Joe DeCara

All seats $15

Joe DeCara, Sr. became interested in the guitar at the early age of four. Having a good ear for picking out melodies he was soon learning popular songs by attending a neighbor's weekly band rehearsal. In 1964 The Beatles came out and changed the music world — their songs were a major influence on Joe's desire to become a professional guitarist. In the 1970's Joe became interested in classical guitar and concentrated his efforts on learning compositions by Villa Lobos, Tarrega, Fernando Sor, Johann Sebastian Bach and Matteo Carcassi to name a few. Concurrent with studying classical guitar Joe had an admiration for Jazz and was soon woodshedding hours a day learning the repertoire of the jazz legends. In 1975 he met and jammed with virtuoso jazz guitarist Joe Pass and got together whenever he was playing in town. He went on to meet and play with other Jazz greats, Lenny Breau and Ted Greene in the years to follow. In 1979 Joe moved briefly to Los Angeles, California and met studio guitar giant Dennis Budimir. Dennis introduced Joe to the studio which was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. The masterful movie scores and television themes performed by the finest musicians in the world left an indelible impression on Joe which further influenced his writing and playing style. Only spending several months in Los Angeles, Joe moved back to Baltimore, Maryland when his father fell ill and died. He has kept busy in the years thereafter as a performer, educator, writer, arranger and author. In 2005 Joe collaborated with his son (22), co-wrote the music for the cd "Kaleidoscope" and formed the "Joe DeCara Group". Joe says his collaboration with his son has been the most rewarding experience musically and inspirationally. "Playing guitar and writing new music with my son has rekindled the passion and enthusiasm I had when I started back at the age of four."

Vocalist Aleta Greene has enjoyed a warm relationship with her hometown of Baltimore since she was “discovered” singing in one of her classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art and was immediately introduced to a world alive with cutting edge musicians and recording engineers. Meeting them at the onset would shape her view of her future contributions. She would be limitless in the way she used forms: folk, jazz, pop, blues, meditative… all combined to create an eclectic and entertaining musical spectrum meant to please and surprise her audiences. Aaah, the audiences! Aleta’s audiences span the demographics because her goal has always been to just make thoughtful, quality music tastefully drawn from many genres. Because of this diversity, she has been a favorite pick in critic’s and reader’s polls. Her singing and voice-overs on commercials and public service spots have won advertising association awards and her club appearances have garnered the attention of the media, including features on Maryland Public Television, National Public Radio, the local affiliates of CBS, NBC, and ABC, articles in Baltimore Magazine, The Baltimore Sun, and other periodicals. She and her top-notch ensembles have performed at such concert events and venues as Artscape!, Pier Six, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Maryland Art Place, Towsontowne Festival, and The Baltimore Museum of Art. Aleta has been missing from the music scene until recently, having taken a lengthy respite to care for her mother, who was her “biggest fan.” She is now back, re-energized, re-inspired and performing with The Joe DeCara Group.