Blue Note Welcomes Odean Pop Saxophone Choir 5/20-23

Tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger Odean Pope returns to the Blue Note with his powerful saxophone choir from May 20 - 23. Pope and the choir will be joined by special guests and modern jazz giants Joe Lovano (May 20 - 21) and Ravi Coltrane (May 22 - 23). Since his 2006 Half Note Records release Locked & Loaded: Live at the Blue Note featuring Lovano, James Carter and the late Michael Brecker, Pope has penned a number of new works for the unique ensemble. *Note Reed's Bass Drum will open for Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir on Thursday, May 20 only from 6:30 to 7:30pm at no additional charge as a part of the Blue Note's Emerging Artist Series presented by Brother Thelonious of North Coast Brewing Company.

WHEN: Thursday, May 20 - Sunday, May 23, 2010; Sets at 8:00pm & 10:30pm

WITH: Odean Pope, saxophones; Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone (May 20 - 21 only); Ravi Coltrane (May 22 - 23 only); Other musicians, TBA
OPENING ACT: Reed's Bass Drum; Thursday, May 20, 2010, 6:30pm - 7:30pm featuring Jonah Parzen-Johnson, baritone saxophone; Noah Garabedian, bass; Aaron Ewing, drums; at no additional charge.

COST: $25 @ table / $15 @ bar

WHERE: The Blue Note; 131 W 3rd. St, New York, NY 10012

MORE: Doors open at 6pm. Set times are 8pm and 10:30pm. Opening act will go from 6:30 - 7:30pm on Thursday, May 20 only.

BIO: Odean Pope was born in Ninety-Six, South Carolina to musical parents who rooted him in the sounds of the Southern Baptist Church. After moving to Philadelphia at the age of ten, his lifelong study of music began in earnest and was buttressed by The Graniff School of Music and Benjamin Franklin High School's music program.

Odean grew up in jazz rich territory with other Philadelphia notables such as: John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy and Percy Heath, Ray Bryant, Bill Barron, Kenny Barron, Archie Shepp, Jymie Merritt, Jimmy Garrison, Philly Joe Jones and Dizzy Gillespie. Coltrane chose Odean to replace him in Jimmy Smith's Group when he left for New York to join MiLes Davis.

Although he was close to Coltrane and continues to revere his artistry, Odean was always searching for his own musical sound. This led him to study with Ron Rubin, the principal woodwind player in the Philadelphia Orchestra. At a later time he studied at The Paris Conservatory for Music under Kenny Clarke. It was there that he received his Certificate in Orchestration, Modern harmony, African rhythms, Be-Bop Art Forms and Arrangement.

In 1979, Odean joined the Max Roach Quartet as a regular member for more than two decades. It was as the tenor man with Max Roach that Odean perfected the techniques of circular breathing and multiphonics, both allowing him to stretch his solo improvisations from dazzling elevations to the throbbing, husky sounds for which he is so well known, to all kinds of delicacy in getting from one to the other. Odean won acclaim from Australia to Japan, even winning "Best Tenor Saxophone Player" at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

The saxophone choir is formatted with nine saxophones, and was established by Odean in 1977 and premiered in 1985 with a Soul Note album called "The Saxophone Shop." The saxophone choir has been the realization of his southern legacy; a medium for creating the richly textured harmonic sound that has permeated his musical soul since childhood. Even though he plays clarinet, oboe, piccolo, flute and piano, Odean feels an affinity for the tenor saxophone because it most closely mimics the human voice. He constructs layers of melodic sound by playing within the fourth system in different tone scales using multiphonics, achieving several pitches together, for which he is well known. The choir reaches a stunning intensity that is simultaneously one voice and is also, as described by Francis Davis, "harmonically engorged."

Odean Pope's artistry as performer, composer and arranger has earned him many citations from the City of Philadelphia. Among his many awards are: The Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Music Composition (1992), The Rockefeller Foundation (1992) and several from Chamber Music America.

His most recent recording, "Locked and Loaded," was recorded live at the Blue Note on Half Note Records and featured the late Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, and James Carter as special guests.

Blue Note World's Finest Jazz Club & Restaurant, 131 West 3rd St., NY, NY 10012 www.bluenotejazz.com - (212) 475-8592

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