Ted Nash made his first recording as a leader in 1978, and titled it “Conceptions.”
Whether playing saxophone, clarinet or flute, he has shown how magnificently broad his conceptions are: exploring a tango/klezmer/New Orleans brass feel with Odeon; giving sounds to great painters like Van Gogh, Matisse and Pollack with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; reinventing the music of Henry Mancini, who employed both his father and uncle; or musically reimagining great speeches from John Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill.
Ted Nash’s conceptions are always worth investigating — the latest being Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, a quintet album featuring pianist Gary Versace, bassist Rufus Reid, vibraphonist Warren Wolf and drummer Matt Wilson.
The Ted Nash Quintet returns to the scene of that recording this Friday through Sunday. Ted and Gary stopped into Morning Jazz to chat and give a taste of the music. Here they are performing Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy."
Recording: Corey Goldberg
Video: Chris Tobin
