October 21, 2009
Contact: Sara R. Leonard
Concert and Production Manager
413/542-2195

AMHERST, Mass. – Faultlines: Mapping Jazz in the 21st Century, the yearlong Amherst College music festival, continues with a performance workshop by Tyshawn Sorey, an acclaimed percussionist, pianist, trombonist and composer, from 2 to 3:20 p.m. in Room 7 of the Arms Music Center on the college’s campus Thursday, Nov. 19. The workshop is free of charge and open to the public.

Sorey, who is just 29 years old, is already a vital voice in New York City’s jazz and creative music scene. Self-taught in composition, piano, trombone and percussion, he has worked with a number of chamber ensembles and collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Ray Anderson and Wadada Leo Smith. Along with Steve Lehman and Vijay Iyer, he also participates in the trio Fieldwork, whose recent album Door received much critical praise. Equally impressive is his solo career; his debut release “That/Not” (Firehouse 12) intrigued many critics and became one of 2007’s most critically acclaimed recordings. “While most young drummers are walking in the footsteps of the elders and the influences of the mainstream,” wrote All About Jazz senior contributor Mark F. Turner, “Sorey thrives on the outside, composing and performing free improvised music, leading experimental groups such as Oblique, or doing stints with progressives like Dave Douglas, Mark Helias and Steve Coleman.”

Sorey is on the faculty of Brooklyn’s School of Improvisational Music and the Jazz and Contemporary Music Department at The New School for Social Research. He has received grants and commissions from the Van Lier Fellowship and Roulette Intermedium, and has been nominated “Up and Coming Artist” and “Drummer of the Year” from the Jazz Journalists Association and “Rising Star Artist” and “Rising Star Drummer” from Downbeat magazine. He will follow his workshop with an evening performance as part of the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center’s Solos and Duos Concert Series at 8 p.m.

Faultlines events will include featured concerts, performance workshops, and talks, all free and open to the public, and all guaranteed to generate passionate debate about the nature of jazz and its relationship to American cultural identity.  The festival is made possible through the generous support of the Amherst College Arts Series Fund, Amherst College Department of Music, Amherst College Mead Art Museum, and UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center’s Solos and Duos Concert Series.

For more information about Sorey’s performance workshop or any other events associated with Faultlines: Mapping Jazz in the 21st Century, visit the festival website at www.amherst.edu/faultlines.

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