2018-2019 Thursday Night Jazz Mix Series
A program dedicated to presenting emerging young jazz musicians from around the world
(Jamaica, Queens, NY) After a successful season, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) is excited to announce its Thursday Night Jazz Series will continue the partnership with The Jazz Gallery for the 2018-2019 season.
Known as the "home of jazz", Queens has nurtured numerous greatest jazz hitters in history, such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller and Dizzy Gillespie. To revive the hot hub jazz scenes in Queens, this compelling concert series features some of today's finest emerging jazz musicians performing at JCAL on every second Thursday of each month from October 2018 through June 2019.
The 2018 - 2019 season opens on October 11th, 2018 with multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin and his band. Season productions include San Francisco jazz vibraphonist Sasha Berliner, saxophonist/composer Caroline Davis with the works from
her new recording Heart Tonic,
bassist
Nick Dunston
and his band 'Atlantic Extraction', multi-instrumentalist, gamer, and composer Jasper Dütz, percussionist Joel Ross and his trio, trombonist Abdulrahman Amer with his composition BA AKHU, Australian Jazz vocalist Nerissa Campbell, and trombonist, composer and educator Kalia Vandever.
The Jazz Gallery
is an international jazz cultural center that dedicated to encouraging and facilitating artistic risk-taking and nurturing young talent. Founded in 1995 by Dale Fitzgerald and Roy Hargrove, The Jazz Gallery has earned a reputation as the "most imaginatively booked jazz club in New York," according to The New York Times, and is a three-time recipient of the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming (2016, 2014 and 2010). "I'm very excited to bring another season of jazz to the JCAL," Says Rio Sakaira, the Artistic Director of The Jazz Gallery, "What I love about the JCAL is (and all the musicians who performed there agree) that they bring this music to the neighborhood in a way that bridges the gap and lower the fence. They offer a real opportunity for the art and its artists to connect with larger audience."
Every second Thursday of each month, JCAL transforms its community gallery into a jazz club. All concerts start at 8:00pm with $10 general admission. Tickets are available online at
www.jcal.org
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning is located at 16104 Jamaica Ave, Jamaica, NY, 11432.
2018-2019 Thursday Night Jazz Mix Series Line Up:
Morgan Guerin
Thursday, October 11th, 2018
Multi-Instrumentalist Morgan Guerin is currently studying at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Before starting college, Morgan was a member of the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra and has performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival annually since 2011. He attended The New Jazz School, studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two summers in a row, was a member of the 2014 Vail Jazz Workshop, and performed at The Monterey Jazz Festival as a member of the Next Generation Jazz. Morgan was selected to be a part of the Grammy Band and had the opportunity to attend and perform at the 58th Grammy Awards and in January 2017, Morgan was selected as a National Young Arts Finalist. Morgan recently joined his long time mentor, Terri Lyne Carrington's new band, "Social Science" also featuring Matt Stevens and Aaron Parks. Morgan plays Bass, Saxophone and EWI as a part of Social Science.
Sasha Berliner
Thursday, November 8th, 2018
Sasha Berliner is a musician, composer, producer, and band leader from San Francisco, CA. Sasha started playing drums at eight years old. She pursued a jazz emphasis at her high school, Oakland School for the Arts, where she picked up the vibraphone at age 13. During this time period, Sasha made numerous musical strides - at the age of 14, she was commissioned to lead a group performing an arrangement of one of the multi Grammy award winning indie artist Beck Hansen's songs, alongside Beck himself. She was a two year member of director Paul Contos' SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra, and in the spring of 2017, was selected to attend the Banff International Workshop for Jazz & Creative Music run by pianist Vijay Iyer on the program's full scholarship. Sasha is currently attending The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City.
Caroline Davis' HEART TONIC
Thursday, December 13th, 2018
For the past four years, saxophonist/composer Caroline Davis has been tied up in matters of the heart. Her focus is multi-tiered, however. There are the metaphorical facets, including her feelings about her recent relocation to New York from her longtime home in Chicago and the emotional rigors of navigating the path of an itinerant musician within the City's bustling jazz scene. There is also a more physiological aspect, as Davis has actively researched the life giving organ and its properties in dealing with her father's own heart ailment. All of these forces come to bear on her new recording, Heart Tonic.
Nick Dunston's Atlantic Extraction
Thursday, January 10th, 2019
Nick Dunston is a bassist, composer, scholar, and cross-disciplinary collaborator. His performances have spanned a variety of venues and festivals across countries in North America and Europe, including Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, The Czech Republic, Canada, and Italy. He's performed with artists such as Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Wilson, Jeff Lederer, Amirtha Kidambi, Vijay Iyer, Marc Ribot, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and more. As a composer, he's written for and collaborated for a wide range of artists, from solo instrumentalists to performance artists. As a writer, he's contributed monthly to Hot House jazz magazine since 2016. Nick currently studies at The New School and is on track to graduate with a BA degree in Contemporary Music and a BFA degree in Jazz Performance.
Jasper Dütz
Thursday, Febuary 14th, 2019
Multi-instrumentalist, gamer, and composer Jasper Dütz aims to project and promote creative sincerity not only in music, but in all mediums of art. As a performer, he seeks to push the boundaries of all his instruments and speak with a unique voice that can be identified as his own in any setting regardless of genre. As a composer, he chooses to write music that conveys stories that evoke feelings of nostalgia and mysticism. Jasper graduated from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music on a full tuition scholarship. He has since performed at venues such as The Jazz Gallery, Jazz Standard, Blue Note NYC, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood bowl and Monterey Jazz Festival. Jasper has studied with artists such as Lee Konitz, Walter Smith III, Marty Ehrlich, Gary Foster, and Ben Wendel.
Joel Ross Trio
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
Percussionist Joel Ross recently completed a two year fellowship with the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet in California. Winning first place at the 2016 BIAMP PDX Jazz Festival 'Jazz Forward' Competition, he was also a winner of the Keep an Eye International Jazz Award, in Amsterdam. A fitting addition to trumpeter Marquis Hill's wonderful group - before their 2016 European tour - Ross has just recorded his own debut album "Good Vibes," to be released in 2018. He will be performing, also, with his newly minted Joel Ross' Good Vibes ensemble.
Abdulrahman Amer // BA AKHU
Thursday, April 11th, 2019
Abdulrahman Amer is a trombonist and composer. He now attends the Manhattan School of Music (class of 2019) on a full named scholarship. Abdulrahman was named a 2016 jazz finalist in Youngarts, is currently an alumnus of the Banff Jazz Workshop for creative music as well as the Betty Carter Jazz ahead workshop, and is on a path to harness his craft and spread love and peace around the world. In addition, Abdulrahman is an active member of the 7 times Grammy-winning ensemble the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by Arturo O'Farrill. Abdulrahman has played at numerous festivals and venues including the Jazz Standard, Smalls Jazz Club, Smoke Jazz Club, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Metropolitan room, Shapeshifter Lab, An Die Musik, Monterey Jazz Festival, Montclair Jazz Festival, as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Nerissa Campbell
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
Nerissa Campbell graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, she has called New York home since 2001, performing in the city regularly at well known haunts such as 55 Bar, The Jazz Gallery, Fat Cat, Le Poisson Rouge, Zinc, & Rockwood Music Hall. A long term member of NY's Balinese Gamelan Dharma Swara, she has also been the feature vocalist in post-metal band, A Storm of Light, and was the recipient of an Australian Arts Council New Works grant for her album, After The Magic, a project that explores the use of Balinese Gamelan, a jazz trio, fleeting guitars and moody instrumentals.
Kalia Vandever
Thursday, June 13th, 2019
Kalia Vandever is a trombonist, composer, and educator living in Brooklyn, NY. She recently graduated from The Juilliard School in New York, NY as a member of the Jazz Studies - Bachelor of Music program in May of 2017. Music has taken her to Austria, Italy, and Australia as well as many cities throughout the US. She has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Preservation Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, SMOKE Jazz Club, the Blue Note, and the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She is also experienced as an educator, having traveled to Boston and Memphis, as a part of the Thelonious Monk Institute's Peer-to-Peer Program; driven to inspire and motivate the younger generation of musicians.
