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Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Founded in 1973, The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra has been a force in the international jazz scene for more than 50 years. Aardvark is one of the longest-running large jazz ensembles in the world. The band is well known for its wide-ranging shows, from new music by founder/director Mark Harvey to classics and rarities by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and other jazz legends. Aardvark has given premieres of more than 175 works for jazz orchestra, performs widely, and appears on 16 CDs, including 10 discs from Leo Records, one of the world’s leading adventuresome music labels. Guest artists who have appeared with Aardvark include jazz luminaries Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Jay Clayton, Ricky Ford, Raj Mehta, Dominique Eade, and Lewis Porter, to name a few.

Composer/trumpeter ​Mark Harvey is the founder and music director of the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and is Senior Lecturer in Music Emeritus at MIT, where he taught jazz studies for 40 years. Harvey has performed in major venues including Fenway Park and Symphony Hall, Boston, the Knitting Factory and the Village Gate (NYC), the National Gallery of Art (DC), the Left Bank Jazz Society (MD), the Southern California Institute of Architecture (CA), the Berlin Jazz Festival (Germany), and the Baja State Theater (Mexico). His musical credits also include recordings with George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra (Blue Note), and Baird Hersey & the Year of the Ear (Arista/Novus) and appearances with Gil Evans, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, Claudio Roditi, and other notables.

Harvey has received commissions from the Meet the Composer/Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, the 15th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert, FiLmprov, the the MIT Sesquicentennial Celebration, Organization of American Kodaly Educators,and the MIT Festival Jazz and Wind Ensembles, among others.  Harvey won the Roy Haynes Award in 2019, and in 2015, he was named Boston Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, one of 24 jazz advocates/activists recognized nationally.

Awards

Included in Best of 2012 picks by New York City Jazz Record Best jazz recording, Independent Music Awards, 2000


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Album Review

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Faces Of Souls

Read "Faces Of Souls" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Si avvicina al cinquantesimo anno di attività l'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, fondata nel 1973 da Mark Harvey e ancora diretta dall'inossidabile trombettista, compositore e bandleader di Boston. In questo nuovo disco--il decimo pubblicato con la Leo Records e registrato live in varie occasioni--ritroviamo il consueto eclettismo della formazione, capace di passare da quadri in libera improvvisazione a concitazioni rock anche in uno stesso brano. Per la verità stavolta i contrasti sono più smussati e tendono a prevalere compostezza ...

Album Review

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Democratic Vistas

Read "Democratic Vistas" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Il titolo della nona incisione dell' Aardvark Jazz Orchestra per la Leo (il 15mo disco in 46 anni di attività!) riprende quello di un saggio di Walt Whitman del 1871 che denunciava la corruzione politica e la decadenza morale dell'epoca tardo vittoriana. È l'annuncio di un disco “politico," che il leader della formazione Mark Harvey ha voluto proporre con l'esecuzione di due suites: la prima di quasi ventotto minuti e la seconda di quaranta. I titoli delle ...

Multiple Reviews

Nuove esplorazioni dell'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Read "Nuove esplorazioni dell'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


I due ultimi album dell'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra confermano il versatile e poliedrico approccio del suo fondatore e leader, Mark Harvey. In una carriera di oltre quattro decenni la formazione bostoniana ha mostrato di operare con competenza e creatività in tutto l'arco dell'orchestrazione jazz: da rivisitazioni ellingtoniane a esplorazioni post-free, in sintesi tra momenti cameristici e libere improvvisazioni. Entrambi i dischi sono registrati dal vivo. Nel primo emerge una particolare attenzione per la tradizione country, nel secondo (l'ottavo inciso ...

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Album Review

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Impressions

Read "Impressions" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Prossimo ai settanta Mark Harvey continua a guidare l'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra che ha fondato 42 anni fa. La formazione è poco nota fuori degli Stati Uniti ma vanta un percorso glorioso, documentato da dodici album, di cui sette incisi per la Leo Records. Nel corso della sua storia ha ospitato musicisti di primo piano come Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Vinny Golia o Paul Lovens. Come si può intuire, il suo approccio è poliedrico ...

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Album Review

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Evocations

Read "Evocations" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, led by pianist, trumpeter, composer and music director Mark Harvey, celebrates its sixth album for Leo Records. Recorded at various venues in the Boston, MA, area, the orchestra's empirical gait surges forward, as no two compositions are distinctly alike. Variety is always an underlying factor within the band's manifesto; from military orchestral progressions to avant-garde expressionism and a few nods to convention, the musicians tie quite a few genres and stylizations into a broad soundstage.

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Album Review

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Trumpet Madness

Read "Trumpet Madness" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Having listened as closely as possible to the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra's Trumpet Madness and tried my best to understand what is going on, I must confess that I am thoroughly perplexed. Either this is exceptional music that is clearly beyond my grasp, or chaotic nonsense that does nothing but reinforce the group's turgid self-image. I must leave that for other listeners to decide.

Much of the music produced here is, to me, vacuous twaddle that is one step above street ...

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Performance / Tour

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra 41st Season To Feature Blues, Opening Show Oct 9, Scullers Boston

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra 41st Season To Feature Blues, Opening Show Oct 9, Scullers Boston

Source: Rebecca DeLamotte

Praised for “spirited composition and inspired playing” (Jazz Alchemist - Poland) and called “spellbinding” (The Boston Globe), the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, one of the longest running large jazz ensembles in the world, will celebrate its 41st season with a series of Fall 2013 concerts featuring Blues and Other Hues. The venerable orchestra, led by award-winning composer Mark Harvey, will kick off the season at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, October 9 at 8:00 pm. The band, with vocalists Jerry Edwards ...

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Event

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: World Premiere Of "Boston JazzScape" on March 8, 2013

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra:  World Premiere Of "Boston JazzScape" on March 8, 2013

Source: Mary Curtin Productions

Friday, March 8, 2013 at 7:30 pm Museum of Fine Arts Remis Auditorium 465 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA Admission: $20 members, seniors and students $25 non-members Reservations: 800-440-6975 The internationally acclaimed Aardvark Jazz Orchestra marks the high point of its historic 40th season with the world premiere of music director Mark Harvey’s epic new work, Boston JazzScape. Expect an exuberant display of Aardvark’s “awe-inspiring audience fascination” (Downbeat), as ...

Event

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: 40th Annual Christmas Concert -- Dec. 15, 2012

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: 40th Annual Christmas Concert -- Dec. 15, 2012

Source: Mary Curtin

Jerry Edwards, Grace Hughes, and Donna Hewitt-Didham, vocalists Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 8:00 pm Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 Admission: $15 Information: 617-776-8778 or 617-452-3205 Praised by CultureJazz.Fr (France) for “expansive harmony, brilliant music...discipline, openness, and freedom,” the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will present its 40th Annual Christmas Concert, a Boston holiday tradition. http://www.aardvarkjazz.com The concert, Music in the Spirit of the Season, will feature the world premieres of two pieces ...

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Performance / Tour

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Celebrates Historic 40th Season; Composer-led Orchestra Launches 5th Decade With New CD On Leo Records

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Celebrates Historic 40th Season; Composer-led Orchestra Launches 5th Decade With New CD On Leo Records

Source: Mary Curtin Productions

Boston, MA: The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, one of the longest continuously operating large jazz ensembles in North America, announces its historic 40th season 2012-2013. The season will feature original works by founder/music director Mark Harvey, with Boston-area performances to include: a season opener/CD-release at Scullers Jazz Club on October 3, a post-election show of Satire & Salutations at MIT’s Killian Hall on November 10, Aardvark’s 40th Annual Christmas Concert at Emmanuel Church on December 15, a New Year’s celebration January ...

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Performance / Tour

Author and Trombonist Samuel Jay Keyser at Scullers Jazz Club on Wednesday, February 22 with Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Author and Trombonist Samuel Jay Keyser at Scullers Jazz Club on Wednesday, February 22 with Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

Jazz trombonist Samuel Jay Keyser is signing copies of his new book, I Married a Travel Junkie, at the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra concert taking place at Scullers Jazz Club on Wednesday, February 2012, at 8:00 p.m. Keyser is a member of the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Professor Emeritus and Special Assistant to the Chancellor at MIT, and author of several books, including Mens et Mania: The MIT Nobody Knows. I Married a Travel Junkie is published by GemmaMedia, a Boston-based company ...

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Performance / Tour

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Performs at Scullers Jazz Club on February 22

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Performs at Scullers Jazz Club on February 22

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is performing at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online. Their performance is entitled “Blues, Ballads and Beyond," and features music by Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham and Duke Ellington, plus original music by Mark Harvey, trumpeter and music director of the orchestra. Founded in 1973, the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra has premiered over 100 original works for jazz orchestra ...

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Performance / Tour

"Big Bands Afire: Swing to Beyond" kicks off Jazz Week from JazzBoston

"Big Bands Afire: Swing to Beyond" kicks off Jazz Week from JazzBoston

Source: Chris Rich

Large ensemble lovers have several options in as many locations for Jazz Week. The Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra holds court at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre with an offer to pay the first 50 attendees to show up. The 19 piece JCA Orchestra will present a concert of new music by resident composers David Harris, Jim Hobbs, Darrell Katz, Bob Pilkington, Warren Senders and Norm Zocher. The JCA Orchestra has been bringing new and exciting music to Boston for 25 ...

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Event

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Salutes Ellington at Emmanuel Church Boston, A Jazz Boston Kickoff Event

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Salutes Ellington at Emmanuel Church Boston, A Jazz Boston Kickoff Event

Source: Rebecca DeLamotte

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (38th season, Mark Harvey Music Director) celebrates Duke Ellington at Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116, on Saturday April 30, 2011 at 8:00 pm. Tickets: $15. Call 617 776 8778. The show is a Weekend Kickoff Event in Jazz Boston's Jazz Week. Expect an exhilarating mix of classics and rarities from Ellington's 5 decades of composing, including The Mooche, Solitude, Caravan, Wild Man Blues (from the major motion picture Paris Blues), and Billy Strayhorn's ...

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Performance / Tour

Celebrate Mary Lou Williams Centennial with Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Celebrate Mary Lou Williams Centennial with Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Source: Mary Curtin Productions

Mary Lou Williams Centennial Celebration: From Swing to Sacred Music, a Journey of Faith

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra with special guests Geri Allen, pianist and narrator Father Peter F. O'Brien.

Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 8:00 pm

Boston College, Robsham Theatre, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA. MBTA: Green Line, B-Branch, Boston College Station. Parking nearby.

Admission: $20, $15 Advance Purchase (by April 30, 2010) Box Office: 617-552-4002 Information: 617-776-8778

“Mary Lou Williams is perpetually contemporary. Her music retains a standard ...

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Performance / Tour

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: All Blues Show at Scullers Jazz Club on September 30th

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra:  All Blues Show at Scullers Jazz Club on September 30th

Source: Mary Curtin Productions

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: All Blues Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 8:00 pm, one show only Scullers Jazz Club Doubletree Guest Suites 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA Admission: $18 Reservations and information: 617-562-4111 The celebrated Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will open its 37th season at Scullers with a show of “All Blues,” painting the many shades of blues in jazz from Miles and Duke to Mingus and Basie to ...

Aardvark has won praise from jazz critics across the globe. Allaboutjazz.com praised the group's "lush sonorities...a saxophonic blend worthy of Duke's finest reed sections." JazzTimes called Aardvark “a bracing walk on the wild side of the big band spectrum...Aardvark suggests the best and the brashest of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, George Russell, and even Frank Zappa.” Other kudos include: “The AJO has become adept over the years at blending improvised and compositional elements, full-on free-for- all and the most delicate of sound patterns….admirers of large-scale improvised jazz will be delighted with the exuberance, imagination and sheer brio in evidence throughout this rich, absorbing album.” ~ Chris Parker, Jazz Review, United Kingdom “Expansive harmony, brilliant music..

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Democratic Vistas

Leo Records
2018

buy

Impressions

Leo Records
2015

buy

Evocations

Leo Records
2012

buy

American Agonistes

Leo Records
2008

buy

Trumpet Madness

Leo Records
2005

buy

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