Revolutionary Snake Ensemble Mardi Gras Show

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Revolutionary Snake Ensemble Mardi Gras Show, with special guests Charles Neville, Godwin Louis and Khalif Neville; plus a world premiere video screening of RSE's 2014 summer concert in Italy. Tuesday, February 17, 8:00 pm. Tickets: $25, Students $20. Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, One Bennett Street, Cambridge.

After a sold-out show last year, Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (RSE) returns to Regattabar for a Mardi Gras Party that's not to be denied! The Fat Tuesday evening will feature special guest saxophonists Charles Neville of the legendary The Neville Brothers and Godwin Louis, a 2011 graduate of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz Performance, based in New Orleans, and a finalist in the 2013 Thelonious Monk Institute Sax Competition ... plus sitting in on a few NOLA numbers, keyboard playing son of Charles Neville, Khalif ("Big-Chief") Neville.

Special added attraction during the Party will be the world premiere video screening of RSE's Festa del Redentore performance that took place on July 19, 2014 in Venice, Italy.

Complete details for advance tickets can be found at www.getshowtix.com/regattabar/moreinfo.cgi?id=3354.

Further background information:

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (RSE) :
Two-time New England Music Award nominees RSE's most recent recording Live Snakes received airplay on over 100 radio stations throughout the US and Canada, received an Editor's Pick in Downbeat, and was listed on the CMJ Jazz Top-40 chart for almost 3 months. The CD has appeared on a number of Best of 2014 lists, including from CMJ, Tom Hull on the Web, WWOZ (New Orleans), and WMSE (Milwaukee).

The New Orleans magazine Offbeat called Live Snakes "a stone cold killer diller!", adding that "most bands can't get the New Orleans stuff right, but the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is one of the few who does and then takes it in fascinating directions."

CriticalJazz.com called it "Spectacular", and compared it to "Mardi Gras on steroids...Take everything you thought you were familiar with in terms of the music of New Orleans and wipe the slate clean. Boston based Revolutionary Snake Ensemble takes that Crescent City vibe to the next level with a live release that will set your hair on fire!"

None other than the New York Times weighed in on the group's "sinuous, writhing counterpoint, and Time Out New York called it "Sizzling!"

And in the online blog "Step Tempest, " Richard Kamins hit the nail on the head when he wrote that "Revolutionary Snake Ensemble finds joy in the rhythms of the street, in the melodies of the everyday, and in the shouts one creates against the darkness."

Recent RSE performances have included the UFO Festival (Roswell, NM), Festa del Redentore (Venice, Italy), and the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC.)

For the Mardi Gras Show, RSE's leader Ken Field (sax) will be joined by fellow Snakes Jerry Sabatini (trumpet), Tom Hall (sax), Phil Neighbors (drums) and Blake Newman (bass).

Charles Neville :
Grammy Award winning saxophonist Charles Neville is a member of the legendary Neville Brothers band. Born in 1938 in New Orleans, Neville has performed with James Brown, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Ray Charles, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Ernie K-Doe, Wilson Pickett, Big Joe Turner, and many more, and has led his own band, Diversity, since 1991. With gold & platinum records in six different countries, Neville has appeared on such popular TV shows as the "The Today Show, " "Oprah, " Saturday Night Live, " "Tonight Show, " and "Letterman." His ethereal performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have made him an annual fixture there.

Godwin Louis :
Alto saxophonist Godwin Louis was born in Harlem, and raised in Bridgeport, CT and Port au Prince, Haiti. He began playing saxophone at age nine. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, he then continued his studies and joined the graduating class of 2011 from the Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz Performance, a full scholarship graduate level program based out of Loyola University in New Orleans. Louis was a finalist in the 2013 Thelonious Monk Institute Sax Competition, and has continued to work with Institute mentors Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Jack Dejohnette, Jimmy Heath, Barry Harris, David Baker, Emeline Michel, Danilo Perez, John Scofield, Jeff "Tain" Watts, John Patitucci, Steve Coleman, Dick Oatts, Jason Moran, Nicholas Payton, Don Sickler, Chris Potter, and Terence Blanchard. His playing is featured on Dr. Michael White's latest recording "Adventures in New Orleans-Part 1". Louis has performed at the JVC Festival (New York), Blue Note (New York), Monterey Jazz Festival (California), Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan Jazz Festival, Nancy Jazz Pulsation (France), ArtSpring Performing Arts Center (Salt Spring Island, British Columbia), Sky Church - Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum (Seattle), LV's Uptown (Portland, Oregon), San Jose Jazz Festival (California), as well as in Haiti, Mexico, Costa Rica, and China.

Khalif ("Big-Chief") Neville
Born in New Orleans and son of Charles Neville, keyboard player and rapper Khalif Neville takes his family's tradition in new and different directions, while also remaining true to his roots.

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