Coltrane Celebration tickets are on sale now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN COLTRANE!
September 19 – 21, 2019

The Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective and Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest saxophone players of all time at its annual collaborative three-day John Coltrane festival from September 19 – 21, 2019.

This year’s headliners are Nasar Abadey, George Caldwell, Joe Ford, Curtis Lundy and LeNard Rutledge.

The multi-talented line-up includes:

Thursday, September 19, 2019, 7 pm
The Bilal NuGravee and the NuGravee Sextet
Gallery admission rates apply: $10 (adults); $8 (seniors); $5 (Burchfield Penney and Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Members). Purchase tickets online at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bilal-abdullah-quartet-tickets-66238574359

Note that member-priced tickets must be purchased by phone at 716-878-6011 during gallery hours, or on site at the Burchfield Penney.

Bilal NuGravee is a brilliant saxophonist. His facility on his instrument is “second to none” and has been credited to studying with jazz legends Frank Foster and Archie Schadt, plus classical training and more than 40 years of performing various genres of music.

Bilal NuGravee - Saxophone
Kevin Doyle - Piano
Chuck Buffamonte - Guitar
Tim Clarke - Trumpet
Mark Harris - Bass
Reggie Evans - Drums

Friday, September 20, 2019, 8 pm

Opening performance: Maestro Henri Star and the Muhammad School of Music Chamber Players

Headliners: Nasar Abadey, George Caldwell and Joe Ford
$25 General Admission; $10 Burchfield Penney and Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Members
Purchase tickets online at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nasar-abadey-george-caldwell-and-joe-ford-tickets-66345484129

Note that member-priced tickets must be purchased by phone at 716-878-6011 during gallery hours, or on site at the Burchfield Penney.

Joe Ford
Longtime saxophonist, Joe Ford, has a stunning and diverse career that proves a musician’s evolution is worth the years that go into it. “People who haven't seen me as a leader will be surprised. My music isn't about hooks and gratuitous soloing. It has a wide variety of styles allowing the quality of the songs and musicianship stand out. I hope to encourage people to increase their listening palettes." Fords' legacy was solidified in 2004 when he was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. Throughout his vibrant career, Joe has stood out as a teacher, composer, pianist and saxophonist.

Nasar Abadey
Drummer and composer Nasar Abadey is the founder, leader and driving force of SUPERNOVA®. This band performs music from the threshold of jazz to beyond space and time, while having an artistic license to express their compositions through traditional African rhythms, bebop, fusion, Afro-Cuban, Afro Brazilian, modal and free form. He is currently a Professor of Jazz Percussion in the Jazz Studies Department at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

George Caldwell
A fully tenured jazz piano legend who has served with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as a sideman extraordinaire, and as leader of his own ensembles. Renowned as performer, composer, band leader and teacher, Caldwell presided over the ivory 88s for the Basie Orchestra when the group won a “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance” Grammy in 1996. He’s one of the pre-eminent swing players in modern jazz and artistic director of the annual Coltrane celebration.

Saturday, September 21, 2019, 1 PM
The Progressions Jazz Quartet
Gallery admission rates apply: $10 (adults); $8 (seniors); Free for Burchfield Penney and Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Members

As a community-builder, the late Pappy Martin founded the Love Supreme School of Music that focused on instrumental lessons, theory and the science of music. Ahmad Pleasant started lessons at the school at age four. Now a high school senior, Ahmad is a member of the The Progressions Jazz Quartet which consists of some of Western New York’s finest emerging jazz talent.

Saturday, September 21, 2019, 8:00 PM

Opening performance: Vocalist Zhanna Reed

Headliners: Curtis Lundy with LeNard Rutledge

$25 General Admission; $10 Burchfield and Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Members
Purchase tickets online:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/curtis-lundy-with-lanard-rutledge-tickets-66346144103

Note that member-priced tickets must be purchased by phone at 716-878-6011 during gallery hours, or on site at the Burchfield Penney.

Curtis Lundy is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band, through whose ranks several eventually renowned musicians passed. Lundy has played on other jazz artists' recordings, including albums by John Hicks, Bobby Watson, the Steve Nelson Quintet and Johnny Griffin. He also serves International Music Director of the Pappy Martin Jazz Legacy Collective.

LeNard Rutledge, born and raised in Miami, Florida, where there are only a handful of truly great jazz vocalists, is usually compared, aptly, to the legendary Lou Rawls. Like Rawls, Rutledge's classy elegance is often permeated by the raw passion of his church choir work. Rutledge still sings with the choir at The Church of The Incarnation. LeNard has shared the stage with several highly respectable jazz artist such as Wycliffe Gordon, Kenny Drew Jr., Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kirk Whalum, Marion Meadows and the late George Duke.

The Burchfield Penney, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, is supported in part with public funds from Erie County and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.