Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Chris Bauer was born on September 29, 1960 and raised in Long Island, New York and was surrounded by his father’s harmonica trio. He started playing at age nine and began appearing with his father’s trio by thirteen. At sixteen he placed third in a worldwide harmonica competition and in 1987 placed fourth in a field of 27 at the International Harmonica Federation competition, both times finishing as the highest placed American harmonica player.

Chris has gone on to perform at many New York City and New Jersey venues and was the harmonica in the play Big River. He was a regular contributing writer to The Harmonica Educator magazine on jazz topics and continues to work on recording projects that exemplify jazz harmonica. He also performs both in jazz trio or quartet settings, as a soloist utilizing custom backgrounds that provide the sound of a jazz ensemble, or can sit in with rock, blues, or jazz bands.

Playing harmonica for over fourty years, his performance and recording experiences are diverse including jazz gigs, harmonica trios, church worship bands, and production library tracks. He performs and gives harmonica technique seminars at numerous festivals around the country. His album In A Yuletide Groove has been featured on jazz radio station playlists.

Residing in Weatogue Connecticut, harmonica player Chris Bauer continues to perform popular jazz standards with a repertoire from upbeat bop tunes and cool Latin numbers to soulful ballads.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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HENDRIK MEURKENS

Jazz harmonica virtuoso and composer Hendrik Meurkens began his career in Germany playing vibraphone. At age 19, he heard Toots Thielemans play harmonica, which totally changed his musical life. His career has taken him from Germany to Brazil, then throughout the European continent and eventually to the US. In 1992, a trip to California led to his signing with the prestigious Concord label and established him as the first major new voice on the harmonica since Toots Thielemans. His 30 albums have received rave reviews and strong airplay, and established his immediately recognizable style of Brazilian Jazz. In 2014 he won the Brazilian International Press Award and he has been listed repeatedly in the Downbeat and JazzTimes Polls. Meurkens has recorded and performed with Ray Brown, Paquito D’Rivera, Astrud Gilberto and many others.

Cover Charge: $35.00 +2 Drink Minimum

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HENDRIK MEURKENS

Hendrik Meurkens, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. A two-mallet player in the tradition of Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Hendrik Meurkens was en-route to being an instantly recognizable vibraphonist when he heard Toots Thielemans. Inspired by the sound of Thielemans’ harmonica, he taught himself the difficult-to-master instrument.

His other life-changing musical experience was his introduction to samba and bossa nova. He was so moved by Brazilian music that after perfecting his unique musical voice at Berklee, as a vibraphone major, he moved to Rio in the early 80s to totally immerse himself in music and culture of Brazil.

Within ten years, he had established himself as the “new jazz harmonica voice,” and moved to New York, thanks to an exclusive contract with the prestigious label, Concord Records. He has since recorded fifteen albums, and continues to perform as both a guest artist, and with his own groups, both in festivals and clubs globally.

Hendrik Meurkens’ profound involvement in both jazz and Brazilian music resulted in a very personal and instantly recognizable version of Samba jazz. This music features his harmonica and vibes along with piano, bass and drums, playing his stirring originals and arrangements.

Tickets:  $20 – $45 | $2.33 – $3.56 Fees

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THE HOSCHAR-PALMIERI QUINTET

Akron based drummer Drew Hoschar returns home from NYC. The Hoschar-Palmieri Quintet is a 5-piece jazz combo of the young rising stars of the Ohio jazz scenes pursuing jazz degrees at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Cincinatti’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Both originally from northeast Ohio, drummer Drew Hoschar co-band leads with saxophonist Colin Palmieri for a night of fresh, original music, tasteful modern arrangements, and timeless classics with a band of young, heavy-hitting Cincinnati natives featuring Evan Taylor on guitar, Alex Nicodemus on piano, and Jack Early on bass.

Drew Hoschar – drums and cymbals

Colin Palmeri – alto saxophone

Evan Taylor – guitar

Alex Nicodemus – piano

Jack Early – bass

 

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HOWARD LEVY 4

Howard Levy, two- time Grammy Award Winner for Pop Music Performance and Instrumental Composition, is an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, educator and producer. At the age of 19, he discovered how to play the diatonic harmonica as a fully chromatic instrument by developing techniques on it that had never existed before. This enabled Howard to take the harmonica out of its usual role as a Folk and Blues instrument, and into the worlds of Jazz, Classical, Middle Eastern music, and more. His discovery unlocked infinite possibilities for the harmonica world.

Howard Levy – piano, harmonica
Chris Siebold – guitar
Joshua Ramos – bass
Luis Ewerling – drums

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