Evento

Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series presents Ben Rosenblum Trio !

Ben Rosenblum - piano
Marty Jaffe - bass
Ben Zweig - drums

Award-winning jazz pianist, composer and accordionist Ben Rosenblum has been described as mature beyond his years, (Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility), and as an impressive talent (C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz), who caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits (Bob Doerschuk, Downbeat Magazine). Ben is based primarily in New York City, and is a graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard program (in 2016). His original music combines his extensive knowledge of the history of jazz with a free-wheeling, modern melodic sensibility and powerful narrative approach to the piano. His profound passion for jazz, swing and world music genres finds expression in his unique fusion of harmonic and rhythmic elements from a wide array of sources, and gives rise to a signature compositional sound and style at once iconoclastic and deeply rooted in such figures as Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. Ben's first priority in his composition and in his playing is always narrative to tell a compelling story with his music, while reaching the hearts of his audience, connecting on an emotional, an intellectual and a spiritual level.

About the album "Instead": "Instead" features six of Ben Rosenblum's original compositions, written at various stages in his musical career. These compositions, which have evolved and adapted as Ben's music has changed and grown, demonstrate Ben's versatility as a musician, and his appreciation for many different styles of jazz. The album's opener, Because It's Raining, is a sensitive and dynamic piece which features one of Ben's most memorable melodic motifs juxtaposed with Billy Hart's atmospheric accompaniment. The next track, Clarisse and Walter, shows Ben's inclination towards more traditional straight ahead jazz, and features a arrangement that hearkens back to Art Blakey or Hank Mobley. The album continues in similarly diverse fashion: And Then It's Gone is a beautiful bossa nova, Blur an up-tempo which hearkens back to the intensity of 1980s post-bop, Far Back a waltz reminiscent of a Bill Evans composition and Azucar an energetic Afro-Cuban number. Instead also includes five songs written by other composers. These tracks include a haunting rendition of Charlie Haden's First Song and a bowed bass feature for Curtis Lundy on Duke Ellington's classic ballad, Single Petal of a Rose. Rounding out the album are three hard swinging medium swing songs written by famous jazz musicians: Sonny Clark's Nica, Randy Weston's Saucer Eyes and Thad Jones' When Love Was You And Me.

$15 General; $10 Student
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