QUINTESSENTIAL JAZZ: The Mark Shilansky Trio With Taylor Haskins

Pianist Mark Shilansky’s musical journey has taken him through many genres and and ensembles, a path similarly shared by one of his oldest friends and musical collaborators, Westport’s local musical renaissance man Taylor Haskins. On this concert, with special guest Haskins, and with his Boston area trio of bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa and drummer Austin McMahon, Shilansky seeks to reconnect with his formative musical influences, to discover what revelations they might hold today.  For Haskins, this means revisiting the music of trumpeters Clark Terry and Freddie Hubbard, and the singular beauty of the playing and compositions of trumpeter Tom Harrell. For Shilansky, the lush, swinging, gospel-influenced playing of James Williams is a touchstone, as is the interactive trio work of pianist Bill Evans, the outward bound swing and groove of Herbie Hancock, and Hancock’s work with horn players Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis, and the barroom character studies of his first hero, Billy Joel. This concert is sure to be filled with introspective balladry, breathtaking musical climaxes, and wit with both music and words, as Shilansky and Haskins annotate their program with illuminating historical data and humorous anecdotes.