Essex Winter Series presents the 2014 Stu Ingersoll Jazz Concert Celebrating “Fats” Waller With Jeff Barnhart and His Hot Rhythm

Jeff Barnhart and His Hot Rhythm will celebrate the rollicking jazz style of one of America’s greatest musicians and entertainers, the legendary Thomas “Fats” Waller, on the Essex Winter Series on Sunday,  March 2 at 3 pm. Waller is known not only for his timeless compositions such as “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and “Twelfth Street Rag,” but also for his exuberant and often irreverent style. The charismatic Jeff Barnhart, on piano and vocals, captures Waller’s spirit in live performance with his band of top-flight musicians, including Gordon Au on trumpet; Dan Levinson on clarinet and sax; Bob Barta on guitar, banjo, and vocals; Vince Giordano on bass, tuba, bass sax, and vocals; and Kevin Dorn on drums.

“I am very excited to be bringing the music of Fats Waller to the series this winter,” says Jeff Barnhart.  “Part of my enthusiasm derives from the inclusion of brilliant musicians whose virtuosity and dedication have led them to a deep understanding of Waller's ebullient small-group swing.  Fats was everyone's musician; even people who claim not to like jazz find themselves with smiles on their faces and a beat in their feet when they encounter his approachable, joyous music.”

The Stu Ingersoll Jazz Concert, the third of the EWS 2014 season, will take place at John Winthrop Middle School in Deep River, Connecticut. Tickets, all general admission, are $30 ($12 for students) and may be purchased online at www.essexwinterseries.com or by phone at 860-272-4572. The Concert is sponsored by the Clark Group and Tower Laboratories.
About Fats Waller

Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904-1943) occupies a unique place in America's musical history. He was a wildly inventive, completely undisciplined man whose natural gifts as a pianist and entertainer joined forces with the burgeoning media of radio to make him a national star by the early 1930s. Larger than life in every way imaginable, Fats was rarely given his due as a serious virtuoso of the piano. His onstage and offstage shenanigans and irreverent recordings stood in the way of his composing longer, more serious works. Only in his rare dark moments did Fats lament this situation; he loved being the entertaining musical cut-up and his legion audiences demanded him just that way. His hundreds of recordings and compositions are treasured to this day and his music will forever be sought out by those craving hot jazz, swing and plenty of melody.