Puff Daddy
If Wycliffe Gordon were a hip-hop artist, he'd probably be laying down tracks with Kanye West, or tearing down European arenas with Snoop-but considering he's one of the most respected Jazz artists touring today, we're more likely to catch him some place more intimate, like Dizzy's at Lincoln Center.
The award-winning trombonist is currently enjoying a thriving solo career while also headlining the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet. His latest solo effort, Cone's Coup marks his ninth solo CD. A gifted composer and arranger, Gordon is a veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and has been featured as a guest artist on Billy Taylor's "Jazz at the Kennedy Center" Series and with the Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra. When he's not being commissioned to compose scores for film classics like Paul Robeson's Body and Soul or I Saw The Light (a musical tribute to Muhammad Ali), he's mentoring future musicians at the Jazz Studies program at Julliard, a position he's held since the program's inception.
No stranger to accolades, Gordon is revered for his intricate runs and his extended notes over clean melodies, garnering him the 2000 and 2001 Jazz Journalist Association award for trombonist of the year, and the 2000 Jazz Journalist Association Critic's Choice award for Best Trombone. Be sure to check Gordon at Dizzy's-and see what all the noise is about.