Pianist And Composer & Framingham Native Jason Yeager Presents Original Music With All-Star Quartet Featuring Randal Despommier

Piano Professor and New York-based recording artist Jason Yeager will present original compositions and arrangements of Monk and Mingus in a special performance with his quartet at Arts Wayland.

The show will feature guest saxophonist and New Orleans native Randal Despommier, legendary drummer Yoron Israel, and superstar bassist Brad Barrett. The Arts Wayland Jazz Series, curated by Berklee colleague Neil Olmstead, will present the one-set concert at First Parish in Wayland, at 225 Boston Post Road, Wayland, MA. Tickets are just $15, with free admission for students through 12th grade. Students through grade 8 should be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Tickets can be purchased here: https://artswayland.com/pages/jason-yeager-quartet

What do Kurt Vonnegut, Thelonious Monk, Latin American folk music, and the socio-political issues of our time have in common? They all find their way into the music and mind of Framingham native, Berklee Professor, and award-winning pianist and composer Jason Yeager. An adroit and sensitive accompanist as well as an imaginative bandleader, Yeager has released seven albums of original music, including Unstuck in Time: the Kurt Vonnegut Suite (Sunnyside Records), with his eponymous septet and special guest Miguel Zenón; and Hand in Hand (Club 44 Records), with his spouse and Broadway singer/actress Julie Benko. The former was described as “both complex and highly accessible” by Jazz Times and “an elaborate valentine to Vonnegut” by Downbeat, while the latter debuted at #2 on the iTunes Jazz Charts and was featured in the New York Times Fall Jazz & Pop preview. Yeager is also the 2022 winner of the Jazz Wahi Jazz Composition Competition, a 2nd-place winner of the Ravenscroft Jazz Piano Competition, and a two-time finalist of the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition.

The New York-based pianist has performed across five continents, at such storied venues as Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, the Blue Note, Panama Jazz Festival, Qintai Concert Hall, and more. He has performed and recorded with such noteworthy artists as Luciana Souza, Miguel Zenón, Ran Blake, Jason Palmer, Ayn Inserto, Jason Anick, Randal Despommier and Noah Preminger, among others. A committed teacher, Jason is Associate Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music. He is an honors graduate of the Tufts University/New England Conservatory Double Degree Program, and earned a Master of Music summa cum laude from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.

A multi-genre musician from New Orleans  who “blends the suavity of Paul Desmond with the intensity of Dave Binney” (Musically Speaking), alto saxophonist Randal Despommier has captivated audiences at venues including Carnegie Hall (Weill), Bar Bayeux, the Qintai Concert Hall in China, the Lilla Jazzfestivalen, Soapbox Gallery, Dram, and Smalls with the Jason Yeager Quintet.

In 2021, he released his first album Dio C'è (“impressive in his debut as a leader,” according to OffBeat Magazine) featuring his new quartet and Grammy-winning bassist Jimmy Haslip as guest artist and co-producer. A melting pot of  “cross-pollinated jazz” ranging from lyrical, transporting originals to imaginative reinventions of a popular Italian film ballad, the album presents “wildly ambitious, genre-mashing recordings that speak to Despommier's wide-ranging influences.” (AllMusic) His latest project on Sunnyside Records, A Midsummer Odyssey, featuring renowned guitarist Ben Monder, earned him a nomination of “best new jazz artist” in New Orleans by OffBeat Magazine and positive acclaim in DownBeat.

Yoron Israel is one of the most sought out musicians of his generation. His latest recording New Dreams featuring his group “Trio Plus” continues to receive rave reviews. He has produced other fine works such as “This Moment,” “Visions – The Music of Stevie Wonder,” “Basic Training – Celebrating John Coltrane,” and “A Gift For You,” among others. All feature Yoron's prolific drumming style, along with his refined compositions, and arrangements. As Jack Dejohnette quotes,“Yoron Israel is a drummer who has excellent taste. He has a sense of direction and a feeling of joy in his drumming, compositions, and arrangements. Yoron Israel is an important voice you should listen to.”

In addition to leading such dynamics bands as “Trio Plus,” “High Standards,” “Organic,” and “Connection,” Yoron Israel has been featured on over 300 recordings as an accompanist, and has toured nationally and internationally with some of the most prolific artists in history, including Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Abbey Lincoln, Tony Bennett, Ahmad Jamal, Art Farmer, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Larry Coryell, Jimmy Heath, Pharaoh Sanders, David “Fathead” Newman, Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Roy Hargrove, James Williams among countless others representing a wide variety of musical genres. He has also worked in theatre, television, in addition to performing in orchestral, chamber and big band settings. He currently serves as Chair and Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music.
Brad Barrett

Over the past decade, bassist Brad Barrett has worked as an in-demand freelance musician. He has performed with jazz luminaries such as Jason Moran, Tyshawn Sorey, Sheila Jordan, Julian Lage, Evan Parker, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Taylor Ho Bynum, Ran Blake and Rakalam Bob Moses, and has appeared on several noteworthy albums. In addition, Barrett is an award-winning educator whose innovative teaching practice has been consistently supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Barrett holds a DMA in Contemporary Improvisation and a MM in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory. jasonyeager.com

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