Event

The Marc Chillemi Quintet

Originally from New York, Marc moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. After graduating with a B.A. in Jazz Composition, Marc spent twelve years on the road traveling around the world with a variety of groups playing New Orleans Jazz, Reggae and Ska, Samba, Klezmer, Zydeco, and popular West and Central African music. Marc has been living in South Portland since 2001 and has become an active member of the live music scene as well an educator and promoter. Recently, Marc completed a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies at USM and is currently teaching trumpet privately and at the Midcoast School of Music, and African drumming at the Waynete School.

The Marc Chillemi Quintet brings the classic Hard Bop sound of the 1960s alive with the hip grooves and bass lines played by drummer Jacob Forbes and bassist Kinnon Church. Holding all the harmonies down with his left hand while composing lyrical lines with the other is pianist Emmett Harritty. After graduating USM with a B.A. in Music, Emmet currently teaches at the River Tree School in Kennebunk, performs with the Foggcutter Big Band, and leads his own trio of original music. Rounding out the horn section and completing the duo with his twin brother Jacob is saxophonist Gideon Forbes. Since Gideon's arrival at USM, he is a hard working jazz musician exploring the path of his heros John Coltrane, Dexter Gordan, and Sonny Rollins. Together, the horns create the quintessential sound made by trumpeter Blue Mitchell and tenor saxophonist Junior Cook from the Blue Note recordings that inspires MCQ. The group also explores improvisational music with their interpretation of jazz standards, as well as obscure covers by Jimi Hendrix, War, Tom Waits, and classic Jamaican instrumentals of the 1960s.