(New York, NY) January 10, 2005 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola — located in The House of Swing, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall – features young jazz titan Eric Reed, a musician fast establishing a well-deserved reputation as one of the most solid and consistently exciting arranger/composers on the modern jazz scene today. This special edition of his Happiness Sextet will be performing music from his Nagel-Heyer CD, Happiness, and other compositions. When you think of hard-driving swing, daring expression, sophistication and elegance in artistry, there are only a small handful of young pianists you think of and one of them is most assuredly Eric Reed.

Tuesday, January 11 through Sunday, January 16:
Eric Reed Happiness Sextet
Eric Reed (piano), Sean Jones (trumpet), Myron Walden (alto saxophone), Seamus Blake (tenor saxophone), Dwayne Burno (bass), Billy Drummond (drums)

Two full artist sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm. Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11pm.

Born in Philadelphia on June 21, 1970, Eric Reed grew up playing Gospel music in his father's storefront Baptist church. But the jazz bug bit Reed at a young age after hearing recordings of Art Blakey, Ramsey Lewis and Dave Brubeck. Eric started out his professional life in the bands of Teddy Edwards, Gerald Wilson, Clora Bryant and John Clayton. He attended Cal State Northridge for one year during which he toured briefly with Wynton Marsalis at age 18. A year later, Eric joined Marsalis' Septet (1990-91; 1992-95). He spent two years with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (1996-98), making countless recordings and TV appearances with them. Reed also worked in the bands of Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson (1991-92). Eric continues to perform and record with an assorted multitude of masters such as Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Cassandra Wilson, Jimmy Heath, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves and a host of other diverse performers including Natalie Cole, Patti Labelle, Oletta Adams and Quincy Jones.

Since 1995, Eric has been touring the world with his own ensembles, making serious waves in the jazz community. The legendary Ahmad Jamal has called Eric, "one of my very favorite pianists." Eric's recording Pure Imagination, shot to #1 on the Gavin chart and stayed there for seven weeks, earning him the 1999 Gavin Artist of the Year award. His next recording, Manhattan Melodies was also #1 on Gavin for several weeks.

In addition to leading a quintet that features some of the finest young talent on the scene, Eric presently expands his musical horizons in the area of education, teaching in various situations worldwide. Away from the piano, Eric serves as the artistic director of a concert series called Jazz Composer Portraits at Columbia University's Miller Theater. Eric's latest CD releases include Merry Magic and Mercy and Grace, both on the Nagel-Heyer label.

Concerning Reed's thoughts on Gillespie, "I met Dizzy at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival back in August 1989. We were sharing a tiny ferry ride from where we were staying to the main island. Dizzy decided that he no longer wanted to ride inside the boat, so he stood outside on the two-foot wide ledge - as we're sailing across the sea! These Japanese folks went berserk - crying and begging him to come back inside - and Dizzy was just laughing his ass off, holding onto a rail with one hand and swinging the other in the wind. I'm glad that Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola exists; having a new Jazz venue to play in will be a huge boost to the scene."

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola offers spectacular views and serves a jazz inspired menu seven days a week through the collaboration between Great Performances and Spoonbread culinary creators. Reservations can be made at 212-258-9595 or via the Jazz at Lincoln Center web site http://www.jalc.org.

Monday, January 10: APAP Celebrates Music of Miles Davis
7:30 and 9:30pm: The annual APAP Conference will showcase a very special performance featuring: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Gary Bartz (alto saxophone), Wayne Escoffery (tenor saxophone); Dave Kikoski (piano); Ed Howard (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums). There will be limited public seating. Tickets are $30. Upstarts! will return January 17.

AFTER HOURS SETS
Tuesday-Saturday, January 11-15
After Hours: Wycliffe Gordon (Trombone) and Jay Leonhart (bass)

Tuesday-Thursday set starts at 11pm; Friday & Saturday set starts at 12:30am.

Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is best known for his work with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. The versatile trombonist has also played with many jazz luminaries, including Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Flanagan, and Shirley Horn. Wynton Marsalis first heard Gordon play while the trumpeter was giving a workshop at Gordon's alma mater, Florida A&M University. Their fortuitous meeting resulted in Gordon joining the Wynton Marsalis Septet, as well as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in 1989. As a member of the illustrious band, Gordon contributed as both musician and composer. Gordon, who like Charles Mingus says he hears music in his head all the time, has managed to hear many of his compositions performed all over the world by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Born in 1940 in Baltimore Maryland, Jay Leonhart moved to New York at 21 and started his illustrious career by working steadily for artists such as Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Tony Bennett, Marian McPartland, and Jim Hall. The list goes on and on, and Jay has continued to work with many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century. He went on to become one of the busiest musicians on the recording studio scene in New York City, spanning every musical genre from James Taylor to Ozzy Osbourne and Queen Latifah. Between 1975 and 1995 he was named The Most Valuable Bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Since moving to New York City, Jay has also been writing and performing his original songs. He has recorded 15 solo albums. With a reputation as one of the finest bass players in the world, Jay Leonhart has simultaneously developed a solo career as one of the wittiest singer-songwriters. Along the way, Jay and his wife Donna Leonhart have also raised two musical children, Michael and Carolyn, who perform with Steely Dan, among other notables. In his 1959 Loyola High School yearbook, Jay Leonhart was named “The Most Witty” in his class. Forty-five years later he keeps showing us why.

****NEXT WEEK AT DIZZY'S CLUB Coca-Cola****

Tuesday, January 18 through Sunday, January 23:
Mulgrew Miller Trio with Gary Bartz
Mulgrew Miller (piano), Gary Bartz (alto saxophone)

Two full artist sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm. Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11pm.

One of the preeminent jazz pianists of our time, Mulgrew Miller joins forces with the soaring swing of alto saxophone grand master Gary Bartz. Miller has worked with Woody Shaw's Quintet, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, the Tony Williams Quintet and many others. He's featured on over 400 recordings total and has composed nonstop. In 1985 Miller made his first recording as a leader for producer Orrin Keepnews' former label, Landmark, and later recorded on the RCA Novus label. His latest recording is Live at Yoshi's Volume One (MAXJAZZ).

Alto saxophonist Gary Bartz attended the Juilliard Conservatory of Music and became a member of Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop from 1962-1964 where he worked with Eric Dolphy and encountered McCoy Tyner for the first time. He also began gigging as a sideman in the mid-'60s with Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, and later as a member of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. His recording debut was on Blakey's Soul Finger album. Tyner formed his famed Expansions band in 1968 with Bartz on alto. In addition, Bartz also formed his own bands at this time and recorded a trio of albums for Milestone, and continued to tour with Max Roach's band. In 1970, Miles Davis hired Bartz and featured him as a soloist on the Live-Evil recording. Bartz formed the NTU Troop that year as well, an ensemble that fused soul and funk, African folk music, hard bop, and vanguard jazz into a vibrant whole. Bartz has continued making records of quiet intensity and lyrical power and has with become one of the master alto players of his generation.

AFTER HOURS SETS
Tuesday-Saturday, January 18-22 After Hours: BC3 with Bruce Cox (drums), John DiMartino (piano), Gerald Cannon (bass) and special guest.

Tuesday-Thursday set starts at 11pm; Friday & Saturday set starts at 12:30am.

Monday, January 17 UPSTARTS!:
Ali Jackson and Friends – Jammin' With Jackson 7:30PM & 9:30PM

You never know who's going to show up at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

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Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education, and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Julliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children's concerts, lectures, adult education courses, film programs, and student and educator workshops. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, President & CEO Hughlyn F. Fierce, Executive Director Derek E. Gordon, Chairman of the Board Lisa Schiff and Jazz at Lincoln Center Board and staff, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2004-05 season. This is the inaugural season in Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home — Frederick P. Rose Hall — the first-ever performance, education, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz.  

For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, please visit www.jalc.org.