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Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series presents Elden Kelly Trio!

Merrimans' Playhouse
South Bend, IN

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Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series presents Elden Kelly Trio!

Elden Kelly Trio with Carolyn Koebel (percussion) & Denis Shebukhov (bass). With a voice likened to Jeff Buckley and technique that is the guitarists envy, Elden Kelly has captivated audiences across the country with his virtuosic songwriting. Influenced by such diverse genres as jazz, neoclassicism, American Roots, Hindustani and Turkish music, Kelly proves impossible to pigeonhole. He is joined by upright bassist Denis Shebukhov and world percussionist Carolyn Koebel (of An Dro, Sacred Waters kirtan, & the Tia Imani Hanna Project).

Elden Kelly impresses audiences with his ability to combine jazz with a broad range of music traditions. In addition to guitar, he has developed his own syncretic style on various instruments such as the Arabic oud, the Turkish cumbus and the Glissentar, an 11-string fretless guitar. In a single live show, Kellys music ranges from fiery to honest heartfelt, expressive songs, to sounds reminiscent of Indian scat mixed with an Arabic-style call to prayer. Balancing virtuosity and soulfulness, Kelly will take you on a musical journey to reimagined homelands.

Elden Kelly
Guitar/Glissentar

Elden Kelly, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, entrances audiences with a style composed of diverse elements that speak about something fresh, relevant, urgent and new in todays world. His interest in international styles led him to the oud (a fretless Egyptian lute) and the glissentar (a 12-stringed fretless guitar) instruments which he now incorporates into many of his performances. In addition to instrumental improvisation, Elden also works as a singersongwriter, whose musical style blends jazz and neo-classicism with Middle-Eastern influences and American roots music.

Carolyn Koebel
World Music Percussion

Carolyn has been exploring rhythm and vibration for the past thirty years. Her early studies are rooted in the Western traditions, while the past eighteen years have found her slowly traversing the globe in search of indigenous music and traditional rhythmic materials from Latin and South America, West Africa and the Middle East, and all points in-between. The result is a compelling recombination in a musical palette that compliments a variety of styles and genres.

Dennis Shebukhov
Bass

Denis Shebukhov was born in Vyatskie Polyany, Russia on March 28, 1976. His first introduction to live music was through his fathers singing. At the age of 8 he started his music education at the local music school. His first instrument was a bayan (Russian form of accordion), but very soon he switched to the tuba. In 1993, he was accepted to Kirov College of Music where he studied tuba and electric bass. Soon after moving to Kirov, Denis got his first gig playing bass with the dance theatre Dimka. After winning a regional brass competition in Vladimir he was asked to continue his education in Glinka Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod. Very soon after moving to Nizhny Novgorod, he started working with Alexander Shishkin, Lev Tishin, Vladimir Makarov and Alexander Rozmari. Later, he worked with Mikhail Petropavlovsky and Dima Trifonov, two well-known Russian jazz musicians. During this period, he had a chance to perform at Nizhny Novgorod International Jazz Festivals as well as numerous other gigs.

In 2000, Denis moved to the United States, and after a few years of teaching and playing the electric bass he was accepted to Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he studied string bass. As a student at WMU he was a member of the vocal jazz group Gold Company, Jazz Nonet, Gradus Quartet and many other student groups. He played with many well-known local musicians including: Terry Lower, Keith Hall, Lana Hawkins, Gull Lake Jazz Big Band, Ken Morgan, Jean Prosper, Bob Ricci, Marci Linn Band, Steve Talaga, Danny Barber and many others. Soon after finishing his Master's at WMU Denis took a gig with Holland America Line, a cruise ship company, where he currently works as a band leader, playing bass as well as singing.

$10 Advanced, $13 Door, $8 Student
PLEASE NOTE - you may use CREDIT CARD or PAYPAL: Once you've added the tickets to your cart in the Brown Paper Tickets site, click on the ORANGE "Pay via PayPal" button on the Buyer Details page, and this will take you to Merrimans' PayPal account. You will then have the option to pay with your credit card or your PayPal account.