New Season Teaser

Brother Eldridge recently composed this missive:

Dear Friends:

Hope your summer is off to a flying start.

It's downtime for us, concert-wise, but we're working hard to get
ready for fall and we wanted to give you a preview of what's in store--
before we announce it to the general public.

We're still finalizing dates in one or two instances, but here's who
you can look forward to hearing and seeing as guests of the RJA in
2009-2010:

In September, one of the most acclaimed (and eclectic) composers of
the past two decades, trumpeter Dave Douglas, leads off the season
with a new project, "Brass Ecstasy." The quintet (four horns and
drums) will be touring behind a brand new album and coming to us after
a residency at New York's famed Jazz Standard and an extensive summer
tour of Europe. You can stream the album---and watch a great
documentary video---at
http://www.greenleafmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?p=136

In October, local-boy-made-good, reedist Michael Moore, returns to
Humboldt County in an unusual trio with accordianist Will Holshouser
and fellow ICP Orchestra member (and 2008 winner of the European Jazz
Award), legendary drummer and wildman Han Bennink. The group's name--
the Third Man Trio--was suggested to them by an Austrian friend.
(They must have reminded him of the Viennese thugs in the Carol Reed
film, surmises Holshouser.)

In November, it's New York trumpeter Ralph Alessi with his band "This
Against That," featuring Tony Malaby, Andy Milne, John Hebert, and
Mark Ferber. The group--whose previous members have included Don
Byron, Jason Moran, Drew Gress, and Nasheet Waits--has recorded two
dynamite albums of adventurous, inside/outside music on Ravi
Coltrane's RKM label.

January sees the return visit of one of our most popular guests,
pianist and composer Myra Melford, this time leading a new incarnation
of her "Be Bread" ensemble, with a killer lineup of Cuong Vu on
trumpet; Ben Goldberg on clarinet; and Matt Wilson on drums. The
band's debut album is one of our favorites, and they'll be kicking off
a bi-coastal tour in Arcata behind a brand new disc on
Cryptogramophone.

In February, it's another of our favorite pianists, Frank Kimbrough,
whose influences run from Bill Evans to Andrew Hill, and who holds
down keyboard duties for the Maria Schneider Orchestra, among other
jobs. He'll appear in a duo with one of this year's up-and-coming
stars of the New York jazz scene, tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger.

And we close the season in March with another in a series of young
innovators of the nueva Latin Jazz movement: drummer Antonio Sanchez
and his band Migration. This version of the band will sport two of
following A-List saxophonists, any one of whom we'd love to bring to
Humboldt County (and two of whom we have!): on alto, David Binney or
MacArthur "Genius" Grant winner Miguel Zenon, and on tenor, Donny
McCaslin or David Sanchez (no relation).

Phew!

Talent like that doesn't come cheap--but with your help, and the help
of local business owners and professionals (and support from HSU)--we
can keep it affordable. We'll make a membership plea in another
message soon, but if you want to spare yourself the pitch, just go to
http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/underwrtg.htm right now and become
a member or make a donation.

Thanks--and stay tuned!

UPDATE: Myra Melford writes to us today with a slight correction:

"Just wanted to clarify something: the new cd is coming out on Firehouse 12
(not Crypto)."