Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf kick off new Charlottesville Jazz series
Date: 02/11/2023
Time: 7:30 pm
The newly christened Charlottesville Jazz Society/WTJU Jazz Concert Series is thrilled to welcome electrifying drummer and composer Allison Miller and pianist Carmen Staaf to Charlottesville for its first concert of the 2023 season. The duo will perform at First Presbyterian Church on Park Street on Saturday February 11th at 7:30 pm. Carmen will play the church’s exquisite Fazioli piano. The new name for the Series is reflective of the close collaboration the CJS and WTJU have enjoyed for many years.
Since 2014 Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf have been deepening their musical chemistry as a duo. In 2022, Sunnyside Records released their 2nd collaboration, Nearness. Charlottesville jazz fans may have seen Allison and Carmen when they played here in 2016 as part of the quartet “Parlor Game,” a group that included violinist Jenny Scheinman.
New York City-based drummer and composer Allison Miller leads several different bands, including Boom Tic Boom, and the all-female super group Artemis. She uses improvisation as a vehicle to explore all styles of music. Miller won Downbeat magazine’s 67th Annual Critics Poll “Rising Star Drummer” and JazzTimes magazine’s Critics Poll.
Pianist/composer Carmen Staaf is an active voice in the NYC and global music scenes. Steeped in straight ahead jazz, her versatile skills and sensitivity have led her to perform in a wide range of settings. Currently, she is the pianist and Musical Director for NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Of the duo’s new album “Nearness,” Jazz Times magazine says “(A high) level of intuition characterizes all of their arrangements. Staaf’s melodicism and Miller’s sense of control make for an exciting, unexpected conversation.” Tickets to see Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf on February 11th at First Presbyterian are available online at CJS.Ticketbud.com. For more information visit cvillejazz.org, or call 434-249-6191.
