The Wallkill River School of Art is hosting a fundraising Jazz Concert featuring International Jazz Artist Judi Silvano who brings her Zephyr Band for a Special Evening of Music”.
Voted a Top-10 Jazz Vocalist 4 times in Down Beat Magazine Polls, Ms. Silvano has 14 albums and over 35 compositions to her credit. Join Wall River School for an intimate evening of jazz featuring Judi Silvano (voice), Bruce Arnold (guitar), Kenny Wessel (guitar), special guest Grammy Winner and Sax Master Joe Lovano joins her and brings his legendary sound and feelings to her music. They have been working together on numerous projects, tours and recordings.
Silvano’s latest recording is “Lessons Learned” released in 2018 on Unit Records. This project with her 2-guitar Zephyr Band brings her “Stories of Life and Love” to the fore in unique original songs with new Lyrics to tell each story. Silvano chose Grammy Winner and Sax-Master Joe Lovano as producer to guide the session to fully express her concepts as songwriter and singer, plus included his signature sound on two tracks.
She features musicians with whom she has worked a lot through the years so there is a lot of empathy in their musical interactions. Drummer Bob Meyer played on Judi’s seminal Blue Note Records “Vocalise”, bass virtuoso Ratzo Harris has been a regular in Silvano’s explorations of new material at The Knitting Factory and other clubs and Adam Kolker’s versatility as a reedman makes him a great front-line partner with Silvano’s affinity for blending. Hearing guitarist Kenny Wessel on the scene with the late-great Ornette Coleman led Judi to invite him to be part of her new band and Bruce Arnold’s processed guitar approach offered fresh options in creating her 2-guitar concept for this Zephyr Band album.
Recent recordings include Silvano’s 2015 release “My Dance” featuring Judi in a duo setting with veteran pianist Michael Abene in an all- Silvano Originals program - some with lyrics while leaving the story of other songs to the listener’s imagination. In 2016, her foray into Electro-Acoustic improvisations with BruceArnold resulted in the first of several releases featuring Digital Effects on both the guitar (SuperCollider) and vocals (Eventide). Their first adventurous sonic landscape “Listen To This” (Muse Eek) was released in 2016 and a set of gentle excursions “Cloudwalking” (JSL) in 2018.
As a progressive composer and arranger, Silvano has written over 45 pieces for chamber music and jazz ensembles incorporating written material with improvisation. She has won a Meet the Composer grant, champions the work of under-performed American Women Composers (her “Women’s Work” CD) and her chamber music songs have been played in NYC and Europe for New York Women Composers, Vox Musica and Ars Nova concerts. Her broad inspiration has led her to develop Educational Workshops called “Pathways to Music and Dance” (winning two New York State Council on the Arts grants), being named Top 10 Vocalist in Downbeat Magazine four times, Best Jazz Singer in the Hudson Valley and to contribute articles to All About Jazz & Jazz Improv Magazine.
Silvano also paints. Her Watercolor, Oil, Acrylics, Pastel and Encaustics draw inspiration from the beauty of nature in the Hudson Valley as well as the music and musicians she has witnessed around the world She is a Represented Artist of the Wallkill River School and Galleries and is a member of the Middletown Art Group, Goshen Art League, Woodstock Art, Washingtonville Art Collective, North East Watercolor Society and the Crawford Arts Association.
The concert is on October 26 at 8 pm, tickets are $75. Artist Meet and Greet at 7 p.m., the Meet and Greet Price is $125. Tickets for the concert and the meet and greet are on sale now, and are in limited supply.
All proceeds from the event will go to help the Wallkill River School which is hoping to raise funds to modernize the school’s office equipment. Visit Wallkillriverschool.com to learn more.
The Wallkill River School of Art is located at 232 Ward Street in the Village of Montgomery.