Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Percussionist Marlon Simon and his ensemble Nagual Spirits will present an evening of Latin jazz and Afro-Caribbean music on Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. in the South Hall Community Room at Montgomery County Community College’s West Campus, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Tickets cost $15 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors and $5 for children. For information and tickets, visit
www.mc3.edu/livelyarts or call 215-641-6518.
The performance is funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project and includes a week-long music education residency at Pottstown Middle School.
As a Latin jazz composer, percussionist and educator, Simon is a prominent figure in the Latin American cultural scene. Born in Venezuela, he grew up around the beats of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, which have flavored his performances in the United States for the past 20 years. His ensemble Nagual Spirits has released three recordings and has toured in South America and Europe.
A distinguished educator, Simon frequently provides music workshops to lower-income neighborhoods and schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Simon has been the recipient of the New Jersey Council for the Arts Fellow Award and the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts and Education. He has been awarded grants from the Philadelphia Music Foundation and Meet the Composer, which enabled him to travel to Cuba to research the influence if Afro-Caribbean rhythms in American jazz music. Simon and Nagual Spirits were also selected by the U.S. Fund for the International Artist and the U.S. Department of State to present international concerts in Latin Jazz.
For more information on Marlon Simon, visit
www.marlonsimon.com.
