Press Releases 2008

Jazz Stories of India and America
THE ELI YAMIN QUARTET TO PERFORM TAGORE SONGS THROUGH JAZZ IN KHARAGPUR & KOLKATA, AUGUST 22-25

August 18, 2008

KOLKATA -- In yet another effort to broaden America's cultural relationships with India, well-known jazz musicians Eli Yamin, Todd Williams, Stefan Schatz, and Ari Roland have improvised a way of promoting Tagore songs through jazz. Envisioned as a cross-cultural work, the Eli Yamin ensemble, "Jazz Stories of India and America" has been created in collaboration with Bengali vocalists of West Bengal.

The American Center, in association with a host of corporate and educational partners, will present the Eli Yamin Quartet before invited audiences at Kharagpur and at different locations in Kolkata. The quartet will begin its tour in West Bengal with its first performance at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Khargpur on Friday, August 22. The next day it will hold a lecture/demonstration and play briefly at Marine Engineering and Research Institute, Taratola in Kolkata. On Sunday, August 24 the quartet will hold a workshop for local musicians playing Western instruments, at the Calcutta School of Music from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. In the evening, there will be a performance at the Taj Bengal Hotel beginning at 7:45 p.m. The jazz quartet's last performance during the current Kolkata tour will take place on Monday, August 25 evening at the Techno India group's Salt Lake campus. Of the four musicians, Eli Yamin and Ari Roland had visited Kolkata last year.

The chief objective of the program would be to celebrate the cultures of both India and the U.S. To make jazz accessible to audiences not very familiar with the great American art form, the quartet has chosen well known Tagore songs. As a result of collaboration between local artists and the quartet, audiences in Bengal will get an opportunity of experiencing their musical heritage in an entirely new format. During their performances at different venues, the jazz quartet will compose music pieces inspired by particular poems/songs, written by Rabindranath Tagore, characterizing a synthesis of music and poetry. There will also be some musical 'jam sessions,' in which local musicians will play on their traditional instruments with the American quartet.                                                                 

Following their visit to West Bengal, the quartet will collaborate with renowned Carnatic musicians and perform in Chennai and Trivandrum in South India.

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Admission to the concert at Taj Bengal and Techno India will be strictly by invitation only. A limited number of admission passes to the performances at Taj Bengal will be available on a first-come-first-served basis at the American Center, August 19-20, 2008, as long as the supply lasts. Please contact Techno India office in Salt Lake (Phone: 2357-1094) for admission passes to attend the concert on August 25 evening.

BACKGROUND OF THE ELI YAMIN QUARTET MEMBERS

Eli Yamin, jazz pianist, composer, educator, bandleader and Steinway Artist is Artistic Director of The Jazz Drama Program and Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy.  He serves as education consultant for The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, produced with the U.S. State Department.  He also consults for the National Endowment For The Arts and WBGO “Jazz 88” Radio, and has presented at the International Association For Jazz Education Conference (IAJE) and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC).

Todd Williams (saxophone, clarinet) is originally known for his many years as a member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Williams has been honored with such positions as Assistant Professor at Queens College and Music Director of Times Square Church. He has over 25 CD’s to his credit with artists ranging from Wynton Marsalis to Sir Roland Hanna, Michael Philip Mossman and the Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he joined the music faculty of New York’s renown Tuxedo Park School. Williams is a four-time recipient of ASCAP’s Plus Award for Composers.

Stefan Schatz (drummer) was born in New York City. Trained early on as a classical percussionist, Stefan went on to study jazz at the New School in New York. Since graduating in 1995, Stefan has worked with vocalists Dakota Staton, Jon Hendricks, bass legend Milt Hinton, saxophonists Mark Turner and Arnie Lawrence, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, tap dancer Buster Brown, and pianists Ray Bryant and Herman Foster. Stefan has toured worldwide with the Mark Morris Dance Group and played on Broadway in Bombay Dreams. He has also played on television and film soundtracks, commercials, and numerous CD's. He has been a cultural ambassador on tours to Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans and made his debut at the world-famous Village Vanguard in New York City with Teddy Charles in the Spring of 2008.

Ari Roland, (bass) Having studied at The Juilliard School, Ari has worked with many of the most recognized and influential names in jazz, including Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Harry Connick Jr., Barry Harris, and Lou Donaldson.  In the last 12 months he has completed five American Music Abroad tours for The US State Department, with programs in West Africa, Eastern Europe, The Balkans, The Middle East, Russia, Central Asia, India, and China.