BRATTLEBORO — California trombonist and composer Michael Vlatkovitch makes a rare New England appearance on Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m., at the Open Music Collective.
He will be joined by three distinct figures in the Pioneer Valley creative music scene who are dedicated to both performing and encouraging younger generations of musicians through their teaching and research.
Meeting as a group for the first time, they are especially excited to present their collaboration at the Open Music Collective, a unique grassroots educational organization dedicated to experimentation and tradition.
Vlatkovich, a trombonist, composer, and arranger who resides in Los Angeles, has performed and recorded with a variety of singers and instrumentalists, including Rich Halley, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Bobby Bradford, Gerry Hemingway, Don Preston, and Vinny Golia. The magazine Jazziz has called Vlatkovich, “one of the most extraordinary improvising trombonists in this country as well as overseas. ”
Saxophonist Jason Robinson is an acclaimed and distinctive voice in a new generation of creative musicians equally interested in improvisation and composition, acoustic music and electronics, tradition and experimentalism. Described by Ron Wynn of JazzTimes as “one of the most respected soloists and band leaders in jazz's experimental wing,” Robinson's music displays a deep sense of history in the midst of creative, free-wheeling exploration.
Drummer and percussionist Bob Weiner has toured and performed with Harry Belafonte, Itzhak Perlman, Betty Buckley, Jon Lucien, Dianne Reeves, Andy Statman, Rebecca Paris, Kenny Werner, Bob Moses and many others. He has taught at the Drummers Collective in New York City, and the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Jamie MacDonald is a first-call bassist for the southern Vermont/New Hampshire/Massachusetts area. His ability to groove in a wide range of musical settings, along with a high level of technique from years of both jazz and classical studies, have given Jamie a reputation as a seriously original improvisor.