Trumpeter Extraordinaire and The Tri-C Jazz Fest Academy’s “Spirit of the Groove” Ensemble. All-Star Next Generation Band Live at Market Garden Brewery on West 25th Street!
Presented in association with Tri-C JazzFest.
Special Guest Vocalist Ava Preston
Featuring:
Liam Speaks – Piano
Tim Picard – Guitar
Oscar Lacombe – Bass
Eli Leder – Bass
Nehemiah Baker – Drums
Gabe Jones – Drums
Ben Bosler – Percussion
Spirit of the Groove, part of the JazzFest Academy at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), is an ensemble comprised of nine young artists from various high schools around the Cleveland area and region, who are all committed to pursuing jazz full-time in college. As an invite-only mentorship program, the group focuses on balancing in-classroom study with on-the-band-stand experience, holding monthly residencies at iconic local clubs such as Nighttown & The Bop Stop.
Dominick Farinacci serves as director of the Tri-C JazzFest Academy program and performs with Spirit of the Groove. The program also provides opportunities to learn from and work with visiting national guest artists, most recently including Terence Blanchard, John Clayton and Patrick Bartley.
Dominick Farinacci graduated from The Juilliard School in 2005 and launched his career in Japan with a prolific run of eight albums. Farinacci’s latest recording, Short Stories (Mack Avenue Records), was produced by five-time Grammy Award winner Tommy LiPuma and features Steve Gadd, Christian McBride and Jacob Collier, among others.
Performing in more than 120 cities in 14 countries around the world, Farinacci has been a featured guest on ABC’s Good Morning America and is a TED speaker. He has also served as Global Ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center in Doha, Qatar..
Ava Preston is a vocalist and songwriter who enjoys writing and performing jazz, blues, pop/rock and indie songs as a solo artist and as a featured guest with various combos and bands throughout the Cleveland and Akron area.
She is a 2023 YoungArts Finalist and Silver Award Winner for Jazz Voice and is an 11x Downbeat SMA winner, 6x for Vocal Jazz Soloist and 5x for Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist. Ava performed at the 2023 Monterey Jazz Festival as the vocalist for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra.
The Tri-C JazzFest Academy gives students the opportunity to develop their skills and perform in both large and small ensembles through rehearsals that focus on music history, theory and improvisation. Students participate in workshops lead by national artists throughout the year and during Tri-C JazzFest. The semester will end with a public performance and selected ensembles will perform at local venues around town. Visit www.tri-c.edu/creative-arts-academy or call 216-987-6145 for more information.
Market Garden Brewery
1947 W. 25th St.
Cleveland, Ohio
www.marketgardenbrewery.com
(In Ohio City immediately north of West Side Market)