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Sunday, November 23, 2025
— a “hybrid” event —
John Howard Trio
John Howard, piano
Eugenio Ibarz, upright bass
Jason Walker, drums
Serenading Silver
Celebrating Horace Silver with 9 of his classic quintet compositions arranged for trio.
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at school in Connecticut, Silver got his break on piano when his trio was recruited by Stan Getz in 1950. Silver soon moved to New York City, where he developed a reputation as a composer and for his bluesy playing. His work with the Jazz Messengers, co-led by Art Blakey, brought both his writing and playing the most attention. After he left Blakey in 1956, Silver formed his own quintet, with what became the standard small group line-up of tenor saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums.
Program
Sister Sadie
Jody Grind
Doodlin’
Nica’s Dream
Strollin’
Senor Blues
Peace
Opus de Funk
Silver’s Serenade
BIOGRAPHY
From a musical family, John Howard played many instruments before beginning piano study in his senior year of high school. He has a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he attended on an Andy Griffith Scholarship. While in Chapel Hill he also played in the jazz bands and performed with drummer Louis Bellson and trombonist Al Grey of the Count Basie Orchestra. John began teaching music at the Edmund Burke School in Washington, DC in 1989, where he founded the music department. John’s Burke bands have performed at Blues Alley annually for almost 20 years. They are also founding performers of the Big Band Jam on the Mall. Since 1995 they have been annual participants in the Georgetown Day School Jazz Festival. John’s trio performs weekly at the Little Beast Bistro in Chevy Chase, DC every Thursday from 6-8 pm.
Eugenio was born in Barcelona (Spain), but grew up in Madrid and started playing classical guitar around the age of 10. Eugenio got his first electric guitar at 16 and started taking formal lessons right away. During his college years, he worked as a guitar teacher and played in pop and jazz bands. In the 90’s Eugenio worked as a freelance guitar player and teacher, giving private and group lessons and playing electric guitar and bass in different jazz ensembles. Later on, he started teaching Music History and Appreciation in the Madrid Public Schools system. Eugenio moved to the U.S. in 2002 and started giving private guitar and bass lessons with Travelling Teachers and at Alexandria Music Company. In 2005, he started taking upright bass lessons with Pepe González in Washington D.C. and has performed in different jazz and rock ensembles in the DMV area since then.
Jason Walker is a seasoned DMV drummer and percussionist whose wide range of interests have led to playing a diverse range of music including blues, Afro-Caribbean jazz, afro beat, and Americana. You can hear him throughout the DMV with the John Howard Trio, Hard Swimmin’ Fish (www.hardswimminfish.com ), Chopteeth Afro-Funk Big Band (www.chopteeth.com) , the Vibe Collective (on FB @vibecollective), and the Bumper Jacksons (www.bumperjacksons.com) .
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