Saturday, November 16, 2024 9:30 PM
Blue LLama Jazz Club
Tyshawn Sorey Trio
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One of the most sought-after figures in contemporary music, Tyshawn Sorey has changed jazz as we know it.
This genre-defying composer and drummer takes the stage for a performance featuring pieces from his acclaimed album Mesmerism, which showcases the joy of improvising over songs from the Great American Songbook, in a return to his musical roots after a career steeped in the avant-garde. The goal, he explains, was to “document the unwavering love and appreciation I have for [my favorite songs from the Great American songbook] in the most honest, earnest way I can, as well as those by composers whose work I feel should also exist in this canon.” The 2017 MacArthur Fellow and 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist is “an extraordinary talent who can see across the entire musical landscape.” (The New Yorker) Sorey makes his UMS debut as a bandleader, with two sets featuring his trio, including pianist Aaron Diehl and bass player Matt Brewer, at the Blue LLama Jazz Club in downtown Ann Arbor.
Update 5/1/24: These shows are currently at capacity. Sign up to our email interest list be notified if tickets become available.
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Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Blue LLama Jazz Club
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Composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey is celebrated for his extraordinary ability to blend composition and improvisation in his work, while also offering incomparable virtuosity, and effortless mastery of highly complex scores. He has performed globally with his own ensembles, as well as alongside industry titans including John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, King Britt, Claire Chase, Roscoe Mitchell, and Steve Lehman, among many others.
As a 2017 MacArthur Fellow and a 2018 United States Artists Fellow, the bar is set high for Sorey’s continued evolution and success. His composition Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) was honored as a Finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and has been recorded with the Houston Chamber Choir and DaCamera for release in 2024. Adding to his reputation as a multi-faceted talent, Downbeat Magazine recently recognized Sorey with its 2023 Critics Poll Award as a Rising Star Producer, while frequently placing him near the top of its Composer and Drum Set performance lists. Other recent accolades include the Fromm Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, and the Koussevitzsky Prize.
Pianist Aaron Diehl has quietly re-defined the lines between jazz and classical, and built a global career around his nuanced, understated approach to music-making. Praised for his “melodic precision, harmonic erudition, and elegant restraint” (The New York Times), and his “traditional jazz sound with a sophisticated contemporary spin” (The Guardian), Diehl has performed with musical giants such as Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tyshawn Sorey, and Philip Glass, and has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra, working with conductors like Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, and Alan Gilbert. In 2023, Diehl was named as the Artistic Director of 92NY’s Jazz in July Festival, succeeding the legendary Bill Charlap.
A leader in contemporary jazz, the Philadelphia Inquirer exclaimed that “there’s an entire world of jazz in Aaron Diehl’s playing…he makes the case that jazz is not one style or genre but many, gliding gorgeously among decades of artistic influences.” With an expansive, orchestral, lyrical approach to the piano that channels predecessors like Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum and Jelly Roll Morton, Diehl has headlined the Monterey, Detroit, and Newport Jazz Festivals, and had residencies at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, SF Jazz, and many more. He counts among his mentors towering figures such as John Lewis, Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch, Marcus Roberts, and Eric Reed.
Matt Brewer is one of the world’s premier bassists. He was born in Oklahoma City, but spent most of his youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born into a musical family, Matt was surrounded by music from an early age, both his father and grandfather being jazz musicians, and his mother an avid music lover and radio DJ (who, before Matt was born, would play classic jazz albums for him). He started playing drums at age 3, learning rudiments on a small practice pad, but didn’t take music seriously until the age of ten, when he found the bass during a summer program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.
After graduating the Interlochen Arts Academy, Matt attended the inaugural class of The Juilliard Jazz Program and studied with bassists Rodney Whitaker and Ben Wolfe. After spending two years at Juilliard he decided to leave school to make time for his busy touring schedule. Since then he has worked with artists such as Greg Osby, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lee Konitz, David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard, Aaron Parks, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and many others. He is features on dozens of recordings, including two on the Blue Note record label. “Channel Three” by Greg Osby, and “Avatar” by Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Matt has also led bands in New York, performing at venues such as the Jazz Gallery, Fat Cat, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. His band was also featured at the New Mexico international Jazz Festival. He is an adjunct faculty member at The New School, has been a guest artist/teacher at the Banff Center, and has taught lessons and masterclasses across the globe.