Arts Council brings jazz home to Derry

Derry

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December 31, 2009

Julie Huss

As we all prepare for the beginning of a new year, why not bring in 2010 with some great jazz sounds?

The Greater Derry Arts Council hosts a great new year start with a Homecoming Jazz Concert on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Adams Memorial Opera House, 29 West Broadway in downtown Derry.

Three top jazz artists from this area reunite on the Derry stage to bring their talents to the audience just in time for 2010.

Joining together on the Opera House stage are Londonderry native Robbyn Tongue on saxophone; Manchester's Christopher Burbank on trumpet, and Ben Geyer, formally of Nashua, on keyboards.

Burbank has performed throughout the Boston/New England area, including the Press Room in Portsmouth, the Seacoast Jazz Festival, Manchester Blues and Jazz Festival, Cratsbury Music Festival, UNH/Clark Terry Jazz Festival, the Lily Pad in Cambridge, Mass, and the New Hampshire Music Festival.

While studying at The Juilliard School, Chris was fortunate enough study with the great Eddie Henderson and shared the stage with such greats as Terence Blanchard, Maria Schneider, Kenny Barron, Carl Allen, Ben Wolfe, Rodney Jones, Ron Blake, Paquito D'Rivera, Benny Green, Gerald Wilson, Mulgrew Miller, and Benny Golson.

Tongue is a recipient of the 2008 John C. Borden award for "Outstanding Accomplishment in Jazz" from the Manhattan School of Music, and has become an active part of the New York City jazz scene.

The Robbyn Tongue Band, which draws inspiration from numerous genres, including funk, soul, pop, and modern jazz, has been performing Robbyn's original music at venues such as the Rockwood Music Hall and Parkside Lounge. In New York, Robbyn has performed with Valery Ponomarev's Big Band, the New York Classics Big Band, Manhattan School of Music's Concert Jazz Band, and MSM's Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra.

Leader of the Ben Geyer Sextet, which has performed in New York City, Boston, and recently completed a New England tour this past summer, Ben has a strong force in the jazz world according to his press information. This fall he has pre-released his sextet's debut album, The Narrative.

He has also played with trumpeter Stjepko Gut and studied with jazz legends Hal Galper and Jon Faddis, as well as concert pianist Ivan Davis. He holds a bachelor of music in Studio Music and Jazz, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from Purchase College, SUNY.

Anyone in this area who has had the pleasure of hearing any of these talented young musicians perform in years past should stop by the Opera House this weekend to catch up and to welcome them back home!

Tickets are $12 adults, $10 for seniors 65 and over, and students under 21.

Tickets are available at DerryArts.TicketLeap.com or by calling 437-0505.

For information about the jazz concert, contact Don Tongue at 264-4041, or e-mail him at nhtongues@comcast.net.

And don't forget to put the arts on your "To-Do" list for the coming year and support your local musicians, writers, dancers artists, and all who make the arts and entertainment world a wonderful place to be.

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Julie Huss is a staff reporter at the Derry News. Her arts/entertainment column appears weekly. To contact her, call 421-3847 or e-mail her at jhuss@derrynews.com.