New Directions Ensemble August 13, 2012

The New Directions Ensemble plays for the third consecutive year at the Monday Night, Bushnell Park summer series.

The Hartford Jazz Society's “New Directions Ensemble” was recently voted “best jazz group in Hartford” by the readers of the Hartford Advocate. The band has been described as “set to swing in its own fresh way, generating contemporary band music that lives in the present --- independent, cliché-free and untethered to conventional big band nostalgia”. Earl MacDonald, the band's leader, is the former musical director, pianist and arranger for Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau band. He currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the UConn. His latest CD, “Re:Visions – Works for Jazz Orchestra” received a 2011 Canadian Juno Award nomination. In a review for AllAboutJazz.com, Dan Bilawsky stated “Re:Visions goes beyond where most big bands go, and established Earl MacDonald as a major force in the world of jazz composition”.

Kris Allen - alto sax, Artistic Director
Wayne Escoffery - tenor sax
Lauren Sevian - bari sax
Jeff Holmes - lead trumpet
Josh Evans - trumpet soloist
Angela Haynes - French horn
Sara Jacovino - trombone
Earl MacDonald - piano, Musical Director
Henry Lugo - string bass
Ben Billelo - drum set