KEITH DAVID
Keith David With The Noel Freidline Quartet
A classically trained, multiple Emmy award winning actor and voiceover talent, he is also a remarkable singer. He has presented Too Marvelous for Words, in which he portrays the legendary singer Nat King Cole, at venues around the country. He is developing a show about the legendary blues singer Joe Williams, Here’s to Life.
Born and raised in New York, Keith became interested in the arts at a very young age. After appearing in his school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, he knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He enrolled in New York’s High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at The Juilliard School. After graduation, he was immediately hired by Joseph Papp as an understudy for the role of Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. His work with Mr. Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival launched his incredible career.
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QUIANA PARLER
with The Lavon Stevens Trio
As lead vocalist, lyricist, and composer for internationally and critically acclaimed two-time Grammy Award-winning roots music group, Ranky Tanky, Parler spent weeks at #1 on several Billboard Jazz charts.
Quiana has spent over 20 years as the most sought-after vocalist in the Lowcountry. Known locally for years prior, she rose to national prominence after her success on the 2003 season of American Idol.
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SUTTON FOSTER
Tony Award®-winning actress and singer Sutton Foster returns to The Parker with Sutton Foster: Christmas Time Is Here! This show will feature her singing a collection of songs that includes a mixture of holiday classics and her own personal holiday favorites.
Foster is one of her generation’s most celebrated Broadway actresses, having won two Tony Awards® for her performances in Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has starred in numerous other Broadway productions, including Violet, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, and most recently concluded a lauded run in The Music Man.
Other notable stage performances include Into the Woods, Sweet Charity, and The Wild Party. In addition to her work on stage, Foster is known for her performances on television, including the hit series Younger, Bunheads, The Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Aura Rully was born Aura Urziceanu in Bucharest, Romania on December 14, 1946. She grew up surrounded by classical music, as her father was a concertmaster with the symphony orchestra. Her vocal talent emerged very early and she sang from the time she was a little girl. She was a natural and a fast learner even though she didn’t take any formal lessons until her late teens. While she likes all kinds of music, jazz is her favourite. She was just over 13 years old when she recorded a big-band song.
She started scatting before she even knew what it was. She was just bored with the lyrics. She found out what scatting was when she heard Ella Fitzgerald do it. Her first appearance was as a guest on the Ray St. Germain Show. Sell-out performances at Club Morocco, the only jazz club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada followed. It was there Ellington spotted her, taking some time out from a concert performance to drop by the club. After jamming together the next day, he sent her a ticket to New York and she performed with him full-time in the U.S. until his death two years later, in 1974. Over the course of her career, Aura has composed her own music and recorded four of her own albums.
She has toured and performed with Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Ahmad Jamal, Hank Jones, Thad Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Paul Desmond, Joe Pass and Mel Lewis.
Vocalist Aura Rully, who has performed as Urziceanu-Rully in America, continues to perform and record.
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PHILLIP MANUEL
Influenced greatly by Ella Fitzgerald, Phillip Manuel is a gifted jazz vocalist with a poised, polished and gracefully lithe voice. Manuel’s rich baritone has been heard in many contexts over the last thirty years, from jingles and commercials to global tours with Terence Blanchard and Bill Summers.
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