KSC Jazz Ensemble Performs A Jazz Travelogue
KEENE, N.H. 4/5/05 - The Keene State College Jazz Ensemble, directed by Don Baldini, performs “A Jazz Travelogue” program Wednesday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC faculty, staff, and students; senior citizens; and youth age 17 or younger. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.
The “Jazz Travelogue” with guest soloist Greg Caputo on drums, will include dozens of hit tunes with places in the title such as “April in Paris,” “Indiana” “Chicago,” “Route 66,” and “Children of Sanchez.” KSC music alumnus Jim Fothergill will be a special guest vocalist and Walpole School music director Walt Sayre, trombone, will return as a featured guest.
Caputo is a freelance drummer who specializes in “versatility within ‘traditional’ drumming styles,” according to Modern Drummer Magazine. He is a graduate of the Hartford Conservatory of Music Jazz and Pop Program and was a faculty member for the 2001 and 2003 Jazz in July summer music program at Mount Holyoke College. His professional credits include drumming for the Gene Krupa Big Band, Les Brown Big Band, Count Basie Big Band, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Harry James Big Band, Sammy Kaye Orchestra, Benny Goodman Big Band, Artie Shaw Orchestra, and Nelson Riddle Orchestra.
Baldini, an artist-in-residence, also conducts the KSC Chamber Orchestra, which will perform An Opera Workshop on Friday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Redfern Arts Center. Baldini came to Keene State after a professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He appeared for 13 years with the “Tonight Show” Orchestra and toured with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, and the Harry James and Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabakin bands. He currently performs with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Dartmouth Symphony, Opera North, the Keene Chamber Orchestra, and several local chamber music and jazz groups. Baldini, who lives in Saxtons River, Vt., also teaches at Dartmouth College.
