2008 STUDENT CONCERTS & MASTER CLASSES

To register for any of the performances below, click here

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008

The Berklee College of Music's Latin Jazz All-Stars, LA TIMBISTICA, at
the Duke Ellington School of the Arts @ 9:30 am

With the ability to morph from a Latin jazz quintet into an 8-piece salsa ensemble, Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music Latin Jazz All-Stars, La Timbistica, is one of the most multi-faceted and popular bands in New England. They are a mainstay in the Boston music scene, with members making regular appearances at the Havana Club, Ryles Jazz Club, Mojito’s Lounge, and Wally’s Jazz Café. Combining some of Latin music’s best young improvisers, with many of its members doubling as multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, La Timbistica brings the sound of a full salsa orchestra to audiences. The group includes Niv Toar (trumpet), Enrique "Kalani" Trinidad (flute), Alex Brown (piano), Juan Maldonado (bass), Marcos Lopes (timbales), Paulo Stagnaro (congas), Yaure Muniz Rumayor, (trumpet), and Nick Noonan, (Trombone).

[Dupont Circle]

STEP AFRIKA! & THE W.E.S GROUP
Atlas Performing Arts Center- Lang Theatre @ 10:30 AM
Directions

Founded in 1994 and based in the District of Columbia, Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping and serves as a cultural ambassador for the US at special events throughout the world. In a first-time collaboration between jazz music and tradition, Step Afrika! will premiere a new work, commissioned by the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. Simply titled Trane, the work will merge the percussive sounds & movement of stepping with on-stage jazz musicians and will feature one of stepping's most signature styles, the "Alpha Train".

Step Afrika! is collaborating with DC's W. E. S. Group to produce the work. After leading a quartet under his own name for several years, Will E. Smith formed a group with a different focus—to transcend the traditional classification of jazz from strictly art music, to music that has a world sensibility and is not only enjoyed but also inspirational. Dr. Smith, former Assistant Professor of Music and Jazz Ensemble Director at American University, lectures on jazz, hip-hop and spirituality at the University of Maryland, University of Delaware, and Howard University.

The company will also re-stage its critically acclaimed dance, nxt/step, for the Festival. Nxt/step highlights the growing use of technology in arts while fusing stepping with electronic music. The musicians will be invited to incorporate jazz styles and improvisation into the performance in a work that The Washington Post has described as "showing the blistering power of percussive dance as well as its softer, more introspective sides."

[Union Station]

DEJF Master Classes with LA TIMBISTICA at the
Duke Ellington School of the Arts @1:00pm

La Timbistica will conduct master classes with high school students at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music Latin Jazz All-Stars, La Timbistica, is one of the most multi-faceted and popular bands in New England. They are a mainstay in the Boston music scene, with members making regular appearances at the Havana Club, Ryles Jazz Club, Mojito's Lounge, and Wally’s Jazz Café. Combining some of Latin music’s best young improvisers, with many of its members doubling as multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, La Timbistica brings to audiences the sound of a full salsa orchestra. The group includes Niv Toar (trumpet), Enrique "Kalani" Trinidad (flute), Alex Brown (piano), Juan Maldonado (bass), Marcos Lopes (timbales) and Paulo Stagnaro (congas).

[Dupont Circle]

DEJF Student Concert featuring ORIGEM: Brazil through Music at the
Sitar Arts Center @ 5:30 pm
Free Admission
Directions

Brazilian group Origem is one of the premier Latin jazz ensembles in the DC area that has been performing a variety of Brazilian music styles from the Southeast and Northeast regions of Brazil such as Samba, Bossa Nova, Forro, Afoxe and Maracatu for more than 15 years. Led by dynamic drummer/percussionist, Alejandro Lucini, Origem will perform selections rooted in three traditional Brazilian music styles-- Samba, Partido Alto, and Baiao. The group will also guide students in a hands-on percussion workshop. Origem is the recipient of a DC Commission on the Arts grant, and the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) has nominated group founders/brothers, Leonardo and Alejandro Lucini, for Best Latin Musician.

[Columbia Heights]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008

THE W.E.S GROUP Hip Hop & Jazz Project at
Lincoln Theatre @ 10:30 AM
Directions

Through studying, performing, composing, teaching and living music, DC-based saxophonist/composer William E. Smith has sought to enrich the lives of others through sound. The concert/workshop will demonstrate the connections between jazz and hip hop music and give students and teachers an understanding of the unifying features of these cultural creations originated in the African American community. Dr. Smith is former Assistant Professor of music and the Jazz Ensemble director at American University, and also gives lectures on jazz, hip-hop and spirituality at the University of Maryland, University of Delaware, and Howard University.

[U St/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo]

DEJF Master Class featuring PAQUITO D'RIVERA
George Washington University @ 12:00 pm
Free Admission
Directions

Paquito D'Rivera, the festival’s Artistic Advisor, will lead a master class with the George Washington University Latin Band. A nine-time Grammy winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, successful author of both fiction and non-fiction, and veritable "Pied Piper" of the clarinet and saxophone, D’Rivera has served as artistic director of several leading institutions including the New Jersey Chamber Music Society and the famous world-class Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta Del Este in Uruguay. He has been awarded Doctorate Honoris Causa in Music degrees from the Berklee School of Music and from the University of Pennsylvania. While Paquito's discography includes over 30 solo albums in Jazz, Bebop and Latin music, his contributions to classical music are also impressive including solo performances with the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

[Foggy Bottom-GWU]

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008

NA’RIMBO at
Mexican Cultural Institute
Directions

Na'Rimbo was founded in 1998 by young marimba players from Chiapas, Mexico who have studied and mastered the contemporary and classical techniques of the instrument, and who posses a strong background in the traditions of marimba music. Led by Israel Moreno, Na´Rimbo has performed to enthusiastic audiences at national and international festivals. The group has won awards from the Marimba State Competition and National Marimba Competition winning first and second places, respectively. Na’Rimbo’s style remains true to the marimba tradition while maintaining a sense of popular music in a contemporary ensemble properly balanced, brilliant, vibrant and mature.

(Presented in association with the Cultural Institute of Mexico.)

[Columbia Heights]

DEJF Master Class featuring CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE at the
Duke Ellington School of the Arts @ 2:00 pm
Tickets
Directions

Christian McBride's prowess as a premier bassist with an intense and heart-felt passion "for the craft," has earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the jazz genre’s most respected, in-demand artists. He has performed with a wide range of artists from McCoy Tyner and Sting to Kathleen Battle and Diana Krall. He is currently performing with his own group, the Christian McBride Band (Ron Blake on saxophone, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully). With a formidable repertoire of original jazz compositions under his belt, McBride was recently commissioned by the Portland Arts Society/NEA to write and produce “The Movement, Revisited,” a dramatic musical portrait about the struggle of the civil rights era.

[Dupont Circle]

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2008

NASAR ABADEY LEGACY Jazz Lives! At
THEARC @ 10:30am
Directions

Drummer and Composer Nasar Abadey is the founder, leader and driving force of SUPERNOVA®. His debut CD, Mirage, was released in 2000, and a follow-up CD was released in 2006. He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Rouse, Sonny Fortune, Ella Fitzgerald and many other fabled artists. In this interactive concert, along with his uncommonly gifted wunderkind son, 16-year old Kush ("in his father’s footsteps"), Nasar and his musical colleagues will demonstrate the various functions and capabilities of each instrument in the quintet. Students will be able to identify each instrument by sight and sound and the way in which each sound is produced on various instruments including the human voice, bass, drums, and horn. Music vocabulary is also introduced.

[Southern Ave]