NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE'S JOURNEY,
YOU ARE INVITED AND WELCOME HERE.
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE'S JOURNEY,
YOU ARE INVITED AND WELCOME HERE.
FALL JAZZ VESPERS ARE HERE!
Join us for Jazz Vespers on November 6 at 6 pm -- a time of meditation and joy with jazz, readings, singing and prayer, featuring Joe McWilliams (piano), Arti Dixson (drums), and Jim Andrews (bass).
Joe McWilliams got his start as a professional pianist in the late 1970s, first
performing in his mother's trio and later as a solo pianist at the world famous River Café in Brooklyn and at Greene Street in Soho. Joe has played in 30 countries and has opened for Dave Brubeck, Cab Calloway, The Yellowjackets, Spyro Gyra and many others. Among the many artists he has played/recorded with are Houston Person, Dee Daniels, The Marcels and Mark Preston.
Arti Dixson was born in Catskill, New York. Always wanting to play the drums he played on oat meal boxes, his mother’s pans and the arms of chairs because they had a soft sound to them. When he was 11 years old, he finally got to take drum lessons in school under the direction of Harold Fredericks. Arti’s mother played snare drum in an all-girl drum and bugle corps before Arti was born. Arti got his very first opportunity to play in a band with Hank Yost and Jamie Dinklelocker. Hank and Jamie lit the fuse in Arti that continued to burn with a band called “The Spirits of Sound”. Arti is a member of the Percussion Arts Society, the National Association of Music Merchants, and The Recording Academy. Additionally, Arti has been inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame. Arti continues to perform and record throughout the region, is the percussion instructor at Greens Farms Academy and Adjunct Professor of Music at Gateway Community College, and accepts students for private drum set consultations.
Jim Andrews has been playing the bass since 5th grade and continues to perform in the tri-state area in a variety of venues. He attended the University of Massachusetts (Where he also played baseball), the University of Oregon for a year, and back to U Mass where received his Music Education degree. He then attended the Yale School of Music for a Master of Music degree, where he studied with Homer Mensch. Jim has recently retired from teaching beginning strings in a public school after 40 years. He loved to bring all of his experiences to share with his students. While keeping a full performing schedule in classical, jazz, musicals and other musical events, he also conducted the Norwalk Youth Symphony for 15 years. He vowed never to marry a singer or musician or anyone with cats but is so happily married to Aidan, a Mezzo Soprano, has a talented stepson in Karl, and 3 Persian cats with dignified names: Fuzzy, Snuffles and Chortles.