MARIO ABNEY QUINTET

Trumpeter, composer and bandleader Mario Abney’s musical career began at age 7 when he was introduced to the piano by his uncle Arthur. Influenced by both his uncle’s playing and the musical background of his church, Abney developed a love and fascination for music that grew throughout his years in high school. It was during this time that his interest turned from piano and drums to wind instruments; however, he continued to hone his percussion skills by playing drums for church services.

Mario’s first encounter with jazz was when he heard the sounds of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. This sparked a fascination and soon Mario began to explore music by Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and other great trumpet players who established this genre.

Fast forwarding to 2024, Mario Abney is once again gracing the stages of his beloved hometown Chicago. From iconic venues to up-and-coming spots, he’s become a regular feature with fans eagerly anticipating each and every performance.

Cover: $20.00

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Herbert Anthony Charles Spanier was born in Cupar, Canada on December 25, 1928. He played guitar and harmonica at five, bugle in Regina, Canada cadet bands, and trumpet in high school. One of the first beboppers in Canada, and a figure of some legend on the Canadian jazz scene,

He played with Paul Perry and with his own band ‘Boptet’ in Regina before working in Chicago, Illinois from 1949-1950 and from 1950-1954 in Toronto, Canada. He was a sideman to Paul Bley in New York 1954-1955 and Los Angeles, California 1958-1959, and toured out of New York with the Claude Thornhill and Hal McIntyre orchestras in 1955.

He was an influential jazz musician in Montreal, Canada from 1956-1958 and between 1960-1971. Spanier taught briefly at Sir George Williams University, performed in various dance, hotel, and CBC orchestras, contributed music to NFB films. Herbie was the leader on the CBC’s ‘Jazz en Liberté’ and in various clubs. Returning to Toronto in 1971, he was a featured soloist for nine years with Nimmons ‘N’ Nine Plus Six.

For the next two and a half decades he led his own groups, won the Juno Awards, received a Special Recognition Award and recorded sessions in 1993-1994 in which he produced new works which combined with earlier recordings on compact discs.

Trumpeter, flugelhornist, pianist, and composer Herbie Spanier died in Toronto, Canada on December 13, 2001.

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EITHER/ORCHESTRA

In the decades since the Either/Orchestra debuted on December 17, 1985 at the Cambridge MA Public Library, the group has made over 1000 performances in 38 of the United States and 12 foreign countries, as well as releasing a dozen albums and being nominated for a Grammy, winning five Boston Music awards and numerous Downbeat Critics Poll placements, among many other honors. From prestigious festivals like Glastonbury Pop and Chicago Jazz to tiny clubs, schools and churches in out of the way places, the group has been “dependably marvelous,” according to the Village Voice.

No obstacles deterred leader Russ Gershon and his intrepid musical explorers from visiting new musical worlds – until the Covid pandemic. The band’s most recent performance was in December of 2019 at Tufts U., with one of their distinguished Ethiopian collaborators, vocalist Teshome Mitiku. But now, they’re coming back!

To celebrate the exact 40th anniversary of their first show, the Either/Orchestra returns to the stage not a mile from where they started. The E/O began playing the Regattabar when the club was band new in the ’90’s. There is no better and more appropriate venue for them to inaugurate their fifth decade.

The E/O will be making selections from their vast catalog of originals and original arrangements of classic and obscure jazz, as well as dipping into their unparalleled repertoire of Ethiopian music in honor of their upcoming release, éthiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopian.

Their second release on the legendary éthiopiques series features music by Nerses Nalbandian, a teenage refugee of the Armenian genocide who rose to become music director of Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie’s National Theater in Addis Ababa. Nalbandian’s interest in American music helped set the stage for the birth of the modern Ethiopian pop music which has bewitched music aficionados the world over the past couple of decades. His music has seldom been played since the totalitarian revolution which deposed Haile Selassie in 1974, and the E/O was asked by the Nalbandian family and éthiopiques producer Frances Falceto to reconstruct and play it at the National Theater of Ethiopia. The album is a record of that labor of love.

E/O personnel:

Tom Halter | trumpet
Dan Rosenthal | trumpet
Joel Yennior | trombone
Sam Spear | alto sax
Russ Gershon | tenor sax
Charlie Kohlhase | baritone sax
Alexei Tsiganov | piano
Rick McLaughlin | bass
Brooke Sofferman | drums
Vicente Lebron | congas

Cover: Sold Out

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CHRIS BOTTI

Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades; he’s collaborated with some of the biggest superstars on the planet, including Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and others; he’s topped the jazz charts with numerous albums, earned multiple Gold and Platinum records, performed with symphony orchestras and on prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House.

In short, Chris Botti really needs no introduction. Yet with his Blue Note Records debut, he’s offering one anyway. Vol.1 is in many ways a fresh start for the trumpeter. Having successfully crossed over from jazz renown to pop stardom, Botti’s first album in more than a decade finds him crossing back, with a small group project focused on acoustic jazz and classic standards.

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DANIEL SPEARMAN QUARTET

Daniel was captivated by music, first playing the piano then picking up the trumpet when he attended Creative Arts High school under the tutelage of Jamal Dickerson. Daniel graduated with highest honors from the Oberlin College and Conservatory of music with degrees in Africana Studies and Jazz Piano. He has studied under Dan Wall, Sean Jones, Eddie Henderson and Sullivan Fortner. Artists that Daniel has worked with the Robin Eubanks Big Band, Sam Blakeslee Large Ensemble, Tito Puente Jr., Edgardo Cintron, The Four Tops, Eric Nolan, Angie Stone, and Justin Lee-Schultz.

Recently Daniel obtained his M.M. in orchestral trumpet from Pennsylvania State University where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Langston Fitzgerald III, who served as the Principal trumpet player for the Baltimore Symphony prior to teaching at Penn State. He operates primarily in the Greater Philadelphia area performing regularly with a wide range of wedding, salsa, and jazz bands. He is the frontman for the band SoundEVR, which is dedicated to blurring the line between dance music and art music.

Cover: $5.00 Tuesday~Thursday | Friday & Saturday $10.00 per person

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