CONFIRMED! Jazz at the Cyr Center 3:00 PM today, September 18th

In case someone is looking here for any last-minute updates, the musicians are on their way and we have a secure route for them. It's a bit longer than the usual route and these hard-working young men have at least a 12-hour work day today. I hope we'll have a great turnout to show our appreciation!

One note: given our cold temperatures the last two nights, and since the Cyr Center is no longer occupied by business tenants, I think it may be a bit chilly in the building today. We do not have control of the thermostat, so I suggest you bring a sweater or a jacket, just in case. They've been working this week on replacing the windows, those lovely - but leaky - old windows. I'm not sure if it's just the ones in the ballroom or if it was the entire building. We'll find out this afternoon. It just cost me $700 to fill up my oil tank, and I can only imagine (shudder! Gasp!) what it costs to heat the Cyr Center.

See you soon...

Jazz from Juilliard at the Cyr Center on Sunday September 18th

 Blues, Ballads and Bossas

 

     Clovis Nicolas, upright bass                   David Lantz, piano                       Lucas Pino, Saxophone





Carmen Intorre, drums

 Mother Nature has been stirring things up big time around here lately (to put it mildly), and with all the contemplation recently about the horrific events of 10 years ago it seems nothing will ever be the same again. Perhaps we can move beyond the tragedies of past and present and explore some opportunities for positive change. This concert for Friends of Music is exactly that: for the very first time in our 25-year history, we will hear a Jazz performance by some amazingly talented young men through the auspices of the Juilliard School in New York City.

This is not a turning away from the classical chamber music we have heard at the Cyr Center for the past quarter century, but rather an aknowledgment of our changing demographics and of the longevity and the influence of American Jazz -- now a tradition in its own right -- in music worldwide. In consideration of this being our initiation into the more contemporary music scene, the theme of this concert will be "Blues, Ballads and Bossas:"  nothing too radical for our classically-attuned ears.

Lucas Pino, saxophone, started his life in music at the age of 10, selecting the alto saxophone as his instrument. Immediately inspired by the music of John Coltrane, Lucas spent his formative years relentlessly listening to records, and switched to tenor saxophone at age 12. After being selected for numerous honors during high school, including a DownBeat Magazine award as “Best Instrumental soloist” (2005), Lucas attended the Brubeck Institute as one of five fellows. This ensemble regularly performed in venues across the United States and abroad, studied with jazz masters and spent time learning and performing with Dave Brubeck. 

In 2007, Mr. Pino moved to New York City to complete his undergraduate degree at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. During his time at the New School, Lucas studied privately with Chris Cheek, graduating with “Academic Honors.” In 2009 Lucas attended the Juilliard School and was awarded the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship. He studied saxophone with Ron Blake during his tenure at the Juilliard School and completed his Masters in Music in 2011. Lucas Pino continues to live in New York City and although he has a rigorous touring schedule, can be seen performing around the city with various groups.

David Lantz, piano, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, started music lessons at the age of 4. A multi-instrumentalist, he has studied piano, sax, guitar and violin. Since the age of 9, David studied with a number of jazz musicians including David Liebman and Phil Markowitz who live in the Stroudsburg area. For 4 years as a member of a select area high school jazz band that plays at the COTA (Celebration of the Arts) Jazz Festival in Delaware Water Gap, Mr. Lantz played guitar and piano, and as a senior he composed and arranged a big band chart. David played his first gig at age 14 and has since been a regular feature at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, playing with George Young, David Liebman and Phil Woods. As a senior in high school, David was selected to play piano at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Awards for the Arts where Phil Woods was an honoree.       

Mr. Lantz has played in the COTA Jazz Festival and the Scranton Jazz Festival with his own group as well as in many other venues. For 2 years, David was selected as the Pennsylvania All-State jazz band pianist and has won two ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s awards. In addition he won a Down Beat student music award for jazz performance. As a graduating high school senior, he was awarded the Louis Armstrong Award and COTA scholarship. David Lantz is currently a student at The Juilliard School where he is a jazz studies major, piano being his instrument.

After learning piano as a child, Clovis Nicolas, upright bass, dedicated himself to music when he first picked up the upright bass as a teenager. He went on to study at the Conservatoire of Avignon (France) with Mr. Joseph Fabre, one of the most notable instructors in France. He soon gained a solid reputation for his precise and tasteful bass playing and started working in his early twenties with artists like Peter King, Ted Curson and Laurent de Wilde.

After graduating from Conservatoire of Marseilles in 1996, Clovis moved to Paris where he established himself as a first call musician. During this time, he performed and recorded alongside artists such as Belmondo, Baptiste Trotignon, Brad Mehldau, Michelle Hendricks, Stefano Di Battista, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Aldo Romano. He participated in more than fifteen critically acclaimed recordings, including Belmondo's Hymne au Soleil which won three Jazz Grammy Awards in 2004 and Baptiste Trotignon's Sightseeing which received Best Album of the Year 2001 from Jazzman Magazine.

Mr. Nicolas moved to New York in 2002 and has since shared the stage in numerous venues (Jazz Standard, Smalls, 55 Bar, Kennedy Center, Smoke, Jazz Gallery) with some of today's most prominent jazz musicians, including Grant Stewart, Harry Allen, Benny Powell, Curtis Fuller, Branford Marsalis, James Williams, Peter Bernstein, Joe Magnarelli, Sacha Perry, Sachal Vasandani, Simon Shaheen and Dan Nimmer. He is featured on Josh Brown’s recording The Feeling of Jazz, as well as on new alto sensation Dmitry Baevsky’s Some Other Spring featuring legendary guitarist Joe Cohn. He is currently studying with jazz master Ron Carter at the Juilliard School in New York.

Born in Buffalo, NY, Carmen Intorre, drums, developed an early interest in music and began playing drums at age five.  A graduate of the Institute for Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, he has performed and recorded with numerous musicians such as George Benson, Monty Alexander, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Bucky Piazzarelli, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lew Tabackin, Larry Coryell, Bobby Watson, and many others.  Carmen co-produced and recorded on Joey DeFrancesco's latest CD, Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson, which received a 2011 Grammy Nomination in category of Best Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.

Currently, Mr. Intorre performs with vocalist Hilary Kole, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and organist Pat Bianchi.  Carmen just completed recording his debut CD as a leader on Random Act Records.  The CD will feature performances by Joey DeFrancesco, John Hart, Pat Bianchi, Jon Irabagon, and Bob Belden, and is scheduled for release in August 2011.

Friends of Music of Stamford NY

presents

Blues, Ballads and Bossas

Jazz Artists from the Juilliard School

Lucas Pino, saxophone

David Lantz, piano

Clovis Nicolas, upright bass

Carmen Intorre, drums

-Now's The Time

-Parker's Mood

-SKJ

-Misty

-In a Sentimental Mood

-Chelsea Bridge

-Star Eyes

-How Insensitive

-Triste

Please join us at 3PM on Sunday, September 18th at the Cyr Center in Stamford for our first ever Jazz concert!