Chris Jonas Quartet: Music from the Deserts
featuring Delbert Anderson, trumpet
Saturday, July 20, 2024 ~ 8:00PM to 10:00PM
Music from the Deserts is a project of Santa Fe-based composer/sax player Chris Jonas, featuring Diné trumpet player Delbert Anderson, bassist Cyrus Campell and drummer Jonah Minkus.
Deserts explores music written in complete solitude winter camping over 3 years during the Pandemic, created in Arizona's Barry Goldwater Missile Range and the Trump Border Wall that cuts across Arizona's granite Tinajas Altas. This collection of music is in the midst of touring worldwide in 2023-24. Jonas’s music contains some elements of jazz while mixing elements that are quirky, delicate, weirdly groovy, polyphonic, and a mixture of the disjointed and melodic.
Featuring
Chris Jonas, compositions, projected video, soprano and tenor saxophones
Delbert Anderson, Trumpet
Cyrus Campbell, bass
Jonah Minkus, drums
with guests Alex Murzyn, sax/flute and Jerry Weimer, clarinet
Chris Jonas, reeds, compositions, video
Santa Fe-based Jonas has been a long time and very active artistic figure in the creative music world, working as a collaborator in video, conducting and performing with Anthony Braxton (with whom he has recorded dozens of albums, conducted orchestras, produced operas and large scale events, and toured extensively), Cecil Taylor (1996-98 as performer and musical director), William Parker (as a member of Little Huey 1992-2001), and the last summers touring the EU as a member of the Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet. He is also currently working in the EU and US with Myra Melford on a series of video and music pieces about painter Cy Twombly touring the piece later in 2024. He is co-founder of the Santa Fe-based multi arts non-profit, Littleglobe (www.littleglobe.org) and won the United States Artists Award in 2009.
Delbert Anderson, Trumpet
Delbert Anderson, a Diné jazz trumpet artist, composer, and educator, stands at the forefront of a vibrant Native American jazz scene. His work, deeply rooted in his Diné heritage, seamlessly integrates Navajo "spinning songs" of love, healing, and courtship with jazz and funk, thus marking him as a community-minded Indigenous individualist. Anderson's notable projects include "The Long Walk: 1,674 Days," a poignant composition reflecting on a critical period in Navajo history, and "Manitou," which fuses ancient Native American melodies with jazz and funk. The Delbert Anderson Trio (DAT) showcases DAT jazz standards and original tunes, capturing the essence of his musical beginnings. Anderson's achievements have garnered recognition, including multiple awards from Chamber Music America, the Cultural Capital Fellowship from the First Peoples Fund, and the Jazz Road Program at South Arts. His contributions to music and culture have been featured in prominent outlets like The New York Times, JazzTimes, Grammy.com, and NPR.
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https://www.grammy.com/news/2021-delbert-anderson-native-american-trumpter-navajo-interview
Cyrus Campbell, Bass
Santa Fe native Cyrus Campbell is a 27 year old double bassist who is a regular in New Mexico based jazz and creative music projects, playing with Eddie Daniels, James Emery, Alex Murzyn, Chris Jonas, Donald Bailey, John Trentacosta and many others. He has performed all over the US as well as the southwest region. He studied at Berkeley College of Music.