Twin brothers Peter and Will Anderson who are each virtuosos on sax and clarinet will bring their toe-tapping, heart lifting jazz to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland on Friday March 6 at 8:00 pm. Admission is $20.
Peter and Will Anderson were born and raised in Bethesda, MD, toured the UK at the age of 15, studied at Julliard and now in their early 20s, they call New York City home. They’ve headlined at NYC’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, D.C.’s Blues Alley, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Sarasota FL Jazz Festival, South Carolina’s Jazz Corner, Seattle’s Triple Door, Iowa’s Bix Beiderbecke Festival, the Central Illinois Jazz Festival, Pennsylvania’s Deer Head Inn, Long Island’s Guild Hall, and Alfie in Tokyo. They’ve led several month-long running jazz concerts at 59E59 Theaters; ”Artie Shaw at 100,” “The Fabulous Dorseys,” and “Le Jazz Hot,” which broke box-office sales records and was nominated for a 2014 Drama Desk award.
They will be joined at the Mainstay by Chuck Redd on vibes and drums and by their regular guitarist Alex Wintz.
On their most recent recording, “Reed Reflections,” they do a dazzling version of “Cherokee” based on the classic Bud Powell recording. When one brother is soloing, the other supports with spare staccato lines, trills or counterlines. The way they interact and toss in sudden surprises of harmonic color is reminiscent of vintage small groups led by Nat Cole Trio and Phil Moore. Wintz’s guitar fleshes out the sound, creating a lush, large sound.
A previous recording. “The Music of the Soprano Masters” released in 2013, featured Bob Wilber and their debut recording, “Correspondence” was listed by Vanity Fair magazine in “Four New Releases to Make You Love Jazz.”
Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, they were mentored by Texas-native saxophonist Paul Carr, before attending Juilliard in New York City, where they currently reside. Their expertise has made them saxophonists of choice for Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Wycliffe Gordon and the Village Vanguard Orchestra.
Though they play in vintage styles reminiscent of Artie Shaw, Dexter Gordon and Buddy DeFranco, everything they play sounds fresh, creative and in the moment. Paul de Barros wrote in the Seatle Times, “Like tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton, they favor a smooth, elided, swinging approach on their instruments, which makes everything they do sound easy –which of course it isn’t. But whether it’s the angular accents of Thelonious Monk’s “Bye Ya” or the impossibly fleet licks of “Cherokee,” these guys flood the room with joy.”
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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