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Our next series will be announced
in July and will span from Summer of 2000 to the Summer of 2001: from
JazzFest to JazzFest. Watch here for early bird savings and announcements.
Subscription information is here.
May
18, 2000
The Manhattan Transfer
Washington Pavilion
 Since
their inception, The Manhattan Transfer has refused to limit themselves
to one type of music. Their signature sound is a tight four part harmony
based on the voicing of the sax section in the Count Basie Orchestra.
In it's formative
years, the group developed a strong cult following while playing various
New York clubs. In 1975 they debuted their first recording and landed
their own television show on CBS. After two more recordings their cult
following and popularity increased in both the US and Europe. In 1980,
the dynamic vocalists earned their first Grammy Award for "Birdland,"
a piece that has since become The Manhattan Transfer s signature tune.
Their rise to fame had begun.
Now in their twenty-fifth
year, contemporary music's premier vocal ensemble—Tim Hauser, Cheryl
Bentyne, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel—continue to push the musical
envelope. The Manhattan Transfer s latest CD entitled Swing pays homage
to the giants of big band jazz and swing—Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman,
Count Basie, Jelly Roll Morton and Artie Shaw to name a few.
In 1981, The Manhattan
Transfer made history by becoming the first group to win Grammys in both
the pop and jazz categories in the same year. "Boy From New York City,"
which broke into the top 10 on the pop charts, garnered them the award
for Best Pop Performance by Duo or Group, and "Until I Met You (Corner
Pocket)" earned them a Grammy for Best Jazz Performance. In 1982, their
rousing rendition of "Route 66" brought yet another Grammy. However, it
was 1985 release of Vocalese, produced by Tim Hauser, that became known
as the group's tour-de-force effort.
Vocalese is a style
of music that sets lyrics to previously recorded jazz instrumental pieces.
This recording included some highly complex material that ably tested
the quartet s capabilities—a challenge which they met magnificently.
The album became a critically acclaimed artistic triumph.
Vocalese received
12 Grammy nominations—making it second only to Michael Jackson's
Thriller as the most nominated recording ever.
The subsequent recordings
Brasil, The Offbeat of Avenues, The Christmas Album, and The Manhattan
Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba all received like accolades for artistic
content and performance & writing ability.
Spanning 20 albums
over 25 years, this quartet' s eclectic career has consistently set new
standards for vocal music, in the process yielding a total of 10 Grammy
Awards—with each of the six albums they ve released since 1979 winning
at least one statue—and worldwide sales in the millions. Veterans
of numerous sold-out world tours, they also reigned supreme as the "Best
Vocal Group" for an entire decade (1980-1990) in the annual Down Beat
and Playboy jazz polls—winning once again in Playboy's '92 poll.
The Manhattan Transfer
continues to exemplify diversity and musical excellence—this year
they were recently nominated for a Grammy in the Country music category
for the song "Going Away Party" on the Compact Disc Asleep At The Wheel
Featuring The Manhattan Transfer & Willie Nelson.
Tickets
are on sale now for The Manhattan Transfer. All seats are reserved, $38.75,
$32.75 and $28.75.
March 26, 2000
The Pat Metheny Trio
featuring Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart
Washington Pavilion
 Rare
is the improvising artist who reaches the wider audience without diluting
his art. Rare still is such an artist who sees his audience expand apace
with his musical vision. At 45, Pat Metheny—virtuoso guitarist, multi-faceted
composer, innovative producer and guitar synthesizer pioneer—finds
himself in a most enviable position, primarily the result of an insatiable
musical intelligence and seemingly unflagging energy. "Running" aptly
describes his fast-forward career.
Born August 12,
1954 in a rural exurb of Kansas City called Lee's Summit, Missouri, Pat
Metheny has been a professional musician for virtually half of his life.
The guitarist's credentials, even outside of the Pat Metheny Group, are
most impressive. An instructor while still in his teens at both the University
of Miami and Boston's Berklee College of Music, Pat joined Gary Burton's
band at age 19. Pat has performed and/or recorded with some of the most
innovative musicians of the past two decades: Gary Burton, Paul Bley,
Sonny Rawlins, Steve Swallow, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Hubert Laws,
Roy Haynes, Miroslav Vitous, Dave Liebman, Eberhard Weber, Julius Hemphill,
Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman, Milton Nascimento, Herbie
Hancock, Joshua Redman, Bruce Hornsby, Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius and
Jim Hall.
Since
his first release Bright Size Life in 1976, he's built a solid reputation
as one of the most innovative jazz musicians and composers in the business.
Pat Metheny and his bands, in various forms and creations, have consistently
topped listener polls in publications such as Downbeat and Jazziz Magazines
in any number of categories—Best Electric Guitar, Best Guitar Synthesizer,
Best Jazz Fusion Group—the list goes on. Pat Metheny has an impressive
twenty-three Grammy Awards to his credit and has been nominated for a
Grammy again this year along with Chick Corea, Gary Burton and Dave Holland
for the CD Like Minds. Pat Metheny will be joined by musicians Larry Grenadier
and Bill Stewart.
While
touring with Bill and Larry this past summer, Pat felt a chemistry and
musical camaraderie that had to be preserved. They recorded in the studio
the very day they ended their tour and have recently released the album
Trio 99->00 on February 8th, 2000. The Pat Metheny Trio is currently on
a 4 month World Tour in support of these recordings.
February 19,
2000
Terance Blanchard
Orpheum Theatre
Terence
Blanchard and JazzPlay, a spirited fund raising for the Sioux Falls Jazz
& Blues Society and the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse. Held in the historic
Orpheum Theatre in downtown Sioux Falls. Terence Blanchard is touring
in support of his latest CD entitled Wandering Moon.
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