CJC Jamaican Jazz
With Rich Graiko, Stephen Grueb, Daniel Pelletier, Thaddeus Merritt & Aaron Abrahamson Cote
Saturday June 16th
Doors: 8pm
No Cover
RICH GRAIKO most recently headlined at the Supernova International Ska Fest with Western Standard Time backing Greg Lee of Hepcat, Westbound Train, and The Stubborn Allstars. Both a studio and tour veteran, he’s performed or recorded with a variety of legends including The Skatalites, The Skatalites, Derrick Morgan, The Toasters, Big Daddy Kane, Tim Armstrong’s band The Transplants, among others. On tour, he’s covered the US and Europe on repeat, sharing the stage with the likes of NOFX, The English Beat, Reel Big Fish & Catch 22, to name a few. Graiko has been instrumental in connecting ska, reggae and jazz across the community through bands like The Void Union, The Brooklyn Attractors and The Rich Graiko Group.
By way of the hollers of West Virginia comes THADDEUS MERRITT. After moving to Boston, getting an education at Berklee College of Music, this boy decided to take up a touring life style. Thaddeus took the opportunity to see the world playing bass with multiple groups such as Westbound Train, the Toasters and the Void Union. A veteran of VANS WARPED TOUR with both Westbound Train and Big D & The Kids Table, Thaddeus is currently focusing on upright bass and jazz music. Thaddeus has been playing honky tonks local to the Boston area.
AARON ABRAHAMSON COTE performs with The Copacetics, Panoramic View, The White-Eyed Lizard Band, and as a freelancer throughout the New England music scene. A Rhode Island export, Cote obtained both his performance degrees in the Midwest before touring to over 35 countries on 3 continents, and extensively throughout the Caribbean. Along the way, he has performed with Bobby McFerrin, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Skatalites, Bim Skala Bim, King Django, Vic Ruggiero of The Slackers, Adam Flymo Birch of The Specials, The Bang on a Can Allstars (with Glenn Kotche of Wilco), and many more.
STEPHEN GRUEB is a local professional musician and private music instructor with a Masters Degree in Music from the University of Rhode Island where he was adjunct professor for a time. He is a member of The Copacetics, a multi-award winning Ska & Reggae band out of Providence, Rhode Island. Other notable points of Stephen’s Jazz career include performing with traditional jazz legend Ellis Marsalis, being on the movie soundtrack for On The Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place, and recently sitting in with Adam Flymo Birch and The Vershones. Stephen is always joining and creating new musical projects so keep an eye out for what’s next.
DANIEL J. PELLETIER works as a freelancer in the Southern New England music community playing theatre pits, orchestra concerts and jazz shows. His mallet career was officially launched upon winning a marimba as the recipient of the Michael Kamen Solo Award from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. In 2017, Pelletier took his original compositions to the studio, creating a historical time-stamp of 9 unrehearsed original tunes under the band name “Daniel & the Flyin’ Lions.” The band was was nominated for “Best Breakthrough Act” in the 2017 Motif Music Awards. Pelletier is the current percussionist and newest member of The Copacetics.