Posted in Berklee • Press • Shows

Salem Jazz and Soul Festival continues monthly concert series with the Marika Galea Quartet

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Marika Galea Quartet

Salem Jazz and Soul Festival continues monthly concert series with the Marika Galea Quartet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 28, 2015 – The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will continue its 2015 SJSF/Berklee Summer Series in Derby Square, Salem, on Saturday, June 13 with a concert featuring jazz bassist Marika Galea, and her quartet.

The free show will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature an educational interview about music and the Berklee experience.

Creative Salem will sponsor the performance.

A rising star and bandleader, Marika Galea is a respected young jazz bassist and composer who has studied with and opened for a number of highly acclaimed artists including Bucky Pizzarelli, Branford Marsalis, Al Jarreau, and Teri Lyne Carrington. Originally from Cananda, Marika is carving out a reputation on this side of the border as a jazz bassist, journalist, and educator with longevity. She is pleased to present her international quartet, including Yoav Eshed (Israel) on guitar, Tomoaki Baba (Japan) on saxophone, and Jongkuk Kim (South Korea) on drums.

Marika’s band members bring their respective talents to Derby Square as well. Yoav Eshed, guitar, has been studying music since he was a toddler and won the third place prize in the 2104 Montreux Jazz Festival International Guitar Festival in Switzerland. Tomoaki Baba, saxophones, began playing in a big band at age seven that ended up playing at the Sydney Opera House during a cultural exchange. Johgkuk Kim, drums, released his first solo album when studying at the Seoul Institute of the Arts at age 16. All members of the quartet are current Berklee College of Music students.

Two more SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concerts will take place this year: Beneil Miller on July 11; and Chuks Okpu on Aug. 8. The ninth-annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will be held during the weekend of Aug. 15-16, featuring 10 bands, a kids’ tent, music-education tent, artisan fair and 21-plus beer pavilion. The two-day concert is free.

The festival is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that produces free concerts and raises money for music education causes on the North Shore.

Check salemjazzsoul.org for more information. Photos provided upon request.

Posted in Berklee • Press • Shows

Salem Jazz and Soul Festival kicks off their SJSF/Berklee Summer Series at Derby Square, Salem

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The Berklee Yellowjackets Ensemble

SJSF/Berklee Summer Series monthly concerts kicks off with the Berklee Yellowjackets Ensemble

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 29, 2015 – Salem Jazz and Soul Festival kicks off SJSF/Berklee Summer Series monthly concert series with The Berklee Yellowjackets Ensemble

The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will begin its 2015 SJSF/Berklee Summer Series in Derby Square, Salem, on Saturday, May 9, with a concert featuring The Yellowjackets, a band made up of current Berklee College of Music students.

The free show will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature an educational interview about music and the Berklee experience.

The Lobster Shanty restaurant will sponsor the performance.

The Berklee Yellowjackets Ensemble is a sought-after band led by Dave Weigert (drums), a professor in the Ensemble Department. They play the repertoire of the world-renowned Yellowjackets, one of the few jazz bands that has been together for over 30 years. The students—bassist Elin Margareta Sandberg (Sweden), tenor and alto saxophonist Andrew Denicola (Stamford, Connecticut), guitarist Lior Tzemach (Ramat Gan, Israel), and piano synth player Zak Leever (San Francisco, California)—are highly motivated, dedicated, and accomplished musicians.

The selected Yellowjackets repertoire that the ensemble will play is funk oriented and groove based with beautiful, soaring, and expressive melodies and rich harmonies. Audience members will be treated to an uplifting and inspiring performance.

Three more SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concerts will take place this year: Marika Galea on June 13; Beneil Miller on July 11; and Chuks Okpu on Aug. 8.

The ninth-annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will follow during the weekend of Aug. 15-16, featuring 10 bands, a kids’ tent, music-education tent, artisan fair and 21-plus beer pavilion. The two-day concert is free.

The festival is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that produces free concerts and raises money for music education causes on the North Shore.

Check salemjazzsoul.org for more information. Photos provided upon request.

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Posted in Berklee • Shows

Salem Jazz and Soul 2015 Dates

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As we get our 2015 season rolling, we’ve compiled a list of important dates so you can make sure that you’re not doing something foolish like taking a summer vacation while there’s some excellent Jazz being played around Boston’s North Shore!

Spring Fundraiser, April 26, 7-11 p.m. (Larcom Theatre) Tickets are still available!

SJSF/Berklee Summer Series, May 9, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, 5-7 p.m. (Derby Square)

SJSF Main Festival, Aug. 15-16, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (Salem Willows)

Posted in Shows

Great show alert: Nov 22nd 2014 – The Beverly Rhythm, Funk and Blues Festival @ The Larcom Theater

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Garret Savluk and Henley Douglas, Jr, founders of The Boston Horns and Heavy Metal Horns reunite for an all-star evening of music at The Beverly Rhythm, Funk and Blues Festival at Larcom Theater, Beverly, MA on 11/22

About the event:
The Beverly Rhythm, Funk and Blues Festival at the Larcom Theater Beverly, MA
Saturday, November 22, 2014 @8pm

HENLEY-DOUGLAS RnB & THE DELTA GENERATORS w/ very special guests:
Sarah Seminski of Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket
Yahuba Torres of Ryan Montbleau Band & Garret Savluk of The Boston Horns

For more information: http://gimmelive.tv/FunkFest.cfm

 

A few words on the show from Henley Douglas, Jr.:

“I am very excited about performing at the Larcom on Nov 22, co-headlining with one the best bands on the scene today, The Delta Generators. This show is a reunion of myself, Garret Savluk and Craig Rawding (Delta Generators) of the Heavy Metal Horns. Craig was the lead vocalist for HMH and toured nationally with the band. Garret and I have toured throughout the US, Europe and Japan. Taking the stage with Garret Savluk who has had a big influence on my musical career for almost 25 years, will make this one of the best shows I’ve played this year. With Garret and Yahuba (percussion) playing this show, the music is going to be awesome!”

About the musicians:

Henley Douglas, master sax-man co-fronts HDRnB (Henley-Douglas Rhythm and Blues) with soulful vocalist Douglas Gimbel , an original R&B/soul/groove band that performs nationwide and always delivers the mega-funk. This 6 piece ensemble blows the doors off any venue with sax and trombone, backed with some fine percussion and strings. Big sound and funky grooves that keep you dancing all night. That’s HDRnB.

The Delta Generators are deeply rooted in Delta and North Mississippi blues. Their sound ranges from roots rock to slow blues, Americana to funky soul.  “Get on the Horse” has already been nominated for 2014 Blues Album of the Year by the Independent Music Awards. “The Delta Generators provide…the big blast of fresh air the blues-and-roots scene in the Greater Boston metropolitan area has needed for years.” – Frank-John Hadley, DownBeat columnist.“

Puerto Rican conga king Yahuba Torres, known best for his talents in The Ryan Montbleau Band heats things up with some jammy Latin rhythms while Sarah “Lil Shrimp” Seminski of Boston based funk outfit Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket, belts out some classic funk/Soul and modern Hip Hop/R&B with her powerful pipes. Garret Savluk of The Boston Horns, and formerly of Heavy Metal Horns, bands which he founded with Henley Douglas, Jr. brings his bad-action trumpet sound, rounding out what will definitely be a funk and blues festival that music lovers will be talking about well after the last tune is played.

The show will culminate with a stage jam of all the evening’s performers bringing together the biggest sound in funk, blues and soul you’ll hear this far north of the bayou. Tickets range from $19-$35 each in this intimate venue, so ordering ahead is advised. They definitely won’t last. Buy them here: http://gimmelive.tv/?c=32

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Come see some photos and videos from the 2014 SJSF season at our 2014 Media Gallery!

Posted in Shows

THANK YOU!

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Many many thanks to everyone who attended, donated their time and money and made our 8th annual festival a resounding success!  We had excellent weather and fantastic music, who could ask for anything more.  Check out our 2014 Festival Media Gallery!

Posted in Berklee • Shows • Uncategorized

Derby Square Series: Sarah McKenzie – Sat. August 9th, 5-7 p.m.

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Sarah McKenzieSarah McKenzie

Saturday, Aug. 9, 5-7 p.m.

Sarah McKenzie

Sarah McKenzie is a pianist, vocalist, and composer who attends Berklee on a full scholarship. Her second album, “Close Your Eyes,” won the ARIA award for Best Jazz Album 2012. McKenzie was mentored by legends like Graeme Lyall, Jamie Oehlers, James Morrison, and, most recently, JoAnne Brackeen, the first and only female member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In 2010, she won the James Morrison Scholarship (Vocal) and was the only finalist to be nominated in both vocal and instrumental sections. McKenzie also sang backing vocals for Michael Bublé on the multiplatinum artist’s Call Me Irresponsible tour and was the opening act for five-time Grammy nominee Chris Botti in 2011.
Posted in Berklee • Shows • Uncategorized

Derby Square Series: The Frotations – Sat. July 12th, 2014 5-7 p.m.

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the Frotations
The Frotations

 

Forged in 2011 by singer-songwriter Chris Kazarian and bass player Pedro Ribiero (Pedro Zappa), the Frotations were originally called K.A.Z. — A musical experiment centered around the up-and-coming singer songwriter aimed at bringing all of the worlds people together under one sound. Today the Frotations are a concrete blend of Neo-Soul and Rock ’n’ Roll with a little drop of Hip-Hop. If you like face melting solos, cold beats, headbangin’, or just simply getting your groove on, chances are you’re a professional Frotator and didn’t know it.