Kamau Muata Adilifu

Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space 

Fri, May 27, 2016 7:30pm

This concert marks the first time in over thirty years that Kamau Muata Adilifu (aka Charles Sullivan) will perform as a bandleader.

It is fitting that this comeback takes place in one of the venues at Symphony Space because in 1965, while still a student at the Manhattan School of Music, Mr. Adilifu made his debut as a professional musician under the direction of Symphony Space Founding Artistic Director Isaiah Sheffer, in a theatrical production of Bertolt Brecht's "The Exception and The Rule".

Prophetically, perhaps, that production marked the beginning of a long career in which Mr. Adilifu moved back and forth between the world of Jazz and the world of Theater. A few years later, in 1968, Mr. Adilifu (then Sullivan) joined the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and one year later, he became the original trumpeter in the first edition of The Roy Haynes Hip Ensemble. In the following twenty years Mr. Adilifu went on to work with many of the towering figures in Jazz: Count Basie, Sy Oliver, Charles Mingus, Frank Foster, George Gruntz, Sonny Fortune, and McCoy Tyner, to name but a few.

Mr. Adilifu is also a composer and has recorded three albums of his own music, all of which were reviewed favorably in major jazz publications. Mr. Adilifu has also won writing grants from both NYSCA and the NEA. The first grant resulted in a piece for small orchestra entitled "Auto-Biographical Sketches" which was performed at the "Ensemble Studio Theatre" in 1974. The second grant led to the creation of a four part suite for big band entitled "African Images". This piece was first performed in 1978 by Mr. Adilifu's 17 piece ensemble "Black Legacy". In 1980, "African Images" was again presented, performed this time by "The Collective Black Artists Orchestra" under the direction of Mr. Adilifu, at Town Hall in NYC.

At the same time that he was busy working on the jazz scene, Mr. Adilifu also worked somewhat steadily on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. Some of the Broadway shows for which he was a member of the orchestra include: Over Here, Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death, The Wiz, Sophisticated Ladies, Anything Goes (with Patti Lupone), Guys & Dolls (w/Nathan Lane), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, At Liberty (w/Elaine Stritch), and lastly Gypsy (w/P. Lupone).
 

Starting in the mid-80's Mr. Adilifu began concentrating more and more of his time and energy to his work on Broadway, hence the long gap in his career as a bandleader. Now, retired from work in the theater, he looks forward to having more opportunity to play the music he most loves. The title of this concert "Live Jazz" is inspired by the signs one could regularly spot around NYC back in the 1950's and 60's. In those days, bars and coffeehouses, would often simply put out just such a sign, no artist names, no band description (trio, quartet), no nothin'. Just "Live Jazz". And, for devotees of Jazz, that was, more often than not, enough. If you took the chance (as this writer often did) to go in you might find a Jacky Byard or a Cecil Taylor or a Kenny Dorham playing to small but very appreciative audiences.

Of course there's a lot not to like about that setup but one advantage to it was the element of surprise. You walked in not knowing what you were going to hear and, in Jazz, surprise is almost always a good thing. Nowadays it would seem that presenters of jazz believe that to draw any audience at all the performance has to be advertised as a "tribute" to somebody; preferably Miles Davis or John Coltrane. The element of surprise is greatly diminished because you know going in what the program is going to be.

The Kamau Adilifu Quartet: Live Jazz! concert will be a tribute not to any one artist but rather to Jazz itself. To the spirit of Jazz. The music will be spontaneous, and swinging! It will feature songs from The American Songbook as well as songs written by well-known and less well-known jazz artists. So please join us.

Come on in. One night only at The Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Live Jazz!
 

Michael Cochrane - Piano
Eric Wheeler - Bass
Chris Beck - Drums