THANKS TO LIFE CONCERT

25/11/2009-December, 7 and 8, 2009 - 8pm and 10pm

Jazz Showcase 806 S Plymouth Ct
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 670-2473

December  Monday 7
December Tuesday 8
8 pm and 10 pm.

$15 cover

Thanks to Life Concert

Elbio Barilari and his big band with special guests Diego Urcola (trumpet) and Welz Kaufman (narrator), in a celebration of Latin American singer Mercedes Sosa.

This concert is presented by the ILCC as a part of the Latino Music Festival and has the support of the Consulates General of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in Chicago.

Grammy award nominated jazz trumpeter Diego Urcola joins Elbio Barilari and his musicians for a very special events over two evenings at the most prestigious jazz club in Chicago.

Elbio and his 14 pieces band, including several of the top jazzmen in Chicago, finally will come to the Jazz Showcase after obtaining rave reviews for their concerts at the Ravinia Festival, Morse Theatre and the Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, where they performed the opening concert for the 2009 Made in Chicago series.

The late Mercedes Sosa, who passed away recently, was the biggest name in Latin American music for the last 40 years. A native from Argentina, Ms. Sosa made her last visit to Chicago in 2007, when 5,000 people went to see her at the UIC Pavilion.

Trumpeter Diego Urcola, also from Argentina, will be featured with the band in selections of Sosa’s repertoire, such as Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life) and Alfonsina y el Mar (Alfonsina and the Sea.)

Chilean singer Claudia Perez Brown will be also featured in this celebration of Mercedes Sosa’s life and art.

Ravinia Festival’s Artistic Director, Welz Kaufman, will join the band as the narrator for Barilari’s highly praised extended jazz composition “Lincolniana”. This work, commissioned by the Ravinia Festival has been saluted by Tribune’s jazz writer Howard Reich as “a mayor composition” and “a must hear any year.”

The work celebrates the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln and underscores his friendship and alliance with Mexican President and hero Benito Juárez.

“Lincolniana” was dedicated to and premiered by Chicago’s trumpet hero Orbert Davis, who already has performed the piece more than a dozen times, including the historical concert at the Millennium Park. During the concerts at the Showcase trumpeter Diego Urcola will perform the solo part, bringing his own approach and style to the piece.

Singer Juan Rivera, a member of the Grammy award nominated band “Sones de México” also participates in this work.

A second extended jazz composition by Barilari, entitled “Sounds of Hope” will complete the program.  This work was commissioned for then Morse Theatre’s Artistic Director, Andy McGhee to celebrate Obama’s inauguration night.

The piece presents two larger instrumental movements and three shorter interludes including a selection of texts on the theme of hope. These sections, sang before by artists such as Dee Alexander and Maggie Brown, will be performed in this case by singer Claudia Perez Brown.

The artists:

Elbio Barilari, composer/arranger/conductor

Ernest Dawkins, alto sax

Guillermo Gregorio, alto sax and clarinet

Jim Gailloreto, tenor sax and clarinet

Jeff Max, tenor and mezzo-soprano saxes

Steve Eisen, baritone sax and flute

Diego Urcola, trumpet and flugelhorn

Jaimie Branch, trumpet and flugelhorn

Norman Palm, trombone

Darwin Noguera, piano

Eric Hochberg, double bass

Ernie Adams, drums

Ruben Alvarez, percussion

Welz Kaufman, narrator

Juan Rivera, vocals

Claudia Perez Brown, vocals

More information and high resolution photos at http://www.elbiobarilari.com
http://www.diegourcola.com