enJOY Jazz with Peter Hand and Don Braden
Monday, October 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM
All Tickets: $17

Enjoy the smooth relaxation of jazz, with prominent regional jazz groups. This series is carefully curated by Mike Carbone and funded by The Jazz Fund.

Peter Hand – Guitar & Leader
Don Braden – Tenor Saxophone
Joey Arcuri – Bass
Tyler Dempsey – Drum Set

Guitarist, composer and arranger Peter Hand leads his own big band, ten-piece band and smaller groups, and his music encompasses a wide variety of original compositions, new interpretations of jazz standards and Latin & Brazilian jazz. He has recorded three highly acclaimed big band albums on Savant Records and worked with many top artists and bands as a leader, arranger/composer and sideman, including Carmen Lundy, Jon Lucien, George Coleman, Lee Konitz, Houston Person, Claudio Roditi, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. A New York City native, Peter took classical piano lessons before switching to guitar in his early teens. Growing up in New York in the mid-1960s, he was fortunate to hear music in many genres, from venues in Greenwich Village to Broadway to Carnegie Hall. After first becoming aware of blues artists Buddy Guy, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, he become especially enamored of the blues guitar sounds of B.B. King and Albert King, teaching himself to play much of their music and striving to develop his own ideas. While a pre-med student at Binghamton University, NY, Peter led his own blues band, and in his third year decided to leave school and pursue music (with no regrets about leaving pre-med). He worked with his own groups and others in New York, including with Jerome Arnold (bassist with Howlin’ Wolf and Paul Butterfield). His interests expanded to the great soul music artists of the day, one of many being James Brown, then at the peak of his musical career. In addition to Brown’s rhythm section innovations, Peter was inspired by Brown’s soulful ballads, creative horn arrangements, and the recordings Brown and other artists made with big bands and string orchestras. For more, visit: PeterHandMusic.com

Don Braden is a Jazz musician of the highest caliber. For over 40 years he has toured the world leading his own ensembles on saxophone and flute, as a special guest, and as a sideman with Jazz greats Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, and many others. He has composed music for ensembles ranging from duo to full symphonic orchestra, in many styles, for recordings (including 24 CDs as a leader and over 80 as a sideman), film, and the television networks Nickelodeon and CBS. Braden is a leading arranger of contemporary standards, and has built a solid collection of newer American songs into his Jazz repertoire. He is also a world renowned educator, having spent over two decades giving master classes at countless schools and universities, and running first class educational programs such as the Litchfield Jazz Camp, NJPAC’s Wells Fargo Jazz For Teens, and most recently, the Harvard University Monday Jazz Band. He is an imaginative, technically excellent, soulful saxophonist, and his harmonic and rhythmic sophistication give him a unique approach to improvising as well as composing and arranging. Most important of all: he has a beautiful sound, and he swings! All this combines with his joyous yet disciplined personality to make him one of the most important musicians working today. For more, visit: DonBradenJazz.com

Jazz programming is proudly underwritten by The Jazz Fund.

Please Note: Dates, times, locations, performers, and prices are subject to change. Prices listed include fee.