| Long Wharf Theatre News Release Steven Scarpa, Public Relations Manager 203-772-8224 / steven.scarpa@longwharf.org Date: January 18, 2008 NEW HAVEN'S OWN MIKATA WILL SWING NEW HAVEN, CT - A Mikata salsa concert is not complete unless a few daring souls jump out of their seats and take to the dance floor. Richard Hill, artistic director of the New Haven-based group, hopes just that will happen at next installment of Jazz on the Wharf at Long Wharf Theatre. "There is a big local dance crowd between Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven," he said. The New Haven-based group will perform its classic salsa and innovative Latin jazz repertoire on Long Wharf Theatre's Mainstage on Friday, Feb. 15, beginning at 9 p.m. It's part of the theatre's Jazz on the Wharf series, which is programmed in association with Jazz Haven. "If we are playing for New Haven audiences, that is a great rush for us," Hill said. Mikata has been delighting audiences around the United States, in Canada and abroad for the past 20 years. Recipient of the New Haven Arts Council Award for "outstanding contribution to the cultural life of the community," Mikata has performed at clubs in New York City, (S.O.B.'s, Heart Break, Danceteria, Pyramid Club), at colleges and universities around the country and at concerts and festivals in the United States, Canada and Japan. Mikata performs a full repertoire of hard-hitting Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Bolero, Cha-cha and Latin Jazz. The band is renowned for their contemporary arrangements of the great classics of Mambo and Salsa from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. This was the era when the dynamic, percussive quality of Latin music reigned supreme and Mikata brilliantly brings this element to the fore in its virtuoso performances. "We throw in the opportunity for virtuoso solos from the horn sections and we untether our instrumentalists to have more solo space," Hill said. The band is comprised of Eddy Rivera and Yadi Laviera on vocals, Asher Delerme on timbales, Jeff McQuillan on bass, Kenny Blackwell on alto sax and quarto, Olivia Malin on trumpet, David Yih on the piano, Jenaro Garcia on bongo and Will Bartlett on tenor sax. Richard Hill plays the congas. General admission tickets are $22 for performances and are available online; by phone at 203-787-4282; or in person at the Box Office, located at 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven. ABOUT JAZZ HAVEN JAZZ HAVEN is a non-profit [501c(3)] jazz information, education and presenting organization, whose mission is to nurture interest and participation in the art form of jazz music in the greater New Haven Area. Jazz Haven is committed to the creation of year-round jazz performances anchored in New Haven, through encouragement and support of jazz musicians and audiences at all levels of experience, recognition and exposure. Jazz Haven uses jazz as a community-building vehicle to preserve, present and advance the culture of jazz. The New Haven region is a hub for educational institutions, theatre, arts and cultural festivals, media outlets and entertainment venues that offer a variety of jazz events. Jazz Haven, both as a presenter and facilitator, welcomes collaboration with other non-profit groups, civic organizations and businesses in the community, thus maximizing the potential and public awareness of this truly American art form. # # # LONG WHARF THEATRE, founded in 1965, is recognized as a leader in American theater, producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works and a variety of world and American premieres. More than 30 Long Wharf productions have transferred virtually intact to Broadway or off-Broadway, including the 2005 production of BFE by Julia Cho, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays Wit by Margaret Edson, The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer, and The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. Long Wharf has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle, and the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. ~ End of Release ~ Steven Scarpa Close window Long Wharf News Home
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