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39th Annual Tommy Gallant Jazz Festival
Sunday, August 28, 2022, 12:30-8 pm, Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH

Reserve Your Tables or Blankets Now! Click here!

About the Festival
The time-honored Tommy Gallant Jazz Festival, originally known as the Seacoast Jazz Festival then renamed after legendary local jazz pianist Tommy Gallant, is celebrating its 39th year of jazzy syncopation, swing, and creative freedom for music lovers of all ages! The Seacoast Jazz Society, in partnership with Prescott Park, is delighted to present this annual tradition once again. This year we are featuring six amazing bands of local, national and international acclaim. You'll be treated to a range of jazz styles including be-bop, Brazilian, New Orleans, modern, traditional American jazz, and even some blues. So be sure to sashay on down to the park with your fellow jazz cats and let the blue notes transport you for a full day of great music that will inspire, entertain, and keep you dancing in your seats and on your toes!

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Special Guest Vocalist & 2022 Grammy Nominee,
CARMEN BRADFORD
performing with the Seacoast Big Band

Schedule (see Musician Bios below)

12:30 pm: Welcome
12:50 pm: Quartet Assante
2 pm: Gray Sargent and Friends
3:10 pm: Soggy Po Boys
4:20 pm: Rebecca Cline Trio
5:30 pm: Greg Hopkins Quintet
6:40 pm: Seacoast Big Band with guest vocalist, Carmen Bradford

About the Musicians

Carmen Bradford, Special Guest Vocalist & 2022 Grammy Nominee
You’ll be swinging on a star at the final performance of this year’s festival when you’re treated to a sure-to-be-grand event with internationally acclaimed vocalist Carmen Bradford and the Seacoast Big Band’s 18-piece orchestra. Carmen is a 2022 Grammy Nominee, has been a featured vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra and many others for several years, and is recognized as one of the finest big band vocalists today.

Carmen Bradford
Carmen Bradford was born into jazz royalty—the daughter of legendary coronetist/composer Bobby Bradford and world-renown jazz vocalist/composer/author Melba Joyce. Her grandfather Melvin Moore sang with Lucky Millender and his Big Band; Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band; and the Ink Spots, making Carmen the third generation of jazz artists. At the age of 22, Carmen was discovered and hired by William "Count" Basie and was the featured vocalist in the legendary Count Basie Orchestra for nine years. She has since performed and/or recorded with; Wynton Marsalis, Shelly Berg, Jeremy Monteiro, John Clayton, Nancy Wilson, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Willie Nelson, George Benson, Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, Kurt Elling, Freddie Cole, Benny Carter, Kenny Rankin, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, National Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Philharmonic, Philadelphia Pops, and countless artist around the world. Carmen performed on two Grammy Award winning albums with the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1980s and later collaborated on a third Grammy Award winning album, "Big Boss Band" with guitarist George Benson in 1991. In 1992 she produced the critically acclaimed album, “Finally Yours,” as a solo artist then went on to team up with several other jazz artists. Carmen Bradford's 2004 release, "Home With You" (Azica Records) is a warm and beautiful collection of vocal and piano duets with jazz great, Shelly Berg. Carmen Bradford returned to her big band roots with the release from "Sherrie Maricle & The DIVA Jazz Orchestra" featured on 'Live from Jazz At Lincoln Centers Dizzy's Place." This also brought Carmen back to her big band family, The Count Basie Orchestra, which she continues to tour with to this day, along with performing with numerous symphonies and orchestras around the world.
Hear Carmen singing:
“I Hear Music”: https://carmenbradford.com/track/1686066/i-hear-music
“How Do You Keep the Music Playing” (with George Benson and the Count Basie Orchestra)
https://carmenbradford.com/track/2020242/how-do-you-keep-the-music-playing

Seacoast Big Band
The Seacoast Big Band is comprised of freelance musicians, educators, and private sector employees. They have been performing together since the fall of 1976, acquiring new members throughout their journey. The band made its first major debut in 1978 when it played a bill with the famed jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The band has since performed with many jazz greats throughout the years. From its inception the band was under the leadership of Dave Seiler. In 2020, Dave passed on the reigns to Nathan Jorgensen, who was named musical director of the group. The Seacoast Big Band continues to present concerts each year with jazz greats, most recently featuring trombonist Marshall Gilkes.
Hear the Seacoast Big Band with Clark Terry and Louis Bellson at the 1995 Portsmouth Jazz Festival:
https://youtu.be/psxlEYgEYxM
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Gray Sargent & Friends
Gray Sargent-guitar, Jeff Stout-trumpet, John Lockwood-bass, and Les Harris Jr.-drums
“Ballads, Be-bop, and Blues!” You’re in for a treat with the combination of musicians that Gray Sargent has pulled together for the festival. Each one in his own rights has quite an exceptional background in professional jazz.

Gray Sargent
Gray Sargent, (guitarist), has been a member of Tony Bennett’s quartet for 24 years, from 1997 to 2021, including Bennett's recent performances with Lady Gaga. But his renowned career in music started much earlier. After first learning to play piano, he picked up the guitar at age 11, and was in a band by age 12. During high school in Massachusetts the turning point to jazz came when his older brother started taking him to a jazz club and he saw all the great jazz and blues guys like “Muddy Waters, Dizzy Gillespie, B.B. King, Paul Butterfield, Buddy Rich and Thelonious Monk, among others.” In his early 20s, Gray started playing with tenor sax-man, Illinois Jacquet, and played with him for several years from 1975 to the ‘90s. At the same time from the early ‘80s and well into the ‘90s, he also worked with jazz pianist, Dave McKenna. He has also performed and/or recorded with many others, including Ruby Braff, Donna Byrne, Benny Carter, Chet Baker, Arnett Cobb, Lou Colombo, Vic Dickenson, Scott Hamilton, Peanuts Hucko, Billy Novick, Herb Pomeroy, Chuck Riggs, Buddy Tate, Frank Wess, Bob Wilber, Marshall Wood, Phil Woods, in addition to working in large orchestras under the direction of George Wein (Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars, 1989) and Dick Johnson (Artie Shaw Orchestra, 1990s).
Hear Gray Sargent playing “Tea for Two”: https://youtu.be/QRamF_E45_I
 
Jeff Stout
Jeff Stout, (trumpet), has played solo trumpet and recorded with some of the greatest jazz legends including the Buddy Rich, Gary Burton, Mel Torme, Lionel Hampton, Al Cohn, Buddy Tate, Budd Johnson, James Williams, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Lovano, Curtis Fuller, John Scofield and Kurt Elling, to name a few. He also tours with Al Kooper of “Blood, Sweat & Tears” fame, teaches at Berklee College of Music, and continues to perform internationally.
 
John Lockwood
John Lockwood, (bass), has toured the U.S. and Europe with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton, the Mel Lewis Big Band, and The Fringe. He has also performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, MIT Symphony, Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Toots Thielemans, Stan Getz, Makoto Ozone, Joe Pass, Art Farmer, and many others. He also teaches at Berklee College of Music.
 
Les Harris, Jr.
Les Harris, Jr., (drums), began playing drums early and began playing professionally at 15. He was in the jazz vocal group called the “The Ritz” appearing on seven recordings and performing worldwide. He has also toured with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, saxophonist Scott Hamilton, and vocalist Cheryl Bentyne, and performed with Diana Krall’s trio in Boston during the early 1990s. He has performed with some of the best-known artists in jazz, including Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, James Moody, and Sheila Jordan. He is on more than 50 recordings and currently performs throughout New England with top jazz musicians. He has been teaching drums at Phillips Exeter since 1989 and also is drum instructor at UNH and USM.
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Greg Hopkins Quintet
Greg Hopkins-trumpet, Billy Pierce-tenor sax, Alain Mallet-piano,
John Lockwood-bass, and Yoron Israel-drums
The Greg Hopkins Quintet has been active in the Boston and New England area for over 40 years. As Greg puts it, “we’ve played every jazz joint and kept ‘em jumpin’”. Each of these band members is phenomenal on their own. Together they amass a jazz power that is beyond amazing.
 
Greg Hopkins
Greg Hopkins, (trumpet), is an acclaimed trumpeter, arranger, composer, and educator. He has performed with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Stevie Wonder, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Gunther Schuller, Burt Bacharach, Lonnie Smith, and more. He is former arranger and trumpeter for Billy Maxted and Buddy Rich Orchestras. He has published arrangements and compositions with Kendor, Studio P.R., and Tom Crown Brass Publications. Hopkins has been professor of jazz composition at Berklee College of Music for several years. He continues to write and orchestrate and performs regularly with his quintet and Tim Ray's trio, Tre Corda.
Hear Greg Hopkins’ arrangement of “Nutville” for the Buddy Rich Big Band: https://youtu.be/Lm37xAFCKJM
 
Bill Pierce
Bill (Billy) Pierce, (tenor sax), has been a featured performer at major international jazz festivals. He has performed and recorded with the greatest, including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Tony Williams Quintet, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, James Williams, Hank Jones, Branford Marsalis, and Wynton Marsalis. Bill began performing in the early ‘70s in Boston while a student at Berklee College of Music, appearing with artists such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. In 1980, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as musical director and sharing the bandstand with other young talents including Bobby Watson, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and Donald Harrison. After three years of recording and touring with Blakey, Bill returned to Berklee, where he became an Associate Professor in the Woodwind Department. During this time. he was active in both the Boston and New York scenes and regularly performed with the Freddie Hubbard Quintet. In 1985 Bill joined the Tony Williams Quintet. He made five recordings with Mr. Williams and toured Europe, Asia, and America. Since 1986 he has divided his time between academia, performing, and recording under his own name for the Sunnyside label: William the Conqueror, Give and Take, Equilateral, One For Chuck and Rio. More recently, he has recorded Epistrophy (Evidence Records), Froggin' Around (CIMP), and Burnin’ (Criss Cross). About his jazz experiences, Bill says, "Playing with Art Blakey's and Tony Williams's bands, I really felt a part of a jazz lineage. And I was able to play with them long enough to be part of a living, growing organism. Over a period of time playing with the same people, the music morphs into something more than the composer may have intended. It develops into more than the sum of its parts.” In addition to performing and recording, Bill is Former Chair of the Woodwinds Department at Berklee College of Music and has released numerous CDs for which he is the band leader.
Hear Bill Pierce with Kevin Eubanks, “My One and Only Love”: https://youtu.be/0QdK-8kmAYU
Hear Bill Pierce with Ron Savage Trio and Bobby Broom: https://youtu.be/ftATXvC7MLc
 
Alain Mallet
Alain Mallet, (piano), was born in France and moved to the United States at the age of 21 to attend Berklee College of Music. He has a long list of credits to his professional career as a pianist and producer. Among the great jazz musicians with whom he has peformed are Phil Woods, Paul Simon, Paquito D'Rivera, Marc Johnson, and Madeleine Peyroux. His original compositions have been recorded by jazz greats such as Gary Burton, Dave Samuels, and Paquito D'Rivera. He was pianist and musical director for jazz artist Robin McKelle. He has recorded and performed with local jam band sensation Club D'Elf, saxophonist Andy Snitzer, and the Caribbean Jazz Project. He produced four tracks for singer/saxophonist Grace Kelly, and received critical acclaim he received as producer for his work with Jonatha Brooke. He is also an associate professor at Berklee College of Music. His first solo recording is titled Mutt Slang (2018) and was received with rave reviews and for which he was named a 2021 Grammy Nominee. His follow up to this recording is titled “A wake of sorrows engulfed in rage” (2020) is out now on Origin records.
 
John Lockwood
John Lockwood, (bass), has toured the U.S. and Europe with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Burton, the Mel Lewis Big Band, and The Fringe. He has also performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, MIT Symphony, Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Toots Thielemans, Stan Getz, Makoto Ozone, Joe Pass, Art Farmer, and many others. He also teaches at Berklee College of Music.
 
Yoron Israel
Yoron Israel, (drums), is a drummer, percussionist, composer, band leader, and educator. He is the chair and a professor in the Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music. He has performed or recorded with such notable artists as Otis Clay, Shirley Caesar, Kenny Burrell, Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, Clark Terry, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutchinson, and many more. As a leader, Israel has recorded five albums--Basic Traneing, Chicago, Live at the Blue Note, A Gift for You, and Visions: The Music of Stevie Wonder. Basic Traneing reached no. 3 on the national jazz charts in 2004. His projects include the trio Organic with organist Kyle Koehler and guitarist Ed Cherry; his quintet Connection with Cherry, vibraphonist Bryan Carrott, and bassist Sean Conly; and the Boston band High Standards. He tours regularly with saxophonist Marco Pignataro and vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, in addition to performing and recording in the New England area with artists such as Abraham Laboriel, Eddie Gomez, Frank Morgan, Joanne Brackeen, Eliane Elias, and Larry Goldings. He has been recognized in publications such as Jazz.com, Variety, Jazz Improv Magazine, Downbeat, Jazz Times, Modern Drummer, Stick It, and Percussive Notes. Israel is the author of the educational DVD Creative Jazz Improvisation for Drum Set. He conducts clinics, workshops, residencies throughout the world.
Hear Yoron Israel and High Standards: https://youtu.be/TnURdkqYr78
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Rebecca Cline Trio
Rebecca Cline-piano, Keala Kaumeheiwa-bass, Bertram Lehmann -drums

Rebecca Cline
Are you ready for some Latin Jazz? Then you’re ready for fabulous Latin pianist, Rebecca Cline performing jazz standards from Cuba and the U.S. For over two decades, Ms. Cline has lived in Boston as a performer specializing in Latin and jazz piano. In addition to performing, she is a professor at Berkee College of Music where she has been teaching ensembles, Cuban piano styles and jazz studies for 18 years. As the author of Latin Jazz Piano Improvisation: Clave, Comping, and Soloing on Berklee Press, she has led over 20 workshops in the US, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean and studied music in Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Favorite pianists include Mulgrew Miller, Cedar Walton, Tommy Flanagan, Bill Evans, Kenny Baron, and Christian Sands, as well as Bebo Valdés, Emiliano Salvador, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Ernán López-Nussa. After releasing two CDs, Enclave (2003) and Diaspora (2008), Ms. Cline went on to form the dance band, Obbini Tumbao, with co-leader Anita Quinto on timbales. In Caracas, Venezuela, Obbini Tumbao recorded Llegó La Hora on Cacao Música (2008), with Pedrito Martínez on vocals and congas. Ms. Cline joined the Cuban-influenced Latin-pop band, Mango Blue, led by Alex Alvear, in 2006, and recorded Mango in 2009. In addition, she has collaborated with many Boston-based groups on performances and recordings, and for the past decade has focused primarily on performing with the Rebecca Cline Trio.
Here's a short link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5IA5aWBTvo&t=5s

Keala Kaumeheiwa
Bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa was born in Oswego, New York, and was raised in Marquette, Michigan. He received a Bachelor's of Music Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied both jazz and classical music with renowned bassist Richard Davis. From Wisconsin, Keala moved to New York City, where he performed with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. After moving to the Boston area, Keala studied jazz bass and improvisation with legendary bassist Ron Carter as part of the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at New England Conservatory. Meanwhile, he continued his classical bass studies with virtuoso bassist Donald Palma. While at the Monk Institute, Keala performed with Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and James Moody. Since 2001, Keala has been an Affiliated Artist at MIT, teaching Jazz Combo Ensembles. He has performed throughout Italy, at the Havana Jazz Festival as well as freelancing around Boston, frequently performing at Sculler's Jazz Club, Ryles, Wally's Jazz Cafe and the Regattabar.

Bertram Lehmann
Based in Boston for three decades, Bertram Lehmann is a sought-after player within a multitude of musical contexts in the New England region and beyond, primarily performing jazz, Latin, and world music. He has performed or recorded with Paquito D'Rivera, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Anat Cohen, and Antonio Sanchez, among others, He has worked with the quintet of Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza; the Afro-Latin supergroup Mango Blue; the idiosyncratic Indo-Jazz ensemble Natraj; vocalists like Rebecca Parris and Mili Bermejo; and vibist Victor Mendoza. Equally in demand as a drummer as well as a percussionist, he continues to draw on his extensive instrumental experience and background as both a performer and a scholar of a wide array of musical genres and styles. Rooted in solid initial orchestral percussion training and his first professional exposures, he quickly expanded into jazz and other contemporary genres, and since then has become one of the top experts on Caribbean and South American drum set practice, as well as other traditions from the African diaspora and also Africa, India, and the Mediterranean. He has performed at venues all over the world, including Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; Symphony Hall and the Boston Globe Jazz Festival in Boston; the Chicago World Music Festival; the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and the Hannover Jazz Week in Germany. He is also on the percussion faculty at Berklee College of Music.
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Soggy Po Boys
Stu Dias-Vocals & Guitar, Brett Gallo-Drums, Scott Kiefner-Upright Bass, Mike Effenberger-Keys, Nick Mainella-Tenor Sax, Josh Gagnon-Trombone, Eric Klaxton- Soprano Sax & Clarinet

Born on a snowy Fat Tuesday night of 2012, the Soggy Po Boys have been honing their craft of New Orleans’ music in their Dover, NH, hometown. The New Orleans flavored septet doesn’t just play their weekly gig and call it at that. No, they fit in more than 100 shows every year, from festivals and concerts to politics-infused burlesque collaborations and street parades. The Po’ Boys are doing their part to spread the greatest music on earth around their home in New England and when touring, throughout the rest of the country. They serve their jazz messy, mixing brass-fueled mayhem with spirituals, meters-style old-school funk, and the Caribbean side of the New Orleans tradition.
Website:
https://www.soggypoboys.com/
Give a Listen:
https://youtu.be/8QYx-8vwgo8
https://youtu.be/B9ENlxFb6GA
https://youtu.be/VKTxmSfHTRc
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Quartet Assante
Jason Anick-violin, Nihco Gallo-vibes, Jason Emmond-bass, Zak King-drums
Music and dance are an integral part of Brazilian and Argentinian culture. Just consider the lively and dramatic dances of the tango and samba. This is how the 2022 Tommy Gallant Jazz Festival will open with an irresistible call for you to tap and sway to the sounds that Quartet Assante is sure to deliver. The quartet is a newly formed unit of four very popular seacoast musicians who are combining their impressive musical talents to bring you a new experience in jazz.
 
Nihco Gallo
Nihco Gallo composes and plays the vibraphone with skill, originality, beauty, and complexity--whether it’s a trad jazz song from the “Great American Songbook”, a Brazilian rhythm, or an eclectic modern jazz original tune. Largely self-taught, Gallo incorporates broad and divergent influences into his playing and composition, from traditional jazz to Italian opera to mid-century minimalist music to Brazilian choro. In 2012, Gallo was winner of the Terry Gibbs Vibraphone Performance Scholarship, allowing him to purchase his first instrument and start busking in his hometown streets of Manchester, New Hampshire. In 2015, he launched his first trio (vibraphone/bass/drums) as a vessel for his original compositions; and self-produced the album “Habitual Offender” in 2018. He started busking in the seacoast and Portland area, with the virtuoso tap dancer Ayan Imai-Hall, and passers-by can hear Nihco playing a broad mix of tunes from Duke Ellington, Claude Debussy, Ornette Coleman, to Astor Piazzolla.
 
Jason Anick
Jason Anick is a multi-talented violinist, composer, and Berklee professor. Growing up playing fiddle tunes with his family and classical music with local orchestras, he developed a passion for improvisation, which led him to study jazz and classical music at Hartt Conservatory. In 2008, Anick started what would be a 10-year stint touring and recording with Grammy award-winning guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson. As a bandleader, Anick has launched a variety of musical projects over the years, including the Gypsy Jazz group Rhythm Future Quartet, an Americana-inspired Acoustic Trio, and a contemporary jazz ensemble with pianist Jason Yeager. His string of recordings (Sleepless, Tipping Point, United, Travels, Rhythm Future Quartet and Friends) has earned him praise from Downbeat Magazine as a "Rising Star in the world of jazz violin."
 
Zak King
Zak has his roots as a professional drummer in Boston and NYC and has performed jazz, off-broadway, metal, and more, with a varied list of artists including Javier Rosario, David Newsam, Matt Savage, and Dzö-nga.
 
Jason Emmond
Jason is an electric and upright bass player and composer, who grew up in New Hampshire, graduated from UNH, then got his chops playing jazz/fusion with Eddie Moore and “We the People” in Kansas City before returning to the seacoast jazz scene.