Presented by the BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation, join us as dazzling steel pan master & award-winning percussionist grooves into Akron for special masterclass (5PM) and concert (7PM, 9:30PM)!
Victor Provost is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading voices on the unique, and often misunderstood, steel pan (or steel drum). Through appearances at concert halls, clubs, and stages throughout the world, he has been meticulously developing a reputation as a “dazzling” soloist, crafting an improvisational voice and style to be reckoned with. With a strong foundation in Bebop, a contemporary sensibility, and deep roots in Caribbean music, he works in countless genres and musical styles. The Washington D.C. City Paper’s “Jazz Percussionist of the Year” five years running, his freshmen release “Her Favorite Shade of Yellow” was named one of the top five albums of 2011, and the publications named him “Jazz Artist of the Year” in 2012. The New York Times calls his “a serious Jazz improviser” and Wynton Marsalis calls him “soulful and individualistic.”
“A vigorous and dazzling soloist…”
– JazzTimes Magazine
In addition to leading his own group, Victor tours with NEA Jazz Master, Paquito D’Rivera, is a member of the GRAMMY award-winning Afro Bop Alliance, and works with several of the Mid-Atlantic region’s most lauded musical collectives. Already in his relatively young career, he has performed and recorded with many Jazz Luminaries including Wynton Marsalis, Hugh Masakela, Joe Locke, Nicholas Payton, Terell Stafford, Dave Samuels, Steve Nelson, Ron Blake, and Wycliffe Gordon, among others.
An Adjunct Professor of Music at George Mason University, Victor also conducts residencies and master classes throughout the United States and the Caribbean at universities and schools such as Berklee College of Music in Boston, University of Akron, Miami University, University of Iowa, and Northern Illinois University. He is also an Arts Ambassador to his hometown of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which honored him with a Special Congressional Recognition in 2014, and to which he returns frequently to perform and teach as part of a community-based arts initiative, the United Jazz Foundation.
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About BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation
Committed to the preservation of America’s treasured art form of jazz, BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation (BJMF) is a new program developed by the founders of BLU Jazz+ Akron (BJA) that brings “front-row” jazz education performance & mentorship opportunities to student musicians and art lovers alike by presenting a series of masterclasses led by top visiting musicians from all over the world.
Recipient of a 2015 Knight Arts Challenge grant award by the Knight Foundation, BLU Jazz+ Masterclass Foundation expands upon the essence of Akron, Ohio’s award-winning live jazz destination, BLU Jazz+ Akron (BJA), launched in Fall 2014. Learn more atblujazzmasterclass.org.