GREGORY PORTER & THE BAYLOR PROJECT
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection as fundamental influences on his own sound. In 2013 he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which sold more than a million albums and earned Porter his first Grammy Award, with NPR declaring him “America’s next great jazz singer.”
His 2016 follow-up Take Me to the Alley won Porter his second Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. His 2021 release Still Rising collects new songs, covers, duets, and a selection of his much-loved favorite songs.
Featuring Jean Baylor and Marcus Baylor, The Baylor Project is a duo built on love, family, faith, culture, and community. Their debut, The Journey, garnered two Grammy nominations. Their second album, Generations (2021), earned the duo its first NAACP Image Award win for Outstanding Jazz Album-Vocal and its fourth Grammy nomination.
Marcus and Jean’s combined musicianship is unmatched. Their dynamic performances are soulful to the bone. The Baylors will raise you up and inspire you to clap along with them to a swinging mid-tempo tune. Yet, at a moments’ notice, you may be moved to tears when they change the atmosphere with a spiritual song that will stir the emotions.
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MALA WALDRON
Mala Waldron is joined by bassist James Cammack and drummer Wayne Henderson.
They will be performing a series of her Mom’s favorites from Duke Ellington to Nat King Cole and much more.
Seating is limited.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Laura Ellis was born on May 11, 1972 and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She had the fortune to become a protégé of The Manhattan Transfer founding member Alan Paul which guided the honing of her vocal skills. Steeped in the Great American Songbook she ventured on a four year run of The Vintage Voice, and toured with The Wonderelles, covering the music of the famous girl groups.
Ellis has a penchant for cinema noir of the 40s and 50s and replicates those vintae tunes by bringing those seedy characters to life. Her Cinema Sweethearts celebrate the days of teen idols and her cabaret performances transport listeners back in time. Her blend of jazz and nostalgia has entertained audiences across the nation..
She has recorded a contemporary vocal jazz album, Here Lies Love, produced by Alan Paul, and Femme Fatale, featuring the classic songs from the dangerous dames of film noir. In 2016 she released Broken Lovely, a compendium of love songs of the broken, mended, and free.
Now calling Los Angeles, Californiar home, vocalist Laura Ellis has lent her voice to History Channel’s Route 66, Modern Marvels documentaries, the HBO series Carnivale, a commercial appearance with the late Della Reese, and ABC’s Modern Family.
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The Jazz Voyager
Criss-crossing the country once again, the Jazz Voyager is on a six hour flight to that Golden Gate city where many a heart has been left. This trip will be to honor the seventy year career of the extraordinary vocalist Patti Austin and her contributions to the music industry that began on the Apollo stage at the age of four.
The fun will be had when all congregate in the Miner Auditorium of the SFJazz Center for this gala tribute. Opened in 2013, the center is located in the heart of the city’s arts district, and includes two performance spaces, multiple music practice rooms, a digital lab, and the B-Side restaurant and bar.
This evening will feature performances not only by the honoree but by Terence Blanchard, PJ Morton, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Siedah Garrett, Dumpstaphunk, SFJAZZ Collective, and more.
The center is located at 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. For tickets and more info go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/patti-austin.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Leah Souza was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts on May 8, 1982 and began singing at a very early age. She started performing at functions and outdoor concerts when she was thirteen. At 16, she was the lead vocalist of a seven piece band that was selected in a national talent search to perform in California. In high school she was the jazz band’s featured vocalist and played the tenor saxophone in multiple bands. She got her big break nationally singing on a song with her flugelhornist father, appropriately titled A Song for My Father.
Leah studied with jazz singer and vocal coach Rebecca Parris while in high school. For several years she regularly attended a Jazz All-Stars show at “Ricky T’s Jazz Club” on the South Shore. There she listened to the top jazz musicians in New England on a weekly basis and eventually began sitting in with the different All-Star bands. Studying these musicians helped her develop as a musician herself, as well as, the opportunity to meet and perform with many wonderful and often legendary performers.
She crafts her duo, trio, quartet or quintet to the venue she is playing with performances that may be lively and exciting, or romantic and full of standard ballads. Souza has performed at the cream-of-the- crop venues in Boston, Massachusetts and throughout New England.
Vocalist Leah Souza continues to pursue her burgeoning career as she expands her reach.
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