Acclaimed Jazz Quintet to Perform

Five Play, an acclaimed jazz quintet, will give a free concert on Friday, September 20. Kicking off the School of Music's new "Improvisation and You" series, the performance will begin at 8:15 pm in Ford Hall. There will be a pre-concert talk by music lecturer Louise Mygatt at 7:30 pm in the Iger Lecture Hall.

Like the Benny Goodman Quartet, Tommy Dorsey and the Clam Bake Seven, and many other chamber jazz groups, Five Play is derived from a larger band, Sherrie Maricle and Diva. The all-female group is a jazz ensemble with a big band sound. "Diva breaks down the stereotypes of women jazz musicians, who typically have been referred to as weak and timid," says drummer and leader Maricle. "Now, when someone says, 'You play like a girl,' it means with passion and strength."

Maricle and four Diva members formed Five Play to bring the sound of small-group jazz to contemporary audiences. Although the group is based in New York City, Maricle is the only native-born American. Karolina Strassmayer, who plays alto saxophone and flute, is from Austria; tenor saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist Anat Cohen comes from Israel; and pianist Chihiro Yamanaka and bassist Noriko Ueda hail from Japan.

This unique blend of cultures has helped create the fresh, exciting sound of Five Play, whose repertoire is primarily composed of traditional standards performed in a contemporary, hard-driving style. Five Play's premiere recording, On the Brink, was voted number one by critic Nat Hentoff in the 1999 Jazz Times year-in-review issue.

By focusing on music that is wholly or partially created at the time of performance, the "Improvisation and You" series offers audiences the opportunity to appreciate the musical skills needed for extemporaneous presentations.

In addition to Five Play, the yearlong series will offer an October 27 performance by jazz pianist Tony Caramia and a November 5 concert by bassoonist Paul Hanson. The guest artists will also offer workshops for students in the School of Music. The concerts and workshops will be free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/concerts or call 274-3717.