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Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra concert in New Jersey

1st Congregational Church
Haworth, NJ

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Saturday Nov 01, 2014 7:30 PM - Saturday Nov 01, 2014 10:00 PM | $30.00

Event

Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra concert in New Jersey

2014 Baker Artist Award winner Todd Marcus will return to his NJ hometown on November 1st for a CD release concert at Haworth's 1st Congregational Church. The 38 year old Baltimore bass clarinetist and composer has presented his jazz for over 10 years and along the way received accolades including the $25,000 Baker prize, selections as a rising star by national jazz magazine Downbeat in its 2014 and 2013 annual critics poll, and an NPR pick for one of the top 10 albums of 2012.

But his newest album Blues for Tahrir is poised to make his biggest statement to date by setting Egypt's Arab Spring movement to music in a fusion of jazz with Middle Eastern influences.

"The album revolves around my Blues for Tahrir Suite," Marcus explains. "It began as just one piece of music when the Arab Spring movement started in Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011 but as the demonstrations continued over the following years, I kept writing more music in response to the ongoing developments."

The sections of the suite bear out these diverse moods with titles including Protest, Reflections, Tears on the Square, and Adhan, the Arabic word for the call to prayer that sounds five times a day across loudspeakers at mosques in Islamic countries.

For Marcus, the son of an Egyptian immigrant father, the project stemmed from efforts to connect more deeply with his own heritage. "There wasn't an Egyptian community near Haworth where I was raised," Marcus shares of his New Jersey childhood, "but as I've gotten older, exploring Middle Eastern music has been a way for me to connect with my culture in my work."

Marcus's nine-piece jazz orchestra will celebrate the album's release with performances over four days starting in Baltimore on October 31 and followed over the next three days by the concert in New Jersey, then club dates in New York and Washington, DC.

Featuring:

Todd Marcus bass clarinet
Greg Tardy tenor sax
Brent Birkhead flute and alto sax
Russell Kirk alto sax
Alex Norris trumpet
Darius Jones trombone
Helen Sung piano
Tom Baldwin bass
Eric Kennedy drums
Irene Jalenti - vocals

More at: www.toddmarcusjazz.com