October 17 2007: MNMP Performs Jazz Cycles CD Release Event

Trumpet: Shane Endsley A Denver native, Shane is a graduate of the Eastman School where he studied trumpet, drums/percussion and composition. He has toured and recorded extensively with Ani DiFranco and Steve Coleman and has been doing work around NY with Josh Roseman, Dave Binney, Ravi Coltrane, John Hollenbeck, David Murray, Art Lande (Book of Bhu) and others. He is currently playing drums and trumpet in a trio with Ralph Alessi and Tim Berne, and rotary flugelhorn (truba) with Slavic Soul Party.

Soprano & Alto Saxophones: Bruce Williamson Multi-instrumentalist Bruce Williamson, was active in the San Francisco jazz scene until moving to New York City in the mid-1980s. In California he performed with Mark Levine, Pete & Sheila Escovedo, Bobby McFerrin, Benny Green and was a member of the experimental jazz group Rubisa Patrol with pianist Art Lande and trumpeter Mark Isham. Shortly after moving to New York he joined organist Jack McDuff's band, giving him the opportunity to meet and play with Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine and George Benson. More recently, he has performed with his own groups in various New York City clubs and has been a featured soloist in Japan and Europe. Over the years, Bruce has also performed with Gary Peacock, Fred Hersch, Dave Douglas, Tom Harrell, Jim Pepper, Paul McCandless, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra and many other jazz notables. His most recent CD "Big City Magic" on Timeless Records features trumpeter Randy Brecker and Bruce's compositions for jazz septet. In New York's theater world, he has performed in many of Julie Taymor's productions; "Juan Darien" at Lincoln Center (1996), "Lion King" at the New Amsterdam Theater (1998) and "The Green Bird" at the Cort Theater (2000). He also performs regularly with the Broadway production of "Chicago". In film, Bruce has been a featured soloist in many of Elliot Goldenthal's filmscores; "Butcher Boy", "In Dreams" and "Titus". He was also featured with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra in Goldenthal's 1997 ballet "Othello" (choreographed by Lar Lubovitch). In 1991 and 1995 Bruce was awarded Jazz Composition grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. He can be heard as a sideman on more than two-dozen recordings playing saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, piccolo, piano and synthesizer. Bruce teaches at Bennington College, Vermont and Williams College, Massachussetts and has been a jazz clinician in both the U.S. and Europe.

Tenor Saxophone: Tim Ries A versatile and thoughtful saxophonist and composer, Tim Ries has collaborated with such jazz artists as Phil Woods, Tom Harrell, Al Foster, John Patitucci, Dave Liebman, Danilo Perez, Maynard Ferguson, Red Garland, Badal Roy, Maria Schneider and Donald Byrd. A Verve release with The Joe Henderson Big Band won a Grammy Award. Having just returned from a second world tour with the Rolling Stones playing saxophone, keyboard and organ, his other recording and performance credits include work with such diverse talents as Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Stevie Wonder, Incognito, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bob Belden and David Lee Roth. Having already released five original jazz compact discs, Tim now will channel his energy into creating interpretations of rock and roll standards. The music of Jagger and Richards, Tim’s recent employers, serves as the inspiration for his most recent recording project, soon to be completed. Tim has written over one hundred compositions in both the jazz and classical idioms. This fusion of styles is evident in his work with PRISM, a saxophone quartet which presents a diverse repertoire in both acoustic and electronic environments. Prism performed William Bolcom’s Concerto Grosso with 13 orchestras, including Detroit, Dallas and Cleveland. Tim also performed the American premiere of Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Cyberbird Concerto with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.A graduate of the University of North Texas and the University of Michigan, Tim has served on the faculties of The New School, City College of New York and the Mannes College of Music. Tim is currently teaching saxophone and jazz combo at Rutgers and New Jersey City University. He frequently travels to other universities, jazz festivals and clinics as a teacher of saxophone, composition and improvisation. Tim uses Selmer saxophones exclusively, Francois Louis mouthpieces and Rico Reeds.

Piano: Jim Ridl Jim Ridl is a pianist, composer, arranger and educator and resides in New Jersey. He performs internationally, nationally, and locally, with the Jim Ridl Trio and Quintet, the Dave Liebman Big Band, in duet with Diane Monroe, the Denis DiBlasio Quintet, the JD Walter Quartet, the Ant Farm Quartet and the Manhattan Bones. Jim has 5 critically acclaimed cd releases: Your Cheatin’ Heart and Other Works (2005) with Ron Kerber, JD Walter, Steve Varner, Jim Miller and Jef Lee Johnson on the Dreambox Media Label ((more on this recording); Door In a Field (2003, DBM); Jim Ridl Trio/Live (2001, DBM); Blues Liberations - solo piano (2000, DBM); and Five Minutes to Madness and Joy (1999, Synergy). more info on these recordings. Jim’s ten-year tenure with jazz guitar legend Pat Martino received many critically acclaimed reviews of performances around the world and produced 3 outstanding recordings. Jim’s inventive arrangement of the Sonny Rollins' classic Oleo can be heard on the Grammy-nominated release ”Pat Martino Live at Yoshi’s” with Joey DeFrancesco and Billy Hart. Jim’s composition Sun On My Hands can be heard on Martino’s Grammy-nominated release “Think Tank” in duet with Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Jim is a member of the Dave Liebman Big Band, whose recording Beyond the Line is on the Omnitone label. (Jim also can be heard on vocalist JD Walter's collaboration with Liebman, Clear Day on Doubletime.) Jim has also performed and recorded extensively with baritone saxophonist, Denis DiBlasio. They have recorded 5 CDs together, including Duets and Rhino on Encounter Records, and have performed most major jazz festivals and venues in the region. Additionally, Jim has performed and/or recorded with Randy Brecker, Marc Johnson, James Moody, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Mickey Roker, Billy Hart, Mark Murphy, Ravi Coltrane, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Cab Calloway, Bill Stewart, Rich Matteson, Ralph Bowen, Donny McCaslin, Mark Walker, Jean Michel Pilc, Dick and Ted Nash, Ari Hoenig, Jimmy Bruno, Tim Warfield, Terrell Stafford, Vic Juris, Paul Nash, Carla Cook, Francois Moutin, Bruce Williamson, Matt Wilson, Sherman Ferguson, Tyrone Brown, Rosanna Vitro, Duane Eubanks...

Guitar: Vic Juris From the wilds of Manhattan to the shores of Japan and Germany, jazz guitarist Vic Juris has covered an impressive range of territory, musically as well as geographically. Inspired by rock and roll legend Chuck Berry, the Jersey City native first picked up a guitar at the age of ten. With no musicians in the family, he taught himself to play and was soon appearing with rock and R&B bands throughout the tri-state area. But the young rocker's taste soon changed. In his late teens Vic discovered jazz and classical music. He was hooked. From there it was on to a career with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Sarah Vaughan, Chico Hamilton, Dave Liebman, Richie Cole, Mel Torme, Eddie Jefferson and Nancy Wilson. From the beginning Vic's voracious appetite for new musical experiences led him to explore any and every jazz artist he could hope to learn from. He drew on other idioms as well: blues, swing, bebop. In a less sensitive and technically accomplished musician this expansive vocabulary might descend into cacophony. But Vic's highly developed sense of composition, his skill at fusing traditional jazz guitar with other forms of expression, has made him an eloquent and popular conversationalist. Eagerly sought out by his fellow musicians, he has provided accompaniment for numerous recordings.

Bass: Jeff Carney As one of the most in demand bassists in New York City, Jeff Carney's resume reads like a who's who of the world's elite recording artists. As an accompanist, Jeff could be heard alongside jazz greats Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Dewey Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton and Clifford Jordan, and with pop icons such as Sting, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Blue’s Traveler, Portishead, and Aerosmith (on the soundtrack for Armageddon). He is currently principal bassist with the New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and has worked with the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony. He could also be found in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, and as a studio player on many jingles and film soundtracks including Lethal Weapon 3, Prelude to a Kiss, Interview with a Vampire and Pocahantas. Jeff is currently a faculty member at New York's New School of Music, and maintains an active clinic and workshop schedule around the world.

Drums: Grisha Alexiev Grisha Alexiev has been playing the drums for thirty-one years. He has played with many musicians in diverse styles such as: Archie Bell, John Cage, Kenny Werner, Sam Rivers, Gunther Schuller, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker and Jon Faddis, to name a few. Alexiev has appeared on over thirty recordings, including the Jazz Club, Soul Note, Konnex, uNIKA, Relix, Northeastern and Rounder labels. As a composer he has written for a wide variety of ensembles, from solo to large ensemble as well as for the Footpath Dance company, Lehigh Valley Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and the Bill Warfield big band. His piece Kauri was recently performed by the Discovery Orchestra in New York City.