$20 Cover @ the Door ($10 Students) / Start 8pm / Doors 7:30pm
Ran Blake & Friends
In a career that spans five decades, pianist/composer/educator Ran Blake has created a unique niche in improvised music as an artist and educator. With a characteristic mix of spontaneous solos, modern classical tonalities, the great American blues and gospel traditions, and themes from classic Film Noir, Blake's singular sound has earned a dedicated following all over the world. His dual musical legacy includes nearly 50 albums on some of the world's finest jazz labels, as well almost 50 years as a groundbreaking educator at Boston's New England Conservatory.
Fellow MacArthur Grant recipient and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz, Jason Moran, recently said, "It's this thunder-crack of sound that explodes from the instrument once he puts his hands on it. Ran's unlike anything else that exists. I hope musicians hear him and ask themselves, `Shouldn't we be taking more chances?'"
No doubt, Ran's music still sounds fresh and unmistakably unique. Nearly fifty years after his innovative release, The Newest Sound Around with vocalist Jeanne Lee (RCA-Victor), Ran continues to evolve his noir language on the piano, making him one of most resilient artists in jazz history.
Ran Blake - piano
Marty Yaseen - voice
Eden MacAdam-Somer - voice/violin
Amanda Ekery - voice
Kayla Schwartz - voice
Jacob Shulman - tenor sax
Eden MacAdam-Somer
Composer/performer/improviser Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of today’s most exciting and versatile artists. Hailed by the New York Times as reflecting "astonishing virtuosity and raw expression," her music transcends genre through soaring violin, vocals, and percussive dance, weaving in and out of the many cultures that have formed her experience. She has been a featured soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and Romanian, Jewish Music, and American folk ensembles. Eden is a full-time faculty member at New England Conservatory, where she teaches improvisation and serves as Co-Chair of the groundbreaking Department of Contemporary Improvisation. She has been a guest artist at such institutions as the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and the Dundalk Institute of Technology, and a featured performer at the Eastbourne, Texas, and Beijing International Music Festivals. Her 2015 live solo album, My First Love Story, was listed as one of the top ten jazz albums of the year in the Boston Globe. She has written numerous works for solo performer on voice and violin, and has also received commissions by such groups as the New Gallery Concert Series, Cuatro Puntos Resident Artists, the Providence Mandolin Ensemble, and theAURA Ensemble. In addition to her work in Boston, Eden maintains an active international performance and recording career as a soloist and with such bands as Notorious Folk and theKlezmer Conservatory Band.
Eden MacAdam-Somer - voice/violin/composition
PRNCX
PRNCX is an ever-changing cast of players, whose members stem from musically diverse spheres of jazz, free improvisation, contemporary classical, bluegrass, and indie-rock. Each performance condenses and stretches compositions to fit the given iteration, constantly unearthing novel aspects of a set repertoire, via compositions which place choice and freedom at the fore. In this way, the music is truly reflective of the distinct identities of the musicians on any given performance, while also clearly placing delimiting and structural elements throughout a piece. The upcoming performance for septet aims to highlight the unique discrepancies uncovered by this process and to ask the question: How are the power structures in a piece of music a reflection or refutation of our world at large?
Steven Long - keyboards/composition
Gabe Garcia - alto sax
Travis Bliss - tenor sax
Jacob Shulman - tenor sax
Lautaro Mantilla - guitar
Eden MacAdam-Somer - violin
Brittany Karlson - bass
Jon Starks - drums
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