Max’s Mainstay All-Stars return, this time bringing guest soloist Geoff Gallante on trumpet to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland on Thursday May 8 at 7:30 pm. Admission is $20.
Geoff Gallante
This concert is another in the Café Mainstay series founded by the late Max Corzilius. The all-star evening of jazz standards features the members of the Mainstay house band: Chuck Redd on vibes and drums; Robert Redd on piano; Steve Abshire on guitar, John Doughten on sax and clarinet and Tom Anthony on bass. They will be joined by vocalist Sue Matthews and pianist Dick Durham for some of that famous Mainstay magic. Their very special guest soloist is 13 year old trumpet player Geoff Gallante.
Geoff Gallante was first written about in the Washington Post in 2005 when he was 4. He had been playing less than a year on a pint-sized trumpet but was already keeping up with middle schoolers at a music camp. Over the next few years, he graduated to a full size trumpet and as a child prodigy, garnered thousands of YouTube views.
As his talent and enthusiasm for the trumpet has matured he has travelled to perform in 34 states across the country and with 5 different ensembles of the US military. He’s appeared on the CBS Early Show, NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno and NBC’s Today Show and has performed at the Kennedy Center in DC and the White House – the youngest instrumentalist ever accorded that honor.
He has soloed with some of America’s finest wind ensembles, most notably the U.S. Naval Academy Concert Band, Ridgewood (NJ) Concert Band, Allentown (PA) Band, Wheaton (IL) Municipal Band, Compton Heights Concert Band of St. Louis, Plano (TX) Community Band, Northwinds Symphonic Band (Atlanta), Fond Du Lac (WI) Symphonic Band, Naples (FL) Concert Band, and Metropolitan (Boston) Wind Symphony. Geoff was also a featured soloist at the 2012 ACB Annual Convention in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Now at 13, he has even more invitations to travel including club dates, jazz cruises and festivals and as a soloist with ensembles across the country. He has just released his second full length CD “An Air About Him” showcasing his passionate interpretations of some of his favorite melodies. He is a regular with Capital Focus Jazz Band and the Blues Alley Youth Jazz Orchestra both of which waived their age requirements for him.
Geoff is an eight-grader at Carl Sandburg Middle School in his hometown of Alexandria, VA, where he’s a member of his school chorus and earlier this year was cast as ‘Nathan Detroit’ in his school’s production of Guys and Dolls.
Geoff has appeared several times at the Mainstay over the past few years but this is the first with the Mainstay’s first-class house band improvising unrehearsed on jazz standards. When asked about inviting Geoff to be the guest soloist with a band of seasoned jazz musicians, Chuck Redd said, “He’s ready” and added that “Geoff Gallante is remarkably talented and dedicated. The maturity and knowledge he demonstrates in his playing is astounding for a musician his age.”
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 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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