BRATTLEBORO — The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes trumpeter Sean Jones to the Cotton Mill Hill venue on Saturday, May 16, with his touring quartet including Seth Finch (piano), Aiden Taylor (acoustic bass), and Koleby Royston (drums).
Jones’ awards and accolades from the jazz media include Trumpeter of the Year (Jazz Journalists Association), Best New Artist, (JazzTimes), Rising Star Winner (four times in DownBeat Magazine). He has garnered three Grammys for his sideman work with Dianne Reeves, Nancy Wilson, and Gerald Wilson. He was chosen by Wynton Marsalis to be the lead trumpeter of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra from 2004-2010. Jones has been the head of the Jazz Studies program at Peabody Conservatory since 2018. He and his wife, Brinai Ali are co-founding directors of the Baltimore Jazz Collective.
Jones has released eight recordings as a leader, mostly with his steady band including Orrin Evans on piano, Luques Curtis on bass and Obed Calvaire on drums. For live touring he prefers to work in the mold of the late drummer, Art Blakey, using the opportunity to feature up-and-coming musicians in his groups.
For the May 16 concert at VJC, Jones will be in the company of three young performers he has personally trained: The group’s pianist, Seth Finch, is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He recently graduated from the Juilliard School. Bassist Aiden Taylor recently graduated from Peabody Conservatory with degrees in Jazz Bass Performance and Recording Arts and Sound Engineering. He is a five-time Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award winner, and a YoungArts Winner, was the 2020 Young Artist of the Year for the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook, and was the bassist for the 2020 Jazz Band of America. Drummer Koleby Royston, also a recent graduate of Peabody Conservatory, is the son of two high-level jazz artists, pianist Shamie Royston (Fuller) and drummer Rudy Roytson, and has performed at the Kennedy Center.
The VJC expressed gratitude for the sponsorship of this concert by two teams of supporters who have been staunch members of the Vermont Jazz Center for many years. David Salzberg and Elissa Barr are jazz lovers from New Hampshire who are constantly pursuing the best jazz in New England. Dave Ellis and Ann Greenawalt are musicians who own and run a music store and instrument rental company, Ellis Music in Royalton. Ellis is a jazz trumpeter who is a member of the Vermont Jazz Ensemble and Greenawalt performs on English Horn with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Admission is $25+ general admission (sliding scale). Tickets can be reserved online at www.vtjazz.org, or by phone 802 254 9088 x1.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.reformer.com ’
