Stefon Harris, David Sanchez & Christian Scott’s “Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco” Coming Sept. 25th, 2012

Perhaps
better than any politician or diplomat, musicians – especially jazz
musicians, whose craft is in many ways an improvised form of
communication – understand inherently that when we look at each other as
individuals and focus on the similarities, the divide between us is
actually very short – less than a hundred miles.

Vibraphonist
Stefon Harris, saxophonist David Sánchez and trumpeter Christian Scott
first crossed that divide on their acclaimed two-disc CD/DVD package,
Ninety Miles, released June 21, 2011. Recorded during the same trip,
their first and only live performance, Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco,
is set for special U.S. digital release September 25, 2012
(international release dates may vary) on Concord Picante.

Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco was recorded May 18, 2010 at Cubadisco,
one of the biggest music festivals in Cuba, at Teatro Amadeo Roldán in
Havana, with the help of some highly talented Cuban musicians – pianists
Harold López-Nussa and Rember Duharte, each leading their own quartets.
This seven-song live set further explores the chemistry of Ninety Miles
and takes their virtuosity to another level as musicians from different
cultures converse in a common language that transcends words.

“The entire experience was about the power of music to communicate and
break down some of the barriers that result from language and politics
and culture, ” says John Burk, Chief Creative Officer of Concord Music
Group and producer of Ninety Miles and Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco,
along with Chris Dunn, Senior Director of A&R. “I was particularly
impressed with Harold and Rember, ” Burk says. “I found it really
interesting that these musicians had studied and embracedthe jazz genre
(an American art form) and taken it to such a high level.” While Ninety
Miles was a snapshot of the rehearsals just prior to the 2010 live
performance, Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco is a high powered musical
look back at the week’s events, culminating in the first and only time
they would all perform together live.

Harris, a four-time
GRAMMY®-nominated vibist-percussionist, is no stranger to adventurous
collaborative projects. A native of Albany, New York, his earliest work
included session gigs with Joe Henderson and Buster Williams in the
1990s before he recorded his solo debut in 1998 on Blue Note (A Cloud of
Red Dust). He’s cut seven albums since then, including his
GRAMMY®-nominated Concord Jazz debut Urbanus. Harris contributes two
tracks to Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco: “This Too Shall Pass” and
“Brown Belle Blues, ” written especially for this project.

David
Sánchez, a GRAMMY®-winning saxophonist, brings plenty of his own
cross-cultural sensibilities to the project. A native of Puerto Rico, he
moved to New York City at 18 and studied at Rutgers University under
Kenny Barron. He has performed with numerous Latin jazz masters over the
years, including his mentor, Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera and the
great Eddie Palmieri. In a body of recorded work that stretches back to
the mid-1990s, Sánchez has crafted a signature sound that seamlessly
merges elements of Afro-Cuban rhythm with bebop. Sánchez’s “City
Sunrise” was inspired by music from Cameroon, and his second
contribution, “The Forgotten Ones, ” written for the people of
post-Katrina New Orleans was originally recorded on his Concord Picante
debut Cultural Survival.

Born and raised in New Orleans,
GRAMMY®-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott has been blending elements
of alternative rock, jazz, hip hop, and classical since his 2006 debut
recording, Rewind That. On Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco, he taps into
the Cuban roots that are not only a part of his home but his family
history as well. Scott contributes the track “Paradise Found, ” a tune
written by his uncle Donald Harrison, the Big Chief of the Congo Nation
Afro-New OrleansCultural Group. Scott’s latest recording, Christian
aTunde Adjuah, was released July 31, 2012 on Concord Jazz.

Each
of the two Cuban pianists offers a track of his own to the live set,
which further heightens the performance. “Harold and Rember are from the
same generation, and yet they have two completely different approaches,
” says Sánchez. “Rember is more rooted in the African sound, and he’s a
little more raw in some ways. But Harold is completely different. You
hear the Cuban influences in his music, and perhaps more of the western
European classical piano.”

The undeniable energy and excitement
of Ninety Miles Live At Cubadisco is a clear statement about the power
of music to unite in ways that politics and diplomacy can’t. “The arts
can lead the way because they are the universal language, ” says Burk.
“And music is certainly one of the most powerful forces within the arts.
You can change someone’s life in five minutes with the right piece of
music. I don’t know of any other art form that can do that. These
records do illustrate a way – or at least the ability – for people to
work together despite differences.”