Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera and New York Voices Perform at Lafayette College

Legendary jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera and New York Voices are performing at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Nov. 13 to mark the 10th anniversary of their collaboration on the album Brazilian Dreams, which won the 2003 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Release.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $22. They can be purchased online or by calling the box office at (610) 330-5009 from noon to 2 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m., plus an hour before the show.

The performance is an Ed Brunswick Concert. As part of the residency, Jennifer Kelly, associate professor and director of the Lafayette Choral Program, will host an A Cappella Workshop at 4:30 p.m. in the room 123.

There will be a preconcert composer’s chat at 7 p.m. by D’Rivera on American jazz and musical influences from Cuba and Brazil. Moderated by music professor Skip Wilkins, the talk will be in room 108 of the Williams Center for the Arts.

Both artists, in individual engagements, have thrilled Williams Center audiences over the years. With their lush stylish vocal arrangements, New York Voices, sets new standards for vocal improvisation, and D’Rivera’s unrivaled musicianship, melodic flair and stage presence charm his listeners with tunes that are at once passionate, soulful, and charged with the inner spark of Afro-Cuban swing.

On the occasion of New York Voices’ 25th anniversary, the artists have revived this legendary collaboration with new tunes and fresh arrangements.

The Boston Herald calls New York Voices “the most exciting vocal ensemble in jazz” and the Reno Gazette cites their “sizzling pace that leaves listeners breathless and not quite sure how to assimilate what it is they’ve heard.”

D’Rivera brings vocal fireworks of his own and has captured a slew of major awards including the NEA Jazz Master Award, the National Medal for the Arts, the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Award, and the President’s Award from the International Jazz Educators.

Funding is provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.

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Photo of New York Voices by Peter Blum, Courtesy of Lafayette College; higher resolution available online, http://flic.kr/p/fzg2vL.

Kathleen Parrish
Associate Director of Media Relations
Lafayette College
Communications Division
Easton, PA 18042
parrishk@lafayette.edu
www.lafayette.edu