FAIRFIELD, Conn. Fairfield University professor Brian Torff will be part of the featured ensemble later this month when the university's new bookstore debuts it Jazz Night series.
Torff, who has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, will play with The Phantom Pluckers, a jazz-rock trio that also features students Jamie Debicella and Jon Rivers. Torff has worked alongside such artists as Yo Yo Ma and Mel Tormé and has had his compositions performed by the Boston Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
This band mixes a power trio with spoken word, resulting in a free-wheeling, improvised and electric sound, said Torff, Fairfields director of jazz and popular music. This goes back to my blues-rock roots when I first started in music.
In addition to teaching at the university, Torff, Fairfields Artist of the Year for 2008, has toured internationally as a jazz bassist and composer. He is also the author of In Love With Voices: A Jazz Memoir, which is on sale at the Fairfield University Bookstore.
The Phantom Pluckers will be the first act in the Jazz Night series hosted by the Starbucks coffee outlet in the Fairfield University Bookstore. They will perform a mix of original songs and jazz classics. The show begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. There is no charge for the event.
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