About this Artist
“These are musicians with the cojones to play as part of an ensemble, where the whole is more important than the parts.” - SEATTLEPI.COM
The MACK AVENUE SUPER BAND has become synonymous with stellar line-ups consisting of established and up and coming jazz artists with pronounced identities and original grooves. This year’s group presented exclusively for the 2015-2016 season and featuring Gary Burton and Christian McBride as musical directors, tops them all.
Seven-time GRAMMY® Award winning vibraphonist and jazz legend GARY BURTONmade his first recordings at age seventeen, and has toured and recorded with a who’s who of famous jazz masters including Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, and Stan Getz to name a few. The Washington Post stated, “[Burton] …knows a thing or two about what makes a jazz collaboration truly special.”
Saxophonist TIA FULLER, is at home at all points of the music spectrum – from her show-stopping solos as a member of superstar Beyoncé’s all-female band, to her scintillatingly swinging jazz dates and recordings. For this season’s Super Band, Fuller brings her fire and punch, rhythmic freedom and drive, and her youthful twisting of genres she’s gained from a life in both top-of-the-charts pop and jazz.
SEAN JONES plays the trumpet with intense immediacy and urgency, hewing to the jazz tradition, but moving the music forward at the same time. After stepping down from his longtime position as Lead Trumpeter of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and then touring with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock’sTribute To Miles, Sean has established himself as a formidable leader through his recordings and live performances.
The foundation of the Super Band is musical director and bassist CHRISTIAN McBRIDE with his compatriots, pianist CHRISTIAN SANDS and drummer CARL ALLEN. Both of these younger emerging artists have been performing in McBride’s Trio for three years, honing their conception to a fine point of expressive depth and nuance through select performances around the world. “The real core,” Christian says of this rhythm section, “is hardcore swingin,’ blues and the American songbook. Part of that is because Christian [Sands] is so well-rounded and willing to go to so many places, that I can’t help but want to swing hard with him and Ulysses.”