Prepare yourself for a magnificent union of Rosy Zhang, North York Concert Orchestra principal cello, with the jazz titans comprising drummer Myron Cohen’s Billy Higgins Legacy Band.

$30 cover charge / byob; students $10. Cash at the door, please!

Call ahead for a reservation (415) 586-3733, but keep in mind — we’re busy selling books during the day and setting up for our shows; reservation requests left on our voicemail on the day of the show might not register with us, so just come and squeeze in! You won’t regret it.

Myron brings a quintet featuring Rosy to Bird & Beckett tonight, with the majestic talent of veteran saxophonist Richard Howell and the young fire of saxophonist Alex So and bassist Yoav Konig to feed Rosy’s hunger for inspired jazz improvisation. She’s up to the task, of this we’re certain. It will be an amazing night of music. The jazz legacy is assured a bright path forward.

Together, Myron and Richard lead and support these young talents at Bird & Beckett, honoring the mantle of jazz mentor draped on Myron’s shoulders 25 years ago by the great drummer Billy Higgins.

Higgins had known Myron as a hungry, driven and talented, if impulsive, youth decades before, in the 1970s. In 1999, Billy gleaned something of the mature philanthropic impulses of this youth, now a man–a successful one at that–when Myron called Billy from the Los Angeles hospital room where drummer Louie Belson was recuperating from a devastating injury.

On that occasion, connecting Billy and Louie, Myron coaxed Louie to get the Remo drum company to donate a kit and Zildjian to donate cymbals to Billy’s World Stage Performance Gallery in Leimert Park in South LA, and used his own money to buy a dozen snare drums, countless pairs of sticks and brushes for constant use by coming generations of jazz musicians that have found a home, a community and a school there at the World Stage.

For Myron, a quarter century of jazz mentorship and philanthropy has ensued, with his serious jazz roots extending a quarter century further back and eight decades’ dedication to the drum.

Born in 1944, Myron was afire with drum fever from the age of 5 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, swinging like a dog in jazz, R&B and blues through the mid-’60s in Madison, WI, blazing through jam sessions there led by Ben Sidran with reed player Hart McNee, guitarist Mel Nussbaum and others. Glen Park’s own Steve Shapiro, then a Ph.D. student of history, was a part of that. Then Chicago called, and then, in ’67, San Francisco…Michael Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop…Tracy Nelson… a through line from Madison through Chicago and the way out west. Read about that transition here.

Come 1970 or ’71, the call came from the Both/And on Divisadero at Oak and the house band of Bishop Norman Williams, where Myron matriculated into the next level of jazz alongside Steve Turre on bass in the Bishop’s Sunday jam session trio, by and large the only white faces in the club. Bishop set a fierce pace, with greats passing through on engagements–Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Lee Morgan, Cannonball Adderley, Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw–dropping in…Miles Davis, Tony Williams…there lies a tale you’ll read one day. Myron met the pace, and acquitted himself with panache and style when the situation required. A half dozen years deep in jazz and then a 21-year diversion before he got back behind the kit at Louie Bellson’s urging and re-entered Billy Higgins’ orbit.

Myron traveled with Billy often in the next few years, learning deep lessons from him until Billy’s death in 2001. The Billy Higgins Legacy Band was launched by Myron from this experience, his vehicle to pass the jazz fire along to new generations of players.

 

Tonight will be a brilliant stop along the path forward, with bright moments abounding. Rosy is certain to take jazz to great heights in situations where it’s rarely played with authenticity and fire. Alex and Yoav are building their jazz careers from the ground up, with master craftsmanship that belies their youth.

Myron has a rare eye for talent, a burning desire to introduce young players of great promise to master musicians who can inspire, school and respect them, and an insatiable hunger to nurture the legacy of jazz that’s gained him a place on bandstands nationwide and the great respect of his peers. The man can hit! Sanctified intelligence!