The summer may be on its way out, but Midday Jazz Midtown keeps rolling at Saint Peter's! Pictured above (L-R): Marlene VerPlanck, Joe Alterman, Terry Waldo.
Wednesday, September 2, 1:00 p.m.
John Eckert's New York Nine
The NY Jazz 9 is a troupe of nine veteran jazz masters whose cohesion and virtuosity support an eclectic repertoire. In addition to their deft interpretations of traditional American Jazz Standards, their unique specialty programs include a collection of Emily Dickinson poems set to music, and jazz arrangements of popular Chinese songs sung in Chinese and backed by a powerhouse jazz orchestra. Trumpeter John Eckert has played with Stan Kenton, Joe Henderson, and Lee Konitz among many others.
Wednesday, September 9, 1:00 p.m.
Barbara Carroll & Jay Leonhart
Ms. Carroll's still evolving career as a jazz pianist and singer began when she played her first New York engagement opposite Dizzy Gillespie's big band at the Downbeat Club in 1947. It wasn't long before her trio was recording extensively in the 1950s for Atlantic, RCA and Verve. In 2003 Ms. Carroll was given the Kennedy Arts Center Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award. Jay Leonhart has been named the Outstanding Bassist In the Recording Industry three times and has been privileged to play with the likes of Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Buddy Rich, Jim Hall, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, and more.
Wednesday, September 16, 1:00 p.m.
Terry Waldo
"Terry Waldo, ragtime pianist nonpareil and eminent scholar of the form, is musical director and arranger, at the piano. He acts too. Mr. Waldo is worth the price of a ticket." – New York Times.Terry Waldo, the celebrated protégé of the renowned Eubie Blake, is also the author of the book This is Ragtime.
Wednesday, September 23, 1:00 p.m.
Marlene VerPlanck
Throughout her career, Marlene VerPlanck has stuck to her guns, paying loving care to the great standards and new songs from our finest composers, while ignoring mediocre pop tunes. Songwriter Hugh Martin ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," etc.) expressed it well: "We know our songs are safe in the hands of Marlene VerPlanck, and she will sing them better than anyone else." According to the New York Times, "…She may be the most accomplished interpreter of popular material performing today…"
Wednesday, September 30, 1:00 p.m.
Joe Alterman / James Cammack / Kevin Kanner
In a recent interview with Brian Lehrer on WNYC, legendary journalist Nat Hentoff stated, "The last piece I did for them [The Wall Street Journal] – I'm so glad I had a chance to do it – is about a 24-year-old pianist and composer named Joe Alterman, who is really the personification of the past of jazz – he's really deep into that – the present of jazz – he has his own voice – and that leads him into the future of jazz, and he's so important in terms of the validity of jazz."
|