 |
| The Four Freshmen |
The season of swing returns with gusto to Hackettstown, New Jersey, this summer when the 2011 Jazz in July Series comes to the Centenary Stage with a line-up of Big Band, Dixieland, Swing and incomparable harmonies of The Four Freshmen.
The series kicks off on July 9th with the Rob Stoneback Big Band. Boasting 17 instrumentalists and two vocalists, the Rob Stoneback Big Band has performed throughout the Mid Atlantic region, often appearing with such luminaries as The Manhattan Transfer, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole and Rosemary Clooney, to name just a few. Playing a program of great standards and current hits, this dynamic band celebrates thirty years in the business this season. The Rob Stoneback Big Band will perform on Saturday, July 9th at 8 PM in the Sitnik Theater of the new David and Carol Lackland Center on the campus of Centenary College. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of performance.
Celebrating the music of the great two-tenor team, Zoot Sims (‘Brother of Swing’) and Al Cohn, The Al and Zoot Tribute Band will perform on Saturday, July 16 at 8 PM. It was the appearance of the Sims-Cohn Quintet that is reported to have changed the fortunes of the legendary Half Note jazz club in lower Manhattan. Lines formed outside the club on Saturday nights to hear the two tenors’ free-wheeling, hard-booting, joyous brand of music. Tenors Lew DelGatto & Bob Keller breathe new life into the memory of the popular group, backed by Jesse Green on piano, Tony Marino on bass, and Tom Whaley on drums. Lew DelGatto has been a dynamic figure in the music scene for over 30 years, and colleague Bob Keller has been playing in the jazz scene for over 50 years, with such great big bands as The Buddy Rich Jazz Orchestra, and Chuck Israel's National Jazz Ensemble. Drummer Tony Marino’s notable performance career includes a musical stint with the late Al Cohn & Zoot Sims. Tickets are $22.50 in advance and $27.50 on the day of performance.
Headlining the 2011 Series on July 23rd will be the incomparable ensemble, The Four Freshmen, the group which pioneered a revolutionary new style of close-harmony vocals that set the stage for bands like the Beach Boys, Spanky & Our Gang, the Hi-Lo's, the Manhattan Transfer and countless others. The Freshmen’s characteristic sound married tight harmonies with a lush improvisatory style, and while the names and faces have evolved along the way, the legendary sound has continued, winning the group a ranking of #1 in both the Downbeat Magazine and Jazz Times poll (2007)for “Best Vocal Group. ”
With smooth vocals and the musical mastery of nearly a dozen instruments between them, the contemporary group not only preserves the Freshmen sound, but enhances it with youth, vitality and talent, giving a new treatment to the Great American Songbook. The Four Freshman features Curtis Calderon (vocals and trumpet), Vince Johnson (vocals and bass), Bob Ferreira (vocals and drums), and Brian Eichenberger (vocals and guitar ). At this performance, the group will also be backed by five swinging trombones. Tickets for the 8 PM performance of The Four Freshman are $35 in advance and $42.50 at the door, on the day of performance.
The high-energy, toe-tapping sound of New Orleans jazz will fill the Lackland Center when Clarinetist Dan Levinson leads a Dixieland Bash on Saturday, July 30 at 8 PM. A specialist in traditional jazz and swing, Levinson is one of the most prolific musicians on the contemporary scene, equally at home as a leader and sideman. During a twenty-year career, he has appeared alongside such prominent artists as Dick Hyman, Mel Tormé and Wynton Marsalis. The Dixieland Bash band includes Levinson on clarinet, Randy Reinhart on coronet, Jim Fryer on trombone, Mark Shane on piano, Brian Nalepka on bass and special guest Stephane Seva on washboard. The band will perform on Saturday, July 30 at 8 PM. Tickets are $22.50 in advance, and $27.00 at the door on the day of performance.
A special subscription package, which includes all four concerts in the festival, is available for $95 and can be purchased through the Centenary Stage Company Box office at 908-979-0900, or online at www.centenarystageco.org. Patrons may also purchase tickets directly at the Carol and David Lackland Center Box Office, located at 715 Grand Ave in Hackettstown. Students under age 18 receive a special discounted ticket price for all jazz events.
Jazz in July is made possible through the leadership of Ed Coyne (Chair of the Centenary Stage Company Advisory Board) and Coyne Enterprises, with the additional support of Heath Village and Skylands Community Bank. The Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit performing arts series, in residence at Centenary College, dedicated to serving as a cultural resource for audiences of the Skylands region with professional music, theatre and dance events and arts education programs throughout the year. All programs at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible in part through the visionary support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, as well as CSC sponsors Heath Village (platinum sponsor), Panther Valley Pharmacy, Skylands Community Bank, and Hackettstown Regional Medical Center.
NEW THEATRE: Performances at the Centenary Stage Company enjoy their new residence in the state-of-the-art theatres of the new Carol and David Lackland Center, opened just 9 months ago in Hackettstown. Hailed as the most sophisticated performing arts venue in northwest New Jersey, the center includes the new 500-seat Sitnik Theater, The Edith Bolte Kutz black box theater, a dance studio, as well as WNTI, the College’s NPR affiliate station, and CCTV, Centenary’s Comcast-licensed television studio. Named in honor of Carol Burgess Lackland, A Centenary graduate (Class of 1954), and her husband, David A. Lackland, a Centenary College Trustee, The David and Carol Lackland Center, has been designed to enrich student life and bring new cultural opportunities to northwest New Jersey.
No comments:
Post a Comment