Violinist Jason Anick and pianist Matt DeChamplain are teaming up for this special celebration of the music of two jazz legends, violinist Stephane Grappelli and pianist Oscar Peterson. Anick and DeChamplain, who met while studying jazz at the Hartt Conservatory, have been performing and recording together in various formations since 2005. Over the years their musical journeys have taken many twists and turns, but the unwavering influence and musical stylings of Grappelli and Oscar Peterson in their respective playing is undeniable. At the age of 12, Anick had the opportunity to meet and see Grappelli perform during one of his last tours of the U.S. This was a pivotal moment in Anick’s musical upbringing and set him on a path to becoming an accomplished jazz violinist himself and a torchbearer of the late Grappelli.

As a young pianist, DeChamplain got his hands on some Oscar Peterson solos that were made for the player piano that his family owned. He was entranced by Peterson’s virtuosity and ability to glide across the piano with such ease. Feeling inspired, he set out on a journey to master the stylings of the greats like Oscar Peterson and his predecessor Art Tatum. 

 Anick and Dechamplain, along with bassist George Delancy, will be performing swinging arrangements from the various recordings Grappelli and Peterson collaborated together on over the years. 

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One of the youngest violin professors at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Anick is considered “a rising star in the world of jazz violin and mandolin” (Downbeat Magazine). In addition to leading his own contemporary jazz ensemble and performing with the Rhythm Future Quartet, Anick has been touring and recording with Grammy award-winning Nashville guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson since 2008 when he was recruited while still a senior at the Hartt Conservatory.  

Over the past few years, Jason has been focusing on arranging and composing for the Rhythm Future Quartet, which he started with Finnish guitarist Olli Soikkeli. With performances all over the U.S. and Europe, the Rhythm Future Quartet is rapidly becoming one of the preeminent Gypsy jazz groups in the country. 

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Pianist Matt DeChamplain has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, Berks Jazz Festival, New York’s JVC Jazz Festival, The Berklee Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and renowned jazz clubs such as Regatta Bar, Smalls, and Yoshi’s. In 2008, Matt was selected for the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program where he engaged in a two week intensive composition and performance workshop under the instruction of jazz luminaries Dr. Billy Taylor, Nathan Davis and Curtis Fuller culminating in three performances filmed live from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. That same year he was part of a group lead by bassist Nat Reeves that toured New Ross, Ireland. In 2010, Matt participated as a semifinalist in the Martial Solal Jazz Piano Competition in Paris, France. Currently Matt holds a faculty position at the Hartt School (University of Hartford, Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz). He has also taught at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, led the big band at Glastonbury High School, and taught at the Artist’s Collective, the Litchfield Jazz Camp, and New Hampshire’s Jazz All State.