BOSTON -- From Tuesday, April 15 through Friday, April 18, Berklee College of Music's Guitar Department will present Guitar Week 2003, an annual series of concerts and clinics featuring Berklee's renowned faculty and some of the college's top guitar students. All events are open to the public, and most events are free, except for nightly concerts in the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center. Tickets for all BPC evening concerts are $5, $2 for seniors, and are available at the box office, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston (617-747-2261).
Tuesday, April 15
Guitar Week 2003 kicks off Tuesday, April 15 with a free creative improvisation clinic by faculty guitarist Wayne Krantz at 1 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall, 921 Boylston Street, Boston. Berklee alum Krantz is a former sideman with Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, and others, and also leads the New York band Signals with bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Keith Carlock. Krantz has recorded with Steely Dan, Victor Bailey and Michael Brecker, Carla Bley Sextet, Billy Cobham, Leni Stern, Michael Formanek, and Signals. Also on Tuesday in the David Friend Recital Hall, The Ben Sher Group will present a free recital of contemporary Brazilian music from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Sher has performed at numerous jazz festivals, including Montreaux, The North Sea, Istanbul, Marsala, and Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, and has also appeared with the Brazilian jazz group Tudo Bem at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York.
Tuesday night at 8:15 p.m., faculty guitarist Jim Kelly presents a jazz/rock concert at the Berklee Performance Center ($5). Also a Berklee alumnus, Kelly is one of Berklee's leading international clinicians. Kelly has authored several Guitar Workshop with Jim Kelly DVDs and books/CDs on Berklee Press, available at www.berkleemusic.com, and his recordings include The Sled Dogs, The Music of Jim Kelly (RAM Records), and Duke Robillard's Swing.
Wednesday, April 16
Wednesday's events begin with a 1 p.m. blues concepts clinic in the David Friend Recital Hall by faculty guitarist Mike Williams. Also a Berklee alum, Williams has toured the United States and Canada with Mighty Sam McClain, and performed and recorded with 1995 W.C. Handy Award nominee, vocalist Michelle Willson. From 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall, John Wilkins will perform in a classic jazz recital. A Berklee alum, Wilkins has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Pops Jazz Ensemble, Clark Terry, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, under director Gunther Schuller. His recordings include the Kenny Hadley Big Band with Rebecca Parris and the Rick Stepton Quartet.
Wednesday evening at 8:15 p.m., The Abby & Norm Group, featuring faculty guitarists Abigail Aronson and Norm Zocher, will perform a concert at the Berklee Performance Center ($5). The Abby & Norm Group, which includes faculty pianist Mark Shilansky and drummer Brooke Sofferman, will perform songs from the group's new release Melodic Miner's Daughter, a follow-up to their critically acclaimed first CD The Book of Norman.
Thursday, April 17
At 1 p.m. Thursday, the Back Bay Guitar Trio, a classical guitar chamber group directed by Dave Newsam, will present a recital in the David Friend Recital Hall. A Berklee alum, Newsam has performed with Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, Alan Dawson, Joe Williams, Buddy DeFranco, and Dave McKenna, and is co-author of Making Money Teaching Music, published by Writer's Digest Books. From 7:30 to 8:45 p.m., faculty guitarist Joe Musella will perform a free rock concert with his group in the David Friend Recital Hall. Another Berklee alum, Musella leads a band that performs throughout New England.
Thursday evening's event at the Berklee Performance Center ($5) will be a jazz and blues guitar showcase, directed by Garrison Fewell and Curt Shumate, featuring some of Berklee's finest student guitarists, including Nate Telow, Emanuelle Vourakis, Andy Bianco, Benedict Reidenbach, as well as Paul Vinton, who will perform in May with the Berklee Scholarship Jazz Ensemble directed by Dave Santoro at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club.
Friday, April 18
On Friday, faculty guitarist Joe Stump will present a rock improvisation clinic at 1 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall. Berklee alumnus Stump is renowned among guitar aficionados worldwide for his blistering style and dazzling technique, and his Shred Metal Chop Building DVD is available at www.berkleemusic.com. He has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, touring with and opening for, among others, Steve Vai, Dokken, and Robin Trower. From 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall, The David Tronzo Group will perform a Contemporary slide guitar recital. Faculty guitarist Tronzo has performed with the Lounge Lizards, Sex Mob, John Hiatt, and the Tronzo Trio. His many recordings include the Lounge Lizards, John Cale, David Sanborn, and Mike Manieri.
Also, all day Friday in Rooms 521 and 523, 921 Boylston Street, Professor Jon Damian presents the annual Buddy System Marathon, featuring performances by Berklee students and faculty, plus the GARAGE sale, which benefits future Berklee scholarships. Damian has performed with Boston Symphony Orchestra, American Repertory Theater, Boston Opera Company, Boston Pops Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, Howard McGee, Jimmy Giuffre, Gunther Schuller, Bill Frisell, Luciano Pavarotti, and Sheila Jordan. His recordings include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Collage, Nova, Berklee's Jazz in the Classroom series, Bill Frisell, Wolf Soup, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Damian is a past recipient of Pro Arts Consortium Public Service Award.
On Friday evening, Berklee's Guitar Week 2003 will climax with a rock and pop guitar student showcase at the Berklee Performance Center ($5). Directed by Jon Finn and Lauren Passarelli, the featured students include Mack Price, Ethan Brosh, Dan Miller, and Lenny Juatco.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
