The Josh Lawrence Quartet featuring alto saxophonist Mike Cemprola, bassist Leon Boykins and drummer Mike De Castro performing Sonny Rollins’ “Freedom Suite” at the Garage in NYC:
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JL to perform at the Garage August 2

On August 2nd 2012, Josh Lawrence will be performing at the Garage in New York City with the Chordless Quartet featuring alto saxophonist Mike Cemprola, bassist Leon Boykins and drummer Mike De Castro. The band will be swinging through a mix of standards and originals at this hip West Village club.
6 to 10 pm. No cover. More info at garagerest.com.
JL to perform with Norman David and the Eleventet July 10th and 11th
Norman David directs, plays with and composes the music for his ensemble, The Eleventet. For over 20 years beginning in the early 1980s, David led versions of the Eleventet in Boston, central Maine, and NYC. Among the noted musicians who have played with the band are George Garzone, Dick Oatts, Tim Hagans, Seamus Blake, Jon Gordon, Greg Hopkins, Scott Robinson, John Fedchock, Dave Kikoski, Rock Ciccarone, John Swana, John Hébert, Tim Horner, and Ben Schachter.
In mid-2007, David finalized a permanent Philadelphia roster of players, comprised of the cream of that city’s jazz artists and usually including some of the above-mentioned or other prominent musicians. From September through May every year, the Eleventet is featured exclusively on the Monday Night Jazz Series at Philadelphia’s venerable Plays and Players Theater. Additionally, the band performs regularly throughout the year at other notable venues in the region. The Eleventet produces breathtaking ensemble-playing filled with monster solos. David’s original compositions and arrangements propel the listener down unexpected paths and through surprising twists and turns.
Doors open at 7 PM. More info.
JL to perform at the Jazz Standard on July 19th with the Captain Black Big Band
“This town hall meeting of a band makes the kind of jazz that nearly everyone could agree to call jazz. There are layers of squirming saxes, bright piano and serious brass blasts — low–end, high–note, and mid–range alike — tied together with a surplus of swing. But it doesn’t sound stuck in a misremembered era — there are jutting edges to the writing, and they’re played with a fashionably loose vibe. (As analogues, think of contemporary big bands led by trumpeters Roy Hargrove, or Nicholas Payton, or Charles Tolliver, or even the Charles Mingus repertory group, which Orrin Evans has served in.) And no soloist is afraid to hold anything back: There’s audacity of spirit here.” – Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music, 3/20/2011.

