Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin Quartet to Perform in Jazz Room Series At William Paterson University on March 10

The Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Quartet will perform as part of the spring 2013 Jazz Room Series at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, March 10, 2013, at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus. The acclaimed Sunday afternoon concert series is currently celebrating its 35th anniversary season.

Prior to the concert, Akiyoshi and Tabackin will be the guests for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 p.m. in Shea Center. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticket holders. Tickets are available at the Shea Center Box Office in advance at 973.720.2371 or wp-presents.org or on the day of the performance at $15 general; $12 senior citizens, William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni; and $8 for non-William Paterson students. William Paterson students may attend free of charge with valid ID.

A pianist, composer, and arranger, Akiyoshi makes a long-awaited return appearance on the Jazz Room as a centerpiece of the University’s 2013 Cross-Cultural Arts Festival, which celebrates the arts and culture of North and East Asia. Akiyoshi was a student in the earliest days of Boston’s Berklee College of Music and became a pioneer and role model as a successful female jazz instrumentalist. She was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Best Composer awards in Down Beat magazine’s Readers Poll. She joined musical forces with virtuoso saxophonist and flutist Lew Tabackin, her husband, to form the base of the Toshiko Akiyoshi––Lew Tabackin Quartet. The foursome is complete with Paul Gill on bass and Aaron Kimmel on drums.

Launched in 1978, The Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for its innovative programming.

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