Trumpeter Taylor Barnett will perform with local jazz musicians for “The Modernists”
By Jerome Langston
“I broke my finger 3 weeks ago while on vacation,” bassist Jimmy Masters says to me earlier this week, before we even start chatting about the latest show in the TowneBank Jazz series that he curates. He sounds disappointed… but the finger injury could’ve been a lot worse. He’s unable to play his instrument for a few weeks—which means he will miss some significant gigs, but the finger should be healed by next month. One of the shows that he won’t be able to perform at unfortunately, is the June 22 jazz series date at the Sandler Center. “For which I’m super bummed about, cause I love the band I put together, and I was really looking forward to playing with them,” he says. Chris Brydge, a well-regarded bassist in his own right, will replace him for that evening’s concert.
The TowneBank Jazz series, which was formerly known as the Miller Jazz series, is hosted cabaret-style inside of the Miller Studio theatre. It’s an intimate space that evokes more of a jazz-club setting. Jimmy always comes up with a theme for each show in the series, and so the June concert is called The Modernists, which signifies that the evening’s program will largely focus on jazz composers whose compositional works are “newer” within the jazz pantheon—say within the past 30-40 years. Some of these composers are huge names like Herbie Hancock, but most are much lesser-known artists and composers whose works have been perhaps overlooked.
“And so I thought it was a good opportunity to present their music, and introduce some folks in the audience to some really important jazz artists that they might be a little less familiar with, and mix that in with some people that they are familiar with, like Herbie Hancock, and people like that,” says Jimmy, who will still be in attendance to introduce the band. That quintet of musicians will consist of the aforementioned Chris Brydge on bass, Alan Parker on guitar, Emre Kartari on drums, the great Justin Kauflin on piano, and Richmond’s Taylor Barnett on trumpet. The music will run the gamut from Radiohead’s “Knives Out,” which is from their now classic but imperfect 2001 album, Amnesiac, to Enrico Pieranunzi’s lushly arranged “Je Ne Sais Quoi,” and much in between, including compositions by bassist Steve Swallow and Rick Margitza.
The following day I ring Taylor, who is now the director of Jazz Studies at VCU. Jimmy describes Taylor as “a phenomenal trumpet player” and “a great composer.” Taylor has performed for the series prior, and says that Jimmy, as the series curator, has “really built a great vibe, and a great scene.” So that said, the Virginia native enjoys playing here whenever the opportunity arises. During our quick chat, I ask Taylor about Richmond’s current jazz scene. “Richmond has a really special, and pretty amazing jazz scene,” he says. And VCU predictably plays a large part in sustaining it. I also ask him to describe some of the music that he’ll be playing as part of The Modernists show. He mentions the work of jazz bassist Dave Holland.
“He’s a legend from playing in Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew, and all those things, but in the last…probably mid-nineties — he’s really stepped out as a band leader in his own right and composer,” Taylor says, regarding Holland. “He’s really adventurous with different kinds of meters, so different time signatures, and kind of Eastern European or Balkan influenced rhythmic approaches to jazz,” continues Taylor. He’s also just looking forward to playing with the other musicians. They are all featured on the new Chris Brydge album, Sun Song. Upcoming shows in the series will include The Originals, on July 20, and Lori’s Jazz Lounge on August 17, featuring jazz vocalist Lori Williams, whom Jimmy says is “killer… a really good singer.”
The Modernists
TowneBank Jazz Series
June 22
Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
sandlercenter.org
