Praised for ”spirited composition and inspired playing” (Jazz Alchemist, Poland), The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, one of the longest running large jazz ensembles in the world, will perform two premieres by founder/director Mark Harvey:  Commemoration (Boston 2013), a tribute to the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon tragedy, and Spaceways, celebrating the Sun Ra centennial.  Also on tap: Harvey’s No Walls, selected as the official song for JazzBoston’s Jazz Week (April 21-30, 2014).  The show is Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 8:00 pm, at MIT’s mainstage, Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA.  Free admission.  Information:  617 452 3205 or 617 776 8778.

This concert is presented by MIT Music and Theater Arts, in conjunction with JazzBoston’s Jazz Week and the Smithsonian Institution’s observance of April as National Jazz Appreciation Month.

With global distribution of 11 CDs and wide-ranging performances in festivals, clubs, concert halls, colleges and universities, Aardvark has been a force in the international jazz scene for 40 years. The band has premiered more than 150 works for jazz orchestra. Guest artists who have appeared with Aardvark include jazz luminaries Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Lewis Porter, Vinny Golia, Dominique Eade, Jay Clayton, Paul Lovens, Rajesh Mehta, Matt Savage and Walter Thompson.

 Mark Harvey is Aardvark’s founder, music director, and principal composer/arranger.  He has performed as trumpeter in the U.S., Mexico and Europe; has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Arista/Novus); and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee, Sam Rivers, Joe Carroll, Kenny Dorham and others.  A world-renowned composer, he has received awards and commissions from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 15^th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert, the MIT Wind Ensemble, and Meet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, among others.  Commissions have featured such notables as Joe Lovano, Steve Turre, Herb Pomeroy and Ran Blake. Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies and composition at MIT.  He is a founding board member of the nonprofit jazz advocacy organization JazzBoston.

Aardvark is: Arni Cheatham, Peter H. Bloom, Phil Scarff, Chris Rakowski, Dan Zupan/saxes and woodwinds; K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass/trumpets; Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser/trombones; Jeff Marsanskis, Bill Lowe/bass trombones, tuba; Richard Nelson/guitar; John Funkhouser/string bass; Harry Wellott/drums; Jerry Edwards & Grace Hughes, vocalists; Mark Harvey/trumpet, music director.

Aardvark is managed exclusively by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, managing director.  Telephone:  617 776 8778.  Visit:  www.aardvarkjazz.com