Bill Warfield

Bill Garfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra

Featuring 2024 Horner Artist-in-residence

Bill Warfield and Gary Bartz have come together to collaborate on a new musical project stemming from their hometown of Baltimore and their affinity for Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, which will be comprised of various original compositions by Bill Warfield and Cecilia Coleman. Gary Bartz will be featured with the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra in February and early March.

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Bill Warfield is not only a proficient musician, composer, educator and trumpeter, his varied career as a player has led to associations with artists as varied as Sonny Stitt, Paul Anka, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Mel Torme, The Spinners, Sheila Jordan, Jon Faddis, The Gil Evans Orchestra, Mel Lewis, Ornette Coleman, Lester Bowie, Lee Konitz, The Yellow Jackets, Don Braden, Eddie Palmieri, Buddy DeFranco, and Randy Brecker. Currently teaching and directing the Jazz program at Lehigh University.

"I'm inspired by working with Gary and with hometown friends that I admired for years. It was ever since I heard him with McCoy Tyner that I wanted to collaborate and work with him based on our mutual love for Chesapeake Bay", says Warfield.

I'm inspired by working with Gary and with hometown friends that I admired for years. It was ever since I heard him with McCoy Tyner that I wanted to collaborate and work with him based on our mutual love for Chesapeake Bay

Bill Warfield and the Lehigh Music Department will be presenting Gary Bartz and the Lehigh Jazz Faculty at the Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem, PA on February 23rd, at 8 pm, which will be free of charge.

In addition, Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra will be featuring Gary Bartz, on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 8:00 PM at The Brook Arts Center (Formerly The Bound Brook Theater), 10 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook, NJ08805.

On March Friday, March 1st, Bill Warfield and Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra will be at the Deerhead Inn, 5 Main St, Delaware, Water Gap, PA 18327 from 7:00 PM — 10:00 PM.

Saturday, March 2nd, Gary Bartz will be performing with the Lehigh University Jazz Repertory Orchestra which will be featuring the students and faculty in a big band setting. It's also Bill Warfield's 73rd birthday celebration!

Bartz was awarded a Grammy for "Best Latin Jazz Performance" for his work on Roy Hargrove's"Habana" at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, and for "Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group" for McCoy Tyner's Illuminations at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. Bartz was awarded the BNY Mellon Jazz 2015 Living Legacy Award, which was presented at a special ceremony at The Kennedy Center. Revive Music and Bartz celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his Another Earth album at Winter Jazzfest in New York City, alongside original member Pharoah Sanders. He is a Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Oberlin College.

Gary Bartz's career highlights can be found at http://garybartz.bandcamp.com/ and Bill Warfield'smusic can be found at http://billwarfield.net.

"The Not Just Jazz Network is excited to hear what the profound collaboration between Bill Warfield and Gary Bartz will create. I'm sure it will be a masterpiece of musical excellence", says Jaijai Jackson of the Not Just Jazz Network.

Be sure to check out the feature of Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra featuring saxophonist Gary Bartz on the Not Just Jazz Network at http://notjustjazznetwork.com

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Media Contact

Bill Warfield, 43rd Street Music and Art, 1 1 917-324-8171, nyjazzoctet@gmail.com, billwarfield.net

SOURCE 43rd Street Music and Art

The Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra, led by Bill Warfield is celebrating landmark events with a new CD project entitled “Time Capsule”

Time Capsule CD Cover

The Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra, led by Bill Warfield is celebrating landmark events with not only a new CD project entitled "Time Capsule" as well as high-profile industry considerations.

NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Warfield has energized audiences, performers, and writers for more than four decades. Time Capsule is the third CD by the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra. Although its name may lead one to think that it is an inflexible or at least predictable funk band, the leader's arrangements and the group's repertoire are much more wide-ranging than one might expect. Bill's vision of funk extends beyond the melodically percussive style of soul music that found commercial currency from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Warfield channels the funk impulse in a slickly invigorating manner on the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra's third album, Time Capsule.

In September, Downbeat Magazine held the 88th Annual Readers Poll where Bill Warfield and The Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra were nominated in the Best Large Ensemble category. In addition, the orchestra is also under consideration in the current Grammy cycle in the following categories: Best Large Jazz Ensemble, Best Vocal Performance (Chrissi Poland "I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free"), Best Arrangement, (Bill Warfield for "The Man In The Green Shirt"), Best Original Composition ("Zoe's Dance",) and Best Instrumental Solo (Lou Marini, "The Man In The Green Shirt”).

"I'm inspired and happy to work with Gary Bartz, whom I have admired for years - ever since I heard him play with McCoy Tyner. We are both from the same town and I am excited to collaborate with him based on our mutual love of the Chesapeake Bay", says Bill Warfield.

As the director of Jazz Studies at Lehigh University, Warfield is known for inviting stellar guest artists to perform with his students and colleagues. Over the years Bill has presented collaborations with award-winning guests such as Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, the Yellow Jackets, Eddie Palmieri, John Faddis, George Gruntz, and Buddy DeFranco.

On March 2nd, 2024 Warfield has invited Grammy award-winning saxophonist Gary Bartz to join the Lehigh University Jazz Repertory Orchestra for a musical performance. In addition, Warfield and Bartz, both from Baltimore, Maryland, hold a passion for the Chesapeake Bay. This has led to a collaboration to be documented in a new recording, "Bay Songs" (working title). Please be on the lookout for this new work by Bill, Gary, and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra on Planet Arts Network. Information about these recordings, performances, and events can be found at billwarfield.net.