Greg Caputo Big Band, Phil Woods, Freddie Bryant Quartet concerts in Lee, MA July 25-28
The second annual Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend brings marquee performers and local jazz musicians to downtown Lee, July 25-28, 2013. Berkshires Jazz, Inc. in collaboration with Berkshire Gateway Preservation, Inc., present the Greg Caputo Big Band, Phil Woods, and the Freddie Bryant Quartet in the striking performance space at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, and other venues.
With schooling in Brazilian music, classical and jazz, Freddie Bryant’s art is starting to challenge traditional labels. His talents are now being sought out by artists from diverse background ranging from trumpet great Tom Harrell to the Mingus Orchestra, vocalist Eliane Elias to Klezmer virtuoso clarinetist Giora Feidman. His quartet’s repertoire (Friday, July 26, 8pm) will include much of the music from their latest CD, Live Grooves.
“Benny Goodman to Gordon Goodwin” program features Phil Woods
Described as “the keeper of the big band flame,” drummer Gregory Caputo fronts a 16-piece unit that will perform a salute to some of the biggest bands of the jazz era. His program, “Benny Goodman to Gordon Goodwin,” will feature the NEA Jazz Master and multiple Grammy Award winner Phil Woods, who returns to the Berkshires after two appearances at the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival in 2006 and 2011. Woods is a guest artist on Caputo’s CD “Velocity,” and their performance (Saturday, July 27, 7:30pm) will include much of the material from that live recording.
The Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend had its premiere last September, under the direction of Rich Vinette. Earlier this year, Berkshire Gateway Preservation, Inc. and Berkshires Jazz, Inc. combined efforts on this event, moving it to the peak weekend of the tourist season. Other performers to be announced. Tickets and info: Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend.
The winners of the annual Berkshires Jazz Student Art Contest, adjudicated from more than 70 entries from all four of Pittsfield’s high schools, will be announced on April 11. The ceremony will take place starting at 5:00pm in the Crane Room at the Berkshire Museum, where all entries will be hanging.
The occasion will open with a performance by the Pittsfield High School Jazz Ensemble under the direction of band director Ronald Lively. Berkshires Jazz will also announce the headline performers for its two main events of the second half of 2013, the Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend in late July in downtown Lee, and the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival in October, followed by the announcement of the Student Art Contest winners. Light refreshments will be provided, and many of the student artists will be on hand.
Students from Pittsfield and Taconic High Schools, as well as St. Joseph’s and Miss Hall’s, participated in this fourth annual contest. to create the graphic symbol The winning entry will become the graphic image for the eighth annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, which will be held from Oct. 9-19, 2013. It will appear on the festival’s poster, web site, advertising, and program booklet.
The contest is a way to engage more of the student community in a cross-genre creative activity. Many of the students conduct independent research the subject, and jazz music is sometimes played during the classes, as a way of inspiring the student artists. The top three entries receive small cash prizes and the opportunity to show their work in a world-class exhibit space at the Berkshire Museum.
This year’s judges included artist Anne Pasko; graphic designer Tom Buckley of Greylock Marketing Group; and fine art photographer Ken Green of Museum Facsimiles.
Art teachers engaged in the project were coordinator Colleen Quinn, Pittsfield High School; Lisa Ostellino and Barbara Patton, PHS; Marybeth Eldridge and Mike Boroniec, Taconic; Dale Zola, St. Joseph’s; and Ellie Kreischer and Sophia Lee from Miss Hall’s.
Project coordinator is Art Niedeck, a jazz musician and music educator, and chairman of the Education Committee of Berkshires Jazz, Inc., which is responsible for planning the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival and other events throughout the year. In addition to its mission of presenting ‘live’ jazz, the not-for-profit Berkshires Jazz is chartered to promote jazz education throughout Berkshire County. Its activities are supported by ticket sales from the festival, as well as donations from sponsors, which this year include Greylock Federal Credit Union the Pittsfield Cultural Council, and jazz education pioneer Jamey Aebersold.
Claire Daly plays Thelonious Monk tribute March 29, 2013 in Pittsfield, MA
Claire Daly brings her Baritone Monk repertoire for a special concert at the Berkshire Museum on Friday evening, March 29, at 7pm. Celebrating the legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, Claire’s latest CD has been played on national media and has heralded as among the most important releases in the past year.
“Unless you’ve been comatose these past few years you must be aware that Claire Daly has established herself as one of our most compelling and creative voices on the baritone saxophone.” Bob Bernotas, JazzImprov Magazine
Her career has included anchoring the sax section in the Diva Big Band for seven years, freelancing in New York doing every imaginable kind of gig, recording a dozen CDs. Her latest work is Baritone Monk, a salute to pianist/composer Thelonious Monk, which she will be performing in Pittsfield on March 29. In addition to her recorded work, she has performed on numerous film scores and in many festivals and venues. She appeared twice at the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, headlining her own quartet at the Women in Jazz night (2007) and with the American Jazz Repertory Orchestra (2010).
She is a six-time winner of the Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition,” and having achieved that recognition, has also been the winner of the Jazz Journalist Association “Baritone Sax of the Year” award. “Bariton Monk” is supported by a grant from North Coast Brewing.
Tickets are $15, and are available by phone at 413-443-7171, ext. 10.
Jeff Holmes Quartet concert in Pittsfield April 5, 2013
A jazz concert by the Jeff Holmes Quartet is on the schedule April 5, 2013 at Baba Louie’s in Pittsfield, MA. On the first Friday of April, Berkshires Jazz welcomes Jazz Appreciation Month, a program of The Smithsonian Institution, with this concert and CD-release party. An accomplished composer, educator, and multi-instrumentalist, Holmes plays piano on his first small-group recording, Of One’s Own. The CD is receiving lots of airplay (and online), and will be performed along with other works on April 5 at Baba Louie’s Backroom, 34 Depot Street, Pittsfield. Starting time is 8pm, as the museum and gallery activities of Pittsfield’s monthly First Fridays Artswalk wind down. Tickets: $20 (advance purchase highly recommended). Dinner available separately either in Baba Louie’s main dining room or in the backroom.
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Baba Louie’s Backroom,
34 Depot Street, Pittsfield
Show time: 8:00pm. – All tickets $20.
Please indicate a name for reserving your ticket(s).
Promoting Jazz in the Berkshires – Berkshires Jazz is committed to bringing jazz to the Berkshires, year’round. And we’re just as pleased to help spread the news about other venues, such as Tanglewood. Thanks to a special collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, three friends of Berkshires Jazz and their guests received free tickets to the amazing Tanglewood performance of Monty Alexander, on Sunday, Aug. 25. As an encore to last weekend’s giveaway, we were also able to offer free tickets to this weekend’s performance of Donal Fox (Saturday, Aug. 31, 1pm) and Harry Connick, Jr. (Saturday, Aug. 31, 7pm).
Tickets for the Aug. 31 concerts are still available from the Tanglewood box office, just click on the above links (Donal Fox or Harry Connick, Jr.) for more information.
Thank you for all who participated, and congratulations to those who will receive tickets.
Donal Fox Scarlatti Jazz Project at Seiji Ozawa Hal
Back by popular demand, composer, pianist and innovator Donal Fox will perform his Scarlatti Jazz Project at Seiji Ozawa Hall. Donal Fox has forged a unique amalgam of jazz, Latin, and classical music. Combining deep grooves with sophisticated contrapuntal lines, he and his quartet create a striking musical collage that is at once stirring, visceral, imaginative and intellectually satisfying. Fox mines the rich resources of jazz and classical literature, crafting an expanding repertoire of original compositions seamlessly wedded to the undeniable pulse of Afro-Cuban jazz. His inventive blend marches boldly toward new sounds, effortlessly “confounding the genre police.” (Downbeat) We love confounding the genre police. It’s an event not to be missed.
Harry Connick, Jr. at Tanglewood
And, what can be said about Harry Connick, Jr. that has not already been written? His meteoric rise in the world of music was only a prelude to a multi-faceted career. Accomplished as a pianist, vocalist, composer, band leader, actor, and philanthropist, Harry Connick has received awards and recognition for his live and recorded musical performances, and for his achievements on screens large and small as well as the Broadway stage. Throughout his stellar career, Harry Connick, Jr. has earned three Grammy awards, two Emmy Awards, and two Tony nominations, and spearheaded efforts to help rebuild his hometown of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This performance with his band will be in support of his new album release EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW, a collection of original songs that touches on some of Harry’s deepest feelings about life and love.
Armen Donelian concert in Pittsfield Feb. 15, 2013
Berkshires Jazz, Inc. announces its participation in Pittsfield’s second annual 10×10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival, with a special concert by the remarkable pianist and composer Armen Donelian. For the Feb. 15 concert at Baba Louie’s Backroom, the Armen Donelian Trio explores the music of 10 American composers whose inspiring work spanned jazz’ first century. From Jelly Roll Morton to Chick Corea, Art Tatum to Duke Ellington and others, the virtuoso pianist adds his unique interpretation to 10 pieces by 10 masters of jazz’ first 10 decades. The trio comprises Donelian on Piano, Dave Clark, bass, and Conor Meehan, drums.
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Baba Louie’s Backroom,
34 Depot Street, Pittsfield
Show time: 8:00pm. – All tickets $20.
Please indicate a name for reserving your ticket(s).
Called a pianist with a crystalline touch, but a penchant for avant gardism (New York Times), Armen Donelian has performed in 23 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle and Far East. Since 1975, he has performed and recorded as a featured solo pianist, leader of his own quintet and trio, and with Jazz legends including Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Paquito D’Rivera, Mongo Santamaria and Billy Harper. He is composer of more than 90 works, and has produced 12 critically acclaimed recordings.
Armen Donelian is a Fulbright Senior Scholar for work in Armenia, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. He has received six Jazz Performance Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts for concerts and master classes. His trio first appeared at the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival in 2011 and received rave reviews.
Baba Louie’s Backroom, 34 Depot Street, Pittsfield. Show time: 8:00pm. All tickets $20, 413-442-7718. Dinner available separately, either before the concert in the main dining room or in Baba Louie’s Backroom.
Giacomo Gates solos with New England Jazz Ensemble Oct. 13, 2012.The eighth annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival takes place Oct. 5-13 in various venues around downtown Pittsfield. The music spans the spectrum of jazz, and includes the New England Jazz Ensemble with guest soloists Giacomo Gates and Ali Ryerson 8PM Oct. 13 at the Colonial Theatre; The Jazz Arts Trio, 7:30 PM Oct. 12 at Barrigton Stage; Jazz About Town, local musicians performing in Pittsfield restaurants and lounges during Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 4-8 (see schedule); and a new entry in the Jazz Prodigy series, Adam O’Farrill, a trumpet player who is garnering accolades across the northeast. (Get directions).
O’Farrill, son of renowned pianist Arturo O’Farrill, will appear at the Berkshire Athenaeum in an Oct. 10 concert sponsored by the Friends of the Athanaeum. His quartet has appeared at significant jazz venues in New York, and he will be making his Berkshires debut at the festival.
Colonial Theatre show added to schedule
Later that same evening, the Berkshire Theatre Group presents Michael Bellar and the AS-IS Ensemble at The Garage (the lounge at The Colonial Theatre). Show time for this high-energy, eclectic group is 8:30pm. They will also be conducting a improvisational workshop for musicians (of all ages) at 4pm. Read more … .
Pittsfield CityJazz Festival headline weekend
Ali Ryerson solos with New England Jazz Ensemble Oct. 13, 2012.The headline weekend opens on Friday, Oct. 12 with the Jazz Arts Trio, headed by the remarkable concert pianist Frederick Moyer. What can safely be called the only jazz group of its kind, the Jazz Arts Trio, through note–for–note transcriptions of historic moments in piano jazz, is keeping alive music that otherwise would live on only in recordings. Their latest CD, Swing of Many Colors, includes a full re-performance of Ahmad Jamal’s landmark album But Not For Me: Live at the Pershing. The Jazz Arts Trio will appear at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 12, and is a co-presentation with Barrington Stage Co.
The New England Jazz Ensemble is a 16-piece big band whose repertoire will include material from the band’s latest CD, recorded live in performance in Hartford, Connecticut. They appeared at the first Pittsfield CityJazz Festival in 2006, putting the festival on the map when they issued a recording from that performance.
A renowned jazz/blues vocalist, Giacomo Gates’ will be a guest artist with the New England Jazz Ensemble. His CD Luminosity spent over three months in the top 20 of the Jazz Week charts; his latest recording, The Revolution Will Be Jazz, a tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, was the most-played CD on jazz radio for 7 consecutive weeks in 2011. Gates has been nominated as Jazz Vocalist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Guest soloist Ali Ryerson has emerged as one of the most exciting and versatile flutists on the scene. She has performed with such diverse talents as Billy Taylor, Kenny Barron, Stephane Grappelli, Frank Wess, and (as principal flutist with the Monterey Bay Symphony) with Luciano Pavarotti. She put alto flute in the spotlight in her years of duet concerts and recordings with guitarist Joe Beck.
The New England Jazz Ensemble with Gates and Ryerson will appear on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Colonial Theatre, with the Williams College Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Andy Jaffe.
The new Berkshires Gateway Jazz Weekend in Lee took place Sept. 14-16. Produced by the Lee Community Development Corp., in collaboration with Berkshires Jazz. Headline performers included Grammy-nominated vocalist Karrin Allyson, the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, reed virtuoso Charles Neville, and the Sonny and Perley Quartet. .
Jazz About Town – Oct. 4 – 8
Thursday, October 4
Sister City Jazz Ambassadors
Patrick’s Pub – Park Square
6:30-9:30pm
Friday, October 5
Woody Stroebeck Duo
Spice Dragon – 297 North Street
6:30-9:30pm
Fran Tokarz Guitar Trio
The Lantern – 455 North Street
9-11pm
Sister City Jazz Ambassadors
Mission Tapas Bar and Restaurant – 438 North Street
7:30-10:30pm
Saturday, October 6
Rob Fisch Quartet
Patrick’s Pub – Park Square
7-10pm
Johnny Pontoon Quintet
Baba Louie’s Backroom – 34 Depot Street
7-10pm
Ted Murray Trio
Port Smitt Restaurant – Pecks Road
7:30-10:30pm
Sunday, October 7
Benny Kohn Piano Brunch
Dottie’s Coffee Lounge – 444 North Street
11am-1pm
Monday, October 8
Andy Wrba and Friends
Mission Tapas Bar and Restaurant – 438 North Street
Gary Smulyan featured in Aug. 3, 2012 concert in Pittsfield, MAAs part of our year-round commitment to presenting jazz in the Berkshires, we have scheduled a double bill featuring DownBeat award-winning baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan and pianist/composer/author Noah Baerman. The special program will take place at 8PM August 3 in the intimate setting of the backroom at Baba Louie’s Sourdough Pizza, where we have instituted a jazz series to follow Pittsfield’s monthly First Fridays Artswalks. Tickets are $20, general admission, concert starts at 8pm.
Please phone 413-841-7718 to see if there will be any seats available.
The guest artists will be backed by the Berkshires Jazz Duo, featuring bassist Jeff Link and drummer Peter Coombs. With Baerman at piano in the first set, the trio will then perform with Gary Smulyan, this year’s DownBeat Magazine critics poll winner.
Considered the standard bearer of his generation for the baritone saxophone, Smulyan has consistently been ranked as the Number 1 performer on his instrument in both the annual Downbeat Readers and Critics polls. He is the baritone saxophonist with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and played with its previous incarnation, the Mel Lewis Big Band. He also plays baritone saxophone with the Dave Holland Big Band and Octet, and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band.
Noah Baerman scheduled to perform in concert Aug. 3, in Pittsfield, MANoah Baerman has performed at the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival and as a rising talent in the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. A prolific composer, he has earned top honors from the Billboard Song Contest, the Unisong Contest, and ASCAP (“ASCAPlus Awards” every year since 2004). His long list of recordings is topped by a new solo album, Turtle Steps. He earned his bachelors and masters degrees in Jazz Studies from Rutgers University, where his mentor was Kenny Barron.
The concert caps-off the “First Fridays Artswalks” in downtown Pittsfield, when some 30 venues will be featuring the paintings and other hanging art from local and regional artists. Dinner will be available earlier in the restaurant (34 Depot St., Pittsfield), in the backroom starting at 7pm and continuing during the music in the backroom.
In reference to May 4, 2012 Elli Fordyce, Jazz Tuber Trio concert at Baba Louie’s in Pittsfield, MA:
By Richard Houdek, Special to the Eagle – This city embraced its creators of painting, sculpture, photography, film and other visual expression Friday evening at its first ever Arts Walk, but it also acknowledged its reputation as a center of jazz performance.
Hundreds of curious viewers munched hors d’oeuvres while viewing artists’ works on nearly every available wall, table and pedestal, in boutiques, restaurants and even a barber shop. Scores then convened in Baba Louie’s Backroom where BerkshiresJazz.org offered a live double feature of music.
Elli Fordyce, enjoying her third career as a singer, was the headliner, joined by the Berkshires Jazz Trio — Andy Jaffe, keyboard, Richard Downs, bass, and Peter Coombs, drums — in a set that included reliable standards, often performed in fresh tempos and unlikely harmonies.
Fordyce, candid about being a mid-septuagenarian, displays still-fine vocal support and pitch, she scats easily and she and Jaffe’s instrumental ensemble meshed remarkably, given that they met only a couple of hours prior to the downbeat, and had virtually no rehearsal.
Earlier, Eli Neuberger’s Jazz Tuber Trio — Neuberger on tuba, Jimmy Mazzy, vocals and banjo, and Ted Casher on reeds — produced some persuasive Dixieland sounds.
Their repertory was filled similarly with standards, but their instrumentation, punctuated by Neuberger’s tuba, bombastic as well as occasionally surprisingly sensuous, created fascinating textures. Mazzy’s flexible high baritone is reminiscent of the favorite old jazz masters of song Fordyce and the two trios, all of whom contributed their services for the evening as a presumed benefit for BerkshiresJazz and the Arts Walk, returned to wind up the evening with a couple of numbers that also were unrehearsed. Casher noted that he had not played with Jaffe’s group for more than 30 years before Friday’s gathering. But such risks are what make the art of jazz exciting, both for the players, and certainly for their listeners.
Winning entry, Ky Hong Le, Miss Hall's SchoolThe entry of Ky Hong Le of Miss Hall’s School was chosen from more than 100 entries from all four of Pittsfield’s high schools as the winner of the annual BerkshiresJazz Student Art Contest. It will become the graphic symbol for the seventh annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, which will be held from Oct. 3-13, 2012. Chosen for second and third place were the entries of Valerie Smalls of PHS and Lena Godfrey of Taconic H.S. The awards ceremony, April 12 at the Berkshire Museum, included a performance by the Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble under the direction of Pittsfield High School band director Ronald Lively, and the announcement by Berkshires Jazz of its music programming for 2012.
2nd Place entry, Valerie Smalls, PHSThe contest is a way to engage more of the student community in a cross-genre creative activity. Many of the students conduct independent research the subject, and jazz music is sometimes played during the classes, as a way of inspiring the student artists. The top three entries receive small cash prizes and the opportunity to show their work in a world-class exhibit space at the Berkshire Museum.
3rd Place entry, Lena Godfrey, Taconic H.S.This year’s judges included artist Julio Granda; graphic designer Tom Buckley of Greylock Marketing Group; and fine art photographer Ken Green of Museum Facsimiles. Art teachers engaged in the project were coordinator Colleen Quinn, Pittsfield High School; Lisa Ostellino and Barbara Patton, PHS; Marybeth Eldridge and Mike Boroniec, Taconic; Dale Zola, St. Joseph’s; and Ellie Kreischer and Sophie Lee from Miss Hall’s.
Honorable Mention and Judges Choice awards
Judges Choice: Kaileigh Hyman St. Joseph’s H.S.
Kristen Bossio, PHS
Lauren Farry, PHS
Winnie Lee, Miss Hall’s
Hannah Penner, Miss Hall’s
Emily Ren, Miss Hall’s
The Judges Choice selection is intended to call attention of especially creative work that would not be suitable to be a part of the festival marketing materials.
Project coordinator is Art Niedeck, a jazz musician and music educator, and chairman of the Education Committee of Berkshires Jazz, Inc., which is responsible for planning the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival and other events throughout the year. In addition to its mission of presenting ‘live’ jazz, the not-for-profit Berkshires Jazz is chartered to promote jazz education throughout Berkshire County. Its activities are supported by ticket sales from the festival, as well as donations from sponsors, which this year include the Pittsfield Cultural Council, the New England Foundation for the Arts, Berkshire Bank – Legacy Region, and Greylock Federal Credit Union.
A jazz concert by the 
