ALLEN PAUL
WDNA is proud to announce February’s Jazz Encounters featuring pianist, band leader, composer, and recording artist Allen Paul performing in WDNA’s intimate Jazz Gallery. Known for genre-crossing arrangements, and a spirit of connecting audiences with the moment, he brings a feeling of joy and wonder into every performance. Allen will be joined by Brandon Lee Lewis on drums, and Mikailo Kasha on bass.
Allen’s captivating, high-energy performances blend elements of jazz, pop, gospel and world music into a harmonious and unpredictable whole that captivates and delights. Having performed in some of South Florida’s most prestigious venues, he works as a solo artist, accompanist, collaborator, and musical director, and has been evolving for over 25 years as a musician since his beginnings as a classical pianist at the University of Miami. He has performed alongside artists such as Chantae Cann, Anthony David, Raheem DeVaughn, Mike Phillips, and countless others in the jazz, R&B and gospel/Christian genres.
Tickets: $47.03
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sérgio Santos Mendes was born in Niteroi, Rio de Janiero, Brazil on February 11, 1941. S a child he attended the local conservancy with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as the jazz-inflected derivative of samba known as bossa nova emerged.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio, recorded Dance Moderna in 1961, toured Europe and the U.S., recorded with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann, played Carnegie Hall and then moved to the States in 1964, cutting two albums for Capitol and Atlantic Records.
Sergio would join the Musicians Union, Create Brasil 65, change the name later to Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, opt not to record Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va” which would become a hit for Carlos Santana, release “Mas Que Nada” that would take them platinum. He would record “Look Around” and their fourth album “Fool On A Hill”.
His breakout success was with the performance of Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love” at the 1968 Academy Awards telecast, ultimately becoming the biggest Brazilian star in the world at the time. He would go on to record for Elektra, Bell, A&M and Concord record labels, collaborate with Stevie Wonder, reunite with Lani Hall on the Bond “Never Say Never Again” soundtrack, record with will.i.am and The Black Eyed Peas, Jill Scott, India Arie and others on his Timeless project, win several Grammys over the course of his fifty-five releases and be twice nominated for an Academy Award for the Look of Love and his contributions to the 2011 film “Rio”.
Bandleader, pianist, composer, arranger and songwriter Sergio Mendes died on September 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. He was 83.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roberta Flack was born February 10, 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina but raised in Arlington, Virginia, first discovering the work of Black music when she heard Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke sing in church. During her early teens excelling at classical piano Howard University gave her a full scholarship and she entered at 15. She changed her major from piano to voice and became an assistant conductor of the university choir.
Graduating from Howard at 19, she began graduate studies in music, but with the sudden death of her father she took a teaching job, which lasted for years in the Washington, DC school system and private lessons from her home. Soon she was performing around town accompanying herself on piano but her star didn’t begin to shine until her voice teacher suggested she turn to pop music. With a performance space built in a Capitol Hill club called Mr. Henry’s it only took the ears of Les McCann to arrange an audition with Atlantic Records. After only 10 hours in the studio, Roberta’s debut album “First Take” was recorded and released.
Flack’s Atlantic recordings did not sell particularly well, until Clint Eastwood chose a song from First Take, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” for the sound track of Play Misty For Me and it became the biggest hit of 1972. Spending six consecutive weeks at #1 the song earned her first gold record and Record Of The Year Grammy in 1973.
Roberta would go on to record with Donny Hathaway, Peabo Bryson and Maxi Priest; write for television and film, going on to gather more Grammys and hit songs and albums over the course of her career and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Vocalist and pianist Robera Flack died on February 24, 2025 in Manhattan, New York.
TOMI BERRY & OMAR ASKEW
Tomi Berry is a beautiful performer, inside and out, brings natural grace, a rich soulful voice, and spiritual essence to her performances throughout the Atlanta area and beyond. Wherever she sings, she spreads joy, whether singing smooth R&B, swinging jazz, or sultry ballads, she holds an audience in rapt attention. A spiritual song-stylist, she engages her listeners in musical conversation.
Omar Askew, a 19-year-old student at Kennesaw State University, is dedicated to studying Jazz Performance on the piano. Constantly striving for self-improvement, he aims to excel every time he touches his instrument. In lessons, Omar pushes his students to become the best pianists they can be, helping them achieve their personal goals.
Cover & Parking: Free
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wade Legge was born on February 4, 1934 in Huntington, West Virginia. He played more bass than piano in his early years, and it was with the bass that Milt Jackson first noticed him, recommending Wade to Dizzy Gillespie. After hiring him, Gillespie moved him to piano and he remained a member of Gillespie’s ensemble until 1954. During his Dizzy years, Legge recorded a date in France as a trio session leader.
Following his tenure with Gillespie, Wade moved to New York City and freelanced there, playing in Johnny Richards’s orchestra, and sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson, Joe Roland, Bill Hardman, Pepper Adams, Jimmy Knepper and Jimmy Cleveland.
Legge was one of three pianists recording as a member of the variously staffed Gryce/Byrd Jazz Lab Quintets in 1957 and appeared on more than 50 recordings before retiring to Buffalo in 1959. Jazz bassist and pianist Wade Legge died on August 15, 1963 in Buffalo, New York at the age of 29.