Enjoy some jazz with your java at the Fairfield University Bookstore

Enjoy some jazz with your java at the Fairfield University Bookstore


Image: Brian Torff The Phantom Pluckers, a hot jazz-rock trio featuring renowned bassist/composer Brian Torff, will play a free concert of funky original tunes and sizzling standards at the Fairfield University Bookstore on Thursday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The trio, which also includes Fairfield University students Jamie Debicella on guitar and Jon Rivers on drums, will appear at the inaugural Starbucks' Jazz Night in the Starbucks coffee shop just inside the bookstore's front entrance at 1499 Post Road, Fairfield.

"This band mixes a power trio with spoken word, resulting in a free-wheeling, improvised and electric sound," said Torff, Fairfield's director of jazz and popular music, who has performed with jazz legends Erroll Garner, Cleo Laine, George Shearing and Mel Tormé. "This goes back to my blues-rock roots when I first started in music."

In addition to some brand new originals debuting at this appearance, the trio will cover Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar" and Willie Dixon's "Seventh Son" and play some favorites by Torff, who was named the Town of Fairfield's Artist of the Year in 2008.

Torff, who toured internationally with jazz violin virtuoso Stephane Grappelli, is the musical director for the Django Reinhardt New York Festival, which has appeared at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and New York City's famed Birdland. A sought-after sideman, soloist and leader, he has performed at Carnegie Hall for Fiddle Fest, where he appeared with Mark O'Connor, Dave Grusin, Regina Carter, Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, among others. He has also written scores performed by the Boston Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

At Fairfield, he has been a trusted mentor and a passionate teacher in the music program and he founded the Fairfield University Summer Jazz Workshop for up-and-coming young musicians. He recently spent a sabbatical in Paris to complete his first book, "In Love with Voices: A Jazz Memoir," which is available at the University bookstore.

Posted On: 01-11-2012 11:01 AM

Volume: 44 Number: 156