Composer and conductor James Jabbo Ware founded the Me We and Them Orchestra in 1973. For over thirty years now, the MWTO has constituted an exemplary and unique American musical organization, based on Ware’s concept of the big band as a family. The ensemble features a collaborative relationship between composer and orchestra, modeled on 20th century masters like Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington. Members of the band have grown accustomed to asking questions about the meaning of the compositions and not merely relying on the written notes or the chord changes, and Ware writes in such a way as to feature and encourage every musician’s individual performing style.

Ware says, “I thought about how Duke got all those personalities in his band together and kept them together for so many years. From the first note, you knew it was Duke, and everybody had their piece where they could shine. So I started to write for the individual players and their capabilities, but always in the context provided by the ensemble that reflects the value of the whole.”
The consistency of the ensemble has been remarkable. Many of the core members, such as multi-reedist JD Parran, trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, trombonist Bill Lowe, and drummer Warren Smith, have been performing with the MWTO throughout its three-decade history. The ensemble has also featured such acclaimed musicians as saxophonists Frank Wess, Frank Foster, John Stubblefield, Kenny Rogers, Don Byron, Alex Harding, Patience Higgins, Salim Washington, and Paavo Carey, trumpeters Olu Dara, Sinclair Acey, Eddie Allen, Anton Dangerfield, and Richard Williams, trombonists Clifton Anderson, Charles Stevens and Richard Harper, bassists Anthony Cox, Clint Houston, and Leon Dorsey, and pianists Hilton Ruiz, Amina Claudine Myers, and Donald Smith, and vocalist Mala Waldron. Through the ensemble as classroom model, a generation of younger musicians has passed through the MWTO’s rank and developed into some the premier musicians today.

James Jabbo Ware and the Me We and Them Orchestra are grounded in the past, engaged in the present, and looking to the future. The ensemble and its leader are committed to maintaining and expanding on the essential traditions of their musical ancestors, and bringing those lessons of creativity and community to the next generation.

Press Quotes:

“The music of Jabbo Ware’s orchestra …is wide-ranging and eclectic with echoes of Ellington, Lunceford, Mingus, Basie, New Orleans street music and even Sun Ra and Rahsaan Roland Kirk resonating through its seemingly all-embracing repertoire…the common denominator lies in (the charts’) harmonic freshness and keen sense of swing at any tempo.” – Jack Bowers, Cadence Magazine

“Imagine the ‘30s Basie band playing in a ‘60s post-hard bop manner. Also imagine the soloists employing the tonal colors, mutes and idiosyncratic flourishes which were the hallmark of Ellington soloists. You’ve got an idea of composer/conducter Jabbo Ware’s orchestra.” Kalamu ya Salaam, JazzTimes Magazine

“James Jabbo Ware flexes that adept lineup (the Me We and Them Orchestra) in layered, lapping textures that shimmer and mesmerize and kick and roar, sometimes in rapid succession, sometimes all at once…Smooth and sweet and funky and witty.” Gene Santoro, Pulse Magazine

“James Jabbo Ware is a gifted composer whose works are worthy successors to the later suites of Duke Ellington…It is popular art in the best sense; it addresses the concerns of the black community in a way everyone can understand without sacrificing either its artistic merit or humane vision.” Ed Hazell, The Boston Phoenix