Uplifting Musical Event with Legendary Don Byron On Saturday July 27th; part of the Huntington Summer Arts Festival: Meet the Artist Series
(HUNTINGTON, NY) On Saturday July 27th, legendary clarinetist Don Byron will bring his newest project “Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet” to the Garden of Blessings at St. John’s Episcopal Church of Huntington. This free public performance is part of the Huntington Summer Arts Festival: Meet the Artist Series. Following the 1:30pm performance there will be a “meet-and-greet” for audience members to interact with Mr. Byron.
To RSVP for this event or for any inquiries, please call (631) 271-8423.
Launched in the spring of 2009, Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet had its world premiere at the Jazz Standard in New York. This new effort has been receiving enthusiastic praise from European and US audiences and critics alike. A performance at England’s Cheltenham Festival was described by BBC critic Kevin Le Gendre in glowing terms: “Fantastic gig! Anytime [Byron] does a new project he always explores the subject very deeply. He’s not just a jazz musician doing gospel, he is somebody who is really engaging with the subject matter as well as trying to absorb what’s in those lyrics by Thomas A. Dorsey, these very moving songs about his relationship with God and just human relationships as well and that really comes across in the gig. It is a very moving experience listening to it.”
Don Byron thrives as the iconoclastic wild card of jazz, an intrepid reed musician who always finds exhilarating and unexpected avenues to explore. The New Gospel Quintet is a passionate, spiritually charged tribute to gospel legend Thomas A. Dorsey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Byron says, “Dorsey’s vision of blending modern songwriting, old time religious practices and elements of low down blues prevailed despite early resistance. It ultimately became a uniting element of African American culture, even more so than Black dance music, which is regional in its appeal. Black religious music is a very personal thing to me, as much if not more than any other style I have researched and performed in the past. As much as I was fascinated by other legends I have explored like Duke Ellington and Stravinsky, I feel a deep spiritual connection to Gospel that transcends just about everything else. This project coincides with a growth in my own faith and is for me a religious expression.”
Following the afternoon meet-and-greet, Byron will be joined by a stellar group of musicians to give a full evening performance at 8:30 PM on the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park, for the Huntington Summer Arts Festival. The New Gospel Quintet will feature Pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Brian Jones, drummer Pheeroan akLaff, and special guest vocalist Gordon Chambers. Chambers is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and record producer who has written songs for over 75 recording artists including Beyoncé Knowles, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Brandy, Trey Songz, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, Usher, Marc Anthony, Jamie Foxx and many more.
St. John’s Episcopal Church of Huntington is located at 12 Prospect Street, Huntington NY. Meet the Artist Series is part of the Huntington Summer Arts Festival.
To RSVP or for any questions regarding these free events, please call 631-271-8423 or email info@huntingtonarts.org
The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is presented by the Town of Huntington and produced by the Huntington Arts Council, with Canon, U.S.A. as a lead sponsor. Visit huntingtonarts.org for more information.
