TENTH WORLD

Tenth World

Is a group formed by Kevin Jones and pianist/composer, Kelvin Sholar through a partnership created back in 1999 in New York City. Together Jones and Sholar formed a collective of young talented master musicians on the cusp of realizing a new and creative sound that combined the harmonic sensibilities of Jazz and Soul with the rhythms of the African Diaspora. The nucleus of Tenth World formed around Kelvin Sholar’s group Esoterica which was a quartet. Other members were added; Saxophonist Brian Horton, Drummer Jaimeo Brown, Trumpeter Kevin Louis and both Bassists Damon Warmack out of Detroit and Joshua David Barrett out of New Jersey worked interchangeably.

Jones and Sholar’s first attempt at recording a project was a project called Land Of Eternal Tranquil Light which proved to be a bit too eclectic spanning to wide a variety of genres. Their next recording project was entitled “Tenth World” which was picked up by Motema Music (For more info: www.motema.com/artists/kevin-jones ) and produced by percussionist Babatunde Lea and Kelvin Sholar. This recording went on to be widely acclaimed and proved to be a seminal sound of the label and stands as a monument to the compositional and musicianship of the members. Included on that album were George Makinto; formerly Miriam Makeba’s musical director on flute, piano and percussion and acclaimed percussionist Luisito Quintero who both would join the band at different intervals during their tenure.

A second album was recorded called, “Tenth World Live” which drew even more acclaim for the group. During 2007 and 2008 many of the members left New York to pursue individual goals. Kelvin moved to Berlin, Germany where he now lives, Kevin Louis went back to his home town of New Orleans where he teaches, Brian Horton is now ready to receive his Doctorate in Music out of the University of North Texas and Jaimeo Brown has his own successful trio which is called “Transcendence”, Josh David Barrett has his own band called Judah Tribe and also plays with the Wailers.

More recently Kevin has relocated to Michigan and reformed this group with a variety of musicians both local and from afar.

The band is now set to record a forth album as the members have agreed to come together to break new ground. Some of the material for this album is already recorded they plan to finish this album in the coming months.

This group has played a host of festivals and clubs throughout the world.

Lansing Jazz Festival - Lansing, MI

UCLA Jazz Festival - Los Angeles

Detroit Jazz Festival - Detroit, MI

Black Arts Festival - Atlanta

Cliff Bell's - Detroit, MI

Jazz Under The Stars - Bahamas

Jazz Ala Calle - Uruguay

GrandJazz Fest - Grand Rapids, MI

The World Stage - Los Angeles

ICAP Festival - Columbia University - NYC

Trumpets Jazz - Montclair, NJ