DCist Preview: Jon Irabagon @ the KC Jazz Club
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz honors its namesake by hosting its annual International Jazz Competition, which since 1987, has provided a springboard to some of the genre's brightest young stars. Past winners include Joshua Redman, Joey DeFrancesco, Chris Potter, and Jane Monheit, making the competition the most prestigious in the world. On Friday, as part of its Discovery Artist series, the Kennedy Center hosts 2008's winner, up-and-coming saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the first Filipino-American to win the award.
"If you win that competition, it's not a guarantee toward stardom or anything like that," Irabagon told DCist by phone while packing for a short European tour. "I find myself actually working harder. It's been a really good motivator."
Irabagon has been building a solid reputation in New York's crowded jazz community, both as a leader and a sideman. His discography includes Jon Irabagon's Outright!, recorded with his peers from around the Big Apple, and I Don't Hear Nothin' But the Blues, an avant-garde collection of drums/sax improvisations. Irabagon also has ties to the D.C. music scene, having recorded with Motel, the jazz/hip-hop collective led by local bassist, bandleader, and Unbuckled alum Matt Grason.
This eclectic mix illustrates Irabagon's broad range, which made an impression on Grason during their graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music.
"You'd realize, 'Oh damn, he doesn’t have a bag – everything he plays sounds like that’s his specialty," Grason said.
In addition to prize and scholarship money, winning the Monk Competition led to Irabagon signing a recording contract with Concord Records. The result is Irabagon's latest album, The Observer, released earlier this month. The recording is a collection of Irabagon's original compositions with a couple of not-often-performed standards.
"I was gonna do this record anyways," Irabagon said. "I had been playing these tunes and getting them ready to go."
For this session, Concord assembled an all-star cast of supporting players, including pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Victor Lewis. Trumpeter Nicholas Payton also makes a guest appearance. While Irabagon described this ensemble's playing as "immaculate," he saw differences between recording with these greats and playing the same tunes with his working band.
"With my band, people take more risks, and so people screw up more, that's not in a bad way," Irabagon explained. "But in the studio, where it has to be this perfect thing, there's no beating Victor Lewis, Kenny Barron, and Rufus Reid."
Irabagon noted that the experience of winning the Monk Competition, and the subsequent recording, have made him more aware of the business side of things, so he continues to wear the many hats of his several projects. Irabagon is hopeful that The Observer will lead to continued exposure, and he hopes to book performances with the album's rhythm section at festivals and larger events. He also hopes to play in more parts of the U.S., whose size makes touring a financial challenge.
As for Friday's performance, Lewis will be on the gig, which will also feature pianist Frank Kimbrough and bassist Peter Brendler. Irabagon said the set would include material from the album, as well as new pieces, and he hopes the audience will hear something fresh and uplifting.
"I want to create a good atmosphere in the club," he said. "For me, I'm looking at it as an opportunity to create a positive band vibe, and get those vibes out to the audience."
The Jon Irabagon Quartet will perform 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. sets on Friday, Oct. 30 at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club. Tickets are $15.