Le Moyne College Calendar

The Le Moyne College Jazzuits and Jazz Ensemble team up for a celebration of jazz with special guests Kim Nazarian and Jay Ashby.

Former Baker High student and renowned trombonist Jay Ashby will return to Central New York along with his wife, Kim Nazarian, a vocalist with the New York Voices, when they share the limelight at Le Moyne College at a joint concert with the Jazz Band, under the direction of Joe Carello, and the Jazzuits, the vocal jazz group under the direction of Carol Jacobe.

Ashby is a five-time Grammy Award-winning producer. Ashby has performed, toured and recorded with some of the most renowned jazz artists in the industry for over 25 years. He forged long-lasting musical relationships with many jazz greats including Paquito D’Rivera, Jon Faddis, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Randy Brecker and Slide Hampton. Ashby developed a strong affinity for Brazilian jazz, which led to many years as a soloist with Astrud Gilberto, as well as arrangements, tours and recordings with a number of other Brazilian artists, including Tania Maria, Kenia, Ivan Lins, Trio Da Paz, Joao Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim.

Nazarian is a co-founding member of the New York Voices (NYV) and has been harmonizing the world over for the past 30 years. In 2012 Nazarian was recognized as one of the top 50 most influential Armenian artists and inducted into her high school’s Hall of Fame. Another highlight is her collaboration with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the Manchester Craftman’s Guild on a concert tour dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald. Along with the many recordings she has made with NYV, Nazarian is featured on Bobby McFerrin’s VOCAbuLarieS. She is the lead vocalist for the Latin-influenced band El Eco. Their latest CD, Puerto de Buenos Aires (Zoho Records), earned Album of the Year by JAZZIZ’s Mark Holston. She also released a project with Gabriel Espinosa titled Nostalgias De Mi Vida (Zoho Records). Nazarian released her own solo CD, Some Morning, in October of 2015.

Tickets: $15 general public, $10 seniors, $5 students. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (315) 445-4200 or visit lemoyne.edu/vpa.