Berklee's 2009 Summer Concert Series

Cole DeGenova—a pianist, vocalist, songwriter, percussionist, and poet from Chicago—and his group kicks off the Berklee Summer Series at Derby Square.  He began studying music at 4, and was working as a professional musician by 15. He studied classical, jazz, blues, Cuban, and Brazilian percussion, but was also influenced by neo-soul and hip-hop. He has performed with or opened for some of Chicago's top artists, including Kurt Elling, Patricia Barber, Jon Faddis, and Corey Wilkes. DeGenova was chosen by the Jazz Institute of Chicago to perform at the world-famous Auditorium Theatre, and, in 2005, performed with the Illinois Music Educators' Association's All-State Honors Jazz Band. Now attending Berklee, DeGenova is spreading his music to a wider audience. He toured the Midwest with Hal Reed and the Mob, and in Switzerland with his original funk/r&b band Apollo Jones. His latest project is a funk, neo-soul, blues, and jazz group called The People's Republic. The group plans to release its debut EP this summer.

Read more about Berklee performances at the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival. 

Carlos Averhoff Jr. is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator whose sound combines the rhythms of his native Cuba with modern styles of jazz and funk. Born in Havana, Averhoff began his musical training at the Manuel Saumell Music Conservatory, following in the footsteps of his father, also a renowned musician and educator.

He graduated from Amadeo Roldan School of Music and also studied at the Superior Institute of Art (ISA). He has recorded with Buena Vista Social Club, Roberto Fonseca, Elmer Ferrer, Jorge Reyes, and others.

In 2004, he settled in Spain, where he began leading his own quartet, and the following year, he took first place honors at the SGAE Awards for Jazz Interpretation and Composition. He came to Berklee in 2008 after receiving several scholarships, including the prestigious Charlie Parker Scholarship.

Averhoff is launching his music project IRESI while working on his first solo album, featuring original compositions that fuse elements straight-ahead jazz and funk with traditional Cuban styles such as danzon, son, bolero, Cuban timba, and Afro-Cuban.

Roy Guzman, a 21-year-old jazz guitarist and composer from Cupey, Puerto Rico, brings his talented quintet of fellow Berklee students to Salem for an afternoon of original improvisational music. As a member of Orbits, Guzman released two albums, 12-6-5 and SaDesahogo, and has performed at the Heineken, Carolina, San Juan, and Xalapa jazz festivals.

Guzman began playing popular Latin guitar at the age of eight, followed by studies of classical guitar in the conservatory.  At age 13, influenced by sounds of Latin jazz present in Puerto Rico, began studying jazz. Since age 16, Roy has been a part of the growing jazz scene of the San Juan's metropolitan area.   

When Guzman was a member of Orbits Quintet, the group attended jazz seminars at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada with full scholarship support provided by Dave Douglas, Miguel Zenon and the Banff Centre. His teachers include Hal Crook, Mick Goodrick, Tim Miller, Dave Santoro, Dave Tronzo and Greg Osby.

In addition to Guzman, the Roy Guzman Quintet features:

• Billy Buss, trumpet, winner of two Down Beat Student Music Awards for Outstanding Performance/Soloist

• Greg Chaplin, bass, selected as bassist for the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Combo, where he played with Phil Woods, James Moody, McCoy Tyner, Patti Austin, and others

• Michael Sachs, saxophone, attending Berklee on a full tuition scholarship  

• Mark Whitfield Jr., drums, performer at the JVC Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the Kennedy Center

Dopapod is a Boston-based four-piece experimental funk group. The band's live shows showcase its meticulously crafted compositions as well as its commanding ability to improvise as both individuals and as one unit. The band's members possess supreme musicianship, but take the stage each night with a goal of keeping people dancing, entertained, and intrigued.

The band first came into being in October 2007, when keyboardist Philadelphia native Eli Winderman and Michelangelo Carubba—a drummer from Buffalo, New York, began jamming, writing and eventually playing shows. They performed as a duo until March 2008, when they expanded their sound with the addition of guitarist Rob Compa. Dopapod also recently added the talents of Chuck Jones on the bass. Dopapod is currently writing new songs as well as preparing older tunes to be recorded for their debut album, which is tentatively slated to be released in the spring of 2009.

When Re-Up plays at Kendall Square, in Cambridge, you'll experience the effortless flow between hard-hitting hip-hop, soulful melodies, and booty-shaking grooves. With songs that are a collision of sophisticated composition, and raw energy, Re-Up will leave its mark on any audience. The rhythm section lays down a rock-solid foundation while the horns add colorful riffs and rhythmic punches. The DJ pours some hot sauce on top, using textural effects and well-placed scratches, and Spliff's unique presence ties it all together. The sound connects with listeners in a way that only an elite tier of bands achieve, and the live show is proof of this. After a few songs, you'll swear that this band is your family. And you'll be right.

Listen to Re-Up music on the band's myspace page.

The music of Nini & Ben is characterized by the rich textures of innocence and experience. The duo has spent years performing all over Europe and Australia, writing poignant songs, and falling in love with the gypsy life style. With gritty slide guitar and graceful pedal steel accentuating an acoustic sound, the music comes alive through delicate songwriting and masterful musicianship. Having been cowriters since their teenage years, Nini and Ben came to Berklee to study with some of the industry greats, and are featured on the latest disc from Berklee's student-run Heavy Rotation Records. The group has just finished recording its first full length album at Avatar Studios, in New York,  to be released in the summer of 2009. 

Jazz fans will get a glimpse of the next generation when Casimir Liberski performs at Kendall Square. The gifted young pianist and composer from Belgium, who begins his studies at Berklee in September, taught himself how to play the piano and by the age of 5, was playing jazz, blues, and pop tunes. His first major influences were Thelonious Monk, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Keith Jarrett, and Nino Rota. Liberski founded his first trio when he was about 12 and performed at jazz festivals and other venues in Belgium and France.

Liberski has studied with Ornette Coleman, Brad Melhdau, and Masabumi Kikuchi. He has performed or jammed with musicians such as Denardo Coleman, Charnett Moffett, Greg Osby, and Larry Grenadier. He has composed music for three films and has made three studio recordings—featuring his original music—with his Liberski Trio.

Japanese pianist Takeshi Ohbayashi, a finalist in the 2007 Montreux Jazz Festival's Solo Jazz Piano Competition, brings his innovative originals and arrangements to Kendall Square. Ohbayashi was born in Hiroshima in 1987. He began to play piano at the age of two but changed to trumpet when he was 12. He met a jazz pianist recently who inspired him to take up the piano again and pursue his love of jazz. He quickly became recognized in his home city for his unique style, innovative original tunes and arrangements of jazz standards.

After establishing himself in Hiroshima and Tokyo, Takeshi won a scholarship to attend Berklee in 2007. He traveled to Montreux that summer to compete in the Montreux Jazz Festival's Solo Jazz Piano Competition. He was one of 16 semi-finalists chosen from hundreds of applicants worldwide. He is currently studying with Danilo Perez, Joanne Brackeen, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Ralph Peterson, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

Student composer, pianist, and vocalist Neara Russell has been winning awards for her original rock songs since she started writing them while growing up in Wisconsin. She was 17 when she arrived at Berklee as a full-ride Presidential Scholar. Her Kendall Square performance features an intimate setting in which to get familiar with an innovative new voice in rock music.

Russell, who is from Spring Green, Wisconsin, was homeschooled but participated in local bands and choirs. She found her way into the Wisconsin School Music Association and competed at state music festivals, placing first for solo performances in piano, voice, bass clarinet, and xylophone. Her first-ever composition won Best Vocal Solo in a statewide writing contest, the first of many for her original song cycles and and rock music.

In 2006, Russell was invited to perform her original work "Lemonade Pie" on the weekly National Public Radio program From the Top. She was also asked to write and and perform a country tune about her birth, which she named "Born in a Pickup Truck." As an honoree of the From the Top's Young Composer Project, she was granted a mentoring session with Academy Award-winning composer John Corigliano, and was made a cultural leader and role model for the arts, performing and discussing composition for schoolchildren in New York, Boston, and Wisconsin.

Russell's vision is "to create art that is sophisticated and fun, intelligent while universally accessible, with unique imagination in every aspect."

She recently released a debut CD with original art songs, Food for the Gods, recorded with soprano Wendy Rowe.

Tubby Love is a reggae group whose members are students at Berklee. The group's latest release, Tubby Love and Graymation, features a refreshing and original blend of reggae, rock, and blues. 

Learn more about the group and listen to its original music at the Tubby Love myspace page.

La Timbistica is a contemporary All-Star Latin band made up of some of the best young musicians on the East Coast. It was named Down Beat magazine's 2008 Jazz Group of the Year in the collegiate category. This powerhouse sextet (which also performs as a 12-piece salsa band) recently lit up the stage at the Duke Ellington and Monterey jazz festivals, two of the largest and most prestigious festivals in the U.S.

The All-Stars are led by conguero Paulo Stagnaro and include timbalero Marcos Lopez, bassist Juan Maldonado, pianist Alex Brown, saxophonist Godwin Louis, and flutist Enrique Trinidad.

Its Latin jazz repertoire ranges from Afro-Cuban and Brazilian classics to some of it modern original compostions. The group also has a vast repertoire ranging from 1970s, to some of the most contemporary salsa and timba from artists like Isaac Delgado, Marc Anthony, and Victor Manuelle. La Timbistica is a mainstay in the Boston music scene, making regular appearances at Havana Club, Mojito's Lounge, Wally's Jazz Café as well as various music festivals in the area. 

Members have performed and recorded with some of the Latin industry's most prominent musical figures, such as Paquito D'Rivera, Danilo Perez, Batacumbele, Truco y Zaperoco, N'Klabe, Victor Manuelle, Kevin Ceballo, and Tony Perez, among many others.

Born in California and raised in New York and New Jersey, Alex Wintz began playing guitar at the age of four. He has performed across the country and around the world, including in Singapore, Switzerland, and Canada; at the Monterey, Montreal, and Montreux jazz festivals; and at several U.S. venues including the Knitting Factory, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Smalls, Shanghai Jazz, and Ku'umbwa Arts Center.

Awards and honors include a Down Beat Student Music Award in 2006 for Outstanding Jazz Soloist in High School, Outstanding soloist at the NJ-IAJE jazz festival for 2 consecutive years, and an NJPAC Composition award; and seats the in New Jersey All-State Jazz Band and the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band Classic.

Over the years, he has studied with great teachers such as Vic Juris, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Rick Peckham, Dave Stryker, and Joe Lovano. Alex is attending the Berklee and is in his junior year.

Raised in Texas on a musical diet of Antonio Carlos Jobim, James Taylor, and oldies radio, 20-year old Emily Elbert first picked up the guitar when she was 15. Her self-taught approach on the instrument grew to include singing and songwriting, and her passionate involvement in these three endeavors soon led to the creation of her debut CD of original material, Bright Side, in 2006.

Elbert was selected to perform as a vocalist in the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensemble in 2007. That same year, she won the Grand Prize in the 2007 Texas Music Project Texas 10 Under 20 contest. Elbert then moved to Boston to study at the Berklee, but simultaneously continues to maintain a musical career; in 2008, she did weekend tours with G Love & Special Sauce and Kaki King and was a featured performer at the North American Folk Music Alliance in Memphis, Tennesee.

Boston-based WUMB-FM radio named her the Best New Artist of 2008. She has played more than 200 gigs nationwide, from Los Angeles to New York City, Alaska to Texas. Elbert is currently in the process of recording a follow-up EP to Bright Side, with an expected release in fall 2009.

Hailing from Minneapolis, Adrianne Lenker is an authentic and passionate singer, songwriter and performer. Her debut CD, Stages Of The Sun, produced by Steve Hodge (Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Sting), was released on LucidTunes when AdriAnne was only 14. The title cut was a top 5 finalist for song of the year in the 2005 Independent Music Awards in the Singer/Songwriter category. The Lenker song, "My Bliss," was a finalist in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition. Four tracks from the album were featured on MTV's The Hills in 2007 and 2008.

Lenker's follow-up CD/DVD, Live at the Southern, was recorded just before her 15th birthday in July 2006 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Her third release, Then The Rain Came will be released in 2009.

Tim Cain, a writer with the Herald & Review (Illinois), wrote about the singer/songwriter after hearing her live show:

"I saw her perform in Chicago with an audience largely consisting of musicians. She held this group of professionals enraptured, and we all found one thing unbelievable and asked each other the same question as one voice: 'Is she really 14?' Apparently so, and she's a little like Jewel, except tougher, and a little like Liz Phair, but not quite as edgy. She writes a heckofa song."

Texas-born drummer Jovol Bell has a sound that is just as big as the state he hails from. His infectious fusion of hip-hop and straight-ahead jazz produces a unique old-school feel with a new-school sound.

He started playing drums at the age of 5 in church. In 2002, he performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators conference with legendary drummer Ed Thigpen and up-and-coming jazz artist Sean Jones.

Bell cites as his influences: "the power and speed of Dennis Chambers, the finesse of Vinnie Colaiuta, and the soulful playing of Ralph Peterson." 

Only 19 years old and a Berklee freshman, jazz saxophonist Hailey Niswanger has an impressive list of accomplishments that stretch far beyond her hometown of Portland, Oregon.

In both 2006 and 2007, Hailey received scholarships to attend the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop in Boston under the direction of Terri Lyne Carrington.  She performed at the 2007 IAJE conference in New York with the Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra and Combo. 

In both 2007 and 2008, Niswanger performed with the Grammy Jazz Ensemble in Hollywood and the Jazz Band of America in Indianapolis. In 2007, she performed at the pre-festival events for the Monterey Jazz Festival and in 2008, she toured with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, including a performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Holland, and on the main stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Hailey won the 2008 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Saxophone Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and was a featured artist at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival in 2009.

Niswanger has performed with a long list of jazz greats, including George Duke, Phil Woods, Christian McBride, and McCoy Tyner.

She released her debut CD, Confeddie, this year. 

Each fall, Berklee chooses its finest students to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival, where they perform to standing-room-only audiences. Led by guitarist Roy Guzman, the group featured here performed at the festival in 2007, and are already highly sought after, with dozens of professional credits, major awards, and concerts. The Berklee Monterey Quintet features:

• Roy Guzman, guitar, also a composer and the group's leader, is from Cupey, Puerto Rico and has been a part of the growing jazz scene of the San Juan's metropolitan area since he was 16

• Billy Buss, trumpet, winner of two Down Beat Student Music Awards for Outstanding Performance/Soloist

• Greg Chaplin, bass, selected as bassist for the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Combo, where he played with Phil Woods, James Moody, McCoy Tyner, Patti Austin, and others

• Michael Sachs, saxophone, attending Berklee on a full tuition scholarship  

• Mark Whitfield Jr., drums, performer at the JVC Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the Kennedy Center

The six musicians of Gentlemen Hall will appear at Kendall Square with a seamlessly blended sound that highlights music backgrounds influenced by funk, pop, soul, r&b, rock, and electronica. Some have described it as dance floor funk. Hear them and see if you agree.

Here's how the band describes itself: Transcending the physical and surpassing the metaphysical at the speed of physics, Gentlemen Hall takes funk and pop to the 11th exponent of all that grabs your attention, exponentially. Six musicians with musical backgrounds from funk, pop, soul, r&b, rock and electronica come together in a highly infectious and original blend that defies mortal comprehension, but that's ok, people love it anyway. Gentlemen Hall is unbound by traditional genre, though the masses have come to describe their music as dance floor funk.

Listen to Gentlemen Hall

Hear the latest crop of young Thelonious Monk Institute wizards—five of them Berklee alumni—in their only public performance before heading off to New Orleans for studies with Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and other jazz greats. The show will stream live worldwide on BIRN 2, Berklee Internet Radio. Learn more about the event.

Esperanto is a Boston-based quartet featuring woodwind player Lucas Ellman, drummer James Krivchenia, bassist Joshua Hari, and pianist Shanley Wang. Playing a mixture of refreshing originals and unique arrangements, Esperanto pays respects to both established musical traditions while expanding forth into the uncategorized world of progress.

The band plays a wide variety of music, ranging from reimagined jazz standards by composers such Duke Ellington and Wayne Shorter to arrangements of songs by modern artists such as Radiohead. But above all else, the musicians all enjoy themselves when they play, and that enthusiasm always comes through in their performances.

Student composer, pianist, and vocalist Neara Russell has been winning awards for her original rock songs since she started writing them while growing up in Wisconsin. She was 17 when she arrived at Berklee as a full-ride Presidential Scholar. Her ICA performance features an intimate setting in which to get familiar with an innovative new voice in rock music.

Russell, who is from Spring Green, Wisconsin, was homeschooled but participated in local bands and choirs. She found her way into the Wisconsin School Music Association and competed at state music festivals, placing first for solo performances in piano, voice, bass clarinet, and xylophone. Her first-ever composition won Best Vocal Solo in a statewide writing contest, the first of many for her original song cycles and and rock music.

In 2006, Russell was invited to perform her original work "Lemonade Pie" on the weekly National Public Radio program From the Top. She was also asked to write and and perform a country tune about her birth, which she named "Born in a Pickup Truck." As an honoree of the From the Top's Young Composer Project, she was granted a mentoring session with Academy Award-winning composer John Corigliano, and was made a cultural leader and role model for the arts, performing and discussing composition for schoolchildren in New York, Boston, and Wisconsin.

Russell's vision is "to create art that is sophisticated and fun, intelligent while universally accessible, with unique imagination in every aspect."

She recently released a debut CD with original art songs, Food for the Gods, recorded with soprano Wendy Rowe.

Tubby Love is a reggae group whose members are students at Berklee. The group's latest release, Tubby Love and Graymation, features a refreshing and original blend of reggae, rock, and blues. 

Learn more about the group and listen to its original music at the Tubby Love myspace page.

La Timbistica is a contemporary All-Star Latin band made up of some of the best young musicians on the East Coast. It was namedDown Beat magazine's 2008 Jazz Group of the Year in the collegiate category. This powerhouse sextet (which also performs as a 12-piece salsa band) recently lit up the stage at the Duke Ellington and Monterey jazz festivals, two of the largest and most prestigious festivals in the U.S.

The All-Stars are led by conguero Paulo Stagnaro and include timbalero Marcos Lopez, bassist Juan Maldonado, pianist Alex Brown, saxophonist Godwin Louis, and flutist Enrique Trinidad.

Its Latin jazz repertoire ranges from Afro-Cuban and Brazilian classics to some of it modern original compostions. The group also has a vast repertoire ranging from 1970s, to some of the most contemporary salsa and timba from artists like Isaac Delgado, Marc Anthony, and Victor Manuelle. La Timbistica is a mainstay in the Boston music scene, making regular appearances at Havana Club, Mojito's Lounge, Wally's Jazz Café as well as various music festivals in the area. 

Members have performed and recorded with some of the Latin industry's most prominent musical figures, such as Paquito D'Rivera, Danilo Perez, Batacumbele, Truco y Zaperoco, N'Klabe, Victor Manuelle, Kevin Ceballo, and Tony Perez, among many others.

Born in California and raised in New York and New Jersey, Alex Wintz began playing guitar at the age of four. He has performed across the country and around the world, including in Singapore, Switzerland, and Canada; at the Monterey, Montreal, and Montreux jazz festivals; and at several U.S. venues including the Knitting Factory, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Smalls, Shanghai Jazz, and Ku'umbwa Arts Center.

Awards and honors include a Down Beat Student Music Award in 2006 for Outstanding Jazz Soloist in High School, Outstanding soloist at the NJ-IAJE jazz festival for 2 consecutive years, and an NJPAC Composition award; and seats the in New Jersey All-State Jazz Band and the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band Classic.

Over the years, he has studied with great teachers such as Vic Juris, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Rick Peckham, Dave Stryker, and Joe Lovano. Alex is attending the Berklee and is in his junior year.

Orquesta Bacharengue, led by Berklee faculty member Ricardo Monzón, was inspired by the enthusiasm that grew around the formation of the Berklee Merengue Ensemble in 2008. Drawing on a wealth of connections between students, faculty, and Boston-area musicians, the group brings talented musicians together to perform two popular genres developed in the Dominican Republic, bachata and merengue, hence the name Bacharengue. The energy and dynamism of this combination will surely get the audience dancing. Joining Orquesta Bacharengue for this concert will be special guest Henry Jiménez, composer, pianist, producer, and arranger for Grammy-winner Olga Tañón and Latin Grammy-winners Johnny Ventura and Milly Quezada.

Bandleader Javier Arroyo, a Cape Cod resident, has deep roots in music. As a young boy in Puerto Rico, his father and uncles would gather up in the evenings, bringing their guitars along with the Puerto Rican "cuatro," and sing old boleros, guarachas, rancheras, and Puerto Rican "decimas." Javier loved the way the sounds intermixed and soon developed his singing skills in tone with them. They would give him nickels and quarters for singing the songs they especially liked.

Arroyo has performed on stage with such artists as Willie Colón, Luisito Ayala, Puerto Rican Power, Cano Estremera, and El Gran Combo.

Arroyo's Salsa Night debuted at the Puerto Rican Festival 2002 in Boston. The 12-piece group features some of the best musicians in the Northeast and is recording its first CD.

Read more about the Tito Puente Latin Music Series.

Due to weather, this event has been moved to the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts at 85 West Newton Street, Boston, MA.

Cacao Música recording artists and winners of the 2006 Boston Phoenix poll for Best World Music Act, Obbini Tumbao delivers a double shot of high-energy music that makes audiences want to get up and dance.

Rebecca Cline, a pianist from Athens, Georgia, joins forces with Anita Quinto, a percussionist from Caracas, Venezuela, to produce a compelling new sound for fans looking for more of that infectious groove associated with acts like the Buena Vista Social Club. The band's powerful horn section, made up of trumpets and trombones, is supported by an ebullient rhythm section of congas, timbales, bongos, piano, and bass.

Fronted by the area's most in-demand lead vocalists and the two dynamic co-leaders, Obbini Tumbao leaves audiences feeling enthralled and hungry for more. In five short years, Obbini Tumbao has gained the loyal affection of the Boston-area dancing and salsa-music-loving public. It performs regularly to sold-out audiences at venues such as the Blue Note's Regattabar, Scullers Jazz Club, and Ryles Jazz Club.

Read more about the Tito Puente Latin Music Series.

Considered by critics around the world to be one of today's finest Latin jazz artists, Mexico-born vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza's career includes performances with his own group and as guest soloist around the globe. Groups he has made guest appearances with include the World Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Paquito D'Rivera; the Milan Svoboda Orchestra in Prague, sold-out shows at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and in Tel Aviv; and as soloist with the Carlos Chávez Symphony Orchestra in Mexico City. 

Previous recordings and performances with his own group, as well as with artists such as Paquito D'Rivera, Danilo Pérez, Michel Camilo, Claudio Roditi, Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio "El Negro" Hernández, and Antonio Sánchez, have earned him the respect of critics and jazz fans around the globe.

Mendoza's This is Why disc led Latin Beat Magazine to name him one of the Outstanding Latin Jazz Artists of the Year. Black Bean Blues, his most recent recording, was named one of the best Latin jazz recordings of the year by Modern Drummer and led Jazziz to dub him "the genre's leading vibraphone practitioner" and "one of today's most resourceful composers." The Smithsonian Institute has included Black Bean Blues in Latin Jazz: The Perfect Combination, its first major exhibition about this genre. 

As a Berklee professor, Mendoza has earned an international reputation as a jazz educator, regularly conducting master classes at major music schools and universities around the world. Recent clinic and concert presentations include international conferences at PASIC, IAJE, Festival Internacional de la Marimba (Chiapas, Mexico), Festival Internacional de la Patagonia (Argentina), Perkuska (Poland), and the Journées de la Percussion festival in Paris. 

Victor's educational DVD, Latin Jazz Grooves, which focuses on Afro-Cuban performance and improvisation rhythmic concepts, will be released by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard this fall.

Read more about the Tito Puente Latin Music Series.

A stellar evening of outdoor music is on tap in Boston's Fenway neighborhood as Angel, featuring New Move, performs. Vocalist Angel leads her band in a concert of adult contemporary and jazz music, featuring compositions by artists such as Corinne Bailey Rae, Lalah Hathaway, Chaka Khan, Dianne Reeves, and Yellowjackets. New Move features Alex Han, saxophone; Macston Maccow, drums; Winston Maccow, bass; and George Russell Jr., keyboard. The opening act for Swingin' in Mothers Rest will be trumpeter Billy Buss and his band. 

Angel is a singer and actress with an extensive background in live and recorded performances, community organizing, and outreach via the arts. She has performed with local and national theater companies. Angel's work includes voice-overs, commercials, demo recordings, and jingles. She has performed with Michael Buble, Jetro DaSilva, Vivian Male, and John Robinson. She has recorded for Walter Beasley, Les Hodges, Chris Parks, Andrew Sherman, and Elizabeth Withers, to name a few. As an active member of Soul of Boston, Angel has traveled extensively, singing various styles from jazz to gospel and continuing her work in the community as an artist advocate.

Trumpeter Billy Buss is a Berkeley, Calif. native, and has received numerous awards, including the Monterey Jazz Festival's full-tuition Jimmy Lyons Scholarship to Berklee, two Downbeat Student Music Awards as Outstanding Performance/Soloist, the Gold Award in Jazz from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and recognition from the White House as a 2006 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He has performed at the New Orleans, Monterey, Umbria, Montreux and JVC Jazz festivals; the Dubrovnik Summer Music Festival in Croatia; numerous festivals in Japan; and a variety of clubs in New York. Buss is currently in his final year at Berklee.

Los Angeles-bred bassist and vocalist Katie Thiroux brings her trio to Cambridge. The Katie Thiroux Trio has performed from coast to coast at venues such as the Kitano, Cachaca Jazz Club, the Lighthouse, Catalina's Jazz Club.

Influenced by the invigorating styles of Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Bill Evans and Anita O'Day, the Katie Thiroux Quartet swings hard every time. Thiroux's acrobatic vocal arrangements and instrumentals have established the group's unique style, which is why its leader is regarded as one of today's most exceptional young talents.

Thiroux is also an on-call sideman. She was called in to perform at the 2009 Münster Jazz Festival, joining Mosaic, a group led by drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and also featuring Geri Allen and Ingrid Jensen.

Other notable performances include the Monterey, Newport Beach, and Vail jazz festivals. Thiroux studies at Berklee on the full-ride Presidential Scholarship.

The International String Trio was founded in 1999 by its musical director and guitarist, Slava Tolstoy. During the last 10 years the group has performed at more than 1000 venues across the United States and has gained national recognition for its distinct sound and stylistic diversity. The trio's repertoire includes classical, jazz, popular, and world music (Italian, French, Russian, Jewish, Spanish, Latin American, Gipsy, and Irish).

The International String Trio has developed a unique concert program that is both highly entertaining and educational, energetic and musically gratifying. The group plays about 150 gigs a year at a variety of venues, including concert halls, jazz clubs, universities, schools, and private homes. At performances the IST enjoys leading its audiences on a cultural musical journey, as performances include music from countries around the world.

The inspiration for the group's latest CD, Appalachia, sprung from music written about the Appalachian Mountains. In addition, popular pieces from several other music traditions have been included to create a well-rounded and multicultural musical experience.

"Time to Say Goodbye;" "Tango from Scent of a Woman;" and "Ashokan Farewell," from Ken Burns's Civil War documentary, are a few of the songs featured on Appalachia. It also includes one original composition written by Slava Tolstoy ("Appalachian Waltz") and some of the most beautiful tunes from the Jewish tradition ("Erev Shel Shoshanim," "Jerusalem of Gold," and "Shalom Aleichem Waltz").

Boston-based all-star octet, Rocco and the Stompers, merges the traditional 1930s Swing Era sound with contemporary arrangements and compositions. Formed in 2008, the group's focus has been to actively write and arrange material that lends itself to exciting live performances. With one sensational full length studio recording under its belt, the Stompers are quickly turning the heads of jazz audiences.

A Rocco and the Stompers show typically consists of swing covers, ranging from well-known hits like Benny Goodman's "Sing Me A Swing Song" to hidden gems like Duke Ellington's "Rendezvous With Rhythm." Along with flawless transcriptions, the Stompers play original arrangements of modern tunes like "Master of Puppets," (Metallica) "Casino Night Zone," (Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (Daft Punk), all arranged in the style of the great writers, such as Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Artie Shaw. The group also performs a collection of original compositions that blur the line between the swing era and beyond.

The music is brought to life by some of New England's top musicians: John Replogle (trumpet), Mark Zaleski (alto sax, clarinet), Chris Gagne (trombone), Ben Whiting (baritone sax), Juan Andres Ospina (piano), Katie Thiroux (bass, vocals), and Matt Witek (drums). Group members have toured around the world, collectively playing with artists such as Danilo Perez, Kendrick Oliver and the New Life Jazz Orchestra, Benny Golson, Dave Brubeck, Slide Hampton, Christian McBride, Michel Camilo, Joe Lovano, Jethro Tull, Bennie Maupin, Chick Corea and George W. Russell Jr.

Carlos Averhoff Jr. is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator whose sound combines the rhythms of his native Cuba with modern styles of jazz and funk. Born in Havana, Averhoff began his musical training at the Manuel Saumell Music Conservatory, following in the footsteps of his father, also a renowned musician and educator.

He graduated from Amadeo Roldan School of Music and also studied at the Superior Institute of Art (ISA). He has recorded with Buena Vista Social Club, Roberto Fonseca, Elmer Ferrer, Jorge Reyes, and others.

In 2004, he settled in Spain, where he began leading his own quartet, and the following year, he took first place honors at the SGAE Awards for Jazz Interpretation and Composition. He came to Berklee in 2008 after receiving several scholarships, including the prestigious Charlie Parker Scholarship.

Averhoff is launching his music project IRESI while working on his first solo album, featuring original compositions that fuse elements straight-ahead jazz and funk with traditional Cuban styles such as danzon, son, bolero, Cuban timba, and Afro-Cuban.

Twenty-two year old singer/songwriter, Gina Cimmelli and her band Gina's Picture Show cook up familiar throw-back melodies from the 1920s to the 1960s, married with sincere lyrics and served with a wild variety of instrumentation. Cimmelli and her group are touring throughout New England this summer, having just released a five song EP, Don't Be Mad.

It's one of the coolest outdoor concerts every summer, with a fantastic view of the city: Jazz at the Fort. This year, Berklee faculty member Terri Lyne Carrington headlines, leading her group. The Berklee City Music All-Stars open the night—a group of some of the best young jazz players around, who will tackle standards and original student compositions. Learn more about the event.

Student guitarist Mark Hopkins hits the Harbor Islands with his band, the Hotel. Hopkins cites a range of influences, from Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley and Wayne Krantz. Hopkins's prior band, Tribe, released a disc, Vehicle, that was named album of the year by Maryland adult alternative radio station WRNR in 2004.

Seven months after taking up guitar at 12, Hopkins played Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at a school talent show and never looked back. Hopkins has toured the Northeast U.S. and has shared the stage with such artists as Bernie Worrell and Yellow Man.

Hopkins was lead frontman and sole songwriter for his first band, Tribe of Ben (or Tribe), formed in 1996. Tribe released four albums during its seven years, two of which were voted among the annual Top 25 Albums by WRNR radio personality Bill Wright. Tribe's album Grass Sofa Jamboree ranked number three in 2000, and the band's final album, Vehicle came in first place in 2004. In 2005, Hopkins decided to leave Tribe to establish a new project: a power trio of talented musicians focused on mature songwriting and soulful melodies.

Hopkins is a songwriting major at Berklee.

The music of Nini & Ben is characterized by the rich textures of innocence and experience. The duo has spent years performing all over Europe and Australia, writing poignant songs, and falling in love with the gypsy life style. With gritty slide guitar and graceful pedal steel accentuating an acoustic sound, the music comes alive through delicate songwriting and masterful musicianship. Having been cowriters since their teenage years, Nini Fabi and Ben Gebert came to Berklee to study with some of the industry greats, and are featured on the latest disc from Berklee's student-run Heavy Rotation Records. The group has just finished recording its first full length album at Avatar Studios, in New York,  to be released in the summer of 2009. 

San Diego, California native Abigail East, now majoring in contemporary writing and production, first developed an artistic vision when she advanced from poetry to song at the age of twelve.

Recognized by poets and musicians alike, she busted through the braces of ordinary songwriting with music that continues to artfully reflect her experiences from a pool of soft and almost impressionistic chord progressions. Her clear, radiant voice and unique approach to finger-style guitar supports a single-minded poeticism, all while mapping the drift and spiritual growth of a young woman.

Manami Morita, a native of Saitama, Japan, started playing classical piano at age 4. At the time, she hated piano lessons because she wasn't attracted to classical piano. She loved to play but wanted more musical freedom. At 13, Morita discovered jazz and became addicted, even learning improvisation on her own. She was recently awarded the Mary Jane Earnhart Endowed Scholarship. Morita has performed with acclaimed musicians such as Esperanza Spalding, Greg Hopkins, Mark Walker, Rosa Passos, and Oscar Stagnaro.

Washington D.C. native Randy Runyon began playing guitar at the age of 11. He grew up listening to bands like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix. He discovered a love for jazz during high school and began studying with Baltimore great Carl Filipiak. Since enrolling at Berklee, Runyon has performed with Terri Lyne Carrington at the Blue Note and Iridium Jazz Clubs in New York; with greats such as Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, and Joe Lovano; and with Tiger Okoshi at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Thailand Jazz Conference in Bangkok, the IAJE convention in New York, and the International Trumpet Guild in Alberta, Canada. Performing with Randy is his band, Animal Zoo, whose music.