The King's Garage, November 11, Livestream, 7 PM

The King's Garage, collaborative musings with Will Nixon and Mike Jurkovic with special musical guests, Robert Kopec on bass and Eric Person on reeds, Thursday, November 11, 7 PM on YouTube.

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The King's Garage, collaborative musings with Will Nixon and Mike Jurkovic with special musical guests, Robert Kopec on bass and Eric Person on reeds, livestreamed on Thursday, November 11, 7 PM, on YouTube from Green Kill.

Please go to this Eventbrite link to access the livestream: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-kings-garage-october-15-livestream-7-pm-tickets-185907974757

The suggested donation for this event is 10 dollars, minimum is 1 dollar. Green Kill is able to bring this live stream to the public at great personal cost. Please help us to keep this quality program going.

Mike Jurkovic

Mike’s poetry, prose and music reviews have been published globally but with little reportable income. Latest full length collection AmericanMental, (Luchador Press 2020). President, Calling All Poets, now in its 22nd year, throughout the Hudson Valley. CD reviews online at All About Jazz and Lightwoodpress. He hosts New Jazz Excursions and can be heard alternating Saturdays 10am-12pm on WIOX 91.3FM, Roxbury, NY. or streaming at wioxradio.org.

He loves Emily most of all.

www.mikejurkovic.com            

www.callingallpoets.net

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/member.php?id=142766&width=1024

https://www.facebook.com/mikesjazzpoetryjournal

Will Nixon

Will Nixon's collection, Love in the City of Grudges, features poems inspired by Night of the Living Dead. His other poetry books include My Late Mother as a Ruffed Grouse, The Fish are Laughing, and When I Had It Made. He's the author of The Pocket Guide to Woodstock and co-author with Michael Perkins of Walking Woodstock: Journeys into the Wild Heart of America's Most Famous Small Town. 

His photography show, a series inspired by Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills that featured him in a crow mask, appeared at Green Kill in February. 

Robert Kopec

Now 51, Kopec began his musical ventures, mostly self-taught, at age 6 on flute.He moved on to playing bass, and  played tuba and trombone parts on the electric bass in junior high. By the time he was 15, he was playing bass in bar bands, and at 18 he began touring with rock bands.

He has played all kinds of music, but, “I was bit by the jazz bug at an early age. To play jazz, you have to know music and also have the ability to improvise and come up with new melodies. It’s a true democracy. We’re all listening to each other, adding and responding.”

His jazz inspirations have included Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, and in Chris Parker’s music class at Orange County Community College, he was riveted by Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett. But he was earlier fired up by Eddie Van Halen.

“His phrasing on guitar solos was so melodic, it pulled me into instrumental work,” Kopec said. “I was drawn to Frank Zappa too. I grew up on the Beatles, but that music was already figured out. It was more interesting to get into looser, improvised music.”

Eric Person

Saxophonist Eric Person has notched an impressive resume performing and recording with many legends in jazz such as Dave Holland, McCoy Tyner, Chico Hamilton, Houston Person, John Hicks and many others. Eric has performed with genre bending musicians Vernon Reid, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Will Calhoun, Ben Harper, and Bright Dog Red. An active band leader, Person leads Meta-Four, Trio-kinesis, and Eric Person Big Band. He is a prolific composer with ten CDs under his leadership.

In 1982, moved to New York City from St. Louis Missouri. The following year, he received the opportunity to perform with legendary drummer Chico Hamilton. For 15 years, Eric toured the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America, recording six CDs with him as well.

From 1994-1997, Eric was a pivotal member of the Dave Holland Quartet.  This high energy ensemble performed at prestigious concert halls and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada and recorded the classic Dream of the Elders. During this same period, Person was a member of the World Saxophone Quartet and is featured on the band’s CD Moving Right Along.

After many years as a sideman, Person recorded his debut as a leader.  Arrival, the 1993 release emphasized a variety of styles, fresh compositional approaches, and a willingness to take chances. It was an auspicious beginning with Josef Woodard of Down Beat Magazine saying “Person swerving to the left, finding a fresh path between mainstream jazz and chancier, more personalized terrain.”

Eric’s sophomore release Prophecy, is a daring, conceptual release which focuses on Eric’s saxophones in solo, duos, and trio settings. James Marcus of Jazz Times states that Person’s successes within Prophecy is “evidence of a formidable talent.”

More Tales to Tell, Person’s1997 release, features his working band along with two performances by guest bassist Dave Holland. By this time, strong arrangements and compositions were a hallmark of every Eric Person CD. The band was expanded on select numbers to include acoustic guitar, bass clarinet, bassoon, and flute.

In1999, Person formed his own label Distinction Records and under the newly formed moniker Meta-Four released Extra Pressure and Live at Big Sur. Reviewing Live at Big Sur, Russ Musto of All About Jazz says “Person is more then fine; he's a major talent of his generation.” In the 2000s, he released a succession of CDs that put his saxophone in different contexts, revealing his versatility. Reflections The Best of Collection, Rhythm Edge, The Grand Illusion, Thoughts on God and Duoscope all spotlight Eric’s personal sound, dexterity, and compositional prowess. Of The Grand Illusion, Donald Elfman of All About Jazz says: “Person seems to find something new to say and a different direction to follow with every project he undertakes.”

Since arriving in New York, Eric Person’s career has featured many highlights from featured soloist with the New York City Symphony at the Apollo Theater to performing with the McCoy Tyner Big Band at the Newport Jazz Festival. Today, jazz education is at the top of the list of endeavors. In addition to performing, Eric is currently an adjunct saxophone instructor at Bard College in upstate New York. In 2015, Eric was selected to study orchestration at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA with many of jazz’s top composers and arrangers like James Newton, Steve Coleman, Nicole Mitchell, and others. In 2019, Person received his bachelors degree in music from Empire State College. This fulfilled his personal mission to receive his degree in music and make education an important part of his wheelhouse.

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