Darryl Yokley returns home to his native land to take part in the 17th annual Arpa International Film Festival presenting a creative spin on todays jazz for film fans and music lovers alike. Yokley will be leading a jazz quartet playing a mixture of standards and originals which will provide a great music sensation for Arpa Film Festival attendees of all taste. Our amazing closing night jazz quartet will include Darryl Yokley on saxophone, Matt Politano on piano, Brandon Shaw on bass and Lance Beckford on drums.
Darryl Yokley is an established New York City saxophonist, and a very talented composer and arranger with a gifted voice. In addition to his performance and composing career he is an active educator teaching at Westminster Conservatory in Princeton, NJ and the Fort Lee School of Music. Born in California, Yokley began his music studies on clarinet at the age of 10 and then switched to saxophone. He attended Duquesne University, followed by a masters degree at Michigan State University. After college Yokley went to North Carolina and began playing with Motown legends The Four Tops, The Temptations, and The O’ Jays. Soon he moved to Philadelphia to hone his jazz skills with many great musicians like Sid Simmons, Mike Boone, Byron Landham, and Tim Warfield. He made the move to New York City and started playing as a leader carving out a niche for himself on the jazz scene being recognized as highly unique artist. Darryl Yokley formed the Sound Reformation in November 2010 and the band’s reputation has grown and gained much acclaim in New York and abroad. Yokley will be recording his second album with Sound Reformation for Truth Revolution Records in 2015, with Duane Eubanks on trumpet, Zaccai Curtis on piano, Luques Curtis on bass, Wayne Smith Jr. on drums, and special guest Nasheet Waits on drums. In addition to leading his own band Yokley frequently performs with vocalist sensation Rhonda Ross, and many great artists like Franky Lacy, Johnny O Neal, Jack Walrath, Stacy Dillard, and Butch Morris.
