- This event has passed.
28TH ANNUAL PAPPY MARTIN LEGACY MASTEN JAZZ FESTIVAL
Sunday, July 23 @ 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Free
THE PAPPY MARTIN LEGACY MASTEN JAZZ FESTIVAL RETURNS ON ITS TRADITIONAL LAST 2 SUNDAYS IN JULY, JULY 23rd AND 30th IN 2023.
The featured headliners are the legendary Buster Williams and rising star Lakecia Benjamin.
The Full Schedule is as follows!
LAKECIA BENJAMIN
Voted by 2020 Downbeat Critics Poll Rising star Alto Saxophonist and Up and Coming Artist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association ,Charismatic and dynamic saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin fuses traditional conceptions of Jazz, HipHop, and Soul. Benjamin’s electric presence and fiery sax work has shared stages with several legendary artists, including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and The Roots. A streetwise New York City native born and raised in Washington Heights, Lakecia Benjamin first picked up the saxophone at Fiorello LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. From there she joined the renowned jazz program at New York’s New School University. However, even at that early stage, Benjamin was already playing with renowned jazz figures like Clark Terry and Reggie Workman, which introduced her to opportunities to play and tour with an array of artists such as Rashied Ali,Christian Mcbride,Gregory Porter and James “Blood” Ulmer. With her deep jazz roots, she was soon in demand as an arranger and horn section leader, landing stints with such acclaimed artists as Anita Baker Lakecia Benjamin’s album “Pursuance” is an intergenerational masterpiece that takes one on a journey through the lineage of the music with the works of John and Alice Coltrane. Benjamin pays homage to those who have come before by featuring innovative bandleaders of her generation, such as, Reggie Workman (Coproducer and playing ), Ron carter , Gary Bartz, Dee Dee Bridegwater, Meshell Ndegecello, Regina carter, Bertha Hope, Last poets, Greg Osby, Steve Wilson, John Benitez, Marc Cary, Marcus Gilmore, Keyon Harrold, Marcus Strickland, Brandee Younger, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Jazzmeia Horn. Phoenix, the latest and fourth studio album from virtuosic saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, is due out January 27, 2023 via Whirlwind Recordings. The far-reaching new album finds the tour-de-force saxophonist in a poised and profoundly individual position alongside an all-star cast of musicians. Phoenix is the highly-anticipated, expansive new album in the musical evolution of alto saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin. The album was produced by the multi-Grammy-award winning Terri Lyne Carrington and features a star-studded line up of specially curated guests Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis and Wayne Shorter. The band is composed of trumpeter Josh Evans, Victor Gould on keys, Orange Rodriguez on synths, drummer Enoch (EJ) Strickland, percussionist Nêgah Santos and bassist Ivan Taylor. Trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr, Rhodes organist Anastassiya Petrova and bassist Jahmal Nichols all join for one track each.
BUSTER WILLIAMS
Buster Williams is a prodigious artist whose playing knows no limits. He has played, recorded and collaborated with jazz giants such as Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Lee Konitz, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, The Jazz Crusaders, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Golson, Hank Jones, Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, and Freddie Hubbard to name a few.
Buster has recorded soundtracks for movies including Les Choix des Armes, McKenna’s Gold with Gregory Peck, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me , Spike Lee’s Clockers, and more. His work in Television includes commercials for Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Prudential Insurance, Chemical Bank, HBO, Budweiser Beer and more. TV shows appearances include The Johnny Carson Tonight Show, The Jay Leno Tonight Show, where he performed five of his original compositions with the Branford Marsalis Tonight Show Band. Other television shows include The Today Show, A&E, The Grammy Awards with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Bobby McFerrin. to name a few.
Williams was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work with Hank Jones and Tony Williams on Love For Sale. Williams was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant for composition as well as a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Grant in 1991.
Buster has lead his Something More quartet since its inception in 1990. The group has toured in Europe including the first International Jazz Festival in Moscow as well as in Japan, Australia and countless engagements throughout the U.S.
NASAR ABADEY
Nasar Abadey
(Drummer) is the founder, leader and driving force of his band SUPERNOVA®. Though a bandleader for many years he has also built a solid reputation as a sideman with several groups from his home base in Washington, DC; and he has performed and/or recorded with many artists throughout his career. Inspired by Tony Williams, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones and his cousin Frankie Dunlop (Thelonious Monk), he creates jazz music steeped in hard bop, modal, fusion, and avant-garde styles. Nasar attended University of Buffalo, in NY; Howard University, and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. Most recently SUPERNOVA® was selected by the US State Department and the Lincoln Center as Ambassadors to tour with the American Music Abroad Rhythm Road. This one month tour took them to five (5) countries in East Africa; Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Mozambique. He is Professor of Jazz Percussion at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; teaches privately, and is a clinician as well. His debut CD, Mirage was released on the Amosaya Record Label and a follow-up CD, Diamond In The Rough, was released on the DPC Music label in 2011. Abadey has performed with Sonny Fortune, Pharoah Sanders, Gary Bartz, Andrew White, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sun Ra, Russell Malone, Malachi Thompson, and many other jazz greats. He has also appeared in various festivals in the USA and abroad.
Performances will be 2 – 8 pm at the Buffalo Museum of Science (side lawn) on both days.
Food and beverage vendors will be available on-site.
Bring your own lawn chair!
