Henry, Gambarini, Rovatti & Batiste Set to Play Blue Note Jazz Club

UPCOMING SHOWS MARCH 8 - 16:

JOE HENRY, ROBERTA GAMBARINI, ADA ROVATTI & JON BATISTE

JOE HENRY

PRESENTED BY WFUV

Monday, March 8, 2010 ~ Sets @ 8:00pm & 10:30pm ~ $25 @ table / $15 @ bar

For more than two decades as a solo artist and Grammy-winning producer, Joe Henry has worked with some of the most celebrated names in music, including Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, T-Bone Burnett, Don Byron, Solomon Burke, Brad Mehldau, Madonna, and Ani DiFranco. His latest album, Blood from Stars, is a labor of love that features his long-time rhythm section, the guitar twang of Marc Ribot, the blues based piano of Jason Moran, and other special guests. Critics have long since given up trying to label Henry's sound. His music spans far too many genres. But the dominant sound on this record stems from blues tonality. Tracks such as "Bellwether" and "All Blues Hail Mary" begin as traditional blues forms ("I observed that structure like it was sonnet"), only to swell into ravishing epics that jump the rails to incorporate folky jazz and bent Sinatra-esque washes of sampled strings. "All the blues sing of love and death and you," Henry whispers in the latter, "As chances yet to take." He makes his Blue Note debut for one night only in a show presented by WFUV, the radio station of Fordham University. Entertainment Weekly gave the new album an A-, writing "ballads, waltzes, and slow dances give Henry's vignettes time to unwind, like weary travelers unpacking their burdens over cigarettes and gin." ~

ROBERTA GAMBARINI

Friday, March 12 - Sunday, March 14, 2010 ~ Sets @ 8:00pm & 10:30pm ~

$30 @ table / $20 @ bar

~ Roberta Gambarini, vocals; Eric Gunnison, piano; Neil Swainson, bass; Montez Coleman, drums~

Roberta Gambarini brings the music from her 2010 Grammy-nominated album So In Love to the Blue Note with pianist Eric Gunnison, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Montez Coleman for three nights only in mid-March. Gambarini was born in Torino, Italy, into a family where jazz was much loved and appreciated. In 1998 she moved to the United States with a scholarship from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Two weeks later, Roberta stunned many in the jazz world with a third place finish in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition. On Easy to Love, Roberta showed off her instrumental approach and warm timbre, impeccable timing and intonation, incredible technique and scatting and improvisation skills on a set of 12 excellent jazz standards and classic songs from The Great American Songbook. In February 2008, Roberta made her major label debut with You Are There (Groovin' High/Emarcy), a collection of 14 hauntingly beautiful melodies, with the legendary pianist, Hank Jones. Her latest release, So In Love, has garnered tremndous praise among fans and critics: "Gambarini's gift is the most illusive: a perfect, or at the very least, a near-perfect vocal instrument that currently has no peer." - AAJ-NY ~
ADA ROVATTI & THE GREEN FACTOR

AN IRISH/CELTIC/JAZZ FUSION EXPERIENCE

Monday, March 15, 2010 ~ Sets @ 8:00pm & 10:30pm ~ $15 @ table / $10 @ bar

~ Ada Rovatti, tenor saxophone; Christian Howes, violin; Oli Rockberger, piano-vocals; Janek Gwizdala, bass; Lionel Cordew, drums; Isaac Alderson, pennywhistles & uilleann, bagpipes ~

Italian tenor saxophonist Ada Rovatti takes the Blue Note stage to play the music of her latest release, Green Factor, a unique recording with a melting pot of Irish/Celtic/jazz/fusion influences with strong harmonies and sophisticated arrangements for one night only. Joining her for the performance will be a mix of jazz, bluegrass and irish musicians for an exciting jazz/celtic experience. Says Bill Milkoswki of JazzTimes, "Underrated Italian tenor saxophonist Ada Rovatti presides over an intriguing Irish-funk-fusion-jazz amalgam.....she unleashes with bold tones and rare intensity on chops-busting....the stellar rhythm section pushes Rovatti to some inspired heights." Drive magazine raved about this "graceful Italian jazzista" in a CD review of her debut CD Under the Hat. Critics voted Under the Hat as number one in the "Revelation" category of 2003 in the Brazilian newspaper "Tribuna De Imprensa." ~

JON BATISTE BAND

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 ~ Sets @ 8:00pm & 10:30pm ~ $15 @ table / $10 @ bar

~ Jon Batiste (piano, keyboards, vocals), Other musicians, TBA ~

Jon Batiste, a young, ambitious pianist and vocalist from New Orleans, brings a large ensemble to back his original compositions and play his unique arrangements at the Blue Note on March 16. He recently thrilled audiences at the Highline Ballroom and at the Grammy Awards after party with sets that showed his piano chops, New Orleans heritage, and his bluesy, soulful vocals. Batiste has performed, recorded and toured over 30 countries with artists such as Harry Connick Jr., Abbey Lincoln, Jimmy Buffett, Lenny Kravitz, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, The Batiste Brothers, Alvin Batiste, and currently with Cassandra Wilson & Roy Hargrove. He has three CD releases under his own name, the first released when he was 17 and still studying at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) High School in New Orleans. He is also a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City.

For more information, visit http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/index.shtml