Jazz-Fusion at the Kate with Special EFX All-Stars February 14

Press release

OLD SAYBROOK, CT - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate”, welcomes jazz-
fusion band Special EFX All-Stars featuring Chieli Minucci, Karen Briggs, Brian Bromberg, Lao
Tizer, and Joel Rosenblatt on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at 7:30 pm.

Guitarist, composer, producer, and arranger Chieli Minucci is the longtime leader of the Grammy-nominated jazz-fusion group Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci, a major force on the jazz and world music scene for forty years. Chieli has just released two brand new projects – the solo, acoustic “Someone’s Singing”, as well as his 40th anniversary Special EFX CD, “Twenty Twenty 2.”

Although renowned in the jazz and pop world, Chieli is also a gifted television and film composer. He has won three Emmy Awards and been nominated ten times for his eclectic compositional work. His music can also be heard on the soundtracks of the films “Bowfinger,” “Legally Blonde,” “Panic,” and others.

Karen Briggs, also known as the "Lady in Red", was born in Manhattan to a family of musicians and took up the violin at age 12 and committed to playing professionally at age 15. Best known for spending thirteen years on tour with contemporary instrumental musician Yanni, Briggs received the "Lady in Red" moniker while featuring as a soloist on Yanni's Live at the Acropolis tour. Briggs has performed at such locations as Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has performed or collaborated with Dave Grusin, Diana Ross, the Wu Tang Clan, En Vogue, and Chaka Khan.

Brian Bromberg is one of the few bassists to master the tapping technique made famous by guitarists Stanley Jordan and Eddie Van Halen, sometimes sounding like three bassists at once during his often-thunderous solos. He has long been known as one of the world’s most versatile acoustic and electric bassists, capable of playing practically any style, whether it be straight-ahead jazz, funk, rock fusion, or pop. By the time he was 19, he was part of the legendary Stan Getz group. Besides decades as a band leader on his own, Bromberg has been a valuable side man with many, including Horace Silver, Monty Alexander, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, many others.

Keyboardist Lao Tizer is one of today’s rising stars of the world-fusion genre. Tizer’s original music has spurred comparisons of a modern twist to the 1970s and early 1980s heyday of jazz-fusion, when trailblazing ensembles like Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report set the aesthetic standard. Lao’s music has a multi-genre, multi-national appeal and his group, The Lao Tizer Band, has toured the USA and the world while being nominated “Jazz Group of the Year.”

Joel Rosenblatt is a world-renowned drummer and producer. He has performed and recorded with such greats as: Spyro Gyra, Lee Ritenour, Freddy Jackson, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton. Eileen Ivers, Michel Camilo, Chick Corea, Steps Ahead, Paquito d Rivera, Manhattan Transfer, Randy Brecker, Ken Navarro, Bill Evans and many more. Having toured the world many times over, Joel brings an international musical awareness to the music. Currently the owner and main engineer at world class Cliff Sound Productions, Joel is also actively involved in producing and cultivating new artists.

For information and tickets, visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.