Renowned for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny leads an all-star band featuring vocalist Holly Pyle in a program highlighting the music of Burt Bacharach, one of the most accomplished popular composers of the 20th Century, at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Thursday, August 1 at 7:00 pm.
Matheny, lauded as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation” (International Review of Music), will be playing with Dan Gaynor (piano), Michael Raynor (drums) and Eric Gruber (bass). Reserved table seating is $25 for adults, $14 for youth, with $2 discount for Cultural Center members. On sale now at lincolncityculturalcenter.org or by calling (541) 994-9994.
Popular music wouldn’t be the same without the beloved songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Bacharach’s passionate melodies and David’s heartfelt lyrics delivered hit after hit, including “Close to You,” “What the World Needs Now” “Alfie,” and many, many more. Now 91 years old, the legendary Bacharach remains active as a touring and recording artist, prominently featuring the flugelhorn as a solo instrument in his concerts and albums.
Dmitri Matheny has been lauded as “a visionary” (San Francisco Examiner) and “a jazz treasure” (All Music Guide). An honors graduate of Berklee College of Music, Dmitri Matheny vaulted onto the jazz scene in the 1990s as the protégé of jazz legend Art Farmer. Since then he has garnered a loyal international following, releasing eleven critically acclaimed CDs, touring extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
Celebrated for her “soulfully graceful, liquid-like voice” (Phoenix New Times), Holly Pyle started out as an opera major before studying jazz and psychology at Northern Arizona University. Now one of the most popular vocalists in the Valley of the Sun, Holly performs with leading jazz groups, tours with the progressive soul-pop band House of Stairs, and appears regularly as a solo a-cappella act using electronic looping to build masterful sonic creations.
In the ’60s and ’70s, Burt Bacharach was a dominant figure in pop music, racking up a remarkable 52 Top-40 hits. In terms of style, Bacharach’s songs differed from much of the music of the era. Bacharach compositions typically boasted memorable melodies, unconventional and shifting time signatures, and atypical chords.
Combining elements of jazz, pop, Brazilian music and rock, Bacharach created a unique new sound that embodied the time. Hal David, Bacharach’s primary collaborator, supplied Bacharach’s music with lyrics worthy of the best Tin Pan Alley composers. David’s unsentimental, bittersweet lyrics were often in striking contrast to Bacharach’s soaring melodies.
While in the late 1970s Bacharach’s name became synonymous with elevator music (due in great part to its sheer familiarity), a closer listening suggests that his meticulously crafted, technically sophisticated compositions are anything but easy listening.
To learn more or join the Lincoln City Cultural Center, visit lincolncityculturalcenter.org or drop by the LCCC Information Center off Highway 101, open from 9 am to 5 pm Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday).
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