Flordalisa Lopez's blog

Photo credit: Nick Ruechel

We're slowly approaching the end of the Duke Jazz Series performances, and we would love to have you join us on Wednesday, September 23, 2009, to welcome Brian Lynch and Spheres of Influence. The performance will take place in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 111 Amsterdam Avenue @ 65th Street. The program is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please call 212.870.1793 or visit nypl.org/lpaprograms.

Brian Lynch is a respected insider within both the hardcore bebop and Latin communities. He has developed his career as a trumpeter/composer and is comfortable negotiating the complexities of clave with Afro-Caribbean pioneer Eddie Palmieri as swinging through advanced harmony with bebop maestro Phil Woods. He's worked in recent years with Buena Vista Social Club alumnus Barbarito Torres, dance remixer Joe Clausell, and the members of the influential Latin alternative group Yerba Buena. He arranges for Japanese pop star Mika Nakashima and producer Shinichi Osawa, has written string charts for Phil Woods, and has played with such pop luminaries as Maxwell, Prince, and Sheila E. A 1997 recording called Spheres of Influence [Sharp Nine], which earned a 4-1/2 star Downbeat review, was Lynch's first project to reflect the panoramic range of interests that influence his working life as a musician. Lynch has continued to advance the Spheres of Influence concept, gathering around him a repertory company of top-shelf Pan-American oriented musicians.

Brian will be performing with the Spheres of Influence ensemble: Justin Brown, Zaccai Curtis, Boris Kozlov, and Pedro Martinez and Brian has recently invited tenor saxophone player, Alex Hoffman.

Since Alex Hoffman was recently added to the ensemble, I would like to take the moment to mention here. He is a native of Washington, D.C., who now lives in New York City. Since moving to New York in 2005, Alex has performed with such artists as the Jimmy Heath Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Brian Lynch, at venues ranging from Lincoln Center to Smalls Jazz Club to the Blue Note to Birdland.

Our next program will be on November 12, with Peter Apfelbaum and New York Hieroglyphics.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 23, 2009, it will be a fun evening with enjoyable jazz music!

The Duke Jazz Series is part of the two-year Library for the Performing Arts’ project funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to present, document, and preserve jazz, contemporary dance, and theater performances and related oral histories.

Hope to see you there!

Beginning in late September 2008, The Performing Arts Library (LPA) hosted two Duke Jazz Series concerts with Dafnis Prieto Sextet and Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto. The members of those groups were wonderful individuals with extraordinary talent. Every musician expressed their love for the music; we witnessed that excitement and burst of energy when they performed. My favorite musician was Jeff Busch from Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto who is the percussionist for that group. The piece that he stood out the most was “Feira Livre,” from Jovino Santos Neto’s album Canto do Rio.

We are pleased to start the New Year and our new Jazz season with Donny McCaslin, who is participating in our next Duke Jazz Series concert. Donny McCaslin who plays the tenor saxophone, will be performing on January 7, 2009 with David Binney, Scott Colley, Adam Cruz, Gonzalo Grau, Ben Monder, and featuring the vocals of Kate McGarry. The Donny McCaslin Group will be performing selected songs from McCaslin’s sixth album In Pursuit, described as “The concept of “pursuit,” single-minded devotion to a distant goal, marked by inventive exploration has characterized his music almost from the beginning.”

Some of the musicians who will be performing in upcoming Duke Jazz Series concerts are Jane Ira Bloom, Ben Allison, and Drew Gress, along with few others. All the performances will be held at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium, at 111 Amsterdam Avenue @ 65th Street. Doors open at 7:00, show at 7:30 p.m. Admission to this show is free, and is first-come, first-served.