Daniel Levin/Mat Maneri duo & Julius Masri (Mephisto Halabi )

PROOF OF VACCINATION & MASKS REQUIRED. SEATING IS LIMITED FOR PURPOSES OF DISTANCING, ADVANCED RESERVATIONS ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. (Link at “Buy Tickets” button).

Daniel Levin – Mat Maneri duo:

Daniel Levin is “one of the instrument’s most brilliant contemporary practitioners” (The Wire), “ridiculously fluent, virtually overflowing with ideas” (New York City Jazz Record) and “very much the man to watch.” (Penguin Guide to Jazz). No matter what setting he plays in, cellist Daniel Levin occupies a musical space bordered by many kinds of music, but fully defined by none of them.

“Demonstrating an impressive breadth of texture and contrast, the cellist Daniel Levin comes well prepared for a career in jazz’s contemporary avant-garde.” (Nate Chinen, The New York Times).

Elements of European classical music, American jazz, microtonal and new music, and European free improvisation all figure prominently in his unique sound. As critic John Sharpe observes in The New York City Jazz Record, “he invokes all manner of musics with prodigious skill: jazz, classical, improv, noise, vocal chorus. His technique is unquestioned and he revels in the physicality of the instrument. Those with an adventurous streak or interest in the outer reaches of the cello universe will find much to savor.”

Born in Burlington, Vermont, he began playing the cello at the age of six. In 2001, he graduated with a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, and arrived on New York City jazz scene shortly therafter. Since then, Daniel has developed his own unique voice as a cellist, improviser, and composer. Ed Hazell noted upon release of Levin’s first record as a leader, “Cellist Daniel Levin is a major new voice on his instrument and in improvised music.” He has performed and/or recorded with Billy Bang, Borah Bergman, Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Gerald Cleaver, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Dresser, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, Joe Morris, William Parker, Ivo Perelman, Warren Smith, Ken Vandermark, and many others. Daniel is the recipient of a 2010 Jerome Foundation award.

He has released more than 20 albums as a leader or co-leader, which can be found on Clean Feed, HatOLOGY, Not Two, Trost, Riti, and various other record labels. Daniel is a REMIC Microphones Artist Endorser.

Over the course of a twenty-five year career, Mat Maneri has defined the voice of the viola and violin in jazz and improvised music. Born in Brooklyn in 1969, Maneri has established an international reputation as one of the most original and compelling artists of his generation, praised for his high degree of individualism, a distinctive marriage of jazz and microtonal music, and his work with 20th century icons of improvised music.

As a young musician, Maneri was influenced by the sounds of his childhood home. His father, saxophonist and composer Joe Maneri, was on faculty at the New England Conservatory, and colleagues like Ran Blake and Gunther Schuller were frequent visitors. In 1990, Mat co-founded the legendary Joe Maneri Quartet with his father, drummer Randy Peterson and bassists Ed Schuller and John Lockwood. The quartet’s recordings for ECM Records, Hatology and Leo Records were widely acknowledged by critics and fellow musicians as among the most important developments in 20th century improvised music.

Maneri’s 1999 solo debut on ECM Records marked his emergence as a musician with a singular, uncompromising voice. Pianist Matt Shipp called him “one of the five greatest improvisers on the planet”, reflecting a growing consensus of Maneri as a central figure in American creative music. Since then, the long list of musicians with whom he has worked includes icons such as Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley, Paul Motian and William Parker, as well as influential bandleaders such as Joe Morris, Vijay Iyer, Matthew Shipp, Marilyn Crispell, Joelle Leandre, Kris Davis, Tim Berne and Craig Taborn. Maneri’s recordings as a leader (trio, quartet and quintet) have been documented on Hatology, Aum Fidelity, Leo Records and Thirsty Ear.

Maneri began violin studies at the age of five, and added the viola 15 years later. He didn’t follow the classical music path mapped out for him in his early years, but his work as an improviser is deeply informed by classical music. His principal teacher, Juilliard Quartet co-founder Robert Koff, contributed a vast knowledge of baroque violin music and chamber music that continues to shape Maneri’s approach to solo and ensemble improvisation: blending jazz phrasing with chamber music dynamics, and an awareness of independent voice in counterpoint. Maneri says, “Koff showed me how to be a great listener and a player in a small group context.”

Julius Masri

(aka Mephisto Halabi)

Join Julius Masri aka Mephisto Halabi for the Record release show for “The Arabic Room” (Unrock)

Julius Masri is a Philadelphia based multi instrumentalist, and performer/composer for the city’s dance community at large. His music focuses on improvisatory methods and syncretic / linguistic exchanges within various musical languages including Jazz, Metal, AfroCuban, Experimental Noise, and Arabic music. Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, he moved to the States in 1990 and picked up drumming a year later. He studied with Philadelphia instructors Carl Mottola, Elaine Hoffman-Watts, and as an undergraduate at Bard College, with AACM’s Thurman Barker, Richard Teitelbaum, and Joan Tower. Julius plays drums, circuit modified Casio keyboards, Oud, Kamancheh (aka Rabab, Spike Fiddle), and various other instruments. He currently performs in groups such as grind/crust metal band Night Raids, free jazz groups Sirius Juju and Dromedaries, experimental rock band Van Sutra, trombone and synth duo Superlith, and more. He has performed with such crucial musician Henry Grimes, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Thurman Barker, members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Festivals performed include Sonic Circuits DC (2013, 2016), High Zero Baltimore (2016), Maryland DeathFest (2015, 2017), Shadow Woods Metal Festival(2017), The Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival (2016, 2018).

THIS PERFORMANCE IS SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM PENN TREATY SPECIAL SERVICES DISTRICT

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