Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares Presents: Avram Fefer

Saturday, November 20, 2021, 7:30 pm until 9:00 pm
Tickets are $15.00 and available online.

Avram Fefer is a New York-based composer, improviser, bandleader, teacher and player of multiple woodwinds. He has recorded thirteen albums as a leader, many more as a sideman, and has performed in clubs and festivals throughout Europe, Japan, Africa, and the Middle East. He has performed with legends like Archie Shepp, Bobby Few, the Last Poets, and the David Murray Big Band and in renowned off-Broadway productions such as Ivo Van Hove’s “Streetcar Named Desire” and Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback’s Badassss Song”.

His own bands have included modern jazz greats like Marc Ribot, Eric Revis, Michael Bisio, Chad Taylor, Reggie Nicholson, Ben Allison and Roy Campbell. He also plays regularly with his jazztronica band Rivers on Mars and his jazz-funk band Big Picture Holiday, as well as Greg Tate’s Burnt Sugar Arkestra and Adam Rudolph’s Go:Organic Orchestra.

Avram’s most recent album, Testament— featuring a quartet with Marc Ribot, Eric Revis, and Chad Taylor — was released in 2019 garnered Album of the Year status in Cadence, Jazz Magazine and NPR.

He is actively involved in ensembles comprised of two to thirty musicians, playing music that ranges from classic and avant-garde jazz to funk, fusion, conducted orchestral music, and a variety of Indian, Arabic, and African music.

Over the years, Fefer has enjoyed a variety of inter-disciplinary collaborations --- with painters, poets, dancers, and sound designers. In 2012 he initiated the Resonant Sculpture Project, a unique international series of solo musical interactions with the large-scale works of legendary sculptor Richard Serra.

In addition to performing, Avram believes deeply in the role of arts education and maintains a thriving private teaching practice in downtown Brooklyn.

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Exciting News for A Happening IV: Leviathan

Cloudgaze and Eggtooth Productions are thrilled to announce that we have received a generous grant from the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice to support our 2024 Immersive Arts Festival, “A Happening IV: Leviathan.”

This festival will transform the Shea Theater into an exploration of theme, hosting installations, music, theatrical performances, and movement pieces, featuring the collective contributions of over 30 local artists. Audiences will experience otherworldly environments and narratives inspired by folklore, fairy tales, horror motifs, American literature, and the mythos of the Old Testament, all of which delve into the central question guiding the festival: "What does it mean to encounter something greater than yourself and to be consumed by it?" Through this theme, we explore how a community reemerges and imagines itself after destruction and transformation.

With the support of the Markham-Nathan Fund, we are excited to create an event that complicates perspectives and fosters meaningful dialogue. We are grateful for this partnership and for the work of the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice.

Thanks to the Mass Cultural Council for their vital support this year.We'd also like to thank the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for their support in the form of a Flexible Funding grant. We couldn't do this work without you!