PORTLAND — The Portland Conservatory of Music has announced the spring season of the Dimensions in Jazz Series. Curated by Artistic Director Paul Lichter, the robust line-up brings national and international jazz performers to Maine. The season opens on Thursday, March 1, with a concert by Gerald Cleaver and Travis Laplante at SPACE Gallery, with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. and the show at 8.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 2, PCM will honor the legacy of Steve Grover, arguably the single most influential native-born Maine jazz musician. At Meloon Chapel in Woodfords Church, the Birthday Bash and Memorial will honor Grover’s achievements and contributions to jazz with a concert of his music curated by his friend and collaborator, guitarist Tony Gaboury.
As performer, composer, bandleader, educator and longtime director of Maine Jazz Camp, Grover mentored and inspired two generations of student musicians through his teaching posts at UMA, Bowdoin and Bates, as well as private lessons, clinics and workshops. A prolific composer, Grover was awarded the prestigious ASCAP/BMI Young Composers Award from the Thelonious Monk Institute in 1990 for his Wallace Stevens based suite, “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”
On Friday, March 30, Dimensions in Jazz will host pianist Frank Carlberg and saxophonist Noah Preminger in a concert celebrating the release of their duo recording, “Whispers and Cries,” on Red Piano Records. The concert will take place at Meloon Chapel of Woodfords Church, with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. and the concert at 8.
The Brooklyn-based pianist, composer, bandleader and educator Frank Carlberg has been a regular visitor to Maine: from his gigs in the late ’80s and early ’90s at Cafe No, his long standing association with the late Maine drummer/composer Steve Grover, to his teaching at Maine Jazz Camp, and his successful Big Band Project, “Monk’s Dreams, Hallucinations & Nightmares” performed last fall at Space Gallery.
Information about the full season of concerts and performances is available on PCM’s website. Unless noted, all concerts take place at the Meloon Chapel of Woodfords Church, 202 Woodford St. Tickets are $5 for students; $10 for seniors, $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Advance tickets are available at Jet Video and Starbird Music in Portland and Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick.
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