Austin, Texas – Texas’ own, pianist Dr. David Mesquitic returns to his home state this weekend to celebrate the release of his second album as a leader, The Trio: Volume One, under the Bandstand Presents label. The album release tour begins in Austin Sunday May 12 with an afternoon set by the Dr. David Mesquitic Trio at Georgetown’s First Presbyterian Church, presented by the Austin Jazz Society. Tickets can be purchased through their website. Later that night the Trio takes the stage at 8:00pm downstairs in the basement at Austin’s storied Elephant Room. The trio features colleagues Dr. Ryan Hagler on bass and Daniel DuFour on drums. The release tour continues a steady pace of milestones and accomplishments for Mesquitic. He just earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas while maintaining his teaching duties at the University of Wyoming as a Lecturer of Jazz Piano. He performs regularly across the region’s Front Range, the greater Denver area, and beyond. Just weeks before the album release, Dr. Mesquitic was also recently named a 2024 Diversity Fellow with The United States Air Force Band alongside Julie Coggiola, and Gina Benalcázar López. During the upcoming week-long residency in Washington D.C, the fellows will collaborate, rehearse, and perform with the famed Airmen of Note with performances June 7 Air Force Memorial and June 8 at National Harbor. Following his stop in Austin, Dr. Mesquitic returns home to the Rio Grande Valley with a performance at Valley Keyboards - Miller Recital Hall in McAllen, Texas on Monday May 13 (reservations sold out as of this writing) and Tuesday May 14 at San Antonio’s Jazz TX, located in the Pearl District. Austin Jazz Review (AJR) caught up with Dr. David Mesquitic (DM) as he reflected on his educational journey and the new album: AJR: How does it feel to come back to graduate with the Doctorate in Musical Arts from University of Texas at Austin and celebrate the new album?
DM: It feels great coming back to my stomping grounds for my doctoral graduation and tour. Austin holds a special place in my heart and I’m grateful I got the professional experience as well as the academic training to equip me for the years to come.
AJR: It looks like we can expect Volume Two in the future, but can you share some thoughts about Volume One, the recording and how it came about?
DM: This is actually my 2nd trio record as bandleader. The first one is titled “Preamble.” This second record really highlights my time in Austin working with bassist Dr. Ryan Hagler and drummer Daniel Dufour. We consistently worked multiple nights a week as a rhythm section for various band leaders throughout Texas including traveling acts. We built a special musical chemistry and close friendship. I was compelled to document this music into a record. There will definitely be a Volume 2! It’s just a matter of time and funding.
AJR: You were recently named a 2024 Diversity Fellow with U.S. Air Force band’s Airmen of Note, how did it feel to get the news, and what excites you the most about the residency in June?
DM: It was an unexpected surprise and glad I was named a fellow. The one aspect I am looking forward to the most is having one of the most swingin’ big bands in the country perform my original big band music while I sit on piano as a guest artist.
--- Photo Credit: Bandstand Presents
Austin, Texas -- The family and close friends of the late Rich Harney have announced the dates and lineup for the Rich Harney Jazz Festival 2024 in a press release last Friday. This spring, the Rich Harney Jazz Festival returns with a two-evening engagement, honoring the late legend of piano and song who passed away suddenly on January 5, 2020.
The festival will celebrate the legacy of Harney and will take place across two evenings beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8, at First Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. An all-star lineup features the late composer’s colleagues and long-time collaborators performing his original music, all familiar or well-known to long-time fans of Rich Harney and patrons of the Austin jazz community. Harney’s music books and various recordings will be available for purchase at the festival.
This year’s edition of the Rich Harney Jazz Festival is timed to coincide with Harney’s birthday, Friday, June 7. Friday’s lineup features The Beat Divas (Mady Kaye, Beth Ullman, and Dianne Donovan/vocals) and The Alex Coke Quintet. On the second evening, Saturday, June 8, featured performers are the Redd Volkaert Band and the Robert Aberg Trio, with vocalist Sarah Aberg and special guest Buddy Mohmed.
As with last year’s celebration in late May 2023, Austin’s First Presbyterian Church will serve as the host venue, where Harney regularly played piano during Sunday services. First Presbyterian Church is located at 8001 Mesa Drive, Austin, Texas 78731, and festival tickets can be purchased here through Humanitix. There will be free parking available, and the festival will be a family-friendly event open to all ages.
Those unable to attend will be able to contribute by donating to the Rich Harney Memorial Fund. Memorial proceeds will be used to help establish scholarships and produce performances and events that honor Harney’s legacy in the jazz and worship communities. --- Image Credit/Courtesey: N. Cutean
Austin, Texas -- The Austin jazz community has curated various events in celebration of International Jazz Day, held annually on April 30.
Austin’s three full-time jazz clubs (Elephant Room, Parker Jazz Club, and Monks Jazz) are all participating with a slate of line-ups for the evening celebration. A jazz enthusiast could plan a full evening into the early morning hours for the full experience, though ticketed events at Parker and Monks are expected to sell out in advance. Monks Jazz At Monks Jazz in east Austin, the festivities hit at 6:00 p.m. with a double dose of jazz. The evening begins with the Austin Youth Jazz Orchestra, led by Dr. Diego Rivera. Dr. Diego Rivera is a widely regarded top-flight saxophonist and serves as the director of Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. The Austin Youth Jazz Orchestra features Austin area students and is sponsored by the Austin Jazz Society, offering performance opportunities and a defined curriculum supported by faculty mentors featuring leading educators and professional jazz musicians. The evening at Monks continues with the Elias Haslanger/Mike Sailors Quintet. Elias Haslanger is an Austin native, needing no introduction to the jazz community in Austin. He cut his chops at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) and the Manhattan School of Music, toured with Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau, recorded with legends like Dr. James Polk and the late Ellis Marsalis, and has performed over the years with the likes of Alejandro Escovedo, Sheryl Crow, Grupo Fantasma, Asleep at the Wheel, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, and many others. Haslanger has recorded albums as a leader with Heart Music and Cherrywood Records, spanning back to 1994. Mike Sailors, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, studied at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Michigan State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. After several formative and productive years in New York City, he moved to Austin in 2019, taking a faculty position at the Butler School of Music at UT. He leads the Jazz Trumpet Studio within their Jazz Studies department. His extensive resume includes a who’s-who of jazz clubs and jazz festivals in New York City, across the country, and around the globe. A prolific arranger in his own right, he has collaborated with Mack Avenue Records, Decca Records, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (as their copyist and editor), to name a few. Sailors has performed with the likes of the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Jon Hendricks, Rodney Whitaker, and Peter Bernstein, among others. In addition to performing as a featured soloist with numerous symphony orchestras, he has been a featured artist-in-residency with several university jazz programs. Sailors and Haslanger recently hit the studio to record an album due for release in fall 2024 under the Bandstand Presents label. During the pandemic, Monks' founder Collin Shook pivoted to live stream programming and raised funds for artists out of work after it found a permanent home in east Austin. Prior to this, Monks spent several years popping up in numerous local businesses and ad hoc venue spaces as a roving series of listening-oriented live jazz sets. The venue continues to maintain a robust calendar. It is open to all ages and maintains a BYOB policy.
Parker Jazz Club Parker Jazz Club in downtown Austin will also partake in the International Jazz Day celebrations with a performance by the Wasabi Big Band led by multi-instrumentalist, curator, host, and club owner, Kris Kimura. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. set are available through the club’s website. Parker is an ages 21+ venue. Kimura, a protege and mentee of the late Tony Campise, opened Parker in 2018 in the heart of Austin’s historic warehouse district. The club quickly established itself as one of the premiere listening rooms in the city. Garnering a national reputation, Parker has attracted national touring acts such as the Count Basie Orchestra, the late Joey DeFrancesco, Jon Cowherd & The Mercy Project, Jerry Weldon (Harry Connick Big Band), Doug Lawrence (Count Basie Orchestra), Jeff Hamilton, Eric Reed, Herlin Riley, Benny Benack III, Gunhild Carling, Aubrey Logan, and more. Parker has also hosted drop-in guests such as members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and multi-Grammy Award vocalist Samara Joy. The club also regularly features veterans of the Austin jazz scene, area university jazz orchestras, and high school jazz ensembles as part of its regular programming. Elephant Room Rounding out the late-night portion of International Jazz Day in Austin, it is fitting that the long-time center and soul of the scene, the famed Elephant Room (located in the basement of downtown Austin's historic Swift Building), will serve as the bookend of Jazz Appreciation Month and International Jazz Day with live jazz until the early morning hour. Local legendary guitarist Mitch Watkins and his Trio continue their long-standing Tuesday residency at 6:00 p.m., followed by all-star headliners in a special presentation from local organization Women in Jazz, founded by Austin's First Lady of Jazz, Pamela Hart. A 2018 Austin Jazz Society Hall of Fame inductee, Hart, will be holding court in the basement with Kari Shaff and Shawnda Birch on vocals, supported by Peggy Stern on piano, Chris Jones on bass, Karrie Sheehan on drums, and percussionist Laura Mordecai. Women in Jazz hits the stage at 9:00 p.m., performing until 1:00 a.m. with a $7 cover charge at the door (no advance tickets) for ages 21 and up. Sahara Lounge If you want to begin the International Jazz Day festivities ahead of April 30, the celebration gets a running start on the evening of Friday, April 26 at the Sahara Lounge (an ages 21+ venue) with pianist/composer Paula Maya and Bossa Nova at 7:00 p.m. for one set. Maya’s fusion of jazz and bossa nova incorporates classical, blues, Brazilian, Cuban, and African influences. Foundational experiences in her youth surrounded by familial influences in classical music remain impactful in her artistic expression in worldly terms. Every fourth Friday, she continues her residency at Austin’s signature world music venue, the Sahara Lounge, located in east Austin. American Federation of Musicians (Local 433 of Austin) On Sunday, April 28, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM Local 433 of Austin) will host an Emerging Artist Showcase to celebrate the coinciding Jazz Appreciation Month. The Local is housed on the third floor of the IBEW Local 520 building in southeast Austin. The showcase is a family-friendly event and free to the public. Music begins at 2:00 p.m. with The Golden Hour Quartet with Lauryn Gould (multi-instrumentalist/vocalist). Gould earned music degrees at Texas State University and the University of Limerick and is involved with an array of local ensembles and music education initiatives across the community, as well as leading her own studio. The quartet draws inspiration from hot jazz, swing, and the influences of 1930s and 1940s era icons such as Don Byas, Slam Stewart, and Lester Young. Bourbon & Beth (Sharon Bourbonnais & Beth Galiger), backed by Ernie Durawa and Mark Epstein, offers a blend of blues, country, rock & roll, and jazz at 3:30 p.m. On vocals and piano, Bourbonnais can be found performing regularly at the Driskill Hotel Bar, local wineries, and the Elephant Room, among other venues. Over the years, she has balanced her time between performances, collaborations with a who's-who of Texas music, and teaching in local school districts. Galiger, with range on flute, sax, and fiddle, also keeps a performing schedule with teaching. She has performed with Bill Oliver, Jon Emery, and Slim Richey, among others. The Alex Coke (sax flute) and Carl Michel (guitar) sextet take the stage at 5:00 p.m. to conclude the afternoon’s celebration. The Coke/Michel collaboration harnesses the spirit of exploration from their time with the late Tina Marsh and her Creative Opportunity Orchestra. This sextet and their 2023 album, "Emergence," have proved to be popular in the Austin jazz community and have long-time followers with appearances at Monks, the Elephant Room (including a showcase during 2024’s South by Southwest Music Festival), Central Market Cafe, Waterloo Records, and Captain Quack’s in south Austin. Manteca Beat House Concert Also, on Tuesday evening, April 30, Paul Klemperer and Manteca Beat will perform at a house concert in Austin from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Originally from the Boston area, Klemperer’s formative experiences included finding his way into the local jazz clubs and studying with heavyweights such as Archie Schepp, Max Roach, and Ray Copeland. Klemperer has called Austin home for over 40 years and remains a fixture on the jazz scene, keeping a busy schedule between various projects, creative community outreach, and music education initiatives. In addition to his work as a band leader and educator, he has performed with a range of artists, including Marcia Ball, Doyle Bramhall, Angela Strehli, Seth Walker, and others. An ongoing musical project, Manteca Beat is a lively blend of various musical flavors that Klemperer refers to as “Americano music," drawing influences from blues, Latin, classic jazz, and rhythm and blues while offering a sense of adventure. Details about the house concert can be found on the event listing on the International Jazz Day website. Of course, along with the announced events in conjunction with International Jazz Day, there are plenty of shows on the ongoing jazz calendar across the Austin area. The rest of the month’s events are posted on the Austin Jazz Review calendar (see tab at the top of the page), including a range of venues for ages 21 and up as well as family-friendly environs. --- Photo Credit/Courtesy: International Jazz Day & The Herbie Hancock Institute