| Line Up: Stefon Harris (vibraphone & marimbas); Casey Benjamin (alto sax), Sullivan Fortner(Fender Rhodes and keyboards), Luques Curtis (acoustic bass) and Terreon Gully (drums). |
| Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre |
| Date & Hour: , Saturday 2nd May. Programme starts 8pm, onstage 9.15pm. |
| Opening: Sardjoe Buckley Guilfoyle |
Vibraphonist Stefon Harris has been heralded as one of the most important young artists in contemporary American jazz.
Signed to the legendary Blue Note record label and a three times Grammy Award nominee, Harris has played with a host of jazz luminaries including Kenny Barron, Steve Turre, Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter.
Lauded by both his peers and jazz critics alike, Stefon Harris’s ‘Blackout’ has attracted widespread acclaim since the release of its first first album in 2006. The band includes Marc Cary on keyboards, Darryl Hall on bass, Terreon Gully on drums and Casey Benjamin on alto sax, and according to the band leader himself is the sort of group that has been all too uncommon in jazz in recent decades.
‘When you look at the '80s and the '90s, those were really leader-led ensembles, where you'd have a really good leader and sometimes OK sidemen. You'd have some of the best musicians, but none of them would be in the same band, because they all had their own bands." Blackout, in contrast, "is really a group endeavour.", he says.
Harris, a musical prodigy who grew up in Albany, New York says that he chose the name Blackout for the group because he was thinking of blacking out a lot of the opinions that existed already.
“We’ve been looking to find a way of letting go and taking ownership of our music without letting anyone else define it,” Harris said. “Blackout grew up listening to music that thumped. We love jazz and respect it, and we think jazz should thump.”
‘Stefon Harris to amongst the most mesmerizing players I have heard……… he has an ability to wring extraordinary sound and substance from this seemingly rigid assemblage of metal, wood and wires’ – LA Times.
"Blackout is pursuing contemporary jazz on its own terms" - The Washington Post. |
