Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jacqueline Caryl Dankworth was born on February 5, 1963 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England to jazz singer Cleo Laine and saxophonist John Dankworth. She attended St. Christopher School in Hertfordshire and is an alumna and fellow of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
She worked as an actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and in West End theatre. She played Cinderella in the musical Into the Woods and appeared in the film Shoreditch, singing the song My Man by Billie Holiday.
2003 saw Dankworth releasing her debut album As the Sun Shines Down On Me on Candid Records. This album brought her to the attention of Michael Parkinson and BBC Radio 2, and she appeared regularly on air throughout that year.
She was featured on Courtney Pine’s album Devotion, and performed with him at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the London Jazz Festival. Her sophomore album with the 2004 release, Detour Ahead. Since then she has recorded a total of seven albums.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music. Vocalist Jacqui Dankworth continues to perform, tour and record.
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ERNEST “EC3” COLEMAN III
Ernest “EC3 Coleman III BIO Ernest, a second generation musician, was born in Naples, Italy to Ernest and Rebecca Coleman. His father, Ernest Jr., was a jazz musician who played tenor sax and was also a great arranger and composer.
Ernest studied at the Naval Conservatory of Music in Norfolk, Virginia and was awarded a special honor for being the youngest student to graduate from this conservatory. After his tour with the Navy Band, Ernest moved to Los Angeles, California and began his true musical quest. He performed for Guys & Dolls, Ain’t Misbehavin, Bourbon Street Review, and A Chorus Line.
Ernest got the call to work with Loretta Holloway in Las Vegas opening for Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, David Brenner, Yakov Smirnoff, Whoopi Goldberg, Don Rickles and many many more. Ernest soon took over as Loretta’s musical director and continued on to travel to places like Russia, Bermuda, Japan, Canada, Virgin Islands, and Brazil, among many places around the world. Ernest worked with Loretta for over twelve years, playing with major symphonies and was responsible for conducting from behind the drums.
Tickets: Student ~ $10.00 | General Admission: $25.00
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alejandro Vargas Rodríguez was born on February 4, 1980 in Havana, Cuba and started his musical studies at six years old, receiving lessons from Joel Rodríguez Milord, Ulises Hernández and Harold Gramatges. These continued until he graduated as a concert pianist from the University ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte) in Havana. He completed his studies with different seminars led by Herbie Hancock, Chucho Valdés, Danilo Pérez or Jorge Luis Prats.
When he was 20 he recorded his first album Calor, performing the arrangements of Benny Moré compositions. He began his jazz career performing at the Festival Jazz Plaza while attending college.
Forming his first jazz trio he competed in the 2001 in the Jojazz competition winning 1st Prize. Two years later his band Alejandro Vargas and Oriental Quartet is one of the most recognized in the country. With this fame he began touring internationally and his album Trapiche recorded in was awarded the best jazz jazz album of the year in Cubadisco contest in 2008.
Experimenting with a wide range of styles he moves from abstract to traditional where jazz standards and popular Cuban music are taken to the aesthetic of free improvisation. His trio plays between the contemporary and the afrocuban. For two years in 2006 he was a professor of Harmony and Popular Piano at the University of Havana and worked as a composer of audio visual and documentary at the school of international cinema of San Antonio de los Baños.
Developing an intense work on free improvisation and free jazz, he continually explores new horizons. Pianist Alejandro Vargas Rodríguez is currently recording a new trio album across different landscapes from the sonority of the oriental organ evoking the rural Cuban fields to mambo to the blues to Monk’s minimalism.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cindy Scott was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on February 3, 1966 into an extended family of musicians and educators. Her mother was a concert pianist, and her father played fifteen instruments and they were both band directors. She has two sisters who are musicians and educators, and her cousin, guitarist and teacher Charlie Hall founded the Black Rose Acoustic Society in Colorado Springs and Colorado Roots Music Camp.
She received a music scholarship by Louisiana State University and played flute and piccolo in the wind ensemble while earning a degree in German. She later earned a Masters in International Business from the University of South Carolina. Scott embarked on a corporate career while continuing to perform and study music. 2005 saw Cindy dedicating herself fully to her musical pursuits and enrolled in the Jazz Studies program at the University of New Orleans.
Although Scott spent many years working in the corporate world, she always had one foot in the music world as a performer, bandleader, and student of the music. She recorded her first album Major to Minor in Houston, Texas in 2001 and released it the following year. She would go on to record a total of albums as a leader, eight as a sideperson and has produced two albums to date.
Cindy has held the position of Associate Professor of Music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts since 2016 and is also the Director of Berklee’s Vocal Summit.
Vocalist Cindy Scott, who also plays the guitar and flute, continues to teach at camps and workshops around the world in addition to her performing and touring.
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DENISE KING & THE DK COLLECTIVE
Native Philadelphia Denise King was thirteen when she was introduced to Jazz by her uncle, Herbert Tatum, who had an extensive collection of Jazz LPs. This love was further cultivated by family, when a cousin Cynthia, shared her passion for the stylings and energy of Nina Simone. Her “studies” involved hours of listening to the Jazz greats, both vocalists and instrumentalists. Denise borrowed phrasing styles from Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra. She gained an appreciation for lyrics from Lil Jimmy Scott, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McCrae and Nina Simone. Listening as intensely to Jazz as she did R&B or music of her era, she had no idea that her listening sessions were preparing her for a career in music.
Denise was “discovered” by a friend who heard her singing outside of her home in Philadelphia and introduced her to the world of Jazz performance. After overcoming her terrible stage fright, Denise went on to share the stage with many legends including Bootsie Barnes, Christian McBride, Dexter Wansel, Duane Eubanks, Lonnie Plaxico, Sid Simmons, Billy Paul, and many, many more.
Tickets: $38.95
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