An all-star ensemble performs two mesmerizing sets featuring one of the great saxophones in modern jazz.

Bassist Michael Hawkins has performed with jazz legends saxophonists Jimmy Heath, Eric Alexander, Gary Bartz, Donald Harrison; pianists Bruce Barth, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Cyrus Chestnut, John Hicks; vocalists Vanessa Rubin, Leon Thomas, Carla Cook; vibraharpist Stefon Harris; guitarist Mark Whitfield, Mark Elf and Russell Malone; drummers Carl Allen, Ralph Peterson, Cindy Blackmon; and the trombone and seashells of Steve Turre. Hawkins has led groups and performed in prestigious venues such as The Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil's, Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center), Cleopatra's Needle, Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase (Chicago), Jazz Bakery (Los Angeles), Ragatta Bar, Sculler's (Boston), The Dakota (Minneapolis) and Yoshi's (Oakland). He is based in Richmond, Virginia.

This unique and rare performance features the extraordinary talents of Dr. Weldon Hill on piano, Billy Williams on drums, and Steve Wilson on saxophone.

Steve Wilson has attained ubiquitous status in the studio and on the stage with the greatest names in jazz. A bandleader in his own right, Jazz Times calls him “the consummate saxophonist-composer and “one of the finest alto and soprano saxophonists of our time.” A musician’s musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others. Wilson has eight recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar musicians as Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, Steve Nelson, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, Dennis Irwin, James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, Nicholas Payton, Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo and Bill Stewart.

Wilson’s current projects reflect his multifaceted artistry, versatility, and associations with some of the most highly regarded artists on the scene. His quartet Wilsonian’s Grain, which consists of Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo, and Bill Stewart or Clarence Penn, has been featured on NPR live from the Kennedy Center and the Village Vanguard in New York City, and headlined at the prestigious Detroit Jazz Festival in 2011. Wilson is one-half of two dynamic duos, “Musical Dialogue” with renowned drummer Lewis Nash, and in another with pianist Bruce Barth as documented on their recent recording “Home” on the We Always Swing label. He co-leads an elegant trio with pianist Renee Rosnes and bassist Peter Washington, and with composer/arranger David O’Rourke has a repertoire as soloist with strings. Wilson is touring member of the Grammy-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Billy Childs Quartet, Christian McBride & Inside Straight as well as McBride’s Grammy-winning Big Band, and the Buster Williams Quartet.

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