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Mysterious Traveler - Nick Lombardelli
Mar 20, 2018
Mysterious Traveler 4 Concert Series
May 21st, 2018 / Nick Lombardelli
Parkway Central Library | Montgomery Auditorium
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
All events in this series are FREE.
Mysterious Travelers 4: Further Investigations - a collaboration between The Free Library of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Jazz Project. Back by overwhelming popular demand! FREE concerts on Monday nights from September 2017 through May 2018; audiences will hear from veteran, as well as up-and-coming musicians who are shaping the future sounds of Philadelphia with a sharp ear to the legacies of our past. This season our artists will continue to celebrate the massive and amazing collections of the Free Library by exploring them as a source of inspiration for the creation of new musical works.
Nick Lombardelli is a New Jersey native and lifelong musician. Nick graduated from The University of the Arts, obtaining his bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies in 2015 and his Master of Arts in Teaching degree in 2016. Nick has the privilege of performing with many great Philadelphia area musicians on a regular basis, including Pablo Batista, Ian O'Beirne's Slowburn, Tre Lambert, Puzzlebox, and the Jack St. Clair Orchestra. Nick Lomdarbelli has also performed in a number of Philadelphia Jazz Project events such as Philadelphia Songbook Concert Vol. 2, Another Holiday For Skins, and Polished Brass Ensemble's Pop Up Concert at The Reading Terminal Market. A few of the biggest influences in Nick's music are Horace Silver, Pat Metheny, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Elliott Smith. Nick Lombardelli hopes to continue performing, writing, and teaching music in the Philly area for years to come.
Trombonist and composer, Nick Lombardelli will be our next guest artist in the Mysterious Traveler Concert Series. In his concert, Lombardelli will musically explore Philadelphia's Railway System and share the story of it's development.
PJP spoke with Nick Lombardelli about his music, approach and the new project that he will reveal in the Mysterious Traveler Concert Series.
PJP: Can you briefly describe your musical direction?
Nick Lombardelli: I just try to play what I dig. From an audience perspective, I think that the most enjoyable thing to see is someone truly enjoying what makes their craft uniquely theirs. That's all I ever try to do.
PJP: What and whom are pivotal musical influences on your creative approach?
Nick Lombardelli: The people that I've probably listened to the most throughout my life are Art Blakey, Pat Metheny, Shostakovich, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Yes. Clifford Brown was very important, too. Listening to him was the first time I had ever felt a connection to Bebop and made me want to become a jazz musician.
PJP: What are you going to present at the Mysterious Traveler Concert Series?
Nick Lombardelli: I'm planning on presenting a piece about how Philadelphia's rail system and infrastructure shaped its modern layout, drawing inspiration from the maps department of the library.
PJP: Why is this theme/concept so important?
Nick Lombardelli: I've always dug maps and roads, whether it's finding a new way to get somewhere or seeing what happens if you take a familiar road to unfamiliar places. Philly has a cool variety of roads. In the midst of a densely populated area, you mostly find tiny alleys and one way streets in a grid. Sometimes you see big roads in that grid that seem out of place, like Washington Avenue and American Street. A lot of people don't seem to realize that these roads used to be railroads that helped the city function differently in the past while creating borders between entirely different neighborhoods. I've only been living in Philly for about 7 years, but I want to use this performance as an opportunity to learn more about something that I like and share it with others. I'm hoping that playing what you dig can stretch into conveying what you dig.
PJP: Can you explain your process and the steps that led to this performance?
Nick Lombardelli: I'm starting by narrowing down a selection of different roads and then researching how they transformed over time and how their transformation has impacted their surroundings.
PJP: How do you manage the task of creating and encouraging fresh, new, forwarding moving musical ideas while simultaneously exploring, celebrating and documenting the past?
Nick Lombardelli: I just try to draw influence from as many aspects of my life as I can. Even if you have the same musical influences as someone else, no two people will hear only the exact same things with the same ears. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I just want to play what I enjoy, and if it's fresh to me I'm hoping it'll be fresh to others.
PJP: When listening to your music what advice would you give the audience to assist with greater understanding and enjoyment?
Nick Lombardelli: Try to enjoy what you hear and see first and foremost. Don't try to worry about how it relates to anything else in the moment. Keep in simple and then maybe think about it later.
PJP: Why Jazz? When you could be doing anything else, Why this music?
Nick Lombardelli: Jazz is my favorite style to compose in. I like to express myself in my writing as much as my playing, and I have the easiest time doing that when it's jazz. Even when I write or play something that isn't jazz, I can't help but be very inspired by all of the jazz musicians I've listened to and played with.
Check out Nick Lombardelli in action in The Philadelphia Songbook Vol. 2 Concert
Keep up with Nick Lombardelli's creative activity by visiting his WEBSITE
Mysterious Traveler 4 Concert Series
May 21st, 2018 / Nick Lombardelli
Parkway Central Library | Montgomery Auditorium
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
All events in this series are FREE.
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Mysterious Traveler 4 - Further Investigations Concert Series is produced by Philadelphia Jazz Project in collaboration with The Free Library of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Jazz Project is a sponsored project of the Culture Trust | Greater Philadelphia, with funding provided by The Philadelphia Foundation.
