Pianist Francesco Crosara will perform in trio format at the Spanish Ballroom at McMenamins Elks Temple on Monday, December 9th, 2019. Crosara will be joined by two of the finest musicians in the Pacific Northwest, Clipper Anderson on bass and Mark Ivester on drums. The trio will present original compositions by Crosara and play a tribute to the art of piano trio music in the tradition of Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, and Herbie Hancock.

Francesco Crosara (keyboard), Clipper Anderson (bass), Mark Ivester (drums)
Photo credits: Julia Crosara

FRANCESCO CROSARA

Francesco Crosara is a Seattle area based Italian Jazz pianist, composer and educator, who has played at festivals and venues across the USA, Japan, Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, and Italy. He has performed with Lionel Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Richie Cole, Bobby Shew, Ira Sullivan, Don Menza, John Heard, Gabe Baltazar, Mayuto Correa, Bruce Forman, Barbara Morrison, Earl Palmer, Mark Lewis, and more.

Crosara produced 6 jazz albums, most notably, “Colors” (through the Chicago-based Southport Records label) featuring the late great Von Freeman, and “Emotions” (through the TCB Montreux Swiss Jazz label) featuring Lilian Terry on vocals, Von Freeman on tenor sax, and a multi-cultural group of international musicians.

“A pianist who originally hails from Italy, Crosara is well-versed in bop lore, and his delicate flow might indicate a debt to Bill Evans.” Down Beat Magazine

“Pianist Francesco Crosara’s eclectic brand of jazz was born from early classical studies in harmony and composition at the Conservatory of Rome, steeped in the tradition of Italian and European romantic musical heritage, and honed by exposure to mainstream jazz and world music. His style is heavily influenced by improvisation and bouncy lyrical expressions drawn from jazz and Latin vocabularies. Crosara’s compositions are considerate of their audience, providing a source of joy, comfort, escape, and healing. Crosara believes jazz is a collective experience and a “living language” that distills a multitude of identities, backgrounds, and personalities.” Earshot Jazz

CLIPPER ANDERSON

Known for his improvisational virtuosity, his steady presence in the pocket and his command of multiple styles, bassist Clipper Anderson is one of the most highly regarded musicians on the Northwest jazz scene today. Equally comfortable with straight-ahead, traditional, free jazz or bebop, he plays with genuine reverence for the music and an unassuming mastery that speaks for itself. Clipper has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a composer, performer, studio musician, vocalist and educator. He plays at jazz festivals throughout the United States and Canada and has appeared at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival, the Buddy DeFranco/University of Montana Jazz Festival, the Highland Jazz Festival, the Fairbanks Summer Art Festival, the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation Festival and the Drayton Harbor Music Festival, the latter Three of which he currently plays annually. He has shared the bandstand with a long list of jazz luminaries including Michael Brecker, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Samuels, Peter Erskine, Bruce Forman, Tamir Hendelman, Bob Mintzer, Lew Soloff, Bucky Pizzarelli, Benny Golson, Paquito D’Rivera, Phil Woods and Buddy DeFranco. As a session musician, Clipper has appeared on numerous recordings, including five with Northwest vocal icon Greta Matassa. He has two recordings on Origin Records. Clipper’s 2012 release, “The Road Home,” marked his debut as a solo artist and composer and held the top 20-22 spots on the national jazz radio charts for several months. Clipper’s 2013 release, “Ballad Of The Sad Young Men”, featured his vocal and bass work and was well received by critics and fans alike. Clipper works out of Seattle, WA and is presently on the jazz faculty at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

MARK IVESTER

Mark Ivester is a versatile drummer and percussionist with extensive experience playing a variety of musical genres from rock to jazz to orchestral music. Mark has performed with numerous jazz artists of international stature including Larry Coryell, Freddie Hubbard, Diane Schuur, Mose Allison, Charlie Byrd and Eartha Kitt. He currently performs and records with the Jovino Santos Neto Quartet, Greta Matassa and Susan Pascal. Ivester has also performed with the Honolulu, Spokane and Walla Walla symphony orchestras. Ivester is a founding member of the professional percussion ensemble Happy Hammers, a group that performs a broad cross-section of percussion music of various ethnic origins including the steel drums from Trinidad, African drumming of the Ewe and Yoruba tribes, Afro-Cuban drumming, Brazilian sambas, and jazz for mallet keyboard instruments. Ivester earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastern Washington University, and he did undergraduate and graduate work in ethnomusicology at the University of Hawaii that included field study in gamelan music on the island of Java.