218 N. Eighth Street | Columbia, MO 65201
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Son Venezuela
| Luis Guillen, Vocals and Percussion Kelfel Aquí, Vocals and Percussion Marc Marcano, Piano and Vocals Fernando Reynoso, Congas, Percussion, and Vocals Andrés Ramirez, Timbales and Percussion Glen Gray, Bass Rich Wheeler, Tenor Saxophone Byron Jones, Trumpet and Vocals Tom Johnson, Trombone Chris Leopold, Trumpet and Trombone |
The “We Always Swing” Jazz Series kicks off the season with Son Venezuela, the Lawrence, Kan.-based, salsa dance band extraordinaire. Billed as “The Party of the Century!” the event is produced in collaboration with the Columbia Missourian and timed to both the newspaper’s and MU School of Journalism’s shared Centennial, which takes place September 10-12, 2008.
Son Venezuela, which blew everyone away at last year’s Annual Downtown “Jazz, Wine & Beer” Pub Crawl, is now one of the Midwest’s top salsa dance bands. The nine-piece ensemble was voted “Best Latin Band” in the 2007 Pitch Weekly Music Awards as well as receiving an abundance of other accolades. The group has been together close to 15 years and has garnered attention and critical acclaim throughout the Midwest and beyond with its sellout crowds.
Son Venezuela has brought the thrill of live Latin music to fans all over the United States taking a pan-global approach to its music, incorporating classic salsa, cumbia, merengue, and tamborera
alongside modern Latin and American styles. Much of the breadth of the band’s sound comes from the diverse nature of Son Venezuela’s members. The band enjoys membership from all over the globe, including Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States.
Don’t miss the 2008/2009 Jazz Series season kickoff – a night of high-powered energy and fun!
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"Such is the burden of being Kansas' most prolific Latin dance band...a decade's worth of performing with enough fire to keep the dance floor burning and enough new material to keep Latin music fans on their toes." —Lawrence Journal-World
Jazz Series Launches Annual Fund as dollar-for-dollar match for major NEA Jazz Masters Live
This is a special year for us. As recipients of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts – the Jazz Masters Live Initiative we are required to match the award dollar for dollar. The goal: $30,000 – and we need do reach it by February 18, 2008 – the day commissioned composer and Kansas City native Bob Brookmeyer returns to Missouri to conduct the world premier of his new work performed by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. This season your tax-deductible donation to the Jazz Series goes twice as far.
Jazz Series Receives NEA Grant
“We Always Swing” Jazz Series snags prestigious NEA Jazz Masters Live grants…
Organization, one of only 12 presenters in the United States selected to receive $30,000 award paves the way for Missouri native and NEA Jazz Master Bob Brookmeyer to compose new work for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. New York-based, 16-piece orchestra arrives in Columbia to perform world premiere February 18, 2009, at the Missouri Theatre with Brookmeyer as guest conductor. Also on hand: Dan Morgenstern, fellow NEA Jazz Master and Director of Rutgers Jazz Institute. The world renowned historian will serve as guest emcee and host a pair of forums: a one-on-one interview with Brookmeyer and an in-depth look into the chronology of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which has been holding court at jazz’s most famous basement – The Village Vanguard – since 1965. Much-anticipated events serve as centerpiece for MU’s Arts & Science Week.
Are you ready to get your 2008/2009 “Swing” on?
The 2008/2009 “We Always Swing” Jazz Series has arrived and tickets are on sale NOW!
On tap: a sumptuous mix of modern jazz – small groups, large ensembles, varied instrumentation and instrumentalists, vocalists, male and female artists, special events and educational activities all rolled into our 14th season.
We think we have put together a great season, one filled with 10 regularly scheduled concerts and a trio of fun-filled special-event performances that take place in a venues small and large – from the intimacy of Murry’s and the new Ragtag Cinema to the full-size feel of the newly restored Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts and mid-sized houses such as The Blue Note and Stephens College’s Windsor Auditorium and Lela Rainey Wood Ballroom.
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