Gigs
The AJO
(click here for home page) is a 19-piece big band playing modern and classic
jazz. Performs in Amherst, Northampton (&
more) and wherever better big bands can be found. See Daily
Hampshire Gazette 2/8/96 (& more) . The AJO was
voted the Valley's best jazz group for 2002 and 2005 by the Valley Advocate readers!
See Valley Advocate 2002 and Valley Advocate 2005.
- Alternating Monday nights at the
Amherst Brewing Co.
- Spring 2008 8:30-11 pm
- 1/7; 1/21; 2/4; 2/18; 3/3; 4/7; 4/21; 5/ 5; 5/19
- Holyoke Community College Jazz Festival with sax man Ernie Watts
- Friday, Apr 25, 2008
- 8 pm, Leslie Phillips Forum
- Annual festival. The AJO has performed in the past festivals with Yusef Lateef, Peter Erskine, John Fedchock, Claudio Roditi, Lew Soloff, Chris Vidala, John Abercrombie, Rufus Reid, Herb Pomeroy and Jamie Baum
- Five saxes with variable rhythm sections.
- Bruce Krasin, as; Eddie Mari, as; Ken
Nigro, ts; David Pope, ts, Dick Poccia, bs.
- Performing the music of Lennie Niehaus,
Supersax and others.
- Performed at the White Nights Jazz
Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 1994 and at the Jazz
Philharmonic Hall.. To find out more about upcoming dates at
the hall, click on St.
Petersburg Press and you will get an English translation of this
newspaper. Check the Culture Section under Music Scene and Club
Guide. Cover charge was 20,000 rubles for foreigners.
Dick Poccia, reeds, Ken Forfia, piano, Dave Hobbs, bass, Bill Matthews, drums
- Performing an eclectic blend of jazz, blues, Latin-Jazz and standards including the music of:
- Count Basie, Bob Berg, Donald Byrd, Tadd Dameon, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Frank Foster, Gigi Gryce, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Mal Waldron, Tom Harrell, Thelonious Monk
- Paquito D'Rivera, Cesar Portillo de la Cruz, Tom Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal, Dave Samuels, Chucho Valdez
- Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter, George Gershwin , Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Van Heusen, Vincent Youmans, Victor Young
- and others
The Backroom at Schwemm's, Amherst College Student Center
- Mar. 4, Mar 13 (with Ann Maggs) and Apr. 8, 2008 (with Rob Faulkner, tp)
- 9:00-10:30 pm
- EJQ
North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens: Benefit
- Saturday May.10
- 8:00 pm
- 135 Russell ST., Hadley, MA
- EJQ
- April 24, 25, 26, May 1, 2, 3, 2008
- 7:30 pm
- Musicians, Jon Weeks, Dominic Poccia, Kevin Burns, Dona Gouger, Areil Suzuki, Gail Weirick, Yasu Suzuki, Jay Leonard
Some Recordings
- Lightnin',
The Valley Big Band, Long View Records (1982).
- Jeff Holmes Big Band Live in Russia, Jeff Holmes Big Band, Signature Records (1992).
- You've Got That Look: Jim Porcella and the
Jeff Holmes Big Band with Dick Johnson Live at the El Morocco,
Jeff Holmes Big Band, Signature Records (1994).
- Continuum,
Banafshe Larijani, Kairos (1998).
- An Imperfect Storm, The Large Ensemble Compositions of Andy Jaffe, MMC Recordings (2004).
Click the sax for a sample from An Imperfect Storm: I play the baritone sax backup line to Kitty Kathryn's vocal Straighten Up and Fly Right (Jaffe-Lowe Big Band).
Click the next sax for a sample from the HCC Amherst Jazz Orchestra Concert with Peter Erskine on his composition Song for Jaco. I play the bari solo, Steve Sontag on flugelhorn, Erskine on drums.
Some Links
Remember-
"Be-Bop
Lives!" -Dexter Gordon
