Jane Bunnett and Maqueque will perform on Thursday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts.
Jane will participate in a free artist talk, which is open to the public, on the same day as the performance at 1 p.m. in the Weis Center Atrium.
A five-time Juno Award winner, Jane Bunnett has turned her bands and recordings into showcases for the finest musical talent from Canada, the United States and Cuba.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by iHeart Media Williamsport. The engagement is made possible by a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation as part of its Mid Atlantic Tours program with support from National Endowment for the Arts.
With Maqueque, Bunnett has created something new and phenomenal in the word of jazz. What started out five years ago as a project to record and mentor young brilliant Cuban female musicians has become one of the top groups on the North American jazz scene. In the last year, they have played in major jazz festivals including Newport and Monterey, were featured on NPR’s Jazz Night in America, were nominated for a Grammy Award for their newest release, Oddara and, most recently, were voted as one the top 10 jazz groups by the prestigious DownBeat magazine’s critics poll.
Maqueque are:
- Jane Bunnett, soprano saxophone & flute
- Joanna Tendai Majoko, vocals
- Mary de la Paz Fernandez, congas and vocals
- Dánae Olano Garcia, piano
- Tailin Marrero, acoustic and electric bass
- Yissy García Calzadilla, drums
Their third release, On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme, is a bold testament to the strength and originality of Jane Bunnett and Maqueque.
“This band sounds like no other today in Jazz,” says Downbeat magazine, which voted Jane Bunnett and Maqueque as one of the Top 10 Jazz Groups in its most recent Critic’s Poll.
Prior to recording On Firm Ground, the group went from strength to strength touring constantly from Canada’ s Yukon to Colombia, Brazil, Cuba and Panama to major US Jazz festivals and clubs including Newport, Monterey, Saratoga, Birdland and Lincoln Center.
NPRs Jazz Night in America did a one hour feature (“The New Queens of Afro Cuban Jazz”) on Maqueque.
A New Yorker magazine piece titled “The New Vanguard of Women in Cuban Jazz,” featuring members of Maqueque, describes Jane’s role as a mentor and inspiration to this burgeoning scene of young women in Cuba.
Tickets for the Weis Center performance are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors 62+, $15 for youth 18 and under, $15 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), $10 for Bucknell students (limit 2), and $15 for non-Bucknell college students (limit 2). Tickets can be purchased online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice or by calling 570-577-1000.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.