Dennis Lichtman and Mona’s Hot Five to Perform Feb. 16

Performance Music at The University of Scranton will welcome acclaimed musician Dennis Lichtman and Mona’s Hot Five for a night of traditional jazz Friday, Feb. 16. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free and open to the public, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.

“I am very excited to bring jazz legend Dennis Lichtman and Mona’s Hot Five to the University and to share what will certainly be an exhilarating and exciting performance with the wider community,” said Performance Music Conductor and Director Cheryl Y. Boga.

A multi-instrumentalist known primarily for his work on clarinet, fiddle and mandolin, the New York City-based Lichtman is deeply immersed in early- to mid-1900’s American music, from traditional jazz and swing to bluegrass and western swing. Over the years, he’s performed at Carnegie Hall, numerous major music festivals throughout the United States, and in Europe, Brazil and China.

In August 2018, Lichtman released the album “Just Cross the River,” which he promoted with two sold-out shows at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted by the New York Hot Jazz Festival. The album includes nine original compositions inspired by the migration of jazz legends into Queens, New York, starting in the 1920s.

Since 2007, Lichtman has served as the clarinetist and bandleader of Mona’s Hot Five, the famed Tuesday night trad-jazz sessions at the iconic New York bar Mona’s. The shows have been covered by The New York Times and were described by the Wall Street Journal as “ground zero for an emerging late-night scene of young swing and traditional jazz players.” In 2012, Hi-Tide Films produced “Tuesdays at Mona’s,” a 19-minute documentary about the sessions that was accompanied by a live CD of Mona’s Hot Four with 19 guest musicians.

Lichtman also leads the western swing sextet the Brain Cloud, which specializes in a wide array of American music, including original compositions and new arrangements of old songs. The band, which also features vocalist Tamar Korn, has held a Monday night residency at Brooklyn’s Barbés since 2011. Their third album, “Live At Barbés,” was released in April 2017.

In addition, Lichtman has performed and recorded as a regular member of Ghost Train Orchestra, Pokey LaFarge Band, Nation Beat and Jim Kweskin Band. He also serves on the faculty of the Welbourne Traditional Jazz Camp in Middleburg, Virginia, and has led college master classes and inner-city school workshops through the Midori Foundation, Lincoln Center’s Meet the Artist Series, and Beijing’s Ping-Pong Productions.

For further information about the January performance, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit the Performance Music website. For more info on Lichtman, visit dennislichtman.com.