Vanessa Morris & Scott Sandvik / James Merenda & Jon Dreyer at Third Life Studio

Mandorla Music presents a night of two great duos. 
Vanessa Morris was trained as a classical pianist before branching into jazz at the Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory.  Her duo with Scott Sandvik (guitar) started as an in depth study of African-American folklore. Their improvisations were based on ear transcriptions of field- recorded a cappella black folk singing that included surge style hymns, spirituals, hollers and blues.  Recently the Morris/Sandvik Duo's repertoire has widened to include the music of such composers as Carla Bley, Bert Bacharach and Joao Gilberto....

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Mandorla Music presents a night of two great duos. 
Vanessa Morris was trained as a classical pianist before branching into jazz at the Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory.  Her duo with Scott Sandvik (guitar) started as an in depth study of African-American folklore. Their improvisations were based on ear transcriptions of field- recorded a cappella black folk singing that included surge style hymns, spirituals, hollers and blues.  Recently the Morris/Sandvik Duo's repertoire has widened to include the music of such composers as Carla Bley, Bert Bacharach and Joao Gilberto.

They'll split the bill with another great duo, longtime collaborators James Merenda on piano and/or alto saxophone and bassist Jon Dreyer.  James and Jon have played a couple packed Mandorla shows in a trio setting in the past & I'm thrilled to welcome them as a duo.   The two have played for years both in duo and trio "non-standard standards" formats and in the larger ensemble Ticklejuice, which showcases Merenda's adventurous composition.  

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