KSC Faculty and Guest Artists Jive in a Jazz Concert
KEENE, N.H., 09/08/23 - The Keene State College Department of Music presents KSC faculty member Scott Mullett and his jazz quartet, and Vermont’s leading Caribbean- and Latin-inspired jazz band, Zabap, led by Julian Gerstin, for a recital on Wednesday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Admission is $10 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth ages 17 and under. For tickets, call the box office at 603-358-2168.
Mullett has played and toured with some of the best big bands in the world, including those of Woody Herman and Artie Shaw. He was drafted into Herman’s band after attending Berklee College where he was awarded a full scholarship. Mullett is now a first-call saxophone player for the greater Boston area, doing commercial studio sessions, and performing regularly with the White Heat Swing Orchestra and the C-Jammers. He was musical director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, is founder and director of the Keene Jazz Orchestra, and currently teaches students from around the tri-state area.
Members of Mullett’s quartet include Eugene Uman, piano; Dave Shapiro, bass; and Bob Gulliotti on drums. Uman is director of the Vermont Jazz Center and is the pianist with the Vermont Jazz Ensemble and Ambassadors of Light. He is in the top tier of jazz educators and presenters in the tri-state region. Shapiro is also a veteran of Woody Herman’s band and was a sideman for Chet Baker and Anita O’Day.
Zabap incorporates melodies and grooves from Africa and the Antilles. Based in Brattleboro, Vermont, Zabap features seven of New England’s master improvisers: Eugene Uman, keyboards; Derrik Jordan, violin and guitar; Dan Rostov, trumpet; Jamie MacDonald, bass; Doug Raneri, drums; and Steve Ferraris and Julian Gerstin, percussion. Zabap’s members have lived, studied, and performed in the nations from which they draw their music: Martinique, Cuba, Ghana, Senegal, and Brazil. Some pieces are settings of traditional songs, while others are original but with rhythms and instruments from afar.
Zabap is led by Julian Gerstin, who founded both Zabap and the Balkan-Cuban fusion group Salsa Slava. He performed with the Windham Orchestra, Brattleboro Community Chorus, Brattleboro Women’s Chorus, jazz vocalist Samirah Evans, and the Cajun band Lil’ Orphans. Gerstin teaches ethnomusicology at Keene State, and percussion and Latin jazz at the Vermont Jazz Center and The Loft.
Located off Wyman Way, the Redfern Arts Center is accessible to people with disabilities. To request accommodations for a disability, please call the box office at 603-358-2168 prior to the recital.
