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Blowing Rock Jazz Society Hosts Noel Freidline Quintet This Sunday

Story by David Brewer

Charlotte’s Noel Freidline Quintet will return to Meadowbrook Inn this Sunday, August 10, to perform for the Blowing Rock Jazz Society. On Sunday August 10, acclaimed group the Noel Freidline Quintet will return to the High Country for this month’s installment of the Blowing Rock Jazz Society’s live concert series at the Meadowbrook Inn.

A veteran of the Blowing Rock jazz scene, Freidline most recently performed in the High Country as a member of Fred Germann’s Jazz Y’all-Stars. The NFQ performed at Meadowbrook last August, receiving rave reviews and prompting an invitation to return.

Freidline is a 1991 graduate of the University of North Florida, receiving a magna cum laude bachelor of arts in music. A pianist, vocalist, writer and arranger, Freidline has been the leader of his own group since 1991.

In addition to Freidline, the quintet includes vocalist Renée Ebalaroza, saxophonist Juan Rollan, bassist Tom Hildreth and drummer Jakubu Griffin.
International recording artist and saxophonist David Sanborn said of the group, “I am a big fan of the Noel Freidline Quintet. There is something indescribably special about them.”

With the NFQ, Freidline’s performance credits include the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, seven appearances at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Nashville Summer Lights Fest, a three-year house band position at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, actress Julia Roberts’ surprise 35th birthday party, the Nevada Jazz Orchestra and regular performances with the Charlotte Philharmonic.

In 2006, Charlotte Magazine named Freidline Best Jazz Musician. In September 2002, the NFQ was presented with the Rising Star Award of Las Vegas as the top up-and-coming group in the city.

The NFQ’s most recent release is a live recording done at The Jazz Corner in Hilton Head, S.C. entitled Live at The Jazz Corner. The disc captures the NFQ in their favorite setting—live in their favorite club. The NFQ’s national debut release was a double CD entitled Four Nights at the Slammer. Recorded at the home of Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame and released in February 2002, Four Nights at the Slammer spent 10 weeks on the national jazz radio Top 50 charts, peaking at #31.

Other NFQ releases include One for Maxcene in 1994, The Stranger is Me in 1996, a Christmas CD entitled Noël in 1999, and an EP entitled CD 2000 in 2000 and Carry Me Home, a collection of sacred jazz released in 2003.

In addition to their prowess on stage, the members of the NFQ are experienced educators and clinicians and have spread their wealth of knowledge and experience from the University of North Florida, to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, to an artist-in-residency program at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.

They have developed several series of educational programs, ranging from interactive presentations for school-age children, to lecture/concerts events for collegiate and community audiences, to workshops for fine arts performers and clinics and workshops specifically geared toward musicians.

As a composer and arranger, Freidline has written and recorded music for ESPN, ABC and the Walt Disney Company, with his most recent work featured on Monday Night Football and the NBA All-Star Game and heard almost weekly on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

An instructor at UNC Charlotte, Freidline directs both vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles and teaches such subjects as music business and the history of rock music.

Tickets to the show are $15 for nonmembers, $5 for students and free for Blowing Rock Jazz Society members. The show will start at 7:00 p.m. For more info call 828-295-4300 or click to www.brjazzsociety.com.

Want To Go?

Date: Sunday, August 10
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Meadowbrook Inn
Cost: $15 for nonmembers/$5 for students/FREE for members