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Our Roots

Geof Bradfield Quintet

Our Roots

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Origin Records
UPC: 0805558270123
Catnr: ORIGIN 82701
Release date: 06 November 2015
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Label
Origin Records
UPC
0805558270123
Catalogue number
ORIGIN 82701
Release date
06 November 2015
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

For his latest quintet recording, Chicago saxophonist and composer Geof Bradfield borrows inspiration from fellow Chicagoan Clifford Jordan’s 1965 Atlantic album, "These Are My Roots: The Music of Lead Belly." The focus is on Black music of the rural south - the spirituals and blues of itinerant Texas preacher Blind Willie Johnson, ring shouts from the Georgia Sea Islands, and the prison farm work songs of Lead Belly. The absence of a chordal instrument allows the ensemble to explore the open-ended nature of these folk forms. Bradfield is joined on "Our Roots" by four of the premier musicians on the Chicago scene: trumpeter Marquis Hill, trombonist Joel Adams, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall.

Artist(s)

Geof Bradfield (saxophone)

Geof Bradfield was born in Houston, TX, where he attended the renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He lived and worked for periods in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington before settling in Chicago in 2004. Along the way, he has been fortunate to work alongside many jazz luminaries and to perform throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. He is featured on numerous recordings, including his critically acclaimed 2010 release African Flowers, which was named one of the top 10 CDs of 2010 by the Los Angeles Times. His septet performed this 10-part suite in 2011 at Chicago's Millennium Park to an audience of 8,000 as part of the celebrated series Made...
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Geof Bradfield was born in Houston, TX, where he attended the renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He lived and worked for periods in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington before settling in Chicago in 2004. Along the way, he has been fortunate to work alongside many jazz luminaries and to perform throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. He is featured on numerous recordings, including his critically acclaimed 2010 release African Flowers, which was named one of the top 10 CDs of 2010 by the Los Angeles Times. His septet performed this 10-part suite in 2011 at Chicago's Millennium Park to an audience of 8,000 as part of the celebrated series Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz. Mr. Bradfield and his ensemble also presented the suite at the DuSable Museum of African American Art as the Artist-in Residence of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in the fall of 2011. As a composer, Mr. Bradfield has received several commissions and awards, including a 2008 New Jazz Works commission from Chamber Music America and grants and fellowships from the City of Chicago Community Arts Partnership, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. His recent suite Melba!, inspired by the life and music of trombonist and arranger Melba Liston, premiered in 2012 through the support of a 2011 New Jazz Works commission from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. In the fall of 2012, Mr. Bradfield's septet toured Melba! in the Midwest and South, returning to Chicago to close the tour at the legendary Green Mill jazz club. The group recorded the suite for release on Origin Records in 2013. Mr. Bradfield also has extensive experience as an educator. Since completing his MFA at California Institute of the Arts, he has held positions at diverse colleges and universities as well as teaching master classes in composition, history and performance in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University.

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Joel Adams (trombone)

Clark Sommers (bass)

Straddling a career in both New York City and Chicago, Clark has toured and performed extensively throughout the world sharing bills with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and B.B.King . Clark has been a member of the Dan Cray trio for ten years. He has also had the privilege to perform with Cedar Walton, Kurt Elling, Ernie Watts, Bennie Maupin, Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Frank Wess, Charles McPherson, Peter Bernstein, Lin Haliday, Dana Hall, Jodie Christian, Maurice Brown, Bobby Broom, Jeff Parker, Ron Perrillo, Geof Bradfield, Michael Weiss, George Fludas, Kevin Mahogany, Eden Atwood, Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls, The Mighty Blue Kings and The Chicago Jazz Orchestra.  Clark completed his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies...
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Straddling a career in both New York City and Chicago, Clark has toured and performed extensively throughout the world sharing bills with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and B.B.King . Clark has been a member of the Dan Cray trio for ten years. He has also had the privilege to perform with Cedar Walton, Kurt Elling, Ernie Watts, Bennie Maupin, Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Frank Wess, Charles McPherson, Peter Bernstein, Lin Haliday, Dana Hall, Jodie Christian, Maurice Brown, Bobby Broom, Jeff Parker, Ron Perrillo, Geof Bradfield, Michael Weiss, George Fludas, Kevin Mahogany, Eden Atwood, Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls, The Mighty Blue Kings and The Chicago Jazz Orchestra. Clark completed his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies and World Music at California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with bass masters Charlie Haden and Darek Oles. While living in Los Angeles, Clark performed with Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, the Charlie Haden(conducted by Charlie) Liberation Orchestra, Joe La Barbara, Los Angeles Jazz Quartet, Kris Tiner and Larry Koonse. In June, 2007 Clark received an honorable mention at the International Society of Bassists Convention. He continues to seek expansion of his craft and is currently pursuing classical studies with David Grossman of the New York Philharmonic. Clark's most recent touring activity includes extensive work with vocalist Kurt Elling which culminated in to a live recording that won a GRAMMY AWARD for best vocal jazz album in 2009. Clark is currently on the faculty at the ArtsWest School for Performing and Visual Arts in addition to the Origin Jazz Institute located in Boise, Idaho. There, he performs regularly with Kobie Watkins, Jeff Baker and Justin Neilsen.

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Dana Hall (drums)

Marquis Hill (trumpet)

Composer(s)

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