With a clever nickname inspired by Louis Armstrong, James Saxsmo Gates is to Richmond VA what Satchmo was to New Orleans. He's one of the city's most storied musicians, with decades as an educator (founder of the Dr. Billy Taylor Jazz Studies Program at Virginia State University) and recording artist who's performed with the likes of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Dizzy Gillespie. Terence Blanchard, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations. The title of his latest album SAXSMO'S DEN feels like an exclusive invitation to a high-spirited, freewheeling jam session showcasing the many sides of his multi-faceted jazz artistry - sometimes funky and burning, often swinging and bluesy, other times sensual and smoky. Along the way, he pays high octane homage to chief influences Cannonball Adderley and Charlie Parker.
