Dizzy Gillespie’s 92nd Birthday Celebration
With Mike Longo’s 17-piece Big Band “The NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble” With vocalist Miss Hilary Gardner & Special Guests Annie Ross and Trumpet Great Jimmy Owens
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|---|---|
| When |
Oct 20, 2009 from 08:00 pm to 11:00 pm |
| Contact Phone | 212-222-5159 |
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TONIGHT ONLY – ONE SHOW AT 8:00 PM
Followed by vintage film footage of Dizzy Gillespie in his prime
Pianist/composer/arranger Mike Longo, who has earned many accolades as a jazz pianist, formed the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble in 1999 to play the Jersey Jazz Festival when they wanted to feature him in a setting of composer/arranger. The program was received so enthusiastically that Mike was prompted by jazz fans and the members of the band to keep it going. As a result, he began composing new material and arranging it for the band, which was booked back each year at the Jersey Festival, followed by several appearances at New York City's famed Birdland jazz club. Their latest CD, “Oasis”, released last winter climbed to #7 and remained on the charts for an unprecedented 20 weeks. We are proud to present this fabulous group of musicians, featuring jazz singer Miss Hilary Gardner
Jazz Singer and Actress Annie Ross moved with her aunt, singer Ella Logan, to Los Angeles at the age of three, where she became a juvenile film actress, starting on the "Our Gang" series at five. As a teenager, she moved to New York to study acting, then back to England, where she became a nightclub and band singer. She returned to the U.S. and gained attention in 1952 for her song "Twisted," a "vocalese" setting of humorous lyrics to what had been a saxophone solo by Wardell Gray. (More than 20 years later, Joni Mitchell made a popular recording of the song.) In 1958, Ross teamed with Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks in the vocalese trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and they toured and recorded successfully, their best-known album being their first, "Sing a Song of Basie." Ross left the trio in 1962 and settled in England, continuing to sing and work as an actress. She returned again to the U.S. in 1985. In 1993, she had a featured role in the Robert Altman film "Short Cuts."
Trumpeter Jimmy Owens, a fine hard bop soloist, started on the trumpet when he was ten and later studied with Donald Byrd. Owens has played as a sideman with many major players, including Lionel Hampton, Hank Crawford, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and the Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Band. He was one of the founders of the Collective Black Artists and
closely involved with the Jazzmobile in New York.
