JD ALLEN

PRESS KIT

JD ALLEN

tenor saxophonist visionfugitive@yahoo.com

www.myspace.com/jdallen11

Publicity:

Kim Smith Public Relations 718 858 2557

ksmithpr@earthlink.net

JD ALLEN B I O

Hailed by the New York Times as "a tenor saxophonist with an enigmatic, elegant and

hard-driving style," JD Allen is a bright rising light on today’s international jazz scene.

His unique and compelling voice on the instrument – the result of a patient and

painstaking confrontation with the fundamentals of the art - has recently earned Allen a

blaze of critical attention signaling his ascension to the upper ranks of the contemporary

jazz world.

Originally from Detroit, Allen’s apprenticeship, anchored by his lengthy tenure with

Betty Carter, occurred largely in New York, where he worked with legends Lester Bowie,

George Cables, Ron Carter, Louis Hayes, Frank Foster Big Band, Winard Harper, Butch

Morris, David Murray, Wallace Roney. He added his voice to that of his contemporaries

as well; Cindy Blackman, Orrin Evans, Meshell Ndegeocello, Dave Douglas, Jeremy

Pelt, Gerald Cleaver and Nigel Kennedy continue to call upon him to augment their

musical visions.

JD's debut album, In Search Of... (Red Records, 1999), won him the Best New Artist

award in Italy, and reviewers praised him for his compositions and conceptual boldness.

His second release, Pharoah’s Children (Criss Cross, 2002), again won him accolades

for its thoughtfulness, maturity, and adventurousness. One of Jazziz Magazine's Critics

Picks Top 10 Albums of the Year, the album was widely praised in the U.S. and Europe.

In 2008 Allen began an association with Sunnyside Records, which released I AM – I

AM featuring Gregg August (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) and garnered rave reviews

from the New York Times (Ben Ratliff’s Playlist), Time Out NY (music cover), All About

Jazz, Jazzman, Jazz Wise and Downbeat. That year Allen was awarded Rising Star Tenor

Saxophone in the 56th Annual Downbeat Critics Poll and appeared on NPR's Jazz

Perspectives, WNYC's Soundcheck and WKCR's Musician's Show.

In 2009, Allen released his follow-up Sunnyside recording, “Shine!” which seems to

have detonated the trail of musical gunpowder he had long been putting down. Word-of-

mouth praise for the album led Lorraine Gordon, owner of the famed and historic Village

Vanguard to invite him and his trio for a weeklong stint. The engagement was met with

relentless coverage from the cultural press: Time Out NY selected his engagement as its

top musical attraction for that week; he appeared on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show; his

work was again discussed by Ben Ratliff on jazz journalist Josh Jackson’s radio show;

and the New York Times reviewed his residency, commending Allen for his trio’s

“fearless approach to a formidable tradition.”

J D A l l e n DISCOGRAPHY

RECORDINGS JD Allen Trio, VICTORY! Sunnyside Records, 2011

Jeremy Pelt, The Incredible Mr. Pelt 2011

Rufus Reed, TBD 2011

JD Allen Trio, SHINE! Sunnyside Records, 6/09

JD Allen Trio, I AM – I AM Sunnyside Records, 4/08

Jeremy Pelt, November Max Jazz, July 2008

Gerald Cleaver, Detroit Fresh Sound Records, 2007

Nigel Kennedy Blue Note Sessions Blue Note/EMI, 2006

Orrin Evans, Easy Now Criss Cross, 2005

Lucien Ban, The TUBA Project CIMP, 2005

Cindy Blackman, Music For The New Millenium Sacred Sound Records, 2005

Eric Revis, Tales of A Stuttering Mime 11:11 Records, 2004

Red Records All-Stars, Red Stars Red, 2003

Russell Gunn, Blue On The DL Savant, 2002

JD Allen Quintet, Pharoah’s Children Criss Cross, 2001

Orrin Evans, “THE BAND” Live @ Widener University Imani, 2001

Cindy Blackman, Someday High Note, 2001

Fabio Morgera, Colors Red, 2000

Duane Eubanks, Second Take TCB Records, 1998

Elisabeth Kontomanou, Embrace Steeplechase, 1998

Fabio Morgera, Slick Red, 1998

Cindy Blackman, Works on Canvas High Note, 1999

Winard Harper Quintet, Trap Dancer Muse, 1998

JD Allen Quintet, In Search Of… Red, 1996

Winard Harper Sextet, Winard Muse, 1996

EDUCATION Betty Carter’s JAZZ AHEAD Program, New York, NY, 1991

University of Michigan Music Program, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1991

Hampton University, Music Education Major, Hampton, Virginia, 1991

Northwestern High School, Detroit Michigan, 1987-1991

*Toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East

SELECTED PRESS

"...a tenor titan..."

JAZZTIMES

"...a tenor saxophonist with an enigmatic, elegant and hard-driving style..."

BEN RATLIFF, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"...a muscular and harmonically adventurous tenor saxophonist..."

NATE CHINEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"...a tenor saxophonist of enviable heft..."

THE VILLAGE VOICE

"...a superior tenorist..."

K. LEANDER WILLIAMS, TIME OUT NEW YORK

"...deep-thinking, very serious minded..."

JAZZWISE

LIVE LINKS FROM TV & NPR

JD Allen on WNBC’S GOOD DAY NEW YORK, JUNE 13, 2010 http://www.nbcnewyork.com/aroundtown/events/Summerstage_Jam_in_Studio_7E__New_York.html

JDA3 :: NPR "LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD" (Live audio/video broadcast from Wed, 8/12, 9pm set) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111774598

BEN RATLIFF & JOSH JACKSON Listening Session for "SHINE!" on WBGO’s The Checkout http://www.wbgo.org/thecheckout/?p=990

JDA3 :: Live on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show (8/12/09) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nzy9jfiQPI

2009 YEAR-END HONORS

JD Allen, tenor / Gregg August, bass / Rudy Royston, drums

*Photo courtesy of John Rogers for WBGO

SHINE! Critics Pics Top 50 Albums of 2009

http://jazztimes.com/articles/25461-critics-picks-top-50-new-albums-and-top-10-historical-

releases

BEST MUSIC OF 2009: ‘Take Five’s’ TOP 10

JAZZ RECORDS OF 2009! Artist: J.D. Allen Trio | Album: Shine! | Song: Marco

Polo http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121096843

Tenor saxophonist JD Allen has a concept, but little of the usual fuss accompanying the "conceptual." He challenges his trio to make simple tunes come alive quickly; his compositions

sound as if he's plucked the choicest bits of classic period John Coltrane, then scrambled and reconstituted them as dense, two- to five-minute snack foods. Catchy, even hummable, Allen's

nuggets also feel harmonically open, and with that great liberty comes great responsibility for the

rhythm section. Happily, Gregg August (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) are a perfect match. Their hailstorms of sound (with hurricane eyes for the ballads) keenly envelop rather than drown

out their leader's saxophone tessellations. It makes for an addictive brew, as administered in potent, bite-sized doses. - by Patrick Jarenwattananon

2009: THE YEAR OF LIVING IMPROVISATIONALLY BY JOSH JACKSON (#4)

Artist: JD Allen Trio | Album: Shine! | Song: Sonhouse

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121271694

In the crowded field of tenor saxophonists in jazz, thirtysomething JD Allen has been,

remarkably, hiding in plain sight. On Shine, his second straight trio recording, Allen and company hit their stride. They make sax/bass/drum combinations resonate. Each composition says what

needs to be said, and finishes without proselytizing. Rudy Royston and Gregg August play an urban-sophisticate style of drum and bass, leaving plenty of room for Allen to swoop, slash and

ring an emphatic affirmative.

JAZZ POLL WINNERS: TOP ALBUMS OF THE

YEAR (SHINE! #9) http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/12/30/village-voice-jazz-poll-winners-

announced

Top Jazz Albums for 2009: JD ALLEN “Shine!’’ by Steve Greenlee

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/12/20/steve_greenlees_top_jazz_albums_for_20

09/

The tenor saxophonist’s sensibility comes out of bop’s heyday, but his pianoless trio’s approach

feels thoroughly fresh, and he emphasizes economy; songs run two to five minutes, a blink of an

eye in jazz these days.

The Best Jazz Recordings of 2009 by John

Chacona

http://www.johnchacona.com/?p=358

J.D. Allen Trio Shine! (Sunnyside) In a good year for tenor sax-bass-drums trios, the young Detroiter’s effort – and terrific band –

commanded attention

Lament For A Straight Line

JIM MACNIE’S 10 BEST CD’S OF 2009 http://lamentforastraightline.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/10-best-jazz-cds-of-2009/

There were several terrific tenor trio discs this year (don’t miss Marcus Strickland’s Idiosyncrasies, and Fly’s Sky & Country) but Allen’s boasted the kind of aggression didn’t hide the lyricism he’s been nurturing for a decade. The concept – finding profundity in pith – helped distinguish the sometimes sweet, sometimes roiling music as well. Almost all these tunes are fit

for whistling.

Jazzhouse Diaries DAVID ADLER’S BEST OF 2009 LIST

http://www.jazzhouse.org/diary/2009/12/david-r-adler-top-25-of-2009-plus/

BILL MILKOWSI’S TOP 100 FOR 2009 http://www.jazzhouse.org/diary/2009/12/bill-milkowskis-top-100-30-for-2009/

BEST MUSIC OF 2009 ‘Take Five’s’ TOP 10 JAZZ RECORDS OF

2009!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121096843

Take Five's Top 10 Jazz Records Of 2009

JD Allen Trio

Artist: J.D. Allen Trio Album: Shine!

Song: Marco Polo

Tenor saxophonist JD Allen has a concept, but little of the usual fuss accompanying the "conceptual." He challenges his trio to make simple tunes

come alive quickly; his compositions sound as if he's plucked the choicest

bits of classic period John Coltrane, then scrambled and reconstituted them as dense, two- to five-minute snack foods. Catchy, even hummable, Allen's

nuggets also feel harmonically open, and with that great liberty comes great

responsibility for the rhythm section. Happily, Gregg August (bass) and

Rudy Royston (drums) are a perfect match. Their hailstorms of sound (with

hurricane eyes for the ballads) keenly envelop rather than drown out their

leader's saxophone tessellations. It makes for an addictive brew, as

administered in potent, bite-sized doses.

--Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music's A Blog Supreme

.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575340862518421190.html?KEYW

ORDS=WILL+FRIEDWALD

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

NY CULTURE

JULY 2, 2010

Reviving Sounds and Legends

By WILL FRIEDWALD

J.D. Allen Quartet

Village Vanguard 178 Seventh Avenue South, (212) 255-4037 Through Sunday

This energetic young tenor saxophonist-composer is doing for free jazz what the Marsalis brothers did for hard bop 20 years ago. That is, he's helping us fall in love with a venerable form all over again.

Frank Stewart

Saxophonist J.D. Allen brings his distinctive free-jazz style to the Village Vanguard.

Mr. Allen's music takes us back to the birth of the avant-garde (think Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry), a driving, melodic sound that differs from the best be-bop primarily in theory; the mere fact that you have to listen hard to decide whether or nor they're playing off conventional chord changes tells you all you need to know. The addition of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt (who recalls Freddie Hubbard in his sessions with Eric Dolphy) to bassist Gregg August and drummer Rodney Green makes the group's music even more accessible.

I thought about the Marsalises (who were recently named collectively as Jazz Masters, in a surprising move by the NEA) during Mr. Allen's Tuesday-night show when he opened with a leaf from Wynton's book: He marched around the club and then onto the stage already playing his opening number, "The North Star"—or rather an intro to it that sounded like the main theme of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." This piece of uptown showmanship in the venerable Vanguard set the tone for the set. As noted, Mr. Allen improvises primarily off the melodic line, like the post-Ornette "free" players, rather than the harmonic progressions, like the be-boppers. But this shouldn't lead you to expect a set of ear-splitting screeching; every note that Messrs. Allen and Pelt play is in tune, and every rhythm not only perfectly metrical but swinging.

Mr. Allen also followed an example set by Miles Davis (not to mention that overlooked avant-gardist, Louis Prima) in that the whole set went by without an interruption of any kind. Sometimes he transitioned subtly from one tune to another by means of an arco bass solo from Mr. August; at other points he simply stopped playing one composition and started playing the next one without so much as a fermata between them.

Most of the numbers he called on in the opening set on Tuesday came from his two recent trio albums, "I Am, I Am" (2008) and "Shine" (2009); At the Vanguard, the addition of Mr. Pelt gave Mr. Allen's music a boost that made the live show more exciting than the CDs. When they played together, it signaled that we were at the heads of the various tunes—a way of helping the crowd find its way in the music—and their interplay was consistently brilliant. (The two also serve as the front line on Mr. Pelt's album "November," but that also doesn't capture their open-ended, piano-less interplay from the Vanguard quartet.)

Like a lot of the music in the Coleman-Coltrane era, there weren't any traditional ballads (except for a surprising and welcome detour through "Everything Happens to Me"); in keeping with that era, Mr. Allen favored dirges and spirituals over love songs. Mr. Allen's "Son House," a dedication to the great Mississippi blues giant, was framed by his more explicitly spiritual "The Cross & the Crescent Sickle." He does play something like the blues, though not the rigidly-defined 12-bar, 1-4-5 chord pattern kind. But even when he essayed "Everything Happens to Me" and "When You're Smiling," he concentrated on playing with the tune rather than running the cycle of chords, as the boppers do.

Mr. Allen is the friendliest of free-jazzers. His quartet is a marvelous reminder that there's more to jazz than the well-mined blues and "I Got Rhythm" changes.

Kim Smith public relations 718 858 2557 ksmithpr@earthlink.net

MUSIC REVIEW | J. D. ALLEN TRIO

Sometimes Saxophone Is the Name of the Game By NATE CHINEN Published: August 12, 2009

J. D. Allen Trio: Mr. Allen’s tenor sax is the anchor for the group, at the Village Vanguard this week.

The J. D. Allen Trio takes a fearless approach to a formidable

tradition. It’s a tenor saxophone trio, with bass and drums but no

piano or guitar, which means that the burden of exposition falls

squarely on the shoulders of its namesake bandleader. That should be

challenge enough, but the format also amounts to a confrontation

with history: it has been a test of mettle for tenor saxophonists since

the 1950s, starting with Sonny Rollins and continuing on through

countless inheritors.

This week the J. D. Allen Trio is making its inaugural appearance at

the Village Vanguard, which is where Mr. Rollins effectively set the

bar. And judging by Tuesday night’s first set Mr. Allen has found a

way to address that legacy in his own voice, and on his own terms.

Together with the bassist Gregg August and the drummer Rudy

Royston he fashioned a performance that was expressive, dynamic

and forceful, marked by intellectual rigor as well as steady

composure.

His group has a pair of worthwhile recent releases on Sunnyside — “I

Am I Am” and “Shine!” — that make good use of compact themes and

rough-and-tumble interplay. But this set, drawing from both albums,

felt more immediate than either of them. Opening with an imploring

tune called “Id,” the group cycled through about a dozen others before

landing right back where it started. So there was rough symmetry at

work here, and some faint sense of a larger design.

Mr. Allen amplified that feeling by tracing an uninterrupted path

through the set, deftly linking one song to the next. He sometimes

worked pre-emptively, moving on before a theme had run its full

course. And the flicker of impatience in that gesture was productive:

it created an irresistible momentum, keeping the room in a state of

suspense.

The tunes themselves, however terse, were often just as incident

packed. On “The North Star” Mr. Allen engaged in a seesawing

tension with Mr. Royston, who filled every pocket of space, changing

up his patterns with compulsive intensity. “Titus” was another

odyssey, its tempo slackening and constricting as if in response to

hilly terrain. “Shine!” began as a flowing ballad and gradually

succumbed to a polyrhythmic roil.

Mr. Allen held his ground through every shift, playing in a sinewy

tone and with supple but firm control. At times he evoked the heroic

ideal of John Coltrane, whose pianoless 1961 recording of “Chasin’ the

Trane,” from another Vanguard engagement, seems especially

meaningful to him. But Mr. Allen also gave in to tender, unadorned

melody on a pair of songbook standards, “The Nearness of You” and

“Where Are You?” Each was a clearing in the woods, restorative and

calm, and each lasted just barely long enough.

The J. D. Allen Trio appears through Sunday at the Village

Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village,

(212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com.

KIM SMITH Public Relations 718 858 2557 ksmithpr@earthlink.net

The Week Ahead: Aug. 9-15 By THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: August 5, 2009

Pop

Ben Ratliff

There’s a productive friction and balance in the tenor saxophonist J. D.

ALLEN’s music. It’s both thought through and impulsive. He sounds as if he’s

working out a personal answer to an old problem, which is to find a passage

between John Coltrane — especially the late Coltrane of “Interstellar Space,”

tracing huge scale patterns over gestural rhythm — and Sonny Rollins’ melodic

improvisation. It also sounds as if he’s trying to go deep in short songs. On

“Shine!” (Sunnyside), his new album, most tracks are four minutes or less. The

album, with the bassist Gregg August and the drummer Rudy Royston, stretches

out small but powerful original melodies. It’s one of the better jazz records of the

year so far, and it will be good to see Mr. Allen, 36, at the Village Vanguard,

where he will have his first week with that same group. Tuesday through Sunday

at 9 and 11 p.m., with a third set on Saturday at 12:30, 178 Seventh Avenue

South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; $30,

includes admission and minimum through Thursday, $35 on Friday, Saturday

and Sunday.

Music Top live show

JD Allen Trio Village Vanguard; Tue 11–Aug 16

Photograph: Johnny Miller

When John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, symbiotic tenor-sax rivals during the late ’50s and early ’60s,

issued their respective live recordings from the Village Vanguard, they left monuments that aspiring

players have had to contend with ever since. Rollins appeared there in a trio with just bass and drums; now

JD Allen will follow that daunting example in his own auspicious Vanguard debut.

A 36-year-old Detroit native and a New Yorker since 1993, Allen isn’t one to be paralyzed by precedent.

He learned the ropes with Betty Carter, Frank Foster and Wallace Roney, and he’s blossomed into one of

the more sure-footed saxophonists of his peer group. From the start, with In Search Of… (1999) and

Pharoah’s Children (2002), he has prioritized original material, a practice he continues on his two

Sunnyside trio discs, I Am I Am and the new Shine! The tracks on these recordings average a very un-

Coltraneish three to four minutes, yet they convey a sense of thorough, fearless exploration and album-

spanning narrative.

The tenor-trio field has grown more crowded of late (Donny McCaslin’s Recommended Tools, Jerome

Sabbagh’s One Two Three, Marcus Strickland’s Idiosyncrasies). Yet Allen’s group has arrived at its own

sound, marked by volcanic out-of-tempo musings, darting swing permutations and tight, cyclical harmonic

patterns. Joining Allen will be Gregg August, a classically trained bassist and an ambitious jazz composer

in his own right, and Rudy Royston, a recent arrival from Denver, who has backed the likes of Bill Frisell

and Ron Miles.—David R. Adler

By BEN RATLIFF / Published: April 13, 2008

From Algiers to New York, New Riffs on the Tried and True

Frank Stewart

“I Am I Am” (Sunnyside), the new trio album by the youngish tenor saxophonist J. D. Allen, is redolent of serious jazz from the mid-1960s. But it’s not sentimental or glib; it’s dry, focused and compressed. More than half its tracks are under four minutes, and if you’ve listened to much serious jazz lately, that alone is a reason to be curious. In his mid-30s, Mr. Allen sounds as if he’s been through jazz pedagogy, but he’s not of it; the record is alive with the rhythmic slang and vernacular of the bandstand. (Gregg August is the bassist and Rudy Royston is the drummer.) Some of these tunes are based on small motifs, expanded in the style of Sonny Rollins; others are harmonic-motion exercises, expanded in the style of John Coltrane. Balanced somewhere between études and collective workouts, all the tracks contain nuggets of song, and Mr. Allen’s even, balanced sound works through them with

remarkable care, never revealing too much or stiffing you on a good melody.

JD Allen: Notes of Change

JD Allen - Published: July 15, 2008

By Franz A. Matzner

Volant solos, melodic tapestries, mournful cadences,

orphic rhythms. JD Allen's extraordinary I AM-I AM

(Sunnyside, 2008) sculpts an aural monument to

transformation, a musical testament to the power of

the mind to overcome itself through introspective

endeavor. Each of its ten compositions roils with the

intensity and exposition of a soul wrestling with its

two halves, seeking resolution and enveloping the

listener in an experience composed equally of

musical mastery, intellect, and spiritual renewal.

More than a culmination of studies, or solidifying of

artistic maturity, I AM-I AM resonates with the

clarity of an artist who has reached a clear turning

point. It is no wonder that Allen's latest work has

received a flood of critical attention. Far from new

to the jazz world, Detroit native Allen has been a

stalwart of the New York scene for more than a

decade, lending his astute playing and luxuriant tone

control to a string of headline jazz names, from Betty Carter to Cindy Blackman. Despite

this success, however, Allen found himself struggling with dark times—both musically

and personally. At one point, Allen, living homeless in New York, struggled to stay

afloat. By faith, perseverance, and profound dedication to his art, Allen charted a way

through and the result reverberates clearly throughout his music.

Allen's story of personal revival and optimism is shared below in the most powerful way

possible: his own words.

All About Jazz: You grew up in Detroit in the eighties, correct?

JD Allen: That's right. I was actually born in the part that is usually called 'blackbottom.'

On the East Side of Detroit—where most of the blacks from Mississippi migrated when

they came up North to find work. My grandfather's family came there. I grew up there.

AAJ: What was Detroit like at that time?

JDA: Whoo! Wow, man. You gotta realize that I came up at an age where I saw the

residue of the 1967 riots. So I came up thinking that burnt out, abandoned buildings were

a natural thing that occurred in everyone's neighborhood in America. When I got older I

realized what had happened. A lot of abandoned buildings, a lot of vacant lots. Cool

people. Now, looking back, it was a town that was still trying to really recover. When I

got older I realized it was trying to recover from the 1967 riots, that Detroit had changed.

Most of the money had left Detroit.

AAJ: Did that time period, that time of transition, influence your early development?

JDA: Well, I knew then that I wanted to get the hell out of there! [Laughs.] I was talking

to my sister a few days ago—I have two other younger sisters—and we used to look at

pictures of New York in books and my one sister said, “I'm going there 'cause I'm getting

out of here” and my other sister said, “I'm going there 'cause I'm getting out of here,” and

I remember at 19 thinking “I'm going to New York because I like the way the Empire

States Building looks.” So I had plans back then. I had to get out of there. Not because

the people were bad. I don't want to say it was a city of broken dreams, but it was hard to

see how you could become something great. Everyone either did something that wasn't

cool, or worked for Chrysler.

AAJ: That said, Detroit does have a strong musical character.

How did that influence you?

JDA: I realized at an early age, I would say around nine, that my

mother had had prospects of becoming a professional singer

before she met my father. There were some rumors that she was

going to sign with Motown. So [after] I was born—I was the

oldest—and dad was out of the picture by then, so she had to

work. I think she kind of lived through me and my sister. We would sing these old

Motown tunes in three part harmony. I realized there was definitely an R&B tradition at

the time, that came before me, and I was learning that through my mom. But I couldn't

sing! So I picked up an instrument at nine years old and messed around with it until the

age of, oh, I guess I got serious about it at 15. I ran into guys like James Carter, and Ali

Jackson, and I said “whoa!” this is a whole other side of music going on here. My family

members called it progressive music. We didn't call it jazz; we called it progressive

music.

The music, man, it was like there was no genre. I would go to a jam session in Detroit at

15 years old and see a cat stand on stage playing like Albert Ayler, and then turn around

and play like Dexter Gordon, and then Charlie Parker, and then Junior Walker. It was like

all the styles were one. I thought that was jazz until I got to NY. Then I noticed there

were more cliques going on. In Detroit, everybody did everything. R&B. You did it all. If

you were sincere about it, people dug it. That was jazz for me.

AAJ: That sounds like something that has carried through to your vision of jazz now.

JDA: I'd like to believe that. It's about the intent. The guys I came up with in the trade

really appreciated intent. You can tell if someone is sincere about what they are playing,

and then it's cool. They're telling their story. That is how it was for me. I was never

around guys who were like, “who could play the fastest, who knows the heads to all the

bebop tunes.” If a cat could tell his story, we were appreciative of that. It was an outlet

against that backdrop of fucked up, burnt out buildings.

AAJ: If Detroit were a piece of music, what would it be?

JDA: You know what it would be? “What's Going On?” by Marvin Gaye. That is

Detroit! I'm tellin' ya, that record right there is the soundtrack of Detroit. You get a

chance to go through Detroit, put that on. He nailed it.

Detroit is a great town, man. I'm really not trying to dog it. The people are beautiful. It

still has a lot of southern qualities about it... as long as you respect the other man, he

treats you like a brother. The people still get dressed up on Sunday like you would never

believe. I do love Detroit.

AAJ: You got started playing professionally by 17, 18 years old. And since then you've

spent a long time playing as a sideman in a lot of amazing bands. But recently the tide

seems to have turned, with a lot of attention on your trio and yourself as a leader. What

accounts for that surge in your career?

JDA: When I took matters into my own hands. Meaning, that I decided to really put into

the forefront some of the ideas that I had to play. After being with different people all

those years—it was a university for me—it was time to make my own statement. It felt

right. I felt mature enough to do it: personally, spiritually, and as far as musically on the

horn, I felt confident to my self out there. It's like in the Bible “When I was a child, I

spoke like a child, understood like a child, and thought like a child. But now that I am a

man, I put childish things away.” That's a model for me now.

AAJ: I understand that during those early years, though, you

went through some rough spots, musically and personally. What

do you think was the lowest point, where you thought, “Man, I'm

in trouble.” And how did you turn the corner to get out?

JDA: The lowest point. Man, my whole twenties. [Laughs.] But I

think everybody says that. Everyone is dancing in the dark in

their twenties.

I'm thirty-five now. Thirty-one, thirty-two was my low point. That is when I said “Wow,

wait a minute.” I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Not to judge them, but I

couldn't take care of business. I was doing unmusical things that were affecting my

music—and personal life. Man, to be honest with you, the last resort for me was—I had

left NY so many times in my twenties—I decided OK look, I'm going to be in New York,

I'm gonna be homeless, but I'm gonna be in New York and still gonna try and achieve

what I want to achieve.

At one point I really was homeless. I still practiced everyday, but I was homeless. I dealt

with that. I'm grateful for the experience. Just being out there like that, I pulled myself

together. I started praying and going to church, reading the Bible; and telling myself

positive things to change around my thinking.

That's the difference now. Whenever a negative thought comes, I fight back with

something positive. And it seems to work. It really changed me. I've immersed myself in

positivity instead of negativity. That can mean drinking, or doing these things that so-

called musicians do, which actually has nothing to do with music. Trying to be cool,

getting into the “in crowd.” It was a big mistake, but I pulled through. And I think I came

out of it with a few stories to tell that I am anxious to record.

AAJ: Was there anything—or anyone—that gave you the sign that you needed to make

this turn?

JDA: It was either lock myself up in Bellevue or... (Long pause.) Man, I really got low. I

didn't see...any light. I think intelligent people are capable of change. If you are a smart

person you can change and I like to think that I am a smart person. [Laughs.] I said, “I

may be low, but I'm not dumb.” My father told me, if you can read, you can do anything.

That's the best advice he ever gave me. Man, I read up on positivity. In the Bible.

Immersing myself in the other side of life. That really, really made a difference.

At one point, I was selling scarves on the street. On 32nd Street. And I was actually

becoming a business man. I was a business man in training. And I said, “Wait a minute,

I'm up there selling these scarves, making money, but I could be hustling my own music.

The same intensity that I'm out here hustling on the street, I could have the same

mentality towards my music, getting it heard, being a leader.”

That [whole] experience woke me up to life.

AAJ: I want to turn to your most recent album, I AM-I AM, which seems to express some

of that transition. You chose a trio format-with no piano. As a leader and a player, what

do you gain from that choice?

JDA: Trio for me has always been an urban sound. It's very urban to me. If you go into

an urban neighborhood—I think almost any urban neighborhood in America and I can bet

you in Europe as well—when you see a young cat, a young brother, and he's blasting that

music, the one thing you always here is that damn bass and drums. [Chuckles.] All the

time! I feel that thing also. Something about the bass and drums, those beats, it sounds

more African to me. More about rhythm. The trio format in jazz lets me be closer to

rhythm and change on the fly. For some reason whenever you have a piano player, the

minute he hits that chord it is dated. It sounds like you've heard it before. It sounds like

Herbie, or bebop. But when you don't hear those chords, especially on the piano, you're

able to change and play all types of genres and that is closer to the way I grew up playing.

I'm more comfortable with the trio.

AAJ: You've got a tight relationship with your trio mates. Not

getting into the technical aspects—describing it to non-

musicians—what do you like about their playing?

JDA: I like the fact that we communicate. Meaning, it feels like

to me that it's not a guy trying to play a great solo or tear the

house down. It's three individuals having a conversation. It's a

three way conversation. I inject an idea and Rudy [Royston], the

drummer—answers me. And Gregg [August] puts his idea out and we answer him. It's a

three ring circus. Really it is. That's how we are. We're working on new music where we

can express that even more through group improvisations. You can do that with a trio. I

can do that with these guys. I am very fond of them. Man, they'll play for me if it's a five

dollar gig, or a five thousand dollar gig. It don't matter to them. I'm very blessed to have

met these guys.

AAJ: The album has a real thematic consistency to it. Not necessarily musically, like a

suite, but a thread that ties the ten pieces together.

JDA: You are right.... Recently, I've been trying to edit the tunes to tell one story. It's

hard to explain! It's better if I talk [through] the record.

”I AM-I AM” is what Moses asked God, “What do I tell your people?” That's 3.14 I

believe. And God says, “I am what I am.” That is the first tune. The second is “North

Star” the brightest star in the sky. Some identify that with God as well. “Hajile” is Elijah

backwards. Elijah ascended into the heavens and is supposed to come back. If you take

the first tune and apply it [to the album], you can say “I am the North Star, I am Elijah, I

am Titus,” etc. Titus was the only gentile in the bible to have his own book. Titles are

very important to me.

AAJ: They are very provocative philosophically and religiously. It is clear from what

you have already said that this is a deliberate choice to guide the listener with the titles,

whereas for many the titles sometimes seem irrelevant.

JDA: I know one cat who came up with the title “Milk and Cookies.” I kid you not.

AAJ: The titles also identify many figures of leadership and strength. “Titus,” also a

Roman emperor. “Othello,” obviously a figure of strength and suffering. “Ezekiel,” who

is important to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

JDA: If you wait, actually, after the tenth track—after “Pagan,” there is a ghost tune

titled “John Brown.”

AAJ: As a package, I AM-I AM opens with a theme very reminiscent of Coltrane's later

work. Coltrane's musical journey really paralleled his spiritual journey. Is there a

similarity in this album in how it reflects the musical and spiritual journey you have gone

through?

JDA: I think his journey and life have influenced a

lot of people and I won't lie. He has definitely been

an inspiration to me. But his spiritual journey is

actually nothing new at all. Bach had a spiritual

journey. Just listen to Bach. The cello suites, or any

of the arias. It's something more than notes there.

Beethoven had a spiritual journey. The great

composers and musicians—in Africa, in India—we

all have a spiritual journey. It's our job to impart

some kind of spirit to people. Now, whether that it is

good or bad...?

I recognize that I have a place in life to help

somebody. Even giving this interview might help

someone. Someone might read it that is going

through something, and I hope it can give them

inspiration just like reading about Coltrane's drug

addiction helped me make it out of some situations.

AAJ: Moving outside of the album and music specifically, you mentioned already

Detroit going through a transition period. “Change” is a powerful word of the moment

right now. What does change mean to you?

JDA: Right now, in the political context, I think it's a moment where black Americans,

especially black American men, can finally say, “I have no excuse for not becoming the

best that I can be.” I feel we are putting to rest the blame—and rightfully so sometimes—

but the blame of saying I can't do it because the man got me down. I am just so proud of

Barak Obama and what he is doing. He is an example of how to [succeed] in the world in

a way that includes everyone.

It's amazing what is happening. It's hard to put in words. It is easier to put into music. I

am so happy to be living now, because the music and the art that is going to happen now

is going to be fucking amazing!

Even five years ago you never would have asked me that question about politics in an

article! And I am elated that you asked me that.

AAJ: Do you think Obama really represents a dramatic change for African-Americans?

JDA: I think because of what Obama is doing, it's the first time in this country where we

can all say that we are all American. This is the first time—you can look at an Obama

convention and see people of all colors and hues coming together for the common good

of everybody... I am so happy. It is good to hear hope in the air.

AAJ: You sound optimistic.

JDA: I am. I am. I can now understand why we went through the seven years of turmoil

with the current president we have now. Because out of that has come this hope.

We are seeing history being made. I'll tell you how into it I got, I volunteered. I got on a

25 dollar Chinese bus and rode down to Philadelphia to go door to door to say vote for

Obama. And I was so proud to do it because I had my little part in history.

AAJ: Coming back to the album, there are examples there of great leaders. It sounds like

you believe we are in a period where we have a great leader.

JDA: I believe so. I feel that we are in that period. It is a period of seriousness. Even in

the music. Whereas in the '90s it was about smooth edges and craftsmanship, now people

want it to hang out a little more. When you go to a museum and see the African art, the

sharp angles the pointed lines. The music is more about that now. It's a radical point in

history. There's electricity everywhere and I hope I capture that in my music.

AAJ: There are so many issues that are coming to a head right now.

JDA: It is very radical. Not being political for political's sake, but I think we as

musicians can express that and want to express that—and the people are hungry for it.

AAJ: Music has always has always been a part of those kinds of transitional moments in

history. You can go through any period of radical change and find that people needed the

music and used it as a tool.

JDA: I am sure there is a shift in all art...I am sure there is something going on

everywhere because it is in the air. There is something happening, and I want to be a part

of that.

Selected Discography

JD Allen, I AM-I AM (Sunnyside, 2008)

Gerald Cleaver, Gerald Cleaver's Detroit (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2008)

Cindy Blackman, Music for the New Millenium (Sacred Sound, 2004)

Orrin Evans, Easy Now (Criss Cross, 2005)

JD Allen, Pharoah's Children (Criss Cross, 2002)

Russell Gunn, Blue on the D.L. (High Note, 2002)

Duane Eubanks, Second Take (TCB, 2001)

JD Allen, In Search Of... (Red, 1999)

Winard Harper, Winard (Savant, 1999)

Bob Belden, Shades of Blue (Blue Note, 1994)

Jazz Listings

Published: March 2, 2007

J. D. ALLEN TRIO (Thursday) An assertive and harmonically adventurous tenor saxophonist, J. D. Allen enjoys strong support from Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. At 9 p.m., Rose Live Music, 345 Grand Street, between Havemeyer and Marcy Streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-0069, liveatrose.com; suggested donation, $5. (Nate Chinen)

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

JD Allen’s I Am – I Am

Though a whiz when it comes to fitting into

an ensemble, the saxophonist may be most

impressive blowing hard in a trio setting.

Each time I’ve caught him stripped down,

his power was unmistakable. There’s a

fierce swing to the forward motion of his

lines. Bassist Gregg August and drummer

Rudy Royston feed the fire. MACNIE

Rose Café, Thursday, 8

345 Grand Street, Brooklyn

718-599-0699

Jazz Review | JD Allen Trio

The Authority and Energy of Even-Tempered Improvisation By Ben Ratliff - Published: May 20, 2005

The tenor saxophone-bass-drums trio is an intrinsic challenge. It doesn't give musicians anywhere to hide:

all the notes are exposed without a chordal instrument to bind them together, guide them with harmonic

context or spell the saxophonist.

J. D. Allen is a tenor saxophonist from Detroit who's been playing around New York mostly as a sideman

over the last decade, with Betty Carter and Cindy Blackman and Orrin Evans, among others; only in the

past two years has he been playing regularly with his own bands.

Over the last year, most of those bands have been trios, and the musicians have revolved. On Wednesday

night at Zebulon, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, he had a bassist he's worked with a lot, Joseph Lepore, and a

drummer he hadn't worked with at all, Marcus Gilmore.

He used the evening as a platform to connect rhythmically with the rest of the group, and he and Mr.

Gilmore got used to each other immediately.

In a taut set of four pieces, a short melodic shard began each tune, and then suddenly the floor gave way;

the rest was continuous improvisation, most of it operating with full climactic concentration. Mr. Allen has

superb rhythm, and he plays eighth-note patterns with a fast, on-the-beat buoyancy; though there was some

Coltrane in the improvised melodic material and the group's surging energy, the notes never came out

husky or smeared. They were popping and on-the-beat, and more like Cannonball Adderley's, full and

individuated.

Mr. Gilmore, 19, the grandson of the drummer Roy Haynes and already formidable, soloed constantly, too.

He sketched his way through, changing his patterns, making his pulse basically even but soft and slightly

unstable; he laid in plenty of rolls, spaced apart, many snapping sharply and bringing a new feeling of

authority to the music about every 10 seconds.

Mr. Lepore, wisely, stayed away from walking bass figures; you wouldn't want to obscure all that was

going on in the music's rhythmic lower levels.

In a few pieces governed by dark-toned themes (including Butch Morris's "Conjuration of Angles") and

blues, the saxophonist's models kept drifting to the surface. He accessed broken-off parts of the themes to

Coltrane's "Fifth House" and "Mr. P.C.," reducing them to intervals and scrambling them, as well as

Ornette Coleman's successions of short, bright melodies punctuated by blues cries.

But except for the short areas when he let bass and drums solo without him, he kept the fizz going with his

own even temperament, which neither got out of control nor left lots of empty space.

J. D. Allen performs with his quartet on June 10 and 11 at Smalls, 183 West 10th

Street,West Village, (212) 929-7565

In the Old Office, the most intimate of the Knit's three performance space, tenor titan JD Allen kicked things off in kinetic fashion with his muscular, free-swinging rhythm tandem of Eric Revis on acoustic bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. Blowing with white-hot intensity and virtuosic command of his instrument in all registers, Allen soared with abandon on top of the rhythmic whirlwind generated by Cleaver and Revis. (Bill Milkowski, April 2006)

Jazz Review | NYC Winter Jazzfest

Finding Diamonds in a One-Night Jazz Cornucopia

By Ben Ratliff

January 24, 2006

…Some of the best-wrought, lived-in grooves were spaced about seven hours apart, with

J. D. Allen's acoustic jazz trio on one end and Meshell Ndegeocello's Spirit Music Jamia

band on the other. Mr. Allen's group, with Eric Revis on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums

and Mr. Allen on tenor saxophone, took no time to warm up: it put aloft one short,

driving motif after another, with an Ornette Coleman-like simplicity. Mr. Allen, with a

strong sense of time and improvisational play, was riding securely on top of mature, new-

style rhythm-section playing, with dense, bunched-up patterns inside the swing; in long,

unbroken swaths of music, he changed the rhythm by cueing the band with new riffs.

Much later, Mr. Allen joined Ms. Ndegeocello's band, which feels like a continuing,

changeable experiment, balancing between pop-song structure and jamming. But it isn't a

time-waster; her presence is mercurial, and everything she sang or played on electric bass

was rapturous, implying groove and melody without making it explicit. After making the

audience wait until 1 a.m., more than an hour later than scheduled, she made her

performance a real show, not just a canned showcase, and won the crowd with a slow,

chanted funk number winding through various soloists, followed by a hard, motoring,

metallic piece, with Terreon Gully on drums, Brandon Ross on guitar, and solos by the

saxophonist Oliver Lake…