Delbert Anderson's Cherry Pepper Project

We open the post-festival 2024 Outpost Fall season with Delbert Anderson’s Cherry Pepper Project. A native New Mexican who hails from the Diné/Navajo tribe, jazz trumpet artist, composer, and educator, Delbert Anderson, stands at the forefront of a vibrant Native American jazz scene. His work, deeply rooted in his Diné heritage, integrates Navajo “spinning songs” of love, healing, and courtship with jazz and funk, marking him as “a community-minded Indigenous individualist.” His compositions are inspired by Navajo Nation landscapes, historical events, and the desire to preserve and educate about Diné history and his achievements have garnered much recognition, including multiple awards from Chamber Music America, the Cultural Capital Fellowship from the First Peoples Fund, and the Jazz Road Program at South Arts. Anderson’s contributions to music and culture have been featured in prominent outlets like The New York Times, JazzTimes, Grammy.com, and NPR. The Cherry Pepper Project, which he is touring this fall, is Anderson’s tribute to trumpeter Don Cherry (Choctaw) and saxophonist Jim Pepper (Kaw and Muscogee Creek), two jazz icons with Native American heritage. The project celebrates the profound contributions of these Native American Jazz legends, “highlighting Cherry’s unbounded embrace of music from every corner of the world and Pepper’s unique integration of Native American music into jazz.” Anderson’s hope is that the project will help to resurface interest in their music and their close friendship and influence on one another. Tonight’s performance will include Cherry and Pepper classics (and maybe an overlooked gem or two), as well as Anderson’s original compositions written in homage of the two artists. Joining him are members of the Delbert Anderson Quartet along with guest artists. It’s Delbert Anderson, trumpet; Chris Beaty, tenor saxophone; David Larsen, baritone saxophone; Robert Muller, keyboards; Evan Suiter, bass; and Milton Villarrubia, drums.