royal hartigan returns to Pittsfield with his blood drum spirit jazz ensemble

The blood drum spirit jazz ensemble will present a concert of original and traditional music in jazz and global traditions on Sunday, May 7, 2017, at 3 pm at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 67 East Street in Pittsfield. It will be to honor and remember those loved ones we have lost through death or separation, notes drummer and leader royal hartigan. The concert is dedicated to Karl Tyler, Clifford Adams, and Mary Ann Knight, a founding member of the Friends of Springside Park. People are invited to bring photos, poems, writings, or other remembrances for display in the church during the concert. The Zion Lutheran Church is collaborating in the support for this performance. A free will offering is requested to assist the churches’ programs.The ensemble will include saxophonist David Bindman, pianist Matan Rubinstein, bassist Wes Brown, and percussionist royal hartigan, with dancer and Pittsfield native Olivia Ilano, who currently resides in the Pioneer Valley. The ensemble has recorded three double CDs and toured throughout the world, including West Africa, Asia, and the United States.A Pittsfield native and professor at UMass Dartmouth, hartigan has recently returned from two years in Ghana, West Africa, as a J. William Fulbright scholar/artist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. While there, blood drum spirit toured across the country, and performed and recorded with local musicians in numerous villages. The work will be released as a film and CD set entitled We Are One with a focus on the connections among the world’s peoples.For concert information contact royal hartigan at (508) 999-8572 or royaljhartigan@gmail.com.