Fr. Stan Fortuna & His Quartet at the Redstone Room -- December 19.
Sunday, December 19, 5 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
A Catholic priest with nearly two dozen solo and group albums to his credit, Fr. Stan Fortuna brings his quartet to Davenport's Redstone Room as featured guests in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Series, the December 19 concert showcasing the gifts of this nationally renowned singer/songwriter and bass player who will perform alongside pianist Derel Monteith, saxophonist Peter Hart, and drummer Manuel Lopez III.
A Roman Catholic priest ordained in December of 1990, Fr. Fortuna is one of the eight founding members of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, an order established in the Archdiocese of New York under the jurisdiction of John Cardinal O’Connor. Prior to his conversion, he was a professional jazz musician who studied with the legendary Lennie Tristano. Fr. Fortuna often played sessions in New York City and the Tri-State area, and has played in some of the most prestigious venues in jazz – including Birdland, Lincoln Center, and Town Hall – alongside the likes of Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz, Sal Mosca, Connie Crothers, Lennie Popkin, Peter Scattaretico, and Peer Prisco. With the latter two artists, he formed the Scola Tristano Trio, which produced a number of jazz albums and with whom he continues to perform.
While studying to enter the priesthood, Fr. Fortuna worked in Spanish Harlem, where he first encountered the hip-hop genre, a style he has referred to as "rhythm and rhyme." Captivated by its improvisational nature, Fr. Fortuna learned how to integrate this phenomenon and technique into his own music and use it to reach out to the less fortunate. Assigned to the work of preaching full time, he travels extensively across the country and around the world celebrating Mass, giving talks, and performing concerts with proceeds from bookings and sales going directly toward his work with poor and underprivileged families.
With his 23-album discography dating from 1994 to 2017 and running the gamut of musical genres, Fr. Father says of his impending Redstone Room concert, “We are going to improvise, and that’s what I love to do. The spontaneity of improvising over the form of standard songs is just a beautiful thing, and the art of improvising is something that motivates me as a bass player and as a singer. But mostly, we are just going to play, and as they say in basketball, let the game come to us. We are going to call the tunes, call the tempo, and all the musicians are going to be comfortable with the songs that we play. Then we are going to let it rip, let it go, let it slide, and hopefully make some beautiful music.”
Fr. Stan Fortuna and His Quartet play the Redstone Room at 5 p.m. on December 19, admission to the concert is $15, and more information and reservations are available by calling (309)373-0790 and visiting Polyrhythms.org.
