Laszlo Gardony
August 16 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
$20.00
Internationally acclaimed Boston-based jazz pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony is one of the most impressive and technically skilled pianists working in jazz today. “A formidable improviser who lives in the moment” (JazzTimes). Laszlo Gardony has performed in 27 countries and released 14 albums on the Sunnyside, Antilles, and Avenue Jazz labels during his distinguished decades-long career. Winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, Gardony has been noted for his “fluid pianism” by The New York Times, the legendary Dave Brubeck called him “a great pianist” and the Village Voice wrote: “ Armed with a piano style that encompasses Bill Evans’s elegance, Herbie Hancock’s drive and Keith Jarrett’s passion, Gardony’s music creates a meditative state conducive to the attainment of man’s most enduring and timeless aspirations.”
His solo album “Serious Play” was named one of the Best Jazz Albums of 2017 by DownBeat Magazine. “Serious Play,” and Laszlo’s 2015 live sextet album “Life In Real Time” were named by the Boston Globe as one of the 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2017 and 2015 respectively.
A Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music – who also teaches at Harvard University’s Jazz Combo Initiative – Gardony continues to divide his time between composing, recording, concerts, and teaching, and he remains, above all, committed to living an inspired, truthful, and productive life in music.
Visit www.LGJazz.com www.facebook.com/laszlogardony www.youtube.com/lgjazzvideos www.instagram.com/laszlogardonymusic for more information.
Sonja Hannington is a saxophone/flute player, vocalist and songwriter based in Midcoast Maine. She is a freelance musician who performs regularly in jazz combos, cover bands and other productions. She also performs her original jazz/rock music that blends elements of funk, R&B, and pop. Her music is characterized by jazz-influenced structures and harmonies.
Sonja’s personal experiences have been a great inspiration in her songwriting. Her “day gig” is as a Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Bangor, Maine. She uses Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Memory Reconsolidation as treatment approaches. She has special interest in trauma and veterans issues and this can be heard through her music.
She received a full scholarship to the School of American Music and completed the Master Certificate in Writing and Producing, Berklee School of Music. She holds a Masters Degree in Music Performance from the University of Maine and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Texas.
Her debut record of her original music, “Can’t Catch My Breath” was released this year. Her music is available at CD Baby, iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Bullmoose and many more outlets. Her release “Snowfall” is a collection of arrangements and other Christmas classics.
Guitarist, composer and musical instrument inventor, Kevin Kastning who resides in the Portland, Maine area appears on over 50 albums, and invented a number of guitar-family instruments which extend the traditional range of the guitar into new territory. He plays these instruments of his own imagining on his albums including a 36-string Double Contraguitar, a 30-string Contra-Soprano guitar, 6-string bass-baritone guitar, a 12-string extended baritone guitar, a 12-string alto guitar, and 14-string, 16-string, and 17-string Contraguitars. His music consistently receives strong reviews in the experimental acoustic music community.
Kastning attended Wichita State University between 1980 and 1984, graduating with a Bachelor of Music. While there he studied composition under the tutelage of Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Walter Mays. In 1985, Kastning moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he pursued graduate studies at Berklee College of Music for 2 years.[4] At Berklee, Kastning studied with Walter Beasley and John la Porta while being privately tutored by guitar legend Pat Metheny.