Event Calendar
The Steve Sandberg Quartet
Friday, April 05, 2019, 7:30 pm
Three-time Emmy-nominated Steve Sandberg brings the WOW factor!!
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Joining Steve on piano is
Rob Thomas, Violin – Rob has recorded with Lee Konitz, the Jazz Passengers, The Mahavishnu Project, Andy Summers and many others. He has performed Jazz at Lincoln Center with John Handy’s “Monterrey Quintet” and Paquito D’Rivera’s “Bird With Strings” project.
Mauricio Zottarelli, Drums – Critically acclaimed and award-winning drummer and artist, Mauricio has recorded and shared the stage with: Esperanza Spalding, Hiromi, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Richard Bona and many others.
Michael O’Brien, Bass – Michael has performed and composed internationally for over a decade with such notables as Harry Connick Jr., Dave Samuels, Ruben Blades, Gene Pitney and many others.
The music will include:
Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso - one of his most virtuosic piano compositions, with a large flamenco and Gypsy influence followed by Steve's Alborada Metamorphosis - based on Ravel's harmonies and melodies, also referencing Coltrane's My Favorite Things.
Liszt's Concert Etude No. 2 followed by Steve's Abbé - based on Liszt's themes, first appearing as a jazz waltz then morphing into an Afro-Cuban and African trance section. Liszt was both a virtuoso and a mystic, who became a priest (Abbé) at the end of his life. Steve's piece is an attempt to capture the breadth of Liszt's personality in a contemporary musical language of jazz and world music.
A bit of Bartok's Three Folksongs from the County of Csik followed by Steve's Janos - an adaptation of Bartok's themes/harmonies in a very rhythmic and exciting composition using contemporary Balkan jazz rhythms and improvisation.
Chopin's Mazurka in C major followed by Steve's Mazur - a composition using South American chacarerra rhythms inspired by the Chopin.
Some of Ravel's prelude to Tombeau de Couperin leading into Steve's original composition: Maurice - based on the Ravel prelude.
and many other compositions ...
Steve Sandberg is an eclectic musician with a lifetime of experience in many worlds of music.
He is a three-time Emmy-nominated composer whose scoring, songwriting and musical direction for “Dora the Explorer”, “Go, Diego, Go!” and “Dora and Friends” helped make these shows the landmarks they are in children’s television worldwide.
He began classical piano studies at age 4 and won a BMI composers award before attending Yale University, where he majored in musical theory and composition. At Yale, his studies with noted African art theorist Robert Farris Thompson inspired him to immerse himself in the world of Afro-Caribbean music. Upon returning to NYC he played with, arranged and composed for some of the great salsa artists of the 1970s and 1980s, including Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, and Daniel Ponce (featuring Tito Puente). A highlight of this period was an appearance in Rio and São Paolo opening for the legendary João Gilberto in a duo with vocalist Bebel Gilberto. He also toured with David Byrne (“Rei Momo”) as keyboardist and vocalist.
Steve has conducted and arranged on Broadway (Chronicle of a Death Foretold) and for many regional and Off-Broadway theatres, including the New York Shakespeare Festival.
Steve has performed improvised electronic multimedia concerts at the Knitting Factory, The Guggenheim Museum, Le Petit Versailles, and the Stone, featuring his unique voice on the breath-controlled Yamaha VL70 synthesizer. These concerts were heavily influenced by his studies of North Indian raga singing.
His latest project is the Steve Sandberg Quartet. SSQ concerts begin with performances from the solo piano repertoire (including original compositions), and continue with the quartet’s soaring improvisations on originals that draw from European, African, Latin, Balkan and Indian traditions. One listener described the experience as listening to “music from a country I’ve never been to but always wanted to visit.”
The group made its debut in June, 2016, with a sold-out show at the DiMenna Center in NYC, recorded its first CD on artistShare records, and has appeared at Birdland, NYC, the Side Door Jazz Club, the Deerhead Inn, and other prominent venues.
"There is a rising meteor in the musical firmament, a man of the sort of talent we can only associate with greatness. His name is Steve Sandberg. He has gathered together a band whose members are themselves leaders in their field. I, personally, become awestruck when listening to Steve Sandberg. His keyboard artistry and creative gifts are treasures awaiting the world’s recognition." — Seymour Bernstein
