By: Rudy Lu
NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart has been part of the music scene since he was a youth. Starting out in R&B behind Otis Redding and Sam& Dave, he gradually embraced jazz in all its modern forms. He was a sideman with mainstream cats like the Montgomery Brothers , Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery. Then was part of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi era bands, McCoy Tyner & Miles Davis. He released 3 records as a leader in the 70s. Presently he leads this band (Craig Handy subs for Mark Turner) and is part of the Cookers, an allstar postbop band. At 85 years of age, he is leading a very active life.
Composer/author/pianist Ethan Iverson is a important element of this band as he has cowrote Billy’s autobiography “Oceans of Time”. His piano and Craig Handy’s saxophone carried the melodies and riffs of the set.
The set consisted of 5 compositions some unnamed although the inspirations were explained by Billy:
- Composition dedicated to Hampton Hawes- A California pianist pardoned by JFK
- Song for Faltis-A song for Billy’s daughter.
- Ohnedamoth- The spiritual name of John Coltrane during the later time of his life.
- The Dutchess- The nickname for Billy’s grandmother
- Garcia Lorca- Dedicated to the memory of a republican resistance fighter who was assasinated by Spanish fascists during the Spanish Civil War.
All pieces had elements of the blues, along with melodic resolution as endings.
For more of the Zankel’s programming and to stream this season’s programs follow this link:
https://vimeo.com/showcase/zankelmusiccenter
Billy Hart will be performing again on 10/16 at the SUNY Schenectady Carl B. Taylor Auditorium with the Cookers.
