The Siskiyou Music Project performance of the MJ New Quartet is now SOLD OUT!
Siskiyou Music Project and Britt Education present Portland based pianist/educator Darrell Grant and the MJ New Quartet for a performance at the Artistic Piano Gallery in Medford. This performance will be a tribute to the music and spirit of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Formed by Darrell Grant in 2013, MJ New is a tribute to the Modern Jazz Quartet’s spirit of classicism, elegance, and deeply curated aesthetic rooted in the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance — an aesthetic that for over 40 years resisted the pull of fads, fashion and cultural upheaval until it sparkled like a diamond. MJ New plays both the MJQ’s classic and lesser known compositions as well as original arrangements and compositions that pay homage to the group’s legendary genre melding. Mesmerizing together, each of the MJ New members is a virtuoso in their field:
Since his 1988 appearance in vocalist Betty Carter’s trio, pianist and composer Darrell Grant has built an international reputation performing with jazz luminaries Frank Morgan, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, Brian Blade, and Esperanza Spalding. He has toured as a bandleader and solo artist in the U.S., Canada, Asia, and Europe.
Bassist Marcus Shelby is an artist in residence with Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and is artistic director of the Marcus Shelby Orchestra. An educator and advocate for sharing the history, present, and future of African American lives and social movements in the United States of America, and a champion of early childhood music education, he was named one of the “Top Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area” by City Flight Magazine in 2005.
Vibraphonist Mike Horsfall has performed with Chuck Redd, Leroy Vinegar, Rebecca Kilgore, and Gary Hobbs, and has recorded with Pink Martini, the Nu Shooz Orchestra and with Tall Jazz, a trio he co-founded in 1989 which was voted into the Jazz Society of Oregon’s 2010 Hall of Fame. He serves on the music faculty at Willamette University and Mt. Hood Community College.
Carlton Jackson, whose drumming was called “intensely musical” by the Los Angeles Times, is a member of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. His well documented work with pianists Tom Grant and Dan Siegel, guitarists Dan Balmer and Terry Rob, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, blues singer Curtis Salgado, and others, have solidified his status as an engaging, versatile performer.
