The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will present its 37th Annual Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 20, at 7:30pm at Emmanuel Church, Boston. Heralded for its innovative offerings in the spirit of the season, the band will perform Mary Lou Williams «Gloria,» from her Mass given at Emmanuel Church nearly 35 years ago, as well as the world premiere of a new composition, Blue Butterfly, by Aardvark music director Mark Harvey. Blue Butterfly honors the memory of the late master storyteller Brother Blue, who often worked with members of Aardvark over the past four decades. In addition, the program will include a Coltrane-inspired version of the English carol What Child Is This? and a Gospel-blues rendition of the beloved German carol Silent Night, along with original compositions and arrangements from Aardvark’s three Christmas CDs.
| Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 7:30 pm Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA MBTA: Arlington Stop on Green Line Admission: $15 Information: 617-776-8778 or 617-452-3205 |
Proceeds will benefit the Mass Council of Churches and the Poor Peoples United Fund.
Long-time Cambridge resident Brother Blue (Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill, 1921-2009) was a storyteller, actor and street performer who performed for more than 50 years in Cambridge and Boston, clad in all blue and accompanied by his wife Ruth Edmonds Hill. He was the original mascot for the opening parade of Boston’s First Night and continued in this role for 33 years. Blue appeared on television and radio, including NPR, and performed in schools, libraries, churches, prisons, colleges, universities, festivals and other venues in the United States, Europe, Canada and the Bahamas. After serving as lieutenant in the US Army during World War II, he earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Harvard University, an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a doctorate in storytelling from Union Graduate School.
Mark Harvey, who shared the stage with Brother Blue on many occasions, recalls, «Blue was a peripatetic griot who refreshed the souls and spirits of thousands who heard him. The butterfly was his emblem, and the dedicatory new composition pays homage to this symbol of his life and humanitarian outreach.»
The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra held its first concert December 23, 1973, at the Church of the Covenant in Boston as a benefit for the Chelsea Fire Fund. Every year since then, the band has given a Christmas concert to support a deserving cause. Past beneficiaries have included Doctors Without Borders, American Friends Service Committee, Rosie’s Place, Pine Street Inn, and the outreach programs of Emmanuel Church. Winner of the 2000 Independent Music Awards, Aardvark has concertized widely, premiered more than 100 works and released 10 CDs to international critical acclaim, including the latest disc, American Agonistes (Leo Records), called «a stunning hour of music that is in turn beautiful
