Michael Bellar and the As/Is Ensemble with singer/songwriter Kellin Watson

Michael Bellar

& the AS/IS ENSEMBLE

with singer/songwriter Kellin Watson

Saturday, August 21, 2010

8:00 pm

tickets $12 general / $8 seniors and students with ID in advance via Brown Paper Tickets

$15 general / $10 seniors and students with ID at the door

This is a BYOB show ~ $3 BYOB fee at the door

Michael Bellar has performed music on six continents but being a native of North Carolina, stands by his slow, southern roots. Along with creating music and touring with his group, the AS-IS Ensemble, Michael has also toured and/or recorded with Amos Lee, Art Garfunkel, Howie Day, Wheatus, Jump Little Children, Teddy Geiger, Euro pop superstar Giorgia and Jay Clifford’s Rosebud. His national TV appearances include Late Night with David Letterman, the Late Show with Conan O’Brien, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Ellen Degeneres Show, TRL, Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly and the CBS Morning Show. Michael has produced and scored music for CUT Music (LA), Fluid (NYC), Bang Music, and Razorhead.

Michael is the founder, composer and keyboardist of the AS-IS Ensemble. This highly excitable alt-jazz group has opened for John Scofield, Tea Leaf Green, Medeski Martin & Wood and JFJO. They have performed at such venues as Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the JVC and Bell Atlantic Jazz Festivals and were formerly the house band at the world-famous Blue Note jazz club in New York City.

In a review of their first ever performance in New York City, they were hailed as “Generation Next” by Billboard Magazine. Michael and the group have been named the UNSIGNED ARTIST OF THE MONTH in KEYBOARD Magazine  and were the focus of a special feature produced by the BBC Radio network in London, England.  The group has recorded three studio CDs: Turned On Turned Up (2009), Like It Is and REACT!

Kellin Watson The release of Kellin Watson's first full-length independent CD, Paper Bird, marks a shift in the musical tide for the twenty-two year old singer/song-writer.

With Paper Bird, Kellin creates an amalgam of musical genres and styles to develop her own unique sound. Blending blues, folk, jazz, rock, and pop with smart, honest lyrics, Kellin Watson etches a place for herself within the music world with this release. 

You don’t have to make a pilgrimage to Boston or New York City in search of a satisfying jazz experience – it’s available right here in Nashua ... Michael Bellar the AS-IS Ensemble, the former house band at New York City’s renowned Blue Note jazz club. Their invitingly eclectic sound is strongly recommended for those who appreciate jazz infused with humor...

The Nashua Telegraph

“GENERATION NEXT"... "Close your eyes, and you can (almost) imagine them playing an outdoor festival for tie-dye kids one day and a New York jazz club the next.”

Steve Graybow, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

“Their swing is pop savvy, their mainstream is avant flecked, and their whimsy has an earnest base.”

“It takes chutzpah - this electrocoustic quintet has as much ambition as it does chops.”

Jim Macnie, THE VILLAGE VOICE

"...the AS-IS Ensemble is moving the concept of the jazz trio into some interesting and exciting new territory…... easily and quickly take their place alongside jam jazz favorites like the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Medeski, Martin and Wood."

Dave Terpeny - Kynd Music Review

“The AS-IS Ensemble is, in a world of wannabe jazz outfits, the real thing”

Marsha Barber, ASHEVILLE MOUNTAIN XPRESS