Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Gene Lake was born Oliver Gene Lake, Jr. on January 12, 1966 in St. Louis, Missouri. He began playing drums when he was five years old, and took lessons with Pheeroan akLaff as a high schooler at The High School of Music & Art in New York City. He attended Berklee College of Music, where he worked with Tommy Campbell, and played in local Boston bands in a variety of styles.

Gene played with his father in New York City in 1987 and 1988, then joined Henry Threadgill’s ensemble in 1990. Later in the Nineties, Gene worked with Steve Coleman, Lunar Crush with David Fiuczynski and John Medeski, Marcus Miller, Brandon Ross, David Sanborn, the World Saxophone Quartet, and Joe Zawinul.

He has recorded seven albums as a leader that includes The Oliver Lake Quartet, Dedication, and At This Time and another ten as a sideman. Outside of jazz, Lake also performed and recorded with R&B musicians Maxwell and Me’Shell Ndegeocello.

Drummer Gene Lake, who is the son of saxophonist Oliver Lake, continues to perform and record.

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JOHN GILBREATH

After a celebrated career that spans more than three decades at Earshot Jazz, John Gilbreath is retiring from his role as executive director. Let’s come together and celebrate with him. The evening includes mingling, music, and munchies.

Music by the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) Septet. Lite bites provided. Cash bar.

Registration required. Admission is Free. Donations Appreciated In-person*

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Johnny Varro was born January 11, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York and began studying piano at the age of ten. During his teenage years, he was introduced to jazz by way of the Commodore Music Shop in New York City. There he met the manager Jack Crystal, father of Billy Crystal, who was running jam sessions on the Lower East Side. At these sessions he met Willie “The Lion” Smith, Big Sid Catlett, Joe Thomas, Hot Lips Page, Joe Sullivan, Pete Brown and others. The experience of sitting in for Joe Sullivan and Willie “The Lion” Smith was invaluable and soon allowed Johnny to become a hired player.

His first professional job was with Bobby Hackett touring the East Coast with his quartet. In 1954 he worked at Nick’s with Phil Napoleon and later with Pee Wee Erwin. In 1957 Eddie Condon asked Johnny to play at his club as intermission pianist, which led to his becoming Eddie’s band pianist.

For the next several years between the Condon tours, Varro worked most of the jazz rooms around New York City before moving to Miami in 1965 to work on the Jackie Gleason Show. He toured with the Dukes of Dixieland, then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he lived, played and toured for the next 14 years. He created the swing group covering the styles of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s called Swing 7.

Pianist Johnny Varro, who has recorded some two dozen albums, made a final move to Tampa Bay, Florida in the early Nineties, where he continues to play jazz festivals, jazz parties and concerts around Europe and the United States.

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JIHEE HEO

Now, nearly 15 years into her vibrant New York City journey, South Korean jazz pianist Jihee Heo has flourished as she immerses herself in the city’s magnificent jazz piano legacy. Her rich experiences living in various countries have beautifully shaped her unique musical style before she found her home in New York. Now a steady presence in the city’s clubs, her quartet is featured on her recent album “Flow,” which was appropriately recorded at the historic Rudy Van Gelder Studio with Joe Farnsworth, Alex Claffy, and Vincent Herring. Today, Jihee invites you to indulge in the joy of her music, where fresh and vivid colors come alive, supported by the strong rhythm section of Alex Claffy and Aaron Kimmel. Grounded in a deep respect for traditional jazz, Jihee beautifully intertwines its rich history with her innovative spirit. As Vincent Herring aptly states, “She is a promising voice at the piano, pointing to the future of jazz.”

Jihee Heo is a jazz pianist and composer based in New York City. Heo has showcased her talents at renowned festivals and venues, including Smalls, Mezzrow, Birdland, Zinc, Django, Sunset Sunside in Paris, and Jacques Pelzer in Belgium, as well as prominent events such as The Washington D.C. Jazz Festival, Leverkusen Jazz Festival, The International African Arts Festival, The Jersey Shore Festival, Bergen PAC, and Harlem Stage, among others.

The Band: Jihee Heo on Piano | Alex Claffy on Bass | Aaron Kimmel on Drums

Tickets: $30.00 + $7.00 fee | $15 food/beverage minimum per person not included in ticket price.

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FREDA PAYNE

Freda Payne is a Detroit native who never realized her talents until the early age of twelve. Her piano teacher discovered her singing ability and from that point on Freda was singing for local affairs around Detroit and even entered talent contest on local TV as well as the national TV show, Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour. At age fourteen she joined The Don Large’s Make Way for Youth radio show broadcasted on station WJR in the penthouse of the Fisher Bldg. Freda’s first album deal was on the Impulse label with ABC Paramount in New York. After The Lights Go Down Low and much more. Recording her next album three years later on MGM records. Was an early protégé of Quincy Jones during his big band era, also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008 in honor of Quincy’s seventy fifth birthday celebration.

She has just released her latest 26th CD, Capitol Records Studio Recording Jazz Big Band cd Let There Be Love full of Duets with Johnny Mathis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling and Kenny Latimore that is charting the jazz charts. Her previous CD Come Back Love on the Artistry label for Mack Ave, was a return to Freda’s true jazz roots

Tickets: $50.00 + $7.00 fee | $15 food/beverage minimum per person not included in ticket price.

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