Thanks to a generous grant from the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Jazz Center will be presenting the Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble, a fifteen-piece big band who will perform in two educational concerts and offer two jazz clinics. These concerts and clinics will be the first opportunity for many area youth to experience live music from a group that has authentic, deep roots in the lineage of jazz. The members of this group have performed and recorded in all styles including dixie-land, swing, bebop, Latin and Free, and have been affiliated with names as grand as Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Doc Cheatham, Wille “The Lion" Smith, Archie Shepp and even Bob Dylan.
The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (BRE) will be hosted by Leland and Gray High School on Thursday, March 4th and at Kurn Hattin School on Friday, March 5th. They will travel to the Barre-Montpelier are next week. This is an exciting opportunity for these students to connect directly with the jazz story. In Southern Vermont a combined total of eight school groups will enjoy a concert that includes a demonstration of various jazz styles and numerous instruments including the vibraphone.
The BRE hails from Brooklyn, New York where they have gained accolades performing and educating today's youth about the grand history of jazz in the African-American tradition. They have been proclaimed cultural ambassadors by the president of the Borough of Brooklyn and have working relationships with the International Association of Jazz Educators, The Billie Holiday Theatre, The New Orleans Heritage Foundation and many other esteemed organizations. The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (BRE) is made up of professional musicians who come together to teach, tour and record. They are one of the few large ensembles that have taken on as their prime mission to awaken the general public to the vital energy of jazz. To the BRE, jazz is a living entity that gets its nourishment by being shared with others. Not only does this sustain the older jazz compositions upon which the music is based, but it also promotes enhanced creativity, a respect for older musicians and styles, and fosters! an appreciation for African-American culture. The BRE present themselves as an example of living history - they perform a wide range of styles that have an old-time edge while at the same time a sense of musical sophistication and a nurturing sensibility for the future.
Fronting the group is vocal diva, Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch who is comfortable singing with her own jazz trio, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, or the world renowned Kronos Quartet. The BRE's musical director is drummer, Wade Barnes who has performed with Doc Cheatham, George Coleman, Benny Powell, Archie Shepp, John Faddis, Reggie Workman, Howard McGhee and many others. Probably the most noteworthy member of the BRE is elder-statesman, Leonard Gaskin, who began his career in 1943 performing bebop with those who originated the style. He has performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Dillespie, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Wille “The Lion" Smith, and many others. Mr. Gaskin is also an acknowledged historian who is currently working with the Smithsonian Institute.
Under the auspices of Vermont College and the Vermont Arts Council, the BRE has traveled to Vermont several times in past years. Their interest in bringing their music to other parts of the state and the generosity of several organizations will result in their second visit to Southern Vermont. One of the most stimulating parts of the BRE's visit to this area last October was a heated conversation with members of Tom Connor's social studies class at Leland and Gray High School. At this class the BRE spoke first hand of their experiences with racial oppression. Here, music became a forum that led to an honest, direct discussion that opened the students to a completely new way of looking at a fundamental crisis in our society. Leland and Gray has asked the BRE to participate again; this time the “Journey East" class is seeking to learn about important elements of jazz history and culture. The Journey East class will be traveling to China to spend six weeks touring in order to perform an original work based on the history of jazz. Matt Martyn and Annie Landenberger were the catalysts for this year
The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (BRE) will be hosted by Leland and Gray High School on Thursday, March 4th and at Kurn Hattin School on Friday, March 5th. They will travel to the Barre-Montpelier are next week. This is an exciting opportunity for these students to connect directly with the jazz story. In Southern Vermont a combined total of eight school groups will enjoy a concert that includes a demonstration of various jazz styles and numerous instruments including the vibraphone.
The BRE hails from Brooklyn, New York where they have gained accolades performing and educating today's youth about the grand history of jazz in the African-American tradition. They have been proclaimed cultural ambassadors by the president of the Borough of Brooklyn and have working relationships with the International Association of Jazz Educators, The Billie Holiday Theatre, The New Orleans Heritage Foundation and many other esteemed organizations. The Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble (BRE) is made up of professional musicians who come together to teach, tour and record. They are one of the few large ensembles that have taken on as their prime mission to awaken the general public to the vital energy of jazz. To the BRE, jazz is a living entity that gets its nourishment by being shared with others. Not only does this sustain the older jazz compositions upon which the music is based, but it also promotes enhanced creativity, a respect for older musicians and styles, and fosters! an appreciation for African-American culture. The BRE present themselves as an example of living history - they perform a wide range of styles that have an old-time edge while at the same time a sense of musical sophistication and a nurturing sensibility for the future.
Fronting the group is vocal diva, Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch who is comfortable singing with her own jazz trio, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, or the world renowned Kronos Quartet. The BRE's musical director is drummer, Wade Barnes who has performed with Doc Cheatham, George Coleman, Benny Powell, Archie Shepp, John Faddis, Reggie Workman, Howard McGhee and many others. Probably the most noteworthy member of the BRE is elder-statesman, Leonard Gaskin, who began his career in 1943 performing bebop with those who originated the style. He has performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Dillespie, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Wille “The Lion" Smith, and many others. Mr. Gaskin is also an acknowledged historian who is currently working with the Smithsonian Institute.
Under the auspices of Vermont College and the Vermont Arts Council, the BRE has traveled to Vermont several times in past years. Their interest in bringing their music to other parts of the state and the generosity of several organizations will result in their second visit to Southern Vermont. One of the most stimulating parts of the BRE's visit to this area last October was a heated conversation with members of Tom Connor's social studies class at Leland and Gray High School. At this class the BRE spoke first hand of their experiences with racial oppression. Here, music became a forum that led to an honest, direct discussion that opened the students to a completely new way of looking at a fundamental crisis in our society. Leland and Gray has asked the BRE to participate again; this time the “Journey East" class is seeking to learn about important elements of jazz history and culture. The Journey East class will be traveling to China to spend six weeks touring in order to perform an original work based on the history of jazz. Matt Martyn and Annie Landenberger were the catalysts for this year
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