An Evening of Jazz Piano & Vocals with Matt and Atla DeChamplain
March 25, 2023 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
An Evening of Jazz with Matt and Atla Dechamplain at The Packing House, 156 River Road, Willington CT.
Doors open 7:00pm / Show starts at 7:30pm
Tickets $20 advance online or $25 cash at the door
The Packing House – 156 River Road, Willington CT
Matt DeChamplain has graced The Packing House stage many times. An exceptional pianist, he has performed since 2016 with the Greg Abate Quartet and again in 2018 with his own “drummerless trio”. He returns March 25th with his wife Atla, an accomplished jazz vocalist, as an extraordinary jazz duo!
Atla & Matt are high school sweethearts. They met when Atla was 15 & Matt was 16, and have been performing together ever since.
“We started as best friends. We were both studying jazz music at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts (a performing arts magnet school), and we loved the same musicians: Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Jon Hendricks, Nat King Cole… We’d stay after school and work on music together. Jazz was really the foundation for our friendship. We just loved sharing our passion for the music. …looking back, we had an amazing journey together, and I especially appreciate how our personal relationship gave us the opportunity to challenge each other musically. We’re always sharing new records…new sounds with each other and encouraging each other to develop and grow.” -Atla
In 2015, the DeChamplain’s released “PAUSE”, their first album as a team. “Pause is a documentation of what we’ve been working on since we met. It features mostly songs from the Great American Songbook… these are jazz standards that we’ve been performing together for years. The pieces we picked for the album were songs that our live audiences always request. PAUSE features the musicians we’ve been performing with for the last 10 years including a guest appearance by the legendary vocalist Jon Hendricks.”
The couple have played venues all over the U.S. such as The American Stage Theater (FL), The Side Door (CT), The Steinway Gallery (MI), The Monterey Jazz Festival (CA), The Valentine Theater (OH), Millennium Hall at the Kennedy Center (Wash. D.C.) Provincetown Jazz Festival (MA) and a weeklong engagement at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC) opening for acclaimed vocalist Freddy Cole, brother of Nat King Cole. They have had the good fortune of sharing the stage collectively and independently with such artists as Jon Henricks, Dave Brubeck, Jimmy Cobb, Nat Reeves, Ken Peplowski, and many others.
Atla is currently a Professor of Amplified Voice at the University of Rhode Island and Matt entered his tenth-year teaching at The Hartt School of Music. They are excited to be releasing a new album in the Summer of 2023 (check for updates at www.atlaandmattdechamplain.com). In addition, Matt has teamed up with the great jazz violinist Jason Anick to record a tribute album honoring Stephane Grappelli and Oscar Peterson due out in September of 2023. Matt was also featured on an album of original works by Greg Abate and Paul Del Nero due out in 2023 on Summit Records.
An amazing evening of piano and jazz vocals by Matt and Atla DeChamplain on March 25th. This program is hosted by the “Eastern Connecticut Center for History, Art, and Performance” (EC-CHAP).
Soft drinks and snacks available. The Packing House has a unique BYOB & F model – bring your own beverage and food (wine & beer only – ID required). You can also bring your paid ticket to Willington Pizza House for eat-in or take-out the night of the show and receive 15% off your meal purchase.
For more information and table reservations, please call 518-791-9474.
Event site: http://thepackinghouse.us/upcoming/2023/03/25-jazz-series-matt-and-alta-dechamplain
