The Stamford Mayor's Multicultural Council presents the seventh annual "Mayor’s Afternoon of Jazz" to be held on March 24, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:30 pm (doors open 1:30 pm) at the Ferguson Public Library (1 Public Library Plaza, Stamford) auditorium. The public (all ages) is invited to enjoy this free event with refreshments. Street meter and public lots parking is free on Sunday until 5pm. Although walk-ins are welcomed, seating is limited, and it is suggested to email MayorsMCC@stamfordct.gov to reserve seat(s).
The Mayor's Multicultural Council of Stamford aims to inform, celebrate, promote, understand, appreciate, and respect the many diverse cultures that enrich Stamford. The Afternoon of Jazz celebrates the diversity and global appeal of jazz featuring performances by the Stamford High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Adam Jackson; saxophonist Jim Clark, vocalist Ayanna Doreste, accompanied by guitarist Gabriel Mondesir, and vocalist Barbara Espinosa Occhino's quartet with guitarist Carmine Marino, drummer Luiz Ebert, and bassist Steve Taylor. The Mayor's Multicultural Council of Stamford aims to inform, celebrate, promote, understand, appreciate, and respect the many diverse cultures that enrich Stamford.
ABOUT THE QUARTET:
Barbara Espinosa Occhino (BarbaraEntertains.com) is an entertaining, multilingual vocalist who sings jazz and Latin standards in the Metro New York area. She has performed with the The Orchestra Lumos Luminous Storytelling program, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival 50th Anniversary "the public domain" choir, Project Music, Fairfield Counts Big Band (charity fundraiser), as well as local festivals and concerts. Her bands have played at The Palace Theatre, Harbor Point, Mayor's Afternoon of Jazz, the ARTWALK, the Mill River Collaborative Holiday Stroll, the Health Wellness & Lifestyle Expo 2023, Rutgers University Puerto Rican Conference, yacht clubs, galleries, corporations, and the like. She has served as a music and entertainment curator and has been a session vocalist and bilingual voice-over talent in NY/CT recording studios. She volunteers as a student mentor, teaches youth business/marketing classes at Norwalk Community College, and served as a competition judge for NFTE student startups. Barbara lives in Stamford, CT, where she raised two musical daughters and owns an advertising agency (VertexMarketing.com) with her husband, Ron.
Luiz Ebert is an accomplished jazz and Latin drummer (native of Brasília, Brazil) who performs in the New York Metro area, teaches music education, and works as a freelance drummer for various artists and musicians, most prominently the John Watts Brazilian-jazz Trio and the Latin-jazz group Esencia. In 2013, he recorded Audiograph, his first album as a leader, alongside pianist Fidel Cuellar. Luiz holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Jazz performance from Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College CUNY and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the City College of New York, studying under John Patitucci and Adam Cruz.
Steve Taylor, electric and acoustic bassist, has been playing in the NY-NJ-CT area for over 30 years with jazz, pop, country and improvisational combos, theatre and choral groups. A Connecticut native, he first studied music with his father (piano teacher) and later at Berklee College of Music, the New England Conservatory, and Reed College. In a nostalgic coincidence, Steve's parents met during a a 1947 concert at the Ferguson Library where his father played piano for the first half of the event and his mother sang in the second.