ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding

ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding

Female Jazz Superstar Trio to perform
8 p.m., Saturday, October 5, 2013
Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University
Tickets: $55, $40, $30

Image: ACS Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts presents ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding , three of the most important female instrumentalists in the jazz world today, in concert at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 5, 2013. Consisting of Geri Allen on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Esperanza Spalding on bass and vocals, the trio formed after working together on Carrington's GRAMMY® Award -winning album "The Mosaic Project." In a performance that marked the ACS' debut at New York City's Village Vanguard, The Village Voice remarked, "the set's expressionistic push-pull turned out to be a show of jazz fealty as disorienting as it was riveting." Elegant, experimental, and unquestionably bold, ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding stretches the boundaries of a small jazz ensemble and revels in the art form. Support for this concert comes from Bank of America and media sponsors Venü magazine and WPKN (89.5 FM). Tickets are $55, $40, $30.

Geri Allen is an internationally recognized composer, pianist, and educator, who has been recording and performing for over 30 years. She has collaborated with Ravi Coltrane, Dianne Reeves, Bill Cosby, Ron Carter, Ornette Coleman, Paul Motian, and many others. She has released a number of recordings under her own name, most recently, the critically acclaimed "Timeless Portraits and Dreams." She was the first artist to receive the Lady Of Soul Award in Jazz and was also the youngest person - and the first woman - to receive the Danish Jazzpar Prize. She is a 2008-2009 Guggenheim Fellow for Musical Composition. Her work as a composer has won her commissions from Jazz at Lincoln Center, Music Theatre Group, American Music Theatre Festival, Stanford University, and, most recently, from The Walt Whitman Arts Center and Meet the Composer. Geri Allen is a Detroit native and a graduate of Cass Technical High School, Detroit's magnet school for music. She is also a graduate of Howard University where she later served as Assistant Professor of Music. During that period, Howard honored her with both its Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Professor Awards. She also holds a master's degree in ethnomusicology from The University of Pittsburgh. Professor Allen is an active jazz educator, and has taught at the New England Conservatory, The New School in New York and her alma mater, Howard University. She currently teaches at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance as an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation.

American drummer Terri Lyne Carrington has been at the top of the music industry for almost 25 years, collaborating with luminaries like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau, Stan Getz, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson, George Duke, Dianne Reeves, and numerous others. After an extensive touring career, she was recently appointed professor at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music. She also received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2003. In the '80s, she was a much in-demand musician, working with James Moody, Lester Bowie, Pharoah Sanders, and on late-night TV as the house drummer for the Arsenio Hall Show , then again in the late '90s as the drummer on the Quincy Jones late night TV show, VIBE , hosted by Sinbad. In 1989, Carrington released a GRAMMY®-nominated debut CD entitled " Real Life Story." Her production and songwriting collaborations with artists have produced notable works as well, including a special song commissioned by the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Olympic Games. She has performed on many recordings throughout the '80s and '90s thru today, and " The Mosaic Project" from 2011, marked her fifth recording overall and first on Concord Jazz. The critically acclaimed CD won a GRAMMY® Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Earlier this year, she issued " Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue ," her much-anticipated homage to Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of their iconic 1963 " Money Jungle" album.

Bassist, vocalist and composer Esperanza Spalding , in one of the most startling achievements in jazz history, captured the world's attention when she was named Best New Artist at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards. Spalding was born and raised by her mother in a multi-lingual household and neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. At a very early age, she taught herself to play the violin well enough to land a spot in The Chamber Music Society of Oregon, a community orchestra that was open to both children and adult musicians. She stayed with the group for ten years, and by age 15, she had been elevated to a concertmaster position. She also discovered the bass and all of the non-classical avenues that the instrument could open for her. Before long, she was playing blues, funk, hip-hop and a variety of other styles on the local club circuit. At 16, Spalding left high school, and enrolled in the music program at Portland State University on scholarship. Shortly thereafter, she transferred her talents to the Berklee College of Music, and following three years of accelerated study, she not only earned a B.M., but also signed on as an instructor in 2005 at the age of 20 - an appointment that has made her the youngest faculty member in the history of the college. She was the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship. Spalding's journey as a solo artist began with the 2008 release of " Esperanza," her debut recording for Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, which went on to become the best selling album by a new jazz artist internationally that year, staying at the top of Billboard 's Contemporary Jazz chart for over 70 weeks. Her 2010 release, " Chamber Music Society," weaved innovative elements of jazz, folk and world music into the enduring foundations of classical chamber music traditions. A gifted composer with a hypnotic voice, Spalding stretches the boundaries of jazz and continues her evolution with her latest release of "Radio Music Society," a 2012 recording filled with funky, contemporary original material.

Tickets are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .

Posted On: 09-16-2013 11:09 AM

Volume: 46 Number: 29