Classical Jazz on 5th
Monday, April 26, 2010 – 8pm
Antonio Madruga and the Madruga Jazz Quartet
Antonio Madruga, piano
Gabriel Vivas, bass
James Blakemore, Jr., drums
Tony Pastrana, congas
. . . and a special surprise "Guest Artist"!
Antonio, Madruga, piano
Fifteen year-old virtuoso pianist Antonio Madruga recently performed at the White House as a guest artist for First Lady Michelle Obama's new music initiative “Jazz Studio” which also included jazz legends Paquito D'Rivera, Winton and Branford Marsalis. Other recent performances have included the Panama Jazz Festival, The Cocoa Beach Jazz Festival, New York's landmark jazz club Birdland, The Punta del Este International Jazz Festival (Uruguay), as well as performances at The 92nd Street Y, Princeton University and in Lecce, Italy. Antonio has also performed as a solo artist at The Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, and at Carnegie Hall.
Last season the Antonio Madruga Trio was featured in a Comcast Thanksgiving Special filmed at the new Wharton Music Center in New Jersey. Last December, The Antonio Madruga Quartet marked their exciting debut for Jazz at Lincoln Center with four performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Antonio studies jazz piano with CCC's Artistic Director William Noll and began his trio playing career at age 12 at the Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples. Currently, he lives with his loving and supportive parents, Omar and Cora Madruga, in Miami where he is also enrolled at the New World School of the Arts. Antonio’s’s hobbies are working out at the gym, playing video games and billiards, and writing his own compositions for the piano.
Watch Antonio/Jose Valentino Duo– "Fiddle Dreams" Part 2
A feast of repertoir
from Chopin to Brubeck.
About The Music:
Antonio with First Lady Michelle Obama and nine time Grammy winner and NEA jazz master, Paquito d'Rivera.
Antonio Madruga will play a feast of repertoire from Chopin to Brubeck. He will be joined by superb young artists who will perform great jazz standards and favorites. He just recently performed at Tanglewood to a sold-out audience, with flutist Jose Valentino, to resulting rave reviews. "... Paquito turned over the stage to two young musicians from Miami, Tony Madruga on piano and Jose Valentino flute. He explained that the composition he wrote "Fiddle Dreams" is so difficult and complex that "I can't play it." They were just wonderful and again the audience awarded them with a Standing O." – Charles Giuliano
