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| Chris Parker Septet~ New Compositions and Old Favorites Chris Parker has been a professor of music at SUNY Orange for nearly 34 years. During those years, he developed and continues to direct the Jazz Studies program and thoughtfully imparts to his students the skills they will need as professional musicians. He is a fine example to them because not only does he teach classes of students and give individual lessons at the college, he plays solo or with bass in clubs, and with his quartet in concerts and summer festivals in nearby states as well as his native Oregon. Just as a visual artist always seems to have a painting or drawing in the works, Parker always has a new piece in the works as a very active composer of both jazz and contemporary classical music. His new pieces invigorate his repertoire and his older compositions are real favorites. On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 8pm his band will play in Orange Hall Theatre. Parker has done a tremendous amount of work in preparation for this concert because all the works were composed or arranged for septet. Half of the pieces are completely new while the other half is comprised of reworked older pieces which have been expanded for septet. The musicians who comprise the Chris Parker Septet are outstanding. Matt Hong is accomplished on alto sax and clarinet; Carl Maraghi is awesome on baritone sax and bass clarinet; Doug Beavers is superb on trombone; Tomoko Omura makes dazzling sounds on five-string violin; and Tony Marino on acoustic and electric basses and Marko Marcinko on drums are longtime quartet members who fulfill Parker's goal of putting together an excellent ensemble with himself, Chris Parker, playing the baby grand. The Septet uses a unique combination of instruments making possible a variety of interesting tone color combinations. This unusual mix of instruments goes hand in hand with Parker's eclectic mix of compositions which range from Straight Ahead Jazz to Mambos and Tangos to Funk. Tickets are available at $15 adults; $10 senior citizens, faculty, staff, and alumni; and free at the door for all students. All tickets except student admission are available online at www.sunyorange.edu/arts_comm/ticketing.shtml Also, the box office opens at 7pm the evening of the performance. Orange Hall is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues (GPS: 24 Grandview Avenue), Middletown, NY. write your comments about the article :: © 2017 Jazz News :: home page |