Joe Farnsworth Sextet

Drummer Joe Farnsworth has earned the admiration of both his contemporaries and jazz veterans for his sparkling cymbal work and effervescent sense of time. Farnsworth was one of five sons of trumpeter, band director, and Stan Kenton fan Roger Farnsworth. He and his brothers were all exposed to jazz and he began playing on his older brother, David's, drum set. He attended William Paterson College, studying with pianist Harold Mabern Jr. and drummer Arthur Taylor. His sensitive, hard bop-based style enabled him to fit on sessions with Cecil Payne, Mabern, and Junior Cook. Farnsworth has also been a close associate of Criss Cross labelmates Eric Alexander (tenor saxophone) and Steve Davis (trombone), who both participated in his debut recording, "Beautiful Friendship," on Criss Cross, and, together with pianist David Hazeltine and trumpeter Jim Rotondi, work in the cooperative hard bop sextet One for All. ~ David Dupont, Rovi