Music City was blessed for many years to have as part of its music community the jazz-centric husband-wife duo of Greg Bryant and Dara Tucker. Nashville's loss has been New York's gain since the couple relocated just a few months before the pandemic.
They’re enjoying significant success on multiple fronts. Bryant is the host of the late-night program Jazz After Hours on WBGO-FM, one of the nation's premier jazz stations. He's also co-host of the award-winning weekly podcast Jazz United with journalist and critic Nate Chinen. Meanwhile, Tucker — a winner of multiple Nashville Independent Music Awards, recognizing her place as one of the city’s finest vocalists — released her superb new LP Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World in May. The album blends her distinctive approach to jazz standards with noteworthy original tunes. It's already been selected by international publication Jazzwise as one of the year's finest, alongside records like Sons of Kemet’s Black to the Future and Vijay Iyer Trio’s Uneasy.
Bryant and Tucker are returning to Nashville for a weekend engagement at Rudy's Jazz Room. Friday night, July 23, Bryant and keyboardist Paul Horton will rock the bandstand once again as Concurrence. Their specialty is edgy, unpredictable fare with a jazz foundation and a range that spans many idioms. They'll be joined on this occasion by drummer Derrek Phillips, one of three percussionists who contributed to Prelude No. 1, Horton’s recent solo album as No.Stress. Saturday, Tucker takes the stage to formally celebrate her new record, and she'll be backed by a rhythm section that includes pianist Matt Endahl as well as the Bryant-Phillips duo. Tucker will perform both originals and her renditions of classics penned by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and James Taylor, which feature fresh arrangements.
It's two nights not to be missed by any fans of imaginative, thoughtful and edgy improvisational material with a connection to pop. Tickets to Friday’s show and Saturday’s show start at $25 each and are available now via Eventbrite.
