New
5 pm Series Just Added:
Four Great Shows for $99
The 5 pm Series is Now on Sale!
Arturo
Sandoval
Sat, July 7, 2012 at 5 pm
Wesla Whitfield
Sat, July 14, 2012 at
5 pm
John
Pizzarelli Sat,
July 28, 2012 at 5 pm
Wycliffe
Gordon Sat,
August 4, 2012 at 5 pm
All concerts in the 300-seat Margaret Lesher Theatre
Subscriptions $99 |
|
or call 925-943-7469 |
|
Sorry, the 8 pm Series is sold out...
Arturo
Sandoval
Sat,
July 7, 2012
at 8 pm
John
Pizzarelli Sat,
July 28, 2012
at 8 pm
Wycliffe
Gordon
Sat, August 4, 2012
at 8 pm
Jane
Monheit
Sat, August 11, 2012
at 8 pm
Although the 8 pm series is sold out on subscription, a few single tickets may become available in mid-June; please check back at that time.
Arturo Sandoval is one of the greatest trumpet players alive, renowned for his thrilling live performances and his virtuosic solos. He has won four Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award (the latter for composing the score of an HBO movie based on his own life).
His stunning list of performance credits includes the Academy Awards (with
Celine Dion), the Grammy Awards (with Justin Timberlake), the Super Bowl
halftime show (with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle), the Latin Billboard
Awards (with Alicia Keys) and the Boston Pops conducted by John Williams.
Mr. Sandoval's incandescent trumpet playing can be heard on recordings
by Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand,
Bill Conti, and Stan Getz to Johnny Mathis, Paul Anka, and Rod Stewart
among many others.
A protégé of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, he was born in 1949 in Cuba
(he was voted Cuba's Best Instrumentalist each year from 1982 to 1990)
and was granted political asylum by the USA in 1990. Besides performing
jazz on trumpet, flugel horn, and piano, Mr. Sandovalis a well-regarded
classical musician; John Williams invited him to record Williams' own
trumpet concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, and Sandoval has
composed a Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra as well.
His playing can also be heard on movie soundtracks such as "Havana", "Mambo
Kings" (which featured his Grammy nominated composition "Mambo Caliente")
and "The Perez Family" and Sandoval was commissioned by the Kennedy Center
to compose the music for a ballet choreographed by Debbie Allen.
Wesla Whitfield inhabits that indeterminate zone where jazz and cabaret meet. Trained in classical music and opera, over three decades she has become one of the most gifted performers breathing life into that exquisite body of Broadway tunes, movie songs and Hit Parade numbers known as the Great American Songbook. With her deft sense of time and uncanny ability to connect with the emotional truth in a lyric, she has earned a cherished position in the jazz world.
In 2006 Wesla and pianist/arranger Mike Greensill moved to Napa Valley
but still spend much of their time in New York and San Francisco, working
such noted rooms as the Algonquin Oak Room, The Rrazz Room, The Metropolitan
Room and Joe's Pub at New York's Public Theater. Wesla has also appeared
in concert at NY Town Hall, Avery Fisher and Carnegie Hall. In 1996 Wesla
had the honor to perform at the White House for Hillary Clinton.
Wesla and Mike released their 19th recording 'Message
From the Man In The Moon' in 2007. Their latest CD, recorded
in May of 2011 during their annual run at the Razz Room in San Francisco,
is titled "Best
Thing For You - Live from the Rrazz Room".
Whitfield and Greensill have garnered numerous national television, radio
and written media credits including All Things Considered, Fresh Air
with Teri Gross, People Magazine, CBS Sunday Morning, New York Times Sunday
Magazine, and profiles in DownBeat and "O" Magazine.
Backing Wesla on July 14 will
be the Mike Greensill Quartet: Mike Greensill, piano;
Gary Foster, woodwinds; John Wiitala, bass; Vince Lateano, drums.
John Pizzarelli, the renowned jazz guitarist and singer, was called “Hip with a wink” by Town & Country, “madly creative” by the Los Angeles Times and “the genial genius of the guitar” by The Toronto Star.
One of today's most accomplished interpreters of the Great American Songbook, he is known for his brilliant guitar work and smooth vocals. With his eighteen recordings, Mr. Pizzarelli has brought classic standards and late night ballads to a new generation ready to swing and swoon. From Carnegie Hall to Melrose Place, he has gained a wide following from his numerous stage, screen and television appearances and is setting the standard for stylish, modern jazz.
The John Pizzarelli Trio has toured extensively throughout the United
States and Europe, opening for Frank Sinatra and playing for the opening
of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Critics often compared the young John Pizzarelli
to the jazz greats who inspired him. "We're as lucky to listen to Pizzarelli
as Nat 'King' Cole fans were in the year before he became a legend," raved
The Village Voice. Fans agree; in 1999 Pizzarelli was "Jazz Vocalist of
the Year" in a Swing Journal Readers Poll.
Mr. Pizzarelli made his Broadway debut in Dream opposite Lesley Ann Warren and has been sought after in Hollywood. In addition to a guest spot on Melrose Place, he has appeared on the Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Rosie O'Donnell, CBS This Morning, The Today Show and CNN. The John Pizzarelli Trio was also featured in the Goldie Hawn/Steve Martin film "The Out of Towners" and has recorded tracks for such films as "Ready to Wear", "Forget Paris" and "Two Family House".
An extraordinarily gifted jazz vocalist noted for her improvisatory skill and possessing a voice of "singular plushness" (New York Times), Jane Monheit's sincere and romantic interpretations of classic songs has made her a favorite in both the jazz and cabaret worlds, garnering numerous accolades in the past decade. Her first album, "Never Never Land", which featured such jazz legends as Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Bucky Pizzarelli, Hank Crawford and David "Fathead" Newman, was voted top debut recording by the Jazz Journalist's Association and stayed on the Billboard Jazz chart for over a year. Subsequent albums either charted high, or in several cases, debuted at number one, and garnered two Grammy nominations (for 2002's "In The Sun" and 2004's "Taking A Chance On Love").
Trained at the Manhattan School of Music, Ms Monheit has blossomed into
a charismatic star who has performed at most of the major concert halls,
cabarets and jazz venues around the globe, collaborating with such acclaimed
artists as Michael Bublé, Terence Blanchard, Fred Hersch, John Pizzarelli
and Ray Brown, Jr. She has released seven albums and two DVDs, her voice
is heard on numerous movie sound tracks, and she has appeared on such
television shows as Emeril, Ramsey Lewis' Legends of Jazz, Late
Night with David Letterman, The View, and The Today
Show. Ms Monheit has been featured performer in such nationally televised
specials as Christmas at the White House, The Capitol Fourth
of July Celebration and The National Memorial Day Celebration.
Ms Monheit's latest recording project is entitled "Home", a collection of standards that represents a passionate return to her roots as a jazz musician. The CD features the band she has worked with onstage and off for most of her career, as well as special guests such as John Pizzarelli, Mark O’Connor, and Larry Goldings. This is her first album for Emarcy/Universal and also marks her debut as sole producer of a recording.