JAM 2010: 156 Artists for a New Jazz Experience (Part XII)
April 16, 2010 at 6:00 AM Good morning! This is the final installment of "JAM (Jazz Appreciation Month) 2010: 156 Artists for a New Jazz Experience".
I know that many of you have enjoyed the series based on the email and tweets on Twitter that I've received over the past two weeks. It was my pleasure and honor to pull it together for everyone. I'm already working on a different list of artists for JAM 2011! 
I am ending this week with information about artists such as saxophonists Tineke Postma, Walter Beasley and Wayne Escoffery; percussionist Tito Puente, Jr.; trombonists Trombone Shorty, Vincent Gardner and Wycliffe Gordon; trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and others.
Enjoy ~
1. (144) Tineke Postma is an internationally acknowledged jazz saxophonist. During her college years at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, she received two scholarships to study at the Manhattan School for Music in New York, where she was taught by Dick Oatts, David Liebman and Chris Potter.
In 2003, Tineke graduated with Honors at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where she has been teaching since 2005. Tineke plays energetic modern jazz and is inspired by Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and other great legends, without ignoring her own creativity.
2. (145) Percussionist Tito Puente Jr. was born in NYC on 2 June 1971. Tito Jr. is on a passionate mission. The younger Puente is determined to nurture the musical legacy left by his father. He refuses to let it become a distant memory; "He was just too vibrant, too exciting. There was magic in the music my father made. It made people happy, all over the world. My goal is to keep it alive, and in doing so, expose it to a whole new generation."
3. (146) Drummer Tommaso Cappellato's love for music began at the early age of 8. Inspired by the many cultural influences of his family he was encouraged by his father to learn to play the piano, but it was not until age 11 that his passion for the drums began. As a teenager, at the age of 16, Tommaso decided to truly enthrall himself into the world of music by taking lessons with two professional local drummers.
In 1996 he left Italy to enroll in courses at the Drummers Collective in New York City. In 1997 Tommaso received a scholarship from the New School University in Manhattan where he obtained a BFA in Music Performance four years later.
Check out his latest CD "Open" here: 
I've been listening to it on rotation since I got it as a gift last week. :)
4. (147) Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews was born on 2 January 1986 in New Orleans and was a bandleader by the age of 6. He is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews. Growing up in New Orleans' Treme neighborhood, "Trombone Shorty" was participating in brass band parades as a child, carrying his trombone even before his arms were long enough to reach all the positions of the slide. Originally attracting attention for his youth, by his teens he was attracting attention for his musical virtuosity as well.
5. (148) Drummer, composer, educator Tyshawn Sorey was born in 1980. He works across a very extensive range of idioms in experimental music.
Originally self-taught in composition, piano, trombone, and percussion, he has worked with chamber ensembles and collaborated with a diverse array of musicians, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Ray Anderson, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Coleman, Michele Rosewoman, Peter Evans, Mat Maneri, Steve Lehman, Mario Pavone, Ellery Eskelin, Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas, Mark Helias and Butch Morris, among many others.
6. (149) Sunnyside recording artist, vocalist Venissa Santi was born on 10 May 1978. Venissa’s artistry stems from the necessity to express the many influences that have nourished her spirit as a Cuban American. She was born in Ithaca, NY and hails from a long line of Cuban artists. But it was her grandfather, Jacobo Ros Capablanca, a Cuban composer who instilled in her a life-long passion for music.
As a child she grew up listening to the sounds of Ravel, Celia Cruz and Michael Jackson as well as theatrical productions and jazz. After completing high school, she moved to Philadelphia, where she enrolled at the University of the Arts, connected with her Cuban roots (via her grandfather's compositions and majored in Jazz Vocal Performance.
7. (150) Steel pan performer, composer, arranger and educator Victor Provost was born on 20 January 1981 in the US Virgin Islands.
Provost’s interest and subsequent love affair with the steel drums began at the St. John School of the Arts. There, he became a member of the youth steel pan orchestra, Steel Unlimited II, and under the guidance of Mr. Rudy Wells, was able to develop, hone and share his musical gift.
Steel Unlimited dissolved in 1995, and after much encouragement by family, friends and teachers, Provost began his solo career. His first solo performance led to opportunities at various venues including the once Rockefeller owned Caneel Bay Resort and Reichhold Center for the Arts.
While Provost was exposed to a plethora of music including Reggae, Blues, Soul, Classical and of course, Calypso, his love for Jazz proved undeniable. In 1999 he became the first steel pan player to be featured at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy.
8. (151) Vijay Iyer is a pianist, composer, bandleader, producer, electronic musician, and writer based in New York City.
Born in 1971 and raised in Rochester, NY, Iyer is the son of South Indian immigrants to the US. He received 15 years of Western classical training on violin beginning at the age of 3. He began playing the piano by ear in his childhood, and is mostly self-taught on that instrument. Vijay was also exposed to some Indian classical and religious music in his youth.
His high school years saw a growing interest in jazz. After completing an undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at Yale when he was 20, Iyer then went to the University of California, Berkeley to do a Ph.D. in physics.
His latest CD "Historicity
9. (152) Vincent Gardner (born in Chicago, IL) is a trombonist and composer. As a bandleader, Gardner has released four albums under the SteepleChase record label. He performs with his own groups frequently, in addition to being the lead trombonist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (which also features Wynton Marsalis). Gardner also performs often with his brother, trumpeter Derrick Gardner and his ensemble, The Jazz Prophets.
10. (153) Walter Beasley is a saxophonist, a professor of music at the Berklee College of Music, and founder of Affable Publishing and Affable Records.
Beasley grew up in el Centro, CA. By the age of 13 he was singing in Spanish in a band called Los Elegantes, and he played in various bands and performed at clubs throughout middle and high school.
Beasley graduated from Berklee in 1984 and a year later took a short-term teaching position at the same school, which became a permanent career. He is now professor at the school.
11. (154) Saxophonist Wayne Escofferey and his mother emigrated to the United States and settled in New Haven, CT in 1986.
At eleven Escoffery joined The New Haven Trinity Boys Choir and began taking saxophone lessons from Malcolm Dickinson. At sixteen he left the choir and began a more intensive study of the saxophone, attending The Jazz Mobile in New York City, the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, and the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven.
Escoffery was awarded a scholarship to attend The Hartt School, where he studied (1993-1997) with Jackie McLean and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance (1997).
He then attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA (1997-1999). During this time he toured with Herbie Hancock and performed and studied with several jazz greats. He graduated with a Masters degree from the New England Conservatory in 1999 and moved to New York to begin his professional career.
12. (155) Wycliffe Gordon is a jazz trombonist born in 1967 in Waynesboro, GA. He also plays the didgeridoo, trumpet, tuba, piano and sings.
Wycliffe Gordon came from a strongly religious background (his father was a church organist) that influenced the early direction of his music. He became interested in jazz at thirteen due to an Aunt's collection. His interest at that time was mostly the earlier musicians like Louis Armstrong.
In 1995, Gordon re-orchestrated the theme song for NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
His early works as a professional were with Wynton Marsalis, but in recent years he has expanded beyond swing (genre) and has experimented with new instruments. The strongest example of this might be The Search where he plays didgeridoo and does Thelonious Monk song s. He has also played Gospel music.
13. (156) Wynton Marsalis is a jazz and classical trumpeter and composer. He is Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted the appreciation of Classical and Jazz music, often focusing on young audiences.
Marsalis stands in a league all his own. He has been described as a creative genius, compassionate humanitarian, legendary trumpeter, masterful composer, arts advocate, tireless educator and cultural leader.
However, it is Wynton’s lifetime commitment to inspiring and uplifting people though artistic excellence in jazz that has made an unparalleled impact on domestic and international culture.
