Natalia Bernal's En Diablada

Description

Berkshires audiences will be treated to a special sneak-preview of Natalia Bernal’s upcoming release, En Diablada, on Saturday, November 30th, 2024 at the Stationery Factory. Though slated for national and worldwide release in May 2025, physical copies of the upcoming release will be available for sale for local fans and music lovers and Bernal’s exciting, world-class sextet will perform the material from the album, plus new compositions.

Inspired by the rich cultural legacy and striking natural beauty of her native Chile, Natalia Bernal’s En Diablada fuses Andean and other South American folkloric traditions with elements of jazz, blues, and rock. En Diablada is a vivid window into Natalia’s mind and her dreams of the Atacama Desert, the people that inhabited the lands thousands of years ago, and how their heritage can teach us to navigate the new paradigms of society. Consisting of original compositions, co-written with guitarist Jason Ennis, and arrangements of Chilean and Andean standards, the recording and live performances take the listener on a multi-faceted and intriguing journey.

Joining Bernal in the sextet configuration of this project is guitarist/co-composer/musical director Jason Ennis, saxophonist Michael Zsoldos, Grammy nominated pianist Michael Eckroth, NYC-based Brazilian bassist Itaiguara Brandão, and multi-grammy-winning drummer Mark Walker.

www.NataliaBernal.com
Presented by the Stationery Factory in collaboration with Berkshires Jazz.

ALL AGES

7:30 show / 6:30 doors

Full bar available

Band Bios:

Natalia Bernal

Chilean vocalist Natalia Bernal was raised in the beautiful costal city of Iquique, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Desert. Her sound embodies the drama and intensity of the natural surroundings of her homeland, and is rich with musical tradition: she learned the great Latin American standards from her Chilean father and Uruguayan mother, and she breathed deeply of the "Música Popular" from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Peru and Brazil. Through her studies at Escuela Moderna de Música (Chile) and Berklee College of Music (USA), Natalia expanded her jazz vocabulary to create a sumptuous tapestry of sound that remains suffused with the rhythms and melodies and of trovadores of Latin America .

Jason Ennis
Guitarist Jason Ennis is an exciting voice in the world of jazz guitar. His unique sound, deep groove and sensitive feel, along with a diverse background in jazz, blues, Brazilian music and classical music have made him highly in demand as a soloist, sideman, bandleader and musical director. A graduate of Middlebury College (BA in music), Jason attended Berklee College of Music (Boston) and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Currently residing in Pittsfield, MA, Ennis is a Senior Lecturer in Music at Dartmouth College, where he teaches jazz, world and popular guitar styles and an Artist Associate in Jazz Guitar and Co-Director of the Small Jazz Ensembles at Williams College. In addition to leading his own quartet, He co-leads the world jazz trio La Voz de Tres, the collaborative trio Tone Forest, and is co-composer and musical director for En Diablada, an original music project by Chilean vocalist Natalia Bernal.

Michael Zsoldos
Central Vermont-based saxophonist, composer and arranger Michael Zsoldos has performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Sheila Jordan, Kevin Mahogony, Houston Person, Luis Perdomo, Jason Palmer, Matt Wilson, Helen Sung, George Schuller, Armen Donelian, Bernadette Peters, Carole King, the Temptations, and many others. Michael’s debut CD as a leader, Off the Cuff, is playing on streaming services and jazz radio stations worldwide.

Currently, Michael is a member of the Miro Sprague Quintet, the Jason Ennis Quartet, and Eugene Uman’s Convergence Project; a group whose original music merges Colombian rhythms with jazz harmonies.

Since 2005, Michael has been the instrumental arranger for the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir and Dartmouth Idol. Michael composed the music for the 2017 documentary “Seeing Through The Wall: Meeting Ourselves in Palestine and Israel”. He was the orchestrator for the musical, “21”, based on the life of baseball legend, Roberto Clemente, which had its premiere at Pointe Park University in Pittsburgh in October 2014.

Michael is a senior lecturer in jazz and classical saxophone and music theory at Dartmouth College, and was the jazz and classical saxophone instructor at the University of Vermont from 2009-2017. He is on the teaching faculties of the Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro, and Interplay Jazz and Arts, based in the Upper Valley.

Michael Eckroth
Michael Eckroth, pianist and keyboardist, is an active performer in New York and worldwide, having worked extensively with musicians such as jazz icons John Scofield, Ron McClure, Eliot Zigmund and Paul McCandless. Equally at home in jazz and latin-American music forms, Michael received a Grammy nomination for his work on the 2018 Cuban music album by Orquesta Akokan, which received rave reviews on outlets such as NPR and France’s FIP. He is also a recipient of a PhD from New York University and a former music professor at Dartmouth

College. In Fall 2021, Michael entered a full-time position as Assistant Professor of music at Florida International University.

Throughout a varied career which covers musical styles from jazz, R&B, pop, salsa, Cuban music, and American and world music in general, Michael has shared the stage with performers with as varied pedigrees as pop icon Sheena Easton and jazz legend Scofield. In an over 15 year stint as a New York-based musician, Michael performed on local stages everywhere from major jazz clubs like Blue Note, Birdland, 55 Bar, Zinc Bar and Smalls to larger NYC venues such as Lincoln Center’s Summer Stage. On the international stage, Michael has performed in venue and festival settings everywhere from the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz al Parque and Salsa al Parque in Bogotá, SFJazz, WOMAD festivals in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand- all over the United States, the Americas and Europe in concert halls, jazz clubs and outdoor festival settings.

Michael is an avid recording artist, writer and arranger who continues to draw accolades for his work in various settings. With several solo albums to his name, he also is called upon as a collaborator who has worked on dozens of original-music albums as pianist, keyboardist, or musical director. Among the many collaborations he’s brought forward are the groups La Voz De Tres (with Jason Ennis and Natalia Bernal) and DEFtrio (with Greg Diamond), and various productions with Broadway/R&B artist Syndee Winters. He has also worked alongside Grammy- award winning producer Jacob Plasse on a variety of popular and world music projects as writer and arranger. He has most recently recorded as a solo artist or collaboratively for Daptone and Truth Revolution records in NYC.

Itaiguara Brandão
Itaiguara Brandão is a New York City-based recording artist and bassist/guitarist. A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he has toured internationally and recorded extensively with a wide range of Latin and World Music artists such as: Dianne Reeves, Ivan Lins, Marcos Valle, Toquinho, Paul Simon, Angelique Kidjo, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Leny Andrade, Joyce Moreno, Paquito D'Rivera, Claudio Roditi, Antônio Adolfo, Paulo Braga, Dom Salvador, Jaques and Paula Morelembaum, Chuck Loeb, Randy Brecker, Leo Gandelman, Robin Eubanks, Jovino Santos-Neto, Emílio Santiago, Elba Ramalho, Guilherme Arantes, Vinícius Cantuária, Romero Lubambo, among many others. Itaiguara has been one of the most sought-after freelance musicians in the United States, having completed nearly 6,500 performances in the past 25 years. He is featured as the double-bass player in Dom Salvador's "The Art Of Samba Jazz," winner of the prestigious Premio da Musica Brasileira (the Brazilian Grammy) for "Best Instrumental Album of 2011" and nominated among the three best instrumental groups of 2011.

Itaiguara has recorded on major labels such as Sony/BMG as well as on numerous independent labels, and played on major venues such as the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Teatro Real

in Madrid, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He is a contributor to the educational book/ CD Inside the Brazilian Rhythm Section (Publisher: Sher Music, 2005).

Itaiguara has a masters degree in Jazz Composition from Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens College, New York) and received the Marvin Hamlisch Award in 2019.

Itaiguara served as musical director for the Paulo Braga Band from 1999 to 2003. The creator, Paulo Braga, is known as the father of Brazilian drums. Braga played with Antonio Carlos Jobim for fifteen years and is currently part of The Jobim Trio.

Itaiguara Brandão attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and studied jazz improvisation with the legendary Charlie Banacos and arranging with Mike Longo (Dizzy Gillespie's music director for 9 years). He was awarded a Berklee Achievement Scholarship for musical excellence in 1995 and graduated summa cum laude in 1997. Brandão also holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1991).

Mark Walker

Grammy Award–winning drummer, percussionist, author, and educator Mark Walker began playing drum set at age 10 and played his first professional club, concert, and recording gigs barely out of high school. After studying with the great Roy C. Knapp, he gained valuable experience performing a wide range of styles in the Chicago, Illinois, area and later became a first-call session drummer and percussionist, playing on film scores, jingles, and record dates.

Since moving to New York in 1995, he has performed on many Grammy Award–winning albums and earned several Grammy nominations (including best instrumental composition in 2008) for his work with various artists, including Oregon, Donato Poveda, Paquito D'Rivera, and the Caribbean Jazz Project. He has also earned Indy and Jazz awards (German record manufacturers) for his work with Oregon. He has performed and recorded extensively with Michel Camilo, Dave Samuels, Andy Narell, WDR Big Band, NDR Big Band, Eliane Elias, Lyle Mays, Dave Liebman, Cesar Camargo Mariano, Rosa Passos, and many more. He has appeared on major television shows such as Late Night with David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, PBS Presents, and BET On Jazz. He also appears on screen with Paquito D'Rivera in Fernando Trueba's Latin jazz documentary Calle 54.

Walker is a professor in the Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, he has created new curriculum, served on the Education Committee, and taught drummers, percussionists, and ensembles since 2001. He also has served on the faculty at Drummers Collective in New York City and has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops in South America, North America, and Europe, both as a solo artist and with various groups. His

book World Jazz Drumming, which features recorded performances by Paquito D'Rivera, was released in 2009 to critical acclaim. He also wrote for the all-star instructional drum set
book Killer Grooves.

Walker continues to tour with Oregon and Paquito D'Rivera. He writes for and leads Rhythm of the Américas, a jazz octet incorporating Caribbean and South American rhythms. His solo projects include the sample/loop discs Chameleon Drums, Vol 1 & 2 and Ritmo de las Americas.

Date & Time

Sat, Nov 30, 2024 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Venue Details

The Stationery Factory

63 Flansburg Avenue
Dalton, Massachusetts 01226

The Stationery Factory