Menu
Jazz singer Ariel Pocock returns to Greencastle for festival concert
The Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues on Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church with a free concert featuring Ariel Pocock, a jazz vocalist, pianist and composer.
This will be Pocock's second visit to Greencastle, as she was a guest performer of DePauw University School of Music last year participating in Jazz Soup, a children's workshop at Music on the Square, along with Steve Snyder, Kenny Phelps and Nick Tucker.
Pocock is stopping in Greencastle on the tail end of a summer tour that included performances at Victoria International Jazz Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and Montreal International Jazz Festival.
At 24, Pocock has received international acclaim as an equally captivating jazz pianist, vocalist and composer. Recognized by notable institutions such as Downbeat Magazine, Essentially Ellington at Lincoln Center, and the Kobe-Seattle International Jazz Vocal Competition, she is steadily gaining momentum as a uniquely gifted and versatile musician.
Pocock's original compositions and songs draw inspiration from a wide array of sources: Cuban and Brazilian folk music, the Great American Songbook, modern jazz composers such as Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau, and songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and Paul Simon.
"Touchstone," Pocock's debut album was released to critical acclaim in 2015. It features fresh takes on classic jazz standards, original compositions, as well as her own arrangements of singer-songwriter material.
"Living in Twilight," Ariel's sophomore recording on the Justin Time label got worldwide release June 9. Recorded in Montréal in December 2016, Ariel teams up with in-demand Montréal musicians Jim Doxas (drums), Adrian Vedady (bass) and special guest New York-based guitarist Chico Pinheiro, one of the leading figures in the modern Brazilian Jazz scene. The song selection ranges from classic American Songbook fare -- Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" and Cole Porter's "So In Love" to Chick Corea's "500 Miles" and breathtaking interpretations of Adele's "Someone Like You" and Sufjan Stevens' "To Be Alone With You" presented as an instrumental.
Greencastle Summer Music Festival's free concerts are made possible by donations from individuals and businesses, including the festival's main corporate sponsor, the Inn at DePauw, as well as an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation.
With four more concerts left in the season, the series continues next week with a performance by Claude Cymerman and Eric Edberg, followed by Philadelphia pop-folk artist Joy Ike (Aug. 9) and concluding with local blues singer Tad Robinson (Aug. 16).