Saturday, February 24 2018, 8:00 pm. Cover, $15.

Third Life Studio, 33 Union Sq, Somerville.

A night of jazz featuring Harvey Diamond, piano; TickleJuice members James Merenda, saxophone, and Jon Dreyer, bass; Miki Matsuki, drums.

Purchase tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3183717

The legendary jazz pianist Harvey Diamond has graced the Boston area for decades with his music which is at once both deeply technical and deeply emotional to even the most casual listener. Critic Steve Elman of The Arts Fuse says that pianist Harvey Diamond … is almost as revered among Boston musicians as the Dalai Lama is in Tibet. He has done concert appearances with NEA Jazz Masters Sheila Jordan, Dave Liebman, and Art Farmer, and also with Charles Neville, Harvie S, Jay Clayton, Joe Hunt, Jason Palmer, Cameron Brown Marcus McLaurine, and many others. After decades of patience by his fans, he has finally released his first CD as a leader, The Harvey Diamond Trio. He is also a revered teacher.

Pianist/saxophonist/bandleader/composer James Merenda has performed with; Ran Blake at the Knitting Factory, the Darmstadt Jazz Festival in Germany and recorded on Hatology Records; with Roswell Rudd and Beat Science, Cameron Brown, Joe McPhee, Joe Hunt, former Ornette Coleman keyboardist Dave Bryant, Grammy Award winning pianist David Maxwell, the Either/Orchestra, the Ardvark Orchestra, the Slip, contemporary guitarists Marc Ribot, David Fiuczynsdi, Dave Tronzo and with drummer Bob Gullotti. James has also performed on Radio France, Radio Europa in Italy and in Holland, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium with Perilous Foil and in Cambridge at the Mandorla Music Series. Jon Garelick of the Arts Fuse calls him irrepressible and says Merenda never fails to bring it. James is a brilliant performer and composer, but beyond that he's also an exceptional listener, both to his exceptional record collection and to every musician on the bandstand with him.

Bassist Jon Dreyer is one of Harvey Diamond's closest collaborators. He also performs regularly with James Merenda, both as a member of his band TickleJuice and also in more mainstream jazz settings, and has performed with most of the Boston jazz community, including Jason Palmer, Adam Janjigian, Yoko Miwa, Frank Wilkins, Joe Hunt and Steve Langone.