On Saturday, October 12, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., the Denmark Arts Center presents The Bradley Jazz Collective.
The Collective got its start in the fall of 2014, when it opened a new concert series called “Bradley Street Backstage” at Fryeburg Academy’s Performing Arts Center.
After playing to a sold-out crowd, the group stayed together, performing throughout New Hampshire and Maine. The group performs creative interpretations of jazz classics as well as original music inspired by the rich tradition of small-group jazz.
Bradley Jazz Collective is made up of Mike Sakash on saxophone, Jed Wilson on piano, Al Hospers on bass, Craig Bryan on drums, and Mimi Rohlfing on vocals. They will play jazz standards from the 1950s and 1960s, including the music of Thelonius Monk, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock, Joseph Kosma, Charlie Parker, and George Gershwin. The program will be diverse; ballads, bossa nova, and exciting up-tempo swing.
Sakash is a sax player, writer, and arranger for the Portland Jazz Orchestra, and the director of the music department at Fryeburg Academy. His 2018 album, “Wood Dance”, includes legendary bebop alto saxophonist Richie Cole and Maynard Ferguson’s long-time trombonist Reggie Watkins.
Hospers, a professional bass player for 53 years, toured with the Buddy Rich band and Blood Sweat & Tears in the 1980’s. He has been a programmer of music software at companies including Dr. T’s and Harmonix, the developers of Guitar Hero. Hospers plays and performs with a wide variety of bands in the Mount Washington Valley and owns the Clever Sounds recording studio.
Bryan is the drummer for Bruce Marshall and the Nor'Easters, Jonathan Sarty, Sounds Clever & the Valley Horns, and the Smoke House Boys. He can be heard on singer-songwriter Heather Pierson's album, “Motherless Child.”
Vocalist Rohlfing is the chorus and vocal jazz instructor at Fryeburg Academy. She has played an influential role organizing the school’s annual musicals for years.
Jed Wilson, on piano, is also one half of the Heather Masse duo, who have been guest performers on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.
Lobby and concessions open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for over 65, and $8 for under 18. All tickets are general admission. To purchase tickets or find more information, visit www.DenmarkArts.org/event or call the Denmark Arts Center box office at (207) 452-2412. Purchasing tickets in advance is strongly recommended.
