Half Note to host lessons in history of jazz this month
Veteran drummer Joe Chambers, a prolific jazz figure over the past four decades, will be at the Half Note Jazz Club in Athens for a week of shows beginning tonight. For the Athens shows, Chambers’s quartet includes saxophonist Gary Bartz, who gained international acclaim working with the late Miles Davis, Dwayne Burno on bass and Mikhail Tziganov on piano. Over the years, Chambers, who will be performing as part of a quartet, has collaborated with countless prominent jazz figures, among them Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Giuffre, Andrew Hill and, in the 1960s, was a key figure in the catalog of the historic jazz label Blue Note. Label mates there at the time included Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and Sam Rivers. In the ’70s, Chambers was a member of M’Boom, Max Roach’s percussion group. Around this time, he also worked with figures such as Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, Charles Mingus and Art Farmer. Chambers’s week-long series at the Athens venue, through next Thursday, will be followed by a further seven dates with the Andy Bey Quartet, an act fronted by an impressive vocalist who doubles on piano. Bey, who has drawn greater attention in more recent years to enjoy a cult international following, has worked as the singer of choice for major jazz figures such as Roach, Duke Pearson and Bartz. Together they recorded songs of sociopolitical and spiritual context during the late ’60s and early ’70s. Bey’s quartet includes Paul Meyers on guitar, Ameen Saleem on bass and Jeremy Clemons on drums. Half Note Jazz Club, 17 Trivonianou, Mets. For reservations call 210.921.3310.
