Faddis

Faddis, Stafford and Jones, the challenge wasn't in trying to run the cycle of blues chords over and over without repeating themselves, but in trying to say something that was concise, powerful and different from one another—without overwhelming the ears of everyone in the house at least not in the first number.

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

Faddis discovered that at their poison factory the Ansar militants were ordering large quantities of cyanide and experimenting with chemical weapons on donkeys.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Jon Faddis had two things on his mind as he, his quartet and two guest stars Sean Jones and Terell Stafford began their opening set on Tuesday.

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

Ballad time at last, as the threesome waxed poetic on a Jazz at the Philharmonic-style medley of love songs: "My Ideal" (Mr. Stafford), "In a Sentimental Mood" (Mr. Jones) and "I Can't Get Started," offered by Mr. Faddis in celebration of the centennial of trumpet guru Roy Eldridge and ending with a snatch of "Little Jazz."

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

Throughout, Mr. Faddis lightened the mood with his usual sense of humor, encouraged by his mentor, the late Gillespie, as when he admonished a noisy table to keep quiet by addressing them as "The Real Housewives of Queens."

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

When the group finished the opening blues, Mr. Faddis quoted Dizzy's famous line: "It's good to see that y'all appreciate classical music."

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

Transforming Birdland from a nightclub into something like a chamber-music recital hall, the trio offers jazz at its most serious one yearns for a Jon Faddis type to crack a few jokes between tunes, but more than rewards close listening.

The Jazz Scene: Hot Tones, Francophones Will Friedwald 2011

For the second half, trumpeter Jon Faddis joined to celebrate the 94th anniversary of Dizzy Gillespie's birth, in a mini-set that began and ended with the trumpet guru's best-known blues, the slow, minor "Birk's Works" and the fast major "Blue n' Boogie."

Ranging Far and Wide Will Friedwald 2011

The trumpet trio of Faddis, Jones and Stafford—which amounts to a mix of stylistic unity and generational diversity Mr. Faddis is 58; Mr. Stafford is 44; Mr. Jones is 33—began with a true opening salvo: Freddie Hubbard's Parker-inspired blues, "Birdlike."

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011

When I saw Mr. Faddis surrounded by two younger, baldheaded powerhouses of the horn, I was at first afraid—and tempted to request a seat far in the back—that we were in for an evening of three trumpet titans trying to out-blast one another.

Teeming Trumpets, Jam Sessions Will Friedwald 2011