Sarah Jerrom Duo
DATE: Saturday July 25th, 2015
STAGE: Pier 61 Bar & Grill
ADDRESS: 61 Lakeport Rd, St Catharines, ON L2N 4P5
TIME: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
TICKET PRICE: Free
Sarah Jerrom Quartet
DATE: Sunday July 26th, 2015
STAGE: The Village Outdoor Stage
ADDRESS: 111 Garrison Village Drive, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0
TIME: 11:00 AM – 11:45AM
TICKET PRICE: Free
BAND MEMBERS:
Sarah Jerrom – vocals
Carissa Neufeld – piano (Saturday performance)
Adrean Farrugia- piano (Sunday performance)
Rob McBride – bass
Jeff Luciani – drums
BAND BIO:
Sarah Jerrom is a vocalist, composer, and arranger. Her music features a blend of traditional jazz, original arrangements and contemporary compositions.
ARTIST BIOS:
Carissa Neufeld (piano): Carissa Neufeld is a musician of many dimensions whose musicality is rooted in classical training and steeped in jazz. This diverse musical background has fuelled a colorful professional career that includes composing, performing, teaching and adjudicating across Canada. Carissa’s own jazz compositions and arrangements have been showcased at Toronto venues such as The Rex Hotel and Jazz Bar, Gate 403, Arts and Letters Club, McMichael Gallery and “Jazz on the Ridge” at Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery. Her many varied performance engagements include pianist with the Toronto Jazz Orchestra and Composers Collective Big Band, pianist for Sarah Jerrom’s “The Yeats Project”, pianist and vibraphonist with the Christ Hunt Tentet, harpsichordist with the Fraser Valley Symphony and percussionist for internationally acclaimed tenor Ben Heppner. For over 14 years, Carissa has been teaching classical and jazz piano, successfully preparing students for specialized university programs and RCM accreditations. She has also been an adjudicator and clinician across Canada including the Yukon, British Columbia and Ontario and currently owns and manages an ensemble based music school in Leslieville called “On the Off Beat” together with her husband Michael Skinner. She currently sits on the executive of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association where she has organized master classes with internationally renowned clinicians such as David Braid as well as developed a jazz curriculum for their student scholarship auditions. Carissa completed her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at Humber College studying with Don Thompson, Dave Restivo and Hilario Duran. Early piano studies include completion of her ARCT in piano performance under the tutelage of Dr. Betty Suderman and extensive classical piano studies at the University of Victoria with Dr. Robin Wood.
Adrean Farrugia (piano): Award winning pianist and composer Adrean Farrugia is one of Canada’s most distinct voices on the piano. Since the late 1990s Adrean has been in high demand as a freelance performer and teacher. Keeping a busy touring schedule, mainly as a sideman, Adrean has toured extensively across Canada and the United States as well as in venues across Europe and in Japan. Adrean has performed/recorded with some of jazz’s greatest and most diverse artists including: Larry Carlton, Ernie Watts, Curtis Fuller, Tom Scott, Bob Brookmeyer, Randy Brecker, Eric Alexander, Jane Bunnett, Ron Blake, Joel Frahm, Matt Penman, Brad Goode, Kenny Wheeler, Darcy James Argue, Don Thompson, Lorne Lofsky, Kevin Turcotte, and Pat Labarbera. Adrean is currently pianist for such diverse projects as the Matt Dusk Band, the Brad Goode Quartet, The Ernesto Cervini Quartet (featuring saxophonist Joel Frahm), The Johnny Griffith Quintet, Kiki Misumi, Tim Shia’s ‘The Worst Pop Band Ever’, the Bob Brough Quartet , John Cheesman Orchestra, Luke Maxim, Eleanor McCain, and the Darcy Hepner Big Band. Adrean also works regularly with his wife, vocalist Sophia Perlman. As a leader Adrean has released three albums. His second album ‘Ricochet’ was nominated for a 2011 Juno award for best contemporary jazz recording. As a composer Adrean has penned more than 30 works to date. Adrean is currently on the faculty of Mohawk College where he teaches contemporary piano, ensembles and improvisation. He has also served on the faculties of York University and Humber College. He has also done workshops/clinics at the University of Colorado, University of Toronto, The University of Western Ontario, The Banff Centre for the arts, The Sydney and Brisbane Conservatories, and in Warsaw Poland as part of the Polish Jazz Society’s 35th annual Summer Jazz Workshop. Adrean has been a contributing writer to piano guru Larry Fine’s publication “The Piano Book”, the world’s foremost publication on all things piano. Adrean was also a performer and panelist at the 63rd and 67th annual Conference on World Affairs in Boulder Colorado. Adrean is endorsed by Shigeru Kawai pianos.
Rob McBride (bass): Rob McBride has been active on the Toronto jazz scene for the last fifteen years, playing at the city’s top clubs as well as venues in and around the Greater Toronto Area. A former student of Canadian legend Don Thompson, Rob attended Humber College before becoming the in-demand bassist he is today. Rob has played with Pat LaBarbera, Reg Schwager, Don Thompson, The Niagara Symphony, John Sherwood, Sarah Jerrom, Carissa Neufeld, Trent Reschny, and Richard Whiteman amongst many others.
Jeff Luciani (drums): Jeff Luciani is a Canadian musician born and raised in the city of St. Catharines, Ontario. Jeff is grateful of his fortune to be playing drums around the globe with some of the finest musicians, artists, groups and producers. He is currently playing drums in the celebrated Canadian rock group, The Dears, which has given him the opportunity to perform on stages from Mexico City to Istanbul and on shows such as, The Late Show With David Letterman and George Strompoulopoulis Tonight. In St. Catharines, Jeff has teamed up with Niagara multi-instrumentalist and producer, Joe Lapinski in creating a monthly improvised music series titled, Sound Sound, where the duo invites a featured guest each month to join them in performing improvisations. The intent with Sound Sound is to make the improvised music art form accessible to those in Niagara.
HISTORY:
Vocalist/composer Sarah Jerrom is involved as a leader and collaborator in several improvising projects that include traditional jazz and creative music. As a composer, Sarah has written music for her own nine-piece chamber jazz group “The Yeats Project”. She has also written pieces for smaller jazz ensembles, including tracks on her 2007 album, “Illuminations”. Headliner performances include The Music Gallery, The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, The Mississauga Living Arts Center, The Dofasco Center for the Arts, and Brock University’s Centre for the Arts. Other notable performances include Toronto jazz clubs Chalkers Pub, Lula Lounge, and the Montreal Bistro. Sarah has performed with notable international jazz artists such as Ingrid Jensen, Maggi Olin, Reg Schwager, Mike Murley, Kevin Turcotte, and Carnatic-fusion guitarist Prasanna.
AWARDS:
Adrean Farrugia’s album “Ricochet” was nominated for a 2011 Juno award for best contemporary jazz recording.
QUOTES:
“It was the arranging which struck me when I first heard (The Yeats Project’s) music back in 2012; the poems lend themselves to beautiful, lush treatments, and Sarah uses the ensemble’s nine instruments to great effect. The result is contemporary sounding but still tuneful, an interesting mix of chamber music and improvisation; Sarah’s impressive vocals soar over top.” – Josh Grossman, Artistic Director, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival
“We really love Sarah’s stunning sophisticated jazz… the style is powerful, stirring yet gentle and very subtle… Sarah’s feel and experience is evident and shows in a very confident way…”– Peter Merrett, Programming Director, PBS 106-7FM Melbourne, Australia
WEBLINK: www.sarahjerrom.com
YOUTUBE: Sarah Jerrom
FACEBOOK: Sarah Jerrom
TWITTER: @sarahjerrom