Family Weekend Concert: Duke Jazz Ensemble with guest artists Gregory Tardy, saxophone & Derrick Gardner, trumpet

Join the Duke Jazz Ensemble, John V. Brown, director, and Evan Roberson, associate director, as they welcome saxophonist Gregory Tardy and Derrick Gardner to the Baldwin stage for this special Family Weekend concert that kicks off a season celebrating John Brown's 20th year as Director of the Jazz Program at Duke.

$10 general admission/free for students. Tickets: https://tickets.duke.edu.

If you are unable to attend the concert in person, livestream it at
https://youtube.com/live/XxVzn0mPYrQ.

"Big sound, deep seated feel for the blues, and cerebral avante-garde chops," is how New York Magazine describes saxophonist, multi-reedist, and composer Gregory Tardy. Tardy is one of the most versatile jazz musicians of his generation, equally comfortable in a variety of musical and improvisational situations. In 1992, he started playing with legendary drummer Elvin Jones, and he recorded his first CD, "Crazy Love." Tardy has played with many prominent jazz artists including Wynton Marsalis, Jay McShann, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Steve Coleman, Betty Carter, Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Rashied Ali, Ellis Marsalis, Brian Lynch and John Patitucci, among others. His performances have taken him around the world, playing at all of the major jazz festivals and on some of the biggest stages in jazz. As a sideman, he has been featured on several Downbeat Albums of the Year and also several Grammy nominated recordings; including a Grammy winning CD with Brian Lynch in 2006. He also has recorded fourteen CDs under his own name featuring his unique compositions, blending his love of traditional jazz with a more modern seeking style. His latest project, "If Time Could Stand Still," was released in the fall of 2020 on WJ3 Records.

Jazz trumpeter Derrick Gardner is inspired by the finest hard-blowing funky bop bands of the 1960's. Gardner quickly made his mark when he arrived on the New York jazz scene in 1991. There he began an illustrious career that has taken him around the world performing internationally with the Count Basie Orchestra, (1991-present), Frank Foster's Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick Jr.'s Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Swiss tenor player Roman Schwaller's European Sextet. Over the last 29 years, he has worked with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Frank Foster, Jon Faddis, Nancy Wilson and Tony Bennett. He formed his own sextet, The Jazz Prophets, in 1991.