Sunday, February 18, 6 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
One of the Windy City's most acclaimed jazz vocalists brings his significant talents, and his talented ensemble, to Davenport's Redstone Room in the latest concert in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Series – an evening with the Saalik Ziyad Quartet featuring guitarist Larry Brown Jr., bass player Steven Manns, and drummer Dushon Mosley.
Famed for his arrangements of bebop and jazz standards, his repertoire ranging from Bob Marley to the Beatles, and his gift for re-shaping familiar jazz tunes with original lyrics, Ziyard was born in Chicago in 1978, and a singer in the prestigious Chicago Children's Choir before the age of 10. As a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Northern Illinois University graduate has performed internationally in clubs spanning from Paris to Poland, and Ziyaad's jazz skills are equaled by his penchant for opera, having enjoyed roles in such masterworks as Porgy & Bess, Dido & Aeneas, and Susannah.
Among the three-man ensemble joining Ziyad for his Polyrhythms concert, Brown has performed with greats including Hamiet Bluiett, Louie Bellson, Lew Soloff, Benny Golson, and Curtis Fuller, and received his Masters from NIU, where he studied with jazz notables Fareed Haque and Willie Pickens. Manns, a bass maestro in jazz, R&B, gospel, and blues, has shared stages with the likes of Corey Wilkes, Roy Ayers, Wycliffe Gordon, and Robin Eubanks. And Mosley's percussion talents have taken him to Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and Japan when he's not performing in one of his half-dozen Chicago-based bands, among them Eight Bold Souls, Frontburners, Chicago 3D, and, of course, the Saalik Ziyad Quartet.
Polyrhythms' 6 p.m. concert will be preceded by a 3 p.m. “Jazz Demystifying” workshop; tickets are $10-15 for the evening performance, with the workshop $5 for adults and free for students. For tickets and information, contact Polyrhythms at (309)373-0790 or Polyrhythms.org, or the Redstone Room at (563)326-1333 or RiverMusicExperience.org.
