The Charles Neville & Harvey Diamond Quartet will perform on Mardi Gras Saturday, March 5, 2011 at Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St, Inman Square, Cambridge MA Show starts at 9pm. Tickets $15. Reservations online www.rylesjazz.com Tel 617-876-9330. These two accomplished improvisers will combine forces to create unique treatments of jazz standards and original compositions for a musical experience you will not forget. The rhythm section musicians include Dave Fox on drums and Rick Maida on bass.
Grammy Award winning saxophonist Charles Neville, of the legendary New Orleans based Neville Brothers Band, has the most diverse musical background of his family members. His experience on saxophone has included rhythm & blues, funk, jazz, be-bop, popular and Caribbean music. During the 60s he moved to New York City for 10 years and began working in the New York Jazz Scene. He has performed with Herbie Hancock, Ellis, Wynton, and Branford Marsalis, Oscar Pettiford, George Coleman and Billy Higgins. Charles won a Grammy in 1989 for his haunting rendition of Healing Chant on the Yellow Moon CD. His sparkling work with jazz standards and bebop classics is a treat to hear from such an accomplished instrumentalist and improviser. www.myspace.com/charlesneville
Pianist Harvey Diamond is an unsung hero of the Boston jazz scene. He grew up in California, received a BA in music performance from San Francisco State College, then moved to the Northeast in the 1960’s and studied for eight years with one of the most important pianists and pedagogues in jazz, Lennie Tristano. Harvey was among the last students of Tristano, who is considered one of the most important free jazz improvisers and who played with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in the 1940’s. In education and performance Harvey continues to promote Tristano’s concepts. Harvey is a true improviser: nothing played the same way twice. Endless new ideas picking up where the last one ended. He has performed with vocalist Sheila Jordan, saxophonist Dave Liebman and Art Farmer. Currently on the faculty of the Winchester Community Music School and the Vermont Jazz Center, formerly on Berklee faculty, Harvey has been teacher and mentor to generations of Boston-area musicians.