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Nasar Abadey and SUPERNOVA®
Nasar Abadey (drums) is the founder, leader and driving force of his band SUPERNOVA®. Though a bandleader for many years he has also built a solid reputation as a sideman with several groups from his home base in Washington, DC; and he has performed and/or recorded with many artists throughout his career. Inspired by Tony Williams, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones and his cousin Frankie Dunlop (Thelonious Monk), he creates jazz music steeped in hard bop, modal, fusion, and avant-garde styles. Nasar attended University of Buffalo, in NY; Howard University, and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. Most recently SUPERNOVA® was selected by the US State Department and the Lincoln Center as Ambassadors to tour with the American Music Abroad Rhythm Road. This one month tour took them to five (5) countries in East Africa; Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Mozambique. He is Professor of Jazz Percussion at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; teaches privately, and is a clinician as well. His debut CD, Mirage was released on the Amosaya Record Label and a follow-up CD, Diamond In The Rough, was released on the DPC Music label in 2011. Abadey has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Gary Bartz, Andrew White, Sonny Fortune, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sun Ra, Russell Malone, Malachi Thompson, and many other jazz greats. He has also appeared in various festivals in the USA and abroad.
Joe Ford (saxophones) composer and arranger, is a passionate musician who began playing in 1958 while in elementary school in Buffalo, New York. His melodious, humorous, insightful style reflects the broad spectrum of the American experience, and ranges from spirituals and rural blues to contemporary music and avant-garde jazz. Ford is classically trained and his influences include Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter, and Sonny Rollins. He has worked with Frank Foster, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Kirkland and the Fort Apache Band. His original post bop and modal tunes can be found on his album “Today’s Nights.” Ford received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education at Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio.
James King (bass) and composer, was born in Houston, Texas. James studied at Texas Southern University, Hampton University, and the University of the District of Colombia. He is a well-known bassist in the mid-Atlantic region, and performs in concerts and festival throughout the world. Mr. King has lived and worked in and around the Washington, D.C. area since 1977 and currently is a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. He has performed with Elvin Jones, Sonny Fortune, Stanley Turrentine, Gary Bartz, Marlena Shaw, Frank Morgan, Mulgrew Miller and Milt Jackson, just to name a few. King is a very gifted composer with a lyrical bass style. His debut CD is entitled “Allen’s Odyssey” and was released in 2009
Allyn Johnson (piano) composer, and arranger, born in Washington, and is currently the Director of Jazz Studies and the UDC Jazz Band, for his alma mater, the University of the District of Columbia. He has worked with Andrew White, Frank Morgan, Sonny Fortune, Fat Head Newman, Bennie Golson, and Stanley Turrentine among others. His debut recording “Premonition” with the trio Three for All”, is a perfect environment to showcase his compositions. Mr. Johnson has also arranged, composed, and recorded “Divine Order” and “Grace Transforming Journey” with his band Divine Order. His style is lyrical, fiery and bright. He is a very talented and gifted pianist.
