Bio 1 — Jessica Jones Quartet

Connie Crothers, Piano

Connie Crothers was born in Palo Alto, California on May 2, 1941. When she was nine years old, she began piano lessons. She also began composing. At the University of California in Berkeley she majored in music with an emphasis on composition.

She moved to New York City in 1962 and began studying with Lennie Tristano. In 1972 he began presenting her in performances for invited audiences in his home. In 1973 he presented her in solo concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. He produced two other solo concerts in Carnegie Recital Hall, in 1977 and 1978. The Lennie Tristano Jazz Foundation produced a solo concert in Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979. In 1975, she performed in concert with tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, with Roger Mancuso and Joe Solomon, in Carnegie Recital Hall. Connie co-produced along with tenor saxophonist Lenny Popkin, the Lennie Tristano memorial concert, held in Town Hall in New York City in 1979. She performed duo at this concert with flute player Nomi Rosen. In 1980, she co-led an engagement with Warne Marsh at the Village Vanguard, with Eddie Gomez on bass and Peter Scattaretico on drums. In 1980, Connie performed solo at the Berlin Jazztage. With composer and percussionist Max Roach she recorded duo. In 1982 they produced this session, "Swish," on New Artists, a record company which they co-founded. In 1983, she co-led an engagement with Max Roach, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a four-way collaboration entitled, "Intuitive Momentum," featuring the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Connie performed solo in 1984 at Cooper Union in New York City. She appeared as a soloist as part of the New Music America festival in Washington D.C. in 1983. In 1986, she performed solo at the DuMaurier International Jazz Festival in Toronto, Canada. In 1987, working with her associates, she reorganized the New Artists label as a cooperative record company.

In 1989 she performed solo in the Jazz Middleheim festival in Belgium. Connie formed a quartet with co-leader Lenny Popkin, tenor saxophone, featuring Carol Tristano on drums and Cameron Brown on bass. This quartet performed at the Blue Note, Sweet Basil and Birdland in New York City. They toured Europe and Canada. In 1990, they were presented at the duMaurier Festival in Toronto. They appeared at de Werf in Bruges, Belgium by in 1989 and 1991. Also in 1991 they performed two concerts in de Singel, Antwerp, Belgium, produced by Rob Leurentop. They appeared at the Spoleto Festival in 1995 and 1996. Their recordings include "New York Night," NA1008, 1990, recorded at the Blue Note, released in Japan on the Americana label, 28C 8008(A); "In Motion," NA1013, 1991, recorded in Belgium by Belgian Radio and Television (BRT), voted one of the top 50 records of the year by Jazz Magazine. In 1996, Marion McPartland featured Connie on her radio series "Piano Jazz," on National Public Radio.In 1997, she released a solo CD, "Music from Everyday Life" .Connie performed solo at The Jazz School in Berkeley, California in 1998.In the January 2000 issue of Cadence, she was chosen for inclusion in the selection of the most important and influential musicians in the last twenty-five years.

Connie formed a quartet with Richard Tabnik, Roger Mancuso and bassist Sean Smith.
With this quartet, Connie appeared at Birdland in April 2000 when the club featured the New Artists In 2001 and 2003 her quartet appeared in Albuquerque, New Mexico at The Outpost Performance Space. Mark Weber, poet, performed poetry he had written for the concert with the band. Selections from the 2003 concert was released on the CD, "Live, Outpost Performance Space," in 2005 on the New Artists label. In December 2000, she performed in a Max Roach concert in Tokyo, Japan, where she performed solo, duo with Mr. Roach and with the Max Roach Quartet. In February 2000 she performed a duet with Max Roach in Bologna, Italy at El Teatro di Celebrazione. In April 2001, at Harvard University, she was awarded Honorary Jazz Master She also performed solo and duo with Mr. Roach at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 2002.
Connie released a duet CD with guitarist Bud Tristano in 2001, "Primal Elegance," on the New Artists labelConnie co-lead a quintet with alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc at the Vision Festival in 2003. She appeared throughout 2002-2004 at Faust Harrison Pianos in New York, NY, in duets with Bud Tristano, Richard Tabnik and guitarist Ace Yamashita, quartet with tenor saxophone player Bob Field, quintet with Harry Schulz.

www.newartistsrecords.com/pages/2crothersbio.html

DON CHERRY

Starting around 1967, Jarman was one of the first saxophonists to perform solo, a tactic also embraced by other members of the AACM, notably Anthony Braxton. Jarman led his own group from 1966-1968, which included bassist Charles Clark, drummer Thurman Barker, and pianist Christopher Gaddy, among others. Separate editions of that band recorded a pair of albums for Delmark: Song for... (1966) and As if it were the Seasons (1968). In 1967, Lester Bowie recorded Numbers 1 & 2 for Nessa; on "2," the four musicians who would become the Art Ensemble(Bowie, Mitchell, Favors, and Jarman) recorded together for the first time. In 1969, that band would become Jarman's primary creative outlet. By then, the untimely deaths of Gaddy and Clark had compelled Jarman to disband his own group. Jarman would continue with the Art Ensemble until 1993. In that time, he also recorded under his own name, for the Black Saint, AECO, and India Navigation labels. Upon leaving the Art Ensemble, Jarman virtually retired from music, in order to devote himself more completely to spiritual matters. As the '90s progressed, however, he did continue to perform and record, often as a guest with such musicians as Marilyn Crispell, guitarist/composer Scott Fields, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Lou Grassi.

JOSEPH JARMAN