and this association led to many dates and tours, especially in Europe. Roy's travels and worldwide exposure allowed him to develop an international following in Europe, Japan, the Caribbean Islands, and the USA. He lived in the Netherlands from 199O to 1992, working as a freelance musician and lecturer, holding conservatory workshops, and leading several European big bands. In this period, the Eindhoven and Groningen Festivals commissioned Roy to compose music for brass ensembles.

There was a part of his creative spirit that polished musicianship alone could not satisfy, and Roy began writing and arranging music for himself and others. He scored the documentaries “The Selling of Harlem" and “Survival in New York," his compositions and arrangements were featured in the off-Broadway productions “Ludwig" and “Parole by Death," and a Black Star Entertainment special about Langston Hughes, directed by Jamal Joseph, features Roy Campbell, Jr.'s recorded music. Roy's television credits include appearances on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, UPN, and cable networks, participating in interviews, new programs, and profiles. In addition, Roy is an actor and has appeared in independent films and plays. He has also frequently accompanied dancer and poets in performance.

In 1988, Roy Campbell, Jr. formed the band Tazz, a reflection of various musical styles, languages, backgrounds, and sources; the band's mission is to break down cultural barriers through a sound that is at once eclectic, progressive, polished, and funky. In a word, Tazz is hot! Roy Campbell also leads the Pyramid Trio, which he began in 1983 and which includes music of many world cultures with a jazz overtone. In addition, he founded the collective group Other Dimensions in Music, which plays improvised music of all styles. In 1995 he formed Shades and Colors of Trane, a tribute band for master saxophonist John Coltrane, and in 1999 he added the group Downtown Horns.

Roy Campbell, Jr.'s composing, arranging, and playing embrace a wide range of roots and styles, including jazz, funk, rock, rhythm & blues, hip-hop, rap, classical, reggae, and more. Whether performing, writing, arranging, or producing, Roy Campbell's abilities burst forth in an electrifying stream of talent and originality. His virtuoso instrumental performances have been praised by fans, critics, and fellow musicians alike. All of the bands he leads have inspired and uplifted audiences to spiritual heights, and each band is unique and highly acclaimed by all.

A few of the leading innovators among contemporary musicians Roy has worked with include: Rashied Ali, Billy Bang, Evelyn Blakey, Carlos Garnett, Eddie Harris, Makanda Ken McIntyre, Jemeel Moondoc, David Murray, Sunny Murray, William Parker, Hannibal Marvin Peterson, Sun Ra, Woody Shaw, Cecil Taylor, Charles Tyler, Wilbur Ware, Frank Wright, John Zorn, and a countless host of other bands and ensembles. Roy and his contemporary bands play virtually constantly in concerts, on tour, and in festivals all over the world.

In the year 2OO1, “JazzTimes" designated Roy Campbell's CD “Ethnic Stew and Brew" (Delmark 528) number three of the top 5O jazz CD's of the year. Roy was also nominated trumpeter of the year by the Jazz Journalists' Association in 2OO2.

Roy Campbell's life experience reflects his belief that music is the voice of universal truth. His music has continued to grow throughout the '9O's and into the new millennium. His sound combines ancestral voices, modern artistry, and futuristic vision. He is a master trumpeter, musician, and being, and a universal force to be reckoned with.

For more about ROY CAMPBELL, JR., please visit his Web site, http://www.RoyCampbellMusic.com






WILLIAM PARKER, whom “The Village Voice" has characterized “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time," has commanded a unique degree of respect throughout his career from fellow musicians. After entering the New York music scene in 1972 at the age of 2O, Mr. Parker quickly became the bass player of choice among his peers. Within a short time, he was asked to play with older, established musicians such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, and Sunny Murray. In 198O he became a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit, where he played a prominent role for more than a decade. From the beginning of his musical career, Mr. Parker has been prolific, composing music for almost every group with whom he performs. His compositional skills span a wide range comprising operas, oratorios, ballets, film scores, and soliloquies for solo instruments. He has also successfully explored diverse concepts in instrumentation for large and small ensembles, as well as solo bass. He has successfully led and toured with his groups In Order to Survive and The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, both to worldwide critical and popular acclaim. In addition, Mr. Parker is a poet and philosopher, with three volumes published thus far: “Music Is," “Document Humanum," and “The Shadow People."

For more information, visit http://www.WilliamParkerMusic.com


WARREN SMITH, master vibraphonist, percussionist, and trap drummer, has an overwhelming history in many musics, including classical, jazz, R&B, & improvisation. Mr. Smith came to New York from Chicago in the late 195O's, studied at the Manhattan School of Music, and soon was heard playing with Gil Evans, Makanda Ken McIntyre, and Sam Rivers. Along the way, he was a staff musician at ABC-TV for three years in the 196O's, and he founded and ran Studio WIS, one of the seminal spots of the loft era. Mr. Smith has played and recorded with a vast array of musical stars in many musical languages, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Kenny Barron, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Solomon Burke, Jaki Byard, John Cage, Bill Cole, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Julius Hemphill, Lena Horne, Elvin Jones, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus, Van Morrison, Harry Partch, Esther Phillips, Max Roach, George Russell, Jimmy Smith, Sonny Stitt, and Tony Williams. At present, he may be heard in the orchestra of the Broadway play “Little Ham" at the John Houseman Theatre.


SPECIAL GUEST JOE McPHEE is a brilliant improvising musician who plays many instruments, including saxophones, trumpets, valve trombone, clarinet, piano, and sometimes electronics. As a child, Joe was taught by his trumpeter father to play and to read music. Joe first arrived in New York City from his birthplace, Miami, in the mid-'6O's, where he shared an early collaboration with the great Clifford Thornton, and Joe also began studying saxophone during this time. He taught in the Black Studies Department at Vassar College in upstate New York (and maintains his home in the Hudson Valley to this day), and then he began a musical career centered in Switzerland that continued for more than 25 years. Today, Joe McPhee is held in highest esteem as a musician throughout Europe, as well as here at home. His music can be heard on nearly 7O recordings, beginning with Clifford Thornton's “Freedom and Unity" (Third World 9636, '67), after which Joe began recording under his own name, as he continues to do now, with occasional forays as side man. A complete discography can be seen on his Web site.

Joe McPhee is a thinker who often writes his own stunning liner notes, combining poetic expressions of complexity and depth in both words and music. A selection of his poetry can be read on his Web site.

These days, Joe McPhee plays often in New York City clubs and concert halls, while he continues to blaze a global trajectory of festival appearances, tours, concert premieres, solo and group improvisations, workshops, and seminars, stretching from coast to coast and across several countries in any given calendar year, and leaving his unique brand of ecstatic disturbance everywhere along his path.

Wherever he goes, Joe McPhee receives the highest acclaim from enraptured audiences, fellow master musicians, and the world press (see examples in “What They Say About Joe McPhee" on his Web site). In short, Joe McPhee, an authentic, uncompromising original, is now at the very height of his artistic powers. He's poetry in motion, always has been... so catch him as fast as you can!

For more about JOE McPHEE, please visit http://www.JoeMcPhee.com

For more information contact .

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