Michael Raitzyk Quintet performs Contemporary Klezmer/Jewish Music

Todd Marcus, bass clarinet
Jeff Reed, bass
Michael Raitzyk, guitar
Mike Kulh, drums
Ben Frock, trumpet

Michael Raitzyk, of Charm City Klezmer, will exploring Klezmer/Jewish music in an open/contemporary setting with this group of popular local artists.

Michael Raitzyk has been one of the top jazz guitarists in the Baltimore-Washington area. Acclaimed for his solid rhythm chops and improvisatory imagination, Raitzyk has played with everyone from Pepper Adams and Mel Torme to Clifford Jordan and Bill Hardman. Raitzyk's versatility has allowed him to play in a variety of settings--from solo recitals to bop combos to big-band dates.

Raitzyk learned his big-band education by working in such outfits as the Gene Walker Big Band, Blue Unity, Ed Goldstein's Baltimore Jazz Orchestra, and Hank Levy's Towson State Jazz Ensemble. He honed his small-combo skills in such bands as the Sir Thomas Hurley Trio, Society Red, the Coffee Club and the Mack Rucks Ensemble.

Although he is best known for his jazz work, Raitzyk has been welcome in many different musical environments. He backed up Mary Ann Price, former vocalist with Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks and Asleep at the Wheel, when she led her own group, Sophisticated Swing. He played lead guitar on "Then Again," an album by singer-songwriter Anne Louise White. From 1990 to 1993 he was leader of Pachamama, a reggae-funk ensemble which played throughout Maryland.

Raitzyk started playing at six years old when he inherited his father's unused guitar. He began with the usual folk tunes but when he was 11 years old he saw Pat Metheny with the Gary Burton Quartet at a concert in Baltimore and he was an instant convert to jazz. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School, the performing-arts magnet school in Portland, Oregon, where he studied music and resolved to become a professional musician. In 1981, Raitzyk moved to San Francisco and became a full-time musician. He studied Latin American music at La Penza Cultural Arts Center and sat in with many of the local Latin-jazz bands. Other local jam sessions included collaborations with a then-obscure Bobby McFerrin and members of the local hard-bop scene.

Raitzyk returned to Baltimore in 1982 where he joined the Creative Artists Music Ensemble, led by pianist Abdul Rasheed Yah-Ya, a protégé of McCoy Tyner. The John Coltrane connection was further strengthened when the young guitarist joined the Carl Grubbs Quartet. One of the biggest influences on Raitzyk, however, was Baltimore's thriving organ trio scene where the guitarist is required to reinforce the groove even as he fattens the sound of the small group. By playing with such organists as Thomas Hurley, Chico Johnson and David Ross, Raitzyk developed an unshakable sense of rhythm and a down-to-earth bluesy approach to improvisation. He currently plays with organist Greg Hatza.

Michael is also involved with Jazz guitar education and is teaching at Howard Community College, Friends School of Baltimore & the Waldorf School of Baltimore. He also teaches private lessons and enjoys it.

Tickets: $10