

JazzTimes hailed the band as "a bracing walk on the wild side of the big band spectrum. Aardvark suggests the best and the brashest of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, George Russell, and even Frank Zappa." Founded in 1973, the legendary band performs critically-acclaimed original music by founder/director Mark Harvey, and is known for its exhilarating concerts of Duke Ellington's music, works by other American masters, and performances with film, poetry, and dance. Winner of the 2000 Independent Music Awards, the band has premiered 175 new works and released 15 CDs to rave reviews around the globe ("a stunning hour of music that is in turn beautiful, poignant and raucous -- Billboard.com). Trumpeter/composer Mark Harvey won Meet the Composer grants and awards/commissions from ASCAP, National Endowment, and Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Commissioning Program; performed with George Russell, Baird Hersey, Gil Evans, Sam Rivers; teaches at MIT.