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Joe Locke and the CNY Jazz Orchestra

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The 10th Anniversary CNY Jazz Orchestra Concert Series draws to a close in a concert with featured guest Joe Locke, said to be “set to become the pre-eminent vibraphonist in jazz" (London Times). The concert will be held in the Oncenter Carrier Theater on Friday May 19th at 8:00pm. Ticket prices are $19.50, $23.50 and $26.50, and are on sale now at the Oncenter War Memorial Box Office (435-2121).

The event will be preceded by a free and open to the public clinic in the Carrier Theater at 3pm that afternoon. In an informal master-class setting, Locke will perform with and coach local students.

Locke, the first-ever vibist to appear in the series, will be paired with the entire 17-piece regional all-star orchestra under the direction of new Music Director Bret Zvacek, finishing his first season with the decade-old ensemble. This concert also marks the first time that the presenters will honor a local jazz educator, a practice that will become an annual one. This year's honoree is Gerry Santy, former touring musician, retired teacher at St. Daniel's School and saxophone guru to generations of students, including many regional and national standouts such as Joe Carello, Frank Grosso and John Rohde of the CNY Jazz Orchestra, national recording artists Rocco Barbato, Mike Dubaniewicz of the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra, Paulie Cerra, and many others.

Raised in Rochester NY, Locke benefited from early classical training by John Beck, Gordon Stout and SSO percussionist Ernest Muzquiz at the Eastman School Preparatory Department. Even before graduating from High School, he had performed with such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Mongo Santamaria and Pepper Adams. Since then, Joe has been busy working with the most eclectic list of artists imaginable. A partial count includes Grover Washington Jr., Gunther Schuller, Kenny Barron, Dianne Reeves, Eddie Daniels, Rod Stewart, The Beastie Boys, The Mingus Big Band, Cecil Taylor and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra.

He has been voted the #1 vibist in Downbeat Magazine's Critic's Poll and Brazil's International Jazz Poll. He has appeared on over 50 recordings and has recorded over 20 albums as leader, including the critically acclaimed Moment To Moment, a tribute to Henry Mancini. A globe-trotting touring artist, he finds time to mentor young percussionists as a faculty member at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and is an in-demand clinician at festivals and colleges.

A note to those perhaps unfamiliar with his instrument: the vibraphone is a mallet percussion instrument similar to the xylophone, only with soft metal bars and a foot pedal like a piano. It was popularized in jazz by the great Lionel Hampton in the Benny Goodman Quintet, and has since become a mainstay instrument in the jazz world.

The CNY Jazz Arts Foundation is the region's primary provider of jazz programming in concert, cabaret, scholastic and festival settings.

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