10-fingered jazz: the piano stylings of ten masters
Saturday, Feb. 20
7:30pm. Free!
Livestreamed by Berkshires Jazz and broadcast by PCTV
Berkshires Jazz is taking part in the 10th annual 10×10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival, generally in downtown Pittsfield. With severe limitations on what can be done in person –especially indoors—we are presenting our first-ever virtual event. A livestreamed concert featuring a masterful Berkshires favorite.
The program will feature pianist Matt DeChamplain playing the jazz stylings of 10 different pianists (with one or two encores anticipated with his wife, the amazing vocalist Atla DeChamplain).
Matt has made it a practice to study the styles of a vast number of jazz piano masters throughout its history. The program, developed especially for this 10×10 event, is a strong representation of the different eras of jazz piano and portrays a varying pace and degree of contrast. The program will be drawn from the works of James P. Johnson, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Barry Harris, Bud Powell, Mary Lou Williams, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner. Possible encores will include vocals made popular by singer/pianists Blossom Dearie and Nat “King” Cole.
The selections range from rag to bop to modern, Matt is a student, a teacher, and a performer of all things jazz, and it will be great to have him back in the Berkshires…albeit virtually. Check back for details of accessing this one-time event.
Guitarist Jason Ennis is an exciting voice in the world of jazz guitar. His unique sound, deep groove and sensitive feel, along with a diverse background in jazz, blues, Brazilian music and classical music have made him highly in demand as a soloist, sideman, bandleader and musical director. Jason leads his own instrumental group, Trio Jota Sete, and co-leads the world jazz trio, La Voz de Tres, which has toured extensively throughout the United States and Chile and has released two CDs. His searing blues style is a cornerstone of the NYC-based jazz/blues powerhouse group, Opius Bliss.
Guest artist Claire Daly’s career has included anchoring the sax section in the Diva Big Band, freelancing in New York doing every imaginable kind of gig, recording five CDs with the band “People Like Us”, as well as several CDs as leader. She has appeared at many festivals and venues, including Pittsfield, where her last appearance was with Sharel Cassity and Ada Rovatti and the Empire Jazz Orchestra. President Clinton’s Library requested a copy of her first CD, Swing Low, to be included in a listening station as a CD that was significant to the former president while in office. A four-time winner of the Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition,” she was also recognized by the Jazz Journalist Association as Baritone Sax Player of the Year.
Headline weekend starts on Friday, Oct. 18, with another prodigious piano talent, Dayramir Gonzalez and his quartet. A Cuban jazz pianist, composer, arranger and music visionary, Gonzalez has appeared at leading jazz venues worldwide, He will be performing on the Steinway at the Berkshire Museum, 39 South Street. His group includes Dean Torrey, bass; Juan Chiavassa, drums; and Arturo Stable, a master Cuban percussionist and composer. C
e Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, and The Jazz Showcase; and headlined at top festivals including Monterey, Montreal and Telluride. As a child, she began performing with her musician parents, the late pianist Hod O’Brien, and the singer/educator/author Stephanie Nakasian, and in 2015, she earned second place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, the most prestigious contest in the art form. Her command of the vocal-jazz tradition is astounding, as was demonstrated at last year’s Pittsfield CityJazz Festival. Swift so impressed the audience that she is the only performer ever invited back for a second consecutive year. PBS viewers caught part of her tour with Chris Botti on a recent fundraising concert video.
will be Nakasian’s third appearance in Pittsfield.
uest vocalist Chiara Izzi. The musical app
roach for Saturday has been described as “bossa nova with a fiery modern flavor”.