Pianist Larry Fuller has always loved musicians who “play at an incredible level but still remain accessible to an audience.” Some examples among pianists, he said, are Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander, Cedar Walton, and Ahmad Jamal. That will be the musical essence of Fuller’s performance when he leads a trio on Sunday, May 4, at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert in Madison, NJ. His music, he said, will hopefully “uplift people with the spirit and energy of swinging.
“We’ll be playing a program of Great American Songbook selections, along with some jazz classics, and a few originals as well as selections from Stevie Wonder to Duke Ellington to Oscar Peterson.” Joining Fuller will be bassist Lorin Cohen, who has toured and recorded with Monty Alexander; and drummer Carmen Intorre, Jr., who was nominated for a Grammy in 2011 as co-producer of organist Joey DeFrancesco’s HighNote album, Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson.
Fuller (photo above) grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and was mentored by saxophonist Candy Johnson, who played with Duke Ellington and Count Basie as well as rhythm & blues pianist Bill Doggett. Throughout his career Fuller has performed and recorded with a long list of jazz luminaries including drummers Jeff Hamilton and Lewis Nash, bassist Ray Brown, guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli, tenor saxophonist Houston Person, and vocalist Ernestine Anderson. He also performed at NJJS’ 50th Anniversary concert in October 2022.
In 2000, when Fuller had the opportunity to play with Brown, “it was,” he said, “like getting to play with one of my heroes, having listened to him for so many years. I learned so much watching how Ray led his group and also how he presented music, which was at such a high level but always somehow accessible to the audience.”
On Fuller’s 2019 Capri Records album, Overjoyed, he led a trio with bassist Hassan Shakur and drummer Lewis Nash. “I’ve known Hassan Shakur for quite a long time,” he said. “He is a disciple of the Ray Brown school of bass playing, and, given my association with Ray Brown, we share an affinity for the same style of swinging music and the blues that Ray epitomized.” Nash was honored last November at the annual Giants of Jazz concert at the South Orange Performing Arts Center. Said Fuller, “It was a thrill to play with the great Lewis Nash, one of the great drummers of our time.”
In his review of Overjoyed, Pierre Giroux of Audiophile Audition, described Fuller as “a wicked jazz pianist who deserves more attention . . . He is a player of expressive versatility, with a vigorous uncluttered style.”
The Larry Fuller Trio will be preceded by the Metuchen High School Jazz Sextet, part of the Metuchen High School Jazz Ensemble (pictured below after a performance at Elizabeth High School). In 2024, the Jazz Ensemble earned third place in the New Jersey Association of Jazz Educators’ statewide competition. The members of the sextet are: alto saxophonist Caleb Han, tenor saxophonist Daniel Choi, pianist Daniel Afkhami, bassist Kayla Tak, trumpeter Alistair Fawcett, and drummer Tyler Nicholson. The group is guided by Metuchen High School Director of Bands John Messenger.
The Madison Community Arts Center is located at 10 Kings Road in Madison, NJ. The Jersey Jazz LIVE! concerts begin at 3 p.m. Admission is $15 for NJJS members and $20 for non-members. Student ad¬mission is $5 with valid ID. There will be light refreshments for purchase. To order tickets in advance, log onto https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/new-jersey-jazz-society/jersey-jazz-live-larry-fuller-trio.
: Funding for Jersey Jazz Live! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a part¬ner agency of The National Endow¬ment for the Arts
LARRY FULLER PHOTO BY MARK SHELDON
