Press Releases

For Immediate Release
March 8, 2010

For more information, contact
Cherise Oakley
(585) 395-2754
coakley@brockport.edu

Buffalo-based Babik is Much More Than Just Gypsy Jazz

Babik (l. to r.: Kevin O’Brien, Joshua Assad, Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry, Stuart Fuchs)

Brockport, NY – When you enter the Seymour College Union Ballroom on Friday, April 9, 2010, you might feel as if you were transported back to Paris during the jazz age. That is the night that Babik will enthrall its audience with its unique blend of folk, jazz and gypsy-derived music that all has a delightful contemporary spin. The quartet’s concert begins at 7:30 pm in the Union, located on Residence Drive.

Taking their cues from the likes of jazz titans Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, the foursome (Stuart Fuchs, lead guitar; Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry, violin; Joshua Assad, rhythm guitar; Kevin O'Brien, upright bass) turns musical forms on their sides and infuses them with their own vibrancy and verve. (Such fans of Reinhardt are they that they chose the name of Reinhardt’s son, Babik, as the name for their ensemble.)

Whether hearing original compositions or standards such as “After You’ve Gone” or “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” as if for the first time, Babik’s audiences feel energized, hip, and slightly bohemian while letting the music wash over them. And what audiences! From ages eight to 80, sporting purple hair or white, the way they connect with Babik is apparent in the way “they clap, dance, and cheer along with nearly every concert,” said Assad. “People seem to appreciate our lighthearted improvisational performances.”

Artvoice clamors “Babik is on fire!” and the quartet has been named “Best Jazz Band” by two publications for three years running in their native Buffalo. In fact, Buffalo Spree enthuses “Every performance is an event in it itself, where the celebratory nature of the music is brought to life… It’s hard not to fall in love with a band whose every tune seems to state ‘We love life and we want to celebrate it.’” More information about Babik can be found at www.babikjazz.com.

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Tickets for the concert are $12/General, $10/Seniors, College at Brockport Alumni, Faculty and Staff and $8/Students and are available by phone at (585) 395-ARTS or at the Tower Fine Arts Center Box Office. Tickets can also be obtained at all Rochester area Wegmans markets.

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Photos: 1: Babik (l. to r.: Kevin O’Brien, Joshua Assad, Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry, Stuart Fuchs) plays at The College at Brockport’s Seymour College Union Ballroom at 7:30 pm on Friday, April 9, 2010.

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The College at Brockport, State University of New York
350 New Campus Drive * Brockport, New York 14420-2931
(585) 395-2754 * FAX (585) 395-2723 * www.brockport.edu