sign in sign up
<<
Home , British jazz, Gary Burton, Gwilym Simcock, Linda May Han Oh, Pat Metheny, Scott Colley

Thursday, October 25, 2018, 8pm Fox Theater, Oakland

An Evening with with Antonio Sánchez, , and

Cal Performances’ 2018 –19 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Pat Metheny was born in Lee’s Summit (MO) on one of the very first musicians to treat the August 12, 1954, into a musical family. Starting synthesizer as a serious musical instrument. on trumpet at the age of eight, he switched to Years before the invention of MIDI technology, guitar at age 12. By the age of 15, he was work - Metheny was using the Synclavier as a compos - ing regularly with the best jazz musicians in ing tool. He has also been instrumental in the Kansas City, receiving valuable on-the-band - development of several new kinds of guitars, in - stand experience at an unusually young age. cluding the soprano acoustic guitar, the 42-string Metheny first burst onto the international jazz Pikasso guitar, Ibanez’s PM series of jazz guitars, scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year and a variety of other custom instruments. stint with great , the It is one thing to attain popularity as a musi - young Missourian quickly displayed his soon- cian, but it is another to receive the kind of to-become trademark playing style, which acclaim Metheny has garnered from critics and blends the loose and flexible articulation peers. Over the years, he has won countless polls customarily reserved for horn players with an as Best Jazz Guitarist along with awards includ - advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility— ing gold records for () Talking, Letter a way of playing and improvising that is mod - from Home, and Secret Story . He has won 20 ern in conception but grounded deeply in the Gram my Awards spread over categories that in - jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues. clude Best Rock Instru mental, Best Contempo - With the release of his first album, Bright Size rary Jazz Re cording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, Life (1975), Metheny reinvented the traditional and Best Instrumental Com po sition, at one “” sound for a new generation of play - point winning seven consecutive Grammies for ers. roughout his career, he has continued to seven consecutive albums. redefine the genre by utilizing new technology In 2015 Metheny was inducted into the and constantly working to evolve the improvi - Downbeat Hall of Fame, becoming only the sational and sonic potential of his instrument. fourth guitarist to be included (along with Metheny’s versatility is nearly without peer Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, and on any instrument. Over the years, he has ) and its youngest member. performed with artists as diverse as Steve Metheny has spent much of his life on tour, Reich, , , Jim oen doing more than 100 shows a year since Hall, , and . becoming a bandleader in the 1970s. At the time Metheny’s body of work includes compositions of this writing, he continues to be one of the for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and brightest stars of the jazz community, dedicat - acoustic instruments, large orchestras, ballet ing time to both his own projects and those of pieces, and even the robotic instruments of his emerging artists and established veterans alike, Orchestrion project, while always sidestepping helping them to reach their audiences as well as the limits of any one genre. realizing their own artistic visions. As well as being an accomplished musician, Metheny is a member of the prestigious Royal Metheny has also participated in the academic Swedish Academy of Music. He has also re - arena as a music educator. At age 18 he was ceived the 2018 NEA Jazz Master Fellowship the youngest teacher ever at the University of Award, the highest honor that our nation be - Miami. At 19 he became the youngest teacher stows on jazz artists. ever at the , where he also received an honorary doctorate more than Antonio Sánchez was born in Mexico City in 20 years later (1996). He has also taught music 1971, began playing the drums at age five, workshops all over the world, from the Dutch and performed professionally in his early teens. Royal Conservatory to the elonious Monk He pursued a degree in classical piano at Institute of Jazz to clinics in Asia and South the National Conservatory in Mexico. In 1993 America. He has also been a true musical pio - he moved to Boston to study at the Berklee neer in the realm of electronic music, and was College of Music and the New England Conser -

B PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS vatory, where he graduated magna cum laude in He has been a featured cover artist in some of jazz studies. the most widely read drum and jazz magazines, Since relocating to in 1999, including Downbeat (USA), and Modern Drum- Sánchez has become one of the most sought- mer (USA and Brazil). Sánchez has won many aer drummers in the international jazz scene. international polls and was ranked the top jazz His playing is featured on over 100 albums, and drummer in the Modern Drummer Readers’ as the drummer of choice for 20-time Grammy Poll (for 2015 and 2016) and Jazz Times Critics winner Pat Metheny, he has been part of virtually Poll (2015). every project the guitarist has created since 2000. He is endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Sánchez and Metheny have recorded 10 albums Cymbals and Sticks (Antonio Sánchez Signa ture together, three of which have won Grammys. model), Remo Drumheads, and LP Percussion. Sánchez has also collaborated with some of Antonio Sánchez has made his home in New today’s most prominent jazz musicians, includ - York City since 1999. ing , Chris Potter, Christian For more information, visit Sánchez’s website McBride, , Danilo Perez, Paquito at www.antoniosanchez.net. D’Rivera, , Marcus Roberts, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, , Born in Malaysia and raised in Perth, Western , , and , Australia, Linda May Han Oh is a and to name a few. composer who has performed and recorded Sánchez’s work as an artist has inspired him to with artists such as Kenny Barron, , compose and lead his own bands and ensem - , , , bles. He has released five critically acclaimed Steve Wilson, and Geri Allen. albums as a leader. His debut, Migration (CAM She has received many accolades, including Jazz, 2007), was named as one of the best new an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s award in releases of the year by All About Jazz and fea - 2008, second place at the BASS2010 Compe ti - tured an impressive cast that included Metheny, tion, and an honorary mention at the 2009 , Chris Potter, David Sánchez, and elonious Monk Bass Competition. Linda also Scott Colley. His second solo effort, Live in New received the 2010 Bell Award for Young Aus- York (CAM Jazz, 2010) was recorded during a tralian Artist of the Year and was the 2012 four-day run at the in New York Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Rising Star” on bass. City. New Life (CAM Jazz, 2013), ree Times Aer graduating from the Manhattan School ree (CAM Jazz, 2014, Europe/2015, US), and of Music, Linda has had three well-received e Meridian Suite (CAM Jazz, 2015) followed. releases as a leader. Her most recent, Walk Sánchez’s career took off with Birdman Against Wind, features Ben Wendel, Matthew (Mi lan Records), followed by soundtracks for Stevens, and Justin Brown, as well as guests such director Fernando León de Aranoa’s Política, as and Korean percussionist Manual de Instrucciones and EPIX network's Get Minji Park. e Wall Street Journal described Shorty . Channels of Energy with this album as “music that is resolutely of the and the WDR confirms Sánchez’s tal - moment… her innovative range and stellar im - ent as a composer and performer. provisations have made [her] one of the most Jazz vibraphonist and innovator Gary Burton dynamic rising stars in jazz today.” recognized Sánchez’s talent early on, featuring Linda has written for large and small ensem - four of his original compositions on Common bles as well as for film, participating in the BMI Ground and Guided Tour . Film Composers Workshop, Sundance Labs at Sánchez has taken part in drum festivals, Skywalker Ranch, and Sabrina McCormick’s clinics, and master classes around the world, short film, A Good Egg. including at the Modern Drummer Festival Recent projects include a trumpet trio with Week end, Zildjian Day, and the Montreal Drum and , and Festival. a double-quartet album with the Aventurine

20 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

string quartet, which was commissioned by the Simcock’s career is unique in spanning a huge Jazz Gallery in New York City and was the last range of musical settings, as evidenced by the recording at Avatar Studios before its closing. fact that he was the first BBC new-generation Linda is based in New York City and teaches artist from a jazz background, and that his Good at the New School. As an active educator she has Days at Schloss Elmau received the prestigious also created a series of lessons for the BassGuru Barclaycard as Album of the Year app for iPad and iPhone. She recently received in 2011. He has performed with orchestras, a Jerome Foundation Fellowship. choirs, big bands, and dancers, as well as with For more information, visit her website at musicians from backgrounds including the clas - www.lindamayhanoh.com. sical, jazz, folk, and rock traditions. Simcock has also written music that has appeared on Gwilym Simcock (piano ) is one of the most television and on stage, most recently the music gied pianists and composers on the European for an adaptation of Edward Albee’s A Delicate scene. He moves effortlessly between jazz and Balance at the Almeida eatre in . He classical music, with a “harmonic sophistication has frequently appeared on British television and subtle dovetailing of musical traditions.” and radio and was a presenter on Saturday Simcock has been hailed as a pianist of “excep - Classics and a guest on Composer of the Week on tional,” “brilliant,” and “dazzling” ability, and BBC Radio 3. Simcock mentored and accompa - his music has been widely acclaimed as “engag - nied the finalists at the BBC Young Jazz Musician ing, exciting, oen unexpected, melodically en - of the Year awards on BBC 4 television in both thralling, complex yet hugely accessible,” and 2014 and 2016. above all, “wonderfully optimistic.” Simcock has lead and recorded a variety of Simcock’s influences are wide ranging, from different projects. His debut album, Perception , jazz legends including , Chick was nominated for Best Album in the 2008 BBC Corea, , and Pat Metheny, to clas - Jazz Awards and has been critically acclaimed sical composers including Maurice Ravel, Henri at home and abroad. Subsequent albums have Dutilleux, Béla Bartók, and Mark-Anthony been universally praised with reviews citing his Turnage. Although principally a jazz artist, Sim - work as “sublime,” “flawless,” “impressive,” and cock has composed numerous works for larger “a marker that few others are likely to equal.” ensembles that combine through-composed Honors include Rising Star at the BBC Jazz elements with improvisation, creating a sound Awards and the British Jazz Awards, and both that is very much his own. Jazz Musician of the Year and Best Band (with In recent years, Simcock has become re - e Impossible Gentlemen) at the Parliamen- nowned for his solo performances, releasing the tary Jazz Awards. Simcock’s formal education critically acclaimed album Good Days at Schloss includes studies at Trinity College of Music Elmau in 2011 and touring throughout Europe (London); Chetham’s School of Music (Man - and to places as far afield as Australia, the United ches ter), where he studied classical piano, States, Canada, Korea, and China. Simcock has French horn, and composition; and the Royal toured extensively with the finest international Academy of Music (London), where he gradu - jazz artists, including Dave Hol land, Kenny ated with honors and the coveted Principal’s Wheeler, Lee Konitz, ’s Earth works, Prize for outstanding achievement. Bob Mintzer, and Bobby McFerrin. He co-leads Professor of at the Royal Academy the Anglo-American supergroup e Impossible of Music, Gwilym Simcock is very much in Gentle men with British guitar legend Mike demand for his teaching and master classes. For Walker, , and . more information, please visit his website at Simcock has also toured with classical virtuoso www.gwilymsimcock.com. Nigel Kennedy.

20B PLAYBILL