Rio Clemente knows how to party.
On Sunday, the Bishop of Jazz parked himself at a piano in the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre and belatedly celebrated his 88th birthday with a program of original songs.
Backing him were top area players, recruited by Marty Eigen from the band Amani.
Video: Regan Ryzuk lends a hand — two, actually — to Rio Clemente:
Eigen handled sax and flute duties. Pianist Regan Ryzuk arranged the compositions. Danny Tobias was on trumpet, Cornell McGhee on trombone, and Flip Peters, on guitar. Alex Gressel played standup bass, and Gordon Lane held everything together on drums. Vocals were courtesy of Laurie Vega and Stephen Fuller.
When the show concluded, someone invited everybody back in a dozen years for Rio’s centennial.
Reserve your tickets now!
Video: A Rio Clemente original, inspired by a place he saw in Antigua:
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