FROM NEW YORK & NEW ORLEANS TO DEER ISLE: THE 9th ANNUAL DEER ISLE JAZZ FESTIVAL AT THE STONINGTON OPERA HOUSE

Annual festival to feature young area musicians, joining downtown trumpet icon Roy Campbell and New Orleans-based virtuosos Tom McDermott and Evan Christopher

STONINGTON – Opera House Arts' (OHA) ninth annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival, July 24 and 25, 2009 at the Stonington Opera House, continues the festival's longstanding tradition of showcasing New York's finest and most adventurous jazz musicians and builds on the success of last year's event with a continued focus on the culture of New Orleans. This year's festival features trumpeter Roy Campbell leading his Pyramid Trio, and the Danza Quartet, led by pianist Tom McDermott, who will also be the Guest Artist in Residence at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts July 19–31, and clarinetist Evan Christopher. Each night will open with a performance by a local band;on Friday, saxophonist Duncan Hardy's quintet; and on Saturday, George Stevens Academy's awarding–winning combo, Musaic, directed by Steve Orlofsky.

The Deer Isle Jazz Festival has been breaking new boundaries and enriching the state's cultural life since its inception in 2001. The debut event drew fans from throughout the New England region to hear, among others, the legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman. Since then, the 250–seat former vaudeville house with its charmed acoustics has played host to Brazilian singer Luciana Souza in duets with guitarist Romero Lubambo and pianist Fred Hersch; saxophonist Greg Osby's quartet, including pianist Jason Moran; standard-bearing vocalist Andy Bey; French horn player Vincent Chauncey; free-jazz hero bassist William Parker; Latin jazz innovator Arturo O'Farrill; and the legendary Houston Person and Randy Weston. "Stonington is a perfectly natural setting for jazz," Alicia Anstead wrote in the Bangor Daily News. "Far out on the town dock, the music coming from the Opera House slipped and slid through the air."

The Danza Quartet headlines Friday, July 24, exploring the music of New Orleans (ragtime, r&b, and traditional jazz), French West Indian beguine, Brazilian choro, and Trinidadian calypso. Its music is dance music for the New World, played with utter authority and a surprising blend of styles. McDermott and Christopher as a duo have performed a similar repertoire around the world, including Rio de Janeiro, New York City, Berlin and Salzburg. The quartet is rounded out by drummer Shannon Powell (who has drummed with Diana Krall and Harry Connick, Jr., among many others), and Matt Perrine (arguably the finest sousaphonist in the world).

Acclaimed jazz critic Larry Blumenfeld, who is a founder of and volunteer producer for the festival, says that McDermott is "as comfortable and expert playing a Brazilian choro as he is digging into a Jelly Roll Morton rag. And he can explain the connections between the two." "Christopher's erudite and personalized approach to traditional jazz commands attention."

Opening Friday night is The Duncan Hardy Quintet, with Hardy on saxophone, Kyle Hardy on tenor saxophone, Trevor Lagrange on organ/piano, Ross Gallagher on bass and Cody Brown on drums.

On Saturday, July 25th, trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr. leads his Pyramid Trio. As critic Gary Giddins put it, Campbell's playing "has a stream of consciousness logic and an unassumingly rich and confident sound." Born in Los Angeles in 1952 and raised in New York, Campbell studied piano, flute and violin before settling on the trumpet as his musical voice. As a teenager, he was inspired by a meeting with Lee Morgan and soaked up instruction from mentors in the legendary Jazzmobile program. In the decades to follow, he earned recognition with dozens of stellar players in addition to composing and playing for Broadway plays and television productions. Campbell's embrace of the avant–garde and of the full range of jazz's sonic possibilities led him to co–found the collective Other Dimensions in Music and to lead several of his own groups. He is one of modern jazz's most articulate and wide–ranging trumpet voices. His Pyramid Trio references the musical lineage that spans Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Bassist William Parker, who met Campbell 30 years ago, is his frequent musical partner and a member of the trio. This year marks Parker's return visit to Stonington; he was a performer and Haystack artist–in–residence in 2004. The trio also includes drummer Michael Wimberly.

Opening Saturday night will be George Stevens Academy's award–winning combo Musaic, directed by Steve Orlofsky and featuring Stonington native Annie Ames on trumpet.

Extending his role as volunteer producer of the festival, Larry Blumenfeld has drawn inspiration for this edition from his work in New Orleans documenting cultural recovery as a Katrina Media Fellow with the Open Society Institute, and from his decades of reporting on the creative music scene in New York. He will lead a public panel discussion of the issues facing musicians in both cities.

Tickets for the festival may be obtained online at www.operahousearts.org; or by calling or visiting the Opera House Arts' box office, on the corner of Main and School Streets in Stonington, 207-367-2788. Tickets are $30 for premium reserved seating in the first four rows;$25 general admission; $20 fixed income (students, senior citizens, sliding scale); and $15 under 17 years of age. Island Students Free.