NOTE: the online box office is now closed. TIckets will be available on-site beginning at 7pm.
Headline weekend for the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival opens with a most exciting group from Boston: the George Russel, Jr. Trio featuring vocalist Lydia Harrell. Making their Berkshires debut, the musicians have an impressive and varied repertoire of blues and jazz standards, all presented with their unique touch.
Pittsburgh native George Russell is a performer, composer, and educator, who began taking piano lessons when he was 7 years old. Along with studying formally, he had the fortune of growing up playing at his local church. There was no written music at church, so he was given the opportunity to develop his ear. As George continued studying music in college, he discovered jazz and its harmonies, and is now the head of the Harmony and Jazz Composition department at the Berklee College of Music, where he was given its Most Distinguished Faculty Award. In addition to George on piano, his trio includes Winston McCow, bass, and Sean Skeete, drums.
To get a preview of George at work (or should we say at play?) click here.
Lydia Harrell is one of Boston’s finest musical treasures. Her sultry, soulful voice and evocative songwriting have garnered her the attention and respect of the nation’s finest musicians and venues. She has shown an unbreakable ability to mold herself into any musical situation, although Jazz/Soul is where her heart is. She is renowned for her virtually unmatched dedication to extracting the pure essence of song. She consistently performs in more than 150 shows a year not only as a solo act, but also in collaborations with some of the world’s most renowned artists and ensembles.
We return to the acoustically friendly confines of the Berkshire Museum Theatre, and their magnificent Steinway piano, for this concert.