Empire Strikes Brass with The Greg Snider Quartet: Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series

The 2019 Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series presents Empire Strikes Brass with opening act The Greg Sinder Quartet on Friday, July 26th from 6 – 9 p.m. at Webb Field at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex.

The performance is free. Please bring your chairs and blankets. Food is available from a select food truck as well as from the Summer BreakSpot program. Beer and wine will also be available for purchase. Visit local vendors and have fun at the Ocala Recreation and Parks recreation vehicle.

Each concert in the series features a local non-profit organization working to create art accessibility in our community; tonight’s featured non-profit is the Marion Cultural Alliance.

More information is available at www.levittamp.org/ocala or contact Ocala Cultural Arts at 352-629-8447.

HEADLINING ARTIST: EMPIRE STRIKES BRASS
Empire Strikes Brass (ESB) is a high energy Brass-Funk-Rock band hailing from the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Formed on the streets of their hometown, ESB is rooted in the New Orleans Brass Band tradition of second-line parades and deep moving grooves reminiscent of old school funk. Combining complex musical arrangements with thoughtful lyrical song structure, ESB can stretch out and dig deep when they are feeling it or keep things tight and concise. The fat sound of the horns paired with one dirty rhythm section makes the music downright psychedelically nasty! Founded in 2012, ESB intentionally stretches the boundaries of the stereotypical brass band paradigm, fusing sounds from various genres and weaving them together with the common thread of Brass. The diversity of the music within their sets keep audiences guessing what is next to come.

The band released its debut album, “Theme For A Celebration” in 2017 and it was tapped as one of the top 100 album releases in 2017 by WNCW 88.7 radio. Since their conception, ESB has been a consistent fixture at various festivals throughout the east coast. They’ve had the pleasure of having Warren Haynes (Allman Bros. Band and Gov’t Mule) sit in with them at New Mountain Amphitheater in Asheville, NC and the honor of headlining four years in a row celebrating the life of Dizzy Gillespie in his hometown of Cheraw, SC, for the South Carolina Jazz and Heritage Festival. ESB has co-billed with such artists as Dr. John & Lettuce. The horns have sat in on performances with Galactic, The Big Something, and many others. ESB horn players JP Furnas, Paul Juhl and Alex Bradley are also featured on the live album compilation from world-renowned artists Beats Antique entitled “Creature Carnival” released in 2015. The band is known to regularly parade off stage into the audience leading a the crowd in a raucous procession around the venue before, during or after their set. For information on Empire Strikes Brass, please visit www.empirestrikesbrass.com.

OPENING ARTIST: THE GREG SNIDER QUARTET
Greg Snider is currently an adjunct professor at the College of Central Florida (CF) in Ocala, Fl. He maintains a saxophone, clarinet, and jazz studio and directs the jazz band, jazz combo and saxophone ensemble. Greg’s performance schedule is constantly growing. As a consistent doubler, he works with school band programs as a woodwind technician, performs reed books for musicals, and presents the woodwinds to elementary schools across Marion County through the Ocala Symphony Orchestra Symphony for Schools program. Other consistent performance includes appearances with the Gainesville Orchestra and Ocala Symphony Orchestra as well as multiple jazz, rock, and show groups within the Gainesville and Ocala region. Greg is currently curating the brand new Ocala Jazz Project series at the Reilly Arts Center, which boasts guests such as Juan Rollan, Marty Liquori, and Scott Wilson. Greg offers booking with jazz duos, trios, quartets, big band, saxophone quartet, and classical chamber music as well as the Greg Snider Group.

SHOW US HOW #MUSICMOVES YOU!

Don’t forget to show us how #musicmoves you by dancing and you may receive a 2019 Levitt AMP Ocala t-shirt. Use the hashtag on Instagram and you could win $100 gift card from the Levitt Foundation. Also, show your support by stopping by our tent and completing a brief survey to tell us what you thought of the series.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Levitt Foundation, Marion Cultural Alliance, City of Ocala Municipal Government, 98.5 KTK, TriEagle Sales, Island Grove Wine Company, The Mojo Grill & Catering, Kona Ice Ocala, David and Lisa Midgett Foundation, Ocala/Marion County, Florida, Summer BreakSpot Program, and Ocala Electric Utility. Production by Oniram Productions, Inc..

The Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series is supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a private foundation that empowers towns and cities across America to transform underused public spaces into thriving destinations through the power of free, live music. Learn more at levitt.org.