Cherry Street Music Presents 440 Gypsy Jazz Quartet At The Allen Center

440 Gypsy Jazz Quartet, will be presented in concert on Saturday, October 26th, as part of Cherry Street Music's ongoing series at The Allen Center in West Newton (MA). Tickets and information can be found at newtonculture.org.   

Led by “The Jazzy Violinist” Tomoko Iwamoto, with Jack Clark, clarinet; Jack Soref, guitar; and Gregory Toro, bass; 440 performs their own original tunes as well as those by their inspiration, the legendary Django Reinhart.   

Tomoko Iwamoto, violin, the leader of 440, has been in the Boston jazz scene for more than 30 years. Being a "jazzy" violinist with a strong classical background, she expanded her repertoire in jazz, rock, pop to world music, and toured with Hypnotic Clambake while studying Jazz Composition and Arranging at Berklee College of Music. During her recent trip to Europe, she jammed with world renown gypsy jazz musicians; Tcha Limberger & the members of Les Violons de Bruxelles, and Chris & Julian Brunard.   

John Clark, clarinet, is the founder of the Wolverine Jazz Band and has been a fixture on the New England Jazz scene for many years. He has played professionally in the Boston area with numerous traditional jazz and big bands, including the High Society Dance Orchestra, Dan Gabel's Abletones, Commonwealth Jazz, the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, and the Paramount Jazz Band of Boston. He also holds a PhD. in Musicology and has published books and articles on the foundations of Early Jazz.  

Jack Soref, guitar graduate of Berklee College of Music,  became captivated by the music of Django Reinhardt after attending the International Django Reinhardt festival in Samois-sur-Seine, France in 2002. Jack is a mainstay of Django in June, New England's premier occasion to celebrate, study and enjoy the musical tradition associated with the inimitable Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. where he has taught since 2009. Throughout his career Jack has performed as an accompanist for Jazz Manouche luminaries like Joscho Stephan, Tim Kliphius, Gonzalo Bergara, Jason Anick, and more.   

Gregory Toro, bass, was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts.  He fell in love with music and rhythm as a child, and at the age of ten joined a neighborhood steel band that played calypso and church music on weekends. Greg studied electric and upright bass and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with musicians from many different countries and cultures.  He has gone on to travel the world with jazz and rock groups and continues to perform nightly in a wide variety of styles.  

“We are so excited to bring 440 to The Allen Center for this concert,” said Allison Eldredge, Cherry Street Music's Artistic Director.  “This is classical music that gets your toes tapping and your hips swinging, which is just what we hope for with our series called Classical with a Twist.”

Cherry Street Music presents 440 Gypsy Jazz Quartet on Saturday, October 26th at 7:30 PM at The Allen Center, 35 Webster Street, Newton MA.  Tickets and information are available at newtonculture.org.

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