Peter Hand(contributed photo)
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Westport Arts Center will present a jazz concert by the Peter Hand Quartet with the Music of Horace Silver on Sunday, January 15, 3 p.m., in the WAC Gallery, 51 Riverside Ave., Westport.
Peter Hand is gifted jazz composer, arranger and guitarist. Hand will perform the music of legendary pianist and composer Horace Silver, born in Connecticut in 1928. This concert will pay tribute to a local musician who gained international fame through his hard bop and soul jazz compositions.
"Horace Silver is one of the most important small group jazz composers in history,” said Brian Torff, WAC artistic director for jazz. “His tunes are always melodic and memorable and his rhythms come from his Cape Veredean background as well as the African-American church. Born in Bridgeport and raised in Norwalk, he went to high school with the famous record store entrepreneur Sally White of Westport. They spent many nights at Harlem jazz clubs as Horace Silver began to rise to prominence in the jazz world. We are proud to present his music, a staple of jazz and American music."
Peter Hand, a New York City native, began studying guitar in his early teens and was especially influenced by the blues guitar sounds of B.B. King and Albert King. At Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Hand became immersed in the music of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Oliver Nelson, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Wes Montgomery and Antonio Carlos Jobim, among many others. His interest in arranging for small groups blossomed into his majoring in jazz composition.
Hand launched his own big band in 2005 and his CD, The Peter Hand Big Band Featuring Houston Person – The Wizard of Jazz: A Tribute to Harold Arlen was released on Savant Records in 2009. The album received many excellent reviews and was named one of the best CDs of 2009 by jazz critic and author Dan Morgenstern (Jazz From the Archives - WBGO, Newark, NJ), columnist Frank-John Hadley (Downbeat) and jazz radio host Ed Love (Destination Jazz - WDET, Detroit). In addition to big band work, Hand performs frequently with his ten-piece band, quintet, quartet and trio.
As a composer and arranger, Hand is active in a variety of styles. He has written over 230 original compositions and over 350 original arrangements for jazz combo, ten-piece band, big band, string quartet, woodwind quintet, brass choir and symphony orchestra. Hand is a dedicated educator and has been teaching guitar, harmony, improvisation, songwriting and arranging for over 20 years.
Tickets are $25 / $10 (college students and younger). WAC members receive 10% off concert tickets. A limited number of $10 tickets will be for sale at the Westport Center for Senior Activities, 21 Imperial Avenue.
The Westport Arts Center is a visual and performing arts organization dedicated to creating arts experiences that enrich the lives of area residents and the entire community. The Westport Arts Center is supported with funds from the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc., the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, 4th Row Films, Thomas and Jeanne Elmezzi Private Foundation, Fairfield County Bank, Fairfield County Community Foundation, Gault, Inc., GWAY Marketing Gymnasium, Andrew J. & Christine C. Hall Foundation, Melissa & Doug, Moffly Media, New Alliance Bank, Newman’s Own Foundation, Pepperidge Farm, Inc., U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, Westport Resources, Westport Sunrise Rotary, Young Voices Program, Xerox Foundation, and WSHU Public Radio Group.
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