BMCC TPAC Presents Lost Jazz Shrines 2016: Celebrating Sweet Basil and Remembering Lester Bowie

May 10, 2016

(New York, NY) May 10, 2016 – BMCC Tribeca PAC’s Lost Jazz Shrines series is dedicated to restoring the memory of legendary New York City jazz venues to the consciousness of the world with a thorough remembrance and celebration, led by Artistic Director Willard Jenkins. This year, join us on Saturday, June 4 at 8:30 p.m. as we celebrate the legacy of both the legendary Sweet Basil and Lester Bowie.

The 8:30 p.m. concert will be preceded by a FREE panel at 7:00 p.m. featuring a discussion on the legacy of Sweet Basil and its vibrant activities with Bob Stewart and James Browne (previous proprietor of Sweet Basil), moderated by Willard Jenkins. Tickets are $25 for the concert.

Tickets can be purchased by calling Ticketing Services at (212) 220-1460 or online at www.tribecapac.org.

Performers:

Bob Stewart* (Musical Director/Tuba)

Stanton Davis Jr.*, Gerald Brazel *, Randall Haywood and Riley Mulherkar (Trumpet)

Earl McIntyre* and Nick Finzer (Trombone)

Marcus Rojas* and David Scheiman* (Tuba)

Vincent Chancey* (French Horn)

Buddy Williams (Drums)

Special guests include Renee Manning (Vocalist), Steven Bernstein and Luis Bonilla* (Trombone),

Frank Lacy* (Trombone & Vocals) and Steve Turre* (Trombone & Shells)

* Brass Fantasy Alumni

Performers Subject to change.

 

Bios:
Bob Stewart (Band Leader/Tuba) is an American tuba player. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and his Masters in Education from Lehman College Graduate School. He is now a professor at the Juilliard School and is a “Distinguished Lecturer” at Lehman College. Stewart has toured and recorded with such artists as Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, Muhal Richard Abrams, David Murray, Taj Mahal, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Arthur Blythe, Freddie Hubbard, Don Cherry, Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Lester Bowie, Bill Frisell and many others both in the United States, Europe and the Far East. In their review of Blythe’s album Lenox Avenue Breakdown, the editors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called Stewart’s title track solo “one of the few genuinely important tuba statements in jazz.”
An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Steven Bernstein (Trumpet) is an American trumpeter, slide trumpeter, arranger/composer and bandleader from New York City. He is best known for his work in The Lounge Lizards, Sex Mob, Spanish Fly and the Millennial Territory Orchestra. Sex Mob’s 2006 CD Sexotica was nominated for a Grammy. A ubiquitous figure in New York’s downtown jazz scene, Steven Bernstein has been the musical director for the Kansas City Band (from Robert Altman’s film Kansas City), Jim Thirlwell’s Steroid Maximus and Hal Wilner’s Leonard Cohen, Doc Pomus and Bill Withers projects. Bernstein has released four albums under his own name on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records: Diaspora Soul, Diaspora Blues, Diaspora Hollywood and Diaspora Suite. He has performed with jazz giants including Roswell Rudd, Sam Rivers, Don Byron and Medeski, Martin & Wood, as well as artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Linda Ronstadt, Digable Planets, Sting and Courtney Love. Since 2004 Bernstein has been a member of Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble band, playing in Helm’s Woodstock home, as well as touring with the band. As an arranger Bernstein has written for Bill Frisell, Rufus Wainright, Marianne Faithfull and Elton John among others. He has composed for dance, theatre, film and television, and with composer John Lurie, arranged the scores to many feature films, including Get Shorty.

Luis Bonilla (Trombone) is an American Afro-Cuban and jazz trombonist born in Los Angeles, California. He is a Grammy Award- winning performer, composer, and Music Professor,about whom the New York Times has described as the artist who “explodes the usual musical structures of both Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz.” Bonilla has evolved into a Professor of Music, having secured employment from the Manhattan School of Music, and is on the faculty at Temple University and New England Conservatory. He is a member of the Mingus Big Band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. In February 2009, he received two Grammy Awards with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Arturo O’Farrill Dir.) In 2010 he was featured as a classical soloist on The Chamber Wind Music of Jack Cooper (Centaur Records) and as a jazz soloist on the large ensemble recording Coming Through Slaughter – The Bolden Legend (GCR) further showing his diversity as a major trombone artist. An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Gerald Brazel (Trumpet) A native of St. Helena Island, Brazel has earned a strong reputation for his versatile technique and gained a wider audience in recent years for a smoothly crafted style. He received a Grammy in 1994, just 10 years after graduating from the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. These days, Brazel performs and records with a variety of musicians and songwriters, in styles ranging from jazz and funk to rap, Latin, and classical. He has performed with such artists as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Dizzy Gillespie, Sade, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, D’Angelo, Nat Adderly, and Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers. He recently traveled across the globe on tour with Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy and Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Groove Alla Turca. Brazel spent most of this year teaching music at a high school in Rockaway Park and working in the New York club scene. An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Vincent Chancey (French Horn) is an American jazz hornist. Chancey, a French horn player, attended the Southern Illinois University School of Music and then studied under Julius Watkins in New York City. He began playing professionally in the 1970s, mostly with large ensembles such as the Sun Ra Arkestra, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, David Murray Big Band, Carla Bley Big Band, and the Richard Abrams orchestra.Chancey released a solo effort in 1989, and a follow-up in 1998. An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Stanton Davis, Jr. (Trumpet) is an American jazz trumpeter and educator. Davis studied at the Berklee College of Music (1967–69) and the New England Conservatory (1969–73), and served as program director for MIT’s radio station from 1968-74. He received his master’s in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in 1983. He initially played locally in the Boston area, and then with George Russell, Mercer Ellington, Lester Bowie, Charlie Haden, George Gruntz, Jim Pepper, Bob Stewart, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Gil Evans, Webster Lewis, Jaki Byard, Max Roach, and James Moody. He has taught at Southeast Massachusetts University (1976–78), Wellesley College (1981–84), Bennington College (1980–82), and the New England Conservatory of Music (1980–82), and also worked with the Jazzmobile (1980–88).An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Nick Finzer (Trombone) In 2013, Nick released his recording debut as a bandleader and composer, with two tracks from the album garnering the prestigious American Society of Composers and Performers (ASCAP)’s Herb Alpert Award for young composers in 2013 & 2015. He was the winner of the 2011 Eastern Trombone Workshop’s National Jazz Trombone Competition and a finalist in the 2010 International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition. Nick received his masters at Juilliard where he was mentored by trombone legend, Steve Turre.Finzer has performed at top Jazz clubs and concert halls with Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Lucas Pino’s No Net Nonet, Bob Stewart’s Double Quartet, Frank Wess, Lew Tabackin, Terrell Stafford, Lewis Nash and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Walt Weiskopf, John Clayton, Slide Hampton, Frank Kimbrough, Carl Allen, Ray Drummond, Steve Turre and many more. Finzer has also been seen around the globe on television and the web as part of the pop, web-phenom band, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. He has toured with the group in North America and Europe.

Randall Haywood (Trumpet) A recent graduate from the Juilliard School, there seems to be no limit for this multi-talented musician who plays trumpet, drums and piano. His father played piano with Al Green, the Bar-Kays, and Benny Latimore. His uncle played sax with Elvin Jones, Jimmy Hendrix, and Betty Wright. His grandfather recorded with Sam Cooke. Randall’s performance experience includes performing with hip-hop artist/ actor Ludacris and R&B singer T-Pain, appearing on several late night television shows such as: Saturday Night Live, The Late Show w/ David Letterman, The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Randall was a featured trumpet soloist on the PBS special, ‘Marsalis on Music’. He recorded and toured with renowned jazz pianist Marcus Roberts. In 1995, Randall became the youngest person to ever perform with the prestigious Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Some of the jazz festivals that Randall has performed in are the North Sea Festival (Netherlands), Pori Jazz Festival (Finland), Vitoria Jazz Festival (Spain) Vienna Festival (Austria), Prague Festival (Czechoslovakia), and Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey) just to name a few. Randall’s associations with Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Roberts has enabled him to share the stage with musical giants such as: cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the incomparable violinist Itzhak Perlman, the late great Grover Washington Jr. and, legendary conductor Seiji Ozawa.

Frank Lacy (Trombone & Vocals) is an American jazz trombonist. He played piano from age eight, and played trumpet, euphonium, and tuba before settling on trombone at age 16.He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics before studying music at the Berklee College of Music, where he played with Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smith. Lacy then studied for his Masters degree at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Following this Lacy worked with Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, Dizzy Gillespie, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bobby Watson, David Murray, McCoy Tyner, and Lester Bowie. He also played in the Mingus Big Band and served as musical director for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Renee Manning (Vocalist) Born and bred in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her debut in the jazz world as the singer with the Mel Lewis Orchestra (from 1983-1989) was the longest tenure of any vocalist associated with that organization . Her big band associations and collaborations have included the Chico OFarrill Afro Cuban Orchestra, The George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Dukes Men as well as a large ensemble project with Lester Bowie and Earl McIntyre. Recently she appeared with the Mingus Big Band at the Fez and the Iridium.

Earl McIntyre (Trombone) has worked with the Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band, Village Vanguard Big Band, Carla Bley Orchestra, Lew Soloff, Alex Foster, George Gruntz, Gary Valente, Vincent Chancey, Dave Bargeron, John Clark, Bob Stewart, Marvin Stamm, Jon Faddis, and Miles Davis.Earl is a member of The Mingus Big Band.

Riley Mulherkar (Trumpet) has been recognized as a “smart young trumpet player” (The New York Times) and praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on.” Born and raised in Seattle, Riley moved to New York in 2010 to study at The Juilliard School, where he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in 2014 and his Master’s in 2015, receiving the Knowles Prize for Jazz and the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music. He is also an inaugural recipient of Juilliard’s Marks Fellowship. In 2011, Riley was named a “rising jazz artist” by Wynton Marsalis in JET Magazine, and in 2014 was the first recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant at the Festival of New Trumpet Music.Riley has performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, and Carnegie Hall, and has shared the stage with Marsalis, Leonard Slatkin, and Dave Douglas, among others. Riley is a founding member of The Westerlies, a new music brass quartet that has premiered over 50 original works since its inception in 2011. Their debut album, Wish The Children Would Come On Home, was hailed as “an impressive feat from almost any angle” (Nate Chinen, JazzTimes), and named Debut Album of the Year by NPR Music’s Francis Davis.

Marcus Rojas (Tuba) is a tubist from New York City, best known for his work in jazz. He is a graduate of New York City’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and holds a B.M. degree (with distinction) from the New England Conservatory of Music. He has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of musicians, including They Might Be Giants, John Zorn, Henry Threadgill, Sly & Robbie, and Foetus. He teaches at New York University, the State University of New York at Purchase, Brooklyn College, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-college Division. An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Steve Turre (Trombone & Shells) is an American jazz trombonist, a pioneering musical seashell virtuoso, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level who, for fifty-two years, has been active in jazz, rock, and Latin jazz – in live venues, recording studios, television, and cinema production. As a studio musician, Turre is among the most prolific living jazz trombonist in the world. As a member of a television orchestra, this is Turre’s thirty-second year as trombonist with the Saturday Night Live Band.An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

David Scheiman (Tuba) Member of “Band in the Sand” – the Brooklyn Cyclones Band. Toured Europe: England, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland.Played at: Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, the Knitting Factory, The Bitter End, Ronnie Scott’s.An alumni of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy band.

Buddy Williams (Drums) Ira “Buddy” Williams is an American jazz drummer. He has played with Grover Washington, Cedar Walton, David Sanborn, Kirk Whalum, and others.

BMCC Tribeca PAC is Downtown Manhattan’s premier presenter of the arts, reaching audiences from the college community, downtown residential and business communities, local schools, families, and audiences of all ages. BMCC Tribeca PAC strives to present a broad global perspective through the presentation of high-quality artistic work in music, theatre, dance, film and visual arts. BMCC Tribeca PAC is located on the Borough of Manhattan Community College campus, 199 Chambers Street (between Greenwich Avenue & West Street) and is convenient to the 2/3, A/C/E and R subway lines and the New Jersey Path Train. For more information please visit our website, www.tribecapac.org.

 

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Lost Jazz Shrines series is dedicated to restoring the memory of legendary New York City jazz venues
  • The 8:30pm concert will be preceded by a FREE panel at 7:00PM

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