Darrell Grant has performed extensively as a bandleader and solo artist throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe in venues ranging from clubs to major jazz and chamber music festivals. His 2017-18 and 2018-19 touring projects include the MJ New Quartet, Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite, and All 4 Naught.
For booking and press inquiries, please contact
Kim Gumbel.
Inspired by the Modern Jazz Quartet, MJ New blends jazz and classical music in a unique way.
Chamber jazz pays homage to the connections between counterpoint, composition, and improvisation, appealing to classical and jazz audiences equally.
In addition to performing classic Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) arrangements like “Django,” “Bag’s Groove,” and lesser-known gems like “Odds Against Tomorrow,” MJ New takes MJQ’s homage to Bach as a point of departure with selections like “Bach to Brazil,” which blends of Bach and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Chamber jazz explores the improvisatory possibilities of the classical canon, turning Beethoven’s Fur Elise into “A Viennese Affaire,” and offering a lyrical reading to Chopin’s virtuosic Étude Opus 10 No. 6. Presenters can find press information for the tuxedoed quartet here as well as on Marcus Shelby’s and Mike Horsfall’s.
Please visit the MJ New press kit and see the MJ New One Sheet.
Using the MJQ as a lens, Grant guides participants in a 60-minute course featuring passages by Ravel, Gershwin, Chopin, and more.
For those beginning to explore improvisation to those looking to sharpen their skills, tools and tips from these seasoned players will building a solid framework for expanding on passages without going off the rails.
Educators, community leaders, and frequent conference speaker, Grant shares inspiration and insights on artistic leadership in social engagement for young artists.
Stemming from the viticultural concept of terroir, The Territory seeks to find the innate sound, the vibration and ethos, of Oregon. The nine-piece ensemble explores a range of Oregon’s cultural history and geography over the course of nine movements. Grant’s 2013 composition delves into connection between people and place through the lens of Nez Perce history, WWII’s Japanese interment camps, and good times at the Golden West, the first African American-owned hotel West of the Mississippi, as well as the power of the Missoula Floods, Oregon’s mighty rivers, and the mystical Fort Rock in the center of the state. A deep, and ultimately uplifting, look at his adopted state, Grant’s The Territory has been hailed as “irrepressibly energetic and finely polished.” by The Oregonian, and a “triumph of spirit!” by the arts journal Northwest Reverb.
Please visit The Territory press kit and see the one sheet.
Educational opportunities accompanying The Territory include: Building a Sustainable Arts Ecology and Searching the Sonic Landscape, a toolbox for uncovering the endemic sounds of your home.
Set in the segregation-era South, Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite follows the story of six-year-old Ruby Bridges desegregating New Orleans’s William Franz Elementary. Drawing on gospel and spiritual traditions as well as jazz and chamber music, the multi-movement piece weaves music and spoken word to illustrate an emotional portrait of a dramatic time in US history. The chamber version of Step by Step is features an ensemble of eight musicians plus vocal soloist and narrator in a powerful and poignant ode to social justice.
Step by Step: with Gospel choir: In 2015 Grant and composer/conductor Jason Shelton collaborated to arrange the vocal selections of Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite for gospel choir, vocal soloists, ensemble, and narrator. Subsequent touring performances include Nashville, Washington DC, and New Orleans. Presenters can book either the nine-piece chamber version played by the Oregon Territory Ensemble or Grant and Shelton to perform with a local choir.
Please visit the Ruby Bridges press kit and one sheet.
Educational opportunities accompanying Step by Step include: The Intersection: Where Classical Meets Jazz and Engaged Artistry: Music and Leadership.
