Greg Abate Performs w/ the Mark Kleinhaut Trio
Greg Abate Performs At NightTown with the Mark Kleinhaut Trio
Sunday February 15, 2009
7:00PM
NightTown Reservations and Info: (216) 795-0550
12387 Cedar Road (top of Cedar Hill)
Cleveland Heights, OH
Greg Abate, Saxes / Mark Kleinhaut, Guitar / Kip Reed, Bass/ Matt Perko, Drums
Greg Abate returns to Cleveland and the NightTown stage to collaborate with his friend guitarist Mark Kleinhaut. Abate and Kleinhaut have performed on numerous occasions. On Abate’s last trip to Cleveland with Bobby Watson, Kleinhaut, sat in on their smoking session at Nighttown. These guys use jazz standards from the “Great American Song Book” as their common language turning these tunes inside out. Each musician pushes his creative energies to new limits, and the results are magical spontaneous and explosive. This gathering of friends is sure to offer music that is fresh and exciting, on the edge yet steeped in the jazz traditions of melody, and swing. Joining Kleinhaut and Abate will be Kip Reed on bass and Matt Perko on drums.
Greg Abate jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer continues as an International Jazz/Recording Artist with 150 days a year touring the globe. In the mid 70’s after finishing a four year program at Berklee College of Music, Greg played lead alto for the Ray Charles Orchestra for 2 years.
In 1978 Greg formed his group Channel One which was a favorite in the New England area and from there had the opportunity to play tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986 to ’87. Following this experience Greg ventured out as post hard bop soloist playing Jazz Festivals, Jazz Societies and Jazz Clubs throughout the U.S. Canada and abroad, including most of Europe, UK, and Moscow and Georgia Russia.
Greg recorded his first CD Live At Birdland NYC in 1991 on the Candid Jazz Label with the trio of James Williams, Rufus Reid and Kenny Washington. To this date Greg has recorded over 12 other recordings and was nominated for a Grammy for his 2004 recording EVOLUTION in four categories . James Williams, Harvie S and Billy Hart comprised the trio. Greg is also an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and is also a very active jazz clinician with co. sponsorship from the Conn -Selmer Instrument Co., conducting workshops and master classes through the U.S and abroad.
Mark Kleinhaut has been playing jazz guitar for over thirty years, during which time he has achieved one of the most prized and elusive goals in jazz – a highly personal sound and recognizable voice on his instrument. His clean guitar tones may first recall one to the great tradition of mainstream jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, but listeners soon detect something else in Kleinhaut’s highly evolved vocabulary. His playing avoids the clichés and trappings of the too-familiar jazz jargon in favor of melodic phrases that twist and leap passionately with the immediacy of the moment, yet follow his relentless pursuit of logic, balance and beauty. Mark Kleinhaut is also a prolific jazz composer and has five CDs of his original jazz compositions, including “Chasing Tales” with trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and “A Balance of Light”, with Bobby Watson on alto sax. Kleinhaut’s newest release, “Holding the Center” (January 2006), represents further artistic evolution of his style with use of sampled sounds, electronic guitar effects and rhythms borrowed from latin, funk, rock and reggae music. Since moving to Cleveland in 2007, Kleinhaut has performed with Cleveland’s top jazz musicians and in the summer of 2008 performed at the Blossom Summer Music Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra.
Currently splitting his time between New York and Cleveland, electric bassist Kip Reed has performed and recorded with numerous major artists in his 25 years as a sideman in venues that include Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London and L’ Olympia in Paris. In Cleveland, Kip is co-leader of the popular Grupo Brasil. Reed is a first call bassist in NYC and Cleveland.
Matt Perko is a sensitive and creative drummer whos sonic palette is informed by his work as a professional photographer and graphic artist. His photography has brought his passion to visual form through stunning nature and landscape photograpy, striking urban street scenes, powerful and dynamic portraits, and thought provoking still lifes. Matt spent his formative years drumming with Cleveland’s best jazz musicians, and has since performed throughout the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. At the age of 21, he underwent a heart transplant operation at the Cleveland Clinic. This life-changing experience made him realize life’s rhythms needed to be captured in every way possible.
