Bradford Rogers

The Coastal Jazz Association culminated the week long entertaining Jazz Festival with a Jam Session held on Saturday night following an electrifying performance by Spyro Gyra at Forsyth Park. Many of the musicians gathered at Blowin' Smoke BBQ for the opportunity to perform with some of the best artists in the area. Bradford Rogers of Atlanta, who performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in 2008, sat in playing his flute. He also sings, and plays piano/organ/keyboards. Eric Jones accompanied the musicians on the keyboard while John Lumpkin and Sean Bolden joined in on the drums. Teddy Adams orchestrated the jam session when he was not performing. Kenny Alexander stepped in on the sax and a host of other musicians chimed in to entertain the packed audience. Preparations for next year's Festival are already underway. - Savannah Tribune

Keyboardist and flutist Bradford Rogers’ music exists in a multitude of genres. His debut, “Jihaad” — self-released in 1998 — is a vocal-driven concept rock album with the occasional flute solo. He is a key piece of alto saxophonist Nick Longo’s modern jazz band.

In the decade-plus since that release, Rogers has immersed himself in a jazz language, forming a vocabulary drawn from bebop, funk and African and Latin styles. His development from rock god to multi-instrumentalist has been so complete that he snagged a “Future of Jazz” award at the 2008 Atlanta Jazz Festival.

“Jihaad” was firmly rooted in distorted guitars and a stout backbeat, albeit with a few modernistic flourishes. But Rogers’ newest release, the five-track “Guiro” (Worldsongs Media), is more musically broad and properly highlights his main instrument, the flute. His heavy flute tone has an edge of breathiness, and he’s comfortable enough with the instrument’s range to wander around, sonically, during solos. He taps into some Ian Anderson-like techniques as well, such as flutter tonguing and humming while playing.

The CD, as a whole, is fusion party music, propelled by a get-up-and-move rhythm section. Aided by guitarist Billy Wilkie, drummer Sean O’Rourke, percussionist Tim Green and bassist Joe Reda, Rogers attacks three of his own compositions and two covers.

“Are You Going With Me” by guitarist Pat Metheny and the Miles Davis classic “All Blues” are the most obvious connections to the jazz world, but Rogers even blurs the genre definitions on these songs. Metheny’s composition has an ’80s pop bent, fleshed out by synthesized strings. Bradford here gives his flute a Japanese shakuhachi feel, breathing out long, resonant notes, bending the pitches and adding light vibrato as the notes decay. Davis’ song is turned into a hip-hop jam — the kind of tune that dares a listener to sit still — with a floating, simple melody on top of a gurgling keyboard and a drum kit entrenched in a heavy groove.

“Chance (Intermezzo)” — a conversation between the flute and Nick Longo’s late-night saxophone – is played out against a medium funk drum beat. Longo’s guest appearance helps strengthen the CD’s bond with mainstream jazz; he has an R&B style that is heavily indebted to Michael Brecker and plays with the unbridled enthusiasm of a James Carter solo.

The tunes on “Guiro” are rich with percussion. Rogers layers his keyboards low in the mix, adding multiple tracks on top of this base to thicken the sound. It’s party music that seems tailored to a jazz festival crowd. With “Guiro,” Bradford has transformed as a musician, but I feel that you may have to hear these songs live to get the full effect. - artscriticatl.com

Like most artists, jazz pianist Bradford must contend with constrictive labels. Though he competed in the nu-jazz category at the Atlanta Jazz Festival's recent Future of Jazz competition, he found a way to break free from definition. In the end, his band's hip-hop version of Miles Davis' "All Blues" struck a winning chord.

So what exactly does his music sound like?

"I would say it's almost like a world beat," says Bradford Rodgers, who performs under his first name only. "There's elements of ethnic and maybe acid jazz and that kind of thing." Whatever it is, he's been developing his musical language since he was a kid, picking up different instruments through the years.

Though he's a multi-instrumentalist, Bradford focuses on writing and arranging. "My main instrument is actually the band."

His last album, Jihaad, dropped in 1998, but lately he's been amassing arrangements for a new disc. When he found out about the Future of Jazz competition, Bradford gathered his new band, laid down some tracks and dreamed up a set list. But the musicians only rehearsed once, which Bradford admits isn't how he usually prepares for a gig.

"That's not the way I wanted to do it, but the guys working with me are really awesome," he says. "It just worked out really well."

As for playing on the jazz festival stage, Bradford's not too nervous. After all, he's been honing his musical approach with bandleader Nick Longo for years at Sambuca Café.

"I've hopefully got enough chops," he says. "I mean, they've let me play piano at Sambuca for the last four years, so I don't suck. But Chick Corea I'm not."

Catch Bradford at Wednesdays in Woodruff, May 7 at noon, or Sunday, May 25, at Woodruff Park in conjunction with the 31st Atlanta Jazz Festival. Free. 84 Peachtree St. 404-658-1877. - Creative Loafing Atlanta