2016 Atlanta Jazz Festival: NEXT COLLECTIVE (@NEXTCollective)

NEXT COLLECTIVE
Alto saxophonist Logan Richardson (born 1980) was by the age of sixteen already featured in the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra in his hometown; by nineteen, Downbeat magazine hailed him as “up and coming.” After music studies at Boston’s BerkleeSchool of Music and New York’s New School, he worked with a series of bands led by Greg Tardy, Joe Chambers, Nasheet Waits and Jason Moran. He has recorded two critically embraced albums as a leader —Ethos and Cerebral Flow—and toured with his own group since 2006, and in 2010, France’s Jazzman magazine declared him “one of the ten burning alto saxophonists worldwide.”

Tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III (born 1980) is a Houston native who graduated from his hometown’s High School for the Performingand Visual Arts, and in 2003, from Berklee. He has already appeared on over 75 recordings worldwide, has performed or recorded with the likes of Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Bob Hurst and Joe Lovano, and released three albums to date, including III in 2010. He currently divides his time between leading his own quintet and being a featured sideman in bands led by Ambrose Akinmusire, Eric Harland and others.

Keyboardist Gerald Clayton (born 1984) is the scion of Los Angeles’s well-known jazz family, which features his father, bassist/composer John, and his uncle, saxophonist Jeff. In 2011, he won the Edison award for Best International Jazz Album, has had three Grammynominations and was second place in the 2006 Thelonious Monk Institute JazzPianist Competition. He is the product of years of intensive training, at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music, and on-the-gig experience with the likes of Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, Terell Stafford, Clark Terry, Hank Jones, Benny Green, Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, and others. He currently leads one of the most popular piano trios on the scene with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown and will release his Concord Jazz debut album in April of 2013.

Bassist Ben Williams (born 1984) was raised in Washington D.C., studied at Michigan State University, earned his Masters at Juilliard, won the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, and is already one of today’s most in-demand sidemen, playing regularly and recorded with such headliners as Pat Metheny, Jacky Terrasson and Stefon Harris. He has been picked to perform with Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Paquito D’Rivera, Roy Hargrove, and others.  In 2011, he recorded with George Benson on his album The Guitar Man and released State of Art, his debut recording as a leader. 

Drummer Jamire Williams (born 1984), like Walter Smith, is a Houston native who graduated the city’s High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, after which he received a B.F.A. in Jazz and Contemporary Music from New York’s New School. He has since toured and/or recorded with such notable R&B and jazz artists as Christian Scott, Bilal, Corrine Bailey Rae, Kenny Garrett, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Solange Knowles, Jason Moran, Gretchen Parlato and Robert Glasper. He currently leads his own group ERIMAJ and has recently released his debut album, Conflict Of A Man.

NEXT COLLECTIVE

Trumpeter Christian Scott (born 1983) is a New Orleans-raised, Berklee-schooled, Grammy-nominated bandleader and composer whose impact on today’s scene has grown exponentially with each successive recording, including his fifth release: this year’s double-disc best-seller Christian aTunde Adjuah. Nephew of famed saxophonist and Big Chief, Donald Harrison, he is intensely proud of his heritage (as depicted by his choice to adorn [his latest album with] the Afro-Native American Culture of New Orleans ceremonial regalia) and shares this sentiment from the stage. Most recently, Christian was featured on the cover of JazzTimes magazine, along with many other major press acknowledgments.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE 2016 ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL LINE UP 

Friday, May 27

Main Stage:

7:00 pm              Next Collective                                                                                

9:00 pm                                JOI                                         

Saturday, May 28

Local Stage:       

12:30 pm                              Rialto Jazz for Kids All Stars

2:30 pm                                The Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO)  

4:30 pm                                Mabu’s Ark Band                            

6:30 pm                                Alex Lattimore                                                                 

International Stage:

1:30 pm                                Camila Meza     

3:30 pm                                TATRAN                                                              

5:30 pm                                Mette Henriette                                                             

7:30 pm                                Etienne Charles                               

Main Stage:

1:00 pm                                Chargaux

3:00 pm                                Tomeka Reid                                                     

5:00 pm                                Theo Croker      

7:00 pm                                Jamison Ross                    

9:00 pm                                Hypnotic Brass Ensemble                                            

                               

Sunday, May 29

Local Stage:

12:30 pm                              Band Room Nation                                         

2:30 pm                              Anonymous DaBand                                                      

4:30 pm                             Joe Alterman Trio                                                         
6:30 pm                                        Chandra Currelley 

International Stage:

1:30 pm                                TBD     

3:30 pm                                Tumi Mogorosi                                                              

5:30 pm                                Daby Toure                                                             

7:30 pm                                Eliane Elias

 Main Stage:

1:00 pm                                Navy Band Southeast: V.I.P. Protocol Combo

3:00 pm                                Eugenie Jones

5:00 pm                                The Headhunters    

7:00 pm                                Benny Golson               

9:00 pm                                Gregory Porter