GUILFORD — Pianist Michael Arnowitt and ImproVisions Jazz perform in Wendy's Jazz Soiree series in Guilford on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
Arnowitt is joined by Clyde Stats on upright bass and (1)Keith Gibson on drums in a program of jazz past and present. They will perform jazz classics by Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Bill Evans, along with Michael Arnowitt's versions of jazz standards such as "There Will Never Be Another You" and "Autumn Leaves."
Their program also features selections from Arnowitt's "Jazz Suite from West Side Story," his arrangements of Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess and the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," and some of Arnowitt's original music from his jazz album Sweet Spontaneous. The trio will also play two of the pianist's jazz arrangements of classical music, one based on Bartok's Romanian Dance No. 1, and "Burana Bop," based on musical material from Carl Orff's exciting and dramatic Carmina Burana.
Arnowitt grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, where he was a child prodigy. During his childhood, he performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and was guest soloist twice with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, playing piano concertos of Bach and Beethoven.
The Washington Post said of a concert Arnowitt performed at the National Gallery of Art, "he played with an exquisite sense of touch, color and musical imagination." Currently living in Toronto, "Arnowitt is well known for his warm onstage manner with audiences of all ages," say organizers, and he "has delighted music lovers in concert halls and clubs around the world."
He has given seven concert tours of Europe, has toured Russia and Korea, and when international touring to China fully resumes, he will be performing an eight-concert tour of China with the jazz guitarist Steve Blair.
Tickets are $20 per person at the door. For reservations and directions, call Wendy Redlinger at 802-254-6189.
This The Arts item was submitted to The Commons.