Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola Wednesday 9/20

Barbara Sfraga
bassdrums'n'voicethang
with
Christopher Dean Sullivan Center Search Quest Michael T.A. Thompson

And please save the date...


Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest - FULL QUINTET
Barbara Sfraga, Christopher Dean Sullivan, Michael T.A. Thompson, Mala Waldron & Allen Won
Monday, October 9th, 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM sets
@ The Jazz Standard
116 East 27th Street
CD Release Performance for Timelessness Frozen in Time
as well as Barbara's book “The Subway Series: a Book of Drawings Sprinkled with Words"

“Sfraga and Center Search Quest have developed a sound of their own that incorporates a multitude of influences, including the reggae “I'm in the Light" and quarter-tone, Jaipur-like wavering on “Love Breaks Free." Presenting a repertoire that's as varied as the experiences of the members of Center Search Quest, Timelessness Frozen in Time features yet another aspect of Sfraga's talent that hadn't been entirely apparent from her few previous recordings" --Bill Donaldson, Jazz Improv

Barbara Sfraga is a vocalist of extraordinary passion and range with a penchant for free-spirited improvisation, as well as a savvy composer-lyricist and gifted arranger who delights in putting a new spin on the familiar.

Sfraga started out as a church organist who also played rock keyboards while studying classical voice during her high school and college years. Inspired by recordings of the greats, she got heavily into jazz, joined Sal Salvador's quintet Crystal Image in 1989 and began leading her own bands in 1990. She's a recipient of a Meet the Composer grant and endorses Sennheiser microphones. Both her previous recordings, Oh, What A Thrill (featuring Fred Hersch and Mark Murphy), and Under the Moon (featuring Chicago musicians John McLean and Paul Wertico, as well as the NYC-based Chris Sullivan) drew rave reviews from critics and fans alike.

Christopher Dean Sullivan is a versatile bassist of many musical languages: reggae, Caribbean, Indian, African, and Eurocentric perceptions, rock, country, and more. Chris is well traveled throughout the U.S., the Caribbean Islands and Europe. He has shared the stage with Stanley Jordan, Chaka Chan, Sonny Simmons, Pete Seeger, Charlie Persip, Yusef Lateef, Grant Green, Horace Parlin, Cecil Payne, Geri Allen and Archie Schepp, among many others. He has also led his own musical units. Chris Sullivan is heard on CDs from acoustic folk and blues music to gospel. His approach is heartfelt and is accessed first of all by intensive listening--to himself, to the elemental structure of a tune, to the soul of his fellow musicians, and to his own quest for the purest, more direct expression of sound and feeling.

Drummer Michael T.A. Thompson is an anomaly. That's why you'll find him in the divergent artists such as Joe McPhee, John Stubblefield, Daniel Carter, Alex Foster, Roy Campbell Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Matthew Shipp, Uri Caine, Henry Grimes, John Patitucci, William Parker, Barbara Sfraga, Mala Waldron; legendary Calypsonians The Mighty Sparrow, The Shadow, Becket; reggae artist Owen Gray; as well as artists from classical to rap and beyond. Allowing all these influences to flow through him, Michael Thompson's palate encompasses an abundance of sound colors. He hears everything, and plays with it in a way that's ever inventive and perceptively responsive. Thompson plays as he breathes. You'll always find him in the moment, inspired as well as inspiring.