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The Duke Ellington Orchestra
The supreme jazz talent of the past 50 years!
Saturday - November 10, 2007 7:00 pm
Duke Ellington was eulogized as "the supreme jazz talent of the past fifty years" by critic Alistair Cooke in a 1983 issue of Esquire. A prolific composer, Ellington created over two thousand pieces of music, including the standard songs "Take the A-Train" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).” With the variously named bands he led from 1919 until his death in 1974, Ellington was responsible for many innovations in the jazz field, such as "jungle-style" use of the growl and plunger, and the manipulation of the human voice as an instrument--singing notes without words. During the course of his long career, Ellington was showered with many honors, including the highest civilian award granted by the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented to him by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. "No one else," concluded Cooke, "in the eighty- or ninety-year history of jazz, created so personal an orchestral sound and so continuously expanded the jazz idiom."
Duke Ellington was active as a performer and composer until his death of lung cancer on May 24, 1974, in New York City. Though his audiences constantly demanded such old standards as "Mood Indigo" and "In a Sentimental Mood," Ellington preferred to look ahead and develop new songs for his band. One of his last was "The Blues Is Waitin'." After his death, his only son, Mercer Ellington, who had been serving as the band's business manager and trumpet player, took over its leadership. Mercer Ellington led the orchestra until his father's death in 1974, continuing The Duke's tradition of constant touring, one-night engagements and high-intensity, hard-driving jazz. When Mercer passed away, Duke's grandson, Paul Ellington took over the leadership role.
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Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Twelve-time Grammy Award winner - Country/Bluegrass
Saturday - February 2, 2008 7:00 pm
2007 marks Ricky's 36th year as a professional musician, and this twelve-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. Known affectionately today as bluegrass music's official ambassador, Ricky has brought the genre to greater levels of popularity in the past few years than the father of bluegrass music, the legendary Bill Monroe, could ever have imagined. With eight consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label (Bluegrass Rules! in 1998, Ancient Tones in 1999, both Soldier of the Cross and Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe in 2000, History of the Future in 2001, Live at the Charleston Music Hall in 2003, Brand New Strings in 2005, and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Instrumentals in 2007), bluegrass music is undoubtedly in good hands, with the masterful Skaggs at the helm.
Earlier this year, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder’s latest album, History of the Future, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the ‘Best Bluegrass Album’ category. Ricky Skaggs has often said that he is “just trying to make a living” playing the music he loves. But it’s clear that his passion for bluegrass puts him in the position to bring this lively, distinctively American form of music out of isolation and into the ears and hearts of audiences across the country and around the world. Ricky Skaggs is well on the way to showing the world that “country rocks, but Bluegrass Rules!”
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The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra with the Pied Pipers
Sinatra Through The Early Years
Saturday - March 29, 2008 7:00 pm
Jimmy’s musical training began when he was a young boy in Pennsylvania. Along with his brother Tommy, the talented young musicians joined Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra and at the same time were recording many records under the billing “The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.” Their band continued through the early thirties until a dispute over the tempo of a song separated the brothers for decades.
Jimmy found himself an instant leader of the band that became the birth of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. His records sold well in the late thirties, but as the forties got under way it was apparent that his momentum was increasing. With hits like "Amapola" and "Green Eyes" featuring Helen O'Connell, the band jumped to the top of the charts making Jimmy the biggest success story of the year. Other hit selling records and a series of motion pictures followed, establishing him firmly on top.
The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra has continued successfully for decades and is still in great demand all over the world. The past success of the Orchestra was due to the leadership of Lee Castle and more recently from 1990 through the new millennium, Jim Miller. The leadership has now passed to Bill Tole who will continue to bring joy to young and the "young at heart" as they enjoy the sounds of American Music - our history.
The Pied Pipers joined Dorsey in January 1940, just before Sinatra, who was the new boy singer with the band. Both Sinatra and the Pied Pipers made their recording debut with The Dorsey Orchestra on February 1, 1940. Much of the success of the Pied Pipers was due to their distinctive harmony and phrasing. Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers struck gold with their song, I’ll Never Smile Again. It was a hit for 15 weeks and remained on the charts for an additional 25 weeks. Many more hits followed such as This Love Of Mine, Stardust and Put Your Dreams Away For Another Day.
The Pied Pipers are American icons in the world of music and were voted the number one vocal group of all time for six consecutive years in Billboard Magazine. More recently the current Pied Pipers were presented a Harmony Award and were honored as the 2001 inductees into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
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Steve Amerson with Laurie Gayle Stephenson
Songs from the Broadway Stage and Screen
Saturday - May 3, 2008 7:00 pm
Steve Amerson has established a reputation as an excellent tenor with a vocal flexibility that allows him to feel at home in both popular/contemporary music and classical literature. Songs from the Broadway stage and screen include selections from productions and films like Man of La Mancha, Jekyll and Hyde, West Side Story, Les Miserables, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. With the wealth and depth of his performance experience, radio personality, Rick Dees has dubbed Steve as America’s Tenor.
Steve has been a featured soloist with virtually every major performing organization in Southern California and has made numerous appearances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Hollywood Bowl. He as performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Long Beach Symphony, The William Hall Chorale, The Orange County Master Chorale, the Ojai Festival, and the Mozart Festival in San Luis Obispo. He has also been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras across the United States and Mexico. In 2006, Steve made his Carnegie Hall debut singing in the world premiere of Missa Americana by Ed Lojeski.
Steve was one of three tenors chosen to record demonstration tapes used by Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in preparation for select The 3 Tenors performances including their 1994 Dodger Stadium concert, 1998 Paris concert and 2002 Yokohama, Japan concert.
Along with his concert schedule, which includes 50–60 Christmas and sacred concerts, Steve does studio singing for various recording projects, movies, commercials and television shows. His voice can be heard on over 150 feature films. Presently, much of Steve’s time is dedicated in presenting concerts based on his Front Row Center project, which is a collection of inspiring songs from the Broadway stage and screen.
Projects on which Steve’s voice is heard include Get Smart – The Movie, Evan Almighty, Meet the Robinsons, King Kong, Fantastic Four, Matrix Revolutions, Matrix Reloaded, Men In Black II, Jurassic Park 3, A.I., John Q., Touched By An Angel, Contact, Men In Black, Wild Wild West, Anastasia, Amistad, Empire of the Sun, Indiana Jones; Temple of Doom, Hunt For Red October, Joe vs. the Volcano, Glory, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, Far And Away, Hook, Man Trouble, Batman Returns, the Abyss, Three Musketeers, Picket Fences, Cheers, Suddenly Susan, Highway To Heaven, Designing Women, St. Elsewhere, The Flintstones, The Santa Clause, The 1990 & 1991 Academy Awards Shows and commercials for IBM, Honda, Lexus, Nissan, Toyota, the Marines, Lea & Perrins, Perkins Restaurants, Isuzu, U. S. Sprint, Kibbles & Bits, Texaco, Ford Trucks, Coco's Restaurants, Diet Coke and Delta Air Lines.
Laurie Gayle Stephenson made her Broadway debut in the Tony award-winning The Secret Garden where she performed the role of Lily. She starred for two years on Broadway as Christine Daae in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Most recently, Laurie had the honor of performing An Evening of Andrew Lloyd Webber in Concert at The Kennedy Center. She is a regular soloist with the popular Bravo Broadway and has sung with most major symphony orchestras across the country.
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