Cambridge, MA- Leo Blanco presents a solo piano concert on Wednesday, May 8 at 9:00 PM at the Lilypad, located in Inman Square at 1353 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10. More information can be found at www.lily-pad.net and at www.leoblanco.com.
Pianist, composer and arranger Leo Blanco began his professional music career in Merida, Venezuela at the age of 14. Later, moved to the capital Caracas, where Blanco worked as musical director at the city's most prominent jazz venue, Juan Sebastian Bar, There, with the Leo Blanco Trio, he shared the stage with internationally acclaimed jazz artists such as Pat Metheny, Danilo Perez and Terence Blanchard, among others. In 1996, after receiving a full scholarship, Blanco moved to Boston where he received his undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music a Masters degree in composition at New England Conservatory. Quickly recognized for his talent, Blanco went on to become the first Latin American to win the prestigious "Boston Jazz Society Award" as well as the Billboard Grant Award. Blanco has performed with jazz greats such as Dave Liebman, Antonio Sanchez and Jamey Haddad and has performed nationally and internationally at The Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival and The Monterery Jazz Festival, among many others. ...
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Cambridge, MA- Leo Blanco presents a solo piano concert on Wednesday, May 8 at 9:00 PM at the Lilypad, located in Inman Square at 1353 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10. More information can be found at www.lily-pad.net and at www.leoblanco.com.
Pianist, composer and arranger Leo Blanco began his professional music career in Merida, Venezuela at the age of 14. Later, moved to the capital Caracas, where Blanco worked as musical director at the city's most prominent jazz venue, Juan Sebastian Bar, There, with the Leo Blanco Trio, he shared the stage with internationally acclaimed jazz artists such as Pat Metheny, Danilo Perez and Terence Blanchard, among others. In 1996, after receiving a full scholarship, Blanco moved to Boston where he received his undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music a Masters degree in composition at New England Conservatory. Quickly recognized for his talent, Blanco went on to become the first Latin American to win the prestigious "Boston Jazz Society Award" as well as the Billboard Grant Award. Blanco has performed with jazz greats such as Dave Liebman, Antonio Sanchez and Jamey Haddad and has performed nationally and internationally at The Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival and The Monterery Jazz Festival, among many others.
Blanco’s latest album, Pianoforte, is set to be released this summer and will be performed in full at the Lilypad. Pianoforte is a solo piano endeavor recorded over the course of two evenings: one without an audience, and the other a public concert. Each piece was either partially or entirely improvised, and sounds are a welcome part of his work. "Total Improvisation, from an empty state of mind" has been a very important element in my musical life" says Blanco, "and now, It is what I am basing my solo piano performances on. It's all about giving room to develop new ideas and possibilities at the moment of the performance, while turning the audience from mere spectators into accomplices.” Blanco will embark on a tour of the UK to present Pianoforte in June and July of this year.
Blanco, who has been regarded as having "a gift for melody, [with his] playing just as special" by master pianist Donald Brown (of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers), and one who "hypnotizes the audience" by The Glasgow Herald in Scotland, UK, is thrilled to be presenting Pianoforte at the Lilypad on Wednesday, May 8th at 9 pm. The evening promises to be full of unforgettable and infectious improvisational music. The Lilypad houses a small bar.
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