Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience, created by New York bassist David Ambrosio, is a project that has been carefully crafted to showcase the compositions of progressive jazz maestros from the late 60s Blue Note Era, such as Bobby Hutcherson, Jackie McLean Stanley Cowell, Harold Land, Joe Chambers, Duke Pearson, and James Spaulding. Aside from leader Ambrosio, members of the band include Donny McCaslin on tenor and soprano saxophones, Jason Palmer on trumpet, Bruce Barth on piano, and Rudy Royston on drums.

In a reflection of a past era marked by social upheaval and civil unrest, the compositions that form the core of Civil Disobedience’s playlist lay dormant for decades, unheard and unappreciated at the time of their creation. Over fifty years later, America is at a crossroads again, witnessing significant parallels in social movements reminiscent of that transformative era. It is against this backdrop that the once-overlooked music of the late 60s Blue Note Era gains a newfound relevance.

“David Ambrosio is going to bring a band of some of the best musicians on the New York scene today – Donny McCaslin, Bruce Barth, Rudy Royston and Jason Palmer – who will play their hearts out in sharing this music of protest and civil unrest on the Iron Horse stage,” says Ruth Griggs, president of the Northampton Jazz Festival. “Musicians are poets, and I’m grateful that these fine musicians are coming to Northampton to play this poetry of protest during such an unsettling time in our nation’s history.”

Ambrosio is bringing his band to Western Massachusetts on a mini-tour, which includes a teaching workshop at Amherst College on Sunday afternoon the 12th and with Ambrosio as a sideman in a Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares concert in Holyoke on the 11th.

The April 12 concert at the Iron Horse will preview the first album produced by the group, entitled “Civil Disobedience,” with a release date of May 16.

For the past 30 years, bassist and band leader Ambrosio has been a New York City freelance musician and educator. With degrees in classical composition and jazz performance, David has a broad musical palate that has become even more intensified by his travel experiences. In 2001, he performed in Cuba with Grupo Los Santos, Max Pollack’s Rumbatap, as well as numerous local Afro/Cuban folkloric music and dance ensembles. Not long after, he began an intense study of Afro/Cuban Bata drumming with master drummers Miguel Bernal, Carlos Gomez, and Carlos Aldama.

Ambrosio is also the co-leader of the David Ambrosio/Russ Meissner Sextet, 40Twenty, and Grupo Los Santos, as well as being a part of many other groups including George Schuller’s Circle Wide, the Matt Renzi Trio, Eri Yamamoto Trio, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra led by Ted Nash and Andy Farber. He has performed with such jazz greats as Kenny Werner, Joe Lovano, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, George Garzone, Joseph Jarmon, and Ralph Alessi

Ambrosio’s third recording as leader, “Four on the Road” (Fresh Sound Records, 2018), was praised as “Swinging brilliance in the light of interactive engagement, creating music that challenges while remaining largely accessible” by Dan Bilawsky of All About Jazz.

Ambrosio has also frequently toured in Central and South East Asia on behalf of the US State Department as a performer and clinician. Currently he is on the faculty at Hunter College and the New York Jazz Workshop in NYC.

Tickets for the April 12 concert are $35 in advance ($42 including all fees) and $40 at the door. For more information and tickets visit northamptonjazzfest.org