Baby Grand Jazz

Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group

Hartford Public Library’s highly popular Baby Grand Jazz series is back for its 21st season in 2025; with a spectacular line-up of the best jazz musicians in the region.

April 6, 2025 - Lewis Porter/Phil Scarff Group

Lewis Porter, pianist, keyboardist, and composer, appears on 30 albums with Dave Liebman, Marc Ribot, Gary Bartz and many others, and his 2018 album Beauty And Mystery features John Patitucci, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Tia Fuller. His latest are the exciting jazz-rock album Transcendent with guitar virtuoso Ray Suhy, on Sunnyside, and Solo Piano on the new label Next To Silence. AllAboutJazz writes that Porter’s music draws from many sources to make “a beautifully creative whole" and that he is “a first-rate pianist," to which NYC Jazz Record adds that he has “a mind-boggling array of approaches at his ...fingertips.” He received a Grammy nomination in 1995. He has performed across the USA and Europe with Liebman (who premiered one of Dr. Porter's saxophone concertos), Joe Lovano, Wycliffe Gordon, Ravi Coltrane, Ribot, and many others. "Lewis Porter… Technique, imagination and feeling are all at his disposal." – Jazz Journal.

Phil Scarff has pioneered the performance of North Indian classical music on soprano saxophone, and exquisitely captures the music's subtlety and depth. His performance at the famed Tansen Samaroh, Gwalior, India, with Saskia Rao de Haas was "The highlight of the festival." [Dainik Bhaskar]. Indian classical appearances include India's Nehru Center and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Mumbai); Saptak School of Music (Ahmedabad); Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (Kolkata); ICCR Theater and India Habitat Centre (Delhi); JKK (Jaipur); and Pt Chatur Lal Festival (virtual); as well as in USA, LearnQuest Festival (Boston), Raaga Inc. (virtual), Dhvani (Columbus, OH), Sangeet Mahotsav (New York City), Rocky Mountain Thyagaraja Utsavam (virtual), and Kalakendra and Portland Balaji Temple (OR). Phil is a master jazz saxophonist, and leads world-jazz ensembles, Natraj and the Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group. Phil performs and records with creative jazz ensembles including Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Composers Alliance, Filmprov, and OddSong. Phil is featured on 45 acclaimed CDs/DVDs. "Phil Scarff… delirious tenor sax solo… heady solos by… Scarff on soprano." - All About Jazz. “Phil Scarff… weaving magic through his saxophone with Raga Puriya… soul-stirring… sonorous” – Deccan Herald, Bengaluru, India

Ken Filiano is a bassist, composer, improviser, and teacher who performs around the world, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless imagination. A “creative virtuoso” (JazzValley), Ken has performed and recorded with a veritable who's who in multiple genres, from Anthony Braxton to Pablo Ziegler. Ken leads two quartets, Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and is co-leader of The Steve Adams/Ken Filiano Duo and other collective ensembles. He is also an integral member of groups led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Jason Kao Hwang, Fay Victor, Vinny Golia, Diane Moser, Karl Berger, and others, and was a key member of groups led by the late Roswell Rudd and Connie Crothers. Ken's extensive discography includes the solo CD, "Subvenire"(Nine Winds) and Quantum Entanglements's "Dreams From a Clown Car" (Clean Feed). He is a Guiding Artist and on the Board of Advisors for Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY. “What is rare among today’s arco soloists is Filiano’s mixture of absolutely pitch-perfect intonation and precise bowing hand motion alongside an openness of phrasing that is beholden to very few of his predecessors. His staccato is furious, his legato weeps, and he is able to alternate within the space of a few measures.” (Charles Walker)

Eminent Indian classical saxophonist Priyank Krishna has delighted audiences in India and abroad. In India, he has been featured in festivals and venues including Taj Mahotsav, Agra; Uttaradhikar, Bhopal; India International Centre and India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; Swami Haridas Sangeet Mahotsav, Vrindavan; Mahakumbh, Allahabad; and Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar. His appearances abroad include Dranouter Festival, Belgium; Confluence/Festival of India, Australia; Embassies of India, Ukraine and Berlin; India by the Nile/Festival of India, Cairo, Egypt; Klangtage Festival, Berlin; Institut Francais de Madagascar, Madagascar; Shared History Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa; and JLF, London. He is the first and only North Indian classical saxophonist to be awarded the rigorous “A” grade from All India Radio. His recognition and awards include “Samraat Yuva Puraskar,” “Sangeet Kala Gaurav,” “Naad Sadhak;” Scholarship for Young Artiste from Ministry of HRD, New Delhi; first prize in Shree Baba Harivallabh Music Competition in Senior Category (Non-Percussion), Jalandhar, Punjab; second prize in Inter-University National Youth Festival, Kalyani University, Kalyani, W.B.; and first prize in saxophone and flute at Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy Competition.

Anoop Banerjee is one of India's foremost tabla artists of Faukhabad Gharana (style of tabla), He has performed with stalwarts including Padma Shri Singh Bandhu, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Kashinath Bodas, Chhanu Lal Mishra, L.K. Pandit, Manilal Nag, Bhajan Sopori, and Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra. He has been awarded “Taal Mani” by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai; won the silver medal in the Delphic Games in South Korea; and has garnered All India Radio's stringent "A” grade in tabla. His appearances include All India Music Conference (Allahabad), Pt. Viren Phukan Memorial Concert (Guwahati), Sankalp Saptak Samaroh (Ahmedabad); in addition to touring India, he has thrilled audiences in Norway and Denmark. Anoop studied tabla with Laljee Srivastava. “Reverberating percussion by Anoop Banerjee in Sankalp Saptak Samaroh," raves Newsline, Ahmedabad, India.

Lewis Porter – piano
Phil Scarff – saxophone
Priyank Krishna – saxophone
Pt. Anoop Banerjee – tabla
Ken Filiano – bass

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