Bearsville Theater
World Piano Summit - Cuban Piano Summit and Percussion Discussion featuring Elio Villafranca and the new Chuchito Valdes Cuban Quartet
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Concert begins at 8pm
8pm Tickets $35 in advance /$40 at the door
Seniors and Students $25 at the door
Information and Tickets at World Piano Summit : or Genevieve Luce 484.560.6319
WORLD PIANO SUMMIT WOODSTOCK PRESENTS
MODERN MASTERWORKS of LATIN AMERICA
AND CULMINATES in a CUBAN PIANO SUMMIT
8 pm
Cuban Piano Summit - an all-out celebration of contemporary Cuban music featuring a solo piano concert by Osmany Paredes and a solo piano concert by Elio Villafranca followed by The Chuchito Valdes Quartet
WORLD PIANO SUMMIT (worldpianosummit.com ) announces the inauguration
of World Piano Summit Woodstock, an unprecedented piano marathon, on Saturday,
May 30th. Presenting 6 outstanding pianists performing music from classical to cutting edge jazz, Ginastera to modern tango-inspired work, and culminating in a summit of contemporary Cuban jazz. The ambitious program will delineate the link between compositional innovation in classical and contemporary music via the solo piano.
The night will conclude with the dynamic music of the Chuchito Valdez quartet.
“With a small room that accommodates approximately 200 people, it’s as intimate as being on stage with the musicians,” said Genevieve Luce, Producer. “There is a magic that happens when the musicians and the audience interact in a small space that cannot happen in larger concert halls and other venues. We look forward to our new relationship with The Bearsville Theater in presenting the greatest pianists in the world.”
The concerts range from well-established work -- Natalia Kazaryan performing the music of Alberto Ginastera, -- to exciting new music from the emerging stars of Latin jazz: Argentinean composer Emilio Solla's Tango Jazz Fusion, Cuban composers Chuchito Valdes, Elio Villafranca and Osmany Paredes. The series will also present the debut of the 22 year old piano virtuoso Gabriel Luce's quartet.
The program opens on Saturday afternoon at 1pm with a classical concert by rising star Natalia Kazaryan performing the music of Alberto Ginestra Chopin and more.
The 3pm concert features music inspired by South American traditions. The new Gabriel Luce Quartet performs Brazilian standards and original compositions inspired by the Brazilian traditions, and Emilio Solla's Tango-Jazz-Fusion shows why Solla is the top Tango pianist in the world today.
The evening program, at 8pm, is the Cuban Piano Summit. It will begin with a solo concert by Cuban pianist Osmany Paredes, followed by the brilliant Cuban composer and pianist Elio Villafranca. The evening will conclude with the world premiere of the new Chuchito Valdez Cuban quartet.
CUBAN PIANO SUMMIT
8pm
OSMANY PAREDES – solo piano
"Afro-Cuban jazz for the new millennium" -- The Boston Herald
Since the stunning debut in 2007 of his quartet at Jazz Standard's "New Dimensions in Latin Jazz" series, pianist/composer Osmany Paredes has been recognized as one of the outstanding participants in the new wave of progressive AfroCuban jazz being created by Cuban musicians in New York. Osmany's lyrical compositions and virtuoso technique
are steeped in every element that defines Cuban music: beginning with the training in AfroCuban rhythms that began in childhood with his father, the acclaimed percussionist Guillermo Paredes. His musical education continued with rigorous study of classical piano at Havana's National School of Music, and was augmented by practical experience as the pianist with the quintessentially Cuban charanga group of Enrique Jorrin -- the group for which Ruben Gonzales, the pianist of Buena Vista Social Club, played for years.
A sojourn in Mexico further opened Osmany's horizons; while there he worked and/or recorded with stars Latin music: the legendary bassist Cachao, percussionist Carlos "Patato" Valdes, "El Cigala" and the innovative jazzista Jerry Gonzales. While living in Mexico, he recorded the critically acclaimed album "Menduvia", released by Universal
in 2005.
Osmany has become one of the most sought-after pianists in the New York Latin Jazz scene, performing frequently with the Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry, as well as Juan-Carlos Formell's Johnny's Dream Club, among others. Aside from Jazz Standard,
his quartet has appeared in New York City numerous times at S.O.B.'s, Cachaca and Zinc Bar. His touring schedule has taken him to the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Caracas Jazz Festival, Acapulco Jazz Festival, Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, Berklee Performance
Center in Boston, and Snug Harbor in New Orleans.
Osmany's newest project is a solo piano album, which was recorded at the New Orleans studio of the Grammy-wining producer John Fischbach.
ELIO VILLAFRANCA – solo piano
“…Villafranca emotes an expressive, emotional quality enhanced by his technically brilliant approach to the keyboard and his rhythmically complex original compositions…” --Philadelphia Tribune
Now an important participant in the NY jazz scene, pianist/composer Elio Villafranca was born in Cuba and classically trained in percussion and composition at El Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. His music, informed by jazz and AfroCuban culture, creates spirited groundbreaking innovations. His 2003 debut album "Incantations/Encantacione"s (Universal/Pimienta) was selected by Jazz Times Magazine as one of the top 50 jazz albums of the year.
Beyond the mainstream press, Villafranca has gained the recognition of Latin and jazz music elite. As a sideman, Villafranca has collaborated with Jon Faddis, Sonny Fortune, Lenny White, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Ralph Peterson, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mark Egan, Eddie Henderson, Miguel Zenon, Candido Camero, Ray Vega, and Johnny Pacheco. Recently Villafranca completed separate European tours with Grammy Nominated Blue Note recording artists saxophonist Jane Bunnett, and guitarist Pat Martino, with whom he performed at various world-renowned venues including the Blue Note Jazz Festival in Ghent, Belgium, the Blue Note Jazz Club in Milan, Italy, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, and the North Sea Jazz Festival at The Hague, Holland.
CHUCHITO VALDES NEW CUBAN QUARTET
Chuchito Valdés - Pianist, arranger, bandleader.
John Benitez, Bass. Miguel Alvarez, Congas. Emilio Valdes, Drums.
Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1964, Chuchito Valdes is a third generation pianist, from an internationally-known family of distinguished musicians and composers: his grandfather is Bebo Valdes, the former director of the famous Tropicana Orchestra; his father Chucho Valdes, is the co-founder of the Grammy-winning progressive jazz ensemble Irakere. Chuchito began his musical career just out of school, as the pianist in the band of the celebrated AfroCuban percussionist Pello el Afrokan. His prodigious gifts inevitably placed him as the pianist leader of Irakere for a two- year world tour. Since relocating to Mexico, he has established a world-wide reputation with his quartet, performing in New York at Birdland and Jazz Standard, at Ronnie Scotts' Jazz Club in London and Green Dolphin Street in Chicago, The Jazz Festivals of Havana, Cancun and Merida, as well
as a recent festival performance in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Music Festival. His ensemble was featured at the 19th International Havana Jazz Festival, as well as at the Cancun International Jazz Festival. Chuchito has been featured at the Chicago Jazz Festival, The Detroit Jazz Festival and the AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival.
291 Tinker St., Woodstock, NY - (845) 679-4406