2023 Live Concerts

Bassist, composer and professor of Harmony and Composition at Berklee, Rick McLaughlin is perhaps best known by Boston audiences for his long tenure with the adventurous “little big band” Either/Orchestra. He’s also shared the stage with jazz luminaries such as Don Byron, Steve Lacy, John Medeski, Danilo Perez, and John Zorn, Ethiopian music legends Mulatu Astatke and Mahmoud Ahmed, rock musicians Willie “Loco” Alexander, Morphine and Peter Wolf, and country music star Roger Miller. These days, he can often be seen with Listen To This, a band paying sonic homage to Miles Davis’ electric period, and with this stellar trio featuring fellow Berklee educators guitarist Sheryl Bailey and drummer Yoron Israel.

After many years in New York, Sheryl Bailey recently moved to Boston to serve as Assistant Chair of the guitar department at Berklee. While in Boston, she has performed with George Garzone, the Bob Nieske 6, Allan Chase, Noah Preminger and Jason Palmer. Her organ trio the Sheryl Bailey 3 has released several albums and has performed in China, Canada, Europe and the US. She has also toured and recorded with the Anat Cohen Tentet, Richard Bona, Lea Delaria, and David Krakauer.

Drummer Yoron Israel, chair of Berklee’s Percussion Department, has performed with a literal “who’s who” of music, having accompanied everyone from Abbey Lincoln to Tony Bennett to Jimmy Heath to Pharoah Sanders. Locally, he leads his own projects and is frequently seen behind the kit for the Makanda Project. He also serves as Pastor of Music and Art at Destiny Life Center International in Randolph, MA.

Together, the three bring together their diverse musical interests, performing originals composed by each member of the group, drawing from Brazilian music, Latin jazz, gospel music, and the harmonic explorations of John Coltrane. Reaching beyond their original music, arrangements focus on a wide range of influences, from Stevie Wonder to John Scofield, Jim Hall to Duke Ellington and the mid-20th century American opera composer Carlisle Floyd. The result is music which is in the moment, of the time, incorporates music history, and connects deeply with audiences.

$15 in advance, $20 at the door. Students with ID $10 at the door. Under 18 free.

We are excited to kick off our 2023 Dot Jazz Series, co-presented with Mandorla Music, with the wonderful tenor saxophonist Gregory Groover and his group, which will also feature Jason Palmer on trumpet, Santiago Bosch on piano, Max Ridley on bass and Tyson Jackson on drums.

Playing for a higher purpose has been saxophonist Gregory Groover’s modus operandi since he was a teenager. The son of a pastor, Groover picked up the saxophone after hanging around worship band rehearsals at church.

His love and pursuit of music directed him to the Boston Arts Academy, and upon graduation he earned a full tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music. He received both his Bachelors and Masters in Music Performance Studies through the Global Jazz Institute, headed by world-renowned artistic director, pianist, and UNESCO Artist for Peace Danilo Perez. Groover now serves as Assistant Chair of Berklee’s Ensembles Department.

Groover’s musical upbringing in the church is reflected in his two ‘Negro Spiritual Songbook’ releases, featuring modern explorations of music with deep roots in African American religious tradition.

Gregory has had the honor to share the stage with prestigious musicians such as Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind, and Fire), Patrice Rushen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, and Esperanza Spalding. As a bandleader and a sideman, he has performed in music festivals in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Africa.