Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Peter Curtis was born on April 24, 1970. His formal education bestowed a Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music, a Masters of Music from Yale University, and a Doctor of Music in Classical Guitar Performance and Literature with minor fields in Ethnomusicology and Music History from Indiana University.

He has performed or recorded with Claudia Acuna, Lynn Arriale, Seamus Blake, Don Braden, James Carter, Freddy Cole, Barbra Morrison, Eldad Tarmu and Ron Westray of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Peter has played the top jazz clubs in Los Angeles, California, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and on Black Entertainment Television.

Having been to Europe, Curtis has been on club stages in Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Florence, the Hague, Milan, Paris, Prague and Zurich. With his group, the Peter Curtis Quartet, he recently released his debut album Swing State. His classical chops have sent the guitarist recitals throughout the U.S. and Canada and was awarded the Andres Segovia memorial scholarship from the Banff Centre for the Arts.

Guitarist and composer Peter Curtis, a tenured professor of music at Riverside Community College in Riverside, California, continues to compose, perform and record.

ROBYN B. NASH

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Piers Lawrence was born on April 19th in Manhattan, New York and raised in Palo Alto, California and Switzerland. He attended the Conservatoire de Musique de Lausanne. After finishing his studies he made San Diego, California his new home and established himself as a solo guitarist, band leader and session musician.

An alum of the Harlem-based Jazz-Mobile Orchestra he studied with Barry Galbraith and Ted Dunbar. Piers has played Broadway shows including Guys and Dolls, Dancin’, Eubie, and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. He has toured and recorded with Wilson Picket, The Main Ingredient, Esther Phillips, Phyllis Hyman, The Caribbean All-Stars and Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band.

He is the lead guitarist for the San Diego based Soul Jazz AllStars and the Piers Lawrence Quartet. He established a record label, JazzNet Media, which produces independent projects and Ambient Music for film and television.

Guitarist and songwriter Piers Lawrence continues to grace the stages of venues and festivals across the nation, service his corporate clients, and perform and record with Narada Michael Walden, Sammy Figueroa, Jerry Garcia and Tommy Flanagan, to name a few of the many.

ROBYN B. NASH

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DAVE STRYKER TRIO WITH WARREN WOLF

Dave Stryker – Guitar | Warren Wolf – Vibes | Jared Gold – Organ | McClenty Hunter – Drums

Whether you’ve heard guitarist Dave Stryker leading his own group (with 30 CD’s as a leader to date), or as a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and many others, you know why the Village Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” Hot House magazine awarded him Best Guitarist Fans Decision for 2017.  He was recently voted once again as one of the top Jazz Guitarists in the 2019 Downbeat Critics and Readers Polls for the 10th time.

Warren Wolfis a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, MD. From the young age of three years old, Warren has been trained on the Vibraphone/Marimba, Drums, and Piano. Under the guidance of his father Warren Wolf Sr., Warren has a deep background in all genres of music. Vibraphonist Warren Wolf is one of the hardest swinging virtuosos in all of modern music.

***Fees Apply To All Tickets

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RUSSELL MALONE QUARTET

Russell Malone – guitar | Rick Germanson – piano | Vincent DuPont – drums | Neal Smith – drums

“Russell Malone has the storytelling skills of a great singer, perhaps a legacy of his many years with Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall. – The Times (UK)

Guitar master Russell Malone leads his popular quartet with pianist Rick Germanson, bassist Vincent Dupont, and drummer Neal Smith. Malone is a musician deeply rooted in the blues and bebop, and his soulfully swinging approach is just one of many reasons why he is so popular. Chicago Tribune states, “Though he spikes his solos with occasional running lines, it’s gently rolled chords and lush sequences of harmonies that ultimately define his work,” and Jazz Times describes him as “an uncommonly sensitive interpreter of ballads.”

***PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows | Fees Apply To All Tickets

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Meester was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands on April 14, 1970 and studied philosophy and general literature at the University of Amsterdam and Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. From 2010 to 2016 he was assistant lecturer in Philosophy and Professional Practice at The Hague University of Applied Sciences .

He went on to become the youngest of the writing duo Gebroeders Meester and wrote columns in Filosofie Magazine and de Volkskrant, among others. With Stine Jensen, they also wrote two books together about parenting and toured the country in 2018 and 2019 with the theater performance Het opvoedcircus.

Meester also plays in the Hot Club de Frank, founded in 1990 when he was just 20 years old. Two years later they expanded to a quartet and played in local cafes. In 1994 personnel changes took a turn at vocal swing and became a permanent salon band at the Amstel Hotel and the Amerstadam Bamboo Bar. They dropped their debut cd in 1996, De Heren van het Circus, to critical acclaim, and expanded once again to a quintet. Their sophomore release in 1999 hit success again being broadcast across the radio waves.

Another personnel transition has the band currently consisting of Meester, solo guitarist Harold Berghuis, violinist Jelle van Tongeren and saxophonist Wim Lammen. The band creates a new sound within gypsy jazz with different rhythms, other instruments and special arrangements. They have played festivals and European tours.

Double bassist Frank Meester, who has been published thirteen times, continues to perform with his sons Midas and Gilles in The Maestros.

ROBYN B. NASH

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