George Cables is a true jazz master, revered by aficionados and peers alike for his inventive harmonic concepts and beautiful, lyrical style. He will be performing in a trio setting at the jazz center with Essiet Essiet on acoustic bass and Jerome Jennings on drums.
Cables was born in New York City in 1944, and was initially a classically trained pianist. He attended the High School of Performing Arts and then went on to study at Mannes College of Music. As a young man he was drawn to jazz and began studying and playing gigs around New York at the Top of the Gate, Slugs, and other venues. During that time, he toured and recorded with the legendary drummer Max Roach. His piano can be heard on Roach’s seminal album, Lift Every Voice and Sing. In 1969, Cables was the pianist for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for a short time and then went on to tour with tenor titan Sonny Rollins. Rollins took Cables to the West Coast where he took up residency. Collaborations and recordings by Mr. Cables include work with tenor saxophonists Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. The longest standing relationship Cables developed was with alto saxophonist Art Pepper. Cables became Pepper’s pianist of choice, so much so that Pepper gave him the moniker “Mr. Beautiful.” Cables has recorded almost 40 albums as a leader and upwards of 200 albums as a sideman with some of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, including Frank Morgan, The Cookers, Archie Shepp, Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Morgan, Max Roach, Gary Bartz, Bud Shank, Phil Woods, Red Mitchell, Woody Shaw, Roy Haynes, Conrad Herwig, Seamus Blake, Chico Freeman, Winard Harper, Joe Henderson, Von Freeman, Sonny Rollins, John Stubblefield, Bobby Shew, Louis Hayes, Ralph Lalama, David “Fathead” Newman, Harold Land, Shorty Rogers, Joe Farrell, Kazumi Watanabe, Curtis Fuller, Joe Chambers, Frank Foster, Frank Lacy and many others.
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