Elio's Quartet Gives FREE Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz Concert at Santa Fe College's Northwest Campus This Friday

September 27, 2016

The jazz fusion group Elio's Quartet will give a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, in the Building E Auditorium on the west side of Santa Fe College's Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville. The concert is part of the quartet's promotional tour for their new recording, "Pathway."

Elio's Quartet is an internationally recognized group that was founded in Fort Lauderdale. With roots in Afro-Cuban Latin jazz, the group performs an innovative mixture of styles and sounds ranging from smooth jazz through gospel, swing, funk, and classical music. The quartet won the 2009 International Jazz Festival "Jojazz" in Havana, Cuba.

Led by group director and drummer Elio Piedra, the quartet includes Livan Mesa on piano and keyboard, Daniel Stable on bass guitar, and Yunior Arrante on saxophone and keyboard. Piedra and Arrante share vocal duties.

All the musicians have successful careers and have performed in venues that include television and music festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver's Carnaval del Sol, and Jazz Plaza in Havana. They have shared the stage with Grammy winners Paquito D'Rivera, Luis Enrique, Arturo Sandoval, Chuchito Valdes, Jennifer Holliday, and Bobby Carcaces.

The quartet's popular album "Pathway" is being played on major radio stations in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia and is being streamed on Pandora, Spotify, iRadio, Google Music, and iTunes.

Now a resident of Gainesville and active in the music scene here, Piedra began his career in music at age 10 at the Arts Conservatory Raul Sanchez in Cuba, specializing in percussion. At 11, he got involved with jazz and the fusion between jazz, rumba, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. More information about him is available on his website at:

http://www.eliopiedra.com/about.html

The SF College Student Life and Fine Arts departments are sponsoring the concert.

For more information and photos, call Elio Piedra at 352-327-5089 or SF College Fine Arts Department Chairperson Alora Haynes, 352-395-5296.