A Place for Jazz- presents Bill O'Connell Quartet featuring Craig Handy

Bill O'Connell's professional career has earned him acclaim as keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He has been lauded by Downbeat as "an inspired hybridizer of modernist jazz and Afrodiasporic idioms as an improvisor and composer" both leading critics and jazz aficionados began to recognize O’Connell’s distinctive keyboard personality. “The range of his artistic spectrum seems limitless,” declared George Carroll in his review of Latin Jazz Fantasy (Random Chance), a groundbreaking 2004 recording that showcased O’Connell’s writing and arranging for a string ensemble. Alex Henderson, writing for AllMusic.com, stated that “As a pianist he is known for a lyrical approach that owes something to Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans and Chick Corea, as well as Herbie Hancock.” Although he is commanding in any setting, from blues and ballads to bebop, bossa, it’s widely recognized that O’Connell’s most influential work has been in the expansive idiom of Latin jazz styles.His initiation into the fertile alternative universe that Latin jazz represents came when he was tapped in 1977 to join Cuban conga player Mongo Santamaria’s popular group as keyboardist and de-facto music director. Working with the legendary conguero for two years afforded the young pianist the opportunity to hone the three skills he would emphasize throughout his career – composing, arranging, and playing. His time with Santamaria also resulted in the pianist’s key participation on two trendsetting albums for the Vaya label, Amanecer and Mongo ala Carte. “Not being a Latino, I came to the music from a humble place and with respect,” O’Connell states. “Most of my contemporaries didn’t go down this path,” he reflects, commenting on his experience with Santamaria and many other Latin jazz greats in the following decades. “But I saw the beauty in this music, and it touched me on both an emotional and intellectual level.” After his stint with Santamaria, O’Connell embraced his next artistic challenge as keyboardist and music director for flutist Dave Valentín, one of the most popular Latin jazz artists of his time. O’Connell served in this privileged role for close to three decades. Other opportunities to cement his credentials as a master of Latin jazz idioms included performances with The Fort Apache Band, a fabled group fronted by trumpeter and percussionist Jerry Gonzalez noted for its progressive approach to the genre. O’Connell also served as an indispensable contributor on several of trombonist Conrad Herwig’s visionary The Latin Side Of series recordings – projects designed to explore the Latin leanings of such notable jazz composers as Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, and Joe Henderson. Craig Handy was already considered a technical master and talent when he played with Haitian and Salsa bands, featuring him on both tenor and alto saxophones. He has toured with Herbie Hancock and has amassed recording credits with Cedar Walton, Elvin Jones, Joe Henderson, George Adams, Freddie Hubbard and Wynton Marsalis. Santi Debriano studied composition at Union College in New York, then attended the New England Conservatory of Music and Wesleyan University. He worked with Archie Shepp in the late 1970s and early 1980s, then moved to Paris and played with Sam Rivers for three years. He returned to New York City and has realized concerts and albums with such diverse jazz masters as Don Pullen, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart, Larry Coryell, Chucho Valdés, Cecil Taylor, Randy Weston, Freddie Hubbard, Attila Zoller, Kenny Clarke, Mal Waldron, Kirk Lightsey, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, David Murray, Lee Konitz, Oliver Lake, Baikida Carrol, Hank Jones, Elvin Jones, Roy Hanes and many others. A legendary drummer, NEA jazz master Billy Hart collaborated with some of the essential artists in music history, including Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Shirley Horn, Jimmy Smith, and Wes Montgomery. Detroit Free Press explains, “Freedom, discipline, daring, passion, swing, broken rhythm, orchestral textures, interactive sparring, shocking dynamics, astounding creativity and authority. Want to know what jazz is really about? Listen to Billy Hart.”

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Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2590980-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2590980-2

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