Vincent York's International Jazz Day
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP with VINCENT York's Jazzistry and the southeastern michigan jazz association
Friday, April 30TH@ 7:30 PM EST
Vincent York – saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator and advocate for the arts – returns to the House for his annual International Jazz Day concert celebrating jazz and its important place in history. He brings with him a stellar line-up of area jazz musicians (John Douglas, trumpet; Josef Deas, bass; Zach Saginaw, drums) to join the celebration and receives a special honor from the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association.
► Donate here: jazzistry.org/donatesupport-us
Born into a family of musicians, York was introduced to the music of Charlie Parker in the 9th grade, thus igniting his exploration and love for jazz. He attended Southern University at Baton Rouge as a music education major and became the first jazz studies major under clarinetist Alvin Batiste. After graduate study in classical saxophone at the University of Michigan under Donald Sinta, York toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. In 1977 he formed his own band, Vincent York’s New York Force. York has 2 recordings, Blending Forces and The New York Force, which was voted Best Jazz Album of the Year by MetroTimes. York has recorded and/or performed with noteworthy jazz artists including Ray Charles, Marcus Belgrave, Louis Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Motown stars such as The Temptations, The Four Tops and Aretha Franklin. He was also the musical director for Martha Reeves.
John Douglas began his music career while studying at the University of Michigan. In 1991 John and five others formed the band Jazzheads, they earned great success and were bestowed with 3 awards in 1999: the Detroit Music Award for Best Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Group Deserving Wider Recognition, and Best Modern Jazz Group. John continued to tour the US, Canada and Europe with many prominent performers, such as Gladys Knight, Marshall Allen and the Chi-lites. Returning home to Detroit, he formed the John Douglas Quintet, known for bringing energetic bebop and powerful funky jazz style to audiences all over the world.
Josef Deas has spent nearly 25 years studying and expanding his music repertoire for the upright bass. He has performed and even recorded with some of jazz’s finest musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Elliot, John Douglas, George Davison, Marcus Belgrave, Ian Finklestein, James Carter, Vincent York, Vincent Chandler, Donald Walden, Rick Roe, Tad Weed, Gary Shunk, Charles Boles, Scott Gwinnell, Steve Rush, Alma Smith, Dwight Adams, Kariem Riggins, Sean Dobbins and Bill Higgins.
Zach Saginaw is an electronic music producer and drummer. Zach trained as a jazz drummer and calls his music “instrumental, electronically-produced music that is jazz and hip-hop influenced.” Growing up in Ann Arbor he was heavily influenced by old jazz and Motown artists and developed his sound in the Detroit music scene. He has released four studio albums with the record label, Ghostly International, since 2010 in addition to releasing three EPs since 2008. In 2015, he played electronics for Dave Douglas’s High Risk project with drummer Mark Guiliana. Zach has also done multiple North American and International tours.
