BRUNSWICK — University of Maine at Augusta student jazz ensembles, under the direction of professors Tim Weir and Richard Nelson, will offer a free performance from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Frontier Café in Fort Andross on Maine Street.
The performers are all enrolled in the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at the University of Maine at Augusta. Professors Tim Weir on trumpet and Richard Nelson on guitar will appear with UMA’s En Route ensemble, which specializes in jazz standards from the Great American Songbook and features vocalist Brittany Yorks.
A native of Australia, Weir recently moved to Maine from Virginia to head UMA’s dynamic music program. He has won two DownBeat jazz awards and been nominated for one Grammy Award. He has appeared with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Charlottesville Symphony, Key West Pops Orchestra and the Miami Chamber Orchestra.
He has toured the world playing shows on cruise ships, and has performed with Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Michael Bolton, Celia Cruz, Bobby Shew, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, and the Funk Brothers.
Nelson, a Brunswick resident, is well known to Maine audiences both through his numerous performances around the state and in his role as an educator in the UMA music program. He has performed widely at festivals, clubs, colleges and other venues in the U.S. and abroad.
Musicians he has performed with include Sheila Jordan, Geri Allen, Mat Maneri, Taylor Ho Bynum and Maine’s Don Stratton, among many others.
He has released three albums as a leader, receiving numerous accolades for his recent large-ensemble album “Pursuit.” A mainstay of the Boston-based Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Nelson’s playing can also be heard on 11 CDs recorded with that ensemble.
For more information, call 725-5222 or visit www.explorefrontier.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
