Mads Tolling and John R. Burr

Thursday, April 13, 7:30 pm at Piedmont Center for the Arts —

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Don’t miss this very special concert where Mads Tolling and John Burr present their premiere performance as a duo. The evening will be a journey of vibrant jazz and spirited renditions of some great American standards, including music by Ramsey Lewis, Hoagy Carmichael, and many more.

Mads Tolling is an internationally renowned violinist and composer, two-time Grammy Award winner, and the 2016 Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star violinist. He’s a former nine-year member of both Turtle Island Quartet and bassist Stanley Clarke’s band, and has performed with Chick Corea, Ramsey Lewis, Kenny Barron, and Paquito D’Rivera as well as his own ensembles. He’s been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, with his recordings receiving rave reviews in Downbeat Magazine, Strings Magazine, Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Classically trained, Mads has spent most his professional life touring internationally. He recently had his CD release of The Mads Men Playing the 60s at Yoshi’s, and he’ll be returning home from a European tour for this event.

John R. Burr is that rare pianist who combines jazz technique with a genuine love for folk music. His playing is as likely to be inspired by James Taylor or Doctor John as by Oscar Peterson or the Yellowjackets—although he says it is his love of folk music that has influenced him most. Burr explains, “I play a sort of jazz piano version of the vocal music that I love to listen to. That’s what influences me. I love to play and study jazz, but I listen to vocal folk/singer/songwriter music. I’m always searching for that melodic song-like quality when I improvise.” A propos this concert venue, Burr’s debut solo album is Piedmont Avenue, a project described as “cohesive in its conception, inspired in its execution.”

If you’re mad about Mads, this is going to be a fabulous evening at the lovely, intimate Piedmont Center for the Arts.

Plus, Mads is bringing some fantastic young talent to start off the evening, a string ensemble called Where to Now? They are Aerie Walker, Tuki Walker, Raphaella Brown, and Allison Marten. Students at Oakland School of the Arts, they play a quintessentially Bay Area style of string fusion music, oft described as “neo-Celtic with a jazz twist”.