TROY — Hayner’s “Jazz in March” concert is an annual series that celebrates jazz and is hosted by Keigo Hirakawa.
The 2021 concert will feature a group of young Cincinnati artists called the Brandon Coleman Quartet. The concert will post on the Hayner’s website at http://www.troyhayner.org/recorded-concerts, starting March 13. The quartet features Brandon Coleman on guitar, Ben Tweedt on piano, Jeff Mellott, percussion and Matt Wiles on bass. They all are active performers, composers and educators.
Coleman’s unique guitar voice may have grown from the study of his three biggest influences, Jimi Hendrix, Chet Adkins and Frank Zappa. Coleman studied music at Morehead State University and received his master’s degree from the University of Louisville. He is a composer and an arranger, and has performed across the country with his groups, Fourth Kind, Spherical Agenda and the Brandon Scott Coleman Quartet.
Tweedt is a pianist, composer, arranger and educator who began his training at a young age. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at the University of Nebraska-Omaha at 17. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati College — Conservatory of Music. In addition to teaching music, he also performs with Spherical Agenda, and The Original Farm League Big Band, the Blue Wisp Big Band, the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, and the New Studio Big Band. In 2014, he was the winner of the Nebraska Young Jazz Artist competition and in 2019 the American Jazz Pianist Competition.
Mellott is a fixture of the Cincinnati music scene and had performed at the Hayner in 2019 with the Keigo Hirakawa Trio. He has received national attention through National Public Radio. Mellott completed his undergrad work at The Ohio State University and received his master’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Cincinnati College — Conservatory of Music.
Wiles received his bachelor’s degree from Northern Kentucky University and is a bass instructor at the Wyoming Fine Arts Center in Wyoming, Ohio. He performs with Spherical Agenda, the Brandon Coleman Quartet and has performed with many jazz greats such as Snarky Horns, Gary Versace, Colin Stranahan, Noah Preminger, Fareed Haque, Peter Mazza, Glenn Zaleski, Victor Provost, Bobby Selvaggio and Sam Blakeslee.
For more information, call (937) 339-0457 or visit www.TroyHayner.org.