Twenty-first Annual Brazilian Jazz Concert Coming to DCC

Release date: March 7, 2008

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – Matt Finley and Rio JAZZ will once again bring the sounds of Brazilian Jazz to Dutchess Community College when the group performs on April 8.

The show will be the 21st annual performance from Finley and company, and the set list will be dedicated to Kelly Conner, an assistant professor of music at DCC who died in the summer of 2007. Finley and Conner performed together often, and Conner’s piece “In the Mist” will be performed by Rio JAZZ on April 8, along with other selections Professor Conner enjoyed playing.

Finley plays trumpet, flugelhorn, flute and soprano saxophone. Playing with Finley at the DCC show are Peter Tomlinson (piano), Jeff Ciampa (guitar), Don Miller (acoustic bass), Joel Rosenblatt (drums), and Tomas Martin Lopez (Latin percussion). Guest vocalist Nicole Pasternak of Yonkers, who performed frequently with Kelly Conner, will join Rio JAZZ for its performance.  

Finley is a former associate and acting dean of academic affairs and associate professor of Computer Information Systems at DCC. Now a full-time musician, he is active as a composer, with two songs from his recent “Brazilian Wish” disc placing in the finals in the 2007 Los Angeles Music Awards. The CD is currently in the top 50 jazz albums in Italy and is #2 on HudsonValleyMusic.com.

Rosenblatt played drums with acclaimed jazz group Spyro Gyra for 13 years. He has also played with artists such as Randy Brecker and Bill Evans. Tomlinson is on the jazz piano faculty at Western Connecticut State College and has performed with Jimmy Cobb and Kenny Washington. Lopez has performed with many top Latin bands, including Grammy nominee Lalo Rodriguez, Broadway, and Louie Ramirez. Ciampa has recorded with Dave Matthews, Mark Egan and Harry Belefonte, among others. Miller has played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, and George Benson, along with other jazz greats. He has also performed with pop acts such as N’ Sync and Enrique Iglasias.

The concert is an ongoing part of DCC’s Lyceum Series. Co-sponsorship of the concert comes from the Music Performance Trust Fund, as administered by the Local 238 of the American Federation of Musicians. Also, the event is a featured concert in Jazz Appreciation Month, as promoted by the Smithsonian Institution.

The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Louis Greenspan Cafeteria in Drumlin Hall on DCC’s main campus. Admission is free. For more information, call the DCC Office of Student Activities at 845-431-8050. For more about the band, visit www.riojazz.com or www.mattfinley.com.

Founded in 1957, Dutchess Community College is a two-year community college celebrating its 50th anniversary of excellence and service to the residents of Dutchess County. It is part of the State University of New York and is one of 30 community colleges in the state system. The College offers a wide variety of associate degree programs, as well as career programs in major technical, human service and business areas. The College also offers non-credit courses through its Office of Community Services to meet the continuing education needs of civic, cultural, business and professional groups and the community at large. The main campus is at 53 Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie, while the Dutchess South extension site is in Hollowbrook Park, Building #4 at 31 Marshall Road in Wappingers Falls.

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