Aardvark Jazz To Open 39th Season with New Works by Mark Harvey, October 8, MIT, Cambridge, MA

Hailed for “exuberance, imagination, and sheer brio” (Jazz Review), Aardvark will open its 39th season with works by music director Mark Harvey. MIT Killian Hall, 160 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA, October 8, at 8 PM. Free. Information: 888-887-7169.
By: Rebecca DeLamotte
 
 
Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Mark Harvey director
Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Mark Harvey director
Aug. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- The internationally-acclaimed Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will open its 39th season with a concert called Commemoratives, featuring original compositions by music director Mark Harvey on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 8:00 pm, at MIT’s Killian Hall, 160 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA.  Free admission.  Information: 888-887-7169.  Jazz Times wrote, “Aardvark suggests the best and the brashest of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, George Russell, and even Frank Zappa,” while Downbeat hailed the band’s “awe-inspiring audience fascination.”

The October 8 program will include Harvey's piece Blood on the Sun/New Moon Rising (a commemoration of 9/11), and his work Peace Soundings, commemorating the Civil War. In addition, Harvey will offer his own critique of the turmoil in our nation's capital, pairing the rollicking Flat Earth Boogie with the funk-laden De-Evolution Blues.  The band will also perform Harvey’s extended work No Walls, inspired by Ellington’s belief in moving beyond category in art and life.  The October 8 concert is sponsored by MIT Music & Theater Arts, part of an Artist in Residence program for the fall semester in conjunction with the course Composing for Jazz Orchestra.

Other events in the band's Fall Season include:

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra:  American Panorama
With Aardvark vocalist Jerry Edwards and guest vocalist Marcia Gallagher
October 14, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Colby College, Lorimer Chapel, Waterville, Maine 04901
Free Admission

Aardvark will perform a vivid program of American originals melding jazz, folk, gospel, spirituals, and the blues.  The concert will feature the world premiere of Richard Nelson’s Deep River, drawing on American traditional songs of the 1920s and 1930s. Mark Harvey will present his own work Peace Soundings (echoes of the American Civil War), as well as arrangements of Everyday I Have the Blues, Duke Ellington's classic Come Sunday, and a New Orleans-style rendition of Down By the Riverside.  While at Colby, Aardvark master teachers Arni Cheatham and Bill Lowe will bring their love of jazz to high school students in the community, while celebrated clinicians Peter Bloom, Phil Scarf, John Funkhouser, and Mark Harvey will conduct a master class on jazz improvisation for the Colby College jazz ensemble.

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra:  Spirit Soundings
With Aardvark vocalist Grace Hughes and guest vocalist Pamela Wood
November 11, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, New York, NY 10022  
Admission:  $20

In a concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Society for the Arts, Religion, and Contemporary Culture, Aardvark will take soundings of the spirit across many idioms.  Highlights will be the New York premiere of Mark Harvey's Blood on the Sun/New Moon Rising commemorating 9/11, and the world premiere of a fanfare composed especially for this occasion.  For decades, Saint Peter's has been world-renowned as Manhattan's jazz church, where the late Reverend John Gensel founded the Jazz Ministry more than 40 years ago.  As a tribute to him, Aardvark will perform the celebrated Duke Ellington composition The Shepherd, a tonal portrait of Pastor Gensel.  Aardvark vocalist Grace Hughes will be featured in a performance of Ellington's beloved Come Sunday.

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
A Celebration of Duke Ellington: From Standards to Sacred Music
November 13, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Christ & Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane, Westport, CT 06880

Aardvark will salute one of America's most prolific and honored composers, Duke Ellington, with a program of his music spanning five decades and featuring the Christ & Holy Trinity Choir.  The band will perform Ellington standards such as The Mooche, Caravan, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, and Billy Strayhorn's Daydream, with rarities such as Wild Man Blues (from the Hollywood movie Paris Blues) and a segment of The River, a late Ellington suite.   Sacred music selections will be drawn from all three Ellington Sacred Concerts, including Come Sunday, Heaven, The Lord's Prayer, and It's Freedom.  The concert is sponsored by Christ & Holy Trinity Music & the Arts.

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra:  39th Annual Christmas Concert
December 10, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St., Boston, MA
Admission:  $15
Information:  617-452-3205 or 617-776-8778

Aardvark’s 39th annual Christmas benefit concert, a Boston holiday tradition, will feature updated arrangements of carols and music in the spirit of the season by founder/director Mark Harvey.  Selections will include The Shepherd's Carol by William Billings, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (words by Longfellow, written during the Civil War), and Harvey’s piece The Prophet, a tonal portrait of the late Kip Tiernan, founder of Rosie's Place and many other organizations.  The concert will benefit the work of the Poor Peoples United Fund, in honor of Kip Tiernan.


With global distribution of 10 CDs and wide-ranging performances in festivals, clubs, concert halls, colleges and universities, The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra has been a major force in the international jazz scene for almost 40 years.  Winner of the 2000 Independent Music Awards, the band is known for its exhilarating concerts spanning the jazz spectrum, from original works by founder/music director Mark Harvey to the music of Duke Ellington and other jazz greats to performances with film, dance, and poetry, to collaborations with concert choirs and symphony orchestras.  Aardvark has premiered more than 120 works for jazz orchestra and has released 10 CDs to rave reviews around the globe, including 5 discs on the Leo Records label.  The band’s latest release, American Agonistes was hailed as “a stunning hour of music that is in turn beautiful, poignant and raucous” (Billboard.com). Guest artists who've appeared with Aardvark include Sheila Jordan, Dominique Eade, Jaki Byard, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Jay Clayton, Robert Honeysucker, Walter Thompson, Rajesh Mehta, Paul Lovens, and Harvie Swartz.

Music director Mark Harvey has performed as trumpeter in the U.S., Mexico and Europe; has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Arista/Novus); and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, Joe Carroll, Kenny Dorham and others.  An internationally acclaimed composer with over 120 works in his catalogue, he has received awards and commissions from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 15th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert, the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, the MIT Wind Ensemble and Meet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, among others.  Commissions have featured such notables as Joe Lovano, Steve Turre, Herb Pomeroy and Ran Blake. Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies at MIT.  


Aardvark is managed exclusively by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, Managing Director, 29 Newbury Street, West Somerville, MA 02144 USA.  Telephone:  888 887 7169.  Visit:  www.americasmusicworks.com

# # #

Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, managing director, is an artist management company representing award-winning chamber music and jazz ensembles that offer concerts for large and small venues, multi-media performances, creative residencies, and custom recording projects. Themes range widely from European masters to Great American Songbook, from historical performance to new music premieres, from jazz standards to the avant-garde. Our mission is to deliver distinctive programs and world-class performance to build and energize audiences. Every client receives personal attention and close communication, to ensure a smooth working relationship. We also provide expert PR support to complement and enhance each presenter’s efforts.
End
Source:Rebecca DeLamotte
Email:***@comcast.net Email Verified
Zip:02144
Tags:Aardvark Jazz, Mark Harvey, New Music, Big Band, Adventuresome Jazz, 9-11, Civil War
Industry:Entertainment, Arts, Music
Location:Somerville - Massachusetts - United States
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse
Americas Musicworks PRs
Trending News
Most Viewed
Top Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share