Selected Past EMIT Events:
Helios Jazz Orchestra with Jamie Perlow & Bryan Hughes
Tuesday, Oct. 29
7:30 PM
Presented by EMIT & St. Petersburg Jazz Festival
The 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. David Manson, backs singers Jamie Perlow & Bryan Hughes at the Palladium Side Door.
Jamie Perlow is an extraordinary area singer and songwriter with radio and television credits. Her expressive style, full voice and flawless intonation set her apart. She performs regularly with the Florida Bjorkestra project and is a favorite with the Helios Jazz Orchestra. Playing in clubs from the JazzKeller in Frankfurt, Germany to The Jazz Voyeur in Buenos Aires, singer/songwriter, Bryan J Hughes, has been a fixture on the bay area music scene for the past 10 years.
After Hours Jazz: La Lucha at the Imagine Museum
Friday, November 30
7:30 PM
Fall into jazz during the Imagine Museum’s monthly After Hours music-filled Friday night. For November, enjoy Latin-inspired rhythms with La Lucha. This “Best of the Bay” trio of best friends from different parts of the world—Colombia, Mexico and the United States—creates music that transcends genres. Enjoy their diverse mixture of Latin inspired rhythms with Jazz standards, twisted arrangements of pop songs, and original compositions. The combination of their musical versatility and varied musical influences makes for compelling virtuosic performances. Through an engaging stage presence and high level of interaction, La Lucha brings the audience into their world.
Tickets: Free for Imagine Museum members, General Admission for not-yet members — includes music with light bites, a cash bar, and entrance to the museum’s permanent collection. Over 500 people crashed our last jazz session. RSVP now to reserve your spot: bit.ly/AfterHoursJazz.
#IM #JazzNight #IMAGINEMUSEUM #StPete #AfterHoursJazz
past events:
License to Thrill - Helios Plays Spy Music
Tuesday, November 20 at 7:30 PM
Palladium Theater
The expanded 21-member Helios Jazz Orchestra presents a show of legendary spy music, joined by singers Jamie Perlow, Andrea Manson, Sonja Spence & Ronnie Dee.
Enjoy an evening of guilty musical pleasure as we revisit the theme music of the James Bond series, Mission Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Austin Powers, The Prisoner and more, directed by arranger/conductor David Manson. It can be cheesy, silly and yet sublime, but you know that you secretly love the driving 60s grooves, fierce brass, sexy saxophones and hot percussion (with special guest Gumbi Ortiz). With Jamie, Andrea, Sonja and Ronnie singing their hearts out on favorites like Thunderball,” “Nobody Does It Better,” “Goldfinger,” and “Skyfall” with a massive jazz big band, you know that this will be a very special show! Se https://www.mypalladium.org/helios-jazz-orchestra-license-to-thrill/ .
Creative Pinellas Arts Annual
Thursday, November 8 at 6:30 PM
Brazilian band O Som Do Jazz provides music for the Arts Annual - a fundraiser to support Creative Pinellas. For more info, see Arts Annual
Exquisite Corpse International
Thursday, November 1 at 8 PM
St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Art
EMIT commissions composers Elizabeth Baker, Tom Kersey and David Manson to create the first music entrees in the Exquisite Corpse International annual event. See for more information: http://exquisitecorpsegames.com/ecg-2018-participants/
Jose Valentino Ruiz & O Som Do Jazz
Tuesday, October 30
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
Guest flutist/saxophonist José Valentino Ruiz joins O Som Do Jazz in a special concert of Brazilian samba, Bossa Nova & MPB.
Dr. José Valentino Ruiz is a two-time Latin GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer and educator. During his academic studies, José become the record holder for the most International DownBeat Music Awards – 49 awards total, between 2006 –2018. He is winner of the International Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition and National Flute Association Jazz Flute Competition. José has collaborated with acclaimed artists including Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, Hubert Laws, Candido Camero, Jim Walker, Phil Ramone, Jonathan Butler, Alex Acuña, Aaron Neville, Brian Lynch, Nestor Torres, Dave Valentin, Andy Montanez, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Dave Cleveland, and Abraham Laboriel, just to name a few.
O Som Do Jazz features Rio de Janeiro singer Andrea Moraes Manson with Alejandro Arenas (bass), Jeremy Douglass (keys), Mark Feinman (drums) and David Manson (trombone/percussion). With three CDs and placement of originals on HBO, FOX and BBC One, O Som Do Jazz (the sound of jazz in Portuguese) recaptures the grace, energy and spirit of 1960s Brazilian music.
See https://www.mypalladium.org/o-som-do-jazz-with-jose-valentino-ruiz/ .
Free Workshop with Jose Valentino Ruiz
Monday, October 29 at 1 PM
HS 109 at St. Petersburg College
EMIT presents internationally-acclaimed recording & performing artist, Multi-Latin GRAMMY® Nominee, and Lee University’s music business & production professor, Dr. José Valentino Ruiz, is a leading educator who specializes in the cultivation of creative & artistic identities and the augmentation of entrepreneurial skill sets among aspiring performing artists and music educators who wish to thrive in today’s 21st Century vacillating music industry! The free session takes place in HS 109 (the college band room) at the Gibbs campus, located at 6605 Fifth Ave. North in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg Festival of the Arts
October 26 at 6:30 PM
Sundial in St. Petersburg
EMIT co-sponsors a performance by MIFU (Mobile Itinerant Funk Unit) at Sundial. This is part of the St. Petersburg Festival of the Arts.
Belinda Womack & the Helios Jazz Orchestra
Tuesday, October 2 at 7:30 PM
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
Tuesday
EMIT presents, singer Belinda Womack with the 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra, directed by David Manson, in a program of great big band favorites including “Watch What Happens”, “Blue Skies”, “Cry Me A River” and others!
Belinda began singing professionally at age 11 to help support her family in rural Georgia. From 1973 to 1981, Belinda was based in Nashville working as a singer at Combine Recording Studios and also touring with a popular band called Bodyheat. In ’79, she scored #12 Billboard disco hit called “Seabiscuit in the Fifth” as Belinda West. Soon after, she came to Tampa where she became a mainstay in the jazz scene with her group Kool Reflektions. In the mid-90s, she pursued music ministry and motivational speaking, traveling from the Netherlands to Africa, to South America, the Caribbean and West Indies. The Helios Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of David Manson, has been featured on the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, St. Petersburg Jazz Festival and Ybor Jazz Festival. It is comprised of top area jazz musicians who love the sound of a roaring jazz big band! See www.mypalladium.org for tickets. The Palladium Theater is located at 253 Fifth Ave. North in St. Petersburg.
Francois de Lima & O Som Do Jazz
Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 PM
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
Presented by EMIT & The Palladium - It’s a show of grooving samba, Bossa Nova and MPB with Brazilian valve trombonist François de Lima & O Som Do Jazz!
François de Lima began playing trombone at 10 years of age, and at 16 was playing professionally in Brazil. In the 80s he performed with Fabio Jr, Roberto Carlos, Jorge Benjor, Ney Matogrosso and Djavan (with whom he plays today), doing shows at clubs and festivals around the world. Gal Costa presented him at Carnegie Hall. In parallel he developed his work as a musician in the studio, recording with artists like Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Ney Matogrosso, Milton Nascimento, and Julio Iglesias Guinga, and others. In addition, François has performed with Leny Andrade, Leila Pinheiro, Hermeto Pascoal, Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, César Camargo Mariano, Raul de Souza, Paulo Moura, Wagner Tiso, Dominguinhos and international musicians such as Paquito D’Rivera, Randy Brecker, George Benson and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. O Som Do Jazz features Rio de Janeiro singer Andrea Moraes Manson and a crew of experienced musicians performing Bossa Nova, samba, balanço and MPB. Band members also include Regis Moreira (piano), Alejandro Arenas (bass), David Manson (trombone/percussion), and Mark Feinman (drums). O Som Do Jazz (the sound of jazz in Portuguese) recaptures the grace, energy and spirit of 1960-80s Brazilian music.
Hot Nights/Cool Jazz
Thursday, August 31
7-9:30 PM
Imagine Museum
EMIT co-sponsors jazz music for this new event series at the Imagine Museum located at 1901 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33713. Check out the amazing contemporary studio glass art and live jazz from the EMIT 4tet with Butch Thomas, Kevin Wilder, David Manson & Alejandro Arenas.
EMIT presents a session with Gustavo Matamoros
Thursday, August 23 at 12:30 PM
St. Petersburg College (HS 116 on the Gibbs campus)
EMIT is pleased to present a free session by renowned composer/sound artist Gustavo Matamoros on Thursday, August 23 from 12:30 - 1:30 at St. Petersburg College in HS 116. Gustavo will talk about his work and approaches to sound installations and performance art.
Gustavo Matamoros was born in Venezuela where he became interested in experimentation with short wave radios, tape recorders and listened to the progressive rock music of Egg and Gentle Giant. He directs the Subtropics New Music Festival and iSAW in Miami. His current art and curatorial projects include the Listening Gallery, Subtropics Biennial and Audiotheque. He is a member of Frozen Music—an ensemble with David Dunn and Rene Barge. He is also part of the ensemble PUNTO with Armando Rodriguez and Julio Roloff. Gustavo has also performed and collaborated with among others, Alison Knowles, Jan Williams, Russell Frehling, Robert Gregory, Charles Recher, Sam Ashley, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Davey Williams and Gino Robair.
He has received commissions from Adrianne Arsht Performing Arts Center (MPAC), Knight Foundation (Arts Challenge), Art in State Buildings (FIU School of Architecture), and Vizcaya Museum, and is the recipient of a Cultural Consortium Visual and Media Arts Fellowship and two of Venezuela’s national composition awards. Recent projects and sound installations have been exhibited at Miami Art Museum (now PAMM), Bass Museum of Art, Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale, MoCA and Hollywood Art and Culture Center. Though his work is mostly created in Miami, he has performed, worked and lectured across the USA, as well as in Germany and Venezuela.
In his work, he experiments with sound, words and gates, plays the saw, and explores sound’s ability to contain and deliver information. In describing it, he writes, “For the past 34 years or so, (my) attitude toward the work has been such that the result of my experiments ultimately influences the way I live. What I’ve been trying to do as an artist who works with sound is instruct myself on how to listen better.” This event is coordinated with the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in Fort Myers, Florida. HS 116 is located at 6605 Fifth Ave. North in St. Petersburg. The HS building is mid-campus.
Nova musica with O Som Do Jazz
Saturday, August 11 at 8 PM
ARTS 46/4 - FREE EVENT
Supported by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, Brazilian group O Som Do Jazz gives a free concert of original new works by composer David Manson. O Som Do Jazz is a 6-piece music group featuring Rio de Janeiro singer Andrea Moraes Manson. The group recently performed on the Miami International Jazz Fest. Admission is free. ARTS 46/4 is located at 460 46th Ave. North in St. Petersburg.
Magnetic Fields: Sonic Abstraction with Pamela Z, Renée Baker & Elizabeth Baker
Friday, July 28 at 2 - 7 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
FREE EVENT
In complement to Magnetic Fields: Expanding Abstraction 1960s to Today, which focuses on African American women’s approaches to abstract painting and sculpture, the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is thrilled to be working with composer Elizabeth A. Baker to present an afternoon of abstract sonic experiences by African American women musicians and performers. In addition to Baker, we will host Chicago-based Renée Baker, and San Francisco-based Pamela Z. Each composer will perform at the MFA, and will participate in a panel discussion.
Taken together, this will be an important celebration of abstraction in multiple forms, and will allow for a multi-generational discussion between African American women practicing in avant-garde composition. EMIT is a supporting sponsor of the performance of the ensemble work by Renée Baker, which is performed from 3:00 - 4:30 PM. For more info, see http://mfastpete.org/event/magnetic-fields-sonic-abstraction/
21st Century iClass Sessions
Campbell Park Elementary
Fairmount Park Elementary
July 10
EMIT sponsors two jazz sessions with Kevin Wilder, Sonja Spence, Alejandro Arenas and David Manson at Campbell Park and Fairmount Park elementary schools.
Diego Figueiredo
Friday, June 15 at 8 PM
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
“Diego Figueiredo is one of the greatest guitarists I’ve seen in my whole life. The world needs to listen to his music”. – George Benson
Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo is an extraordinary fast-rising star in the jazz world. His superb technique, timing and imagination have made him one of the hottest international names on the scene today. At age 36, he has already released 23 CDs, 3 DVDs, and has played in more than 60 countries around the world. A brilliant musician, Figueiredo keeps the traditional essence of Brazilian music, and at the same time is extremely virtuosic, modern and innovative. His concerts unite technique and emotion in a fusion of Brazilian music and jazz.
Join us for an intimate evening of jazz and Brazilian Bossa Nova, chorinho and more with Figueiredo playing solo acoustic guitar, and a cameo appearance by Brazilian vocalist, Andrea Moraes Manson. Tickets available at www.mypalladium.org .
Helios Jazz Orchestra & Jamie Perlow
Tuesday, May 22
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
Free Workshop with Chiara Izzi & Diego Figueiredo
Thur
sday, March 15 at 5:30 PM
St. Petersburg College
2018 St. Petersburg Jazz Festival
Feb. 21 - 25
see www.stpetejazzfest.com
Badi Assad
Tuesday, January 2 at 7:30 PM
Studio@620
“Badi Assad redefines solo (guitar) performance!" - L.A. Times
Brazil’s Badi Assad is one of the most innovative, passionate and talented artists of all times. She transcends traditional styles of her native Brazilian music with a mixture of pop, jazz and world/ethnic sounds from around the world. As a result, the extraordinary singer, guitarist, and percussionist is successfully forging an exhilarating genre of music that quite literally defies categorization
Enjoy a solo performance with Badi Assad in the intimate setting of Studio@620! Admission is $20, only available at the door on January 2nd. The Studio@620 is located at 620 First Ave. South in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Whim Ensemble with Preston Beebe, Ofer Pelz & Elizabeth Baker
Thursday, January 11 at 7:30 PM
Music Center at SPC
This free concert of new music by young composers, is presented by EMIT, the New Music Conflagration & the MIRA program at St. Petersburg College.
On the verge of composed and improvised music, Whim (Ofer Pelz, prepared piano & Preston Beebe, percussion) creates percussive landscapes by inventing instrument modifications and techniques to build an unusually rich sound world. The ensemble has performed and broadcasted in Canada, US, France, and Israel.
From free jazz to contemporary experimental music, Whim is a genre bending ensemble. Their experience as composers and improvisers are fused into an ensemble that seeks to spark imagination and curiosity. Elizabeth Baker also joins the group for spirited music making. The Music Center at St. Petersburg College is located at 6605 Fifth Ave. North in St. Petersburg.
Kirsten Joyer & the Helios Jazz Orchestra
Palladium Theater Side Door
O Som Do Jazz
Oct. 28 & 29 at 3:30 PM
SPIFFS Folk Fair at Vinoy Park
Brazilian jazz group O Som Do Jazz is performing on the SPIFFS
43rd festival. EMIT is cosponsoring this performance.
For more info, see http://www.spiffs.org/2017-fair.html
Helios Jazz Orchestra & Sonja Spence
April 18 at 7:30 PM
Side Door at the Palladium Theater
The 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra, directed by David Manson, is joined by guest vocalist Sonja Spence.
Jazz in the Stacks
April 11 at 7 PM
West St. Petersburg Community Library
Free!
Diego Figueiredo & O Som Do Jazz - April 2!