Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Present MUSIC OF THE MASTERS FOR THE MASTERS, 10/23

The multi-Latin Grammy-nominated MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA conducted by BOBBY SANABRIA will perform Music of the Masters For the Masters on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the School's Borden Auditorium. Please see the program below that features music composed for masters including, Dave Brubeck, Jerry Gonzalez, Hermeto Pascoal, Don Ellis, Frank Zappa, Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard. A world premiere and a New York premiere will also be featured - Jeremy Fletcher's "for fathers everywhere" will receive its world premiere and Andrew Neesley's Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite will be heard in New York for the first time.

Program:

El Vito en el Congo Miguel Blanco, for Jerry Gonzalez

Quién Sabe? Scott Ninmer, for Hermeto Pascoal

Strange Meadow Lark Dave Brubeck, arranged by Jeremy Fletcher for Dave

The Griot's Tale Eugene Marlow, for Frank Zappa and Don Ellis

Niños Jeremy Fletcher, for fathers everywhere (World premiere)

Mi Cosa Alyssa Mehnert, for Wes Montgomery

A Smile for Everyone Eugene Marlow, for everyone

Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite Andrew Neesley, for Freddie Hubbard (New York premiere)

The concert opens with Miguel Blanco's El Vito en el Congo composed for Jerry Gonzalez, a Nuyorican trumpeter, and conguero. This work utilizes a rhythm with roots from Nigeria with the Yoruba people and brought to Cuba during the colonial period - bembé. It features the beaded hollowed-out gourds known as shekeres, which are the domain of Ochun, the Yoruba Goddess of beauty and rivers. A combination of a giant maraca and drum, their rhythms speak to us with messages from the orishas (Gods) who manipulate the divine force known as aché. Bobby Sanabria

Quién Sabe? follows, composed by MSM graduate and trombonist Scott Ninmer, who was also a former member of the MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. This work pays homage to Hermeto Pascoal and evokes several Northern Brazilian rhythms (maxixe and baion) combined with a touch of samba from Rio in a transitional section for soloists.

Jerry Fletcher says about his composition, Strange Meadow Lark for Dave Brubeck, "Two events contributed to the creation of this arrangement of Dave Brubeck's Strange Meadow Lark. First, Chick Corea and Gary Burton released a CD of duos entitled Hot House in 2012 that included a version of Strange Meadow Lark. After listening to this, I was reminded of what a great song it was, and that it was not just a B-side sandwiched between Blue Rondo a la Turk and Take Five on the 1959 album Time Out.

Second, on December 5, 2012, Brubeck passed away at the age of 92. Rather than ask a pianist to imitate his style or vainly attempt to fill Brubeck's shoes, the arrangement is structured so that each phrase of the melody is passed from section to section or soloist to soloist, inviting the full band to eventually weigh in on the legacy and timeless beauty of Brubeck's composition. The pianist is one of the last to state the response to the main motif, finally uncovering Brubeck's spirit which has imbued the song throughout. "

Eugene Marlow composed The Griot's Tale for the MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. The piece incorporates a variety of rhythms, including a 13/4 meter phrase against underlying Afro-Cuban, rock rhythms with transitions to swing, and a hint of funk. The work's title refers to the West African tribal storyteller/master musician and pays tribute to Frank Zappa and Don Ellis.

"I have three children, the most recent born on September 24, 2013. I love them. They challenge me every day. Niños tries to capture the playful spirit of being a kid through both the child's and the parent's points of view." Jeremy Fletcher writes about his work dedicated to fathers everywhere.

John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (1923 - 1968) is considered a guitar god amongst fellow guitarists and jazz fans. He became known for "the Naptown Sound," the use of octaves (playing the same note on two strings usually one octave apart), as well as for the use of block chords in his solos. He was also known for a technique that he developed that used the fleshy part of the thumb to pluck the strings with, instead of a guitar pick. This enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from the guitar. Mi Cosa was composed by Alyssa Mehnert for Wes Montgomery.

Eugene Marlow's A Smile for Everyone was composed originally in 2001 and first performed by the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop and was also the first big band chart that Marlow composed while studying with Michael Abene. Eugene Marlow says about this work, "This piece should provide a smile for everyone regardless of musical taste. In the hands of Maestro Sanabria and the young tiger players in the MSM AFCJO, this should certainly be the case."

Andrew Neesley (trumpeter and MSM alumnus, and a member of Bobby Sanabria's Multiverse big band), composed his multi-movement work, the Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite, and dedicated it to trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The work pays homage from one trumpeter to another, featuring some of the tunes Hubbard was most associated with, all framed by a series of different Afro-Cuban rhythms: mambo, son montuno, bolero, bembé, rumba abierta, and even swing.

Tickets, priced at $7, are required for MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra concerts. Manhattan School of Music is located at the northwest corner of 122nd Street and Broadway, and is accessible by public transportation. For information call 917 493 4428 or visit www.msmnyc.edu.

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