Kimmel Center Presents Offers Yearlong Tribute to Jazz Great John Coltrane with Mellon Jazz Up Close "Take The Col’train"
Artistic Advisor Danilo Perez Creates Exclusive, One-Night-Only Performances
September 27, 2004
Mellon Jazz Up Close: Take the Col’train features a series of five exclusive, one-night-only performances that will take audiences on a journey through the Americas from Argentina to Brazil to Peru and Venezuela to Panama and, finally, home to Philadelphia led by the spirit of adopted son, composer and saxophonist John Coltrane.
Each concert will feature musicians from those countries, a special guest saxophone player, and a post-concert chat from the stage. Artists include Claudio Ragazzi, Tim Warfield, Claudio Roditi, Oscar Stagnaro, Mark Turner, Donny McCaslin, Conrad Herwig and Brian Lynch. The final performance features Coltrane’s son, Ravi, and also will include a world premiere jazz composition, commissioned especially for the evening by the American Composers Forum.
All concerts will be held in the Kimmel Center’s intimate Perelman Theater. For a complete lineup of this series of one-time-only, improvisational jazz events, visit Mellon Jazz Up Close: Take the Col'train now. Or find the listing below:
Saturday, October 16, 2004, 7:30pm
Argentina
Claudio Ragazzi, guitar
Diego Urcola, trumpet and flugelhorn
Alon Yavnai, piano
Fernando Huergo, bass
Franco Pina, drums
Special Guest Tim Warfield, saxophone
Artistic advisor and jazz pianist Danilo Perez begins his second season of Mellon Jazz Up Close with a special trip through the Americas to hear the many dialects of jazz, guided by the spirit of John Coltrane. The first stop is Argentina where the rhythms of the habanera and the milonga gave birth to the tango. Claudio Ragazzi brings to life a jazz developed under the tango’s languid spell. Diego Urcola adds his artistry on brass. Tim Warfield is the evening’s special guest saxophonist. Warfield is featured on "Papa" John Defrancesco’s just-released CD, Walking Uptown. Following the performance, Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming and Education Mervon Mehta will moderate an artists’ chat with the audience featuring Perez and the evening’s musicians.
Saturday, December 11, 2004, 7:30pm
Brazil
Claudio Roditi, trumpet
Helio Alves, piano
Nilson Matta, bass
Duduka da Fonseca, drums
Special Guest Gary Bartz, saxophone
Take the Col’train to its second stop, Brazil, where the energy of the street blends jazz with the pulsing tempo of the samba. Rio-born Claudio Roditi mixes Brazilian traditions with his own hard bop-oriented style. Gary Bartz, who has played with such luminaries as Max Roach, Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner and Miles Davis, steps in for Mr. Coltrane.
Saturday, February 19, 2005, 7:30pm
Peru and Venezuela
Peru: Oscar Stagnaro, bass
Venezuela: Ed Simon, piano
Special Guest Mark Turner, saxophone
The third stop in the series features exotic rhythms foreign to the States: rhythms like the Venezuelan joropo and the Peruvian festejo, spiced with a special African flavor that makes them new. The evening’s improvisers include Oscar Stagnaro with the Peruvian portion of the evening, and Venezuelan-born, University of the Arts-trained piano master and composer Ed Simon, who will premiere his new work "Venezuelan Jazz Suite." Coltrane disciple Mark Turner is the special guest saxophonist for both.
Saturday April 2, 2005, 7:30pm
Panama
The Danilo Perez Group
Special Guest Donny McCaslin, saxophone
Panamanian-born Danilo Perez personally takes the lead for this fusion of African and Spanish culture that creates the jazz music of Panama. Perez, a "world class pianist and adroit composer" (Jazz Times) will be joined by special guest saxophonist Donny McCaslin in a performance that will also include the elegant moves of some special guest Panamanian dancers.
Saturday, May 14, 2005, 7:30pm
Philadelphia
Conrad Herwig, trombone
Brian Lynch, trumpet
Danilo Perez, piano
Special Guest Ravi Coltrane, saxophone
Take the Col’train back to Philadelphia for the final performance in the series featuring a lineup that includes a return appearance by Danilo Perez on piano, trumpeter Brian Lynch (Tribute to the Trumpet Masters), trombonist Conrad Herwig (Grammy-nominated for The Latin Side of John Coltrane) and the ultimate Coltrane connection: John Coltrane’s
talented son Ravi on saxophone. This performance will feature a new work commissioned by the American Composers Forum and Kimmel Center Presents.
Tickets are $35 and $40 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. For group sales call 215-790-5883.
Danilo Perez’s creative collaboration with the Kimmel Center began in the new performing arts center’s 2003-2004 season with the critically acclaimed Mellon Jazz Up Close: Dreaming of Dizzy series, dedicated to the legacy of Dizzy Gillespie.
The Cultural Ambassador for his native Panama, the 38-year-old Perez first attracted the spotlight as the youngest member of Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra (1989-1992). With Gillespie as a mentor, Perez solidified his command of the eclectic, post-bop Latin style, began worldwide touring and went on to earn critical acclaim in his own right. He has led his own groups since the early ‘90s and as bandleader has earned three Grammy nominations as well as loyal audiences around the world.
In addition to leading his own trio, Perez is currently a member of the Grammy-nominated Wayne Shorter Quartet. He has also played with the Roy Haynes Trio since 1998. Perez teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music, the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music.
All of the concerts in the Mellon Jazz Up Close: Take the Col’train series will be taped by Temple University public radio station WRTI for broadcast at a later date. Many of the performers will also be working with the Kimmel Center’s Merck Arts Education Center to provide educational opportunities for aspiring artists in Philadelphia.
Mellon Jazz Up Close: Take the Col’train is made possible through the generous support of Mellon Financial Corporation.
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theater Arts for Youth, PHILADANCO, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Citizens Bank Broadway at the Academy series of performances.
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