Editor's Rating
Friday, September 15, 2017
8 pm
David Weiss, Eddie Henderson, trumpets; Billy Harper, tenor saxophone; Donald Harrison, alto saxophone; George Cables, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Billy Hart, drums
Downbeat Magazine sums up the essence of the Cookers in one easy phrase: “Some of the best composers, arrangers and musicians we have in jazz, and they’re working together in one of the most exciting super-groups we’ve seen in a long, long time.”
It is hard not to go overboard praising this band – they are simply some of the best musicians in the business playing beautifully crafted, compelling arrangements.
Each of the seven individuals provides a unique sound and crafts meaningful, improvised solos. Still, the ensemble work boasts a tight, unified blend with spot-on harmonized lines that project over one of the most experienced and responsive rhythm sections on the planet.
Their repertoire is based primarily on original compositions of the band members and calls to mind the hard-bop era of the late 1950s and 60s: burning but with lots of soul.
“Sometimes the word ‘super-group’ is just unavoidable…[The Cookers are] an ebullient ensemble composed of supreme veterans, each who is a leader in his own right…at the pinnacle of his technical prowess.” — Jazzwise Magazine (London)
Sponsored by a Friend of VJC educational programs.
Tickets $20-$40 Sliding Scale, $15 Students. Available online, at door, reserved by phone and In the Moment Records.
Call ahead for handicap access.
Vermont Jazz Center
72 Cotton Mill Hill #222
Brattleboro 05301
ginger@vtjazz.org
802 254 9088
www.vtjazz.org
