On Friday, February 25, in collaboration with Hamptons Jazz Fest Winter Series and in recognition of Black History Month, the Parrish presents a live, in-person concert with jazz virtuoso Greg Lewis, a veteran of the New York music scene regarded as a master of the Hammond B3 organ. Performing cuts from his first CD Organ Monk—a tribute to jazz legend Thelonious Monk—as well as other selections, Lewis’s trio features guitarist Ron Jackson and drummer Cindy Blackman, with special guest Jerry Weldon, the internationally renowned tenor saxophonist.
Born into a musical family, Lewis grew up listening to Thelonious Monk records from his late father’s collection. The jazz icon inspired Lewis’s recently released CD—possibly the first time interpretations of Monk’s work have been led by an organist. Through his mastery of the B3’s expansive capabilities, Lewis exploits the instrument’s vast potential for creating new sounds, breathing new life into Monk’s extensive songbook. His arrangements of Monk’s titles are consciously contemporary, respecting the composer’s melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic voice with interpretations that blur divisions between soloist and accompanist.
Tickets are $15 for Members, $20 for the public.
About the Musicians
Greg Lewis’s sensitive and soulful keyboard playing has made him a favorite among leading vocalists including blues queen Sweet Georgia Brown and jazz and soul songstress Lezlie Harrison—and earned him a featured role on saxophonist Sam Newsome’s Groove Project recording 24/7. With his mastery of the B3, Lewis has become one of New York’s first-call organists. He began piano studies at age 11 and was playing professionally in New York by the time he was a teenager. Subbing at a gig, he found himself at a Hammond B-3 which began his path to mastering the instrument with such focus that he considers himself to be an “organ monk.” It ultimately inspired the creation of the Organ Monk Trio, which has performed every week for the past five years at the Brooklyn club Night of the Cookers.
Jazz/rock drummer Cindy Blackman has recorded many jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Ron Carter, Sam Rivers, Cassandra Wilson, Angela Bofill, Lenny Kravitz, Joe Henderson, and many others. In 2010 she was toured with Carlos Santana, who proposed to her on stage immediately after her drum solo.
Since the age of 27, guitarist Ron Jackson has released nearly a dozen CDs, and has performed with musicians including Randy Weston, James Spaulding, Lonnie Smith, Benny Golson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ralph Peterson Jr., and others. He has toured and recorded widely as a member of many groups, and regularly played in New York jazz clubs including Birdland, Iridium Jazz Club, 55 Bar, and the Blue Note.
Veteran tenor sax player Jerry Weldon joined the legendary Lionel Hampton Orchestra in 1981 and has worked with dozens of jazz luminaries over the past three plus decades. In 1990, Weldon joined Harry Connick Jr.’s newly formed big band and appeared daily as part of the house band on HARRY—Connick’s daytime variety show which aired from 2016-2018. Weldon is a mainstage of the New York club scene and beyond, performing as both as a leader and a sideman
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