In celebration of Women in Jazz Month, the American Jazz Museum presents pre-eminent jazz vocalist and four-time GRAMMY winner DIANNE REEVES. With a repertoire ranging from jazz to soul, including R&B, Latin and pop, Reeves “has one of the most powerful, purposeful and accurate voices of this or any time,” according to Wynton Marsalis. On March 25, 2017 at 8 p.m. she will share her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess, and unique jazz and R&B stylings during her live performance at the iconic Gem Theater, honoring women in jazz and their contributions.
Reeves has recorded and performed extensively with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. She has also recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, and served as first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She is the first singer to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Reeves worked with legendary producer Arif Mardin (Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin) on the Grammy- winning A Little Moonlight, an intimate collection of standards featuring her touring trio. In recent years Reeves has toured the world in a variety of contexts including a program entitled “Sing the Truth,” a musical celebration of Nina Simone, which also featured Liz Wright and Angelique Kidjo. She performed at the White House on multiple occasions, including President Obama’s State Dinner for the president of China as well as the Governors’ Ball.
In 2014, Reeves released Beautiful Life, her first album in five years. Produced by Terri Lyne Carrington and featuring Gregory Porter, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway and Esperanza Spalding, Beautiful Life was nominated for the 2015 Best Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy award.
This concert is part of the events honoring Women in Jazz Month. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or the American Jazz Museum box office (816) 474-6262.
NATIONAL JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH WITH NEA JAZZ MASTER JACK DEJOHNETTE
NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY winner, JACK DEJOHNETTE is one of the greatest drummers in the history of the genre. DeJohnette, along with Ravi Coltrane and Matt Garrison, will celebrate National Jazz Appreciation Month with a thrilling concert at the Gem Theater on April 22, 2017 at 8 p.m.
DeJohnette grew up in a family where music and music appreciation was a high priority. Beginning at age four, he studied classical piano privately and later at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He added the drums to his repertoire when he joined his high school concert band at age 14. “As a child, I listened to all kinds of music and I never put them into categories,” he recalls. “I had formal lessons on piano and listened to opera, country and western music, rhythm and blues, swing, jazz, whatever. To me, it was all music and all great. I’ve kept that integrated feeling about music, all types of music, and just carried it with me. I’ve maintained that belief and feeling in spite of the ongoing trend to try and compartmentalize people and music.”
Upon entering the Chicago jazz scene, DeJohnette experimented with rhythm, melody and harmony. Opportunities to drum alongside Rashied Ali in the John Coltrane Quintet came quickly, along with international recognition during his tenure with the Charles Lloyd Quartet. He also joined Miles Davis’s group just prior to the recording of Bitches Brew, an album that triggered a seismic shift in jazz and permanently changed the direction of the music. Miles later wrote in his autobiography, “Jack DeJohnette gave me a deep groove that I just loved to play over.”
With a career spanning five decades and including collaborations with some of the most iconic figures in modern jazz, DeJohnette has developed a versatility that allows room for hard bop, R&B, world music, avant-garde, and just about every other style to emerge in the past half-century. After being inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2007 and Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 2010, he marked his 70th birthday by receiving a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship. Despite all the awards and accolades, DeJohnette continues to make the creative process his highest priority. The list of creative associations throughout his career is lengthy and diverse: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker, George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Joe Henderson, Freddy Hubbard, Betty Carter, Esperanza Spalding, Bruce Hornsby, Jason Moran and many more.
This concert is part of the events celebrating National Jazz Appreciation Month. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or the American Jazz Museum box office (816) 474-6262.
–Jessica Thompson
