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Nasheet Waits

Nasheet Waits, drummer/music educator, is a New York native. His interest in playing the drums was encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Frederick Waits. Over the course of his career, Freddie Waits played with such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, and countless others. Freddie Waits

Nasheet’s college education began at Morehouse in Atlanta, GA, where he majored in Psychology and History. Deciding that music would be his main focus, he continued his college studies in New York at Long Island University, where he graduated with honors, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music. While attending Long Island University, Waits studied privately with renowned percussionist, Michael Carvin. Carvin’s tutelage provided a vast foundation upon which Waits added influences from his father, as well as mentor Max Roach. It was Max that first gave Nasheet’s formidable talent international spotlight, hiring him as a member of the famed percussion ensemble M’BOOM. One highlight of Nasheet’s tenure with M’BOOM was the live concert performance of M’BOOM with special guests Tony Williams and Ginger Baker.

Nasheet’s talent came to the attention of reedman Antonio Hart, who asked Waits to originate the percussion chair of his first quintet. Waits remained a standing member of Antonio’s various ensembles, recording three albums and touring nationally and internationally in noted venues, jazz festivals, as well as live television and radio performances. Nasheet remained a member of Antonio’s group through 1998.

Nasheet with Billy Higgins

Most recently Nasheet has been a member of Andrew Hill’s various bands, Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, and Fred Hersch’s trio. As an originating member of pianist Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, Jason, bassist Tarus Mateen, and Nasheet have been deemed, “the most exciting rhythm section in jazz” by JazzTimes, The 2001 recording “Black Stars” with the Bandwagon, featuring Sam Rivers was named the “Best CD of 2001” in (Jazz Times, Jan 2002) and “The New York Times”.Nasheet’s recording and performing discography is a veritable who’s who in Jazz, boasting stints with jazz notables such as Geri Allen, Mario Bauza, Hamiett Bluiett, Abraham Burton, Ron Carter, Marc Cary, Steve Coleman, Stanley Cowell, Orrin Evans, Stefon Harris, Andrew Hill, Bill Lee, Jackie McLean, The Mingus Big Band, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Greg Osby, Joshua Redman, Vanessa Rubin, Antoine Roney, Wallace Roney, Jacky Terrason, Bunky Green, Peter Brötzmann and Mark Turner. Waits has recorded and toured extensively in Africa, Europe, Japan, Canada, South America and the United States.

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Album Review

Michelle Lordi: Two Moons

Read "Two Moons" reviewed by Geno Thackara


The art of the jazz diva does not shy away from the dark and mysterious. From putting a spell on somebody to helplessly falling under that old black magic, the tradition always seems to include some small touch of witchery, and Michelle Lordi, for her part, does not let a modern-day sound obscure those roots. The mood of Two Moons sits somewhere between a late-night set in a small jazz club and a round of spooky stories around the campfire. ...

1
Radio & Podcasts

Nasheet Waits, Ethan Iverson, Kenny Burrell & Jay McShann

Read "Nasheet Waits, Ethan Iverson, Kenny Burrell & Jay McShann" reviewed by Joe Dimino


From a modern star in the jazz world, we begin the 840th Episode of Neon Jazz with Nasheet Waits and the tune Snake Hip Waltz from his impressive catalog of music. From there, we hear his father Freddie Waits teamed with Kenny Barron. We also get tasty new music from the likes of David Gibson, Ethan Iverson, Bennett Paster and Neal Caine. In between, we hear classics from Jay McShann, Tadd Dameron and Art Taylor. We bring it all to ...

Album Review

Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield

Read "From the Dancehall to the Battlefield" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Uscito il primo gennaio 2023 su Bandcamp, questo album di Jason Moran, per il suo concept, per la varietà e la ricchezza, per il modo in cui fonde radici storiche e modernità è probabilmente da considerare il disco dell'anno. Il suggestivo titolo From the Dancehall to the Battlefield sintetizza la storia del mitico musicista a cui è dedicato: James Reese Europe, compositore, arrangiatore e direttore d'orchestra nero, nato a Mobile, in Alabama, nel 1881, e trasferitosi prima a ...

28
Album Review

Gregory Lewis: Organ Monk Going Home

Read "Organ Monk Going Home" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Imagine Thelonious Monk playing not piano but organ. Not easy to visualize, but that is the concept Gregory Lewis wishes to present on Organ Monk Going Home, the “home" in this instance exemplifying not a physical space where one goes to rest and refresh the soul but a metaphorical creation of the mind whose images are wide and dimensions unlimited. Lewis has spent much of his career reshaping Monk's unorthodox pianistic ideas for the organ, a pursuit ...

2
Album Review

Jeff Parker / Eric Revis / Nasheet Waits: Eastside Romp

Read "Eastside Romp" reviewed by John Sharpe


Though best known as an experimental guitarist in the likes of Tortoise, Isotope 217 and the Chicago Underground Trio, on Eastside Romp Jeff Parker hews closer to his jazz roots in a co-operative trio completed by bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits. Each a leader, Parker's bandmates possess similarly expansive resumés, making their somewhat introspective group focus here a surprise. On a program of five originals from across the band, one cover and one improv, they combine in the ...

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Liner Notes

Organ Monk: Uwo In the Black

Read "Organ Monk: Uwo In the Black" reviewed by Howard Mandel


Organ Monk is the inspired--some might say “mad"--project of Brooklyn-based keyboardist Greg Lewis to play the unique compositions of Thelonious Monk as they've never been played before. Lewis throws down Monk's memorable turns of melody and digs into his harmonic insights, mostly at groovin' rhythms, on the Hammond C 3 organ. It's tempting to say Lewis' style on that inimitable instrument is “all stops out"--because he's more than mastered the complex multi-manual and foot-pedaled contraption. He's become an exciting innovator ...

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Album Review

Christian McBride: Prime

Read "Prime" reviewed by Cary Tenenbaum


Prime's opening track, “Head Bedlam," opens with a cacophony of horns playing in a style reminiscent of Sun Ra's Arkestra. This transforms into a quiet, cool riff with bass and drums leading the way, shifting the music into a more accessible groove before returning to the aptly titled bedlam in the track's closing seconds. It is a brave opening to New Jawn's second release because it is not the easiest way to attract the casual jazz listener. ...

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Performance / Tour

'The Music Of Max Roach' Celebrates The Centennial Of The Legendary Jazz Drummer And Composer On Thursday, February 15, 2024

'The Music Of Max Roach' Celebrates The Centennial Of The Legendary Jazz Drummer And Composer On Thursday, February 15, 2024

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications

New England Conservatory’s Jazz Studies Department marks the centennial of a great American jazz drummer and composer with The Music of Max Roach on Thursday, February 15, at 8 p.m. in NEC’s Burnes Hall. NEC faculty member and drummer Nasheet Waits, who performed with Roach in his historic percussion ensemble M’Boom, curates the event and joins NEC students in a program featuring a full performance of We Insist! The Freedom NowSuite and other music. A pioneer of bebop, Roach worked ...

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Award / Grant

New England Conservatory Faculty Members, Alums Receive 2021 Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grants

New England Conservatory Faculty Members, Alums Receive 2021 Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grants

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications

New England Conservatory faculty members Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, Jason Moran and Nasheet Waits and alumni Jamie Branch and Felipe Salles have each been awarded 2021 Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grants of up to $40,000 from South Arts. These grants are part of Jazz Road’s largest investment in the field to date as part of a national initiative supporting jazz artists. Through Jazz Road Creative Residencies, 52 artists are receiving grants of up to $40,000 each, allowing them the opportunity to ...

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Education

Renowned Drummer And Composer Nasheet Waits Joins New England Conservatory Jazz Studies Faculty

Renowned Drummer And Composer Nasheet Waits Joins New England Conservatory Jazz Studies Faculty

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications

New England Conservatory’s Jazz Studies Department has hired renowned drummer, composer and educator Nasheet Waits to join the jazz faculty beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year. In addition to his work as a leader, Waits is widely known for his performances and recordings with a jazz greats including Antonio Hart, Geri Allen, Marc Cary, Andrew Hill, Wallace Roney and many others. “I’m thrilled that Nasheet Waits has agreed to join the faculty at NEC. I’ve been a fan of his ...

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Recording

Michaël Attias Presents "Nerve Dance" Featuring Aruán Ortiz, John Hébert & Nasheet Waits

Michaël Attias Presents "Nerve Dance" Featuring Aruán Ortiz, John Hébert & Nasheet Waits

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Available March 10, 2017 on Clean Feed Records “Like a high-quality electronic product manufactured by the Panasonic Corporation, the career of alto saxophonist Michaël Attias has always involved being slightly ahead of his time...”—Ken Waxman, JazzWord Nerve Dance—saxophonist/composer/bandleader/conceptualist Michaël Attias’ sixth album (available on Clean Feed Records, March 10, 2017), which deals with the aesthetics of spontaneity, the theory of elasticity and the concept of equality in music, is an expansive, spirited debut from Michaël Attias’ new Quartet, featuring Aruán ...

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Recording

Motema Music To Release Gathering Light From Oran Etkin, Featuring Ben Allison, Nasheet Waits, Lionel Loueke & Curtis Fowlkes

Motema Music To Release Gathering Light From Oran Etkin, Featuring Ben Allison, Nasheet Waits, Lionel Loueke & Curtis Fowlkes

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Motema Music To Release GATHERING LIGHT From ORAN ETKIN Featuring Ben Allison, Nasheet Waits, Lionel Loueke & Curtis Fowlkes To be released April 8, 2014 US & Europe CD Release tour including NYC CD Release Party at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz At Lincoln Center on May 12! Inspired by tours in Indonesia, China, Japan, Israel and Europe, Oran Etkin's brilliant new album, Gathering Light,to be released on Motema Music on April 8, 2014, and featuring Oran Etkin-bass clarinet, Ben ...

1

Recording

Lisa Hilton "Getaway" Release With Larry Grenadier and Nasheet Waits

Lisa Hilton "Getaway" Release With Larry Grenadier  and Nasheet Waits

Source: Lisa Hilton


Pianist/composer Lisa Hilton is one of the most distinctive and individualistic voices in jazz today. Her new album, Getaway (Ruby Slippers, #1016), is her fifteenth as a bandleader. Here she's joined in a powerful trio effort featuring her current all-star bandmates, bassist Larry Grenadier (Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny) and drummer Nasheet Waits (Jason Moran's Bandwagon, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andrew Hill). This new album is a bold and exciting change of pace, Hilton bolstering her signature imagistic, lush, ...

Event

Jason Moran, Tarus Mateen and Nasheet Waits in Worcester, MA on November 9th

Jason Moran, Tarus Mateen and Nasheet Waits in Worcester, MA on November 9th

Source: Music Worcester, Inc.

Worcester, MA: Blue Note recording artist and composer Jason Moran will perform in Worcester, MA on Friday, November 9, 2012. Jazz Pianist and Composer Jason Moran was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. The Fellowship is a $500,000, no-strings-attached grant for individuals who have shown exceptional creativity in their work and the promise to do more. Learn more at macfound.org/fellows. Jason Moran was named as the Kennedy Center's artistic adviser for jazz in November of 2011, only the second person ...

134

Recording

Armen Nalbandian to release new trio album with Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis, and duet album with Han Bennink on August 23rd

Armen Nalbandian to release new trio album with Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis, and duet album with Han Bennink on August 23rd

Source: Blacksmith Brother

On August 23rd, pianist/composer Armen Nalbandian will release two new recordings via his label Blacksmith Brother Music. The first being a live recording with drummer Han Bennink from January 2008 entitled Coup de Grace. The second being a follow-up to his 2007 trio recording Manchester Born, features Nalbandian on the fender rhodes and in a trio setting featuring bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits. The album comprises of all original compositions by Nalbandian and is entitled “Quiet, as it's ...

131

Recording

Komeda Project Returns with Scott Colley and Nasheet Waits For Requiem, a Contemporary Tribute to the Music of Renowned Polish Composer/Pianist Krzysztof Komeda 40 Years After His Death

Komeda Project Returns with Scott Colley and Nasheet Waits For Requiem, a Contemporary Tribute to the Music of Renowned Polish Composer/Pianist Krzysztof Komeda 40 Years After His Death

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications

"…this is a jazz album, and what matters is how these musicians make Komeda's music their own. Russ Johnson's trumpet work is creative and diverse. Krzysztof Medyna is a powerful, hair-raising reed player. Pianist Andrzej Winnicki plays solos made of sudden shifts that all cohere…" — Thomas Conrad, Stereophile (review of group’s debut Crazy Girl)

“Andrzej's arrangements…are sophisticated and engaging, bringing to mind the warm vibe of such classic recordings as Kind of Blue…" — Michael Gallant, Keyboard

Plenty has ...

181

Performance / Tour

Firehouse 12 to Present the Peter Brotzmann/Nasheet Waits Duo May 8th

Firehouse 12 to Present the Peter Brotzmann/Nasheet Waits Duo May 8th

Source: Improvised Communications

On Friday, May 8th, New Haven's Firehouse 12 will present the duo of legendary German multi-instrumentalist Peter Brotzmann and acclaimed New York-based drummer Nasheet Waits. Part of Brotzmann's 12-stop spring tour of America, this two-set performance will feature all spontaneously improvised music blending the artists' diverse backgrounds and musical points of view.

Brotzmann is a self-taught musician and co-founder of the groundbreaking FMP label whose early work in the mid-1960’s helped build the foundation of the European free jazz scene. ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Blues Variant

Criss Cross
2023

buy

Prime

Brother Mister Productions
2023

buy

Organ Monk Going Home

Sunnyside Records
2023

buy

Two Moons

Self Produced
2023

buy

Louise

Enja Records
2022

buy

Blues Variant

From: Blues Variant
By Nasheet Waits

Safeway

From: Rare Metals
By Nasheet Waits

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