Appearing @
The Jazz Showcase
806 S Plymouth Ct
Chicago, IL 60605 (312) 360-0234
Thursday – Sunday
June 23 – 26, 2016
WITH
ORBERT DAVIS, TRUMPET
ARI BROWN, SAXES
LEANDRO LOPEZ-VARADY, PIANO
STEWART MILLER, BASS
ERNIE ADAMS, DRUMS
Tickets & Info
New CD "Havana Blue"
Orbert Davis’ Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble“Havana Blue”
(316 Records CD31608)
Street Date: June 16, 2016
 |
ORBERT DAVIS’ CHICAGO JAZZ PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
RELEASES NEW ALBUM “HAVANA BLUE” JUNE 16 In a momentous collaboration, beginning with an exploratory trip to Cuba in October 2012, Orbert Davis shares his experiences and brings the Cuban culture’s rich history to life in a vibrant new CD entitled “Havana Blue” Recorded live at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University
CHICAGO,
IL – Havana Blue was conceived as a collaboration between the artistic
directors of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic and River North Dance Chicago,
Orbert Davis (composer) and Frank Chavez (choreographer), to discover
their African and Cuban roots through a live presentation of music and
dance. It premiered and was recorded ‘live’ at Chicago’s Auditorium
Theatre on April 13, 2013 as a highlight of the theater’s Music +
Movement Festival.
To
develop the work, Davis and Chaves spent nine days together in Havana,
Cuba in October 2012. For Chaves, it was a return home to a place he
never really knew, having left the island of his birth at the age of six
months. For Davis, it was an opportunity to experience one of the most
musical places on the planet. “I learned so much just being there”, says
Davis. “Everywhere I went, I took my trumpet and would play whenever I
could – just started jamming’. The streets, the restaurants, hotels...
Everyone has such respect for the music. It’s amazing.” If Chaves’ goal
was to say something about being Cuban, Davis sought to, as he puts it,
‘become Cuban’ by connecting his cultural roots to Cuba, where the
African heritage is prominent.
Broken
into seven vignettes, Havana Blue tells the multi-faceted story of
Cuban culture and brings out the many flavors of passion, romance,
angst, energy and uncertainty that are embedded in a tumultuous society.
From a joyous celebration in the streets of Havana, to a dramatic,
intense journey out of a devastated country, the piece infuses Cuban
rhythm with pure emotion.
“We
wanted to create an innovative, contemporary take on Afro-Caribbean
music, departing from the cliché of fast tempos, bright colors, and
ruffled shirts,” Davis explains. “Havana Blue explores the similarities
between African and Cuban rhythms and culture and how that heritage
helps people overcome the challenges of everyday life.”
Havana
Blue is the beginning of the extraordinary journey that led to Chicago
Jazz Philharmonic’s relationship with the Universidad de las Artes (ISA)
– a residency that coincided with the historic normalization of
relations between the U.S. and Cuba in December 2014.
[Some excerpts written April 10, 2013 by Don Macica for ArteyVidaChicago.com]
###
Orbert Davis
Orbert
Davis is co-founder, conductor and Artistic Director of Chicago Jazz
Philharmonic, a 55+ piece jazz-symphonic orchestra and a 16-piece
chamber group dedicated to multi-genre projects. He is also the
co-founder of Jazz Alive, an interdisciplinary enrichment program that
focuses on teaching life and academic skills through music, currently
providing weekly music and band instruction to hundreds of Chicago
Public School students.
One
of Chicago’s busiest and most sought after musicians; Davis was
commissioned in 2012 to create a new work for Chicago Symphony Center’s
city-wide Rivers Festival. He was named Artist-In-Residence for the
Chicago Jazz Festival in 2011, an honor held by only one other Chicagoan
in its history. In that same year Davis won an Emmy Award for his
original score for the national PBS documentary, DuSable to Obama:
Chicago’s Black Metropolis. In 2010 he received the Arts Legend Award
from Arts Alliance Illinois, a statewide arts advocacy group,
recognizing his mission-based accomplishments in both performance and
education.
Orbert
has a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance from DePaul University, a
Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy from Northwestern University, and an
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Governors State University.
Chicago Jazz Philharmonic
Founded
in 2004 by Orbert Davis and Mark Ingram as America’s definitive “Third
Stream” orchestra, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic provides rich, accessible,
multi-cultural music experiences that bridge gaps in jazz and classical
genres. The CJP performs works from the standard jazz big band to the
classical symphony, while creating a “new aesthetic” in cross-genre
collaborations. The organization also provides music education through
Jazz Alive, a weekly music and band education program for Chicago Public
School students, and the Summer Jazz Academy, a two-week immersion
program in music theory and practice.
Support
for Chicago Jazz Philharmonic comes from John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, Southwest Airlines, Allstate Foundation, Reva and
David Logan Foundation, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation,
Crown Family Philanthropies, Medix, Discover Music: Discover Life,
Illinois Arts Council, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Mardi
Gras Fund, Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, and City Arts Grants.
###
|
 |
 Mark Ingram, president 316 RECORDS, a division of Orbark Productions, LLC Post Office Box 5715 Chicago, Illinois 60680-5715 312-604-2212 maingram@3sixteenrecords.com http://3sixteenrecords.com |
Orbert Davis Contact:
Phoenix Thompson Tel: 312-604-2212 | Email: contact@3sixteenrecords.com National Publicity Campaign Jim Eigo – Jazz Promo Services Tel: 845-986-1677 | Email: jim@jazzpromoservices.com www.chijazzphil.org |
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 E-Mail: jim@jazzpromoservices.com
http://www.jazzpromoservices.
