Music & Events

 

Hello jazz fans!  JazzErie is excited to bring Mara Rosenbloom & Flyways to Erie for what is sure to be a memorable concert.  Mara is an amazingly talented musician and bandleader who has been praised as “a whole hearted poet of the piano”.  Her most current ensemble, Flyways, consists of Mara on piano, Amais Maviel on voice and surdo drum, and Sean Conly on bass.  As you will read in there bios below they are all equally talented and renowned in their own right.  Here is some more information about all the band members. We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate the great art form of jazz!

 

About Mara Rosenbloom & Flyways:

Over the past decade, Rosenbloom’s intent to compose structures that foster connection

& inspire creativity has made powerful group synergy a hallmark of her sound. The New

York Times has praised Rosenbloom’s penchant for “full-bore group improvising,”

while The Chicago Reader has noted that her trio “achieves an elusive chemistry and

degree of spontaneous interaction that transcends mental boundaries.”

Rosenbloom's newest ensemble, Flyways, features 2019 Van Lier Fellowship winner

Anaïs Maviel (voice & surdo drum) & in demand bassist Sean Conly. The group's

premier work, "I know what I dreamed" sets the text of one of Adrienne Rich's 21 Love

Poems to melody, and extends it into an exploratory set length work, balancing composed

narrative within a dynamic level of improvisation. Adrienne Rich had a vision of a

society where no human dominates another, and also a rich and complex awareness of

what it means to inhabit, express, and sustain love; in expression of this work, the music

flows from concentrated lyricism to the uninhibited sounds of the moment.

Speaking of the ensemble Rosenbloom says, “What does it take for us to connect? Person

to person, person to community, group to group; this has been a focus of my work for

many years now - and Rich’s words were a natural fit for this project - poignant and wise.

In music, we may find & create space for honest expression, for courage - but too, a place

to listen with compassion, a place to be heard, and a place to hear others. Flyways are the

migratory patterns of birds - the cycles flocks traverse year after year. Humans make their

rounds too - but are we cognizant of how we’re moving together?”

 

MARA ROSENBLOOM BIO

Pianist, composer, & bandleader Mara Rosenbloom has been called “a whole hearted

poet of the piano,” – she is a builder & a synthesist; a fiercely lyrical composer &

improviser (All About Jazz).

Originally from Wisconsin, but currently rooted in Brooklyn, NY, Rosenbloom has spent

the past decade creating a distinctive body of work, establishing herself as a vibrant and

respected part of the city’s diverse network of jazz & improvised music communities.

Prior to her work with Flyways, Rosenbloom released her debut trio album Prairie Burn

(Fresh Sound/New Talent) with bassist Sean Conly & drummer Chad Taylor. Following

its release The New York Times cast a spotlight on Rosenbloom (read full article

here), heralding Prairie Burn as a “…a trio recording of bristling provocation and

full-bore group improvising…her strongest statement as a bandleader and her most

dauntless effort as a pianist.” The album received a rare 4.5 stars from Downbeat

Magazine, earning it a spot on the Magazine’s Best Albums of 2017 list. New York

Music Daily praised the album as “"[Rosenbloom's] quantum leap into greatness. An

absolutely feral, largely improvisational suite...unbridled ferocity and a remarkable

chemistry.” Since then, Rosenbloom has performed her work at Jazz at Lincoln Center,

performing to a sold out house at Dizzy’s Jazz Club Coca-Cola, been featured on NYC’s

premiere jazz radio station WBGO, and profiled in Chamber Music America Magazine.

Beyond her current projects as a leader, Rosenbloom recently recorded the music of

William Parker on a new album of his compositions to be released in 2019 & performed

his tribute Blue Lime Light for Cecil Taylor, at Taylor's Memorial Concert in December,

2018. Rosenbloom is also a member of Iconoclast American Jazz Drummer William

Hooker's Quartet MOON (feat: Jon Irabagon/Adam Lane), Dawn Drake's global

funk ensemble ZapOte, which recently returned from a 10 day International US

Embassy Tour of Belize (performing workshops for children with special needs,

community concerts, and outreach & exchange with local musicians), and continues to

perform with a variety of musicians across genres, including Cooper-Moore, William

Parker, Nioka Workman, Sam Newsome, Michael Wimberly, Vinny Golia, Ken Filiano,

Ava Mendoza, Rosa Avila, Gerald Cleaver, Ras Moshe, Jeff Davis, Billy Mintz, Daniel

Carter, and Anais Maviel. Her mentors at the piano include the incomparable Cooper-

Moore, and the late great Connie Crothers.

 

SEAN CONLY BIO

Sean Conly is a bassist (electric/contrabass) and composer whose love and affection for a

huge spectrum of the world’s musics have made him an extremely versatile performer. As

a player and a writer, Sean is constantly looking for ways to mix the traditional with the

new, in an never ending journey to mix melody harmony rhythm and sound into a unique

artistic voice.

Born in Gunnison Colorado, raised in Topeka Kansas, he has been obsessed with music

for his entire life. At age six Sean began playing guitar and writing songs trying to

emulate the music his parents loved such as the Beatles, The Doors and Harry Nilsson. In

school band Sean played percussion but as his teen years began and he wanted to start a

band he picked up the electric bass. "My grandmother bought me a bass for Christmas

when I was thirteen. It came with a Mel Bay method book which I stayed up most of the

night devouring and then the next morning I went to a band tryout ." Within A few

months Sean started to play around town. For the rest of his teens he played in numerous

bands performing in venues across the Midwest. Sean was already a voracious listener

and was spending many nights glued to the radio discovering any and all kinds of music.

Punk funk rock metal r/b and many more styles were all in constant rotation. Eventually

It was thru these nighttime binges that he became more and more attracted to jazz and

improvised music from such artists as Charle Mingus The Revolutionary Ensemble and

Ornette Coleman and Jaco Pastorius. After high school, Sean moved to Kansas City to

attend the UMKC Conservatory of Music where he began to study the Contrabass, but his

real education happened on the bandstand with local legends such as Ahmad Alaadeen,

Tim (Timbone) Williams, Jay McShann, Claude “fiddler” Williams Rich Hill, Norman

"Bishop" Williams, Horace Washington and many others.

Studying in the days and working 4 or 5 nights a week helped him solidify his playing,

He also started to write and arrange music for his own groups, and for the university's

jazz orchestra and for mentor Ahmad Alaadeen. Kansas City had a lot to offer but Sean

had always had his eyes set on moving to New York City, so in an attempt to learn more

and to bridge the gap between NYC and KC, he moved to Paterson New Jersey to study

under Rufus Reid at William Paterson University.

A year later he moved to Manhattan, where he has resided ever since. Since then he has

gone on to tour the world and/or record with a diverse list of artists such as Gregory

Tardy, Freddie Hubbard, Regina Carter, Ray Barretto, Charles Blenzig, Michael Franks,

Tom Harrell, Andrew Hill, Nicholas Payton, Stefon Harris, Yoron Israel, Eric Lewis,

Deidre Murray, John Mcneil, Timucin Sahin, James Moody , Mike Stern, Rick Margitza,

Michael Attias, Tony Malaby , Myron Walden, Phillip Harper, Russ Lossing, Anthony

Coleman, Avishai Cohen (trpt), Ayelet Rose Gottleib, Vana Gehrig Trio, Darius Jones,

Ken Vandermark/Steve Swell Quartet, The Newport Millenium Celebration (with Cedar

Walton, Randy Brecker, Howard Alden, Lou Tobackin), Francisco Mela, Paula West, Joe

Fiedler’s “Stunt Chicken”, Iranian singer/songwriter Mohsen Namjoo Mara

Rosenbloom,and many others.

As a band leader or co/ leader he has performed with several stellar groups over the years

starting with The Invisibles featuring Ben Monder, Tony Malaby, John OGalliger and

Tony Moreno, Re:Action with Michaël Attias Tony Malaby and Pheeroan Aklaff,

Grassroots with Darius Jones, Chad Taylor and Alex Harding, High Low Brow with Mike

Pride and Mary Halvorson, Think Shadow with Michael Attias and also as a solo

performer. Recently He has unveiled a new piano trio , The True North Project, featuring

Tom Rainey and Kris Davis. In May 2018 Cleanfeed released ”Hard Knocks” featuring

saxophonist Michaël Attias and Satoshi Takeishi on drums. In June 2019 “Live at The

Bushwick Series featuring Tom Rainey and Michaël Attias. He also performs solo.

Sean is also an in demand Teacher. He has given clinics on four continents and since

2009 has been on the faculty of The Collective School of Music (thecollective.edu). In

2017 He was chosen as the recipient educator in The Alaadeen Jazz Master/Apprentice

program and in 2018 was an Judge at the Notre Dame Jazz Fest.

 

Anaïs Maviel is a vocalist, percussionist, composer, music director, and community

facilitator. Her work focuses on the function of music as essential to settling common

grounds, addressing Relation, and creating a utopian future. Inspired by Edouard

Glissant’s reflections on Creolization, she has associated her practice with the inextricable

currents that move spaces and people between times and lands. The contemporary context

of re-formulation of self, reality and social structures led her to question the use of

language, and to explore its vibratory essence in music. Involved at the crossroads of

mediums – music, visual art, dance, theater and performance art – she has been an indemand

creative force for artists such as William Parker, Steffani Jemison, Daria Faïn,

Larkin Grimm, Shelley Hirsch, Mara Rosenbloom, Melanie Maar & La Bomba de

Tiempo – to give a sense of her eclectic company. As a leader she is dedicated to

substantial creations from solo to large ensembles, music direction for cross-disciplinary

works, and to expanding the power of music as a healing & transformative act. She

performs extensively in New York, as well as in North, Central & South America and

Europe. Her solo debut hOULe, out on Gold Bolus Recordings, received international

acclaim and she recently released an eponymous album with carnivalesque duo

DIASPORA. With a Masters Degree in Aesthetics (Literature, Arts & Contemporary

Though – Paris VII Diderot University), she focused her scholarly works on Afrocentric

paradigms of Creative Music as utopian alternative politics. Anaïs Maviel pursues essay

and poetic writings as part of her artistic inquiry and published a recent article in French

magazine Revue et Corrigée, interviewed by bassist and collaborator Maxim Petit about

the stakes of multiculturalism in contemporary music. Recent achievements also include:

Co-Music Director for NOISE, a new musical by César Alvarez (Public Theater, NYC,

2018) Full length work Metadire premiered by Cross Times (Roulette, NYC, 2018)

DIáSPORA eponymous album release on São Paulo based label Hérnia de Discos as the

culmination of a South, Central & North America tour in partnership with Chiquita Magic

(Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, United States, Canada, 2017-2018)

Composer, Music Director & Performer for “Mayday Heyday Parfait” in collaboration

with the Commons Choir, Daria Faïn, Robert Kocik & Darius Jones (BRIC, NYC, 2017)

Lectures & Master Classes at UNILAB – University for International Integration of the

Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (Redenção, BR), MAMAM – Museum of Modern Art Aloísio

Magalhães (Recife, BR, 2017) & Espacio Fundación Telefónica (Lima, PER, 2018)

Composer, Music Director & Performer for Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership

Institute “Undoing Racism” final performance, Kumble Theater, NYC, 2016.