massachusetts – Page 2

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra continues its historic 45^th season on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 8:00 pm, with a show on MIT’s main stage, Kresge Auditorium, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. The orchestra will perform the premiere of director Mark Harvey’s latest work, Faces of Souls, together with other Mark Harvey originals. Presented by MIT Music & Theater Arts. Free and open to the public. Information: 617-452-3205 or 617-776-8778.

Mark Harvey is a composer, educator, bandleader and retired Methodist minister. Many of his compositions explore themes of peace and social justice in American history and contemporary culture. The program on April 7 will center around these themes, His piece Faces of Souls is inspired by the Charles Ives composition Boston Common and the Augustus Saint-Gaudens statue commemorating Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, heroes of the Civil War. The April 7 show will feature other works by Mark Harvey, including The Journey (honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and the struggle for civil rights), and Blue Butterfly, a blues evoking the late Brother Blue (aka Hugh Morgan Hill), a legendary storyteller famous in Boston and beyond, and a longtime friend of Aardvark. The evening finale will be Harvey’s piece No Walls, Aardvark’s anthem of hope and inclusivity.

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra has been praised as “stunningly beautiful and adventurous” (New York City Jazz Record),”captivating” (Jazz Improv), “spellbinding” (The Boston Globe), and “beyond category” (Downbeat). JazzTimes wrote, “Aardvark suggests the best and the brashest of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, George Russell, and even Frank Zappa.”

Founded in 1973, Aardvark has been a force in the international jazz scene for more than 45 years. The orchestra has premiered more than 175 works and appears on 14 CDs, including 8 on the Leo Records label. Guest artists have included jazz luminaries Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Lewis Porter, Dominique Eade, Walter Thompson, and Matt Savage.

Founder and music director Mark Harvey has performed at the Knitting Factory, the Village Gate, the National Gallery of Art (DC), Fenway Park, Boston’s Symphony Hall, the Berlin Jazz Festival (Germany), and the Baja State Theater (Mexico), to name a few. He has recorded with George Russell and Baird Hersey, and performed with Gil Evans, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, and others. Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies at MIT.

Aardvark is: Allan Chase, Phil Scarff, Chris Rakowski, Dan Zupan/saxes and woodwinds; K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass/trumpets; Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser/trombones; Jeff Marsanskis, Bill Lowe/bass trombones, tuba; Richard Nelson/guitar; John Funkhouser/string bass; Harry Wellott/drums; Jerry Edwards and Grace Hughes, vocalists; Mark Harvey/trumpet, music director. Aardvark veterans Arni Cheatham and Peter H. Bloom will miss the April 7 show, but will be back on the bandstand soon.

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is managed by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, director, telephone 617 776 8778, email: delamotte-amw@comcast.net

This coming Thursday, May 1st, churches and individuals across our city will be joining together for the Annual National Day of Prayer gathering in downtown Boston. Sheila Donegan, the UniteBoston Journalist, had the opportunity to sit down with Latonya Brown to hear more of the history behind this year’s event.

——————–

We have a rich history of prayer as a nation. The National Day of Prayer was first signed into law by President Harry Truman on April 17th, 1952. He asked that the people of the United States would come together on this day and collectively turn our hearts to God in prayer and meditation. But the call to pray goes back much further than this. In fact, days of prayer have been called for in the United States since 1775, when the Continental Congress designated a time for prayer as the new nation was forming.

In his 1983 declaration, Ronald Reagan said, “From General Washington’s struggle at Valley Forge to the present, this nation has fervently sought and received divine guidance as it pursued the course of history. This occasion provides our nation with an opportunity to further recognize the source of our blessings, and to seek His help for the challenges we face today and in the future.”

As a country, we are celebrating the 63rd year of this event with over 40,000 gatherings across the United States. LaTonya Brown, this year’s coordinator for Massachusetts, told us that this year the focus is on mobilizing and equipping the Body of Christ to pray for sustained worldwide revival, reformation and restoration. LaTonya shared that in Massachusetts, we will be joining the millions across our country as we pray and seek the face of God on behalf of our city, state, and nation. There are currently fifteen prayer gatherings scheduled across the Commonwealth.

There will be two strategic events in the city of Boston:

National Day of Prayer Noonday Prayer Gathering at the State House

Gardner Auditorium, 12pm – 1pm

“That They May Be One” Clergy and Intercessors United in Prayer for Massachusetts

7pm – 8pm

Location: Congregation Lion of Judah, 20 Reed Street, Boston

(Worship lead by Zenzo Matoga)

“There is a move of the Holy Spirit happening across the earth and it is being strongly felt within Massachusettes and New England. We are here to call the body of Christ in our communities to come together and stand in the gap on behalf of our city, our region and our nation.” LaTonya shared. “We hope that all that are a part of the Body of Christ in the Boston and Greater Boston area will join us in this most significant time as we come together as one and lift up the Name that is above all names…the Name of Jesus over our city. May we see His Kingdom come here and his will be done on this earth as we do!

For more information on the National Day of Prayer in Boston and how you can be a part, watch the video below or email: latonya@praymassachusettes.org

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra to premiere the latest work by Mark Harvey, Faces of Souls

A call to participate in the National Day of Prayer

Give to Further Christian Unity