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Jazz Band Master Class And Capital City Voices At Twins

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Jazz Band Masterclass & Capital City Voices: The Region’s Up-and-Coming Jazz Artists Appear in Concert at Twins Jazz

On Thursday November 14, jazz lovers can enjoy outstanding jazz compositions performed by three different ensembles under the direction of two of the region’s best known artist/educators: saxophonist/composer Jeff Antoniuk and pianist Wayne Wilentz.

The featured musicians and vocalists hail from all parts of the Washington, D.C. region. Jazz Band Masterclass will perform some well-loved standards as well as some newer and perhaps edgier tunes. The set will include “The Jody Grind” by the great pianist Horace Silver—a funky, bluesy favorite with plenty of boogaloo groove, and “Nothing Personal,” a modern composition by the late great Don Grolnick, made famous by saxophonist Michael Brecker on his landmark first solo CD. A burner!

The Capital City Voices Jazz Choir set will include “Centerpiece,” a 1958 standard composed by trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison with lyrics by jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks. The tune was made famous by the Lambert, Hendricks and Ross vocal jazz group, as well as by many others. Also on the program is “Sister Sadie,” written in 1959 by Horace Silver and first recorded for his 1959 Blue Note album, Blowin' the Blues Away.

Jazz Band Masterclass groups were created by Jeff Antoniuk to help gifted adult musicians get “out of the basement and onto the bandstand." A former Towson University jazz professor with a master’s degree in jazz performance and West African ethnomusicology from University of North Texas, Antoniuk saw something missing in the way jazz was taught. Because jazz is meant to be played in combos, Antoniuk developed programs providing a combo learning experience. In the past ten years, 14 separate combos have been created in the District and Maryland led by Antoniuk, bassist Amy Shook, and pianist Fred Hughes. (See the Jazz Band Masterclass Page at jeffantoniuk.com for more.) The musicians performing in this concert have reached a semi-professional level and some have even moved on to doing their own gigs. The audience will find them to be talented, well trained, and ready to groove.

Jazz choir director Wayne Wilentz has an illustrious history in jazz performance and composition. As a pianist, he has played with such famous R&B acts as The Coasters, The Shirelles, The Marvellettes, and Jimmy Norman. Since 1989, when he moved here from his native New York City, Wilentz has been performing jazz and Brazilian music in the D.C. area. Currently, Wilentz is performing regularly with “Soul Brasil”, a group of the DC area’s best Brazilian musicians, and with the Jazz/Soul trio “Swinging in Tongues.” He has released two albums that include his originals: Break of Dawn, featuring four of DC's finest jazz vocalists, and Recordar É Viver. Writing in Bossa Magazine, Fred Bouchard says, “Wilentz has good command of the structures...exhibits great taste in material, and heads off on interesting linear routes.” Wilentz teaches piano and voice at both the Washington Conservatory of Music and The Jazz Workshop.

The Capital City Voices jazz choir features singers aged 16 and older, including both gifted amateurs and seasoned performers. For more information on the jazz choir, see capitalcityvoices.com

The concert takes place from 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Admission is $15. Twins Jazz is located at 1344 U Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202-234-0072). For reservations visit twinsjazz.com

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