Aardvark Jazztet at Ocean Park Music Festival at Ocean Park Temple

The Aardvark Jazztet (a six-piece ensemble drawn from the legendary Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Mark Harvey, Music Director) will present Through the Jazz Decades, an exhilarating tour from New Orleans to the Great American Songbook, from Miles Davis to Mark Harvey. The show will include the New Orleans staple Down by the Riverside, the Miles Davis modal masterpiece All Blues, and Mark Harvey's original compositions (“captivating, highly recommended” -Jazz Improv), plus favorites by George Gershwin, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and more. Dr. Harvey, who teaches jazz history at MIT and lectures widely on American music, will be the tour guide through this panoramic jazz soundscape. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, now in its 41st season, has been called “stunning” (Billboard.com), “brilliant” (CultureJazz.France), and “beyond category” (Downbeat). Information: (207) 934-9068....

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The Aardvark Jazztet (a six-piece ensemble drawn from the legendary Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Mark Harvey, Music Director) will present Through the Jazz Decades, an exhilarating tour from New Orleans to the Great American Songbook, from Miles Davis to Mark Harvey. The show will include the New Orleans staple Down by the Riverside, the Miles Davis modal masterpiece All Blues, and Mark Harvey's original compositions (“captivating, highly recommended” -Jazz Improv), plus favorites by George Gershwin, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and more. Dr. Harvey, who teaches jazz history at MIT and lectures widely on American music, will be the tour guide through this panoramic jazz soundscape. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, now in its 41st season, has been called “stunning” (Billboard.com), “brilliant” (CultureJazz.France), and “beyond category” (Downbeat). Information: (207) 934-9068.

Members of the Jazztet (Mark Harvey, trumpet and music director; Arni Cheatham, saxophones; Peter H. Bloom, flutes and saxophones; John Funkhouser, piano; Jesse Williams, string bass; Harry Wellott, drums) have impressive credentials. Trumpeter-composer and music director Mark Harvey has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Arista/Novus) and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, and others. A winner of awards from ASCAP, the National Endowment, and Meet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies at MIT.

Other members of the Aardvark Jazztet are saxophonist Arni Cheatham (who has appeared with such notables as Jimmy Giuffre, Herb Pomeroy, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk); Peter H. Bloom, flutes/saxophones (who tours North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand; has performed with Charles Neville, Sheila Jordan, MIT Jazz Festival, others; and appears on 40 jazz and classical CDs); John Funkhouser, piano (who has appeared with Luciana Souza, Yoron Israel, Laszlo Gardony, Stan Strickland, and others); Jesse Williams, string bass (who has played with Al Kooper, Duke Robillard and others, and was nominated for a 2006 Grammy for his playing on Duke’s Guitar Grooverama); and drummer Harry Wellott, who studied with percussion master Elvin Jones has performed with Jaki Byard, Jay Clayton, and teenage piano prodigy Matt Savage, among others.

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