Ed Bride

About Ed Bride

Posts by Ed Bride:

Veronica Swift, Christian McBride headline this weekend’s Pittsfield CityJazz Festival

We are pleased to announce the lineup for the 14th annual Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival, Oct. 5-14, a cultural highlight of the Fall Foliage season in western New England. Highlights include the annual “jazz crawl,” a jazz prodigy concert; headline performances featuring Veronica Swift (Oct. 12) and Christian McBride’s New Jawn quartet (Oct. 13); jazz brunches, and more. Box office activity is heavy for both of the ticketed events.

The events all take place within the Upstreet Cultural District, Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ downtown corridor that is rich with visual and performing arts activities, restaurants, lounges, and other cultural attractions.

Things kicked-off on Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 5-7, with Jazz About Town, the annual jazz crawl featuring local musicians in restaurants and lounges. The holiday weekend continued with a brunch on Oct. 7 at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, featuring Nico Wohl and Andy Wrba.

Festival activities resumed mid-week with the Jazz Prodigy concert, on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 7pm, at the Berkshire Athenaeum. The free concert, sponsored by the Friends of the Athenaeum, introduced the remarkable bassist Gabriel Severn to Berkshires audiences. He was backed by Eugene Uman, piano, and Conor Meehan, drums. Snippts are appearing on Facebook…check them out.

The fast-rising vocalist Veronica Swift opens headline weekend on Friday, Oct. 12, with the Berkshires Jazz All-Star Trio in a dinner/concert at Legion Hall, 41 Wendell Ave. Tickets are $25 for the concert, which starts at 8pm (optional Italian dinner is $17, including tax and gratuity (dinner available starting at 6:30). Cash bar will be available. Tickets are available here.

Christian McBride’s New Jawn quartet caps the festival in a 7:30pm concert at The Colonial Theatre, 111 South Street. The Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble, a curated big band comprising students from Herberg and Reid Middle Schools, will open for McBride. Tickets are $25 and $38.

The festival concludes with a jazz brunch on Sunday, Oct. 14. Ticket information and the online box office can be found at www.BerkshiresJazz.org.

About the artists

Award-winning 13-year-old electric bassist Gabriel Severn began playing at age 7, but was already drawn to the bass by age 2. As a toddler, he’d point the bass out at performances and festivals while watching his dad play. It was then that he developed an ear for Jaco Pastorius’ music, and loved listening to bands such as the Yellowjackets and Weather Report during car rides.

In 2012, at age 7, Gabriel began private lessons, and 4 months later joined his first band. He received international recognition when his video performing Jaco’s solo on Havana at age 11 went viral, setting the wheels in motion for a possible professional career. He has won a Down Beat Magazine award for student composition. He will appear with local musicians Eugene Uman on piano and Conor Meehan on drums.

At age 24, Veronica Swift is being recognized as one of the top young jazz singers on the scene. She performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center at age 11, as part of the “Women in Jazz” series at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. She won second place at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 2015, and her album from that same year, “Lonely Woman,” features some of the hottest young jazz players on the scene including Emmet Cohen, Benny Bennack III, Daryl Johns (with whom she shared the Grammy Choir/Band experience), Matt Wigler, and Scott Lowrie.

She moved to New York City in 2016 and almost immediately started performing every Saturday night at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club, a gig she continues to maintain when she isn’t on the road. Earlier this year, she appeared in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s reprisal of the famous Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert.

In addition to performing the Great American Songbook and bebop and vocalese classics, Swift is also a passionate devotee of 20s and 30s music. Last year at this time, she was on tour with Chris Botti in California. Here in Pittsfield, she will appear with the Berkshires Jazz All-Star Trio: Benny Kohn, piano; Mary Ann McSweeney, bass; and Conor Meehan, drums.

Six-time GRAMMY-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride has been likened to a force of nature, fusing the fire and fury of a virtuoso with the depth and grounding of a seasoned journeyman. Powered by a relentless energy and a boundless love of swing, McBride’s path has described a continuous positive arc since his arrival on the scene. With a career now blazing into its third decade, and recordings as both a sideman and leader numbering more than 300, the Philadelphia native has become one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today.

The consummate jazz educator and evangelist, McBride often leads the ensemble at Jazz House Kids in Newark, NJ, and is the voice of the syndicated NPR program “Jazz Night In America,” and hosts his own show on Sirius/XM. In 2016, he was named creative director of the Newport Jazz Festival. His New Jawn Quartet comprises Josh Evans, trumpet; Marcus Strickland, saxophone; McBride, bass; and Nasheet Waits, drums. Their first CD, “Christian McBride’s New Jawn,” will be released in October, shortly after the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival.
.
The festival is made possible thanks to sponsorships from the Feigenbaum Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and private donations.

Click here for our online box office for Veronica Swift’s concert on Oct. 12. The Colonial Theatre is also selling tickets for Christian McBride (Oct. 13) online (click here). You can also order them by phone at 413-997-4444 (saving the transaction fee vs. ordering online), and at The Colonial Theatre’s walkup box office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield, during regular operating hours.

See you there!

Berkshire Jazz Showcase, Aug. 25 on the Pittsfield Common

Berkshire County has a long-standing reputation as a hot-bed of jazz talent, going back nearly 75 years to Music Inn, and now being revived throughout the region. Dozens of world-class musicians, many of whom could easily establish careers in jazz havens like New York, Chicago, New Orleans or San Francisco, live here because this is where they want to be. You can find them in clubs and lounges on many weekends, but rarely on a main stage, especially those from the more rural areas.

This is somewhat ironic. The performing arts represent the heart of the Berkshires; the area is swarming with creativity. And yet, despite signature jazz festivals that feature headline talent during the shoulder season (e.g., the Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend each June, and Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival in October), there is no main-stage jazz event during the high tourist season –and none at all that showcases the rich variety of local talent who call the Berkshires home.

That all changes on August 25.

As a county-wide organization whose mission includes promoting the local jazz scene, Berkshires Jazz addresses this longstanding oversight by showcasing a panoply of the highest-quality regional jazz artists in a one-day outdoors festival at the Pittsfield Common. Free to the public, the first annual Berkshire Jazz Showcase (1-6pm, Saturday, Aug. 25) will include 5 bands, food vendors, a beer and wine garden, and the adjacent playground and “splash park”.

Come and enjoy a wide-ranging jazz extravaganza, with:
Gruppo Mondo
Andy Kelly Gypsy Jazz
Ben Kohn Trio
Jason Ennis and Friends
Lucky 5

And, it’s free!

Watch this space for updates.

Bring blankets or chairs. And, come early, the Pittsfield Farmer’s Market will be in full swing until 1pm.

Laroo/Byrd 4tet, dinner show on July 14, featuring Rick Rozie and Jocelyn Pleasant

As hot as jazz gets, the internationally renowned Laroo/Byrd Quartet makes its Berkshires debut on Saturday, July 14 with a dinner show at our newest popular venue, American Legion Hall. An optional dinner buffet makes for a complete evening’s entertainment. Dinner starts at 6:30pm; show at 7:30. Tickets are on sale now, click here for details.

Having appeared here in Pittsfield as part of the Latin Jazz Trio some 10 years ago, the monster pianist Warren Byrd returns in a new quartet configuration with his wife, the trumpeter and saxophonist Saskia Laroo. The Laroo/Byrd Quartet (or “4tet,” as it is often called) is the transmutation from their popular duo configuration into a full band with added bass (Rick Rozie) and drums (Jocelyn Pleasant).

Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, Warren Byrd is a pianist/vocalist with a long list of international credits, tours, and celebrated work. Though earning a full scholarship for a voice major at Hartt College of Music, he chose to focus on jazz piano and composition, emerging primarily self-taught. His work is a testament to his gifts: freelancing with such notables as Archie Shepp and Eddie Henderson to leading Gospel choirs to composing for theatre and dance. He is co-founder/leader of Duo Laroo/Byrd and the Afro-Semitic Experience, performs as a freelancer, with Saskia’s other groups, as a solo pianist and with his own Byrdspeak Ensemble.

A native of Amsterdam, Saskia Laroo is a premiere figure in music and one of the finest female trumpet players in the world. She began playing trumpet at age 8, and as a teen picked-up cello and guitar. Though first enrolling as a Mathematics major in college, she switched to music, graduating from the Muziekacademie of Hilversum. Versatility has propelled her illustrious career, from barnstorming with Latin, jazz and pop bands, to collaborations with legends such as Hans Dulfer and Teddy Edwards. She released her first CD, “It’s Like Jazz” in 1994 under her own label Laroo Records. Since, she has produced seven CDs and a DVD varying from classic jazz to Club-influenced acid jazz fusion. She has performed worldwide in hundreds of settings.

Concert tickets are $25 in advance, $30 on the day of the event. The optional dinner buffet is highlighted by Brenda Torchio’s renowned chicken picatta. $17, including tax and tip, but please make your reservations in advance.

Berkshire Gateway: Jeff Holmes Big Band with vocalist Dawning Holmes

Closing-out the headline performances at this year’s Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend will be the Jeff Holmes Big Band, featuring the amazing vocalist Dawning Holmes. [Click here for tickets, or read on]

Pianist, composer, arranger and trumpeter Jeff Holmes is a nationally published composer/arranger, and a multiple recipient of National Endowment For The Arts Jazz Composition Grants. He has written music for renowned jazz musicians including John Abercrombie, Max Roach, Sheila Jordan, Yusef Lateef, Rufus Reid, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

In addition to the band’s impressive library of big-band standards and originals, this evening’s repertoire will include a tribute to Leonard Bernstein, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated this year by musical organizations across the globe. Bernstein’s music touched all genres, from classical to pop, opera to jazz, and Hollywood.

The band features the outstanding vocalist Dawning Holmes, who was first heard in Lee during the 2017 tribute to Buddy Rich. In addition to her work with Jeff’s big band, Dawning has sung in jazz clubs from New York City to London, has guested with both Paul Winter and the UMASS Studio Orchestra/Jazz Ensemble I, and opened for Bob Newhart at the Foxwoods Casino Theatre. She performs pieces made popular by Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Sam Cooke, Amy Winehouse, and is currently working on a project of her own original music and lyrics.

Concert time is 7:30pm, at the Lee Meeting House (Lee Congregational Church). Tickets [click here] are $25 in advance, $30 on the day of the event.

“Jazz About Town.” Snippets from the annual 2017 jazz crawl

Our annual jazz crawl, part of the 2017 Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival. Sub-optimal audio in some instances, but a good sense of the variety of local artists being presented.

Shown here: Andy Kelly Gypsy Jazz (at J. Allen’s). Banulis and Miller jazz duo (Panchos). John Kozinski guitar duo (Patrick’s). Mary Ann Palermo and First Take (The Rainbow). Sarah Clay (Mission).

Jazz Prodigy Caelan Cardello at the 2017 Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival

Did you miss this year’s Jazz Prodigy concert during the Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival? Just in case you did, or want to revisit it, here’s a sample, a unique treatment of “Stella By Starlight,” featuring Caelan Cardello. A product of Jazz House Kids, the renowned after-school music program in Newark, New Jersey, Caelan’s trio performed their maiden gig on Oct. 11, at the Berkshire Athenaeum. Watch him!

Latin Percussion workshop, Oct. 14, 1pm (free)

Attention percussion teachers, students, and anyone interested in Latin rhythms: Berkshires Jazz is hosting a free Latin Percussion Workshop this Saturday, Oct. 14, at Wood Brothers Music Store (Allendale Shopping Center, Pittsfield. 1-2:30pm). The clinic will be conducted by Roger Squitero, percussionist with the Dizzy Gillespie Afro- Cuban Experience.

Dizzy Gillespie is generally credited with bringing Afro-Cuban rhythms to the American jazz scene, and Roger Squitero is helping to perpetuate that movement. Here’s a unique opportunity to get inside tips from one of the top percussionists in jazz. No charge, thanks to a grant from The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Please contact web@BerkshiresJazz.org with any questions.

Jazz About Town: our annual “jazz crawl” schedule

Spanning two weekends, our 13th Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival festival kicks-off with the popular “jazz crawl” on Friday, Oct. 6. Various local restaurants and lounges present local musicians in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District. No cover charge!

It’s no secret that the Berkshires are home for some amazing talent, and it’s a pleasure to present so many of them in a concentrated timeframe and format.

For full details on this year’s festival, including our jazz prodigy concert and headliners, click here.

Here’s the Jazz Crawl schedule so far. Check back for possible changes and updates.

Friday, Oct. 6

Panchos, 156 North St,
6-9pm: Nico Wohl, guitar

Patrick’s Pub, 26 Bank Row
7-10pm: Andy Kelly Jazz Ambassadors

Rainbow, 109 First St.
7:30pm: Blue Light Trio

Saturday, Oct. 7

Panchos, 156 North St.
6-9pm: Banulis and Miller Jazz Duo

J. Allen’s Clubhouse Grille, 41 North St.
7-10om: Andy Kelly Gypsy Jazz

The Rainbow, 109 First St.
7:30pm: Mary Ann Palermo and First Take

Patrick’s Pub, 26 Bank Row
6-9pm: Kozinski/Ricker Guitar Duo

Mission Bar and Tapas, 438 North St.
8-11pm: Sarah Clay Duo

Sunday, Oct. 8

Jazz Brunch at The Rainbow, 109 First St.
11am-3pm: Mary Ann Palermo and First Take

Discount tix for Hot Summer Swing Bash benefit Berkshires Jazz

Saturday, August 26, 3:00pm-8:00pm the HOT SUMMER SWING BASH (rocks and) rolls into Ski Butternut in Great Barrington. There’s some great jazz and swing music in store, including the Squirrel Nut Zippers, local bands, and a discount on tickets, to boot.

The sponsors, Berkshire Bash, are offering an exclusive, special discount offer for friends of Berkshires Jazz that is also a fund-raiser for us. Your ticket is just $30 ($10 off per ticket, which is normally $40), and $5 of that ticket goes directly to Berkshires Jazz. When purchasing your ticket, use code: JAZZ and Berkshire Bash remits $5 per ticket to us!

The day-long festival features national headliner SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS, and local favorites THE LUCKY 5 and BLUE LIGHT TRIO. This family-friendly, fun-filled day also includes ROGER THE JESTER and more kids activities courtesy of United Cerebral Palsy of Berkshire County.

Squirrel Nut Zippers’ music is a high-energy fusion of Delta blues, gypsy jazz, 1930s era swing, klezmer and other styles. Originally formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, their one-of-a-kind sound ranges in influence from Harlem Hot Music to the sounds of Cab Calloway, Johnny Ace, Raymond Scott, Fats Waller, and Django Reinhardt.

Food options include delicious Indian cuisine from Chef Express, SoCo Creamery, and beer & wine from Lefty’s Brewing. Bring a blanket, a picnic and the whole family!

Tickets and more info: berkshirebash.com

Dizzy Gillespie tribute, Samirah Evans with Charles Neville, piano prodigy Caelan Cardello headline Pittsfield CityJazz Festival

The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Oct. 6-15, 2017, is a celebration of America’s classical music, our cultural gift to the world. Spanning two weekends, our 13th annual festival kicks-off with the popular “jazz crawl,” on Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 6-8. Local musicians perform in restaurants and lounges in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District. (click here for schedule) It’s no secret that the Berkshires are home for some amazing talent, and it’s a pleasure to present so many of them in a concentrated timeframe and format. Capping off both weekends, there will be jazz brunches on Oct. 8 and 15.

One of the most important aspects of the festival is our Jazz Prodigy series, featuring young performers whom we expect to become significant figures in jazz. As has happened for the past three festivals, this year’s artist, pianist Caelan Cardello, comes to us from Jazz House Kids, the renowned educational and performance program in Newark. A high school student in Teaneck, New Jersey, Caelan and his trio appear at the Berkshire Athenaeum on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7pm. Thanks to the support of the Friends of the Athenaeum, there is not charge for tickets to this event.

Our two marquee events show remarkable range and diversity…from the New Orleans mainstay Samirah Evans –with special guest Charles Neville– to a celebration of Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday. Tickets are now on sale for both events.

There are two jazz brunches, Oct. 8 and 15, at The Rainbow Restaurant (Oct. 8) and Dottie’s Coffee Lounge (Oct. 15).

Details for the headline concerts follow.

Friday, Oct. 13, your lucky day

[This show is sold out]

One of the most popular jazz and blues vocalists in pre-Katrina New Orleans, Samirah Evans dedicates time to perpetuating indigenous American music. With a mix of swampy, sultry, and soulful takes on jazz standards and originals, she first performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1990, and became a regular fixture for fourteen consecutive years.

While living in New Orleans, Samirah appeared in concert with such notable musicians as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Charles Neville, and drummer Shannon Powell (Harry Connick, Jr. band and Diana Krall).

Hurricane Katrina caused Samirah and her husband to seek out new living arrangements outside of New Orleans, so they moved to his native town of Brattleboro, Vermont in the fall of 2006. Her debut performance was at the Vermont Jazz Center with the VJC Big Band. She soon found herself sharing the spotlight with the legendary Shelia Jordan as a principal in a musical theater performance, Beatnik Café’, depicting the beatnik generation.

She has toured Europe, Asia, and both North and South America as a headliner, and shared stages with a multitude of legendary artists from B.B. King and James Brown, to New Orleans own Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas.

Her live performance repertoire runs the gamut from raunchy blues to jazz smooth as silk. She has often been compared to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Etta James She made countless new friends in the Berkshires in an appearance at Zucchini’s in 2016, and we are delighted to bring her back for the Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival.

Guest soloist Charles Neville provides a special treat. The second oldest brother of the famed New Orleans musical family, Charles has the most diverse background. His experience on saxophone has included rhythm & blues, funk, jazz, be-bop, popular and even American Indian music. He cites as influences Louis Jordan, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Professor Longhair. He’s a popular Berkshires artist, and we’re delighted to have him on the Pittsfield CityJAZZ Festival program for the first time

Samirah’s group includes three of the top rhythm players on the New York scene, all of whom have deep Berkshires connections: Miro Sprague, piano; Mary Ann McSweeney, bass; and Conor Meehan, drums.

Flavours of Malaysia is the setting for many a rising jazz artist, as well as those whose star has already ascended. Acoustically and visually, it’s a “happening” scene. For our jazz festival audience, Flavours is offering special dinner pricing of $15, for your choice among three of their most popular entrees, with stir-fry, curry, and vegetarian options. For the show only, tickets are $25 in advance, $30 on the day of the show. The doors open at 7:45pm, when the special dinner pricing goes into effect.

This event is now sold-out. If you were lucky enough to get tickets, we look forward to seeing you there.

Saturday, Oct. 14: celebrating Dizzy’s centennial

History has produced its share of great artists and great people, and John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was both. As a performer, he left behind an incredible record of innovation and inspiration; as a composer, a broad repository of musical masterpieces; and as a man, a legion of friends, colleagues and compatriots who remember him with the same degree of love and esteem they reserve for his work. Those “Dizzy for President” buttons were actually half-serious.

Berkshires Jazz celebrates Gillespie’s 100^th birthday with a performance by the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience, a 6-piece ensemble led by his long-term bassist John Lee. The group showcases the unique rhythms and well-loved melodies (such as “Manteca” and “Tin Tin Deo”) of Gillespie’s oeuvre of Cu-Bop, which he developed in the 40s and 50s with Chano Pozo. That music rings every bit as fresh today, which is why

jazz ensembles around the world are still performing it.

And, the expanded repertoire of the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience also explores the broader world of Latin-American music–the tunes that Dizzy likely would be playing today.

The musicians are drawn from the high-caliber pool of New York-based talent tha

t frequent the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and All-Star groups, including trumpeter Freddie Hendrix (photo at right), saxophonist Sharel Cassity, Brazilian pianist/vocalist Abelita Mateus, drummer Tommy Campbell and percussionist Roger Squitero. They perform with energy, verve, and style, putting their own fresh stamp on a well-known genre.

Our all-star youth ensemble opens the musical proceedings at 7:30pm. Tickets are $23-38, and are available here.

“Back in the day,” Berkshire radio personality Dave Kidd, father of Berkshires Jazz treasurer Barbara Seddon, conducted this interview with Dizzy Gillespie; it is now on file at the International Jazz History Database.

Save

«‹ 3 4 5 6