Jeremy Cohen and Karen Blixt May 5, 2009

Jeremy Cohen and Karen Blixt
May 05, 2009

Crowden Music Center benefit Featuring: Jeremy Cohen Karen Blixt Abraham Laboriel Quartet San Francisco Frank Martin Violinjazz

7:30pm show $25/$10

Vocalist Karen Blixt and two-time Grammy®-nominated violinist Jeremy Cohen team up for Off the Classical Beat, an eclectic evening of innovative jazz in benefit of Berkeley's Crowden Music Center. Cohen's band Violinjazz (pianist Larry Dunlap, bassist Jim Kerwin, and guitarist Dix Bruce), Blixt's combo (pianist Frank Martin, bassist Abraham Laboriel, and drummer Alan Hall), young Crowden musicians, and a cameo by Quartet San Francisco performing their new version of Bohemian Rhapsody round out the line-up.
Jeremy Cohen's electrifying jazz violin performances have earned him nationwide accolades. Classically-trained and a student of Itzhak Perlman and Anne Crowden, Cohen's style reflects his respect for a wide range of violinists from Perlman and Fritz Kreisler to Joe Venuti and Eddie South. He has recorded as concertmaster with Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles, Aaron Neville, Howard Keel and Cleo Laine, and appeared on Carlos Santana's Grammy-winning CD "Supernatural" and the original "Star Wars" compilation CD with John Williams. Nominated for two Grammy® awards as a member of the ground-breaking and virtuosic Quartet San Francisco, his inventive arrangements have been performed world-wide. In addition to his Violinjazz set with Larry Dunlap, Jim Kerwin, and Dix Bruce, Jeremy will take the stage with Crowden students and Karen Blixt, as well as a cameo performance with Quartet San Francisco.
Karen Blixt, a longtime presence on the California jazz scene, garnered critical raves for her inventive takes on the masters and refreshing original compositions on her debut recording Spin This, with jazz greats Joey DeFrancesco and Buddy Montgomery. Her recently released CD Mad Hope with three-time Grammy® award-winner Randy Brecker, is a collaboration with pianist/producer Frank Martin, who has recorded and performed with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder among many others. After a first-time collaboration with Jeremy Cohen, Karen will be joined by Martin and renowned artists Abraham Laboriel and drummer Alan Hall.
About the Crowden Music Center
The nonprofit Crowden Music Center serves as a vital musical hub for the Bay Area, with over 6,000 individuals attending classes, workshops, rehearsals, concerts, and other events each year. Music education is available to the entire community through our two divisions: Crowden Center for Music in the Community, offering lessons, classes, concerts, and camps for students of all ages, and The Crowden School, a unique music day school for students in grades four through eight. Our mission is to combine music and education to nurture, develop, and inspire students of all ages, and to provide essential support for the musical life of the community. For more information, please visit www.crowden.org

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