This spring, I’ve finally gotten my act together enough to give nearly back-to-back recitals at CSU Stanislaus and Sacramento State. The two programs are very similar, and feature French music from the 1930s and ’40s. I’ll be playing two pieces for bassoon and piano, both concours pieces from the Paris Conservatoire: Gabriel Pierné’s Prélude de Concert sur un thème de Purcell, Op.53 and Henri Dutilleux’s Sarabande et Cortège. At CSU Stanislaus, these will be accompanied by Eugène Bozza’s Sonatine for flute and bassoon. At Sac State, they’ll be paired with two reed trios: Jacques Ibert’s Cinq pièces en trio and Darius Milhaud’s Pastorale.
I’m especially excited that the second half of each concert will feature my swing quintet, Hot Club Faux Gitane (with Billy Gay and Eric Johnson on guitars, Gary Williams-Guichard on mandolin, Jake Myers on bass, and me on bassoon). This group (seen in the posters below), is loosely modeled on Django Reinhardt’s Quintette du Hot Club de France, which was active in Paris in the 1930s and ’40s. I’ve been playing with the group for almost three years now. We play a mixture of the classic gyspy swing repertoire, other jazz standards, tunes from the post-Django gypsy tradition, and originals. This will be the group’s second appearance at CSU Stanislaus, but the Sac State concert will be our Sacramento debut. Details and posters for the two concerts are below.
Thursday, February 20, 7:30pm
Snider Recital Hall, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA (map)
Buy Tickets — $12/$8 students and seniors
With: Yan Yan Chan (piano), Jeannine Dennis (flute), and Hot Club Faux Gitane
Sunday, February 23, 6:00pm
Music Recital Hall, Sacramento State, Sacramento, CA (map)
Buy Tickets — $10 general/$7 seniors/$5 students
Live Stream
With: John Cozza (piano), Sandra McPherson (clarinet), Deborah Shidler (oboe), and Hot Club Faux Gitane
Posters for CSU Stanislaus (left) and Sacramento State (right). Click for larger versions.
