The library will be closed Sunday, March 31st, for Easter

Memorial Hall Library

The David Zoffer Differential

David Zoffer
Sunday, March 26, 2017 - 2:30pm

Multi-instrumentalist, David Zoffer, will be featured as keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist, bassist, and composer on his sophisticated pop/jazz/blues/fusion tunes, using character-driven male and female vocals, jazzy harmonies, funk and rock rhythms, tight arrangements, dynamic forms and story lines. Electric Joni Mitchell, the Police, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa are all influences in this music. You can hear Zoffer's roots in classic jazz and classic rock from his hometown of Pittsburgh, along with the craftsmanship he learned studying jazz composition at Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory (NEC). This has allowed Zoffer to have the range to be both a featured rock and jazz artist at NYC clubs like the Bitter End, and also to be a crossover jazz/classical guest performer/featured composer/arranger/soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Philharmonic. He’ll be joined by Caio Afiune on guitar, Dan Nadeau on drums and Michael Morrissette on bass, in what is sure to be a memorable, musical journey.

Zoffer chairs NEC's Prep and Continuing Education Jazz Department, and serves on the faculty of the Contemporary Improvisation Department. He is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Writing and Production at the Berklee College of Music, and Jazz Ensemble Director at the Walnut Hill School. He is one of the most important music educators in the Boston area, having taught and played with many of the leading lights of the 21st century music scene from Boston, such as Grace Kelly, Peter Evans, Steven Fiefke and Jake Sherman.

Zoffer has played and recorded with Eddie Gomez, Don Alias, Luciana Souza, Bela Fleck, Bob Moses, Don Byron, David Liebman, Stan Strickland, Phil Grenadier, Rick McLaughlin, John Lockwood, and many others. He's performed at jazz festivals from Boston to Iceland. His vocal fusion record, Release, reached the top 20 on many college radio stations, and his jazz record with Adam Larrabee has been featured as far away as Portugal and Japan, as well as on Voice of America Radio.

His music can be heard at www.davidzoffer.com.