The Checkout – Live at Berklee Features Victor Prieto, Reimagining the Sound of Jazz Accordion

New York's WBGO-FM, NPR Music, and Berklee continue their Checkout - Live at Berklee series with jazz accordionist Victor Prieto and his trio.

October 26, 2015

Famed New York area radio station WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM/WBGO.org, NPR Music, and Berklee are teaming up to present the fifth year of the Checkout – Live at Berklee. The series brings critically acclaimed, New York-based Berklee alumni back to their alma mater for concerts in the Red Room @ Cafe 939 that are broadcast in New York City, and webcast worldwide.

The next performer in the series is Grammy nominee Victor Prieto, the jazz accordionist, with his Victor Prieto Trio plus One.  Joining 2002 Berklee alumnus Prieto on the show will be 1992 Berklee alumnus, saxophonist Chris Cheek, and members of Prieto’s regular New York-based trio, Carlo De Rosa on bass, and Vince Cherico on drums. Prieto’s compositions are an explosive collection of rhythms and colors, uniquely combining his Galician roots, and Celtic and Brazilian music with jazz, tango, and classical sounds. In addition to his blistering accordion, Prieto also sings in multitonal voice. 

The Checkout – Live at Berklee featuring the Victor Prieto Trio plus One takes place Wednesday, November 4, at the Red Room at Café 939, 939 Boylston Street, Boston. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at the door or in advance. The show will be broadcast in New York over WBGO-FM, and webcast and archived in high definition video on wbgo.org as a special edition of The Checkout, the acclaimed multimedia show featuring what’s new on New York’s jazz scene.  

Prieto is hailed by the New York Times as "a fiendishly skilled accordionist and composer," and by All About Jazz as "one of the best world music and jazz accordionists nowadays." He has received awards such as the Creative Performer award from the Spanish Association of Artists and Performers and the first prize at CMZK's Concourse of Composition. He teaches master classes at his alma mater, Berklee, and has headed jazz accordion studies at the Brooklyn Conservatory in New York.

Update: Watch Prieto's November 4 performance at the Checkout below.