Jazz Night Out brings together trio of renowned talent

Three prominent jazz musicians — Richie Barshay, Erica von Kleist and Don Caverly — get together for a special concert at Crush in Whitefish as a benefit for the Abbie Shelter on Feb. 26. 

The trio, who have all played at the highest echelons of jazz music, were brought together through their connections to Hilary Shaw, the Abbie Shelter director. 

Percussionist Barshay, most noted for his work with the Herbie Hancock Quartet, is Shaw’s brother.  

“Richie has been playing drums since he was 6 years old,” Shaw said. “He went to the New England Conservatory of Music and when he was 19 he got his big break with Herbie Hancock. He was part of this really cool project where Herbie Hancock did jazz standards and rearranged them for symphony. They traveled the world and that was Richie’s beginning.” 

A few years after that, Barshay moved to New York full time, Shaw said.

“He’s a special guy,” Shaw said. “He has a ton of side projects, and I think he’s releasing an album soon.”

Barshay’s eclectic resume includes touring and/or recording with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Lee Konitz, Natalie Merchant, David Krakauer, Fred Wesley, Claudia Acuña, Bobby McFerrin and Pete Seeger. Since 2004, he has led outreach projects as an American musical envoy with the U.S. State Department in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. 

Von Kleist, a flautist and saxophonist, went to middle school and high school with Barshay and Shaw when they were all growing up in Connecticut. She went on to a career in music in New York City, but after a trip to the Flathead Valley to visit friends and perform in the Alpine Theatre Project’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” she decided to make the move to Montana and has been living in Whitefish for a year and a half. 

She said that Whitefish is a more stimulating environment artistically than New York City.

“I have the space and clarity here to write and start new projects,” von Kleist said. “I have space to practice, and I even have a piano here at my house, which is unheard of in New York City.

“I’ve also just been so embraced by such a wonderful community. There are musicians here from all different genres and walks of life.” 

Von Kleist made her mark in the New York jazz scene, performing and recording with Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Sean Jones, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, DIVA and the Grammy Award-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. 

While performing is her primary passion, von Kleist has also been a prolific composer. She has been commissioned to write for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Juilliard School (from where she graduated) and the Afro- Latin Jazz Orchestra.  

Caverly has been a fixture on the Flathead Valley music scene for several years, performing and teaching on drums, bass, guitar and piano. A graduate of the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of music, Don has studied with some of the world’s most prominent musicians, including Claudio Roditi, Russel Malone, Roy Hargrove and John Clayton. Caverly performs regularly with some prominent area bands, including Human Lab, an award-winning group from Los Angeles, and Big Daddy & the Blue Notes.

Shaw said the trio is expected to play a wide range of jazz music for Jazz Night Out, from standards to Barshay’s more avant garde compositions. They did the same event last year, but Shaw said it was decided to reduce the tickets to $15 each after charging $30 last year; she feared the price might have decreased the audience for the first outing.

Von Kleist called last year’s show “an incredible musical event, to have the three of us onstage collaborating, from all our different musical backgrounds.”

“Music lovers far and wide should come check this out on the 26th,” she said. 

Tickets for Jazz Night Out are $15 at the door. 

All proceeds benefit the Abbie Shelter programs, which include an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence, a 24-hour Violence Free Crisis Line, court advocacy and support groups, and community education.

For more information, visit www.abbieshelter.org