WESTMINSTER — On Saturday, Dec. 13, Compass School hosts a Caribbean dinner and a musical performance by Eugene and Julian's Latin Party Band, featuring renowned musicians Eugene Uman and Julian Gerstin.
Uman is a pianist and composer who has performed with Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, George Mraz, Jimmy Heath, Donald Byrd, and many others. Uman has written more than 120 wide-ranging jazz compositions and appears in numerous ensembles including The Convergence Project, the As Yet Quintet, and Zabap.
He also directs the Vermont Jazz Center and is as an adjunct professor of music at Amherst College and Marlboro College.
Gerstin is an ethnomusicologist and percussionist specializing in the music of Africa and the Caribbean. He has taught at Wesleyan University, Clark University, and Marlboro College, and is at Keene State College.
His percussive explorations have led him from the folk traditions of Ghana and Cuba to popular music from Nigeria to Brazil, as well as jazz styles from New Orleans brass bands to avant-garde experimentalism. He appears with the Caribbean jazz group As Yet Quintet and the Afrocuban dance ensemble Grupo Palo Santo, among others.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a multi-course Caribbean dinner, and a silent auction that includes gift certificates to area businesses, fine arts, furniture, clothing, and much more.
All-inclusive tickets for dinner and music are $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $45 for families, with all proceeds from the evening to benefit the Compass junior class Global Connection trip to the Dominican Republic.