Saturday, October 22, 7:30pm-$10 Cover

Spooky Chamber Music

Beta Test is a new chamber ensemble based in Philadelphia that focuses on performing a unique combination of classical music, new compositions, and geeky selections from classic video games and movies. For their October program, they’ve put together a set of music around the theme Monsters. On the program they’ll be performing Franz Schubert’s spookily famous Erlkonig, as well as instrumental arrangements of madrigals by the crazed Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo. They’ll also be presenting new works by Douglas Laustsen and Melissa Dunphy as well as arrangements of music from the video games Chrono Trigger, Castlevania, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and the movie Beetlejuice. It should be frightfully fun time!

Thursday, October 13 – 8pm-$10 Cover, All Ages-Jazz
David Nord Quartet & Craig Eber Trio

David Nord Quartet: David Nord - guitar & composer, Patrick Fink - rhodes electric piano, Eli Sklarsky - drums, Matt Neil - electric bass.  A group of creative musicians performing the original compositions of guitarist David Nord.  The music takes a unique approach to modern jazz and features an electric texture, organic improvisations, and a distinct harmonic and melodic vocabulary.
Craig Ebner Trio featuring John Swana: Craig Ebner - guitar, Justin Sekelewski - bass, Carl Moritz - drums, and special guest John Swana – trumpet.
– Craig teaches jazz guitar performance and jazz history at Temple University. He has performed with many musicians locally and internationally, most notably, with jazz organist, Joey DeFrancesco and drummer, Byron Landham. Craig also studies Hindustani classical music and performs on the sitar.
– “John Swana is one of the most exciting trumpeters to arrive for a decade,” declares Mark Gardner, co-author of Blackwell’s Guide to Recorded Jazz.

Friday, September 30, 9pm – Jazz
BYOB – $8 General Admission, $4 w/ Student ID

Nicole Saphos Quartet

Elijah Jamal Balbed (saxophone); Dave Sanders (guitar); Ele Rubenstein (drums); Nicole Saphos (bass/vocals)

Nicole Saphos is a Jazz bassist/vocalist who grew up in Los Angeles. Currently living in Philadelphia, she is a senior at Temple University’s Boyer School of Music, majoring in Jazz Bass Performance. Her quartet is comprised of top Philadelphia and DC musicians who have performed at various premier jazz venues along the East Coast.

Saturday August 20, 9pm – $10 Cover – All Ages – Jazz
Speed of Three & Fries/Greenfield Quintet

[Speed of Three] is the come together of three adventurous and broad-minded improvisers that explore the abstract and eccentric sides of music. The combination of trumpeter Danny Gouker’s ingenious mind, drummer Robert Martino’s unique palette of sounds and vibraphonist Patricia Franceschy’s virtuosity make this collaboration persuasive and extraordinary.

The Fries/Greenfield Quintet is a newly-spawned collaboration between guitarist Bill Fries, saxophonist Sam Greenfield, pianist James Santangelo, bassist Sandy Eldred, and drummer Kevin Daly. This band is interested in playing well-crafted, contemporary jazz that draws upon a wide variety of compositional influences. They are always striving to find new ideas to assist them in creating a fresh, unique musical space as these five musicians get to share their exciting original music among friends and music fans throughout the greater Philadelphia area.

Thursday August 11, 9pm – Music

Satabdi Express: Dave Cipriani: 20-string Indian slide guitar, classical & electric guitar, vocals; Jake Leckie: Upright Bass; Alan Munshower: Drums & Percussion; Melissa Hullman: Violin

Named after a famous train in India, Satabdi Express is the brainchild of guitarist/songwriter/composer Dave Cipriani. Satabdi Express combines the ancient with the modern, while striving to maintain authenticity and a sense of heart.  Combining the sounds of North Indian Classical music with classic jazz instrumentation and sensibility, the music also brings in other American influences such as country blues, folk and funk, with hints of middle eastern and flamenco sounds as well. A set of music by Satabdi Express would include several originals by Cipriani, then maybe some modal jazz standards, a Django Reinhardt tune, a Ravi Shankar piece written for jazz musicians, or other well-known songs reinterpreted for Indian guitar.

Dave Cipriani was named a 2006 and 2008 recipient of the Individual Artist Award in Solo Instrumental Performance from the Maryland State Arts Council.  He studied classical guitar in college, and also studied jazz privately with the late jazz guitar legend Charlie Byrd. He attended master class with renowned classical guitar virtuoso Christopher Parkening.  Later, he led several bands after college, combining his knowledge of jazz and classical music with the singer-songwriter and rock traditions.  In 1998 Dave began studying North Indian Classical Music, on slide guitar, first with sitar Maestro Jay Kishor, then in 2003 with Indian slide guitar master Pandit Barun Kumar Pal, one of the senior most disciples of Ravi Shankar.  Cipriani traveled to India three times to study with Pal, and currently plays Indian and Indian influenced music on a 20-string guitar custom built by one of the top luthiers of India.  Dave is currently finishing an MFA in North Indian music at world-renowned California Institute of the Arts, where he has studied indian music with Maestro Aashish Khan and Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, as well as studying jazz, african and balkan music with guitarists Miroslav Tadic and Larry Koonse

Variety is the spice of Bass for Jake K. Leckie.  He regularly performs and records jazz, tango, chamber music, gospel, free improvisation, folk, bluegrass, and new music.  A native of Boston, MA, he studied with John Lockwood, and went to school in Baltimore where he was under the guidance of Michael Formanek.  From Boston to Baltimore, Barcelona to Banff, Montreal to New York City, Jake enjoys a career as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.  He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, and works with The So On and So Forth jazz trio, Mashed Potangos tango/chamber ensemble, The Satabdi Express indian classical gypsy jazz fusion quartet, AHL free-tango trio, the ministry of the Parkchester Baptist Church, and the BCCO.  His performance credits include The Baltimore Jazz and Blues Festival,
Canadian Music Week, The Montreal Jazz Festival, The All Good Festival, and the Federal Hill Festival.  He appears on numerous recordings as a sideman, and runs his production company, The Organic Sound Lab.

Alan Munshower started pursuing drums at age 10 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from Goucher. While at school, he performed in Soft Shoe Shuffle, an original fusion/jam band that released a CD and toured in France. Munshower formed the world-fusion group Sangita that toured France in 2003. In the past few years, he has been busy with the trio ricochet. His duo with pianist Nobu Stowe, A-UN, has a forthcoming album on Soul Note featuring tabla master Badal Roy. Munshower can also be seen with the Kiss Quartet, the Philtones, Eva Castillo, Not For Human Hearing, Boostimus!, The So On and So Forth and Sac Au Lait.

Melissa Hullman has served on the violin faculty of the Peabody Institute for the past seven years. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Peabody Chamber Camp, has served as co-chair of Peabody Young Peoples String Program, and is past president of the area chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Hullman holds a bachelor’s of music degree from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in violin performance and pedagogy from
the Peabody Conservatory.