Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Mark Harvey Music Director at Claremont Opera House

Called “stunning” (Billboard.com), “brilliant” (CultureJazz.France) and “beyond category” (Downbeat), the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is one of the longest-running large jazz ensembles in the world. Led by founder/music director Mark Harvey, the legendary band will be featured in the 250th Anniversary Celebration of the City of Claremont New Hampshire on October 26, 2014 at 4:00 pm at the Claremont Opera House. Information: 802-738-0022

Aardvark’s show, called Big Band Panorama: Swing Era Classics to Modern Gems, is a tribute to the long tradition of jazz in Claremont. The city was a New Hampshire mainstay for touring bands in the Swing Era. Pieces like Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade and Duke Ellington's I'm Beginning to See the Light will recall visits by those luminaries. Aardvark will evoke the modern era with Dizzy Gillespie's rhythmically infectious Manteca and selections from the exhilarating Ellington-Strayhorn Far East Suite. The grand finale will be the world premiere of Mark Harvey’s captivating Claremont Suite, a kaleidoscopic update of the jazz spectrum, commissioned by the City of Claremont especially for this occasion, to be performed by Aardvark and the Claremont Community Jazz Band....

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Called “stunning” (Billboard.com), “brilliant” (CultureJazz.France) and “beyond category” (Downbeat), the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is one of the longest-running large jazz ensembles in the world. Led by founder/music director Mark Harvey, the legendary band will be featured in the 250th Anniversary Celebration of the City of Claremont New Hampshire on October 26, 2014 at 4:00 pm at the Claremont Opera House. Information: 802-738-0022

Aardvark’s show, called Big Band Panorama: Swing Era Classics to Modern Gems, is a tribute to the long tradition of jazz in Claremont. The city was a New Hampshire mainstay for touring bands in the Swing Era. Pieces like Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade and Duke Ellington's I'm Beginning to See the Light will recall visits by those luminaries. Aardvark will evoke the modern era with Dizzy Gillespie's rhythmically infectious Manteca and selections from the exhilarating Ellington-Strayhorn Far East Suite. The grand finale will be the world premiere of Mark Harvey’s captivating Claremont Suite, a kaleidoscopic update of the jazz spectrum, commissioned by the City of Claremont especially for this occasion, to be performed by Aardvark and the Claremont Community Jazz Band.

Founded in 1973, Aardvark has been a force in the international jazz scene for more than 40 years, performing widely in concert halls, festivals, clubs, colleges and universities, and other venues. The band has premiered more than 150 works for jazz orchestra and has released 12 CDs, including 7 discs on Leo Records, one of the world’s leading adventurous music labels. Aardvark’s latest CD, Impressions is now available in Europe, with the North American release set for October 2, 2014 at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston. Aardvark has been praised for “exuberance, imagination and sheer brio,” (Jazz Review, UK) and acclaimed for “lush sonorities and a saxophonic blend worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections.” (JazzTimes).

Guest artists who have appeared with Aardvark include jazz luminaries Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Lewis Porter, Vinny Golia, Dominique Eade, Jay Clayton, Paul Lovens, Rajesh Mehta, Matt Savage and Walter Thompson.

Aardvark founder and music director Mark Harvey has performed as trumpeter in the U.S., Mexico and Europe; has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Arista/Novus); and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, Joe Carroll, Kenny Dorham and others. A world-renowned composer, he has received awards and commissions from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 15th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert, the MIT Wind Ensemble and Meet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, among others. Commissions have featured such notables as Joe Lovano, Steve Turre, Herb Pomeroy and Ran Blake. Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies and composition at MIT.

Aardvark is: Arni Cheatham, Peter Bloom, Phil Scarff, Chris Rakowski, Dan Zupan/saxes & woodwinds; K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass/trumpets; Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser/trombones; Jeff Marsanskis, Bill Lowe/bass trombones, tuba; Richard Nelson/guitar; John Funkhouser/string bass; Harry Wellott/drums; Jerry Edwards & Grace Hughes, vocalists; Mark Harvey/trumpet, music director. Aardvark is managed exclusively by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, director. Telephone: 1-888-887-7169. Visit: www.aardvarkjazz.com

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