Ars Nova Workshop presents the Chad Taylor Quartet performing The Avant-Garde, the 1966 album that brought together Don Cherry and John Coltrane. DJ, producer and writer John Morrison will join Taylor for a pre-concert discussion.
Released in 1966 on Atlantic Records, The Avant-Garde was a sign of profound respect from one jazz pioneer to another. On the landmark session, John Coltrane plays the music of Ornette Coleman, accompanied by the members of Coleman’s groundbreaking quartet: bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Ed Blackwell, and Don Cherry, who received co-billing and whose composition “Cherryco” opens the album. Chad Taylor will explore the music of that classic album with his quartet featuring trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson of Steve Coleman’s Five Elements along with Philadelphians Bryan Rogers (tenor saxophone) and Matt Engle (bass).
Organized in conjunction with The Living Temple: The World of Moki Cherry.
Chad Taylor is a composer, scholar and educator as well as a capaciously inventive percussionist now living in Philadelphia. He is best known as co-founder of the Chicago Underground Duo (and the numerous Underground iterations that have spun off of that original partnership) with trumpeter Rob Mazurek, and as drummer for the late jaimie branch’s Fly Or Die. A professional on the Chicago scene from the age of 16, he became a rhythmic muse for many of the most celebrated artists in improvised music, including Fred Anderson, Pharoah Sanders, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, Darius Jones, James Brandon Lewis, Derek Bailey, Marc Ribot, and Peter Brötzmann.
John Morrison is a writer, DJ and producer from Philadelphia. As a journalist, his writing has appeared in NPR Music, Okayplayer, Grammy.com, Red Bull Music Academy, The Wire and more. His podcast Serious Rap Sh*t is available on the iHeart Radio network. John is also a regular contributor to NPR’s All Songs Considered. A prolific musician and DJ, Morrison’s music has appeared on BBC Radio and in films like Resistance: The Battle Of Philadelphia and Marie Alarcón’s experimental documentary, Witness.