James Carter Organ Trio and More Set for Blue Note Jazz Festival, Now thru 7/1

Blue Note Jazz Festival has announced its next shows, featuring the James Carter Organ Trio, Theophilus London and Cassandra Wilson. See below for full details.

James Carter ORGAN TRIO
Monday & Tuesday, June 25-26, 2012 • 8:00pm & 10:30pm • $25 at table / $15 in bar

Born in 1969 and raised in Detroit, James Carter grew up surrounded by music, soaking up everything from funk and fusion to rock, soul, and various strains of acoustic jazz. The late trumpeter Lester Bowie first brought Carter to New York, inviting him to perform with his New York Organ Combo. The Bowie connection led to Carter's debut recording, 1993's JC on the Set, a quartet tour de force that announced the arrival of a superlative new talent equally expressive on alto, tenor, and baritone sax. Carter quickly won a reputation for being able to play jazz in just about any style while maintaining an originality and a flare all his own. His versatility brought him chances to collaborate with a wide range of artists, including Julius Hemphill, Kathleen Battle, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cyrus Chesnut, and Wynton Marsalis.

In recent years, Carter has reinvented the organ combo with Out of Nowhere (2005), with John Medeski onHeaven and Earth (2009), and At the Crossroads (2011), his latest release. Featuring the lithe and muscular keyboard work of Detroit's rising B3 star Gerard Gibbs (organ) and the propulsive drum support of veteran Motor City trap master Leonard King Jr. (drums), At the Crossroads marks the 10th anniversary of the multigenerational James Carter Organ Trio. A sensational follow-up to the saxophonist's acclaimed Emarcy release Caribbean Rhapsody (2011), Carter's 15th album documents his trio's combustible chemistry, with a Detroit-centric cast of special guests adding fuel to the celebratory fire.

THEOPHILUS LONDON
Produced by Jill Newman Productions
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 • 9:00pm & 11:30pm • $30 at table / $20 in bar

Culture vultures and hardcore music fans alike already know urban electro-pop phenom Theophilus London from his self-starting music trajectory, as well as from his style icon profiles in GQ, Esquire, Elle, The New York Times, Complex, Fader, and more. A native of Trinidad, London spent time growing up in Brooklyn before moving to the Poconos, where he graduated from high school in 2006. He first began making waves at the end of the '00s with a series of wildly popular independent mixtapes, including Jam! (2008), This Charming Mixtape (2009), and I Want You (2010).

In 2011, London signed with Warner Bros. Records, quickly releasing his debut EP on the label, Lovers Holiday. His full-length label debut, Timez are Weird These Days, followed the same year. His subsequent string of performances, including appearances at the Cannes Film Festival, the Northside Festival in Brooklyn, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival, created a tremendous media buzz around the singer and emcee.

CASSANDRA WILSON
Another Country CD Release Show
Thursday – Sunday, June 28 – July 1, 2012 • 8:00pm & 10:30pm • $55 at table / $35 in bar

Two-time Grammy award winner Cassandra Wilson celebrates the release of her upcoming release Another Country with eight shows at the Blue Note to conclude the Blue Note Jazz Festival. Named “America’s Best Singer” by TIME magazine, the jazz-pop chanteuse was born and reared in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s and '70s. During the '70s, she could be found performing Joni Mitchell songs behind an acoustic guitar, in front of a large funk band, or in the company of longtime friends in an all-girls band. In the '80s, Wilson moved to New Orleans and performed with Earl Turbinton and Ellis Marsalis. Quite by accident, she was relocated to East Orange, New Jersey, where she made a decision to take her chances on the New York jazz scene. After a stint as the main vocalist with Steve Coleman's M-Base Collective, she began recording on her own.

From the standards on Blue Skies (1988) to the Grammy-winning New Moon Daughter (1995), and from the combination of originals and interpretations played by a collection of Mississippi and New York musicians on both Belly of the Sun (2001) and Glamoured (2003), to her more recent albums Thunderbird (2006) andLoverly (2008), Wilson has always continued evolving as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. Tonight’s show features Marvin Sewell (guitar), BranDon Ross (guitar), Brad Jones (bass), Gregoire Maret (harmonica), John Davis (drums).

Click each name for more about James Carter, Theophilus London and Cassandra Wilson.