CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Manhattan Trinity

Zankel Hall
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 PM

Manhattan Trinity
·· Cyrus Chestnut, Piano
·· George Mraz, Bass
·· Lewis Nash, Drums

Soulful pianist Cyrus Chestnut leads an all-star ensemble in bold originals and refreshingly reinterpreted standards.

Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with Festival Productions

Program Notes:

Howard Mandel on
MANHATTAN TRINITY

Manhattan Trinity embodies the highest refinement of a distinctively New York aesthetic—the elegant, triangularly creative piano trio tradition. Virtuosic keyboard artistry, supported by stalwart yet often self-effacing bass and profoundly tasteful drumming has flourished in the sophisticated nightspots of our city since the Harlem Renaissance, if not before—James P. Johnson, Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Herbie Nichols, Bill Evans, and Tommy Flanagan being among the idiom’s greatest progenitors. The very notion of three skilled musicians swinging familiar and original melodies afresh, for sheer enjoyment, bespeaks an urbane romanticism; the pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Lewis Nash, in particular, can conjure substantiates the possibility of sublimity. Chestnut, gracing secular repertoire with sanctified soul; Mraz, steeped in formal study and bandstand experience; Nash, cooly coloristic and precisely propulsive: together, they create music so subtly proportioned, focused, and balanced it must be considered “classic.” Yet they are jazz musicians, here and now—which says something about Manhattan’s indubitable, indomitable style.

Copyright © 2008 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Howard Mandel is a writer, National Public Radio producer, blogger, and the president of the Jazz Journalists Association. He is the author of the recently published Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz.

Manhattan Trinity
·· Cyrus Chestnut, Piano
·· George Mraz, Bass
·· Lewis Nash, Drums
CYRUS CHESTNUT
Born in 1963, Cyrus Chestnut started his musical career at the age of six, playing piano at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in hometown of Baltimore. By age nine, he was studying classical music at the Peabody Institute. In 1985, Chestnut earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging from Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, Chestnut was awarded the Eubie Blake Fellowship, the Oscar Peterson Scholarship, the Quincy Jones Scholarship, and the Basie Award. He then began working as a sideman with some of the leading players in the music including Michael Carvin, Donald Harrison, Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Branford Marsalis, Frank Morgan, Lauryn Hill, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, George Adams, James Moody, as well as vocalists Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams, and Betty Carter. His association with Carter, which began in 1991, significantly influenced his outlook and approach to music, confirming his already iconoclastic instincts. Carter advised him to “take chances” and “play things I’ve never heard,” Chestnut says.

As Chestnut was absorbing experiences as a sideman, he was also developing as a leader, recording and playing live around the world. There’s a Brighter Day Comin’ was his first self-released album, followed by The Nutman Speaks (1991), The Nutman Speaks Again (1991), Nut (1992), and Another Direction (1993) (all on Alfa and/or Evidence). In 1993, Chestnut signed with Atlantic Records, releasing the critically-acclaimed Revelation (1994). In 2000, Chestnut collaborated with Vanessa Williams, Brian McKnight, The Manhattan Transfer, and The Boys Choir of Harlem on A Charlie Brown Christmas. In 2001, he released Soul Food, featuring bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash, and special guest soloists including James Carter, Stefon Harris, Wycliffe Gordon, and Marcus Printup. This acclaimed album was included in DownBeat’s list of the best records of 2002 and ascended to the Top Ten on the Jazz Charts.

Chestnut’s leadership and prowess as a soloist has also led him to be a first call for the piano chair in many big bands, including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra. He continually tours with his trio, playing live at jazz festivals around the world as well as clubs and concert halls. As he describes, “I’m trying to bring the spirit of joy to as many places as possible.” Joined by upright bass player Michael Hawkins and drummer Neal Smith, Chestnut uses the trio format to extend, elaborate, and refine the basic conception of the jazz rhythm section. Chestnut and his trio can be heard on the brand new Warner Brothers Jazz debut, You Are My Sunshine.


GEORGE MRAZ
A native of the Czech Republic, George Mraz was born in 1944. He began his musical studies on violin at age seven, and started playing jazz in high school on alto saxophone. He attended the Prague Conservatory in 1961, studying bass violin and graduating in 1966. It is likely that his early exposure to these melodic instruments contributed to his mature lyric gifts as a bassist, an instrument he came to rather late in the game. After finishing his studies, Mraz played clubs and concerts throughout Germany and Middle Europe with Benny Bailey, Carmel Jones, Leo Wright, Mal Waldron, Hampton Hawes, and Jan Hammer, among others.

In 1968, George Mraz came to Boston on a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music and played with such artists as Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Joe Williams, and Carmen McRae. In the winter of 1969, Dizzy Gillespie invited Mraz to join his group in New York. After a few weeks with Dizzy, Mraz went on the road with Oscar Peterson for about two years, and then worked with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra for the next six years. In the late 1970s, Mraz worked with Stan Getz, New York Jazz Quartet, Zoot Sims, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie and for over ten years with Tommy Flanagan.

After leaving Flanagan, Mraz went on to work with Joe Henderson, Hank Jones, Grand Slam, DIM (Directions In Music with Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Roy Hargrove), McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Hank Jones Quartet, and Manhattan Trinity. He also has led his own quartet with pianist Richie Beirach, drummer Billy Hart, and the lyrically riveting tenor Rich Perry. “George always plays the exact right note you want to hear,” says Beirach, “and he plays the bass as though he invented it.”

Mraz’s albums as a leader include: Catching Up on ALFA Records, and Jazz, My Foolish Heart, Bottom Lines, Duke’s Place, and Morava, all on Milestone Records. Mraz’s latest release is Moravian Gems, a collection of jagged rhythms, intriguing harmonies, and colorful melodies developing out of the folk tradition of Morava to merge with the drive, sophistication and inventiveness of jazz.


LEWIS NASH
As far as Lewis Nash is concerned, rhythm is a booming business; his debut recording as a leader is appropriately titled Rhythm Is My Business. Nash is the drummer of choice for an incredible array of artists—from revered music masters to the hottest young players of today—and is equally in demand as a clinician and educator.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Nash developed an early interest in music and began playing drums at age ten. By age 18, he was performing with local jazz groups. By the time he was 21, Nash had become the “first call” jazz drummer in Phoenix, working with Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, Red Garland, Lee Konitz, Barney Kessel, and Slide Hampton during their engagements in the city. In 1981, Nash moved to New York City and joined the trio of the great jazz vocalist Betty Carter, with whom he toured internationally for nearly four years. He is featured on three of her recordings, including the Grammy Award–winning Look What I Got.

World-renowned bassist Ron Carter hired Nash in 1984. As a member of Carter’s nonet, quintet, and quartet, Nash toured extensively and is featured on several of the bassist’s recordings. In the fall of 1986, saxophonist Branford Marsalis asked Nash to join his quartet. That active association spanned two years and several continents, and is documented on Marsalis’s Grammy Award–nominated album Random Abstract, as well as two videos: Royal Garden Blues (directed by Spike Lee) and Steep.

Trombone master J. J. Johnson, who returned to the jazz scene in 1988, frequently asked Nash to provide rhythm duties for his band. That same year, Nash joined the Don Pullen / George Adams Quartet, succeeding the late Dannie Richmond. 1989 proved an even busier year for Nash, who toured with legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins and performed with Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, and Milt Jackson.

From 1990 to 2000, Nash was a member of the Tommy Flanagan Trio, and is featured on seven CD recordings with the late piano master. During this period, Nash also toured and recorded with both the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. His impressive discography (over 300 recordings) includes projects with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Benny Carter, Hank Jones, and John Lewis, as well as rising jazz stars Diana Krall, Joe Lovano, and Roy Hargrove. Demonstrating his stylistic diversity, Nash is also featured on recordings by Natalie Cole, Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Rankin, Melissa Manchester, and George Michael.

Currently, while he continues to perform and record with a wide variety of artists, Nash leads several of his own exciting groups, from duo to septet. Outside of his many touring and recording accomplishments, thanks to the sponsorship of Sonor drums, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Regal Tip drumsticks, Nash has become a sought-after jazz educator. His lectures, clinics and workshops are as much in demand as his bandstand and studio work. Lewis Nash: Rhythm is indeed his business!