Laszlo Gardony and Christian Artmann
October 6 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
$18Join Christian Artmann (“a composer with great vision,” AllAboutJazz, and a flutist of “stunning virtuosity”,JazzTimes) and Laszlo Gardony (“a great pianist,” Dave Brubeck, and “formidable improviser”, JazzTimes) for an exciting duo performance in celebration of Artmann’s new album “Our Story” (Sunnyside Records, 2018). Inspired by Gardony’s unique musical spirit, Artmann asked his idol personally for lessons at Berklee College of Music almost 20 years ago. Out of a student-teacher relationship grew a beautiful kinship and a blossoming musical conversation, culminating in a series of concerts and the recording of Our Story about which Artmann says: “The idea that we all interrelate, that whatever I do has an effect on you and vice versa, that’s a powerful concept that I really believe in. The music on Our Story isn’t so much about me as it is about camaraderie in challenging times, and about all of us as eternal beings living together on this precious planet.”
“A formidable improviser who lives in the moment” (JazzTimes), Laszlo Gardony has performed in 27 countries and released a dozen albums on the Sunnyside, Antilles, and Avenue labels during his distinguished, decades-long career. Winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, Gardony has been noted for his “fluid pianism” by The New York Times. The legendary Dave Brubeck called him “a great pianist.”
His latest solo piano album “Serious Play” (Sunnyside) was named one of the Best Jazz Albums of 2017 by DownBeat Magazine: “Serious Play combines spontaneity and intent. Improvised in the studio, it’s a harmonious, emotionally intense whole that sounds like a concert rather than an arbitrary collection of tunes. No matter how busy Gardony becomes, there’s a stillness at the center of his music, a distinctive amalgam of central European folk strains, majestic classical piano and improvisational fearlessness.”
Both Serious Play and Gardony’s 2015 live sextet album Life In Real Time were named by the Boston Globe as one of the “10 Best Jazz Releases of the Year.”
See more at his website: www.LGJazz.com Reserve seats here
A New York-based flute player and composer, his passion about bridging musical boundaries and showcasing the flute in jazz began as a childhood immersed in classical music in his native homes of Germany and Austria. Artmann was invited to the prestigious Aspen Music Festival as a teenager where he performed under world-renowned conductors Claudio Scimone and Lawrence Foster and gave solo recitals of Debussy, Hindemith and Bartók. Increasingly fascinated with composition and improvisation, he realized that jazz was his true calling and committed to developing his own musical voice. Website: www.artmannjazz.com
Matisse Jazz Project
October 7 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$15.
The Matisse Jazz Project is, as the name suggests, Jazz music inspired by the iconic cut paper collages of Henri Matisse, published in 1947. The twenty pieces composed by pianist Christopher Bakriges correspond to each of the Matisse Jazz cutouts and his writings. Matisse viewed jazz as a “chromatic and rhythmic improvisation” and evoked the idea of a structure of rhythm and repetition broken by the unexpected action of improvisations. Matisse wrote, “There are wonderful things in real jazz, the talent for improvisation, the liveliness, the being at one with the audience.” Bakriges leaves his own stunningly touching and virtuosic homage to the legacy of a leading figure in modern art.
Performing:
Christopher Bakriges, Ph.D., (piano), Visiting Professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design; Lecturer, Elms College
Zach Brock, (violin), M.A. (violin), Artist in Residence, Temple University
Oboist, English hornist Peter Wortmann, a long time principal of the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra, will appear as guest artist on several of the pieces
ORIGINS:
In 1941 the artist Henri Matisse found himself ill, bedridden, and unable to pick up a paint brush. He found, however, that he could maneuver scissors through prepared sheets of brightly colored paper. He referred to this technique as “painting with scissors.” Among his first adventures with paper cutouts was a book called Jazz, which Matisse prepared in 1942 and published in 1947. The book containing twenty color plates as well as his written thoughts was initially only printed in a hundred copies. Matisse viewed jazz as a “chromatic and rhythmic improvisation.”
Reviews:
“I was almost breathless as I listened to the works, sometimes melodious, other times, cutting edge like the blades of scissors… to this day, I carry the music with me, still not believing the work was improvisational.”
–Carol Dine, Author, Van Gogh in Poems
The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center is located at 605 Main Street. Ample, FREEE parking is next door behind It's Only Natural market on weekends and after 6 pm Mon-Fri. Refreshments are available and a free beverage of your choice is offered to patrons who show their dinner receipt to a Main Street restaurant from that day. www.Buttonwood.org (860) 347-4957
Every Saturday join Annaita Gandhy in her workshop for personal development called Aligned with Source. 10:30-noon. $10. suggested donation (Give what you can). Topic this week:
This Weeks Topic: What is Truth; What is Love; What AM I?
As we continually search for answers & the truth and meaning of everything, what exactly are we missing? Who holds this information and when I find it what do I do with it?
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