WILMINGTON — Pianist and composer Chris Bakriges and internationally renowned artists will fill Historic Memorial Hall in downtown Wilmington with the sound of jazz at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 24.
Joining pianist Chris Bakriges are Jay Hoggard on vibraphone, Billy Arnold on drums, and Avery Sharpe on bass.
The group plays music from the Great American Songbook and Clear and Present, their new recording inspired by songs and spirit from around the world in celebration of global humanitarian efforts and achievements of people and agencies working for peace through the universal language of music.
The concert, part of the Southern Vermont/Deerfield Valley monthly concert series, is a fundraiser for Wilmington's Pettee Memorial Library. Admission is by freewill donation at the door.
Hoggard, Sharpe, Bakriges, and Arnold have not only performed far and wide with the greats, they are also dedicated scholars of various traditional music from all over the globe. Their personal and collective quest is part of a fascinating evening of music called We Play for Change, a play on Wynton Marsalis's often-quoted observation that jazz can change your life.
Described as positive, spiritual, uplifting, and happy, Hoggard's music has touched the hearts and souls of listeners around the world for 40 years. He seamlessly blends jazz and gospel roots with African marimba rhythms. He draws on traditional and contemporary musical vocabulary to develop new directions for the vibraphone.
In talking about Sharpe, writer and New York Times music critic Gene Santoro says simply, “forget about categories like mainstream and fusion and neo-bop ... because if there's one thing you can say about Avery Sharpe, it's that there's no label worth hanging on him except musician. And at that, he's extraordinary.”
Sharp is an artist associate at Williams College, where he also advises the gospel choir and serves as affiliate faculty in Africana Studies.
Arnold has long maintained that the rudiments of drumming are the rudiments of life. He was recently honored at the first annual L.E.G.A.C.Y. Awards (Living Entertainment Greats in the Arts, Culture, and Youth Development) that acknowledged him as one of the greatest known and unknown contributors to the world of entertainment, the arts, culture, and youth development from the Western Massachusetts area.
He toured with Teddy Wilson and Zoot Sims and was Max Roach's substitute at Mr. Roach's insistence for many years. He currently mentors students at the Community Music School in Springfield, Mass., Springfield College, and Suffolk Academy in Connecticut.
“No matter how small, musicians create a movement over time that connect the world through music,” Bakriges said. “It's through music that we can understand our differences and create a better world.”
Bakriges, a pianist, composer, and ethnomusicologist of Greek-American decent, has performed not only in musical meccas such as London, Toronto, New York, Istanbul, Prague, and Paris, but relishes playing in places where one wouldn't think that global-inspired jazz would have much currency, such as India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.
He was music director for “Jazz Alive” on Northeast Public Radio and is artist in residence at two schools in Massachusetts: Elms College and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.