The MJ New: Soundtrack to the New Cool

MJ New is a new project by pianist/composer Darrell Grant

Mjq photoInspired by the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet, the ensemble’s first performance was a concert presented by the Portland Jazz Festival on October 18, 2013 at the Mission Theater. 

 

 

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About MJ New

MJ New brings together four virtuoso musicians- pianist Darrell Grant, Portland vibraphonist Mike Horsfall, award-winning Bay Area bassist Marcus Shelby and veteran drummer Carlton Jackson to revisit the introspective elegance and sophisticated soundscape of the Modern  Jazz Quartet.

DarrellIn addition to exploring such classic repertoire and lesser-known gems from the pen of John Lewis and Milt Jackson as “Django,” “Under The Jasmin Tree,” “Bag’s Groove” and “Skating in Central Park,” MJ New carries on the MJQ tradition of merging classical music, American song, and blues, as well as performing  sophisticated original arrangements of contemporary standards from composers as diverse as Sting, Chopin, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

 The Music

Horsfall-tux The MJ New is not only an exciting vehicle for exploring some classic music. The MJQ’s extended composition and collaborative improvisation  was one of the first to blend classical and jazz approaches into what we now call “Chamber Jazz.”

Repertoire

cj face:arms copyIncludes: All The Things You Are • Venice • Concorde • Autumn in New York •Afternoon in Paris • Bluesology• A Viennese Affair (Fur Elise) • Django • Bach to Brazil • The Golden Striker • Skating in Central Park • Versailles• Odd’s Against Tomorrow • La Ronde (aka Two Bass Hit) • Bag’s Groove

Booking

marcus-shelby-by-peter-varshavsky-highres For more information contact: Darrell Grant Music

phone: 503 781-2135

email: darrell@darrellgrant.com

 

Upcoming Performances:

Friday, October 3rd @ Wilf’s Restaurant, Portland, OR

Saturday, October 4th at Oregon Coast Jazz Party, Newport, OR

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