Alto saxophonist David Bixler will be bringing his Auction Project, which blends American Jazz, Cuban
dance rhythms and Irish fiddling to the Cla-Zel Theater, 127 N. Main St., Bowling Green, Wednesday for a
free concert. Doors open at 7 p.m. with instruction in salsa dancing offered by the Latino Dance
Association.
The concert is being presented in conjunction with the Caribbean Crossroads conference running Wednesday
through Friday on campus.
The show brings together all the musicians from the 2010 collaboration with pianist and composer Arturo
O’Farrill "The Auction Project" released on Zoho Records.
The musicians include Bixler’s wife, Heather Martin Bixler, a Juilliard-trained violinist, Carlo De Rosa,
bass, Vince Cherico, drums and Roland Guerrero, percussion.
The band will also present a workshop Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in room 201 in the Bowen-Thompson
Student Union on campus.
The project had its start when Bixler was asked to put together some music for a school fundraiser when
he lived in New York. He brought in his wife, a classical freelancer who’d started studying Irish
fiddling with O’Farrill and other members of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra.
The music is a mix of originals compositions and arrangements of traditional Celtic tunes.
The band has played sporadically since the CD’s release.
Bixler said the opportunity to have the same band that recorded the CD perform a string of engagements is
a rare and welcomed opportunity. The BG shows are part of a week-long tour in the Midwest, including
stops in Chicago and Cleveland as well as a Friday evening show at the Arts Village at BGSU.
Bixler for many years worked as a freelancer based in New York City as well as performing there. He
toured with Lionel Hampton, including a concert at the White House, and Toshiko Akiyoshi.
He joined the faculty of BGSU in 2008.
O’Farrill is the son of Latin jazz legend Chico O’Farrill. He was born in Mexico, but his family has
Irish and Cuban roots. Arturo O’Farrill has sought to extend the reach and jazz beyond the expected.
Before a 2010 appearance here, he told the Sentinel: "Jazz is international music."
He said embraces "a larger vision of what we call jazz. One that embraces the whole world."