Vibraphonist/Composer Jay Hoggard

Collaborating with Hoggard on this splendid recording is a cadre of  long-time associates:          DWIGHT ANDREWS  soprano sax and bass clarinet, NAT ADDERLEY, JR  piano JAMES WEIDMAN organ and piano, PHEEROAN AKLAFF drums, and KENNY DAVIS bass.  

 “Nat, Pheeroan, and I were members of Dwight's band, Déjà Vu, based in New Haven when we were students, from 1975 through 1980”, Hoggard fondly remembers. “James used to sub for Nat in that group .....and Kenny and I have a long history going back to the mid 1980s. So, we've all been playing together for more than 40 years. We're all friends and colleagues. We all know each other's styles, and we're all still able to be really tight.”   

The tightness of this ensemble is evident throughout the album; both on the Hoggard-penned originals and the classic covers. Jay conceptualized this recording in the lineage of the many historic vibraphone/ saxophone/ organ/ piano/ bass/ drum collaborations recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey. RAISE YOUR SPIRIT CONSCIOUSNESS resonates with the innovations of so many of the master musicians who participated in those sessions.  

The lead selection, "Holy Spirit Consciousness", is a move your body, Praise Party groove. "Peace to You My Children"  bounces with a zesty, Afro-Bop bounce while "I Want Love, I Don’t Want Hate" is syncopated in reggae riddims. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", swings with the joy of a Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, while Stevie Wonder’s "Bird of Beauty", soars with an infectious, carnival-rhythmed samba beat. "Toe Dance for a Baby" bops with a 12/8-time signature propelled in the styles of Art Blakey and Elvin Jones.  

 "In the Beginning / Praise God" are two selections from Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, played with a cool and compelling Afro-Cuban clave rhythm. "Worship God in Spirit, Truth and Love"  is a lyrical, contemporary gospel meditation. The ensemble maintains the classic jazz majesty of Wayne Shorter’s masterpiece, "Deluge".  "Both Feet On the Ground", as composer Hoggard  states, “goes one step beyond”, using his generation’s musical vocabulary. Thad Jones beautiful ballad, "A Child Is Born" is dedicated to Hoggard’s newborn grandson, while  "Primordial Aqua Mist" is a spontaneous textured composition, invoking more abstracted imagery.  

For Jay Hoggard, who was born in 1954 in Washington, DC, and grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, Duke Ellington's music was a family affair that sparked his career as a musician. “My father was involved in presenting the premiere of the Second Sacred Concert in 1967 at  Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem. I was 12,” Hoggard says. “I got to meet Ellington, and that was a life-changing experience. That was before I started playing the vibes. Three years later, when I was a sophomore in high school, I had a dream that I was playing the vibraphone, and my father found a place where we could rent one. I still have it!  And when I first played it, after the first note, I said, this is what I'm supposed to do.”    

Jay Hoggard’s seven previous recordings on the JHVM label are  THE RIGHT PLACE,   SONGS OF SPIRITUAL LOVE, SWING ‘EM GATES,  SOULAR POWER,  CHRISTMAS VIBES ALL THROUGH THE YEAR, SOLO FROM TWO SIDES, and  HARLEM HIEROGLYPHS.  Each of these recordings present  the many sides of this vital musician, as they document the vibraphonist/composer’s musical language of  the 21st century. They, along with this new recording, feature Jay Hoggard at the peak of his creativity.   

Jay Hoggard is a tenured professor at his alma mater Wesleyan University, where for the past 32 years he has directed the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra and has taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians. For him, RAISE YOUR SPIRIT CONSCIOUSNESS is a pathway to a higher awareness of being. “I'm trying to give my audience something that they can immediately grab on to, and then they'll be challenged to go into another space … that's what I'm trying to do with this record.”   

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