According to Grammy nominated pianist Jessica Williams, “If there is to be jazz in our future, it'll be because of musicians like saxophonist and composer Sarah Manning. She's a player to listen to, starting right now." This young saxophonist and composer has produced two albums of her original compositions and headlined top venues from Yoshi's in Oakland, California to the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. Her latest release, “Live at Yoshi's: Two Rooms Same Door" (ArtistShare 2006), led to a June 2007 profile in Down Beat Magazine. In the liner notes to her first album Nat Hentoff commented, “Sarah Manning can swing as naturally as she breathes...Manning plays - and writes - in what is unmistakably her own voice."
Dedication to a signature sound is also a hallmark of Shatter the Glass as a whole. Pianist Art Hirahara, who grew up on the West Coast and like Manning came up in the Bay Area jazz scene, performs with a wide range of artists including vocalist Stacey Kent, singer-songwriter Erin McKeown and Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra. A consummate scholar of music ranging from Karnatic Indian classical to Balkan folk and the American songbook, bassist Thomson Kneeland has contributed to over 30 recordings and appeared with Chris Potter, George Garzone, Mark Turner and the Lynne Arriale Trio. Drummer Kyle Struve is a graduate of the 2003 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center, and since his move to New York City that same year, has accumulated credits with such players as Wessell “Warmdaddy"Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Strickland and Ray Vega.
Since Shatter the Glass debuted at the Jazz Gallery last August, Sarah Manning has relocated to the East Coast from San Francisco, closing the 3000 mile gap and intensifying the group's focus on achieving that elusive goal in today's jazz world - a working, stable group that through rehearsals and philosophy lives and breathes on stage as a musical unit. Shatter the Glass was born in the summer of 2007 in an intensive four-day residency of open rehearsals and a concert at the Center for the Arts in Northampton, Massachusetts. Last November, they brought their concept to the Oakland Museum of California at the intimate James Moore Theatre. Leading by example and through direct mentoring, Shatter the Glass advocates against the misperception that women are somehow “the other" in jazz, as demonstrated by the many “Women in Jazz" festivals and events that marginalize their contributions.
For more information on the April 24th date, please visit shattertheglass.org, where you can also listen to a full track from the group. The Jazz Gallery is located at 290 Hudson Street, NY, NY. Tickets can be purchased at jazzgallery.org or by calling (212) 242-1063.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
