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Jerry Weldon

Internationally renowned veteran sax man Jerry Weldon, has been a player on the jazz scene for more than 35 years. With eight CD’s as a leader and more sideman sides than even he can count…or remember, this native New Yorker’s performance/recording résumé reflects his venerable tenor tenure and reads like a virtual "Who's Who of Jazz."

After graduating from Rutgers University Jazz Studies Program in 1981, Jerry joined the legendary Lionel Hampton Orchestra and continued his association with Hamp into the new millennium. Next came a long, rewarding stint with master organist Jack McDuff & his "Heatin' System." Additionally Jerry has worked with organists Jimmy McGriff, Joey DeFrancesco, Bobby Forrester, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Mel Rhyne, trombone great Al Grey, piano giants George Cables and Cedar Walton, drum legends Roy Haynes and Jimmy Cobb as well as guitarist/singer George Benson, guitarist Earl Klugh, bassist Keter Betts, singer Mel Tormé and a host of other legendary musicians.

In 1990, Jerry became a charter member and featured soloist with Harry Connick Jr.'s newly formed big band. Since then Jerry has toured the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia with Harry and was also part of Connick's Broadway musical production, "Thou Shalt Not" and appeared on stage as well as in the orchestra. Now, thanks to his talent, and long association with Connick, Jerry can be seen daily as part of the “house band” on HARRY, Connick’s new daytime television variety show. HARRY is produced and distributed by NBC Universal and has been sold to 99% of the U.S., including Fox, Sinclair, Hearst, NBC Owned Stations, CBS, Scripps, Tribune and other station groups. The program airs in the coveted 4PM time slot in most markets.

Jerry, a “musician’s musician,” who is also a first class showman in the truest sense of the word, blows his horn with his entire body and delights audiences with his all-in, soulful playing. Depending on the tune, Weldon’s warm fat tenor sound can roll and roar like a thunderstorm or gentle you like a warm summer breeze…and it always, always resonates far beyond the listener’s ear, Whether he’s walkin’ the crowded bar at Showmans in Harlem or wending his way through packed candlelit tables at Birdland in Midtown, Jerry Weldon is a tenor force that cannot be contained. He becomes the music and brings the audience with him on a communal tuneful journey. This mastery of the message, and the medium, has kept Weldon working steady for nearly four decades. Jerry’s latest recording, "On the Move," spent two months on the Jazz Week charts and he at work on a new CD

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1
Album Review

Jerry Weldon: Those Were the Days

Read "Those Were the Days" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


It's no longer certain what music cold be classified as “mainstream" jazz. One can argue that the genre (and all others, for that matter) have atomized to the point of each performance being considered a genre in itself (a desirable outcome to the music anarchists among us). That said, some type of classification remains useful in describing music, if for no other reason than to let a listener know that “this sounds a great deal like that." Which brings us ...

344
Live Review

Jerry Weldon at The Turning Point Cafe, Piermont, NY

Read "Jerry Weldon at The Turning Point Cafe, Piermont, NY" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


Jerry Weldon The Turning Point Cafe Piermont, New York September 22, 2008

During some inspired moments towards the end of an hour-long set, tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon lumbered across the stage, crouched low, the bell of the horn nearly pointed at the ground. Earthbound and restless in equal measure, the recurring gesture was an apt representation of his solo style. Weldon took charge of the music in ways that weren't excessive, overblown, or indifferent ...

488
Album Review

Jerry Weldon: Well-Done!

Read "Well-Done!" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


The high-water mark of Well-Done! is Jerry Weldon's rousing, up-tempo cover of “Filthy McNasty." Barking out four bars of Horace Silver's angular, no-nonsense line, Weldon sounds as if he can bulldoze anything that gets in his way. The tenor saxophonist's single-mindedness is exhilarating. Subsequent to the entrance of Hammond B-3 organist Kyle Koehler's pumping bass line and drummer Jason Brown's sturdy beat, he takes fifteen smart, frenetic choruses, pushing and pulling phrases into shape so as to make each chorus ...

144
Album Review

Jerry Weldon-Michael Karn Quintet: Head to Head

Read "Head to Head" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


There's something magical about the idea of dueling tenor saxophones that has kept it a popular commodity for many years now. Historically, the first memorable pairing was that of Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray. Then, we had Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and let's not forget that incendiary duo of Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis! Now you can add a modern day equivalent in the likes of tenor men Jerry Weldon and Michael Karn. While certainly not yet household ...

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Event

Jammin' for Jazz Bridge @ Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia on Friday, April 27th!

Jammin' for Jazz Bridge @ Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia on Friday, April 27th!

Source: Jim Miller

Jazz Bridge, a non-profit helping local professional jazz and blues musicians from the Greater Philadelphia Metro area in crisis, will present its 7th annual fundraiser Jammin' for Jazz Bridge at Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, on Friday April 27th starting at 8:00 p.m. Saxophonist Jerry Weldon will be kicking off the festivities from 8:00-10:00 pm. and then a late jam by some of Philadelphia's finest will follow. Weldon has a long association with many jazz legends ...

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