Fifteen year old trumpet phenomenon Geoff Gallante returns to The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD with his quartet and special guest Marty Nau on saxophone on Saturday March 12 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
This will be an evening of Gallante’s straight-ahead interpretations of choice standards from the Great American Songbook, a side order of jazz classics, all with a twist of bop. He will be joined by Chris Grasso on piano, Michael Bowie on bass, Dominic Smith on drums and by his special guest, saxophone player extraordinaire Marty Nau, who was, before he retired from the Navy, lead alto and conductor for the Navy Commodores Jazz Band..
Geoff Gallante gets a lot of attention because of his age but he deserves attention for the quality, depth and emotion of his playing. He is regularly featured at jazz festivals across the country and headlines in jazz clubs from coast to coast.
One of the most celebrated young musicians in the world today; Gallante found his older brother’s trumpet at age four and was first written about in the Washington Post shortly thereafter. 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. He has performed on prominent stages including at the White House and the Kennedy Center and alongside distinguished artists all across the country– as acclaimed soloist with concert bands, brass bands and pops orchestras, as featured jazz performer and national anthem performer, as church soloist and now as the leader of his own quartet.
His network TV appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC’s Today show and the CBS Early Show. His performance at the Mainstay two years ago attracted the attention of Voice of America who did two features about him.
After a guest appearance with the legendary Maynard Ferguson as kindergartener, and a performance with Chris Botti live on the Today Show as a first grader, Gallante has gone on to share the stage with a host of jazz luminaries: Phil Driscoll, Ken Peplowski, James Morrison, Scott Hamilton, Butch Miles, Terrell Stafford, Cyrus Chestnut, John Faddis, James Carter, Warren Vache, Christian McBride and many more.
His most recent accolade was to be chosen as one of 32 students from across the country to be part of the Grammy Jazz Session Band performing at a number of functions during the Grammy Awards week in February. Gallante has also performed in such prominent jazz venues as Andy’s (Chicago), Blues Alley (DC), the Metropolitan Room and Iridium (NYC), Scullers (Boston), Shanghai Jazz (NJ) and Herb Alpert’s club Vibrato in L.A.
Marty Nau is a 34 year veteran of the Washington, D.C. jazz scene. Originally from Souderton, PA, Nau started on the clarinet when he was in the sixth grade but gravitated towards the saxophone in the ninth grade, playing in the junior and senior high school jazz bands.
Upon graduating from high school he enlisted in the Navy Music Program. He came to the DC area in 1980, and played with such big bands as the Blues Alley Big Band, Bill Potts Big Band, Guy Lombardo, and others. He has performed with the National Symphony and Richmond Symphony and has backed up such performers as Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Daniels, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Ethel Ennis, Nancy Wilson, Maureen McGovern, Snooky Young, and many others.
Nau can be heard on the Navy Commodores CD recording “Here and Now”. After a career playing lead alto and conducting for the Navy Commodores, he retired from the Navy in 1997. He has since become a highly active and sought after alto sax player in the Washington DC area jazz scene.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street.
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