Special Guests Set for Evan Solot Salute at Chris' Jazz Cafe Tonight
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 12, 2015
As Solot ends his final semester at the University of the Arts, where he taught for nearly 50 years, The Jost Project will perform their highly respected jazz renditions of classic rock and invite special guests to the stage who were all influenced by the great Evan Solot.
Comprised of internationally renowned vibraphonist Tony Miceli, vocalist Paul Jost, bassist Kevin MacConnell and drummer Anwar Marshall, The Jost Project will perform the music their fans expect and add recognition of Solot throughout the evening.
Chris' Jazz Café is located at 1421 Sansom Street, Philadelphia. Cover charge is $15 and can be purchased at www.chris-jazz-cafe.seatengine.com. For more information, call 215-568-3131.
Special guest musicians, all friends of Evan Solot, have been added to the bill and are excited to share in the fun in this special salute to Solot. They are Adam Blackstone, Chris Farr and Ron Kerber. Adam Blackstone is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, bassist. He is currently the musical director for Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake. Adam has also directed and played in performances with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Janet Jackson, Dr. Dre, The Jonas Brothers, The Roots, Ms. Marilyn Marshall, Al Green, The Isley Brothers, Angie Stone, Mike Posner, Steve Tirpak, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Demi Lovato, and Jill Scott. Among his many credits, Blackstone was an adviser to coach Adam Levine during NBC's season one of The Voice. Chris Farr is a highly sought after performer and educator. Chris is currently the head of the saxophone department at the University of the Arts, he has performed, toured and recorded with the likes of Elvis Costello, Jill Scott, Sting, John Legend, Mary J. Blige, The Roots, Teddy Pendergrass, Grover Washington, Gerald Veasley & Maynard Ferguson. Ron Kerber, head of the division of Performance Studies at the UArts, has a long history of playing with top talents in America including Elton John, Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross and many others and he is a member of The Philly POPS orchestra.
The esteemed Evan Solot is a composer, professor, and a former trumpet player who has toured with legends from Frank Sinatra and Bette Midler to Lou Rawls and Burt Bacharach. He played in the Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman Bands, was lead trumpet in the orchestras of more than 50 Broadway shows and was a member of MFSB, the band that recorded with all of the Gamble & Huff artists in the heyday of the "Philly Sound".
Solot has earned accolades and support from such diverse sources as National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the American Composers Forum. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, serving in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. His music has been performed by some of the country's leading jazz and pop performers, including Randy & Michael Brecker, Stanley Clarke, Kurt Elling, Mel Torme, Ben Vereen and Bette Midler. Evan has collaborated with choreographer Judith Jamison, playwright Ntosake Shange, bassist Stanley Clarke, and he composed the music for an educational campaign co-produced by Stevie Wonder.
During his almost 50-year tenure at UArts, his various leadership roles include creating the Jazz program, the Master's degree curriculum, and serving as head of the Composition Department.
Evan Solot has touched the lives of thousands of students and guided them in fruitful careers even past his education responsibilities. One of those students is Tony Miceli, who is thrilled that his band, The Jost Project, is planning this salute for Solot. He said, "Evan has had such a tremendous influence on my life. He was not only my teacher, he guided my career path in the early days, I have taught at UArts with him and he has been friend for over 35 years." In October, 2015, the University of the Arts is planning a tribute concert for alumni and friends of Evan Solot, and the launch of a scholarship in his name. (Contributions are currently being accepted, and can be mailed to the University of the Arts, Advancement Office, 320 S. Broad Street, Phila., PA 19102. Attention: Solot Scholarship Fund).
The Jost Project is made up of highly respected jazz musicians, who as a group have performed throughout the country and in Southern Korea. They bring attention to jazz by reaching into the "baby boomer" and subsequent generations that came of age with rock and roll, the Beatles, hard rock, and other genres which are rarely played by jazz groups. With raves from reviewers and music industry experts, Johan van Deeg wrote in Jazz in Europe, "The J?st Project is without a doubt one of the most creative bands I have heard for years." For more information, visit thejostproject.com.
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