The Summit Jerry Weldon

• 1 Minority 07:56
• 2 Sunny V 06:54
• 3 Calling Miss Khadija 09:40
• 4 Good Morning Heartache 05:20
• 5 Damon's Day 06:01
• 6 The Summit 11:01
• 7 You Go To My Head 06:31
• 8 On The Sunny Side Of The Street 06:00
• Total Runtime 59:23

Info for The Summit

There’s so much about the heart and soul of this music that can’t be taught in a classroom. I’ve always wanted to help the younger musicians, passing on what I’ve learned just as the older musicians did for me. That’s how music continues to thrive. During the Covid lockdown, I channeled my creativity into composing and arranging for a group that existed in my imagination. While taking in late-night sets in New York and attending a weekly Emerging Artists Series in New Jersey, I encountered incredibly talented young musicians. Among them, pianist Mike Bond, bassist Jason Clotter and drummer Hank Allen-Barfield. Trumpeter Alonzo Demetrius came highly recommended by my friend, the late Ralph Peterson. I met trombonist Peter Lin through the great Slide Hampton. Drummer, Carmen Intorre I had met a few years earlier at a late-night session at Dizzy’s in New York. When the pandemic began to ease and a rehearsal space was made available nearby, I decided there was no better time to put together the sextet I had been thinking about. The pandemic had weighed down everybody and it felt like it was the right time to climb out from under and the Summit was born.

Legendary New York saxophonist Jerry Weldon played for many years with the famous Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and later with Jack McDuff, George Benson, and Harry Connick Jr. He is one of the most swinging and entertaining saxophonists on the New York scene, influenced by the great tenor players Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, and John Coltrane. Rob Bargad is a pianist, Hammond organist, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and educator from Boston. After three years of study with Prof. Kenny Barron at Rutgers University, Rob moved to New York City in 1984, where he lived for 20 years. During this time, he played, toured, and/or recorded with jazz greats such as Lionel Hampton, Little Jimmy Scott, Dakota Staton, Jimmy Cobbs Mobb, Roy Hargrove, Peter Bernstein, Harper Brothers, Kevin Mahogany, and others.

Jerry Weldon, tenor saxophone
Alonzo Demetrius, trumpet
Peter Lin, trombone
Mike Bond, piano
Jason Clotter, bass
Carmen Intorre Jr., drums

Jerry Weldon
Internationally renowned veteran sax man Jerry Weldon, has been a player on the jazz scene for more than 45 years. With eight CD’s as a leader and more sideman sides than even he can count…or remember, this native New Yorker’s performance/recording résumé reflects his venerable tenor tenure and reads like a virtual "Who's Who of Jazz."

After graduating from Rutgers University Jazz Studies Program in 1981, Jerry joined the legendary Lionel Hampton Orchestra and continued his association with Hamp into the new millennium. Next came a long, rewarding stint with master organist Jack McDuff & his "Heatin' System." Additionally Jerry has worked with organists Jimmy McGriff, Joey DeFrancesco, Bobby Forrester, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Mel Rhyne, trombone great Al Grey, piano giants George Cables and Cedar Walton, drum legends Roy Haynes and Jimmy Cobb as well as guitarist/singer George Benson, guitarist Earl Klugh, bassist Keter Betts, singer Mel Tormé and a host of other legendary musicians.

In 1990, Jerry became a charter member and featured soloist with Harry Connick Jr.'s newly formed big band. Since then Jerry has toured the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia with Harry and was also part of Connick's Broadway musical production, "Thou Shalt Not" and appeared on stage as well as in the orchestra. Thanks to his talent, and long association with Connick, Jerry was part of the “house band” on HARRY, Connick’s daytime television variety show for its two year run.

Jerry, a “musician’s musician,” who is also a first class showman in the truest sense of the word, blows his horn with his entire body and delights audiences with his all-in, soulful playing. Depending on the tune, Weldon’s warm fat tenor sound can roll and roar like a thunderstorm or gentle you like a warm summer breeze…and it always, always resonates far beyond the listener’s ear, Whether he’s walkin’ the crowded bar at Showmans in Harlem or wending his way through packed candlelit tables at Birdland in Midtown, Jerry Weldon is a tenor force that cannot be contained. He becomes the music and brings the audience with him on a communal tuneful journey. This mastery of the message, and the medium, has kept Weldon working steady for four plus decades. Jerry’s latest recording, "On the Move," spent two months on the Jazz Week charts and he at work on a new CD

When Jerry was fourteen, his jazz fan father took him to see Stan Getz at The Village Vanguard. In that moment, the young saxophonist knew he wanted to have a life in music.

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