Event

Kenny Washington with the Michael O'Neill Quintet

Bay Area saxophonist Michael O'Neill and his polished straight-ahead quintet perform music from their new CD with the sterling singer Kenny Washington, a longtime associate who hasn't recorded with them since 2007. His resonant voice and crisp, bop-flavored phrasing is heard on New Beginnings, a smartly arranged and swinging record that features all but one of the members of the saxophonist's cohesive working band (pianist Geoff Keezer is heard on the record, John R. Burr in the group): trumpeter and arranged Erik Jekabson, bassist Dan Feiszli and drummer Alan Hall. O'Neill, a composer who made his living playing in salsa and jazz bands while studying here with the late, great tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, has shined in big bands and small groups, working with the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and singers as different as Kim Nalley and Eddie Fischer, playing or recording with notable instrumentalists like pianist Michael Wolf and drummer Idris Muhammad. The quintet and Washington dig into music from New Beginnings which celebrates their renewed collaboration and the birth of Washington's first child, Miles.

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