He came from an extremely musical family; his brothers Hank Jones (piano) and Elvin Jones (drums) also achieved great fame. He taught himself to play the trumpet and was already performing with Sonny Stitt at the age of 16. During the Second World War he played in various US Army bands, then made a number of recordings with Charles Mingus and was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1954 to 1963, for which he also arranged. He then worked with Pepper Adams, among others, and in 1965 founded the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra with Mel Lewis, which was an institution on the American jazz scene for the next thirteen years. Thad Jones would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2023, reason enough to dedicate a special sextet program to this giant with proven connoisseurs of his music.
Joe Magnarelli (trumpet), Dick Oatts (alto saxophone) and Gary Smulyan (baritone sax) are among the outstanding musicians of the New York jazz scene. Joe Magnarelli has been one of the world’s leading trumpeters for three decades, and has worked with the Lionel Hampton Big Band, the organist Brother Jack McDuff, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Harry Connick, Jr., the Buddy Rich Band, Maria Schneider, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Ray Barretto. Dick Oatts and Gary Smulyan have been members of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, now the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, since the late 1970s, and have also worked with musicians such as Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Tito Puente, BB King, Diana Ross, and many others.
The rhythm section consists of three musicians who work together perfectly: pianist Oliver Kent, bassist Aldo Zunino and drummer Bernd Reiter are among the most booked sidemen in Europe and have been working with all the big names in the scene for more than 30 years.
This sextet brings the classic Thad Jones compositions back to the stage with professionalism and a lot of enthusiasm and presents the live CD released on Ubuntu Music in October 2024! Energetic and swinging music at the highest level, simply “Jazz at its Best”!
Substitute: Joe Magnarelli (trp); Dick Oatts (left); Gary Smulyan (bsax); Oliver Kent (p); Aldo Zunino (b); Bernd Reiter (dr)
Disclaimer
This is not an event organized by the city of Stuttgart. No liability is assumed for the accuracy, completeness and legality of the information.
