Saxophonist and composer Jerome Sabbagh was born in Paris in 1973 and has been living in Brooklyn since 1995.
A prolific forward-thinking composer, as well as a musician with a deep connection to the well of the jazz tradition, he has recorded nine albums as a leader.
Jerome Sabbagh’s latest recordings are Heart (Analog Tone Factory, 2024), a trio record with Joe Martin and master drummer Al Foster,
and Vintage (Sunnyside, 2023), an album of original compositions and standards which features legendary pianist and NEA jazz master
Kenny Barron in intimate duets, as well as in a quartet setting with Joe Martin and Johnathan Blake.
Jerome Sabbagh’s longstanding group with Ben Monder, Joe Martin and Ted Poor, a band which has been together since 2004,
has released three albums, the critically acclaimed North, Pogo, and The Turn, which was listed as one of the best albums of 2014 by the
Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, DownBeat, Ottawa Citizen and France Musique.
Jerome has also recorded an album exclusively devoted to standards, One Two Three, in a saxophone trio setting with Ben Street and Rodney Green.
I Will Follow You is a freer project featuring European drum legend Daniel Humair and Ben Monder.
Plugged In, sparked by a CMA/FACE grant, is an electric project co-led with Jozef Dumoulin, with Patrice Blanchard and Rudy Royston.
Jerome Sabbagh also co-leads the Jerome Sabbagh/Greg Tuohey Group, which recorded No Filter with Joe Martin on bass and Kush Abadey on drums,
and performs as part of the collective trio Lean with Simon Jermyn and Allison Miller.
As a sideman, Jerome Sabbagh was one of Paul Motian's last saxophone players. After one gig together, the legendary drummer asked him to play for a week at the Village Vanguard,
in his "New Trio" with guitarist Ben Monder, in September 2011. He also has been involved with pianist Laurent Coq's quartet, Guillermo Klein's Los Guachos and the Marta Sanchez Quintet.
Jerome Sabbagh has shared the stage with Al Foster, Victor Lewis, Bill Stewart, Jeff Ballard, Greg Hutchinson, Billy Drummond,
Nasheet Waits, Eric McPherson, Justin Brown, Eliot Zigmund, Andrew Cyrille, Damion Reid, Mark Turner, Melissa Aldana, Reggie Workman,
Vicente Archer, Matt Penman, Matt Brewer, Joe Sanders, Steve Cardenas, Lage Lund, Mike Moreno, Gilad Hekselman, Dan Tepfer, Pete Rende and Jean-Michel Pilc, among others.
He has appeared at Chez Hanny with his trios featuring Eddie Marshall and Akira Tana.
Essiet Okon Essiet first received critical acclaim more than a
decade
ago as a member of saxophonist Bobby Watson's post hard bop group
Horizon He has long since established himself as one of New York's
premier bassists.
His first big break came in 1982 when he met Chicago based
percussionist Famoudou Don Moye. Moye asked Essiet to join his quartet
and during that same year the bassist met Abdullah Ibrahim, the famed
South African pianist. Working with Ibrahim, Essiet toured the globe
splitting his time between Europe and the US during the period from
1982 to 1986. Eventually Essiet settled in NYC. Two years later, he
joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and remained in the group
until the famed drummer/teacher's passing in 1990.
He has performed and recorded with Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, James
Moody, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Sam Rivers,
George Adams, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Jackie McLean, Frank Morgan,
Kenny Barron, Louis Hayes, Ben Riley, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Higgins, Billy
Hart, Art Farmer, Abby Lincoln, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy Cobham,
Bennie Maupin, Al Foster, Eddie Henderson, Steve Turre, Jon Faddis,
Bobby Watson, Victor Lewis, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Kirkland, Mulgrew
Miller, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Mike Stern, Kevin Mahogany, Kurt Elling,
Fort Apache Band, Danilo Perez, Claudia Acuna, Geri Allen, Ralph
Peterson, Greg Osby, Javon Jackson, Tim Hagens, Kevin Hays, and Bill
Stewart.
He appeared previously at Chez Hanny with the Peter Zak Trio, and the Sylvia Cuenca Quartet with Craig Handy.
Drummer Sylvia Cuenca, originally from San Jose,
now living in New York, has performed for 17 years with trumpet legend
Clark Terry
at venues such as the Village Vanguard and Blue Note in New
York City.
She toured internationally for 4 years with saxophonist Joe
Henderson, including trio settings with Henderson and bassists Charlie
Haden or George Mraz.
Ms. Cuenca has performed with such jazz
luminaries as Billy Taylor, Eddie Henderson, Gary Bartz, Kenny Barron,
Ray Drummond, Frank Foster, Red Holloway, Jimmy Heath, Al Grey, Frank
Wess, Michael Brecker, Houston Person, Etta Jones, Jon Faddis, Dave
Stryker, Ed Cherry, Dianne Reeves, John Hicks, Geoff Keezer, John
Handy, Lew
Soloff, Marian McPartland, Hilton Ruiz, George Cables, James Spaulding,
Kenny Drew Jr., Frank Foster, Randy Brecker, Emily Remler, and Helen
Merrill.
She has appeared at Chez Hanny with Jared Gold and Ed Cherry, Jared
Gold and Brian Levy, Cuenca/Bollenback/Blades, the Peter Zak Trio, the
Roni Ben-Hur/Harvie S Trio, the Peter Horvath Trio, Harvey Wainapel, Charles McNeal,
and the Sylvia Cuenca Trio and Quartet.