Recipient Information
Location
Knoxville, Tennessee
Year of Award
2021
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant
Grant Amount
$39,665
About the Project
Tardy will develop, rehearse and perform new work with a large ensemble based on the novel, "Pilgrim's Progress"also involving the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. Open rehearsals will take place at the West Park Baptists Church. Performances will take place at the Cumberland County Playhouse in rural Crossville and culminate with a video recording for the East Tennessee PBS affiliated Live at Lucille's.
Residency Location
Knoxville, TN
About the Artist
Saxophonist, multi-reedist, and composer Gregory Tardy is one of the most versatile jazz musicians of his generation. In 1992, he recorded his first CD, Crazy Love, and in 1993 he started touring with the legendary drummer from John Coltrane’s classic quartet, Elvin Jones. As a sought after New York sideman he has played with many prominent jazz artists including: Andrew Hill, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Steve Coleman, Betty Carter, Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Rashied Ali, Ellis Marsalis, Brian Lynch, John Patitucci, and many more. He has also performed and/or recorded along with many other notable saxophonists, such as Joe Lovano, Mark Turner, Chris Potter, Dewey Redman, Ravi Coltrane, James Moody, and others. As a clarinetist, he has also been featured prominently on tours/recordings with Tom Harrell, Stefon Harris, Chris Potter, Elio Villafranca, Regina Carter, and Andrew Hill. He has performed at all of the major jazz festivals around the world and on some of the biggest stages in jazz. He has been featured on several Downbeat Albums of the Year and several Grammy nominated recordings; including a Grammy winning CD in 2006. Gregory Tardy has been voted a Rising Star in Downbeat Magazine’s Annual Critics and Readers Polls multiple times, on saxophone and clarinet. He also has recorded fifteen CDs under his own name. One of his recent releases, More Than Enough, was a collector’s edition vinyl duo project with Bill Frisell released in 2019 on the Newvelle label and currently Tardy has a new release, If Time Could Stand Still, out on the WJ3 label. Eleven years ago Tardy moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to teach jazz saxophone at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.