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| Berklee College of Music present an evening of Basie-Style Swing Berklee College of Music and ParkARTS present an evening of swinging big band music in the style of Count Basie in Roxbury's historic Fort Hill neighborhood with Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra and opener Lawrence Fields and his quartet. The annual Jazz at the Fort concert is free and will be held on Sunday, August 3, at the four-acre Highland Park on Fort Avenue, Roxbury, weather permitting. Folding chairs and blankets are recommended. Jazz at the Fort is accessible from the MBTA's Orange Line Roxbury Crossing station. Walk down Columbus Avenue to Cedar Street to Fort Avenue. Roxbury Community College provides parking on the corner of Columbus Avenue and Cedar Street. Highland Park is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 617-747-2447. Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra, a 19-piece group of vibrant young cats, has been captivating audiences and selling out concerts since 1995. Under the musical direction of conductor, arranger, tuba player, and Berklee alumus Oliver, the group plays Count Basie-style swing with foot-stompin' arrangements, high-octane rhythms, an unrestrained brass section, elegant vocals, and a talented assortment of spectacular soloists. Oliver and New Life has had breakout successes with main-stage performances at the Newport and Tanglewood Jazz Festivals, the launch of a touring educational jazz program honoring Basie, and the release of the acclaimed Welcome to New Life CD, featuring Christian McBride, Jimmy Greene, Miguel Zenon, and Jeremy Pelt. Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton calls New Life, "one of the best big bands in the world." Pianist and rising star Lawrence Fields plays contemporary jazz in the style of Herbie Hancock and his musical hero George Duke, with whom he performed in Chicago in June. Though he graduated from Berklee just this year, the St. Louis native has already toured in Branford Marsalis' band and is currently the pianist in the Jeff "Tain" Watts Quartet. Fields will record with that group at the end of July. He also recorded with Alvin Batiste for the clarinetist's new CD on the Marsalis Music label. A music production and engineering major at Berklee, Fields is the co-producer and pianist on drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's next CD, out later this year. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |