Jazz at the Athenaeum

Friday, January 13, 7:30pm – Pilc/Moutin/Hoenig

$21 member/$26 nonmember

Pilc/Moutin/Henig Trio

Friday, January 20, 7:30pm – Gretchen Parlato

$21 member/$26 nonmember

January 20, brings an Athenaeum debut by the acclaimed jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato, with Taylor Eigsti on piano, Alan Hampton on bass and guitar, and Mark Giuliana on drums. Winner of the 2004 Thelonious Monk International jazz vocal competition, Parlato has drawn ecstatic praise from press and audiences worldwide. AllAboutJazz wrote, “It's safe to say that singer Gretchen Parlato has her admirers. The Boston Globe praised her as "the most original jazz singer in a generation," and pianist Herbie Hancock has described her connection to music as "almost magical." Saxophonist Wayne Shorter has likened her art to that of Frank Sinatra. The growing chorus of admirers is not without good reason; Parlato possesses a voice of ethereal beauty which seduces instantly. Her delivery holds something of the vulnerable intimacy of Billie Holiday and trumpeter Miles Davis. Respectful of tradition, yet equally inspired by her contemporaries, Parlato is expanding the standards repertoire and pushing the expectations of what a jazz vocalist can do.” JazzTimes wrote, “She can sound like morning rain, twilight fog, crashing waves or swirling snowflakes. But tranquil or stormy, dreamy or restive, eider-soft or hard as sleet, Gretchen Parlato remains the freshest and purest of contemporary vocalists.”

Thursday, January 26, 7:30pm – Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet

$21 member/$26 nonmember

The series continues on February 26 with another Athenaeum debut by the NYC-based Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet, featuring Kreisberg on guitar, Will Vinson on saxophone, Joe Martin on bass, and Mark Ferber on drums. Earlier this fall Kreisberg “wowed” the crowd at the KSDS Ocean Beach Jazz Festival with his stunning and varied performance with Hammond B-3 organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith. In addition to Smith, Kreisberg’s extensive performing and recording credits include work with artists such as Lee Konitz, Joe Locke, Joel Frahm, Greg Tardy, Lenny White, Roy Nathanson, Jane Monheit, and Yosvany Terry. A native New Yorker, Kreisberg studied guitar at the acclaimed University of Miami jazz program. Since returning to New York in 1997, his has established a stellar career as a leader with five acclaimed CD releases, including his latest “The South of Everywhere,” which features longtime bandmates Vinson and Ferber. AllAboutJazz celebrated Kreisberg as “one of New York's undiscovered treasures...armed with ridiculous chops and a singing, straightahead tone.” JazzTimes praised Kreisberg for his “extraordinarily clean articulation, remarkable sax-like fluency, harmonic daring and rhythmically assured burn. “

Thursday, February 2, 7:30pm – Trio M

$21 member/$26 nonmember

The series concludes on February 2 with the return of Trio M, a collective band co-led by pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser, and drummer Matt Wilson. Trio M made its world premiere appearance at the Athenaeum in January 2006 and since has gone on to tour major festivals and jazz venues internationally and to record two acclaimed CDs. All three performers are among today’s leading artists on New Music end of the jazz spectrum. Myra Melford recasts the blues and boogie-woogie of her Chicago hometown, folds in elements of the music of Eastern Europe and India, and blends them with percussive avant-garde stylings. JazzTimes praised “the exquisitely deployed harmonies in her playing and arrangements.” Mark Dresser, Professor of Music at UCSD, has performed and recorded with many of the leading artists in contemporary music and jazz. The New York Times called him, “One of the great instrumental forces in recent American jazz outside of the mainstream.” Matt Wilson has pursued a prismatic career as a drummer, composer and bandleader. The New York Times called him “easily one of the best drummers of his generation.” He has appeared with jazz luminaries such as Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, Bill Mays, Buster Williams, and Denny Zeitlin.

Trio M




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