Paul Austerlitz Group Holds Four Concerts Featuring His New CDs

Bass-clarinetist / ethnomusicologist Dr. Paul Austerlitz will be presenting three concerts featuring music from his CDs, "Journey" and "The Fret Cycle." His band will be augmented with the super-star percussionist of Dominican roots music, José Duluc and renown poet Michael S. Harper.  Performances take place February 26 at 7:30PM (Gettysburg College), March 4 at 6PM (Esperanza Academy), and March 5 at 6PM (Bracetti Academy).

In addition to these concerts, the quintet will also be performing the Afro-Dominican Vudo-Jazz project at Taller Latinoamerico in New York.  The AFRO-DOMINICAN JAZZ PROJECT will present cutting-edge jazz fused with African-based Vodú rhythms of the Dominican Republic at 7:30 pm on March 6th.  The project features guest drummer, dancer, and singer JOSÉ DULUC. 

While Afro-Cuban music has a long history in the United States and MERENGUE is widely enjoyed around the world, Afro-Dominican Vodú rhythms such as PALOS are rarely heard. These concerts present African-based musical treasures from the Dominican Republic in seamless fusion with the classic African American music we call jazz. The Afro-Dominican Jazz Project ignites infectious MERENGUE and PALOS rhythms, inspiring body movement and dancing.   

An ethnomusicologist (or researcher of world music) as well as musician, Dr. Paul Austerlitz has played and studied Dominican music since the 1980s. This concert presents music from Austerlitz's CD Journey (on Innova Records), which incorporate Dominican and other world rhythms; V. Conte writes that the CD includes the first recorded example of fusion between jazz and palo, a common rhythm found in the Dominican Republic." As an instrumentalist, Austerlitz distinguishes himself as a master of the bass clarinet: Dave Liebman notes that he "has a unique voice on one of the more rarely played jazz instruments" and "conveys his own personality through the horn." Austerlitz's books are also acclaimed: Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity (Temple University Press) is a classic in its field, and Jazz Consciousness (Wesleyan University Press) was awarded prizes by the Society for Ethnomusicology and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Dr. Austerlitz teaches at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College.

Since the 1980s, visionary, song-writer, drummer, dancer, and singer JOSÉ DULUC has championed pride in the African origins of Dominican culture and produced hits of Afro-Dominican roots music such as "La ciguapa" (which went platinum) and "Carnaval para a gozar" (a carnival theme song). A long-time collaborator with Paul Austerlitz, he will contribute his skills as a dancer and singer as well as drummer to the Afro-Dominican Jazz Project.

The tour also features a stellar line-up of players including drummer Babatunde Lea (formerly with McCoy Tyner, Stan Getz, and others), pianist Richard Johnson (currently with Wynton Marsalis), bassist Eric Wheeler (formerly with Roy Hargrove and Jimmy Heath), and percussionist Guillermo Cárdenas (formerly with many top Dominican bands including Super Uba).