Listen: Jason Lindner – “Friendship and Love”

“Rhythm provides more than a heartbeat for the pianist Jason Lindner," observes Nate Chinen in The New York Times. "It also seems to fuel his respiratory functions and digestive activity, and maybe his neurons...What matters to him is groove, however it comes.”A native of Brooklyn, NY, Jason grew up immersed in hip-hop. His parents encouraged his musical interests after he began to learn piano by ear, investing in formal lessons for their son and later sending him to New York City's High School of Music & Art. Though Jason attended both the Mannes College of Music and the New School (where he is currently a faculty member), he credits his most formative study to apprenticeship with two elder statesman: the pianists Barry Harris and Chris Anderson. Jason elaborates (via NextBop):

I've brought everything I inherited from my elders in the New York jazz community - like Barry Harris, Chris Anderson, Frank Hewitt, Jimmy Lovelace, Tommy Turrentine, C Sharpe, Junior Cook, Junior Mance - and really used the knowledge and tradition they passed on as a foundation from which to spring ahead and mix with newer rhythms and musical ideas...to really be part of the musical current, the present movement, the present moment.

Jason has appeared on over thirty five recordings, and has worked with the likes of Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, Matisyahu, Paul Simon, Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music, Dafnis Prieto's Proverb Trio & Absolute Quintet, Claudia Acuña, and numerous others. He served as the musical director for Lauryn Hill's group in 2004, and was a member of Meshell Ndegeocello's band from 2006-2009. Through his multitude of performance experiences, as well as by his own efforts, the pianist has incorporated influences from African, Afro-Caribbean, South American and Middle-Eastern music. The breadth of his interests is evident the five albums he has released under his own name, one of which was recorded live at The Jazz Gallery. We also commissioned and premiered Jason's large ensemble work, "Breeding Ground," in 2009.This weekend, we will welcome Jason to our stage for a two-night run. On Friday, August 17th, we will present a duet between Jason and the Turkish qanun player Tamer Pinarbasi, while the performance on Saturday, August 18th will feature Lindner in a trio alongside fellow keyboardist James Hurt, rounded out by the drummer Yayo Serka.Stream the penultimate track from Jason's latest album, Now Vs. Now, "Friendship and Love," below:[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/31688868" iframe="true" /]