WDCB Jammin' in the Stacks to put on an afternoon of jazz at St. Charles library
The St. Charles Public Library is partnering with WDCB Jazz Radio Jammin’ in the Stacks for an afternoon of jazz on Sunday, Feb. 4.
The Chris White Trio will perform jazz standards and popular songs at at 2 p.m. in the library’s Carnegie Community Room, 1 S. Sixth Ave.
The trio includes pianist Chris White, bassist Mark Sonksen, and guitarist Terry Bartolotta.
Originally from Toronto, White has gained recognition as a leader with the albums “Young at Heart” and “Tributaries.” At home in a host of genres and settings, he has made his name as a go-to freelance pianist, arranger and accompanist in the Chicago area.
His performance credits include the Chicago Jazz Festival, The Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, Winter’s Jazz Club, Cliff Bell’s, Catalina Jazz Club, Feinstein’s/54 Below (NYC) and The Jazz Kitchen, among others.
White is an in-demand educator as well, teaching piano, theory and ensembles at Lake Forest College, North Park University and North Central College. He earned his Master’s in Jazz Studies at Indiana University’s prestigious Jacobs School of Music, studying with the late renowned educator David Baker, and went on to complete his DMA in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has studied piano with Barry Harris, Joanne Brackeen and Hal Galper among other greats, and performed with Miguel Zenón, Ira Sullivan, Jamey Aebersold, Oliver Nelson Jr., and many more.
Grammy-nominated bassist, composer and educator Mark Sonksen has led a varied career path, always active as a working musician. At the age of 21, he auditioned and was accepted as a member of the double bass section of the Cedar Rapids Symphony (now Orchestra Iowa). Since that time, Sonksen has traveled extensively, having played in festivals, concert halls, and clubs in the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Germany, Austria, England, Puerto Rico, Argentina and China.
More recently, he can be heard on their 2016 Grammy-nominated CD “As Dreams Fall Apart – The Golden Age of Jewish Stage and Film Music 1925-1955.”
Jazz guitarist, composer/arranger, and educator Terry Bartolotta has been teaching and performing in the Chicago area since 2006. Since starting guitar at the age of 11, he has studied with a long list of guitarists and other musicians over the years, including Fareed Haque, Bobby Broom, Art Davis, Ron Perrillo, Don Tisch, Jim McPhedran, and Tom Matta. Bartolotta received his Bachelor's in Music from Northern Illinois University in 2006, and his Master's in Music from DePaul University in 2009. As a member of both the NIU Jazz Ensemble and the DePaul Jazz Ensemble, he has performed with masters like Phil Woods, Jim McNeely, Charles McPherson, Claudio Roditi, and Rodney Whitaker.
This event is part of the Library’s Sunday Concert Series, featuring a wide variety of musical performances. WDCB “Chicago’s Home for Jazz” is a listener-supported, public radio station that broadcasts more than 130 hours of jazz each week from the campus of College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Jammin' in the Stacks is their monthly concert series held in public libraries.
The concerts are free and no registration is required. Visit www.scpld.org.