FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Glenn Siegel, 413-320-1089 [email protected] Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares presents: Mike Baggetta Trio Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares continues Season Six with a performance by the Mike Baggetta Trio featuring Mike Baggetta, guitar and compositions, Jerome Harris, bass guitar, and Billy Mintz, drums, on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 7:30pm at Hampshire College, Music & Dance Building Recital Hall, Amherst, MA. Single tickets ($15) are available at www.jazzshares.org and at the door. Mike Baggetta’s singular and very personal musical style blurs the lines between composition and improvisation, while connecting a wide range of musical genres that influence him. “Baggetta makes stealthy, mysterious music,” writes Ben Ratliff in The New York Times, “he's trying to do something personal with collective improvisation without ever getting in the way of beauty.” Born in western Massachusetts, Mike Baggetta recently relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee from New York City. He earned his Masters degree from Rutgers University in 2006, and currently teaches at Eastern Tennessee State University. “Baggetta is not an in-your-face player, preferring to dole out thoughtful but dynamic phrases with an emphasis on melody and texture,” writes Robert Iannapollo. “While he uses effects to enhance his sound they are never the dominant force. He frequently distorts his lines through unique phrasing and subtle bending and scraping of strings. And he always seems to be seeking new avenues to explore.” Mike Baggetta has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, Town Hall and many other leading concert venues worldwide. He has worked with David Torn, Donny McCaslin, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Dominique Eade, Nels Cline, David Wax Museum, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Ches Smith, Tyshawn Sorey, Jon Irabagon, Gerald Cleaver, Greg Tardy, Adam Kolker, Cameron Brown, Tom Harrell, Jamie Baum, Jeff Hirshfield, Conrad Herwig, Jeremy Udden, Tony Reedus, John Lindberg, Kevin Norton, Bill McHenry, Brad Shepik, Steve Cardenas and Ruth Brown among many others. He has released four recordings of his quartet music featuring Jason Rigby, Eivind Opsvik, Cameron Brown, George Schuller and RJ Miller, in addition to four albums by his co-led duo TIN/BAG with trumpeter Kris Tiner. Baggetta’s latest disc, Spectre (Fresh Sound New Talent), featuring Jerome Harris and Billy Mintz, makes extensive use of live sampling as an integral part of the compositions. "Mostly poignant and completely touching,” writes Bruce Lee Gallanter. “What makes this disc so great is that it defines its own place in creative music without being dragged into established genres or styles. There is no showing off going on here, just an honest effort to create a number of mesmerizing moods and dreamscapes.” Thanks to our business sponsors: Davis Financial Group, Florence Savings Bank, UMass Fine Arts Center, Downtown Sounds, Carol Abbe Smith Delap Real Estate, River Valley Co-op, Simmer Music, Bueno y Sano, Tony Margherita Management, Haydenville Woodworking & Design, The Artisan Gallery, BarbaraWeen:Visage, Hampshire College, Waugh Agency, Cortlandt Manor Optometry, Jagfly Hosting, Kathleen Collins Wealth Management, Peoples Bank and PV Squared. .