| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2019
CAPITAL DISTRICT JAZZ PRESENTS:
“JAZZ AT THE SPRING” WITH THE JAZZ COLLEAGUES
WHO: CAPITAL DISTRICT JAZZ PRESENTS
What: The Jazz Colleagues with Patricia Dalton Fennell, pianist John Esposito, and bassist Ira Coleman.
When: Thursday, September 26 at 7:30 PM
Where: Spring St Gallery, 110 Spring St., Saratoga Springs, NY
Tickets: $15.00 https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4322124
Fall marks not only back to school but back to Jazz at the Spring, and there is no better way to start our season than with the Jazz Colleagues. The Jazz Colleagues is a collective of jazz artists founded by Patricia Dalton Fennell, Bard College jazz professor John Esposito, and internationally recognized bass player Ira Coleman. Together they lead a multidisciplinary group of artists who come together to perform, record and teach. They make music spanning the history of jazz. They engage audiences with their virtuosity as they easily navigate the jazz repertoire delighting in the depth and breadth of the music, with selections ranging from Tin Pan Alley to Songbook – traditional and modern jazz styles, including standards, bebop, and bossa nova. This concert will feature early 20th century music, jazz standards, song book, and classical/ jazz adaptions.
Patricia Dalton Fennell grew up in a musical family, she began classical piano with Lester Taylor at 6, and continued her piano studies at Skidmore college, before attending the college of St. Rose as a classical voice performance major. From her musical beginnings as a classical vocalist, she discovered jazz in a partnership with master pianist and composer John Esposito, and has been an active jazz vocalist and producer in the Capital District and Hudson Valley for many years. Patricia has performed with and/or recorded with a host of award winning, world-class musicians, including those joining her at Jazz at the Spring. Most recently Patricia has produced two critically acclaimed recordings: Chris Pasin’s, Ornettiquette, dedicated to the work of Ornette Coleman (#23 on the Jazzweek chart 2018), and Chris Pasin’s, Baby it’s Cold Outside (top 50 on the Jazzweek chart 2017), of Dalton’s performance David McGee of Deep Roots, notes, “… in that one of the album’s great gifts to listeners is its sheer humanity: love of the songs radiates from the performances. The black and white cover shot may suggest the bleak midwinter, but on the inside, abundant soul abounds.”
John Esposito is an American pianist/composer/drummer/producer who works on a wide array of creative music projects. His technical skills and the range of his artistic palette extend across the stylistic boundaries of the stride piano, swing, bebop, modal and free music movements. He has performed and recorded with artists including Nick Brignola, Dave Douglas, Dave Holland, Carter Jefferson, Franklin Kiermyer, Joe Lovano, J.R. Monterose, David “Fathead” Newman, Eric Person, Arthur Rhames, Sam Rivers, Roswell Rudd, Pharaoh Sanders and John Stubblefield. John is the owner/executive producer of Sunjump records. He has created music for theater, dance, film, tv commercials, and multimedia performance art. He is a music faculty member and artist-in-residence at Bard College.
Ira Coleman’s impressively lyrical bass playing has helped shape the groove for many notable musicians throughout the years, but if you’ve only heard of him recently, chances are that you know him from his work with Sting, who Ira has toured with since 2009. Ira has played on Sting’s three latest albums, as well as nearly a hundred albums with other artists. “The bass fits my character,” says Ira, who graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1985. “In most musical genres the bass is the pivotal center piece, the instrument which provides a discrete and clear foundation, and I enjoy the many challenges its function poses.” Ira’s first love though, is jazz, and his resumé tells the story. Over the years, Ira has worked with such well-known figures as Cab Calloway, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter, Branford Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter. He was musical director for vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and toured with her internationally from 2002 until 2009.
Chris Pasin, trumpet, composer, and band leader, studied at The New England Conservatory. His brilliant trumpet sound has filled Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, Royal Albert Hall, the Village Vanguard, Ronnie Scott’s, and the Blue Note; he has traveled with Buddy Rich and performed with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, Toshiko Akiyoshi–Lew Tabackin Big Band, Brother Jack McDuff, and many others. He plays with musical artists of all genres, in groups large and small; is a leader himself, and has produced and recorded several outstanding CD’s featuring his own creative compositions including “Random Acts of Kindness,” and his latest “Ornettiquette,” featuring the music of and inspired by Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. He’s been a member of Lee Shaw’s quintet, the popular Reelin’ in the Years show, and curated a popular weekly jazz series.
Reeds player, Charles Frommer began playing professionally in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, before studying with Ran Blake at the New England Conservatory. He has had active career, as a freelancer in Boston and New York City, working in radio, television, and film, as well as touring internationally. In addition to playing with Hudson Valley jazz groups Inner Door and the Eastern Standard Jazz Trio, he has worked with such diverse artists as Roswell Rudd, John Esposito, Cameron Brown, Natalie Merchant, and Dr. John. He can currently be heard with the Swing Vipers jazz trio, the Tom DePetris Quartet, and frequently sits-in with the Metropolitan Hot Club.
Jazz at the Spring is held the last Thursday of each month at the Spring Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs, and is sponsored by Capital District Jazz, Ltd. (CDJ) a 501©3 not-for-profit organization formed by practitioners and fans who love jazz music. American in origin, jazz reaches and draws from millions of performers and listeners around the globe who are inspired by its rich history, excited by its technical complexity, and moved by its emotional depth. The members of CDJ want to share their love of jazz with current and potential performers and enthusiasts throughout the “Capital District”. CDJ’s mission is to build and serve a wider audience for jazz through education; to create performance opportunities for jazz musicians; and to develop venues for these pursuits. CDJ supports All Ears: Jazz and Improvised Music Workshop, which is a fun hands-on way for students of all ages to learn about jazz. CDJ is offering a number of free tickets for youth age 17 and under. If you are interested in obtaining a free ticket please inquire via email info@cdjazz.org.
Tickets are available in advance at: brown paper tickets:
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4322124
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Author: Will Friedwald
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The Alumni Big Band concert began in 2013 at the request of NJCU President Sue Henderson, a jazz enthusiast who was being inaugurated as the first woman president of the University, which was founded in 1927 as a teacher-training college. President Henderson asked Professor Richard Lowenthal of the NJCU Music Department to produce a jazz concert as part of the inauguration festivities and Lowenthal put out a call to alumni of the program who were active in the music business.
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