Tag Archives: jazz

Minors in Music play at River Market today at noon as part of A Work of Art Jazz Week 2015

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minors-in-musicToday at noon at the River Market, the Art Porter Music Education “Minors in Music” will perform a free concert. This is part of the annual “A Work of Art” Jazz Week.

Minors in Music is a music education program that benefits musically gifted Arkansas students. The name is a spin-off from The Minor Key, a television show produced by Art Porter Sr. on AETN that showcased talented Arkansans. Minors in Music continues that legacy by providing the same opportunities for aspiring music students.

Under the direction of Dr. Danny Fletcher, the program combines workshops, musical and educational relationships with professional musicians and educators with a community service component to create a customized training program. The program emphasizes that the key to using music as a community-building tool is to ignite an early appreciation for community engagement within young musicians and give them the tools they need to become leaders and innovators. Music is transformative because it benefits students educationally and socially and connects a total population universally!  Minors in Music educates, encourages and empowers young people!

APME has a unique opportunity and responsibility to inspire the next generation of musicians, whether as educators, performers or producers, to explore non-traditional opportunities, and create interactive ways to inspire communities and future generations. It’s been said that true talent is often like a treasured family heirloom. As it’s passed down, each recipient polishes it, refinishes it, and makes it his own. Minors in Music are APME’s treasured family heirlooms. Their skills will be polished and refinished into their particular style and passed on to the next talented generation.

“A Work of Art” – Jazz Week 2015 Kicks off today at Little Rock City Hall at noon

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apme awoa 2015Today at noon at City Hall, the City of Little Rock will host an event introducing the 2015 “A Work of Art” Jazz Week. The kickoff features the first concert of a week-long series of awe-inspiring performances. The agenda includes the introduction of Madison Moline, the 2015 Art Porter Music Education scholarship recipient, a performance by the students from the “Minors of Music” program and details on the concerts scheduled for the rest of the week.

“A Work of Art” is the primary fundraiser for the Art Porter Music Education scholarship program. All proceeds from the week-long fundraiser benefit the scholarship fund. “A Work of Art” concludes in early August in observance of the birth month of Art Porter, Jr. Attendees enjoy a week of unique educational experiences by an impressive group of local artists, music students and national recording artists.

Ticket information is available at www.artporter.org.

A second season of Jazz at South on Main set for 2015-16

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2e6b4_1320267846-oxa_logoAfter last season’s successful Jazz on Main series, the Oxford American is bringing more Jazz to South on Main next season.  
Things kick off on September 3 at 8pm with Anat Cohen.  Clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds tAnat Cohen [Jazz Series]he world over with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence. Anat was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised into a musical family. She began clarinet studies at age twelve and played jazz on clarinet for the first time in the Jaffa Conservatory’s Dixieland Band. At sixteen, she joined the school’s big band and learned to play the tenor saxophone; it was this same year that Anat entered the prestigious “Thelma Yellin” school, where she majored in jazz. After graduation, she discharged her mandatory Israeli military service duty from 1993-1995, playing tenor saxophone in the Israeli Air Force band.
Doors open at 6:00 PM, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time.
Aaron Diehl [Jazz Series]
In an era revolving around celebrity hype and mediocre entertainment, Columbus, Ohio native Aaron Diehl seeks to stand out as an artist in his generation that exemplifies excellence, sophistication, and a fluency in the American musical vernacular. The 2011 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, Diehl has been hailed by the New York Times as “a smart young pianist with a fastidious grasp of Jazz traditions.” He is committed to unearthing the treasures of a musical aesthetic through collaborative efforts with musicians across generations.
The Oxford American magazine is excited to welcome Aaron Diehl to Little Rock on November 5 as the second show in our 2015 – 2016 Jazz Series! Doors open at 6:00 PM, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time.
Victor Goines [Jazz Series]
On January 21 at 8:00 PM, Victor Goines takes the South on Main stage! This is the third show in our 2015 – 2016 Jazz Series!  Clarinetist, saxophonist, and educator, he is one of the most respected and multi-faceted musicians in the jazz world today. He is also an acclaimed and sought after solo artist who leads his own quartet and quintet.

Adept in a bevy of instruments, Mr. Goines has also collaborated, recorded, and/or performed with many noted jazz and popular artists.  Victor Goines has played the clarinet since the age of eight and continued his studies with Carl Blouin, Sr., who introduced him to the saxophone at St. Augustine High School. In 1980, he entered Loyola University in New Orleans where he studied clarinet and saxophone, receiving a Bachelor of Music Education Degree in 1984.

Doors open at 6:00 PM, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time.

Bria Skonberg [Jazz Series]
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Jazz when Bria Skonberg perofrms on the South on Main Stage at 8:00 PM.   This is the fourth and final show in our 2015 – 2016 Jazz Series!  Hailing from Chilliwack, BC, and now living in New York City, award-winning trumpeter / vocalist / composer Bria Skonberg is “poised to be one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation.”Best known for her knowledge of classic jazz and instigative nature, she is now creating an adventurous style rooted in New Orleans jazz and blues, world percussion, soul, and cabaret. She currently tours the world, headlining major clubs and festivals, as well as programming music education workshops for all ages.

Doors open at 6:00 PM, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time.
This series is made possible by presenting sponsor, the UCA College of Fine Arts & Communication.

Arkansas Jazz Festival at Clinton Presidential Center Friday & Saturday

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jazzheroThe Clinton Presidential Center celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month with the Arkansas Jazz Festival, featuring “Blue” Lou Marini. Held in partnership with the Arkansas Jazz Educators and the University of Arkansas at Monticello, this FREE, two-day festival will be held at the Clinton Center Park and will showcase the talent of jazz bands from around the state.

Featured artist, Lou Marini, has been a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Saturday Night Live Band, and the Blues Brothers Band. He is an original member of the Blues Brothers Band, since the first appearances on Saturday Night Live, and appeared in both movies, as well as all recordings and tours.

Arkansas Jazz Festival
April 24 – 25, 2015
Clinton Presidential Center Park

Schedule of Performances:

Friday, April 24
3:30 p.m. Central High School Jazz II
4:30 p.m. West Memphis High School
5:30 p.m. Benton Junior High School
6:30 p.m. Harding University
7:30 p.m. Bryant High School

Saturday, April 25
9:00 a.m.  Central High School Jazz II
10:00 a.m. University of Arkansas at Little Rock
11:00 a.m. El Dorado High School
12:00 p.m. Arkansas Tech University
1:00 p.m.  Jonesboro High School
2:00 p.m.  Texarkana, Texas 8th Grade
3:00 p.m.  University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
4:00 p.m.  Pea Ridge High School
5:00 p.m.  Texas High School
6:00 p.m.  University of Arkansas at Monticello, Featuring Lou Marini

Dirty Dozen Brass Band jazzes up South on Main tonight

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The sounds of New Orleans come to South Main tonight at 8pm as the Oxford American magazine presents the legendary ensemble Dirty Dozen Brass Band at South on Main’

 

In 1977, The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud, but antiquated, traditions at the time: Social and pleasure clubs dated back over a century to a time when black southerners could rarely afford life insurance, and the clubs would provide proper funeral arrangements.

 

Brass bands—the earliest predecessors of jazz as we know it—would often follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges and then, once the family of the deceased was out of earshot, burst into jubilant dance tunes as casual onlookers danced in the streets.

 

By the late ’70s, few of either existed. The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band and, over the course of these early gigs, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue’s name: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

 

Thirty-five years later, Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world-famous music machine, whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances. They have revitalized the brass band not only in New Orleans, but around the world, progressing from local parties, clubs, baseball games, and festivals in their early years to touring nearly constantly in the U.S. and in over thirty other countries on five continents.

 

The Dirty Dozen have been featured guests on albums by popular artists including David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse, Dave Matthews Band, and The Black Crowes.

 

Tickets to Dirty Dozen are at http://www.metrotix.com, or by calling (800) 293-5949. All patrons require a ticket for entry. Tickets are general admission and are $25 each. Seating at tables is limited and available on a first-come, first-seated basis when the doors open at 6:00 PM.

 

No reservations are being taken ahead of time. To ensure the best possible seat, plan to arrive when the doors open. The concert starts at 8:00 PM, with food and drinks available for purchase at that time.

Art Porter Music Education week kicks off today at City Hall

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Art Porter weekToday at noon at City Hall, the City of Little Rock will host an event introducing the 2014 “A Work of Art” Jazz Week. The kickoff features the first concert of a week-long series of awe-inspiring performances. The agenda includes the introduction of the 2014 Art Porter Music Education scholarship recipient, a performance by the students from the “Minors of Music” program and details on the concerts scheduled for the rest of the week.

“A Work of Art” is the primary fundraiser for the Art Porter Music Education scholarship program. All proceeds from the week-long fundraiser benefit the scholarship fund. “A Work of Art” is held the first week of August in observance of the birth month of Art Porter, Jr. Attendees enjoy a week of unique educational experiences by an impressive group of local artists, music students and national recording artists.

Ticket information is available at artporter.org.

Jazz in the Park – Dizzy 7

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jazzinparkThe Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau continues Jazz in the Park tonight. The featured musicians are Dizzy 7

Dizzy7Logo-Small1Dizzy 7 plays music that ranges from Motown to Big Band, Latin to Dixie. It features a full rhythm section, a three-man horn section, and female and male vocalists. Dizzy 7 is composed of accomplished musicians who love what they do. In addition to playing private parties, fundraisers and weddings, the group performs a monthly gig at Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro.  Joining Dizzy 7 will be vocalist Craig Wilson.

Jazz in the Park takes place Wednesday night in June and July from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. They will take place in the History Pavilion in Riverfront Park (between the Junction Bridge and Peabody Park).

Beer & Wine will be available for sale – to benefit Sculpture at the River Market…so no coolers, please. Free to attend!