Welcome to the Vermont Jazz Center. Tonight we are honored to present Endea Owens and the Cookout. Owens is a familiar presence to late-night TV buffs; she’s the double-bassist who propels Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show house band with her swinging, low-end grooves. The Detroit native is a graduate of Juilliard who has toured and performed with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, Solange, Jon Batiste, Jazzmeia Horn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Turre, and many others. She appeared on Jon Batiste’s Grammy Award-winning album We Are, and can be heard on the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah. If you were watching Super Bowl LV, then you caught Endea performing as part of  H.E.R.’s widely acclaimed half-time show. 

But these accolades don’t even come close to conjuring the feelings and messages that Endea conveys in live performances. Like Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, and Stanley Clarke, Owens is one of those rare bass-playing leaders who steps into the frontline of the band and leaves no question about who’s in charge. Publicity for one of Endea’s shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center (where she was hailed as their 2019 Emerging Artist) summarizes her impact: “Endea Owens evolves the legacy of great leaders behind the bass, she approaches her sets with commanding presence, sensitivity, and an elastic foundation primed for spontaneity.” 

Endea Owens is an old spirit whose music continues to be influenced by the intensity and fullness of groups from the hard bop era – when there was an authentic bridge between popular and art musics, and Black R&B, and jazz circles overlapped. In several interviews, Owens mentions that her first jazz epiphany occurred when she heard the sounds of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers as a 13-year-old. She emulates that big sound by touring with large-sized groups, noting: “I wanted to honor his [Blakey’s] legacy.” In an interview with the Pace Report, Owens relates “…it’s empowering to lead a band…the way that I function with my band is to exemplify equal opportunity because it’s not all about me. I want everyone to have their time to shine. We’re a collective.” 

The Cookout’s vocalist is Nia Drummond. She is known for combining her jazz roots, operatic training, gospel beginnings, and R&B stylings into a unique, “genre-fluid” sound. Nia has been featured at the Apollo Theater, Playhouse Square in Cleveland, the New World Center, the Kennedy Center, and other renowned venues. She has also been featured in Great Performances: American Voices with Renée Fleming on PBS. Drummond has appeared as a background vocalist for the likes of Sir Elton John, Bette Midler, Valerie Simpson, Fantasia, John Legend, and many others.

Trumpeter Anthony Hervey, is, like Endea, a graduate of Juilliard’s Master’s in Jazz program. He has toured, performed, and recorded with luminaries such as Christian McBride, Jon Batiste, and Michael Bublé. Hervey performs regularly with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Christian McBride Big Band, the Mingus Big Band, the Future of Jazz Orchestra, and the Ulysses Owens Jr. Generation Y Quintet. 

Saxophonist Irwin Hall attended Princeton University on a full scholarship to study East Asian philosophy. He was invited by vocalist Melody Gardot to tour with her band after she heard him perform at the Tokyo Jazz Festival and has since recorded three albums with Ms. Gardot. Hall has toured and/or recorded with NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater, John Legend, bass virtuoso Charnett Moffett, Lauryn Hill, Theo Croker and many others.  

Originally from France and Madagascar, The Cookout’s pianist, Mathis Picard is an ASCAP Next Generation of Songwriters recipient, a member of the Montreux Jazz Foundation, and a Juilliard School graduate. He now spends his time touring and recording as a leader. His latest album, Heat of The Moment, was given a 5-star review from The NY Times. When not leading his own projects, Picard has shared the stage with artists such as Ron Carter, Lillias White, Lee Ritenour, Kindness, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift, Etienne Charles, Christian McBride, Dee Dee Bridgewater and more.

The ensemble’s drummer is Diego Joaquin Ramirez who has performed with Vijay Iyer, Cyrille Aimee, Marc Cary, Duane Eubanks, Michael League, Jazzmeia Horn, Alina Engibaryan, Grace Kelly, Stacy Dillard, Greg Tardy, Theo Hill, Luques Curtis, Walt Weiskopf and many others. Ramirez has played at festivals including the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Fest, Montreal Jazz Fest, SXSW, The Kennedy Center, The DC Jazz Fest, Barranquilla Jazz Fest (Colombia), Umbria Jazz Fest (Italy), Cork Jazz Fest (Ireland) and many others. 

When the online music magazine, The Pace Report, asked Endea Owens to describe her music, she called it “a buffet of the Black music experience: very unique, with mostly jazz influences but also inspired by gospel, funk, R&B and swing.” 

The VJC is especially grateful for the sponsorship of this event by David Salzberg and Elissa Barr, two dear friends who for several years have actively shown their belief in the power of music to bring the community together to enhance the quality of life.