Drummer Jack DeJohnette had some fun with his jazz musician friends by asking them to guess who's playing piano with him on a fast-paced version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps." "I had people saying Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron. ... They would keep trying to guess and I'd say 'No,' " DeJohnette laughed backstage at the recent Newport Jazz Festival. "They were quite surprised when I told them -- Bruce Hornsby."But anyone who has closely followed the 52-year-old Hornsby's career wouldn't be too surprised to find he has finally released his first full-length jazz instrumental album. "Camp Meeting," a trio recording with DeJohnette and bassist Christian McBride, offers new versions of jazz standards by Miles Davis, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk as well as several Hornsby originals.
Hornsby graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in jazz before deciding songwriting was more to his liking. His 1980s pop hits "The Way It Is" and "The Valley Road" had jazz-influenced piano solos. He later collaborated on recordings with such jazz stars as guitarist Pat Metheny ("Harbor Lights") and saxophonist Wayne Shorter ("The End of the Innocence," written with Don Henley).
Hornsby sat down for an interview with the AP after performing on the main stage at the Newport festival.
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