Événement

John Abercrombie and Putnam Valley Jazz Quintet at Tompkins Corners

World renowned Jazz guitarist, composer and Putnam Valley resident, John Abercrombie will be performing at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center on Sunday, October 23rd from 3pm to 6pm. Joining him will be Ed Xiques on horns, Ryan Odell on drums, Patrick Cummings on guitar and Kevin Callaghan on bass, all of whom live or work - or both! - in Putnam Valley.

Over a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, John Abercrombie has established himself as one the masters of jazz guitar. Favoring unusual sounds and nontraditional ensembles, Abercrombie is a restless experimenter, working firmly in the jazz tradition while pushing the boundaries of meter and harmony.

Abercrombie began playing the guitar at age 14 and enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music, teaming up with other students to play local clubs and bars, where he ducked in during his free time to watch John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

After college, Abercrombie quickly became one of New York's most in-demand session players. He was featured on several of Billy Cobham's albums that staked new ground in fusion jazz. His first solo album was Timeless, followed by Gateway, which was released in November 1975. He shuffled and reshuffled partnerships for the next 20 years, and through the 1990s and into 2000 and beyond, Abercrombie has continued to pluck from the ranks of jazz royalty--and be plucked for guest appearances on other artists' recordings.

Abercrombie keeps up a heavy touring schedule and continues to record with ECM, a relationship that has spanned more than 30 years. As he told one interviewer, "I'd like people to perceive me as having a direct connection to the history of jazz guitar, while expanding some musical boundaries."

This concert will be historic, because although Cummings, Callaghan, Odell and Xiques are all professional musicians, this will be the first time they are playing together with Abercrombie in the beautiful and equally historic Tompkins Corners Cultural Center. Formerly a Methodist Church, the building was constructed in 1891 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.