One of Maine's busiest and most versatile pianists, Tom Snow brings two bandmates to Bates College for an evening of jazz starting at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 2, in Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, Russell Street. The concert is open to the public at no cost.

A South Portland resident, Snow enjoys a varied musical career that includes performing as bandleader and sideman, as well as teaching and studio work. A cum laude graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Snow is well-known in Maine's jazz scene and has toured through much of the nation as an accompanist to such artists as noted Irish tenor John McNally.

In Maine, Snow has worked with disco satirists Motor Booty Affair, singer-songwriter Kate Schrock and jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut. He has made two recordings as a leader: his debut CD "Northern Standard Time" (1997) and "Christmas at Mast Cove" (2001). Snow is currently music director at Cheverus High School and a member of the piano department at the Portland Conservatory of Music, both in Portland.

Accompanying Snow at Bates are bassist Jim Lyden and drummer Les Harris Jr. A native of Portland, Lyden studied jazz and classical bass and has played for more than 30 years. One of the first-call jazz bassists in northern New England, the versatile Lyden has worked with John La Porta, Roswell Rudd, Frank Foster, Herb Pomeroy, Tiger Okoshi, Jackie King and Bobby Watson. He can be heard on several jazz and folk recordings and has performed in Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands.

Like Snow, Les Harris Jr. is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. He studied extensively with Alan Dawson. He is a lecturer in music at the University of New Hampshire and a member of the UNH Faculty Jazz Sextet. From 1983 to 1995, Harris played drums for the jazz vocal group The Ritz, with performances worldwide and seven recordings for the Pausa and Denon labels. Harris has also toured with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and performed with Clark Terry, Diana Krall, Scott Hamilton and Gray Sargent. He also teaches at the University of Southern Maine and Phillips Exeter Academy.]

For more information about the concert, please call 207-786-6135.