Phil DeGreg and Brasilia play to nearly full house at Central Library
June 9,2016: Jazz: Live at the Library! Concert Series Show #110 sponsored by Jamey Aebersold Jazz and hosted by The Jazz Arts Foundation. Inc.
Phil DeGreg and Brasilia rocked an almost full house June 9, 2016 in the Farish Theater, at the downtown Lexington, KY Central Library. Before the group started Dave McWhorter, President of The Jazz Arts Foundation, Inc. and Board Member/JAO Liaison, Brenda Stratman presented recent Henry Clay High School graduate Jacob O’Donnell with the 2016 Annual Duke Madison Scholarship. Jacob O’Donnell will attend Jamey Aebersold’s summer Jazz Workshop in July. Jacob plays the tenor saxophone as well as a few other instruments. Jacob plays with the Central KY Youth Orchestra Jazz Arts Orchestra (CKYO JAO) and his own funk band, Coleslaw, as well as with other music groups. Jacob will be attending the University of KY as a music education major next fall. Go to jazzartsfoundation.org to learn more. Congratulations Jacob O’Donnell and your family and supporters!
Brasilia played a night full of Latin infused music that had the audience wanting to get up and dance. But the packed house behaved and just tapped, stomped feet and kept time by patting their legs to an hour of nonstop vibes. That’s right VIBES. For the first time since I don’t know when, Lexington’s Farish Theater stage was proud to support a vibraphone played by Rusty Burge (www.rustyburge.com). The other members of the band, Brasilia, which included Philip DeGreg (www.phildegreg.com/ed.html)on keyboards and piano, Kim Pensyl (http://www.kimpensyl.com) blowing the flugelhorn, Aaron Jacobs (http://ccm.uc.edu/music/jazz/faculty.html?eid=jacobsat&thecomp=uceprof) on bass guitar, John Taylor on drums and Juan Megna, drums and percussion, didn’t disappoint and delivered a night of marvelous music. They played: Valley of the River by Hermeto Pascoal (www.hermetopascoal.com.br/english), On the Island of Lea in Rosa’s Boat by Edu Lobo, Sambadouro by Ivan Lins and recorded by Sergio Mendes (who in the 1960’s had a band called Brazil 66), a beautiful descriptive piece by Marcos Silva titled Brazilian People, a Rusty Burge (Brasilia’s vibraphonist) original titled Fresh Biscuits, Para Ti written by Dominican pianist Michel Camillo and dedicated to the Brazilian pianist/singer Tania Maria and a piece titled Linha de Passe written by Joao Bosco.
Philip DeGreg mentioned that he had not played with the members of the band for 8 months. As individual musicians and obviously masters of their instruments tonight’s show was a testament to and for them as a group. They never missed a beat (at least not to this listener’s ear) and seemed completely in sync with each other. If only life could be played this well.
Thank you Brasilia for good music, The Jazz Arts Foundation, Dave McWhorter, President and Ron Allen, Secretary, for all that you do to bring the best jazz music to Lexington and to Jamey Aebersold Jazz for sponsoring this series, without which we, the jazz lovers in Lexington, KY, would have no place to go, see and listen to live jazz. Thank you all!
by Catherine Perkins
