The Freight hosts the premiere performance of the Damien Masterson Ensemble in The Beauty of the Classical Harmonica, featuring chromatic harmonica whiz Damien Masterson. An international recording artist and an instructor at Berkeley's famed Jazzschool, Damien is joined tonight by award-winning guitarist Julio Reyes and celebrated pianist Allison Lovejoy for an around-the-world musical tour of beloved classical, operatic, and traditional North and South American melodies, peppered with humorous tales about the "harp."

The show, conceived and written by noted Bay Area composer and impresario Ken Malucelli, features intriguing interpretations of works by Mozart, Handel, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Sousa, Joplin, Gershwin, Bizet, Kachaturian, and much, much more.

Hailed as "a certified treasure" by Jazz Times, Damien brings a wealth of experience to his dazzling playing, his studies of jazz harmonica enriched by years spent studying and making music in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Havana, Cuba. Damien's passionate melding of world music and jazz can also be heard on his CDs, Intercambio and Cubacambio.