Jazz Master Clinic – Charles McPherson

A very special session with master artist, saxophonist, and composer Charles McPherson. Mr. McPherson will share thoughts on key skills to develop as a jazz player and improviser, drawing on his decades of experience as a leading artist in the field, and will share and discuss selected recordings from his extensive discography, which ranges from his debut appearances with Charles Mingus’s ensemble in 1960 up to the recent Jazz Dance Suites which was selected as a 2020 album of the year by JazzTimes and DownBeat magazine! Plenty of time for Q&A as well. Open to all.

Wynton Marsalis, a longtime admirer says: “Charles is the very definition of excellence in our music. He’s the definitive master on his instrument. He plays with exceptional harmonic accuracy and sophistication. He performs free-flowing, melodic and thematically developed solos with unbelievable fire and an unparalleled depth of soul.”   

Charles McPherson grew up in Detroit where he studied with Barry Harris and began playing professionally at 19 years old. In 1959 he moved to New York and performed with Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1972, while also working with Barry Harris, Lonnie Hillyer and George Coleman. His first album as a leader, Bebop Revisited, was recorded in 1964. Relocating to San Diego in 1978, McPherson has maintained an active career as a performer and educator in the US and abroad. He’s performed with a who’s who of jazz luminaries, was the featured saxophonist on the 1988 soundtrack for Clint Eastwood’s film “Bird” and continues to record and compose, most recently 2020’s acclaimed “Jazz Dance Suites.”