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Pianist Eli Yamin of Jazz at Lincoln Center had been looking for a place to play in his neighborhood of 14 years. When the storefront on the corner of W. 218th Street and Indian Road began undergoing renovations several years ago, Yamin and many others in the neighborhood started dreaming of what it might be.
Indian Road Café has become just the venue to entice internationally acclaimed musicians and performers, like Yamin, to perform in the neighborhood’s northwestern-most corner.
Yamin plays blues and bop the last Tuesday of every month at the Café, each month with different guest musicians, often stars in their own right. The atmosphere is warm and intimate. Local regulars mingle with those who may have travelled a bit farther to enjoy the music.
In an unexpected combination, Yamin began the set Tue., July 27 playing piano with Bob Stewart on tuba. The piano spoke, and the tuba answered. The tuba quipped with its own question, and the piano responded in grandiose style. Piano and tuba continued in conversation, lighthearted and casual at first, later speaking to a somber mood.
In the second set, Curtis Stewart joined in on violin, turning the conversation from back and forth banter to a more complicated weaving of expressions. Pressure, spirit and force built until the music reached a raucous tipping point. Yamin was up on the floor, exhorting the crowd to clap and sing, then back at the piano, all sway, swagger and movement.
Yamin said he thinks of different emotions and stories when he plays. A song in the first set called “Rwandan Child” is based on the story of a child wise beyond her years because of what she has seen. However, the story does not stop there.
“You play the blues to heal the blues,” said Yamin. “The purpose of the music is to heal.”
Yamin said he seeks to introduce jazz and blues music to people who may not have been exposed to it. Yamin has played throughout the world, serving as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Throughout his travels, he has seen music bring people together from a variety of backgrounds.
“I like to think it’s our small way of making peace in the world,” said Yamin. “It’s a celebration of life. It’s our diversity, our creativity, our imagination, and our funk.”
Yamin is the Artistic Director of The Jazz Drama Program and Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy. Yamin performs at the Indian Road Café the last Tuesday of each month. For more information on Yamin, visit his Web site at http://www.eliyamin.com/. For a schedule of performances at Indian Road Café, visit the Café Web site at http://www.indianroadcafe.com/.
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