The Monday Night Concert Series continues with a celebration of Hanukkah by The Purim Quartet at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.
The Purim Quartet will perform Jewish music of many styles including Klezmer, Sephardic, Chassidic and traditional. From lively to soulful, the music has origins in Russia, Poland, Spain, the Middle East and the United States.
This group will cross the boundaries between concert music and entertainment, exploring old and new melodies with a creativity that is as exciting as it is enjoyable.
The ensemble includes Mike Staron on bass, Rick Shandling on drums, Ray Coyle on the vibraphone and percussion, and Shimon Marcucci on saxophone.
Staron has been a teacher, composer and bass player for nearly 40 years. Having spent most of his life in Chicago, he has performed with celebrated figures in jazz, theater and other genres such as Bill McFarland, Bobby Enriquez, Hall Russell and The Chicago Horns.
Shandling is a drummer and composer who is a regularly featured artist in the Chicagoland jazz scene. He is also a drum set teacher for beginning, intermediate and professional-level students.
Coyle is a mallet player, composer and percussionist originally from the U.K. He is active in a variety of musical projects and also teaches at several schools. He has composed music for both film and dance and has performed in England and Europe. He is also an instructor and lecturer at DePaul University and Triton College in the Chicagoland area.
Marcucci has long been intrigued by the exotic sounds from the combination of Western and Eastern musical traditions and has even composed works which served as the foundation for improvisation of “Sephardic-Jewish-Arabic-classical-type” harmonies.
Oak Park Arms Senior Living is a rental retirement community which provides senior housing in the form of independent living. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 708-386-4040.
