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The objective of VJC's concert programming is twofold:

Performers are encouraged to be bold and present works which they feel are most vital. Performances range from a tribute to jazz great Duke Ellington, to the other-wordly explorations of the stratosphere with the Sun Ra Arkestra.

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Concerts.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Eugene Uman’s Fender Rhodes Project

The series will finish up on May 12th with a return engagement by Eugene Uman’s Fender Rhodes Project, a 7 piece band that features Uman’s compositions. The evening’s repertoire will range in style from funk to latin jazz to straight-ahead swing. Guest artists include percussionist Steve Ferraris and Adam Kolker on saxophones and bass clarinet.

Featuring:
Steve Sonntag - trumpet, flugel horn
Adam Kolker - saxophones and bass clarinet
Eugene Uman - Fender Rhodes, electric piano
Thomson Kneeland - acoustic bass
Bob Weiner - drums
Steve Ferraris - percussion

Key Bank is hosting a combination Chamber of Commerce Mixer and open house concert “Pre-ception” from 5:30 to 7:30 pm ahead of the show. There will also be a reception with the musicians after the concert at the Flat Street Pub. For further information call BaBB at 257-4886, or the VJC at 254-9088.

Eugene Uman’s Fender Rhodes Project
Concludes “Key Into Local Jazz”
By Anneke Toomey

On Friday May 12th, Eugene Uman’s Fender Rhodes Project returns to the River Garden Atrium on Main Street for the final performance of this collaborative series. The material for this concert is an all-original music composed by the group’s leader, Eugene Uman, who will be performing on a Fender Rhodes, electric piano. He is joined by Adam Kolker on saxophone and bass clarinet, Steve Sonntag on trumpet, Michael Dessen on trombone, Thomson Kneeland on bass, Bob Weiner on drum set, and Steve Ferraris on percussion. Admission is free. Music begins at 8:00 pm, and refreshments will be available for purchase during a brief intermission.

“The Fender Rhodes Project is an extension of a band I formed in 1999 with four horns, called the Original Music Ensemble. That was with Thomson and Steve Ferraris and some other fine musicians” says Uman.  The group morphed into its current title and instrumentation two years later. “When I first performed at the Key Jazz Series in 2001, there wasn’t an acoustic piano in the space. Rather than play a digital electric piano, I used a Fender Rhodes, an instrument that I’ve enjoyed ever since I was in high school. Some of my favorite recordings such as Chick Corea’s Light as a Feather, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire all use a Fender Rhodes as the main keyboard instrument; each of these records were influential in my development.” This will be the second performance by this group through the Key into Jazz Series.

“Some of the material may be familiar to those who’ve heard the group, but we will include a couple of new tunes that have never been played with a three horn front line, so I’m excited about that,” Uman says. “The two new compositions are Freaky and Ken the Energy Field, which I wrote for my friend Ken LaRoche who recently passed away.  Strangely, it feels as if Ken wrote this composition using me as a vehicle.  Three of my tunes were on a record that got nominated for a Grammy in March – so I’ll be doing two of them in this performance.  The nominated recording was by Sammy Figueroa and his Latin Jazz Explosion, he’s a percussionist who worked with Miles Davis, Shakira, Chaka Khan and many others. We’ll be playing Niko’s Dream and Eugeneology – the name of the recording is “...And Sammy Walked In.”  I came to know Sammy through my friend, Cuban saxophonist Carlos Averhoff, who used to be the musical director of his band.”

Eugene has recorded with Carlos Averhoff of the Latin Jazz Ensemble Irakere, as well as Howard Brofsky and Claire Arenius; he has also performed with Donald Byrd, Jerry Bergonzi, and the Larry Rivers group. He performs regularly with the trio Ambassadors of Light, as well as the Vermont Jazz Center Big Band. Uman, a Masters’ Graduate and Eubie Blake Scholar at Queens’ College in NYC, was hand-picked by VJC founder Attila Zoller as his successor to lead the organization, and has been its Director since 1997.

Uman has inspired and instructed legions of younger players, including Northampton’s wunderkind Miro Sprague. His ceaseless work on VJC programs and presentations has brought scores of the brightest international stars of jazz to perform in Brattleboro, including NEA Jazz Masters Roy Haynes and Jimmy Heath just in this past year. He has not only personally inspired many, but he has connected students to mentors and to each other through VJC classes, coached ensembles and summer workshops.

Uman is also on adjunct faculty for jazz piano at UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Greenfield Community College, and the Governor’s Institute on the Arts.

The group called “a dream band” by Uman includes Adam Kolker, a NYC player who teaches at UMass Amherst; originally from California, trombonist Michael Dessen heads the jazz program at Hampshire College. Bob Weiner is originally from NYC and now lives in the Amherst area after stints teaching at Berklee College of Music and touring with the likes of Harry Belafonte.  Trumpeter Steve Sonntag is well-known in the area and led one of the concerts earlier in the series; he is a marvelous composer, leader and improviser in his own right. Thomson Kneeland is a bassist and composer who also leads his own group called Kalkalla – he is currently working with Armen Donelian, Lynne Arriale, Matthias Lupris and Ted Rosenthal. Steve Ferraris is a specialist in Afro-Cuban percussion who studied under Hafiz Shabaz.  He leads educational workshops for all ages and has found a niche working with at-risk youth.

Uman has enjoyed long-lasting relationships with many of the musicians on this date. “Steve Ferraris, of Norwich, VT, is a friend from many years ago.   Initially he was my teacher –I studied hand drumming with him when I was in my early 20s at the Grange Hall in Hanover, NH.  He is still an important organizer and educator who has had a positive influence on the upper valley music scene where he leads drumming ensembles and works with African dancers through his organization called Rootsystem.  When Steve and I first met, I was playing Rhodes and organ in a rock band called Dr. Burma, those were good times.  I really enjoyed performing with a great dance band – you could look up from your instrument and see the floor moving with waves of dancers transfixed by the music.   Steve Ferraris and I played in the rhythm section of Don Glasgo’s Latin band called Manteca.  I am especially looking forward to playing again with (bassist) Thomson Kneeland who moved to New York several years ago.  He has recently been touring and recording with top level artists who have finally begun to recognize his tremendous talent. I first met Adam Kolker as a colleague at UMass.  He’s a very deep player who has toured and recorded with Ray Barretto, Bruce Barth, Dave Berkman and others.  His sound on tenor is unique and beautiful and his access and use of the improvisational vocabulary is huge.  Bob Weiner is a drum guru – to know him is to respect him and dig his whole approach.  Bob Weiner is an encyclopedia of information; he has written books and performed with lots of heavy hitters, but he doesn’t believe in using music as a competitive vehicle.  He is all about performing from the heart and playing music that is new and original.  Steve Sonntag is an impeccable musician – we are very fortunate to have him living in our area.  His ability to read extremely difficult charts under duress is amazing.  Plus he swings hard, has a beautiful tone and has a great attitude.  The only musician I haven’t yet worked with is trombonist Michael Dessen.  But he came highly recommended and an authority on the use of the trombone in Latin Jazz. Plus he’s open to music that is free and he himself is willing to play aggressively and take risks.  I’m sure that he’ll fit in perfectly because we both share similar musical objectives.”

When asked if the rock band was the start of his love affair with the instrument, Eugene waxed nostalgic: “I got my first Fender Rhodes along with a Fender twin reverb amp with the money I was given from my Bar Mitzvah.”

“Key Into Local Jazz” has been a successful group initiative of Key Bank, Building a Better Brattleboro (BaBB), and the Vermont Jazz Center (VJC). Key Bank is hosting a combination Chamber of Commerce Mixer and open house concert “Pre-ception” from 5:30 to 7:30 pm ahead of the show. There will also be a reception with the musicians after the concert at the Flat Street Pub. For further information call BaBB at 257-4886, or the VJC at 254-9088.

KeyBank, Building a Better Brattleboro and the Vermont Jazz Center are once again collaborating to produce a series of jazz concerts at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro. This fortunate relationship fuses the mission of the three organizations by utilizing their combined strengths to provide a symbiotic benefit to the community. Over the last five years they have come together annually to present jazz in Brattleboro’s most central and public structure: the River Garden, an atrium located at the corner of Main and High Streets. The Key Into Jazz Series has capitalized on KeyBank’s goal to thank their customers and to attract attention to their high quality services. This series also addresses BaBB’s mission to attract people to Brattleboro and encourage them to do business with area merchants and the Vermont Jazz Center’s calling to promote jazz and educate the public through concerts, jam sessions and workshops; and. The culmination of these aspirations has led to several years of free jazz concerts at the River Garden.

This year’s theme is Key into Local Jazz. Southern Vermont is privy to many excellent jazz musicians who need to travel great distances to find musical employment. There are few opportunities for local musicians to perform for their neighbors in an unfettered, relaxed environment – the Key into Local Jazz Series addresses this situation by presenting 5 concerts held on the second Friday of each month, from January through May.