$10 Cover @ the Door ($5 Students) / Start 6:30pm / Doors 6pm / Seated Show
The Why Not is a chamber-jazz quintet featuring piano, violin-vocals, upright bass, and two hand percussionists. These instruments bring listeners into unexpected sonic landscapes not always associated with improvised jazz. Combined in new ways with dance rhythms from many cultures, the music makes one wonder what Schubert would have sounded like had he lived in Peru and played odd meters, or if Ravel had lived in Ghana and had been able to improvise over chord changes. The joyful expression of this musical intimacy, the shimmering transparency of the sound, and the sense that these musicians are as much involved in listening as in playing makes for compelling and memorable performances.
The Band….
Bert Seager, piano
Bert Seager, pianist, composer, recording artist, and educator, is a member of the faculty at the New England Conservatory. Bert has led performances in international jazz festivals in Canada, Peru, Bulgaria, Jordan, Ecuador, Israel, China and Japan. As a composer, he is a three-time recipient of the prestigious MacDowell Colony fellowship, an artists residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He has recorded 15 compact discs which have all been released internationally to critical acclaim. Cadence Magazine says Bert’s music is filled with “effervescent optimism.” And the Boston Globe wrote that his “kind of exuberance makes the jazz world go round.”
Eden MacAdam-Somer, violin
Eden MacAdam-Somer composer/performer/improviser and 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. She has been a guest artist at such institutions as the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and the Dundalk Institute of Technology, a featured performer at the Eastbourne, Texas, and Beijing International Music Festivals, and she has toured across the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, India, Iceland, Europe, the UK, and Afghanistan.
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 is is Co-Chair of the Department of Contemporary Improvisation at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
James Heazlewood-Dal, bass
James Heazlewood-Dale, upright bassist discovered a passion for playing jazz double bass and was accepted into the Sydney Conservatorium with a full scholarship. After receiving a first class honors he relocated to Boston to study at Berklee School of music with a further full scholarship. Having played with some of the world’s top jazz musicians such as Maria Schneider, Aaron Goldberg, Kurt Elling, Monty Alexander, Terence Blanchard, Donny McCaslin, George Garzone, Dave Douglas, Bob Moses, Jason Palmer, Ernie Watts and Will Vincent, he continues to be extensively active in the Boston music scene. James completed his masters degree at New England Conservatory, and is now enrolled in the PhD program at Brandeis University in musicology.
Brian O’Neill, percussion
Brian O’Neill, uses an “organic drumset” of global instruments including cajons, frame drums, doumbek, exotic tambourines, and a variety of found sounds. His original drumming, inspired by Brazilian, Balkan, Klezmer, Jazz and Middle- Eastern styles of music, has him collaborating with many top performers. He has performed at The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. In addition to freelancing, he leads Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, which performs original global jazz and chamber music as well as the lost music of Esquivel
Dor Herskovits, drums
Dor Herskovits is an Israeli drummer and composer based in Boston. Following his passion for jazz and improvised music, Herskovits received his Bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of music and his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory. During these formative years, the drummer also began his journey as a composer and bandleader. Today, Herskovits performs and records as a sideman and a bandleader around the world. His current projects include – Earprint, Tetraptych, Bert Seager, Elan Mehler trio, TJ and the Revenge, Max Ridely’s Basement Orchestra, Xiongguan Zhang, and many others. He has shared the stage with great musicians such as Jason Palmer, Steve Cardenas, Jon Cowherd, Daniel Rotem and George Garzone.