JEB HAYNES PATTON piano, b. Kensington, MD, August 17, 1974 BIO Described as both a "young phenom…on piano" and an "absolute great," Jeb Patton has earned a well-regarded reputation in the international jazz community. The multi-talented Patton is known as a "player of great expression" and "not one to tread the predictable," as well as a "simpatico accompanist" for The Heath Brothers, an "innovative" arranger, and one who "cuts…[an] impressive swath on his composition, 'Hanna's Mood,'" a tribute to his late teacher, Sir Roland Hanna. Jeb Patton graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree with a major in music from Duke University, where he studied piano with Tibor Szasz, Douglas Buys, and Jane Hawkins. As a member of the Duke Jazz Ensemble under Paul Jeffrey, he performed with and/or arranged for more than 60 professional jazz artists, including 48 musicians from New York and more than 12 international jazz musicians from Italy, Monaco, and Portugal. Studying under Sir Roland Hanna and Jimmy Heath, Jeb earned his Master of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1997 from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York, where he also received the Louis Armstrong Award for composition from the ASCAP Foundation. Since graduating, Jeb has toured throughout the United States and abroad with the Heath Brothers and with Jimmy Heath's Generations Quintet, performing in theaters, festivals, concert halls, colleges, and clubs. Since moving to New York in 1996, Jeb has also played with Etta Jones, the Faddis/Hampton/Heath Sextet, Winard Harper's group, and Antonio Hart's Quintet, Paul West, Rufus Reid, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash, Steve Nelson, Ralph Peterson, John Ore, Jimmy Cobb, Lonnie Plaxico, Carl Allen, Kyoshi Kitigawa, Jackie Mclean, Frank Wess, James Moody, Terell Stafford, Sean Jones, Diego Urcola, Jeremy Pelt, Gerald Cannon, Willie Jones III, Steve Davis, Keter Betts, Eddie Locke, Marlene Verplank, among others. APPEARANCES Major national and international festival appearances with the Heath Brothers include Savannah Music Festival (2005), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage (2005), Tri C Festival (2005), Newport (Rhode Island, 2004), Mt. Hood (Oregon, 2004), Charlie Parker Festival (NYC 2004, 2002), Atlanta (Georgia, 2004), Baden-Baden Festival (Germany, 2003), 8th Salzburg Jazz Autumn Festival (Austria, 2003), 45th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival (California, 2002), 3rd Annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival (California, 2001), North Sea Jazz Festival (Holland, 2000), Äarhus Jazz Festival (Denmark, 2000), the Pori Festival (Finland, 1999), Graz "Jazz-Sommer" (Switzerland, 1999), and Wiggin Jazz Festival (England, 1999) Recent New York City metro area appearances with the Heath Brothers include "Birds of a Feather: A Charlie Parker Tribute," at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, May 21, 2004, (also featuring the Roy Haynes Quintet), and the January 24, 2004, NEA Jazz Masters Award Concert. Other notable New York City performances include the Opening Nights of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jimmy Heath's 75th Birthday Celebration, October 19 and 20, 2001; and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Duo Series with Percy Heath in the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse, February 1 through 3, 2001. Performances in 2003 included a concert at the Chamber Music Hall in Berlin that was broadcast on Berlin Jazz Radio and a concert series in Rome. In September 2000, Jeb traveled to Greece with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band under the direction of Jon Faddis and at the invitation of the Consulate General of the USA to perform Ellington's "Black, Brown and Beige Suite." He has also appeared on three S.S. Norway Jazz Cruises as part of the Jimmy Heath Big Band, with Jimmy's small band, and with the Heath Brothers. Career highlights also include performing with Antonio Hart at the Kennedy Center in October 2003 at the National Visionary Leadership Project Gala and Awards Dinner. As protégés of Jimmy Heath, the duo performed a medley of all Jimmy Heath compositions in honor of Heath being named a Visionary in the Performing Arts. Inspired by the late Sir Roland Hanna, Patton is also very involved with classical music. Recent classical performances include a solo recital at Queensborough Community College featuring the Chopin Ballades and two performances with the New York Philomusica. These concerts featured Ellington's concerto, A New World A-Comin' arranged for chamber ensemble, Haydn Piano Trio in Eb major, and a premiere of a chamber piece by Michael Berkeley. In addition, Patton performed Ellington’s concerto with the Queens College Orchestra in honor of Sir Roland Hanna, and has performed extensively with Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's New Black Music Repertory Ensemble. Patton is currently studying classical piano with Lawrence Schubert. Presently, when Jeb is not on the road with the Heath Brothers, he teaches musicianship and piano at Queensborough Communtiy College. Duties also include substituting for professors at Queensborough and Queens Colleges, giving lectures on jazz history, music appreciation, and coaching ensembles, RECORDINGS Jeb can be heard on the following CDs: “Just the Beginning” Julius Tolentino Sextet, recorded in March, 2005, featuring an original arrangement of Benny Golson’s “Domingo”. “Come Into the Light” Winard Harper Sextet, Cecil's Jazz Club, West Orange, NJ, (Savant), live recording December 26-27, 2003 “A Love Song” (Daddy Jazz Records, 6659081, 2003), with Percy Heath (bass & cello), Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums & percussion), and Peter Washington (bass) “A Time for the Soul” (Savant CD 2048, 2003), with the Winard Harper Sextet “It Don't Mean a Thing” Lewis Nash Trio/Quartet (M&I Records, Tokyo, MYCJ-35250, 2003); Jeb as special guest pianist on four selections with Lewis Nash (drums), Steve Nelson (vibes), and Peter Washington (bass) “On the Loose, The Sharp Nine Class of 2001” (Sharp Nine Records CD 1021-2), an annual series featuring the best young players on the New York City scene; Jeb is featured on two selections: an original composition, "All Is Not Lost," and an arrangement of Jimmy Heath's "The Quota." “Jazz Family” (Concord Jazz CCD-4846-2, 1998), with the Heath Brothers In addition, Jeb can be heard on two brand new sample CD’s recorded in May, 2005 under his own name. One features Chopin’s Four Ballades; the other is a Jazz Trio CD featuring a mix of original music and standards entitled “A Lovesome Thing”. REVIEWS "…pianist Jeb Patton is not one to tread the predictable and his time signatures cavort delightfully as he shifts pace and thrust seamlessly. Add clusters of notes and probing lines and this one becomes one for indulgement. Patton cuts another impressive swath on his composition 'Hanna's Mood.' He is a player of great expression, bringing to the surface every little vignette that gives a song its depth and character." - Jerry D'Souza, All About Jazz, March 2004 review of A Love Song (Daddy Jazz Records, 2003) with Percy Heath, Albert "Tootie" Heath & Peter Washington "It was Jeb Patton who went in for youthful displays: he played a walloping 'Élégie,' a transcription of Art Tatum's version of Massenet. It felt like watching the changes in a fireworks show." - Ben Ratliff, The New York Times, April 4, 2003 review of The Heath Brothers at the Village Vanguard "Jeb Patton, who studied with Sir Roland at Queens College, gave a sparkling, characterful account of the solo line…" - Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, January 27, 2003 "Remembering a Jazzman As a Classmate and Teacher" review of the world premier of Duke Ellington's New World A-Comin' in the chamber version scored by Sir Roland Hanna performed with the New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble "Patton cites as prime influences McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell, Ahmad Jamal and Cedar Walton, but credits Queens College faculty member Roland Hanna as a recent inspiration. Patton's immersion in Hanna's concept comes through in All Is Not Lost, a ruminative original with a Bossa feel that displays true reverence for harmony; he pays homage to [Jimmy] Heath on an arrangement of The Quota, an early '60s Heath opus with a bracing shout chorus." - Ted Panken, Downbeat, Jazziz, WKCR liner notes for On the Loose, The Sharp Nine Class of 2001 (Sharp Nine Records CD 1021-2) an annual series featuring the best young players on the New York City scene "On Wednesday night at the Jazz Bakery…the moments of amusement, entertaining as they were, only took place between pieces. While the music was underway, the Heath Brothers, with their longtime associate, Jeb Patton, on piano, were all business…Patton was featured in a stylish Century Rag…a performance that was an encouraging reminder, in these emotionally distressing times, of the capacity of jazz to lift the spirits and warm the heart." - Don Heckman, Special to The Los Angeles Times, September 21, 2001