David S. Ware Unit

"The David S. Ware Quartet is the best small band in jazz today." - Gary Giddens, Village Voice

David S. Ware (b. 1949) has been performing for over 40 years - first as a youth in informal practice sessions with Sonny Rollins in the 1960s, then as part of the fertile New York Loft Jazz era of the 1970s. During this decade, he joined the Cecil Taylor Unit and Andrew Cyrille's Maono as well as worked frequently with drummers Beaver Harris and Milford Graves. It wasn't until the 90s, following Ware's purposeful and rigorous engagement in a period of extensive woodshedding, that he would totally develop both his personal sound and his visionary group concept.  And, with a series of ground-breaking albums by the David S. Ware Quartet, this decade saw the full-on recognition of Ware as a true saxophone colossus.

Perhaps the most highly acclaimed group of the last decade, the Ware Quartet's efforts were rewarded by being one of the very few jazz ensembles whose work was appreciated by an audience outside the narrow confines of the jazz community.  In addition, a pointed reference of this period is that many writers and jazz fans alike referred to the David S. Ware Quartet as "the most exciting jazz ensemble since the classic John Coltrane Quartet." Indeed, Ware's typical manner of performance - modal and free, rubato, high-energy collective improvisation - stems directly from Meditations-era Coltrane. The quartet, which features the esteemed William Parker and Matthew Shipp, celebrates the release of Live In The World (Thirsty Ear Records), which features drummers Brown, Hamid Drake and Susie Ibarra.