Akua Dixon Presents
Akua Dixon CD Release Show
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space
Friday, April 24, 7:30 pm
New York City
New York, NY- Akua Dixon presents Akua Dixon CD Release Show on Friday, April 24, at 7:30 PM at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY 10025. Tickets are $30.00 in advance, $20.00 for students and seniors and $40.00 on the day of the show. More information can be found online by visiting www.symphonyspace.org or by calling (212) 864-5400.
Jazz string pioneer Akua Dixon proudly presents Akua Dixon, her second release as a leader on her own label Akua’s Music. Her new self titled album is a dazzling string conclave that surveys Dixon’s expansive stylistic reach as a cellist, composer and arranger.
Cellist Akua Dixon’s contributions to bowed jazz cannot be overstated. She rose to prominence during the early 1970’s through her involvement in the String Reuinion, a 30-piece orchestra founded by Noel Pointer. As the ensemble’s director of new music, Dixon supplied the group with a steady stream of original compositions and arrangements. Concurrently, she launched her own quartet, Quartette Indigo,which made its big-league debut at the Village Gate with her sister Gayle Dixon, Maxine Roach, and John Blake Jr. In the 1980’s, Dixon collaborated heavily with jazz giant Max Roach as a founding member of the Max Roach Double Quartet. Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Steve Turre, Buster Williams and Tom Harrell are among the jazz giants Dixon has recorded with.
Akua Dixon’s self-titled album serves as a follow up to Moving On, her dazzling debut as a leader, released in 2011. AKUA DIXON showcases Dixon as a powerfully emotive improviser and dauntingly creative arranger exploring sumptuous American Songbook ballads, suave Afro-Cuban standards, erotically charged nuevo tangos, and rootsy Ellingtonian opuses. “When I look back at my history I’ve written for all different sizes of string ensembles, from duos and trios to orchestras,” Dixon says. “But the string quartet is the easiest unit to keep together and keep working, and it’s the situation I’ve written Released on January 13, 2015, Dixon is thrilled to bring her new project to life at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space.
Dixon is joined by a stunning string section featuring violinist Patrisa Tomassini and violist Ina Paris as well as bassist Kenny Davis. Also featured will be Dixon’s children, Orion Turre and Andromeda Turre, on drums and vocals, respectively. Violin virtuoso Scott Tixier, known for his work alongside some of music’s most prominent names such as Sting, Stevie Wonder and the Isley Brothers, will also join the group as a special guest. In 2013, Tixier topped the 61st Annual Downbeat Readers Poll for Rising Star Violin. Also joining Dixon is guitarist Freddy Bryant, who has recorded and/or shared the stage with greats such as Tom Harrell, Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau and Randy Brecker, among others.