Innovators Spyro Gyra
headline 3rd annual Silver Spring Jazz Festival
September 2006
 Smooth jazz trailblazers Spyro Gyra will bring their eclectic sounds to
the region when they headline an all-star jazz line-up at the third
annual Silver Spring Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, September 9 in
Downtown Silver Spring at Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street.
The free outdoor program that attracted 25,000 music lovers last year
kicks off at 4 p.m., after a jazz youth program, with vocalist Michelle
Walker , followed by Felix Contreras and the Afro Bop
Alliance, featuring Latin jazz with conga drums; hometown star Marcus
Johnson; jazz trumpeter Terell Stafford and his Quintet ;
and an hour-and-a-half performance by Spyro Gyra from
9:00 to 10:30 pm.
The festival will start at 2 p.m. with a showcase of local youth talent
in the Jazz Ensemble Caravan, a New Orleans-style parade of youth jazz
ensembles traveling throughout the community, followed by the youth bands
in competition. Festival performers Terell Stafford and Felix Contreras
will participate in the judging of the competition. Renowned jazz
trumpeter Terell Stafford is director of Jazz Studies at Temple University,
and Felix Contreras is a reporter for National Public Radio. Also
judging will be Suzan Jenkins, president, Jazz Alliance
International, Inc.; Larry Applebaum, senior studio engineer and jazz specialist
at the Library of Congress and host of "Sounds of Surprise" on WPFW-FM;
and Thomas Grooms, Smooth Jazz 105.9 WJZW personality and community affairs director. The
winning youth ensemble will receive the Borders/ JazzTimes trophy.
"The popularity of this annual festival, combined with this year's star-studded
line-up, makes Downtown Silver Spring the place to be on September
9, with great entertainment for all ages," said Montgomery County Executive
Douglas Duncan.
With Jay Beckenstein, the group's founder and leader on saxophone, Scott
Ambush on bass, Tom Schuman on keyboard, Julio Fernandez on guitar, and
Ludwig Afonso on drums, Spyro Gyra, together with the four other featured
acts, will present a not-to-be-missed blend of sounds.
Twenty years ago, long before the coining of the radio-generated buzzwords "New
Adult Contemporary" or "Smooth Jazz," Spyro Gyra was jamming, having a
grand old time creating their own instrumental hybrid, effortlessly and
unconsciously incorporating elements of jazz, R&B, Latin and whatever
else struck their collective fancy into an infectious sound that became
a forerunner of today's popular style. With 25-plus albums released,
the group has inspired a whole new generation of musicians seeking an eclectic
road of their own, making a lasting impression on the jazz community.
Terell Stafford, who picked up his first trumpet at the age of 13, enjoys
a national reputation as a premier jazz entertainer. Trained in
both classical and jazz trumpet, he has appeared on national television,
played on the soundtrack for the feature film, A Bronx Tale ,
and performed as a featured guest artist for National Public Radio's popular
series, Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center.
Back by popular demand will be homegrown star Marcus Johnson, an extraordinary
jazz keyboardist and composer who can be heard locally on WJZW-FM. A
Silver Spring festival veteran, Johnson always has the crowd up on their
feet and grooving with his unique blend of smooth jazz.
The exciting seven-piece Latin Jazz Ensemble, Afro Bop Alliance, fuse
myriad musical Latin styles and cultures to create a unique sound, approaching
Latin music from a very "western" voice, using the instrumentation of a
jazz ensemble augmented with congas, timbales, bongos, bells, etc., playing
compositions in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian styles. Joe McCarthy will
lead the group on drums and other percussive instruments, with Luis Hernandez
on tenor and soprano saxophone, Tim Stanley on trumpet and flugelhorn,
Dan Drew is the trombonist and arranger, Harry Appelman on piano, Max Murray
on bass, with special guest artist Felix Contreras on the congas. Contreras
has assisted in percussion clinics with Tito Puente, Poncho Sanchez and
Pete Escovedo and has also performed various forms of folk music including
Armenian, Arabic, Mexican and Afro-Caribbean.
Known for her ability to "breathe a sense of unexpected familiarity into
an audience," modern jazz vocalist Michelle Walker not only commands attention
but transcends multiple genres, combining her world of drama, dance and
music to create a style and sound all her own. This charismatic
jazz vocalist uses an artful blend of blues, bebop, swing and soul to provide
a musical playground for her and her band mates.
Donations at the festival will be collected for the Montgomery County
Victim's Compensation Fund, a county program which provides assistance
to the victims of crime. Last year, $23,500 in donations was collected
from the concert-goers by the American Red Cross to help the victims of
Hurricane Katrina.
Attendees are encouraged to use public transportation and to bring a blanket
and/or beach chair. The concert is located a few blocks from the
Silver Spring Metro station. Parking will be limited. A wide
variety of food will be available from the many local restaurants.
For more information, call the Silver Spring Regional Center at 301-565-7300
or visit www.silverspringdowntown.com.
No comments have been posted to this article.
Want to post a comment to this article? Click here.
|
