FOR SIX NIGHTS: CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND IN THEIR BLUE NOTE DEBUT;
HALF NOTE RECORDS LIVE RECORDING

Don't miss the chance to see the Grammy Nominated Charles Tolliver Big Band record live for Half Note Records this week at the Blue Note!

                                         FEATURING:

Charles Tolliver, trumpet/composer          Jason Marshall, bari sax/bass cl
Chris Albert, trumpet                             Mike Dease, trombone
Michael Williams, trumpet                       Jason Jackson, trombone
Keyon Harrold, trumpet                          Stafford Hunter, trombone
David Weiss, trumpet                            Aaron Johnson, bass trombone
Bill Saxton, tenor sax                             Stanley Cowell, piano
Bruce Williams, alto sax                          Anthony Wonsey, keys
Todd Bashore, alto sax/cl./flute               Reggie Workman, bass
Billy Harper, tenor sax                            Gene Jackson, drums

On his Blue Note Records debut, With Love, Charles Tolliver presents his extraordinary big band charts and singular trumpet playing for the first time on a major U.S. label.  Tolliver recruited a pan-generational lineup of home-run hitter soloists including pianists Stanley Cowell and Robert Glasper, saxophonists Billy Harper, Craig Handy, and Howard Johnson, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and a cohort of A-list section men, Cecil McBee and Victor Lewis, all of whom draw on all their resources to articulate Tolliver's vision with a bravura performance.

Born in 1942 in Jacksonville, Florida, Charles Tolliver moved to Harlem with his family at ten and to Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, then a musical hotbed, in 1958. He matriculated at Howard University as a pharmacy major, but the pull of music was too strong.

Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean launched Tolliver's career in 1964 by hiring him as a sideman on his Blue Note album It's Time, used him on the subsequent albums Action and Jacknife, and made his composition "Right Now" the title track of a 1965 quartet date. As the '60s progressed Tolliver also appeared with Blue Note heavyweights Horace Silver (Serenade to A Soul Sister) and Andrew Hill (One For One, Dance With Death and on Time Lines, Hill's triumphant return to Blue Note in early 2006), as well as sessions for other labels with Max Roach, Booker Ervin, Gerald Wilson, and Gary Bartz. In 1969 he formed the innovative quartet Music Inc., which he documented on four albums for Strata East.

That Tolliver doesn't have albums of his own in the Blue Note catalog is an accident of timing. "When I was in my twenties," Tolliver says, "Freddie Hubbard told me, 'Probably they're going to give you the New Star Award at DownBeat' as the next guy." He adds "Yes, they did [in 1968], but Alfred Lion was retiring when Woody and I showed up at the gate. I decided to make my own recordings."

Comprising seven Tolliver compositions, With Love makes up for lost time with a vengeance.  "Alfred Lion and the musicians themselves put together different groups to play their own music," Tolliver says. "So the vocabulary that was developed through the Blue Note catalog was mostly repertoire - playing several compositions a season with a set group so that the group gets a chance to expound on it - played by great stylists. That's why the records last. My career started with Jackie McLean at Blue Note, and they're still at it, so why not go full circle?"

Adamant that "small group is my first love," Tolliver cites Gillespie-Basie arranger Ernie Wilkins' arrangements for Sonny Rollins' 1958 album The Big Brass [Verve] as a formative big band influence.  As the '60s progressed, Tolliver studied Thad Jones closely at his Monday night Village Vanguard sessions; during a sojourn to California around 1966, he played and recorded with harmony masters Gerald Wilson and Oliver Nelson.

After Tolliver and Cowell presented their early charts on the 1970 recording Music Inc. & Big Band, Max Roach commissioned Tolliver to write a long suite to be performed at the 1972 Montreux Festival.  Tolliver continued to evolve his concept through the '80s and '90s on various engagements as a soloist with European radio orchestras; after the 2003 rebirth of the big band, he resumed writing and arranging full force.

Almost forty years after McLean debuted "Right Now," Tolliver reworks the line, adding an introductory fanfare, ratcheting the tempo, and presenting a baritone saxophone solo by Howard Johnson. Throughout the proceedings, Tolliver plays with the energy of an 18-year-old and the accumulated wisdom of fifty years of high-level improvising. "I refuse to ever consider myself as less fresh and new than the first time I realized I could do this," Tolliver told DownBeat. "It's not in my psyche to back off from the kind of energy we bring to the plate every time, even if I'm eligible to collect my Social Security check. What we were doing in the '60s is still so alive and well that it's fresh and new whenever you work on it. Anything coming in at this point can't supplant that."

The Charles Tolliver Big Band was awarded "2007 Best Large Jazz Ensemble" by the Jazz Journalists Association.

From the moment you enter the Blue Note's special world, you become part of its exciting and spirited atmosphere. Sip an exotic drink, sample the great food. Whatever you choose, you'll enjoy jazz, America's most indigenous musical art form within close range of the clubs' famous stage and the superstars who perform on it. The Blue Note, world’s finest jazz club, located in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, Tokyo, Osaka & Fukuoka, Japan and our newest location on the legendary strip in Las Vegas, is synonymous not only with great jazz in an intimate setting, but also critically-acclaimed food, top-notch service and a really cool gift shop with an eclectic array of exclusive jazz-related merchandise; including Blue Note wearing apparel.

The flagship New York club has earned the distinction of being the world’s premier jazz club and restaurant. Tony Bennett, George Benson, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Oscar Peterson, David Sanborn, Nancy Wilson, the late Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy Gillespie are just a few of the superstars that have called the Blue Note "home."

Although considered one of the top venues in the world for presenting Jazz, the Blue Note also feature all the biggest names in Blues, Latin, Brazilian, Fusion, R&B, Soul, Contemporary, Big Band and Popular music.

The Blue Note is a totally unique concept: providing its loyal customers with an incredible listening and dining experience within the cozy ambience of a nightclub/cabaret; coupled with a continuing commitment to showcasing the greatest names in musical entertainment. Not to mention the club's state-of-the-art sound system which is the best in the night club business!

Now into its second decade of operation, the New York Blue Note, under the auspices of Blue Note International, Inc. has successfully established itself, as the world’s only franchised jazz club network.

Creative booking concepts at all Blue Notes have kept the music alive and their programming fresh. The Blue Note is an internationally renowned musical treasure and institution of culture. The positive vibes coming from the Blue Note is sure to be heard for many years to come!

The Blue Note. Where jazz history is made nightly.

The Blue Note is open nightly, seven days a week, 365 days per year. Doors open nightly from 6PM to 1AM (Friday & Saturday til 4AM) and dinner is served from 6PM to 1AM (Friday & Saturday until 2AM). Show times are 8PM & 10:30PM. Reservations are held until half hour before show times: no later than 7:30PM for first show and 10PM for second show. Table seating is first come, first served (except for pre-arranged large groups and VIPs) and there are no reservations taken for the bar. Bar policy is also first come first served with no seat guarantee. Late Night Jam Sessions, Fridays and Saturdays after the last set until 4AM. Five dollars admission with no charge to patrons attending the last set. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Diner's Club and Travelers Cheques. If you prefer to make a reservation by phone, call 212-475-8592.