HAPPY B’EARTH DAY: THE BASS AT THE ROOT OF JAZZ
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 FROM 14:00
Tuesday, April 22 marks Earth Day – an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Stingray DJAZZ values this important initiative, and honors the instrument traditionally at the root of a jazz performance, on what also happens to be the birthday of one of its most important practitioners: bassist Charles Mingus (1922-1979). Literally a jazz group’s lowest instrument, the bass is unmissable when it comes to providing a deep pulse, giving the music a harmonic and rhythmic foundation. On Earth Day, Stingray DJAZZ honors this instrument that is overlooked all too easily. From 14:00, celebrated African electric bassist Bright Gain leads the Nigeria-based quartet Afro4Band during a bass-heavy showcase concert from jazzahead! 2024. Afterward, an altogether more conversational approach to bass playing is that of Steve Swallow, performing music from the 1988 album ‘Duets’ with his long-term musical and romantic partner: pianist and composer Carla Bley. From 21:00, one of today’s most popular acoustic bassists takes the stage: Christian McBride presents his New Jawn Quartet at 2018’s Malta Jazz Festival. McBride is a true heir to jazz’s bass tradition. Closing Earth Day on Stingray DJAZZ is bassist and birthday boy Charles Mingus’s experimental group The Jazz Workshop, performing live at the Palais des Congrés in Liège, Belgium on April 19, 1965. Featuring the extraordinary multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet, the ensemble’s music is as timeless as it is current. Make this Earth Day count and let yourself be inspired by these unique performances on Stingray DJAZZ on Tuesday, April 22, from 14:00!
jazzahead! 2024 - Afro4Band
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 AT 14:00
Annual trade fair, exhibition, and festival jazzahead! is one of the international jazz community’s most important events. Hosted in Bremen, Germany, jazzahead! brings together musicians, bookers, agents, organizers, jazz experts, and music enthusiasts at the world’s largest jazz event. In 2024, jazzahead! paid special attention to the jazz scene of the Netherlands and invited over forty jazz acts to perform over the course of three days. Among the ensembles presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2024 is Nigeria-based quartet Afro4Band. Made up of some of the finest musicians from the African continent, jazz enthusiast and impresario Geoffrey Kwale established Afro4Band in 2017 as part of a recording project for the Afrodyssey label. Afro4Band is led by celebrated African bassist Bright Gain. The other members are Nigerian drummer Wale Adeyemi, multi-instrumentalist Victor Ademofe, and South African pianist Luyanda Madope.
Duets: Carla Bley and Steve Swallow in 1988
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 AT 14:45
If any two musicians share a special bond when they perform, it’s pianist Carla Bley and bassist Steve Swallow. The two have performed in the same bands since the 1960s and have been romantic partners for more than two decades. Watching them perform is the definition of musical telepathy. A glance or a smile seems to change the feel of the music. In 1988, Swallow and Bley began performing duet concerts in Europe, United States, South America and Japan. This performance of Duets, their album of songs arranged for piano and bass, was released that same year. The performance showcases their approach to traditional jazz, folk and classical music, as well as their poignant musical story.
Malta Jazz Festival
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 AT 21:00
On July 20, 2018, double bassist Christian McBride presented his band ‘New Jawn’ at the Malta Jazz Festival. A five-time Grammy winner, McBride is one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today. Hailing from Philadelphia, this music luminary combines jazz, R&B, pop/rock, hip hop/neo-soul, and classical. Gracing the Malta Jazz stage with him are Nasheet Waits (drums), Marcus Strickland (tenor sax), and Josh Evans (trumpet).
Charles Mingus And Eric Dolphy live in Liège
TUESDAY, APRIL 22 AT 22:10
Charles Mingus showcases an exceptional concert performed in April 1965 featuring his most celebrated lineup: Jaki Byard (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums), Johnny Coles (trumpet), Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) and the great Eric Dolphy (alto sax, flute and bass clarinet). Recorded within an eight-day span, less than three months before Dolphy's death, the three concerts showcase Mingus's visionary leadership and the band's incredible depth and diversity with unique performances and arrangements of classics including ‘So Long Eric’ and the groundbreaking ‘Meditations On Integration’.
