The world premiere of bassist/composer/vocalist Jeff Denson’s “World of Possibilities” will feature the world’s foremost pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Grammy-winner Wu Man, and multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-winning jazz legend Paul McCandless. CJC alumnus and pianist Michael Echaniz, and CJC’s Gerald Cleaver on drums complete The Jeff Denson Ensemble.
Bringing the world’s foremost pipa virtuoso into the musical universe of bassist Jeff Denson is sure to pack an unexpected musical punch of sheer originality! As a composer who runs away from clichés and superficial fusions of different musical genres, Jeff Denson will surely bring a new sound to this musical venture. This project will utilize Wu Man’s virtuosity and stunning sound on her ancient Chinese instrument as a voice without trying to consciously appropriate Chinese musical language and culture. The sound of the pipa will bring those flavors into the music on its own, along with Wu Man’s musical vocabulary and techniques, without forcibly composing them.
The music for this concert will combine completely notated sections with sections for improvisation: improvising over forms and chord changes, as in traditional jazz settings, along with more open sections for exploring the colors and textures of the pipa, both solo as well as with the ensemble. The compositions will be melodically driven with an array of grooves and energy levels from whispers to explosions, exploring the instrumentation from solo instrumental sections to full ensemble.
Band Members & Instrumentation
Jeff Denson — double bass
Wu Man – pipa
Paul McCandless — soprano saxophone & bass clarinet
Michael Echaniz — piano
Gerald Cleaver — drums & percussion
Artist Bios
Jeff Denson has balanced a full career as both an acclaimed performing musician and a highly respected educator. Jeff has released 16 albums as a leader or co-leader and has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe with both his own groups, worked with some of jazz’s finest artists such as Brian Blade, Jane Ira Bloom, Dave Douglas, Charles McPherson, Cuong Vu, Joe Lovano, Ralph Alessi, Walter Smith III, Dayna Stephens, Vadim Neselovskyi, Florian Weber, Warren Wolf, Romain Pilon, Edward Simon, Dan Weiss, Paul Hanson among others, and had an ongoing relationship with the legendary Lee Konitz since 2007.
Denson has received rave reviews in such periodicals as the Washington Post, NY Times, SF Chronicle, and Downbeat Magazine. He has received such prizes as the German Cultural Award in 2006 and Downbeat Magazine Rising Star Critic's Poll awards for "Electric Bassist," "Male Vocalist" and "Double Bassist" the last four years in a row (2018-2021). Jeff won the Downbeat Rising Star Critic's Poll for Electric Bassist this year, 2021. Jeff also has the unique distinction of being the bassist of the Lee Konitz New Quartet for over twelve years and is currently the Dean of Instruction and Chair of the Bass Department of the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, CA.
“Jeff Denson takes modern jazz to a new level. His many flashes of compositional genius bring much that is fresh, new and unexpected. This makes his music instantly recognizable and shows how deeply Jeff Denson is immersed into the art of composition.”— Stefen Pieper, Jazzthetik, Germany
For more information visit www.jeffdenson.com
Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso, Wu Man is a soloist, educator, and composer who gives her lute-like instrument—which has a history of more than 2,000 years in China—a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. She has premiered hundreds of new works for the pipa, while spearheading multimedia projects to both preserve and create global awareness of China’s ancient musical traditions. Projects she has initiated have resulted in the pipa finding a place in new solo and quartet works, concertos, opera, chamber, electronic music as well as in theater productions, film, dance, and collaborations with visual artists. She has performed in recital and with major orchestras around the world, is a frequent collaborator with ensembles such as the Kronos and Shanghai Quartets and The Knights, and is a founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble. She has appeared in more than 40 recordings throughout her career, including the Silkroad Ensemble’s Grammy Award-winning recording Sing Me Home, featuring her composition “Green (Vincent’s Tune).” She is also a featured artist in the 2015 documentary The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
For more information visit www.wumanpipa.org
During a distinguished career spanning six decades, Paul McCandless has brought a soaring lyricism to his playing and composing that have been integral to the ensemble sound of two seminal world music bands, the Paul Winter Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet, OREGON. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, McCandless has specialized in a broad palette of both single and double reed instruments that reflect his grounding in both classical and jazz disciplines.
For more information visit www.paulmccandless.com
Michael Echaniz is one of the brightest musicians, composers, and artists emerging from the West Coast. A pianist since five, Michael has studied music at Santa Clara University, California Jazz Conservatory (B.M.), and CalArts (MFA.) Michael is an avid performer, playing alongside artists such as Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, and Erik Jekabson, in venues such as Black Cat, the Art Boutiki, and Yoshi’s, as well as Umbria and Montreux jazz festivals. Michael has won numerous awards, mostly recently, the 2021 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award and is a New Music Masterclass presenter at the 2022 International Jazz Composers’ Symposium (ISJAC.) Supported by InterMusic SF’s 2020 Music Grant Program and New Music USA’s Creator Development Fund in 2022-23, Michael will soon release Seven Shades of Violet, an ambitious, virtuosic, symmetrical concept album of original compositions and arrangements on Ridgeway Records.
For more information visit www.michaelechaniz.com/
In his All Music bio of Gerald Cleaver, journalist Thom Jurek notes that “Gerald Cleaver is among the most agile and wide-ranging first-call musicians on the 21st century jazz scene.” Jurek goes on to cite year after year of Cleaver’s artistry on recordings and on tour, which witnessed his performing on a dozen or more recordings a year for more than a decade. Cleaver has worked with such jazz luminaries as Rodney Whitaker, Marcus Belgrave, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Frank Foster, Cecil Bridgewater, Eddie Harris, Diana Krall, Don Byron and Bill Frisell, among many others.
Cleaver now serves as Chair of the California Jazz Conservatory Drum Department in Berkeley, CA, as the first-ever recipient of the Jennifer A. Maxwell Distinguished Professorship Award.
JAMBAR Presents is a special series of select concerts, workshops and other events sponsored by JAMBAR whose purpose is to support music and active living.
Proud Sponsor
COVID-19 POLICY: In the interest of providing the best possible health and safety conditions for our campus community, all in-person participants are required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. This includes staff, faculty and students in classes and workshops, and performers and audience members at concerts. Based on current CDC guidelines, all participants must wear masks regardless of vaccination status. Note: Performers may remove masks while actively performing, providing they maximize physical distancing. The California Jazz Conservatory kindly requests that anyone feeling unwell refrain from attending in-person events of any kind. Participants who are exempted from receiving the COVID-19 vaccination for medical reasons only, must provide the California Jazz Conservatory with verification of exemption from a licensed medical professional, and proof of negative COVID-19 test results within 72 hours of each event, to participate. Note: As a testing option, PMH Laboratory is available to conduct free weekly tests at the California Jazz Conservatory, beginning August 16, 2021.
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