The Creative Music Series presented the Todd Brunel Quartet at 8 p.m. Friday, June 28, 2024. This took place at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 74 Pleasant St., Arlington.
The quartet featured Laura Jordan on percussion, Rick McLaughlin on bass, Peter Cassino on piano and Todd Brunel on clarinets and saxophones. The concert’s title was “New Emergence: The Out and the Sublime,” an eclectic mix of compositions by Duke Ellington, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Jack DeJohnette and Jerome Kern, plus quartet members’ own compositions and other contemporary music arrangements. According to a news release, “The quartet weaves effortlessly beyond music genres to bring an evening of pure unadulterated sonic joy.”
The concert marked the Arlington jazz debut of this quartet, which was formed by Arlington resident Brunel especially for the evening. The charge was $10 for all ages.
Brunel is a critically acclaimed clarinetist and sax player who, he says, “has never been able to follow directions or labels.” He has performed with John Tchicai, Lawrence “Butch” Morris and folk icon Judy Collins. He has made recordings with PBS and collaborates frequently with composer P. Andrew Willis. He is a member of Know Orchestra and Listen to This (with Rick McLaughlin) and a former member of MusAner and the Eric Hofbauer Quintet.
Cassino is a professor of music at the Longy School of Music at Bard College and former department chair of the Modern American Music Department. In the 1960s, he lived in West Berlin and performed with many aspiring young musicians of that era, including trumpeter Benny Bailey, alto saxophonist Leo Wright, and drummer Joe Harris.
Jordan is a contemporary percussionist who has performed with Bang-On-A-Can All Stars. A Peabody Career Grant recipient and a Grover Percussion endorsing artist, she has performed at Avery Fisher Hall and Merkin Hall and internationally as a world music and jazz artist.
McLaughlin is a professor at Berklee College of Music, highly in demand as a bassist. He is a member of the Grammy- nominated group Either/Orchestra and has performed with Don Byron, John Zorn and Danilo Perez.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
This news announcement was published Saturday, May 25, 2024, based on information from Alex Lemski of the Creative Music Series. It was updated Saturday, June 29, 2024, to indicate that the concert took place.
