“We Will Meet Again”
Former NEC Colleagues Reunite in Brooklyn
for Double Bill of Cutting Edge Trios
Pianists Keigo Hirakawa and Jason Yeager join forces with their respective trios at Matt Garrison’s Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn on October 23rd
It’s been ten years since pianists Keigo Hirakawa and Jason Yeager last saw each other as fellow students of acclaimed pianist/composer Danilo Perez at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Now a Professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio, Hirakawa joins forces with NYC-based pianist and Berklee College of Music piano instructor Jason Yeager on a double bill of forward-thinking piano trios.
As part of his East Coast Tour, Hirakawa’s trio will appear at the Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn on Friday, October 23rd, with Yeager’s trio (also featuring special guest saxophonist Alex LoRe) performing the opening set. The event begins at 8:15 PM. Hirakawa is celebrating the release of his trio album, “And Then There Were Three,” released earlier this year, while Yeager will perform music from his trio’s 2014 release on Inner Circle Music, “Affirmation,” in addition to newer compositions.
Both pianists have unique and varied stylistic palettes, revel in the spontaneity of group improvisation, and appreciate novel (and sometimes extra-musical) sources for musical inspiration. Hirakawa’s 2010 album, “Hessler-Cabrillo Run Down,” recorded as a co-leader with saxophonist Joshua Smith, is dedicated to the late comic writer and jazz critic Harvey Pekar. Meanwhile, Yeager has composed pieces inspired by characters featured in novels by Kurt Vonnegut, and continues to explore using literature and journalism as source material for his musical imagination.
Acclaimed jazz pianist pianist Stephen Scott describes Hirakawa’s playing as "full of inventiveness and a sense of adventure, creativeness and voracious angularity, aggressiveness, and jaggedness, passion and swing." In addition, Grammy-nominated pianist Fred Hersch remarks that Yeager “…always impressed me with his talent, his curiosity and his desire to create his own music while really investigating the jazz piano tradition."
Hirakawa’s musical pedigree is impressive. A jazz pianist with a unique sense of expressiveness and rhythm section interaction, he brings highly personal and energetic style of improvisation to ensembles. He distinguishes himself with his articulate use of harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary and his leadership style on the bandstand. Based in the Midwest, Hirakawa can be heard throughout the US and internationally. He has appeared on stage alongside Donald Byrd, JD Allen, Bob Moses, Allen Vizzutti, Eddie Bayard, and Richie Barshay. Trained in New York City and at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, he was a student of many world-renowned jazz artists, including Danilo Perez, Stephen Scott, Harold Danko, Alan Pasqua, Ran Blake, Cecil McBee, Ralph Peterson, Jerry Bergonzi, Donald Byrd, John McNeil, George Garzone, Bob Moses, and Walt Weiskopf. He was the acting director of the Cornell University Jazz Ensembles in 2000-2001, during which time he welcomed Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Wycliffe Gordon, Terell Stafford, Vincent Herring, and Joe Chambers onto the stage as guest soloists. He is a passionate clinician and educator, on faculty at the University of Dayton. Hirakawa’s trio features Eddie Brookshire--a veteran bassist who has performed with Elvin Jones, Rusty Bryant, Johnny Lytle, and David "Fathead" Newman-- and Fenton Sparks, a longtime drummer for Bill Cunliffe.
New York-based pianist and composer Jason Yeager has performed throughout the United States, and abroad in Argentina and South Africa. A piano instructor at Berklee College of Music, his music is deeply expressive and multi-faceted. A recording artist on Greg Osby’s Inner Circle Music label, Yeager has released two albums of original music to wide acclaim, “Ruminations” (2011) and “Affirmation” (2014). Mentored by jazz pianists Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Frank Carlberg, and Ran Blake, Yeager’s evolving musical personality reflects his love of jazz and improvisation combined with elements of 20th century classical music, the blues, Argentine folk styles, drum’n’bass rhythms and more. He is also active as a sideman in various groups in New York, Boston, and beyond, and has performed or recorded with several noteworthy artists, including Greg Osby, Ran Blake, James Cammack, Mark Walker, Aaron Goldberg, John McNeil, Sara Serpa, Aubrey Johnson, and Linda Oh, among others. An honors graduate of the Tufts University/New England Conservatory double degree program, Yeager is also the winner of the Hot House Magazine Jazz Fans Decision 2014 contest for best pianist and best organist. On October 23rd, he'll be joined by Jay Sawyer on drums and Kim Cass on bass, as well as special guest alto saxophonist Alex LoRe.
Keigo Hirakawa and Jason Yeager will be appearing with their respective trios on October 23rd at 8:15 PM at the Shapeshifter Lab at 18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn. Please visit shapeshifterlab.com or call 646 820 9452 for tickets. The Shapeshifter Lab is handicap accessible.
www.keigohirakawa.com
www.jasonyeager.com
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