December 10, 2003

Influential Jazz/Blues Quartet to Play Cabaret at MASS MoCA, January 10

(North Adams, Mass.) The Howard Fishman Quartet's unique sound -- a mix of jazz, blues, and Texas swing filtered through a distinctly pop sensibility -- has roots in New Orleans' vibrant music scene. Cited by Backstage as "one of the freshest, most charming, and most enjoyable musical groups in years," Fishman's band features violin, trumpet, and an excellent rhythm section accompanying his own poetic guitar melodies and alternately romantic and cranky musings on love. The group will play their "tautly infectious rhythms" (according to The New York Times) in a concert in MASS MoCA's Club B-10 on Saturday, January 10, at 8 P.M.

The Howard Fishman Quartet has been featured at some of the most diverse venues in New York, including The Algonquin Oak Room, The Mercury Lounge, The Bottom Line, The Fez, Summer Stage in Central Park, The Cooler, Sardi's, Tramp's, Joe's Pub, Brownie's, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Bowery Ballroom.

A self-taught guitarist and singer, Howard Fishman began his musical career with a pilgrimage to New Orleans, where he played on the streets, jammed in clubs, and fronted his first professional group, The Bald-Faced Liars. While in Louisiana, he played with a variety of local musicians old and young, including Danny Barker, Kermit Ruffins, Ernie K-Doe, David and Roselyn and Butch Trivette. Fishman moved to New York in 1997, and began the process of assembling The Howard Fishman Quartet. Fishman leads the quartet on vocals and guitar (occasionally playing banjo and piano as well). The New York Post has praised Fishman's vocal style as one of "utter, plaintive sincerity." EdgeNY called him "an unsettling combination of Buster Keaton and Lou Reed." Fishman is currently at work writing a music theater project in conjunction with the Public Theater entitled We Are Destroyed.

Russell Farhang began studying violin at age five. At seventeen, he was accepted to the Interlochen World Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he performed with luminaries such as Itzhak Perlman, Neemi Farvi, and Maxim Shostakovich. Farhang taught himself to play bluegrass fiddle from recordings and, while still a student, began to make his way around the New York City club circuit with rock and country bands at venues such as Sine, Fez, and Maxwell's. On the recommendation of a friend, he bought a recording of Stephane Grapelli and was awestruck. A few months later, he performed "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" with Julian Fleischer and his Rather Big Band, and has been dedicated to jazz ever since. The New York Observer has called him "mesmerizing." Stephen Holden of The New York Times described him as "virtuosic," an "instrumental star."

Bassist Jonathan Flaugher began studying music at the age of five and, with the encouragement of an uncle who is a working jazz bassist, Flaugher enrolled in the jazz studies program at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and quickly began performing in the Hudson Valley area. He eventually earned his MA in jazz performance from New York's Manhattan School of Music and began working on the jazz scene not only in New York, but also nationally and abroad. Flaugher has performed and recorded with pop and rock singers such as Ryan Adams, Brian Kennedy; jazz vocalists Jane Monheit and Allan Harris; and with jam-band circuit artists such as the Jazz Mandolin Project.

Doors will open at 7 PM for dinner and drinks before the show courtesy of Lickety Split.

Tickets for The Howard Fishman Quartet in concert are $12 in advance or $15 day of the show. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line anytime at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall St. in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org