CONCERT | The WORKS TRIO with Daniel Kelly, Michel Gentile, and Rob Garcia
June 22 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Free
Wallkill River Center for the Arts is pleased to present The WORKS Trio with Daniel Kelly, Michel Gentile, and Rob Garcia as part of our 2025 music series.
Since 2007, The WORKS Trio has been the driving force behind the vibrant non-profit organization Connection Works. This group has exploited its unique instrumentation of flute, piano and drums to forge a distinct and powerful musical voice, putting the “…focus on the dynamic writing and deep simpatico of the trio itself” (The Village Voice).
WORKS has also placed itself at the center of several adventurous projects: performing with classically influenced ensembles such as chamber orchestra and string quartet, commissioning big band pieces featuring the trio, playing with a long line of esteemed guests, such as jazz heavyweights Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Dave Liebman, Joseph Jarman, Scott Colley, Donny McCaslin and many more.
Their self-titled CD was named one of the best albums of 2013 by the prestigious Downbeat Magazine. About their new album “Scouring For The Elements” (Nov 2024 on Connection Works Records): “From through-composed pieces to fully improvised larks, flutist Michel Gentile, pianist Daniel Kelly and drummer Rob Garcia turn their unique instrumental amalgam into a platform for showcasing accord.” -Jim Macnie, Downbeat – 4 stars
Connection Works is an artist-run non-profit organization (501c3) that engages the Brooklyn community with world-class jazz performances and educational events. We at Connection Works believe in and encourage the practice of creativity as a means to nourish the mind, body, and spirit.
Sunday, June 22, 5-7 pm
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
58 West Main Street, Middletown, NY
This event is free and open to the public with a suggested donation of $20/person. Registration – at bottom of event page – is requested but not required.
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The Artists of THE WORKS are:
DANIEL KELLY, piano
An artist who has been called “stunningly original” with “a visionary imagination,” composer and pianist Daniel Kelly explores the meeting place of music with literature, visual art and journalism, captivating audiences across the country. A prolific composer and tireless musical explorer, Kelly continually seeks out new avenues for his creativity. He has been commissioned by 13 performing arts centers throughout the country to transform peoples’ stories into concert-length works celebrating our shared human experience.
Kelly’s music has been declared “powerfully moving” by Time Out New York.
All the World’s a Song: Shakespeare in Jazz is Kelly’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s works into fresh and dynamic jazz songs that have audiences singing along in sheer delight.
Blind Visionaries is his stunning multi-media collaboration with the pioneering group of visually impaired photographers, the Seeing with Photography Collective.
Rakonto, Kelly’s massive ongoing series of interview-based concerts, have been commissioned by performing arts centers across the US. Each of these twelve concert-length works have transformed stories everyday people, like farmers, teachers, students, immigrants, hurricane survivors, seniors and many others from ages 4 to 94, into dramatic and compelling music that celebrates our shared human experience.
Kelly has performed with a long list of jazz musicians such as Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Dave Liebman, Sheila Jordan, Don Byron, Donny McCaslin, Harvie S, Bobby Sanabria, as well as hip-hop star Lauryn Hill & the cutting-edge Bang on a Can All-Stars. Kelly toured throughout Southeast Asia and India as a part of the Kennedy Center/US State Department-sponsored Jazz Ambassador program.
MICHEL GENTILE, flutes
Flautist Michel Gentile received his Master of Music degree with distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jimmy Giuffre, Dave Holland, Geri Allen, Mick Goodrick, and George Garzone. Michel has appeared on record with Ray Charles, Anthony Braxton, Bobby Previte, Jane Ira Bloom, Michael Formanek, and Adam Rudolph. He has performed with Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Joseph Jarman, Yusef Lateef, and many others.
Michel has been a longtime member of WORKS, Go Organic Orchestra, Gentile-Romano, Wildebeest Wind Quintet. He also leads FLOW, Michel Gentile Quartet and Michel Gentile Trio.
His release with the collaborative ensemble WORKS was named one of the “best albums of 2013” by Downbeat. Downbeat also named him in the “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” category.
His compositions have been featured on “Seize the Moment” 1994, “Trapeze Contortionist” 2001 “Red Balloon” 2005, “Flesh and Steel” 2008 and “Rock, Paper, Scissors” 2011 by Gentile-Romano.
With “his full-toned flute leading the way” flutist and composer Michel Gentile “is amongst the best flutists” of the New York jazz scene.
ROB GARCIA, Drums
Rob Garcia continues to be a strong presence in the New York and international jazz scene as a sideman and bandleader. He has performed and/or recorded with bandleaders such as Wynton Marsalis, Joseph Jarman, David Byrne, Catherine Russell, Noah Preminger, Anat Cohen, Kris Davis, Woody Allen, Howard Alden, The Ghost Train Orchestra, Lynne Arriale, John Benitez, John Bunch, Dena DeRose, Chris Cheek, Daniel Kelly, The Hot Sardines and Vince Giordano.
Rob has also collaborated with other top musicians and groups such as: Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Dave Liebman, Diana Krall, Myra Melford, The Kronos Quartet, Ben Monder, Donny McCaslin, Marty Erhlich, Jerome Richardson, Reggie Workman, Bob Berg, Scott Robinson, Howard Johnson, Sonny Fortune, Wycliffe Gordon and Chris Potter among others.
He has played on over 75 albums including Grammy winners and has toured world-wide, released 9 critically acclaimed albums as a bandleader and 5 as a co-leader which feature such artists as Joe Lovano, Noah Preminger, Kate McGarry, Leo Genovese, Kim Cass, Dan Tepfer, John O’Gallagher, Gary Versace, Joe Martin, John Hebert, Dave Kikoski and Mike Formanek.
His two most recent albums “Natural Bounce” (2023) and “Illumination” (2020) were released on Fresh Sound Records. His albums have been on “top albums of the year” lists and have received praise from publications such as Downbeat, The New York Times, Jazz Times, and Time Out New York.
“Rob Garcia is one of New York’s great jazz drummers and composers.” – Capital New York
“… a prime mover in the current Brooklyn jazz scene.” -Time Out-New York
WRCA’s 2025 concert series has been made possible thanks to the support of:
Wallkill River Center for the Arts programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
