A Tribute to John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
When: Friday, May 29
Where: Paul Mahder Gallery
222 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg
Time: 7 and 9 pm
Cost: $25
tickets
The Ed Reed Quartet
Late-blooming and fast-rising jazz vocalist Ed Reed–who released his prized debut album in 2007, at age 78, and nabbed the top “rising star” status for male vocalists in the 2014 Down Beat Editors Poll—heads to Healdsburg, on the opening Friday night, May 29. For this special occasion, Reed will turn the homage spotlight on the classic pairing of “voices” from the early ‘60s, when tenor sax great John Coltrane magically met baritone Johnny Hartman on the landmark album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, from which the version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” ranks as among the greatest and most symbiotic voice-and-sax paintings in jazz history.
Echoes of the pairing have filtered through musical history in the fifty-plus years since the album’s release. Reed’s more recent tribute has been rightfully well-received. Joining Reed, whose latest album, I’m a Shy Guy, won critical and commercial success, will be pianist Adam Shulman and bassist John Wiitala, with tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz bringing his Coltrane-esque style to this special musical tribute.
Schwartz’ instrumental command and blend of taste and fire as a player have made him a player to watch, having performed an hour-long solo saxophone concert at the 2013 San Francisco Jazz Festival, earning a four-star review on Down Beat for his fifth and latest album, Flash Mob.
SFJAZZ recently described Schwartz as “a masterful jazz artist… a guiding light of both the Bay Area and national jazz scenes.” Schwartz instrumental command and blend of taste and fire as a player makes him the perfect partner to Reed as they explore the rich and often haunting beauty of Coltrane’s ballad choices and recreate the magic of the music of Coltrane and Hartman for opening night of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.