January Brings Jazz to the Concord Community Music School

Concord, N.H.—Jazz up your January at the Concord Community Music School! The Music School’s January programs and events will feature a jazz-themed Bach’s Lunch concert, a Jazz Department student showcase, and the return of Jazz in January, the Music School’s cabaret-style evening event. The stellar lineup of jazz artists includes Music School faculty members and a special guest artist, singer and trumpet player Andrea Capozzoli.

On January 14, the jazz trio Bangkok Disco, featuring Music School Jazz Department faculty member Tom Robinson on piano, Music School alumnus Scott Kiefner on bass, and Jared Steer on drums, will give a Bach’s Lunch concert titled “Get in the Groove: Funk, Boogaloo, & Jazz.” Bach’s Lunch programs are free and open to the public, and take place from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. on the first and second Thursdays of each month in the Music School’s Recital Hall, 23 Wall Street, downtown Concord.

Jazz in January will return to the Music School with two shows on January 22. At this perennially popular jazz performance, audience will enjoy Latin, swing, and band originals while savoring food courtesy of Hermanos Cocina Mexicana.

The cabaret-style evening will feature the Musicians of Wall Street Jazz Ensemble, which includes Matt Langley on saxophone; David Tonkin on guitar; Tom Robinson on piano; Don Williams on bass; and Tim Gilmore on the drums. This year, Jazz in January welcomes guest artist Andrea Capozzoli, a Boston-area singer and trumpet player. Named 2004 “Female R&B Artist of the Year” at the New York International Music Festival, Andrea has gained great acclaim for her powerful, energetic performances, and is on the voice faculty at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Jazz in January takes place at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on January 22 in the Music School’s Community Room. Concerts often sell out, so get your tickets soon!

Admission for Jazz in January is $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. All events take place at the Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall Street in downtown Concord. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 603-228-1196 or visit www.ccmusicschool.org.

Capping off this month of jazz, Music School jazz students will showcase their instrumental and vocal talents in a free Jazz Department Recital at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26, in the Music School’s Recital Hall.

About the Speakers and Artists

Bach’s Lunch Concert

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.

Scott Kiefner is a bassist from Concord, NH. In 2012, he 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 regularly 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.

Jared Steer (percussion) is a well rounded performer who plays with a vast number of projects as a band member and freelance artist. His projects include Donkilo! (voted Best of NH Band in 2011), The Randy Roos’ Urethane, Ben Rudnick and Friends (numerous awards including several parents’ choice awards), Bangkok Disco, and many others. Jared has also has recorded on numerous albums with many of the region’s top artists. He has performed and or recorded with the likes of Shawn Monteiro (jazz vocalist), Randy Roos (guitar great), Philip Hamilton (Pat Metheny), Sayon Camara (master drummer from Guinea), Steve Rucker (Bee Gees), Steve Hunt (Alan Holdsworth). In addition to his busy performing schedule, Jared is a sought-after drum set/percussion instructor.

Jazz in January

Named 2004 “Female R&B Artist of the Year” at the New York International Music Festival, vocalist, trumpet player, pianist, and producer Andrea Capozzoli has quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with. From the driving funky energy of the track “Something About You Baby”, to the sultry gospel ballad “If I Only Knew”, Andrea’s album “So Real” has an eclectic appeal that transcends many genres. Originally from Pittsburgh, Andrea got an early start as a professional musician, studying vocals with the likes of Cheryl Bentyne (Manhattan Transfer), Kevin Mahogany, and Maureen Budway. Andrea has also opened for the likes of Steely Dan, Sister Sledge and Jessica Simpson, and shared the stage with Slide Hampton, Bernard Purdie, and Erik Kloss, among many others. She is on the faculty of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and recently had the honor of performing for President Barack Obama.

Matt Langley (saxophone) had a great band director at Rundlett Junior High School in Concord, NH who turned him on 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. Matt began his professional career directly out of high school, and his love of music has taken him from blues bars in Waterville, Maine to the famous Green Mill in Chicago, Illinois, and from the Boston Globe Jazz Festival to Sunday Services at the Second Congregational Church in Kittery, Maine. Matt has recorded extensively. Most recently with Sojoy, the five horn chord-less little big-band, whose self titled CD became available in December 2015 at sojoy.bandcamp.com. Matt performs with numerous groups in the area in addition to teaching at CCMS, the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, the Shaker Road School and at his home studio. Matt has also 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 and many others.

David Tonkin (guitar) has studied jazz guitar with Ed Cory, Jay Azzolina, and Randy Roos. Chair of the Music School’s Jazz 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. He 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.

Don Williams (bass) received a B.S. in Music Education at Plymouth State College, with further study in the M.F.A. program in music at the University of New Hampshire. He performs often with Raccoon Beach, Tonkin Toys, Plymouth State College Faculty Quartet, and the Loli Sterling Group. He has appeared at The Blue Note, Rainbow Room, and Saratoga Jazz Festival, and has performed with the Platters, Randy Brecker, Jack Wilkins, and Bob Guilotti. He is also on the faculty of SAU#48 and Plymouth State College.

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.

About the Concord Community Music School

Concord Community Music School is a full member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education and is recognized nationally for program innovation and management excellence. Welcoming adults, teens, and children of all musical abilities, 53 artist teachers reach more than 33,000 people in four states with educational programs, concerts, workshops, and community partnerships. CCMS has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hearst Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Jane’s Trust, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The Music School is the 2005 recipient of the NH Governor’s Arts Award for Cultural Access Leadership.
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