The 4th and final episode of "Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense" will be shown at 7pm, before the concert at 8pm. This screening is free with paid admission to the Dafnis Prieto Sextet.
For more information, please visit: http://angelcityjazz.com/schedule
This concert was made possible in part by a grant from Chamber Music America. It is a co-production with The Jazz Bakery.
ICONS AMONG US: JAZZ IN THE PRESENT TENSE •
Chapter 4 (7:00pm)
Paradigm Studio partners with DonQ® to present Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense. The 4 part documentary film series examines the world of resonant jazz looking at today’s brightest talent.
A documentary film series that captures the essence of today's most inspirational, exciting and talented jazz artists. Jazz is undergoing changes of monumental magnitude and importance. Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense, is a documentary film series that captures the metamorphosis of jazz by showcasing the words, music, and spirit of the artists that are paving the way for an unprecedented musical evolution.
Selected by American Film Institute's program 20/20 to represent The United States in a global cultural exchange sponsored by The President's Council on the Arts and Humanities, NEA, NEH and The Institute for Museum and Library Services. Starring John Medeski, Terence Blanchard, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper, Bill Frisell, Matthew Shipp, Will Bernard, Marco Benevento, Anat Cohen and many more...
DAFNIS PRIETO SEXTET (8:00pm)
Peter Apfelbaum (saxophones & flute)
Felipe Lamoglia (saxophones)
Ralph Alessi (trumpet)
Manuel Valera (piano)
Johannes Weidenmueller (bass)
Dafnis Prieto (drums)
Cuban born drum virtuoso Dafnis Prieto performs movements of his award winning Chamber Music America commission "The Emotion Series: Taking the Soul for a Walk," with his accomplished sextet including Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Felipe Lamoglia (alto/soprano saxophones), Manuel Valera (piano), and Johannes Weidenmueller (bass). The Wall Street Journal says, “[Prieto] has transformed Afro-Cuban rhythms … These pieces are emotionally charged and stylistically diverse, carried along not just by rhythm but also through lovely harmonized passages, horn fanfares, and powerfully conjured moods.” Prieto has served on the Music Faculty at NYU since 2005, toured Europe with the groundbreaking group Columna B and was the recipient of a 2011 MacArthur “genius grant.”
Drummer, composer, and educator, Dafnis Prieto has electrified audiences with his dazzling technical abilities and rhythmically adventurous and groundbreaking compositions. A classically trained musician who absorbed from an early age the multifaceted percussive traditions of his native Cuba, Prieto transposes elements from his Afro-Cuban musical heritage onto a jazz drum kit, incorporating congas, timbales, and the layered rhythmic patterns of rumba and son. Whether performing as a solo artist, bandleader, or sideman, his playing is characterized by a finely calibrated command of textures and nuances and an ability to execute highly complex, polyrhythmic structures with extraordinary speed and precision.
As a composer, Prieto melds modern jazz harmonies, Cuban clave rhythms, other Latin and African influences, and funk-inspired arrangements to create works of great stylistic diversity that evoke a broad spectrum of moods. His 2006 recording, Absolute Quintet, showcases both his powerful and propulsive playing as well as his interest in composing for a nonstandard ensemble of organ, cello, violin, saxophone, and drums. The morphing rhythms and time signatures of Taking the Soul for a Walk (2008) further demonstrate Prieto's compositional reach and graceful way of slowing down or speeding up a given tempo. Through these and other recordings, his leadership of numerous ensembles, and additional projects involving dance, film, and opera, he is expanding Latin jazz with a bold new energy and sound.
Prieto obtained a thorough classical education as a young student at the School of Fine Arts in Santa Clara and later at the National School of Music in Havana, all the while broadening his knowledge of jazz, Afro-Cuban, and world music outside of the academy.
He first toured Europe with pianists Carlos Maza and Ramon Valle and the groundbreaking group “Columna B.” After moving to New York in 1999, he quickly became the drummer of choice for many prominent artists such as Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O'Farrill, Dave Samuels & The Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, D.D. Jackson, Edward Simon, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdez, Claudia Acuña, Roy Hargrove, Don Byron, and Andrew Hill, among others. As a bandleader of his own and as a sideman, Prieto has performed at many venues and festivals throughout the United States and around the world.
He has created compositions for dance, film, chamber ensembles, opera, and most notably for his own bands, ranging from duets to a “small big band,” including the distinctively different groups featured on four albums released to date: “About The Monks,” “Absolute Quintet,” “Taking The Soul for a Walk,” and “Si o Si Quartet Live at Jazz Standard,” all on Prieto’s own label, Dafnison Music, which he launched in 2007. The spontaneous improvisations of his Proverb Trio, with vocalist Kokayi and keyboardist Jason Lindner, are featured on Dafnison Music’s newest release, out on July 1, 2012.
Besides the MacArthur Fellowship, he has also received new works commissions, grants, and fellowships from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, East Carolina University, and Meet the Composer. Various awards include “Up & Coming Musician of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a Grammy Award Nomination for ”Absolute Quintet” as Best Latin Jazz Album, and a Latin Grammy Nomination for “Best New Artist” in 2007. Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted numerous master classes, clinics, and workshops. Since 2005, he has served as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University. (includes text by the MacArthur Foundation – used with permission)
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