Legendary Jazz Musician To Headline Trio In Stony Brook

From The Jazz Loft: For more than thirty five years, jazz bassist James Cammack has toured the world, most often with jazz legend Ahmad Jamal, recipient of the 2017 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

From New York City to Lyon, France, James Cammack has been laying down the beat in his own distinctive way. Described by one critic as “trance-like” and another “resonant,” Cammack has been nicknamed “Chicago Fire” for his hard-driving virtuosity, and yet is also considered an extremely sensitive and nuanced player. On Thursday, March 22, 7 pm to 9:30 pm., Mr. Cammack will bring his distinctive sound to Stony Brook’s marvelous performance space, the Jazz Loft, performing selections from the Great American Songbook with French musicians Antoine Bacherot, piano and Josselin Hazard, drums, young players from the French jazz scene. This trio was born in Lyon, France in 2015, in a series of concerts at the Opera of Lyon and a subsequent tour of French jazz festivals. In May 2017, the trio released their first CD together, The Pursuit. Go to www.thejazzloft.org to purchase tickets.

Cammack has performed in more than 30 countries backing Jamal and has also toured with singers Nancy Wilson and Vanessa Rubin, and played on Broadway with Dee Dee Bridgewater in Lady Day. He has performed in some of the world’s most famous jazz clubs such as the Village Vanguard in New York City, Yoshi’s in San Francisco; and at major jazz festivals, including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Italy’s
Umbria Jazz Festival, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland. Cammack has been featured on several recordings with Ahmad Jamal, including Jamal’s 2017 album Marseille, which was released last June to critical acclaim. A piano and trumpet student in his early years, Cammack was recruited into the West Point jazz band early in his Army service. During his stint in the military, Cammack moonlighted on jazz gigs in the New York City. After West Point, Cammack was snapped up by Ahmad Jamal and the rest is history. That is, until Thursday, when Cammack will again make history right here in historic Stony Brook.

Images Courtesy of James Cammack