Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wally Dunbar live, tonight, in NYC

Join us for an exciting evening of jazz with Composer/Performer Wally Dunbar and his “Jazz Eleven” at Jazz Tuesdays on Tuesday, August 12 in the Gillespie Auditorium at the New York Baha'i Center. There will be two shows at 8:00 and 9:30 p.m.

Wally Dunbar crossed the Canadian border from his Montreal birthplace in 1962, eventually finding himself in the trumpet section of Woody Herman’s Orchestra. After his road experiences, Dunbar began his own music preparation service in New York City; copying and transcribing music for radio and television commercials, Broadway shows, symphony orchestras, major films and a who’s who of celebrities. All the while, Wally was writing original music and having it played by his studio colleagues. He was awarded a NEA grant for his Saga of Gene Carr, recorded by the New York Saxophone Quartet: and the prestigious NYCAPS award for Elegy, a seventeen minute piece for the dance, composed for chamber orchestra.

Wally Dunbar’s true musical love, however, is the Jazz Eleven, a group consisting of some of New York’s top studio musicians. Their fabulous CD "Everything in Time", available at cdbaby.com and jazzbeat.com, was one of the best albums of 2001 and remains one of the top 10 big-band albums of the decade. Besides great originals, it includes outstanding versions of Miles Davis' "Nardis", Tadd Dameron's "On A Misty Night", and Benny Golson's "Whisper Not". A highly creative orchestrator and composer, praised by the likes of Don Sebesky and Bill Watrous, Dunbar is joined by such masters as Jim Pugh, Gerry Niewood, Roger Rosenberg, Kenny Ascher, John Eckert, Bob Milikan, Ken Hitchcock and Ronnie Zito.

Rapport Magazine had this to say:
(*****) “ faultless recording…pure perfection…a pure jazz contribution to the world…heavenly, a pure delight…Captivating and mobile…Outstanding."

And I keep waiting, anxiously, for the "Everything in Time" follow-up CD!

Admission for the tonight concert is 15.00, $10.00 for students.
Tickets will be sold at the door, or call 212-222-5159 for reservations and information.

Jazz Tuesdays
in the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium
The New York Baha'i Center
53 East 11th Street (between University Place & Broadway)
Two shows: 8:00 and 9:30 p.m.

No comments: