Christelle Durandy: A North Bay Jazz Concert

Christelle Durandy: A North Bay Jazz Concert to the Throckmorton stage.
* Friday, October 13, 7:30 pm

• Christelle Durandy – Vocals
• Nathan Bickart – Piano
• Steve Hogan – Bass Guitar
• Deszon Claiborne – Drum Set
• Carlos Medrano– Percussion
• Plus the talented student musician Max Blankman

Christelle Durandy fuses Afro-Caribbean, jazz and other polyrhythmic sounds in a provocative exploration of the African diaspora’s diffuse and powerful musical energy – a multicultural complexity Christelle herself embodies, having been raised in France by a mother from Reunion Island and a father from Guadeloupe.

Backed by her band Sanktet (a play on the French “cinq têtes,” or “five heads”), Christelle draws upon her polyglot background to celebrate and expand the diaspora’s vibrant musical conversation, ranging joyfully amongst – and fearlessly blending – such varied forms as Cuban guaguanco, Guadeloupe’s gwo ka, traditional jazz and myriad others.

Deszon Claiborne is a native of the Bay Area where he began his musical career at the early age of ten. Virtually self taught in the beginning, he went on to study with world-renowned drummers such as Richard Peterson, Rick Quintinel (Chuck Brown school of Drumming), James Levi, Billy Cobham and Kenneth  Nash , an experience which provided him with a strong foundation in jazz, rhythm & blues and world music.

He has had the pleasure to perform or record with the following artists: Peter Apfelbaum, Don Cherry, Charles brown, Angela Bofill, Les McCann, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Robin Ford, Boz Scaggs, Greg Howe, Henry Butler, Giovani Hildalgo, Kai Eckhardt, John Handy, Taj Mahal, Donald Harrison, Rodney Franklin, and may others.

In addition to his performing and recording credits, Deszon is also an educator. He has taught both private and group lessons to students of all ages and levels, youth to adult, and beginning to advanced.

Deszon has also participated in music education programs in the Bay Area over the last 20 years, including Berkeley Jazz School, Jazz Camp West, Stanford Jazz Camp, Lafayette Summer Music camp, Moody’s Jazz Camp, Just Say Jazz, and Adventures in Music.

Carlos Medrano was born and raised in Cuba, Carlitos came to the US after having trained with one of Cuba’s most famous congueros, Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana. While in Cuba, he played extensively with some of Havana’s best known Latin Jazz and Salsa groups, and since coming to the US has played with many of the Bay Area’s finest Latin groups.

After extensive participation in various musical groups, he decided to start his own projects with local Bay Area musicians; Cuban-style salsa performed by Sabor De Mi Cuba where he debuts his musical talents through original songwriting and composition.

The fundamental characteristics of this project are fusions of Afro-Cuban roots influenced by world music. Sabor De Mi Cuba hopes to bring forth edginess to local exponents of music in the Bay Area.

In December 2012, he decided to create his own recording entitled Sabor De Mi Cuba, where he experimented with composition and arrangements. The project was recorded and mastered in the prestigious Egrem Studios in Havana, Cuba.

According to Tom Ehrlich of Timba.com Magazine, Sabor De Mi Cuba “is a strong recording, full of elaborate, innovative arrangements, interesting use of chorus, rumba and jazz influenced dance music… The result is a beautiful, swinging recording which should establish Carlitos as a composer, percussionist and band leader to be reckoned with. “

Steve Hogan is a bassist and music educator born and raised in a musical famSteve Hogan is a bassist and music educator born and raised in a musical family in the San Francisco Bay Areily in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He has studied internationally in musically rich communities around the globe in countries such as Indonesia, Cuba, Ghana and Brazil, bringing these world music influences to the many projects with which he performs in the diverse Bay Area music scene.

He teaches high school and middle school band and his passion project, The Hogan Brothers, a jazz fusion trio with his brothers Colin and Julian, performs regularly in San Francisco and the East Bay.

Nathan Bickart is an accomplished Mill Valley-raised and Berkeley-based piano player and composer who most recently premiered his commissioned work “Gravity Sweet” with the support of Intermusic SF, and brings his longtime trio of Brooklyn native Michael Mitchell on the drums, and West Marin native Owen Clapp on the bass.

Max Blankman is a 19 year old musician. He has been playing the flute for 10 years.

He chose this instrument in 4th grade: he thought it really sounded pretty and was one of the easiest instruments to carry around.

Max attended high-school at Oakland School for the Arts and just started studying at the California Jazz Conservatory.

North Bay Jazz Concerts
Our Jazz program, “North Bay Jazz, Now and Future presents multiple generations of performers in concert, exploring different genres of Jazz. The concerts also provide performance and mentoring opportunities for young emerging talent, a key theme in jazz history. Our program continues this community-minded mentoring tradition. and strengthens our holistic approach to supporting artists and the art form.