Jazz at Teatro Scarpino Friday at 7p.m.
If it’s summer in Fayetteville, it’s time for jazz. The North Arkansas Jazz Society and radio station KUAF have pulled together an impressive concert line up for their annual summer jazz series. The series kicks off Friday with a 7 p.m. show with New York’s Bruce Barth and Steve Wilson at Teatro Scarpino.
Barth has been a fixture on the New York and world jazz scene for the past two decades. After moving to Brooklyn in 1988, Barth toured with Nat Adderley, did a brief stint with Stanley Turrentine and then joined Terence Blanchard’s quintet in 1990. An inventive musician, Barth is considered to be one of finest jazz pianists and composers of his generation.
Wilson is one of today’s seminal saxophonists and flutists. He moved to New York in 1987 and garnered immediate attention for his versatility and talent. The New York Times recently ran a feature about Wilson entitled “A Sideman’s Life,” highlighting Wilson’s work with a host of artists including Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Joanne Brackeen, The American Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band and The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times proclaimed “Steve Wilson is among the best New York jazz has to offer.”
Wilson has worked with the Dave Holland Quintet and Chick Corea and has made two previous appearances in Fayetteville, including a performance for the 2007 Summer Jazz Series with the late pianist James Williams’ Intensive Care Unit.
