Kathy Salem, Managing Director
330.328.7337 kathy@nightisalive.com
WJ3 All-Stars Quintet
Night Is Alive manages some of the most intriguing and inventive musicians of our time.
They are internationally known, respected and honored.
Buster Williams, Bass
Grammy-award winning sideman Buster Williams has played, recorded and collaborated with more than two-dozen Jazz heavyweights, including Herbie Hancock, through the many changing landscapes of jazz. Best known for his solid, dark tone and highly refined technique on the acoustic bass, Williams learned both the double bass and the drums from his father, but was indelibly influenced by Oscar Pettiford's recordings. He ultimately decided to concentrate on the bass. Charles Anthony Williams, Jr. (nickname: Buster) was born in Camden, New Jersey.
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Eddie Henderson, Trumpet
Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of pianist Herbie Hancock's band, going on to lead his own electric/fusion groups through the decade. Henderson earned his medical degree and worked a parallel career as a psychiatrist and musician, turning back to acoustic jazz by the 1990s.
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Ralph Moore, Tenor Saxophone
Ralph Moore has lived in the U.S. since 1970. He is a fine tenor saxophonist influenced by John Coltrane, but possessing a slightly softer tone. He moved to New York in 1981 and has recorded several fine albums for Landmark, Criss Cross, Savoy, and Mons (with the L.A. Jazz Summit). He has toured extensively with J.J. Johnson, and since 1995, has been a member of the Tonight Show Orchestra in Los Angeles.
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Eric Reed, Piano
Through more than a quarter-century as a first-caller on the jazz scene, Reed has articulated this inclusive conception as a leader of numerous ensembles, solo performer, composer, producer, educator and sideman with numerous artists. Whatever the context, whatever the style, he consistently animates the flow with fresh ideas, virtuosic chops, intellectual clarity and an unwavering will to groove.
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Willie Jones III, Drums
Ever since 1997, when he moved to New York City from Los Angeles, his hometown, Willie Jones III has been one of the jazz capital’s most prominent drummers. Whether functioning as a savvy bandleader or high-profile sideman, Jones applies to every context an abiding musicality and a tonal personality that, as Wynton Marsalis puts it, is “ever tasteful,” marked by what pianist Eric Reed, his frequent collaborator, calls “a West Coast swagger in his swing, with a looseness that isn’t lackadaisical and an edge that isn’t overwhelming.”
“I still follow Billy Higgins’ model,” Jones says. “I’m always trying to support whoever I’m working with to make the music sound as good as possible. I have a good balance. I’ll continue to evolve as a leader, but I’ll always play as a sideman—I still love learning and playing other people’s music.”
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