Loading...Dick Sisto, nationally known jazz musician from Louisville and a former Nelson County resident, will return to Bardstown on April 17, as he and his quartet will present "Spirit in Nature," the second in the Spring season of the "Red Door Concert Series" at the Church of the Ascension, 211 North Third Street. The concert will begin at 4 p.m. (EDT) and is free to the public.
This offering by Sisto will feature musical selections, including the artist's own compositions, interspersed with readings of the work of writer and mystic Thomas Merton. Several years ago, Sisto and his family lived on a farm adjacent to the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani. He developed a relationship with Merton, his neighbor at the abbey, who was also a jazz lover.
In recent years Sisto has performed at jazz clubs throughout the midwest, including the Green Mill, Andy's and Pops in Chicago, The Blue Wisp in Cincinnati, as well as festivals in Indianapolis, Nashville, Elkhart, Ind., and Louisville. He has toured Great Britain five times, where he received rave reviews, working prominent venues. Festival gigs have included performances with David "Fathead" Newman, Milt Hinton, Ira Sullivan, Willie Pickens, Fred Hersch, Barry Ries, Harry Pickens and others.
Currently, he is the music director at the famous Seelbach Bar at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, where his trio has backed great jazz artists such as Pat Labarbera, David Liebman, Joe Morello, Joe Labarbera, Kevin Mahagony, Bobby Shew, Kenny Werner, Dave Samuels, Rich Perry, Andy Laverne, Don Braden, David Hazeltine, Walt Weiskoff and others.
He also hosts two public radio jazz shows for WFPK, Louisville: The Inner Ear and the most recent called Jazz Folio, an interview and performance show on which he has performed with and/or interviewed guests such as Phil Woods, Toots Thielmans and Paul Winter as well as most of the Seelbach guests previously mentioned. His CD "End of Time," was 28th on the Gavin Radio Airplay List. He has been the vibes teacher for the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops for more than 10 years.
Local music critics have given Sisto and his groups high praise. Jeffrey Lee Puckett, writing for the Courier-Journal, said Sisto is "consistently enjoyable," and Marty Rosen, in LEO, wrote that his music "reveals a contemplative understanding and mastery of the sheer beauty of physical sound."
"We're fortunate to present an artist of this caliber in Bardstown," said Dr. Jonas Hurley, producer of the Red Door Concert Series. "I hope anyone who appreciates the relationship between music and spirit will attend. Dick Sisto merits a large audience, and we will all be richer for this experience."
Dick's wife Penny is the internationally famous fabric artist whose innovative work has been shown worldwide and has been featured in the Smithsonian Institute. His son Jeremy is an actor who has appeared in numerous films as well as the HBO series Six Feet Under. He played the lead in the NBC and TNT mini-series, Jesus and Julius Caesar.
For more information, please call 348-4317 or visit our website at www.ascensionbardstown.org
