Interstellar Regions: The Late Music of John Coltrane

Michael Eaton (b. 1981) is a Brooklyn, NY based saxophonist, composer, and educator. He embraces a progressive and holistic vision of jazz, cognizant of its rich historical origins and development, but reaching for a personal outlook with an eye towards future possibilities.

Michael’s 2014 debut album on Destiny Records, Individuation, highlights original music performed by his Individuation Quartet, integrating angular themes and propulsive modern jazz with intricate minimalist vamps, freebop, John Cageian prepared piano, and multi-layered open forms. The band is joined on several cuts by a very special guest, master musician and saxophonist David Liebman. Vitto Lo Conte writes in Music Zoom that it signifies “a great debut album of a saxophonist and a quartet who seem to have all it takes to get noticed in the world of contemporary jazz”.

Michael’s next album, Dialogical, is in production. It features the next stage of all compositions and improvisations with a large cast of musicians, including: Cheryl Pyle (flute, 11th St Records), Sean Sonderegger (tenor sax; Skirl Records), James Brandon Lewis (tenor sax; BNS Sessions), and very special guest Lionel Loueke (guitar; Blue Note Records).

NEA Jazz Master (2011) David Liebman’s career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the early 1970s as the saxophone/flautist in both the Elvin Jones and Miles Davis Groups, continuing as a bandleader since. He has played on over five hundred recordings with nearly two hundred under his leadership and co-leadership. In jazz education he is a renowned lecturer and author of several milestone books: Self Portrait Of A Jazz Artist, A Chromatic Approach To Jazz Harmony And Melody, Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound (translated into multiple languages), in addition to teaching DVDs, journalistic contributions to periodicals and published chamber music. Lieb‘s autobiography What It Is-The Life Of A Jazz Artist (Scarecrow Press) is a fascinating look into Lieb’s career. His bands over the years have included noted musicians such as John Scofield, Richie Beirach, Bob Moses, Billy Hart and others. The current group Expansions features some of the best of the younger generation. Lieb is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) existing since 1989, which is a worldwide network of schools from nearly 40 countries. Liebman’s awards, besides the NEA honor include the Jazz Educators Network (JEN) Legends of Jazz (2013); the Order of Arts and Letters (France 2009); Jazz Journalist’s award for Soprano Saxophone (2007); Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Solo (1998); Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Academy (Finland-1997). He is currently teaching at the Manhattan School of Music and a guest lecturer at Berklee College of Music. Dave has consistently placed in the top positions for Soprano Saxophone in the Downbeat, Jazz Times and JazzEd polls since 1973.

Marc Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. As a teen, he played guitar in various garage bands while studying with his mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and from 1984 – 1989, of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot also worked as a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry, and many others.

Rolling Stone points out that “Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985’s “Rain Dogs”, and since then he’s become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp.” Additional recording credits include Soloman Burke, Neko Case, Diana Krall, Beth Orton, Marianne Faithful, Arto Lindsay, Caetano Veloso, Laurie Anderson, Susana Baca, McCoy Tyner, The Jazz Passengers, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Cibo Matto, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, James Carter, Vinicio Capposella (Italy), Auktyon (Russia), Vinicius Cantuaria, Sierra Maestra (Cuba), Alain Bashung (France), Marisa Monte, Allen Ginsburg, Madeleine Peyroux, Sam Phillips, and more recently Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Norah Jones, Akiko Yano, The Black Keys, Jeff Bridges, Jolie Holland, Elton John/Leon Russell and many others. Ribot frequently collaborates with producer T Bone Burnett, most notably on Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s Grammy Award winning “Raising Sand” and regularly works with composer John Zorn.

Marc has released over 20 albums under his own name over a 35-year career, exploring everything from the pioneering jazz of Albert Ayler with his group “Spiritual Unity” (Pi Recordings), to the Cuban son of Arsenio Rodríguez with two critically acclaimed releases on Atlantic Records under “Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos”. His avant power trio/post-rock band, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog (Pi Recordings), continues the lineage of his earlier experimental no-wave/punk/noise groups Rootless Cosmopolitans (Island Antilles) and Shrek (Tzadik). Marc’s solo recordings include “Marc Ribot Plays The Complete Works of Frantz Casseus” (Les Disques Du Crepuscule), “John Zorn’s The Book of Heads” (Tzadik), “Don’t Blame Me” (DIW), “Saints” (Atlantic), “Exercises in Futility” (Tzadik), and his latest “Silent Movies” released in 2010 on Pi Recordings was described as a “down-in-mouth-near master piece” by the Village Voice and has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times and critical praise across the board. 2013 saw the release of “Your Turn” (Northern Spy), the sophomore effort from Ribot’s post-rock/noise trio Ceramic Dog, and 2014 saw the monumental release: “Marc Ribot Trio Live at the Village Vanguard” (Pi Recordings), documenting Marc’s first headline and the return of Henry Grimes at the historical venue in 2012 already included on Best of 2014 lists including Downbeat Magazine and NPR’s 50 Favorites.

Marc has performed on scores such as “The Kids Are All Right,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Walk The Line (Mangold),” “Everything is Illuminated,” and “The Departed” (Scorcese).” Marc has also composed original scores including the French film Gare du Nord (Simon), the PBS documentary “Revolucion: Cinco Miradas,” the film “Drunkboat,” starring John Malkovich and John Goodman, a documentary film by Greg Feldman titled “Joe Schmoe,” a feature film by director Joe Brewster titled “The Killing Zone”, and dance pieces “In as Much as Life is Borrowed”, by famed Belgian choreographer, Wim Vandekeybus, and Yoshiko Chuma’s “Altogether Different”. Marc is also currently touring his live solo guitar score to Charlie Chaplin’s“The Kid”, which was commissioned by the NY Guitar Festival and premiered Jan 2010 at Merkin Hall, as well as a program of new arrangements of classic Film Noir scores commissioned by the New School Noir Arts Festival 2011.

In 2009, Marc was named curator and musical director for the year’s Century of Song Festival, part of the Ruhr Triennale in Germany. The concert series sparked new collaborations with Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, master cajón player Juan Medrano Cotito, Carla Bozulich and Tine Kindermann.

Marc’s talents have also been showcased with a full symphony orchestra. Composer Stewart Wallace wrote a guitar concerto with orchestra specifically for Marc. The piece was premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC in July of 2004 and also appeared at The Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz, CA in August of 2005.

Marc is currently touring with several projects including the Marc Ribot Trio, a free jazz group featuring legendary bassist Henry Grimes and Chad Taylor on drums, his power trio Ceramic Dog with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith, the Philly soul meets the harmolodics of Ornette Coleman’s The Young Philadelphians with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston, and with Caged Funk, a project of funk arrangements of John Cage’s music featuring Bernie Worrell of Parliament Funkadelic fame.

Jamie Saft (born 1971) is a keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound engineer and producer living in Upstate New York. Saft was born in Flushing Queens, New York in 1971 and is a graduate of both Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. He has performed and recorded with John Zorn, Bobby Previte, Merzbow and many others. He has also written several original film scores including Murderball and God Grew Tired of Us. Saft can be seen playing live in Bobby Previte, Jamie Saft, Skerik – Live in Japan 2003 (DVD – Word Public). In 2006 he also contributed to Bobby Previte’s Coalition of the Willing. Saft’s projects have included the Jamie Saft Trio with Ben Perowsky and Greg Cohen, the New Zion Trio with Larry Grenadier and Craig Santiago, and The New Standard with Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte.

Adam Minkoff is a composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist from New York City. On bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, and vocals he has performed live and on recordings with such artists as Dweezil Zappa, Doyle Bramhall II, Amy Helm, Sheryl Crow, Elysian Fields, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Machine, and Gregg Allman. His debut record of original Stravinsky arrangements for jazz/rock ensemble is set to be released in 2018.

Drummer/multi instrumentalist Anthony Cole resides in Florida but performs nationally and internationally, with notable associations with Doyle Bramhall II, Steven Bernstein, JJ Grey & Mofro, The Greyhounds, and more. Cole is also known for his 15+ year association with legendary saxophonist and composer Sam Rivers as drummer, pianist, and saxophonist in the Sam Rivers Trio. Rivers noted: “Anthony plays drums; he also plays tenor saxophone and sometimes we have compositions for two pianos with Anthony and myself. And then sometimes, Anthony can play the electric bass guitar and [bassist Doug Mathews] plays drums. So we have it all covered. It’s never been done before. And when were finished, they know its unique. They’ll never hear anything like it again their lifetime. Unless they hear me again.”