TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student.

Keigo Hirakawa celebrates the release of his 3rd leader album, "Pixel" from Origin Records.  The Keigo Hirakawa Trio is a virtuosic piano trio that explores original compositions and redefines jazz standards to make it their own. Joining Hirakawa is Brandon Meeks on bass and Jeff Mellott on drums.

Keigo Hirakawa - piano

Brandon Meeks - bass

Jeff Mellott - drums

website: www.keigohirakawa.com

videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUwu9rcLxEo

upcoming album! https://originarts.com/recordings/recording.php?TitleID=82874

Over the period of 20 years as a professional jazz pianist and 7 full-length album appearances (3 as leader), Keigo Hirakawa has transformed himself from a student of the jazz masters to an artist with vision and unique sense of expressions. His jazz piano trio is well-known throughout the Midwest for their willingness to be musically spontaneous on stage, exploring original compositions and redefining jazz standards to make it their own. He was a student of Danilo Perez, Stephen Scott, and and Alan Pasqua, has appeared on stage alongside Donald Byrd, Joe Lovano, JD Allen, Duane Eubanks, Carla Cook, Bob Moses, and Allen Vizzutti. His latest album (2023) features jazz bassist Robert Hurst. “Pixel” trio “And Then There Were Three” enjoys radio plays over 100 stations throughout USA. 

Bassist Brandon Meeks is seeking to redefine how Gary, Indiana is only known as the home of the Jackson Family. The independent bassist, producer, arranger, and beatmaker is gaining steam in the crowded world of Jazz, Hip-Hop and R&B by choosing to follow his own path and ignoring the allure of popular trends. Meeks’ professionalism and dedication to the craft of making music brought him to the attention of Don Cheadle. Brandon was cast in Cheadle’s 2016 directorial debut film, Miles Ahead—a movie about iconic musician Miles Davis. Brandon worked directly with both Cheadle and jazz artist Robert Glasper during the film’s production. He was chosen to play the character of legendary bassist, Ron Carter.

Brandon’s skill as a jazz bassist was a major reason he was chosen to be in the film and this has allowed him to reach an entirely new fanbase. He is now taking full advantage of his good fortune and capitalizing on this moment by introducing people to all of the work he has done that allowed him to gain ground in the industry.

Born in Cincinnati, OH, drummer, percussionist, and educator Jeff Mellott holds degrees in music education from Sinclair Community College and Ohio University. Jeff earned his Masters in Jazz Studies at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he taught as a graduate assistant. At CCM, Jeff was fortunate enough to study with the great Art Gore and legendary John Von Ohlen. Jeff has followed his passion for music and education by teaching percussion and jazz at several schools throughout Ohio and Kentucky including, Lakota West High School, Turpin High School, Amelia High School and Middletown High School. For the 2015/2016 school year, Jeff was the visiting Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Morehead State University. There he taught alongside renowned percussionist Brian Mason, and others. Education continues to be a central focus of Jeff’s career.

As an active performer, Jeff has played across the United States with groups spanning genres including jazz, R&B, and post-rock. Currently, Jeff performs with the Brandon Coleman Quartet and Us, Today. Throughout his career, Jeff has had the honor of opening for acts such as Galactic, Terence Blanchard Quintet, Mike Dillon Band, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Snarky Puppy, Sylvan Esso, Kishi Bashi, and many more. Jeff has more recently performed with Snarky Horns, Joel Frahm, Glenn Zaleski, Noah Preminger, Gary Versace and Randy Villars with many more engagements in the near future.

Jeff endorses Canopus Drums, Bosphorus Cymbals, and Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trust Foundations, which include grants from the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation (2020-2021; 2022-2023 seasons), the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation (2021-2022; 2022-2023 seasons), and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust (2021-2022; 2022-2023 season). Special concert event support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season). Activities are made possible in part by the Arts Organization Support (AOS), Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency (2023-2024 season).

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation (2020-2023 seasons).

The Student and Home Grown Series concerts made possible, in part, with support from the ArtsEverywhere Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and the Arts Project Support Grant and the Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.