Brooklyn 30 Lafayette Avenue Press Department Academy Brooklyn NY 11217-1486 Elena Park of Telephone: 718.636.4111 Susan Yung Music Fax: 718.85 7 .2021 Amy Hughes 718.636.4129 [email protected] News Release Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Announces the BAMcaf e Live Winter Season Featuring Jazz, Pop, Funk, Spoken Word and More at BAMcafe Highlights include Chocolate Genius, The Jones Twins, SYOTOS Orchestra and New Voices From Israel, a series of concerts by Israel-based artists No cover! $10 food/drink minimum BROOKLYN, December 17, 1999- Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) announces the winter 2000 line-up of BAMcafe Live, the live performance series at BAMcafe (30 Lafayette Avenue). BAMcafe Live presents jazz , pop, funk, world/folk, cabaret, spoken word and more with a special emphasis on showcasing Brooklyn-based musicians and ensembles. Performances begin Thursday , January 6 and have no cover charge ($10 food/drink minimum) . Limor Tomer is the series ' curator. For information and updates, call 718.636.4139 or visit www.bam.org. (For press reservations, call 718.636.4129.) The BAMcafe Live series presents up-and-coming artists who reinvent the art of live performance on Thursda y, Friday and Saturda y nights. BAMcafe Live features a diverse roster of musicians , who explore traditional musical forms and create new ones ; spoken word artists , whose styles range from traditional storytelling to experimental performance ; and, every Saturday night, dance bands that perform everything from salsa to swing to tango. BAMcafe Live events often complement BAM mainstage performances and film festivals at BAM Rose Cinemas . Highlights in January , February and March include a special perfom1ance by Chocolate Genius , featuring funk artist Marc Anthony Thompson (January 20) ; an appearance by The Jones Twins , an eccentric twin-sister duo that combines music , comedy and spoken word (January 13); two evenings with Chris Washbume 's SYOTOS Orchestra , the inventive mambo ensemble (February 5 and March 18); and New Voices from Israe l, a series featuring emerging Isra eli musicians as part of BAM 's Kurt Weill Centennial Celebration (March 8-12) . The complete winter 2000 schedule follows. more ... Brooklyn Academy of Music BAAfcafe Live Winter 2000 Line-up 2 January Thursday , January 6 at 9pm Mark Dresser, bass BAMcafe Live premieres the latest project of pioneering bassist Mark Dresser, accompanied by Jane Ira Bloom on soprano saxophone , Denman Maroney on piano and Kevin Norton on vibes. Friday, January 7 at 9pm Slowpoke Slowpoke, a jazz quartet founded by saxophonist and composer Michael Blake ( of the Lounge Lizards) , reinvents traditional jazz melodies and rhythms while staying faithful to the tunes audiences know and love. Slowpoke- whose members were deemed "four of downtown 's finest" by Time Out New York- also features guitarist David Tronzo (named one of Musician magazine 's " 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time"), bassist Tony Scherr (also of the Lounge Lizards) and percussionist Kenny Wolleson (who has collaborated with Tom Waits, John Zorn , Sean Lellllon and others) . Saturday, January 8 at 9pm Dem Brooklyn Bums Described as " shamelessly nostalgic " by the Associated Press, the colorful big band Dem Brooklyn Bums- featuring "Broccoli" Rob Cittadino (bass), Timmy "Pimmento" Clemente (guitar), Rich "Dusty Chop Meat" Zukor (dnnns) , Dave " Canarsie Kid" Levitt (trombone), Paul "Pirogues" Brandenburg (trumpet) and Bernard " Gtmther" Ullrich (saxophones) -presents an evening of swing music at BAMcafo. Thursday , January 13 at 9pm The Jones Twins The Jones Twins, featuring writer/performer/musician twin sisters Stephanie Jones and Suzanne Y. Jones, combine theater, musical arrangements, spoken word and comedy to create their own unique and entertaining performances. According to the Milwaukee Journal, "Brilliant craft and penetrating insight inform their work. .. The Jones Twins can really sing, they can really move, their comic timing is uncanny and they are extraordinarily sexy ... The ultimate sister act." Friday, January 14 at 9pm Next Legacy Orchestra BAMcafe Live presents its resident big band, the Next Legacy Orchestra, for another evening of musical energy and attitude . Under the direction of Benny Russell and Jorge Sylvester, the nineteen-piece Next Legacy Orchestra utilizes a driving, deep groove while integrating musical influences extending from New Orleans to Havana , from Washington , DC to New York's Lower East Side. (Also Febrnary 18.) Sahirday, January 15 at 9pm Quimbomb6 Quimbomb6 ("okra" in Spanish) blends Afro-Cuban rhytluns such as mambo, s6n, rumba and chachacha with jazz , blues and other sounds from the Americas, creating a unique sound that inspires even the most timid to venture onto the dance floor. Quimbomb6 is led by composer/percussionist Nick Herman, who has collaborated with artists such as Bobby Watson, Slide Hampton and Candido. Thursday, January 20 at 9pm Chocolate Genius BAMcafo hosts a special performance by the eccentrically creative Chocolate Genius, feahiring composer /musician (and Fort Greene resident) Marc Anthony Thompson . Thompson 's recordings include two albums for Warner Brothers Records (a self-titled debut and Watts and Paris) and the recently-released Marc Anthony's Chocolate Genius with John Medeski and Chris Wood for V2 Records. He has collaborated with jazz dnunmer Tony Williams, guitarist Marc Ribot and Ricki Lee Jones, and created music scores for the film Spark. Thompson recently made his BAM debut in Party at the End of Time: 1999 Live at the BAM Opera House (December 11 and 12), BAM 's 1999 Next Wave Festival sold-out tribute to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, in which he rendered a hon1..;1-tonk version of The Artist 's "Irresistible Bitch." more .. BAMcafeLive Winter 2000 Line-up 3 Friday,January 21 at 9pm Dennis Mitcheltree Quartet with Howard Johnson This Brooklyn-based quartet , which balances written compositions with spontaneous ones, freely improvises within the structure of tunes by saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree . According to Dave McElfresh in Jazz Now, "Mitcheltree 's quartet is definitely hard-core NYC: tough sounding, aggressive, and complex . They swing hard, even at mid-tempo , as though all of them were percussionists , which infectiously pulls the listener into their comple x conversations ." At BAMcafe , the quartet will be joined by Howard Johnson, who-along with Mitcheltree - will play a multitud e of instruments , creating music of diverse hues and colors. Saturday, January 22 at 9pm Todd Lonclagin'sBand Todd Londagin , co-founder of the swing ensemble Flying Neutrinos , brings his own band to BAMcafe , presenting toe-tapping swing music for audiences of all ages. (Also February 19.) Thursday, January 27 at 9pm To be announced . Friday, January 28 at 9pm SYOTOS Orchestra Trombonist Chris Washburne - a member of the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra whose credits include work with Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Marc Anthon y- leads the SYOTOS Orchestra , an innovative mambo ensemble that also draws inspiration from the jazz genre. As Ken Franckling of UPI described, "Washbume and his SYOTOS band are taking his concept of Latin jazz into bold, new territory that draws from both the Latin dance and jazz improvisational spheres." (Also February 12.) Saturday, January 29 at 9pm Tanguardia BAMcafe Live's resident tango ensemble , led by pianist Bob Telson, returns to BAMcafe for an evening of passionate music. Tanguardia also features Tito Castro on bandoneon and Francisco Poncho Navarro on guitar. (Also Febmary 26.) Febmaiy Thursday, February 3 To be announced . Friday, Febmary 4 at 9pm Lenore Zenzalai Helm Jazz singer Lenore Zenzalai Helm-whose voice was described as "astonishing" by Geoffrey Himes in The Washington Post- makes her BAMcafe debut. Helm's debut recording on J Curve Records , Spirit Child, feahues collaborations with jazz artists Branford Marsalis , Ron Carter, David Liebman and others. Sahuda y, February 5 at 9pm Widespread Depression Orchestra Widespread Depression Orchestra , the infamous ensemble that has performed swing music for more than 20 years, comes to BAMcafe to share its energetic sound. (Also March 18.) Thursday, Febmary 10 BAMcafe closed . more ... BAlvfcafeLive Winter 2000 Line-up 4 Friday, February 11 at 9pm Sam Bardfeld's Cabal Fatale BAMcafe Live presents the unique playing style and musical compositions of up-and-coming jazz violinist Sam Bardfeld , who has worked with Bruce Springsteen , Johnny Pacheco , the String Trio of New York and John Cale, among others. He will be joined by Ken Wessel , guitar ; Drew Gress, bass; and Mike Sarin, drums . "The thrilling surprise here is violinist Sam Bardfeld ... he has a w1ique and provocative voice in his own right. Bardfeld really bums it up."-Cadence Magazine. Saturday, Febmary 12 at 9pm SYOTOSOrchestra Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Orchestra return to BAMcafe for another evening of inventive mambo music . (See January 28.) Thursda y, February 17 at 9pm Wolfgang Muthspiel, violin and guitar Wolfgang Muthspiel , who has established himself as one of the most important composers and performers in both jazz and classical circles , will premiere his song cycle '·Daily Mirrors, " featuring poetry by Bernd Hagg . Friday, February 18 at 9pm Next Legacy Orchestra BAMcaf e' s resident big band will pay tribute to Black History Month with a musical program inspired by poet Langston Hughes . (See January 14.) Saturday, Febmary 19 at 9pm Todd Londagin's Band Todd Londagin '