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On his thrilling new album, The Big Room, celebrated drummer and bandleader Joe Farnsworth leads a dynamic, intergenerational all-star sextet featuring rising stars and inspiring forward-thinking voices in jazz: trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Emmet Cohen, and bassist Yasushi Nakamura.
A steadfast figure in modern straight-ahead jazz and one of the genre’s most respected drummers, Farnsworth has built his name playing with legends like Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Cedar Walton, and Kenny Barron, among many others. Long regarded as a torchbearer of the tradition, Farnsworth brings the same reverence and drive to his latest evolution as a bandleader and creative catalyst.
In recent years, Farnsworth has stepped beyond the traditionalist’s lane, working with boundary-pushing peers like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Immanuel Wilkins, without ever abandoning the core values that have shaped his artistry: swing, soul, and sincerity. The Big Room reflects his widening vision and is the natural next step — a celebration of deep roots and new possibilities. This record is a vivid reminder that jazz is a living language — and few speak it with more heart, clarity, and drive than Farnsworth.
“So many of the masters are no longer on Earth,” Farnsworth says, pointing to three of his closest collaborators – Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, and Harold Mabern – all of whom have passed away over the last several years. “I decided it was time to start playing with younger people, like Art Blakey and Cedar Walton did. They can inspire you and change the way you play. And I can be free to be more myself.”
