Patrick Cornelius - While We're Still Young

'While We're Still Young' is the sixth album by the critically acclaimed, award-winning saxophonist and composer Patrick Cornelius. It brings together seven of the most accomplished young artists in contemporary jazz to perform a suite of new original music, inspired by the universally-treasured poetry of English literary icon A. A. Milne.

My goal for this project was to select a handful of individual poems from When We Were Very Young and write programmatic movements inspired by the imagery that each one evokes, explains Cornelius. It was important that listeners hear my musical lineage; my compositional influences. These influences include historical giants such as Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, JS Bach, Claude Debussy, Wayne Shorter, and Charlie Parker, as well as many of Patrick's peers, including members of his own octet.

Patrick met drummer Kendrick Scott, bassist Peter Slavov, and trombonist Nick Vayenas while attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston and has recorded many albums with the three of them (including several of his previous solo releases) over the past 15 years. Trumpeter Jason Palmer is also an old friend and musical collaborator from Cornelius' days in Boston. Pianist Gerald Clayton and guitarist Miles Okazaki were classmates of Patrick's in graduate school, and tenor saxophonist John Ellis was an early inspiration from his first days in New York City.

Personnel: Patrick Cornelius (alto and soprano saxophones, flute), Jason Palmer (trumpet), John Ellis (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Nick Vayenas (trombone), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Peter Slavov (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums)