Resonant Motion, Inc. presents the fourth of four events in its 2019 Jazz Up Close series, “Can I Get A Witness – Jazz Composition as Storytelling.” This year’s guests for the popular program, now in its fifth year, will share and discuss a variety of original compositions inspired by and used to tell stories through the medium of instrumental jazz.

For this event drummer and composer Gerald Cleaver leads a quartet, accompanied by saxophonist Kris Allen, bassist Henry Lugo and pianist and series curator Noah Baerman. With well over 100 recording credits to his name, drummer Gerald Cleaver is a ubiquitous presence on the NYC and international jazz scenes, equally comfortable and sought-after in the realms of straight-ahead jazz, avant-garde music, and all manner of things in between. Cleaver came of age musically in his hometown of Detroit, eventually working with musicians including Rodney Whitaker, Kenny "Pancho" Hagood, and Marcus Belgrave. His work as a composer and bandleader is comparably diverse, with multiple albums under his own name and as leader or co-leader of ensembles including Farmers by Nature, Uncle June, and Black Host.  

This event is supported in part by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, along with the Shoreline Arts Alliance.