Actual Proof Contemporary Jazz Quartet to Present WCCA Concert This Saturday, Oct. 10
This Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m., Actual Proof, the "all-star" contemporary jazz quartet based in Syracuse, NY, will perform in the Coolidge Theatre at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. This is the second concert of the Wellsboro Community Concert Association's seven-concert series.
Actual Proof members are experienced, professional musicians known for blending traditional jazz with modern electronic elements and high-energy improvisation. They are: Ronnie France, master on 5- and 6-string bass guitars, Brian Scherer on saxophone and flute, Ed Vivenzio on keyboards, and Evan DuChene on drums.
France was the touring bassist for Doc Severinsen of the “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”; recently worked with luminaries such as Paul Shaffer (David Letterman) and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels; and is an Upstate NY favorite bassist playing with Primetime Funk, and The Funky Jazz Band with Dave Hanlon.
Scherer has shared the stage with many national recording artists from The Smothers Brothers to Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, Jr.; leads his own jazz quartet, is an active touring artist, and a featured player with The Desantis Orchestra, ESP, Stroke, and the Funky Jazz Band.
DuChene has toured with recording artist Dry Jack among others, backs up artists and is a member of the three-time Syracuse Area Music Award (SAMMY) winning band ESP, and of the Five Families Ensemble led by Utica legend Monk Rowe.
The Actual Proof quartet is celebrated for exploring contemporary jazz fusion spanning the 1960s to the 1970s and beyond. The transformation in jazz recording started in the 1960s with bands like Weather Report, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.
Contemporary jazz uses electronic instruments, including keyboards and synthesizers instead of an acoustic piano, and 5- and 6-string bass guitars rather than an upright bass.
Actual Proof's focus during their 2025-2027 theater residencies in Syracuse, NY and upcoming theater tour in the Northeast, is on intricately reconstructing the complex rhythms, vibrant hooks, and deep-pocket grooves of the legendary artists who shaped the fusion movement, such as David Sanborn, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Joe Sample, Yellowjackets, and many others and performing covers and tributes to them.
At Wellsboro, the quartet will play contemporary jazz fusion pieces, such as “Slang” composed by Michael Brecker and first recorded on The Brecker Brothers final studio album “Out of the Loop” in September of 1994, and “Timeline” composed by Pat Metheny and featured on Michael Brecker’s Grammy-nominated album “Time is of the Essence” released on January 1, 1999.
Those who have purchased tickets will be seated between 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 10. At 7:15 p.m., season and individual tickets will be sold at the door, if available.
Adults, 19 and older, who purchase a $100 season ticket will cut the cost of each of the six remaining concerts by more than a third. Individual tickets are $30 per concert. Tickets for students ages 13 to 18 are $8 per concert. Youngsters ages 12 and under are admitted free to all regular season concerts when accompanied by a paying adult.
For more information about a season subscription and individual tickets for children and adults, reserving seats, or for payment options, visit wellsborocca.org or call the Wellsboro Community Concert Association at 570-404-0411.
