Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Robert Stuart Pratt was born on January 24, 1927 in Aberdeen, Scotland and was a professional musician from the age of 16, having mastered trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, drums and vocals. He served in the Royal Corps of Signals leading the Skyliners Army Dance Band.
In 1948 he joined Ken McIntosh’s outfit for a year before joining Ted Heath the following year. Due to his ability to play high and loud brought distinction to the brass section and his high note duets with Bert Ezzard became a highlight of the band’s appearances. Bobby was a mainstay with Heath until 1960.
As one of the busiest session players in Britain, Pratt found himself in high demand not only for jazz big band work but consistent work with top jazz and pop perfprmers in both record, tv and film studios. He played in the big bands of Humphrey Littelton, Eddie Harvey, Tubby Hayes, Tommy Watts, Vic Feldman, Jack Parnell, the Forty Two Big Band and the Downbeat Big Band.
Over the course of his career Bobby also recorded as a member of the Tommy Whittle Septet, The Kirchin Band, the Johnny Keating All Stars, Frank Chacksfield and Kenny Baker’s Dozen.
Trumpeter Bobby Pratt committed suicide on June 5, 1968 at the age of 41.
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AUDREY SHAKIR: THE QUINTET
The Quintet is the creation of renowned vocalist Audrey Shakir and saxman Vinnie D’Agostino. This innovative group draws on the swinging sounds of horn led hard bop. The set will draw on the works of bands like Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and Horace Silver.
The Band: Audrey Shakir ~ vocal, Vinnie D’Agostino Saxophone Kevin Bales ~ piano, Craig Shaw ~ bass, Ben “Jammin” Johnson ~ drums.
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DIANNE REEVES
“The most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday,” (NY Times) GRAMMY winner and 2018 NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves is jazz’s greatest living vocalist — an artist who embodies the music’s enduring values of elegance, class, and improvisational poise.
Her string of GRAMMYs includes an unprecedented three consecutive Best Jazz Vocal Performance awards and another for her contributions to the soundtrack of George Clooney’s film Good Night and Good Luck. She’s a performer with a gift for imbuing any performance space with the intimacy of a living room, and her 2015 Concord Records debut, Beautiful Life, won the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album, melding jazz with elements of R&B, pop and Latin music.
Whether putting a personal stamp on lilting Brazilian standards, exploring contemporary fair by Ani DiFranco and Stevie Nicks, interpreting American Songbook classics by the Gershwin, Porter, and Berlin, or breathing fresh life into holiday chestnuts, Dianne Reeves always gets to the heart of a song. More than two generations have passed since jazz stars took on aristocratic titles, otherwise Dianne Reeves would surely be known as The Queen.
Frida & Saturday Performance | 7:30pm
Sunday Performance | 7:00pm
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KANDACE SPRINGS
“A bewitching amalgam of Dusty Springfield’s caliginous, cream-filled soulfulness and Nancy Wilson’s sensual sophistication, with distinct shades of Michael Jackson” (JazzTimes), the stunning soul jazz singer Kandace Springs presents music from her latest Blue Note release, The Women Who Raised Me, joined by master drummer Camille Gainer and Oakland-born bassist Aneesa Strings, a former SFJAZZ High School All-Star known for work with José James.
Springs first gained national attention with her 2014 self-titled EP, a hip-hop inflected project that led to performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, appearances at the Afropunk and Bonnaroo festivals, and an invitation to perform with Prince at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. While elated by these opportunities, she started rethinking her musical direction and gravitated toward the jazz and soul-based sounds of her Nashville upbringing.
Reuniting with Grammy-winner Larry Klein, who produced her stunning debut Soul Eyes, Springs chose to honor the women whose music was such an inspiration during her early life in Nashville. Working with Klein (whose credits include albums by Lizz Wright, Melody Gardot, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock), The Women Who Raised Me is a loving tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Dusty Springfield, featuring Springs’ lustrous voice and deft piano accompanied by heavyweight players Christian McBride, Chris Potter, Avishai Cohen, and Elena Pinderhughes.
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DANIELLE WERTZ
“A masterful ballad interpreter” (NYC Jazz Record), the sublime vocalist and 2015 Thelonious Monk competition finalist performs music from her newest Outside in Music album, Other Side. An artist on the rise, the New York City-based singer and composer weaves together elements of jazz, folk, and the use of her voice as an instrumental texture to create an intimate and personal musical world.
A finalist in both the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition, Wertz released her 2017 debut album Intertwined in collaboration with Israeli pianist Tal Cohen — a sparkling collection of standards and newer compositions which was ranked #4 on Capital Bop‘s list of “Best DC Jazz Albums of 2017.” In addition to her solo career, Wertz is an avid collaborator, featured on recording projects alongside Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, Justin Rock, and Ambrose Akinmusire, among others.
With Other Side, Wertz has made a quantum leap as a composer and conceptualist, braving essential questions of the human experience with nuanced expression and deep feeling. Born of the introspection and examination that the pandemic forced upon us all, the album pairs her own lyrical compositions based in personal stories with carefully chosen covers like the Rogers and Hart chestnut “Spring is Here,” imbued with the longing and anger created by a world in lockdown.
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