SFJAZZ Collective comes to the Mondavi Center

SFJAZZ, the leading nonprofit jazz organization on the West Coast, has announced that alto saxophonist Antonio Hart will substitute for original SFJAZZ Collective member Miguel Zenón, who will take paternity leave for the birth of his first child.

The SFJAZZ Collective will perform at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis on Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 8 p.m. in Jackson Hall.

Hart, who will hold the alto chair for Zenón during the Collective’s spring 2012 tour, is from Baltimore, Md.

He is currently a professor of Jazz Studies at Queens College City University of New York.

He received a 1997 Grammy nomination for his solo on “The Community” from his Impulse! CD, “Here I Stand.”

Hart has released eight albums as a leader and has recorded as a guest on over 80 recordings with artists such as McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Cyrus Chestnut, Robin Eubanks, Slide Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Terence Blanchard, the Dave Holland Big Band and the Mingus Big Band.

The Collective’s spring 2012 personnel features trombonist Robin Eubanks, a two-time DownBeat “Trombonist of the Year,” trumpeter Avishai Cohen and Grammy-nominated vibraphonist Stefon Harris.

The incendiary rhythm section boasts 2010 Guggenheim Fellow Edward Simon on piano along with two of the most in-demand sidemen on the international scene bassist Matt Penman and Eric Harland, winner of the DownBeat “No. 1 Rising Star Drummer” for the last three years.

The Collective will present the music of Stevie Wonder from the recently released album SFJAZZ Collective: “Music of Stevie Wonder and New Compositions, Live in New York 2011 — Season 8,” recorded live in the intimate setting of the Jazz Standard in New York City.

The set features new arrangements of the classic works of Stevie Wonder, as well as all-new original compositions by Collective members.

Jack Conte of the YouTube sensation Pomplamoose has directed four videos of the Collective performing Wonder’s music. The first, “Superstition,” has received over 87,000 views on YouTube since its release. A full-length documentary of the group is currently in production.

The SFJAZZ Collective, “The Music of Stevie Wonder,” will be performed at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 29, at Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center. Tickets are available  for $49, $37 and $25 at MondaviArts.org and or by calling 530-754-2787.