Celebrating Benny Carter with Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Jean 'Toots' Thielemans and Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Straight-ahead jazz - Bop - New Orleans Jazz - Hot Club - Swing
Angelo Verploegen, Benjamin Herman, Bert Boeren, Erik Veldkamp, Frans van Geest, Hans Dekker, Henk Meutgeert, Jan Menu, Jean Toots Thielemans, Jeroen Rol, Jesse van Ruller, Jimmy Heath, Johnny Griffin, Jorg Kaaij, Juan Martinez, Martien de Kam, Martijn Sohier, Pascal Haverkate, Peter Beets, Rini Swinkels, Robert Boogaard, Roberta Gambarini, Ruud Breuls, Sjoerd Dijkhuizen, Warren Vaché, Wim Both.
Sat 13 July 2002 19:45 - 21:00 PWA Hall
[trans_artistinfo_about]
![]()
Trumpet player Clark Terry, tenor saxophone player Johnny Griffin, mouth-organ player Jean 'Toots' Thielemans, vocalist Roberta Gambarini and saxophone player Jimmy Heath will, together with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, deliberate on the music of the now 94-year old Benny Carter, who will personally attend this spectacular party. The legendary New York born saxophone player and arranger is held one of the most important architects of big band swing. He wrote arrangements for the orchestras of Charlie Johnson, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman. The musician is also renown for discovering new jazz talent. Thus Miles Davis and Max Roach once made their debuts in his orchestra. After he moved to America's West coast, Carter also started writing movie and TV-scores. At the same time he toured the world for some time with Jazz at the Philharmonic. At a great age Carter became active again, with his well-known, almost elegant fashion of playing. At the age of 81 he proved his class as performing artist and arranger yet again with the Benny Carter All Star Sax Ensemble on the CD Over The Rainbow. In 1987 Carter was awarded with a Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival.
Through the years the prominent Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, conducted by the inspired conductor and arranger Henk Meutgeert, has developed into one of the best and most significant jazz orchestras in The Netherlands, and is characterized for its enormous productivity. The group does not only accompany many a great artist at the Concertgebouw and at North Sea Jazz, but also records its own CD's. The strongest feature of this orchestra is its special attention for remarkable projects. For example like when the orchestra, composed of gifted, mostly young musicians, brought a glorious homage to Boy Edgar. Or last year when Toots Thielemans guest starred at the festival. During the years 82-year old trumpet player Clarke Terry has not lost much in fun and enthusiasm for the trade. The musician, fond of laughter, whom has played with the orchestras of Charlie Barnet, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington for some time and took many an artist like for instance Dianne Reeves under his guard. Seated on a stool he still manages fine on stage. And in the first place that means: playing the trumpet or flugelhorn, but also 'talk-singing' - not for nothing does Terry go by the nickname 'Mumbles'. Through the years Terry has been able to present himself as an eager, melodicious and cheerful soloist, whose devotion per concert is more than 100%. Chicago born tenor-saxophone player Johnny Griffin "the fastest tenor on earth" belongs in the major league of horns. As a member of the first bebop-generation he discovered his real 'sound' in the fifties, often accompanied by his sparring-partner Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis. He was a saxophone player in Thelonious Monk's quartet at the end of the fifties, propagated the hardbop-tradition in The Jazz Messengers and in the seventies played with Dexter Gordon, who was then making his so-called second comeback.
