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| photo via nasarabadey.com |
Nasar Abadey. You may know him as a Cheverly neighbor, but did you know that Nasar is a legendary jazz artist? Cheverly Day is thrilled to welcome longtime favorite Nasar Abadey + SUPERNOVA to the stage again on May 31.
In his own words Abadey says, "I feel most comfortable at the cutting edge of the music. It is there that I play past what I know so that my creativity is inspired from a higher source."
Abadey has received awards for performance, merit and composition, by the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (1978), the D.C. Commission for the Arts (1991), Creative Arts Performance Services (CAPS, 1977), Rites and Reason, Brown University (1978), the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (1995), and the Prince George's Arts Council (2000), and served as Artist-in-Residence for Dreamlab, a multicultural project sponsored by America Honda and administered by Young Audiences, Inc. (2003), respectively. In addition, he has served as music panelist for the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (1994), the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (1995), and the D.C. Commission for the Arts (1995,96,97) and is a serving board member of the Washington Area Lawyers Association (WALA, 2001-2003).
In his own words Abadey says, "I feel most comfortable at the cutting edge of the music. It is there that I play past what I know so that my creativity is inspired from a higher source."
Abadey has received awards for performance, merit and composition, by the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (1978), the D.C. Commission for the Arts (1991), Creative Arts Performance Services (CAPS, 1977), Rites and Reason, Brown University (1978), the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (1995), and the Prince George's Arts Council (2000), and served as Artist-in-Residence for Dreamlab, a multicultural project sponsored by America Honda and administered by Young Audiences, Inc. (2003), respectively. In addition, he has served as music panelist for the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (1994), the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (1995), and the D.C. Commission for the Arts (1995,96,97) and is a serving board member of the Washington Area Lawyers Association (WALA, 2001-2003).
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| photo via nasarabadey.com |
Since 1972, he has performed with Amiri Baraka, Gary Bartz, Keter Betts, Andy Bey, Birthright, Brother Ah (AKA Robert Northern), Oscar Brown, Jr., Jean Carne, Stanley Cowl, Cyprus Chestnut, Sonny Fortune, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Flanagan, Joe Ford, Frank Foster, Charles Galye, Dizzy Gillespie, Vincent Herring, John Hicks, Buck Hill, Paul Horn, Bobby Hutcherson, Carter Jefferson, Hank Jones, Kenny Kirkland, Eartha Kitt, Lee Konitz, Carmen Lundy, Frank Morgan, Jimmy Owens, Valeri Panomorov, Sun Ra, Charlie Rouse, David Sanchez, Pharoah Sanders, Bud Shank, Rey Scott, Stephen Scott, Lonnie Smith, Grady Tate, Gary Thomas, Malachi Thompson, Stanley Turrentine, Bobby Watson, Buster Williams and others. Additionally, he has appeared in various festivals including, San Remo (Italy), Montreal (Canada), Cap City (DC), Virgin Island (Carribean), JVC (NYC), Morocco (Africa), Chicago Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, D.C. Loft Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Mellon Bank Jazz Festival, (Philadelphia), The East Coast Jazz Festival, the Free World Jazz Festival (DC), International Children’s Festival (Seattle), Guatemala City Jazz Festival, among others.
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| photo via nasarabadey.com |
Prior to forming SUPERNOVA® he was co-founder/leader, along with Joe Ford and Paul Gresham, of BIRTHRIGHT, and co-producer of two (2) albums, Free Spirits and Breath of Life. Abadey formed SUPERNOVA® to explore his compositional concepts through the many facets of African American classical music, i.e. Jazz. Moreover, he plays a music, which he describes as MULTI-D, which is multi-dimensional and multi-directional. These many directions and dimensions, are fields of realities that change according to density and vibration. Working within this paradigm, SUPERNOVA® exercises its artistic license to perform and explore this African American Classical Music, that includes, but is not limited to: traditional African rhythms, R&B, reggae, world, bebop, fusion, afro-Cuban, Brazilian, new age, free form, etc. These terms are mere labels representing polarities of one energy. Abadey has been awarded grants for performance, merit and composition, by the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, the D.C. Commission for the Arts, Creative Arts Performance Services (CAPS), the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the Prince George's Arts Council, respectively. In addition, he has served as music panelist for the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, and the D.C. Commission for the Arts, and is a serving board member of the Washington Area Lawyers Association (WALA).
Though his travels have taken him to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and throughout the USA, he still finds time to teach privately and perform workshops in the Washington, DC and the surrounding area public schools for Young Audiences, the Prince George's Arts Council, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
Join us in front of the stage on May 31 at 4:30, and watch a living, breathing legend make some remarkable music.
Biographical information gleaned from Peabody Institute of Music, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Jazz.com.
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