Enjoy Jazz In January Show On Friday

From the Concord Community Music School: Get in a new groove with the popular annual “Jazz in January,” Friday, January 26, at 7:30pm, at Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall Street in downtown Concord, NH. A stellar lineup of jazz artists from the Music School faculty, along with guest artist Steve Roy, present a perennially popular evening of jazz, including Latin, swing, and band originals, with plenty of musical surprises. Since 2002, Hermanos Cocina Mexicana has generously served audience members a delicious buffet, included in the price of admission.

The Musicians of Wall Street Jazz Ensemble includes David Tonkin on guitar, Scott Kiefner on bass, Matt Langley on saxophone, Tom Robinson on piano, and Tim Gilmore on drums. Special guest artist Steve Roy of Eliot, Maine, brings a distinctive instrumentation (bass, mandolin, and violin) and unique blend of bluegrass, folk, and even heavy metal to this jazz grouping. Roy is known as both a jazz and a folk musician on New Hampshire’s seacoast and in the Music School community, and these six musicians combined will make for a fun and exciting evening of improvisational jazz.

Admission for Jazz in January is $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 603-228-1196 or visit here.

Jazz in January is sponsored by M. Elaine Tefft in memory of Stanton E. Tefft and Wendy A. Tefft.

About the Artists

Steve Roy is a multi-instrumentalist from Eliot, Maine, who plays and teaches upright bass, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and ukulele. He is fluent in a vast array of musical styles, including bluegrass, jazz, folk, rock, jam, country, old time, heavy metal, etc. As a sideman, he has toured nationally and internationally with acts such as Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, John Reischman and the Taterbugs, Molly Tuttle, Joe K. Walsh, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Joy Kills Sorrow, Hit and Run Bluegrass, and many others. Locally, he is well known for his work with groups such as Jazzputin and the Jug Skunks, Steve and Dave Play Dead, Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection, The Stowaways, High Range, The Mill City Ramblers, Spinal Tarp, and countless others. Bluegrass Now Magazine calls Steve a “devastating weapon.” He is currently a faculty member at 317 Main and at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center in Portsmouth, NH. He has taught at bluegrass camps and workshops throughout the USA and Canada, including Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp (TN), Nimblefingers Old Time & Bluegrass Workshops in British Columbia, and many others. Steve is also an archaeologist with field experience in Central America and New England.

Matt Langley (saxophone) had a great band director at Rundlett Junior High School in Concord, NH that opened the doors to the paradoxical joy of improvisation at an early age. Thus began a largely self-guided musical journey that has also included a brief period of lessons with saxophonist Stan Strickland, an Aebersold Jazz Camp encounter with "Blue Lou" Marini and David Baker and a visit to UNH's Summer Youth Music School. Since beginning his professional career directly out of high school, Matt's love of music has taken him from blues bars in Waterville, Maine to the famous Green Mill in Chicago, Illinois. From the Boston Globe Jazz Festival to Sunday Services at the Second Congregational Church in Kittery, Maine. Matt has recorded extensively with the Charlie Kolhlhase Quintet, with his own group Color, with pianist Pandelis Karayorgis' System of 5, with Pianist Ted Brancato whose CD The Next Step features Matt extensively on Soprano and Tenor Saxophone. Ted and Matt toured the Pacific Northwest in the Fall of 2013 performing music from the CD in concert halls, colleges and night clubs with some of the finest jazz musicians from the Seattle area. Recent recordings include Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales’ self-titled soul CD and, in August of 2016, Mike Effenberger’s Weird Turn Pro for winter or spring 2017 release. Matt has collaborated with visual jazz artist Roger Goldenberg on the audio visual feast, in Ears 'n Eyes since 2011, producing multiple live shows often involving large ensembles and compositions created specifically for each event. Currently Matt performs with numerous groups in the New England area as well as teaching saxophone, improvisation and coaching ensembles at Concord Community Music School, the Portsmouth NH Music and Arts Center, the Shaker Road School in Concord, NH and at his home studio in Eliot, Maine. Matt has shared the stage or recording studio with Ron Carter, Richie Cole, Fred Hersch, John Tchicai, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Chris Wood, Dave Fuzinski, Matt Wilson, Charlie Kohlhase, Tiger Okoshi, Roswell Rudd, Gene MacDaniels, Dave Douglas and many others.

David Tonkin (guitar) has studied jazz guitar with Ed Cory, Jay Azzolina, and Randy Roos. Jazz coordinator for the Music School’s folk, jazz, and popular music department, he has worked with the NH Artists in the Schools Program, led workshops at the Lincoln Center Institute at Dartmouth College, and taught at UNH Manchester. Tonkin performs throughout New England as a soloist, studio musician, and as a member of Future Memory. He is also the founder of the David Tonkin Group and Tonkin Toys. Tonkin performed at the well-known New York City jazz club, The Blue Note, and at the Saratoga Jazz Festival. An active composer, his work has been heard on radio and television throughout the area.

Scott Kiefner (bass) graduated from McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal, QC, where he studied with Fraser Hollins and Chris McCann. In the summer of 2013, he was selected to attend the School for Improvisational Music Intensive workshop in New York City. He has since returned to New England, where he performs as an in-demand bass player with Jonathan Lorentz, Jim Dozet, Chris Klaxton, and many others. He began his musical life in Music & Movement at the Music School, continuing on to study piano until he discovered the bass. He studied bass with Don Williams at the Music School and was a member of the Scholarship Jazz Ensemble.

Tom Robinson (piano) received his B.M. in Jazz Studies from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He studied saxophone with Michael Cox and piano with Mark Flugge and Joe Hunter. He performs throughout New England with several groups. He has been a featured artist at the Catamount Arts Center and Mountaintop Music Center. He recorded a collaborative CD with Tim Gilmore and John Hunter in 2006 called Skylight. Tom teaches at the Concord Community Music School and St. Paul's School as well as at his home studio. Tom is currently involved in several projects including Donkilo and Bangkok Disco.

Tim Gilmore (percussion) received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Ed/Music from Salem State College and studied further in composition and performance programs at Berklee College of Music. He is a member of the Harry Skoler Jazz Quartet with Brownstone Recording Artists and has performed with such groups as the Cape Ann Symphony, the Symphony by the Sea, the Paul Madore Chorale, the Boston Percussion Ensemble and the Cambridge Harmonic Orchestra. He has also performed with Lester Bowie, Marion McPartland, Tower of Power, Tiger Okoshi, and Warren Vache. Some of his recordings include A Work of Heart, Reflections on the Art of Swing, and Conversations in the Language of Jazz on Brownstone Records.

Photos courtesy of the Concord Community Music School